European Tour - Nordea Masters

Once upon a time, there were the good times...

Spoiler:

Something happened in the early 90s with this event that brought it so fast downhill and never really recovered. It's odd from so many points of view: the downfall started when everything, almost everywhere started booming, in a country that's one of the biggest golfing nations in Europe, with loads of golf courses and some of the biggest golf sponsors in Europe. I hope somebody has an explanation because I don't... But glancing very briefly last week at the leaderboard at the Colonial, it was striking to see how many Swedish flags were in there, in a week when there were virtually no Europeans playing in that field, apart from Brian Davis and Martin Laird...while at Wentworth you could count them on the fingers of one hand... Is this apparent disinterest of the majority of current generation of top Swedes to support their home event (as well as many European events) to blame? Even if it is, I'm pretty sure it can't be only that...

This year things are actually not so bad (I guess) with Hanson and Noren being joined by Blixt and Norlander from across the pond. But also, looking now closer at the whole field, even without last year's star names like Westood and Garcia, it looks pretty decent overall, jumping (just) inside the 28 point bracket, which makes it the strongest field in 12 years!

Leaving the hosts aside, can Matteo do it again this week? Not so sure, the Bro Hof is a pretty long course, but you have to believe now that the boy is capable of anything. I'd say his compatriot Franny could have a good week, and maybe Paul Casey? We'll see, but after Matteo's great win last week, I am looking forward to watching him play again...

I see reports that it's been very cold over there until last week, and there was very little growth around the course, so I don't know if/how that will affect the play. But it should be warm and sunny this week, so there are many positives to look forward to, despite my rather gloomy start...

pd,
Interesting comparisons.
For some reason the Swedes, led by Parnevik I suppose, acclimated to American golf in numbers more quickly than other European nationalities, even ten years ago, Johansson, Pettersson, Johnson, Parnevik and Hjertstedt, and Sjoland and Karlsson were playing a few events a year.
Doesn't sound significant but it represented a good chunk of their better players.
Would think the era of Neumann and Sorenstam also stimulated plenty of interest.

But looking forward to this week's action, especially interested in Hanson who's had a poor year in America so far.

Thanks

Would you count wentworth last wee as a long course? Given the early bad weather I think it would have played pretty long and Matteo still came out on top. Just wondering if he actually has any disadvantage over a longer course?

It's true Mac, Wentworth played pretty long, but it's also a tougher course than Bro Hof. So the difference could be that this week, someone like Noren who blitzed the course in the past can go again very low without having to face many of the other traps that Wentworth has...

As for Matteo, it's business as usual this morning... started birdie-birdie and leading after two holes...

wow-wow-wow-wow-wow-wow
I wonder was there any better start ever to a tournament than this?

What's going on with Matteo...?

That's an unbelievable start! Seriously impressive stuff.

Superb start from Matteo!!

I get the impression lack of length is fast becoming a non issue for Manny. He seemed long enough last week and looking at some of the par 4s this week, 480 yards etc, he seems plenty long enough to be birding some of them.

Don't know if a switch in calender slot has something to do with the drop in owgr points. Or maybe the Swedish tax rules changed? Or maybe the prize fund has dropped, relatively speaking?

Manny seems to have gained quite a bit of length off the tee and also has trimmed down a bit. he was no shane lowry but he certainly looks like hes been in the gym. he was hitting a lot of 3woods in wenthworth and was still keeping up with most

After singing praises of Casey this week he goes +2 for first round. Come on PC you are better than that!

Excellent start for Noren, Blixt and Franny (perfect weather this morning). If we'll get all these guys battling it out with Manny, Pablito and other top guys like that, should be a great weekend! Matteo and other later starters may have some breezier conditions later on...

Looks like a lovely day in the Stockholm area; will it last the weekend?

Super leaderboard, just hoping The Mechanic can change gears and things should be set up beautifully for a great weekend.

An absolute treat to watch Matteo playing as well as he does these days! Back in the lead on his own...
Illonen certainly on a high the last few weeks and here's Rhys Davis popping up again inside the top 20, back with the big boys this time...

EDIT: ...and BOOOOOM!! another birdie...!

Two holes in one today from Andrew Dodt.com.
Still needs to play his final two holes -1 to make the cut.

So the questiuon surely must be;
Just how good is Matteo, and does he have a realistic chance at Merion?
You'd think that, if he is hitting it reasonably straight off the tee, his short game should be ideally suited, unless he is one who gets spooked by extra-fast greens.

Fine finish from , a pay cheque for Casey, and welcome returns to the leaderboard for Luiten, Bjorn, Alvaro and Fish.

The pairing of Noren and Blixt likely to eclipse any other groups today, at least for the local crowds. And the two Swedes aren't disappointing their fans... Noren just sank a putt which looked like 70+ feet, both of them with good starts.

Great round for Wiesberger who'll be joining the top contenders tomorrow for sure... Matteo a bit tentative today in the first couple of holes, is he going to take the foot off the gas today?

And of course, the most interesting man in golf just can't stop playing well...

Meanwhile, another great week in prospect for Brooks Koepka on the CT, tied for the lead in the gorgeous La Gomera (now I feel sorry I didn't play that course when I was there).

And I could probably cut and paste this note from one week to another... yes, you've guessed, Hideki Matsuyama is once again leading in Japan, luckily 'only' sharing the lead this time, so hopefully that will keep him more focused tomorrow to close the deal...

What's happening to our favourite Italians today?

