Flying Dutchman takes the lead

Dutchman Jurrian Van der Vaart goes into the final two rounds of the European Championship with a solid three stroke lead. Sean Einhaus from Germany is in the hunting position

Henrik Søe, 21. august 2008

Not everyone was as straight of the tee as Jurrian Van der Vaart on Thursday


With a blistering second round of 67 (-4) Jurrian Van der Vaart has taken the lead in the European Championship in Esbjerg. The 20 year old Dutchman from Almelo in Holland made a copy of Tiger Woods when he won the British Open at Hoylake in 2006. Van der Vaart has played the first two rounds without using his driver and so far, it has been a very wise decision for the Flying Dutchman.

- I took a bit of a chance in the practice round Tuesday when I decided to play without my driver and use a very strong 3-wood instead. Until now, the decision has definitely paid off. I started with a double bogey yesterday but since that I haven’t made any mistakes, Jurrian Van de Vaart said after his second round.

The closest rival is now Sean Einhaus. The rising German star carded five birdies and one bogey on his way to a 67 and a total score of -3. First round leader Luke Goddard is now in third place on -2, while four players are on -1 – including Einhaus’ fellow countryman Stephan Gross who recently came close to winning on the Challenge Tour and Irishman Niall Kearney who shot a round of 66 Thursday - the lowest round of the tournament so far.   

Kearney was one of several players who launched a serious attack on Thomas Bjorns course record in Esbjerg Golf Club. Kearney just needed 30 strokes to complete his first nine holes, but then played the back nine in par and had to settle” for a 66. In the early and quite calm hours of the day, several players made the turn in four under par. But in the end, no one came really close to beating the 64 that the Danish star produced in 1995.

But the players probably won’t mind letting the Dane keep on to his course record as long as they can leave Denmark as the new European champ. It certainly doesn’t take a course record to win. A couple of rounds in the 60’s will bring most of the final field in contention for a top spot.  

55 players made the cut that ended on +6. Among them was Italien Joon Kim who made an ace on the par 3 17th hole.