A Tadd on the low side in the Sony Open

Tadd Fujikawa, an 18-year-old Hawaiian, set the very early clubhouse target on the third day of the Sony Open with a brilliant eight-under-par round of 62 for an eight-under-par tally of 202.
Tadd made the cut in this event two years ago as an amateur.
He had only 26 putts in his great round today at Honolulu, Hawaii.
It will be some time before the halfway leaders complete their third rounds but Ernie Els is way down the field with a 68 for one-under-par 209.

Sterne's 61, but Kingston and Clarke

share the Africa Open lead

FROM THE SUNSHINE TOUR WEBSITE
Golfers refer to the Saturday of a tournament as “moving day”, but Richard Sterne’s course record 61 in round three of the Africa Open today took the saying to ridiculous lengths as he charged his way around the East London Golf Club.
He shot five birdies on the opening nine, turning in 31, and then six more on the inward nine in a faultless display that had even playing partners Alan McLean and Andre Bossert shaking their heads in bewilderment.
“Maybe the best round of my life,” was his laconic evaluation of it in its aftermath.
And he’s not even in the lead: On a day of low scoring, Sterne’s predecessor as SA Open champion James Kingston shot a 65 to top the leaderboard at 18-under-par 198 together with Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke, who shot a 66.
“All day, I made one mistake, and for me to make only one mistake in a round of golf is pretty good,” Clarke said of his bogey on 13.
“But overall, I played really nicely, and the ball felt under control for the most part,” he added. Control gave him five birdies and an eagle.
The hard statistics of Sterne’s round tell the tale, for once: After 10 holes in his opening round, he was four-over-par. In the following 44 holes, he picked up 20 strokes, with 11 of those coming in the last 18 he played.
He couldn’t believe he could engineer that kind of turnaround, either: “After the practice round - I think I shot about 85 - I wondered about what was going to happen here because the wind was just unbelievable,” he recalled. “But when the tournament starts you do what you have to do and so far, so good!”
He took just 10 putts on the inward nine, and it was so nearly just nine: He had a 10-metre putt for birdie, and the ball shaved the cup on its way a foot further on. “Seventeen was the only hole I two-putted. That was quite nice,” he said.
Halfway leader Angel Cabrera struggled his way to an even-par 72 to be 14-under 202 in a share of sixth with Clarke’s compatriot Michael Hoey and Retief Goosen.
Goosen came good, atoning for a double-bogey 6 on the fifth with six birdies and an eagle.
Up ahead, Darren Fichardt is lurking together with Sterne two shots off the pace after his 67, and fifth place is the sole possession of Canada’s Graham DeLaet, whose faultless 64 with eight birdies paled into insignificance next to Sterne’s pyrotechnics.
Sharing ninth are Charl Schwartzel and Branden Grace of South Africa, and Marc Cayeux of Zimbabwe. Schwartzel shot a seven-under 65, and lamented a cold putter which, he believes, cost him a much lower score.
THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
Players from South Africa unless stated
198 James Kington 66 67 65, Darren Clarke (NIr) 67 65 66.
200 Richard Sterne 72 67 61, Darren Fichardt 65 68 67.
201 Graham de Laet (Can) 63 74 64.
202 Michael Hoey (NIr) 68 68 66, Retief Goosen 66 70 66, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 62 68 72.
203 Charl Schwartzel 65 73 65, Brenden Grace 69 68 66, Marc Cayeux (Zim) 68 66 69.
Selected scores:
211 Alan McLean (Sco) 68 71 72 (jt 43rd).

Abu Dhabi Championship

Paul Casey's 63 gives him

four-shot lead with

one round to go

FROM THE A O L GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Paul Casey and Martin Kaymer, the last two winners of the Abu Dhabi Championship, will go head to head in the final group of the final round on Sunday.
But whereas Kaymer was six clear with a round to go last year, this time the 24-year-old German trails Casey by four.
The Ryder Cup star's bid to end two full years without a victory anywhere - he has had no fewer than 15 top-10 finishes in between - saw him come within a stroke of the course record with a dazzling nine-under-par 63 in the third round today.
So Kaymer, despite a 65, was further behind at the end of the day than he was at the start of it.
Casey is at 19 under par 197 - he won the event with 17 under in 2007 - with Kaymer 15-under 201 and joint halfway leader Graeme Storm (69) one stroke further back on 202.
Open and US PGA champion Padraig Harrington had a 68, but now finds himself eight behind, while world No 2 Sergio Garcia is 11 adrift after a 67.

