Match-play tiger Geoff

Ogilvy wins $1,4000 by

beating Paul Casey

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Geoff Ogilvy won the World Golf Championships - Accenture Match Play for the second time in four years with a dominant 4 and 3 victory over Paul Casey.
Ogilvy, pictured above after a victory in Australia, the 2006 champion and 2007 runner-up, displayed his match play prowess yet again in the 36 hole final to pick up a cheque for US$1,400,000 with Casey unable to make an impression after a shaky start. Casey's monetary reward amounted to $668,588.
The victory was the Australian's third World Golf Championships title, sixth US PGA Tour victory and fourth European Tour win, sending him to the top of The Race to Dubai. The win also propels him to fourth in the World Rankings, while Casey narrowly missed out on a place in the top ten – he becomes the World Number 13.
Ogilvy now has an incredible career record in World Golf Championships of three wins in just ten appearances, while in the Accenture Match Play he has now won 17 of his 19 ties.
He and Casey had played a practice round together at the new Jack Nicklaus-designed Ritz-Carlton course a little over two weeks ago and their preparations paid dividends as Casey advanced to the final with a semi-final win over fellow Englishman Ross Fisher.
Ogilvy, having knocked out two in-form players in Camilo Villegas of Colombia and Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy in previous rounds, defeated last year's runner-up Stewart Cink in his semi-final.
Casey, having never trailed in his matches en route to the final, was four down after 17 holes but gave himself a boost heading into the lunch break when he won the 18th with a birdie.
Both Ogilvy and Casey had won their first events of 2009, Ogilvy at the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Hawaii and Casey at the Abu Dhabi Championship.
Yet Ogilvy looked the most likely to add a second title of the year, getting off to the best possible start after the break when he birdied the first for the second time in the day to re-open a four hole lead.
That margin did not last for long, however, as Casey bounced back to win the 20th hole with a birdie four.
Casey had a 15 foot putt to win the 21st hole but had to settle for a share of the spoils and he remained three down as temperatures in the desert reached the mid 80s.
Casey's putter was getting just as hot as he rolled in a 40 footer for birdie at the 22nd, but Ogilvy simply rolled in his own birdie putt from close range.
At the 25th Casey again laid down the gauntlet, firing in an iron to around 15 feet only for Ogilvy to match it and cash in when his rival missed his birdie putt.
Ogilvy cranked up the pressure even further by winning the eighth with an eagle three and it got worse for Casey as he bogeyed the ninth to go six down.
Casey won the 659 yard 11th having ripped a three wood 302 yards onto the green, Ogilvy conceding his eagle putt.
There were more signs of life when Casey birdied the 13th but Ogilvy closed out the match on the 15th.
Ogilvy had gone 57 holes without posting a bogey.
"The whole weekend I played fantastic. I played two unbelievable players yesterday, Rory (McIlory) is going to be one of the best players in the world for a very long time and everyone needs to remember his name. He's incredible for 19," said Ogilvy.
"Stewart Cink is very hard to beat in this tournament, always up there and then Paul, one of the best players in the world, a really great competitor head to head.
"The fact that both of us came down on Friday the 13th to play a practice game, it's astonishingly coincidental that we ended up in the final, it's incredible.
"I've been on the wrong end in this final, it's not a very nice feeling, but it's a very satisfying week to play well, I'm really happy with this.
"Tucson's been good to me the last week in February for the last three or four years."
Casey was left to rue coming up against such a tough opponent.
"I was out of the blocks fast this afternoon and made three birdies over the first eight holes and still lost two holes, so he played great golf," Casey said.
"I threw a lot at him but he didn't flinch. It was very impressive.
"I didn't have enough, simple as that. I have no excuses, he just played excellent golf all day."
Cink took the third place after winning a tight Consolation Match one up when he edged out Fisher at the 18th hole by holing from the greenside bunker for a birdie three. It weas the third in a row to turn around a one hole deficit.“It was always going to be a tough match,” said Fisher afterwards.
“Stewart’s a great competitor, and his match play record in Ryder Cups and Presidents Cups is obviously very strong, so I knew it would be a tough game. And by holing the bunker shot he produced a great shot under pressure when he needed to.”
Fisher exceeded expectations on his debut in the WGC – Accenture Match Play and was rewarded with a handsome cheque for $385,421 and a climb of ten places in the Official World Golf Ranking to 28th.
“I can walk away with my held high and very, very pleases but at the same time slightly disappointed. To finish fourth and to be disappointed, there’s a lot of positives to take out of the week.”
Rory McIlroy earned $212,375 and Luke Donald $110,120.
Results:
FINAL (36 holes)
Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) beat Paul Casey (England) 4 and 3.

