US Nationwide Tour Scoreboard
PANAMA DIGICEL CHAMPIONSHIP
Panama GC, Panama City, Panama
FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 70
67 Andrew Buckle, Clodomiro Carranza, Rafael Gomez, Jim Herman, Kevin Johnson, Skip Kendall, Omar Uresti, Vance Veazey
68 Chris M. Anderson, Camilo Benedetti, Tom Byrum, Sebastian Fernandez, Garrett Osborn, Dicky Pride, Michael Sim, Chris Smith, Esteban Toledo
69 Alex Aragon, Rich Barcelo, Henrik Bjornstad, Jonas Blixt, D.J. Brigman, Joe Daley, Bubba Dickerson, Nick Flanagan, Scott Gardiner, Rodolfo Gonzalez, Jeff Gove, Tripp Isenhour, John Morse, Alex Prugh, Brian Smock, Josh Teater
70 Kris Cox, Todd Demsey, Matthew Every, Hunter Haas, Seung Su Han, Matt Hansen, David Hearn, Neal Lancaster, Bob May, Tee McCabe, Mauricio Molina, Martin Piller, Kyle Reifers, Dustin Risdon, Geoffrey Sisk, Bob Sowards, Brian Stuard, Garrett Willis, Willie Wood
71 Justin Bolli, Craig Bowden, Jeff Brehaut, Michael Clark II, Keoke Cotner, Jay Delsing, Steve Friesen, Paul Gow, Mike Heinen, Justin Hicks, Drew Laning, Jon Mills, Jim Rutledge, Sebastian L Saavedra, Phil Tataurangi, Manny Villegas, Steve Wheatcroft
72 Jason Enloe, Fernando Figueroa, Craig Kanada, J J Killeen, Len Mattiace, Patrick Moore, Chris Nallen, Brenden Pappas, Jin Park, Paulo Pinto, Fran Quinn, John Riegger, Tom Scherrer, Brennan Webb
73 Benjamin Alvarado, Miguel Carballo, Gary Christian, Gavin Coles, Jeff Curl, Bryan DeCorso, Brad Elder, Richard Johnson, Ian Leggatt, Major Manning, Mike Norman, Jason Schultz, B.J. Staten, Diego Vanegas, Dustin White
74 Josh Broadaway, Paul Claxton, Jeff Gallagher, Fabian Gomez, Ryan Hietala, Chris Kirk, Steve LeBrun, Sal Spallone, Daniel Summerhays, Kyle Thompson
75 Guy Boros, David Branshaw, Bob Burns, Brad Fritsch, John Kimbell, Scott Parel, Chip Sullivan
76 Tom Carter, Keith Clearwater, Scott Dunlap, Andrew Johnson, Jim McGovern, Joseph Sykora, Grant Waite
77 Ryan Cobb
78 Jesus Amaya, Dustin Bray, Won Joon Lee, Martin Monguzzi, Steve Pate, David Peoples
79 Ryan Armour, Ron Whittaker
80 Michael Putnam

EARLY SECOND-ROUND LEADERS
Par 140 (2 x 70)
136 Skip Kendall 67 69, Henrik Bjornstad 69 67, Vance Veaze6 67 69.
137 Garrett Osborn 68 69, Jeff Gove 69 68, Camilo Benedetti (Col) 68 69.
Selected score:
139 Michael Sim 68 71.

FERGUSON SHARES SECOND PLACE

IN SPANISH SENIORS GOLF

Spaniard Miguel Preysler spreadeagled the field with a two-under-par round of 70 on the first day of the Spanish senior men's amateur international championship at Costa Ballena Golf Club, Cadiz.
Preysler is pictured right in action at the Senior British open amateur championship at Nairn two or three years ago when Gillian Stewart, the former leading amateur and tour pro from Inverness, caddied for him. Gillian is a good friend of the Spanish player who has numerous titles to his credit in Spain.
Preysler opened up a six-stroke lead at Costa Ballena from Scot Alan Ferguson from Drumpellier and Sweden's Tomas Persson.
Anglo-Scot Donald McCart (Sherwood Forest) finished the day in joint fourth place on 77.
Nairn's Robin Paton had an 82, one better than Aberdeen's Alistair Fiddes and Bill Methven.

