Belgian Knockout report: What happened at Rinkven International Golf Club?
Italy’s Guido Migliozzi stormed to his second European Tour win of 2019 beating one of the week’s surprise packages, Darius van Driel in the final.
In a unique format which featured both strokeplay and matchplay (as we discuss below), the European Tour rookie excelled throughout the weekend’s medal matchplay stages despite needing an extra two holes to beat David Law in the last-16.
Migliozzi carded an impressive four birdies in the 9-hole final and made light work of his Dutch opponent, winning by 4 shots.
The Migliozzi stinger 😍#BKO19 pic.twitter.com/seBeTAV7Lu
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) June 2, 2019
The Italian finished tied for 11th in his side of the strokeplay draw and his good play set him up nicely for a weekend run.
Sent courtesy of @guidomigliozzi 🚀#BKO19 pic.twitter.com/8rWtCN7bHs
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) June 2, 2019
Thanks to his second victory in just 20 events in his rookie season, Migliozzi has now moved into the top 100 in the Official World Golf Rankings, having started the week at 203.
Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson, who does not currently hold a European Tour card claimed third place with a victory over Gregory Havret, after being beaten by the eventual champion in the semi-final.
Migliozzi 🆚 Ferguson
The two friends are putting on a show. pic.twitter.com/391Y4kTmG8
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) June 2, 2019
Belgian Knockout report: Talking points
This week, the European Tour strayed away from the traditional format of 72-hole strokeplay towards an unusual mixed format of stroke and matchplay.
144 players play two rounds of strokeplay. From that 72 players qualify for the matchplay matches over the weekend.
The @BelgianKnockout explained… pic.twitter.com/hIGsRwvIhk
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) May 31, 2019
144 players began on Thursday and played two rounds of standard strokeplay golf, concluding on Friday evening.
Beforehand, the field was split and this created two halves of 72 players and the top 32 from each side of the draw will progress to the weekend.
Due to the weekend being contested over a medal matchplay format, there was no space for ties. A playoff between those tied for 32nd after the strokeplay rounds determined who would continue playing.
The weekend saw a series of exciting 9-hole knockout matches, and the field was whittled down until we had our two finalists.
There is constant chat about growing the game and attracting new players, and it is great to see the European Tour doing their bit to try and ensure golf is exciting.
Really enjoyed my first time in Belgium. Absolutely loved the format of @BelgianKnockout and the great venue, @RinkvenGolf . Thanks to the Pieters family for putting together an outstanding event!
— Gonzalo Fdez-Castaño (@gfcgolf) June 2, 2019
KO’d 🥊 not the outcome I was after but enjoyed the @BelgianKnockout. Always good to play a different format on the @EuropeanTour #BKO19 pic.twitter.com/0meqwpJbXD
— Dave Horsey (@DaveHorsey) June 1, 2019
However, while players seemed to enjoy the format, it is fair to say that it has been pretty tricky to keep up with the action, particularly if you weren’t able to view the TV coverage.
We’re sure that experimenting with formats is a great way to help the game move forward, but perhaps a slight rethink is in order to make things a little easier to follow.
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