Scots out of money as Belt beats Clayton in

play-off for Welsh Open Young Pros' title

The four Scots in the field finished well out of the money as Yorkshire's Alex Belt revealed a bedroom putting mat was to thank for his title-winning putt as he kick-started his season in style with victory in the Ryder Cup Wales 2010 Welsh Open Young PGA Professional Championship.
The 23-year-old Bridlington Links professional sank a 15ft birdie putt in a play-off against Hindhead's Ben Clayton after the pair tied at level par 140 after a regulation 36 holes over Anglesey's challenging Bull Bay course.
Belt, who carded consecutive rounds of 70, secured a payout of £1,800 and also earned an invite to play in the SWALEC Wales Challenge Tour event in July.
The Yorkshireman, who finished ninth last year, showed tremendous resilience as he battled a bug and Bull Bay's infamous winds to get his season off to an unexpected flying start.
"I felt a bit iffy all day but the adrenaline pulls you out of it," said Belt.
"This is good start to the season because normally it's my downfall, but hopefully it's a good sign of things to come.
Belt, who finished in the group ahead of Clayton, was forced to ensure a nervy wait as his rival had a birdie putt at the last to claim the honours. But he left it two foot short to ensure a play off.
On their return to the 18th green, Clayton chipped from the fringes and left it two foot shy again and Belt capitalised sinking the 15-footer.
"I hadn't holed a putt all day, which had been a bit of a downfall, but that one at the last made up for it," said Belt, whose round.
"I've got a 12 foot putting mat in my bedroom and it paid off. All I was thinking about was that put.
"Before then I was watching Ben after he came down the last hole and I could see him holing his putt, but he didn't which was lucky for me."
Clayton, who was making his first and last appearance in the event as he turns 30 next month, making him ineligible for next year, was not dejected following the defeat.
"It's all right to be honest. For him to make that birdie is pretty good," he said.
"It's the last time I can play in it so that's reason I came. I've enjoyed it and it's been a great week.
"I can take away some confidence from this but I knew there was a Challenge Tour spot available and that's what I wanted as I was on there in 2002 and wanted another crack at it.
"But that aside, it's been a real good event and everyone associated with Bull Bay has been very supportive."
Overnight leaders George Cowan (Westerhope) and Martyn Hamer (Ellesmere) both carded two-over-par 72s to finish in a share of third place on one-over-par 141.
John Jermine, Chairman of Ryder Cup Wales, said: "Ryder Cup Wales has been delighted to work with the PGA to bring the best young golfers in the UK to Anglesey and all of us have enjoyed watching some wonderful golf, at Bull Bay, on one of our hidden gems."
Heritage Minister, Alun Ffred Jones, said: "I'm delighted to be here today at Bull Bay in order to officially launch the Ryder Cup Wales 'Summer of Golf' programme of events, which provide an excellent opportunity to showcase some of our most spectacular courses.
"The first event in the summer schedule has seen the very best young talent we have here in Wales who are eager to make it into the top rankings to gain a place on the Challenge and European Tours.
"The tournament has provided them with a great opportunity to experience professional, competitive golf and I wish them all every success in the future."
The highest placed Scot was Lee Harper (Archerfield Links) in a share of 77th place with scores of 81 and 80 for 161.
Lee Mackie from Stirling tied for 83rd place with 78 and 84 for 162.
Brodie MacDonald, a Scot attached to The Belfry staff had scores of 82 and 85 for 167 and a share of 102nd place.
Christopher Tierney from Airdire shot 85 and 83 for 168 and joint 104th place in a field of 120.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
140 Alex Belt (Bridlington Links) 70 70 (£1,800), Ben Clayton (Hindhead) 70 70 (£1,250). Belt won play-off.
141 Martyn Hamer (Ellesmere) 69 72, George Cowan (Westerhope) 69 72 (£881.25 each).
144 Matthew Davies (Rhuddlan) 73 71, Clifford Gough (West Hill) 73 71, Alex Smith (Trentham Park) 71 73 (£454.16 each).
145 Liam Clarke (West Middlesex) 76 69, Joe Senior (Heysham) 75 70, John-Paul Banbury (Moor Hall) 72 73 (£333.33 each).
146 Gareth Jones (Sandiway) 72 74, Paul Grannell (Eng) 72 74, Guiseppe Licate (Hambrook DR) 72 74 (£262.50 each).
147 Ben Welch (Remedy Oak) 74 73 (£237.50).
Scots' scores:
161 Lee Harper (Archerfield Links) 81 80 (jt 77th).
162 Lee Mackie 78 84 (jt 83rd).
167 Brodie MacDonald (The Belfry) 82 85 (jt 102nd).
168 Christophere Tierney (Airdrie) 85 83 (jt 104th).

