Does Mark Halliday know he's

ranked No 995 world amateur?

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

If you scroll down to an earlier article you will find this week's updated R&A World Men's Amateur Golf Rankings.

I've been through the top 1,000 on your behalf and come up with 35 Scots, not all of whom live in Scotland!

My good friend and past president of the Scottish Golf Union, David Moir is the R&A staff man who works out all these rankings every week of the year. Helped by computers, I've no doubt, but still a colossal task but I bet David loves every minute of it.

In the not too distant future we will have a parallel Women's World Amateur Golf Rankings system. I look forward to that.

In the meantime, here are the Scotsmen in the top 1,000 with their present WAGR, right down to Royal Aberdeen's Mark Halliday (pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency) in 995th place:

44 Gavin Dear.

63 Wallace Booth.

154 Steven McEwan.

168 Ross Kellett.

183 Paul O'Hara.

201 Keir McNicoll.

209 Michael Stewart.

211 James Byrne.

281 Mark Hillson.

359 Lewis Kirton.

365 Glenn Campbell.

377 Craig Watson.

396 Gordon Yates.

460 Kris Nicol.

468 James White.

510 Greg Paterson.

529 Robert McKnight.

530 Paul Betty.

566 Philip McLean.

584 David Law.

599 Kevin McAlpine.

618 Scott Mann.

633 John Gallagher.

645 Bryan Fotheringham.

646 Mark Lamb.

654 Stephen Speirs.

662 Jordan Findlay.

719 Scott Crichton.

772 Matthew Clark.

827 Alexander Culverwell.

916 Peter Latimer.

944 Fraser Fotheringham.

946 Allyn Dick.

951 David Addison.

995 Mark Halliday.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS IN THIS WEEK'S UPDATE

OF THE R&A WORLD AMATEUR GOLF RANKINGS

WAGR TOP 5 – no change
1 Danny Lee (New Zealand)
2 Jorge Campillo (Spain)
3 Rickie Fowler (USA)
4 Kyle Stanley (USA)
5 Stephan Gross (Germany)

TOP 10
Shane Lowry (Ireland) – up 4 places to No 8

TOP 20
Chris Paisley (England) – up 4 places to No 18
Todd Adcock (England) – up 9 places to No 20

TOP 50
Chris Ward (USA) – up 71 places to No 48
Bobby Hudson (USA) – up 1 place to No 50

TOP 100
Ryan McCarthy (Australia) – up 40 places to No 67
Anthony Michael (RSA) – up 89 places to No 84
Craig Leslie (USA) – up 13 places to No 99

TOP 150
Tarquin McManus (Australia) – up 56 places to No 116
Niall Kearney (Ireland) – up 37 places to No 124
Steven Uzzell (England) – up 36 places to No 129
Greg Forest (USA) – up 18 places to No 134
Are Friestad (Norway) – up 86 places to No 143
Alexander Knappe (Germany) – up 62 places to No 146
Maximilian Glauert (Germany) – up 58 places to No 148

TOP 200
Jamie Abbott (England) – up 90 places to No 156
Dara Lernihan (Ireland) – up 59 places to No 165
Mu Hu (China) – up 47 places to No 184
Conrad Schindler (USA) – up 127 places to No 186
Jordan Sherratt (Australia) – up 82 places to No 194
Santiago Rivas (Colombia) – up 14 places to No 195=
Ian Rochester (USA) – up 24 places to No 195=

TOP 300
J G Claasen (RSA) – up 178 places to No 226
Daniel Nisbet (Australia) – up 66 places to No 242
Jason Barnes (England) – up 59 places to No 271
Matias Dominguez (Chile) – up 58 places to No 286
Quincy Quek (Singapore) – up 15 places to No 289

TOP 400
Kristian Nielsen (Denmark) – up 152 places to No 327
Jared Steger (USA) – up 77 places to No 347
Jesper Lerchedal (Denmark) – up 42 places to No 366
Nino Bertasio (Italy) – up 32 places to No 382
Corey Roberson (USA) – up 160 places to No 390
Mayel Cheikh (France) – up 160 places to No 391
Mikael Salminen (Finland) – up 157 places to No 395
Jose Maria Joia (Portugal) – up 81 places to No 399=
Gagan Verma (India) – up 55 places to No 399=

