Sep 9, 2016: Dutch amateur Rowin Caron grabbed the headlines on day one of the KLM Open after a brilliant opening round of five under par 66 saw the 23 year old move into a tie for second place, just one stroke behind Englishman Ben Evans.
Caron, who is in his final year at Florida State University, produced a fine first round performance at the tournament’s new home, The Dutch, as he joined a seven-strong group of players sitting just one stroke behind Evans.
Caron is in exalted company, with former Ryder Cup player Peter Hanson joined by European Tour winners Ben An and Bernd Wiesberger, as well as Chris Hanson, Mikko Korhonen and Joakim Lagergren on five under.
Evans is looking to avoid a repeat of last season when he had to wait until the last event of the season – the UBS Hong Open – to retain his playing privileges on the European Tour and the 26 year certainly made a perfect start in his bid to secure his European Tour future for 2017.
Home hero Joost Luiten is lurking ion two under par after a solid opening round of 69, while there was huge disappointment for defending champion Thomas Pieters who was forced to withdraw from the tournament on Thursday morning.
The 24 year old Belgian, who will make his Ryder Cup debut for Darren Clarke’s European team in three weeks’, was stung by a bee on Monday afternoon during a challenge match against Luiten and then suffered a major allergic reaction to the sting which meant he could not defend his title.
The KLM Open broke new ground on Thursday by hosting a unique ‘Beat the Pro competition’, where amateurs were given the chance to challenge the professionals during tournament play on the par three 14th hole.
Three amateurs actually achieved the feat, most notably a 13 year old Dutchman by the name of Benjamin Reuter (handicap 1.9) who stood on the tee and bettered the approaches two Ryder Cup stars and a Major champion in the form of Nicolas Colsaerts, Stephen Gallacher and YE Yang.
“I holed a lot of putts early on in the round to get me to two under and then hit a few nice wedges in close to get off to a pretty fast start. The putting was the difference today – I holed a lot of mid-range putts which I haven’t been doing a lot of lately. I came here on Monday and had some extra time to practice. I like the course visually. It’s like an in-land links and you can see that they have done that with the decision. It looks like a links course and with a lot of slopes and undulations it plays quite like a links course too”, said Ben Evans.
“I am really happy. I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens so in some ways it was a pretty easy round. The wind got up a little bit later in the round but I was playing well so it was a solid round. I have played here at The Dutch a lot so it helped me a lot today to know the course so well. I like the course a lot and have played well here in the past so I am just enjoying myself”, said the 23 year old Rowin Caron.
Round one scores
65 B Evans (Eng),
66 C Hanson (Eng), N Bertasio (Ita), B Wiesberger (Aut), P Hanson (Swe), B An (Kor), J Lagergren (Swe), M Korhonen (Fin), R Caron (am) (Ned),
67 M Foster (Eng), M Manassero (Ita), O Fisher (Eng), T Fleetwood (Eng), R Bland (Eng), M Baldwin (Eng), N Srithong (Tha), D Horsey (Eng), S Hend (Aus), A Cañizares (Esp), R Jacquelin (Fra),
68 S Jamieson (Sco), T Van Der Walt (RSA), B Rumford (Aus), F Zanotti (Par), J Carlsson (Swe), S Chawrasia (Ind), J Robinson (Eng), S Lee (Kor), R Langasque (Fra), S Khan (Eng), M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra),
69 A Noren (Swe), L Haotong (Chn), J Roos (RSA), J Luiten (Ned), R Karlsson (Swe), P Meesawat (Tha), M Carlsson (Swe), S Benson (Eng), R Gonzalez (Arg), N Elvira (Esp), R McEvoy (Eng), S Webster (Eng), M Hoey (Nir), B Åkesson (Swe), G Storm (Eng), T Linard (Fra),
70 R Paratore (Ita), J Veerman (USA), D Gavins (Eng), M Kieffer (Ger), D Im (USA), R Fisher (Eng), P Larrazábal (Esp), J Campillo (Esp), L Bjerregaard (Den), J Walters (RSA), J Hansen (Den), J Fahrbring (Swe), F Aguilar (Chi), B Virto (Esp), D Burmester (RSA), E Pepperell (Eng), C Pigem Xammar (Esp), M Warren (Sco),
71 M Tabuena (Phi), M Lafeber (Ned), L Slattery (Eng), C Lee (Sco), R Davies (Wal), R Dinwiddie (Eng), R Van West (Ned), T Detry (Bel), D Drysdale (Sco), D Dixon (Eng), L Nemecz (Aut), A Quiros (Esp), N Colsaerts (Bel), F Laporta (Ita), D Huizing (Ned), P Melching (am) (Ned),
72 E De La Riva (Esp), D Brooks (Eng), J Scrivener (Aus), R Kakko (Fin), G Havret (Fra), J Hahn (USA), M Madsen (Den), N Ravano (Ita), J Knutzon (USA), R Ramsay (Sco), S Manley (Wal), C Wood (Eng), O Bergqvist (Swe), U Van Den Berg (RSA), T Pilkadaris (Aus), T Jaidee (Tha), J Hugo (RSA), A Levy (Fra), M Southgate (Eng), B Stone (RSA), R Wattel (Fra), L Jensen (Den),
73 A McArthur (Sco), W Besseling (Ned), R Evans (Eng), B Hebert (Fra), A Otaegui (Esp), T Lewis (Eng), F Fritsch (Ger), N Fasth (Swe), J Winther (Den), M Kraaij (Ned), S Gallacher (Sco), L Canter (Eng), P Edberg (Swe), M Fraser (Aus), T Fisher Jnr (RSA), M Ilonen (Fin), D Fichardt (RSA), P Bootsma (am) (Ned),
74 J Jeong (Kor), H Porteous (RSA), S Gros (Fra), J Parry (Eng), J McLeary (Sco), R McGowan (Eng), P Dunne (Irl), T Remkes (Ned), Y Yang (Kor), M Siem (Ger), C Shinkwin (Eng),
75 W De Vries (Ned), E Molinari (Ita), M Ford (Eng), D Howell (Eng), J Singh (Ind), G Boyd (Eng),
76 G Coetzee (RSA), R Miller (Ned), C Kumar (Ind), P Lawrie (Irl), R Green (Aus), M Bosch (Ned), R Lee (Can), S Dyson (Eng), A Dodt (Aus), A De Bondt (am) (Bel), L Van Meijel (am) (Ned),
77 O Wilson (Eng), T Merkx (Ned),
78 D Van Den Dungen (Ned), J Busby (Eng), N Holman (Aus), V Van Veen (am) (Ned)
European Tour Release
