Andrew

Johnston

The 32-year-old Englishman got off to a solid start at Meloneras Golf, opening with a 2-under 68 that featured four birdies to help combat a double bogey on just his third hole. He followed up with a 7-under 63 in the second round, carding six birdies, one bogey and an eagle. But Johnston couldn’t sustain the pace through the weekend and shot 71-70 to finish T-62. He started the season by missing his first two cuts (Saudi International, Dubai Desert Classic), and he went 5-of-8 last season, but one of those missed cuts includes a mid-round withdrawal during the first round of the British Masters. Johnston admitted he was not mentally prepared for life inside the European Tour “bubble,” but returned the following month and made three straight cuts including a T-3 finish at the Celtic Classic. To date, Johnston has one European Tour victory – a one-stroke triumph over Netherland’s Joost Luiten at the 2016 Real Club Valderrama Open de Espana.

Beef was T4 at July’s Scottish Open and T9 in September’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and a third healthy cheque this week is set to move him to 51st on the Race to Dubai (top 50 qualify for the season ender). He also took T10 in the Scandinvian Invitation in August so the popular Englishman now has four top tens in his last seven starts. Johnston dropped a shot on Olgiata’s third hole today but then slowly worked his way up the leaderboard with red circles at 5, 7, 13 and 17. He said: “Very happy. I thought I just stuck at it really well all week. Golf is a strange game. You can think, I’m playing so good and you end up 40th or missed the cut, something like that, and it felt quite scrappy at times all week. I just seemed to keep the ball in play, keep scoring, hitting a good shot at the right time, and just keep ticking along. I know I’m working on the right things. My game is trending in the right direction, so I’ve just got to keep doing it.”

That’s three swings back from fellow Englishman and one-shot leader Matthew Fitzpatrick. Beef took a while to get going today, managing a birdie (3), five pars and a bogey (7) over his first seven holes. But from there he picked up shots on the par 5s at 9 and 15 and added another red circle at 13. “Very pleased,” he said. “I’ve got the golf ball around the golf course well. Managed it well. A bit better today. Yesterday went back to the range and worked a few things out and I’ll be trying to get a good feeling on the range tomorrow morning.” The 30-year-old also filled reporters in on other developments for the rest of 2019. “I’ve got a baby on the way. I’ve got to build the cot and stuff at some point, and that’s going take a few weeks I think,” he said. “So I’m not going to play too many events coming in because yeah, it’s more important. I want to get everything ready for that.” Perhaps he’ll have extra incentive to get the win this weekend.

Beef birdied his opening the hole, the 10th, and parred the next but then went bogey-birdie-par-bogey-bogey to slip to +1. He balanced the books with a gain at 17 and then produced a fast finish with red circles at 2, 5, 8 and 9. The 30-year-old, who last played this course back in 2011 (T64), has two top tens in his last four European Tour starts but said he didn’t have his best stuff today. “It was one of them strange days on the golf course where I didn’t really hit the ball great. But the score, made a lot of birdies, and you could tell by sort of what my front nine, which was the back, a few birdies, a few bogeys, and I kept it in play a bit better off the tee on the other nine. I’m going to go to the range and see if I can work out why I was missing it a bit. And then I’m going to go eat probably my fourth carbonara of the week so far. I think that’s the plan.”

Injury woes continue to pester Beef’s year, in addition to the mental health difficulties he courageously discussed in his EuropeanTour.com blog a few weeks back. Indeed, he was due to play in Prague last week but was a late withdrawal (alas, typically of the ET, the cause is frustratingly difficult to ascertain). He missed the cut at the Open on his last start, but before that he was T4 in the Scottish Open, maybe a big hint that good things await? He missed his first two tournament cuts, but since then has been strong in Sweden. He was T12 in 2016 when tied for the 18 hole lead, T2 after 36 holes and T5 after 54. Last year, on this course, he spent the week going in the opposite direction all week for T10.

The Englishman has endured a difficult 12 months which he revealed in a recent EuropeanTour.com blog and he was in tears after this round as a consequence. It not only earned him a strong finish but also a place at next week’s Open. He opened the lap in fine style with birdies at the first, third, fourth and fifth, but then parred his way to the turn. At that point he started to look like he would break 60 as he ticked the tenth, 11th and 12th, then the 14th, 15th and 16th. A bogey ruined that plan but the overall effort was sufficient to grab one of the three Open spots on offer.

The popular Englishman started the campaign well with T9 at the Australian PGA Championship before Christmas and added a top 25 at January’s Dubai Desert Classic. But he took nearly three months out from January to May. However, the signs look better now as Beef returned in May with T42 at the British Masters and improved to T25 at the Made In Denmark. He’s had just one crack at this week’s venue, Munchen Nord-Eichenried, and opened with 66 before finishing T40 after three 72s. That was back in 2015.

The Beef renaissance looked to be going well after he pegged T9 in the Australian PGA Championship and thrashed a 65 in round three of the Dubai Desert Classic on the way to T24. But he went 66-77 in the Vic Open to miss the cut and had to pull out of the World Super 6 Perth. Now the newly-engaged Johnston returns to Muscat where last year he ranked tenth for Greens in Regulation on his way to T12 which gave him impetus for losing a play-off in his next start at the Indian Open. Back to full fitness he looks a nice fit, but just how sharp will he be?

Who saw that coming? To put it in context, only three of the 156-man field today shot higher than the Englishman, who was one of the big draw cards for the organizers so will be missed this weekend. Everything looked good as he birdied two of his first three holes at the Beach Course to move to 8-under for the tournament but from there he collapsed with four bogeys and two doubles against one more red number. A total of 80 players made it through on 5-under 139 or better, with those missing out including: 141- Matteo Manassero, Oliver Wilson ... 142- Jorge Campillo ... 143- Richard McEvoy ... 144- Jeunghun Wang.

As well as groups alternating between men and women on the Beach Course and Creek Course over the first two days (then 36 holes at the Beach on the weekend), fans will not be roped off. Beef said: “It’s good for the spectators to get close, like maybe, get some information. Because it’s interesting when you hear a player talk to the caddie or vice versa, what we’re thinking sometimes and what they’re doing. They can get a bit close and realise what we’re actually doing; we’re not just walking aimlessly throwing grass in the air.” Johnston has made swing changes, slimmed down and employed a new coach in recent times and it all worked well when he took T24 in the Dubai Desert Classic on his latest start. With a good record in Australia and a slightly funky format, he looks a worthy investment this week.