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RESULTS: AUGUST TO DECEMBER 2004.
US PGA Tour
The International
Castle Pines Golf Club, Castle Rock, Colorado.
August 5th - August 8th
After 3 months out due to a wrist injury, Bernhard made an impressive comeback at the Nicklaus-designed Castle Pines Golf Club.
The International follows a modified stapleford points scoring format, with players scoring points as follows:
Eagle 5 points
Birdie 2 points
Par 0 points
Bogie -1 point
Double Bogie -3 points.
The idea is to reward aggressive play, and the occasional albatross has been made over the years (a 'double eagle' in American parlance), bagging 10 points!
Bernhard made a very good start, scoring +7 points in both opening rounds to comfortably make the cut (which fell at +6 points). Like the rest of the field however, he had to make the cut all over again as The International features an additional 3rd round cut halving the field to just 36 players. 5 more points secured 17th place for Bernhard and a place in the final round.
Drying conditions and tough pin placements caused havoc on the final day, with the leading players struggling to score. Bernhard made steady progress up the leader board however, and by the par 5 14th hole he was just 8 points of the lead and standing over a 15 foot eagle putt. His attempt from just off the green just missed on the high side, but a tap in birdie moved him to 23 points and 5th place. A fine drive at 15 gave him another birdie opportunity, but his on-line wedge fell a couple of yards short and spun back into the water. The resulting bogie was followed by another at 16, and his chance to win ended at the 17th where only an eagle would keep his challenge alive. He missed a straight birdie put from 8 feet and had to accept a par.
A fine birdie at the 18th restored Bernhard's 23 point total and secured a tie for 9th place overall - an excellent result in his first US PGA Tour event since mid April. Bernhard missed just 5 fairways in the whole event and his birdie count was amongst the highest in the field, but 5 point eagles are always an essential ingredient in winning The International and they proved illusive over the four rounds for Bernhard.
He can now go on to the next tournament in confident mood - the US PGA at the intriguingly named Whistling Straits, where he tees up with Garcia and Calcavechia. Like most European players Langer has no great record in this event, so a top twenty finish could be regarded as successful. With plenty of Ryder Cup points at stake and the American team named immediately after the event, Bernhard will take a special interest in this year's final Major.
Final Position: Tied 9th
Scores: 7, 7, 5, 4 (+23 points)
Earnings: $135,000.00
Tounament Winner: Rod Pampling 15, 7, 7, 2 (+31 points)
World Ranking after this event 69
US PGA Tour
The PGA Championship
Whistling Straits, Kohler, Wisconsin
August 12th - August 15th
A satisfactory outing for Bernhard, who made the cut despite playing only one tournament in three months. Whistling Straits was predicted to be a card wrecker before the tournament, with a total length of over 7500 yards being the longest ever for a PGA Championship. However the organisers moved some tees up for the first round and scoring was better than expected. Bernhards opening round 2-over 74 was well off the pace, set by Fellow European Darren Clarke who shot 65. Bernhard got things going in round 2, moving smoothly to 2-under for the tournament before dropping shots at the final 2 holes. Even par for the tournament was good enough to make the cut. Two successive 75s followed to give Bernhard a 6 over par total, and 66th position.
Bernhard would have been encouraged by the form of Darren Clarke ahead of next month's Ryder Cup, but the difficult task of choosing 2 Captain's picks would not have been made any easier. Colin Montgomerie (who Langer would love to have on board for the Ryder Cup team) made the cut but never looked comfortable, eventually carding a 9 over 297 total, while other players in contention for a pick performed better - noteably Paul McGinley who tied 6th. Brian Davis, Luke Donald, Freddie Jacobson and Niclas Fasth also showed some form and one wonders wether Monty is really playing well enough to be picked ahead of those names.
Meanwhile for the Americans Chris DiMarco's top three finish secured his place in the USA team, and Justin Leonard's fine performance may just have caught Captain Hal Sutton's eye as he decides on his 2 picks; Cink, Haas and Verplank are the other leading contenders.
Final Position: 66th
Scores: 74-70-75-75 294 (+6)
Earnings: $12,350.00
Tounament Winner: Vijay Singh 67-68-69-76 (-8) $1,125,000
World Ranking after this event 71
US PGA Tour
NEC INVITATIONAL
Firestone Country Club, Akron, Ohio
August 19th - August 22nd
Bernhard completed his trio of post-injury tournaments with another low finish, this time in a tie for 61st. The NEC Invitaional is a World Championship of golf event contested between the top 75 players in the world (with no midway cut) and Bernhard was never in contention. Inaccurate driving in round one saw Bernhard move to 4 over par, and he pretty much treaded water from there until the end of the tournament moving up just a few places during the four days as others around him posted high scores.
