Westwood clickety-clicks and finds himself
in second place at Johnnie Walker Classic
FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Lee Westwood was pleasantly surprised with his strong opening round at the Johnnie Walker Classic as he ended the first day just two shots behind leader Robert-Jan Derksen.
The 35-year-old Englishman has had little opportunity to prepare for this week's tournament in Perth, Western Australia but his lowered expectations contributed to a relaxed approach and six-under-par 66.
"It's quite good to come to some of these tournaments with no expectations and just play with freedom and take it one shot at a time," said Westwood, who took a month off over Christmas. "I'm not suggesting I wasn't trying; I'm just saying that I haven't played a lot recently and sometimes it's nice to go out and play like that."
In addition to posting a good score, Westwood also had the opportunity to play with one of his golfing idols, Greg Norman.
"That was another treat for me as Greg was really kind of my hero," he added.
"I wanted to play golf like he played, aggressive and with that kind of charisma.
"It's been about five or six years since we last played together at Royal Troon with another guy called Tiger Woods - that was a good three-ball for me!
"I still enjoy watching him play and some of the short-game shots he plays, the chips around the green, he's just in a different class.
"Greg has always been one of the fittest people out there. You look at him now, he's 54 or something like that, and still in great shape. If you're in great shape, then you've got half a chance."
PRESS RELEASE FROM ASIAN TOUR
Robert-Jan Derksen fired a blistering eight-under-par 64 to take the first round lead in the Johnnie Walker Classic with Singaporean Mardan Mamat leading the chasing pack.
Flying Dutchman Derjsen crafted a flawless round which included eight birdies at The Vines Resort and Country Club to lead by one stroke from Mardan, who carried Asia’s charge for a first victory in the prestigious tournament, and Australian Tony Carolan.
Irishman Damien McGrane and English duo Lee Westwood and John Bickerton were a further stroke back while last week’s Maybank Malaysian Open winner, Anthony Kang of the United States, and newly-installed European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie were amongst those bunched on 67.
Australian great Greg Norman, making his first appearance on home soil since 2006, endured a frustrating day on the greens en route to a 75.
American Anthony Kim opened with a bogey-free 68 and Camilo Villegas of Colombia, ranked ninth in the world, sank a last-hole eagle putt to salvage a 72 on a sun-baked day at The Vines.
Derksen was delighted to be challenging for a third career title on a course which he likes. “I’ve played this course a few times, I know the course really well,” said the 35-year-old, whose last victory came in 2005.
“I think it suits my game. I've been struggling a little bit with my driver lately, but I think this week, it's just more position play. It's a good start and it's always nice to have a chance. But there’s a lot of golf to be played.”
No Asian has won the Johnnie Walker Classic since it was inaugurated in 1990 and Mardan gave himself every chance with an impressive display. He credited his coach Kel Llewellyn and caddie Drew Dubberlin for his strong start.
“I’ve got a good caddie who knows the course very well. At the same time, he’s keeping me relaxed and he did a good job,” said Mardan. “Drew knows where to place the ball, the pin positions and how to read the lines. There’s less of a job for me to do and I can just focus on hitting the golf ball. I’m a bit stubborn sometimes but I did listen to some of his advice!”
The Singaporean is a two-time winner on the Asian Tour but it has been nearly three years now that he lasted tasted victory. Part of the reasons has been due to bad habits creeping into his game which Mardan put a quick fix after a session with Llewellyn.
“He fine-tuned my swing and it worked very well. It’s just trying to do what I had forgotten all these years as I’ve not seen Kel for two years. I’m just keeping the swing simple. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that it’ll stay that way through the weekend,” said Mardan.
Carolan, a regular on the Asian Tour, played his last 10 holes in seven under to join Mardan in second place. An eagle on his ninth hole, at the par five 18th sparked his superb run. “I nearly had an albatross as the ball shaved the hole. When it left the clubface, we knew it was online and the crowd was screaming. That eagle sparked my round,” said Carolan.
Ryder Cup star Westwood put himself firmly in the race for a 19th European Tour career title after a strong finish where he birdied four of his last seven holes. “I started off hitting a couple of poor shots, a couple of pulls and got away with one but I corrected the fault,” said Westwood.
“That’s what I’ve been good at doing the last couple of years - correcting things pretty quickly - and I started hitting good shots after that and I played well for the last 12 holes.”
Last week’s champion Kang needed a bogey on his opening hole to bring him back to reality and stormed home with an inward 31. “I was still buzzed from last week. But after the bogey, it woke me straight up,” said Kang, a three-time winner on the Asian Tour.
Arizona-based Kang said his family has been inundated with phone calls from friends and well-wishers following his career’s biggest victory. “I feel bad for my parents and everyone back home. I think I’ve had arthritis from sitting in front of the computer for a long time answering emails,” said Kang.