Stephen Gallacher, who had a 65 for 205, is the top Scot in joint fifth place.

Next come Marc Warren (70) and Colin Montgomery (70), joint 28th on the 209 mark, one shot ahead of Alastair Forsyth who had a 69 for a share of 33rd place.
Paul Lawrie had a 68 for 211 and a share of 39th place.

David Drysdale is on level par 216 after a moderate 74 today.

THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
197 Paul Casey 69 65 63
201 Martin Kaymer (Ger) 68 68 65
202 Graeme Storm 69 64 69
203 Anthony Wall 67 67 69
204 Peter Hanson (Swe) 67 71 66, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 67 69 68, Johan Edfors (Swe) 66 69 69
205 Stephen Gallacher 74 66 65, Danny Willett 71 66 68, Oliver Fisher 67 69 69, Padraig Harrington 71 66 68
206 Brett Rumford (Aus) 68 67 71, Rory McIlroy 66 69 71, Anders Hansen (Den) 70 67 69, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 72 67 67, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 68 69 69, Bradley Dredge 71 69 66
207 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 67 69 71, Mark Foster 70 69 68
208 Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 66 69 73, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 70 71 67, Soren Hansen (Den) 71 66 71, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 72 67 69, Simon Dyson 71 68 69, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 69 70 69, Robert Allenby (Aus) 71 68 69, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 71 70 67
209 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 68 72 69, Marc Warren 70 69 70, Colin Montgomerie 72 67 70, Phillip Archer 71 71 67, Richard Green (Aus) 68 65 76
210 Oliver Wilson 69 71 70, Alastair Forsyth 75 66 69, Gary Murphy 69 72 69, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 67 70 73, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 68 70 72, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 69 71 70
211 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 74 67 70, Danny Lee (Nzl) 68 70 73, Paul Lawrie 73 70 68, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 67 75 69, Scott Strange (Aus) 73 66 72, Mark Brown (USA) 72 69 70
212 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 68 72 72, Damien McGrane 70 72 70, Hennie Otto (Rsa) 73 66 73, Ross Fisher 75 67 70, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 69 71, Peter Lawrie 73 70 69, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 71 69 72, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 72 69 71, David Dixon 70 69 73, Jamie Donaldson 69 72 71
213 Rodney Pampling (Aus) 70 72 71, Robert Rock 67 75 71, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 70 72 71, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 71 71 71
214 Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 72 70 72, Thomas Levet (Fra) 69 74 71, Simon Wakefield 71 72 71
215 Gary Orr 75 68 72, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 74 69 72, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 73 69 73, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 72 71 72
216 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 72 71 73, David Drysdale 72 70 74, Paul McGinley 69 73 74
217 Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 71 71 75, Nick Dougherty 74 69 74
218 Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 72 71 75
219 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 72 69 78, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 72 70 77

Stonehaven GC award

honorary life

membership to

Willie Donald

Willie Donald, who joined the club in 1952, has been awarded honorary life membership of Stonehaven Golf Club for all the work he has done for the club over the years.
Willie officially retired as club secretary/manager at the club's annual general meeting this week.
Morag Duncan took over as club manager last November but Willie worked on to complete the annual accounts for the AGM.
He had been in the post since 1996 and he's been serving on the North-east District of the Scottish Golf Union committee for 14 years. He is in his second year as president.
"It's not an honour the club grants often and, unusually, his late father, also Willie Donald, was also given honorary life membership in recognition of his services to the club," said club captain Harry Roulston.
"We think old man Donald joined Stonehaven GC just before World War II so the family connection has been quite long.
"Willie has been a tremendous servant to our club and, when he was given his honorary life membership, he received a standing ovation from the largest turn-out we've had at an AGM for many years.
"Willie knows more about the intricacies and history of Stonehaven GC than anyone else and we're lucky that he'll still be around for us to pick his brains when necessary."
Willie Donald (66) went to Mackie Academy and then Aberdeen University where he graduated with a degree in electrical engineering in 1964. He worked for a while with the South of Scotland Electricity Board (now Scottish Power) in central Scotland before joining the Ben Line in 1978 as a ship's engineer.
He travelled the world in a variety of ships, sailing out through the Panama Canal and returning via Cape Town, visiting the Great Lakes in North America and just about all parts of the Far East.
He retired in 1991 and returned to Stonehaven, becoming competitions convener at the club the following year. In 1996, he took over as secretary/manager. He remains a keen golfer, playing currently off a handicap of eight.
+Picture of Willie Donald (above) by courtesy of Sandy Walker, vice-captain of Stonehaven Golf Club.

