ABN AMRO DUTCH OPEN 2012 SUDDEN DEATH PLAYOFF !!!
Ok, so here we were. 36 holes of regulation stroke play completed and both myself and Manuel de la santos were tied on 157 strokes and as per the rules of EDGA it had to be settled by a sudden death playoff to find this years champion.
We were to start on the par 5 9th hole and from there, on to the first hole if still tied.
It was my honour, and after being introduced and taking care of the obligatory handshake and photos, it was time to play !!
I took some calming breaths and cleared my mind in preparation for the battle to come. I tried to keep my nerves in check and just concentrated on what tee shot I wanted to hit and making sure that the execution was perfect. I picked my spot and visualised the ball following the path I wanted it to take, coming to rest in the middle of the fairway.
I placed the ball onto the tee and took my stance, closed my eyes, deep breath, open eyes, get fully committed and then..........
I took my shot and hit a great solid 4 iron down the centre on the fairway and left myself in the perfect position for a good attacking second shot towards the green. Manuel also hit the perfect tee shot, also with an iron and we were beside each other in the fairway.
Manuel was slightly further back than my tee shot and as such had to play his second shot first , Manuel hit a big running draw but left himself on the left hand side of the hole in the rough and just short of the bunker around 170yrd short of the green, not an easy shot left for him, advantage me.
I played my second shot and favoured the left hand side of the fairway leaving myself around 157 yrd to the pin.
Manuels ball was sat down in the rough and with the pin in the position it was I thought he has no chance of getting close. He struck a beautiful shot from the clingy rough and the ball flew in a lovely controlled running draw, landed at the very front of the green and rolled perfectly onto the correct level of the green but around 35ft away from the pin.
I looked At the distance I had left and it was perfect for a solid 9 iron coming in off the right with a nice high draw. I struck the ball beautifully, the only problem was it flew the green and unfortunately hit a spectator on the shoulder before coming to rest in the green side rough, pin high but not sitting nicely.
When I reached the green and realised that someone had been hit by the ball I did feel very guilty and a bit upset, but I had to get my head in gear and concentrate on the next shot.
I had short sided myself and had very little green to work with for my chip shot. I played a little too conservatively and unfortunately left the ball on the fringe.
Manuel was further from the hole and played his fourth shot, a gorgeous putt finishing around 6" from the hole and guaranteeing his tap in par.
So this was it, I had one putt to tie the hole and take the playoff to the next hole.
I looked at the line from every angle and kept telling myself not to leave it short.
I had to go for it !!
I took up my stance and filtered everything else out of my mind.
All I could see was the ball and the line I wanted to hit it on,
it went silent.
I took the putter back and made my stroke.
Off it went, On line, looking good, the crowd took a sharp intake of breath as one !
It's going in !!!
Go on,
Go on,
NOOOOOOOOO. !!!!!!
It just rolls past the right edge of the cup , the gallery let out an audible groan
I had missed.
I rolled in my bogey putt from 3ft and stood back to let the deserved winner, Manuel de la santos take his tap in par putt.
The ball dropped and the crowd cheered. A winner had been found.
Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be me this time but what a battle i had been involved in. Next time Manuel , next time ! ;-)
I take heart in the fact that I have had 2 seconds and 1win on tour so far this year in the main overall catagory and as such I am leading the order of merit by a considerable margin. With 3 Order of Merit events left this year I am in a great position to push on and go for the overall European order of merit title.
I felt completely drained both physically and emotionally and wanted nothing more than a coffee and a good sit down.
I would like to say a massive thanks to everyone who has supported me to this point and those who continue to support me in my quest to become professional.
As usual I looked the absolute mutts nuts as I was dressed again in Ian Poulter Design clothing courtesy of my wonderful clothing sponsors function18.com. Thanks guys
so my next event is the Finnish open from 16/18 July near Helsinki.
The big question is, do I keep my amateur status or do I enter Finland as a professional ?
