Cabrera leads Clarke by two at

halfway in the Africa Open

Angel Cabrera leads Darren Clarke by two shots at the midway point of the Africa Open after a second round 68 took him 14 under par 130 at East London Golf Club.
The Argentine player carded a blistering ten under par 62 in the opening round and extended his lead with a four under par effort.
Northern Ireland’s Clarke climbed to second with a 65 for 132 with South Africa’s James Kingston one of three players a shot further back with a 133 total.
“It’s very nice to be leading. If I keep playing as I am, everything should be okay,” said Cabrera.
However, Clarke’s round must have been cause for some concern - he had four birdies on the front nine, and four on the back nine, and he got his round in before the late afternoon weather became breezier and drizzly.
“I got a huge break obviously with the weather,” said Clarke. “We get good draws and we get bad draws, and I’ve been very fortunate so far this week to get a good draw and I was able to make the most of it this morning.”

Tiger Woods given speaking part in

Obama Inaugural Celebration

Tiger Woods for President? Well, not quite yet but he is going to be part of the festivities for Barack Obama’s inauguration, according to the world No 1 golfer's websiter.
Woods has accepted an invitation to speak Sunday at "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration" at the Lincoln Memorial Opening Celebration for the 56th Presidential inaugural.
“I am honoured that I was invited to this historic event, and look forward to participating in Sunday’s festivities,” Woods said on his website.
The event will be carried live by US television, two days before Obama is inaugurated as the 44th president.

Somebody has leaked the news: Monty

to be Ryder Cup captain next year

FROM THE TIMESONLINE WEBSITE
EXCLUSIVE By JOHN HOPKINS
The love affair between Colin Montgomerie and the Ryder Cup will be consummated at Celtic Manor in September 2010. European Tour officials, having made a policy decision to select the best available captain for each future Ryder Cup, are doing everything they can to make sure that Europe regain the trophy that was lost at Valhalla last year and will shortly confirm that the Scot will lead the team in Wales.
The first signs that Montgomerie was going to be involved much sooner than the match at Gleneagles in 2014, for which he had hitherto been pencilled in, came on Thursday. Bookmakers in Britain reported heavy betting on the Scot being the first choice as next year’s captain if José María Olazábal turned it down to play his way into the team.
Clearly there had been leaks from the meeting of the Tour’s tournament committee held in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday evening, when the names of Montgomerie and Olazábal were mentioned as future captains, but no decision was made. Odds on Montgomerie being involved in the 2010 match dropped from 16-1 to 2-1 within a few hours on Thursday.
Despite these leaks, the tournament committee wanted to delay the announcement until a committee meeting in Dubai scheduled for January 28. That remains the position. “No decision on the Ryder Cup captain has so far been taken,” George O’Grady, chief executive of the European Tour, said yesterday. “The Ryder Cup captain will be decided at that meeting.”
All the signs in the desert yesterday, however, were that the job will be Montgomerie’s, particularly after Sergio Gómez, Olazábal’s manager, confirmed that his client had not been offered the 2010 captaincy, contrary to previous indications.
“Thomas Björn sounded him out four weeks ago but we have heard nothing since,” Gómez said. Olazábal will not play in Qatar next week because of a recurrence of rheumatism.
There are two other reasons why it will be Montgomerie and not Olazábal. The latest thinking is that, to remain in touch with the players, captains need to be younger than Nick Faldo, who was 51 when he captained Europe at Valhalla last year. Montgomerie will be 47 at Celtic Manor and will have spent most of the season competing against many of those he will want in his team.
A second reason concerns history, which tells us that Montgomerie cannot be captain in the US because of the feeling against him that existed, even though much of it has dissipated.
At the 1999 Ryder Cup, for example, James Montgomerie was so upset by the abuse being directed at his son that he walked off the course after seven holes. It would be insensitive and a mistake to consider putting Montgomerie in a position where old feelings against him might be revived.
When, in Dubai in 11 days’ time, Montgomerie is named as Europe’s captain, it will allow Olazábal to take the reins at Medinah near Chicago in 2012, when he will be 46. Paul McGinley, who is 42, Darren Clarke, 40, and Lee Westwood, 35, all of whom will probably captain a Ryder Cup team, should be asked to form an orderly queue.
The way that things have changed since Tuesday night might explain Montgomerie’s good humour yesterday after he had completed his second round in the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, a five-under-par 67 that left him six strokes behind Richard Green and Graeme Storm, the joint leaders.
“We are no further forward with that selection process than we were when we left the meeting last Tuesday — I know as much as anyone else,” Montgomerie said, managing to keep a straight face. But, he could not suppress a smile as he walked away, asking cheerily: “Was that diplomatic enough?”
Paul Casey, who has played in winning Seve Trophy teams captained by Montgomerie, has been impressed by his leadership. “He was very attentive.” Casey said. “He asked us what we wanted. We said, ‘A ping pong table in the team room.’ He showed good attention to detail. He spoke well at meetings. He got the guys nicely motivated. There was lots of consultation with us. We felt very much a team.”
Making Montgomerie and Olazábal the captains for the next two Ryder Cups would significantly enhance Europe’s chances in the event.
“History shows that the captain is very important,” Padraig Harrington said yesterday. “I think Monty is the right man. He will make a great captain.”
In the Ryder Cups at The Belfry in 2002 and The K Club in 2006 Montgomerie was the player chosen by his team-mates and captain to lead Europe in the singles matches. The images remain as clear in the mind’s eye as if they had happened yesterday. If the Scot had been given the European flag to carry and told to shout: “Follow me, lads”, the significance could not have been greater.
Montgomerie was considered the man to answer his continent’s call by giving a winning example to his 11 team-mates. Both times he not only delivered the point expected of him but seemed at home as he did so. His singles record is remarkable, having won six and halved two of his eight matches in the biennial competition against the United States.

