| DOC SALBE PGA EUROPEAN CHALLENGE 2007 |
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| DOC SALBE PGA EUROPEAN CHALLENGE 2007 |
Final results of the doc Salbe PGA European Challenge >>>
On Sunday, the players must complete 27 holes on the New Course of the Golf & Vital Park in order to determine the outcome of the first doc Salbe PGA European Challenge. But there is already now a winner, namely the public in Bad Waldsee, which previously ensured a magnificent backdrop each day and which set new spectator records.
Whatever the outcome, both Kariem Baraka and Tobias Schwartzer will certainly be playing in the third round and a possible fourth. They have now finished the first 36 holes, and with respective scores of 4 (Kariem Baraka) and 3 under par, they are playing exceptionally well in a strong field. Kariem Baraka achieved two good rounds of 70, meaning he’s the best German player after two days. Tobias Schwartzer entered the club house with rounds of 70 and 71. Spanish player Carlos del Moral took the overall lead, and he is currently on the leader board at 10 under par. Behind him, a group of seven players are currently sharing second place. With eight under par, Stephen Browne, Richie Ramsay, Martin Wiegele, Mikael Lundberg, Jan-Are Larsen, Leif Westerberg and Gary Clark are all two strokes behind del Moral. And del Moral can also extend his lead, as on Saturday, he still has to complete three holes of his second round. Leif Westerberg and Gary Clark also have to finish their rounds. Martin Wiegele, the leader after the first day, hasn’t even teed off for his second round. With eight birdies, the player who originates from Graz, Austria, led the field on Thursday, and today he wants to reclaim his lead. Several German players have also only completed 18 holes at the doc Salbe PGA European Challenge 2007. On Friday, local hero Torben Baumann had just as many forced breaks as his amateur colleagues Allen John and the PGA professionals Christian Reimbold, Dennis Küpper, Tobias Dier, Ralf Geilenberg and Wolfgang Bächle, all of whom are starting their second rounds this Saturday. The day will certainly be exciting for Richard Treis of Munich and Tino Schuster of Stuttgart. They are currently respectively 1 and 2 over par (Treis) and over the expected cut, and must now wait to see if they can tee off again at the doc Salbe PGA European Challenge. Further information and tournament results are available at www.docsalbe2007.pga.de.
This third last Challenge Tour tournament of the season means a battle for valuable ranking points for all players involved. The leader Martin Wiegele in particular is aiming to keep alive his chances of entering the top 20 of the Challenge Tour Order of Merit with a second win - he recently won the Lexus Open in Norway – and qualify automatically for the European Tour 2008.He is currently in 37th place in the Challenge Tour and the 22 400 Euro prize for the winner in Bad Waldsee would catapult the Graz-born sportsman into the top 20. For the German players Richard Treis and Tobias Dier, the aim is to get their names into the top 45 in the rankings - those who are allowed to play in the grand final, the last tournament of the season to take place in Italy in November. After a round of 75 at the start of the second day, Tobias Dier has a stiff task ahead of him if he’s to make the grade and come into the money. On Thursday, Richard Treis only played ten holes of the first round and is currently at 1 over par. Like over 50 of his co-players, he has a mammoth task ahead of him in the battle for a share of the 140 000 Euro prize money awarded at the doc Salbe PGA European Challenge in Bad Waldsee: the end of the first round will be played out from 8:30 am.
The prelude to the tournament week in Bad Waldsee on Wednesday is the doc Salbe PGA European Challenge ProAM, at which in addition to the top players of the Challenge Tour there will be a number of celebrities from sports and television. For example former skijump champion Dieter Thoma and soccer legend Rainer Bonhof followed the call of the doc Salbe to Bad Waldsee. On Thursday then Leif Westerberg from Sweden will lead the field in the tournament as third of the Challenge Tour Order of Merit. After 72 holes or a possible play-off on Sunday afternoon, the winner will receive a gold plated tube of “doc Salbe” as a trophy as well as a prize money of 22,400 Euros. Which according to the current ranking positions can have as a consequence an advance among the top 20 of the rankings, which contains at the end of the season the playing qualifications for the European Tour 2008. Or the prize money brings the entry into the top 45 who may participate at the Grand Final of the Challenge Tour in November in Italy, or it secures a position among the top 80, which means Challenge Tour tickets for 2008. A tournament which is just as exciting as well as top-notch in sports is therefore guaranteed in Bad Waldsee, where spectators have free admission on all days and can see world-class golf close up. Further information and current tournament results at www.docsalbe2007.pga.de. The German PGA professionals starting in Bad Waldsee The German amateurs starting in Bad Waldsee The doc Salbe PGA European Challenge at a glance
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Bad Waldsee – The Scotchman Peter Whiteford won the doc Salbe PGA European Challenge 2007. With 22 under par after rounds of 66, 66, 68 and as a final anew 66 strokes, the 27 year old from Krikcaldy succeeded in front of his countryman Richie Ramsay (70, 66, 67, 67/-18) and the Englishman David Horsey (69, 71, 65, 66/-17). Whiteford cashed in Euro 22.400 prize money for his second season win after The Dutch Features, which he decided for himself at the end of September. He therefore advanced in the Challenge Tour Order of Merit to place 13 and made his qualification for the European Tour 2008 almost perfect. The doc Salbe PGA European Challenge was the third to last tournament of the 2007 season and for Whiteford "the perfect time point to once again rise to the top of the pedestal. Before the tournament I was number 27 on the Order of Merit and definitely wanted this victory. The fantastic course in Bad Waldsee and the great public here greatly helped me to my victory!"
