Howell's late collapse lets Kelly

back in to break losing sequence

Jerry Kelly grabbed his first US Tour victory for seven years in remarkable fashion in New Orleans.
From three strokes clear with a round to go in the Zurich Classic the 42-year-old American fell three behind after 10 holes, but then took advantage of a late collapse from Charles Howell.
Birdies at the 11th and short 14th were followed by four closing pars and that was just enough to give Kelly the title and the US dollars 1.1 million first prize on 14 under par.
While Kelly shot 71, Howell returned a 68, but the 29-year-old's day will not be remembered for his six birdies in the first 11 holes, but for his bogeys at the 15th and 17th.
Howell pulled a drive into sand for the first of them, then three-putted two holes later.
Unlucky when a 261-yard fairway wood to the par five last bounded over the green, he failed to get up and down and so had to settle for a share of second place with South African Rory Sabbatini and Korean Charlie Wi.
It was Kelly's 200th US Tour event since his last success - and only last week, troubled by a dislocated rib and 'flu, he walked off the course on the second day of the Vertizon Heritage after taking a 10 on one hole.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
274 Jerry Kelly 68 66 69 71
275 Charlie Wi (Kor) 66 70 71 68, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 70 67 71 67, Charles Howell III 68 69 70 68
276 Steve Marino 70 68 68 70, David Toms 68 68 72 68
277 Steve Stricker 68 73 69 67, Aaron Watkins 70 68 69 70
278 Jason Dufner 68 73 69 68, Roland Thatcher 68 70 70 70
279 Joe Ogilvie 70 69 69 71, Tim Petrovic 70 69 73 67
280 Rodney Pampling (Aus) 68 71 68 73, John Rollins 69 67 71 73, Bob Estes 73 69 68 70, Jeff Overton 68 72 68 72, Ian Poulter (Eng) 71 66 72 71, Boo Weekley 72 68 71 69
281 Brian Davis (Eng) 70 70 70 71, Charley Hoffman 69 66 77 69, Lucas Glover 72 71 66 72, Greg Owen (Eng) 70 68 72 71, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 69 70 71 71
282 D.A. Points 69 71 71 71, Kevin Stadler 70 67 71 74, Paul Goydos 69 70 73 70, K J Choi (Kor) 72 66 71 73, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 69 73 67 73, Martin Laird (Sco) 68 70 71 73, Troy Matteson 71 64 75 72, Nicholas Thompson 70 70 70 72
283 Webb Simpson 70 71 70 72, Jason Day (Aus) 69 71 71 72
284 Aron Price (Aus) 73 70 71 70, John Senden (Aus) 70 72 70 72, Chris DiMarco 73 70 70 71, Darron Stiles 73 67 69 75, Scott Piercy 71 69 70 74, John Mallinger 70 73 71 70, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 71 72 70 71, Jay Williamson 67 73 77 67
285 Charles Warren 67 73 71 74, John Merrick 67 69 72 77, Eric Axley 67 71 76 71, Jimmy Walker 70 73 69 73, David Mathis 72 65 74 74, Scott Verplank 70 73 71 71, Ryan Moore 68 71 75 71
286 Nathan Green (Aus) 67 72 71 76, Parker McLachlin 67 69 78 72
287 Michael Letzig 72 71 73 71, Harrison Frazar 72 70 72 73, Todd Hamilton 73 70 75 69, Matt Bettencourt 70 70 74 73, Kevin Streelman 73 69 75 70, Jeff Klauk 71 72 74 70, Scott Sterling 70 73 72 72, James Oh (Kor) 71 72 74 70
288 Kenny Perry 69 70 71 78, Dudley Hart 70 71 77 70, Chris Riley 73 70 72 73, Brett Quigley 72 69 69 78, Ryan Palmer 70 73 69 76, Steve Allan (Aus) 76 67 72 73
289 Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 69 70 78 72, Woody Austin 71 68 72 78
290 George McNeill 69 74 69 78, Ted Purdy 70 73 76 71, Rick Price 71 71 74 74
291 Matthew Jones (Aus) 72 69 73 77
295 Wil Collins 72 71 78 74, Lee Janzen 70 71 78 76

