Mikko

Korhonen

The 40-year-old Finland native missed the cut in his last two starts – at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and the abrdn Scottish Open – and he’ll look to right the ship at Celtic Manor Resort, site of the 2010 Ryder Cup. Korhonen has hit a bit of a rocky patch midseason after making six of eight cuts, which included a T-3 at the British Masters and T-7 at the Porsche European Open that earned him a ticket to the U.S Open. However, he had to withdraw prior to the event due to travel concerns getting to Torrey Pines. The two-time ET winner has made just one cut in four previous appearances at the Cazoo Open, where he finished T-8 in 2013. He withdrew from last year’s event after opening with a 4-over 75 and did not play in the Celtic Classic the following week, which also was held at the same venue. Overall, Korhonen is 6-for-10 in cuts made this season.

The 40-year-old Finland native finished fifth in the standings for European Tour qualifying for next week’s major at Torrey Pines thanks to two top 10s in the three-event qualifying series, which was based on aggregate Race to Dubai points. Korhonen notched a T-3 finish at the Betfred British Masters to start the series on a high note, but then carded rounds of 75-70 to miss the cut the following week in Denmark at the Made in HimmerLand. However, this past week in Germany, which was shortened to a 54-hole event with a Monday finish due to challenges surrounding the pandemic, he shot 74-67-72 to finish at 3 under, five shots behind winner Marcus Armitage. Next week will mark his third start in a major and his first since the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush, where he finished T-63. Korhonen missed the cut at the PGA Championship in 2018 and 2019. The two-time European Tour winner is 6-for-8 in cuts made on the season.

However, the 40-year-old Korhonen still stands inside the top 10 in European Tour standings for qualifying for the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. This week’s Porsche European Open is the third of three tournaments that make up a qualifying series based on aggregate Race to Dubai points, and Korhonen stands T-6. He’s aiming for his third start in a major and his first since the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush, where he finished T-63. A two-time winner on the European Tour, Korhonen missed the cut at the PGA Championship in 2018 and 2019. This week marks his third start in Germany and first since a T-28 in 2016. Korhonen finished T-12 in 2015. In the first event of the qualifying series at The Belfry, he fired a bogey-free, 5-under 67 in the final round to finish 12-under 276, one shot behind playoff/tournament winner Richard Bland. The two-time European Tour winner is 5-for-7 in cuts made on the season.

This week’s Made in HimmerLand event is the second of three tournaments that make up a qualifying series based on aggregate Race to Dubai points. The 40-year-old Korhonen is aiming for his third start in a major and his first since the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush, where he finished T-63. Korhonen, a two-time winner on the European Tour, missed the cut in both the 2018 and 2019 PGA Championship. This week marks his third start in Denmark and his first since a missed cut in 2015. Korhonen finished T-51 in 2014. In his last start at The Belfry, he fired a bogey-free, 5-under 67 in the final round to finish 12-under 276, one shot behind playoff/tournament winner Richard Bland. He’s missed the cut in just one of five other starts and recorded a 15th-place finish at the Abu Dhabi Championship in his first start of the season. The qualifying series finishes up with next week’s Porsche European Open, June 3-6, in Hamburg, Germany.

The Finn shared his position with Guido Migliozzi, the pair of the them two blows back of the play-off and, in truth, it was only very late in the day that Korhonen ever threatened to join the fray. True, he started with six pars and a birdie at the sixth, but he closed the front nine bogey-double bogey and seemed out of contention. He dug deep, however, added a birdie at the 12th, ground out the pars and when he thrashed a brilliant approach to kick-in range at the 17th he was only one blow back. But for mere seconds however. Ahead of him Stone made birdie at 18, taking Korhonen out of the tournament (bar a miracle shot). A ninth career European Tour top five finish and a projected leap into the top 60 of the Race to Dubai for the World No. 155.

After going 145 starts without a win on the European Tour the Finn now has the chance to make it three triumphs in his last 41 appearances. He’ll need to withstand a group charge, however. Not only do half a dozen share top spot, there are a total of 15 players within four blows of the lead and this is a course known for its volatile scoring. The 39-year-old went error-free on Saturday, smashing the front nine with birdies at the first, second, third, seventh and ninth. On the way home he ticked the 15th and 18th holes for a second day in succession. At the latter, a tough hole, he left himself just six feet for birdie and made it. He is 1-for-2 with a 54-hole lead, but those two experiences were rather different. He won the 2018 Shotclock Masters when five clear with 18 to play and was T3 at the 2016 Portugal Masters when sharing the lead.

The Finn is nothing is not solid in the Netherlands. He has played this tournament seven times and twice appeared in the country on the Challenge Tour. In all that time he is 9-for-9, but the solidity goes further because he has always ended the week inside the top 40 and he has five top 30s in this tournament including a best of T7 in 2015. He missed two cuts following his second ET win in May (the China Open) but since then has played five weekends in a row, but in that time hasn’t landed a top 30.

A par-par start proved misleading as his next six holes included a run of four birdies from Nos. 12-15, a double bogey at 16 followed by eagle-2 at 17. Coming home, the rollercoaster continued: a birdie at 3, back-to-back bogeys at 4 and 5 along with a second eagle-2 at No. 7. A walk-off birdie at 9 secured an adventurous 64, his lowest lap of the par 70 in five starts. Korhonen is 3-for-4 at Crans but has yet to crack the top 20. He posted his second European Tour win earlier this season when landing May’s China Open with 20-under.

The Finn has never got to grips with this particular golfing challenge. This will be his sixth visit (so he’s not put off at least) and he’s a miserable 1-for-5. The one time he did make the cut he finished T62 and in 12 laps of the course he is yet to break 70. It’s doesn’t scream his chances and yet he has a half decent record at Tseleevo, a Russian course where winners at Albatross have often thrived. Both are big, modern, resort, inland tracks. Korhonen has finished T10-T10-T12 there and is a winner this year, although he has no top 30 finish in his five starts since.

The Finn lunched five shots behind the clubhouse leader Chistiaan Bezuidenhout as he seeks to build on a Real Club Valderrama record that started poorly. Back in 2017 he made his debut on the course and shot 73-77 to miss the cut. Last October he transformed that, carding 69-71-67 in the three round event to grab T3. Now he seems set to chase another top ten. His first move of the day, starting from the tenth, was a superb eagle-3 at the 557-yard par-5 11th, but he promptly gave the shots back with bogeys at 12 and 13. However he didn’t drop another shot all day and ticked the fourth and seventh.