FIRST-ROUND LEADERS
Par 72
70 Miguel Preysler (Spa).
76 Alan Ferguson (Sco), Tomas Persson (Swe).
77 Donald McCart (Sco), Bjorn Ronning (Swe), Glynn Rees (Wal), Juan Carlos Tinture (Spa).
Selected scores:
79 Stephen Hickey (Eng).
80 Terence Brown (Eng), Denis Martin (Eng), Hugh Smyth (Ire).
81 Sam McGuinness (Ire), Patrick Morgan (Ire), Bob Edgar (Sco), Stuart Pond (Eng), Tony Hayes (Ire).
82 Tony Haire (Eng), Clive Woodford (Eng), Robin Paton (Sco).
83 Bill Methven (Sco), Tom McEvoy (Ire), Alistair Fiddes (Sco).
84 Richard Hopkinson (Eng).

Wallace Booth, Gavin Dear

both returns five-over 77s

Wallace Booth slumped to 40 shots on the inward half for a five-over-par opening round of 77 in the Jones Cup Invitational tournament at Ocean Forest Golf Club, Sea Island, Georgia.

Gavin Dear also had a 77 after turning in 39.

Over a man-sized course - 7,321yd, par 72 - there were many high halves, both in and out.

Early leader was American Kyle Stanley by two shots with a two-under-par 70.

NINE-HOLE SCORES
Par 36
34 Morgan Hoffman.
35 Harris English.
35 Mike McCoy.
36 Matt Broome.
37 Sam Hutsby, Wallace Booth.
Selected scores:
38 Ben Westgate, Steve Uzzell, Glen Campbell.
39 Gavin Dear.
40 Nigel Edwards.
41 Paul O'Hara.

42 Keir McNicoll, Rhys Enoch.

43 Chris Paisley.

FIRST ROUND SCORES

Par 72

70 Kyle Stanley.

72 Morgan Hoffman, Harris English, Mike McCoy.

73 Brinson Paolini.

74 Dale Whitnell, Adam Mitchell, Zack Sucher, Thomas Jordan, Brendon Gielow.

Selected scores:

