Danny Willett, BMW International Open winner, What equipment does he use ?

Danny Willett (Getty Images

Danny Willett survived a strenuous, concentration sapping four hole play-off  against Marcus Fraser, to claim his maiden European Tour title at the BMW International Open on the Gut Larchenhof golf course in Cologne. Danny had been in the mix at the top of the board ever since a fine round of 65 on Thursday saw him lie one-off the pace, set by Fabrizio Zanotti and Marcus Fraser. In the end the key to his success came down to two great shots on Sunday, proving that those key moments often mean the difference between second place, and victory.

Now everybody wants to know what equipment Danny puts into his bag, and would any of it help you to achieve your golfing goals.

This list is  compiled by ©SPORTS MARKETING SURVEYS INC, and data is collated during the first round of the event.

Ball   Callaway, + Hex Black +
Shoe       FootJoy

Driver      Callaway, RAZR Hawk Prototype – 9.5°

Fairway Wood       Callaway, RAZR Fit - 15°

Utility Club      Callaway, X Utility Proto - 21°

3 – 9 Irons       Callaway, RAZR Muscle Back

Pitching Wedge       Callaway, Forged - 48°

Sand Wedge       Callaway, Forged – 56°

Lob Wedge       Callaway, Forged – 60°

Putter       Odyssey, Black Series i 1

Of course the only thing I would change would be the Putter, obviously for one of our White  Dragon Putters.

Foot-note;  my BMW seven series is in for a service today, thought I would give BMW a plug.

European Tour, BMW International Open, Danny Willett Wins

Danny Willett (Getty Images

Danny Willett won the European Tour, BMW International Open at a wet and windy Gut Lärchenhof golf course in Cologne after a four hole play-off.  Danny finally claimed his first European Tour title, he had previously achieved 19 top-ten finishes. It was a nail-biting play-off victory over Marcus Fraser. Both players had  finished the tournament with scores of -11 under par, which sent them down the play-off hole, the difficult 18th. On their fourth attempt Danny almost ran a flop from the rough in for birdie and Fraser’s 25 foot putt lipped out,  leaving Willett to tap in for victory. Obviously Danny was very pleased with his effort;

“It’s amazing, it was a tough day. It was brutal with the wind whipping and it was raining. Marcus had a great round today and I hung in there nicely. Hopefully I gave people a good show. This week has been strange, I’ve been working really hard with support from my family and my girlfriend. I’ve had some ups and downs in the last 18 months as everyone knows but I’m injury free now and back to playing well and I’d like to thank everyone back home for supporting me. I’ll keep working hard and hopefully we can do it again.”

He also spoke about his four years on tour without a win;

This is my fourth year on Tour now. I’ve had a lot of good finishes, been in contention a couple of times, obviously with Kaymer at the Dunhill a few years back. To polish it off, it feels good. Ideally I would have won earlier but probably winning a bit later on now, it gives me a little bit more to think about and I’m probably a little bit more mature now than I was when I first came on Tour. It would have been good to win a few years ago, but a win is a win. The guys out here are brilliant. They play week in, week out, and it’s competitive. I’m just thankful for finally winning one.”

He was also in a hurry to get to the airport;

“I’m going to get on the first plane I can and get down to Sunningdale and try to qualify for The Open tomorrow. I’ve still got 36 holes tomorrow for The Open, the Irish Open, the French Open, The Scottish Open.  I’ve got a good run. I can’t think of a better way to start my run off, but there’s still a lot of golf left for the rest of the season.”

Good Luck with your qualifying for The Open.

Marcus Fraser said he had fun out there, and was gracious in defeat;

“It was good fun, Danny is such a great guy and he’s an awesome player. It’s the first of many tournaments for him, that’s for sure. It was nice to have a chance but unfortunately I couldn’t do it. If I keep giving myself chances, one day it might happen eventually. But as I said before, he’s a great player and he’s going to be a future star on The European Tour, there’s no question about it. I’ve got to be pleased with the week. I played really well, three out of the four days and managed to make a few putts. It’s just the way this game goes sometimes, you have to take it on the chin and get ready for the next week.”

European Tour Bans Caddie for hiding extra club in a bush.

Thought you should know this, cheating is not just restricted to the soccer field or rugby pitch, it has now surfaced at the wonderful game of golf, at the highest level, the European Tour.

Jose Manuel Lara was disqualified from the BMW International Open by the European Tour, after his Caddie was caught trying to hide an extra club he had accidentally put in Jose Manuel Lara’s bag at the beginning of the round. The caddie, Mathias Vinson, created a ruse on the second hole of the round to try and dispose of the 15th club, in a bush. Playing partners Damien McGrane and Peter Hedblom noticed Vinson going toward the bush and asked him what he was doing.

According to European Tour chief referee John Paramor, Vinson replied to the players;

” I’ve got this wrong. I’ve done something bad. I wish it hadn’t happened.”

Normally the penalty for having an extra club in the bag would have been assessed as a pair of two-shot penalties, one for each hole he had the extra club in the bag. But this was not a normal affair, John Paramor said:

“It was clearly the caddie doing what he felt at the time was the right thing, but was clearly the wrong thing. He’s kind of been asked not to come back and that’s how the matter has been resolved.”

What strikes me as funny is that the two playing partners saw what was happening, but Jose did not apparently. You don’t suppose the caddie told Jose of the error, and it was then Jose’s idea to get around the problem, knowing if the caddie did get caught he could absolve himself of all blame. I wonder if John Paramor will be keeping a close watch on Jose Manuel Lara, and I also wonder what corrective action would have been taken if it was proved that Jose instigated the dastardly course of action.

Your comments are awaited.

European Tour BMW International Open 2nd Round. Swede Joel Sjoholm Leads.

 

 

Joel Sjoholm / Getty Images

Joel Sjöholm of Sweden has a two shot lead at the halfway stage of the BMW International Open as he eagerly seeks his first European Tour title. Joel had a wonderful second round at the Gut Lärchenhof golf course, with two eagles and four birdies for a  -6 under par, 66, and a tournament total of -11 under par. The snappily dressed Swede is happy to be at the top of the leaderboard;

” Now I saw that I’m up there, and of course it’s going to be a new situation for me. But then I watched a lot of Euro Cup the last two or three weekends, I’ve seen what happens after four or five minutes, and I’m happy to be on top at the moment, but I would rather be on top on Sunday. I’m just enjoying this so much, I don’t really think too much about it. It’s just a great feeling and a fantastic tournament. I’ve always played here in Germany, and it was good to play well at the new venue.”

Chris Wood is one of the four players tied for second spot at -9 under par, he is happy to be in contention;

“It’s always nice to put yourself in contention. Nothing beats it really, and the more and more you can do it, the more chance you have to win and hopefully one will come along. The results haven’t really backed up the way I’ve played. I’m finishing top twenty with what I feel is top ten, top-five form really. I’ve just got to stay patient and wait for that to happen.”

The others joining Chris are; Danny Willett, Paul McGinley and Fabrizio Zanotti, and all have a real chance to go on and win this title, I personally would like to see the elegantly dressed Joel Sjoholm step up and take the win.

The highest ranked player in the field this week, Martin Kaymer, has missed the cut. It seems he could not recover from the jet lag he suffered on the trip back from the States to Europe. Martin missed the -1 under par cut line by just one shot, finishing his two rounds in par.