July 2001

Sunday July 1 - Florida
A quick reminder that the first monthly competition has now ended. The winner will be announced on Monday July 2nd and shortly after that the next monthly competition will start. I'll catch up with you all tomorrow before flying up to Chicago...Bye for now...Per

Monday July 2 - Competition Result
We have our first winner in our new monthly competition to win one of my personalised hats. His name is Stephan Hansson from Norway. We had a fantastic response with several hundred entries from all over the world. Thanks for entering. Have another go this month and see if your luck is in this time. The questions will be posted next week with the closing date at the end of July. To recap the questions and answers.

1. What clubs do I play?
All of you knew this and the correct answer is Callaway

2. What was my first professional tournament victory?
A few interesting answers here! The correct answer was The 1991 Renault Belgian Open

3. How many Ryder Cups have I played in to date. The answer, which most people knew was two. In 1995 and 1997

Monday July 2 - Chicago
Chicago is great! Jill and I are staying at a really nice hotel with a view over Lake Michigan. We were so surprised at how great the beach is here. We walked around down town yesterday and at night we went partying with Jesper's caddie Lance. We went to 'Taste of Chicago', a food festival. He used to live here before so he knows the city really well. We had brunch at the John Hancock building on the 95th floor - what a great view! I plan on playing the Cog Hill course today. I hear good things about it. The event has a great pedigree and this years defending champion is Robert Allenby. I'm feeling good despite last week's missed cut and ready to play again…Per

Tuesday July 3 - Chicago
I spent most of the day out at the Cog Hill golf course. It's as good as everyone said and The Advil Western Open has an amazing history which I didn't know until I got here. The event began in1899 and the winners trophy really is a whos who of golf. The winners names include Laurie Auchterlonie, Walter Hagan, `Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Byron NelsonJack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, ….and that’s just up to 1967! This week provides the first ever opportunity to qualify for The British Open from an American event. The top 8 players who are otherwise non exempt will make it through without having to pre qualify at the 4 venues near Royal Lytham. In addition there is a mini order of merit based on events leading up to and including the Western Open. The top 7 on this order of merit will again make it straight into The Open. So that gives me an additional incentive this week.

Wednesday July 4 - Advil Western Open, Cog Hill
The tee times are out and I am off at 1.18pm on Thursday from the 1st tee with Neil Lancaster and Doug Barron. Friday, I'm off at 8.18 from the 10th tee.

Wednesday July 4 - Advil Western Open
For the first time on TOUR we are staying in a house. The people we are staying with are super nice and it's so kind of them to put us up in their home. They live 20 minutes from the course and 1 minute from the Slumans. We went to their house for dinner last night which was fun. There were a bunch of players and wives there. We are celebrating 4th of July at there house tonight with a BBQ. We are also hoping to go to their club to see some fireworks. Jill and I and joined the best gym this week - Jill took her first boxing class this morning so I had better watch out!. I worked out with Rick this morning and because its Pro-am day and I cant play on the course its practice for me til the fun stuff tonight…Speak to you after the round tomorrow…Per

Friday July 6 - Advil Western Open, Cog Hill, 1st Round 74 (+2), 2nd Round 70 (-2)
Apologies for the delay. A few technical problems at my end. What a disappointing end to a great week in The Windy City. I found it is was called that because of politics and not the wind...who knew! My first round was going so well after chipping in at the 9th for my third eagle of the year. My second shot hit a mans foot which actually helped its position and after chipping in I gave him the ball for his accidental help! However, two holes later and I was in trouble with a pair of double bogeys to slip back from -3 to +1. I hit the ball into two unplayable lies two holes in a row after a couple of poor shots and following another bogey I had shot 74. From being in great shape I dropped back into the pack and in need of a good round to make the cut. Round two on Friday I made the worst possible start with a bogey on 10 (my first), but hit back with birdies on 11 and 18. A bogey on 15 put me out in 36 and in need of very good back nine. I tried so hard and with birdies on 5 and 8 nearly did enough. Unfortunately and not for the first time this year I was one shot too many at level par. Well, back to Spain now to relax for a few days before heading to England for the Open Championship qualifying tournament prior to Royal Lytham St Annes. I'm looking forward to a few days off and getting mentally prepared for two rounds of qualifying. I am playing at Fairhaven near Blackpool. Before I go I wanted to thank the Lederhausens for having us to stay in their home near the golf course. They are a great family and were so kind to put up with a professional golfers schedule. We both really appreciate it....Bye for now...Per ps - Next week we are starting to sell my 'backwards Kangol cap' so check it out. We are working with golfalot.com using their secure server so if you would like to buy one your details will be 100% safe.

Monday July 10 - Travelling
It's going to be a long day for Jill and I today as we have a planes, trains and automobiles day! We have three different plane trips to get back to Spain and can then relax for a few days before I head off to England (Manchester to be exact) for the pre Q for The British Open. Speak to you from Europe soon...Per Friday July 13 - Spain I've had a relaxing few days here catching up with friends and admin. I also spent some time practicing and my game feels good and I'm ready for the Open qualifying in a few days time. I watched the Scottish Open on TV and I 'm certainly not missing the usual Loch Lomond weather. I fly out tomorrow morning to Manchester and a practice round at Fairhaven. You may have noticed the new button on the site which links thorough to out e-commerce partner site, golfalot.com. If you are interested in wearing the same hat as me then click on thorough and take a look. This is the only place you can buy my hat! Golfalot.com is a great place to go for golf news from around the world and they have been instrumental in building and maintaining my website. Check it out...I'll catch up with you from England and hopefully dry Blackpool...Per

