BMW Masters 2014: Daily Leaderboard Analysis, Highlights and More
The European Tour headed to Shanghai this week for the first of four events in The Final Series, as the BMW Masters takes place at Lake Malaren Golf Club.
While high-profile names Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia and Henrik Stenson were missing from the 78-man field, the likes of Justin Rose and Graeme McDowell headed a high-quality group in China.
Read on for day-by-day reports of how the action plays out over the week's competition.
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Day 4
All scorecard information courtesy of EuropeanTour.com.
It took a playoff to decide the BMW Masters. Frenchman Alexander Levy, Germany's Marcel Siem and Englishman Ross Fisher couldn't be separated over 18 holes in Shanghai.
Siem eventually won after recovering from a double-bogey finish to win the playoff on the 18th.
The tournament's fourth day proved treacherous. A tricky and consistent wind at the Lake Malaren Golf Club caused more than a few embarrassing moments for the tournament's top players:
The day's play was highlighted by a top of the leaderboard tilt between Levy and Siem. The former has lit up this tournament with some spectacular golf.
But even Levy couldn't avoid the pitfalls evident on Day 4. His biggest problems came at the 13th hole, as detailed by the European Tour official Twitter feed:
That gaffe was part of a six-bogey, one-double bogey horror show from Levy. Those kind of slings and arrows of fortune kept Siem and Fisher in it and eventually led to the necessity of a playoff.
Preceding that playoff was major drama on an unforgiving 18th hole. It began with Ryder Cup winner Jamie Donaldson shooting just whiskers short of a birdie three. He had to settle for par and in the process just missed out.
But the real drama was provided by Siem. He missed an easy putt for par, the bogey finish denying him a late chance to claim top spot.
By contrast, Levy making par gave him a 78 finish and ensured the playoff. Here's what the final leaderboard looked like before the playoff began:
| Position | Golfer | To Par | Day 4 Score |
| T1 | Ross Fisher | -16 | 73 |
| T1 | Alexander Levy | -16 | 67 |
| T1 | Marcel Siem | -16 | 78 |
| T4 | Justin Rose | -15 | 72 |
| T4 | Jamie Donaldson | -15 | 75 |
| T6 | Romain Wattel | -14 | 70 |
| T6 | Nicolas Colsaerts | -14 | 71 |
| T8 | Ryan Palmer | -13 | 70 |
| T8 | Emilliano Grillo | -13 | 72 |
| T10 | Fabrizio Zanotti | -12 | 69 |
No doubt still smarting from his late miss, Siem began the playoff in thrilling fashion. His tee shot was a powerful drive that exceeded fine efforts from both Levy and Fisher.
The latter was only in contention thanks to a commendable comeback after beginning the fourth day chasing a major deficit:
But Fisher's run ended when Siem produced a moment of truly brilliant golf at the par-four playoff hole. Two shots in, Siem went for it all.
The German dropped an exquisite chip from the fairway, barely inches removed from the bunker. The ball pitched gently onto the green and bobbled its way serenely to the hole.
That gave Siem a birdie three and put the pressure on his rivals. Fisher was first up but he missed his chance to match Siem's daring example of golfing bravado:
After Fisher settled for par, next came Levy. But the Frenchman simply put too much pace behind his attempt at birdie.
That miss gave victory to Siem. While Fisher will be disappointed that his thrilling comeback came up short, Levy will likely be more aggrieved. He'll rue wasting the commanding lead he'd boasted heading into the final day.
Day 3
Moving day lived up to its name at the BMW Masters in Shanghai on Saturday, with ideal conditions seeing some astronomical scores come in to really open up the tournament ahead of Sunday’s action.
Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts held a one-shot overnight lead over Alexander Levy heading into Saturday, but a stunning round from the Frenchman sent him top of the leaderboard with just one day remaining.
