US PGA Tour wants players to

be upbeat in public about Tour

The US PGA Tour top man wants EVERYONE, from players and agents to officials, to be upbeat in public about the 2009 US PGA Tour.
No negative statements, no negative publicity. It has all got to be POSITIVE.
That's one of the ways the US PGA Tour top brass feel they can combat how the economic slowdown is going to hit sponsors and potential sponsors.
Commissioner Tim Finchem has sent a five-minute video to all US PGA Tour players and their agents, asking them to focus on four areas during the current ecomonic slowdown: scheduling, sponsor appreciation, public comments and charitable involvement.
Finchem said in the video: "We're asking every player to add a tournament or two to their historical schedule to assist the tournaments that historically have weak fields. We have a lot of title sponsors this year that are up for renewal. We have to put our best foot forward in terms of presenting our competitions."
He also asked players to be visible in corporate hospitality areas and to communicate that to the leaders of Tour-sponsoring companies. He also asked players to avoid being publicly negative about the Tour.
"We want players to be upbeat and positive about what the PGA Tour is doing and where we're going," Finchem said. "We want you to be excited about the competitive opportunities that you have. And third, we want you to talk about PGA Tour properties when you describe what this year, 2009, is all about. Particularly the FedEx Cup."
The PGA Tour isn't immune to the economic slowdown worldwide. Several of its sponsors are financial institutions or car companies, which are having significant economic troubles. But the Tour remains confident.
"The PGA Tour has come through other recessions and tough times in as good a shape, if not better, than before," PGA Tour executive vice president Ty Votaw told Golf World Magazine in November. "The best companies know that, especially in bad times, they always have to market, sell and entertain customers"

Seve Ballersteros begins chemotherapy

Seve Ballesteros has started chemotherapy after returning to his home in Northern Spain following surgery in a Madrid hospital to removed a brain tumour.
"Today is Friday and I have started my first chemotherapy session," Ballesteros said on his web site. "At this point, my thought is to rest and follow the neurosurgeons."
Ballesteros said he would provide more news on his condition in January and wished all his fans a "Merry Christmas" and thanked them for their support.