77 Jorge Campillo, Gavin Dear, Ben Westgate, Wallace Booth.

79 Tommy Fleetwood, Steven Uzzell, Nigel Edwards.

80 Sam Hutsby, Keir McNicoll.

82 Tom Sherreard.

91 Rhys Enoch.

Global recession is hurting golf clubs

and courses right across America

FROM THE AMERICAN GOLF.COM WEBSITE
Saddlebrook Golf Course took a look at the bottom line and decided it was time to cut some deals, offering a two-year membership for nearly 80 percent off the normal daily rate.
In neighboring Illinois, greens fees at the Greenview Golf Club in Centralia are down from $35 a round to $23, which includes a cart.
The struggling economy has buried many golf courses in a financial sand trap, forcing owners to offer deep discounts to keep players and recruit new members. Others are putting up ``for sale'' signs or seeking new financing to stave off foreclosure.
``Nobody's making a living,'' said Greenview owner Tom Wargo, the 1993 Senior PGA champion and 1994 Senior British Open champion.
Indeed, with the economic meltdown affecting even such sports superpowers as the NFL and NASCAR, it's understandable that recreational golf is hurting.
Golf has always been a pricey pastime. The median rate for a round of 18 holes at a US public course is about $40, and private club memberships can run well into the thousands of dollars.
Now throw in a recession and a tough situation for the nearly 16,000 public and private courses in the United States becomes even worse, said Mike David, executive director of the Indiana Golf Office, the umbrella group for the state PGA and other golf programs.
``It's not that there are fewer people playing,'' he said. ``The problem is they're not playing enough rounds.''
The National Golf Foundation in the States reports golfers played about 498 million rounds in 2007. That number dropped about 8 million, or 1.6 %, through the end of November, the most recent month surveyed, said Jim Kass, research director of the Jupiter, Fla.-based foundation.
The result is that in America more golf courses are closing than opening, a sharp change from as recently as 2001, when 252 more courses opened than closed.
The National Golf Foundation says 113 courses opened and 121 closed in 2007, and 2008 - for which it did not have final numbers - was on track to post the lowest number of openings in two decades.
More hazards may be on the horizon.
Developers of a $500 million golf and wine resort in Yakima, Washington State, filed for bankruptcy protection in November, just two months after breaking ground on the project, and Georgia's exclusive Sea Island, once called the best golf resort in America by Golf Digest, laid off 500 employees last fall.
Northgate Golf Course in Reno, Nevada, considered one of the best new courses in the country when it opened 20 years ago, announced in January it would close because it's losing money. Once a site for U.S. Open qualifying, Northgate stands to lose $530,000 in the current fiscal year, according to the Reno-area tourism board that operates the course.
Kathy Bissell, national golf course sales director for Coldwell Banker Commercial in Jacksonville, Florida, said buyers can still be found - and financing obtained - for courses that are priced correctly.
``But what we see a lot of are courses that don't have an appropriate level of net operating income for the price the owner would like to have,'' Bissell said.
That's where courses like Saddlebrook hope to make the difference.
The 17-year-old course on Indianapolis' northwest side still gets most of its revenue from public play, including a number of Indianapolis Colts (an American Football team), who like its proximity to the NFL team's headquarters.
The course is offering a two-year membership with unlimited play Monday through Friday for $198. Normally, it's $26 a day, or $475 for one year, said Drew Breeden, the assistant pro at the Indianapolis club.
``It's a different way of approaching membership,'' he said.
It's also a lot cheaper than many private clubs, which don't charge greens fees but often require initiation fees and monthly dues. Those clubs, too, are seeking new ways to boost revenue.
The Sagamore Club, a Jack Nicklaus-designed course in the northern Indianapolis suburb of Noblesville, started with about 150 members in 2003. Membership has more than doubled since then but has remained fairly flat in the past year, even as operating costs have soared, said Scott Van Newkirk, senior vice president of Arizona-based Troon Golf, which operates Sagamore.
``The industry has been stagnant for a number of years. The demand for memberships has not been what it has been in the past,'' Van Newkirk said.
The club is trying to bring in more capital by offering shares of ownership to its members, and potential members are being offered reduced initiation fees.
Wargo, owner of the Greenview club in Illinois, wants out of the business. His course is on the market for $1.9 million.
``Golf's not in a good position right now, even though we have the No. 1 recognised athlete in the world (Tiger Woods),'' he said. ``It's not helping the business at all.''
Dick Sills, general manager of the Indianwood Golf & Country Club in Indiantown, Fla., doesn't expect that to change anytime soon.
His business was down 18% through November, and the course has cut its fees in hopes of enticing more golfers.
``It's down, but it's not as bad yet as it might get. I think it will get worse,'' he said.
In the long haul, that may be bad news for golfers, giving them fewer playing options. But Chicago doctor Larry Stone, an avid golfer for 50 years, sees at least one benefit from the recession.
``You can walk onto most of them at any time except Sunday morning,'' he said.

