Opening day of season-ending Volvo Masters at Valderrama

Great Dane Kjeldsen shoots a 65 to lead
by three from Sergio Garcia

Denmark’s Søren Kjeldsen warned there was “a long way to go,” despite taking a three-shot lead over Sergio Garcia on the opening day of the season-ending Volvo Masters at Valderrama with a brilliant six-under-par 65.
The Dane made light work of difficult windy conditions in southern Spain as the European Tour season draws to a close with the top 60 players on The Order of Merit taking to the course.
Four of those - Robert Karlsson, Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood and Miguel Angel Jiménez - are all in contention for the Harry Vardon Trophy as winner of the Order of Merit.
Kjeldsen’s round gives him the advantage over Sunday's Castellon Masters winner Garcia, who is a shot ahead of England’s David Lynn and Anthony Wall.
On a day when birdies were difficult to come by, Kjeldsen made eight of them, thanks to some tremendous putting and pinpoint accuracy from the tee.
“The breeze was strong and there's not that much space out there really,” he said.
“You have to control the ball well and seems like pretty much every shot I hit today came up sort of the way I saw it before hitting it. So you've got to take advantage of those days, and I did.
“There's a long way to go. My priority is to hit a good tee shot on the first tomorrow, and that's as far as it goes really. You never know with this game, especially on this course, but playing well last year and playing well last week, I felt good coming into today. But to do six under today, I couldn't have predicted that obviously.”
Garcia said: "I think it was a good, solid start. Tough day on a very difficult golf course. Wind was blowing quite hard and was all over the place but I managed to hit the ball quite decent and gave myself some good birdie chances.
"You know, the greens I missed, I hit some good chips and gave myself some good par putts at it. I putted nicely, overall, it was a nice start for the week."
Karlsson promised a marshal “as many beers as he wants” after staying on course for the Order of Merit Title.
Despite only managing a 73, Karlsson is still looking good for the money list crown as Harrington, Westwood and Jiménez are not where they need to be on the leaderboard.
The Swede's round was slipping away from him when he drove into bushes on the long 11th, but the marshal risked cutting himself to ribbons by crawling in to retrieve the ball.
“We could see five balls in there, but couldn't identify them,” said Karlsson. “There were a lot of thorns and things, but he volunteered to go in and found it.”
It meant Karlsson did not have to go all the way back to the tee, and after salvaging a par on the hole he birdied the 15th and 18th for an inward 34.
Harrington, who requires a top two finish to have a chance of regaining the No 1 spot, managed only a 76 to be joint 43rd of the 57-strong field.
Westwood and Jiménez, who have to win on Sunday, finished the day tied for fifth and 16th respectively after returning 70 and 73.
The day belonged to Kjeldsen, though, on his return to the course where he lost a play-off to Justin Rose a year ago.
SCROLL DOWN TO READ ALL THE VOLVO MASTERS FIRST-ROUND SCORES

Dean Beman (70) recuperating after
quadruple bypass heart surgery

Former US PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman is recuperating at his home in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida following successful quadruple bypass heart surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville.
"I feel very fortunate," said Beman, 70. "I didn't have a heart attack, so there was no damage to the heart. While the recovery process won't be easy, I'm making steady progress. I can walk now and pretty much take care of myself. Everything is going well."
Beman said the surgery, which was performed on Monday, October 20, revealed that two arteries had 80 percent blockage and another 90 percent. "I haven't received the bill yet," he joked, "so I don't know if you get four for the price of three."
Over the course of his 20-year tenure, Beman elevated the US PGA Tour to major sports stature and was the architect of the business structure upon which the Tour has flourished.
Prior to becoming Commissioner, Beman was an accomplished golfer. As an amateur, he captured two U.S. Amateur titles and one British Amateur title. He played in four Walker Cup matches from 1959 to 1965. After turning professional, he won four times on the US PGA Tour

Midland Golfers’ Alliance
Grant’s Promotions Pro Am
Fairmont St Andrews
Wednesday, November 5