Levy carded a faultless nine-under-par 63 to take him to 22 under and in pole position to claim his third European Tour win of the season, as we see below:
| Position | Golfer | To Par | Round 3 Score |
| 1 | Alexander Levy | -22 | 63 |
| 2 | Jamie Donaldson | -18 | 62 |
| 3 | Marcel Siem | -17 | 65 |
| 4 | Justin Rose | -15 | 64 |
| T5 | Emiliano Grillo | -13 | 69 |
| T5 | Nicolas Colsaerts | -13 | 73 |
| T7 | Graeme McDowell | -12 | 68 |
| T7 | Romain Wattel | -12 | 71 |
| T9 | Joost Luiten | -11 | 64 |
| T9 | Robert Karlsson | -11 | 66 |
| T9 | George Coetzee | -11 | 67 |
| T9 | Ryan Palmer | -11 | 68 |
| T9 | Mikko Ilonen | -11 | 69 |
| T9 | Ross Fisher | -11 | 68 |
| T9 | Branden Grace | -11 | 71 |
The 24-year-old has enjoyed a coming-of-age season in 2014, having won the China Open and the Portugal Masters to really announce himself on tour, and he’s looking trophy-worthy once again in Shanghai.
Adding Saturday’s 63 to Thursday and Friday’s respective scores of 65 and 66 has put Levy four shots clear at the top and handed him the lowest 54-hole score of the year—per Sky Sports News HQ:
His third round was something special, though, with the Frenchman displaying some incredible golf; although that’s something we’ve become accustomed to with Levy.
In the Portugal Masters, which was sadly cut to a two-round tournament due to bad weather, Levy kicked off with rounds of 61 and 63. He’s the kind of player whereby if he’s in the mood for shooting low, he goes really low.
So it proved on Saturday, and the man himself spoke to the European Tour after a good day’s work in Shanghai:
"I played amazing golf. I'm very surprised by myself. I started well and made some early birdies and hit some amazing shots. I am very happy with the way I played golf today."
While Levy’s heroics put him top of the charts at the BMW Masters, the tag of round of the day went elsewhere.
Ryder Cup star Jamie Donaldson bettered Levy’s score by one with an emphatic 10-under-par 62, as European Tour revealed:
The Welshman chalked up eight birdies and an eagle without a single blemish on his card on Saturday, moving him to 18 under par and four shots off of Levy’s incredible pace.
His eagle on 16 was the highlight of the day, as he produced a bit of Ryder Cup-esque magic to hole out from 141 yards with a 9 iron.
Donaldson will lead the chasing pack behind Levy on Sunday, and he has some strong competitors in tow.
Germany’s Marcel Siem shot a seven-under-par 65 to go third on 17 under, while Justin Rose went one better with a 64 the reach the 16-under mark.
With conditions expected to be just as generous as Saturday on Sunday, there could be a few more low scores in prospect, which means that someone could come out of nowhere to claim the title.
However, with Levy in this kind of form, it could well be the Frenchman that goes low once again to leave the field in his wake.
Day 2
Nicolas Colsaerts leads the way after a low-scoring second day at the BMW Masters on Friday as the Belgian reached 14-under par with a round of 64 to top the leaderboard.
Thursday's leader Alexander Levy sits one shot back in the first of The Final Series events in Shanghai after another terrific display on Day 2
There's a massive amount of quality in the chasing pack, setting things up beautifully for a highly-competitive weekend of action. Here is what the leaderboard looks like after Day 2:
| Position | Player | To Par | Round 2 Score |
| 1 | Nicolas Colsaerts | -14 | 64 |
| 2 | Alexander Levy | -13 | 66 |
| 3 | Romain Wattel | -11 | 67 |
| T4 | Marcel Siem | -10 | 66 |
| T4 | Branden Grace | -10 | 66 |
| T4 | Emiliano Grillo | -10 | 68 |
| 7 | Thomas Bjorn | -9 | 67 |
| T8 | Shane Lowry | -8 | 66 |
| T8 | Graeme McDowell | -8 | 69 |
| T8 | Jamie Donaldson | -8 | 68 |
For the full leaderboard, visit Europeantour.com. Video highlights can be found on the tour's official site by clicking here.
Colsaerts most certainly shot the round of the day as he peppered his card with nine birdies and just a single bogey—at the par-four fifth—for an eight-under round of 64.
The big-hitting Belgian has made significant hay on the par-fives this week so far—of which there are four on the course—going nine-under across the eight longer holes he has played.
Levy continued his fine form which saw him topping the leaderboard after Day 1, the Frenchman adding a 66 to his opening 65 to reach 13-under par.
German Marcel Siem also had an excellent day to find himself tied for fourth as he carded a six-under par round of 66 with just one bogey.
Denmark's Thomas Bjorn, after a 68 on Thursday, had a terrible start to his second round as he took five on the par-four first and then triple-bogeyed the third.