Firestone is pretty much a straight up and down course, long and narrow with tree lined fairways crowding hole after hole. Drive straight and you have every chance - and despite a poor opening round with the no.1 club Bernhard's driving overall was good (tied 6th in driving accuracy, tied 53rd in distance). But Bernhard's approach play never reached the standards we are used to so he could not take advantage (he was tied 65th in greens in regulation).
Bernhard has decided not to play the BMW German Open next week - an unusual decision given his record in the tounament and the fact that it is on 'home' soil. This is due to his Ryder Cup commitments, as it is the last qualifying tournament before he selects the team. He would not have been helped by the results of the potential picks in this tournament - Colin Montgomerie, after a promising start, closed with two 75s and finished tied 58th while Freddie Jacobson and Paul McGinley had steady tournaments. Luke Donald and Alex Cjeka had excellent tournaments, finishing 16th and 9th respectively - Cejka closing with a brilliant 66. Cejka will play in Germany, but Donald will not and must therefore rely on a Captain's pick.
McGinley, Donald and Cejka have shown good form consistantly for the past few weeks and two from these three would be deserved picks. But Bernhard would love to have Monty in the team and the fighting spirit of Freddie Jacobson is also a consideration. All will be revealed in the German Open. Langer will probably be hoping for a Monty win - although it will not give him enough points to qualify it will make the pick easier. Meanwhile USA captain Hal Sutton may have delivered the first phsycological blow this weekend as one of his two confirmed picks for the Ryder Cup won the tournament - Stewart Cink.
Final Position: Tied 61st
Scores: 74-69-75-74 292 (+12)
Earnings: $32,750
Tounament Winner: Stewart Cink 63-68-68-70 (-11) ($1,200,000)
World Ranking after this event 73
European Tour
LINDE GERMAN MASTERS
Gut Larchenhof Golf Club, Koln-Pulheim, Germany
Sept 9th - Sept 12th 2004
A disappointing result this for Bernhard, who missed the cut in this his own tournament. Bernhard is joint organiser of this event and has a fantastic record at the German Masters, winning the event 4 times (1989, 1991, 1997 and 2001), but this year he finished a lowly 94th after rounds of 73 and 77. With the Ryder Cup less than a week away it was perhaps surprising that he even played, and in the circumstances the European Team Captain could perhaps be forgiven his poor form this weekend. At least he would have been heartened by the tournament winner - Padraig Harrington completing a timely return to form ahead of the Ryder Cup.
Final Position: Tied 94th
Scores: 73-77 (+6) Missed Cut (+4)
Tounament Winner: Padraig Harrington 66-75-64-70 275 (-13) €500000.00
World Ranking after this event t.b.c
European Tour
HSBC WORLD MATCHPLAY
Wentworth, Surrey, England.
Oct 14th - Oct 17th 2004
This prestigious event is a head to head knockout matchplay tournament fought out between 16 of the world's top golfers, and Bernhard accepted a special invitation to play in this year's event.
First Round: He could not have drawn a more difficult opponent in the opening round, being paired against World Number 1 Vijay Singh of Fiji. Vijay's amazing year had seen him win several tour titles and displacing Tiger Woods as the world's top golfer in the official world rankings. With Bernhard having played only four tournaments since injuring his wrist in May, and none since missing the cut in the German Masters in early September (the small matter of the Ryder Cup having something to do with that!) it was no surprize that Bernhard was given only a slim chance of beating Vijay. Indeed he was 15th out of the 16 competitors on the bookies list of potential winners, a fair position bearing in mind the nature of the event which is played over 36 holes every day.
Depite the odds Bernhard played delightfully. He carded a bogie-free 3 under par opening round to be all square after 18 holes and was never behind until the 19th hole, where his first bogie gave Vijay a one hole lead. Bernhard hit back at the par 3 2nd (hole 20) firing his tee shot to the right hand side of the green and then holing out from 25 feet for a birdie. Both players bogied the next - Bernhard failing to get up and down in 2 from a green side bunker. Three birdies in the next four holes then gave Bernhard a surprize 3 hole lead, but he bogied the 8th to end the rain affected day with a 2 hole lead.