TOP 500
Jake Shepherd (England) – up 144 places to No 405
Rashid Khan (India) – up 108 places to No 424
Joe Vickery (Wales) – up 65 places to No 439
Taymen Erasmus (RSA) – up 230 places to No 453
Oliver Serres (France) – up 73 places to No 466
Stephan Wolters (Germany) – up 178 places to No 485
Matthew Harvey (USA) – up 12 places to No 489
Stanilaus Gautier (France) – up 171 places to No 492
Adam Wainwright (England) – up 91 places to No 496
Elias Bertheussen (Norway) – up 99 places to No 498
Niclas Johansson (Sweden) – up 136 places to No 500

THIS WEEK’S ROLL OF HONOUR

Sam Cyr (Carlton Oaks Invitational)
Andres Delano* (Abierto La Serena)
James Erkenbeck (John Burns Intercollegiate)
Tor Erik Knudsen* (SNU Arizona Intercollegiate)
Ryan McCarthy (Tasmanian Open)
Dean O’Riley (Free State & Northern Cape Stroke Play)
Jose Ortega (Campeonato Region Occidental)
Ji Hwan Park (Rice Intercollegiate)
Thomas Parker (JU Invitational)
Quincy Quek (SGF 1st National Ranking)
Shakhawat Shohel* (All India Amateur)
Chris Ward (UTSA Intercollegiate)
Dale Whitnell (Portuguese Amateur)
Will Wilcox (Matlock Collegiate Classic)
Patrick Winther (HP Championship at Carlton Woods)

*New WAGRanked Player

Please note: Performance by amateur golfers in professional events is not recorded.

Full draw for Accenture world

match-play championship

Here's who plays whom in the Accenture World match-play championship which tees off on Wednesday at Ritz Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain, Marana in Arizona p
The ties are in draw order. For example the winner of the Woods v Jones plays the winner of Clark v Goosen and the winner of McIlroy v Oosthuizen plays the winner of Weir v Mahan.
The first semi-final will be between the winners of the Bobby Jones and Ben Hogan brackets. The second semi-final will feature the winner of the Gary Player bracket against the winner of the Sam Snead bracket.

BOBBY JONES BRACKET

T Woods (US) v B Jones (Aus)
T Clark (SAf) v R Goosen (SAf).
R McIlroy (NI) v L Oosthuizen (SAf).
M Weir (Can) v H Mahan (US).

G Ogilvy (Aus) v K Sutherland (US).
T Immelman (SAf) v S Katayama (Jap).
C Villegas (Col) v R Pampling (Aus).
M A Jimenez (Spa) v R Sabbatini (SAf)

BEN HOGAN BRACKET

V J Singh (Fiji) v S Kjelden (Den).
B Curtis (US) v L Donald (Eng).
E Els (SAf) v S Hansen (Den).
S Stricker (US) v D Johnson (US).

P Mickelson (US) v A Cabrera (Arg).
Z Johnson (US) v G McDonald (NI).
L Westwood (Eng) v P Marksaeng (Thai).
S Cink (US) v R Sterne (SAf).

GARY PLAYER BRACKET

S Garcia (Spa) v C Schwartzel (SAf).
I Poulter (Eng) v J M Singh (India).
J Rose (Eng) v B Weekley (US).
A Scott (Aus) v S O'Hair (US).

R Karlsson (Swe) v P Hanson (Swe).
A Quiros (Spa) v S Ames (Can).
K Perry (US) v M Goggin (Aus).
P Casey (Eng) v A Baddeley (Aus).

SAM SNEAD BRACKET

P Harrington (Ire) v P Perez (US)
R Allenby v R Fisher (Eng).
J Furyk (US) v A Hansen (Den).
M Kaymer (Ger) v S Appleby (Aus).

H Stenson (Swe) v D Love (US).
J Leonard (US) v A Romero (Arg).
A Kim (US) v L Wen-Twang (Tai).
K J Choi (SKor) v O Wilson (Eng).