THIRD-PLACE PLAY-OFF (18 holes)
Stewart Cink (US) beat Ross Fisher (England) 1 hole.

Ogilvy three up on Casey in battle

for $1,400,000 match-play jackpot


FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Geoff Ogilvy took a firm grip on the World Golf Championships - Accenture Match Play final with a healthy lead over Paul Casey in the battle for the $1,400,000 first cash prize.
Ogilvy, the 2006 champion and 2007 runner-up, was three up after 18 holes of the 36 hole final at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club. And the Australian, playing in the final for the third time, was still three up after 22 holes.
"It was a bit of shaky start for me," Casey admitted at the lunchtime break. "Geoff has played very, very solid golf and hasn't given anything away."
That shaky start saw Casey miss from four feet for birdie at the first after Ogilvy had already holed from six feet, the first time at any point this week the Englishman had trailed in a match.
Casey missed another short putt on the severely undulating greens, this time at the sixth to go two down.
Ogilvy increased the pressure by winning the eighth and ninth as well to go four up before the three time Ryder Cup player halted the Australian's momentum in spectacular fashion, holing out at the par-4 10th hole with his second shot from 204 yards for an eagle.
The par-5 11th hole saw a remarkable chain of events with Casey having to lay up following an errant tee shot into a fairway bunker.
Ogilvy was in trouble after pulling his second shot into the desert and the jaws of a cactus, but after a penalty drop hit his fourth shot just short of the green.
Casey still looked favourite but could only look on as Ogilvy chipped in for an unlikely par to restore his four hole lead, Casey's par putt from 15 feet shaving the edge of the hole.
The 2006 US Open champion did see his lead cut at the par five 13th when Casey holed his first birdie putt of the match, but Ogilvy got the upper hand at the par three 16th.
Casey missed a long range birdie attempt but Ogilvy made no mistake from 14ft to go four up once more.
The Australian continued to play aggressively, hitting his approach to the 17th to 11 feet but Casey responded superbly, his approach rolling to within five feet of the hole.
Casey was denied an opportunity to win the hole when Ogilvy sank his putt, leaving the Englishman his putt to halve the hole and move on to the 18th still four down.
Casey gave himself a boost heading into the lunch break when he won the 18th with a birdie three from 11 feet.
“For as bad as I feel about that first 18 it is not disastrous and three down after 18 is not a lot,” he said.
“That can be overcome fairly quickly. I just need to get off to a fast start. That’s the key. If I get off to that hot start and get it back to even, one or two down going into the back nine I will feel good about that.
“What I can’t let happen is Geoff get out there and pick up a couple more holes on me as that would be very, very tough to come back from.”
Ogilvy said: “I played very well. Pretty solid the whole way and made a few birdies. Missed a few putts but made a few as well and can’t really fault the way I played.
“The only bad hole was the 11th where I ended up chipping in for par, so it was a good morning for me.”
England's Ross Fisher was one up after seven holes against American Ryder Cup playeer Stewart Cink in the 18-hole match for third place.