Hmmmmm decisions decisions
I suppose you will have to keep coming back and checking out my blogs just to see wont you ;-)
Until next time my blog reading friends
Monk out x
Ok, so here we were. 36 holes of regulation stroke play completed and both myself and Manuel de la santos were tied on 157 strokes and as per the rules of EDGA it had to be settled by a sudden death playoff to find this years champion.
We were to start on the par 5 9th hole and from there, on to the first hole if still tied.
It was my honour, and after being introduced and taking care of the obligatory handshake and photos, it was time to play !!
I took some calming breaths and cleared my mind in preparation for the battle to come. I tried to keep my nerves in check and just concentrated on what tee shot I wanted to hit and making sure that the execution was perfect. I picked my spot and visualised the ball following the path I wanted it to take, coming to rest in the middle of the fairway.
I placed the ball onto the tee and took my stance, closed my eyes, deep breath, open eyes, get fully committed and then..........
I took my shot and hit a great solid 4 iron down the centre on the fairway and left myself in the perfect position for a good attacking second shot towards the green. Manuel also hit the perfect tee shot, also with an iron and we were beside each other in the fairway.
Manuel was slightly further back than my tee shot and as such had to play his second shot first , Manuel hit a big running draw but left himself on the left hand side of the hole in the rough and just short of the bunker around 170yrd short of the green, not an easy shot left for him, advantage me.
I played my second shot and favoured the left hand side of the fairway leaving myself around 157 yrd to the pin.
Manuels ball was sat down in the rough and with the pin in the position it was I thought he has no chance of getting close. He struck a beautiful shot from the clingy rough and the ball flew in a lovely controlled running draw, landed at the very front of the green and rolled perfectly onto the correct level of the green but around 35ft away from the pin.
I looked At the distance I had left and it was perfect for a solid 9 iron coming in off the right with a nice high draw. I struck the ball beautifully, the only problem was it flew the green and unfortunately hit a spectator on the shoulder before coming to rest in the green side rough, pin high but not sitting nicely.
When I reached the green and realised that someone had been hit by the ball I did feel very guilty and a bit upset, but I had to get my head in gear and concentrate on the next shot.
I had short sided myself and had very little green to work with for my chip shot. I played a little too conservatively and unfortunately left the ball on the fringe.
Manuel was further from the hole and played his fourth shot, a gorgeous putt finishing around 6" from the hole and guaranteeing his tap in par.
So this was it, I had one putt to tie the hole and take the playoff to the next hole.
I looked at the line from every angle and kept telling myself not to leave it short.
I had to go for it !!
I took up my stance and filtered everything else out of my mind.
All I could see was the ball and the line I wanted to hit it on,
it went silent.
I took the putter back and made my stroke.
Off it went, On line, looking good, the crowd took a sharp intake of breath as one !
It's going in !!!
Go on,
Go on,
NOOOOOOOOO. !!!!!!
It just rolls past the right edge of the cup , the gallery let out an audible groan
I had missed.
I rolled in my bogey putt from 3ft and stood back to let the deserved winner, Manuel de la santos take his tap in par putt.
The ball dropped and the crowd cheered. A winner had been found.
Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be me this time but what a battle i had been involved in. Next time Manuel , next time ! ;-)
I take heart in the fact that I have had 2 seconds and 1win on tour so far this year in the main overall catagory and as such I am leading the order of merit by a considerable margin. With 3 Order of Merit events left this year I am in a great position to push on and go for the overall European order of merit title.
I felt completely drained both physically and emotionally and wanted nothing more than a coffee and a good sit down.
I would like to say a massive thanks to everyone who has supported me to this point and those who continue to support me in my quest to become professional.
As usual I looked the absolute mutts nuts as I was dressed again in Ian Poulter Design clothing courtesy of my wonderful clothing sponsors function18.com. Thanks guys
so my next event is the Finnish open from 16/18 July near Helsinki.
The big question is, do I keep my amateur status or do I enter Finland as a professional ?
Hmmmmm decisions decisions
I suppose you will have to keep coming back and checking out my blogs just to see wont you ;-)
Until next time my blog reading friends
Monk out x