Lorenzo-Vera two shots ahead at

halfway in South African Open

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Michael Lorenzo-Vera holds a two-shot lead at the South African Open Championship after a second round 65.
The Frenchman's seven under par effort at Pearl Valley Golf Estates took him to 12 under 132 for the tournament, two strokes clear of the challenging pack.
But the 23 year old faces stiff competition over the weekend with four time winner Ernie Els, World No 10 Lee Westwood, three time European Tour winner Charl Schwartzel and Volvo China Open champion Damien McGrane all hot on his heels at ten under par 134.
Lorenzo-Vera - who briefly led on the opening day when he completed the front nine in 31 before fading on the way in- started at the 10th and was two under at the turn, thanks to birdies on the tenth and 18th.
For the second day running he picked up five shots on the front nine and his bogey-free round set him clear at the top of the leaderboard.
And after a day to remember for the leader, he admitted afterward that his main aim coming into the competition was to test his right wrist, which he injured two months ago by falling over some stairs.
“It feels pretty good, pretty cool to be leading because I had two months of rest because of my wrist,” said Lorenzo-Vera, who was playing in his first tournament since the injury. “So I was just coming here to find some new feelings.
“Today was just like yesterday, the putting was very good. The first nine, the putts were not very good, I think mainly because they were long putts. But the second nine I hit the irons much closer. But everything was good.”
Looking forward to his chances for the weekend, the Frenchman said that he was hoping to make his good position count.
He added: “I hope this time I’m going to catch it. There were few occasions last year that I let it go, so I’m just going to try and make it a good weekend. I’ll be aiming to hit a lot of greens in regulation like I did today.”
McGrane produced the joint best round of the day - an eight under par 64.
The Irishman started on the tenth tee and picked up six birdies on the way out for a six under par 30 on the back nine.
He added another birdie at the first and picked up a shot at the 363 yard sixth to complete a bogey free round.
“It was strange the way it happened,” McGrane said after his round.
“We had a good three-ball [with Charl Schwartzel and Darren Fichardt], and Charl had four birdies to start his game straightaway and I had one par and four birdies to follow him.
“It was tough to get the honour on the front nine, but I think I was brought along by his momentum. He was playing well and he's a world-class player, as you know. I just got into the game and went along with his birdies.”
Westwood added a 68 to build on his opening 66, with five birdies and a single bogey in his first round.
He said: “I gave myself a lot of chances, when I missed the green my short game was good. I felt I rolled the ball better on the greens.
“I don't want to put any unneeded pressure on myself. I've not won all year and it would be nice to win this year, and also starting this Race to Dubai, it would be nice to get some momentum in that. It would also be good just to finish off the year solidly. I've played good all year, and I'm continuing to do it this week.”
South Africans have won this event seven years in a row and Els and Schwartzel were both in contention to make it an eighth.
Madrid Masters winner Schwartzel posted eight birdies in his seven under par 65, while Els - who last won the tournament two years ago - registered a second successive 67.
Schwartzel said: “I got off to a really good start. I birdied my first four holes, and then it just gets all around going.
“I hit some fantastic shots, and just sort of during the middle of the round, nothing was happening and my back nine started three birdies again.
“All in all, it was a very good round for me. I felt like I played really well and I didn't make any mistakes, except for my tee shot on the last, and still managed to escape with a par there, which was very nice.”
Els said: “It’s only the second round, halfway through the tournament and still so much to happen. I’m at ten under and pretty pleased with that. I had a nice day and even if a guy is at 15 under I don’t care.
“We’ve got two rounds left. If I’m two shots behind with two to play I still have a chance to win, so there’s still plenty of golf left.”
The trio of Thomas Aiken, David Horsey and Gareth Maybin were all just one shot further back on nine under for the tournament.
Aiken - who led last week`s Alfred Dunhill Championship going into the final round before slipping into a tie for fourth - said: “Obviously last week was a little disappointing, and it wasn't that easy to get it out of my mind but eventually I did come Thursday.
“I guess you just have to take the positives out of it. I had the two great rounds on a Friday and Saturday and didn't really play that bad on a Sunday, I just didn't sink any putts and hit one bad golf shot.
“It's a new week, obviously playing decently, so I put myself in a good position again this week to give myself a chance. That's what golf is all about, it's about giving yourself chances and one of them will come.”
An eagle 3 at the long fifth was the highlight of Englishman Horsey`s 65, while European Challenge Tour graduate Maybin recovered from three bogeys on the front nine to record a 69.
COLIN FARQUHARSON'S SCOTSWATCH:
Joint third overnight with a 66, Aberdeen's Richie Ramsay shot a level-par 72 today but, with the scoring so low, he actually lost ground - for the moment - on six-under-par 138.
Ramsay had to come home in 33 to salvage a 72, having bogeyed the second and short eighth and double-bogeyed the par-4 sixth. He had only one birdie, at the long fifth, on his outward half.
Richie got into his stride with birdies at the 11th, short 12th (a 2 for the second day in a row) and the long 13th (which cost him a 6 on Thursday). He dropped a shot at the 16th but finished in style by birdieing the monster last hole, all of 601yd.
David Drysdale got a rare eagle 3 at that same hole, having started at the 10th with birdies at the 10th and long 13th (which cost him a 7 in the first round). And he needed that eagle because he had a double bogey 5 at the short 16th.
Turning in two-under- 34, Drysdale repeated the score for his inward half with birdies at the short fourth and seventh. A 68 for 142 was just what he needed to ensure he beat the cut with a shot to spare.
Scottish amateur champion Callum Macaulay has now played six rounds on the European Tour - and has yet to do worse than par for any round. Which is quite a start for the Tulliallan man.
Today he got three under the card with a fine 69 for 140.
Macaulay started at the 10th and played his first five holes very efficiently with seven pars and birdies at the short 15th and long 18th. His first and only bogey came at the long third but didn't let that upset him and birdied the long fifth and seventh.
Glasgow-born Canada-based Alan McLean had a 72 for 143, good enough to get him through to the weekend action with nothing to spare. Born-again European Tour player Andrew Coltart continues to play very steadily since regaining his place on the circuit. He had a 72 for 143, covering the last nin holes in two under par 34 with seven pars and birdies at the 11th and short 12th after an outward half of 38 had made his prospects rather gloomy.
For Scott Drummond (73 for 144), Chris Doak (73 for 145) and Euan Little (74 for 148) the tournament is over.
Drummond had a double bogey 5 at the short fourth.
Doak had a dreadful 5-5-6 start (bogey-bogey-bogey) and had not got any of the shots back by the turn. He got a revival on the road with birdies at the 12th, 16th and 17th but, needing a birdie 4 at the long, long last to qualify, he instead marked up a bogey 6 and bowed out.