SCOTTISH GOLF SHOW INJECTS £1.25 MILLION

INTO CITY OF GLASGOW ECONOMY

PRESS RELEASE BY DENE COMMUNICATIONS
It is calculated that The City of Glasgow is set to enjoy an injection of £1.25 million into the local economy as a result of the fourth annual Scottish Golf Show. The three-day extravaganza is set to boost business for local restaurants, hotels, bars, increase consumer spend and attract new visitors, which organisers at PSP estimate upwards of 15,000 over the weekend.
After three years in Edinburgh the event’s new home is Glasgow’s SECC, Scotland’s largest exhibition facility. From Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd March, the event officially tees off the Scottish golfing season. Boasting 30 bay indoor driving range, 1000sq/m of practice areas including putting, short game and a special junior area as well as over 1000 free golf lessons by 14 top PGA professionals will combine to ensure a fantastic family day out.
The Eisenhower Trophy won by the Scottish Amateur team at the World Amateur Team Championships in Australia last October will be on display as well as ‘Trick Shot King’ and former Trick Shot World Champion Dave Edwards entertaining the crowds with his amazing show.
The event is teeming with over 100 exhibitors from the latest golfing gadgets to international golfing getaways to quirky golfing goods. Special discounts and credit crunching bargains are available from American Golf and top brands including Nike, Callaway, Taylormade, Mizuno, Yonex will tempt visitors.
Mark McCardie, Product Manager Golf from VisitScotland commented “VisitScotland is once again delighted to be associated with the Scottish Golf Show as title sponsor as the show continues to go from strength to strength.
In the current climate the National audience is more important than ever and the show is a fantastic platform for the Scottish Golf industry to highlight the superb product offering that we have in Scotland and the great deals that are available”.
Malcolm Roughead, OBE, Director of Visitor Engagement at VisitScotland says ‘’Scotland is the Home of Golf and it provides golfers with the ultimate golfing experience that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Scotland has recently been awarded Destination of the Year award and The Scottish Golf Show represents a great platform for the golf industry to capitalize on this opportunity to promote Scotland as the No. 1 golfing destination.’’
PSP Event Director, Tom Lovering, says: “We are delighted that the Scottish Golf Show has such a positive impact on the local economy and we are very excited about bringing this event to Glasgow for the first time.
“In the current financial climate it is vital to provide an event that delivers both a financial benefit to the city but something the whole family can come along to and enjoy. This event has grown bigger and better every year since it began in 2006 and I’m sure Glasgow will not be disappointed!”
Tickets are priced £8 adult, £5 for 5-15yrs, Under 5s are free and a family of four is priced at £20.
TICKET HOTLINE: 0141 353 1715 OR http://www.thescottishgolfshow.co.uk/
The Scottish Golf Show is supported by the following headline sponsors:
· Visit Scotland: Scotland’s national tourist organisation– http://www.visitscotland.com/, www.visitscotland.com/samsscotland
· American Golf: Europe’s No 1 golf retailer– http://www.americangolf.co.uk/
· Flyglobespan: Scotland’s award winning airline - http://www.flyglobespan.com/
· Bunkered: Scotland’s top selling golf magazine – http://www.bunkered.co.uk/
· PGA: Professional Golfers Association - http://www.pga.info/
· SGU: Scottish Golf Union – http://www.scottishgolf.org/

+++The Scottish Golf Show is run by PSP Publishing Ltd. The Glasgow-based publishing house spans across 30 titles, employs 50 staff and also runs the prestigious golfing event the Bunkered Match-play Challenge. Founded in 1995, PSP Publishing Ltd is one of the most dynamic, enterprising and successful publishers in the country.

