Judge knocks Daly's libel


lawsuit out of bounds

"Big, bad" John Daly has had a libel lawsuit against a Florida newspaper thrown out by a judge.
Former Open champion Daly, currently under suspension by the United States PGA Tour for bad behavour, claimed the Florida Times-Union newspaper libelled him in a column, suggesting he failed "the scoundrel sniff test," but a judge disagreed.
Duval County Circuit Judge Hugh Carithers dismissed Daly's libel lawsuit and granted the newspaper's request for summary judgment. He ruled that former columnist Mike Freeman's statements were either true or constitutionally protected opinion.
Daly had sued in 2005, alleging a column by Freeman written during The Players Championship that year defamed him.
Freeman's column said: "How does Daly not fail the scoundrel sniff test with fans despite possessing definite Thug Life qualifications. Look at the Daly blog. Domestic violence accusations? Yup. Substance abuse issues? Unfortunately.
"Three different kids from three different moms, making him the Shawn Kemp of golf? Yes. A former wife indicted for laundering illegal drug profits? Roger that."
Judge Carithers wrote in his opinion that the alleged defamatory statements were opinions based upon disclosed facts.
"The only possible basis for a defamation action would be if Daly proved that one of the four underlying facts was false, but there is no genuine dispute with respect to any of the underlying facts," Judge Carithers wrote.
The judge also cited constitutional protections against libel.
"Under the First Amendment, public figures in defamation lawsuits are required to prove actual malice by clear and convincing evidence," Judge Carithers wrote, adding, "there is no evidence of actual malice, much less 'clear and convincing' evidence."
Times-Union Editor Frank Denton praised the judge for reinforcing the First Amendment and established law.
"This has been a long and unnecessary process, but in the end it supports the importance of a free and unfettered press," Denton said.

McIlroy v Harrington in £200,000 match

Rory McIlroy will take on Open champion Padraig Harrington in an 18-hole stroke-play exhibition match at the new Lough Erne Resort at County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland on July 22.
The match will have a prize fund of just over £200,000 and organisers say that 4,000 tickets will be available for the event.
The event will take place at the height of the golf season - three days after the conclusion of The Open.
McIlroy, who is attached to the Lough Erne Resort, is in the world's top 20.
Lough Erne owner Jim Treacy said it was important that the new Nick Faldo-designed course's qualities be tested by the world's best.
Mr Treacy added that he was hoping that the Lough Erne Challenge would become an annual event.
"The fact that two of the most important and exciting figures in world golf are Irish and both are in the world's top 20 made it compelling to pit them against each other in this special event," added the resort owner.
McIlroy, who attended Tuesday's event launch, said that "the opportunity to play against Padraig on what is in some ways my home turf is exciting".
Harrington said: "I hope the North's golf fans will come out to see myself and Rory compete on the shores of the Lough."
"Padraig is a fantastic player - a real role model for someone like me starting out on my career," said the 19-year-old McIlroy.
"Jim Treacy has been a real support to me and I have watched the development of the Championship course at Lough Erne with great interest."
Harrington joined the press conference live by satellite link from Bay Hill, Orlando where he is preparing for the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
"I don't know the Enniskillen area at all and have not yet seen the Lough Erne Golf Resort. I am assured by those who have that it will be a wonderful addition to Ireland's golfing infrastructure," said Harrington.
"It is good to be promoting this part of the island through the establishment of this event and I hope the north's golf fans will come out to see myself and Rory compete on the shores of the Lough."
The event will be filmed by European Tour Productions with delayed broadcast commitments already established in at least 13 countries including, Britain, the United States, South Africa and Germany.
The players will be playing for a specially commissioned Belleek Trophy.
McIlroy heads back to the US on Saturday ahead of his challenge at next month's Masters.

Blairgowrie amateur Tom McLevy wins

Midland Alliance at Crieff with a 66

By LEE SUTHERLAND
Last week the Midland Golfers Alliance held a meeting at Crieff Golf Club. Showing the professionals the way was Blairgowrie +1 amateur Tom McLevy with a five-under-par gross score of 66.
Leading handicap score of the day was a net 65 by Bathgate nine-handicapper Richard Lamont. He won by five shots.
LEADING SCRATCH
Par 71
66 T McLevy (Blairgowrie).
67 C Donnelly (Balbirnie Park) p.
69 K Hutton (Downfield) p, M Rae (Alyth) ap.
70 P Wytrazek (Burntisland) p, G Tough (Letham Grange), A J Webster (Edzell) p.
71 S Smith (Ladybank) p.
72 A Lockhart (Ladybank) ap, D McKay (Wellsgreen) p, R Stewart (Tulliallan).
73 S Cargill (Arbroath).
74 R Bell (Pitlochry), C Nugent (Dunfermline) p, R Lamont (Bathgate), R Taylor (Crieff), S O'Donnell (Balbirnie Park) ap.
LEADING HANDICAP
65 R Lamont (Bathgate) (9).
67 T McLevy (Blairgowrie) (+1).
70 R Bell (Pitlochry) (4), I McMurray (Downfield) (10), F McKay (Scotscraig) (6), R Taylor (Crieff) (4), B Black (Dunfermline) (9).
71 E Starritt (Crieff) (14), R Stewart (Tulliallan) (1), W Crosbie (Blairgowrie) (5), G Jenkins (Crieff) (4), H Grant (Muckhart) (7).
72 G Gillespie (Crieff) (6), R Redpath (Scotscraig) (5), C Westland (Alloa) (8), H Cowbough (Muckhart) (6), G Tough (Letham Grange) (+2), S Cargill (Arbroath) (1).