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
132 Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 67 65.
134 Damien McGrane 70 64, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 69 65, Lee Westwood 66 68, Ernie Els (Saf) 67 67.
135 Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 71 64, Gareth Maybin 66 69, David Horsey 70 65
136 Len Mattiace (USA) 70 66, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 64 72, Keith Horne (Rsa) 66 70, Branden Grace (Rsa) 69 67, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 70 66, Michael Hoey 70 66, Ross McGowan 66 70
137 Martin Wiegele (Aut) 69 68, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 66 71, Chris Wood 68 69, Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa) 66 71, Carlos Del moral (Spa) 69 68, George Coetzee (Rsa) 69 68
138 Rory McIlroy 70 68, John Mellor 70 68, Richie Ramsay 66 72, Ake Nilsson (Rsa) 66 72, Adilson Da Silva (Bra) 70 68
139 Richard Finch 69 70, Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 65 74, Trevor Fisher Jnr (Rsa) 72 67
140 Merrick Bremner (Rsa) 71 69, Hennie Otto (Rsa) 68 72, Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 69 71, Jake Roos (Rsa) 70 70, Simon Dyson 67 73, David Frost (Rsa) 68 72, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 70 70, Lee Slattery 68 72, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 69 71, Antti Ahokas (Fin) 71 69, Callum Macaulay 71 69, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 70 70, Peter Karmis (Rsa) 69 71, Tim Clark (Rsa) 67 73
141 Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 72 69, Garth Mulroy (Rsa) 70 71, Darren Clarke 74 67, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 67 74, Gary Lockerbie 72 69, Adrian Ford (Rsa) 70 71, Dion Fourie (Rsa) 70 71, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 72 69, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 72 69, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 70 71
142 Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 72 70, Estanislao Goya (Arg) 70 72, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 69 73, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 71 71, Johan Edfors (Swe) 72 70, Peter Hanson (Swe) 74 68, Marco Ruiz (Par) 69 73, David Drysdale 74 68, Christiaan Basson (Rsa) 73 69, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 68 74
143 Steve Basson (Rsa) 72 71, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 74 69, Alan McLean 71 72, Andrew Coltart 71 72, Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice) 71 72, Albert Pistorius (Rsa) 68 75, Wil Besseling (Ned) 75 68, Justin Rose 69 74, Tyrone Ferreira (Rsa) 74 69, Gary Murphy 72 71, Tyrone Van Aswegen (Rsa) 72 71, Ariel Canete (Arg) 73 70, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 69 74
MISSED THE CUT
144 Ulrich Van Den Berg (Rsa) 74 70, Anton Haig (Rsa) 70 74, Robert Dinwiddie 73 71, Scott Drummond 71 73, Grant Veenstra (Rsa) 73 71, Tc Charamba (Zim) 75 69, Bradford Vaughan (Rsa) 72 72, David Lynn 71 73, Sam Walker 75 69, Grant Muller (Rsa) 72 72, Warren Abery (Rsa) 70 74, Mark Foster 71 73, James Kamte (Rsa) 68 76, Neil Schietekat (Rsa) 72 72
145 Alex Haindl (Rsa) 71 74, Andre Cruse (Rsa) 72 73, Dylan Frittelli (Rsa) 73 72, Bradley Davison (Rsa) 75 70, Alan Michell (Rsa) 70 75, Marc Cayeux (Zim) 72 73, Anthony Snobeck (Fra) 71 74, Chris Doak 72 73
146 Desvonde Botes (Rsa) 74 72, James Kingston (Rsa) 72 74, Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe) 73 73, Danny Willett 74 72, Ryan Cairns (Zim) 75 71, Cameron Johnston (Rsa) 76 70, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 74 72, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 73 73
147 Brandon Pieters (Rsa) 73 74, Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 70 77, Jean Hugo (Rsa) 71 76, Omar Sandys (Rsa) 77 70, Rossouw Loubser (Rsa) 71 76, Seve Benson 74 73, Dean Lambert (Rsa) 77 70, Deane Pappas (Rsa) 72 75
148 Nic Henning (Rsa) 76 72, Andrew Curlewis (Rsa) 72 76, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 70 78, Euan Little 74 74, Gary Clark 70 78, Michiel Bothma (Rsa) 75 73, Ross Wellington (Rsa) 76 72, Jake Redman (Rsa) 76 72, Ryan Tipping (Rsa) 71 77, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 73 75
149 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 72 77, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 76 73, Inder Van Weerelt (Ned) 77 72, Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 75 74, Vaughn Groenewald (Rsa) 74 75
150 Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 78 72, Paul Waring 73 77, Chris Williams (Rsa) 76 74, Justin Walters (Rsa) 72 78, Mark Murless (Rsa) 75 75, Gavan Levenson (Rsa) 73 77
151 Brett Liddle (Rsa) 73 78, Taco Remkes (Ned) 76 75, Doug McGuigan 77 74, Mark Williams (Rsa) 74 77
152 Henk Alberts (Rsa) 78 74, Thabang Simon (Rsa) 80 72
153 Josh Cunliffe (Rsa) 78 75, Derik Ferreira (Rsa) 78 75
155 Wallie Coetsee (Rsa) 75 80
156 Titch Moore (Rsa) 72 84, Shaun Norris (Rsa) 72 84, Teboho Sefatsa (Rsa) 75 81
157 Heinrich Bruiners (Rsa) 81 76, Lindani Ndwandwe (Rsa) 84 73
158 John Bele (Rsa) 79 79, Jbe Kruger (Rsa) 80 78
159 Dean O'riley (Rsa) 74 85, David Dixon 76 83
160 Mikhail Tewary (Rsa) 79 81