Ryder Cup Scots stalwarts in field for

new Aberdeen Brunei Senio Masters

Ryder Cup-winning captains Bernard Gallacher and Sam Torrance and two time Major winner Sandy Lyle will ensure the new European Senior Tour season gets off to a flying start when they tee up in the inaugural Aberdeen Brunei Senior Masters presented by The Stapleford Forum from February 27-March 1.
The Scottish trio will headline an impressive field at The Empire Hotel & Country Club in Brunei as the Senior Tour breaks new ground when it reaches its most easterly venue.
Torrance, who captained Europe to Ryder Cup victory against the United States in 2002 at The Belfry, will be hoping to build on an impressive end to the 2008 season as he targets reclaiming the Number One spot and succeeding another Ryder Cup winning Captain, Ian Woosnam, as winner of the John Jacobs Trophy, which is awarded to the leading Senior Tour player.
After struggling with a hand injury for the past two seasons, 55 year old Torrance showed glimpses of the form that saw him win the Order of Merit in 2005 and 2006 when he finished runner up in the Scottish Seniors Open before capturing his tenth Senior Tour title in the OKI Castellón Open España – Senior Tour Championship.
Compatriot Lyle will be hoping to kick-start his own Senior Tour career with a maiden victory in Brunei, with his best finish so far coming in the Ryder Cup Wales Seniors Open where he led after the first round before finishing tied 11th.
The 1985 Open and 1988 Masters Champion, who won 18 European Tour titles in total, will be hoping for a belated present after celebrating his 51st birthday on February 9.
Coincidentally Lyle shares the same birthday as Gallacher, who will be 60 years old when he tees up in Brunei for his first Senior Tour appearance since the Scottish Seniors Open in 2006.
Gallacher, who has one Senior Tour victory and 13 European Tour titles, competed in eight Ryder Cup Matches before captaining the European Team in 1991, 1993 and 1995.
The presence of such an illustrious Scottish trio in the field reflects their support for sponsors Aberdeen Asset Management, the Scottish global investment management group which also sponsors The 2010 Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomerie.
Aberdeen Asset Management renews its association with the Senior Tour having previously sponsored The Senior Open Championship between 2005 and 2007.
Gallacher, Lyle and Torrance are joined in the field by former Ryder Cup players, England’s Gordon J Brand, who was runner up to Woosnam in the 2008 Order of Merit, and Italian Costantino Rocca.
Another player targeting a strong opening to the new campaign in Brunei is Englishman Carl Mason, the all-time leading money winner on the Senior Tour, who this season is looking to become the first player to break through the €2million barrier.
Mason, who has won three Order of Merit crowns in five years on the Senior Tour, will be hoping for a return to form after dropping to seventh last season.
Meanwhile Australian Mike Harwood, a five time winner on The European Tour, will make his Senior Tour debut in the Brunei tournament, which is one of four events being promoted on the 2009 European Senior Tour by long-term partners WSM Sponsorship.
The Jack Nicklaus designed course at The Empire Hotel & Country Club is built upon a stunning cliff top location and has hosted the Asian Tour’s Brunei Open since 2006.
The beginning of the tournament week will coincide with Brunei’s National Day which falls on Monday, February 23.