Next meeting
Thursday, March 26
Brechin Golf Club
Tee reserved: 8.30 - 12.30

Dear, Booth and McEwan in leading 113 players

The R&A World Amateur Golf Ranking
2009/12 at 22 March
This Week Last Week Change Name Country Divisor Points
1 1 Danny Lee NZL 88(80) 1327.50
2 2 Jorge Campillo ESP 68 1189.71
3 3 Rickie Fowler USA 80 1137.50
4 8 +4 Scott Arnold AUS 101(80) 1113.75
5 4 -1 Kyle Stanley USA 66 1083.33
6 5 -1 Sam Hutsby ENG 59 1076.27
7 7 Reinier Saxton NED 81(80) 1070.00
8 11 +3 Mike Van Sickle USA 62 1061.29
9 6 -3 Morgan Hoffmann USA 55 1060.00
10 10 Cameron Tringale USA 48 1043.75
11 9 -2 Stephan Gross GER 69 1043.48
12 13 +1 Shane Lowry IRE 62 1027.42
13 14 +1 Billy Horschel USA 53 1026.42
14 12 -2 Russell Henley USA 52 1025.00
15 20 +5 Matt Hill CAN 60 1023.33
16 15 -1 Adam Mitchell USA 60 1015.00
17 16 -1 Nick Taylor CAN 72 1004.17
18 18 Erik Flores USA 67 997.01
19 17 -2 Chris Paisley ENG 61 990.16
20 21 +1 Matthew Giles AUS 59 977.97
21 22 +1 Zack Sucher USA 80 971.25
22 23 +1 Adrian Ford RSA 76 971.05
23 25 +2 Anders Kristiansen NOR 56 967.86
24 19 -5 Sihwan Kim KOR 65 967.69
25 26 +1 Bobby Massa USA 42 964.29
26 24 -2 Andrea Pavan ITA 55 961.82
27 31 +4 Matt Savage USA 51 950.98
28 30 +2 Jack Newman USA 48 947.92
29 63 +34 Zack Byrd USA 39(40) 945.00
30 33 +3 Luke Goddard ENG 76 943.42
31 28 -3 Dustin Garza USA 51 943.14
32 34 +2 Gavin Dear SCO 76 942.11
33 27 -6 Hudson Swafford USA 52 940.38
34 47 +13 Robin Wingardh SWE 41 939.02
35 29 -6 Tom Sherreard ENG 51 935.29
36 37 +1 Trent Leon USA 68 930.88
37 32 -5 Brian Harman USA 46 923.91
38 38 Kevin Tway USA 70 922.86
39 35 -4 Jamie Lovemark USA 62 920.97
40 40 Steve Ziegler USA 49 914.29
41 39 -2 Victor Dubuisson FRA 68 911.76
42 42 John Chin USA 55 910.91
43 41 -2 Jon Curran USA 44 906.82
44 43 -1 Eddie Olson USA 48 902.08
45 46 +1 Drew Kittleson USA 55 901.82
46 36 -10 Judson Eustaquio PHI 57 898.25
47 45 -2 Mark Anderson USA 51 898.04
48 48 Andrew Putnam USA 56 894.64
49 49 Andrew Landry USA 60 893.33
50 50 David Lingmerth SWE 45 891.11
51 44 -7 Gregor Main USA 56 891.07
52 52 Wallace Booth SCO 70 887.14
53 51 -2 Wesley Bryan USA 44 886.36
54 53 -1 David Markle CAN 44 884.09
55 116 +61 Trent Whitekiller USA 36(40) 880.00
56 54 -2 Derek Tolan USA 55 872.73
57 55 -2 Bobby Hudson USA 47 868.09
58 70 +12 Matt Hoffenberg USA 59 867.80
59 62 +3 Andy Winings USA 46 867.39
60 58 -2 Dylan Frittelli RSA 60 865.00
61 88 +27 Chris Ward USA 40 865.00
62 60 -2 Dean O'Riley RSA 68 864.71
63 61 -2 David May USA 50 864.00
64 73 +9 John Peterson USA 42 861.90
65 56 -9 Brendan Smith AUS 60 861.67
66 57 -9 Philip Francis USA 55 858.18
67 65 -2 Aaron Russell RSA 32(40) 857.50
-2 Nicol Van Wyk RSA 32(40) 857.50
69 67 -2 Dale Whitnell ENG 76 855.26
70 68 -2 Pat Grady USA 41 853.66
71 69 -2 Jurrian van der Vaart NED 51 852.94
72 71 -1 Charlie Holland USA 64 851.56
73 72 -1 Tim Sluiter NED 54 850.00
74 74 Bud Cauley USA 51 849.02
75 91 +16 Harris English USA 62 845.16
76 75 -1 Jesper Kennegard SWE 53 839.62
77 100 +23 George Bryan USA 69 839.13
78 77 -1 Matt Haines ENG 62 838.71
79 96 +17 Kevin O'Connell USA 49 836.73
80 78 -2 Tommy Fleetwood ENG 51 835.29
81 79 -2 Seamus Power IRE 47 834.04
82 80 -2 David Johnson USA 55 832.73
83 81 -2 Todd Adcock ENG 32(40) 832.50
84 83 -1 Ben Martin USA 44 831.82
85 84 -1 Brendan Gielow USA 63 831.75
86 87 +1 Henrik Norlander SWE 54 829.63
87 108 +21 Bryden Macpherson AUS 63 828.57
88 134 +46 Ben Rickett ENG 39(40) 827.50
89 86 -3 John Hahn USA 53 826.42
90 82 -8 Ryan Fox NZL 59 823.73
91 233 +142 J G Claasen RSA 36(40) 822.50
92 93 +1 Floris De Vries NED 73 819.18
93 94 +1 Alexandre Kaleka FRA 69 818.84
94 103 +9 Nicolas Geyger CHI 64 815.63
95 59 -36 Ryan McCarthy AUS 58 815.52
96 92 -4 Michael Smyth AUS 48 814.58
97 98 +1 Kalle Samooja FIN 50 814.00
98 95 -3 Corey Nagy USA 59 813.56
99 99 Charles Ford ENG 52 813.46
100 76 -24 Yubin Jung RSA 45 813.33
101 119 +18 Matt Jager AUS 83(80) 812.50
102 135 +33 Alex Martin USA 37(40) 812.50
202 +100 Jonathan Randolph USA 37(40) 812.50
104 85 -19 Steven Ferreira RSA 58 810.34
105 138 +33 Mitchell Gregson USA 40 810.00
106 120 +14 Scott Langley USA 49 808.16
107 90 -17 Jonathan Hodge USA 65 807.69
108 204 +96 Jordan Sherratt AUS 37(40) 807.50
109 101 -8 Johan De Beer RSA 43 806.98
110 89 -21 Adam Long USA 49 806.12
111 97 -14 Bronson Burgoon USA 39(40) 805.00
112 131 +19 Tim McKenney USA 45 802.22
113 104 -9 Steven McEwan SCO 75 800.00
114 105 -9 Rhys Enoch WAL 66 800.00
115 106 -9 Graham Hill CAN 47 800.00
116 179 +63 Mark Silvers USA 38(40) 800.00
117 109 -8 Niall Kearney IRE 44 797.73
118 110 -8 Vaughn Snyder USA 34(40) 797.50
119 107 -12 Adam Hadwin CAN 66 796.97
120 111 -9 Paul Cutler IRE 48 795.83