Brown and Fernandez-Castano

share lead in Korea

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ASIAN TOUR
Jeju Island, Korea: New Zealand’s Mark Brown got his campaign at the €2.1 million Ballantine’s Championship off to a strong start when he carded a seven-under-par 65 to share the first round lead with Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano today.

Both Brown and Fernandez-Castano soared to the top of the leaderboard with matching six birdies and an eagle each at the magnificent Pinx Golf Club to take a single-shot lead over Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee, Korea’s Kang Kyung-nam and Robert-Jan Derksen of the Netherlands who posted matching 66s to take a share of the third place.
Asian Tour regular Jason Knutzon of the United States is in joint sixth place on 67 with England’s Robert Dinwiddie and Italy’s Alessandro Tadini.
Two-time Asian Tour winner Brown is enjoying a return to form since his back-to-back victories on the Asian Tour at the Sail Open and Johnnie Walker Classic in India last year.
While the 34-year-old New Zealander has not been on a winning streak since then, he knows that his confidence will be key in ensuring he returns to his winning ways once again.
“I didn't play well for a good few months, and just lost it a little bit. But it doesn't take much to get it back,” said Brown. “You just hit a few good shots and I'm the type of person that the only way I can gain confidence is by actually seeing the proof, not by trying to kid myself. When you start to see the ball fly a little bit straighter, then you slowly gain confidence.”
Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee again showed why he is one of Asia’s best when he put in yet another impressive performance.
Thongchai started strongly with four successive birdies on his opening front-nine, starting from the second hole through to the fifth. The only blemish to his card was a lone bogey on the sixth before he made the turn in 33.
The Thai then began his homeward run with an eagle and followed that up with another birdie on the 12th to go to six-under before signing off with an inward 33.
“It was nice to be able to play in this kind of the weather today. Those four birdies that I made in a row were very nice indeed and my plan is to continue playing the way I’ve been playing today,” said the Thai ace, who tops the honour list with an unprecedented 11th career victory on the Asian Tour.
Thailand’s Chawalit Plaphol and Singapore’s Lam Chih Bing are amongst the 12 players that include world number six, Henrik Stenson of Sweden and three-time Major winner Ernie Els all tied for ninth on 68.
Chawalit, who is currently in 46th place on the Asian Tour Order of Merit, gave himself a healthy lead with an opening eagle on the 543-yard par-five 10th in the morning.
The Thai parred the next five holes before a making a birdie on the 16th but gave that shot back again on the 17th for his lone bogey of the round.
Two more birdies on the fourth and ninth in his homeward run ensured that he would stay just three shots behind Fernandez-Castano and Brown, who was also the morning leader.
“I drove the ball very well today. The weather conditions were benign today, the winds were not blowing very strongly and it certainly helped with the low scores,” said the two-time Asian Tour winner.
Couples, who won the Masters in 1992, will be looking for a more consistent round of golf after mixing five birdies with two bogeys to finish four shots off the lead.
“It was a beautiful day. We were all expecting wind and didn't get a whole lot of it, but I hit the ball pretty well. I made a few putts and ended up with a couple bogeys (sixth and 18th) but I made my share of nice little eight and ten 10‑footers to keep the round going. I guess I just have to come out again tomorrow at 7am and try to get it going again,” said Couples who finished the day tied for 21st.
The Ballantine’s Championship is the first Asian Tour event in Korea this season and is sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and Korean PGA.
FIRST ROUND

