Daan

Huizing

The 26-year-old enjoyed a startling two year transition from the amateur game. In 2012 he won two top amateur titles in the UK and rose to No.2 in the world rankings. Twelve months later, having turned pro, he finished sixth on the Challenge Tour with two wins to graduate to the European Tour. But he lost his card in 2014 (136th) and has twice failed to win it back on the secondary circuit. He has three top tens this season but resides at a lowly 43rd in the rankings and has missed his last two cuts. He needs good results soon, but for this week concentrates on his home Open. He missed the cut here 12 months ago and in all is just 3-for-5 with a best of T46 in 2012.

After the Thursday 66 he opened Friday with a bogey-5 on his first hole (the 10th) but atoned before the turn with birdies at 14 and 18. On the front nine he finally made use of the long holes, ticking the 566-yard third hole, but he gave the shot back at the island green par-3 fifth. This is his fifth visit to the course and whilst last November’s Grand Final was the first time he has made an impression on the leaderboard (T9), he was taken note of by the members and this led to his invitation. He was T69 in the Dubai Desert Classic last week.

This is a new event on the European Tour schedule but it was a regular stop on the Challenge Tour, hosting five tournaments from 2013-2017. Huizing played in four of those and with plenty of success, including a best of T9 in last November’s NBO Golf Classic Grand Final. He put that course knowledge to good use today in a morning lap which featured seven birdies against a single bogey. The Dutchman set out with six pars and then connected three birdies from Nos. 7-9. He picked up further shots at 12, 15 and 16 before trading a bogey at 17 with a walk-off circle at 18. It’s been a struggle for Huizing since he lost his card at the end of 2014 but this looked a good opportunity for him to do something positive and he’s made an excellent start.