Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy, the men currently occupying the first two places in The Race to Dubai, will headline the field for this week’s UBS Hong Kong Open at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling.
Whilst McIlory is enjoying his best season of golf, he might care to spare a thought for Oliver Fisher who was expected to accompany him on a shooting spree through the professional ranks.
Having become the youngest Briton to earn a tour card, Ollie was not so long ago McIlory’s rival for the title of hottest amateur around. Now, suddenly and unexpectedly, Fisher finds himself involved in the fight of his professional life.
Ollie must finish in the top 40 if he is to close the gap on those above him in the Order of Merit, one thing is for certain, if Ollie misses the cut in Hong Kong (as he has in more then half of the tournaments this year) he’ll be out.
Since splitting with Coach Chris Jenkins in February this year, Fisher has sunk further and further into desperation. Ollie has turned to Lee Westwood’s coach, Pete Cowan, for support and now feels that he has turned a corner. Recent results appear to reflect this, having finished top 25 in his last 3 tournaments.
Ollie has positive recollections of Fanling from last year, having finished 11th. If McIlroy thinks the pressure is on at the top – it’s surely more testing being at the bottom.
C’mon Oliie, you can do it.
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Oliver Fisher ended the week T21 ten shot behind the winner Michael Jonzon.
Fisher’s four rounds at the Castello Masters ended 68 – 69 – 71 – 66.
Ollie has found himself in improving form during the last three tournaments, having finished T12 in the Portugal Masters the week before, and T23 in the Madrid Masters prior to that.
Thursday sees Ollie enter the Barclays Singapore Open at Sentosa Golf Club, and with him finding his form once more, we’re hopeful for a good result.
Denmark’s Jeppe Huldahl held off Niclas Fasth and Ignacio Garrido to secure his maiden European Tour title at The Celtic Manor Wales Open.
26-year-old Huldahl, who held the joint lead overnight, produced a nerveless display on the final day of the competition without dropping a shot on his way to an excellent 67 and an aggregate score of nine under.
Oliver Fisher carded an excellent 67, the 20-year-old birdieing the 9th, 10th & 11th before eagling the 18th to move to five under overall.
Alongside Fisher on five under were Richard Green and Jeev Milkha Singh, who both posted 69s, and Simon Dyson, who shot 70.
With the European Open at the London Golf Club Ollie’s first result since missing the cut on 6 of his last outings, this was a significant achievement for him, providing his first top 10 place for the season. Having split with coach Chris Jenkins earlier this year, it looked like our Ollie’s season was taking a turn for the worse.
After the slight disappointment of failing to make the cut in last week’s tournament at the Vines Resort & Country Club in Perth, Oliver Fisher heads to Bali for this week’s European Tour event.
The Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open at New Kuta Golf Club in Bali, Indonesia became part of The European Tour International Schedule in 2005 and has a history of low scoring events.
The par 72 course measures at over 7500 yards from the championship tees, overlooking some of the best surfing beauty spots Bali has on offer. The New Kuta Golf Club is the island’s first championship course.
Ollie’s opening round ended in one-under-par having carded birdies on the 5th, 7th, 10th & 16th holes, and bogeyed the 1st, 8th & 17th.
Elsewhere on the golf course, Angelo Que of the Philippines took a four-stroke clubhouse lead at the end of a weather-affected first day – play is currently suspended as we report this.
Que took just 20 putts to card an eight-under-par 64 which has left him on top before the suspended play.
Johnnie Walker Classic
The Vines Resort & Country Club
Perth, Australia
This week the European Tour travels to Australia for the second time already this season.
The Johnnie Walker Classic returns to The Vines Resort in Perth, which last hosted the event three years ago when American Kevin Stadler took the winner’s title.
This week’s tournament will be the eighth time that it has arrived in this Perth, Western Australia.
Over the past 19 years, the Johnnie Walker Classic has been played in eight different countries and 13 different golf clubs around Australasia, including China back in 2005 and in India for the first time in 2007, reflecting the brand’s “Keep Walking” philosophy of continuous progress.
Since its inception in 1992, former winners of the event have produced a total 183 European Tour wins and 28 Major Championships between them – an impressive record in anyone’s language.
While the fairways at the Vines are average in width, accuracy from the tee is paramount because the surrounding scrubland provides plenty of unplayable lies.
Anthony Kim
Day one of Maybank Malaysian Open and the the worldwide appeal brought to The European Tour International Schedule by The Race to Dubai is proved with a truly international field gathering at the Saujana Golf and Country Club.
After a week’s break following the three week ‘Gulf Swing’, players from all five continents have travelled to Kuala Lumpur to compete not only for the US$2 million prize fund, but also for further advancement in both The Race to Dubai standings and the Official World Golf Ranking.
Current world number 11 American Anthony Kim is headling the event, in the aftermath of his successful debut in the Ryder Cup in Kentucky last September. His presence in Malaysia will make a real difference because every golfer wants to compete against the best
Another good opening day for Oliver Fisher in Kuala Lumpar, managing a three under par first round. Ollie carded two-under from the front nine holes with birdies on both the 3rd and 4th, then three further birdies on the back nine leaving his score slightly reduced by bogeys on the 14th and 18th.
As we write, Ollie is T14 on day one, with Korean Noh Seung-Yul leading on an impressive ten-under-par having achieved nine birdies, an eagle and a single bogey.
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