Casey sweeps into Abu Dhabi lead

with nine holes to go in Round 3

Paul Casey took a two-stroke lead into the back nine of his third round at the Abu Dhabi Championship today.
Casey trailed joint leaders fellow Englishman Graeme Storm and Richard Green, the Australian left-hander, by one shot overnight but overtook them by covering the outward half in 32 shots to be on the 14 under par mark overall with nine holes to play in the third round.
Casey, 31. birdied the first, second, seventh and eighth as he followed up a sparkling second-round 65. He won this tournament two years ago.
Storm, playing his first tournament for more than two months, led on his own when he birdied the first and fifth, but a poor tee shot to the short seventh found the rough and failing to salvage a par dropped him alongside Londoner Anthony Wall at 12 under.
Green also opened with a birdie, but then came bogeys on the fifth and ninth and instead it was defending champion Martin Kaymer, Swede Per Hanson and South African Louis Oosthuizen in joint fourth.
Padraig Harrington was only one further back after an outward 33 and youngsters Rory McIlroy and Oliver Fisher were on the same mark, while Sergio Garcia threatened to get back into contention when he covered his first 13 holes in six under, but a bogey followed and left the world number two eight under.
Colin Montgomerie, now thought to be ready to become Ryder Cup captain for the 2010 match in Wales, stood six under with four to play.

Scots Bain and Dunn miss out in Thailand

Ally Mellor loses play-off at Asian

Tour Final Qualifying School

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY ASIAN TOUR
Rayong, Thailand: Japan’s Daisuke Maruyama triumphed in a play-off against England's Ally Mellor to win the Asian Tour’s Qualifying School at the St Andrews 2000 course.
Colombia’s Eduardo Herrera ended his week in third spot after a 69 while South African James Kamte nailed a strong 67 to claim fourth place.
A total of 40 players earned their cards for the 2009 season.
Maruyama, a former US PGA Tour player, carded a 68 for a 353 total and was forced to a play-off after Mellor had birdied the final par-5 18th hole in regulation play. After posting matching pars in the first play-off on the 18th hole, Maruyama holed a six feet birdie putt in the second play-off hole to seal the top spot.
“I came here this week hoping do my best and I did just that so I am very pleased with my performance. It has been a tough week but a good experience and the result has given me the perfect start to the 2009 season,” said Maruyama, with five top-10 finishes on the US PGA Tour.
England’s Mellor, who turned professional in 2004, walked away pleased with his overall performance in the last two weeks.
“I’ve been playing here since the First Stage last week so I am happy with how I competed at the Qualifying School. I’m a bit gutted to lose in the play-off but this is still a good performance overall,” said Mellor.
South African James Kamte battled through an injured toe on the way to an impressive 67 to finish in fourth spot
“I cut my right toe yesterday and it required 12 stitches. I was not on any painkillers as I didn’t want to think about it. It’s been a great week and I hope to have a smooth sailing year on the Asian Tour,” said Kamte.
Finland’s Pasi Purhonen and Australia’s Bradley Lamb fired similar 71s and narrowly missed the cut when the duo finished in a tie for 41st spot
FINAL TOTALS
Par 365 (5 x 73)
353 Daisuke Maruyama (Japan) 72 69 74 70 687, Ally Mellor (England) 70 73 70 72 68 (Maruyama won play-off).
354 Eduardo Herrera (Colombia) 70 72 69 74 69.
355 James Kamte (South Africa) 74 74 70 73 67.
358 Wu Ashun (China) 77 71 71 71 68, Panya Junhasavasdikul (Thailand) 75 69 74 73 69, Tetsuji Hiratsuka (Japan) 75 70 72 72 69.
Selected scores:
359 Peter Cooke (Australia) 73 70 72 75 69, Matthew Griffin (Australia) 70 72 72 74 71 (jt 9th).
360 Michael Light (Australia) 76 74 75 75 66, Chris Roake (England) 73 71 73 73 70 (jt 12th).
363 John Parry (England) 72 659 73 75 75 (jt 19th).
364 Andrew Marshall (England) 74 75 71 69 75 (jt 26th).
+A total of 42 players with totals of 366 of better gained players' cards for the 2009 Asian Tour.
DID NOT QUALIFY
367 Craig Smith (Wales) 73 76 77 74 67.
369 Paul Grannell (England) 72 73 75 74 75.
370 Simon Dunn (Scotland) 71 77 78 69 75.
373 Yasin Ali (England) 70 79 77 74 73.
374 Ross Bain (Scotland) 68 76 82 74 74, Steven Tiley (England) 73 74 75 76 76.
377 Steve Parry (England) 76 72 73 77 79.
378 Mark Mouland (Wales) 73 72 73 78 82.