£100million redevelopment for Hazlehead gets
green light from
city councillors

FROM TODAY'S FRONT PAGE OF THE PRESS AND JOURNAL

By CALLUM ROSS

With additional words by Colin Farquharson

Councillors in Aberdeen are poised to give the go-ahead to plans for a £100million redevelopment of a historic city municipal golf course, it emerged last night.

Proposals to transform Hazlehead golf course into a world-class facility have been recommended for approval by city councillors.

The plans from the MacKenzie Club, a consortum of business people headed by local man Brian Hendry (pictured above by Cal Carson Golf Agency) and established for the project, would see it lease the course from the council and redevelop the Nos 1 and 2 and nine-hole courses.

A new clubhouse would also be built, alongwith a five-star hotel, timeshare accommodation and a Professional Golf Associaton academy to promote the game.

Yesterday's decision by the council's Hazlehead advisory and monitoring board to recommend councillors give the plans their final approval in February marks another step forward in the North-east's drive to become a global golf tourism hub.

The move follows the recent approval of Donald Trump's £1billion two-course complex at Balmedie, the £115 development at Blairs College led by Paul Lawrie, and comes amid proposals for another multi-million-ound golf course development, designed by Jack Nicklaus, at Ury Estate, near Stonehaven.

Advisory board chairman Kevin Stewart said: "The board believes there is a good deal on the table that is right for the course, right for local golfers, right for the city council and right for Aberdeen.

"The MacKenize Club made a very positive presentation to us today and we are now making a firm recommendation that the city council enters a partnership with them and concludes negotiations on the lease arrangements.

"Hazlehead is one of the jewels in Aberdeen's crown but it has suffered from under-investment for many years.

"We believe the MacKenzie Club is the vehicle through which we can make a vast improvement and turn the course into one in which the city can take great pride," the deputy city council leader added.

The course, next to Hazlehead Park, was created by renowned golf course architect Alister MacKenzie who also designed the home of the US Masters at Augusta National as well, a bit closer to home, Duff House Royal at Banff.

