CHALLENGE TOUR REPORT

Wind no problem for magnificent Molinari

REPORT FROM CHALLENGE TOUR PRESS OFFICER PAUL SYMES
Edoardo Molinari continued his dominance of the 2009 Challenge Tour season with a superb round of 69 in tough conditions to seize the lead on the opening day of the ECCO Tour Championship.
The Italian, who has already broken the record for Challenge Tour earnings in a season, would break through the €200,000 barrier and gain automatic promotion to The European Tour were he to add this week’s event to the Piemonte Open and Kazakhstan Open titles he has already collected this term.
Despite gusting winds of up to 25 mph at Holstebro GK in Jutland, on the east coast of Denmark, and despite playing for the first time with a new set of irons which he feels will take his game to even higher levels on The European Tour next season, Molinari was the only member of the 120-man field to break 70.
He currently leads the €180,000 event by one stroke from a trio of players on two under par: Finland’s Roope Kakko, who eagled the 16th hole, England’s Gary Boyd and Jose-Filipe Lima of Portugal, both of whom will join Molinari on The European Tour next season.
Molinari, who will partner younger brother Francesco at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup next month, said: “It was very tough at times out there, especially on the first few holes when it was really windy. But there are also some birdie chances out there, so you just have to concentrate hard and play more conservatively on the difficult holes. I’m using new clubs with different grooves this week, and they probably helped in the wind because the ball spins a bit less.”
The in-form Boyd finished third behind Molinari in Kazakhstan to climb to fourth place in the Challenge Tour Rankings, and so secure a European Tour card for the first time.
Boyd, who became the first ever random “target” of the Challenge Tour’s new anti-doping regime when he was tested after his morning round, claimed the conditions were the toughest he had played in all year.
He said: “It’s a great course – there’s hardly a bad hole out there – but it was playing really tough. It’s always a bit of a battle on the first day anyway, but today it was brutal. I was just trying to stay patient and not to make too many mistakes, which was easier said than done at times. The wind was so strong at times. I hit a five iron with 160 yards to go on one hole and still came up short, so it’s a good two or three clubs difference – and because it’s so cold, the ball doesn’t even fly that far when you’re playing downwind. You’ve got to take advantage of the par fives which are downwind, because on the fives which are playing into the wind, I was hitting a five iron for my third shot. Level par is a decent score round there today, so I’ve got to be delighted with a round of 70.”
Since missing three cuts in the middle of the season Boyd has been in fine form, finishing inside the top 20 in five of his last six events.
The youngster – who will hope to celebrate his 23rd birthday on Sunday by lifting the trophy – credited his improved performance to a midseason break, where his only contact with the golfing world was a book by renowned sports psychologist Dr Bob Rotella, who has worked with Padraig Harrington among others.
He said: “I didn’t actually played that badly from tee to green in the three tournaments where I missed the cut, but my putting had been poor. So I just threw the clubs into the garage and went away for the week. I took Putting Out of Your Mind with me, and it really made a difference. I used to hole so many putts when I was younger, but then I started becoming too technical and thinking about it too much, so that it didn’t feel natural any more. The trick is to try to free your mind, and by and large I’ve been able to do that ever since reading the book.”
FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 72
69 E Molinari (Ita)
70 G Boyd (Eng), J Lima (Por), R Kakko (Fin)
71 S Davis (Eng), S Manley (Wal), A Sjöstrand (Swe), M Higley (Eng), C Suneson (Esp), J Parry (Eng), J Hansen (Den) (am)
72 R McEvoy (Eng), A Gee (Eng), T Norret (Den), J Moul (Eng)
73 M Jurgensen (Den), A Tampion (Aus) , P Gustafsson (Swe) , B Evans (Eng) , C Monasterio (Arg), F Colombo (Ita), A Kaleka (Fra) , J Larsen (Nor) , R Davies (Wal) , B Akesson (Swe) ,
74 C Carranza (Arg), F Ohlsson (Swe) , M Wiegele (Aut) , S Jeppesen (Swe) , M Eliasson (Swe), A Högberg (Swe), N Smith (USA) , C Gane (Eng) , L Kennedy (Eng) , S Walker (Eng) , A Hartoe (am) (Den)
75 F Andersson Hed (Swe) , A Hansen (Den) , R Coles (Eng) , A Marshall (Eng) , M McGeady (Irl), M Haastrup (Den) , P Whiteford (Sco) , L Jensen (Den) , B Wiesberger (Aut) , F Praegant (Aut) , A Andersson (Swe) , J Guerrier (Fra) , C Rodiles (Esp)
76 R Muntz (Ned) , M Zions (Aus) , D Denison (Eng), P Baker (Eng), F Fritsch (Ger) , J Quesne (Fra) , A Wagner (Arg) , R Eriksson (Swe) , N Colsaerts (Bel), W Schauman (Swe) , C Moriarty (Irl) , G Paddison (Nzl) , A Butterfield (Eng) , D Lokke (Den) (am)
77 M Reale (Ita) , S Bebb (Wal), M Hedegaard (Den), R Hjelm (Den), J Wahlqvist (Swe) , A Ahokas (Fin), D Nouailhac (Fra), D Küpper (Ger), L Johansson (Swe), F Henge (Swe), J McLeary (Sco) , J Grillon (Fra), G Murray (Sco), A Kali (Den) , J Colomo (Esp), T Olesen (Den) , A Bernadet (Fra), S Thornton (Irl), A Kasprzak (Den) (am), L Bjerregaard (am) (Den) ,
78 M Korhonen (Fin) , K Nielsen (Den), J Bjerhag (Swe) , A Snobeck (Fra) , F Calmels (Fra) , Å Nilsson (Swe) , K Hallgren (Swe), P Ankersoe (Den), A McArthur (Sco) , J Arruti (Esp) ,
79 K Jorgensen (Den) , M Thorp (Nor), S Juul (Den), J Clément (Sui) , B Mason (Eng) , R De Sousa (Sui), J Zapata (Arg)
80 J Makitalo (Fin), N Meitinger (Ger), P Bocian (Swe) , G Houston (Wal)
81 G Adell (Swe), L Gagli (Ita), C Lange (Den), P Barth (Swe) , C Günther (Ger) , K Edberg (Swe)
82 J Adarraga Gomez (Esp) , L James (Eng) , M Pilkington (Wal) , N Bruzelius (Swe)
83 L Bond (Wal) , R Steiner (Aut) , J Morrison (Eng) , M Palm (Swe) , G Andersson (Swe)
85 K Sorensen (Den) (am)