With Major season concluding at last week’s US PGA Championship, the European Tour lands back on the continent this week with the return of the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play, which moves to Germany and Golf Resort Bad Griesbach for the first time. Here’s the lowdown…
Rewind
It was a fairytale story for Anthony Wall last year at Archerfield Links as the Englishman bridged a gap of 16 years and 204 days to win his second European Tour title.
Wall’s maiden title came in 2000 and the 431 events which he played in between his two wins set a new European Tour record. He didn’t get it the easy way either.
The then-41 year old had to overcome the might of Alex Noren, who was chasing a Scottish double having claimed the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open a month before and who went on to win three more titles before the season’s end.
It was a tense finale and Wall made an important birdie at the par five 11th which gave him a one up lead, before he scrambled superbly from the sand at the 12th and 14th to maintain his advantage.
Both players got up and down for birdie at the driveable par four 16th before Noren narrowly missed an opportunity at the next hole when he lipped out for a birdie which would have levelled it up going down the last.
After Wall made a par at the 18th, Noren had a 15-footer to take it to extra holes but it wasn’t to be for the Swede and Wall lifted the trophy.
“It just feels amazing – I cannot tell you how happy I am,” he said afterwards. “I did wonder whether it would ever come again. I’m just so pleased for my parents – they put in so much when I was young. I’ve got two children that just want to see their dad win. I’m speechless, it’s phenomenal.”
The field
The 1999 Open Champion and tournament host Paul Lawrie returns to action after making his 600th European Tour start at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational two weeks ago, and the two-time Ryder Cup player leads a strong field in Germany.
Former European Tour Number One and current Ryder Cup vice captain Robert Karlsson is also in the field having last appeared on the Challenge Tour in an event which he himself hosted, in a similar vein to Lawrie this week.
Edoardo Molinari will be hoping to gain some inspiration from his brother Francesco’s strong performance at the US PGA Championship last week as he chases a second victory of the season, having won the Trophée Hassan II in April.
Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts and Frenchman Victor Dubuisson add their Ryder Cup winning pedigree to the field while Marcel Siem, Max Kieffer, Florian Fritsch and Alexander Knappe will all be gunning for home glory.
The course
Europe’s largest golfing resort, Golf Resort Bad Griesbach is home to six golf courses and has been a regular on the European Tour schedule for the past three years, having hosted the first two editions of the Porsche European Open. Named after Germany’s World Cup winning footballer, Franz, the Beckenbauer Course measures 7,188 yards from the back tees and was designed by two-time Masters Tournament Champion Bernhard Langer. Prior to that, the course played host to the European Challenge Tour, from 2013 to 2015.
Did you know
• This is the third edition of the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play, which is being hosted in Germany for the first time.
• The Quellness Golf Resort Bad Griesbach is the third different venue in the tournament’s history, with both previous editions taking place in Scotland. Murcar Links Golf Club hosted the inaugural event in 2015, followed by Archerfield Links Golf Club.
• Tournament host and 1999 Open Champion Paul Lawrie is part of a 64 player field, which includes 35 European Tour winners. Amongst those are 11-time European Tour winner and 2018 Ryder Cup vice captain Robert Karlsson of Sweden.
• The Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play is the last of three match play events on the 2017 European Tour International Schedule, following the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and the inaugural GolfSixes. The ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth also involved a match play element, with 54 holes of stroke play followed by a 24-player six-hole match play competition on the final day.
• England’s Anthony Wall defeated Alex Noren of Sweden at Archerfield Links last year to claim his second European Tour title. That victory came 16 years after his first, at the Alfred Dunhill Championship in 2000.
• With five golf courses and multiple hotels, the Quellness Golf Resort Bad Griesbach is the biggest golf resort in Europe and previously hosted the Porsche European Open in 2015 and 2016.