Storm and Green share lead in

Abu Dhabi Championship

FROM THE A O L GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Paul Casey has returned to the scene of his last victory and is sparkling again.
Casey, winner of the Abu Dhabi Championship two years ago and one of Nick Faldo's wild card picks for last September's Ryder Cup, fired a second-round 65.
It was not the low round of the day, however, as fellow Englishman Graeme Storm, in his first event for more than two months, shot 64 just before play was called off for the day. Storm was paired with Richard Green and the Australian left-hander returned a 65 to be 11 under par 133 at halfway as well as Storm, one ahead of Casey and Londoner Anthony Wall.
Open and US PGA champion Padraig Harrington birdied the last two holes for a 66 which left him only four behind.
Colin Montgomerie, surprised by reports that he may be ready to take the Ryder Cup captaincy next year rather than 2014 if Jose Maria Olazabal chooses to wait, is not out of the hunt either after a 67 lifted him to 139.
Masters champion Trevor Immelman and world number two Sergio Garcia are two further back.
Top Scot's score of the second round was a 66 by Alastair Forsyth who is on 141 - a shot ahead of David Drysdale who scored a 70 today. Paul Lawrie had a 70 for 143.

Abu Dhabi Championship Scoreboard
SECOND ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
Second round play suspended due to darkness & will be resumed on Saturday at 07.45hrs local time
133 Richard Green (Aus) 68 65, Graeme Storm 69 64
134 Anthony Wall 67 67, Paul Casey 69 65
135 Brett Rumford (Aus) 68 67, Rory McIlroy 66 69, Johan Edfors (Swe) 66 69
136 Martin Kaymer (Ger) 68 68, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 67 69
137 Anders Hansen (Den) 70 67, Soren Hansen (Den) 71 66, Danny Willett 71 66, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 67 70, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 68 69, Padraig Harrington 71 66
138 Danny Lee (Nzl) 68 70, Peter Hanson (Swe) 67 71
139 Hennie Otto (Rsa) 73 66, Marc Warren 70 69, Robert Allenby (Aus) 71 68, Colin Montgomerie 72 67, Scott Strange (Aus) 73 66
140 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 68 72, Stephen Gallacher 74 66, Oliver Wilson 69 71, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 69 71, Bradley Dredge 71 69, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 71 69
141 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 74 67, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 69, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 70 71, Mark Brown (USA) 72 69, Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 72 69, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 72 69, Gary Murphy 69 72, Alastair Forsyth 75 66, Jamie Donaldson 69 72, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 71 70
142 Damien McGrane 70 72, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 70 72, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 71 71, Ross Fisher 75 67, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 67 75, David Drysdale 72 70, Robert Rock 67 75, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 70 72, Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 72 70, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 71 71, Paul McGinley 69 73
143 Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 72 71, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 72 71, Gary Orr 75 68, Paul Lawrie 73 70, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 74 69, Peter Lawrie 73 70, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 72 71, Thomas Levet (Fra) 69 74
144 Stephen Dodd 72 72, Paul Waring 72 72, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 74 70, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 75 69, David Lynn 73 71
145 Steve Webster 74 71, Alexander Noren (Swe) 74 71, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 70 75, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 72 73, Ariel Canete (Arg) 75 70, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 71 74
146 Jean Van de velde (Fra) 73 73, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 76 70, Gregory Havret (Fra) 72 74, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 72 74
147 Anton Haig (Rsa) 76 71, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 71 76, Marcel Siem (Ger) 75 72, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 72 75, Kenneth Ferrie 70 77, Markus Brier (Aut) 77 70, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 79 68, Pablo Martin (Spa) 76 71, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 75 72
148 Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 73 75, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 73 75
149 Richie Ramsay 76 73, Scott Drummond 77 72, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 78 71, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 76 73
150 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 73 77, Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe) 74 76
151 Paul Broadhurst 75 76
154 Lee Slattery 76 78

Dundonald Links to stage Final in June

Glenmuir glory

beckons at PGA

Professional

Championship

PRESS RELEASE
One of the strongest qualifying venue line-ups in history has been unveiled for the 2009 Glenmuir PGA Professional Championship.
The challenging selection of courses includes a past Open and Ryder Cup venue and the Seve Ballesteros-Jeff Howes designed Heritage course in Ireland which staged the Seve Trophy in 2007.
The eight-strong list of venues for the regional qualifiers reflects the prestige of the £78,000 event, which winning remains a pinnacle of achievement for Great Britain and Ireland’s PGA professionals.
Prince’s, scene of Gene Sarazen’s 1932 Open triumph, will host the South qualifier on Wednesday, May 20 with England’s first Ryder Cup venue, Moortown, bringing the curtain down on the qualifiers on Monday, June 1.
“As always we have an outstanding line-up of venues throughout the qualifying stages and with a return to Scotland for the final and the additional incentive of winning a PGA Cup place I suspect this year’s championship will be more closely contested than ever,” said PGA chief executive Sandy Jones.
The first competitive blows of the qualifiers begin at Hadley Wood in the East Region on Thursday, April 30 with Ireland’s pros beginning their quest for qualification in County Louth at The Heritage on Wednesday, May 6 with the testing links of Hesketh staging the north west qualifier on Friday, May 8.
Dundonald Links (pictured above), which is hosting the final on June 16-19, will stage the Scottish qualifier on Tuesday, May 12 with The Players Club hosting West Region pros on Monday, May 18.
The Harry Vardon-designed Little Aston again serves the Midland pros on Friday, May 22.
“This year’s list of qualifying venues is amongst the strongest we have ever been able to put together,” said Glenmuir marketing director Andy Bough.
“With an earlier June final in Scotland and the PGA Cup also in Scotland in September we are looking forward to a great year supporting PGA tournament golf.”
In total 156 players will compete in the championship at Dundonald Links with the added incentive of attempting to secure a place on the 2009 Great Britain & Ireland team to take on America in the PGA Cup at The Carrick at Loch Lomond from September 18-20.
The top 10 finishers at Dundonald also gain exemption from regional qualifying for the 2010 Open Championship at St Andrews.
Regional qualifiers:
EAST – Hadley Wood, Thursday 30 April
IRISH – The Heritage, Wednesday 06 May
NORTH (West) – Hesketh, Friday 08 May
SCOTTISH – Dundonald Links, Tuesday 12 May
WEST – The Players Club, Monday 18 May
SOUTH – Prince’s, Wednesday 20 May
MIDLAND – Little Aston, Friday 22 May
NORTH (East) – Moortown, Monday 01 June
Championship Final:
Dundonald Links, Tuesday 16 – Friday 19 June

Gordon Yates (left) and Ross Kellett (images by Cal Carson Golf Agency) report below from China.

Gordon Yates beaten in play-off

for Asia-Pacific Open title

Since Messrs Macaulay, Booth and Dear won the Eisenhower Trophy world amateur team championship, things have continued to go well on the overseas international front for Scottish amateur golfers.

Gavin Dear became the first Scot ever to win the prestigious Dixie Amateur title over the Festive period in Florida.

Now Gordon Yates has gone very close to winning the Mission Hills Asia-Pacific Open amateur title in China where Ross Kellett was also representing the Scottish Golf Union.

Here, courtesy of the Scottish Golf Union website, are reports from both players

Gordon Yates:

“I finished tied second, beaten in a three-way play off for the 2009 Asia Pacific Open Amateur Championship. Some of my highlights from today's final round would have been the 55ft birdie putt I holed on the second hole, par 5.

"I then failed to get up and down for par on the par 3 fifth hole, a hole that I played +3 for the week! I then had a string of pars until the 15th where once again, I shor- sided myself from the tee shot and failed to get up and down.

"One final twist to the regulation round: I birdied the long 17th, holing a 35ft putt from the lower tier of the green. In the play-off itself I had a good look at a birdie on the first hole, narrowly missing on the left, breaking at the final second away from the hole!

"Then I hit a poor approach into a greenside bunker in the second hole, where the eventual winner (French international Alexandre Kaleka) hit a three-iron to within 3ft to win.

"For me, it is a fantastic start to the season, I didn't expect to play quite so well as I haven't been on a course since the training camp in Portugal at the end of November. Also having to practise off mats in the cold, snow, rain - the typical Scottish winter - wasn't the best preparation for China as most of the competitors are in their mid-summer and playing regularly. However I managed to adapt to conditions straight away which was a massive bonus.
"I have made some big swing changes with my coach Spencer Henderson so it is nice to see them working so well so early in the season. Hopefully I can maintain the form on to Australia for the Lake Macquarie Amateur and New South Wales Amateur.”

Ross Kellett:

“I finished tied 31st at Mission Hills. Considering my early scores weren't great I didn't finish all that badly. For the first tournament of the season I was happy with how I played. I hit lots of quality shots. However, I hit a few errant ones as well which cost me around 10 shots. "Considering the weather we have been practising in all winter, I’m pretty happy with how things have gone.
"This has been a nice warm-up for next week in Australia. Hopefully I will start scoring a bit better when I get down under.
"Mission Hills is an unbelievable place, like nothing we've ever seen before. No stone is left unturned in any department of the facility, hotel or golf course. It has been a great experience.”

FINAL TOTALS

Par 288 (4 x 72)

289 Alexandre Kaleka (France) 73 73 71 72, Gordon Yates (Scotland) 71 70 76 72, Mithun Perera (Sri Lanka) 76 75 68 70 (Kaleka won three-way play-off at second extra hole).

290 Ryan McCarthy (Australia) 72 77 70 71.

291 Wen Ting Wu (Taipei) 72 72 71 76.

292 Shunsuke Sonoda (Japan) 75 71 70 76, Chi Hsien Hsieh (Taipei) 72 75 72 73.

293 Chien Yao Hung (Taipei) 77 70 74 72.

294 Ferdinard Aunzo (Philippines) 71 76 74 73, Shingo Ito (Japan) 70 76 76 72.

295 Grant Scott (Australia) 77 74 72 72, Vikram Rana (India) 78 75 73 69, James Frazer (Wales) 77 68 75 75, Vasin Sripattranusorn (Thailand) 73 72 75 76.

Selected scores:

302 Alex Christie (England) 72 80 71 79 (jt 22nd).

307 Ross Kellett (Scotland 76 80 72 79 (jt 31st).

310 Gary King (England) 81 72 76 81 (jt 37th).

Early leader Ross Bain just makes fourth-round cut

England's Ally Mellor sharing lead with

one round to go at Asian Tour Q School

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY ASIAN TOUR
Rayong, Thailand. Japan’s Daisuke Maruyama blasted a three-under-par 70 for the joint lead in the fourth round of the Final Stage at the Asian Tour’s Qualifying School presented by Sports Authority of Thailand today.

Maruyama, 37, nailed an eagle, two birdies against a lone dropped shot under windy conditions at the St Andrews 2000 course for a 285 total alongside England’s Ally Mellor and Colombia’s Eduardo Herrera who shot a 72 and 74 respectively.
South African James Kruger shot a 71 and was in a tie for fourth spot alongside Finland’s Toni Karjalainen who recorded a 72 two strokes off the pace.
England’s John Parry, who completed his third round with a 73 early this morning, slipped to a 75 today. He was in the mix in sixth place alongside South Africa’s James Kamte who was even par for the day and Australia Matthew Griffin who posted a 74.
Despite the tricky conditions at the par-73 course, Japan’s Maruyama bounced back in the fourth round firing a 70 to join the leaders at the top of the leaderboard.
“The course was very difficult today but my putting and chipping was steady and helped me produce a good score,” said Maruyama, who nailed five top-10 finishes and one third place result on the US PGA Tour.
“I would like to finish in the top five this week as I want to play in as many Asian Tour events as I can. I was a full playing Asian Tour member in 2000 but I would like to return to Asia as I enjoy it here with the good weather and friendly people,” added Maruyama, with one win on the local circuit.
England’s Mellor held his game in the fourth round firing a 72 for a 285 total.
“I was really consistent despite it being a lot windier today. I am quite happy with my performance today. I’ve been here for two weeks since the First Stage. I am trying to play down the pressure and take it a step at a time. I’m still adjusting to the heat but I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” said Mellor.
Colombia’s Herrera, the third round leader, was pleased to remain at the top of the field after a 74.
“I shot a one over but I’m pleased as it was tough out there. I putted better yesterday though. I am quite tired as it has been a long week for me but I hope to play solid in the final round,” said Herrera.
After a strong 69 today, Mohammad Siddikur rose to a tie for 15th place today as he hopes to be the first Bangladeshi player to earn playing rights on the Asian Tour.
“I turned professional and played in India last year. Everyone told me that I should join the Asian Tour so I decided to try out this week. I am the first player from Bangladesh competing in the Asian Tour Qualifying School and I’m enjoying my time this week.
“I hope to keep my pace when I head into the final round,” said the 25-year-old golfer, who won two titles in India last year.
England’s Yasin Ali and Scot Ross Bain, the first round leader, shot matching 74s and were on the mark in a tie for 80th place while Singapore’s Quincy Quek narrowly missed the cut when he posted a 76.
A total of 89 players made the cut today and will compete in the fifth and final round on Saturday where the top-40 and ties will earn playing rights for the 2009 season.
FOURTH ROUND TOTALS

