Saturday, December 06, 2008

Borrowman and McLean lose in
Argentina quarter-finals

Scotland's last two survivors in the Argentina men's amateur match-play golf championship both lost in the quarter-finals at Nordelta Golf Club, Buenos Aires today.
Leading qualifier Scott Borrowman (Dollar) was beaten 3 and 2 by seventh seed Jason Scrivener (Australia).
Philip McLean (Peterhead), 22nd of the 64 qualifiers for the match-play stages, lost a marathon tie at the 21st to England's Luke Goddard, the 14th qualifier.
In the semi-finals Leandro Marelli (Argentina) beat Floris De Vries (Holland) by one hole and Goddard beat Scrivener by 2 and 1.
The final between Marelli and Goddard is over 36 holes on Sunday.

ends.

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Equipment endorsement money can
help Tour players pay the bills

FROM THE GOLFWEEK.COM WEBSITE
By JAMES ACHENBACH
Senior Staff Writer
LA QUINTA, California — Apart from the on-course competition of the US PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, there is the off-course competition among golf equipment companies.
Any player advancing through Q-School -- no matter how obscure or unknown he may be -- can parlay endorsement money from equipment manufacturers and other commercial businesses into a minimum of $150,000 to $200,000 a year.
Just look for the logos to see who is sponsoring whom. For well-known golfers, the pay-off can easily be $300,000 to $400,000 in endorsements. These figures were verified in a multitude of interviews with players and agents.
Looking at the big picture, that’s how important it can be to earn a PGA Tour card. It’s guaranteed money that is not based on victories or high finishes or television exposure or any other yardstick measurement.
Why do golf equipment companies pay endorsement money to so many touring pros? There are two big reasons.
One, tour validation is extremely important in the sale of golf balls and golf clubs. If the pros use it, amateurs want to use it, too.
Two, an official golf equipment count is conducted at each tournament by the Darrell Survey, which has been doing this for 75 years. Golf companies want desperately to win as many equipment categories as they can.
The big tug-of-war these days on the US PGA Tour is between Titleist and TaylorMade. Callaway, Nike and Ping also are in the middle of the weekly equipment skirmish, but it is Titleist and TaylorMade that dominate the weekly counts.
It could be argued that golf companies are buying loyalty from the players, but the counter argument is that no intelligent player would use equipment that didn’t provide confidence and flashes of birdie-laced brilliance.
Here at the 2008 Q-School at PGA West, Titleist won the ball count, along with the iron, wedge and putter categories. TaylorMade was No. 1 in drivers and fairway woods.
Perhaps the biggest surprise came in putters, where Titleist and its various Scotty Cameron models outdistanced Callaway’s Odyssey models by a 61-39 count. Ping was third with 22.
Traditionalists often lament the demise of small golf companies, so Adams Golf and Rife Putters have emerged as heroes to many who follow the results of the weekly Darrell Survey.
Adams, focusing heavily on the development of new hybrid clubs, has rampaged to the top of the hybrid category (labeled as utility irons/hybrid woods by the Darrell Survey). At Q-School, Adams had 75 hybrids in play, more than 50 ahead of second-place TaylorMade.
TaylorMade may have invented the modern hybrid club with its many Rescue models, but it has been overwhelmed by Adams among touring pros who use hybrids.
Rife has been the dominant putter of the 2008 Champions Tour, and the company finished fourth in the putter count here at the PGA Tour Q-School. Rife claims that no player is paid to use its putters.
Keep in mind that many golfers are in fact paid to use specific equipment.
PGA Tour veteran Harrison Frazar, among the leaders at this Q-School, carries a TaylorMade bag. However, that doesn’t stop him from using Callaway X-Forged irons.
How can this be? Frazar’s TaylorMade contract specifies that he carry the bag, wear a TaylorMade cap and use a TaylorMade driver.
Winning the driver count is a big deal for TaylorMade, No. 1 in PGA Tour driver usage for nine years in a row.
“They wanted to include the irons in the deal,” Frazar revealed, “but I took less money in exchange for the freedom to use whatever irons I wanted. It can be a big mistake to tie yourself completely to one company. TaylorMade makes great clubs, but I just wanted to be free to use any irons.
“I’ve seen a lot of players get locked into situations (contracts) that really hurt their golf games. I wasn’t going to do that.”
Randy Smith, Frazar’s instructor, said simply, “If a guy doesn’t have confidence in his clubs, he has a big problem that often can’t be overcome.”
James Nitties, tied for the lead after three rounds of the Q-School, has a contract with Nickent Golf that requires him to carry a Nickent bag, wear a Nickent cap, and play a Nickent driver and hybrid. So Nitties is using Titleist AP2 irons.
On the other hand, many established US PGA Tour players have contracts that specify the use of a minimum number of clubs -- such as 10 or 12 -- from a sponsoring company.
The details of his contract are not made public, but Tiger Woods continued to use Titleist irons when he first signed an equipment contract with Nike. Eventually he switched, and now he uses 13 Nike clubs (all but the putter, which is a Titleist/Cameron).
Superstars such as Woods and Phil Mickelson make millions a year from their equipment companies. To a fledgling pro, though, a smaller but significant six-figure endorsement deal can make a huge difference.
It wasn’t always like this. Former US PGA Tour winner Pat Fitzsimmons, whose heyday occurred in the mid to late 1970s, carried a Hogan bag and used Hogan clubs exclusively -- and wasn’t paid a dime.
“You got your equipment free,” said Fitzsimmons, now the head teaching professional at The Palms Golf Club, located next to PGA West. “They didn’t pay anything. There was very little money out there unless you were a big name.”
What does Fitzsimmons think of today’s endorsement climate?
“It’s hard to me to fathom,” he said. “Real hard.”