Thongchai Jaidee wins three-way

play-off at Jeju Island, Korea

NEWS RELEASE FROM ASIAN TOUR
Jeju Island, Korea: Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee showed why he is one of Asia’s best when he lifted his 12th Asian Tour title at the €2.1 million Ballantine’s Championship today.
Thongchai defeated Korea’s Kang Sung-hoon and Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano in a three-way play-off after the trio had ended regulation play on four-under-par 284 total at the Pinx Golf Club.
Fernandez-Castano, who posted a three-under-par 69, after being five shots off the lead coming into the final round, was the first off the tee.
The Spaniard went through the back of the green into the rough with his second shot and had to chip in to within two feet with his third shot.
Kang, who had the home crowd cheering him on, was within six feet of the pin after two strokes but missed his birdie chance, leaving Thongchai with the chance to wrap up the title after the Thai ace had earlier driven an accurate approach shot which left the ball to within three-feet of the pin.
Thongchai made no mistakes with his birdie chance and savoured the winning feeling all over again since his last victory at the Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open in March.
“When we got to the play-off, I knew that I would stand a good chance as I had just finished playing that hole about 15 minutes ago. I knew the distance well and I was ready,” said Thongchai who posted a 70 in regulation play.
While he had to battle the testing conditions all week, Thongchai knew that in order to win, he made to maintain his composure and keep his nerves even after going into the final round in tied-third, four shot off the lead.
“The tournament is never finished and you never know who is going to win the tournament until the last day. I know that I can play well in all weather conditions, whether it’s in the cold, rain or wind and I just had to believe in myself that I can do it,” added Thongchai who picked up the winner’s cheque of approximately US$457,249 to lead the Asian Tour Order of Merit on US$707,857.39 now.
Fernandez-Castano again had to suffer the anguish of missing out on another play-off victory in the last three weeks.
“This is my third play-off in the last three weeks and it really hurts. It's difficult, especially when you are playing against two other players in the play-off. But, I guess that's golf,” said Fernandez-Castano.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s Mardan Mamat was the next best Asian Tour player, finishing in tied-eight among the elite field that included world number six, Henrik Stenson of Sweden and former Masters champion, Fred Couples who both finished in tied-52nd on 298.
Mardan seeking his third win on the Asian Tour since the 2006 Singapore Masters, reeled in three birdies in his opening four holes to signal his strong intent for the title.
He dropped a shot on the fifth but recovered with another birdie on the 10th straight after the turn. The 41-year-old Singaporean then bogeyed the 12th followed by a birdie on 14th.
All hopes of catching up with the leaders were dashed after a wrong choice of club resulted in a costly double bogey on 17th and saw the 41-year-old Singaporean drop to one-under and finish on 71 for a four-day total of 287.
“I picked the wrong club at the tee box and that shot landed over the green. I managed to chip it back on and three-putted that hole,” said Mardan.
“It’s okay. It was very tough out there again and because of the difficult conditions, I’m pleased with how I’ve played this week. Things happen for a reason and I’ll look forward to my next event in Korea again (GS Caltex Maekyung Open),” added Mardan.
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.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
284 Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 66 71 77 70 (Thongchai Jaidee won three-way play-off with a birdie 3 at the first extra hole), Sung-hoon Kang (Kor) 69 71 76 68, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 65 74 76 69
286 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 66 69 75 76, Ernie Els (Rsa) 68 74 73 71, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 68 72 76 70, Seve Benson 69 70 78 69
287 Danny Willett 69 76 73 69, Peter Lawrie 70 75 76 66, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 69 70 77 71
288 Ho-sung Choi (Kor) 69 72 76 71, Pablo Martin (Spa) 69 69 74 76, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 75 68 74 71, Jason Knutzon (USA) 67 74 75 72
289 Brett Rumford (Aus) 68 73 76 72, Scott Barr (Aus) 68 72 76 73, Wook-Soon Kang (Kor) 68 69 77 75, Kyung-nam Kang (Kor) 66 73 75 75
290 Richard Bland 73 72 78 67, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 68 73 74 75, Gwang-Soo Choi (Kor) 71 70 74 75, Mark Brown (Nzl) 65 73 78 74, Graeme Storm 72 68 78 72
291 Wei Chih Lu (Tha) 70 75 77 69, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 72 72 71 76, Rick Kulacz (Aus) 71 71 77 72
292 Zane Scotland 70 73 76 73, Gareth Maybin 70 72 78 72, Hyung-tae Kim (Jpn) 68 72 82 70, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 72 68 76 76
293 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 69 72 78 74, A-Shun Wu (Chn) 69 75 80 69, Nick Dougherty 71 72 77 73
294 Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 72 72 76 74, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 67 71 84 72, Iain Steel (Mal) 70 73 80 71, Markus Brier (Aut) 71 72 81 70, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 71 74 76 73, Lee Westwood 71 73 76 74, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 70 75 75 74
295 Chris Wood 75 70 76 74, Soon-sang Hong (Kor) 68 74 78 75, Andrew Tschudin (Aus) 70 75 75 75, Simon Dyson 69 75 78 73, Barry Lane 71 74 78 72
296 Seung-yul Noh (Kor) 71 69 80 76, Robert Dinwiddie 67 73 82 74, Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 73 72 77 74, Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 68 74 82 72, Paul McGinley 73 72 78 73
297 Branden Grace (Rsa) 69 70 81 77
298 Prom Meesawat (Tha) 71 73 81 73, Chih-bing Lam (Sin) 68 72 80 78, Fred Couples (USA) 69 76 81 72, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 68 74 81 75
299 Joong Kyung Mo (Kor) 70 73 77 79
300 Wil Besseling (Ned) 71 74 80 75, Wen-Tang Lin (Tai) 73 71 81 75, Hyung-sung Kim (Kor) 69 76 78 77
301 Inder Van Weerelt (Ned) 70 74 83 74, Scott Drummond 70 75 81 75, Wen-hong Lin (Chn) 69 70 84 78, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 72 72 79 78
302 Myung-ho Kwon (Kor) 72 72 82 76
303 Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 71 74 86 72, Rhys Davies 70 73 82 78, Ted Oh (Kor) 70 75 80 78
304 Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 69 74 84 77, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 71 74 83 76, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 71 74 81 78
305 Digvijay Singh (Ind) 73 71 82 79
306 Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 73 72 84 77
308 Peter Hedblom (Swe) 72 72 87 77
321 Somkiat Sri-sanga (Tha) 73 72 89 87