Par 72

65 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa), Mark Brown (Nzl)
66 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Kyung-nam Kang (Kor), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha)
67 Alessandro Tadini (Ita), Robert Dinwiddie, Jason Knutzon (USA)
68 Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Chih-bing Lam (Sin), Chawalit Plaphol (Tha), Brett Rumford (Aus), Soon-sang Hong (Kor), Scott Barr (Aus), Ernie Els (Rsa), Dae-hyun Kim (Kor), Hyung-tae Kim (Jpn), Wook-Soon Kang (Kor), Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa), Henrik Stenson (Swe)
69 Damien McGrane, Ho-sung Choi (Kor), Branden Grace (Rsa), Danny Willett, Simon Dyson, Kyung-Tae Kim (Kor), Felipe Aguilar (Chi), A-Shun Wu (Chn), Pablo Martin (Spa), Wen-hong Lin (Chn), Gaurav Ghei (Ind), Anton Haig (Rsa), Mardan Mamat (Sin), Seve Benson, Fred Couples (USA), Sung-hoon Kang (Kor), Hyung-sung Kim (Kor)
70 Wei Chih Lu (Tha), Andrew Tschudin (Aus), Peter Lawrie, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Ted Oh (Kor), Joong Kyung Mo (Kor), Marcus Fraser (Aus), Zane Scotland, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe), Gareth Maybin, In-hoi Hur (Kor), Scott Drummond, Rhys Davies, Kane Webber (USA), Richard Finch, Iain Steel (Mal), Inder Van Weerelt (Ned)
71 Seung-yul Noh (Kor), Ake Nilsson (Rsa), Yong-jin Shin (Kor), Klas Eriksson (Swe), Unho Park (Aus), Takao Nogami (Jpn), Wil Besseling (Ned), Prom Meesawat (Tha), Wen-chong Liang (Chn), Markus Brier (Aut), Jong Yul Suk (Kor), Chapchai Nirat (Tha), Lee Westwood, Jeppe Huldahl (Den), Shiv Kapur (Ind), Nick Dougherty, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha), Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind), Chris Rodgers, Rick Kulacz (Aus), Gwang-Soo Choi (Kor), Fabrizio Zanotti (Par), Barry Lane
72 Sang-ho Choi (Kor), Peter Hedblom (Swe), Graeme Storm, Johan Edfors (Swe), Pablo Larrazabal (Spa), Myung-ho Kwon (Kor), Jose-Filipe Lima (Por), Anthony Kang (USA), Artemio-hiromasa Murakami (Phi), Federico Colombo (Ita), Prayad Marksaeng (Tha), Wade Ormsby (Aus), Seung Ho Lee (Kor), Dae-Sub Kim (Kor), Do-kyu Park (Kor), David Gleeson (Aus), Francois Delamontagne (Fra), Stuart Manley, Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Andrew Dodt (Aus), Lee Sung (Kor), Young-soo Park (Kor), Peter O'Malley (Aus), Jyoti Randhawa (Ind)
73 Ben Leong (Mal), Somkiat Sri-sanga (Tha), Jean Van de Velde (Fra), Pelle Edberg (Swe), Simon Griffiths, David Frost (Rsa), Peter Hanson (Swe), Scott Hend (Aus), Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor), Oskar Henningsson (Swe), Digvijay Singh (Ind), Richard Bland, Ki joon Song (Aus), Wi-joong Kim (Kor), Wen-Tang Lin (Tai), Scott Strange (Aus), Marcus Both (Aus), David Dixon, Sang-moon Bae (Kor), Richard Green (Aus), Paul McGinley
74 Won-Kyung Heo (Kor), Bryan Saltus (USA), Frankie Minoza (Phi), Martin Erlandsson (Swe), Kyung-sool Kang (Kor), Mars Pucay (Phi), Heung-chul Joo (Kor) , Andrew Mckenzie (Aus), Guido Van Der Valk (Ned), James Kamte (Rsa)
75 Sang-woo Jeon (Kor), Do-hoon Kim (Kor) , Chris Wood, Darren Beck (Aus), Rafael Echenique (Arg), Terry Pilkadaris (Aus), Chang-kyu Hong (USA), Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha), Tae hee Lee (Kor), Keith Horne (Rsa), Angelo Que (Phi)
76 Carlos Del Moral (Spa), Jonathan Caldwell, Graeme McDowell
77 Ji-Ho Jung (Kor), Tony Carolan (Aus), Jong-koo Yoo (Kor) , Joon-eob Son (Kor)
79 Mitchell Brown (Aus), Antti Ahokas (Fin), Adam Blyth (Aus)
80 Airil Rizman (Mal), Kook-hwan Kim (Kor)
81 Gavin Flint (Aus)
65 - Mark Brown (NZL), Gonzalo Fernandez-castano (ESP)
66 - Kang Kyung-Nam (KOR), Thongchai Jaidee (THA), Robert-Jan Derksen (NED)
67 - Robert Dinwiddie (ENG), Alessandro Tadini (ITA),Jason Knutzon (USA)
68 - Scott Barr (AUS), Lam Chih Bing (SIN), Henrik Stenson (SWE), Chawalit Plaphol (THA), Hong Soon-sang (KOR), Brett Rumford (AUS), Rafael Cabrera B (ESP), Kim Hyung-tae (KOR), Ernie Els (RSA), Kim Dae-hyun (KOR), Mikko Ilonen (FIN), Kang Wook-soon (KOR)

