Boo's 25 putts see him share early Hawaii lead

Boo Weekley hit only 40% of the fairways with his drives but only 25 putts saw the American share the early clubhouse lead with compatriots Brian Gay and Webb Simpson as well as last weekend's Aussie winner, Geoff Ogilvy, on the 66 mark in the first round of the Sony Open on Hawaii.
Charles Howell had a 67 and Bill Haas a 68.
Scot Martin Laird is in this event but he had a later starting time, as had England's Luke Donald.

Hot stuff on the Hooters Tour in Florida

Russell Knox finishes on 10-under

- that's only good enough for jt 11th

Inverness-born Russell Knox had a 54-hole total of 10-under-par 206 but that was still only good-enough for the Jacksonville, Florida-based Scot to finish joint 11th in the highly competitive NGA Hooters Tour Winter Series event at Fores Lake Golf Club, Ocoee, Florida today.

Knox, pictured right by Cal Carson Golf Agency, had rounds of 68, 69 and 69 to earn $2,073. He was one of the tour's leading money-winners in 2008.

Winner of the top prize of $12,132 was former European Tour player Paul Curry from Essex but now based at Longwood, Florida. Curry had scores of 66, 69 and 66 for a 15-under-par total of 201.

He won one stroke from Jeff Corr, also from Longwood, with 66, 65 and 71 for 202 and a pay-out of $6,066.

To survive the 36-hole cut, players in the field of 130 had to shoot four-under-par 140 or better. Irishman Sean McTernan was eliminated with a pair of 74s for 148.

HOW THEY FINISHED

Par 216 (3 x 72)

Players from US unless stated

201 Paul Curry (Eng) 66 69 66.

202 Jeff Corr 66 65 71.

203 Jim Renner 70 66 67, James Vargas 66 68 69.

Selected score

206 Russell Knox (Sco) 68 69 69 (jt 11th).

Missed the cut

148 Sean McTernan (Ire) 74 74.

Tiger's hitting longer irons and driver

- but when is he going to return?


FROM THE GOLFWEEK WEBSITE:
Tiger Woods can’t be too far from his much-anticipated ’09 debut. He’s got driver in his hands.
Woods, whose dramatic 91-hole U.S. Open victory was followed by season-ending knee surgery last June, has progressed to hitting long irons and driver, he said Monday on his Web site, TigerWoods.com.
“As I had hoped, after January 1, I started hitting longer irons and my driver,” Woods said. “I’m not swinging as hard as I can, but I’m working towards that goal.”
Woods, 33, had reconstructive ACL surgery on his left knee. He has played some holes at his home course near Orlando, Isleworth Country Club, with swing coach Hank Haney.
Woods still has no timetable for his return.“So far my knee has held up well, but I don’t know when I’ll be able to return to competition,” Woods said.
Most US Tour watchers peg Woods’ return to one of the events leading up to the Masters in early April. The Arnold Palmer Invitational, played two weeks before the Masters and near Woods’ home in Orlando, is a popular prediction.
Woods’ wife, Elin, is expecting the couple’s second child next month.

Cabrera plays like an angel for

record 62 in Africa Open

FROM THE SUNSHINE TOUR WEBSITE
Angel Cabrera got the kind of start players dream of on a coastal course today when he shot a course record 10-under-par 62 in the opening round of the Africa Open at East London Golf Club.
All the talk the day before was about the wind, but, on a still, cloudy morning, Cabrera started out with nine birdies and an eagle before he dropped a shot on the fifth (the 15th for him in his round) and had taken a single shot lead over Canadian Graham De Laet, who also started early.
Of the other early starters, those who made best use of the conditions were Neil Schietekat, Alex Haindl and James Kingston at six-under-66.
They were joined later by Retief Goosen, who played a carefully-compiled round with six birdies and no dropped shots and looked ominously calm.
But ahead of them were Darren Fichardt and Charl Schwartzel, who overcame a pair of bogeys each to card seven-under 65s and lead the South African challenge.
Cabrera didn’t let the dropped shot deter him: “That was the only shot that I hit badly on the whole course, actually. I just felt good and I was just trying to make another birdie on the last three holes,” he said.
He was only too aware of the fragility of his lead in the face of the forecast of winds for the rest of the tournament: “I was lucky today, playing in the morning,” he said. “Tomorrow I have to play in the afternoon. Guys who played in the afternoon today will have a bit of an advantage tomorrow, so it wills even things out.”
De Laet’s round was flawless with seven birdies and an eagle: “I actually holed out a shot on the 13th, and that doesn’t happen every day. So yeah, it was a good day,” he said.
It was disconcerting to have Cabrera firing away in front of him: “It was kinda crazy because I was playing well. I was like four-under through nine and the first leaderboard we saw, he was like nine-under through 12,” he said.
Another player who was disconcerted at Cabrera’s sublime round was Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke after his five-under 67: “When I got here first thing this morning to get ready for play, I had a look at the leaderboard and I was 11 behind before I hit a ball!” he said. “So now I’m only five behind, so it’s a bit of an improvement.”

