The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Neil and Syme in hunt in Austria
GOLF: Young Scots enjoy opening round success at Shot Clock Masters
Bradley Neil and Connor Syme got off to a flying start in this week’s European Tour golf event at
Diamond Country Club in Austria.
Neil, from Blairgowrie, and Drumoig’s Syme both posted four under par rounds of 68 to sit joint fifth and just two shots off the lead at the Shot Clock Masters.
At one point mid-morning the young Scottish pair enjoyed a share of the lead on the course.
Neil didn’t drop a shot and made four birdies, while Syme had six birdies and two bogeys.
The European Tour is breaking new ground in this event, with a digital clock operated by a referee mounted on a buggy following each group.
The players have a 50-second allowance for a first-to-play approach shot (including a par three tee shot), chip or putt and a 40-second allowance for a tee-shot on a par four or five, or second or third-to-play approach shot, chip or putt.
Failure to make your shot in the allotted time leads to a shot penalty but players are allowed two 40-second time-extensions in any round.
Coming hot on the heels of the ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth, Golfsixes and Belgian Knockout, the new format is the latest innovative idea to modernise the game.
Remarkably none of the field were penalised for slow play on the opening day with Miguel Angel Jimenez proving age is no barrier to quick – and successful – golf with his 67.
Jimenez and playing partners Wade Ormsby and Nicolas Colsaerts completed their round in three hours 57 minutes.
“I think I’ve never played that quick before,” Jimenez, 54, said.
“I feel like I was running a marathon there but it was good.
“You hear when the time starts and know you have 40 or 50 seconds but I know it’s plenty of time. The most important thing is to be ready when it’s time to play, because if not it’s going to catch you.”
Jimenez, who is the oldest winner in European Tour history following his Spanish Open victory in 2014, carded five birdies in his last eight holes to share second place with Peter Hanson and Tapio Pulkkanen on five under par, a shot behind Sweden’s Oscar Lengden.
Hanson also approved of the new format and told Sky Sports: “It’s so much fun to play. You don’t overdo things, you don’t think too much and everyone’s ready to play and I think this is the way we should play golf.”
The experiment has also gone down well on the other side of the Atlantic, with Billy Horschel writing on Twitter: “Loving this shot clock deal on the @Europeantour.
“Amazing how fast rounds go when players play within the rules. And guys are still playing great golf. Shocking!! .... wish we had something like this on the @PGATOUR.”
Northern Irish teenager Tom Mckibbin had an impressive European Tour debut with an opening 71.
The 15-year-old amateur, who is from the same club as four-time major winner Rory Mcilroy, was three under par after nine holes and recovered from a double bogey on the 11th with seven straight pars.
Leading scores (Gbr and Irl unless stated, par 72):
66 Oscar Lengden (Swe)
67 Peter Hanson (Swe), Tapio Pulkkanen (Fin), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa)
68 Jeppe Huldahl (Den), Anders Hansen (Den), Connor Syme, Mikko Korhonen (Fin), Justin Walters (Rsa), Bradley Neil
69 Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Mikael Lundberg (Swe), Steve Webster, Sepp Straka (Aut), Oscar Stark (Swe), Ashun Wu (Chn), Tom Lewis, Matthias Schwab (Aut), Jeff Winther (Den), Austin Connelly (Can), Mark Foster, Oliver Farr, Ross Mcgowan
70 Christofer Blomstrand (Swe), Kalle Samooja (Fin), Daniel Im (USA), Sebastian Heisele (Ger), (a) Kristoffer Reitan (Nor), Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel), David Horsey, Jonathan Thomson, Nick Cullen (Aus), Florian Fritsch (Ger), Jin-ho Choi (Kor), Adam Bland (Aus), Andrea Pavan (Ita), Minkyu Kim (Kor), Bernd Ritthammer (Ger)
Other scores included:
71 Grant Forrest, (a) Tom Mckibbin 72 Duncan Stewart
75 Marcus Armitage, Matt Ford, (a) Matthew Baldwin, Richard Green (Aus), Markus Brier (Aut),
79 Shiv Kapur (Ind), Johan Edfors (Swe)
82 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind)