Chris

Paisley

The Englishman fired 21-under at Glendower two years ago to score a three-shot victory over local man Branden Grace. It remains his first and only European Tour win. After that, Paisley also cracked the top 25 in his next three starts in South Africa via T9 at the Nedbank, T24 in this event and T18 in the Alfred Dunhill Championship. The T24 came at Randpark and included a Saturday 66 at the Firethorn (host for three of the four rounds) so he’s got some form at this week’s venue. Paisley flashed some impressive results in Ocotber, finishing T8 at the Open de France before a solo fifth at the Portugal Masters. This is his first start since another trip to South Africa ended with T44 at November’s Nedbank Challenge.

The Englishman could only manage T62nd last week in Turkey having before that logged two top tens in the Open de France and Portugal Masters. However he did card a 68 on Saturday with just 21 putts and included seven birdies in a back nine of 31. He tweeted: “Possibly the weirdest round of my life, some awful shots, some great ones.” Last year he was tied ninth in this event, one of a series of good results in South Africa recently. He won the South African Open at Glendower GC early last year, defended it with T24th and was T18th in the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek.

The Englishman has thrived in recent visits to Vilamoura after two initial failures to make the top 30. He was T5 in 2016, then T12 in 2017; now he rediscovers the top five. He certainly enjoyed this Sunday, riding the wave like one of the surfers on the nearby Atlantic. He made early birdies at the first and fourth then added a brace of par breakers at the eighth and ninth. He also ticked the 12th before a second set of back-to-back red numbers at the 14th and 15th. He made just one mistake on the weekend and exits the tournament 63rd in the Race to Dubai, eyeing up a return to the DP World Tour Championship. He ended the week three shots behind the winner Steven Brown.

The Englishman started on the tenth tee and had early problems going bogey-birdie-bogey through three holes, but thereafter the traffic was only one way. He made a brace of birdies at the 14th and 15th to kickstart that move and then bested it with a hat-trick at the 18th, first and second. Seven pars followed with a final red number at the eighth. He was part of a seven-way tie for second behind early pace-setter Callum Shinkwin on the live leaderboard. 77Th on the Race to Dubai, Paisley has been solid this year rather than spectacular, He has just two top tens and a best of T4 in the Made in Denmark tournament.

The Englishman hasn’t been seen since T34 at last month’s Scottish Open and he’ll head out in the first group from No. 1 tee Thursday morning. Paisley is 74th on this season’s Race to Dubai, showing plenty of consistency by making 13 cuts from 16 starts. His best was T4 at the Made In Denmark which borders Sweden while he’s had six top 25s in all although four of them came by early March. He’s played this event four times with two missed cuts and a highest finish of T13 at PGA Sweden National in 2015. This will be Paisley’s first start at Hills Golf & Sports Club and, on what we’ve seen so far in the current campaign, he looks a solid option.

That was two swings back from home hero Padraig Harrington. Paisley played in the fourth last group out with second-place Zander Lombard (64) as those who stayed deep into the day were treated to a flood of red numbers. Paisley traded a birdie at 1 with a bogey at 3 but did his best work around the turn with circles at 8, 9, 11 and 12. He dropped another shot at 15 but jumped back up with birdies at 16 and 18. The Englishman opened with two 65s at the Belgian Knockout before going out in the round of 32 while he also closed with a 65 when tied fourth at the Made In Denmark so it’s been a popular number for him recently. He’s just 1-for-4 at the Irish Open and this beats his low round by four strokes.

That was the lowest 36-hole total overall, beating Anton Karlsson by one, and three shots better than anyone on his side of the draw (early/late). We go into a nine-hole head-to-head knockout format on the weekend, with No. 1 seed Paisley taking on the No. 64. While seeding isn’t overly important, there is a slight advantage for the top 16 as they would qualify for the next round if their opening nine-hole match on Saturday ends in a tie. The Englishman secured his second 65 of the week thanks to a hot back nine. After two birdies against a bogey on the front, he ticked 10, 11, 14, 16 and 18 to be home in 30. “It really suits my strengths,” he said. “The strengths of my game are my putting and wedging and you have a lot of wedges into these greens if you’re hitting it straight and I seem to be hitting it straight at the moment so it sets up perfectly for me.” He added with a smile: “Slightly annoying those two rounds are basically going to be wiped clean!”

The Englishman sprinkled his scorecard with an eagle, six birdies and two bogeys today. After an early birdie-bogey trade at 11 and 13, Paisley added red numbers at 14 and 16 to turn in 33. He continued his climb with birdie-3 at the 4th and then needed just three swishes at the par-5 5th hole. A bogey at the 6th looked to have cost him a chance of leading but birdies at 8 and 9 secured T1 alongside Burmester. The pair are one clear of Espen Kofstad and JC Ritchie. Paisley led last September’s Web.com Tour Championship after a 61 and finished T8 while he’s dropped back to T13 and T27 on the two occasions he’s been the 18-hole leader on the European Tour. This week’s format makes it harder to try and cash in on a fast start as, after 36 holes, the tournament switches to a more volatile series of nine-hole head-to-head knockout strokeplay matches for the top 64 qualifiers.

The Englishman finally reacquainted himself with the top five on the European Tour; this was his first on that stage since he won the South African Open last January and followed it with T5 in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. It also vindicated his decision to hire close friend and former ET performer Jason Palmer on the bag; the two have now been together three weeks. Paisley’s final tour of the Danish venue was flawless and witnessed three birdies in each nine. To the turn they were spread out (at the second, fifth and eighth), afterward they came in a rush (at the 14th, 15th and 18th – one of just eight at the final hole on the final day). He earns over 100,000 Euro and rises to 65th on the Race to Dubai.