Unexpected bad weather hits desert tournament

Hailstorm hits Abu Dhabi - half of

field still to complete first round

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Swedish duo Johan Edfors and Mikael Lundberg both completed opening rounds of 66 to set the clubhouse target at six under par at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship today.
Following the recent success of compatriots Robert Karlsson - winner of last year’s Order of Merit - and Henrik Stenson, who won the NedBank Challenge and teamed up with Karlsson for Omega Mission Hills World Cup glory at the back end of 2008 - Edfors and Lundberg continued the good form of Sweden’s golfers by claiming an early one shot lead.
Play was held up for more than two hours after a hailstorm flooded the course at 9am local time and although the storm was fairly brief, it was so fierce that the greenkeeping staff then had to clear flooded bunkers and fairways.
And the two hours lost meant that around half the field had still to complete their opening round when darkness brought the day’s play to a close.
Edfors had a golden opportunity to set an even stiffer target, but three putted the last for a par five and six under 66.
The former The Barclays Scottish Open champion had earlier recorded three successive birdies either side of the hold up and another hat-trick at the start of the back nine.
Compatriot Lundberg, twice a winner of the Inteco Russian Open Championship, was alongside him after a bogey free round.
Another Swede, Jarmo Sandelin, was a shot further back on five under, alongside England’s Oliver Fisher and Italy’s Francesco Molinari.
Molinari said: “It's good, probably better than what I expected. It's not easy to start over again after four weeks off, so I'm quite happy. I didn't expect to score this well, and looking forward to the rest of the week.”
And the Italian admitted he had not been prepared for the weather interference. “It was a bit of a surprise, because you don't expect that to come down in the desert,” he added. “It was a funny, new thing. Hopefully we won't get any of that in the next few days.”
Defending Champion Martin Kaymer is in the frame, having completed a first round 68.
“Not as good as last year but I'm very happy,” said the German. “I didn't hit the ball very well but my putting was awesome, so that gave me a lot of opportunities to make birdies. I'm happy.” Alongside Kaymer are Rafael Cabrera Bello, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet, Richard Green and Joburg Open runner-up Andrew McLardy.
Three time major winner Padraig Harrington, playing his first event on The European Tour International Schedule 2009, recorded a respectable one under 71.
“I felt reasonably good, coming at the end,” he said afterwards.
“I was disappointed to make the bogey on eight, and had two reasonable chances certainly with shots into the last two greens. So maybe a shot or two better would have been certainly what it felt like.”
Another major winner last year, Trevor Immelman, posted a level par 72. “I actually felt like I hit some nice shots but couldn't get the putter cooperate, so I need to work on that this afternoon,” said the South African.
One Swede not going well was course record holder and World Number 12 Stenson, who struggled to a four over 76.
That included a triple bogey 7 on the 16th when he played the wrong ball from the dense rough. It was of the same type and number, but he did not identify it closely enough and only after hitting the shot did he discover it did not have his personal mark on it.
On the course, Louis Oosthuizen is five under with two holes to play, while Spaniard Ignacio Garrido is also five under with three holes to go.
Race to Dubai leader and World No 2 Sergio Garcia made a fantastic start, moving to three under after just five holes after starting his round with consecutive birdies. The Spaniard was still three under when bad light brought his day to an end with four holes remaining in his first round.

