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January 2003
Tuesday January 14 - Hawaii
It's so nice to be back on Tour. We had a great time off but
we were ready to travel again. We are staying at the course
this year again at the Kahala Mandarin Oriental hotel. It's
great with the pool and beach and all sorts of other facilities.
They have everything you need here. We only left the resort
once last year and it was to go to one of our favorites, Roys
restaurant. It could be the same this year! Jill went to see
Pearl Harbor today which she said was very moving. Jill, Jesper
and I booked a massage tonight as they have a great SPA here.
I just hit balls today before heading out to the course tomorrow.
We have both got the flu and been coughing all night. Hopefully
we'll get over it soon in the sunshine. Catch up later, Per
Wednesday January 15 - Hawaii
We woke up this morning and it was pouring down rain. Fortunately,
it never rains here for more than a few minutes. Jill and
I went with the Slumans, Faxons, Els and the Parneviks to
Pearl Harbour last night. The Marine crew gave us a tour of
one of their ships. It is 7 years old and massive. The electronics
were unbelievable! 380 people live on the ship with an average
age of a crew member being 20 years old. Too young to buy
a beer but not to be in a war ! We had a very nice dinner
on the ship and we were delighted to be invited. Before dinner
we had a drink at Admiral Fargo's house. He has the power
over the whole fleet in Pacific Ocean. A powerful guy! The
tee times for Thursday are out and have an early start playing
with Dudley Hart and John Maginnes from the 10th tee at 0729am.
See you there!, Per
Thursday January 16 - Sony Open in Hawaii, 1st Round 73
(+3)
My first competitive round of the year was on a tough, windy
day at Waialae. With small greens and only two par fives on
this par 70 course, I recovered well to shoot a 73. At one
point I was 5 over but hit back with a couple of birdies in
the last four holes. Starting from the 10th, even at 730am,
the wind was strong and I found myself 3 over after only 7
holes. I birdied 18, the par 5, to be out in 2 over before
making the turn. Another 3 bogies in four holes wasn't good
on 2, 4 and 5, but as I said, a strong recovery has put me
in a with a shot of making a move on Friday. I'll catch up
with you after my afternoon tee time tomorrow, Bye for now,
Per
Friday January 17 - Sony Open in Hawaii, 2nd Round 72 (+2)
A very disappointing end to the day after getting back to
level par after going out in 3 under in the second round.
I played nicely after a good practice session after round
one. However, as the wind kicked up on the back nine I gave
them all back with bogies on 11, 13, 16 and then a double
on 17. It has been a little cooler than normal on Hawaii this
week, but I will now spend my time here practicing for one
of my favourite events, the Phoenix Open. Jill and I were
at dinner last night with Sergio and the Parneviks...great
fun! Look forward to a better week in the sunshine of Arizona,
Bye for now, Per
Tuesday January 21 - Phoenix Open
It is great to be back in Phoenix as this is one of my favorite
tournaments of the year. The organisers think it will have
an even bigger crowd this year (and last year was a record!).
We arrived in to town last night and are staying at a beautiful
hotel near the course. Great rooms, we even have our own fireplace!
They have a terrific gym here too and a nice big spa. I played
in the Monday Pro-am but we only got to play 13 holes before
the rain started. It doesn't rain here very often so that
was a bit unlucky... We are getting our new lap-top later
today and are attending a computer lesson between 6pm -9pm.
( That should be fun...I think!) ...catch up with you later
in the week, Bye for now, Per
Thursday January 23 - Phoenix Open, 1st Round 71 (Level)
A beautiful day here in Phoenix. Sounds like it is the only
warm place in the country right now! My golf today was pretty
solid and I shot 71 with a couple of bad breaks towards the
end. I started with a bogey, which is never the way to start,
but got out (on the back nine) in 1 under with birdies on
15 and 16. I was going nicely until finding a tough lie on
7 and then hitting it unplayable on 8. Both resulted in bogey.
I kept my head up and made a good birdie at my 18th to shoot
level par. The scoring was as low as ever on a perfect scoring
day and I will need to improve by a few on Friday to make
the weekend. After play I worked on a few points Lead had
made and I feel good. As always in this game you need to stay
patient!. Jill and I are out to dinner tonight with our friend
Eric, the Tour's travel guy. Catch up after my late tee time
on Friday, Bye, Per
Friday January 24 - Phoenix Open, 2nd Round, 67 (-4)
What a day! After making a 30 footer at the first for birdie
and then making another at the 2nd I was off to the flying
start I was looking for - 2 under after 2! I nailed it down
the third and went for the green with my second shot. I hit
it slightly right and it hit the cart path, flew up in the
air and went under a bush - unplayable. Ouch, the result was
a double and I was back to where I started. Following a bogey
on the fifth, I just played really solid golf and made birdies
on the 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th and 15th. That brought me home
in -3 for a 67 and through to the weekend. The cut was -4
so I made it on the number. I hit all 14 fairways today with
my new Great Big Bertha 2. You should give it a try at your
local pro shop. It's awesome! Jill and I are off to a barbecue
at the Ogilvy's tonight which will be fun. I'm looking forward
to the final 36 holes with the HUGE crowds out here in Phoenix.