Rookie Finn leads at Asian Tour

International at Bangkok

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ASIAN TOUR
Finland’s Toni Karjalainen began his rookie year on the Asian Tour strongly when he carded a second round 12-under-par 64 to take over the lead in the Asian Tour International tournament at Suwan Golf & Country Club, Bangkok today.
Overnight leader Marcus Both of Australia is a shot behind after posting a 68 for a 11-under-par 131 total while Japan’s Tetsuji Hiratsuka took third place on 68.
Fellow compatriot, Hirotaro Naito finished with a 66 to take fourth place while Korea’s Ted Oh and India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar are among the eight players bunched together in fifth place on 134.
When play finally resumed after being delayed for approximately 50 minutes due to the heavy morning fog, Karjalainen quickly got off the blocks with birdie-birdie in his opening back-nine.
He continued his birdie blitz on the 17th and 18th before making the turn in 31. The Finn stormed home strongly in his inward run with another three more birdies on the second, sixth and ninth holes to cap a deserving start to his rookie season.
“It has been really good for me so far. I made it through qualifying school and with this being my first tournament on the Asian Tour, things are looking fairly nice at the moment,” said Karjalainen who secured his Asian Tour card by finishing in tied-19th place at Qualifying School.
Meanwhile, Both continued to pile the pressure on the Finn despite not being able to match up to his first round performance.
“I probably didn’t hole as many putts as I did yesterday and there’s still some work to do.,” said Both.
“I need to sharpen up some of the techniques which my coach and I have been working on and I think I should be okay after that,” added the Australian.
Hiratsuka who began the day in second place mixed five birdies and two bogeys to drop one place down to third while fellow compatriot, Naito who is seeking his first professional win on Tour, fired six birdies against a lone bogey on the par-four, 14th to stay in contention for top honours at the US$300,000 full-field Asian Tour event.
“It has been a good day of golf out there and I’m really enjoying myself. I just have to continue to work hard and hopefully, it’ll all come together,” said the 26-year-old Japanese.
After enjoying an impressive run midway through the 2008 season by posting three consecutive top-10 finishes at the Brunei Open, Pertamina Indonesia President Invitational and Mercuries Taiwan Masters, Oh is also among the leaders who are riding on their rich vein of form coming into this event.
“The greens were tough to read but I still made a couple of good drives, especially on the par-fives. I’ve been putting myself into very good positions for birdies over the last two days and I hope to continue doing that,” said the Korean, who recorded two-day round scores of 68 and 66.
Bhullar continued to stake his claim for his maiden Asian Tour title. The Indian got off to a good start with three successive birdies on his starting back-nine and looked poised to grab the lead held by Karjalainen until two costly bogeys on the second and ninth hole ruined his card.
“I didn’t hit the ball that well today. It wasn’t that close to the pins but they were all on the green,” said Bhullar.
“However I think I still played well overall except for my finishing ninth hole which I continued to drop shots yesterday and today,” added the Indian.
Defending champion Lin Wen-tang of Chinese Taipei failed to make the weekend cut after disappointing rounds of 73 and 72.
The cut was set at two-under with a total of 72 players making it to the weekend rounds.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 142 (2 x 71)
130 Toni Karjalainen (FIN) 66-64
131 Marcus Both (Aus) 63 68
132 Tetsuji Hiratsuka (Jpn) 64 68
133 Hirotaro Naito (Jpn) 67 66
134 Ted Oh (Kor) 68 66, Noh Seung-Yul (Kor) 68 66, Pariya Junhasavasdikul (Tha) 69 65, Mark Purser (Nzl) 68 66, Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) 66 68, James Kamte (Rsa) 71 63, Unho Park (Aus) 65 69, Rahil Gangjee (Ind) 65 69