Abu Dhabi Championship
Abu Dhabi Golf Club, United Arab Emirates
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72
First round to be completed Friday following two-hour hailstorm delay
66 Mikael Lundberg (Swe), Johan Edfors (Swe)
67 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), Oliver Fisher
68 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Richard Green (Aus), Martin Kaymer (Ger), Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa), Andrew McLardy (Rsa)
69 Gary Murphy, Alvaro Quiros (Spa), Graeme Storm, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Thomas Levet (Fra)
70 Marc Warren, David Dixon, Chapchai Nirat (Tha), Mark Foster, Kenneth Ferrie
71 Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Martin Erlandsson (Swe), Soren Hansen (Den), Robert Dinwiddie, Steven Jeppesen (Swe), Simon Dyson, Peter Hedblom (Swe), Simon Wakefield, Robert Allenby (Aus), Richard Finch, Phillip Archer, Miles Tunnicliff, Sam Little, Padraig Harrington
72 Alvaro Velasco (Spa), Shiv Kapur (Ind), Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), Pelle Edberg (Swe), Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), John Bickerton, David Drysdale, Stephen Dodd, Trevor Immelman (Rsa), Ross McGowan, Gregory Havret (Fra)
73 Christian Cevaer (Fra), Thomas Bjorn (Den), Paul Lawrie, Alejandro Canizares (Spa), Scott Strange (Aus)
74 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Steve Webster, Niclas Fasth (Swe), Nick Dougherty
75 David Howell, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind)
76 Pablo Martin (Spa), Henrik Stenson (Swe), Jose Manuel Lara (Spa)
78 Benn Barham, Jamie Wood
79 Gregory Bourdy (Fra)

John Hamilton (left) and David Law withe the trophy that links them

John and David - Two North-east District boys'

champions who span the last 45 years

By COLIN FARQUHARSON Colin@scottishgolfview.com

What do Murcar Links member John Hamilton and Hazlehead's David Law have in common, apart from both being regular competitors on the North-east Alliance circuit?
The answer is the North-east District boys' championship trophy, first played for in 1927.
John won it in 1963 when the tournament was played at Royal Aberdeen. David won it last year at Duff House Royal.

John has only a vague memory of a local newspaper photographer making a fleeting visit to the Balgownie clubhouse 45+ years ago and snapping his picture with the trophy. But he has never had a picture to place among his souvenirs - and reminder that for one day in 1963 he was the best boy golfer in the North-east of Scotland.

So John asked me the other day to be his "Mr Fix-it" and reunite him with the boys' championship trophy so that he could have his picture taken. It did not take much fixing. I knew where the trophy could be found, because I knew that David Law, the top prospect on the Aberdeen golf scene, won it last year.

So I was able to bring Messrs Hamilton and Law together today and take a picture of them for posterity ... 1963 champion meets 2008 champion.

So who were John Hamilton's contemporaries on the Aberdeen boys' golf scene 45 years ago?

"Well, Billy Hogg was the David Law of my day. Billy, a Royal Aberdeen member, won this trophy in 1960 and again in 1961 (both championships played at the Kings Links) and Philip Milne (Deeside) won it in 1962 at Hazlehead," said John.

"Way back in 1933 the late Jack Booth was North-east boys' champion at Stonehaven."

More recently the list of winners has included players such as Richie Ramsay (1999), Greig Hutcheon (1990) and Scott Henderson (1986).

David Law will be 18 in May. He has a handicap of +2 and is a full-time amateur golfer under the wing of Paul Lawrie.

Very soon David will be off to the Algarve for warm-weather training and practice with a Scottish Golf Union squad and he will go on to play in the Portuguese men's open amateur championship at Troia from February 19 to 22.

Obviously Master Law has ambitions to become a tour professional, following in the footsteps of Richie Ramsay but he is no immediate hurry to take the plunge.

"I've still got a lot to learn and gain experience of playing in the big amateur championships so 2011 or 2012 would be soon enough to think seriously about it," said David.

