THE WEEKEND WILL BE WITHOUT CZECH PLAYERS. MRŮZEK WAS THE CLOSES TO MAKING THE CUT
To the regret of home fans, the weekend rounds of the D + D REAL Czech Masters will have no Czech players. After the first round, at least three Czech players were close to making the cut, but the none of them were able to convert his promising Thursday into advancing to the next round.
Filip Mrůzek, Jan Cafourek and Ondřej Lieser made up the Czech threesome that garnered the most successful in the first round. Their score of -3 held great promise for them making the cut, which in the end was only one stroke higher, but none of them could lower it on Friday.
While Lieser and Cafourek had already fallen out of contention for the battle to make the cut after their first nine holes, Mrůzek’s chance looked very promising for a long time. On the 11th and 12th holes he played his third and fourth birdies of the day, and during his two previous bogeys he had a total score of -5.
He arrived at the water three-par 16th hole with one stroke ahead of the cut. He made the green in an assured fashion, but then came a three-putt. ”That just happens. The first putt went around the hole from 10 meters away, the second putt headed for the hole, and then deviated away from it,” said Mrůzek when commenting on the first problem.
But a much bigger problem came on his unpopular 17th hole. ”That a hell’s pit for me. The course has far more difficult holes, which I do fine on, but not here,” he regretted the double that cost him the cut. Another bogey on the 18th was not enough to save him.
Mrůzek finished at Albatross with a final score of -1, and was the only Czech in the tournament who managed to card under par overall.
The moment that Mrůzek’s chance was extinguished, the latest Czech hope for making the cut appeared on the leaderboard. After a birdie on the 12th hole, Aleš Kořínek was on a total score of -3, one stroke under the cut, and he had another six holes in front of him to wipe the stroke away.
But on the next five holes, the professional golfer from Zlín played four bogeys and all hope was gone. On the 18th hole, Kořínek ended the tournament with a birdie, which meant that he at least came in at par overall, as did Stanislav Matuš, Ondřej Lieser, and Jan Cafourek.
Both Czech amateurs in the starting field, Šimon Zach and Václav Tichý, carded a score of +2. Whereas this must have been a disappointment for Zach, it was a success for Tichý, who was barely fifteen.
”It was definitely a great honour at my age to play here. I am very happy for this opportunity, and I hope it was not the last time. I came mainly to enjoy it and to gain experience, and I even ended up playing some good golf,” said the young Czech talent, who came in at par on the second round.
Overall, all of the tournament’s big stars are doing well. Thomas Pieters as well as Padraig Harrington are in third place with a score of -10. Jamie Donaldson is two strokes behind them, with Danny Willett and Lee Westwood lagging behind another two strokes, in joint 24th place.
52-year-old John Daly, who led after the first round, carded +3 in the second round, as he failed in his first nine holes on Friday. Yet he safely made the cut and will definitely be one of the main draw cards of the weekend.
The tournament was not a good one for Andrew Johnston. Unfortunately, Beef continued on from his performance of Thursday and, after a 75 and a 74, he finished in 143th place with a total score of +5.
