By Ryan Herrington
There was a crack in his voice as Thomas Pieters spoke behind the 18th green at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course. It wasn’t born out of anger or frustration, something the 29-year-old from Belgium has been known to display during his pro career. No, this this was a softer, more meaningful sound as he soaked in what he’d just accomplished—a two-shot triumph at the Portugal Masters.

“It felt like a long time between victories,” Pieters said after a final-round 68 gave him a 19-under 265 total. “I worked so hard. I felt like I deserved one, but it’s never easy.”

It had been a while since the now five-time European Tour champ last won, nearly 27 months to be precise. In the meantime, questions arose whether the former NCAA champion and Ryder Cupper might have seen his career peak too soon. He’d become a father, and still had lots of talent and promise, yet not so much to show for it.

But on Sunday in Vilamoura, Pieters hung tough even when there were moments when disappointment looked like the ultimate outcome. He shook off an opening-hole bogey with a chip-in eagle on the fifth hole and played steady down the stretch even when he felt like he was battling his swing.

Tied at 18 under with Nicolai Hojgaard and Matthieu Pavon Pieters found the fairway on the par-5 17th hole, giving him a chance at reaching the green in two. He then watched as Pavon (who had taken an early lead but made a disastrous triple-bogey 8 on the 12th hole) knocked his second shot on the hole into the water. It’s not the visual Pieters was hoping forr, but he stood over his 5-iron and hit his best shot of the week, his ball landing 20 feet from the hole.

Up ahead, Hojaard proceeded to make a bogey on the 18th hole, his only blemish on a closing 64. Two putts for birdie while Pavon made bogey (the Frenchman shot a 70), and Pieters had a two-shot lead that he finished off with a par on the home hole.

“It was one of my better 5-irons I hit. The feeling you get when you hit that shot is amazing. That’s why I play golf.”

Pieters was 67th in the world in early 2020, but struggled to find his game upon returning from the COVID-19 restart that summer. He’d consistently make cuts, but wasn’t contending, falling to 131st in the world with only one top-10 finish between then and September’s BMW PGA Championship, when he recorded the first of two straight T-9s.

Rounds of 68-64-65 gave him a share of the 54-hole lead with Pavon, but that didn’t ease any nerves come Sunday. “I was struggling a bit with my swing. I wasn’t really trusting it the way I did the first three days. I was kind of busy with that in my mind, not really the scores,” Pieters said.

The win, worth €237,810, should return him to the top 75 in the World Ranking and lifts him to 29th in the Race to Dubai points standings, ensuring a spot in the European Tour season finale for the seventh straight season.

“I was going into this week and next week with my back to the wall,” Pieters said. “I had nothing to lose but everything to gain. I’ve never missed the end of the Race to Dubai and really didn’t want to miss it. I didn’t care if I finished first, second or third. I just wanted to get there, but winning is amazing.”

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By Joel Beall
To appreciate the artist, you must recognize the inspiration, and evolution.

In our distilled world, at least for this article, that means a hat tip to Kevin Na. His trademark walk-in putts are part showmanship, part dogma. At times they are over-the-top, and some would argue they’ve jumped the proverbial shark. But they’re never not entertaining, giving fans and himself a shot of electricity one 10-footer at a time.

And yet, the stylings of Masahiro Kawamura at the Portugal Masters put Na’s bravado to shame.

Kawamura, 27, finished his Thursday round at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course with a walk-in that is nothing short of aspirational.

Walking it in ?

Sometimes you just know it's good.#PortugalMasters pic.twitter.com/y8YDFJqlbS

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 10, 2020

Now, to the layman, it may appear Kawamura was initially disgusted with his putt, only to realize his ball might accidentally trickle into the hole. That is an observation from non-believers. Kawamura’s stride was that of a lion: Business-like, self-assured, predatory. If there was any repugnance on Kawamura’s part, it’s that the ball didn’t fall into the cup sooner.

Kawamura, who entered the week 78th in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai, turned in a four-under 67 Thursday, good enough for a spot among the early leaders at the Portugal Masters.

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By John Huggan
It will surely go down as one of the great pars of the 2018 European Tour season. Or any season really.

Standing on the 17th tee of the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course on the Portuguese Algarve, Tom Lewis was 22 under par and one-shot ahead of his playing partner, third-round leader Lucas Herbert, in the race for the Portugal Masters title. Lewis, who had won this event in only his third start as a professional back in 2011, sent his drive 30 yards right of the distant fairway on the 588-yard par 5 and into a water hazard. The compulsory drop under penalty was followed by a lay-up that luckily finished on the bank of a bunker. The 27-year-old Englishman then hit a wedge to 40 feet and holed for what he would later call the “the best 5 of my life.” Routine really.