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Henrik Stenson leads by eight
in Nedbank Challenge

Henrik Stenson will take a commanding eight-shot lead into the final round of the Nedbank Challenge in Sun City tomorrow.
The Ryder Cup Swede shrugged off a delay for lightning to card a third round of seven-under-par 65 for a 17-under total of 199 at the Gary Player Country Club, Sun City near Johannesburg, South Africa.
World Cup-winning team-mate Robert Karlsson is Stenson's nearest challenger on nine under 207 after a 67, with South African Rory Sabbatini three shots further back following a 72.
Stenson went to the turn in 34 with two birdies, and stormed home in 31 with five birdies in seven holes to leave the field trailing in his wake.
England's Lee Westwood is a distant 13 shots off the pace after a 70, while Luke Donald continued his comeback from a seriious wrist injury to improve to one-over-par 217.
THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72); players from South Africa unless stated.
199 Henrik Stenson (Swe) 63 71 65
207 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 72 68 67
210 Rory Sabbatini 68 70 72
211 Kenny Perry (USA) 73 70 68
212 K J Choi (Kor) 72 67 73, Lee Westwood (Eng) 70 72 70
214 Trevor Immelman 72 73 69, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 72 70 72
217 Luke Donald (Eng) 72 74 71
218 Justin Rose (Eng) 73 73 72
219 James Kingston 72 77 70
224 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 75 76 73.

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Rhys Davies moves up to a share of

fourth place in Vietnam Masters

PRESS RELEASE
Ho Chi Minh, December 6: Thai star Thongchai Jaidee fired a two-under-par 70 and joined Japan’s Kodai Ichihara and Korea’s Pyo Suk-min at the top of the pack at the Hana Bank Vietnam Masters today.
The former Asian Tour number one holed four birdies against two dropped shots for a 10-under-par 206 total and was tied at the top of the leaderboard alongside overnight leader Pyo who shot a 73 and first round pace setter Ichihara who was even-par for the day in the third round at the Vietnam Golf and Country Club.
Korea’s Young Nam and Welsh rookie pro Rhys Davies (pictured above), a former Walker Cup player and leading player from the American college circuit, shot matching 70s to lie in a tie for fourth spot together with Filipino Artemio Murakami who posted a 71 for a 207 total. Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant carded a 71 and was in the mix in seventh place alongside Pijit Petchkasem of Thailand who improved with a 69 in the US$500,000 Asian Tour tournament.
With eight wins on the Asian Tour, Thongchai will be gunning to end his two year title drought this week.
“I’ve been trying my best at every event including this week. My putting in the last two weeks has not been steady but this week it’s been good. The greens are slightly tricky though.
“My plan is to have a good overall game. The pin positions were tough but I played some good shots out there and if can remain steady in the final day, then I should be in a good position for a win,” said Thongchai, who won the 2006 Volvo Masters of Asia.
Japan’s Ichihara, who finished in the top-10 at the Philippine Open, shrugged off the early nerves for an even par performance today.
“I was nervous today playing in the final group but after the first few holes, I regained my rhythm and stayed composed. It will be my first time playing with Thongchai so it’s going to be an exciting final round for me,” said Ichihara, who was the 1999 World Junior individual and team champion.
Korea’s Pyo, who is playing in his debut event on the Asian Tour this week, will be taking on a relaxed approach heading into the final round.
“I spoke to my dad (Pyo Chang-hwan) over the phone and he told me to follow my rhythm so I will not think about the result but take it one hole at a time.
“I was a bit nervous and my confidence level dropped but I’ve learned from my experience today and will head out with a more calm approach tomorrow,” said the 23-year-old Pyo.
Korea’s Young Nam holed an eagle at the par five 10th hole on the way to a 70.
“My putting was poor but if I can improve on that, then it should turn out well on Sunday and strengthen my position on the rankings,” said the Korean golfer.
Australia’s Scott Barr achieved the tournament’s second hole-in-one at the par three 177 yards eighth hole on the way to a 74 to lie in a tie for 19th place.
“The hole-in-one was great but I double bogeyed the next hole, but that’s golf I guess,” said Barr, who is gunning for his first top-10 result this season.
THIRD ROUND LEADERBOARD