PHILLIPS TROPHY FOGGED OFF AT CRUDEN BAY

Today's North-east District Phillips Trophy tournament was postponed because of fog at Cruden Bay. It has been rearranged for next Sunday with the same tee times although a few late entries may be accepted.

Paul O'Hara stands beside the impressive and rather big Edward Trophy which never leaves the Glasgow Gailes clubhouse (image by Cal Carson Golf Agency; click on it to enlarge).

Paul O'Hara wins Edward Trophy with

play-off win against James White
By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Scotland international Paul O’Hara, 22-year-old Colville Park player, achieved his first Scottish Golf Union Order of Merit tournament win – after coming through a play-off against the new Scottish universities champion James White (Lundin) to claim the weather-hit Edward Trophy tournament honours this evening at Glasgow Gailes Golf Club.
Thunder and lightning circling Ayrshire for two or three hours late on Saturday afternoon forced the organisers eventually to abandon the second round after a suspension of play had stretched for so long there would not have been enough light for everyone to get round.
A first-round cut was made with the 40 and ties who had scored 77 or better qualifying to come back again and play two rounds on Sunday.
Another Colville Park player, Ross Kellett, lead the field on six-under-par after 36 holes with scores of 66 and 70 but a 76 at the third time of asking knocked him back to an eventual third-place finish on 212.
O’Hara and White tied on two-under-par 211, Paul with rounds of 68, 71 and 72, White scoring 73 and a pair of 69s.
O’Hara triumphed at the second hole of the sudden-death play-off with a par to White’s bogey after the Fifer, son of a former Tartan Tour pro and the 2006 Scottish boys’ champion, missed the green.
O’Hara felt the knowledge of the Gailes links he has gained from caddieing for visitors to boost his golfing finances have helped him a lot.