TEE TIMES
8.30 G. McLeod N. McLeod D. Wilson A. Saunders
8.38 T. McLevy R. Taylor I. Butchart L. Kinnear
8.46 S. Harrod D. Cameron M. Wilson M. Niven
8.54 B. MacKay B. Christie A. MacKay G. Mathieson
9.02 C. Storrier R. Redpath N. Henderson J. Brown
9.10 A. N. Other R. Ford I. Black R. Beatt
9.18 R. Walker M. Fraser K. Fraser S. Herd
9.26 A. McHardy D. MacGregor W. Smeaton D. Vicary
9.34 D. McKay I. Mitchell I. McMurray T. Devaney
9.42 N. McGill I. Henderson D. Cargill A. Douglas
9.50 G. Finlay P. Callander E. Starritt D. Ritchie
9.58 R. Robertson B. Liddle G. Pendrich A. Smith
10.06 K. McGowan D. Adamson G. Muir H. Haldane
10.14 B. Mason A. Mason I. Mason D. Mason
10.22 P. Jamison D. Mitchell W. Miller G. Paton
10.28 R. Malcolm R. Pennycook C. Westland J. Rennie
10.34 W. Crosbie S. Miller G. Gillespie R. Baldie
10.40 H. Salmond J. Irwin C. Wallace G. Wilkie
10.46 G. Mitchell L. Bushby D. Anderson G. White
10.54 G. Tough J. Barnet G. Atkinson J. Wilson
11.02 L. Vannet F. MacKay J. Milne jnr J. Milne
11.10 C. Matheson L. Irving A. Cameron M. Watkin
11.18 D. Adams A. Herd J. Ward J. Muir
11.26 K. Salmoni H. Grant H. Cowborough J. Strathie
11.34 S. Graham R. Barton H. Hunter G. Hyde
11.42 A. Piatkowski J. Breen W. Herron E. Sherry
11.50 G. Slatter J. Paisley N. Ballingall R. Kier
11.58 L. Sutherland M. Brown G. Cant R. Wallace
12.04 C. Knowles R. De Rose D. Black T. McKenna

European Tour Scoreboard
VOLVO MASTERS
Club de Golf Valderrama, Sotogrande, Spain
FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 71
65 Soren Kjeldsen (Den)
68 Sergio Garcia (Spa)
69 Anthony Wall, David Lynn
70 Hennie Otto (Rsa), Lee Westwood
71 Darren Clarke, Peter Hedblom (Swe), Thomas Levet (Fra)
72 Peter Hanson (Swe), Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Steve Webster, Graeme McDowell, Markus Brier (Aut), Simon Dyson
73 Colin Montgomerie, David Howell, Martin Kaymer (Ger), Pablo Larrazabal (Spa), Oliver Fisher, Robert Karlsson (Swe), Paul Casey, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Richard Green (Aus), Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa)
74 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Francesco Molinari (Ita), Damien McGrane, Anders Hansen (Den), Soren Hansen (Den), John Bickerton, Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Rory McIlroy, Alexander Noren (Swe), Richard Finch, Andres Romero (Arg), Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Henrik Stenson (Swe)
75 Oliver Wilson, Peter Lawrie, Mark Brown (USA)
76 Ross Fisher, James Kingston (Rsa), Scott Strange (Aus), Paul Lawrie, Ian Poulter, Paul McGinley, Gregory Havret (Fra), Padraig Harrington
77 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Graeme Storm, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa)
78 Nick Dougherty, Alvaro Quiros (Spa)
80 Justin Rose.