Selected scores
69 – Fred Couples (Usa)
71 - Noh Seung-yul (KOR), Liang Wen-chong (CHN)
76 - Graeme Mcdowell (NIR)

Ends.

Lloyd Saltman reveals

McIlroy inspiration

FROM THE SPORT.SCOTSMAN.COM WEBSITE
By MIKE AITKEN
Lloyd Saltman has acknowledged he is "fuelled" by the challenge of emulating young players of the calibre of Rory McIlroy and Anthony Kim in the knowledge he won't need to do anything radically different to match their success in the professional game.
According to the 23-year-old Craigielaw golfer, who won the silver medal for leading amateur in the 2005 Open at St Andrews, he has remained positive in spite of having to overcome numerous frustrations since joining the pro ranks.

Currently plying his trade on the Challenge Tour, where he has endured a difficult start to the season with two missed cuts, Saltman, pictured above, heads for Morocco next week believing better times are just around the corner.

"People think I look at what Rory has achieved and that I must feel frustrated by his success," said Saltman. "But it's not like that. It's not as if I can't look back on success of my own and what fuels me is that he hasn't done anything different. He has been successful as a pro by doing the same things he did in the amateur game. That inspires and encourages me because I know I can do the same."

Saltman and McIlroy turned pro on the same day after the Walker Cup match at Royal County Down. Since then, their careers have followed different paths – the Irishman won his card for the European Tour and is now well established.

The Scot, meanwhile, lost focus last year when he tried, unsuccessfully, to compete on four different tours. This season he's concentrating on the Challenge Tour. Although he has missed two cuts and has recorded a few poor scores, Saltman remains optimistic about what the rest of the year holds.

"I'm a great believer that things happen for a reason and, in the long run, will only make you stronger. I'm sure everything that has happened will make me a better player in the long run," he said.

Speaking at The Roxburghe, near Kelso, where he was promoting the Magners Scottish Golf Championship, Saltman added:

"I've been working with Mark Roe for the past four months and the changes we're making in my short game are not totally natural yet. Having said that, I'm heading in the right direction and I know things are getting better. It's exciting for me to be moving in the right direction with the short stuff.

"I'm not too despondent about my start to the season because it's difficult for all Scots when you come out of a bad winter and head for competition at altitude in a warm climate. On the other hand, I've done good work with my coaches during the off season and know where I'm trying to get to – and believe I will arrive there sooner rather than later.

"I've also been working out in the gym and have put on half-a-stone in weight and that should help with fitness and stamina.I feel as if the season starts for me next week and I'm raring to go."

Saltman is an ambassador for the Magners championship, which attracted more than 22,000 entries from club golfers in 2008. More than 200 Scottish clubs will take part in the competition which stages five regional finals before the grand final at the Roxburghe in October.

Brand manager Jules Macken of Magners said: "The level of interest has gone from strength to strength and playing the final in the Borders will be a great way to keep the event fresh for the players. Having Lloyd involved has been a great boost for the championship."

Stuart Wilson now

Under-18 team selector

Former Walker Cup player and past British amateur champion Stuart Wilson has been appointed an international selector by the Scottish Golf Union.

Wilson, now in his 30s, is secretary of Forfar Golf Club and is pictured right by Cal Carson Golf Agency in his office.

He has been named to the selection panel for the national under-18 squad with a view to becoming captain of the Scotland boys' team.

"This gives me a chance to get involved again with the domestic game and, hopefully, can lead to a captaincy role in the future," said Stuart who no longer plays the amateur circuit.