Par 292 (4 x 73)
285 Ally Mellor (Eng) 70 73 70 72, Eduardo Herrera (Col) 70 72 69 74, Daisuke Maruyama (Jpn) 72 69 74 70
287 James Kruger (Rsa) 72 74 70 71, Toni Karjalainen (Fin) 74 72 69 72
288 James Kamte (Rsa) 74 71 70 73, Matthew Griffin (Aus) 70 72 72 74, John Parry (Eng) 72 68 73 75
289 Tetsuji Hiratsuka (Jpn) 75 70 72 72, Sattaya Supupramai (Tha) 71 72 71 75, Pariya Junhasavasdikul (Tha) 73 69 74 73, Sushi Ishigaki (Jpn) 72 70 72 75, George Coetzee (Rsa) 70 70 79 70, Andrew Marshall (Eng) 74 75 71 69
290 Heo Won-Kyung (Kor) 73 72 70 75, Chris Roake (Eng) 73 71 73 73, Peter Cooke (Aus) 73 70 72 75, Siddikur (Ban) 74 73 74 69, Wu Ashun (Chn) 77 71 71 71
291 Wilhelm Schauman (Swe) 75 70 73 73, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 72 73 75 71, Chris Gaunt (Aus) 72 73 71 75, Will Yanagisawa (USA) 73 70 76 72, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha) 71 72 77 71, Jason Norris (Aus) 72 68 75 76, Tim O'neal (USA) 72 76 72 71
292 James Mclean (Aus) 73 73 72 74, Kim Dae-Hyun (Kor) 74 72 73 73, Son Joon-Eob (Kor) 72 69 74 77, Mark Purser (Nzl) 74 73 70 75, Kim Do.H (Aus) 76 72 74 70
293 Young Nam (Kor) 71 73 75 74, Chris Baryla (Can) 71 76 73 73, Kim Hyung-Tae (Kor) 72 70 77 74, Rory Hie (Ina) 76 74 74 69, C. Muniyappa (Ind) 73 75 72 73, Rohan Blizard (Aus) 71 77 74 71
294 Paul Grannell (Eng) 73 72 75 74, Michael Light (Aus) 70 74 75 75, Anirban Lahiri (Ind) 72 74 74 74, Adam Groom (Aus) 73 74 75 72, Amandeep Singh Johl (Ind) 75 72 75 72, Scott Arnold (Aus) 79 68 75 72
295 J.B. Park (Kor) 74 71 74 76, Tim Stewart (Aus) 74 70 77 74, Mitch Tasker (Aus) 70 74 77 74, Pijit Petchkasem (Tha) 69 73 78 75, Himmat Rai (Ind) 77 73 74 71, Hur In-Hoi (Kor) 74 74 76 71, Simon Dunn (Sco) 71 77 78 69, Kim Hyung-Sung (Kor) 78 73 74 70
296 Mark Mouland (Wal) 73 72 73 78, Bradley Lamb (Aus) 70 76 78 72, Lars Johansson (Swe) 70 77 77 72, Zaw Moe (Mya) 75 73 75 73, Christopher Campbell (Aus) 71 77 74 74, Pasi Purhonen (Fin) 77 74 74 71