135 Michael Light (Aus) 68 67, Iain Steel (Mal) 72 63, Kodai Ichihara (Jpn) 66 69, Rhys Davies (Wal) 69 66, Kenichi Kuboya (Jpn) 69 66
136 Michio Matsumura (Jpn) 71 65, Bryan Saltus (USA) 72 64, Akinori Tani (Jpn) 70 66, Atthaphon Prathummanee (Tha) 68 68, Mo Joong-Kyung (Kor) 66 70, Adam Blyth (Aus) 70 66, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 67 69, Gavin Flint (Aus) 67 69, Danny Chia (Mal) 67 69
137 Prom Meesawat (Tha) 69 68, Wilhelm Schauman (Swe) 68 69, Matthew Griffin (Aus) 71 66, Kim Bi-O (Kor) 69 68, Daisuke Maruyama (Jpn) 71 66, Somkiat Srisanga (Tha) 69 68, Adam Groom (Aus) 67 70
138 Wu Ashun (Chn) 67 71, Darren Beck (Aus) 72 66, Angelo Que (Phi) 71 67, Tim Stewart (Aus) 69 69, Tatsuya Sato (Jpn) 74 64, Nakul Vichitryuthasastr (Tha) 69 69, Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 67 71, S.Siva Chandhran (Mal) 68 70, Kim Hyung-Sung (Kor) 71 67, Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 69 69, George Coetzee (Rsa) 70 68, Rory Hie (Ina) 71 67
139 Andrew Marshall (Eng) 70 69, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 71 68, Tony Carolan (Aus) 71 68, Simon Griffiths (Eng) 68 71, Guido Van Der Valk (Ned) 72 67, Airil Rizman (Mal) 73 66, Nathan Uebergang (Aus) 70 69, Jason Norris (Aus) 72 67, Rohan Blizard (Aus) 70 69, Digvijay Singh (Ind) 71 68, Kim Hyung-Tae (Kor) 70 69
140 Motoharu Mukai (Jpn) 71 69, Frankie Minoza (Phi) 69 71, Zaw Moe (Mya) 68 72, Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa) 72 68, Tatsuhiko Ichihara (Jpn) 68 72, Park Jun-Won (Kor) 70 70, Kwanchai Tannin (Tha) 70 70, Yoshinobu Tsukada (Jpn) 71 69, John Parry (Eng) 73 67, Somchai Pongpaew (Tha) 72 68, Wisut Artjanawat (Tha) 67 73, Lin Wen-Hong (Tpe) 72 68, Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 71 69, Scott Barr (Aus) 69 71, Young Nam (Kor) 72 68, Nozomi Kawahara (Jpn) 68 72
MISSED THE CUT
141 Scott Hend (Aus) 71 70, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 72 69, C Muniyappa (Ind) 72 69, Olle Nordberg (Swe) 72 69, Mitchell Brown (Aus) 70 71, Christopher Campbell (Aus) 69 72, James Kruger (Rsa) 72 69
142 Panuwat Muenlek (Tha) 69 73, Thammanoon Srirot (Tha) 70 72, Andrew Welsford (Aus) 70 72, Choengchai Panpumpo (Tha) 75 67, Will Yanagisawa (USA) 73 69, Lu Wen-Teh (Tpe) 72 70, Wang Ter-Chang (Tpe) 72 70, Lu Wei-Chih (Tpe) 71 71, Ronnachai Jamnong (Tha) 71 71, Pongthep Jaewchumnanchao (Tha) 70 72
143 Boonchu Ruangkit (Tha) 73 70, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 73 70, Udorn Duangdecha (Tha) 72 71, Varut Chomchalam (Tha) 71 72, Hiroshi Iwata (Jpn) 71 72, Makoto Inoue (Jpn) 73 70, Neven Basic (Aus) 73 70, Rick Kulacz (Aus) 70 73, Taichiro Kiyota (Jpn) 71 72, Jason Knutzon (USA) 71 72, Antonio Lascuna (Phi) 73 70, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 70 73
144 Hiroaki Iijima (Jpn) 72 72, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha) 71 73, Anthony Kang (USA) 72 72, Namchoak Tantipokakul (Tha) 74 70, Pornsakon Tipsanit (Tha) 75 69, Lam Chih Bing (Sin) 72 72, Mars Pucay (Phi) 71 73, Shinichi Akiba (Jpn) 73 71, Pavit Tangkamolprasert (Tha) 72 72, Do Kim (Aus) 74 70, Tetsuya Koyama (Jpn) 71 73
145 Eduardo Herrera (Col) 74 71, Chris Roake (Eng) 72 73, Krisada Rangwat (Tha) 74 71, Chaipat Darapanich (Tha) 74 71, Kim Kyung-Tae (Kor) 75 70, Lin Wen-Tang (Tpe) 73 72, Somboon Leelathitikul (Tha) 73 72
146 Sattaya Supupramai (Tha) 71 75, Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha) 75 71, Ally Mellor (Eng) 77 69, Lin Keng-Chi (Tpe) 74 72, David Bransdon (Aus) 75 71, Ross Bain (Sco) 74 72, Sushi Ishigaki (Jpn) 74 72
147 Yasumasa Suzuki (Jpn) 73 74, Amandeep Johl (Ind) 74 73, Adam Le Vesconte (Aus) 72 75, Shinsuke Yanagisawa (Jpn) 73 74, Chris Rodgers (Eng) 76 71
148 Manus Saengsui (Tha) 79 69, Takenori Hiraishi (Jpn) 75 73, Toru Morita (Jpn) 68 80
149 Methee Siripoch (Tha) 72 77, Pol Kemmarat (Tha) 76 73
150 Anirban Lahiri (Ind) 74 76, Soushi Tajima (Jpn) 77 73
151 Siddikur (Ban) 72 79, Tomoo Bise (Jpn) 78 73
153 Chan Yih-Shin (Tpe) 74 79
154 Thanatchan Puektes (Tha) 74 80
155 Nuphan Marpraneet (Tha) 82 73
160 Sirapong Maitreeyeunyong (Tha) 75 85