MacKenzie's feat in transforming a heavily-wooded, badly-drained marshland into the finest Scottish municipal course of its day - it opened in 1927 - was the work of a master craftsman but there was much controversy at the time over the cost involved. It was reckoned that each hole cost £1,000 to build, which probably relates to £100,000 per hole, if not more, in modern financial terms.

The columns of the Press and Journal were full at the times of the doom-mongers' predictions that "The construction of Hazlehead golf course will ruin the city's finances."

Councillor Martin Greig, Liberal Democrat member for Hazlehead, Ashley and Queen's Cross, moved at yesterday's meeting that members should not recommend the MacKenzie Club tender and that the course should be transferred to the council's new sports trust instead. He did not receive a seconder.

Mr Greig said: "The local community council and other residents are very much opposed to building work in Hazlehead Park, including roads construction. There is a real public concern about this much-loved and treasured open space in the city."

So why is Brian Hendry and his consortium prepared to plough so much money into what is, after all, a rundown municipal golf course, the condition of which has been in steady decline over the past 20 to 30 years?

The answer is that it is an Alister MacKenzie creation. That may not mean much on this side of the Atlantic but over in the States, there are a lot of well-heeled golf lovers who will pay a lot of money to visit, play over and invest in a MacKenzie course.

Count Brian Hendry among the lovers of Mackenzie courses. America is where his backers are.

Brian's master plan has been a long time getting to this stage. He held a Press Conference at least two, maybe three years ago to reveal his plans.

Seven students heading from Scotland to Florida

Five Stirling students and two from Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen are escaping the Scottish winter to play on the Orange Blossom Tour in Florida next month.
To find out the names of the lucky girls, switch over to our sister website, www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk

Lam roars into halfway lead at

Volvo Masters of Asia

Singaporean Lam Chih Bing powered into a two-stroke halfway lead at the US$750,000 Volvo Masters of Asia at Bangkok today to give himself a shot at winning his maiden Asian Tour title.
The in-form Lam carded a six-under-par 66 at a sun-kissed Thai Country Club to lead from Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat (66), Filipino Antonio Lascuna (67) and Australian duo Mitchell Brown (67) and Marcus Both (68).
Chinese Taipei’s Lin Wen-tang, second on the Order of Merit, battled to a 70 to stay three shots off the pace alongside Chawalit Plaphol of Thailand (67) while title holder Prayad Marksaeng revived his challenge with a best-of-the-week 65 to lie a further stroke back in the Asian Tour’s season-ending tournament.
Since earning his full Tour card for 2009 following a tied 18th place at the cash-rich Barclays Singapore Open last month, Lam has played some of his best golf and also finished runner-up in Cambodia last weekend.
“Just being here this week, I’ve already achieved my goal for the year. I’m very happy to be here and whatever happens will be a bonus,” said Lam, who holds a two-day total of nine-under-par 135.
Lam was often regarded as an underachiever despite his enormous talent but a switch to the short putter two months ago and fatherhood seem to have revived his flagging career.
He played in the last group of the final round in Singapore alongside world No 3 Phil Mickelson and despite falling off the leaderboard, he said the experience was priceless.
“I’ve made more putts. The first week that I switched back to the short putter was at an Asean Tour event and I won it. Then at the following week, I played well in the Barclays Singapore Open and started playing well ever since,” said Lam.
“After Singapore, knowing that I’ve kept my card, it’s become so much easier to play out here. It was a big monkey off my back. I can pretty much freewheel it now. I didn’t get it done on the last day in Singapore but to know that I could actually match some of the best players in the world gave me a lot of confidence.”
Big-hitting Chapchai will also be eager to prove his doubters wrong at the Volvo Masters of Asia, which is restricted to the top-65 players on the Asian Tour, as he had led into the final round in Singapore before falling off the leaderboard.
“It is a mental game. I learnt a lot from Singapore. Right now, my game is okay - I am in good form. And hopefully I can control my mind and my emotions better than I did in Singapore,” said the Thai.
Like Lam, Chapchai switched back to an old putter for the second round and it rewarded him with seven birdies. “The putter has a softer face – I stopped using it two months ago. It helped me today,” added the two-time Asian Tour winner.
Both was relishing the opportunity of challenging for the Volvo Masters of Asia again as he was also in contention here three years ago. “This is a great tournament. We have the best of the best here and it is good to measure yourself against the other guys,” said Both, whose lone victory in the region was at the 2004 Sanya Open in China.
“I was in contention here three years ago. It is one of those courses that fits my eye. But you have to execute as well and I have not been doing that well in the last couple of years. I hit two bad tee shots on nine and 18 and was punished for them with a double bogey and a bogey. I am going to have to hit some pretty good numbers on the weekend to win.”
Defending champion Prayad revived his title hopes with a sparkling round that included an eagle and five birdies. The Thai star, winner of three events in Japan this year, had opened his campaign with a disappointing 74 on Thursday but hit top form to stay within striking distance of Lam.
“I was not too worried about shooting a 74 yesterday. I knew I would be out early this morning and I thought I could play well. That is how it turned out,” said Prayad, who needs a good week here to cement his position in the world’s top-50 and earn a place in the US Masters.
India’s Jeev Milkha Singh, who has already secured the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit title, improved with a 70 after struggling to a 76 in the opening round while Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand, who is chasing a third straight victory, added a 74 to his opening 73.

