Joburg Open, Super Sterne Wins.

Richard Sterne / Getty Images.

Richard Sterne won the Joburg Open with a super last round 64 on the East Course at  Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club on Sunday. His final tournament total of -27 under par, a record for this event, was an amazing seven shots ahead of second placed Charl Schwartzel. Richard’s recent woes with injury are now well behind him, although even he did not expect to be away from the game for nearly two years;

” I didn’t think I was going to be out for so long, but six months became a year and then almost two.  After all the hard work and the time out with injury, I did think whether I was ever going to win again. At one point the pain was so bad that I even wondered if I’d ever play golf again. But now I know I can. The only thing that kept me going was all the other South Africans, they kept winning a lot of events and I believed that if they could do it then I could.”

Richard is the first player since Tiger Woods in 2002 to drop just one shot in a 72 hole European Tour event, he now leads the Race To Dubai and will definitely be in the top 60 when the Official World Golf Rankings are updated on Monday. Only the top 50 players qualify automatically for Major Championships,  a huge incentive for Richard, who admits the Majors is where he wants to be;

” I’d like to get back into all the Majors, that’s where I want to be playing. It’s a big year,  I’ve got off to such a nice start so hopefully I can keep it going. I played really good golf today and the whole week really,  that was probably the best final round of my career. It was quite special to finish the way I did.”

Charl Schwartzel’s 66 left him one better off than  Chilean Felipe Aguilar, George Coetzee and Ricardo Santos, who matched the victor’s final round of 64. Sadly Trevor Fisher Jnr had a final round of  73, which left him tied in sixth place, alongside Keith Horne and Thomas Aiken on -18 under par for the tournament.

Joburg Open. Sterne & Fisher to Contest Final Round

Trevor Fisher Jnr / Getty Images

The final round of the Joburg Open will be contested between Richard Sterne and Trevor Fisher Jnr, after their fantastic third round scores elevated them to a five point lead over the field. Both players shot rounds of -4 under par, 68, on the tough East Course to separate themselves from the chasing pack at the Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club.

Trevor Fisher Jnr admitted to some nerves out on the course;

” A bit of nerves set in there, you try not to think about the lead, but it’s there in front of you. I was a bit jumpy with the swing and wasn’t waiting at the top, so I hit a few bad shots there. But I came back nicely with a few birdies. It’s just a feeling, and you’ve got to try and feel comfortable out there as much as possible. My last three or four years have been good on the Sunshine Tour. But I need to get to the next level now. It’s been good for me in terms of the stepping stones I’ve taken in the last 10 years. But I’ve stepped on a lot of stones,  I need to get to the top now.”

Charl Schwartzel is one of four players tied in third spot, five shots adrift of the leaders, but he thinks there is still a chance of a win;

” My game is not bad, but it can be a lot better. A bunch of putts didn’t go in, so I hope that clicks tomorrow. If I can go out and get to twenty-something under, then I’ll have a chance.”

Felipe Agular of Chile remains the only player from outside South Africa who has a slim chance to win, he is alongside Jaco Van Zyl and George Coetzee  at -14 under par, and will be five strokes behind at the start of play in the last round.

Joburg Open. It’s Still Sterne.

Richard Sterne / Getty Images

Richard Sterne still leads at the halfway stage of the Joburg Open, a European Tour event, after a -7 under par round 65 on the tougher East Course  saw him join compatriot Trevor Fisher Junior at the top of the leaderboard at -15 under par.

Richard knows there is a long way to go, but is happy he is not behind and having to chase;

” I did the right things and putted well, it’s nice to not be behind going into the weekend. It won’t be easy on the weekend, the players that are five or six back can catch us as well. Charl’s there, George is due a win, so it’s a long way from over.”

Trevor Fisher Jnr, named Player of the Year on the Sunshine Tour, shot a round of 62 on the West Course, with seven birdies and an eagle on his card, to go with his opening round on the East Course of 66, for his -15 under par total.

Trevor was happy with his good round;

” It was a great day out there, everything just happened for me and I sank the putts I needed to sink. I was happy and patient with myself, walked slow and did everything slow and it was just a good day.”

George Coetzee had a good day and came within a shot of two-time winner Charl Schwartzel’s course record, but at -12 under par for the tournament is still three back of the leaders.

