Peter

Hanson

It has been a bleak couple of years for the veteran Swede, who ended 2018 showing little form and reliant on his vast experience to earn him starts. But injury limited the 2019 effort and although he was T6 at the Oman Open there was nothing else of note in six appearances. He re-emerged in Oman last week for the first time since April’s Trophee Hassan II and missed the cut, his rustiness apparent in him losing strokes to the field in all categories bar Putting. He is 12-for-16 in the tournament, but all of that golf came on the previous course at Doha GC. Side-note that might have been relevant had he been in any sort of form: He won the Mallorca Classic at Pula which, like this week’s track, is a Jose Maria Olazabal design.

A blast from the past for the Swede who has just one finish better than T49 in his last 16 starts. He ticked 4, 5, 7 and 9 on the front nine, 17 and 18 on the way home. “I can’t really remember the last time I shot in the 60s,” he said (it was the final lap of the Dunhill Links in October). “My game is coming together well. I need to build on this and not focus too much on the result. I’ve been a little bit slow getting out of the blocks but finishing better. Yesterday I wasn’t swinging it great with a couple of loose shots on the first few holes. But I finished with two great birdies on 17 and 18. It would have been nice to have a more solid start, but when you’re working on technical stuff it’s difficult to build that trust and take that through a round.”

With just two top tens in his last 41 European Tour starts the Swedish veteran finds himself playing on his Career Money List ranking, but he’ll be content enough to head back to Abu Dhabi Golf Club where the Peter Harradine layout has been kind to him. He’s not just 10-for-12 at the venue, he’s also seven times finished T11 or better (and four times in his last five visits). Moreover he has got himself into genuine contention rather than landing back door top tens: Six times he ended the third round within five blows of the lead, four of those within two, and in 2007, his best finish of T2, he hit 65 of 72 greens in regulation.

Hanson won each of the first three holes with birdies and never looked back. He’d go on to win the sixth and sat 4 up through seven before Snedeker made a run with birdies at 8, 9 and 10 to shave the Swede’s lead to 1 up. But Hanson roared back, playing out the string birdie-par-birdie-birdie-conceded birdie (against nothing but pars by Snedeker) to advance into the quarterfinals. He’ll grapple with the winner of Mark Wilson v. Dustin Johnson on Saturday.

The Swede has split 35 (of 42) fairways, landed 35 GIR and, through 54 holes, leads the field with 18 birdies. He is in prime position for his first major championship on Sunday. When asked during the CBS telecast what it would be like to sleep on the 54-hole lead, Hanson seemed to understand the magnitude of the situation by saying, “I think it will be hard.”

He opened with a 2-over 74, which was predictable given he traveled from China on Sunday. Hanson was then one of 19 to record a bogey-free loop at TPC Louisiana on Friday. He’s also one of 17 to reach the midpoint tied for 63rd place. Therefore, a second cut of top 70 and ties will occur at the conclusion of 54 holes. The remaining 79 will go out in threesomes on split tees today from 9:30-11:40 a.m. CT.

While the Swede has only made four starts in 2012, he owns two top fives. In addition to his tie for fifth at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match play, he also tied for second at the Qatar Masters. Proceed with caution on Hanson, as his last two finishes at the TPC Blue Monster were a tie for 55th in 2011 and a tie for 26th in 2010.

Dufner managed just one birdie today, and it happened to be on the same hole (par-5 13th) that Hanson also birdied. The Swede won three holes, including two par 5s and simply remained in control until they ran out of real estate. Dufner bows out early in his debut while Hanson advances to the second round for the second time in five appearances. He’ll face Ernie Els on Thursday.

Hanson didn’t make a bogey or worse and won six holes to Els’ one. It was a steady progression of matching The Big Easy when necessary and then stepping on the pedal when possible. The match ended with pars halves on the 14th hole. Hanson advanced to the third round for the second time in five appearances (2009). He’ll face the winner of Kyle Stanley v. Brandt Snedeker on Friday.

Here he is again. The Swede is on some kind of run the last few months. At TPC Blue Monster at Doral today, he hit 13 greens and took just 25 putts. It allowed for an eagle-3 of 24'1" at the first hole and six birdies, including respective conversions of 22'11" and 13'3" at the 11th and ninth holes.