Lofty Craig Smith looking down on
Asian Tour field with a 65

Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Welshman Craig Smith fired a sparkling seven-under-par 65 to lead the first round of the Iskandar Johor Open on Thursday but title holder Artemio Murakami of the Philippines was snapping at his heels.
Smith, who stands at a towering six feet eight inches tall, produced seven birdies at Royal Johor Country Club to enjoy a rare view from atop the leaderboard at the US$500,000 Asian Tour event.
Murakami enjoyed a strong start to his defence, mixing six birdies against a lone bogey for a 67 to trail by two and was matched by New Zealand’s Mahal Pearce and Australian duo Rick Kulacz, the recent Brunei Open champion, and Mitchell Brown.
Sweden’s Niclas Fasth, a former Ryder Cup player, launched his campaign with a bogey-free 68 for tied sixth place alongside Australian Kane Webber while South African star Retief Goosen carded a 72 in what is the second Iskandar Johor Open.
Smith, 28, is reputed to be the tallest player on any international Tour but his form hasn’t been as lofty as his soaring presence where he is presently languishing in 143rd place on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit.
However, a bogey-free card sprinkled with seven birdies launched him into pole position and put a smile firmly on his face. “It was nice. The course is a challenging one. You have to do the simple things right and all I was trying to do was not to make mistakes and play sensibly. I was able to capitalise on a few good putts,” said the 28-year-old Smith.
It was a welcome return to form for the Welshman as he has missed the cut in eight of 11 tournaments this season, including his last four events. With the year coming to a close, Smith realises he needs to start piling up the winnings to avoid a return trip to Qualifying School.
Nearly all of Smith’s birdies were from inside eight feet, thanks to some good wedge play while his longest putt was from 20-feet at the par three 16th hole. “I’ve struggled a bit this year. I’ve not been able to put it together. I’ve had a few weekends off (missed cuts) recently and I’ve been trying to change things with some hard work. Hopefully it’s coming off, we’ll see what happens,” he said.
Murakami was delighted with his flying start, highlighted by 25-foot birdie putts on the fifth and eighth holes. But the Filipino knows it’s still a long road ahead. “It’s just the first round, three more days to go,” he said.
“I wanted to give myself a chance to defend the title. I’m quite happy with this score but quite surprised to see seven under leading as the course is not playing easy. You can easily drop shots here.”
With straight driving being a premium at the tree-lined Royal Johor course, Murakami unfortunately is playing the Iskandar Johor Open with a new driver in the bag after his old-faithful snapped two weeks ago.
“This round will help with the confidence. I’m swinging it quite solid but I’m quite confused with my new driver. I broke my three-year-old driver recently and I’m trying to get a hang of the new one. I’m not swinging it with full confidence yet,” said Murakami.
A two-week break at home has refreshed Kulacz’s zest for the game. The talented Aussie, the world junior champion in 2001, secured his maiden Asian Tour triumph at the Brunei Open in August but started to play poorly after putting too much pressure on himself to perform.
Starting from the 10th, he eagled the 11th from 20 feet after an exquisite six iron approach and added three more birdies to stay in the hunt. “I think I put too much pressure on myself as I tried to win again after Brunei. The last couple of months have been a blur but I took two weeks off and saw my coach and relaxed a little bit,” said Kulacz.
Fasth, who has remodelled his swing under Dennis Pugh this year, showed the kind of form that made him a world’s top-20 player at the end of last season with a four-birdie round to lie within striking reach of the leader.
“I gave myself a lot of chances and didn’t miss many greens. I wish I had dropped in a few more putts but it was an overall very steady round,” said the Swede, a six-time winner in Europe.
Local amateur Haziq Hamizan and Iain Steel were the best Malaysian performers with a 70. Last year’s runner-up Antonio Lascuna of the Philippines, Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant and Panuwat Muenlek and Australian duo Scott Barr and Richard Moir all carded 69s.
FIRST-ROUND LEADERBOARD
65 - Craig Smith (WAL)
67 - Rick Kulacz (AUS), Mahal Pearce (NZL), Artemio Murakami (PHI), Mitchell Brown (AUS)
68 - Niclas Fasth (SWE), Kane Webber (AUS)
69 - Panuwat Muenlek (THA), Scott Barr (AUS), Richard Moir (AUS), Thaworn Wiratchant (THA), Antonio Lascuna (PHI)
70 - Iain Steel (MAS), Firoz Ali (IND), Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND), Haziq Hamizan (MAS - am), Henry Epstein (AUS), M. Murugiah (SIN), Martin Rominger (SUI), Josh Lane (AUS)
71 - M. Sasidaran (MAS), Lim Eng Seng (MAS), Simon Dunn (SCO), Anthony Kang (USA), Rahil Gangjee (IND), Jerome Delariarte (PHI), Shaifubari Muda (MAS), Gavin Flint (AUS), David Freeman (HKG), Andrew Dodt (AUS), Chong Chee Ming (MAS), Gavin Kyle (MAS - am), Chang Hong-wei (TPE), Thongchai Jaidee (THA), Ben Leong (MAS), Mardan Mamat (SIN), Airil Rizman (MAS), Anis Hassan (MAS), Ronnachai Jamnong (THA), Namchoak Tantipokakul (THA)

