Jens

Dantorp

The Swede has only Spaniards ahead of him: Rafa Cabrera Bello and Samuel Del Val one shot clear, but Jon Rahm fully five clear of them at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid. He found himself in that situation after a remarkable lap that witnessed a birdie-bogey-birdie-birdie-bogey-birdie exchange on the front nine from the second, followed by seven non-pars on the way home. He had bogeys at 12 and 17 (his third there this week), birdies at 10, 13, 16 and 18, and an eagle-3 at 14. Afterward on-course commentator Jay Townsend noted his stroke average this year is better than last (71.63 vs 71.75), but he is ranked 166th in the Race to Dubai having been 70th in 2018. He claimed the rest of the tour had “moved up a level”, but maybe in truth it has not been that different. He made four top 40s last year and three this; but one of them in 2018 was third in the lucrative Irish Open. He is projected to move only to 132 if he maintains fourth; he needs more.

That’s just one shot off the clubhouse lead and two behind pacesetters Adri Arnaus and Kristian Krogh Johannessen, who are in the early stages of their afternoon laps at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid. The Swede has missed his last four cuts on the European Tour and also his last two cuts in Spain. He defied that form with a 4-under round yesterday and recovered well today when drifting down the leaderboard. Starting at 10, his disappointing opening nine featured seven pars and dropped shots at 11 and 17. But coming home, he splashed red circles at 4, 5 and 8 to get back in touch with the leaders. Dantorp came into the week ranked 166th on the Race to Dubai.

The Swede had a curious 2018 when he ticked just three top 30s and only one top ten, but that was third in the Scottish Open and lucrative enough to earn him card retention. He’s inexperienced in the Middle East on the main tour with two MCs in Qatar, one MC in Abu Dhabi and last week’s T48 in Dubai. He also played the Oman Open last year at Almouj, finishing T59, a contrast to his form on that course when it hosted the Challenge Tour. The track is vaguely similar: resort like but close to the sea. If there is any resemblance, and he can gain his head for golfing heights, note that his record in Oman on the second tier reads: T26-T7-2-T5.

On world ranking, this is a big surprise as the Swede is down in 461st, However, this is the Malmo resident’s local course and with it being used for just the second time on the European Tour he has an obvious advantage. In fact, this is history repeating itself. Dantorp posted the first-round lead on The Lakes Course at PGA Sweden National 12 months ago with a 66 although, on that occasion, he fell away to finish T57. Today, he started with a bogey at 10 but immediately hit back with an eagle-3 at 11. He would go on to add birdies at 14, 1, 3 and 4 and dropped no further shots. The 26-year-old, who currently leads by a shot from Thomas Pieters and Lee Slattery, said, “I’ve learnt from last year’s experience. The fans were great again today. It helps me so much.”

Despite a tough 73-74 finish over the closing 36 holes at PGA Sweden National, the Swede’s 6-under 282 was good enough for tied third place with three others. And that means he now owns a first top 10 on the European Tour even though he had his eyes on the ultimate prize eventually won by compatriot Alex Noren. Dantorp, who eventually finished six shots behind the winner, made a positive first step today with a birdie at the opening hole but that was to be the only red number on his card. He swallowed bogeys at 4, 5 and 7 and concluded with 11 straight pars. Obviously, local knowledge played a big part in this performance although it’s worth noting that he came into the event on the back of a second place on the Challenge Tour.

Tied for the lead overnight, he’s now three shots back of compatriot Alex Noren although only two other players have bettered his 8-under 208 through 54 holes. Dantorp birdied the opening hole for the third day running but went backwards after bogeys at 2 and 4. A birdie-bogey-birdie run from 12 to 14 was the only other time he deviated from par although, frustratingly, he had to square a walk-off bogey-6 at 18. The worry for Dantorp is the amount of pressure he’s putting on his short game. The 26-year-old hit just eight greens in regulation today but compensated by going 7-for-10 in scrambling (15-for-20 for the week).

The Swedish duo is in the books at 9-under 135 at PGA Sweden National in Malmö, two shots clear of Maximilian Kieffer and Sebastian Soderberg. Dantorp striped only five (of 14) fairways today, but he hit 12 greens in regulation and squared but one bogey (at the par-4 12th hole). He rattled off five birdies elsewhere. The third 18-hole co-leader, Chris Paisley of England, back-pedaled to a 73 today and sits five strokes adrift at 4-under 140.

While the majority of scorecards at DLF G&CC this week have been littered with bogeys, doubles and worse, the Swede has been over par on just three holes in reaching 5-under 139 at the midpoint, six back from leader Emiliano Grillo. The first two came in an opening 69 and today’s, slightly frustratingly, was on the par-5 4th, his 13th of the day. Dantorp, who won on the Challenge Tour last year, started out with eight straight pars before making his first gain at the par-5 18th. He added another red circle at 2 and recovered his blemish at 4 with a final par breaker of the day at 8. He’s 6-for-8 so far this season.

Should a phalanx of golfers not pass him in the afternoon wave, the Swede will grab just a fourth top ten 36-hole position on the European Tour (two of the previous three were in the Nordea Masters on home turf). He did so thanks to some heavy application of red to the scorecard. He played the front nine first and sprayed it at 11, 12 and 13, then added more at No. 17. He scratched a double bogey-6 at the second, but responded in style with another scarlet hat-trick at 3, 4 and 5. A final birdie at the 541-yard par-5 seventh pushed him into that rare top ten. He is 10-for-13 this season but with just one top 30 (T16 Indian Open).

On a classic links day when the early starters had much easier scoring conditions and were able to reel in the leaders, the field bunched up to the extent that the top 26 players are now covered by just four shots. Dantorp, who started R3 in T2, was struggling to hold his position in the top ten after a bogey-birdie-bogey start and a series of pars. But he closed with red circles at 16, 17 and 18 to edge in front and secure a 54-hole lead for the first time on the European Tour. As well as trying to grab his first European Tour win, the Swede will also be trying to book a spot in next week’s Open Championship. This season he’s made 14 of 18 cuts but hasn’t managed better than T16.