Morten Ørum

Madsen

The 25-year-old Euro Tour sophomore from Denmark started the finale one stroke off defending champion Charl Schwartzel’s overnight lead. Madsen then circled five birdies and scrambled twice for par while Schwartzel nearly erased all of six birdies with a pair of 6s, one for a double bogey, the other for a triple. Madsen posted 19-under 269 for the title in just his 28th career start on the circuit. “I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the 2014 Race to Dubai,” he said. “I hoped to come here to South Africa to build a solid foundation to take into the new year. But to start with a win – I couldn’t have wished for more. It’s onwards and upwards now.” South Africans Jbe’ Kruger and Hennie Otto shared runner-up honors.

With The Lakes course a short trip from his native Denmark, Madsen will hope a return to Scandinavia will get him going again. Madsen enjoyed a strong two months over February and March when posting five top 25s in six starts including T3 at the Africa Open and T4 in the Dubai Desert Classic. This will be his first start at The Lakes but it should suit his game far more than Royal County Down where his errant tee shots were punished heavily and he packed his bags at halfway after an 80 in round two.

Three behind early pacesetter Wallie Coetsee, the Dane played his final two holes in 4-under to set the new target with a 7-under-par 33-30=63. It’s fair to say Madsen has a love affair with golf in this part of the world. Victory in the South African Open at the end of 2013 gave him a first European Tour title and he shot 64-66 to finish third in last week’s Africa Open. Today, he was steady for most of his round, circling four birdies against a single bogey before he finished like a train. At the 135-yard 8th, his tee-shot sucked back into the hole for an ace -- his first as a pro and the 20th on the European Tour this year -- before he hit a glorious approach to 10 feet at the 549-yard 9th and drained the putt for a second straight eagle. Madsen said later, “The last couple of weeks I’ve been hitting some shots really close and I actually said to my caddy last week that a hole-in-one is on the cards pretty soon.”

With lift, clean and place in operation at Kennemer, the par 70 was exposed to low scoring and Madsen came to the party by painting a sea of red on his scorecard. Those birdies included six in seven holes from the 5th and a walk-off par breaker at 18. He dropped shots at 8 and 17. The Dane’s 64 was his best round since an opening 63 at March’s Tshwane Open where he posted T15. He was particularly strong from tee-to-green today, missing just three fairways and hitting 16 greens in regulation.

Their head-to-head, which tees off at 10.15am local time, looks one of the hardest to call as both appear to be unsuited by the course. Tight fairways and deep rough will defend the short links course this week and Madsen and Quiros sit together way down the Driving Accuracy rankings in 175th and 174th respectively. Spaniard Quiros shot an 81 in round three of the Scottish Challenge held at this course in 2006 so could be an accident waiting to happen after two missed cuts and two WDs in his last five events. Denmark’s Madsen hasn’t exactly been pulling up trees but did play all four rounds on the links of Gullane in the recent Scottish Open.

It could have been a car crash. The Dane finished eagle, eagle in his opening round to take a share of the lead but gave those four shots back in the space of four holes in round two after swallowing double bogey-6s at the first and fourth. A birdie at seven stopped the bleeding but he went on another downward spiral with bogeys at 9 and 10. Madsen’s roller-coaster continued as he responded with a trio of birdies from the 11th and he circled another at 17 before dropping another shot at 18. It all added up to a 72 and left him on 6-under at the midpoint -- six behind leader Adrian Otaegui.

It came at just his third hole of the day and the Dane followed it with a birdie at the next so will be somewhat disappointed to only beat par by a shot. He sprinkled three more birdies on his card but was undone by a triple bogey-7 at the fifth along with bogeys at 8 and 18. Like Byeong-Hun An, who sunk his tee shot at the eighth, Madsen now has two hole-in-ones this season having never previously posted one as a pro. He’s five shots back going into the second round.

The Dane only just made the cut after opening with a pair of 71s but he came up with 14 birdies and an eagle over the weekend to fly through the field. Madsen posted the first of his seven birdies on Sunday at the third and reeled off three in succession from the sixth before suffering a bogey at nine. He added par breakers at 11, 12 and 15 to finish T3, albeit a distant eights shots behind winner Trevor Fisher, Jr. The former South African Open champion, who clearly enjoys playing in this part of the world, split 10 (of 15) fairways for the second day running and hit 14 greens in regulation

The in-form Dane will appeal to gamers on that stat alone but it’s worth noting he has course form too. Although this is a new tournament on the European Tour schedule, host venue Genzon GC staged last year’s Volvo China Open. Madsen recovered from an opening 73 to finish T19 that week and his big hitting should allow him to thrive again. Starting from the Dubai Desert Classic his latest European Tour form reads: 4-25-MC-3-15-18.