AMERICAN VEERMAN WINS THE CZECH MASTERS. MRŮZEK FINISHES TWELFTH
American Johannes Veerman will take home some great experiences and memories from Albatross, as he played his first European Tour tournament on Sunday aged 29, winning the 7th D+D REAL Czech Masters by two shots over Finn Tapio Pulkkanen and compatriot Sean Crocker. Henrik Stenson finished joint fourth, while Filip Mrůzek produced a historic success for Czech golf on the European Tour.
There was drama until the last hole at Albatross, which both Veerman and Pulkkanen started on -15. Yet the Finn hit the rough on the right with his drive and the water protecting the last green with his second shot. That gave him a double bogey and a missed opportunity to win, at 31, his first European Tour tournament. Veerman did not fail to seize the opportunity.
The players produced some drama for the thousands of fans at the final hole. Pulkkanen had been in the lead for some time, chased mainly by Stenson, the biggest star of the tournament. When the Swede, fighting for Ryder Cup nomination, birdied the thirteenth, he finally got to the top of the leader board, shared by three other players at the time.
Apart from Stenson and Pulkkanen, these were Veerman and Crocker. The latter, however, after four birdies in a row on holes 9 through 12, had two consecutive bogeys, ruling himself out of the fight for victory. It became clear that the trio playing in the last flight would be fighting for the glory.
Yet even before they came to the feared series of three holes at the end of the course, Pulkkanen took the lead, once again leading alone after a wonderful approach shot to the green on the fifteenth, after which it was only a tap in for a birdie. He also birdied the sixteenth, while Stenson hit the water, scored a double bogey and thus sank his chances.
Yet Veerman also scored on the sixteenth, and so kept just behind Pulkkanen, who then however made fatal mistakes at the last two holes. He first bogeyed the seventeenth, and then double bogeyed the eighteenth. Veerman posted two calm pars to close with a round of 68 (-4) and with an overall score of -15 could begin enjoying the congratulations.
Mrůzek also enjoyed his fair share as he had written himself into Czech golfing history. His joint 12th place is the best Czech performance in the history of the European Tour. He achieved this result with an error-free round of -5, after which with an overall score of -8 he was only a single shot off a TOP 10 place and seven from victory.
“It was probably the golfing day of my life. Although it’s true that I have had lower scores, to make -5 on this course you have to play extremely well. This course is difficult, long, and has treacherous pin positions—but for me it was simply a fantastic round. Golf without a single error,” said Mrůzek, not hiding his joy from game and the result.
Ondřej Lieser finished the Czech Masters with a round of 75. His overall score was also three over par, putting him in joint 60th place. “It was a terrible battle out there on the course. I worked hard not to drop a single shot but it’s always the same. I make mistakes and keep having to get myself out of them,” said Lieser, not happy about his game or the result.
Matyáš Zapletal had a round of 77 on Sunday (+5) to finish in joint 67th place with an overall score of +7. Aleš Kořínek scored 74 in the final round (+2) and with an overall score of +8 ended in joint 70th place. He aced the thirteenth in the final round, however.
Rory Sabbatini, the silver-winning Olympian from Tokyo representing Slovakia, had a final round of 71 on Sunday and took joint 34th place with an overall score of -4. This was the same as the captain of the European team for the upcoming Ryder Cup Pádraig Harrington, who had a final round of 73 (+1).
