KLM Open Almost Certain to Crown a New Winner Tomorrow
The KLM Open will, in all likelihood, have a new champion tomorrow at The International. Although five former winners are still in the field, the gap to a winning score appears too large for any of them to realistically contend. The 106th edition of the tournament heads into its final day with two players tied for the lead at 10-under-par: Sebastian Söderberg and Eugenio Chacarra.
The 22-year-old Chacarra, who claimed his only DP World Tour victory to date in India last year, felt completely at home on the course today. Or rather, all week long, as he explained after his round. “Of course, everyone is playing to win, and I didn’t want to call myself a favourite beforehand. Golf is a difficult sport, especially under these conditions. But things have gone my way this week. The bounces have been favourable, so hopefully they’ll fall my way one more time tomorrow. I’m hoping to maintain the momentum.”
Miracle
Seven players are within three shots of the leading duo, so plenty of golfers still have a chance to make a run at the title tomorrow. It would take a miracle, however, for us to be cheering on a familiar winner on Sunday. Guido Migliozzi, who won at The International in 2024, sits six shots back and leads the group of former champions (Ross Fisher -1, Ashun Wu +2, Joost Luiten +3 and Connor Syme +4). Alongside Luiten, there are two other Dutch players to watch tomorrow. Both are in a better position than Luiten, who endured a frustrating day and was angry with both himself and his caddie afterwards. Any consequences of that will no doubt become clear soon enough.
Lars van der Vight Best Dutchman
The leading Dutch player after 54 holes is Lars van der Vight, and the 23-year-old from Brabant deserves a great deal of credit for that. Once again, The International was no course without its pitfalls. His 68 (5 birdies, 2 bogeys) moved Van der Vight (-4) into the top 20, and who knows what tomorrow may still have in store for him. “Either way, I’m happy with this week. Hopefully there’s still a top-10 finish in it. I played well, although certainly not everything was great. But I managed to keep it together.”
Best Amateur
Neville Ruiter is now the only (Dutch) amateur left in the field and has already secured the Robbie van Erven Dorens Trophy, awarded to the best amateur in the tournament who makes the cut. “I’m definitely proud of that.” He will have to wait a little longer to receive it, however, as the trophy will only be presented during Sunday afternoon’s prize-giving ceremony.
The final round begins tomorrow at 7:33 a.m. Luiten will be the first Dutch player to tee off at 7:55 a.m. Neville Ruiter (8:28 a.m.) and Lars van der Vight (11:13 a.m.) will follow later. The final group, featuring Marcus Armitage, Sebastian Söderberg and Eugenio Chacarra, tees off at 12:30 p.m.