Dear's conqueror Saxton beats Hutsby in final of Spanish amateur title

British amateur champion Reinier Saxton (Netherlands), pictured right by courtesy of the Royal Spanish Golf Federation after receiving the trophy, conqueror of Gavin Dear (Murrayshall) by 2 and 1 in Saturday's semi-finals, beat England's Sam Hutsby by 2 and 1 in the 36-hole final of the Spanish men's open amateur golf championship at Royal Seville Golf Club today.
Saxton, the No 5 seed, took a grip on the destination of the King's Cup when he birdied five of the first eight holes to surge six holes up. The Dutchman was seven up after 21 holes but Hutsby, the No 10 qualifier who won the Spanish title in 2006, staged a late rally which saw him win the 31st, 32nd, 33rd and 34th to cut his deficit to two holes with two to play.
A half at the 35th gave a relieved Saxton a 2 and 1 victory and another international victory.
Dear, ninth of the 32 qualifiers for the match-play stages, had beaten No 1 seed Pontus Widegren (Sweden) by one hole in the morning quarter-finals.
But, in the afternoon, the Perth man, who helped Scotland win the Eisenhower Trophy world amateur team championship in Australia, never recovered from another brilliant start by Saxton who birdied the first three holes to be three up on the fourth tee.
The Dutchman also won the sixth with a par to increase his advantage to four.Dear did win back the seventh and eight with pars but fell three down again to a birdie by his opponent at the 12th. The Scot, who won the Dixie Amateur championship in Florida over the Festive period, birdied to 15th to cut his deficit to two holes but halves at the next two holes ended the match 2 and 1 in favour of Saxton.
Hutsby, still only 19 and a live candidate for a Walker Cup team place, actually won the Spanish title in 2006 when he beat the then US amateur champion, Italy's Edoarda Molinari, convincingly in the two-round final.

Later results:

Quarter-finals - G Dear (Sco) bt P Widegren (Swe) 1 hole, R Saxton (Net) bt T Lewis (Eng) 5 and 4, V Dubuisson (Fra) bt E Pepperell (Eng) 4 and 3, S Hutsby (Eng) bt M Haines (Eng) 7 and 5.
Semi-finals - Saxton bt Dear 2 and 1, Hutsby bt Dubuisson at 20th.
Final (36 holes) - Saxton bt Hutsby 2 and 1.

Good news for Luke Donald about

his sore wrist - it's not serious

Luke Donald conceded his third-round World Match-play tie to Ernie Els on the 18th tee when he felt soreness in his left wrist, the same one he had surgery on six months earlier.
Donald headed to New York to see a doctor - and has received a good report.
Apparently the pain was caused by scar tissue, not the tendon that was repaired. Donald said he should be able to resume practising after a few days of treatment and anti-inflammatory medication.
He hasn't ruled out playing in the Honda Classic.
"I'm obviously very pleased with Dr Andrew Weiland's diagnosis, and while I was disappointed to have to withdraw from the Accenture Match Play Championship, I wanted to make sure I was doing what was best for my long-term health," Donald said.
Donald first injured his wrist at the U.S. Open last year at Torrey Pines. He had surgery two months later, missing the Open, US PGA Championship and any hopes of making the Ryder Cup team.
+The attendance Saturday at Dove Mountain was 7,640, nearly half as much as Thursday's session, but still higher than last year when Tiger Woods won two matches on his way to victory.
Geoff Ogilvy noticed it the first year he won this tournament, beating Davis Love III in the final.
"When we're alone for breakfast at La Costa, there's 25 tables in there, and Davis and I are walking one side of the room to the other," he said. The locker room attendant is standing over you the whole time because you're one of only two guys. You pull into the parking and you have the pick of the places."