Herrera leads by two shots at Final

Stage of Asian Tour Q School

PRESS RELEASE ISSUE BY ASIAN TOUR
Rayong, Thailand, January 15: Colombia’s Eduardo Herrera grabbed a two-stroke clubhouse lead in the third round of the Final Stage at the Asian Tour’s Qualifying School today.
Herrera, 43, recorded a four-under-par 69 for a 211 total at the St Andrews 2000 course for a two stroke advantage over England’s Ally Mellor who posted a 70.
Compatriot John Parry was even-par after 17 holes before poor visibility due to darkness stopped play at 6:20pm.
Local golfer Sattaya Supupramai shot a 71 and was in a tie for third spot alongside Japan’s Sushi Ishigaki and Matthew Griffin of Australia who both recorded similar 72s. Australia’s Jason Norris was among those in a tie for sixth place after a 75.
But it was Herrera who took full advantage of the calm conditions at the par-73 St Andrews 2000 course when he fired a solid 69 today.
“It was windy in the beginning but it died down and I played well. I two putted for birdie on the final 18th hole which was a good end to the day,” said Herrera, with six wins in Japan.
“I have a lot of friends on the Asian Tour like Frankie Minoza and Zaw Moe so I’m hoping to gain playing rights in the 2009 season. Before, there were a few South Americans who used to come here but now I hope to start the trend of coming back to the Asian Tour,” said Herrera.
England’s Mellor, with one win on the local circuit, posted a steady 70 thanks to four birdies against a lone bogey in second place.
“I played really good today and I’m very happy. This has been the easiest day with not much wind so I could make the score. I got it going and put it all together,” said Mellor, who is based in the outskirts of London.
“I think Green Valley is a great test but St Andrews offers something different. I played the First Stage here and I finished sixth so I quite like it and I hope to keep it going in the remaining rounds,” he added.
Sattaya, 25, fired four birdies against two dropped shots and was the highest ranked local player when he was in joint third place.
“I had two chip-ins which was nice. I came here with the goal of playing in more Asian Tour events this year as I already have a country exemption.
“I will give it 100 percent and aim to finish strongly but if I don’t end the week where I want to it’s alright. I am just happy to be playing golf every day,” said Sattaya, with two top-10 finishes last year on the Asian Tour.
Overnight co-leader Parry, 22, who was even-par after 17 holes, will be eager to finish up his closing 18th hole early on Friday.
“The greens got a bit firmer and it was a bit tougher today. I was in the greenside bunker on the final 18th hole after my second shot but it was too dark to play. I hope to finish off the hole well early tomorrow morning and keep my momentum going,” said Parry, who was the World Amateur number seven in 2007.
The top-80 and ties after the fourth round on Friday will compete in the all-important fifth round where the top-40 and ties will earn playing rights for the 2009 season.
For all the scores log on to www.asiantour.com
Asian Tour Final Qualifying School
Thailand
THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
211 Eduardo HERRERA Colombia 70 72 69
213 Ally MELLOR England 70 73 70
214 Sattaya SUPUPRAMAI Thailand 71 72 71, Matthew GRIFFIN Australia 70 72 72, Sushi ISHIGAKI Japan 72 70 72
215 James KAMTE South Africa 74 71 70, HEO Won-kyung Korea 73 72 70, Peter COOKE
Australia 73 70 72, Toni KARJALAINEN Finland 74 72 69, SON Joon-Eob Korea 72 69 74, Daisuke MARUYAMA Japan 72 69 74, Jason NORRIS Australia 72 68 75.
216 Chris GAUNT Australia 72 73 71, James KRUGER South Africa 72 74 70, Pariya JUNHASAVASDIKUL Thailand 73 69 74
217 Tetsuji HIRATSUKA Japan 75 70 72, Chris ROAKE England 73 71 73, Mark PURSER
New Zealand 74 73 70
218 Heath REED Australia 74 71 73, Wilhelm SCHAUMAN Sweden 75 70 73, Mark MOULAND
Wales 73 72 73, James McLEAN Australia 73 73 72, Adam Le VESCONTE
Australia 75 71 72, KANG Min-woong Korea 73 68 77.
219 WU Ashun China 77 71 71, Young NAM Korea 71 73 75, Michael LIGHT Australia 70 74 75,
J.B. PARK Korea 74 71 74, Will YANAGISAWA USA 73 70 76, KIM Hyung-Tae Korea 72 70 77,
KIM Dae-Hyun Korea 74 72 73, George COETZEE South Africa 70 70 79
Selected scores
220 Andrew MARSHALL England 74 75 71, Paul GRANNELL England 73 72 75
221 Steve PARRY England 76 72 73, Tim STEWART Australia 74 70 77, Mitch TASKER
Australia 70 74 77
222 Christopher CAMPBELL Australia 71 77 74, Rohan BLIZARD Australia 71 77 74, Adam GROOM Australia 73 74 75
222 Steven TILEY England 73 74 75
225 Brad MCINTOSH Australia 76 72 77
226 Yasin ALI England 70 79 77.
226 Craig SMITH Wales 73 76 77, Simon DUNN Scotland 71 77 78, Ross BAIN Scotland 68 76 82, Jason KING Australia 73 72 81