Catch up later, Bye for now, Per
Sunday January 26 - Phoenix Open, 3rd Round 67 (-5), 4th
Round 71(-1)
An excellent day on Saturday shooting 67 and moving up the
board. I struck the ball beautifully all day and really could
have gone low if the flat stick had been working. Unfortunately,
I undid some of the work with a poor 71 on Sunday. I was off
to a dreadful start with bogies on 3, 7 and 8. I recovered
well with 3 birdies on the last 10 holes to get back to level,
but on this course a score higher than 68 is not going to
do you any good! Still, a positive week as we move on to Palm
Springs and the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Jill and I enjoy
the area and are staying at a great hotel there. I have made
my first cheque of the year and started the year striking
it well. See you in the desert!, Bye for now, Per
Tuesday January 28 - Bob Hope Chrysler Classic
It's always a fun week here in the desert. This is an unusual
format because we play the 90-hole event over 5 days on four
courses. The host course is the Palmer course at PGA West.
We also play Bermuda Dunes, Indian Wells, and La Quinta Country
Club. It's tough to play four practice rounds in 2 days so
it certainly helps to have experience of the courses coming
into the week. We start on Wednesday and play the first four
rounds with amateurs, then there is a four round cut and the
final 18 we get back to regular TOUR play with fellow pros.
I have my tee time and I am off on the back nine at Bermuda
Dunes at 0857. The scoring is going to be low again this week
as the courses are in great shape. I'll be trying hard to
get my Odyssey Two ball putter working well!! ...catch up
after round one, Per
Wednesday January 29 - Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, 1st Round
68 (-4)
A very solid day on the Bermuda Dunes course. I managed 4
birdies and 14 pars. It's always a good feeling to go round
without making a bogey and with the scoring at "the Hope"
so low it's almost essential! Starting from the 10th I was
off to a flyer with birdies on 10 and 11. Pars followed all
the way until I birdied the 6th and the par 5, 8th. This has
put me in the pack with -9 leading so far. Jill had an interesting
day also with a tennis lesson in the morning (with my sister
in law, Mia Parnevik) and then she and a number of the TOUR
wives volunteered at a facility called Martha's Kitchen. They
prepared and cooked food for the less well off in the area.
She enjoyed it very much and was delighted to be helping this
great cause. By the way, we have had the best ever annual
start to the site with visitor numbers at a record. Thanks
to all of you who are passing the message on. Two quick questions
to answer. Don wanted to know about the pins this week. Yes,
they do stay in the same place for the first 4 days and the
green staff work overtime to maintain their condition after
128 pros and several hundred amateurs each day. They hold
up remarkably well. A number of you also wanted to know my
schedule after May. At the moment I haven't really worked
that out, but keep an eye out on the schedule page. Once I
have finalised it later in the season I will let you all know.
Bye for now, Per
Thursday January 30 - Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, 2nd Round,
67 (-5)
Although 67 sounds like a good score, it was a very frustrating
day. I had birdie opportunities on so many holes and only
shot 5 under. I played one of my best rounds but missed 5
birdie putts from less than 6 feet. I should have been -6
at the turn and was very frustrated at the turn after making
bogey on 9. I hit my tee shot right in the rough and had to
lay up and missed the ten footer for par and was -2 at the
turn after birdies on 2, 3 and 7. I made some putts on the
back nine but missed a 3 footer on the last for birdie which
wasn't a fun finish after almost making the chip for eagle.
My birdies came at the par five, 11th and 14th and then a
good two at 17. Well, I'm still up in the top 30 and following
the round I worked on my putting for an hour, so hopefully
it will be better tomorrow. My ball striking is great and
hopefully both will fall into place together. Jill took another
tennis lesson today with Mia and had great fun! Jesper and
I are looking forward to seeing the big match between the
two of them! Off for dinner with the Parneviks now. Glen (one
of our best supporters on Tour) wanted to know if it is slower
on the course this week. Well, the main difference is we play
in fours rather than threes, so that slows things down a little.
It's great to play with the amateurs and they are very respectful
of the fact that we are at work. Also, they really pay our
wages, because if they didn't watch us on TV or attend the
events we wouldn't be doing this and getting paid! No two
round cut here - it happens after four rounds! Catch up later,
Per
Friday January 31 - Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, 3rd Round
67 (-5)
What a difference a day makes! I really didn't play that well
today compared with yesterday and yet I ground it out, made
a few putts and ended up with the same score, 67. Starting
from the 10th at Indian Wells, I was off to a poor start with
a bogey on 11. From then on I got it together and birdies
on all of the par 5s helped enormously. I shot 35 on my front
nine and came home in 32 to maintain 26th position at -14
for the event (I told you the scoring would be good!) I had
another fun team today including Steve, who once I gave him
a quick lesson made a birdie on the next hole. As you can
imagine he was thrilled. After the round I warmed down and
worked a couple of things out on the range before heading
off to dinner with the Parneviks. I need to keep the pressure
up on the weekend, with 2 more rounds to go over golf courses
that are giving up many birdies. Have a great weekend, Per
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