In the Rough

American Fred Funk rolled in two consecutive birdies at the 16th and 17th holes to finish on a 5 under total, which was enough for the overall lead after the first round of the Senior US Open in Colorado Springs. The round for Fred Funk started well with a couple of birdies and an eagle in the opening four holes to leave him sitting well on four after just four holes. The only bogey of Fred Funks round came at the 18th, other than the late blip Fred had a near to perfect round.

Fellow countryman John Cook has recovered well from his dissapointment at the British Senior Open last week where he lost a commanding lead to finish second. Cook carded a first round 66 for a 4 under total after day one.

Sitting in a pack of four players on 3 under is US legend Tom Kite and Argentine Eduardo Romero. Also sitting a few off the lead is Aussie Greg Norman on level par and American Tom Watson on one under after day one of the US Senior Open.

American Juli Inkster has rolled back the years to produce a brilliant 65 at the first round of the Ricoh Women’s British Open at Royal Sunningdale.

The 48 Year old American produced an eagle on the par 4 ninth hole which helped towards the first round 65 total.

Annika Sorenstam who is playing in her final major before retiring is struggling to finish on a high note after her first round. Britains main hope Laura Davies is sitting well on 2 under on day one only a couple behind reigning champion and world number one Llorena Ochoa

Englands Ross Fisher has claimed the european open by seven shots after his final round of 68. Fisher had the lead from the first round and his great play all weekend means he finished on 20 under.

Spains Sergio Garcia finsihed on 13 under to finish second unlinke his compatriot Rafael Nadal who has just won Wimbledon making Rafael Nadal Wimbledon Champion 2008. Graeme Mcdowell finished in third on 12 under.

David frost the south african finished 4th and now guarantees a place at the Open Championship.

After the first day of the European Open it is England Ross Fisher that has the overnight leaderboard after a brilliant course record score of 63, which gives him a nine under total after just 18 holes. 27 year old fisher finished with six birdies in his fantastic round.

The 63 shot by ross fisher today broke the record previosuly set by legend golfer Seve Ballesteros.

In the windy conditions Northern Irelands Graeme McDowell shot a good 65 to be 2 off the lead on 7 under with 48 year old South African David Frost. Another Northern Irelander Rory McIlroy who shot a 67 to be on 5 under after day one of the european open.

In the bid for a push into Ryder Cup Places Scotlands Colin Montgomerie shot a 2 under 70 to be still in contention to defend his european open golf title from last year. Paul McGinley had a disaster last few holes, double bogey included to finish on 3 under.

Darren Clarke, Paul Mcginley, Jose Maria Olazabal and Rory McIlroy have all failed in their attempts to qualify for The Open at Royal Birkdale this year as they haven’t secured any of the 18 places on offer from the 36 Hole golf event at the Royal Sunningdale.

Ulsterman Darren Clarke folled up his poor perfomance from 18 where he shot 74 with a level Par 70 to finish on 4 over par a massive 11 shots of overall winners Simon Wakefield and Ariel Canete.

Danish golfer Thomas Bjorn withdrew from the event with Injury and will be not be present at Royal Birkdale for The Open Golf Championship.

Young Spanish golfer Pablo Larrazabal held is nerve to finish on a 15 under a total which was enough to take his maiden European golf title.

Scotlands Colin Montgomerie finished well but was 4 of the young spaniard on 11 under, the second place for Colin has significantly pushed him up the ryder cup pecking order and he is now just outside the top ten. With a few good performances he could get a guaranteed spot in Nick Faldos European ryder cup team.

Soren Hansen, Lee Westwood, Paul Mcginley and Oliver Fisher all finished in the top ten to help with there ryder cup places.

After the first round of the French Open the young Spanish golfer Pablo Larrazabal has the lead on six under. Larrazabal shot a 65 on the first day to take the lead from Englands young golfer Oliver Wilson and past master Paul Lawrie who both shot 66 for a five under total.

Wilson and Lawrie both took very different approaches to their 5 under totals. Oliver Wilson took the route of 5 birdies and Paul Lawrie started with a double bogey six but 10 birdies on his way round helped him still be very much in contention one of the pace and on course for a Spanish Open / French Open double in the same calendar year.

French Open Round One Leaderboard

The World Match Play golf tournament is to take a break this season and then from 2009 it is to change its sponsorship from current company HSBC to car manufacturers Volvo and be played at the Finca Cortesin course in Andalucia, Spain.

The move from Wenthworth Golf Course, Surrey will be a massive blow to English Golf fans who have swarmed in there thousands to the World Match Play Event since its start in 1964.

The event will also slightly differ with the winner who comes through from the new 16 player round-robin contest at the beggining and normal golf tournament to claim a top prize of around £590,000. This is a significant drop in the £1 million that Ernie Els earnt at the World Match Play at Wentworth from 2007.

Under new sponsors of Volvo the World Match Play event at the Finca Cortesin will have a total prize fund of £2.5 million.

The question is will the World Match Play event still hold it rich history with the move to Spain. Past winners of the World Match Play include Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Ryder Cup captain for 2008 NickFaldo, Seve Ballesteros, Greg Norman, Sandy Lyle, Bernard Langer, Ian Woosnam and Ernie Els.

German Martin Kaymer becomes the first person to appear on www.intherough.co.uk as a winner after a dramatic last day of the BMW International Open in his homeland of Germany.

Kaymer made it tough for himself with a last round 75 which included a triple bogey on the 11th hole.

Going into the final round 6 shots ahead of his nearest rival Martin Kaymer seemed a sure fire bet for his second win of the season on the European Order of Merit, but he showed a few lapses in concentration which to be fair on a young up and coming talent is to be expected.

During the disaster 11th hole Martin put his approach shot into the water infront of the green when he should really of layed up out of the rough, with the water shot still fresh in his head Martin dropped in the drop-zone and then chose to play a short chip in to the green, which again ended up in the drink due to slope of the green.

After the nightmare 11th many expected Kaymer to slide away but showing a true champion spirit Martin Kaymer dug deep and with a couple of good approach shots managed to tie with Anders Hansen after the four rounds. Including a hold-your-nerve putt on the 18th green.

Into the Play-off and back to the 18th tee. Kaymer showed huge bottle and produced a monster drive that took on the huge lake and to his fortune made it across. Anders Hansen drive was well hit but shorter than Kaymer’s and with an unfortunate roll ended up in the fairway bunker. For his second shot Hansen took the bold step of hitting a hybrid out of the bunker and made a clean connection only to find it fly 200 yards into the greenside bunker. Kaymer with only a 5 iron into the Par 5 18th green produced a brilliant shot to within 10 feet.

Hansen at this point looked buried and literally was being in the bunker. A short chip out and 3 wayward putts enabled Martin Kaymer to have the luxury of 3 putts from less than 10 feet for the International open.

Needing only 2 putts Martin held his nerve and took the BMW International Open infront of his home crowd.

With some work on his short game and a little more maturing, Martin Kaymer is to be a star to look out for and can hopefully produce for the European’s in this years Ryder Cup.