KLM Open: Top-10 on leaderboard after two rounds has many players looking for a big week

Abbreviated Leaderboard:

T3 Oliver Fisher (-8)

T3 Julien Quesne (-8)

T7 Jorge Campillo (-6)

T7 Matthew Nixon (-6)

T7 Anthony Snobeck (-6)

Several players who are outside or hovering around the all-important top-110 on the Race to Dubai are playing well at this week's KLM Open.  England's Oliver Fisher (118th in the Race to Dubai) leads this pack at -8, currently tied-third.  The 2011 Czech Open champion has struggled since that win and potentially faces a trip to Q-School due to his two-year exemption running out after this season.  France's Julien Quesne (93rd) is also tied-third after two rounds.  The Frenchman is in a less worrisome spot than Fisher, but he'd have his card safe and sound with a top-10 in any of the remaining five events before the "Final Series."  Like Fisher, Quesne's exemption runs out at the end of this season.  Spain's Jorge Campillo (97th) has failed to build off of last season's impressive rookie season.  Much like Quesne, a top-10 would take any pressure off of him to retain his card.  Englishman Matthew Nixon (103rd) is having his best season on Tour so far in his young career.  Two top-10s, most recently a second-place finish at the M2M Russian Open, have kept him on the right side of the top-100.  Nixon needs to keep grinding and not let the pressure of having full playing rights for next season crowd his mind.  Another Frenchman, Anthony Snobeck (161st) has developed more consistency this season as he's only missed two cuts in his last 11 events.  The next two rounds will be the two most important rounds of his season.                  

Notable groups: KLM Open

KLM Open (Zandvoort, The Netherlands)
Dates: September 12-15
Purse: €1,800,000 ($2,392,920)
Venue: Kennemer G&CC
Yardage: 6,626 yards (Par 70)
Opened: 1927
This week's weather: Showers and thunderstorms expected for Thursday, and very windy on the weekend

Notable groupings for the first two rounds: 1st round tee time/2nd round tee time (all times according to Eastern Standard Time):

Graeme Storm, Jaco Van Zyl, Richie Ramsay (1:45 a.m./6:45 a.m.)
Scott Jamieson, Danny Willett, Anders Hansen (2:05 a.m./7:05 a.m.)
Nicolas Colsaerts, Mikko Ilonen, Ross Fisher (2:15 a.m./7:15 a.m.)
Joost Luiten, Matteo Manassero, Paul Casey (2:25 a.m./7:25 a.m.)
Paul McGinley, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry (2:35 a.m./7:35 a.m.)
Pablo Larrazabal, Darren Fichardt, Craig Lee (2:45 a.m./7:45 a.m.)
Thomas Levet, Jeev Milkha Singh, Rafa Cabrera-Bello (6:55 a.m./1:55 a.m.)
Maarten Lafeber, Jose Maria Olazabal, Marc Warren (7:05 a.m./2:05 a.m.)
Simon Dyson, Alvaro Quiros, Thorbjorn Olesen (7:15 a.m./2:15 a.m.)
Padraig Harrington, Robert-Jan Derksen, Miguel Angel Jimenez (7:25 a.m./2:25 a.m.)
Raphael Jacquelin, Chris Wood, Thomas Aiken (7:35 a.m./2:35 a.m.)
Marcus Fraser, Robert Allenby, James Kingston (7:45 a.m./2:45 a.m.)
Alejandro Canizares, Robert Rock, Gergory Havret (8:25 a.m./3:25 a.m.)

U.S. TV Coverage (Golf Channel) (all times Eastern)

Thursday: 12:30-2:30 p.m. (taped)
Friday: 12:30-2:30 p.m. (taped)
Saturday: 2:00-6:00 a.m. (live)
Sunday: 2:30-5:00 a.m. (live)

Final round replay: Monday from 1:00-3:00 p.m. on Golf Channel

Alternative: www.firstrowsports.eu (Sky Sports 1 HD) (all times Eastern)

Thursday: coverage starts at 5:30 a.m.
Friday: coverage starts at 5:30 a.m.
Saturday: coverage starts at 6:00 a.m.
Sunday: coverage starts at 6:00 a.m.

Notable groups: Omega European Masters

Omega European Masters (Crans Montana, Switzerland)
Dates: September 5-8
Purse: €2,200,000 ($2,906,638)
Venue: Crans-sur-Sierre GC
Yardage: 6,881 yards (Par 71)
Opened: 1908
This week's weather: Partly sunny with some wind expected.  Rain is possible at the weekend.

Notable groupings for the first two rounds: 1st round tee time/2nd round tee time (all times according to Eastern Standard Time):

Marcus Fraser, Marc Warren, Damien McGrane (1:50 a.m./6:50 a.m.)
Padraig Harrington, Stephen Gallacher, Gaganjeet Bhullar (2:00 a.m./7:00 a.m.)
Richard Sterne, Brett Rumford, Jeev Milkha Singh (2:10 a.m./7:10 a.m.)
Thomas Bjorn, Tommy Fleetwood, Gregory Bourdy (2:20 a.m./7:20 a.m.)
Matteo Manassero, Thongchai Jaidee, Miguel Angel Jimenez (2:30 a.m./7:30 a.m.)
Anders Hansen, Soren Kjeldsen, Jamie Donaldson (2:40 a.m./7:40 a.m.)
Mathias Gronberg, Martin Wiegele, Ye Wo-cheng (3:00 a.m./8:00 a.m.)
Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Ricardo Gonzalez, Brooks Koepka (6:50 a.m./1:50 a.m.)
Jose Maria Olazabal, Rikard Karlberg, Ross Fisher (7:00 a.m./2:00 a.m.)
Branden Grace, Thaworn Wiratchant, Paul Lawrie (7:10 a.m./2:10 a.m.)
Darren Clarke, Richie Ramsay, Peter Uihlein (7:20 a.m./2:20 a.m.)
Paul Casey, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Francesco Molinari (7:30 a.m./2:30 a.m.)
Mikko Ilonen, Danny Willett, Joost Luiten (7:40 a.m./2:40 a.m.)

U.S. TV Coverage (Golf Channel) (all times Eastern)

Thursday: 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. (taped)
-Replays: 1:00-3:30 p.m. and 8:30-10:00 p.m.
Friday: 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. (taped)
-Replays: 1:00-3:30 p.m. and 8:30-10:00 p.m.
Saturday: 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. (taped)
Sunday: 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. (taped)

Final round replay: Monday from 2:00-6:00 p.m. on Golf Channel