After four years at the Kennemer Golf and Country Club in Zandvoort, The KLM Open returns this year to the Hilversumsche Golf Club in Hilversum which has played host to the tournament on 15 occasions since the birth of The European Tour in 1972. The last time in Hilversum was in 2005 when Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño claimed the first of his four European Tour titles while the man who will defend the title this year having triumphed at Kennemer 12 months ago, will be England’s Simon Dyson. Dyson, in fact, will be aiming for his third triumph in The Netherlands, having also won the tournament in 2006 and, on both occasions, his victories came after play-offs. Four years ago an 18 foot birdie putt on the first extra hole ended the hopes of Australian Richard Green, while 12 months ago, a similar stroke brought the curtain down on the respective title claims of Ireland’s Peter Lawrie and Peter Hedblom of Sweden who had matched Dyson’s 15 under par total of 265. After a holiday before the event, Dyson vowed to knuckle down, giving up caffeine amongst other things and sticking to drinking only water and orange juice for the rest of the season. It certainly worked.
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