Roberts birdies three of last four for

ninth win on US Seniors Tour

Loren Roberts has chalked up his ninth career victory on the US Champions (Seniors) Tour.
He holed a 3ft birdie putt at the last hole to win the ACE Group Classic at Naples, Florida, beating Gene Jones by one stroke.
Roberts shot a 68 to finish at seven-under 209. Jones, who led by a shot coming into the final round, had a 70 for 210.
It was Roberts' second win in four years at this Florida venue. He joined Lee Trevino (1990-91), Mike Hill (1993-94), Hale Irwin (1997, 2002) and Gil Morgan (1998, 2001) as two-time champions.
Roberts won $240,000 out of the $1.6 million purse. It was his fifth professional win in Florida.
Roberts and Jones were tied going into the final hole. Jones hit his approach to 12 feet, then Roberts knocked a pitching wedge from 102 yards to within 3ft of the flagstick.
Jones, seeking his first win on the Champions Tour, missed his birdie putt on the left. But ice-cool Roberts made no mistake. It was his third birdie over the last four holes.
``I felt like I went out and won it, birdieing the last three out of four,'' he said. ``A lot of emotion with that happening because sometimes you win because you get help from somebody else or whatever. I felt like I went out and won the golf tournament. That's what gave me some emotion. I had to let out some emotion there.''
Roberts made birdies on Nos. 15 and 16 - hitting a 2-iron to 1 1/2 feet on that one - to get back in the tournament.
Six players held or shared the lead during the final round, and Jones, a mini-tour veteran, had it until a bogey on No. 14.
``I had my opportunity, and Loren came through like you have to expect the guy to come through,'' Jones said. ``That's what he's good at: winning. So I learned a lot today.''
James Mason (70), Don Pooley (70), Ben Crenshaw (68) and Bernhard Langer (69) tied for third at 5-under 211.
Crenshaw had the lead after 12 holes, but bogeyed No. 13, and missed a 12-footer for birdie on the final hole. Crenshaw hasn't won a tour event since the 1995 Masters.
Pooley grabbed the lead with a birdie on No. 12, but gave it right back with a double-bogey on the next hole.

Mickelson now No 3, Harrington No 4

in world professional rankings

Open champion Padraig Harrington has slipped one place in the world rankings to No 4 after his second missed cut of the 2009 season on the US PGA Tour.
The Dubliner is replaced at No 3 by Phil Mickelson, winner on Sunday of the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles.
Harrington will visit the influential sports psychologist Bob Rotella in an attempt to regain his focus before Wednesday’s start to the WGC Accenture Match-play Championship.
Latest world rankings:
1 Tiger Woods 9.61pts, 2 Sergio Garcia 7.87, 3 Phil Mickelson 7.39, 4 Pádraig Harrington 7.39 , 5 Vijay Singh 6.13, 6 Henrik Stenson 5.11, 7 Robert Karlsson 5.08, 8 Geoff Ogilvy 5.00, 9 Kenny Perry 4.74, 10 Camilo Villegas 4.71
11 Anthony Kim 4.45, 12 Lee Westwood 4.40, 13 Steve Stricker 4.23, 14 Ernie Els 4.13, 15 Jim Furyk 3.88, 16 Justin Rose 3.82, 17 Rory McIlroy 3.78 , 18 Adam Scott 3.77, 19 Mike Weir 3.72, 20 KJ Choi 3.69
Other leading Europeans :
21 Martin Kaymer, 23 Paul Casey, 24 Miguel Angel Jimenez, 25 Alvaro Quiros, 31 Luke Donald, 34 Ian Poulter, 38 Ross Fisher, 39 Graeme McDowell , 45 Oliver Wilson, 49 Anders Hansen, 53 Soren Hansen, 60 Peter Hanson, 61 Soren Kjeldsen, 71 Carl Pettersson, 74 Darren Clarke , 76 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, 82 Francesco Molinari, 83 Anthony Wall, 85 Gareth Maybin , 87 Fredrik Jacobson, 91 Alexander Noren, 94 Nick Dougherty.