The 54-year-old Norman could not buy a putt and three-putted on three occasions to leave himself with a fight on his hands to make the halfway cut on Friday. “I actually felt good. I hit one bad drive and took a double bogey and took three three-putts. 75 is a bit of a shock to me but that’s my score and I’ve got to take it,” said the Great White Shark.
The Johnnie Walker Classic, offering £1.25 million, is tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia.
ALL THE FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 72
64 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned)
65 Tony Carolan (Aus), Mardan Mamat (Sin)
66 Damien McGrane, John Bickerton, Lee Westwood
67 Anthony Kang (USA), Danny Lee (Nzl), Clint Rice (Aus), Colin Montgomerie, Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Peter Lawrie, Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn)
68 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Seung-yul Noh (Kor), Chris Gaunt (Aus), Benn Barham, Andrew Tschudin (Aus), Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Scott Hend (Aus), Alexander Noren (Swe), Adam Blyth (Aus), Scott Laycock (Aus), Richie Ramsay, Gareth Maybin, Phillip Price, Simon Khan, Taichiro Kiyota (Jpn), Anthony Kim (USA), David McKenzie (Aus), Ian Poulter, Hyung-sung Kim (Kor)
69 Michael Sim (Aus), Anton Haig (Rsa), Richie Gallichan (Aus), Tim Wood (Aus), Chih-bing Lam (Sin), Stuart Bouvier (Aus), Gary Lockerbie, Craig Scott (Aus), Richard Finch, Andre Stolz (Aus), Sam Little
70 David Smail (Nzl), Pelle Edberg (Swe), Stephen Leaney (Aus), Johan Edfors (Swe), Simon Wakefield, Anthony Wall, Niclas Fasth (Swe), Markus Brier (Aut), Marcus Fraser (Aus), Darren Beck (Aus), David Howell, Wayne Perske (Aus), Andrew Dodt (Aus), Terry Pilkadaris (Aus), Mark Brown (USA), Peter Senior (Aus), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Seve Benson, Marcus Both (Aus), Sang-moon Bae (Kor), Iain Steel (Mal), Ross McGowan
71 Bryan Saltus (USA), Robert Dinwiddie, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Magnus A Carlsson (Swe), Won Joon Lee (Aus), Robert Rock, Tristan Lambert (Aus), Scott Barr (Aus), Marc Warren, Artemio-hiromasa Murakami (Phi), Craig Parry (Aus), Michael Jonzon (Swe), Alastair Forsyth, Wade Ormsby (Aus), Miles Tunnicliff, Brad Kennedy (Aus), Ashley Hall (Aus), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), Cameron Percy (Aus), Paul Casey, Brett Rumford (Aus), Stephen Dartnell (Aus), Rick Kulacz (Aus), Mark Foster, Paul Sheehan (Aus)
72 Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Andrew Coltart, Anthony Summers (Aus), Marcel Siem (Ger), Ben Leong (Mal), Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Scott Drummond, Brad Lamb (Aus), Jason Knutzon (USA), Adam Crawford (Aus), Oliver Fisher, Kane Webber (USA), Alistair Presnell (Aus), Camilo Villegas (Col), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra)
73 Simon Griffiths, David Frost (Rsa), Peter Hedblom (Swe), Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Graeme Storm, Jason Scrivener (Aus), Matthew Millar (Aus), Pablo Martin (Spa), Matthew Griffin (Aus), Steve Webster, Nick Dougherty, Michael McGrath (Aus), Gary Murphy, Taco Remkes (Ned), James Kamte (Rsa), Gavin Flint (Aus), Peter O'Malley (Aus)
74 Chris Downes (Aus), Ryan Haller (Aus), Scott Strange (Aus), Jarrod Moseley (Aus), Tae hee Lee (Kor), Michael Long (Nzl), Phillip Archer, Ryan Hammond (Aus), Wen-chong Liang (Chn), Richard Green (Aus), Gregory Bourdy (Fra)
75 David Gleeson (Aus), Jamie Donaldson, Greg Norman (Aus), Heath Reed (Aus), Paul Broadhurst, Josh Geary (Nzl)
76 Adam Bland (Aus), Angelo Que (Phi), Steven Bowditch (Aus)
77 Aaron Townsend (Aus), Jason King (Aus), Ewan Porter (Aus), Anthony Brown (Aus), Rhys Davies, Chris Rodgers, Peter Fowler (Aus), Steve Jones (USA)
78 Shiv Kapur (Ind), Peter Wilson (Aus), Michael Moore (Aus)
80 Terry Price (Aus)
DQ: Mitchell Brown (Aus)
in second place at Johnnie Walker Classic
FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Lee Westwood was pleasantly surprised with his strong opening round at the Johnnie Walker Classic as he ended the first day just two shots behind leader Robert-Jan Derksen.
