The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Keeping up with Parneviks
Swede thriving at Senior Open despite hectic diary
The Swedish-Scottish treble – or trifecta as he calls it – is still on as Jesper Parnevik has managed to put all the chaos in his life to one side for a week at the Senior Open.
“A mixture of Stenson inspiration and Scottish inspiration” is Jesper’s reasoning for his being close to the lead at the halfway mark at Carnoustie despite next to no practice or play in the last few months, such is his schedule.
It’s all agreeable stuff, however. The engaging and eccentric Swede is still as daft as when he was so close to winning Open championships in the 1990s, andl ooks exactly the same as he pursues a Senior Open title to go with Henrik Stenson and Alex Noren’s victories in the Open and Scottish Open over the last fortnight.
Only now he is not nearly the most famous member of even his own family, who appear on Sweden’s most popular reality TV show Parneviks, which is in its second season.
Wife Mia is Sweden’ s TV personality of the year, eldest daughter Peg is a successful pop star, and 14-year-old son Phoenix seems to be Sweden’s answer to One Direction.
Is there time for Jesper’s golf career in this? Not really, despite his 68 at Carnoustie yesterday to tuck him a shot behind the leaders after 36 holes, Japan’s Kohki Idoki and American Joe Durant on sevenunder-par 137.
“I’m overjoyed, I haven’t played at all this summer,” he said. “I hurt my back in the gym, ended up working out with a couple of mixed martial arts fighters – which was not a good idea – and I was out for three weeks. I didn’t know what to expect this week. All I can say is I love this type of golf and I’ve always loved this course – even though 1999 was torture, it was still a lot of fun.”
Yesterday’s four-under score was bogeyless. He said: “I had no expectations coming hered. I have 20 different swing thoughts and was just trying to sort them out.”
Parnevik had various injury problems in his 40s – two hip surgeries, a cracked vertebrae and ribs when he fell off a Segway, nearly severing a finger when he was winching his boat. Amazingly, he looks exactly the same at 52 – skinny, cap lid upturned – as when he was contesting for those Open championships 20 years ago.
Odoki, the 54-year-old who spent his entire pre-senior career on the Japan Tour but won the PGA Senior championship in 2013 for his only senior major so far, looked to have played to type when he reached seven-under but bogeyed the 17th and then found the greenside bunker at the 18th. However, he grabbed the lead for himself by holing out from there, with a 63 degree wedge he changed to this week precisely because he found the bunkers so penal.
“I came into the tournament only trying to make the cut,” he said. “The wind was blowing in every practice round. Thankfully the last two days have been much calmer.”
Along with Parnevik on six-under138 are American Olin Browne after a joint day’s best 66, Australia’s Peter Fowler, American Tom Byrum and the doughty Paraguayan Carlos Franco.
Colin Montgomerie, Sandy Lyle and Sam Torrance were among the Scots to miss the cut.
“I’ve always loved this golf course – even though 1999 was torture”