Par 216 (3 x 72)
206 - Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 67-69-70, Pyo Suk-min (KOR) 66-67-73, Kodai Ichihara (JPN) 65-69-72
207 - Rhys Davies (WAL) 67-70-70, Artemio Murakami (PHI) 67-69-71, Young Nam (KOR) 67-70-70
208 - Pijit Petchkasem (THA) 69-70-69, Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 72-65-71
209 - Lam Chih bing (SIN) 73-69-67, Chawalit Plaphol (THA) 71-70-68, Sattaya Supupramai (THA) 69-70-70, Wang Ter-chang (TPE) 66-70-73
210 - Pornsakon Tipsanit (THA) 73-69-68, Frankie Minoza (PHI) 69-72-69, Andrew Dodt (AUS) 70-71-69, S. Siva Chandhran (MAS) 71-70-69
211 - Taichiro Kiyota (JPN) 68-72-71, Jason King (AUS) 71-68-72
212 - Kwanchai Tannin (THA) 73-72-67, Baaz Mann (IND) 73-71-68, David Bransdon (AUS) 73-70-69, Simon Griffiths (ENG) 72-71-69, Anthony Kang (USA) 67-76-69, Somkiat Srisanga (THA) 72-67-73, Scott Barr (AUS) 66-72-74

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Borrowman, McLean in

Argentina quarter-finals

Scott Borrowman and Philip McLean have won their way through to the quarter-finals of the Argentina men's amateur match-play championship at Nordelta Golf Club, Buenos Aires.
Both won twice yesterday.
Scroll down for news of their morning wins. In the afternoon Dollar's Borrowman beat England's Matthew Haines by 2 and 1 while Peterhead's McLean (pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency) was a 3 and 2 winner over South Africa's Adrian Ford.
ROUND OF LAST SIXTEEN RESULTS
Andres Berlaffa (Arg) bt Ninon Bertasio (Ita) at 19th.
Leandro Marelli (Arg) bt Pablo Alderete (Arg) 3 and 2.

Floris De Vries (Hol) bt Juan Sarasti (Spa) at 19th.
Brendan Smith (Aus) bt Reinier Saxton (Hol) 3 and 2.

Scott Borrowman (Sco) bt Matthew Haines (Eng) 2 and 1.
Jason Scrivener (Aus) bt Agustin Terrile (Arg) 8 and 7.

Luke Goddard (Eng) bt Tomas Cocha (Arg) at 20th.
Philip McLean (Sco) bt Adrian Ford (SAf) 3 and 2.

