August 2001

Wednesday August 1 - Barseback, Malmo.
The Volvo Scandinavian Masters A windy day in Malmo and at least a 3 club wind in the pro-am. I played reasonably well and shot around level par. I will need to do better than that in round one because if the wind does drop the scoring will be very good. The greens are putting well and the fairways are generous so I can see someone going low in good weather. After the round I worked hard on my driving and chipping before heading back into Malmo for a dinner with friends and relatives. It was Jesper's mother's birthday and so about 16 of us went into town for a special dinner. We had traditional Swedish food, crayfish, lobster, salmon and halibut. A real fish dinner! Everyone had a terrific evening and my mother even gave me a present because August 1st is "Per Day " in Sweden. She always gives a me a present on that day each year. Its like another birthday for me!! Im off at 13.10 tomorrow with Philip Price and Warren Bennett. Im looking forward to a low scoring day. Thanks for all the new competition entries!..You can see the live scoring on europeantour.com....Bye for now...Per

Thursday August 2, Volvo Scandinavian Masters - 72 (Level)
Another scorcher in Malmo. Unfortunately the golf wasn´t quite as hot. I managed to squeeze out two birdies towards the end of my round to shoot a level par round of 72. I certainly need to improve on that to trouble the leaders on the weekend with some very good scoring as predicted. The course was playing easy today and Monty for one took advantage with a 66. My round started slowly although after 5 holes I was going nicely until making a silly double on the 7th hole. I guess I got greedy and after hiting my ball into the right trees I thought I could make it through a small gap. WRONG! It hit the trees and 3 putts later I had undone the early good work. Still my finish was encouragiong and I will now head to the range for half an hour before dinner in town with Jill...Thanks for all the emails of support this week....An early start tomorrow and a round in the 60s is needed...Bye for now...Per

Friday August 3, Volvo Scandinavian Masters - 72 (Level)
I have just come in and as the press center is located on the way to the range thought I would give you the headlines! I again played well on a very windy day, but couldn't buy a putt. Starting from the 10th I birdied the par fives on the front nine and then made par after par on my back nine...until the last. With the cut looking like -1 I made a great 5 footer for bogey to end up on level par and I thought an early flight back to Florida. Now I am in the press centre and looking at the scores it does look like even par will make it into the weekend...let's hope so. The wind was gusting up to 35 miles an hour and on each hole it seemed to be across rather than against or helping. The crowds have been amazing this week and I believe yesterday was a record for the event with 25,000 plus coming through the gates. It's certainly a joy to be playing in front of the home fans again.....especially if it turns out to be 72 holes!!...Bye for now, off to hit balls...Per

Saturday August 4, Volvo Scandinavian Masters - 68 (-4)
My five foot putt for bogey on the 9th (my 18th) yesterday proved to be crucial as the cut ended up falling at plus one. I made it "on the number" as we say, to stick around for the weekend. It was so important for me to be here on Saturday and Sunday because I would have felt I had let down friends and relatives if I had missed that putt! I played really well today and finally some putts dropped. I started the perfect way with a birdie at the first. Others followed at 5, 9, 11 and 12. I moved swiftly up the leaderboard with my only blemish coming at the 16th. A par 5 which I had birdied on Thursday and Friday I made a bit of a hash of it today and ended up with a 6 to drop back to four under. Overall a good day and with fantastic crowds in glorious weather it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Jesper finished on the same score as me, so you never know we could end up playing together on the final day...now that would be a great way to finish this special European Tour event before heading back to the USA...I'll let you know my tee time and playing partner once I find out...Catch you later...Per

Saturday August 4, Tee Time for Sunday
So close!! Jesper is teeing off immediately in front of me. I have bought myself a couple of extra hours sleep tonight and will tee off at 0948 with Desvonde Botes from South Africa ( I was off at 0730 today!) Let's hope to go a couple better than today and make a move...All the best...Per

Sunday August 5, Volvo Scandinavian Masters - 72 (Level)
The end of a busy week and an average finish today with a level par 72. I made just three birdies at the 2nd, 7th and 16th. Unfortunately bogeys on 6, 10 and 15 counter balanced these and my finish for the week of tied 47th was not quite what I had in mind when the week started. Still, it was great to spend time in Sweden and eat some Swedish food, see old friends and be back in my home country. Jill and I fly back to the US tomorrow and I plan on going straight to The Buick Open in Michigan. This will be the start of my final push to guarantee my TOUR card for 2002. Catch up with you from the US of A.....All the best...Per

