BMW PGA Championship. Cañizares Claims Lead.

Alejandro Cañizares has claimed the lead after the third round of the BMW PGA Championship, played on the West Course at the Wentworth Club in England.

Alejandro Cañizares / Getty Images.

Alejandro Cañizares has a one shot lead at the BMW PGA Championship, shooting a third round of -4 under par 68, and claimed top spot of the leaderboard. He had been taken ill on the flight from Korea to China and had to withdraw from the Volvo China Open, being diagnosed with viral meningitis. He came here with little ambition;

” This week I was just happy to be able to swing the club,  after the practice round on Tuesday I felt really tired because it was the first 18 holes I had walked in three weeks. I had no idea how I was going to feel so I am very pleased that it’s working out for me. Every now and then I get a little weird feeling in my head, but the doctors say that is normal.”

Sitting right behind him on the leaderboard is Lee Westwood, his third round score of -5 under par 67 has put the Englishman firmly in contention for this title. This his first tournament in England since his move to Florida in the States, and this is his 20th attempt at winning the BMW PGA Championship. Lee thinks it would be ironic if he won now;

” I’m still far from holding the trophy but it would be ironic,  it would be great and I am after as many wins as I can get, but it’s a crowded leaderboard and I will have to play as well if not better than I did today. I felt much more in tune with my swing and had a lot better distance and direction control with my irons and set up a lot of chances. It was one of the most fun days I have ever had on a golf course. It was good to see a lot more smiling faces and a lot more people prepared to take their hands out of their pockets and applaud. I get great support here but even more so today.”

Matteo Manassero (69) and Mark Warren (70) share third place on seven under par, Mark said it would be huge for him to win:

” It would be huge to win, this is our premiere event, this is the biggest event we play outside the Majors for us, it doesn’t get any bigger. Career-wise it would mean the world to me.”

Sergio Garcia, who has had a rough time with the media this week, has enjoyed the support of the crowd at Wentworth, and thinks he could finish strongly tomorrow, he is in a group of eight players just four shots off the lead:

“I think it’s been a tough week but we’ve been getting better every day, so hopefully we can finish on a high note tomorrow. There’s no doubt that everybody has made it so much easier for me. The crowds here, I don’t have words to explain what I feel towards them. They have been amazing, every single tee, every single green, cheering me on. I can never pay them back.”

BMW PGA Championship. Francesco Molinari Leads at Wet Wentworth.

Francesco Molinari leads at the BMW PGA Championship after the conclusion of the second round at the Wentworth Club on the West Course.

Francesco Molinari / Getty Images

On a wet and cold second day at Wentworth Francesco Molinari leads the BMW PGA Championship by just one shot after his second round of -4 under par, for a tournament total of -6 under par.

Francesco is happy to be at t he top, but is under no illusions as to how hard it will be to stay there on this difficult West course;

” I’m really happy with yesterday and today. The conditions were quite tough but I hit the ball well and the putter is working well so I am really happy at the moment. Six under is a good score given the conditions, I live over here now so I am used to it,  and I’m in a great position going into the weekend, but it’s a really tough course so anyone six or seven behind is still in it.”

Tied in second place is George Coetzee, at -5 under par, the South African has fared better than his compatriot James Kingston, who topped the leaderboard yesterday but collapsed today with a second round 77. Ten shots worse than his 66 of yesterday, he now has a tournament total of -1 under par.

Joining George at -5 under par are Alejandro Cañizares, Marc Warren and Mark Foster.

Lee Westwood is lurking at -3 under par and thinks he could be dangerous if his short game keeps improving, and his long game comes together;

 ” My short game’s been red-hot. I played some nice pitches and walking off the back of the 12th green, where I pitched to about four feet, Ernie said ‘Bit of a short-game wizard now.’ I also got up and down on 18 after hitting it in the hazard and those sorts of things can make a big difference to your week and going into the weekend with momentum. If my long game starts to come together, I could be dangerous.”

Lee’s Ryder Cup team-mate Luke Donald made a premature exit in his bid for a hat-trick of titles and fellow heroes of the Miracle at Medinah also made an early departure from The European Tour’s Flagship Event, with Rory McIlroy (75), Graeme McDowell (75), Ian Poulter (76) and Paul Lawrie (72) all joining Luke in missing the halfway cut.