ends

Desperate days call for innovative thinking

Netherlands have perfected

the Nomad Golfer system

By JO MAES, Editor of Ireland's GolfBUZZ
The Nomad Golfer has landed!
Right lads and obviously lassies, the weather has improved the last couple of days but unfortunately we are still submerged in this doom and gloom with bankers and governments playing multi-billion Euro ping pong with all our futures as the ball.
News reaches us about course closures with the Blarney Resort and Tulfarris recently falling victim to the recession.
With redundancies across the industry, will this only be the tip of the iceberg and is there more to surface? Only time will tell but it's not good.
The one bright shining light at the horizon is the announcement by P J Collins, the Irish Golf Union's new president, that he would actively look into the 'Nomad Golfer' as this is quite a new phenomenon.
Well, he'll do well to wake up the sleepy characters currently guarding the amateur game in Ireland. The Nomad Golfer has been around ever since the game began.
The Netherlands perfected the system, bringing the game out of a slump. In 1986, there were only 30,000 golfers in Holland. Today there are more than 350,000. This has all to do with allowing 'white' golfers (as they were called) into the federal system, giving them the opportunity to get a handicap and not outcasting them.
Consequently, Holland, not so much a 'traditional' golf country, has countless professionals on tours all over the world, has very good amateurs coming through the ranks, has a thriving business golf scene with many magazines and websites and countless corporate events.
In short, it's an example to other countries as to what can be achieved with an open mind.
One year ago today, we applied to the Irish Golf Union to be affiliated as a golf club. The idea came about when playing Carnoustie and St. Andrews, not really contemporary golf meccas but they do have several golf club houses lining the fairways of these traditional links, all golf clubs using the course in agreement with each other.
Affiliation obviously incurs rules and regulations, the most important one, having access to a course. This was solved through an agreement with an existing course that had no Irish Golf Union involvement.
This application was not greeted with much fanfare as we were getting into the 'pay as you play' area. One must remember, the Irish Golf Union is a federation of golf CLUBS and not GOLFERS so everything starts at club level, which is fair enough.
After a year of writing, talking, appearing in front of committees etc., we finally were refused affiliation without appeal. The word 'discretion' (dictionary: the ability to make responsible decisions) was used and the 'definition of the traditional golf club'.
Now what is that exactly, the traditional golf club? Does traditional come to mind when the clubhouse is the lobby of an empty hotel in the middle of rural Ireland, when it is the playground of a multi-millionaire, where women are not allowed to be a member or where juniors can only play when senior members allow them to, where fees are so high only a select few can afford them?
Anyway, P J Collins did listen to what we had to say and we are glad he wants to look into this phenomenom as a way to tackle the crisis that engulfs us all.
I might have another shot at an affiliation for a true golfers' club, one where you can play all over Ireland, on different courses, have and keep an official handicap and in general contribute to the game of golf in Ireland!
What do you guys (and girls) out there think?
If you want to comment, you can get me at jmaes@golfhub.ie !

+Jo Maes is pictured above by Cal Carson Golf Agency.

Tiger comeback versus Australian Jones

Defending champion Tiger Woods will face Australian Brendan Jones in the opening round of the Accenture Match Play Championship as the world number one makes his return from an eight month lay-off.
Woods will be making his comeback from reconstructive knee surgery on Wednesday at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club of Dove Mountain.
The 33-year-old American will be joined by Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington and Vijay Singh at the top of the draw.
World number two Garcia will face South Africa's Charl Schwartzel, while third-seeded Harrington takes on Pat Perez and Singh will go head-to-head with Dane Soren Kjeldsen.
Phil Mickelson, who retained his title at the Northern Trust Open, is the fifth seed and will take on Argentina's Angel Cabrera.

