November 2000 November 1 Volvo Masters at Montecastillo Just to let you know I am off at 11.10 tomorrow with Jose Coceres, who is a great guy to play with. Watch out for the scores on europeantour.com. Per Thursday November 2- Volvo Masters-Montecastillo 76(+4) Unfortunately not off to the best of starts for the week, but a long way to go and with no cut this week there are still big leaps to be made each round. I really didn't play that badly, it was just one of those days. I made a poor double at 10 just when I felt I was getting back into it after a birdie at the par 5 9th. Another bogey followed and finally I made amends for that one with a 3 at the 17th hole. A 76 is obviously not what I would have chosen but genearlly the scoring was not that great today and my main rival for next week's WGC, Ian Woosnam shot 75. I need to focus on my own game and I can shoot in the 60's tomorrow and try to move up the field. I am staying at the hotel on site which is highly recommended ! Off to dinner with some Swedish friends. Oh and I couldn't let the opportunity go bye without mentioning that the England football team has finally seen sense and hired the Swede Sven Ericson to help them out. It's a big topic on tour and the Swedes are having great fun winding up the English with it!! Bye for now ..Per Friday November 3 - Volvo Masters-Montecastillo 70(-2) A much better day with a 70 which moves me forward and will give me a later start time tomorrow. This event has a re-draw after each round (rather than after the first 2 rounds in a regular European Tour event) so your score dictates when you tee off. I had a strange front 9 with 3 pars, 3 bogeys and 3 birdies. Things were more steady on the back nine and with birdies at the 11th and 16th a 70 was a reasonable score. The weather was better today and scoring was generally better. Still this score moved me forward and I am really looking forward to a great weekend. Saturday November 4 - Volvo Masters-Montecastillo 71(-1) Not too much to report today, An okay day with a 71 and finishing with 2 birdies certainly made my day better! The score didn’t really do too much for my position and I need to shoot a good score tomorrow. I don't need to worry about the others players, just play my own game. If I play well I will make it to Valderrama and if I don’t, I won't. Professionals rarely spend time focussing on the other players and that’s something that I recommend you do with your own game. Focus on playing your best, play against par - don’t try and beat your opponent because it's very easy to get caught up watching them and losing your own mental edge.(That’s my Tip of the Day!!) I will be off at about the same time tomorrow, around 0930 local time. I'm looking forward to it…Bye for now…Per Sunday November 5 - Volvo Masters-Montecastillo 74(+2) Well, unfortunately I didn’t end up making it to next week's WGC. It’s a really disappointing end to the season and my play on the back nine was very average after a good start. I had 3 birdies in the opening holes and then after turning birdie into bogey on the 9th I finished with 3 bogeys on 14, 15 and16 to seal my fate. Finishing in 44th tied was not enough to take me past Mathias Gronberg and with Pierre Fulke winning in great style I was pipped by one. Its tough to put it into words but finishing 21st after this event in the Order of Merit is the worst place to be - the top 20 are thinking about the WGC title and $1 million and I have a few days off before heading to the US for the second stage of US Tour School. You can imagine where I would like to be. I'll keep you all posted with my progress from West Palm Beach. It starts in about a week, so check back for further details…. Off to dinner and a glass of red wine…Per Sunday November 12 - West Palm Beach I arrived in West Palm Beach last night via London and Atlanta. I am here for stage 2 of PGA Tour School, which will be played at various locations across the US. I have elected to play at Bear Lakes just outside West Palm Beach. I played last year here (and missed moving to the next stage by 1 shot!) and as my friend Jesper Parnevik lives near by I have somewhere to stay. Its so much better staying with friends than a hotel. I have 4 rounds beginning on Tuesday and if I make it through then it is on to the final stage in a couple of weeks. I will keep you all posted. …Bye Per Tuesday November 14 - Bear Lakes - 69 Per is caught up in the qualifying this week, so you are stuck with me relaying the update for you all. I'm Nick Green, Per's manager. There is no live scoring this week so I'm hoping the information I get from the Bear Lakes Pro Shop is correct and then we will be able to check it later once all the scores are in. Per shot a 69 (-3) which is a good start. This week is all about making it through to the final stages. It's not about winning, merely ensuring that you are around for the tough 6 rounds to follow in a couple of weeks. I'm not sure where that will put him, but I do know that this is a better start than last year. Keep checking for the daily update. This is a 4 round qualifier. Thanks, Nick Wednesday November 15 - Bear