Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen defied the windy conditions to set the pace at the Volvo Masters at Valderrama on Thursday with a superb six-under-par opening round of 65.
Four of the European Tour’s top players — Robert Karlsson, Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood and Miguel Angel Jimenez — are all competing for the Harry Vardon trophy awarded to the winner of the The Order of Merit. However only one of that quartet, Westwood, managed to finish under par at the Golf Club de Valderrama, the Englishman’s one under par 70 leaving him tied for fifth alongside South Africa’s Hennie Otto.
Order of Merit leader Karlsson, and Jimenez, both had forgettable outward nines before finishing respectively on two over par 73, while Harrington’s lack of affinity with the par 71 course was conspicuous throughout a birdie-less round which left him five over par with a 76 that included five bogeys.
PHOTO: AP
Kjeldsen meanwhile was delighted with a round which gave him a three-shot lead over second placed Sergio Garcia, with English pair David Lynn and Anthony Wall in a share of third place with respective 69s.
“The breeze was strong and there’s not that much space out there really,” Kjeldsen said. “You have to control the ball well and seems like pretty much every shot I hit today came up sort of the way I saw it before hitting it. So you’ve got to take advantage of those days, and I did.
“There’s a long way to go. But to do six under today, I couldn’t have predicted that obviously,” the Dane said.
Despite Westwood’s impressive round on the notoriously difficult Valderrama course, of the four men battling to succeed Justin Rose as champion, Karlsson — who would become the first Swede to do so — has the edge.
The 39-year-old Ryder Cup star struggled to live up to his nickname of “Mr Consistency,” at least on an outward nine where he picked up five bogeys to finish tied with Jimenez on two over par 73. However the Swede will have been boosted by the relatively poor display of Harrington, who sits in second place on the Order of Merit having amassed 300,000 euros (US$381,000) less than Karlsson’s total prize money of 2,695,248 euros.
Harrington has had a spectacular season, in which he successfully defended his British Open crown, and won the USPGA title. The Irishman needs to finish first or second, on a course he is not comfortable on, and hope that Karlsson does not finish second.
Westwood and Jimenez still have a chance of finishing the year as European No. 1, but their chances are remote as they have too much ground to make up on Karlsson.
To regain the crown he won in 2000, Westwood has to win tomorrow and hope Karlsson does not finish in the top three. Other issues at stake include finalizing the top 15 players on the Order of Merit who will secure a place in next year’s US Open at Bethpage in New York, while the top 30 also qualify for The Open at Turnberry.
■ GINN SUR MER CLASSIC
AFP, PALM COAST, FLORIDA
Michael Letzig and Kent Jones both carded seven-under 65s on Thursday to share the first-round lead in the US$4.6 million Ginn sur Mer Classic.
Letzig and Jones each nabbed seven birdies without a bogey on the Conservatory Course at the Ginn Hammock Beach Resort.
The round was suspended due to darkness with five players still on the course and was to resume yesterday.
After his first birdie on the par-three third, Letzig reeled off three straight from the sixth.
“It was so cold this morning. I was just trying to hit greens and secure the pars,” Letzig said.
“But I made a really nice putt on the third hole and I made a lot of really nice putts out there today,” he said.
The American, who has four top-10 finishes in 28 events this season, was also consistent on the back nine with birdies at 12, 13 and 16.
He said the fact that he has already secured his playing privileges for next season allowed him to approach the penultimate tournament of the year in a better frame of mind than those still scrambling to reach the necessary top 125 on the money list.
“I’m very relaxed this week,” Letzig said. “I secured my card last week and proved to everyone that I belong out here. And now the pressure is off and I’m kind of just keeping relaxed out there.”
Letzig and Jones held a two-shot lead over Ryan Palmer, who carded a 67.
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