297 Heath Reed (Aus) 74 71 73 79, Lee Jun-Seok (Kor) 72 74 78 73, Adam Le Vesconte (Aus) 75 71 72 79, Wu Kang-Chun (Chn) 76 71 78 72, Rafael Ponce (Ecu) 70 79 75 73, Richard Moir (Aus) 74 73 75 75
298 Su Dong (Chn) 76 71 76 75, Steven Tiley (Eng) 73 74 75 76, Kang Min-Woong (Kor) 73 68 77 80, Hsieh Tung-Hung (Tpe) 73 77 75 73, Edward Loar (USA) 75 75 74 74, Gene Xavier Bondoc (Phi) 74 76 77 71, Jeff Burns (USA) 79 71 77 71, Steve Parry (Eng) 76 72 73 77, Motoharu Mukai (Jpn) 73 75 77 73
299 Jason King (Aus) 73 72 81 73, Jamie Arnold (Aus) 77 72 80 70, Corey Harris (USA) 75 74 77 73, Toto Thimba Jnr (Rsa) 75 74 76 74, Yasumasa Suzuki (Jpn) 76 74 77 72, Bae Kyu-Tae (Kor) 71 78 78 72, Brad Andrews (Aus) 78 73 78 70
300 Nakul Vichitryuthasastr (Tha) 74 71 76 79, Ross Bain (Sco) 68 76 82 74, Firoz Ali (Ind) 73 73 77 77, Kang Sung-Hoon (Kor) 73 69 82 76, Rahil Gangjee (Ind) 73 76 73 78, Yasin Ali (Eng) 70 79 77 74, Craig Smith (Wal) 73 76 77 74, Nathan Main (Aus) 78 72 77 73, Graydon Woolridge (Aus) 73 75 76 76, Chung Won (Kor) 76 75 79 70
MISSED THE CUT
301 Clay Devers (USA) 70 75 78 78, Hiromichi Kubo (Jpn) 71 73 79 78, Narinrit Tantrakul (Tha) 76 71 77 77, Piya Swangarunporn (Tha) 75 72 80 74, Quincy Quek (Sin) 71 76 78 76, Liao Gui-Ming (Chn) 74 77 77 73
302 Jin Yong-Gab (Kor) 73 73 78 78, Varut Chomchalam (Tha) 76 73 79 74, Brad Mcintosh (Aus) 76 72 77 77, Fredrik Ohlsson (Swe) 75 76 77 74, Masaki Sakata (Jpn) 73 74 78 77
303 Vernon Sexton-Finck (Aus) 71 79 78 75
304 Joonas Granberg (Fin) 77 69 85 73, Sirapong Maitreeyeunyong (Tha) 73 77 81 73, Henry Liaw (USA) 75 75 78 76, S.Siva Chandhran (Mal) 74 77 73 80
305 Pornsakon Tipsanit (Tha) 73 76 78 78, Panuwat Muenlek (Tha) 73 77 81 74
306 Eiji Mizoguchi (Jpn) 75 76 81 74, Anthony Brown (Aus) 79 72 77 78
307 Goh Kun-Yang (Sin) 76 72 85 74
308 Yoshinobu Tsukada (Jpn) 72 75 82 79, Mike Cunning (USA) 75 76 78 79, Shang Lei (Chn) 72 79 80 77, Toshimasa Nakajima (Jpn) 77 74 81 76, Wanich Petcharit (Tha) 75 76 78 79
309 Somchai Pongpaew (Tha) 74 75 80 80, Weng Young-Tien (Tpe) 73 76 84 76
310 Senroku Isa (Jpn) 77 73 79 81
312 Nick Becker (USA) 74 76 84 78
314 Stuart Lunn-Walker (Aus) 74 76 79 85

