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| Miguel Angel Jimenez |
Following a two week break following the 3 Irish Open in Killarney it’s back to the day job for Shane Lowry, Peter Lawrie, Damien McGrane, Michael Hoey, Simon Thornton and Gary Murphy this week as they compete in the Czech Open at the Prosper Golf Resort.
Michael Hoey looks like the Irish player in the best form following his seventh place finish in Killarney and joins the fray with a handful of players chasing a result in their quest for valuable Ryder Cup points in this penultimate qualifying event.
One of those is Miguel Angel Jiménez of Spain who is currently eighth in the European Ryder Cup standings and looking to seal a fourth Ryder Cup appearance. Having co-designed the course it might prove an advantage as he needs a good week in the Czech Republic as he is not currently planning to travel to Gleneagles in the final qualifying event.
Jiménez designed the two hilly courses at Prosper Golf Resort in Čeladná, which opened in 2001 and 2003 respectively, with accuracy in mind as narrow tree-lined fairways are typical. Both the Old Course and the New Course are cocooned within the Beskydy Mountains, offering stunning views. This year’s Czech Open will be played over a composite of the two courses, taking nine holes from each.
“They are very natural golf courses and they make you think,” added Jiménez. “The key is being very straight off the tee. You need to also be very good with the short game. I am proud to have co-designed this with the owner. It is the only course I have designed which hosts European Tour competition and I am looking forward to playing a tournament there for the second time.”
Last season Sweden’s Oskar Henningsson claimed his first European Tour title in Prosper coming from five shots off the lead at the halfway stage to take the title by three shots.
With his win Henningsson became the 31st player to graduate from the Qualifying School and post a win the following season, as well as only the third player behind Gordon Brand Jnr and José Maria Olazábal to triumph the season after winning the Final Stage itself which he did at PGA Golf Catalunya in November 2008.
Ross McGowan, 11th in the European Points List, Peter Hanson in 15th position and Oliver Wilson in 18th are in a similar situation, knowing that victory or a high finish could propel them into the Ryder Cup reckoning heading into the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, the final event of the year- long Ryder Cup qualifying campaign.
BMW PGA Championship winner Simon Khan will hope to add another victory to his CV when he tees it up in the Czech Open 2010. The Englishman will be part of the field for the €2million event from August 19th – 22nd
After winning Qualifying School last November, Khan captured the biggest prize of his career winning The European Tour's flagship event in May.