"I am really well in the best form of my life. I hit the ball very well, and above all the long puts go in", according to Whiteford, who has played at the Challenge Tour for four years. In the final round as well as on the first day he pocketed six birdies and didn’t have a bogey, and in the entire tournament only had to note three of them on his scorecard, with two eagles. "“That was a rather perfect week", the 27 year old said.
Bad Waldsee – The final day of the doc Salbe PGA European Challenge 2007 in Bad Waldsee: 60 players qualified on Saturday for the rounds 3 and 4 of the tournament, with Euro 140,000 prize money, at the Golf & Vital Park Bad Waldsee. With more than 1300 spectators, the professionals of the Challenge Tour again played first class golf with impressive scores. The new course record holder is the Spaniard Carlos del Moral, who reached a round of 63 in the second thoroughfare. He played eight birdies, an eagle and only one bogey. On the first day he needed 69 drives on the par 72 range. He thus took the lead of the field together with Peter Whiteford after round 2 with 12 under par. The Scotchman noted two strong rounds of 66 on his scorecard and presented himself in Bad Waldsee in a constant top form. He then continued also in round 3, which began late on Saturday afternoon. With an eagle on hole 2 and a birdie on lane 6, he took the sole lead with 15 under par after the third day in front of del Moral, who could improve to 13 under par before round 3 had to be interrupted due to nightfall. There were also four German PGA professionals in the match: Kariem Baraka, Tobias Schwartzer, Dennis Küpper and Christian Reimbold reached the cut and will play on Sunday for their share of the total prize money. 
And they were offered the highest quality of professional golf. After the Spaniard Carlos del Moral ended his second round with the new course record of 63 strokes early in the morning, his followers started an exciting head-to-head race to the top of the leader board. The Englishman Gary Clark and the Dane Lasse Jensen were successful with the second best score of the second thoroughfare with respectively 65 strokes. After 69 strokes in round one, Clark advanced to third place. In the last second, Jensen entered the starter field as first reserve, profiting from an injury to his colleague Edoardo Molinari. In the first thoroughfare, the Dane played a round of 75, but after he improved on Saturday by an even ten strokes, he safely reached the two final rounds. The cut went back and forth for a long time between 1 and 2 under par, in the end however only those remained in the field who completed the first 36 holes with at least 2 under par.
Bad Waldsee – From a German point of view, it was two players from Munich who provided the most positive results on the second day of the doc Salbe PGA European Championship in Bad Walsee. After two rounds of the 140,000 Euro tournament at the Golf & Vitalpark in Bad Waldsee, Germany, both Kariem Baraka and Tobias Schwartzer were clearly under par and therefore clearly within the expected cut. This will be confirmed on Saturday afternoon, as on Friday a heavy mist once more delayed the start of the tournament, with the total time delays amounting to more than five hours. On Saturday, the third day of play of the professional tournament is already on the programme – although the second round of the Challenge Tour tournament hasn’t yet finished, and several players are yet to have even started their second rounds. They will be starting at 8.30 am on Saturday. Depending on the weather and visibility conditions, it will then also be decided as to whether the tournament will have to be shortened to 54 holes and three rounds, or whether it will still be possible to play all four rounds of the third-to-last event of the 2007 season by Sunday evening. 
Amongst German professionals, Christian Reimbold got off to the best start. He was on form from the beginning and at three under par after nine holes. “At the first six holes I had some really good shots. I’m really enjoying playing this course” says the GOLF TEAM GERMANY player. He finally returned to the clubhouse with a round of 69 which put him in 10th place at the close of the first day. 
“I am very proud that the PGA of Germany is allowed to be a guest as the organizer of the doc Salbe PGA European Challenge these days in Bad Waldsee,” said Stefan Quirmbach, president of the PGA of Germany. “With the tournament on the magnificent New Course of the Golf & Vitalpark Bad Waldsee, the Challenge Tour is making a stop in Germany this year for the third time. A clear sign that in Germany we have excellent opportunities when it comes to professional golf.” A fact which also is highlighted by the German participants. With Richard Treis, who has chosen Munich as his home and recently took fifth place at the Kazakhstan Open, Tobias Dier from Nuremberg, who just barely missed the title in the play off at the OKI Mahou Challenge de Espana and Benjamin Miarka from Hanover, who just a few weeks ago took third place at the Telia Challenge Waxholm, there are three players who already this year have reached absolutely top results on the Challenge Tour. And also Kariem Baraka from Munich or Tino Schuster from Stuttgart, new RENAULT EPD Tour champion and fivefold tournament winner, are good for a win at the Challenge Tour. 
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