The Englishman carded seven birdies and an eagle at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course as he goes in search of his second DP World Tour title to add to his victory at the European Open in 2017.

The 29-year-old has enjoyed a banner year in 2022 with two runner-up finishes and six further top tens. He is currently 14th on the DP World Tour Rankings in partnership with Rolex and is set to record his highest ever finish on the season-long standings.

Sharing second in Portugal on eight-under are Joost Luiten of the Netherlands and Denmark’s Jeff Winther. The pair sit one stroke ahead of Gavin Green of Malaysia, Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren and Frenchman Robin Roussel.

The Portugal Masters is the final counting event on the 2022 DP World Tour schedule, with the top 117 golfers on the DP World Tour Rankings after this tournament retaining their playing rights for 2023. After the first round, Norway’s Espen Kofstad is the current last man in, projected to finish in 117th position.

“Anything like that you’re over the moon with,” Smith said. “I’m really happy with the way I played. I’ve been under the weather all week because I caught the flu last weekend. Not been feeling my best, they say beware the injured golfer. Considering my prep hasn’t been the best, I’m over the moon with it.

“A win is the only thing missing this year. I’ve been close a couple of times. Overall, it’s been a great year and I’m over the moon with it already. Just to top it off with a win would be amazing.”

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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 John Huggan
Things aren’t getting any easier for the European Tour in the ongoing effort to hold tournaments around the globe in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Deciding against hosting three tournaments in Florida next month, officials with the Old World circuit on Friday announced the postponement of the Portugal Masters. The Tenerife Open, originally scheduled for April 15-18, will now take the place of the Portuguese event, April 29-May 2. The Gran Canaria Lopesan Open remains in place, April 22-25.

In a memo to his members seen by Golf Digest, European Tour Chief Executive Keith Pelley intimated confidence in his ability to fill the April 15-18 slot “by next week.” Should that happen, a five-strong run of events will remain in place, culminating in the French Open, May 6-9, and the British Masters, May 12-15.

“As always, the above is to try and ensure that we maximize opportunities for all members given the travel and quarantine restrictions we are currently dealing with across Europe and the world,” Pelley said.

Still, the Canadian was less encouraging when it came to his ongoing analysis of the impact the coronavirus continues to have on a schedule of events complicated by the cosmopolitan nature of the European Tour.

“The reality is that operating any international business in the midst of a pandemic is very difficult,” Pelley continued. “We have conducted a series of working groups with all of your player representatives on the Board, to hear all of their views on the impact of COVID this season. At the same time, we also talked these groups through some potential solutions to mitigate this impact if they are felt required. These are all designed to keep the season as a counting season and retain the promotion and relegation that all of your Tournament Committee and the members of these working groups see as essential.”

As part of that process, a series of one-to-one sessions have been conducted with those members most affected by “severe quarantine protocols at either end of their journeys and/or by other travel restrictions.”

“Taking into account all of this feedback, we are now refining and adding to some of our proposed solutions and our next step [once this process is complete] is to take your Tournament Committee through these proposals and reach a consensus view on what solutions could be implemented and when,” Pelley said. “One of the other clear messages we have received is that we should not look to make definitive decisions on this too early, while the spring schedule and level of impact on the rest of the season remains uncertain.”

In other words, as Pelley went on to underline, “every member is being impacted by COVID this year” and “every member has to accept this to some degree—these are, after all, difficult times for everyone in all walks of life.”

There was one piece of good news. Because players are likely to be forced into “managed quarantine” as they travel from country to country, the tour “with immediate effect” is implementing a program of financial support.

Pelley’s letter ended with thanks to the players for their “patience and understanding,” qualities it sounds like they are going to need in abundance over the coming months.

The post Portugal Masters postponed and Euro Tour chief lays out other challenges in memo appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

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
The last regular-season event on the European Tour is one invariably filled with tales of tour cards lost and found. And the 2019 Portugal Masters did not disappoint. The happiest man on the Dom Pedro Victoria course at Vilamoura, however, was surely Steven Brown. The 32-year old Englishman arrived on the Algarve a lowly 150th on the Race to Dubai and mentally preparing himself for what would have been a seventh visit to tour school in his eight-year professional career.

Things — and minds — can change quickly though. With a 72-hole aggregate of 267, 17-under par, Brown claimed his first European Tour victory by a shot over a pair of South Africans, Branden Stone and Justin Walters. Way more importantly given his previous status, Brown — whose closing rounds of 67-65-66 all beat his season’s best of 68 — now owns a two-year tour exemption. In the shorter term, his 81-place rise on the money list means he will also be part of the upcoming Turkish Airlines Open, the first of three post-season playoff tournaments.

“It’s hard to put into words,” said a suitably stunned Brown, who was part of the winning Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup squad at Royal Aberdeen in 2011. “It was quite a weird day. You never know with this game. I’ve played so well the last month, in complete contrast to the rest of year. But I arrived just trying to get my game in shape for tour school to be honest.

“The last few weeks I’ve had a calmness in my head. I liked the fact that I had to go for it today. It was do or bust. The shot I hit into 12 (a 270-yard 3-wood to 10 feet that set up an eagle on the par 5) is the best I’ve ever hit. But Branden was still ahead of me. So I had to keep going. Now I’m heading to Turkey. Which is amazing. I went there a year ago as first reserve and didn’t get to play. So it will be nice to tee it up this year.”

Vying with Brown for storyline of the week was Walters, who arrived 121st — six spots short of safety — on the Race to Dubai. Six years on from a runner-up finish in this same event that belatedly saved his card, the 39-year old Springbok repeated his bold feat on both counts to close out a year of struggles on and off the course. A torn calf muscle saw the two-time All-American at North Carolina State play the Scottish Open on crutches, before his father tragically passed away only a few weeks later.

“I left it all out there,” he said through tears that prematurely ended his post-round interview. “But if you had given me this at the start of the week I would have grabbed it. This is very satisfying after all I’ve been through.”

Elsewhere, there were a number of less enjoyable ends to the 2018-19 regular season. Well known names like former Ryder Cup player Jamie Donaldson (131st), Bradley Dredge (128th), Thomas Aiken (145th) and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (127th) all finished outside the magic 115 places.

Two agonising accounts stand out though.

When Paul Dunne finished T-4 at the Made in Denmark event in early September the Irishman’s exempt status appeared secure. But it wasn’t. The man who, as an amateur, led the 2015 Open Championship at St. Andrews with a round to play and only two years ago was British Masters champion, missed the cut for the 12th time in 14 starts since Denmark and lost his card.

Spare a thought too for Lee Slattery. The enormously likeable Englishman is also headed to tour school — what will be his tenth visit — at the end of a year in which he seven times failed to make the halfway cut by a single shot. One of those narrow misses came in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, where the two-time European Tour winner made a double-bogey seven on the 18th hole on day two. By such fine margins do careers head in wildly different directions.

Each year on tour it is the same. For every Steven Brown there are many more Lee Slatterys or Paul Dunnes. Or Hugo Leons. The Chilean ended up 116th on the Race to Dubai, in the place no one wants to be — one spot from safety and only 6.1 points behind a no-doubt much relieved Bhullar Gaganjeet.

The post Steven Brown, playing to prepare for tour school, surprisingly wins the Portugal Masters appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

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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