Rock stays busy during hectic week on tour

By Robert Rock,
Special for WorldGolf.com

It's a very busy week on the European Tour.

On Monday we had the final qualifying for this year's Open at Royal Troon. I played at Sunningdale in a very impressive field which included the likes of Philip McGinlay, Colin Montgomerie and Justin Rose.

And although I started off well enough my game didn't hold up in the second round and I missed out. But I was in good company. So did Rose, Ian Woosnam, Jose-Maria Olazabal, Jesper Parnevik, Niclas Fasth and Bernhard Langer.

It was an amazing field -- but the talk at Sunningdale was not about the depth or quality of the field, merely how busy the week is.

After playing two rounds of golf on Monday, most of us had to fly out to Ireland on Tuesday to prepare for the Smurfit European Open at the K Club.

And again that's an impressive field. U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen has flown in for the event, while people like Justin Rose will be really pumped up to win as it offers another route into the Open.

But I wouldn't like to say who will win as it's a really difficult course and the wind is blowing a "hoolie" currently.

Some people were even struggling to reach the fairway on one of the par-4s during Wednesday's practice rounds. Overall it will probably be another week of relatively high scores, though somebody is bound to hit form and find the answer.

I remember saying a similar thing in France last week -- there's no way I would have predicted a winning score of 12 under. Jean-Francois Remesy played really well to win by seven shots.

But that shows it can be done, and somebody will be doing the same sort of thing on Sunday.

The talk in France was about the football again. But the French boys were a little more subdued after they were dumped out of the competition surprisingly by Greece. Remesy obviously took out his frustrations on the course.

I expect there will be a surge on Sunday night to see the final after the tournament is over.

Back here at the K Club, it has to be said the course itself is in magnificent condition. The massive greens are brand new and in absolutely perfect condition.

Anybody who can find a bit of length off the tee should be in the frame here.

Theoretically, that should suit my game. But the rest of my game hasn't been too good recently, so I'll just have to keep practicing before Thursday and keep my fingers crossed.

If you are out in this wind at the weekend, I would recommend taking two clubs more than you would normally need. A smooth stroke for a lower, flatter flight is essential. If you put the ball up in the air with a normal stroke and backspin the wind will take over and heaven knows where it will end up.

And to a certain extent the same applies when playing downwind as you don't know how far the wind will carry your shot. It's like a longer chip shot really.

Let's hope I remember my own advice!

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