It is all South Africans at the top of the leaderboard, nearest foreign player is Felipe Aguilar from Chile, who is in a tie for fourth place at -10 under par.

Yesterdays first round tied leader, German Maximilian Kieffer, could only manage a par round on the more difficult East Course, and is now back tied for 11th place.

Joburg Open, 1st Round. Sterne and Kieffer Lead.

Richard Sterne / Getty Images

Richard Sterne and Maximilian Kieffer lead the Joburg Open with fabulous first rounds of -8 under par of 63 on Royal Johannesburg & Kensington’s par 71 West Course. Both players now face three rounds on the tougher par 72 East Course, but Richard knows this course pretty well, the South African had a victory here in 2008, the five-time European Tour winner said:

” I had three good rounds around the East Course that year. If I can do that now I’ll have a chance on Sunday.”

Richard suffers from a dodgy back, which held him back during the last two years, he said he never knows when its going to be good;

” Some days it feels good and everything kind of happens, golf is strange, you’ve got to hit the right kind of shots at the right time. I hit 17 greens today, so I was never really in trouble at all.”

Germany’s Maximilian Kieffer continued the impressive start he has made to his rookie year campaign, having already finished tied for fourth in Durban and tied for 17th in Dubai. Maximilian said he enjoyed his great first round here;

” When you come from the Challenge Tour everyone says that you have enough to play out here, but you still want to prove it. It’s a new world and you don’t really know what to expect, so I’m happy that it went pretty good so far. That round was great,  I’ve been playing well the last few weeks and I just tried to stay positive on the golf course, and luckily today was another good round.”

Bryce Easton of South Africa, had a hole-in-one on his way to posting the best round on the tougher East Course, a 65, which gave him third place on -7  under par. Speaking about his hole in one, Bryce said;

” It’s one of those things, you don’t think about it when you’re playing the hole, but when it goes in it takes a couple of seconds to realise that it’s actually disappeared.”

The defending champion Branden Grace, and two-time winner Charl Schwartzel also played on the East Course on day one, but while former Masters Tournament winner Charl opened with a four under 68, Branden could only produce a level par 72.

Omega Dubai Desert Classic, Stephen Gallacher Wins

 

Stephen Gallacher / Getty Images

Stephen Gallacher won the Omega Dubai Desert Classic at the Emirates Golf Course in Dubai on Sunday, with a final round of -1 under par 71, for a -22 under par total. Stephen won by three strokes from Richard Sterne who also had a last round of -1 under par and a tournament total of -19 under.

The defining moment came when Stephen holed his approach to the par four 16th, for his fifth eagle of the week to finally shake off the strong challenge of Richard. Obviously Stephen was delighted with his second European Tour win;

“I’m obviously delighted. I’ve holed four shots this week, but you’ve got to do that these days to win, you need that little bit of magic.”

Stephen is now  set to climb into the top 60 of the Official World Golf Ranking in time for the WGC-Accenture Match Play, and has a great chance to move into the top 50 in time for a Masters Tournament debut at Augusta National. It’s the only Major he has not competed in;

” It’s the only Major I’ve never played, I sit and watch it in the house with the kids every year and obviously it would be a dream to play there.  My plan at the start of the year was to try and get into the top 50 to try and make The Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in 2014.”

Richard Sterne was understandably upset at not being able to clinch victory here, but took some positives out of the week, he said the chip in Eagle at the 16th took the wind out of his sails;

” Second place is obviously pretty good, but when you’re tied for the lead and there’s one shot in it here and there. Everything swung around on 16 really, that took the wind out of my sails. I gave it as good a run as I could, I’m not too disappointed.”

Chile’s Felipe Aguilar and Dane Thorbjørn Olesen finished tied for third and England’s Lee Westwood was joint fourth after hitting his second shot into the water on the par five last hole.

 

Omega Dubai Desert Classic, Gallacher leads

Stephen Gallacher / Getty Images

Stephen Gallacher has a three shot lead at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic after the conclusion of the third round at the Emirates Golf Club. His round of -10 under par 62 included a  40 yard bunker shot on the last hole, that went in for an Eagle, and in doing so broke a 12 year-old record at this tournament set by Tiger Woods, for the lowest three round total. Stephen who is a  nephew of former Ryder Cup Captain Bernard Gallacher, has won only once in more than 400 European Tour events and that was nine years ago on home soil at St Andrews.