Incidentally, and with three Swedish golfers (but not you Peter Hanson, +3 over your last 14 holes and that's not going to get it done), Sweden was four for four in making the Memorial cut - I think that's their 3rd 100%'er in four weeks, almost four for four. Good to see.

So: It looks as if Koepka and Uihlein will both have earned European Tour cards for 2014; I see there was a "Jon Curran" in the Nordea field also. Is that Keegan Bradley's best mate? Hadn't realised he was playing in Europe.

Go Noren!

Unfortunate finish for Matteo yesterday, needs to go low today to have a chance. Super round 66 for Casey this morning, but too little, too late... He did start to put together some pretty good rounds lately, but still far from having any consistancy...

And Matsuyama did go on to win in Japan. Now his very short career (5 events) reads: T10, 1, 2, T2, 1 ! He has a huge lead already in the OoM and will become also the highest ranked Japanese golfer after this week...

Should be great to see both Matteo and Matsuyama at Merrion and then at the Open in July...

Looking forward to the action today; Ilonen leading, but who will be ahead at the finnish?

Meanwhile, The Mechanic enjoyed an early bird but transmission problems since. As John Lennon might suggest "In his Own Write": Is there "A Spaniard in the Works"?

Nothing can derail the Mechanic, two birdies fixed back his transmission...

EDIT: ...make that three!

Great play from Fish, will this make him realise that playing in Europe may still be the best solution for him in future...?

And is Bjorn's game already gaining from Billy Foster's return on his bag...?

Astonishing mixed bag of fortunes for Matteo and Jonas Blixt on the par 5 . . . . .
Could/should have been a hole-out for eagle and the possibilty of a 3-putt. but was very much vice-versa.

Talk of astonishing... another birdie for the Mechanic !

C'mon, somebody should make a move out there and give Mikko a bit of a challenge....

No Italian Job this week but repeat the question: How will Matteo fare at Merion?
If he can grab a few days off, then some solid work on the course, surely his game is very well suited?

Nice recovery over the last few holes from Matteo. And even without another win here, that'll be all he needs before Merrion, finish well and go to the US Open with a positive feeling. He certainly could be in the mix there if, as you say, could get the best of the time left before now and then...

What about Mikko though, if he wins he'll jump into the mid 60s, but he's not in the field in Austria next week. Will he change his mind and have a go...?

Well done Mikko! Great event overall with some really good crowds...

As I said, Ilonen and Noren are now going to be below the top 60 cutline and are not (yet) registered for Austria next week. Are they going to have a go...? Best result from that point of view is Wiesberger's... he's moved now provisionally to #59, and with a home game next week, you'd have to fancy his chances....

Six of the top eight of the R2D are well and (mostly) truly European Tour players.
A big change from previous years I'd imagine.

Terrific cosmopolitan leaderboard again . . . . . one of the very best things about the European Tour.

I see Robert Karlsson has resigned his European Tour membership, at least for the time being.

Karlsson is having a tough time re-establishing himself on the PGA Tour after injury-plagued years which has caused his status to become increasingly tenuous. He's now embarking on a series of events where he can expect to get in the field with Memphis (runner up in two recent consecutive play-offs) and Merion up next. Not sure whether he'd want to play Hartford but hopefully he'll get in to Congressional which should suit him.

It's only a few short years, and many health issues, since Karlsson was one of the world's top golfers - perhaps a continued string of decent finishes might return him to world-class form.

Robert Karlsson is getting to be one of those "Men of a Certain Age". He will be 44 later this summer.

I don't think he will ever return to World Class form. I think what we have seen the last couple years will be what we see in the next couple years. Hopefully he has made some wise investments (unlike Stenson).

Yes, These next few weeks are crucial for Karlsson - can't see that he would have the appetite for web.com duty if he failed to make the Top 125 and did not retrieve his card in the qualie series (whatever it's going to be called).

Don't know anything about his finances but he DOES march to a different drummer - and not the same different drummer that Stenson favours!

Only strange thing about the announcement is that in the past couple of weeks Karlsson has played his way into two of the tournaments any two-tour player needs to be in - Muirfield and Merion. Although I think he may have made the decision before the qualifiers, and it's only come to light now.

In fairness to him his form does seem to be picking up - as well as the strong play in the major qualifiers (no bogeys in 36 holes yesterday), he had a top 4 finish a month ago, and since then has played himself into good positions in his 3 subsequent starts, only to throw away good finishes in all of them. He's still inside the 125 on the money list though - if he can keep this form going and get a couple more top 10s as reward for it, he can start to relax a little going in to next year.

Interesting that he seems to fit something of a trend among Euros on the PGA Tour, by being considerably further up the money list rankings than the FedEx points rankings:

Karlsson - 118th money list, 142nd fedex points
Colsaerts - 105 money, 122 points
Kaymer - 91 money, 108 points
Poulter - 61 money, 89 points

Harrington and Davis seemingly the main exceptions to the rule. Not sure why it should be, apart from possibly Euros playing a more reduced schedule, and getting a greater percentage of their earnings from mediocre finishes in high-purse events (Majors and WGCs).

I am not sure the particulars on Karlsson, but IMO, the reason why Poulter, Kaymer and Colsearts have done better in terms of money vs FE Points is because of the WGC's

The ratio of Money to FE Points is significantly higher than for regular tour events.

Lets take a 21st place finish in a WGC vs 21st place in regular tournament.

Both events give 50 FE points for 21st place.

21st place in a regular tour event is going to be about 70K
21st place in a WGC is going to be about 88K