City of Aberdeen men's double foursomes match-play

Maitland Shield Scoreboard
KING'S LINKS, Wednesday
QUARTER-FINALS

Nigg Bay bt Hazlehead by eight holes
I Welsh & D Yeats 7, K Duthie & L Prouse 0.
G Grimmer & N Slater 1, A Strachan & G Kennedy 0.

Murcar Links bt Peterculter by two holes.
A Styles & I Galbraith 0, P Robb & G Meade 0.
A Bews & N McKinnon 2, G Watson & D Macdonald 0.

Caledonian bt Craibstone by eight holes.
S Finnie & A Doig 3, A Ross & R Hardie 0.
A Cruickshank & D Gardener 5, J Thomas & J Morris 0.

Newmachar bt Deeside by eight holes.
M Lawrence & E Mcintosh 3, A Fiddes & M Vass 0.
C Simpson & K Riley 5, A Hutchison & D Halliday 0.

THURSDAY'S SEMI-FINALS

5pm Nigg Bay v Murcar Links.

5.15 Caledonian v Newmachar.

Sergio Garcia hoping European

Open will change his luck

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Sergio Garcia is optimistic that his return to European soil for this week’s The European Open can help him rediscover his best form.
The 29 year old Spaniard was threatening to end Tiger Woods’ spell as World No 1 earlier in the year after victory at the HSBC Champions.
But while playing on the US PGA Tour his game has stalled somewhat and Paul Casey’s victory at last week’s BMW PGA Championship saw the Englishman overhaul his Ryder Cup colleague as top European in the World Rankings, with Casey up to third and Garcia now fourth.
Garcia has not had a top 10 finish since January and his last five tournaments in America have been particularly disappointing - 31st, 77th, 38th (at the Masters Tournament), a missed cut and 22nd in his defence of The Players Championship.

But he returns to The London Golf Club, Ash in Kent full of belief that he can go one better than last year, when he was runner-up to Ross Fisher.
“It was a good tournament for me last year, unfortunately Ross played unbelievable,” said Garcia. “But no, it was good. It looks like the weather is going to get better from tomorrow onwards, which we are looking forward to, and then hopefully let's have another good week and see if we can go one better than last year.
“The course is playing different than it was playing last year, because it was dry all week. It was very good weather and the course was playing very, very firm. It was windy like it's been the last couple of days, but you were getting so much roll on the fairways, the course was playing totally different than it is this year.
“There's a couple of new tees and a couple of par-5s, too, so it's made a bit of a difference. I guess it just depends on how the week goes on. With better weather, probably towards the weekend, the course will get firmer again, and then it will play a little bit more like it was playing last year. But at the moment, it's obviously playing much longer.”
Garcia does not face an easy task stopping Fisher’s title defence, however.
The Englishman was in inspired form last week and his closing 64 - the best round of the week at Wentworth Club - almost saw him take the title, with only a late flourish by Casey denying him.
“It’s really nice to be back,” said the 28 year old Fisher.

“Got great memories of this place last year. Just looking forward to obviously getting out there and playing and it's the second time I'll have experienced defending a title.
“So obviously thoroughly looking forward to that, and like you say, coming off a really good week last week at the BMW PGA. So my game is in good shape and I’m looking forward to this week.”
The European Open will be special for one player, no matter what the result. Shane Lowry makes his professional debut, and the Irishman will be hoping it is as astonishing as his maiden performance on The European Tour.
Then amateur Lowry stunned the golfing world with his play-off victory over Robert Rock on home soil at The 3 Irish Open two weeks ago, and admits that it has been a hectic couple of weeks since.
He said: “It's been madness over the last couple of weeks, I'm just starting to calm down now.
“I just can't wait to get out on the golf course to be honest, and it's a lot more peaceful out there. It's been great, it can't be a bad thing, all of the attention, so I've enjoyed it and hopefully there's a lot more to come.
“I know I made the right decision [turning professional], and everyone around me knows I made the right decision, so I'm happy enough.”

Another notable amateur will be making his pro debut in this event - Australian Scott Arnold who was No 1 in the R&A WAGR until he announced his decision.

SCOTSWATCH:

There are 16 Scots in the field and three of them - Andrew Oldcorn, Andrew Coltart and Alan McLean - will be first off the tee at 7.30am.

Richie Ramsay is not far behind them.

Other Scots are: Alastair Forsyth, Steven O'Hara, Colin Montgomerie, Chris Doak, Marc Warren, Gary Orr, Stephen Gallacher, Callum Macaulay, Paul Lawrie, David Drysdale, Jason McCreadie and Scott Drummond.