Lakes - 68 (-4) I have just spoken with Bear Lakes and they tell me Per is now lying 2nd after shooting 68. That’s great news as he heads off to practice ( again !) and sets himself up for the last 2 days in an excellent position. Per practices after each round regardless of whether he has shot 68 or 78 and its something that you will see all pros do. It is an opportunity to "warm down" and perhaps work through a swing thought they had during the round. Sometimes that can be a good thought and sometimes a negative thought that they are working to eliminate. I believe that the players will go out in reverse order for the last 2 days as in regular events. But I'm struggling to find out too much information so that is an informed guess. If that is the case the Day 3 report won't come until later in the day. Thanks , Nick Thursday November 16 - Bear Lakes - 73 (+1) The weather was quite good today and yet the scoring was average. As a result Per's score of one over 73 didn't do him too much harm. He moved back to joint 4th at -6. The top 25 will make it through. The final day of Stage 2 is Friday and so Per just needs a solid round to move him into Stage 3. This takes place in California starting on Wednesday 29th November and lasts for 6 rounds. The European equivalent starts tomorrow in Spain at Sotogrande and San Roque. Our friend, Justin Rose is back at School where he will hopefully repeat his great performance last year and earn his card. He's playing well so I'm sure he will. Thanks for the emails of support for Per. Nick Friday November 17 - Bear Lakes - 71 (-1) GREAT NEWS!!! Per just called me to tell me that he shot 71. As a result of this he is through to the final PGA TOUR Qualifying school. He finished in 3rd place, but as the results are not readily available yet I don’t know if that was tied or on his. (Not that it really matters!) He is obviously delighted and he and I are discussing his plans for California. I' ll report more on the weekend once the results are officially available, including more information about the other Swedes. Next stop California!.. Nick Sunday November 26 - Palm Springs, California Per will be updating you later in the week. However, prior to the PGA TOUR Qualifying School I thought you might like some background to what the week is all about. The event begins on Wednesday 29th and runs for 6 days. I believe that PGA TOUR.com is running live scoring, but I'll check that out and let you know. This weeks event is played over108 holes (yes -108!) on 2 golf courses, The Jack Nicklaus Private Course and The Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West. Both will no doubt be tough as Jack designed them! The leading 35 players and those tied for 35th place will earn their "playing privileges" on Tour and are therefore able to compete weekly wherever the Tour goes. The actual number a player gets to play is to a certain extent determined by his position within the 35 places - the higher you finish the more starts you are likely to get. In Per's case he intends playing some golf in Europe and if he has a good week and makes it, also playing some golf in the US. The field this week of around160 includes some well-known names, giving you an idea how tough it is to earn and then keep a card in the US. Familiar names include Paul Curry, Emanuel Canonica, Mathias Gronberg, Fredrik Jacobsen, Stephen Leaney, Frank Nobilo and Geoff Ogilvy. It's a big week for Per and one that could just make a huge difference to his next few years on Tour. Keep sending those emails - he really appreciates them…Thanks …Nick ps - Congratulations to Justin Rose who kept his card at European Tour School with a great performance finishing 9th. Tuesday November 29 - Palm Springs, California What a great place!. We are here in Palm Springs, the weather is fantastic, the resort beautiful and the golf courses in excellent condition. I couldn’t ask for more… The tee times are out and I am off at 0827 on Wednesday on the Jack Nicklaus Private Course and then at 0930 on the Tournament Course on Thursday. I'll keep you posted with my progress. I found out there are 168 players playing for 35 cards. I'm off to play a practice round, the final one before 6 pressure packed days…..Per Wednesday November 29th - Nicklaus Private Course, PGA West 69 - (-3) Well, we are all off and running. I had a solid start today and 69 puts me in a tie for 38th. I played well on the front nine and was out in 34. Not quite as good on the back nine, but with only one bogey the damage was minimal. The scoring on a perfect day was excellent and Todd Barranger is leading with a 62. The Europeans had mixed fortune. My fellow Swede, Mathias Gronberg shot 72. Emanuel Canonica shot 69 and the leading European is Paul Curry who had a great round of 65. The key thing is to remember that this is a108 hole event and not try and get ahead of yourself. It is likely that you will have one average day…you just don't want 2 or more of those! Tomorrow I play the Tournament course. Both are good and I don't think there is too much between them in terms of scoring..We'll see!….Per Next month Back to News Archive