Golfing World catches up with youngster Oliver Fisher after his maiden tour victory at the the Czech Open. He had missed 20 out of 23 cuts before his victory at the Prosper Resort. Fisher is looking forward to a long and healthy future in golf.
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When you become the youngest ever to do something there is no hiding place and no escaping the fact that expectations go through the roof.
Oliver Fisher was one month and 10 days younger than previous record holder Justin Rose when he made his Walker Cup debut for Britain and Ireland at the age of 16 in 2005.
The following season he finished fifth at the European Tour qualifying school, thus becoming the youngest ever British player to earn a card.
So with no less an authority than Sir Nick Faldo labelling him a star of the future – Fisher won no fewer than five Faldo Junior Series titles – big things were expected.
But, as with Rose, it has not proved easy and one can only imagine the relief he felt when the winning putt dropped at the Czech Open on Sunday.
“It just shows what the game of golf can do – how bad it can be and how great it can be,” said the 22-year-old from Essex.
While Rose missed his first 21 halfway cuts as a professional – straight after his fourth place finish in the 1998 Open when still an amateur – it all started so well for Fisher.
He picked up money in his first five starts, including 11th spot at the Qatar Masters. Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey and Darren Clarke were among the players he beat there.
Fisher’s first top 10 came later that season and in May 2008, still only 19, he stood on the final tee of the Andalucian Open with a one-shot lead.
His drive was straight enough, but downwind it went far further than he planned – into water. He bogeyed the hole, lost the play-off to Thomas Levet and come the end of the following year found himself back at the qualifying school.
And not just back at it, but failing at it.
Others have crumbled from such a setback. Fisher, though, rebounded to take 81st place on the money list last season and in Madeira was only a single stroke away from another play-off.
But finishing the year with three missed cuts was a sign of more troubles to come. In his first 19 starts this season he crashed out early 18 times and looked to be at a real crisis point.
Hard work was the only way out and after making the cuts in Sweden and Ireland he came back from a two-week lay-off to set up another chance of victory this weekend.
Just as his career has so far been a rollercoaster ride, so was his final round.
From three in front he fell one behind Mikael Lundberg, but then sank 25-footers on the 16th and 17th and, with the Swede three-putting the 17th, triumphed by two.
From 224th on the “Race to Dubai” standings Fisher has leapt to 75th and from 507th in the world he has jumped to 238th.
It will be fascinating to follow his fortunes now he has broken through and, as he put it himself, now that he has “proven myself”.
Scotland’s Steven O’Hara was joint leader with Fisher with a round to go and he too hoped it would end with his first Tour victory.
The 31-year-old was a team-mate of Luke Donald and Graeme McDowell at the 2001 Walker Cup, but in over 200 starts since then has had only two top-three finishes and has had to return to the qualifying school four times.
O’Hara was still in the hunt with three to play, but four-putted the 16th for a bogey six, went out of bounds on the short 17th and, after chipping in there to salvage a bogey, three-putted the last to drop another stroke.
They were costly errors. By finishing only tied fifth he moved up a mere 14 places on the money list to 129th. Only the top 115 at the end of the season keep their cards.
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Czech Open
ENGLAND’S Oliver Fisher celebrated his first European Tour triumph yesterday when he won the Czech Open.
He shot a three-under 69 to finish 13 under – two shots clear of Swede Mikael Lundberg at the Propser Golf Resort.
Birdies at the seventh, eighth and ninth put 22-year-old Fisher in a good position going into the back nine where three more birdies and three bogeys secured his maiden title.
Fisher said: “It feels fantastic. I’ve put a lot of hard work in and to come out – on my fifth season on Tour – and finally win feels like now I’m there. I’ve proven to myself I can win.”
The fist pump moment
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Oliver Fisher Czech Open 2011
Oliver Fisher has reasons to laugh. He triumphed for the first time in his professional career despite he wasn’t having a very good year and missed seventeen straight cuts. He shot three birdies on his last five holes at the Czech Open and wasn’t even hindered by a bogey on the island fifteenth hole.
“The successful cut on the sixteenth was decisive. The tournament was very emotional for me, but I enjoyed it as well,” Fisher said and commented on his seventeen straight events without making it to the final rounds. “Golf is a very frustrating game. I just kept telling myself I’m only 22 and have to look at everything in broader context. I should be happy for playing at the tour at all.”
Fisher’s first appearance in the Czech Republic dates back to 2006 when he played as an amateur at the St. Andrews Trophy tournament in Mariánské Lázně. A year later he already joined the European Tour. He was seventeen at that time. Of the big trio McIlroy – Ramsay – Fisher he was the last one without a tournament title. “I feel certain relief but I never bothered myself with that too much,” the pro admitted.
He was awarded the trophy by the Czech president Václav Klaus, who pointed out that the event is a great promotion for the country. “It’s a great honour for me. I was telling myself that golf must be really important for people in your country,” added Fisher, who will finally have a chance to taste Czech beer. “I heard it’s strong.”
The second Mikael Lundberg of Sweden used services of a Czech caddie, Tomáš Ringsmuth, who plays golf in Čeladná under the supervision of the club’s head pro, Brett Brassier. Who would have thought on the third hole that he would be playing for the title? He sent his shot from sand to water and almost broke his club in anger.
Fabrizio Zanotti of Paraguay had the lowest round of the day with 66 shots, which ensured him the third place.
Englishman Gary Boyd finished on the fourth position, but at one moment he was even in the lead. But he will have to wait for his first title. The biggest success of his career so far came at last year’s Czech Open, where he was a member of a three-way playoff with the later winner Peter Hanson of Sweden and Peter Lawrie of Ireland.
Steven O’Hara from Scotland, who was caddied by the Czech Tomáš Mikyta, shared the fifth position in the end and didn’t achieve his first tournament victory either.
Paul McGinley’s chances were gone on the seventh hole nicknamed the half-pipe, where the experienced Ryder Cup player found the water. Triple bogey was posted by American Anthony Kang on the dreaded twelfth hole, as well as by Spaniard Rafael Cabrera-Bello on the fifth.
Graeme Storm from England even “surpassed” McGinley on the seventh hole and posted a snowman in the hot weather in Čeladná. And a terrible result of 9 shots was recorded on the eighteenth hole by the Scotsman Gary Orr! How many times did he find the water?
The winner received 250 thousand EUR of the total prize money of 1.5 million EUR. Besides the president of the Czech Republic, the final round was attended by more than 5 thousand spectators. The total tournament attendance was almost 13 thousand.
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Brit duo share Czech lead -
Scotland’s Steven O’Hara carded a seven-under-par third-round 65 to move into a share of the lead alongside England’s Oliver Fisher at the Czech Open. Sky Sports 20th August 2011
O’Hara and Fisher in fight for first tour title –
Steven O’Hara and Oliver Fisher will go into the final round of the Czech Open with a share of the lead as they both look for their maiden victory on the European Tour. ESPN 20th August 2011
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