Motherwell man doing well in Australian match-play

KELLETT THROUGH TO SEMI-FINALS

IN N S WALES CHAMPIONSHIP

Motherwell's Ross Kellett (Colville Park) is through to the last four of the New South Wales amateur match-play golf championship at The Australian Golf Club.
Kellett, pictured right, who qualified in No 6 position, beat the third seeded Australian, Kyle Grant, by 6 and 4 in a 36-hole match today.
He will now play the 23rd qualifier, Australian Brett Drewitt, who beat England's Charles Ford, the No 15 seed, in a match that went to the 36th green before Drewitt won by two holes.
The other 36-hole semi-final is between two Australians, Michael Smith and Scott Arnold.
Results (all 36-hole ties)
QUARTER-FINALS
Players from Australia unless stated
Seeding number in brackets
Michael Smyth (16) bt Tim Hart (8) 2 and 1.
Scoptt Arnold (5) bt Rhein Gibso (13) 7 and 6.
Brett Drewitt (23) bt Charles Ford (Eng) (15) 2 hooes.
Ross Kellett (Sco) (6) bt Kyle Grant (3) 6 and 4.

BELJAN BECOMES A BELIEVER

- TAKES PALM VALLEY VICTORY

FROM THE GATEWAY TOUR WEBSITE
After beginning the final round of this week’s Gateway Tour's Desert Winter Series event at Palm Valley GC, Phoenix, Arizona, trailing Kent Eger (66/66/73—205, T10) by three strokes, Charlie Beljan (67/68/64—199, 17-under par) shot an eight-under par, 64 to take his first victory of the year, worth $24,000, by way of a two-stroke cushion over Brady Stockton (63/70/68-201).
Through four events now of the Desert Winter Series, the Mesa, Arizona native has not finished worse than sixth place, and coming off last season, where he earned over $100,000 on the Gateway Tour, he’s already amassed an impressive $47,450.00 with the bulk of the ’09 season yet to play.
“You know it’s funny, I hit it the worst I’ve hit it in a long time, but I putted and chipped out of my mind this week,” said Beljan of his performance. “That just goes to show, if you can putt and chip, that’s all that really matters to get it done in this game.”
Beljan needed just 25, 26, & 26 putts in each round, respectively, and in making the final-round run, he reached nine-under par through his first 11 holes before closing with all pars and a lone bogey of the day on the par-4 17th.
“I started birdie-eagle right out of the gate and it just went on from there,” he said of the day. “I knew if I could just keep hitting greens, that’s all I needed with the way I was putting.” “I just rolled it real well all week,” he added.
Beljan missed advancing to US PGA Tour School Qualifying Finals in the 2nd Stage last fall, and while he’ll play The Gateway Tour throughout the remainder of this year, he also plans to Monday Qualify for 13 events on the Nationwide Tour.
With those in mind and with the rest of The Gateway Tour year at bay, he hopes to take some of this week’s attitude – an attitude that’s been perhaps vacant from his near-misses in the previous weeks – on throughout the rest of the year.
“Just believing,” said Beljan. “Just believing that the ball’s going to go in. That’s all I’m doing different.”
Beljan now leads the Desert Winter Series money list by over $7,000 over Ben Kern, having already accomplished one of his goals of winning on the Gateway Tour this season. A larger goal of leading the Gateway Tour money list at the end of the season, however, is one he’s well on his way to reaching as well.
“That’s definitely something I want to accomplish,” he said. “I want to see what I can do with the Nationwides, but come season-end and the Tour Championship in October, I want to be on top of that money list. That’s my biggest goal for this year.”
This week's event at Palm Valley concludes the 4th Desert Winter Series event of seven events preceding the 2009 Winter Series Championship at Encanterra. The Gateway Tour will resume again next week, February 10-12, at Hillcrest & Vista Verde in Sun City West, Arizona.