Saturday July 14 - Open Championship Qualifying
I arrived this morning via Manchester and headed to The Swedish Federation house where I am staying. The Federation traditionally rents a house or two for the players. This includes those who have already qualified and also those who are going through the qualification process. You can imagine there are quite a lot of Swedes who come to play the Open so it's a full house. Those that unfortunately don't make it usually head home. The atmosphere is great and we are all pulling for each other. The Federation is unusual in that they cross over their responsibilities from amateurs to professionals and there is no doubt that this is one reason why the Swedish men and women have had professional suceess in the game. Many of the amateur bodies in golf almost disown players once they decide to turn pro and it is amazing to me that more national organisations have not adopted some of the Swedish methods. The golf course at Fairhaven, where I am qulifying is excellent and in great condition. It is a full one minute from the house so it couldn't be more convenient. Royal Lytham is only a 10 minute drive away. I tee off on Sunday at 11.55am and am looking forward to playing my best. The number of qualifying spots has fallen this year, but my game feels good and I have been through this process before so I know what I have to do...I'll catch up with you after the round. There is no live scoring from the qualifying so check the site later for the scores.....Bye for now...Per

Sunday July 15 - Open Championship Qualifying 73 (-1)
Against an unusually high par of 74 I shot a 1 under 73 today. This is disappointing and leaves me in a position tomorrow of needing to go low to make it through. My game from tee to green was good, but my chipping and putting was just awful. There are five par 5's around Fairhaven and I was on two of them in 2 shots and next to the green on the other three. I managed a grand total of one birdie from these five. All is not lost and a round in the mid 60's will put me in with a chance. We had a weather delay of over an hour before playing, so hopefully the weather will be kinder tomorrow and I can get off to a fast start…I'll report back on Monday afternoon…Per

Monday July 16 - Open Championship Qualifying 69 (-5)
A five under par 69 was not good enough today and a total over the two days of -6 missed the play- off by 3 shots. I played reasonably today, but can only look back on yesterday as the day that proved to be expensive shooting a 73. I'm off to catch a plane and plan on going to Sweden for a few days. I'll catch up with you and give you more of the story of the day once I get back.....Thanks to those of you have been buying "my hat". You can find it through the link below...My next planned event is the Volvo Scandinavian Masters in Malmo, Sweden....All the best for now....Per

Monday July 23 - Stockholm
What a great Open Championship!. Firstly, congratulations to David Duval for keeping his head so well. He played solid, steady golf on a dramatic day to win his first and well deserved major. It won't be the last. Also a huge week for Sweden's Niclas Fasth, finishing in second place. Closing with a 67 and just shaving the edge with his last two putts on 17 and 18 was a tremendous effort. It looks like he will have done enough to have made the Ryder Cup team and following other excellent performances this season he thoroughly deserves it. Well done Niclas! I'm up in Stockholm and Jill and I have been busy seeing family and friends during my enforced week off. I plan on heading to Malmo on Monday for the Volvo Scandinavian Masters. I will probably drive down in the car that Volvo have kindly lent me whilst visiting. Thank you to Tomas K for arranging it. The weather is good up here and I have had the chance to hit balls and enjoy some beautiful Swedish evenings. If you have never been to Stockholm, you should come. It is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and with the kroner so low right now it is actually very reasonably priced (ok that's my ad for the Swedish Tourism Board!!)...Speak to you all later in the week...Per

Tuesday July 24 - Ullna Golf Club, near Stockholm
Today was my first (and last!!) day as a caddy. My good friend, Jesper Parnevik was playing in a special event, The SAS Invitational at Ullna golf club near Stockholm. He asked me to carry his bag for fun...I never knew how heavy those bags are! Like all the best caddies I took responsibility for the good shots ( "we hit it well") and blamed Jesper for the bad shots ( "he hit a bad shot!"). "We" won the match and the crowd really enjoyed the opportunity to see him up close. After the game I headed home to make myself some pasta and an early night. Jesper, the invoice is in the mail!!....Bye for now...Per

Friday July 27 - Stockholm
I hope the weather is as good where you are. It's hot and sunny here in beautiful Stockholm. A quick update for you on the competition. For technical reasons we have finished July's competition today and the winner out of the hat was Sara Altman from the US of A. But don't worry the August competition has started today with new questions so go ahead and enter. Thanks for all the entries. We have sold a bunch of hats and have managed to secure another couple of colours, light blue and red, so if you haven't got one yet follow the link to the PU Shop and buy using Golfalot.com's secure server. Nick is coming up to the Volvo Scandinavian Masters next week in Malmo and he will take some new pictures for the site featuring the new hat colours and some fun pictures of me at work! I'll be back to a daily diary at the Scan Masters...Speak to you all then...Per

Monday July 30 - Stockholm
Just about to head out on our 5 hour journey south to Malmo. The weather is great and we are looking forward to a busy Volvo Scandinavian Masters. This is such an important week for all the Swedish players and we are all trying to emulate the two Swedish winners of this great event, Jesper and Joakim Haeggman... I'll keep you posted from Malmo...Per

Tuesday July 31 - Barseback, Malmo
We safely arrived in Malmo and I headed out to the golf club. Barseback is a great links course located right next to the sea. It can really blow here but todays practice round was mercifully calm. I played 12 holes on my own and practiced my putting for an hour. It is amazing how few amateurs I see practice this critical part of the game. My tip of the week is to miss out on the range one time and use the time on the practice putting green. Monitor your results and I will bet that your score will be lower as a result of better use of the 'flat stick'. We had fun in the evening with a seafood and beer party with one of my sponsors, Hello Sweden. They sponsor a number of Swdeish players including Jesper, Chris Hanell and Joakim Haeggman. I`m off at 09.00 in the Pro-Am so it was an early night after a long days travel and golf...Catch up with you later...Per

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