If making a hole in one is highly improbable, imagine that same golfer sinking it from the fairway about 125 meters from the flag the next day. One on a par 3 and two on a par 4. On two consecutive days. Sounds like science fiction, right? Well, it’s not. It’s a real story and the protagonist is called Mikko Korhonen. Obviously, to do something like this you need to have an inspired week, be hitting the ball very well, have your aim well tuned and a lot of luck. That’s why they assure at the KLM Open that they have seen the Finn this afternoon frantically looking for a lottery office in Amsterdam.
Korhonen (-10) is the leader of the KLM Open after handing in a card of 68 strokes today. Not even he has been able to escape the ravages caused by the horrendous fescue rough of The International course. Lost balls are the order of the day and, failing that, big messes. It happened to him at the 12th. He needed three strokes to get it out of the left rough after missing the fairway and ended up with a triple bogey. Still, he is the leader, a hole in one and a street shot, of course…
Korhonen, a short man from the tee, but straight where there are any on the European circuit, knows that he needs to be good in these tournaments where the stage is narrow and very demanding from the tee. The truth is that these weeks do not usually escape him, so at 43 he has already had twelve consecutive years with the DP World Tour card although his category in the last two seasons hardly lets him play. This is the third tournament he has played this year.
The Nordic golfer has a one-stroke lead over Sean Crocker (-9), author of one of the rounds of the day (67), two over James Morrison and Ross Fisher and three over Matti Schmid, Rasmus Hojgaard and Matteo Manassero. High-quality classification in the Netherlands.
As for the Spaniards, it has not been the best morning of the year for the Armada. Ángel Hidalgo (-2) is the best classified after handing in a card of 71 strokes, followed by Sebas García Rodríguez (-1), who has also secured the cut with a great result of 69, one of the best rounds of the morning, with seven birdies and five bogeys. Meanwhile, Rafa Cabrera Bello (PAR), with a painful bogey on his last hole, after missing the left rough, will have to wait until the last minute to know if he makes the cut. Those who have been left out are Adri Arnaus, who is with Pedro Linhart as caddie these weeks and Santi Tarrio. Precisely, a lost ball on the 18th hole has cost Arnaus the opportunity to fight for the cut until the end.