Scroll down to read third-round starting times

Craig Lee leads by one from Mark

Kerr with 36-hole slog to come

FROM THE SCOTSMAN.SPORT.COM WEBSITE
By NICK RODGER
(with additional words by Colin Farquharson)

Mark Kerr shrugged off the effects of a heavy cold to keep himself in the hunt for the biggest win of his fledgling professional career in the Northern Open at Spey Valley, Aviemore.

The 27-year-old from Edinburgh, who joined the pro ranks two seasons ago, posted a hard-earned one-under 71 for a three-under 141 to sit a shot behind halfway pacesetter Craig Lee (pictured), who compiled a six-birdie 68 (35-33) for four-under-par 140.

The destination of the title, first contested in 1933 and one of the oldest in Scottish professional golf, will be decided with a punishing 36-holes on Thursday but under- the-weather Kerr admitted it is a daunting prospect over the gruelling Dave Thomas-designed, 7118yd course.

"It's going to be survival of the fittest," said Kerr."I'm not looking forward to two rounds feeling like this on a course as long as this one. I was hanging on today and it was a bit of a struggle so I'm delighted to still be in contention at this stage."

Kerr has been a winner over four rounds in the North/North-east as an amateur. Playing out of Dalmahoy, he claimed the North-east District Open of 2005 at Deeside Golf Club.

Front-runner Lee, 32, made a significant move with a neatly assembled round highlighted by a birdie-putt from 30-feet at the 10th which provided the catalyst for a three-under inward half. Bury's Sean Doherty, looking to become the first Englishman since Jim Payne in 2000 to land the crown, had a 72 to lurk on the 142 mark while Gordon Sherry's golfing comeback was handed a boost when he survived the cut on a 151 after a battling 73.

The 6ft 8in Ayrshire man did well to maintain his concentration and his determination after incurring a two-strong penalty for playing the wrong ball after a visit to the heather at the ninth.
In all 42 players with two-round totals of eight-over-par 152 or better qualified for the last day's play.

No amateurs survived the cut so the Bookless Cup will not be won this year. With no sponsorship this year, the first prize for the professionals has had to be cut from £8,000 to £2,500.