Buick Invitational starts at Torrey Pines

Villegas leads by three with a nine-under 63

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Colombian Camilo Villegas fired a nine-under-par 63 to take the lead after the first round of the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines Golf Course on Thursday.
A winner of two events last year including the Tour Championship, Villegas is three shots ahead of Davis Love III and Aaron Baddeley with Stuart Appleby, Jeff Overton and Robert Garrigus at four under.
A group of nine players sit at three under, just ahead of three-time winner Phil Mickelson who carded an opening round 70.
Reigning Open and US PGA champion Padraig Harrington was at three under at the turn until carding a bogey and double-bogey on his back nine before a birdie at the last returned the Irishman to one under.
Harrington began his year with a fifth place finish at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship before having two non-malignant melanomas removed from near his right eye less than two weeks ago.
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Torrey Pines GC, South & North Courses in San Diego, California
Par 72
North Course:
63 Camilo Villegas (Col)
66 Aaron Baddeley (Aus), Davis Love III
68 Robert Garrigus, Jeff Overton, Stuart Appleby (Aus)
69 Nick Watney, Ricky Barnes, Brian Bateman, Ben Crane, Lucas Glover, Harrison Frazar, Jason Day (Aus)
70 Kent Jones, Jonathan Kaye, Gregor Main, Matthew Jones (Aus), D.A. Points, Brian Vranesh, John Rollins, J J Henry, Bob Heintz, Briny Baird
71 Retief Goosen (Rsa), Anthony Smith (Aus), Tag Ridings, Courtland Lowe, Jeff Klauk, Bob Tway, Jarrod Lyle (Aus), Michael Allen, Kevin Stadler, Aaron Watkins, Brett Quigley, John Huston, Marc Turnesa, Jesper Parnevik (Swe), Padraig Harrington (Irl)
72 Aron Price (Aus), Rodney Pampling (Aus), Chris Riley, Steve Allan (Aus), Webb Simpson, Joe Durant, Arjun Atwal (Ind), Jay Williamson, Glen Day, Rick Price, Gregory Casagranda
73 Peter Tomasulo, Dudley Hart, Chris Stroud, Arron Oberholser, Bart Bryant, Colt Knost, Tim Petrovic, Greg Chalmers (Aus), James Driscoll, Josh Anderson
74 Spencer Levin, Charles Warren, Bill Lunde, John Merrick, Darron Stiles, John Mallinger, Kevin Larsen, James Oh (Kor), Tyler Aldridge
75 Brad Adamonis, Notah Begay III, David Mathis, Martin Laird (Sco), Scott Piercy, Brandt Snedeker, Nicholas Thompson
78 Troy Kelly, Greg Kraft
79 Ryan Moore
South Course:
69 Mathew Goggin (Aus), Scott Sterling
70 Phil Mickelson, Nathan Green (Aus), Ryuji Imada (Jpn), Jason Dufner, Luke Donald (Eng), Greg Owen (Eng), Jason Gore
71 Charley Hoffman, George McNeill, Dean Wilson, Bubba Watson
72 Bill Haas, Paul Goydos, Charles Howell III
73 Pat Perez, J.B. Holmes, Alex Cejka (Ger)
74 Brendon De Jonge, Patrick Sheehan, Scott McCarron, Lee Janzen, Ted Purdy, Woody Austin, Todd Hamilton, Parker McLachlin, Matt Bettencourt, Fred Couples, Kevin Streelman, Dustin Johnson, Hunter Mahan, Marc Leishman (Aus), Troy Matteson
75 Charlie Wi (Kor), Leif Olson, Tom Lehman, Tom Pernice jun.
76 Rory Sabbatini (RSA), Marco Dawson, John Senden (Aus), David Berganio jun, Gary Woodland, Ben Curtis, Chez Reavie, Daniel Chopra (Swe), Jimmy Walker, Johnson Wagner
77 Y. E Yang (Kor), Fredrik Jacobson (Swe), Casey Wittenberg, Kevin Sutherland, Carl Pettersson (Swe), Tommy Gainey, Matt Weibring
78 Paul Stankowski, Wil Collins, Cliff Kresge, Peter Lonard (Aus), Steve Marino, Brandt Jobe, Scott Gutschewski, Rich Beem, Dennis Paulson, Carlos Franco (Par), Corey Pavin
79 Brad Faxon, Kris Blanks, Tim Parun, Bryce Molder, James Nitties (Aus), Frank Lickliter II
80 Jeff Quinney
81 Brendon Todd, Wes Short jun
82 Billy Andrade, Matthew Borchert
85 Eric Axley