AUSTRIA, NETHERLANDS, PORTUGAL QUALIFY FOR WORLD CUP
NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE EUROPEAN TOUR
The Austrian team of Roland Steiner and Florian Praegant won the Omega Mission Hills World Cup European Qualifier by three strokes to secure their ticket to China alongside The Netherlands and Portugal in a thrilling final round at Estonia Golf and Country Club.
Steiner and Praegant carded an impressive five under par 67 in the final round foursomes to hold back the challenge of Joost Luiten and Robert-Jan Derksen of The Netherlands, who played solidly to shoot 68 in windy conditions on the Sea Course.
All eyes were on the battle for the final qualifying spot. Portugal, represented by Hugo and Ricardo Santos, started the day in third place, three shots ahead of Greece and five shots ahead of fourth placed Switzerland and Finland. Finland’s hopes of qualification were dented early in their round with a triple-bogey on the third hole and they never recovered.
Consecutive bogeys on the first and second holes threatened to derail Portugal’s chances of victory but they steadied the ship with a birdie on the third hole. Another bogey on the seventh saw them drop back into fourth place behind the Greek team of Karantzias Panagiotis and Gkinis Themistoklis who birdied the second, sixth and tenth to get to fifteen under par before dropping a shot on the fifteenth hole.
A bounce-back birdie for Greece on sixteen saw them tied with Portugal in third place at 15 under with two holes to play. A bogey on seventeen left the Greek team one shot behind playing the 18th. With both teams making par on the final hole Portugal’s place in the World Cup final in China was secured.
They will be the third set of brothers to play in the OMEGA Mission Hills World Cup this year joining the Molinari brothers Edoardo and Francesco and Camillo and Manuel Villegas.
The Swiss team of Martin Rominger and Nicolas Sulzer made a late charge shooting a five under par 67 to finish on 13 under par but they had left themselves with too much to do after a disappointing 69 in the fourball format on Saturday and finished in fifth place.
The Austrian team were thrilled with their final round performance, which saw them carding five birdies and no dropped shots in the more difficult foursomes format.
“We did a good job over the four days”, said Steiner. “It was perfect for us to play together. There was no discussion or debate, everyone did their job. This format suits us because our game is very similar. I know what he (Praegant) thinks and he knows what I think. We made a good team this week.”
“After the first birdie we were able to relax a bit,” said Praegant. “The hard work has now been done and we can now look forward to China. It feels really good to qualify and represent Austria. I don’t think we realise yet what we’ve done.”
Derksen, a veteran of five World Cup campaigns for The Netherlands, was confident that he and partner Luiten would perform well in China:
“It was important that we got the job done this week. It was good practice for China. We have grown into the format as a team. We didn’t play well in the foursomes on Friday but today was much better. I’m looking forward to playing with Joost. We make a good team. He is a more aggressive player and I am more defensive so we should do well in China. We hope to have the best result ever for the Netherlands”.
Joost Luiten was looking forward to his first OMEGA Mission Hills World Cup.
“It’s always good to represent your country”, said Luiten. “I last played for The Netherlands as an amateur six years ago. Robert and I are a good team together and we’ll do well in China.”
Portugal were justifiably delighted to hold on to their third place to qualify. Hugo Santos summed up their achievement in one word - “great”.
“I’ve played for Portugal as an amateur but this has been my first time playing in a team for Portugal as a professional. It feels great to be able to represent my country. Just great.”
Portugal kept their nerve in a close battle for third place. Ricardo Santos was pleased with how they handled the pressure.
“My brother and I were doing really well with the pressure of the foursomes format. The fact that we are brothers helps. I know his game more than anyone and I think he knows mine as well. This was a tough week but now we can finally relax.”
FINAL TOTALS
The Estonian Golf and Country Club, Jõelähtme Parish, Estonia.
Par 288 (4x72). Yardage 6462.
264 – Austria (Roland STEINER / Florian PRAEGANT)
267 – Netherlands (Joost LUITEN / Robert-Jan DERKSEN)
273 – Portugal (Ricardo SANTOS / Hugo SANTOS)
274 – Greece (Karantzias PANAGIOTIS / Gkinis THEMISTOKLIS)
275 – Switzerland (Martin ROMANGER / Nicolas SULZER)
276 – Chile (Mark TULLO / Felipe AGUILAR)
286 – Finland (Mikko KORHONEN/ Joonas GRANBERG), Estonia (Mark SUURSALU/Egert POLDMA), Poland (Maksymilian SALUDA / Jakub OSSOWSKI)
290 – Slovenia (Sebastjan AJSTER / Gregor SLABE)
303 – Croatia (Marin STAHAN / Miro RAIC)
Format: Fourball used in first and third rounds, Foursomes (alternate shot) used in the Second and final founds
Roddy Williams
Managing Editor
europeantour.com
The Austrian team of Roland Steiner and Florian Praegant won the Omega Mission Hills World Cup European Qualifier by three strokes to secure their ticket to China alongside The Netherlands and Portugal in a thrilling final round at Estonia Golf and Country Club.
