Keogh sizzles in the sunshine
20/07/2021
Judging from his last two negotiations of the PGA Course at Bowood, Adam Keogh does not like playing at the Wiltshire venue, he loves it.
When he was last here two years ago, Keogh signed off with a seven under par round of 65 to finish runner up behind Paul Hendriksen in the English PGA Championship.
That, however, proved to be an appetiser for the feast of flawless golf served up by the pro from Woodhall Spa Golf Club when the tournament returned to the schedule after missing a year due to Covid.
Sizzling golf that matched the scorching temperature resulted in him equalling the course record by posting a bogey-free nine under par round of 63.
“The golf course suits my eye,” said Keogh, with a high degree of understatement after dominating the first of three rounds in which just 11 of the 132-strong field broke par.
To put his performance into the context of the tournament, Keogh’s closest challenger – Michael Watson of Wessex Golf Centre – trails him by six shots after posting a three under par round of 69.
And by way of embellishing his tour de force, Keogh’s round featured two eagles, one of which was a hole-in-one at the par-three sixth.
The first was recorded at the par-five fourth and erased what Keogh described as a start that unnerved him.
“I had some good displays coming into the week and then hit the most horrendous shot on the first,” he explained.
“It was my second shot which unnerved me a little bit. Then I hit a good three-wood from 260 in to the par-five fourth and rolled that putt in.
“Then I had the perfect number on the 195-yard sixth and was fortunate to make a hole-in-one. It escalated from there.”
Reflecting on what was the fourth ace of his career, he added: “I didn’t see the ball go in the hole. You couldn’t see the hole but as we were walking up one of my playing partners said ‘great shot’.
“And there was a pitch mark three feet short of the hole so the ball couldn’t be anywhere else but in it.”
The ace left Keogh (above) five-under after six holes and following another birdie at eight, the golfing pyrotechnics abated until he finished with a flourish with birdies at three of the last four holes.
“It got a little bit scrappy at the turn,” he said. “I had a couple of putts to save par and then had a couple of good shots coming in.”
Not least his approach to the par-four 18th which left him to hole a 10-foot putt and equal the course record that was set in 1999.
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