Mickelson birdies 16 &

17 to score first US Tour


win for a year

FROM THE A O L GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Phil Mickelson, two strokes behind with only four holes to play, kept his nerve and produced two late birdies to retain the Northern Trust Open title at Riviera Country Club, Los Angeles in California after edging out Steve Stricker by one stroke in a tension-packed finish.
The world No 5 held a four-stroke third-round lead but after carding an eagle at the opening hole for a third straight day, Mickelson shipped five bogeys in 13 holes to open the door for Stricker to take up the running.
But left-hander Mickelson birdied 16 and 17 to overtake Stricker and his one-over-par 72 was enough to claim a 35th career PGA victory at 15 under par.
Couples had a chance to force a play-off but after his approach to the final green landed on the fringe he failed to take his chance before Mickelson calmly sank a six-foot putt to secure his first title for over a year.
Stricker signed for six birdies in a four under 67 to claim second place, with Fred Couples (69), South Korea's KJ Choi (69) and Argentina's Andres Romero (70) third at 13 under.
J B Holmes (68), England's Luke Donald (68), Mark Calcavecchia (69) and South Africa's Rory Sabbatini (70) finished tied for sixth at 12 under, with Zimbabwe's Brendon de Jonge (67), Dustin Johnson (70) and Scott McCarron (71) rounding out the top 10.
+The Phil Mickelson tournament statistics were: Average distance of drive - 297.3 yards; Greens hit in Regulation - 70.8%; Average putts per green: 1.667.

REPORT FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE:
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
LOS ANGELES -- Truth be told, it probably wasn't the kind of confidence-builder he was seeking.
Outwardly, though, Phil Mickelson was all smiles after winning the Northern Trust Open on Sunday. He was at his glass-half-full best during his interview after the tournament was over, too.
Look back on that round of 1-over 72, though, and there wasn't a lot to be happy about -- except for the fact that he played the final three holes like the player Mickelson knows he can be. The player he wants to become again before the Masters rolls around in six weeks.
"I'm pleased to be sitting here as the champion -- it was not easy," Mickelson said. "The bad of it came in that I needed to become a better frontrunner when I get a lead. ... The good thing was that I was able to fight hard.
"That meant a lot to me."
Mickelson entered the final round at Riviera, a course where he lost a playoff in 2007 and came back to win last year, with a four-stroke advantage. And when he rolled in a 38-footer for his third straight eagle at the first hole, the advantage was five.
Five bogeys in his next 13 holes, though, left Mickelson two strokes behind Steve Stricker in a tournament he had seemed destined to win at the start of the day. Then Dr. Jekyll replaced Mr. Hyde and Mickelson played his final three holes in 2 under to seal the win.
"I just blocked everything out, looked at the pin and swung to it," Mickelson said. "Just looked at my target and swung and forgot about all the technical stuff that I had been working on."
Sunday's dramatic swings in momentum marked the two-time champion's entire week.
Mickelson opened with what had to be a pent-up 63 -- he hadn't broken 70 all year, after all, nor finished higher than 42nd. But he was so frustrated by the 72 that followed he called Butch Harmon from the scorer's tent and asked him to hop a plane to LAX.
The work they did Saturday morning paid off in an extremely consistent 62 that saw Mickelson hit 10 fairways and 16 greens. His misses more often than not went to the preferred left and all indications were that Mickelson was back on track.
Or, maybe not.
On Saturday Mickelson acknowledged that he hadn't exactly put together the kind of performance that "exudes confidence" in his first three starts. Sunday's result may have been the desired one, but the confidence gained in his 35th career victory may have come at a price.
"Even when I didn't have my best stuff I was able to fight through it," Mickelson said. "... I'll work with Butch on Tuesday and see if I can continue to build on this and carry some momentum into Augusta with maybe some high performance."
Fred Couples, who played with Mickelson and Andres Romero in the final group and fought gamely to the end, said it didn't take a "genius" to figure out Mickelson was struggling on Sunday.
A putt here or there could have changed things, Couples said. How about a fairway hit? Mickelson went to his 3-wood until he regained some confidence -- there's that word again -- and finally split the fairway at the 15th hole with his driver.
A stellar 9-iron that settled 5 feet from the pin at the 16th hole moved Mickelson within a stroke of Stricker. His best drive of the week at the par-5 17th helped produce a two-putt birdie that drew him even until Stricker bogeyed the 18th and Mickelson regained the lead.
"He's fun to play with, and he's a true competitor, and he makes the game seem easy," Couples said. "When he plays bad he still gets it. ... So he was never going to lose the tournament. He was going to have a shot at winning the way he was playing.
"If he had played well, he would have won by five shots, but he didn't."
Turns out one was enough. Just barely.
Like all great players, Mickelson is clearly pointing toward the Masters, which he has won twice, as well as the rest of the majors. But he needs to harness his swing and handle the pressure of contending better than he did Sunday to snare a third Green Jacket.
So maybe this week's World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship is just what the doctor ordered.
"It's six final rounds," Mickelson said. "I don't have a four-shot lead like I had today. We start out even. It's difficult. It's a very difficult event to win. ... (Each match) feels like a Sunday. And you feel that pressure throughout the course of the day.
"It's dealing with and performing under that kind of pressure that enables you as a player to give your best performance in major championships when the pressure is the greatest."
SCROLL DOWN FOR ALL THE FINAL TOTALS