Martin Laird misses cut by seven shots in US Opener

Green, Pernice share Sony Open

lead at Honolulu, Hawaii

FROM THE A O L GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Nathan Green of Australia and American Tom Pernice Jr share the lead after the second round of the Sony Open at Honolulu, Hawaii.
Englishmen Luke Donald, Brian Davis and Greg Owen are in or around the top 20 but Glasgow's Martin Laird missed the cut (those with one-over-par 141 or better) by seven strokes.
Taking advantage of an early start and pristine conditions at the Waialae Country Club, Green fired his second straight four-under-par 66 and is at eight-under-par 132 after 36 holes.
Green, whose best finish in 90 previous PGA events was second at the Buick Invitational in 2006, had five birdies and one bogey during his round.
"I don't think the conditions were as bad as we thought they were going to be," Green said. "Last night, you could hear the wind whipping. Sort of a stronger version of yesterday. It didn't seem anywhere near as strong as they predicted."
Pernice played later in the day and blistered the course for a 63, firing five birdies and an eagle on the par-five 18.
"Obviously, conditions like this on a challenging golf course and to get around in seven-under, yeah, it's a very good round," Pernice said. "You're not going out thinking you're going to shoot seven-under. You just kind of plod your way around and try to hang in there.
"The mentality was to hang in there and keep plugging along, and I made some nice saves when I needed to on the back nine. Obviously, the eagle at the last was quite exciting."
The pair hold a one-stroke edge over first-round leader Shigeki Maruyama, who fired a 68 to go with his opening 65, and Brian Gay. Maruyama is at seven-under 133 overall, while Gay fired a 67 to go with his first-round 66.
Zach Johnson is another shot back, tied for fifth after a hot-and-cold round of 65. The 2007 Masters champion had two bogeys, five birdies and an eagle on number nine for a five-under. Johnson is even with Webb Simpson at six-under.
Geoff Ogilvy, who cruised to a six-stroke victory at the Mercedes-Benz Championship last week, is part of a group at five-under overall. Ogilvy fired a 69 and is tied with Steve Marino, Boo Weekley and Charles Howell III at 135.
Luke Donald and Brian Davis are join 16th on 137, Donald shooting a second-round70 and Davis a 68.
Compatriot Greg Owen is a shot behind them in joint 25th place with a second-rund 67.
Martin Laird, pictured above, who retained his playing rights with nothing to spare at the end of the 2008 season, did not get the flying start to his 2009 campaign he was hoping for. On a par-70 course, his opening round of 75 left him with little or no chance of beating the cut and a second-day 73 for eight-over 148 confirmed it.
Other notables who missed the cut included new US Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin and past US Ryder Cup player Jeff Maggert.

