Players Under Restriction
Due To Regional Unrest
AGADIR, MOROCCO |
First-round leader
Peter
Lawrie
managed to get the following informa-
tion out on his website before going out and
shooting a Thursday 64 at the Trophee Hassan
II: “The four days in northwest Africa promise
to be different from most
normal weeks on Tour for
a variety of reasons. The
security that has been posted
around the Palais Royal
course, which is inside the
grounds of the Royal Palace
in Agadir. Given the current
political turmoil in some
Arab countries, restrictions have been placed
upon us. We have to show our passports on
entering the Palace complex, and once inside,
we cannot use our mobile phones.”
Lawrie, an Irishman, is no relation to last
week’s Euro winner,
Paul Lawrie
of Scotland.
He missed the event in Spain two weeks ago
because of the flu.
In Morocco, his second-round 76 moved him
well back in the pack.
Peter Lawrie
Second-round co-leader
Joost Luiten
of the
Netherlands made two double-bogeys (both on
par 3s) Friday in windy conditions. “I definitely
left some shots out there,” he said.
Finland’s
Mikko Ilonen
, recently recovered
from a bout with appendicitis, tied (Peter)
Lawrie’s course record with a Saturday 64 that
left him two shots off the lead. “I just felt like
I couldn’t do anything wrong,” he said after
scorching the Palais Royal course.
Ulsterman
Darren Clarke
was primed to
make a move. Then Saturday arrived. After a
pair of 69s in his first two rounds, Clarke melt-
ed down with a third-round 81 that included two
triple-bogeys and a double.
When the dust had settled Sunday,
George
Coetzee
shot a 3-under 69 and claimed fourth
at 11-under 276.
Jean-Baptiste Gonnet
(67)
and
Oscar Floren
(68) tied for fifth place at
minus- 10, while
Richie Ramsay
(68) and Ilonen
(71) shared seventh at 9-under 278.
David Horsey’s
victory on the second extra
hole marked the second playoff this season on
the European Tour. Open Championship winner
Louis Oosthuizen
defeated
Manuel Quiros
and
Chris Wood for the Africa Open title ...
Rhys
Davies
, a loser to Horsey in the three-man
playoff that included
Jaco Van Zyl
, could have
been the first player to win back-to-back titles
at this event since
Santiago Luna
in 2002-03.
Finally, this suggestion from one media wag:
If
Rocco Mediate
ever won the Trophee Hassan
II and successfully defended the following year,
the headline would have to read: “Morocco:
More Rocco.” l
Staff and Wire Reports
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