Spanish guy’s impressive lead at Bernardus Golf
The sun is shining and it is another glorious day for golf, especially for the 81 players who made the halfway cut in the KLM Open which takes place at Bernardus Golf in Cromvoirt, Holland this week. There were high expectations for home player Joost Luiten who has shown great signs of returning to his former fine form. The 37-year old from Bleiswijk looks determined to win his third KLM Open title, but first he needs to fight-off some tough competition.
An opening 67 at Bernardus was just what Luiten was looking for. Five-under par was a good start for Holland’s golfing star giving him a share of third place. However, Spaniard Jorge Campillo was an amazing four strokes better so Joost had to produce another good round on Friday.
Campillo’s opening round of 9-under par 63 included a terrific run of ten birdies where the putts just kept on falling. The 36-year old Spanish golfer had one sole bogey on his card at the second hole. Coincidentally 9-under par was the very same score that won the US PGA Championship for the third time by American Brooks Koepka last weekend. And now, in only the first round of the KLM Open, Campillo has achieved the same result. Golf is sometimes too remarkable for words.
A well-known name for Dutch supporters is Andy Sullivan. The Englishman holed a magnificent shot in the 2014 KLM Open at the Kennemer G&CC to win an unbelievable trip to space. He opened this year’s Dutch Open with a very special 6-under par 66 which included two wonderful eagles at the 7th and 15th. Second place for the 36-year old was a very exciting start to the KLM Open.
Campillo holds halfway lead
Spaniard Jorge Campillo had another good day on Friday where he added a 1-under par score to his tournament tally to finish at 10-under par. Campillo is two strokes ahead of Italian Renato Paratore. The 26-year old had two rounds of 68 with 6 birdies and two birdies in each round. New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier was one stroke further behind on 7-under par. His solid first round of 2-under par was followed by an impressive 5-under where the 24-year old squeezed one bogey, 4 birdies and an impressive eagle at the par 5 18th.
A group of players followed in a share of fourth place on 6-under. England’s Marcus Armitage along with Spaniards Adrian Otaegui and Alejandro De Rey, as well as Sweden’s Marcus Kinhult.
Luiten shares eighth spot
Joost Luiten then appears in a share of eighth place on the score of 5-under par. Yes, sadly the player from Bleiswijk had to settle for a level par round at Bernardus. He started the first nine well with birdies at the 3rd and 4th to get to 7-under but then added two bogeys at the 6th and 9th. Alas, a double bogey on the par 4, 14th hole followed which saw him slip down the leaderboard.
So who didn’t make the cut?
The halfway cut came at 1-over par which meant that of the 15 Dutch players in the tournament two missed the cut by one stroke. Darius van Driel and Dutch amateur Jerry Ji were among the eight players on 2-over par. Alas, the defending champion, Victor Perez from France, and a host of other players including Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium) missed the cut on 4-over par. A total of 81 players teed-off this morning on day three.
Spanish heroes at KLM Open
The weather is perfect again today for a wonderful round of golf at Bernardus. So who will make the move today and get himself into contention? Will Jorge Campillo become the latest Spanish Champion to seize the trophy? Great names such as Seve Ballesteros won the Dutch Open on three occasions: 1976, 1980 and 1986. José María Olazábal won in 1989, Miguel Angel Jimenez in 1994 and Sergio Garcia most recently in 2019. Indeed, these names must be a superb inspiration to Jorge Campillo. And, who knows, Dutchman Joost Luiten is as hungry as ever to win again!
Enjoy Bernardus Golf today!
Wendy Hoad
Editor
MAIN PHOTOGRAPH: Dutch player Joost Luiten lies in the top-10 at Bernardus Golf in the KLM Open.