Thongchai Jaidee wins by two in

Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Thongchai Jaidee shot a three under par 69 to claim his first win on the European Tour in four years at the Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open.
The Thai ace began the final round with a one stroke advantage and was ahead by as many as four with birdies on four of the first seven holes at New Kuta Golf Club.
Bogeys on the eighth and 14th saw his lead trimmed to one but a birdie on the 16th gave him a cushion to take into the closing holes as he finished on 12 under par 276, two strokes ahead of Sweden’s Alexander Noren and the English pair of Steve Webster and Simon Dyson.
Noren shot a closing 70, Webster fired a bogey-free 68 while Dyson was left to rue a double bogey on the 14th in his closing 69.
Rafael Cabrera Bello of Spain carded the day’s best round of 65 to join Richard Bland (70) in a tie for fifth on nine under with Jyoti Randhawa of India (70) and the English pair of Simon Griffiths (71) and Simon Khan (68) a further shot back on eight under.
Nursing a narrow lead at the start of the final round, Jaidee parred his first two holes before sinking consecutive birdies on the next three including a chip-in from the collar of the green on the fifth.
The 39 year old narrowly missed out on a fourth in a row when his long putt lipped out on the sixth but he holed his birdie attempt from the fringe on the seventh to improve to 13 under.
That briefly gave him a four shot advantage but he gave one back with a bogey on the par three eighth after putting his tee shot into the bunker and blasting well past the pin from a dreadful lie in the sand.
His lead appeared fragile on the back nine and he found himself just one ahead of Webster when he bogeyed the 14th after putting his approach shot into rough and failing to get up and down.
But with Webster failing to capitalise on birdie opportunities on his closing holes, the Thai managed to stretch his advantage once again with a birdie on the 16th.
He nearly found trouble on the final hole when he missed his approach shot on the final hole but he holed a testing par putt from eight feet to close out his third win on the European Tour and 11th on the Asian Tour.
Noren began the final round in second place, one stroke off the lead but dropped off the pace on the front nine after going out in 36 with two birdies and two bogeys on the front nine.
A bogey followed on the 14th after he needed two shots to escape a fairway bunker but the Swede close back to within two shots of the lead with an eagle on the 16th and a birdie on the 17th.
He had the chance to put some pressure on Thongchai at the last but narrowly missed his 18-foot birdie attempt to finish tied for second with Webster and Dyson.
Webster, the leader after two rounds, slipped three shots behind Thongchai after carding a 72 on Saturday but re-discovered his touch and closed the gap to the leader with birdies on the fifth, seventh, 10th and 16th.
However, he narrowly missed his birdie attempt at the 17th and left his 12 foot putt just inches short at the final green.
Dyson began the day on seven under and launched an early challenge for the lead, drawing level with Thonchai on ten under after picking up three birdies on the first five holes.
However, the 2006 Indonesia Open winner was unable to sustain his challenge as he three-putted the seventh for a bogey and missed a short birdie putt on the 10th.
A birdie on the 11th put him back into contention but his challenge evaporated on the 14th when he took double bogey after he found a fairway bunker with his tee shot and shanked his shot from the sand into an unplayable lie behind a tree.