71st NORTHERN OPEN HALFWAY SCOREBOARD

SECOND ROUND
Par 144 (2x72:36-36) 7118yd
140 Craig Lee (unatt) 72 68 (35-33) pictured right.
141 Mark Kerr (unatt) 70 71 (35-36).
142 Sean Doherty (Bury) 70 72 (35-37)
143 Stephen Gray (Hayston) 72 71 (36-35)
144 Martyn Hamer (Ellesmere) 74 70 (32-38), Craig Matheson (Falkirk Tryst) 71 73 (35-38).
145 Ross Cameron (McDonald Ellon) 73 72 (35-37).
146 Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills) 72 74 (39-34), Edward Thomson (Senit Associates) 70 76 (37-39), David Orr (East Renfrewshire) 71 75 (36-39), Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs G R) 74 72 (36-36), Neil Fenwick (Dunbar) 76 70 (34-36).
147 Craig Ronald (Carluke) 74 73 (37-36), Mark Barnard (Inchmarlo) 73 74 (39-35), Colin Gillies (Perry Golf 77 70 (35-35).
148 Fraser Mann (Musselburgh) 76 72 (34-38), Mark King (Kingsfield) 77 71 (34-37), Stuart Pardoe (Scottish Golf Centre) 73 75 (38-37).
149 Jonathan Lomas (unatt) 78 71 (35-36), Lindsay Mann (Carnoustie) 79 70 (34-36), Steven Parry (unatt) 75 74 (39-35), Paul Wardell (Whitekirk) 78 71 (36-35).
150 James McKinnon (Irvine) 73 77, Ken Campbell (Machrihanish), Callum Nicoll (Prestwick) 78 72, Jonas Hedberg (Royal Aberdeen) 76 74, Scott Henderson (Kings Links) 79 71 (36-35), Christopher Manson (unatt) 78 72.
151 Steven Brown (Carnoustie GL) 74 77 (39-38), Kenneth Hutton (Downfield) 76 75 (37-38), Samuel Cairns (Colville Park) 76 75, Graeme Lornie (Paul Lawrie Foundation) 80 71 (33-38), David Patrick (Elie) 76 75, Gordon Sherry (Kilmarnock Barassie) 78 73 (37-36), Graham Fox (East Kilbride) 75 76, Gordon Law (Uphall) 75 76, Alastair Mackenzie (Duddingston) 83-68 (33-35).
152 Steven Taylor (Bothwell Castle) 78 74, James McGhee (Turnhouse) 73 79, Ian Graham (Crow Wood) 75 77, Alan Lockhart (Ladybank) 75 77.
MISSED THE CUT
153 Richard Pace (Hornsea) 74 79, Gareth Wright (West Linton) 76 77, Stuart Morrison (Tain) 77 76.
154 Malcolm Isaacs (Nairn Dunbar) 80 74, Andrew Cooper (Newmachar) 77 77, Chris Kelly (Cawder) 75 79, Michael Rae (Alyth) 80 74, Henry Wong (Wellsgreen) 78 76, Joe Senior (Heysham) 81 73, Stewart Savage (Dalmuir) 77, Iain Hanna (Strathclyde Park) 77 77, Peter Mitchell (Hermitage) 82 72, Campbell Elliott (Haggs Castle) 80 74, James Erskine (Portpatrick Dunskey) 81 73.
155 Gary McFarlane (Clober) 80 75, Jamie Stevenson (Braehead) 79 76, Fraser McLaughlan (Bothwell Castle) 85 70, Alan Tait (Marriott Dalmahoy) 76 79, David Green (Dukinfield) 77 78.
156 Alan Reid (unatt) 83 73, Neil Colquhoun (Merchants of Edinburgh) 75 81, David Smith (Swinton Park) 81 75, Christopher Russell (RAW Golf Course Design) 81 75, Stuart Reekie (Blairgowrie) 81 75, Andrew Fullen (Largs) 77 79, Kevin Phillips (Winterfield) 82 74, Craig Everett (Caldwell) 82 74, Mark Loftus (Cowglen) 82 74.
157 Murray Urquhart (Spey Valley) 80 77, Iain Donaldson (Meldrum House) 80 77, Scott Catlin (Greenburn) 79 78, Alan E Reid (West Lothian) 80 77, Aran Wainwright (De Vere Oulton Hall) 79 78, Greg Paxton (Ralston) 81 76, Alex Belt (unatt) 79 78, Graeme McInnes (Murcar Links) 83 74, Sean O'Donnell (Balbirnie Park) 79 78, Kris Andrews (Ashton on Mersey) 79 78, Neil Howitt (Nairn) (am) 79 78, Gary Dingwall (Royal Dornoch) 82 75.
158 Stuart McKendrick (Dunkeld & Birnam) (am) 77 81, Paul Brookes (Pitreavie) 79 79, David Gemmell (Aberdour) 77 81, Steven Duncan (Balbirnie Park) 78 70, Paul Malone (Braid Hills) 78 80, Don Garrett (Huntly) 79 79, Michael Sweenie (Westin Turnberry) 80 78.
159 Chris Campbell (Grantown on Spey) 80 79, Andrew Campbell (Deeside) (am) 83 76, Lee Vannet (Carnoustie GL) 83 76, Graham Murray (Cullen) (am) 82 77, Richard Hyland (Craibstone) 84 75, Ewan Hogarth (Peebles) 81 78, Stewart Pert (Huntly) (am) 81 78.
160 Gavin Cook (Prestonfield) 80 80, Anthony Mackrell (East Kilbride) 80 80, Craig Donnelly (Balbirnie Park) 78 82..
161 Stewart McCulloch (McDonald Ellon) (am) 80 81, Robbie Stewart (Cruden Bay) 83 78.
162 Chris McCalman (unatt) 80 82, Nigel Scott-Smith (Palacerigg) 82 80, Nick Robson (Meldrum House) (am) 85 77, Hamish Kemp (Bishopbriggs GR) 87 75, Calum Smith (Royal Musselburgh) 83 79, Alan Purdie (Kingsbarns) 80 82, Ross MacDonald (Jura) 82 80.
163 Mark Hancock (Stand) 82 81, Greig McSporran (Kinross) 80 83, George Boswell (Mearns Castle) 80 83.
164 Alan Gowran (East Renfrewshire) 85 79, Ewan Davie (Dunblane New) 85 79, Jonny Sharp (Carrick at Cameron House) 85 79.
165 David Fleming (Prestwick) 84 81.
166 David MacMullen (Aberdour) 90 76, Graham Mackay (Prestonfield) 86 80, James Smallwood (Fereneze) 85 81.
167 Craig MacDonald (Peterculter) 85 82, Peter McLachlan (West Kilbride) 89 78.
169 Norman Huguet (Musselburgh) 84 85, Lee Harper (Archerfield Links) 90 79.
170 Stuart Wilson (Eastwood) 83 87.
172 Grant Robertson (Lanark) 87 85, Ian Rowlands (West Linton) 87 85, Gary Cooke (Liberton) 87 85.
173 Lee McDonald (Nairn Dunbar) (am) 87 86.
175 Paul Wilson (World of Golf) 96 79, James Mooney (unatt) 88 87, Nick Reid (unatt) 90 85.
Disqualified: Stephen Lamb (Broomieknowe) 73 DQ.
Retired: Stephen McNally (Scottish Inst of Sport) 78 ret.

