| RESULTS: JANUARY TO JULY 2004. World Ranking at 1.1.2004 93rd Tournament No 2 US PGA Tour FBR Open TPC of Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Arizona January 26th - February 1st 2004 An impressive tournament for Bernhard until the final back nine. After a fine third round Bernhard lied joint 4th, just 4 shots off the pace, and a birdie at the 2nd hole on the final day put him in the mix to win the tournament. Coming off a very strong finish at the previous week's Bob Hope Classic there was every reason to believe Bernhard could go on to win. However that was to be his last birdie of the tournament - a bogie at 8 gave him a level par outward 35 and 4 more bogies on the way in while others were making birdies saw Bernhard slip to a disappointing 27th place. 33 puts on the final day tells the story. Final Position: T27 Scores: 69-67-66-75 277 (-7) Earnings: $36,140.00 Tournament Winner: Jonathan Kaye 65 68 66 67 266 (-18) World Ranking after this event 85 Random Stats. Prior to Buick Invitational, Bernhard lies 2nd for 'scrambling' (this is the percent of time that a player misses the green in regulation, but still makes par or better.) Tournament No 3 US PGA Tour Buick Invitational Torrey Pines Golf Course, La Jolla, California February 9th - 15th 2004 A unspectacular tournament for Bernhard, and one in which the putter went cold. The Buick Invitational is played over two very contrasting courses at Torrey Pines - the tough South Course (which will host the USPGA in 2008) and the easier North Course, both par 72s with finishing par 5 18ths. Bernhard tackled the tough South Course for his opening round, and carded a very respectable 71 - one of the better scores on the South Course that day. However he never really took advantage of the easier North Course on day 2. A 2-under 70 was good enough to ensure Bernhard made the cut comfortably, but with the leaders making 6 or 7 under on the North Course it wasn't enough to make an impression. The 3rd and 4th days are played on the tougher South Course, and Bernhard did make a move on day 3 reaching the 14th tee 3-under for the day thanks to birdies at 1, 3 and 13. At 6-under for the tournament Bernhard was looking at a top ten finish for the second time in just three tournaments, but a double bogie at the 15th spoilt his chances and he eventually carded a level par 72. Another double bogie at the opening hole on the final day put Bernhard further down the field, and eventually a disappointing final round 76 relegated Bernhard to joint 54th place. Putting stats of 30 -31-31-31 not good enough to take advantage of solid approach play on this difficult driving course. Final Position: T53 Scores: 71-70-72-76 289 (+1) Earnings: $11,008.00 Tournament Winner: John Daly 69 66 68 75 278 (-10) World Ranking after this event 87 Tournament No 4 US PGA Tour Nissan Open Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades, California February 16th - 22nd, 2004 Bernhard made an explosive start at the Riviera CC. Starting at the tenth hole, he carded birdie then eagle to be three under after just 2 holes. However he was back to 1 under after 16 holes, and then finished double bogie/bogie in an exact reverse of his first 2 holes. The round left him tied 91st at +2 with work to do to make the cut for the weekend. A noteable score was posted by Darren Clarke today: 82 (11 over), despite making pars at his final 5 holes. Fireworks followed at the start of round 2 with a run of eagle/bogie/birdie/double-bogey/birdie, before the serious business of grinding out a place in the weekend field begun. And that's exactly what Bernhard did, with no more dropped shots and 2 valuable birdies at 11 and 14 he made the cut right on the mark at 1 under par. Only one missed fairway and an average drive of 301 yards helped him to his second round 68. Whilste Jesper Parnevick was going one worse than Darren Clarke (an 83 after opening up with a pair of 69s) Bernhard briefly flirted with something remarkable on Day 3. Starting at the tenth he posted 4 birdies to reach 5 under for the tournament, before eventual finishing the day at 3 under (the tricky 8th & 9th both being bogied). A final day 72 which included four more birdies, 3 bogies and a double bogie left Bernhard just outside the top 50 at 2 under par. Riviera Country Club played to an average of 71.064 Sunday. For the week the famed layout played to an average of 70.814, with the par-5 