Greg Norman shocked

by what's been done

to Masters course

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Greg Norman has been back to Augusta in preparation for his first Masters for seven years - and was stunned by what he found.
The 54-year-old Australian, who qualified for a return with his spectacular third-place finish in last year's Open: "Since I last played it they've added about 420 yards and I was absolutely shocked, to tell you the truth.
"There are phenomenal changes right from the very first hole."
He added: "The tee now is back where the old putting green was, so the thought of driving it over the bunker on the first hole is gone.
"I had a 176 yards shot into the green on Wednesday and back in the other days it was 120 yards.
"Seventh hole, dramatic change. Eleventh hole, dramatic change. It's going to be a lot harder to play for someone who doesn't hit the ball 320 than a player who does hit the ball a long way.
"A lot of the guys have told me that Zach Johnson never went for a par-5 in two and won The Masters, so it goes to show you can do it, but if the weather conditions stayed the same as what I just played last Wednesday it bodes well for the longer hitters.
"I was just surprised to what they did to some of the great short holes. I can understand the par-5s, but, for example, the seventh hole was one of the great classic risk-reward short holes.
"I used to try to drive the golf ball way up in front of the green and pitch it up and that's gone now.
"And same with 14 - I remember trying to whip a driver around there and get as close to the green with a sand wedge as I could. You can't do that stuff now. I loved the challenges in the old days of the short holes of Augusta. They can either bite you in the rear end or not.
"I remember if somebody came into the back nine at Augusta probably six or seven or eight shots behind the lead and feel like they could win it. That was a great feeling. I think it's going to be a lot more difficult now for those type of low numbers."