Last week the LPGA took a break, and the LET Tour received all the attention for the ladies tours. On the men’s side, the CJ Cup tournamnet was a pure show that brought Rickie Fowler (USA) back to the upper part of the leaderboard. Rory McIlroy overtook the top American players, on American soil. The participation of the Scandinavian golfers was not the highest of the year so far. However, Sebastian Söderberg(SWE) and Alexander Björk(SWE) brought some glory home. Söderberg finished T2 at the European Tour tournament of Esterlla Damm Andalucia Masters in Valderrama Golf Course, and Björk made an incredible T4. The best golfers from Denmark, Finlad, Norway, and Sweden are now having some rest to give it all next weekend at the PGA, European, LPGA, and Let Tours.
PGA TOUR: The CJ Cup at Summit
The Irish golfer Rory McIlroy won his 20th tour victory at the PGA Tour event. McIlroy made the exemption to a top 5 on the leaderboard strongly taken by the American players. Viktor Hovland made the Top 20, finishing T18 with a total of 18-under par. Hovland started strong with a bogey-free round of 65 (7-under par), but the luck didn’t last and didn’t manage to push more birdies in. Alex Noren (T59) and Rasmus Hojgaard (63rd) managed to make few birdies along their rounds, but could not lower down the amount of bogeys per round, which made it difficult to rise up on the leaderboard. Noren and Hojgaard signed totals of -10 and -9 respectively.
| PGA Tour | CJ Cup at Summit |
|---|---|
| Course | The Summit Club, Las Vegas, Nevada (USA) |
| Prize Money | 9.8 Mio US-Dollar (8.4 Mio EUR) |
| Champion | Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) |
| Scandinvian players | Viktor Hovland (T18), Alex Noren (T59), Rasmus Hojgaard (63rd) |
European Tour: Andalucía Masters
The Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters was played at the golf course of Real Club Valderrama, which plays at Par 71. To the surprise of the Scandinavian field, Sebastian Soderberg shocked the public coming out of the blue with scores of 70-69-72-70 to finish T2, only 3 shots behind the leader, Matt Fitzpatrick. Also from Sweden, his fellow teammate Alexander Björk made a T4 with a total of 2-under par. Real Club Valderrama was in perfect shape, definitely set up for professional golfers of high calibre. Other players from Denmark such as Thomas Bjorn, Nicolai Hojgaard, and Lucas Bjerregaard did not make the cut this time. Thomas Bjorn was in first line after the last player who moved forward into the last two rounds.
| European Tour | Andalucía Masters |
|---|---|
| Course | Real Club Valderrama (Spain) |
| Prize Money | 3 Million EUR |
| Champion | Matt Fitzpatrick |
| Scandinvian players | Sebastian Soderberg (T2), Alexander Björk (T4), Joachim B. Hansen (T15) |
Ladies European Tour: Aramco Team Series
Across the Atlantic the Ladies European Tour competed in New York after a week off from playing. Glen Oaks Club hosted the event and had a stellar field assembled. Marianne Skarpnord from Norway, together with the Sollheim Cup star Anna Nordqvist (SWE) finsihed T7 with a total of 5-under par. Krista Bakker (FIN) finished T17. Bakker started with a round of even-par (72), Bakker improved in her second round playing under par (70), but the nerves of the last round did not allow her to climb higher on the leaderboard, as she closed up the Aramco Team Series with a scorecard of 1-over par (73).
| EU Ladies Tour | Aramco Team Series |
|---|---|
| Course | The Glen Oaks Club, New York (USA) |
| Prize Money | 800,000 USD (692,076 EUR) |
| Champion | Charley Hull (ENG) |
| Scandinvian players | Anna Nordqvist (T7), Marianne Skarpnord (T7), Krista Bakker (T17) |
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Champions Tour: SAS Championship
The SAS Championship was held in Cary, North Carolina at the Prestonwood CC. The SAS Championship is part of the Champions Tour, where the legends play. The sport of golf has not always been popular in the Scandinavia Area (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden). However, it is slowly becoming more of an interest for the younger generations. For that reason, there are not yet many golfers that participate with the legends. However, Robert Karlsson (SWE) is a pioneer on the Scandinavian golf. During his first round, Karlsson signed a scorecard with more birdies than pars on it, but a couple of bogeys limited his result to 6-under par. The following two rounds, the Swedish player finished 4-over par and even-par on the last, for a total of 2-under par (66-76-72).
| PGA Tour | CJ Cup at Summit |
|---|---|
| Course | Prestonwood Country Club Cary, North Carolina (USA) |
| Prize Money | 2.1 Mio US-Dollar (1.8 Mio EUR) |
| Champion | Lee Janzen(USA) |
| Scandinvian players | Robert Karlsson (T34) |