Steiner and Praegant carded an impressive five under par 67 in the final round foursomes to hold back the challenge of Joost Luiten and Robert-Jan Derksen of The Netherlands, who played solidly to shoot 68 in windy conditions on the Sea Course.
All eyes were on the battle for the final qualifying spot. Portugal, represented by Hugo and Ricardo Santos, started the day in third place, three shots ahead of Greece and five shots ahead of fourth placed Switzerland and Finland. Finland’s hopes of qualification were dented early in their round with a triple-bogey on the third hole and they never recovered.
Consecutive bogeys on the first and second holes threatened to derail Portugal’s chances of victory but they steadied the ship with a birdie on the third hole. Another bogey on the seventh saw them drop back into fourth place behind the Greek team of Karantzias Panagiotis and Gkinis Themistoklis who birdied the second, sixth and tenth to get to fifteen under par before dropping a shot on the fifteenth hole.
A bounce-back birdie for Greece on sixteen saw them tied with Portugal in third place at 15 under with two holes to play. A bogey on seventeen left the Greek team one shot behind playing the 18th. With both teams making par on the final hole Portugal’s place in the World Cup final in China was secured.
They will be the third set of brothers to play in the OMEGA Mission Hills World Cup this year joining the Molinari brothers Edoardo and Francesco and Camillo and Manuel Villegas.
The Swiss team of Martin Rominger and Nicolas Sulzer made a late charge shooting a five under par 67 to finish on 13 under par but they had left themselves with too much to do after a disappointing 69 in the fourball format on Saturday and finished in fifth place.
The Austrian team were thrilled with their final round performance, which saw them carding five birdies and no dropped shots in the more difficult foursomes format.
“We did a good job over the four days”, said Steiner. “It was perfect for us to play together. There was no discussion or debate, everyone did their job. This format suits us because our game is very similar. I know what he (Praegant) thinks and he knows what I think. We made a good team this week.”
“After the first birdie we were able to relax a bit,” said Praegant. “The hard work has now been done and we can now look forward to China. It feels really good to qualify and represent Austria. I don’t think we realise yet what we’ve done.”
Derksen, a veteran of five World Cup campaigns for The Netherlands, was confident that he and partner Luiten would perform well in China:
“It was important that we got the job done this week. It was good practice for China. We have grown into the format as a team. We didn’t play well in the foursomes on Friday but today was much better. I’m looking forward to playing with Joost. We make a good team. He is a more aggressive player and I am more defensive so we should do well in China. We hope to have the best result ever for the Netherlands”.
Joost Luiten was looking forward to his first OMEGA Mission Hills World Cup.
“It’s always good to represent your country”, said Luiten. “I last played for The Netherlands as an amateur six years ago. Robert and I are a good team together and we’ll do well in China.”
Portugal were justifiably delighted to hold on to their third place to qualify. Hugo Santos summed up their achievement in one word - “great”.
“I’ve played for Portugal as an amateur but this has been my first time playing in a team for Portugal as a professional. It feels great to be able to represent my country. Just great.”
Portugal kept their nerve in a close battle for third place. Ricardo Santos was pleased with how they handled the pressure.
“My brother and I were doing really well with the pressure of the foursomes format. The fact that we are brothers helps. I know his game more than anyone and I think he knows mine as well. This was a tough week but now we can finally relax.”
FINAL TOTALS
The Estonian Golf and Country Club, Jõelähtme Parish, Estonia.
Par 288 (4x72). Yardage 6462.
264 – Austria (Roland STEINER / Florian PRAEGANT)
267 – Netherlands (Joost LUITEN / Robert-Jan DERKSEN)
273 – Portugal (Ricardo SANTOS / Hugo SANTOS)
274 – Greece (Karantzias PANAGIOTIS / Gkinis THEMISTOKLIS)
275 – Switzerland (Martin ROMANGER / Nicolas SULZER)
276 – Chile (Mark TULLO / Felipe AGUILAR)
286 – Finland (Mikko KORHONEN/ Joonas GRANBERG), Estonia (Mark SUURSALU/Egert POLDMA), Poland (Maksymilian SALUDA / Jakub OSSOWSKI)
290 – Slovenia (Sebastjan AJSTER / Gregor SLABE)
303 – Croatia (Marin STAHAN / Miro RAIC)
Format: Fourball used in first and third rounds, Foursomes (alternate shot) used in the Second and final founds
Roddy Williams
Managing Editor
europeantour.com
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See story on its own page | Sunday, August 07, 2011
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