Tuesday August 7, Michigan
...finally It's been a long road to get here. Jill and I set off from Stockholm on Monday afternoon back to West Palm Beach via Atlanta. We are not going that route again! Delta managed to be late off the gate, we missed our connection and eventually got into our house at 2 a.m (thats 8 a.m in Sweden - a long day!). So is was a late start today and repacking to got to Michigan this afternoon for The Buick Open. The course at Warwick Hills is supposed to be excellent and I saw on pgatour.com my tee times. I'm off the 1st on Thursday afternoon at 1.04 p.m (perfect a late start) and then at 8.19 a.m on Friday from the 10th. My playing partners are Frank Nobilo from New Zealand and Brent Schwarzrock from the US. I'm looking forward to the final push on TOUR and plan on playing as much as possible over the coming weeks.....It's been a long day...I'm off to bed!...Per

Wednesday August 8, Warwick Hills Golf Club, Michigan
It's been a hot day today. I think it was nearly 100 degrees and the humidity was about 90%. A good day to take it as easy as possible and hit some balls on the range. I also practiced my putting and chipping. I am not alone in the field in not being able to play on Wednesdays at PGA TOUR events because the pro-am is on. The top guys from last years order of merit get invited (as I do in Europe) and the rest of us have to use the early days of the week to get a feel for the course. Next year I will hopefully have earned my card and will have the opportunity to play in the pro-ams. The main advantage is that Wednesday can be treated as a practice round, thereby enabling a later start to the tournament week and an extra day spent at home. I had a stroll round the course and it looks good. The scoring will be low this week as the greens are pure. This weeks purse is $3.5 million and even though the event is sponsored by one of Tigers main corporate supporters there is no sign of him here this week...I'll catch up with you late after my afternoon tee time here in Grand Blanc, Michigan...Per ps I wanted to tell you about a great site, www.globalgolf.com - it's a golf travel site featuring courses, hotels, travel guides, golf equipment and links to all the major events in the world of golf. There are thousands of pages and it's well worth a look...Check it out..Per

Thursday August 9, The Buick Open - 75 (+3)
A tough day out there today and my 75 leaves me a lot of work to do on Friday to make the cut. The scoring was always going to be low around this course and a tie for 139th was not quite what I had in mind after round 1!! I made a slow start and early bogies on 2 and 3 put me on the defensive from the beginning. Another followed at the tough par 4 12th. I finally broke my birdie duck at the 15th, but then gave it straight back at the next. It certainly didn't help not having a practice round, but there are no excuses, I just didn't play too well. I can still make it if the putts roll in tomorrow. I'm off early Friday - you can follow the scores on PGATOUR.com. I'll be trying my hardest... Off to dinner with Jill..Bye for now..Per

Friday August 10, The Buick Open - 69 (-3)
A gallant effort but unfortunately not enough today and shooting 3 under to get back to level for the event will not be good enough. The cut is likely to fall somewhere around -3 and yesterday's round was a tough place to start from. I played reasonably well today and really gave it a go on the back nine to get back the dropped shots from Thursday. Starting from the 10th I got it out in 2 under and despite a bogey on the 4th I managed eagle on the par 5, 7th and then birdie at the next. Needing birdie at the 9th to have an outside chance I continued attacking but as often happens when you push too hard at this game birdie became bogey and I started thinking about getting back to West Palm! Not having a practice round certainly didn't help this week and I will now head home probably on Saturday and spend a week relaxing and practising at The Medallist. Thanks for all the emails and to all of you who have been buying hats. I'm looking forward to seeing them at TOUR events…Per

Monday August 13, West Palm Beach
After the disappointment of The Buick it is time to get down to some serious practice this week on my short game. My long game has been good for most of the year, but I am not doing myself any favours around the green and am turning potentially reasonable rounds into 74 or 75 just because I'm not getting it up and down. I will be at The Medallist this week and rooting for Jesper playing in the USPGA. It's obviously been very disappointing to miss all the majors this year. However, this has been a year of transition for me from Europe to the US and that has been where my focus has been. I still need to hit my target and keep my card, but with 8 events still to go I feel ready for the challenge ahead. We had a fun weekend and Jill and I were out on Jesper's boat with his family and friends. Sergio Garcia was also in town and the three of us played at The Medallist on the weekend. Sergio is playing well and could be worth a wager for the PGA Championship. It would certainly make Sam Torrance's job easier if Sergio or Jesper could win - that way he would free up a pick for the remainder of his team for the match at the Belfry next month. I'll be watching the same as you! I'll catch up with you later in the week. I'm off now to make the most of another gorgeous day in Florida...Per