The 35-year-old Englishman has had little opportunity to prepare for this week's tournament in Perth, Western Australia but his lowered expectations contributed to a relaxed approach and six-under-par 66.
"It's quite good to come to some of these tournaments with no expectations and just play with freedom and take it one shot at a time," said Westwood, who took a month off over Christmas. "I'm not suggesting I wasn't trying; I'm just saying that I haven't played a lot recently and sometimes it's nice to go out and play like that."
In addition to posting a good score, Westwood also had the opportunity to play with one of his golfing idols, Greg Norman.
"That was another treat for me as Greg was really kind of my hero," he added.
"I wanted to play golf like he played, aggressive and with that kind of charisma.
"It's been about five or six years since we last played together at Royal Troon with another guy called Tiger Woods - that was a good three-ball for me!
"I still enjoy watching him play and some of the short-game shots he plays, the chips around the green, he's just in a different class.
"Greg has always been one of the fittest people out there. You look at him now, he's 54 or something like that, and still in great shape. If you're in great shape, then you've got half a chance."
PRESS RELEASE FROM ASIAN TOUR
Robert-Jan Derksen fired a blistering eight-under-par 64 to take the first round lead in the Johnnie Walker Classic with Singaporean Mardan Mamat leading the chasing pack.
Flying Dutchman Derjsen crafted a flawless round which included eight birdies at The Vines Resort and Country Club to lead by one stroke from Mardan, who carried Asia’s charge for a first victory in the prestigious tournament, and Australian Tony Carolan.
Irishman Damien McGrane and English duo Lee Westwood and John Bickerton were a further stroke back while last week’s Maybank Malaysian Open winner, Anthony Kang of the United States, and newly-installed European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie were amongst those bunched on 67.
Australian great Greg Norman, making his first appearance on home soil since 2006, endured a frustrating day on the greens en route to a 75.
American Anthony Kim opened with a bogey-free 68 and Camilo Villegas of Colombia, ranked ninth in the world, sank a last-hole eagle putt to salvage a 72 on a sun-baked day at The Vines.
Derksen was delighted to be challenging for a third career title on a course which he likes. “I’ve played this course a few times, I know the course really well,” said the 35-year-old, whose last victory came in 2005.
“I think it suits my game. I've been struggling a little bit with my driver lately, but I think this week, it's just more position play. It's a good start and it's always nice to have a chance. But there’s a lot of golf to be played.”
No Asian has won the Johnnie Walker Classic since it was inaugurated in 1990 and Mardan gave himself every chance with an impressive display. He credited his coach Kel Llewellyn and caddie Drew Dubberlin for his strong start.
“I’ve got a good caddie who knows the course very well. At the same time, he’s keeping me relaxed and he did a good job,” said Mardan. “Drew knows where to place the ball, the pin positions and how to read the lines. There’s less of a job for me to do and I can just focus on hitting the golf ball. I’m a bit stubborn sometimes but I did listen to some of his advice!”
The Singaporean is a two-time winner on the Asian Tour but it has been nearly three years now that he lasted tasted victory. Part of the reasons has been due to bad habits creeping into his game which Mardan put a quick fix after a session with Llewellyn.
“He fine-tuned my swing and it worked very well. It’s just trying to do what I had forgotten all these years as I’ve not seen Kel for two years. I’m just keeping the swing simple. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that it’ll stay that way through the weekend,” said Mardan.
Carolan, a regular on the Asian Tour, played his last 10 holes in seven under to join Mardan in second place. An eagle on his ninth hole, at the par five 18th sparked his superb run. “I nearly had an albatross as the ball shaved the hole. When it left the clubface, we knew it was online and the crowd was screaming. That eagle sparked my round,” said Carolan.
Ryder Cup star Westwood put himself firmly in the race for a 19th European Tour career title after a strong finish where he birdied four of his last seven holes. “I started off hitting a couple of poor shots, a couple of pulls and got away with one but I corrected the fault,” said Westwood.
“That’s what I’ve been good at doing the last couple of years - correcting things pretty quickly - and I started hitting good shots after that and I played well for the last 12 holes.”
Last week’s champion Kang needed a bogey on his opening hole to bring him back to reality and stormed home with an inward 31. “I was still buzzed from last week. But after the bogey, it woke me straight up,” said Kang, a three-time winner on the Asian Tour.
Arizona-based Kang said his family has been inundated with phone calls from friends and well-wishers following his career’s biggest victory. “I feel bad for my parents and everyone back home. I think I’ve had arthritis from sitting in front of the computer for a long time answering emails,” said Kang.