Birdies on the 16th and 18th proved too little, too late for the 31-year-old from York.
SCOTSWATCH
Scott Drummond faded over the final round from a share of sixth place to a final position of joint 16th on 283. He closed with a round of 74 to earn 12,536 Euros.
Andrew Coltart picked up 7,007 Euros for a final 71 for 286 and a share of 42nd place.
Euro Tour rookie Richie Ramsay had a solid 71 at the last time of asking for a total of 287 and a share of 49th place. He earned 5604 Euros.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
276 Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 71 69 67 69
278 Steve Webster 69 69 72 68, Alexander Noren (Swe) 69 73 66 70, Simon Dyson 68 71 70 69
279 Richard Bland 72 71 66 70, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 71 72 71 65
280 Simon Griffiths 70 70 69 71, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 74 70 66 70, Simon Khan 68 76 68 68
281 Seung-yul Noh (Kor) 69 76 70 66, Jason Knutzon (USA) 72 70 70 69
282 Anthony Kang (USA) 70 71 70 71, Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 73 66 70 73, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 70 71 74 67, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 69 73 70 70
283 Bryan Saltus (USA) 70 72 72 69, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 73 71 70 69, Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 72 68 74 69, Scott Drummond 71 69 69 74, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 74 71 69 69, Digvijay Singh (Ind) 69 72 71 71
284 Wei Chih Lu (Tha) 71 70 71 72, Darren Beck (Aus) 71 71 72 70, Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 71 74 69 70, Tony Carolan (Aus) 68 74 71 71, Gary Murphy 70 72 71 71, Angelo Que (Phi) 64 76 73 71, Michael Hoey 71 73 73 67, Ross McGowan 69 71 69 75
285 Jamie Donaldson 68 71 71 75, Danny Willett 70 74 73 68
286 Frankie Minoza (Phi) 74 69 70 73, Andrew Coltart 73 71 71 71, Rhys Davies 69 73 73 71, Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 71 71 74 70, Kyung-Tae Kim (Kor) 73 68 74 71, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 71 74 74 67, Brett Rumford (Aus) 70 73 74 69, Gavin Flint (Aus) 70 72 71 73, Sam Little 73 70 71 72, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 72 73 72 69, Rory Hie (Ina) 70 72 72 72
287 Richie Ramsay 68 76 72 71, Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) 74 71 71 71, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 74 71 73 69
288 Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 71 74 73 70, Zaw Moe (Kor) 73 71 71 73, Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn) 69 74 71 74, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 68 75 73 72, Gary Lockerbie 71 72 69 76, Ted Oh (Kor) 73 67 73 75, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 70 72 71 75, Miles Tunnicliff 69 71 77 71
289 Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 70 71 72 76, James Kamte (Rsa) 72 71 70 76, Oliver Fisher 71 74 72 72, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 74 71 72 72
290 Neven Basic (Aus) 75 70 70 75
291 Antonio Lascuna (Phi) 68 73 75 75, Mark Foster 72 71 73 75, Seve Benson 70 73 74 74
292 Markus Brier (Aut) 71 74 73 74, Scott Strange (Aus) 73 71 76 72
293 Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 71 72 81 69, Marcel Siem (Ger) 76 68 78 71, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 70 73 77 73
294 John Bickerton 71 74 72 77
295 Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 74 71 74 76
298 Taco Remkes (Ned) 70 73 77 78

