Barclays Scottish Open

Golden Goosen Returns to The Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond

South Africa’s Retief Goosen returns to the scene of one of his many former triumphs when he tees up in The Barclays Scottish Open, to be played at Loch Lomond Golf Club from July 9-12, 2009.

Goosen, 40, the double US Open Champion, comes into the tournament fresh from victory in the Transitions Championship on the US PGA Tour and is joined in The Barclays Scottish Open field by fellow former US Open Champion Angel Cabrera of Argentina, defending champion Graeme McDowell from Northern Ireland and the popular Boo Weekley, one of the mainstays in the triumphant American side at last year’s Ryder Cup at Valhalla.

Goosen made his first appearance at Loch Lomond back in 1996 when he finished tied 29th and has since gone on to claim one victory and a further two top four finishes at the world-famous west of Scotland club.

The South African’s victory came back in 2001 less than a month after he won his first US Open title at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. On that occasion he led from start to finish and he replicated that feat at Loch Lomond after opening with a nine under par 62 and then going on to record rounds of 69, 66 and 71 to finish three shots ahead of Thomas Björn and four in front of John Daly, Barry Lane, Paul McGinley and Adam Scott.

Cabrera, the 2007 US Open Champion, is also a regular competitor at The Barclays Scottish Open having made his debut back in 1997 when he finished tied for 16th place. His best performance to date was in 2005 when he opened strongly with rounds of 64 and 67 but lost out to South Africa’s Tim Clark who posted rounds of 67, 66, 65 and 67 for a 19 under par aggregate of 265.

Weekley makes a welcome return to The Barclays Scottish Open as part of what is likely to be one of the strongest fields the tournament has ever attracted.

“It is still early days but, judging from the phone calls we’ve been getting, it looks likely to be a tremendous field,” said Championship Director, Peter Adams. “We have already received verbal entries from several golfers within the top 20 on the Official World Golf Ranking and expect to make a number of other major announcements over the coming months.”

Last summer, Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell supported by his mum Marian, dad Kenny and other family members, added his name to a stellar list of champions when he closed with a three under par 68 to finish two shots ahead of South Africa’s James Kingston on 13 under par 271.

This year marks the 14th successive year Loch Lomond has hosted a major European Tour event. It staged its first international tournament back in 1996 when Thomas Björn triumphed and subsequent champions have been Tom Lehman (1997), Lee Westwood (1998), Colin Montgomerie (1999), Ernie Els (2000 and 2003), Retief Goosen (2001), Eduardo Romero (2002), Thomas Levet (2004), Tim Clark (2005), Johan Edfors (2006), Grégory Havret (2007) and Graeme McDowell (2008).

INTERNATIONAL FINAL QUALIFYING - ASIA

FORMER AMATEUR CHAMPION LEADS AT HALF-WAY STAGE

31 March 2009, Sentosa, Singapore: Aiming to reach his fifth Open Championship, Finland’s Mikko Ilonen is leading by two strokes after the completion of the first day’s play at IFQ - Asia. His bogey-free round of 65 has left him clear of a chasing pack which includes Australia’s Terry Pilkadaris and Japan’s Tomohiro Kondo, both finishing on four under-par.

“It was very solid all the way round. I missed only a couple of shots at the 18th hole. Overall, I think the greens are in a pretty good shape and it’s quite easy to control the speed,” said Ilonen, whose best result at The Open, a tied ninth, came at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2001, one year after winning The Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool.

“The conditions at the golf course today are quite good as there’s not much wind and it makes it easier to play well,” he added.

Pilkadaris also recorded a blemish-free round with four birdies on the fourth, fifth, fifteenth and eighteenth holes to stake a strong claim for one of the four berths available at Turnberry in July.

“I’m quite pleased with the way I’m hitting the ball. There’re still another eighteen more holes to go and there’s still everything to play for tomorrow,” said the Australian.

One of four players three shots back, Mardan Mamat’s hopes of returning to The Open for the third time remain intact after carding a 68 to end the day in tied-fourth position.

“It’ll be nice to play in The Open again and I miss that feeling. It’s too early to know what’s going to happen but we’ll see how it goes tomorrow,” noted the 41-year old.

Malaysia’s Danny Chia, winner of last year’s IFQ – Asia event, joins Mamat at three under-par. The Asian Tour regular has featured at both The Open 2005 at St Andrews and The Open 2008 at Royal Birkdale. And after day one in Sentosa, he remains in contention for his hat-trick of Open appearances.

“I’ve been hitting the ball quite well, except for a few missed shots,” he explained. “Overall it’s okay and I’m really looking forward to playing well again tomorrow.”

Promising young Indian, Gaganjeet Bhullar, 20, and Singapore amateur, Quincy Quek, 21, are both still in contention having registered scores of two and one under-par respectively.

Play will commence tomorrow at 08.00am with live scores and stories published on Opengolf.com throughout the day.

The full IFQ – Asia entry list, draw and day-one scores can also be found online at Opengolf.com.