Two to tango for Åkesson brothers in Girona

Bjorn Åkesson revealed that it took two to tango on the dancefloors at PGA Catalunya Resort after the Swede put his brother’s green-reading prowess to full use on the way to a sublime seven under par 63 over the Tour Course on day three of The European Tour’s Qualifying School Final Stage.

The 25 year old successfully negotiated his way through the six-round marathon back in 2012 but struggled to a two over par over 72 in his opening round over the easier Tour Course before staging an impressive comeback.

A superb four under 68 on the more difficult par-72 Stadium Course followed before he made good on the more open par-70 lay-out to move to nine under for the tournament but he revealed that much of his success was down to his brother and caddie for the week, Gustav.

“The first round I putted terribly so my little brother Gustav is now aiming me in the right direction and I just hit it,” said the Malmo man, who is attached to the same Barseback Golf and Country Club as Henrik Stenson. “He’s on the bag so we read the greens together and then he just tells me where he thinks I should hit it and everything has been close, so he’s been really good.

“It has definitely been a team effort. He caddied for me last year at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and we did the same but unfortunately they didn’t go in then.

“But the first round this week, I had no clue. I putted so badly, so I needed some change and it feels good now.

“I played really well today. I hit all the greens except the last one and that was just on the fringe ten feet away. I hit some really good iron shots and a lot of wedges close to the pin, then made a lot of putts, especially on my front nine (the back nine, having teed off at the tenth).

“It feels great to have such a good round at such an important time as this, especially after my first round. I was two over on the Tour Course so from then it has been really good.

“It’s my third time here and in 2012 I graduated from here, so I know how to do it. The experience definitely helps.

“On both courses you have to be so patient because they are pretty tight and you don’t have too much room to miss. It’s all about fairways and greens on this course and not thinking ahead, just take it shot by shot. I’ve done it before here so I feel confident.

“My form has been pretty good lately but all parts of my game haven’t been good at the same time, one week I have been putting good but not playing well and so on. So I haven’t had many major results but I’m hitting the ball good and putting well right now. It is a good week to pull it all together here, but it’s only half time.

“I need to make sure I don’t get too focussed on making things bigger than they are, getting carried away, that would be stupid. I just need to go out there with my brother, have a laugh and play some good golf.”

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