One hole later, Lewis had his second European Tour title and, perhaps more importantly for a man who lost his card at the end of 2016, a two-year exemption on his home circuit. Only two weeks before resurrecting his career in such dramatic fashion, the former Walker Cup player (he was the highest-rated member of a 2011 Great Britain & Ireland squad that contained future Ryder Cup player Andy Sullivan) was winning on the second-tier Challenge Tour. Still, he arrived in Portugal a lowly 163rd on the Race to Dubai and 12th in the Challenge Tour standings.

It turned out Herbert made things easy for Lewis. After pulling his tee shot into water off the 18th tee, the 22-year-old Australian eventually made a double-bogey 6, one that allowed Lewis to play safely away from the same pond with his approach shot. That Lewis got up-and-down for par was largely irrelevant, the eventual margin of victory three shots over Herbert and, in a repeat of last year, Eddie Pepperell.

Warren Little/Getty Images

“This is unbelievable,” said Lewis, who picked up a check for €333,330 and became the 10th Englishman to win on the European Tour in 2018. “I’m so happy. It’s been a rough ride. I played hard this week. I got off to a bad start [an opening one-over-par 72] but finished great (63-61-66). I’d hardly made a mistake all day then hit that one bad shot off the 17th tee. But I’ve been putting great.

“To be back here in Portugal and play the way I played is great. I think this one means more than 2011. The next win was always going to mean more because of how hard I have worked to get back here. Hopefully I can do better than last time and continue to do well. I need to keep my foot on the gas and not ease off. It’s a tough life on tour and not as easy as it looks. There is pressure and I have struggled with that at times. I lost my fame, if you like. But now I want it more than ever.”

There was consolation for Herbert in that this finish, his highest-ever on the European Tour, sealed his card for next season.

A little further down the leader board, Ollie Fisher closed with a round of 70 to finish T-8 alongside Sergio Garcia, who with Thorbjorn Olesen (T-20) was one of two European players getting in some last minute competition before next week’s Ryder Cup. Fisher’s score is notable for one reason, of course. Two days earlier the 30-year-old Englishman—a direct contemporary and close rival of Rory McIlroy on the amateur circuit—shot a 12-under-par 59. It was, for those who have not heard, the first sub-60 round ever shot on the European Tour. All in all, it wasn’t a bad week for tall, blonde, big-hitting Englishmen.

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By Ryan Herrington
You would hardly have known how historic the moment was with the nonchalant way Oliver Fisher tapped in his par putt on the 18th hole at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course on Friday. Only a few seconds later did the 30-year-old Englishman reveal a wry smile and a look that showed he knew just what he had accomplished.

Nineteen times golfers have shot 60 on the European Tour, but famously never a 59 until Fisher capped a remarkable round under perfect playing conditions at the Portgual Masters.

Fisher put himself in position for something special by playing the front nine on the Arnold Palmer-designed course in Vilamoura, Portugal, in seven-under 28, with five birdies and an eagle.

“I obviously knew I was in with a shout of shooting a low one when I made a good start,” said Fisher, who posted an even-par 71 during Thursday’s opening round. “It was important to keep reminding myself that I was out there to have some fun, enjoy it, and not get too tentative. When you’ve got a good round going, it’s easy to do that.”

Jan Kruger/Getty Images
Oliver Fisher celebrates after finishing with a round of 59, the first 59 shot on the European Tour during Day Two of the 2018 Portugal Masters.

Fisher kept the momentum going with birdies on the 10th, 11th and 12th holes to get to 10 under, needing just two more birdies on the final six holes for the magic number.

He got one of them on the par-4 15th, and the other on the par-5 17th. But in between came arguably the biggest moment of the round. Fisher missed the green on the par-4 16th, but saved a par from 20 feet.

Needing par on the home hole, Fisher split the fairway with his drive and hit his approach to roughly 40 feet. He then nearly jumped 59 and went right to a 58, just missing his birdie attempt.

5️⃣ 9️⃣#PortugalMasters pic.twitter.com/SDUGLA3SPS

— ?59 on the European Tour? (@EuropeanTour) September 21, 2018

Ranked 287th in the world, Fisher entered the tournament 72nd in the Race to Dubai, his tour card for 2019 seemingly in hand. That hasn’t always been the case for the former Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup player, whose lone European Tour win came in 2011 at the Czech Open.

“Very different to a couple of years ago on this green,” Fisher said, “when I was fighting to keep my card. I had that in the back of my mind, thinking, ‘You know what, things could be worse.’ It was fun, I tried to enjoy it.”

The 12-under performance jumped Fisher into a share of the lead midway through the day with Australia’s Lucas Hebert. Fisher’s best finish this season is a runner-up showing at the Qatar Masters.

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