Maruyama leads Sony Open with a 65,

Martin Laird trails 10 shots behind

FROM THE A O L GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Japanese player Shigeki Maruyama recorded four birdies on the front nine en route to a five-under-par 65 and the lead after the first round of the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club.
Geoff Ogilvy, who cruised to a six-stroke victory at the Mercedes-Benz Championship last week, is one of five players one stroke off the lead at four-under 66.
The US $5.4 million event is the first full-field event of the season and the second straight in Hawaii.
After a bogey on the par-four 12th hole dropped him to four-under, Maruyama recorded pars on four straight holes before birdying the 17th to take sole possession of the lead.
Following his wire-to-wire win, the fifth of his PGA career, Ogilvy started his round on the back nine with a birdie. The Australian recorded six birdies and two bogeys.
Americans Boo Weekley, Brian Gay and Webb Simpson shot rounds of 66, as did Ogilvy's countryman, Nathan Green.
Defending champion K J Choi, who opened with a six-under-par 64 last year and went on to a wire-to-wire victory, shot a 68. The South Korean had four birdies and two bogeys on the round. Choi tied for 15th last week at the Mercedes-Benz Championship.
Other notable players in the field of 114 players teeing it up on the 7,044-yard, par-70 course include Ernie Els, Steve Stricker, Stewart Cink and Adam Scott.
Els, who has enjoyed great success here since 2000, struggled to a two-over 72. He fell to three-over after a double bogey on number five. After three birdies in a four-hole stretch from number seven to number. 10 got him back to even-par, the South African bogeyed the 16th and 17th to conclude a disappointing first round. The 39-year-old won this event in 2003 and 2004 and finished as runner-up in 2005. Els also was third in 2001 and fifth in 2000.
Stricker is another player that has had success here, tying for fourth in each of the past two years. The American opened with an even-par 70. Cink and Scott each carded rounds of 71 to tie for 51st.
Scot Martin Laird, who just managed to hold on to his US PGA Tour players' card at the end of last season, had an opening 75.