Monday August 20, West Palm Beach
Jill and I have had a great week here in Jupiter. We have been doing some watersports, during which I managed to soak my mobile phone - needless to say it has seen better days and we spent the afternoon trying to track down a new one at the mall! I've been out at Medallist working hard on my short game and I hope you will all see the results this week at the Reno-Tahoe Open. This is the event that is being played opposite the World Golf Championship. With a number of key US TOUR players away it is a good opportuinity to post some good numbers and make a big cheque. That said the fields in the US are so strong week in, week out. We will leave for Reno tonight and should get there by 10.30pm. The event is kindly lending me a car so we will head staright to the hotel. I believe there is a casino or two in the town - but not tonight!...I'll keep you posted during the week...Bye for now..Per ps I have some new hats on the site. Take a look in the PU shop..they look great

Tuesday August 21, All the way to Reno!
Have you heard that song by REM? Nick was singing it to me down the phone today and I had no idea what he was on about! I think it was his singing distracting me because I have the CD. Anyway, we arrived safely into Reno late last night via Dallas. Today, I headed out to the Jack Nicklaus golf course to practice. The course is over 7500 yards long but somehow doesn't play that long in the heat. There are two par fives over 600 yards long, but with two really good shots you can 'get up'. The course is another good one and the field strength despite the World Golf Championship is excellent. Jill and I are looking forward to looking around this self styled casino town and visiting a casino or two for fun. I am not a gambler so don't expect to read any "Golfer loses $5 million" stories in the tabloids! My monthly diary is over at PGATOUR.com today, so if you would like to read about my last month take a look. The headline refers to my caddying activity for Jill's brother, Jesper. I'll post the tee times later Wednesday. I'm feeling ready to play!...Bye for now...Per

Wednesday August 22, The Reno Tahoe Open
I'm racing out the door and will give ou an update later when I get back but thought you might like to see the tee times. Thursday 1st tee at 1.25pm with David Peoples and Craig Perks Friday 10th tee at 810am. Catch you later...Per Wednesday

Wednesday August 22, The Reno Tahoe Open
I'm back! Reno is like a little Las Vegas. We have been for dinner and the choice here is unending (provided you want to eat to the sound of gaming machines!) Today was a typical pro golf Wednesday. Jill and I went to the gym and then I drove down to the course to practice. Jill picked me up after lunch and we headed out for some sightseeing to Lake Tahoe, which is only 13 miles away. It is really beautiful out there and quite a contrast to Reno. The air is so dry here and my eye's were very red and dry as a result. I have my eye drops with me and they are feeling a little better today than yesterday. My game feels good so let's hope for a big finish this week. We plan on going to straight to Canada for the two events up there and as we have never been there we are both really looking forward to it. First things first..I will try and post some good numbers this week..Speak to you after round one..Bye for now...Per

Thursday August 23, The Reno Tahoe Open - 74 (+2)
A disappointing day, although I really didn't play that badly. Starting from the first I made a birdie at 5 before running into a poor spell with 4 dropped shots in 6 holes. I late birdie on 17 improved the situation a little and I can still play four rounds here with a soild day tomorrow. The wind ceratinly got up in the afternnon and the early tee times had the best of it today. That's just the luck of the draw and let's hope the same happens on Friday and it will work in favour of the Friday early starters. Because the wind got up later in the day, it was impossible to reach the green on two of the par 5's. We are at altitude here in Reno so even though the par fives are long in still conditions they are reachable. Not today though! Yesterday afternoon, Jill and I drove all the way round Lake Tahoe which was great and we even stopped at one point and took a swim. We like a good swim in Sweden, especially outdoors! We went to a great Italian resaurant last night. Gabe likes it so much he has made a reservation there at 7.30 every night this week. I don't think we can eat Italian food every night so we had room service last night, especially as we got back late after I had warmed down after the round. I tee off at 8.10a.m Friday and will need to come out fast and shoot at least 3 or 4 under to get back into position. There are plenty of potential birdies out there. I'll try and put some on my card!! ...Thats all for now...Per

Friday August 24, The Reno Tahoe Open - 71 (-1)
I was up early this morning for my 10th tee 08.10 start time. Once again he played well but scored poorly. The wind wasn't too bad today so that made it easier. I played well on the front 9 with an early birdie and a good putt on the 18th to get out in 34. At the 1st I hit it a little bit right and got plugged badly in the bunker. To make double from nowhere was disappointing and kind of sums up the week. I kept plugging away and made a birdies on 4 and 6 knowing I needed another couple at least to hang around for the weekend. On the 8th, my 17th, I hit my second shot a touch right of the green and it found the aqua sin gas! I got it up and down (after a drop) for bogey but it was too late. I am disappointed because I felt that my game was good for this course. Well, let's hope that next week will be better. We are staying in Reno tonight and I will practice tomorrow morning. We then plan to spend half of the day and Sunday by Lake Tahoe. We just love it there! There is a charter flight which lives from Reno to Vancouver at 8pm on Sunday. Jill and I will be ready by then to visit Canada and turn this good play into some better scores. I hope you all have a great weekend...Bye for now...Per