Michael Sim finishes strongly to fill

third place in Moonah Classic

Australian Alistair Presnell birdied the 18th for a four-under-par 68 and a one-stroke victory today at the Moonah Classic over the Moonah Links at Fingal near Melbourne, Victoria.
Presnell had a nine-under total of 279 on the Peter Thomson-designed lay-out in the event sanctioned by the Australasian and U.S. Nationwide tours
Australian veteran Peter O'Malley bogeyed the 17th for a 70 to finish second.
Aberdeen-born Australian Michael Sim, after a third-round slump that dropped him from joint first to joint ninth, finished strongly to fill third place after a 70, three strokes behind.
Sim, who will be 25 on October 23, recovered from a bogey 6 at the long fourth to turn in one-over-par 37 and then had a bogey-free inward half of three-under-par 33 with birdies at the 10th, 14th and par-5 18th for 33 home.
While Americans Skip Kendall (70) and Daniel Summerhays (72), were in a group of four tied for fourth, four back.
Argentina's Miguel Angel Carballo, who led by two strokes going into the final round, bogeyed three holes on the front nine and shot 78, finishing in a tie for 13th, six off the lead.
The 29-year-old Presnell will receive full playing rights on the second-tier Nationwide Tour this year.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
Players from Australia unless stated
279 Alistair Presnell 72 67 72 68
280 Peter O'Malley 68 70 72 70
282 Michael Sim (Sco) 69 67 76 70
283 Adam Bland 71 70 71 71, Skip Kendall (US) 77 67 69 70, Terry Pilkadaris 70 67 76 70, Daniel Summerhays (US) 68 70 73 72
284 Steve Conran 71 67 74 72, Martin Piller (US) 73 71 69 71, Paul Sheehan 73 71 69 71, David Smail (Nzl) 71 68 71 74, Phil Tataurangi (Nzl) 73 71 71 69
285 Miguel Carballo (Arg) 68 68 71 78, Ryan Haller 73 71 72 69, Gareth Paddison (Nzl) 74 68 72 71, Fran Quinn (US) 72 67 75 71, Dustin White (US) 73 66 72 74
286 Richie Gallichan 71 68 70 77, Hunter Haas (US) 68 70 74 74, Alex Prugh (US) 73 68 71 74, Andrew Tschudin 71 69 73 73
287 Stephen Dartnall 72 68 74 73, Jason Enloe (US) 71 69 76 71, Steve Friesen (US) 75 68 72 72, Leigh McKechnie (Nzl) 71 72 70 74, Brenden Pappas (Rsa) 71 69 73 74, Kyle Reifers (US) 69 74 73 71, Craig Spence 71 73 68 75
288 Henrik Bjornstad (Nor) 73 70 72 73, Jeff Brehaut (US) 71 69 74 74, Doug Labelle (US) 71 70 73 74, Stephen Leaney 70 70 71 77, Paul Marantz 72 70 74 72, Jim McGovern (US) 73 71 69 75, Mahal Pearce (Nzl) 71 71 73 73, Michael Putnam (USA) 74 67 76 71
289 Gary Christian (Eng) 72 70 76 71, Trevor Dodds (Nam) 71 70 75 73, Andrew Johnson (US) 73 71 74 71, Matthew Millar 73 70 72 74, Jin Park (Kor) 70 72 72 75, Dustin Risdon (Can) 72 71 74 72, Geoffrey Sisk (US) 73 69 74 73, Andre Stolz 72 71 73 73, Josh Teater (US) 69 68 76 76, Tim Wise 76 68 76 69
290 Rich Barcelo (US) 72 71 71 76, Jeff Gallagher (US) 71 71 75 73, Ashley Hall 73 70 73 74, Cameron Percy 72 71 74 73
291 Andrew Bonhomme 68 74 75 74, David Branshaw (US) 73 71 73 74, Chris Gaunt 70 71 77 73, Bret Guetz (US) 74 68 74 75, Justin Hicks (US) 70 72 74 75, Steven Jones 70 73 75 73, Michael Long (Nzl) 72 70 74 75
292 Jamie Arnold 74 66 79 73, Andrew Buckle 73 66 77 76, Soon-Sang Hong (Kor) 70 71 76, Garth Mulroy (Rsa) 69 73 74 76, Jim Rutledge (Can) 74 70 76 72, Bob Sowards (US) 71 70 76 75
293 Peter Fowler 74 70 75 74, John Kimbell (US) 75 69 73 76, Bubba Dickerson (US) 69 75 73 78, Jason Norris 73 68 74 80
296 Adam Crawford 70 71 76 79, Scott Dunlap (US) 71 73 79 73, Paul Gow 75 69 78 74
301 Rodney Booth 71 71 79 80, Ewan Porter 74 69 78 80