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 140 (2 x 70)
Players from US unless stated
132 Nathan Green (Aus) 66 66, Tom Pernice Jnr. 69 63
133 Brian Gay 66 67, Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 65 68
134 Zach Johnson 69 65, Webb Simpson 66 68
135 Steve Marino 68 67, Boo Weekley 66 69, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 66 69, Charles Howell III 67 68
136 Wil Collins 69 67, David Mathis 68 68, David Toms 70 66, Stewart Cink 71 65, Briny Baird 69 67
137 Brian Davis (Eng) 69 68, Chris Stroud 67 70, Adam Scott (Aus) 71 66, Hideto Tanihara (Jpn) 72 65, Kevin Na 72 65, George McNeill 69 68, K J Choi (Kor) 68 69, Troy Kelly 71 66, Luke Donald (Eng) 67 70
138 Steve Stricker 70 68, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 68 70, Ted Purdy 69 69, Greg Owen (Eng) 71 67, Cliff Kresge 69 69, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl) 68 70, Jeff Klauk 69 69, Kenny Perry 69 69, Cameron Beckman 72 66, Marc Leishman (Aus) 72 66, Glen Day 70 68, Troy Matteson 71 67, D.J. Trahan 71 67
139 Jerry Kelly 67 72, Michael Letzig 69 70, Tim Herron 68 71, Steve Lowery 71 68, Harrison Frazar 69 70, Scott Piercy 67 72, Kevin Streelman 70 69, Bob Estes 72 67, Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 70 69, Bill Haas 68 71, Sean O'Hair 71 68, Jimmy Walker 73 66
140 Spencer Levin 71 69, John Merrick 70 70, Bart Bryant 71 69, Jeff Overton 71 69, Tag Ridings 71 69, Junpei Takayama (Jpn) 71 69, Matthew Borchert 73 67, Chez Reavie 70 70, Tadd Fujikawa 71 69, Michael Allen 72 68, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 69 71, Brendon Todd 69 71, Scott Sterling 71 69
141 Arron Oberholser 68 73, Paul Azinger 68 73, Jeff Quinney 71 70, Azuma Yano (Jpn) 71 70, Casey Wittenberg 71 70, Matt Bettencourt 73 68, Alex Cejka (Ger) 72 69, D.A. Points 68 73, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 70 71, Joe Durant 73 68, Andres Romero (Arg) 73 68, Ernie Els (Rsa) 72 69, Tim Petrovic 69 72, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 71 70, Tim Clark (Rsa) 71 70, Tommy Gainey 71 70
MISSED THE CUT
142 Aron Price (Aus) 71 71, Vaughn Taylor 71 71, Billy Mayfair 73 69, David Berganio Jnr. 69 73, Will MacKenzie 74 68, Dean Wilson 73 69, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 71 71, Derek Fathauer 73 69, Brendon De Jonge 67 75, Pat Perez 71 71, Davis Love III 72 70, Jeff Sluman 73 69, John Senden (Aus) 72 70, Chris DiMarco 72 70, Joe Ogilvie 70 72, Bubba Watson 72 70, Peter Lonard (Aus) 70 72
143 Peter Tomasulo 73 70, Paul Goydos 73 70, Jason Dufner 72 71, Gary Woodland 68 75, Marc Turnesa 71 72, Chris Couch 72 71, Shintaro Kai (Jpn) 72 71, Hiroshi Iwata (Jpn) 72 71
144 Brad Faxon 71 73, Kirk Triplett 74 70, Robert Garrigus 70 74, Loren Roberts 74 70, Johnson Wagner 76 68, Mark Wilson 71 73
145 Bill Lunde 72 73, Colt Knost 75 70, Tomohiro Kondo (Jpn) 73 72, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 73 72, Matt Kuchar 73 72, Greg Kraft 73 72, James Nitties (Aus) 74 71, Heath Slocum 76 69, Alex Aragon 73 72, Sang-moon Bae (Kor) 74 71, Corey Pavin 75 70, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 73 72
146 Kris Blanks 74 72, Bo Van Pelt 72 74, Rich Beem 73 73
147 Ricky Barnes 74 73, Lorens Chan 72 75, Leif Olson 74 73, Scott Gutschewski 76 71, Nicholas Thompson 73 74
148 J.B. Holmes 73 75, Notah Begay III 74 74, Martin Laird (Sco) 75 73, Rick Price 77 71, John Lepak 76 72
149 Eric Axley 73 76
150 John Lynch 78 72, Parker Mclachin 73 77, James Oh (Kor) 73 77
151 Jeff Maggert 77 74, John Mallinger 76 75
152 Brian Vranesh 81 71
153 Tyler Aldridge 76 77