first hole playing the easiest at 4.317 and the par-4 eighth hole the most difficult at 4.292. Final Position: T51 Scores: 73-68-69-72 282 (-2) Earnings: $11,366.40 Tournament Winner: Mike Weir 66-64-66-71 267 (-17) $864,000.00 World Ranking after this event 84 Tournament no. 5 US PGA Tour Ford Championship at Doral Doral Golf Resort & Spa, Florida March 4th - March 7th, 2004 Bernhard Langer's 'never say die' attitude was in evidence again at Doral, Florida, the course affectionatley known as 'The Blue Monster'. An opening 3 over par 75 which included 33 putts left Bernhard outside of the top 100 and facing his first missed cut of the season, but typically he rallied and a second round 68 saw him make the cut by 2 shots. That second round included an eagle 2 at the par 4 6th courtesy of a holed approach shot. Even better was to follow - a third round 66 (low score of the day and no bogies) lifted Bernhard to 20th place, and a final round 65 (low score of the day and no bogies - again) put Bernhard into a finishing share of 5th place. Berhnard took just 23 putts for his final round - his lowest for the season - and his iron play was sensational, none more so than the final par 4 18th hole. A wayward drive left his ball inches from the lake left of the fairway, and with one foot in the water he could only punch the ball out on to the fairway. Par was saved with a majestic short iron to within 3 feet of the pin. A great start to the 2004 Florida swing, and further evidence that a PGA Tour victory in 2004 is a realistic hope. Final position: T5 Scores: 75-68-66-65 274 Earnings: $175,625.00 Tournament Winner: Craig Parry 71-65-67-68 271 $900,000.00 World Ranking after this event 75 Tournament No 6 US PGA Tour The Honda Classic The Country Club at Mirasol, Florida March 11th - March 14th, 2004 An uneventful tournament for Bernhard this one. The Mirasol Course was making it's PGA debut, so despite being in Bernhard's Florida backyard it was unfamiliar to him and the rest of the field. The elevated greens boasted steep run off areas making attacking the pin very difficult, but shots to the safe centre of the green would also leave difficult long puts across undulating greens. Bernhard's putting stats of 30 29 32 32 would suggest he had plenty of those. In all but one event so far Bernhard has posted at least one significant round, and the second round here looked promising as Bernhard go it to 4 under through 13. That was to be his peak however, and his score tailed off disappontingly as the weekend progressed. Final Position: T65 Scores: 71-71-75-76 293 Earnings: $10,350.00 Tournament Winner: Todd Hamilton 68-66-68-74 276 $900,000.00 World Ranking after this event 78 Tournament no 7 US PGA Tour Bay Hill Invitational Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Florida March 18th - March 21st, 2004 Another steady, unspectacular event for Bernhard, with three dropped shots at the 71st and 72nd holes costing him a top twenty finish. Pars at those two finishing holes would have secured a tie for 15th place and $70,000. Bernhard carded plenty of bogies and birdies despite the apparant consitency of his scores, and just as he did the week before he took plenty of putts to get round (30 31 30 29). He was tied 9th for the tournament in hitting greens in regulation. The next tournament is The Players Championship at Sawgrass, traditionally a good event for Bernhard and one which he has flirted with winning. He appears to be in good form going in to the tournament, and in with an outside chance if he can get the putter hot. Final Position: T40 Scores: 72-70-71-74 287 Earnings: $19,000.00 Tournament Winner: Chad Campbell 66-68-70-66 270 $900,000.00 World Ranking after this event 78 Random Stats: Prior to The Players Championship Bernhard lies 48th in average scoring stats, average score being 70.82 Tournament no 8 US PGA Tour The Players Championship TPC Sawgrass, Florida. March 25th - March 28th. Bernhard had the honour of teeing off in the first group on Day 1 - a 7am start alongside Tom Byrum and Han Kuehne. He was also the first player in the field to play the infamous 17th Island hole. Starting his round on the tenth hole, Bernhard birdied 15 and 16 to have the honour at the 17 tee. He safely made par, unlike his playing partner Tom Byrum who became the first player to visit the water. Bernhard is making an irritating habit of spoiling good rounds, but this time he spoiled