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Closer Look Swede Fasth slowly coming out of the shadows
Updated: Friday August 17, 2001 11:15 PM
By Yi-Wyn Yen, Sports Illustrated DULUTH, Ga. -- Niclas Fasth was in the middle of describing the length of his putts when a European Tour media official cut him short and lectured him to convert his measurements into yards. "Er, I haven’t really bothered with that yet," Fasth says. "This is still all new to me." The unknown Swede has been able to fly under the radar thus far, but his strong performance this summer has been making it harder for him to escape scrutiny. Fasth, 29, isn’t quite sure what all the fuss is about. He shrugs his shoulders when asked to recount his clutch chip-in birdie on the 18th to post 5-under 135 after the second round of the PGA Championship. "Yeah, I’ve been doing alright for the past two days. It’s nothing spectacular, really. I’m just scraping by," he says. "I have been playing not great, but steady. It’s not so strange that I have a good tournament in a major." That’s being modest, considering what the seven-year journeyman of the European tour has accomplished. He’s four shots off the lead in his first PGA and playing in his first tournament in the U.S. in three years. Last month, he tied for second at the British Open to sneak his way to seventh on the European Ryder Cup standings. Going unnoticed, apparently, is how Fasth plays best. Since the Volvo PGA in late May, he has only finished out of the top 15 once. A loner, Fasth says he often is too busy banging balls or putting on the practice green, often until 8 p.m., to meet up with friends for dinner when he is on tour. In 1998, he rarely had any time because he split time playing the PGA and European tours. "The only time I had a chance to sleep was on the plane," he says. He will find less time with his girlfriend Marie expected to deliver their first child in two weeks. At least one person hasn’t let Fasth go unnoticed. European captain Sam Torrance phoned him three times since his performance at the British. "We keep missing each other. I hope I hear from him soon," Fasth says. "I don’t want him to forget about me."
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