Gregory Bourdy had an early tee-off yesterday, 6.40am to be precise. The conditions were near-perfect—the wind was mild as compared to the opening day’s strong gusts, and it was a clear morning as against Wednesday’s foggy and cloudy skies.
The Frenchman had shot a sedate 67 on the opening day of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, and with a big number of players too returning under-par scores, needed to at least match or better his performance in the second round to stay in contention for the weekend action.
Bourdy couldn’t match that score—he shot a second-round 68—and at the end of the day was lying tied-third, just two strokes off overall leader Paul Lawrie. But still, he was the man of the day, as during the course of his round, he hit a hole-in-one—the first at this year’s CBQM and 10th in the European Tour event’s 19-year history.
It was his only scoring shot on the front nine after teeing off from the first. He also sunk three birdies to go with a sole bogey on the 10th in what he described as a “satisfying day’s work”.
It was the third career hole-in-one for the 34-year-old World No. 161, who has won four European Tour wins to his credit.
“I used a 6-iron. I had 158 metres to the pin and it’s a straight shot into the wind. The wind was not so strong today, and was blowing a little bit left-to-right but into, yeah, very short and tap-in. It always feels nice to hit a hole-in-one and this one’s my third on Tour. I missed a few birdies before the eighth, and then yeah, straight in with a 6-iron. So it was like two birdies straight, yeah, I am very happy,” said Bourdy.
The Qatar Masters has witnessed 10 hole-in-ones since its inaugural edition in 1998, but this was the first time the par-3 eighth hole has witnessed a hole-in-one. The 3rd, 13th and 17th holes shared the earlier spoils.
Eduardo Romero was the first to achieve the feat in 1999, on the par-3 17th hole of the Doha Golf Club. In fact, the same tournament witnessed two more aces--Patrik Sjoland hit the next, also in the 17th, followed by John Bickerton’s ace in the 13th.
The others in the list are: Jamie Spence (13th hole, 2000), Darren Fichardt (3rd hole, 2003), Warren Bennett (17th hole, 2004), Thongchai Jaidee (3rd hole, 2006), Peter Lawrie (3rd hole, 2006) and Brandon Stone (13th hole, 2014).
“I think it was not as difficult as yesterday. I think it’s a decent good score, and gives me a lot of confidence going into the weekend. I think I started very well. I missed a few birdies, as my putting was not as great as yesterday maybe, but the rest of the game was actually very good. I think a score of 9-under after two rounds in these conditions, this course, is pretty decent.”
Bourdy had not so memorable 2015 season, during which he failed to win a title though he came close quite a few times. He finished tied-fifth at last year’s Qatar Masters, and then peaked towards the last part of the year when he ended runner-up at the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa in November.
“I had a good week at the end of last year. Last week (in Abu Dhabi where he finished a distant 54th) I was a bit frustrated because I think my game was very good and yet I finished only 50-something. I think I have started much better this week. I feel very confident and my putting is good too. Let’s hope I keep playing like this for two more days,” added the Frenchman.