Edinburgh & East of Scotland Alliance at Royal Musselburgh

Lloyd Saltman (65) wins
Bootland Trophy at
Royal Musselburgh

By KEITH LIDDLE
Secretary, Edinburgh & East of Scotland Golfers' Alliance
Exactly 100 members had a fantastic day's golf at Royal Musselburgh this week.
John Henderson, his professional colleagues, the catering and bar staff, all did a magnificent job. They went out of their way to make sure we had a great time.
At this point, I must say a very big "thank you" indeed to the greens staff. Alliance members raved about the condition of the course, especially the greens, which were 'hand cut' first thing in the morning.
The overall winner of the Bootland Trophy was Lloyd Saltman (picture by Cal Carson Golf Agency) (Craigielaw) with a score of 65, five under par. Lloyd beat Liberton eight-handicapper Alan Young, who had a net 65, on the better back nine.
Lloyd's 65 included eight birdies (second, fifth, eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th, 13th and 16th) which more than cancelled out bogeys at the first, third and fourth.
In second equal place on the scratch list with four-under-par rounds of 66, were Mark Chaplin (Deer Park), who recorded six birdies, and Scott Grieve (Turnhouse) who had seven. Tom Buchanan (Duddingston) claimed fourth place on his own with a 67.
In the handicap section Alan Young had a net 65, playing off an eight handicap. Alan reached the turn in one-under-par 35, and managed to hang on in, on the back nine, after a couple of minor hiccups.
Glyn Stevens (King's Acre) was second with 66 and John Kerr (Deer Park), Wilson Morton (Dunbar) and Grant Skinner (Glencorse) were third equal with net 68s.
Shot of the day belonged to Robert Patrick (Glenbervie) who holed his six iron second shot at the 402yd eighth hole.
Next meeting is at The Roxburghe Hotel & Golf Course on November 12. At stake will be the Professional's Trophy.
BOOTLAND TROPHY SCRATCH SCOREBOARD
Par 70
65 Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw) p.
66 Mark Chaplin (Deerk Park) (am), Scott Grieve (Turnhouse) p.
67 Tom Buchanan (Duddingston) p.
68 Andrew Oldcorn (King's Acre) p, David Patrick (Elie) trainee.
69 Kenneth Glen (Royal Musselburgh) trainee, Elliot Saltman (Craigielaw) p.
70 Graeme Brown (Dalmahoy) p, Ewan Hogarth (Peebles) traineer, Mark Kerr (Bathgate) traineee, Zack Saltman (Craigielaw) (am).
71 Neil Colquhoun (Merchants of Edinburgh) p, Neil Fenwick (Dunbar) trainee, Derek Fish (Glenbervie) (am), Colin Fraser (Peebles) (am), John Kerr (Deer Park) (am), Stevie Lamb (Broomieknowe) trainee.
72 Ian A Fraser (Duddingston) (am), Gordon Law (Uphall) p, Andrew Marshall (Houston GR) p, Grant Skinner (Glencorse) (am), Mike Thomson (Torwoodlee) p.
73 Ross Ewen (West Lothian) trainee, Wilson Morton (Dunbar) (am), Callum Smith (Royal Musselburgh) p, George Wither (Lothianburn) (am), Alan Young (Liberton) (am).
74 Scott Catlin (Greenburn) p, Arthur Harper (Dunfermline) senior, Terry Mathieson (King's Acre) trainee, Andrew Rothney (Deer Park) (am), Andrew Wight (Glencorse) senior.