The match would end in dramatic fashion the next morning. Bernhard increased his lead to 3 holes thanks to a fine birdie 2 at the 14th and with just four holes to play he looked set for a remarkable victory. However Vijay then showed the form that has taken him to number one in the world with successive birdies at 15, 16 and 17 squaring the match against Bernhard's pars. The final hole was tied in par 5s and the match went to a sudden death play off at the 17th hole. Bernhard again made birdie, and it was good enough for victory - Vijay posting just a par to give Bernhard a sensational and unexpected victory. The world's best golfer defeated!
Quarter Final: Bernhard's quarter final opponent would be the in-form Miguel Angel Jiménez of Spain. The spaniard had been in fine form all year and was a member of Bernhard's successful Ryder Cup team. In the opening round Miguel had seen off America's Steve Flesch with some fantastic golf, carding a brilliant 7 under par in the opening round including two eagles. He also had the benefit of finishing his match much earlier than Bernhard, whose epic battle with Vijay Singh was still going on as the other three quarter finals were well into their front nines. A place against either Lee Westwood or Retief Goosen (who beat Jeff Maggert 12 and 11 for an event record winning margin in the opening round) awaited the winner.
The opening 18 holes went with the form book, and left Bernhard trailing by three holes at the half way stage. This was tough on Bernhard who never put a foot wrong, carding a five under par 67 with 5 birdies and no bogies. But Jiménez earned his lead with some stunning golf. After a bogey at the first, Miguel responded with four successive birdies - Bernhard matching three of them to make the game all square after 6. The turning point came at the par four 8th hole, Miguel holing his eight iron approach for an eagle 2. Another eagle followed at the 12th, proceeded by birdies at 10 and 11. Jiménez ended with a brilliant 9 under par 63 to continue his recent great run of fun.
Miguel's scoring was not so hot on the ten holes of the second round that were completed before bad light stopped play, but Bernhard was unable to take advantage and close the gap. Bernhard won the 4th to close the gap to 2, but Miguel restored the 3 hole lead with a birdie 2 at the 5th.
So as Saturday morning dawned Bernhard knew he must win 4 holes from the eight to progress. 3 of those wins came at the 12th, 13th and 15th with Miguel getting one back at the 14th. The 16th was halved leaving Bernhard just one down with two to play. Another sudden death play off looked a possibility until the 17th green, where Miguel secured a birdie against Bernhard's par. So a deserved 2 and 1 victory for Miguel, but not secured without a fight. Bernhard's tenacity almost overcame Miguel's form, but in the end Bernhard must be content with the scalp of Singh and a show of good form.
Final Position: Tied 8th
£80,000
Tounament Winner: Ernie Els £1,000,000
US PGA Tour
FUNAI Classic
Walt Disney World Resort
October 21st - October 24th
A massively disappointing tournament for Bernhard, especially after the fine form and heroics of the previous week. Had he carried some of last week's form into this tournament a top ten finish would have been attainable but Bernhard crashed to his first missed cut of the year on the US PGA tour, with rounds of 74 and 76 leaving him in a tie for 140th position and way outside the cut mark.
Final Position: Tied 140th
Scores 74-76 (+6) Missed Cut
Winner: Ryan Palmer 68 68 68 62 (266) (-22) $756,000.00
World Ranking after this event: 76th
US PGA Tour
Chrysler Championship
Westin Innisbrook Golf Resort,
Palm Harbor, Florida.
October 28th - 31st
A much better tournament this, with Bernhard returning to form after last week's disappointing showing. Bernhard safely made the cut this time, lying in 22nd place after two rounds with a score of 3 under par. A level par 3rd round 71 was followed by a 1 under par final round 70 to confirm a top 25 finish in the penultimate PGA Tour event of the season. Bernhard shot 15 birdies during his four rounds but gave back 11 shots in bogies - the difficult par 3 8th hole accounting for three of them.
The tournament was notable for Vijay Singh's ninth win of the year, taking his earnings on the PGA Tour to over $10 million dollars - the first man to do so, and for a return to form by Sweden's Jesper Parnevik who secured second place on 13 under.
Final Position: Tied 24th
70 69 71 70 (280) (-4) $40,500.00
Winner: Vijay Singh 65 69 67 65 (266) (-18) $900,000.00
World Ranking after this event: tbc
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