However, from there he made a stunning comeback, scoring three consecutive birdies into the turn and eventually carding a 67 with a wonderful finishing three on the 18th, per the European Tour:
Justin Rose recovered well from an unsatisfactory level-par opening round as he finished Day 2 with a seven-under 65, including six birdies and an eagle-three on the seventh.
The Englishman expressed his aim before the start of the competition to finish the year with a personal best world ranking, per Reuters (h/t The Guardian), and he has most certainly put himself in contention for the weekend:
"The aim is to strengthen my ranking as much as possible. If I was to play well and win a few tournaments before the end of the season I could get myself to second in the world rankings which would be a personal best.
"
Meanwhile, Rose's playing partner Ernie Els is also in the group tied for 12th on seven under after the South African added a 68 to his 69 from Thursday.
With no cut at the BMW Masters, it is still theoretically anyone's title as every player will still be around for the weekend.
While many have played their way out of contention realistically, there is still a big group sitting in the chasing pack who can win the competition with a low-scoring weekend.
However, Colsaerts and Levy have been the players in the best form so far and the pair look to be the favourites going into Saturday and Sunday.
Day 1
Alexander Levy topped the leaderboard at the end of the first round at Shanghai's Lake Malaren Golf Club on Thursday as the Frenchman finished the day seven-under par.
The trio of Argentina's Emiliano Grillo, Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts and France's Romain Wattel sit just one shot back after they all carded rounds of 66.
With enormous quality in the chasing pack, Levy's lead is a precarious one after the first round, but he certainly set the tone for a day of low scoring.
Here is the leaderboard after Day 1:
| Position | Player | To Par | Round 1 Score |
| 1 | Alexander Levy | -7 | 65 |
| T2 | Emiliano Grillo | -6 | 66 |
| T2 | Romain Wattel | -6 | 66 |
| T2 | Nicolas Colsaerts | -6 | 66 |
| 5 | Graeme McDowell | -5 | 67 |
| T6 | Branden Grace | -4 | 68 |
| T6 | Richard Sterne | -4 | 68 |
| T6 | Jamie Donaldson | -4 | 68 |
| T6 | Marcel Siem | -4 | 68 |
| T6 | Oliver Wilson | -4 | 68 |
For the full leaderboard, visit Europeantour.com. Video highlights can be found on the tour's official site by clicking here.
The in-form Levy—who won the China Open on the European Tour back in April and then triumphed in Portugal earlier in October—had a bogey-less round as he instantly took to his Shanghai surroundings.
Two-under par at the turn, he then fired four consecutive birdies from the 10th before claiming a two at the par-three 17th to card a magnificent 65.
Unsurprisingly, the Frenchman was delighted with his day's work on a course which he says plays to his advantage, per the European Tour:
"For me, this golf course is pretty much the same as Shenzhen. I like this type of golf course with water and the target golf. I enjoy being in China and I'm going to try my best the last few days and try to do the same things I thought of in April. I like China, that's for sure!
"
Big-hitting Colsaerts peppered his front nine with a couple of bogeys, but an eagle three at the 15th saw him shoot up the leaderboard late on to share the second spot.
Graeme McDowell put on a solid display as one of the day's late starters to finish close to the top of the leaderboard, with a five-under round of 67.
The Northern Irish Ryder Cup hero also avoided making any bogeys as he started on the 10th and picked up three consecutive birdies from the second to put himself very much in contention at the start of the week.
Another of Europe's victorious Ryder Cup team, Welshman Jamie Donaldson, sits one shot back from McDowell on four under after Day 1, having tempered a couple of awful back-nine holes with some real quality.
Having also started on the 10th, the 39-year-old reached the turn at two-under par only to pick up a double-bogey seven on the third before taking an unorthodox approach to the sixth, per the European Tour:
South Africa's Ernie Els put himself firmly in the mix with a round of 69, while his playing partner Justin Rose had to settle for a level-par 72, which included a triple-bogey eight at the par-five 13th.
Ian Poulter had a day to forget as he found himself at the wrong end of the leaderboard after an error-strewn round of 74, while Miguel Angel Jimenez's 77 leaves the Spaniard with much work to do to get into contention.
With so much quality on show and no player able to take a significant lead at the top of the leaderboard, there is very much all to play for on Friday as each man jostles for position ahead of the weekend.
In the absence of Race to Dubai leader McIlroy, there is a terrific opportunity for many to close in on the Northern Irishman as the season end looms, providing a great incentive for some fine golf in the coming days.
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