a great round! At 4 under par with two holes to play, a couple of pars would have posted a score few other players would have beaten, but Bernhard double bogied the difficult par 3 8th hole and took 6 at the final par 5 ninth to card a 71. Still a good score, but tied 7th would've been sweet instead of tied 32nd. Despite making the cut, the rest of the tournament brought little satisfaction for Bernhard who dropped more and more off the pace to finish a very disappointing tied 77th. This on a course which he knows well and has been good to him in the past, with two 2nd places and a 3rd place as recently as 2001. Poor driving was his downfall over rounds 3 and 4 with only a third of the fairways found from the tee. A fine birdie 2 at the par 3 17th island hole on the final day at least gave Bernhard something to smile about, but falling from that early lead of 4 under to such a low position will not please him ahead of the Masters. INTERVIEW. Langer after round 1 Final Position: T71 Scores: 71-74-73-77 295 Earnings: $14,800.00 Tournament Winner: Adam Scott 65-72-69-70 276 $1,440,000.00 World Ranking after this event 81 Tournament no 9 US PGA Tour The Masters Augusta National, Georgia.. April 8th - April 11th. LANGER TIES FOR 4TH AT 2004 MASTERS - CLICK HERE FOR FULL REPORT. World Ranking after this event 52. Tournament No 10 US PGA Tour MCI Heritage Harbour Town April 15th - April 18th A quiet tournament for Bernhard after the expoits of the previous week at Augusta. He never quite got into top gear despite playing on a course that he has performed very well on in previous years, having finished 3rd here in 2001 and 4th in 2002 (38th in 2003). Coming off a superb 4th finish at the Masters his tied 39th finish here this year was perhaps a little disappointing. His par 71 opening round set the tone for the rest of his tournament. It consisted of three birdies, one bogey and one double bogey and placed him nicely in the top 30, and was matched by a second round level par 71. Bernhard had got to -2 through 15 holes of his second round - good enough for a top ten spot - but dropped shots at the birdie-friendly 16th and tough 18th put him back where he started the day. There were a lot of players bunched around the even par mark, and although Bernhard comfortably made the cut he needed to find a higher gear to challenge for the lead. Birdies at the 2nd and 4th hole on day three suggested he was about to kick on but a run of pars and one bogie followed for a 1-under 70. Unusually for Bernhard it was his iron play that restricted his progress; he drove superbly, missing only 2 fairways on a very tight driving course, but he only found 50% of greens in regulation. Bernhard's final round 72 (2 birdies, 3 bogies) resulted in a final score of 284 - level par - and a finish of tied 39th. If Bernhard follows the pattern of previous years he will now take a break from the US PGA tour until June, visiting the European Tour for the Deutsche Bank Open and possibly the Volvo PGA in May. He has now completed ten tournaments, and refelecting on his results it must be said that he has made a very impressive start to 2004. From his ten tournaments he has had three top-3 finishes (including 4th place at the Masters where he shared the lead early in the final round), 3 top-25 finishes, and he has made the cut in all 10 tournaments. He is 35th on the US PGA Tour money list and has risen over 30 places to 53rd in the World Rankings. This represents a significant return to form and consistency compared with his poor start to 2003, and its great to see Bernhard genuinely challenging for tournament wins again. More of the same please! Final Position: T39 Scores: 71-71-70-72 284 Earnings: $19,200.00 Tournament Winner: Stewart Cink 72-69-69-64 274 $864,000.00 World Ramking afetr this event: 53. US PGA Tour Wachovia Championship Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte, N.C. May 6th - May 9th, 2004 Bernhard was due to play in this tournament but was forced to withdraw due to a wrist injury. EUROPEAN Tour Deutsche Bank - SAP Open TPC of Europe Golf Club St Leon-Rot Heidelberg, Germany May 20th - May 23rd Bernhard was due to play in this tournament but was forced to withdraw due to a wrist injury. EUROPEAN Tour Volvo PGA Championship Wentworth, Surrey, England. May 27th - May 30th Bernhard was due to play in this tournament but was forced to withdraw due to a wrist injury. FULL STORY
|