Euro Tour Downunder, American Bo Van Pelt Wins

 

 

Bo Van Pelt (Getty Images)

Bo Van Pelt won the ISPS Handa Perth International on the Lake Karrinyup Country Club course with a last round of  -4 under par,  68 , and a tournament total of -16 under par propelled him two shots clear of  American compatriot Jason Dufner, with first round leader Alejandro Cañizares of Spain coming through to take third on -11 under par. Bo said of the tussle with Jason;

“Jason and I had a great battle and played well,” it definitely got tight there at the end but luckily for me I came out on top. I have a lot of respect for Jason and his game, he’s a world class player and I knew it was going to be tough today. I knew he was going to keep the pressure on me, and I needed to play well if I was going to come out on top. It was fun, that’s why you practice, to give yourself a chance to win with nine holes to go. All in all I was pleased with how I played today. I had a loose shot there on 17 that I was not that happy with, but fortunately I had a lead at that point and was able to make a putt on 18 and get it done. Lake Karrinyup was a great test of golf all week. It’s been a battle, the wind blew, the greens were firm and fast, and it was just a joy to play all week. Whenever you get a lead you want to take advantage of it so it was nice to finish one off this week.”

Jason said he had enjoyed his trip to Aussie;

” It’s been a good trip, it’s good to get back out and compete and nice to be in the hunt after a couple weeks off and after The Ryder Cup. Nothing to be ashamed of, just got to tighten up a couple things.”

Alejandro was pleased his is now in the field for Singapore;

“The top five here gets me into Singapore which helps a lot. I didn’t have that tournament before because of my ranking from last year, so I’m happy to be able to get there on my own merit. It helps me, gives me one more chance to consolidate in the top 60 and hopefully play in Dubai.”

 

 

 

Euro Tour Down Under, ISPS Handa International, Bo Van Pelt Takes Control

Bo Van Pelt/getty images

American Bo Van Pelt took control of the ISPS Handa International at Lake Karrinyup Country Club in Perth Western Australia, in the third round. Bo holed a 60 foot birdie putt on the 18th green, for a third round score of -5 under par and a tournament total of -12 under par, to take a one shot lead into the final round.

Bo said of his monster putt on 18;

” Once in a while a hole just gets in the way.I felt like I hit a pretty good second shot, just carried about five yards further. I was just trying to get the ball down there and two-putt and get out of there, and lo and behold, it goes in the hole. There’s still a lot of golf to be played. It was just nice to finish with a birdie like that and hopefully take that into tomorrow. Jason is a great player, Grillo is playing well and he’s probably going to come out and probably shoot a low one tomorrow. You’ve got to drive the ball straight and then put the ball in position on the greens, because they have a lot of slope and they are getting firm and they are getting fast.”

Jason Dufner, the World’s Number Ten, and the highest-ranked player in the field was delighted to have given himself a chance going into Sunday. He also had a good third round, matching  Bo’s -5 under par round to sit alone in second spot, with a tournament total of  -11 under par.

” It was a nice day to get a good score and move up and have a realistic chance of not having to do anything crazy tomorrow and being in contention to try to win the tournament. Sometimes in the middle of a round, something happens that spurs you to some better play, and I got a little bit of a tough break on seven on my tee ball. Thought it would be in the fairway but hung up in the rough, which put me a good way back and I ended up getting into a bunker 70 yards or so and hit it over the back and then chipped in. So not really thinking that you’re going to make birdie; in your mind you’re almost feeling like maybe bogey might come on a pretty easy hole. Chipped in there and then hit one stone on nine and birdied 10, 11, 12.”

 Emiliano Grillo started the third round with a four shot lead, but had a poor round of +1 over par, a very costly inward nine of 37 strokes did the damage as the Qualifying School graduate hopes to cement his place in the top 115 on The Race to Dubai. Emiliano currently lies in 112th place. With a tournament total of -10 under par, and third place, Emiliano is still only two shots adrift of the lead and will be sure to contest tomorrow.