Monday August 27, Oh Canada!
Jill and I had a great weekend by Lake Tahoe. We stayed at the Hyatt, a nice hotel with a private beach. On Sunday we rented a boat and spend 3 hours on the lake. We even dived overboard for a swim in the 65 degree water…fantastic! The player charter flight up to Canada was a bit late leaving and we arrived into Vancouver late on Sunday night. The golf course is 60 minutes away by car but from Wednesday there will be a helicopter shuttle for the players that are staying down town. The ride leaves from outside our hotel and only takes about 20minutes. Jesper and Mia are renting a house this week which is10 minutes from the course so I think we may move in with them tomorrow. It sounds like a better option than a helicopter every day. I'm not a nervous flyer, but a 10 minute drive sounds more conducive to arriving at the course relaxed than a helicopter! We haven't seen that much of Vancouver yet, but so far it reminds me of Sweden… I will let you know later in the week once we have had a look around. Thanks to all of you who have been buying hats. I'm looking forward to seeing a p-uj.com diary reader wearing one at an event…Bye from Canada…Per

Wednesday August 29, Air Canada Championship
I practiced at Northview Golf and Country Club today. I really nice course with quite a lot of water in play - a good week to hit it straight! The course is just over 7000 yards long and with only three par 5s plays to a par of 71. The tee times just came out and I am off the 10th tee in the afternoon on Thursday (at 1.27) and the 1st on Friday morning at (8.42). My partners on the first two days are Mike Reid and Robin Freeman, both from America....Wednesday will be a day of practice and hopefully Jill and I will have the chance to look around Vancouver...Catch up with you later...Per

Thursday August 30, Air Canada Championship - 68 (-3)
I played really well today, my ball striking was good and it was probably my best putting round this year. I shot 68, which was 3 under to put me in a tie for 17th position. This was despite making a mess of the par 5s and finishing 2 over for them!. Those are supposed to be the slightly easier holes and hopefully tomorrow I can make amends. Starting from the 10th I dropped and early shot at 12 (one of the par 5s) before making birdies on 15 and 16. Around the turn another par 5 loomed and a shot went on number 4. However I had a great finish and made birdies on 6, 8 and 9 to make dinner taste good. The weather was perfect here today and it felt good to be making birdies. Speaking of dinner, Mia (Parnevik, Jesper's wonderful wife) made the best dinner for us once Jesper and I returned to the house - toast skagen for appetiser and turkey lasagne. It's so great to be able to have a home cooked meal instead the usual restaurant or hotel. Jill also had some fun with a number of the players wives. The tournament arranged for them to fly out on sea plane to Whistler for a fashion show. Events often do this kind of thing and it's really appreciated by the wives. It makes a change for them from trudging around the course all week watching golf! Off to bed because I have an early start tomorrow. Bye for now…Per

Friday August 31, Air Canada Championship - 66 (-5)
My putting practice over the last few weeks paid off today with my best putting round of the year. Combined with good ball striking I shot 66 to move up the leaderboard and into contention for the weekend. It really was exciting to be making so many birdies and I'm looking forward to the weekend and the competition ahead. I was actually 1 over after a bogey on the 2nd hole, but after that the birdies came thick and fast. I came straight back with birdies on 3 and 4, then 8. Unfortunately I dropped one at 9 before really playing my best nine holes on the PGA TOUR this year. With birdies on the back nine at 11,12,15 and 16, I was back in 31. That doesn't tell the whole story because I made a tricky 15 footer for par on 17 and then 2 putted from about 120 feet at the last to complete my 66. That putt felt good! The last hole is a monster and with one of the biggest greens I've ever seen. The pin was on the back right and I was on the front left - I had to hit the putt so hard and still ended up 9 feet short. Still it went in. Tonight Jill, Jesper, Mia and I are going down town for an Indy Car party. I don't quite know what to expect but it will be a great diversion from the golf and a good excuse to see Vancouver by night. If you get the chance I hope you can watch the telecast tonight. You can be sure I will be trying my hardest and hoping the putter stays hot! Got to go…We're late!!…Per

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