US PGA Tour Scoreboard
NORTHERN TRUST OPEN
Riviera CC, Pacific Palisades, California
FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4 x 71)
269 Phil Mickelson 63 72 62 72
270 Steve Stricker 68 66 69 67
271 Andres Romero (Arg) 66 70 65 70, KJ Choi (Kor) 66 69 67 69, Fred Couples 67 70 65 69
272 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 68 67 67 70, J.B. Holmes 73 67 64 68, Mark Calcavecchia 70 69 64 69, Luke Donald (Eng) 66 69 69 68
273 Dustin Johnson 66 70 67 70, Brendon De Jonge 69 70 67 67, Scott McCarron 64 68 70 71
274 Chris DiMarco 68 72 66 68, Rich Beem 68 69 69 68, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 72 68 68 66, Tim Clark (Rsa) 68 72 66 68
276 Brian Davis (Eng) 69 69 68 70, Kevin Sutherland 72 67 68 69, Bubba Watson 69 71 68 68, Kenny Perry 70 68 69 69, Hunter Mahan 69 69 68 70, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 70 68 67 71, Robert Allenby (Aus) 70 67 68 71, Dean Wilson 66 72 67 71
277 Kevin Na 67 69 72 69, Jeff Quinney 69 71 70 67, Ben Curtis 68 69 69 71, Tommy Armour III 67 67 72 71, Jason Bohn 73 66 68 70
278 Charley Hoffman 68 72 70 68, Pat Perez 69 66 75 68, Bill Lunde 69 67 71 71, Woody Austin 68 70 69 71, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 68 67 71 72, Bo Van Pelt 68 71 74 65, Marc Turnesa 69 68 71 70, Briny Baird 67 70 68 73, D.J. Trahan 67 72 72 67
279 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 69 70 71 69, Bob Estes 72 65 73 69
280 Brad Adamonis 70 70 72 68, Jerry Kelly 72 68 69 71, Graeme McDowell (NIrl) 70 71 66 73, Soren Hansen (Den) 70 69 72 69, Joe Ogilvie 70 70 69 71, John Mallinger 70 68 73 69, Jeff Klauk 67 72 68 73, Jim Furyk 66 71 75 68, Cameron Beckman 70 71 71 68, Rocco Mediate 70 68 70 72
281 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 71 70 72 68, Kirk Triplett 67 70 73 71, Bart Bryant 74 67 71 69, Ernie Els (Rsa) 71 67 73 70, Brandt Jobe 68 72 70 71, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 68 71 72 70
282 Chad Campbell 72 68 69 73, Matt Kuchar 70 68 75 69
283 Charlie Wi (Kor) 70 71 74 68, Nick Watney 71 68 73 71, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 67 73 71 72, David Duval 70 69 71 73, Charles Howell III 72 67 75 69
284 Michael Letzig 70 71 71 72, John Merrick 66 71 72 75, Scott Verplank 71 70 71 72, Stephen Ames (Can) 71 70 71 72, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 71 68 73 72
285 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 68 71 71 75
286 Jimmy Walker 69 70 70 77
287 Ryan Moore 68 71 77 71
288 Daniel Chopra (Swe) 73 67 74 74, Mike Weir (Can) 70 71 70 77
289 Jason Gore 69 70 75 75