Online Golfer

Yung Jian from China with a handicap of 15 will be traveling back to China with the title of 2007 Volvo Masters Amateur World Champion. It is the second time in three years that a Chinese golfer has taken the title and Jian took the title in style picking up 70 points over the two rounds at the La Quinta Club de Golf.

Jian said “I am very proud to have won for China again.” He saw off the challenge of Emilia Otella from Finland and Kim Teagun from Korea to take the title and all are looking forward to returning next year.

Eighteen year old Otella who came within two points of being the first female winner of the event said “I’m so excited to be the first girl on the podium so close and yet so far”.

All in all a fantastic weekend for golf from the Costa del Golf in the South of Spain.

What seemed as though it was going to be easy going for Justin Rose on the final day of the Volvo Masters turned out to not be as easy as first thought.

Rose dropped shots on the back nine that took him to three over par going into the last three holes taking him to just one under par level with Greame McDowell bringing himself into contention after an amazing albatross on the most difficult hole the dreaded 17th. McDowell hit the front slope of the green only to see the ball skip forward and roll straight into the cup, a nice way to bring yourself 3 shots up the leader board.

Kjeldsen Soren of Denmark leading as he walked up the 18th fairway with an impressive five under for the round so far but dropped a shot on the final hole putting three players, Soren, Dyson and Rose into a three way tie for first place. However this did not last long with both Dyson and Rose picking up a birdie along the seventeenth leaving them in a tie for the lead as they stand on the final tee together.

Unbelievably both Rose and Dyson dropped a shot on the 18th meaning that the final competition of the year has gone into a three way play off. No matter what happens in the play off Justin Rose picks up the Order of Merit for the 2007 season as his closest rival Padraig Harrington finished tied for fourth with Greame McDowell.

The play off starts on the 18th where all players manage to hold their nerve and stay in contention while third place in the order of merit Paraig Harrington is still signing autographs. The three way tussle for the Volvo Masters title for 2007 go onto the tenth tee to see if the difficult dog leg right can split them.

Going down the tenth Rose puts an excellent approach which is quickly followed by both Dyson and Kjeldsen no one wanting to give up their chance at taking home the final title of the season. Kjeldsen putts first but comes up short, Rose is next up and puts his putt in the middle of the cup to put the pressure on Dyson who slides his putt just to the right of the hole handing the title to Rose.

Justin Rose picks up the first prize for the order of merit and the Volvo Masters for 2007. An amazing closing day for everyone involved. The new season starts very soon in Europe lets hope for more of the same next year.

When you see the big competitions on television and you see the professional golfers standing on the first tee its is easy to think that it is the first time they have ever seen the course. Having just spent the evening with one of the caddies on the European tour it is not only obvious that it is not the case but pretty clear that as spectators the hard work is all missed!

Swinging the driver off the first tee in the Volvo Masters sees years of preparation put into the motion and getting the opportunity to see the big guns in action is something that the major players look forward to. It is also easy to see how nervous these players can be with the changing weather pattens of Andalucia this time of the year as well as the course being a little more demanding than others they have played over the competition.

As for the work that the caddy has put in before hand they have walked the course the first day they arrive which is the Monday, the second day is all about getting the player familiar with the course, this is important if they are expecting to do well on the competition days. By the Wednesday the caddy has walked the course twice already and are almost ready to go ahead. There is however the little issue of the ProAm to take into consideration, this it where the members of the club they are playing at get to benefit from the players being there and get to play a round with those players. So the Caddy has walked the course 3 times by the time they get to that first tee. Its a lot of work when you think about what you actually see on TV!

Tomorrow I am going to be observing the Volvo Amateur World Final at La Quinta but on Friday and on the final round Sunday I will be viewing the stresses and strains of a major golfing competition first hand! I am also hoping to catch some of the major names as they come off the final green at both competitions! Busy few days ahead but hope to be bringing you some major information as it happens right here at Online Golfer.