The Punter / Steven Rawlings / 13 June 2011 /

Rock steady Robert denies the Punter his Boyd bounty and Harrison makes it 355th time lucky!

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

Robert Rock finally nailed his maiden European Tour win after nine years of trying and Harrison Frazar notched his first US PGA Tour victory on his 355th start! Quite a story given he was fast approaching 40 years-old, playing on a medical exemption after hip surgery and almost on the point of retirement. Frazar's is a rousing story and one that will give inspiration to many a journeyman pro.

My Bets

I thought last week's near miss with Peter Hanson in Wales was a tough one but yesterday's result was even harder to take. As detailed in the Live Golf Blog, I was fairly dismissive of Robert Rock's chances and I failed to get him onside at all.

My big hope was Gary Boyd, who I'd repeatedly backed at as high as [170.0] before the off and as low as [30.0] in-running. I couldn't fault his six-under par final round but it wasn't quite enough.

Rock had started the final round with a two-shot lead but that was eroded in no time at all as birdies flew in left, right and centre. The really big move came from promising young Dane Thorbjorn Olesen, who was my only in-running back in the final round. I backed him modestly at [42.0] after he'd reached 14-under par to close within two of Rock after just three holes, courtesy of two birdies and a hole-out from the fairway eagle on the 3rd. I topped up on him at [18.0] after eight holes and again at [12.5] after 13. By the time he birdied the last to post a final round 62 and a -20 total, it was clear his chance was a strong one.

Boyd birdied the last and matched Olesen's total and I was able to lay him back several times at [10.0], [9.2], and [6.2] and finally, once that birdie had dropped, [5.0].

He was still a massive winner for me and a play-off would have been brilliant, and extremely profitable, but unfortunately for me Robert Rock managed to scramble home by a single stroke.

Rock had reverted to type early on and while everyone else was pinging in birdies he was one over par through four holes but then he turned it all around, going on a stunning run which saw him make six birdies in seven holes. He went on to play the final seven holes in level par, thanks largely to two lengthy par saving putts on the 16th and 17th holes.

I thought he was going to let it slip, and he had more than his share of luck on 17. A dreadful tee-shot found the trees but he was able to play the ball. His second shot then caught the ground just ten feet in front of him and could have gone anyway. Unfortunately for me it narrowly avoided the stream that cuts through the fairway and he held his nerve to get up-and-down from 90 odd yards. Nobody had bogeyed the easy par-5 final hole all day and once he found the fairway he wasn't going to either. A par there was enough to get the job done and my day was ruined. Close but no cigar again.

The US result was a little frustrating too. I'd felt all week that Robert Karlsson was vulnerable but found it impossible to find an alternative on such a weak leaderboard. He was matched at a low of [1.22] in-running and although he didn't do an awful lot wrong it was a typical Karlsson performance. Failing to out battle Harrison Frazar down the stretch won't be a career highlight.

Players to follow

I wouldn't be surprised if the first three home in Italy don't all go on to win soon. Rock has always been a talent and a half but his bottle has been questionable to say the least. Now he's got the job done once he could well kick on and the other two look certain to find success soon too...

Boyd, as he'd done in the Czech Open last year, showed plenty of bottle in the mix and he's now come close to winning three times already. I'm convinced it won't be long now and he's well worth sticking with, though I doubt I'll get [170.0] again in that sort of grade.

The same can be said of Olesen, who was a player everyone was talking about at the start of the year. Having finished runner-up at that the Alfred Dunhill Championship last December and having won last year on the Challenge Tour he was a player a lot of golf fans were keen to keep an eye on. It's very difficult to see him not stepping up to the next level and soon.

Player to swerve

If I ever consider taking a short price about Francesco Molinari to win anywhere again I'll remind myself of how he played the very easy 7th hole yesterday. That was definitely a double-bogey from nowhere. Twice he traded short over the weekend having gotten himself into position A and twice he lost his way. If he were a horse he'd be a monkey!

The US Open starts on Thursday and I'm thankful we've such a big event to look forward to. I'm feeling a bit flat after the last few weeks but I can't wait to get going again at Congressional. I'll post my preview tomorrow night but in the meantime check out our US Open section where there's already plenty there to enjoy.

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