Eddie

Pepperell

The 30-year-old Pepperell, No. 241 in the world rankings, shot 69-75 last week at Golfclub Munchen Eichenried to miss the cut by two shots. However, the Englishman has shown flashes of what got him to No. 32 in the OWGR in 2019 over his previous four events: In May at the Betfred British Masters, he finished T-11 after opening with three subpar rounds to keep him in contention before a Sunday 73 dashed any chances. Also in May at the Canary Islands Championship, Pepperell put together four subpar rounds to finish T-12. He also finished T-33 at the Tenerife Open and T-37 at the Made in HimmerLand. This week marks Pepperell’s seventh start in the Irish Open, an event where he’s made four cuts and recorded three top 10s. His best finish was a T-2 in 2015, which he backed up with a T-8 in 2016. In 2019 in his last start in the event, he shot 13-under 267 to tie for fourth place, seven shots behind winner Jon Rahm.

The 30-year-old Englishman finished T-11 at the British Masters in his most recent outing, where he opened with three subpar rounds 70-68-68 to keep him in contention going into Sunday. But a final-round, 1-over 73 dropped him out of the top 10. This week marks his fifth appearance in the Made in HimmerLand event, and he’s seen weekend action three times including his last two starts in 2017 and 2018. His best finish in Demark was a T-4 in 2014. Earlier this month at the Canary Islands Championship, Pepperell put together four subpar rounds (66-69-67-65) to finish T-12, and he also finished T-33 the week before that at the Tenerife Open. In seven starts this season he’s made just one other cut, finishing T-64 at the Qatar Masters, the event where he captured his breakthrough victory in 2018 in his sixth season on the European Tour. Pepperell followed that up with a second victory at the British Masters later that same season.

The 30-year-old Englishman will be making his seventh start in the British Masters, an event he won in 2018 and finished T-2 in 2019. He made the cut in last year’s event, too, and was tracking nicely after rounds of 67-69-69 but ballooned to a 6-over 77 on the final day and finished T-47. Last week at the Canary Islands Championship, Pepperell put together four subpar rounds (66-69-67-65) to finish T-12, and he also finished T-33 the week prior at the Tenerife Open. He made one other cut in six starts so far this season – finishing T-64 at the Qatar Masters, the event where he captured his breakthrough victory in 2018 in his sixth season on the European Tour. Pepperell following that up with a second victory later in the year at the British Masters at Walton Heath. He did play at The Belfry in last year’s UK Championship, but withdrew after three rounds (74-70-73).

The circuit has been on hiatus since March, with nearly two dozen events either canceled or postponed because of coronavirus. The latest schedule isn’t expected to resume until July 30 with the British Masters hosted by Lee Westwood, but reports this week indicate that the Tour could follow it with three or four more events elsewhere in the U.K. at courses that would have sufficient on-site hotel options to house players. Potential venues include former Ryder Cup host site Celtic Manor, and each would expect to have a 1 million Euro purse. Subsequent reports indicated that the British Masters could be bumped up a week to July 23-26, but either way it seems likely the European Tour will field an event opposite the Aug. 6-9 PGA Championship. With international travel restrictions still ongoing, international players may face a tough time getting to San Francisco and England’s Eddie Pepperell has already shared that he plans to skip the PGA at TPC Harding Park to focus on new events in Europe. Pepperell is ranked No. 65 in the world and would likely qualify via the OWGR, but his lone made cut in three PGA appearances came in 2018 at Bellerive when he finished T-59.

The Englishman had talked on Twitter of his confusion about his travel plans, not going to Oman for Corona quarantine fears, but making the Qatar trip; he admitted his decisions were a little lacking in logic. But he’ll be doubly baffled after making a mess of his card. In truth, so many different colors were splashed across it, checking must have been hard. He opened on the back nine with bogey-double bogey (10 and 11) and then got himself to level-par with an immediate hat trick of red (12-13-14). Another trio of birdies (at 17, 18 and 1) had him in a wonderful position, only to stumble with a double bogey-bogey run at the third and fourth. A final par breaker at the fifth came ahead of another dropped shot at the ninth. It amounted to a level-par 33-38=71 until double-checked.

Two years ago the Englishman made his debut in this tournament, three times carding 71, and adding a Saturday 74, on his way to T44. A week later he won the Qatar Masters. He actually said after that first appearance: “I’d say it’s the best course I’ve played in the Middle East.” It’s blustery nature and links-like features would certainly appeal to a man who has excelled on the seaside of Britain and Ireland. His 2019 ended with disqualification in the Turkish Airlines Open, since when he has bookended missed cuts in the South African Open and Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship with top 20s – T19 at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, T11 in the Dubai Desert Classic.

That’s one shot in front Robert Karlsson and Dean Burmester while Ashun Wu and Romain Langasque are a further stroke back. The Englishman started his day from No. 10 and made an opening birdie before he added another on the back nine’s second par 5 at 13. His best scoring burst came with four red numbers in five holes as he ticked 16, 17, 1 and 2 while he added another birdie at 4. The World No. 61 swallowed bogeys at 15 and 6. Pepperell has missed his last two cuts but said after his opening 69: “Last year was a funny year for me. I’ve gone back to doing the drill that I did for a couple of years, and I’ve done probably a couple of thousand since Friday in Abu Dhabi (MC), and it’s given me a strong swing feel. When I’ve played well in the past, I’ve had that same swing feel.” He’s only 3-for-6 in this event with a best result of just T38 although that did come last year.

The Englishman has never thrived at this venue, going 3-for-6, but never finishing better than T38 and only twice ending the week inside the top 60. Moreover he has never before found himself inside the top 20 at the end of any round in all that time. When he made par at the first 12 holes of his Thursday lap that remained a distinct possibility. But he made smart progress to the clubhouse, ticking the 13th, 15th, 17th and 18th, with just the one error at the 16th. He ended the lap two swings back of the early pace-setter Thomas Pieters and will be relieved by his form after missing the cut in the SA Open and Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. “I’m really happy with that,” he said. “It was clear early on it was going to be very, very challenging. I played a good round of golf today and proud of that.”

That’s just one swing back from leader Brandon Stone following the end of the morning session at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course. Despite windy conditions and some tough flags, the Englishman didn’t have a single blemish on his card today. Starting from No. 10, he opened his day with birdie, added another at 15 and then made a leap with eagle-3 at the 17th. Pepperell played par golf from there, adding one more birdie at 3. The World No. 46 has a stellar record at the course in recent years, finishing third in 2017 and runner-up last year. After rounds of 67 and 66 he’s in position to go one better this weekend.