Tied in fourth place are Spain’s Alejandro Cañizares and England’s David Howell, and although the pair are five shots off the pace, they both have plenty to play for. In The Race to Dubai they are currently 70th and 71st on the list, meaning they both need a big finish to force their way into the top 60 players who will make the trip to Jumeirah Golf Estates next month.

European Tour Down Under, Round 2, Sizzling Grillo

 

 

Emiliano Grillo/Getty Images

Emiliano Grillo, a 20-year-old Qualifying School graduate from Argentina holds a four shot halfway lead at the ISPS Handa International which is being contested at Lake Karrinyup Country Club in Perth, after a second round of -5 under par, 67. Emiliano is just playing shot by shot, he is desperate to keep his card for next year;

“I think I hit it better yesterday than today but a couple eagles and a hole-out from the bunker helped a lot. Just go shot by shot, that’s the main goal. You cannot think about the third hole when you’re playing the second hole. It’s the hardest thing in golf probably, but it’s the best thing to do. I had a lot of people following today and I was fine with it. I kind of like the golf course, and it seems to suit my game. I just want to have a good week. My goal this week was having a good one to keep my card for next year. If I can win, awesome.”

Emiliano received congratulatory Tweets from the youngest winner in European Tour history, Italian Matteo Manassero. It is these victorious exploits at such a young age that has inspired Emiliano to play well;

“We try to spend as much time as I can with him because he already won twice on the Tour and he’s the youngest player on the Tour. Everybody wants to have him as a mirror, and he’s one of the few guys that I have as a mirror. I try to copy his putting and his short game. He’s an amazing player and a very good friend. It’s hard for the first win but he’s already done it twice, so why not me?”

Tied in second spot is American Bo Van Pelt, and Jason Scrivener of Australia. Jason had a -3 under par 69 for his total of -7 under par. Bo matched the leader with a second round of -5 under par 67, but is four shots adrift of Emiliano, Bo said of his round;

“It was a solid day, I would say the biggest difference from today from yesterday, I think I played the par fives five under. I think I only missed three greens, so I was driving the ball in play, and was able to take advantage of the par fives.
All in all, seven under, I’m very pleased. I haven’t played a tournament in a few weeks, so I like the golf course a lot. I’m just excited about the opportunity. Last time I was in Australia, I didn’t get to play the weekend, so nice to get to play the weekend. There are a lot of great players here, but I think I was five back going into today, and whenever you’re that far back, you try to shrink it going into the weekend. So hopefully I’ll be closer than five back when the day ends and hopefully after tomorrow do the same thing, get a little bit closer. You try to have a chance to win with nine holes to go on Sunday. That’s something my caddie and I always talk about is just trying to give ourselves a chance on Sunday, and then you just never know what will happen.” 

There are four players currently tied in fourth place; Max McMardle, Jason Dufner, and the two first round leaders Michael Hendry and Alejandro Canizares, who both had second rounds of +1 over par 73.

 

 

European Tour, Down Under, ISPS Handa Perth International

The European Tour has gone down under, to be precise the event is the ISPS Handa Perth International, being contested at the Lake Karrinyup Country Club.

Alejandro Cañizares/getty images

Alejandro Cañizares of Spain shares the first round lead at the ISPS HANDA Perth International with Michael Hendry from New Zealand. Both players had opening rounds of -7 under par, 65 on the Lake Karrinyup Country Club course.

Alejandro said he needs a good finish here to propel himself up the board in the Race to Dubai;

“I’m 70th at the moment so this is either my last or my second to last tournament of the year. I need a good finish, if I win it will fix a lot of things. I’m not sure what finish I need because there are still some big tournaments going on at the moment. Singapore is a big tournament and BMW and HSBC, some guys behind me are playing that, so you never know. I’m just going to try to play my best. It was a good round, I hit the ball really well and made some putts, so I’m really happy. I was pretty steady the whole round and gave myself plenty of chances. I think I only missed two greens in the whole round. The year has been a little slow since March. I started pretty well, a couple top tens, a top five in México in the US PGA Tour event, and then finished second in the Spanish Open. Since then, it’s been very slow.  I haven’t played good enough to be in contention, and every week I was falling down the rankings. So I came here from Portugal, I didn’t play very good last week. I hit the ball terribly, but I came here and I felt great. Maybe the 24 hours travelling helped, I feel good with my swing and hopefully the week keeps going like this.”