St Andrews Links Trust renew contract

with Compass Group for tee times

St Andrews Links Trust has renewed its contract with Compass Group (UK & Ireland) Ltd to deliver premium tee time packages on the Old Course.
The contract has been renewed with effect from 2010 and will continue on a rolling basis.
Compass Group, trading as the Old Course Experience, currently delivers guaranteed tee times on the Old Course through premium golf tour programmes packages and handles travel trade tee times.
The arrangement has been of great benefit to the Links in recent years enabling the Links Trust to make substantial investment in the courses and facilities. It has also been instrumental in helping the Links Trust to keep other prices at a lower level than would otherwise be possible.
The announcement follows a review of the commercial operations of the Links Trust carried out by consultants. The review was carefully considered by St Andrews Links Trustees before they decided to continue with the Compass Group arrangement.
Alan McGregor, general manager of the Links Trust, said, “The Trustees took time to consider the options available to them and decided that it was clearly in the best interests of the Trust to continue to work with the Compass Group. The arrangement has made it possible for the Trust to invest in the courses and facilities over the years which has resulted in a far better experience for golfers. In a difficult economic climate it is prudent for the Trust to renew the contract going forward.”

*St Andrews Links Trust is a charitable organisation responsible for the management and maintenance of the Links courses at St Andrews, including the famous Old Course, host of the 2010 Open Championship. The Trust was established in 1974. It employs more than 250 permanent staff and seasonal workers during the high season. It manages a number of additional facilities including three clubhouses, a golf practice centre and three shops.

Gordon Yates lying third in China

Gordon Yates (Hilton Park) is lying joint third in an international field of 84 players with one round to to in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship with one round to go at Mission Hills Golf Club, China.
Yates has scored 71, 70 and 76 for a 54-hole tally of one-over-par 217 so far over the course that staged the professional World Cup.
Taipei's Wen Ting Wu leads with 72, 72 and 71 for one-under-par 215.
Ross Kellett from Colville Park is tied for 24th place with scores of 76, 80 and 72 for 228.
THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
215 Wen Ting Wu (Taipei) 72 72 71.
216 Shunsuke Sonoda (Japan) 75 71 70.
217 Alexander Kaaleka 73 73 71, Gordon Yates (Scotland) 71 70 76.
219 Mithun Perera (Sri Lanka) 76 75 68, Ryan McCarthy (Australia) 72 77 70, Chi Hsien Hsieh (Taipei) 72 75 72, Vasin Sripattranusorn (Thailand) 73 71 75.
Selected scores:
223 Alex Christie (England) 72 80 71 (jt 15th).
228 Ross Kellett (Scotland) 76 80 72 (jt 24th).
229 Gary King (England) 81 72 76 (jt 28th).
287 Jim Baillie (England) 101 96 90 (last of 84).

Hailstorm stops play in Abu Dhabi

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
A hailstorm halted play in the Abu Dhabi Championship less than two hours into the tournament as Swedish duo Johan Edfors and Mikael Lundberg carved out an early lead.
The Open Championship and US PGA Championship winner Padraig Harrington, making his first appearance of the year, and the Masters Tournament champion Trevor Immelman had time only for four successive pars before they and the rest of the early starters were called off the course.
When play resumed Edfors - part of the Europe team beaten at The Royal Trophy last week - and Lundberg moved to three under after six and five holes respectively.
Five players were a shot further back on two under during the early stages of their rounds.
Spain’s Rafael Cabrera Bello had played seven, Dane Søren Kjeldsen and another Swede, Jarmo Sandelin, were through six and English duo David Howell and Mark Foster had played four and two holes respectively.