Richard Bland: Could It Be Like The No.272 Bus? You Wait 478 Events For A First Tour Win & Two Come At Once

4 years ago by Comments Off on Richard Bland: Could It Be Like The No.272 Bus? You Wait 478 Events For A First Tour Win & Two Come At Once

We’re being reminded after just one round of the Made in Himmerland of that ole saying about the No. 272 bus.

Ricard Bland waited 478 European Tour events for a first victory at last fortnight’s BetFredBritish Masters and now after the opening round of the Made in Himmerland the affable Englishman is in five-way share of the lead.

Of course, it’s only the first day but Bland is tied at the top with Austrian and defending champion Bernd Wiesberger, Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal, Finland’s Lauri Ruuska and China’s Yikeun Chang in each shooting five-under par 66s.

The 48-year-old Bland was two-under par after six holes but then dropped a shot at seven before the highlight of his round in eagling the par-5 eighth hole ahead of birdies at 11 and the last.

Just like the No. 272. You wait ages for one to turn-up and two come at once. Richard Bland could be staring at jumping aboard a victory bus for a second European Tour event running

“I was just happy to get back out playing to be honest,” he said.

“I hadn’t really done a lot last week, I played once with some friends and did a little bit of practice. I was coming in a little bit unprepared, but sometimes that’s not always a bad thing. I just tried to carry on where I left off and managed to do that. 

“When I look back, my driving stats are probably quite poor today. I think there were six times today where we were looking to see if my ball was on the fairway or not, I think I hit three or four fairways but it felt like I hit 12. If I’d missed one it was by an inch or two.

“I felt like I drove the ball well – the stats won’t show that – but it’s important to hit the fairways this week because the ball is picking up a lot of mud. I putted nicely, seemed to have the pace of the greens really well.

Richard Bland proudly holds aloft the British Masters trophy

“I also had Tim (Barter – coach) ringing in my ears ‘be aggressive’. My pace was good and some went in, which was nice”.

In returning to competition this week Bland leads a Tour three-event, mini money list and with top-10 on the list at the end of next week’s Porsche European Open earning a place in the June 3rd commencing US Open at Torrey Pines.

And Bland mentioned if he does qualify, one of the things he wants to do is shake Phil Mickelson’s hand given Bland says he’s drawn inspiration, and not from just winning last week’s PGA Championship, but how the American has remained competitive up to and into his 50s.

See – http://www.golfbytourmiss.com/2021/05/bland-still-overwhelmed-by-out-pouring-but-now-looking-to-meet-mickelson-at-torrey-pines/

It was also timely in that hours after Bland had been speaking in Denmark and Mickelson was speaking on a Zoom hook-up at this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.

And this author grabbed the opportunity to ask Mickelson what he thought of Bland’s victory – see the video below.

Footnote – You may be wondering why I chose the No. 272 bus in writing this article.  Well, it was  No. 272 bus I caught each day when I began working back home in Sydney, Australia



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