The 54-year-old Norman could not buy a putt and three-putted on three occasions to leave himself with a fight on his hands to make the halfway cut on Friday. “I actually felt good. I hit one bad drive and took a double bogey and took three three-putts. 75 is a bit of a shock to me but that’s my score and I’ve got to take it,” said the Great White Shark.
The Johnnie Walker Classic, offering £1.25 million, is tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia.
ALL THE FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 72
64 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned)
65 Tony Carolan (Aus), Mardan Mamat (Sin)
66 Damien McGrane, John Bickerton, Lee Westwood
67 Anthony Kang (USA), Danny Lee (Nzl), Clint Rice (Aus), Colin Montgomerie, Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Peter Lawrie, Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn)
68 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Seung-yul Noh (Kor), Chris Gaunt (Aus), Benn Barham, Andrew Tschudin (Aus), Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Scott Hend (Aus), Alexander Noren (Swe), Adam Blyth (Aus), Scott Laycock (Aus), Richie Ramsay, Gareth Maybin, Phillip Price, Simon Khan, Taichiro Kiyota (Jpn), Anthony Kim (USA), David McKenzie (Aus), Ian Poulter, Hyung-sung Kim (Kor)
69 Michael Sim (Aus), Anton Haig (Rsa), Richie Gallichan (Aus), Tim Wood (Aus), Chih-bing Lam (Sin), Stuart Bouvier (Aus), Gary Lockerbie, Craig Scott (Aus), Richard Finch, Andre Stolz (Aus), Sam Little
70 David Smail (Nzl), Pelle Edberg (Swe), Stephen Leaney (Aus), Johan Edfors (Swe), Simon Wakefield, Anthony Wall, Niclas Fasth (Swe), Markus Brier (Aut), Marcus Fraser (Aus), Darren Beck (Aus), David Howell, Wayne Perske (Aus), Andrew Dodt (Aus), Terry Pilkadaris (Aus), Mark Brown (USA), Peter Senior (Aus), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Seve Benson, Marcus Both (Aus), Sang-moon Bae (Kor), Iain Steel (Mal), Ross McGowan
71 Bryan Saltus (USA), Robert Dinwiddie, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Magnus A Carlsson (Swe), Won Joon Lee (Aus), Robert Rock, Tristan Lambert (Aus), Scott Barr (Aus), Marc Warren, Artemio-hiromasa Murakami (Phi), Craig Parry (Aus), Michael Jonzon (Swe), Alastair Forsyth, Wade Ormsby (Aus), Miles Tunnicliff, Brad Kennedy (Aus), Ashley Hall (Aus), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), Cameron Percy (Aus), Paul Casey, Brett Rumford (Aus), Stephen Dartnell (Aus), Rick Kulacz (Aus), Mark Foster, Paul Sheehan (Aus)
72 Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Andrew Coltart, Anthony Summers (Aus), Marcel Siem (Ger), Ben Leong (Mal), Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Scott Drummond, Brad Lamb (Aus), Jason Knutzon (USA), Adam Crawford (Aus), Oliver Fisher, Kane Webber (USA), Alistair Presnell (Aus), Camilo Villegas (Col), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra)
73 Simon Griffiths, David Frost (Rsa), Peter Hedblom (Swe), Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Graeme Storm, Jason Scrivener (Aus), Matthew Millar (Aus), Pablo Martin (Spa), Matthew Griffin (Aus), Steve Webster, Nick Dougherty, Michael McGrath (Aus), Gary Murphy, Taco Remkes (Ned), James Kamte (Rsa), Gavin Flint (Aus), Peter O'Malley (Aus)
74 Chris Downes (Aus), Ryan Haller (Aus), Scott Strange (Aus), Jarrod Moseley (Aus), Tae hee Lee (Kor), Michael Long (Nzl), Phillip Archer, Ryan Hammond (Aus), Wen-chong Liang (Chn), Richard Green (Aus), Gregory Bourdy (Fra)
75 David Gleeson (Aus), Jamie Donaldson, Greg Norman (Aus), Heath Reed (Aus), Paul Broadhurst, Josh Geary (Nzl)
76 Adam Bland (Aus), Angelo Que (Phi), Steven Bowditch (Aus)
77 Aaron Townsend (Aus), Jason King (Aus), Ewan Porter (Aus), Anthony Brown (Aus), Rhys Davies, Chris Rodgers, Peter Fowler (Aus), Steve Jones (USA)
78 Shiv Kapur (Ind), Peter Wilson (Aus), Michael Moore (Aus)
80 Terry Price (Aus)
DQ: Mitchell Brown (Aus)
Labels: ASIAN TOUR
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Thursday, February 19, 2009
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