SECOND-ROUND LEADERS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
135 Lam Chih Bing (SIN) 69-66
137 Chapchai Nirat (THA) 71-66, Mitchell Brown (AUS) 70-67, Antonio Lascuna (PHI) 70-67, Marcus Both (AUS) 69-68
138 Chawalit Plaphol (THA) 71-67, Lin Wen-tang (TPE) 68-70
139 Prayad Marksaeng (THA) 74-65
140 Simon Griffiths (ENG) 72-68, Kim Kyung-tae (KOR) 72-68, Rhys Davies (WAL) 72-68, Gaurav Ghei (IND) 70-70, Hendrik Buhrmann (RSA) 69-71, Neven Basic (AUS) 66-74, Adam Blyth (AUS) 68-72
141 Rick Kulacz (AUS) 72-69
142 Mark Brown (NZL) 72-70, Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 71-71, Danny Chia (MAS) 71-71, Andrew Dodt (AUS) 70-72

For further information, visit http://www.asiantour.com/ for live scoring.

FOR THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF WOMEN'S GOLF, SWITCH OVER TO OUR SISTER WEBSITE, www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk

Jim Furyk does it HIS way - and

leads Chevron Challenge by two

It's not only Jim Furyk's swing that is unconventional. What about his self-imposed "close season?"
Furyk shot a four-under-par 68 on a cold day - by California standards - and a wet course, by anyone's standards - to lead the select field of 16 players by two strokes from K J Choi and Book Weekley in the Chevron World Challenge, hosted by Tiger Woods, without his controversial caddie, at Sherwood Country Club, Thousand Oaks.
The Chevron event is the only competitive golf Furyk will be playing during a four-month lay-off and he surprised himself by how well he played (which suggests no-one is going to hold that Tiger when HE returns to action).
Furyk has not played a card-and-pencil round since winning the US PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Bermuda on October 15. After this week, he won't play again until beginning his 2009 season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
"The goal was obviously to come in and play well and try to win the golf tournament," Furyk said, "but as little as I've been playing, I wanted to just kind of get my feet wet and little by little, chip away and try to put a good round together."
Furyk was the only player to break 70 and he did it without birdieing any of the five par-5s.
He was the only man to birdie the tough 18th, which doubled his lead over Weekley and Choi.
Weekley was ran into trouble on the par-5 16th, where he hit a fairway metal wood for his fourth shot and escaped with bogey.
Choi's putting was the highlight of his game. He is working with a new caddie -- Michael "Sponge" Waite, who worked for Michael Campbell when the New Zealander won the US Open at Pinehurst No. 2. Choi plans to use two caddies next year as his regular bagman, Englishman Andy Prodger, takes time off.
Canadian left hander Mike Weir played very well for 16 of the holes. But a triple bogey 6 at the short eighth and a quadruple bogey 8 at the next relegated him to the bottom of the heap on 78 alongside another Canadian, Stephen Ames.
Ryder Cup teammates Steve Stricker, Anthony Kim and Hunter Mahan were among those at 71, with Kim the most thrilled. He hasn't played since he was disqualified from the second round of the HSBC Champions in China in early November.
"I think we'll see more 64s and 65s as this tournament - and the players - warm up," said Furyk. "That said, my best round is always in the first round."
Furyk didn't play golf for six weeks except for the odd corporate outing, spending most of his time going to Ohio State University and Pittsburgh Steelers American football games and coaching his five-year-old son's basketball team.
He tried to work his game into shape for this tournament, even with another big break on the other side.
"To just come out here and slap it around and shoot 78 every day and collect a cheque at the end of the week, isn't fair to the sponsor and it's not fair to the tournament," said Furyk.
ALL THE FIRST-ROUND SCORES
Par 72
68 J Furyk.
70 K J Choi, B Weekley.
71 A Kim, H Mahan, V J Singh, S Striker.
72 B Curtis.
73 F Couples, L Donald, K Perry.
74 P Casey, C Villegas.
75 J Leonard.
78 S Ames, M Weir.