Tour School qualifier going back
to Dundonald Links for 3 years

Dundonald Links is to be used as one of the venues for the First Qualifying Stage of the European Tour Qualifying School for the next three years.
The renowned Ayrshire links, which is the sister course of Loch Lomond, became the first Scottish course to be used as a venue for a European Tour Qualifying School event when it hosted one of the six Stage 1 qualifying tournaments this summer and now the deal has been extended through 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Next year’s event will be played on September 15-18, 2008.
“We are delighted to extend the agreement which saw us host a Stage 1 event for the first time this September and are confident we can build on its success,” said John Caven, the Director of Operations at both Loch Lomond and Dundonald Links.
“This year we weren’t blessed with great weather, but we did receive lot of positive feedback from competitors and feel sure our continued involvement with the Tour School can only enhance the profile of the course.”
Mike Stewart, the European Tour’s Senior Tournament Director and Qualifying School Director, said: “This year, competitors faced some of the most testing conditions we have ever seen at a Qualifying School venue.
“The weather was brutal, however, the course provided a tough but fair challenge and that, coupled with the level of support we received from the team at Dundonald Links, meant it was a simple decision for us to return.
“We are delighted the Club has agreed to host the 1st Stage of the Qualifying School for the next three years.”
This year, a total of 31 golfers came through Stage 1 at Dundonald Links and qualified for the Second Qualifying Stage in Spain. The event was won by Scotland’s Euan Little who put together rounds of 74, 73, 70 and 67 for a four under par total of 284 and a one shot victory over England’s Craig Goodfellow. Six other Scots, Duncan Stewart, David Patrick, Mark Hillson, Chris Kelly, Mark Kerr and Scott Henry, also progressed to Spain.
Next year, Dundonald Links will host two prestigious international events, the other being the Duke of York Young Champions Trophy, to be played on September 8-10.
This will be the fourth year in-a-row that Dundonald Links has hosted what has developed into one of Europe’s most eminent junior events. England’s Sam Hutsby won the title back in 2006 and he was succeeded by Italy’s Claudio Vigano in 2007. This year, England’s, Stiggy Hodgson, winner of the 2008 Carris Trophy, led from start to finish to claim an eleven shot victory over French junior champion, Arnaud Abbas. The leading girl was Holland’s Marieke Nivard.
The Championship attracted 51 national junior champions from 28 different countries.
To book a tee time at Dundonald Links please call +44 (0)1294 314000
Email reservations@dundonaldlinks.com or visit www.dundonaldlinks.com

Kyron Sullivan wins Celtic Pro
Tour Championship

European Touring professional Kyron Sullivan (vale-hotel.com) lifted the Celtic Pro Tour Championship at the Old Course, Marriott St Pierre on Wednesday.
The win was the second on the Tour this year for the Barry-born 32-year-old, following his victory in the South Wales Open at Southerndown Golf Club in July.
A first round of three under par 68 on Monday set the tone for the week, and the score was never bettered.
A level-par round of 71 on day two was followed by a final round of 76 in freezing conditions, which was enough to land him the £2,000 first prize and Championship trophy.
Sullivan finished on two over par after the 54 holes, two strokes ahead of four players tied in second place - Llewellyn Matthews (Southerndown), Matthew Dearden (vale-hotel.com), Lee Corfield (Burnham & Berrow) and Glyn Bateman (Royal Eastbourne), who all finished on four over par for the tournament, each picking up cheques for £462.50, after sharing the 2nd to 5th placed prize money.
Ryan Thomas (Aberdare) was a further stroke behind in fifth place to win a £200 share of the purse, while Iwan Griffiths (Aberdare) won the voucher as top amateur in the field.
Adam Constable (Cardiff) who finished 9th at the Chepstow course, secured the Red Bull Celtic Pro Tour Order of Merit, after an impressive season of consistent finishes, including a win at the South West Wales Open at Pennard Golf Club in April.
For further information, full scores and results for the 2008 season, the third year of the tour, please visit www.celticpro.com

John Daly taken into custody by
police until he sobered up

Two-time major tournament winner John Daly was taken into custody last Sunday morning by police at Winston-Salem, North Carolina after he was found under the influence of drink at a restaurant.
Police said in a statement later that officers went to the restaurant on a medical call. When they arrived, Daly was being treated by emergency workers after losing consciousness.While at the restaurant, police said Daly “appeared extremely intoxicated and uncooperative,” refused repeatedly to be taken to the hospital and was asked to leave the restaurant by several workers.
Daly was taken to a local law enforcement detention centre for a 24-hour stay, until he was sober.
He was not charged with any offence.
Oh, the shame of it!

Ronnie Urquhart stepping down as
professional at McDonald Golf Club

Ronnie Urquhart, one of the longest-serving club professionals in Scotland, is to step down after 26 years' service to the McDonald Golf Club at Ellon in Aberdeenshire.
Ronnie, 49, had a heart attack four years ago and is to give up his day-to-day duties at the club. He will continue his association with golf in the North-east of Scotland through a part-time teaching role at Pine Lodge Golf Centre at Kemnay.
"It will be a blow to leave McDonald Golf Club where I learned my golf as a junior but it's time for me to look after my health," said Ronnie.
"Coaching has always been my first love. Watching youngsters getting on in the game has been a great source of pleasure to me."
McDonald Golf Club captain Jim O'Brien said: "We are very sorry to lose Ronnie, especially under the circumstances. He has been a great servant to the club."