Michael, who usually plays on the OneAsia Tour, said he just repeated the round of 65 he had in the Pro-Am yesterday;

“I actually shot 65 in the Pro-Am yesterday as well. I think around here, if you can hit your drives in the right place, you can give yourself lots of opportunities to hit it close with wedges. I hit my driver pretty well and wedged it well and putted it well. All in all, just a really solid round of golf. If you’re going to play good golf, you’re going to have a lot of opportunities around this golf course. Luckily enough, I capitalized on them today.”

Emiliano Grillo, a 20-year-old Qualifying School graduate, from Argentina is alone in third place after his opening round of -6 under par, 66. Emiliano said he was pleased with his days work;

“ I hit a lot of fairways out there, that’s very important on this golf course and a lot of greens and then the ones that I missed, I got up and down, so it was a good round overall. There are not many tournaments left, so I’m trying to make as much ground as I can this week. It was very nice to get my card through Q School last year. It’s been a great year so far and I’m enjoying it.”

Paul Casey and English compatriot Andrew Johnston, both had rounds of -5 under par, 67, to be just two shots off the lead.

 

 

Reale Seguros Open de España. Molinari Wins

                                                                                                                                      

Francesco Molinari (Getty Images)

Francesco Molinari shot a brilliant closing round of -7 under par and 65, and a tournament total of -8, to win the Reale Seguros Open de España, his  third European Tour title. The overnight leader Simon Dyson could only manage a 76 , and that after birdies at the first two holes, Francesco produced the best round of the week, here in Seville, Spain. With seven birdies in the first 14 holes followed by four closing pars gave the 29 year old the first prize of more than €333,330.

Francesco knew he just needed some putts to drop;

“I knew I was playing well. I just needed some putts to drop. I was also hoping the other guys would not go too far under par and everything worked out perfectly. The first leaderboard I saw where I was leading was on 12, but they had a few more birdie chances than me and so I knew I needed a couple more.”

This win moves Francesco back into the world’s top 30, but he is still not in a qualifying position for this year’s Ryder Cup, he commented;

 ”I just have to play the same golf a few more weeks and hopefully I will be there.  Everybody is desperate to make the team, but unfortunately for us there are only 12 spots. It’s going to be hard, there are a lot of great players in Europe at the moment.”

In this kind of form Francesco Molinari would be a great asset to the Ryder Cup Team.

Tied in second spot, three shots adrift of the leader were, Alejandro Canizares, Soren Kjeldsen and Pablo Larrazabal. Local favorite Jorge Campillo finished with a tournament score of -3 under par, and five shots off the winning total.

Canizares and Whiteford Lead first round in New Delhi

Alejandro Cañizares and Peter Whiteford share the lead after the first round of the Avantha Masters as the Spaniard looks for his first win since 2006. Both players completed the first round in -6 under par 66, o lead by one shot from Italian Federico Colombo.

Canizares birdied the last hole, with a long putt, which pleased him greatly;

“It’s always nice to finish on a high like that, I didn’t hit a great wedge shot into the green so it was nice to sink the putt. I played very steady and I putted quite nicely. The only mistake I made was missing a short putt on the seventh so I made a bogey. But overall it was a nice round with not many mistakes. I had a couple of wayward drives but nothing serious and I felt very comfortable.”

“I made a couple of long putts but all the others were from inside ten feet or so. Overall it was very steady and pretty good. Hopefully I can keep this going and be in contention going into the final round.”

 

Alejandro Canizares (Getty Images)

 

Peter Whiteford was also very happy with his first round performance;

“It was the first time I’ve hit the fairways in months. In the stats I probably didn’t hit that many fairways, but it felt a lot better. I hit a lot more drivers than people usually do out there and just took advantage of the course and bullied it a little. It can bite you easily though if you’re not careful. I had a bad one down the last but apart from that it’s mainly the driving that was loads better today.”