McGrane covers back nine in 30 and
then birdies 10th in SA Open

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Damien McGrane made a flying start to his second round at the South African Open Championship to move into a one shot lead at Pearl Valley Golf Estates this morning.
The Irishman started on the tenth tee and picked up six birdies on the way out for a six under par 30 on the back nine.
He added another birdie at the first to reach seven under for the day and nine under for the tournament.
That was enough for a one-stroke lead on the overall scoreboard from first round leader Fabrizio Zanotti - who was not due out until the afternoon - and Lee Westwood.
Westwood built on his opening 66 with three birdies and a single bogey in his first 11 holes to reach eight under par for the tournament.
South Africans have won this event seven years in a row and two were mounting their challenge during the early stages of the second round.
Thomas Aiken and Charl Schwartzel were both seven under, through 12 and ten holes respectively, to lie level with Swede Oskar Henningsson who was yet to tee off.
FULL REPORT AND ALL THE SCORES AT THE END OF THE DAY WITH PROGRESS REPORTS (if we can find the time!)

Editor's Note: We don't usually publish anonymous E-mail messages but the following response to our story about Aberdeen Town Council being prepared to close Auchmill golf course to save public money is an interesting and informative one.

Not just Aberdeen, Edinburgh's municipal golf

courses are also running at a loss

From: "Tellitasitis"
I was interested in your article (published Thursday) regarding Aberdeen Town Council.
*Below is an extract from an Edinburgh Leisure report on revenue from Edinburgh's six municipal courses - two are only 9 holers.
The reason for poor revenues in Edinburgh is not the weather, it is the ridiculous charges to play the courses. I would say 90% of golfers playing the courses live in Edinburgh and are already paying to maintain the courses through their council tax.
If an Edinburgh resident was to turn up for a game and at the starter,s box he meets up with three other golfers from say Australia, the States and Japan, all four would pay the same green fee !!
Edinburgh's problem is Edinburgh Leisure - they hive off money to fund other ailing sporting facilities throughout the city and thir management are seriously lacking in knowledge of the game of golf and have no empathy with golfers at all.
My club would welcome the opportunity of leasing the course from Edinburgh Leisure - something the club members of our club and others will probably never get the chance of doing as the tenders never come up for bidding.
Like Aberdeen Town Council, the City of Edinburgh' s quango Edinburgh Leisure are not managing their finances and the management need to be exposed for this.
Finally - I find your website a fantastic source of information - well done!

EDINBURGH LEISURE REPORT ON MUNICIPAL GOLF COURSES
* The net position within Golf has deteriorated from £62k behind target at the end of June (as reported at the August Board) to £128k behind at the end of August.
This is attributable to the exceptionally wet weather during the month of August.
Total golf income during August was £75k behind target and £65k behind August 2007.
Craigentinny was hit particularly badly by the weather, with the full 18 holes being closed for 10 days during the month, and for another six days only nine holes were open for play.
Golf income targets do reduce significantly from October onwards and so the full year deficit is projected to be £135k.

Any more views on municipal golf in Scotland? E-mail them to Colin@scottishgolfview.com
What about those who use Auchmill golf course in Aberdeen? We would like to know how they feel about the local situation.