"You need to be good a course management to score at Glasgow Gailes," he said.
“For instance, I played a lot of irons off the tee because there’s an awful lot of heather out there and you need to hit the fairways round here,” said O’Hara who plans to go to the European Tour School in September.
“I wanted to go last year but didn’t have the money but I’ve been working at caddieing and other jobs to build up some savings to make it possible to have a go at getting a card for the European Tour at the end of ths season.”
FINAL TOTALS
(Saturday second round abandoned because of lightning)
Par 213 (3 x 71) CSS 74 74 74
211 James White (Lundin) 73 69 69, Paul O’Hara (Colville Park) 68 71 72 (O'Hara won sudden death play-off at second hole).
212 Ross Kellett (Colville Park) 66 70 76.
213 Keir McNicoll (Carnoustie) 72 69 72.
214 Gordon Stevenson (Whitecraigs) 75 70 69, Craig Watson (East Renfrewshire) 72 72 70.
215 James Ross (Royal Burgess) 72 71 72.
216 Daniel Somerville (St Andrews) 71 73 72, Gavin Dear (Murrayshall) 69 71 76.
217 Greg Paterson (St Andrews New) 71 73 73, Steven mcEwan (caprington) 69 77 71.
218 Kris Nicol (Fraserburgh) 74 75 69, Gordon Yates (Hilton Park) 73 75 70, Wallace Booth (Comrie) 72 75 71, Liam McGowan (St Andrews New) 72 72 74.
219 Philip McLean (Peterhead) 72 73 74.
220 William Bremner (Edzell) 74 73 73.
221 Andrew Wallace (Glenbervie) 77 75 69, Paul Betty (Hayston) 76 73 72.
222 Andrew Campbell (Dumbarton) 69 78 75.
223 Scott Stewart-Cation (Ladybank) 77 76 70, David Law (Hazlehead) 76 76 71, Chris Harkins (Ayr Bellleisle) 73 74 76, Nicky Gold (Bonnyton) 75 76 72.
224 Michael Campbell (Renfrew) 75 75 74, Scott Borrowman (Dollar) 74 72 78, James MacKay (Kilmarnock Barassie) 73 76 75, John Miller (Gulolane) 72 77 75.
225 Matthew Clark (Kilmacolm) 77 76 72.
226 Daniel Young (Craigie Hill) 73 75 78.
226 Mark Bookless (Sandyhills) 76 77 74, John Laurie (Cowglen) 73 73 81.
229 Paul Shields (Kirkhill) 75 80 74, John Duff (Newmachar) 75 77 77.
230 Ben Sloan (Cathkin Braes) 75 79 76, Sam Binning (Ranfurly Castle) 73 79 78.
231 Arron Howard (Murrayshall) 77 74 80, George Finlay (Ballumbie castle) 76 81 74.
233 Kevin Smyth (Windyhill) 76 77 80, Graeme Gorrie (Glasgow) 76 71 76.
236 Kyle Smith (Troon Welbeck) 77 80 79.
238 David Marshall (Dalmahoy) 76 81 81.
NR Andrew McLachlan (Bonnyton) 77 NR 73.
MISSED THE CUT
78 Fraser Fotheringham (Nairn), George Brass (Blairgowie), Darren Timms (Mid Kent), Fraser Campbell (Clober), Paul Gault (Westerwood), Scott McGrenaghan (Cochrane Castle).

79 Conor O’Neill (Glasgow), Michael Dailly (Erskine).
80 Stephen Rennie (Drumpellier), Chris Robb (Inchmarlo), Colin Mundie (Falkirk)..
81 Graham Turner (West Linton), Colin Carson (Innellan), Andrew Campbell (Deeside), Colin Thomson (East Renfrewshire), Adam Dunton (McDonald Ellon), Kenneth Anderson (Falkirk Carmuirs).
82 Stephen Clark (US).
83 Keith Hamilton (Ayr Belleisle), Shaun McGarvey (Glencorse).
84 Garry Price (Paisley), Graham Bolton (Bute).
86 James Hendrick (Pollok).

Jerry Kelly leads by three as he chases

first US Tour victory in seven years

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Jerry Kelly, playing his 200th event since his last US Tour win seven years ago, opened up a three-stroke lead at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with a third-round 69.
The 42-year-old, who walked out of last week's Verizon Heritage tournament after taking a 10 early in his second round, goes into the final day on 13 under par and has had only two dropped shots in 54 holes.
Steve Marino moved into second place with a 68, yet that ended with a bogey six after he came out of a greenside bunker far too strongly.
Fellow Americans Charles Howell, John Rollins and little-known Aaron Watkins, Australian Rod Pampling and South Korean Charlie Wi are joint third on nine under.
Poulter was in joint fifth place after an opening birdie, but went in the water on the fourth, then pitched over the green for another bogey at the long 11th.
By dropping another shot on the 216-yard 14th the Open Championship runner-up fell outside the top 30, but sinking a 33-yard bunker shot for an eagle three at the last gave him a 72 and brought him back up to joint 15th with Scot Martin Laird, who birdied two of the last three for a 71.
Owen, four behind at halfway, bogeyed two of the first three, battled his way back to ninth spot with four birdies, but then finished with two more bogeys.
That added up to a 72 as well, leaving the Mansfield golfer in a tie for 21st with Londoner Brian Davis, who returned his third successive 70.
After a course record-equalling 64 in the second round and then an outward 34 Troy Matteson was only one behind playing partner Kelly, but he let strokes go at the 10th, 11th, 13th, 16th and 18th for a back nine 41.