KLM Open concludes with a major reshuffle in the Official World Golf Rankings
The final round of the KLM Open was again marred by heavy downpour the previous night and much of the course was found unplayable by the management on Sunday morning, September 11.
The 92nd edition of the KLM Open suffered severe jerks right from the beginning when no fewer than four greens of the course were found damaged by the overnight vandalism, and huge chunks of the putting surface were pulled out from the greens.
The course staff worked all through the weekend, somehow managing the event to stay on course. First round match was again delayed due to inundated greens and fairways by the heavy downpour that followed later.
The course staff worked meticulously on Sunday to wipe off many of the fairways and greens and soaked out the water from many of the bunkers before the match was finally resumed later in the morning. Hilversumsche Golf Club and the town Hilversum, received
25mm of rain in the night and eighth green in particular presented a look of a small fish pond when the staff arrived in the morning.
Simon Dyson, who is also the 2006 and 2009 champion of the event, pulled in another spectacular performance on the final day to lift the title yet again. This was his second victory for the season which has helped him soar to number 28 on
the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), from his previous position of 54. He has now also moved into the Top 10 on Race to Dubai.
Dyson posted a final-round score of four-under, 66 on a rain-softened course to edge past David Lynn by one shot. The top slot was closely contended by the reigning US Open champion Rory McIlroy who finished for an outright third, trailing Lynn by one shot.
McIlroy has now moved back to world number three on the OWGR after his consecutive strong finishes on the tour in two weeks.
Scottish veteran Gary Orr, who has not won a single title for the past 11 years, moved into contention earlier in the day, edging past the rest of the field. Dyson’s back nine, however, overshadowed Orr’s ambitious overtures, pushing him down the leaderboard.
He finally settled for an outright fourth, trailing the leader by three shots.
World number two Lee Westwood pulled in a 66 on the final day to finish outright fifth, one shot better than the group of six players who finished for a joint sixth including Ross Fisher, David Horsey, James Kingston, Jose Manuel Lara, Joost Luiten and Paul
McGinley.
Defending champion Martin Kaymer, who had posted runners up in last week’s Omega European Masters, failed to make the cut and was nowhere to be seen on the final day. Kaymer had a disastrous opening round of 74 and did little to contain the damage on the
second day when he finished for a meager 69.
Kaymer has now dropped to number six on the OWGR from his last week’s position of third. American Dustin Johnson is now the highest ranking American on the OWGR after Steve Stricker. He is now poised at number five on the rankings, with his stunning victory
at the Barclays in the FedExCup Playoffs Championship.
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