Stephen recalled the moment the bunker shot holed out;

“The moment I hit it it was either stiff or in, I’m excited and looking forward to tomorrow. I’m pretty familiar with his course, I come out here on holiday with the family. I struggled last week in Qatar and my driver cracked, but with the new one I’m hitting more fairways and I’ve putted really good.”

Richard Sterne who led by one stroke after the first two rounds, he opened this tournament with a 62, might have expected a 66 to keep him out in front, but he had to be content with second place at -18 under par.

Thorbjorn Olesen, from Denmark, is in third position, he is at -16 under par for the tournament, but at five shots back of the leader has a huge task if he wants to lift the trophy.

The title will belong to one of these three players, everyone else is too far back to make a serious challenge. Would be nice to see Stephen Gallacher claim his second European Tour title.

Omega Dubai Desert Classic, Richard Sterne Leads after Round Two

 

 

 

Richard Sterne / Getty Images

Richard Sterne birdied the final hole at Emirates Golf Club to secure a one shot halfway lead standing at -12 under par for the tournament, in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. Richard said the course was tough;

“The course was a lot tougher with the wind and the greens definitely firmed out a bit. I think it’s going to be quite tricky coming to the weekend. There’s a lot of guys bunched up and you’re going to have to play pretty well to be there on Sunday. I had a long time sitting at home watching all the guys and especially the South Africans winning, so it’s nice to be back in the action and to have a chance.”

Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher and two of The European Tour’s rising stars, Dane Thorbjørn Olesen and England’s Tommy Fleetwood, are just one shot back at -11 under par.

Former Challenge Tour winner Tommy Fleetwood, 22, has yet to drop a stroke and after a second round of 68 said;

“It’s just nice to be up there with all these great names.”

Stephen Gallacher is also delighted to be in the hunt for the title;

“It was a lot trickier with the wind switching all over the shop and I’m delighted to be still in the hunt.”

 

Foot-note:

Apparently Dubai has no proper sewerage system, this report is from FeedingTruth.com:

The glittering supercity of Dubai has no sewage system. At least no underground sewage system…(VIDEO)

Posted By: MrFusion [Send E-Mail]
Date: Thursday, 16-Aug-2012 22:56:48

[Credit to lamamaba of STA for finding this...]
Rather than a sewage system, Dubai has more of a sewage caravan. Hundreds and hundreds of 10,000 gallon sewage trucks lined up for their turn to dump their loads into the ocean. Swimming on the beaches of Dubai is not recommended.
http://www.boreme.com/posting.php?id=31361

 

Handa Wales Open @ Celtic Manor, Jaidee Wins

Thongchai Jaidee (Getty Images)

Thongchai Jaidee won the Handa Wales Open at a wet and windy Celtic Manor to claim his first European Tour win on European soil, all four of his previous victories on his home continent. Thongchai’s last round 72 gave him a tournament total of -6 under par, to win by one shot from Thomas Bjorn, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano, Joost Luiten and Richard Sterne, who all finished at -5 under par.

Thongchai was really pleased with his win. albeit with rules officials assistance;

” I want to say thank you to all my family, all the supporters and the sponsors here. Conditions were quite tough for me. I tried to hit everything on the fairway, that’s the main thing, then hit the ball on the green. It was very, very tough for me, not like Thailand!”

 Ross Fisher finished at -4 under par and left with far less happy memories this time after being penalised a shot for slow play when one off the lead. Ross  fell foul of European Tour rules when he took too long over shots at the 11th and 14th holes, exceeding the allocated 40 seconds on both occasions. By comparison, Joost Luiten was told to speed up, but no penalty stroke awarded. Would be interesting if they used this 40 second rule on the USPGA Tour, the amount of time some of those players take, they could be in danger of losing a few players at each tournament.

So golf is now another one of those sports where the winner is decided by officials, rather than the team or player who actually performs better but just gets a contentious call from officialdom. Are all the officials on the course presented with a stop watch at the start of play everyday ?

Ross commented after the tournament;

” I don’t think it’s justice, but there you go.”