Caldwell flying with the putter in Italy
Laurie Canter. Picture: Getty Images
Clandeboye’s Jonathan Caldwell believes the best is yet to come as he continued his hot run of form with the putter to open with a super 67 at the Italian Open in Brescia.
The Bangor man (36) made seven birdies to share 16th place on five-under, seven strokes behind England’s Laurie Canter, who shot out of the blocks with a 12-under 60.
“The putter has been good,” said Caldwell, who topped the putting statistics in the Scottish Championship last week, and again tops the strokes gained putting charts in Italy after using the blade just 21 times yesterday.
“Obviously it's great to putt on pure greens but I also did some work in off-season with putting coach Richie Marsden at the Johnny Foster Academy. I don't feel like I'm playing my best golf. I've shown glimpses but I'm certainly scoring very well.”
Fellow Co Down man Cormac Sharvin is tied for 50th after making six birdies in a three-under 69 as Gavin Moynihan posted a level par 72 on a day of low scoring.
No fewer than 65 players shot in the sixties at 7,434-yard Chervò Golf Club with Canter (30) four strokes clear of South Africa’s Dean Burmester and Denmark’s Joachim B Hansen after he took advantage of preferred lies and carded ten birdies and an eagle in a superb, 12-under 60.
Laurie Canter: “It feels great. The score, days like that, the back nine there, everything’s gone in. I gave myself some chances and it was just one of those days where you’ve just got to enjoy the ride.
“I did say to Jamie in the practice round that I thought this was somewhere I could do well. I think it’s playing quite long and it definitely helps to be able to hit it straight and that’s something I’ve been able to do most of this year so far. I like the golf course but I think obviously a lot of things have gone right today to help me shoot that.
“Winning, you need a lot of things to go your way. Portugal, I felt like I did about as well as I could that week and come second. I’ve had other weeks where I’ve felt the same and come tenth, so the standard is good. So for me to win, and for me to say I feel ready to win, I feel like I’m jumping the gun. You play as well as you can for four days and hopefully it’s your week. You do need things to go your way, I feel, to win.”
Joachim B. Hansen: “Just the round I was looking for. A bit lower than I expected, but you’ll always take eight under. My putting was really good – holed a lot of putts. My irons were really good as well. The only thing I consider that went wrong was the driver – I could have hit a bit more fairways.
“The short par five on the sixth hole, and the other par fives are reachable. There’s a lot of opportunities. I worked on ball striking, hitting the ball more in the middle. When I hit it in the middle of the club, I produce good shots. I just need to do that more.”
Dean Burmester: "Today was a good day. Golf is a funny game. Eight under with no bogies, I'm delighted. I've been playing well. Like I said, golf is a crazy game. I've been suffering a little bit with anxiousness since Ireland. I think I just put too much pressure on myself. Coming into this week I just said, you know what I'm just going to give it all up and whatever happens, happens. If the ball goes in the hole, great, if it doesn't, that's OK. Clearly that kind of mentality works.
"The greens are great, you've just got to make putts, it's pretty simple. Read the greens well, they roll well. So, bomb it, find the green and make the putt. It's pretty simple, it's one of those courses.
"I don't have a score (in mind for tomorrow), but I think 12 under is a hell of a round (from Laurie Canter). When I saw that, I thought he had shot 59 because I didn't realise the one on the front nine was a par five. When I got up there and looked at the scorecards and saw it was a par five, I was like, damn I feel for him it's a 60. I think 59 is on the cards and hopefully somebody can do it this week."
Italian Open, Chervò Golf Club, San Vigilio di Pozzolengo, Brescia, Italy (Par 72)
60 L Canter (Eng),
64 D Burmester (Rsa), J Hansen (Den),
65 R Bland (Eng), D Perrier (Fra), A Arnaus (Esp), O Lengden (Swe), W Besseling (Ned),
66 R McGowan (Eng), N Lemke (Swe), R Roussel (Fra), M Jordan (Eng), J Senior (Eng), J Quesne (Fra), K Reitan (Nor),
67 Jonathan Caldwell (Nir), V Perez (Fra), B Wiesberger (Aut), S Mazzoli (Ita), M Fenasse (Fra), A Otaegui (Esp), T Pulkkanen (Fin), L Scalise (Ita), M Armitage (Eng), A Cockerill (Can), A Meronk (Pol), N H?jgaard (Den),
68 B Easton (Rsa), L De Jager (Rsa), F Laporta (Ita), M Wallace (Eng), S Jamieson (Sco), J Campillo (Esp), E Molinari (Ita), J Donaldson (Wal), A Saddier (Fra), D Young (Sco), G Bhullar (Ind), D Whitnell (Eng), S Heisele (Ger), S Tiley (Eng), N Colsaerts (Bel), G Migliozzi (Ita), A Rozner (Fra), E Cuartero Blanco (Esp), T Tree (Eng), G Fernandez-Castaño (Esp), J Sjoholm (Swe), E De La Riva (Esp),
69 M Warren (Sco), D Drysdale (Sco), M Schneider (Ger), C Paisley (Eng), T Olesen (Den), A Cañizares (Esp), N Von Dellingshausen (Ger), A Wu (Chn), D Horsey (Eng), L Johnston (Sco), A Quiros (Esp), M Kaymer (Ger), C Sordet (Fra), H Long (Ger), Cormac Sharvin (Nir), D Coupland (Eng),
70 J Veerman (Usa), L Gagli (Ita), F Bergamaschi (Ita), Y Chang (Kor), M Antcliff (Aus), F Maccario (Ita), B Evans (Eng), J Walters (Rsa), J Luiten (Ned), J Fahrbring (Swe), N Bertasio (Ita), D Huizing (Ned), A Saracino (Ita), M Pavon (Fra), T Gandy (IMn), L Van Meijel (Ned),
71 R Wattel (Fra), J Scrivener (Aus), N Elvira (Esp), S Brown (Eng), D Van Driel (Ned), M Manassero (Ita), R Paratore (Ita), W Ormsby (Aus),
72 A Romano (Am) (Ita), A Zemmer (Ita), E Di Nitto (Ita), R Karlberg (Swe), R Sciot-Siegrist (Fra), M Schwab (Aut), Gavin Moynihan (Irl), L Westwood (Eng), S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp),
73 J Stalter (Fra), W Nienaber (Rsa), R Santos (Por),
74 J Smith (Eng), G Castagnara (Ita), J Gonnet (Fra), P Figueiredo (Por), S Chawrasia (Ind),
75 J Ritchie (RSA), T Perrino (Ita), C Pigem (Esp), S Vincent (Zim), R Jacquelin (Fra),
76 C Howie (Sco),
77 M Baldwin (Eng),
80 B Poke (Den)
