Let’s see where I was today on the course…

Here.

Here.

Here.

And here. These lies add up to a 74:)

Jaidee was a lot happier. He played the easiest round of golf I’ve seen. 66 with no effort. I want to play like that! One day:) It was really nice to see! I had another tough day out there. It feels like I’m gonna hit myself in the hip on the way down to the ball:) I found away to not hurt my hip on the driving range after and it gives me hope for tomorrow. The higlight of today was when I driver-driver on the last hole to the back of the green and two-putted for birdie to finsih off with a smile on my face. Pierre waited eagerly in the weight room afterwards. It’s amazing how happy you get after a workout. I know I’ve told you before but I have to say it again. I don’t know what happens inside the body but is it endorphins that releases or something. I like endorphins then!!!

Late thai dinner with the brother and co. Sweet! He is a pretty good photographer huh? 

alex

Nice day! 4 under and happy! Played good today, kept control of the ball and the temper:) It was a windy day here in Dubai and the sand was blowing around like crazy. Sharing the lead with McIlroy and Schwartze at the momentl. Some holes played so short today in downwind and some holes played unbelievable long into the wind. Had a wedge in on nr 6 where I usually have 4 or 5 iron left. But then it was the opposite on some other holes. Our hole group played well today. Hansen was -3 and Jaidee -2 so we helped each other a lot it felt like. 

8.37 AM. Windy but no sandstorm yet. 

Around 9.15 AM. Windy and sandy!

Now I understand why the camels have that special eye lid.

Heard that Tom Watson came in on +1. Not bad in these conditions. One of the media guys working for the European Tour said he liked my preview but after reading his preview mine felt a bit weak. I think I have to include his preview on the blog for the next tournament. 

I have a new swing drill by the way. I always have new drills but this one, I’ve actually used for three days in a row now. That could be a record. The drill is to swing to the top, paus for 2 seconds and then swing down and try to hit a normal shot. That feels like the best drill I’ve tried so far in my life. My swing coach Pete likes it since I get shorter in the backswing and stronger in the change of direction and my physio Pierre likes it because my core looks stronger doing that. I like it because I hit it better. I really don’t care exactly how it looks, I like a clean solid strike, which I haven’t felt in a long time. 

See you soon! Bed time. 

alex

Trying to present a preview for the Dubai Desert Classic for you guys:

It seems like all players like this event. It’s run very professionally by the ”Golf in Dubai” corp. and since it’s a great field every year it’s a BIG tournament in our eyes. This desert course at Emirates Golf Club doesn’t seem as ”deserty” as other courses in this genre since it has a lot  more rough in play. Not just fairway and sand as some of the other courses. Otherwise, Emirates Golf Club plays pretty similar to the last two week’s courses in Abu Dhabi and Qatar. Narrow winding fairways, fairly long, thick rough and hard and semi-fast greens. These greens go to super-fast on the weekend usually. They look like they are starving and begging for water. That’s just how we want them though. The surface gets quicker and more even than when it’s lush green. 

The field is very strong. Pretty much all the top European players and some of the other world elites are here. Tom Watson’s presence is great for this tournament.

I’m playing with Tongchai Jaidee and Anders Hansen tomorrow. I like them both and we have played together before. Teeing off at 08.25 AM local Dubai time and that’s among the last early starters. My game felt pretty good today and my frustration from last week has cooled off a bit. I’m focusing my attention on keeping cool and staying in the present. All here and now. Nothing else. Let’s see how I do. I’m excited to play some tournament golf again.

Hope you guys are all good and please let me know what you want in a tournament preview like this for next time. I hope my next tournament will be in Tucson, Arizona for the WGC Match Play. I’m now ranked 57th in the world and top-65 on the world rankings gets in. I will now by monday. But now, I’m here and going to do everything I can to play some sweet golf:) 

Ciao!

alex

Great day today! Got a lot of motivation and inspiration heading back out there after yesterday’s not-so-much-golfing-day. Started the training off the best way possible. We were measuring wedges and trying to hit them to different yardages on the side of the range. While Colin was out there running around trying to see where my balls landed, the Callaway crew brought the ”Trackman” to me. It’s a device that measures everything about the ball flight. Distance, ball speed, spin rate and everything else that might be interesting. We played some games on that thing and I got really hooked. Want to buy my own so bad now. I would have a lot of use of it for sure. 

View from the player’s lounge looking over the driving range. Tuesday and wednesdays are busy days on the range.

Al from Callaway is a ”Trackman” expert! We had such a great session. I love that thing. 

Callaway photo shoot. Trying to look cool while swinging. Not the easiest.

Swing plane little low maybe. I should bump it up a touch.

Never been so nervous before. Went up to Tom Watson in the locker room to try to get his signature on this flag. I felt like 10 again asking for golf balls at the 18th green in the Compaq Open tournament in Sweden. 

Ok. 

Pro-Am tomorrow. Tournament is near and I need to sleep. 

Hope you all are good!

Ante the camera man is on his way down here so I think he will give you some nice photos from here. Loads of Tom Watson I hope. He is my hero. Almost cried when he lost in the Open playoff. 

alex

Just woke up in Dubai and looking back at last week. I learnt a lot. The last two weeks has been very similar. I start good (not feeling and playing great but scoring well) and then I overanalyze my game and tire myself out mentally for the next three days and finish not so good. 

– My goal last week was to keep a good attitude throughout the whole week. I managed to do so the first day but not the last three. I didn’t play in the present. I was looking ahead and thinking of how I want to be playing and that the way I play now isn’t good enough. Although, my shots weren’t great I could’ve still played good if I just focused on the shot ahead. Not the year ahead or the next few years ahead. I’m a pro at putting pressure on myself and trying to overwork myself. I think it helps me sometimes but hurts me as well. 

– The more I struggle with getting out of my own way, the more I understand that if my short game was a little sharper, I still would score well because my long game isn’t as bad as I make it to be. Looking at the last day in Qatar, I had so many chances and didn’t convert many at all. A few up-and-downs early on would make me have momentum throuhgout the round and just cruise a little bit more mentally. Not beating myself up and put even more pressure on the long game. 

– I was really happy with watching Robert Karlsson come down the 18 with a two-shot lead. I thought to myself, if there was somebody else with that lead I might have been nervous watching them but not Robert. He is rock solid and so mentally sharp and focused so I knew he would hit it in the middle of the fairway and finish of with a birdie to seal the deal. I played the two first rounds with Robert in the Royal Trophy and I was amazed by his focus on and off the course. He was very detailed and wants to have control of the situation on the course. I’m a little different. If I feel that my game is on, I tend to let go a lot and just play. Maybe learning from him would make me play a little better when I’m not at my best. Worth thinking about, who knows. 

– It’s also amazing how much I love this game. I finished the round early yesterday around lunch time so I hade a lot of time before the flight. Jetski, gym and relaxing. Today, my plan was to have a off day and just hang out and re-fuel my body. When I played yesterday, I was looking forward to have some time off. Now, all I want to do is get out there and practice. Not that I want to redem myself, just becasue I love it. So, feeling that makes me really happy. 

When I read the comments before I saw that some of you guys wanted to have a little preview of the course set-up, my game, other players’ games and so on before the tournament starts so I’m gonna try to do that. My brother is coming as well so he will take care of the camera and hopefully get you guys updated with some fun stuff. 

Time to a non-golfing thing….See if I can stay away. Looking good so far.

Take care!

alex