Steve

Webster

The Englishman won this trophy in 2007 with 25-under and returned 12 months later to finish third when defending. Since then he’s played the tournament/course another eight times and made the cut in seven of them so it’s a place he always enjoys returning to. Webster is down at 531st in the world rankings having once touched 72nd but he still retains some ability, as shown by a tied third place at the Shot Clock Masters in June. He missed five straight cuts after that but was T46 at the KLM Open last week after starting the final day in tied 12th so that could be a useful marker for another decent display in Portugal.

Play was delayed by 3 hours 25 minutes on Thursday morning due to fog. But when the opening round at the Beckenbauer course eventually got underway at 10:45 local time, Webster hit the ground running with an opening birdie at 10 and two more at 12 and 13. He continued his fast start with further gains at 15 and 17 to turn in 5-under 31. Another circle at 3 continued the momentum but he had to settle for five pars and a bogey at 7 in his final six holes to drop back into a tie for the clubhouse lead with Im. Webster, who is 148th on the Race to Dubai and playing on a medical exemption, split 9 (of 13) fairways and hit 14 greens in regulation, getting up and down three times. He’s made his last four cuts on the European Tour but has walked away with meagre cheques after failing to crack the top 50 in any of them.

The English veteran shares the lead with compatriot Matt Wallace and Aussie Wade Ormsby after a walk-off birdie at the ninth hole. Webster started his afternoon lap with a par at 10 before beginning his move towards the top of the leaderboard with a birdie-4 at 11. He signed for back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15 and picked up further shots at 1, 3 and 7. Looking for the red number that would give him a share of the lead he grabbed it at the final hole. This is the first time Webster has found himself in the top five after day one since the 2014 Qatar Masters and he’ll hope to parlay it into a first worldwide top 10 in three-and-half years. He’d arrived in Denmark having cashed in five of his last six starts while he’s also 2-for-2 at this course so it’s not a total surprise to see the World No. 1,155 up there.

The 42-year-old Englishman has been a rare sight on leaderboards in recent seasons. Indeed, he hasn’t pegged a top five since he had back-to-back ones during the Desert Swing of 2014. He’s 6-for-8 this season but lacks even one top 30 finish which explains his ranking of 226th on the Race to Dubai. In contrast to his seven birdie blitz of Thursday his front nine Friday was a parade of pars – nine of them in fact. Birdies at 12 and 14 sandwiched a bogey at 13 then he closed with birdie-bogey at 17 and 18. When he signed his card only Lasse Jensen of the early starters was close to him (on 6-under) with Wade Ormsby (7-under) yet to tee off.

The Englishman’s game has been in poor shape for those three years and even when playing well this week he revealed why: His pitching was completed cross-handed and he frequently putted from a long distance from the putting surfaces. Early in his last lap he was composed, ticking 4 and 7 on the front nine, then 10 and 11 on the back nine. Julian Suri and David Horsey had flown the pack by this stage so Webster was fighting for third and will rue the final hole. He caught his approach fat to come up 25’0" short of the green, he opted to putt and, whilst it was a decent enough effort, he missed the subsequent par putt from 5’0" for his only bogey of the day. “Frustrated,” he said afterwards. “Lots of positives, but just missed a lot of chances.”

In a statistical quirk that may never be matched, the last two winners on the PGA TOUR had both been ranked 297th ahead of their victories. James Hahn held that position before landing the Northern Trust Open in California and Padraig Harrington made it an unlikely double for the 297 club by lifting the trophy in last week’s Honda Classic. Webster holds that ranking after the latest update and isn’t without a chance of making 297 the magic number for the third week running when he takes on a weak field in the Africa Open at East London. The Englishman was T12 in Qatar in January and showed up strongly in last week’s Joburg Open when T2 with a round to go before finishing T18.

After 19 years of consecutively playing on the European Tour with full rights the last few years have been tough for Webster. He has played between 12 and 22 times the last three seasons, but come nowhere near the top 100 in the rankings. He’s made only two ET appearances this year, both missed cuts, but he was just three back of the lead after three rounds of the Turkish Airlines Challenge two weeks ago (he logged T26). There was a bit of course form however: T31 in 2012 (T7 after 54 holes) and T48 last year. That continues this week and he made his move late in the day, playing through the worst of the gusting wind. He fought the back nine first, circling 12 and 17, he made bogey at No. 6 but responded with a hat-trick of par-breakers at 7, 8 and 9. Beware that the physio saw to him out on the course (as reported on TV).

That’s one clear of Miguel Angel Jimenez and Jeppe Pape Huldahl. The Englishman said pre-tournament that he considers himself a very quick player and having either 40 or 50 seconds to hit (depending on shot type or position in group) or face a penalty is very much in his comfort zone. Webster made a birdie out of the gate at No. 1 and then quickened the pace with gains at 8 and 9. He dropped his only shot of the day at No. 10 but bounced back with red numbers at 11, 14 (25 feet) and 16 to set the new mark. The World No. 709 has enjoyed his previous trips to Diamond CC, posting four top 30s in his six visits.

The Englishman’s third round 76 ruined any hopes he had of winning, but his final lap confirmed that he likes the swift pace of play, as he suspected it might when talking about the event on a Sky Sports panel show last weekend. For ten holes he was superb, ticking 1 and 2, then 7 and 8, then the tenth for good measure. But bogey-4s followed at the 11th and 13th. No matter: he slammed par breakers at the 17th and 18th to join the four-way tie for third with Nicolas Colsaerts, Raphael Jacquelin and Justin Walters. They all ended the week seven swings back of winner Mikko Korhonen and were never given a sniff by the Finn. A first top 15 of the season for Webster and his first since he was T3 in last August’s Made in Denmark tournament.

The Englishman turned 40 last week and will hope to continue the celebrations on his annual appearance at Doha Golf Club. Webster has contested every Qatar Masters since 1998, making the cut 13 times out of 16 and posting his best results in the last two years. He was fourth in 2014 and fifth last year after opening with a 65 and holding a share of the lead going into the final round. He warmed up in encouraging style with a T12 in Abu Dhabi last week.