The Irish Golf Club Gazette: Steen Tinning

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6/05/2014

VP Smyth Leads ISPA Handa

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Des Smyth holed a snaking 25 birdie putt on the 18th green to take the early lead at the ISPS Handa Seniors PGA Championship at the Stoke by Nayland Golf, Hotel & Spa.

Smyth had key-hole surgery to ‘clean up’ a troublesome knee problem a couple of months ago and has not played much golf in the build up to the new Senior Tour season.

“Maybe that’s the secret – play less golf!” he smiled after signing for a five under par 67 to take a one stroke lead over 2013 Senior Rookie of the Year, Steen Tinning of Denmark.

Both Smyth and Tinning made four birdies in their first five holes during round one, but while Tinning followed that up with 13 straight pars, Smyth dropped a shot at nine before bouncing back straight away with a sublime chip-in on the tenth.

“I have to admit I would have taken your hand off for a four when I was looking that chip,” said Smyth. “But it was one of those days where I got a couple of breaks and when you get those breaks all of a sudden you find yourself leading the tournament.

“It was a very enjoyable day and a great start for me. I honestly had no clue what to expect this week as I haven’t played much since that little procedure on my knee so I am delighted to be in the lead.”

The Irishman is relishing the chance to be one of Paul McGinley’s lieutenants when Europe defence The Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in September, but he is also looking forward to a summer of playing good golf before he throws himself into The Ryder Cup.

“The Ryder Cup is something so big these days that it is a great honour to be involved and when the Captain asks you for some help as Paul has done with me then it is impossible to say no to that.

“It will be a great experience at Gleneagles but we have a bit of time until then and I would like to go there with a Senior Tour title or two under my belt – that would be very nice indeed.”

Smyth will face some stiff competition if he is to stay in front for the remaining 54 holes of the ISPS Handa Seniors PGA Championship, with Tinning followed closely on the leaderboard by some of the Senior Tour’s most formidable names.

Peter Fowler, the Order of Merit winner in 2012, leads a hugely talented pack of ten players tied on three under, just two off the lead. Also among that rank are former Ryder Cup Captain Mark James, Santiago Luna, Mark Mouland, Paul Eales, George Ryall, Jerry Smith, Andrew Murray and Jean-Pierre Sallat.

But it was to be Des’s day in the beautiful East Anglian countryside as the Irishman put himself in a great position to contend for what would be the sixth victory of his Senior career.

8/04/2013

Walton Shows Form in Koln

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Philip Walton fired a final round of 69 at Berenberg Masters on Sunday to secure a four way share of 14th place, along with Des Smyth, with the Dubliner continuing a trend which saw him open with a round of 70 at Muirfield last week at the Senior British Open.

But it was Steen Tinning who lasted the distance to secure his debut European Senior Tour title in only his sixth appearance.

The Dane signed for a flawless round of 69 for a nine under par aggregate total which was just enough to hold off a late surge from home hero Bernhard Langer, who delighted the locals at Golf- und Land-Club, in Cologne, with a blemish-free round of 68.

Having seen Langer fail to get up and down for birdie from the greenside bunker on the par five 18th hole, Tinning knew a closing par would be enough to secure victory and with it a cheque for €60,000, and he duly obliged to consign the German to the runner-up spot for the second weekend in a row.

Tinning’s ‘reward’ for his victory is a place in next weekend’s Ironman European Championship in south-west Germany, where he will swim 1.9kms, cycle 90kms and run 21.1kms.

“I’m only half-mad,” he joked, “because it’s only a half Ironman!

“But on a more serious note, I’m just so happy right now. Happy, and also a little bit relieved. My hands were shaking on that putt on the last, so I was very pleased to see it drop. I hit a lot of good putts today but none of them seemed to go in, so I just couldn’t pull away from the field early on.

“But I didn’t get frustrated, I stuck to the task and I executed it well. I managed to stay calm, because I knew I was playing well enough to win. I knew what I needed on the last hole because one of the volunteers told me Bernhard had made a par, so I used a five-wood from the tee, a six-iron for my second shot and then a chip and two putts. It sounds easy, but it definitely wasn’t!

“I’m surprised how quickly I’ve won on the Senior Tour. Most parts of my game have been pretty good, but I just haven’t been able to pull it all together. Luckily for me, this was my week. It feels even more special to beat Bernhard into second place, because he’s such a great competitor.”

For his part, Langer was typically magnanimous in defeat, labelling Tinning a worthy winner before bemoaning his own luck on the greens.

He said: “I played so much better than yesterday, but the difference today was that I just couldn’t get the putts to drop – I lost count of the lip-outs and near misses. I couldn’t have done any more, and I’m just sorry for the people that I came up a little bit short. But there’s no shame in finishing second, and hopefully I can come back next year and go one better.”

Langer’s cheque for €40,000 saw the two-time Masters Tournament winner move to €225,867 and extend his lead in the Senior Tour Order of Merit to €116,315, whilst Tinning climbed nine places to fourth with season’s earnings of €97,791.

England’s Nick Job also climbed into the top 20 of the Order of Merit after he finished in third place on seven under par courtesy of a closing round of 71, which was matched by Spaniard Miguel Angel Martin, who finished one stroke back in fourth place.

Ian Woosnam’s bid to win this event for the second time came up short after he laboured to a round of 73 to finish in a share of eighth place.

Denis O'Sullivan finished i 38th place.