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Australian PGA Championship Scoreboard
THIRD ROUND TOTALS
(Australian players unless stated, Par 216, 3 x 72)
204 Mathew Goggin 67 68 69
205 Rodney Pampling 70 67 68, Geoff Ogilvy 67 71 67
206 Jarrod Lyle 72 63 71, Peter O'Malley 72 67 67
207 Chris Gaunt 71 68 68, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl) 66 72 69
208 Scott Strange 70 69 69, Peter Senior 70 67 71
209 Wade Ormsby 70 70 69, Peter Wilson 68 69 72
210 Brett Rumford 69 72 69, Nathan Green 70 68 72, John Senden 69 70 71, Wayne Perske 71 66 73, Tim Clark (Rsa) 68 73 69, Steven Conran 71 70 69, Paul Sheehan 66 70 74
211 David Lutterus (Rsa) 70 67 74, Richard Lee (Nzl) 67 71 73, Steve Alker (Nzl) 71 68 72, Paul Goydos (USA) 72 67 72, Matthew Millar 69 71 71
212 Michael Long (Nzl) 67 72 73, Michael Brennan 71 70 71
213 Aron Price 70 70 73, Marc Leishman 72 69 72, Matt Ballard 70 68 75, Michael Curtain 70 67 76
214 Robert Allenby 71 71 72, Craig Parry 71 71 72, Darron Stiles (USA) 73 69 72, Steven Bowditch 70 72 72, Heath Reed 69 74 71, Brad Kennedy 71 70 73, Stuart Appleby 71 70 73
215 Mahal Pearce (Nzl) 69 73 73, Anthony Brown 69 72 74
216 Dae-hyun Kim (Kor) 74 69 73, Martin Doyle 71 73 72, Terry Pilkadaris 70 70 76, Ashley Hall 72 71 73
217 Rudi Bezuidenhout 72 72 73, Michael Sim 70 73 74, Peter Nolan 68 75 74, Aaron Black 71 72 74, Ryan Haller 73 71 73, Bradley Hughes 70 72 75, David Diaz 73 67 77
218 Rowan Beste 73 71 74, Greg Chalmers 72 72 74, Tim Wood 73 71 74, Mark Brown (USA) 71 72 75, Brad Lamb 73 71 74, Josh Geary (Nzl) 72 70 76, Adam Crawford 72 68 78, Craig Spence 76 68 74, Richard Green 72 71 75, Adam Blyth 70 72 76
219 David McKenzie 72 69 78, Bronson LaCassie 70 74 75
220 Stephen Dartnell 74 70 76
221 Craig Jones 70 73 78, Michael Lambert 71 73 77, Brent McCullough 71 72 78
222 Luke Hickmott 71 73 78, Alex Simpson 75 68 79.

+PLAYERS WITH TOTALS OF 144 OR BETTER QUALIFIED FOR FINAL TWO ROUNDS. JOHN DALY (148) WAS ONE OF THOSE WHO MISSED OUT.

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Wizard from Oz Nitties joined by
Day in US Tour Q School lead

FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE
LA QUINTA, California. Australian James Nitties (69/Stadium) retained his lead after the third round of the US PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament at 15 under par and was joined by Glen Day,, who shot an 8-under 64 on the Stadium Course, one stroke shy of the course record set Thursday by Jonathan Fricke.
Nitties, who started on the 10th tee, recorded birdies at holes 4, 8, 10 and 18, along with a lone bogey at the sixth. Day, who also began at the 10th hole, posted eight birdies and no bogeys. In fact, Day has played 41 consecutive holes without a bogey.
Geoffrey Sisk (69/Stadium), who began his round on the 10th hole, stormed into the lead with four consecutive birdies on holes 5-8 but a double bogey at his final hole dropped him to third place.
Sisk earned his best finish of the year when he tied for 10th at the $1 million Nationwide Tour Players Cup in West Virginia, eventually finishing 86th on the Nationwide Tour money list. ...
Scoring averages for the third round were 69.000 on the Nicklaus Course and 71.123 on the Stadium Course. The most difficult holes were No. 18 on the Nicklaus and No. 6 on the Stadium while the easiest holes were No. 7 on the Nicklaus and No. 8 on the Stadium. Twelve rounds of 65 or better were recorded in round three. ...
There are 48 players at the Qualifying School who played on the 2008 US PGA Tour.
Bogey-free rounds were posted by 13 players in the third round, six on the Stadium Course and seven on the Nicklaus Course.