US PGA Tour Scoreboard
SONY OPEN
Waialae CC, Honolulu, Hawaii
FIRST ROUND
Par 70
65 Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn)
66 Nathan Green (Aus), Brian Gay, Boo Weekley, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Webb Simpson
67 Brendon De Jonge, Jerry Kelly, Chris Stroud, Scott Piercy, Luke Donald (Eng), Charles Howell III
68 Arron Oberholser, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa), Tim Herron, Paul Azinger, Gary Woodland, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl), D.A. Points, Steve Marino, Bill Haas, KJ Choi (Kor), David Mathis
69 Michael Letzig, Wil Collins, David Berganio Jnr., Harrison Frazar, Jeff Klauk, Tim Petrovic, Briny Baird, Brian Davis (Eng), Zach Johnson, Ted Purdy, Tom Pernice Jnr., Cliff Kresge, Kenny Perry, George McNeill, Arjun Atwal (Ind), Brendon Todd
70 Steve Stricker, Robert Garrigus, John Merrick, Joe Ogilvie, David Toms, Kevin null Streelman, Peter Lonard (Aus), Chez Reavie, Richard S Johnson (Swe), Jarrod Lyle (Aus), Glen Day
71 Spencer Levin, Aron Price (Aus), Vaughn Taylor, Jeff Overton, Bart Bryant, Azuma Yano (Jpn), Jeff Quinney, Tag Ridings, Greg Owen (Eng), Tadd Fujikawa, Daniel Chopra (Swe), Sean O'Hair, Troy Kelly, Ryuji Imada (Jpn), Pat Perez, Adam Scott (Aus), Casey Wittenberg, Junpei Takayama (Jpn), Steve Lowery, Stewart Cink, Mark Wilson, Brad Faxon, Scott Sterling, Marc Turnesa, Troy Matteson, Tim Clark (Rsa), Tommy Gainey, D J Trahan
72 Bill Lunde, Bob Estes, Marc Leishman (Aus), Ernie Els (Rsa), Bo Van Pelt, Shintaro Kai (Jpn), Chris DiMarco, Davis Love III, John Senden (Aus), Jason Dufner, Bubba Watson, Hideto Tanihara (Jpn), Hiroshi Iwata (Jpn), Alex Cejka (Ger), Kevin Na, Michael Allen, Lorens Chan, Cameron Beckman, Chris Couch
73 Billy Mayfair, Greg Kraft, Matt Bettencourt, Alex Aragon, Dean Wilson, Derek Fathauer, Joe Durant, Jimmy Walker, James Oh (Kor), Nicholas Thompson, Peter Tomasulo, Tomohiro Kondo (Jpn), Eric Axley, Jeff Sluman, Greg Chalmers (Aus), Matt Kuchar, Matthew Borchert, J.B. Holmes, Paul Goydos, Andres Romero (Arg), Rich Beem, Parker McLachin, Carl Pettersson (Swe)
74 Kris Blanks, Kirk Triplett, James Nitties (Aus), Ricky Barnes, Will MacKenzie, Loren Roberts, Sang-moon Bae (Kor), Leif Olson, Notah Begay III
75 Colt Knost, Martin Laird (Sco), Corey Pavin
76 Scott Gutschewski, Johnson Wagner, John Lepak, Heath Slocum, John Mallinger, Tyler Aldridge
77 Jeff Maggert, Rick Price
78 John Lynch, Darron Stiles
79 John Huston
81 Brian Vranesh