Sandy Lyle, Sam Torrance top Scots in Brunei

American Cunning wins on debut on

European Seniors Tour

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
American Mike Cunning fired a final round 70 to seal a superb maiden victory on his European Senior Tour debut in the Aberdeen Brunei Senior Masters presented by The Stapleford Forum.
Cunning, who won the Asian Tour Order of Merit in 1997, finished on seven under par 206 at The Empire Hotel & Country Club, two shots clear of Northern Ireland’s Jimmy Heggarty, who recorded his own best Senior Tour performance.
In doing so Cunning became the first player since Denis Watson in the 2007 US Senior PGA Championship to win on his Senior Tour debut.
Having started the day a shot behind the leader David Merriman, Cunning began his round with a birdie on the first hole before dropping successive shots on the fifth and sixth. The 50 year old quickly steadied himself, however, and made his move with birdies on the ninth, tenth and 12th to open a three-stroke gap at the top of the leaderboard.
Despite dropping a shot on the final hole, the man from Phoenix, Arizona held off the challenge of Heggarty, winner of the Senior Tour Qualifying School on Portugal’s Algarve last November, who carded a fine round of 67 to move through the field, as overnight leader David Merriman of Australia slipped back with a 76.
“Winning is always great but to do it on my debut on the Senior Tour is something special,” said Cunning. “I tried to get on the Champions Tour but just missed out so before the start of this week the only place I had to play was on the Asian Tour with the young guys.
“I’d been hanging in there for a few years waiting to turn 50 but this win hopefully means I can now play on the Senior Tour with guys my own age. I’ve been waiting for a win like this for a long time.
“I’ve played this course before in the Brunei Open on the Asian Tour so I knew all about it. I put a lot of hard work in over the close season and it has paid off for me.”
Two-time Major winner Sandy Lyle closed with a 69 to finish in a tie for sixth place on three under par, where he was joined by former Ryder Cup winning Captain Sam Torrance who carded a final round 70.
It was Lyle’s best finish to date on the Senior Tour, beating the tied 11th place he recorded in last year’s Ryder Cup Wales Senior Open.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 213 (3 x 71)
206 M Cunning (USA) 69 67 70
208 J Heggarty (Nir) 73 68 67
209 K Tomori (Jpn) 70 70 69; G Cali (Ita) 70 69 70; B Cameron (Eng) 67 69 73
210 S Lyle (Sco) 72 69 69; C Chun-Hsing (Tpe) 69 72 69; S Torrance (Sco) 71 69 70; G Ralph (Eng) 70 68 72
211 D Johnson (USA) 73 64 74; D Merriman (Aus) 70 65 76
212 J Chillas (Sco) 73 70 69; N Ratcliffe (Aus) 73 69 70; S Ginn (Aus) 70 72 70; C Rocca (Ita) 72 66 74; S Ebihara (Jpn) 70 68 74;
213 C Sang-Ho (Kor) 69 74 70
214 E Rodriguez (Esp) 74 70 70; D Good (Aus) 71 72 71; G Banister (Aus) 73 69 72; J Quiros (Esp) 72 70 72; B Boyd (USA) 70 72 72; K Spurgeon (Eng) 69 73 72; J Hall (Eng) 69 72 73; B Ruangkit (Tha) 70 70 74; R Drummond (Sco) 68 72 74
215 P Oakley (USA) 68 73 74; G Levenson (RSA) 70 70 75
216 P Harrison (Eng) 73 75 68; B Lincoln (RSA) 71 75 70; G Brand (Eng) 74 71 71; B Longmuir (Sco) 76 68 72; M Williams (Zim) 71 73 72; A Franco (Par) 73 66 77
217 I Mosey (Eng) 72 74 71; G Watine (Fra) 73 72 72; N Job (Eng) 74 70 73; J Hawkes (RSA) 72 69 76; P Dugeny (Fra) 71 69 77
218 J Bruner (USA) 71 76 71; A Tapie (USA) 73 71 74; M Harwood (Aus) 72 71 75
219 J Lapsley (Nzl) 73 75 71; A Barrera (Arg) 74 72 73; A Murray (Eng) 70 71 78
220 T Gale (Aus) 76 73 71; S Owen (Nzl) 76 70 74; T Allen (Eng) 71 75 74
221 S Stull (USA) 76 75 70; T Giedeon (Ger) 76 72 73; G Ryall (Eng) 75 73 73; B Smit (RSA) 73 74 74
222 M Miller (Sco) 73 72 77
223 L Carbonetti (Arg) 80 72 71
224 M Clayton (Aus) 79 75 70; M Piñero (Esp) 79 73 72; M Poxon (Eng) 75 72 77; M Ramayah (Mas) 73 74 77; M Briggs (Eng) 72 75 77
226 J Hoskison (Eng) 74 76 76
227 A Sowa (Arg) 78 74 75; D Cambridge (Jam) 77 73 77; A Garrido (Esp) 76 72 79
228 T Charnley (Eng) 81 77 70; B Hardwick (Can) 80 73 75; P Brostedt (Swe) 72 77 79
229 D Russell (Eng) 82 75 72
230 B Fung (Sin) 75 80 75
231 B Jones (Aus) 78 78 75
233 B Gallacher (Sco) 75 75 83
236 V Garcia (Esp) 81 81 74
249 A Sim (Bru) (am) 83 80 86
268 H Abdullah (Bru) (am) 86 86 96
Retired: D Durnian (Eng)