THIRD ROUND TEE TIMES
7.0 A Lockhart & I Graham.
7.08 J McGhee & S Taylor.
7.16 A MacKenzie & G Law.
7.24 G Fox & G Sherry.
7.32 D Patrick & S Cairns.
7.40 G Lornie & K Hutton.
7.48 S Brown & C Hanson.
7.56 J Hedberg & S Henderson.
8.04 C Nicoll & K Campbell.
8.12 J McKinnon & S Parry.
8.20 P Wardell & L Mann.
8.28 J Lomas & S Pardoe.
8.36 S Duncan & M King.
8.44 F Mann & C Gillies.
8.52 M Barnard & C Ronald.
9.0 N Fenwick & R Arnott.
9.08 D Orr & E Thomson.
9.16 P McKechnie & R Cameron.
9.24 C Matheson & M Hamer.
9.32 S Gray & S Doherty.
9.40 M Kerr & C Lee.

+Tee times for fourth and final round will depend on the pace of play in the morning third round.

42nd Scottish open amateur stroke-play championship contender

World ranking boost for Borrowman

on eve of title bid at Murcar Links

Palmer Cup player Scott Borrowman, winner of the 2007 Scottish youths championship, should be full of confidence as he tees off his bid on Friday to add another national title to his golfing CV - the Scottish men's open amateur stroke-play championship at Murcar Links.
Joint fifth place in the Welsh open amateur championship at Ashburnham at the weekend has seen the "value" of the Dollar man, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, rise from 442 to 361 in this week's R&A World Amateur Golf Rankings.
That surge of 81 places is the biggest by any Scot in the top 500. The updated rankings also underline the magnitude of the task facing the Scots if they are to maintain their shut-out of "foreign invaders" - Scott Henry (2006), Kevin McAlpine (2007) and Wallace Booth (2008) have been the most recent winners of their national amateur stroke-play title.
The star-studded field at Murcar Links includes world ranked No 10 Sam Hutsby (Liphook), No 15 Matt Jager (Australia) and No 27 Adrian Ford (South Africa).
Scotland's top man in the WAGR continues to be recent Irish open amateur title winner Gavin Dear (Murrayshall) in 28th place, ahead of defending champion Wallace Booth (Comrie) in 47th.
The only other Scot in the hot 100 is Ross Kellett (Caprington) who improved from 92nd to 85th place this week.
Another Scot to make a big leap in the rankings is Paul Lawrie protege Philip McLean (Peterhead) who knows the Murcar Links well from North-east Alliance competitions. Joint 24th in the Welsh stroke-play on Sunday, Philip has shot up 35 places to No 410.
WORLD TOP TEN AMATEURS
(+ or - indicates comparison with last week's ranking)
1 Morgan Hoffman (US) 1196.83 (+1).
2 Rickie Fowler (US) 1182.89 (+1).
3 Nick Taylor (Can) 1169.55 (+1).
4 Nicol Van Wyk (SAf) 1168.75 (+2)
5 Stephan Gross (Ger) 1155.38 (+2).
6 Jorge Campillo (Spa) 1137.33 (+2).
7 Matt Hill (Can) 1122.41 (+2).
8 Billy Horschel (US) 1116.98 (+2).
9 Mike Van Sickle (US) 1114.52 (+3).
10 Sam Hutsby (Eng) 1095.00 (+2).
Scots' rankings in top 1,200:
28 Gavin Dear 970.67 (+1)
47 Wallace Booth 927.27 (+2).
85 Ross Kellett 866.67 (+7).
130 Steven McEwan 810.00 (-29).
171 Michael Stewart 778.69 (-1).
244 Glenn Campbell 724.53 (+3).
292 Keir McNicoll 698.57 (+3).
300 Mark Hillson 690.00 (+2).
312 Paul O'Hara 685.00 (+2).
326 James Byrne 676.27 (+1).
361 Scott Borrowman 655.00 (+81).
362 James White 654.10 (+4).
394 Craig Watson 637.50 (-5).
400 Lewis Kirton 635.00 (-9).
410 Philip McLean 628.75 (+35).
417 Gordon Yates 626.25 (-7).
427 David Law 614.29 (-10).
573 Greg Paterson 547.37 (-34)
620 Stephen Speirs 525.00 (-2).
639 Scott Crichton 515.91 (-2)
672 Kris Nicol 500.00 (-44).
676 Matthew Clark 497.50 (-8).
685 David Addison 492.50 (-7)
690 Mark Lamb 489.58 (-5)
706 Jordan Findlay 482.09 (-47)
777 Bryan Fotheringham 455.00 (-14).
780 Neil Henderson 450.00 (+61).
809 Frazer Fotheringham 439.22 (-32).
935 Allyn Dick 390.00 (-9).
962 Alexander Culverwell 377.50 (-164)
1021 Mark Bookless 355.00 (+173).
1033 Bobby Rushford 350.00 (-23).
1136 Fraser McKenna 312.50 (-28).
1191 Gordon Stevenson 292.50 (-18).