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Wade Ormsby

Aussie rules, Casey’s Ryder Cup hopes boosted, and THE perfect putt

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We look back at the week in Hong Kong as Wade Ormsby finally got over the line along with the shots of the week and the wardrobe clangers
 

So what happened at the Hong Kong Open?

Wade Ormsby, on his 264th start on the European Tour, finally got over the line in Fanling after overnight leader SSP Chawrasia made a mess of his final day.

The Indian was going along perfectly with three birdies but then tripled the 9th and had four bogeys coming home to slump to a 72. Ormsby, on the other hand, did his good work on the back nine with three birdies but then three-putted the 18th.

That left last year’s runner-up Rafa Cabrera Bello, who birdied the 71st hole, needing a par to force a play-off but he then also bogeyed the famous last after finding sand.

Alexander Björk, Paul Peterson and Julian Suri finished alongside the Spaniard with Björk left to rue two bogeys in the last four holes after a storming front nine of 30.

Race to Dubai champion Tommy Fleetwood got his campaign going with a sixth place, Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia finished in tied 10th and 19th respectively.

Ormsby, who has been to Q School four times, will now jump around 200 spots in the world rankings to 118th and he was understandably chuffed with his maiden victory.

“I’m trying to hold it together here but I’m pretty stoked.  Well, not pretty stoked:  Very stoked. I played solid all day, hit a lot of greens but the putter wasn’t quite behaving. You saw that at the last which was disappointing to three-putt but you have to take them when they come so I won’t be complaining too much.”

Talking Point

As the European Tour 2018 got going just four days after the previous season finished there was an interesting announcement with the naming of the European side for the EurAsia Cup in January.

Back in European colours for the first time in over nine years is Paul Casey after he was given one of Thomas Bjorn’s wild cards. The other is Frenchman Alex Levy.

Casey has now rejoined the European Tour for next year which makes him eligible again for the Ryder Cup and it still seems ludicrous to think that his last outing against America came at Valhalla in 2008.

Bjorn will be keen to energise the locals in Paris and Levy is the one who is most talked about as an option for Le Golf National.

“That decision (Casey) was a no-brainer for me. He is a wonderful player with a lot of experience and I think the young guys can learn a lot from him,” explained Bjorn.

“It was a really hard task because there are so many good European players to choose from. All have legitimate claims and all are well qualified to be on this team, so it was a tough choice to have to make. Paul is comfortable with where he is in his life right now and him wanting to part of the EurAsia Cup team also shows his commitment to the European Tour and the road he is now on.

“I picked Alex as he is a player that has impressively risen through the ranks in the past few years. He has wonderful French character and flair as well as a lot of attitude and passion for the game. He is also very consistent which can be a great asset in match play.”

The 10 automatic qualifiers were England’s Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Ross Fisher and Matthew Fitzpatrick, Ireland’s Paul Dunne, Spaniard Rafa Cabrera Bello, Austrian Bernd Wiesberger, Belgian Thomas Pieters and Swedish duo Alex Noren and Henrik Stenson.

Europe won the 2016 match 18.5-5.5 with Darren Clarke at the helm.

Best Shots
Sunday

 

Saturday

Friday

Thursday

Best Dressed

I might have been taken in by either Thomas Detry’s good looks or the mint green glove – why are coloured gloves so easy on the eye, all I can think about is Lee Trevino at Muirfield in 1972 ? – but it’s a strong look. Also easy on the eye is the black belt, it would have been very easy to have gone down the dreaded white route but the young Belgian has avoided any such mishaps.

Thomas Detry

Worst Dressed

I have a bit of a problem with same toned tops and bottoms and now my mind is immediately back at Hoylake in 2006 and Sergio Garcia’s Tweety Bird get-up on the final day. I’m not sure the electric blue slacks go with anything, let alone an electric blue (bad) polo and, to top it all off, SSP has picked the wrong shoes. One to never be repeated.

SSP Chawrasia

Best Tweets

Best Stats

Mark Townsend

Been watching and playing golf since the early 80s and generally still stuck in this period. Huge fan of all things Robert Rock, less so white belts. Handicap of 8, fragile mind and short game

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