Michael Putnam (63/Nicklaus) advanced exactly 100 spots into a tie for 28th at 9 under with the low round of the day. Putnam, who finished No. 52 on the Nationwide Tour money list with $130,981, recorded nine birdies, one eagle and two bogeys, both on par 5s. He had 10 "3s" on his scorecard.
Last year's winner of the Qualifying School, Frank Lickliter II, finished 149th on the US PGA Tour money list this season and is back here trying to improve his status. He has some work to do. After rounds of 72-70-71 213, Lickliter is 3 under and tied for 119th. ...
First round co-leader Craig Kanada probably dislikes the symmetry of his 65-78-65 -- 208 (-7) heading to the Stadium Course Saturday. His bogey-free 65 in the third round vaulted him into a tie for 36th from his tie for 113th position at the start of the round.
Paul Stankowski (66/Nicklaus), the only player to win Nationwide Tour and US PGA Tour events back-to-back, started the day tied for 145th, but five consecutive birdies on holes 9-13 helped him move into a tie for 102nd.
Garrett Willis (71/Stadium) began the day at 5 under in a tie for 50th. He was still 5 under through six holes before a quintuple-bogey 9 at the seventh hole sent him tumbling down the leaderboard. A fired-up Willis then holed out from the fairway for eagle at the par-4 ninth and added birdies at 10, 11 and 13 and 17 to claw his way back into a tie for 65th. ...
Jeff Gallagher, a 43-year-old Indiana native, is not the only one in his family going through the Qualifying School process. Gallagher (77/Stadium), who is tied for 119th, is here for the eighth time in his career while his younger sister, Jackie Gallagher-Smith, is at the LPGA Tour Qualifying School in Daytona Beach this week, coincidentally also for the eighth time.
Gallagher-Smith is tied for 41st at even par after three rounds. The top twenty receive LPGA cards for 2009. Older brother, Jim Gallagher, Jr., is a five-time winner on the PGA TOUR. ...
The purse for the 2008 US PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament is $1,057, 500 with the winner receiving $50,000. Players earning a US PGA Tour card by finishing tied 25th or better after 108 holes will earn a minimum of $25,000. Players who gain exempt status on the Nationwide Tour by finishing in the next 50 (or number nearest to 50) will earn $5,000.
The final stage saw 163 players (including one amateur -- Scott Fawcett from Dallas, Texas tee it up after 1,288 players entered the US PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament. Six Pre-Qualifying sites, 12 First-Stage sites and six Second-Stage sites were used to determine the 163 players for the Final Stage.
Only six players made it through Pre-Qualifying, First Stage and Second Stage to reach the finals. They are Fawcett, Brad Golden, Patton Kizzire, Martin Piller, Joseph Sykora and Steven Taylor. In 2007, six players also advanced through the Pre-Qualifying and both stages. In 2006, when Pre-Qualifying was introduced, only one player advanced to the Final Stage from the Pre-Qualifying. .
When these venues were used in 2006, George McNeill won with a score of 23 under par. Forty players qualified for the PGA TOUR that year (35 and ties were accepted) with a score of 8 under or better. Forty-nine players (the next nearest number to 50) shot 1 over par or better to earn exempt status on the Nationwide Tour. All remaining players earned conditional status on the Nationwide Tour.
Superintendent Greg Hrycyk and his staff have removed approximately 20 acres of scrub from the Stadium Course during the year. The scrub removal program was instigated to make the Stadium Course more playable and assist with the pace of play.
The field this year includes one former Major Champion (Mark Brooks, 1996 PGA Championship), one former Ryder Cup representative (Chris Riley, 2004), three former Presidents Cup representatives (Carlos Franco, 1998, 2000; Notah Begay III, 2000; Brooks, 1996) and 20 former PGA TOUR winners, led by Brooks and John Huston with seven victories.
Three players who finished in the top 25 on the 2008 Nationwide Tour money list and graduated to the 2009 PGA TOUR are also here this week trying to improve their current status. They are Spencer Levin (22nd), Bryce Molder (23rd) and Ricky Barnes (25th).
It is a truly International field this week. While the majority of the field is comprised of Americans, Australia (12), Canada (4), Sweden (2) and South Korea (2) have multiple representatives. The United Kingdom, Japan, Korea, Colombia and Norway each have a single representative.
Matthew Richardson makes top 20 with third-round 65
Matthew Richardson, the only British or Irish player competing at the US PGA Tour Q School, shot back into contention for playing rights in 2009 with a third-round 65 and a 54-hole total of 10-under-par 206. Richardson leaped up from joint 87th overnight to joint 19th.

LEADERBOARD
Par 216 (3 x 72)
201 J Nitties 69 63 69,G Day 70 67 64.
203 G Sisk 69 65 69.
204 T Aldridge 68 66 70, B Molder 68 67 69, J Williamson 67 68 69, T Kelly 66 68 70, J Oh 71 63 70, R Garrigus 69 64 71, D Fathauer 70 69 65.
205 M Brooks 66 69 70, G Woodland 70 64 71, J Durant 68 72 65, L Olson 68 72 65, H Frazar 9 64 72, W Simpson 69 68 68, Y Yang 69 68 68, J Walker 69 68 68.
Selected score:
206 M Richardson (Eng) 67 74 65 (jt 19th).

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