Hooper last man standing as dream comes true

Mark Hooper has turned the business end of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth into a case of eastern promise when it comes to the involvement of PGA professionals.

That is if the pro from Rayleigh in Essex holds his nerve – as he did after what could have been a potentially calamitous negotiation of the par five 17th.

Hooper (above) went into it on five-under, as many shots adrift of tournament leader Thomas Bjorn and sharing fifth place with Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson and Jonas Blixt.

He emerged from it having recorded a triple bogey caused by his solitary wayward drive of the round and facing another par five that has proved to be the nemesis of many seasoned campaigners since Ernie Els redesigned it four years ago.

Happily, with the cut set at two-over, Hooper was up to the task, completing the 18th par with a smile on his face. Which is how he approached it despite the wobble at the 17th.

“I didn’t commit to the swing,” he said of his errant tee shot, “but I still came off the green laughing.  I felt fine going into the 18th. I’d driven the ball so well all day – it was one bad swing on the 17th.”

Prior to that, Hooper had allowed himself the thought of who he might be paired with in the third round after a birdie at the 16th took him to five-under.

“When I holed the putt on the 16th I thought ‘one more birdie and I could be playing with Donald or Stenson tomorrow,” he admitted.

As well as being a great experience, being paired with Luke Donald would have made for a cacophonous soundtrack round Wentworth’s West Course. Although smaller in number than Donald’s supporters, Hooper’s followers also favour the exaggerated ooooh sound when chanting their hero’s name.

That was very much in evidence as Hooper sank his par putt on the 18th to complete the first two rounds in two-under.

“They helped me get over the line,” said Hooper of his fans. “Family, friends and people from the club have all come to support me. Now I can’t wait for tomorrow.”

In finishing on two-under, Hooper is level with Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Jamie Donaldson. Moreover, he goes into the third round alongside Europe’s elite flying the flag for The PGA as his nine fellow qualifiers for the tournament head home for the weekend.

The most disappointed of the nine has to be Ian Ellis, another representative from the east who was undone at the hole which caused Hooper problems – the 17th.

Ellis went into it on two-over but a bogey there proved terminal to his chances of making the cut and rueing what might have been.

“I’m very disappointed and it’s very hard to describe my feelings,” he admitted. “However, I’ve learned a lot from the two days and it’s made me determined to come back again next year.”

Greig Hutcheon, who was the highest placed PGA pro last year, also finished on three-under and missed the cut after following up his opening round of 73 with 74.

Hutcheon, in common with Damian Mooney, Graham Fox, Jason Levermore and Matt Ford, experienced a disjointed tournament as the interruptions on the first day caused by the weather meant their opening round spanned two days.

He summed up the display as ‘poor’ which was repeated several times. However, with two more Tour starts at the Scottish and Welsh Opens in the offing, the PGA No 1 was looking to draw positives.

“I’ve a busy summer of golf coming up and although I missed the cut here, just having two rounds of golf here sets you up for the season because it’s a great experience every time,” he said.

Fellow Scot Graham Fox (Clydeway Golf), making his debut in the tournament, came unstuck over the closing holes of his second round adding a 77 to his one-under 71 to finish four-over.

“It’s a huge tournament and a great tournament but I’m pretty disappointed,” said Fox.

“It’s just one of those courses where you can bogey any hole at any time with a slack shot or putt. I had a good finish to my morning round but hit one slack shot and had a triple bogey at the third and was fighting from then. I got it back and was doing OK until bogeys at 13, 15 and 17.”

Ireland’s Damian Mooney (Ballyliffin), playing at the championship for the first time in a decade, added a 76 to his opening 79.

But he was philosophical about his overall time in the championship.

“Coming here is lovely and after shooting five-under in a pro-am last Friday I felt I had a bit of form,” he said.

“I played lovely in the practice round but just didn’t play well when the gun fired. Now it’s about keep going forward and doing as well as I can. I’ve never won the Order of Merit in Ireland in 27 years so the challenge is to win that.”

Matt Cort, the record breaking PGA Assistants’ champion, also joined the exodus home after following up his opening round of three-over with a four-over return.

And his namesake, Matt Ford's game never got going as rounds of 81 and 80 illustrated. He will regroup ahead of returning to Challenge Tour action in Prague next week.

Meanwhile, having made the cut last year and recorded a hole in one in doing so, Levermore (above) was left to reflect on golf’s capacity to turn delight into disaster after bowing out of the tournament at the halfway stage.

Even more contrasting than his performances that spanned 12 months, however, were those separated by less than 12 hours.

Levermore had ended the first round on two-under; come the end of the second he was five-over and contemplating a weekend back in his shop at Channels Golf Club, Essex.

At a loss to explain his second round return of seven-over, which began with three successive bogeys, he said: “I went to bed at half ten last night after swinging it well. But the swing was completely different when I woke up five hours later.

“I started badly this morning. My rhythm and tempo were out and I couldn’t get going. I didn’t hole any putts. And every time I hit a bad shot, I dropped a shot.

“Yesterday I was pin high, today I was either short or long. It’s very disappointing after yesterday when I played well. I was in a great position but it’s been one of those days when things don’t come together.”