Victory moves Edfors into Ryder Cup calculations
BY Bruce Young | European PGA Tour | 2006 Scottish Open | Wrap | 17 Jul 2006
Johan Edfors not only won the Barclays Scottish Open today at Loch Lomond but he became a serious contender for Ryder Cup honours. He has moved to number ten in the European Ryder Cup standings, a position that would have seemed only a wild dream six months ago.
In that time Edfors has won the, TCL Classic in China, the Quinn British Masters and now the Barclays Scottish Open and has moved to third on the European money list. The interesting thing about Edfors is that between those wins have been some rather ordinary performances, in fact he arrived at Loch Lomond coming off two missed cuts at the BMW and the French Open although he had taken a five week break between those two events. Clearly when Edors is good he is very, very good and when he is not, the results speak for themselves.
Starting in 24th place as he entered the final round, Edfors had caught the overnight leaders, Darren Clarke and Thomas Bjorn virtually before they had even teed off. In the space of thirteen holes between the second and 13th today he reeled off nine birdies and had moved to fourteen under. He had started two hours ahead of the last pairing of Clarke and Bjorn but, by the time he hit the turn, Edfors was sharing the lead. As he walked to the 15th tee he had the lead on his own and although he would bogey the 17th he had set a benchmark that would become too great for those behind to catch.
Darren Clarke made a quick start and appeared to be the man to beat as he moved to thirteen under after three holes but he struggled through the middle of his round and in the end his share of fifth place will have been a big disappointment for him. Clarke’s playing partner on day four, Thomas Bjorn, was also looking good early and moved to thirteen under himself through seven holes before he too fell victim to a battle over the last nine holes.
The challenge to Edfors eventually came from an unlikely source. When he birdied the 14th and 15th, Andres Romero had moved within one and as he stood on the last tee he had the task of making birdie to catch the Swede. He took bogey and was forced to settle for a share of second with Luke Donald and Charles Schwartzel but the European Tour rookie’s costly last hole was made easier to digest by the fact that he had secured a start at the Open Championship next week and that he no longer has to concern himself with status on the European Tour in 2007.
Clarke, Bjorn, Ben Barham and the defending champion, Tim Clark, all shared fifth place with Clarke, Bjorn and Clark all considered chances at this week’s Open Championship and doing that possibility no harm. Barham missed a chance to be at the Open himself by just one shot.
Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Sergio Garcia, each did enough this week to keep their chances of Open Championship glory success alive.
The best of the Australians was David Bransdon who continues a good rookie season in Europe. He finished 32nd and is now 106th on the European Tour money list.
Peter O’Malley and Brett Rumford were 39th.
