Marshall Law at Challenge of Ireland

From Challenge Tour Press Officer Paul Symes
England’s Andrew Marshall will take a slender lead into the final day of the Challenge of Ireland presented by Moyvalley, but he will have home hero Jonathan Caldwell breathing down his neck.
Both men are chasing their maiden Challenge Tour titles at Moyvalley Hotel and Golf Resort in County Kildare, Ireland, where just one shot separates the pair.
Marshall’s best-of-the-day 67 moved him to eight under par, one stroke clear of Caldwell, France’s Francois Calmels and Norwegian Peter Kaensche, who lie in a tie for second place.

Marshall said: “I played pretty solidly all day. I found the rough a couple of times off the tee and got punished for it, but other than that I drove the ball really well, as I have done for most of the season really. I’ve been playing pretty consistently all year, without really setting the world alight. I’ve made every cut, but now I need to kick on and try to take it to the next level.

“I had half a chance of winning in Brittany, but threw it away a bit on the back nine on the last day. So I’m pleased to be in with another chance going into tomorrow, and hopefully I can make the most of it. We’ve got a big event next week, so it’d be nice to go there in some decent form, because I haven’t got a particularly good record in St Omer. But I’ve obviously got a big job to do here first.”

Caldwell will carry the bulk of the home support as he bids to capture his first title since joining the professional ranks late last year, when he earned his European Tour card through the Qualifying School – Final Stage.

In testing playing conditions the Ulsterman’s round rather unravelled towards the end, with three dropped shots in his last five holes.

But a nerveless putt from eight feet for bogey on the final green at least gave him some momentum to carry into the final round.

Caldwell said: “It could’ve been worse at the last, so all in all it was probably a good bogey. I played okay today, just dropped a couple of shots when it started raining, which made the course a lot tougher. Up until that point, I’d played pretty similarly to the first two days, so I’m not going to beat myself up too much about it.

“I’m playing in the second last group tomorrow, which probably works out better for me. If I can get a fast start, then I can then put a little bit of pressure on the guys ahead of me. But I’ve just got to play the course, and not worry about what everyone’s doing. Obviously I’ll keep half an eye on the leaderboard, but if you focus too much on that you can slip up. I’ve just got to stick to my gameplan and hope it’s good enough to see me through.

“Hopefully I’ll have a few people watching me, and I’ll be going all out for the win. My brother Aaron will also be willing me to win, because I’ve got him on my bag this week, and I’ve promised him a cut of any winnings. So I’m not sure who’ll be happier if I do manage to win!”

Unlike rookie Caldwell, Calmels is bidding to secure his second Challenge Tour title, having captured his first in the Telenet Trophy last month.

A round of 69 kept the Frenchman in the hunt, as did a round of 70 for Kaensche. The Norwegian had briefly surged to the top of the leaderboard with six consecutive birdies from the sixth hole, but bogeys on the 14th and 15th dropped him back to seven under par.

Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts, Australian Michael Curtain and Wales’ Rhys Davies – who closed with a double bogey seven – are one shot back in a tie for fifth place.

Dutchman Saxt0n returns to defend British

Amateur championship at Formby

NEWS RELEASE ISSUE BY R&A
2008 Amateur champion, Reinier Saxton (Teeing off at Formby on Monday at 9.01am), arrives in Formby next week as he attempts to become the first man to successfully defend the title since Peter McEvoy in 1978.
The 21-year-old’s 3&2 victory over Tommy Fleetwood at Turnberry last year ensured that he became only the second Dutchman to win the title in the 113 times that the event has been staged.
Saxton is finding form at just the right time after an impressive showing at Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament. Competing against the very best players on the PGA Tour, he made the cut, out-performing the likes of Vijay Singh and Padraig Harrington in the process. And the Open Championship and Masters Tournament experience that he has accrued over the last 12 months as a result of his victory will surely stand him in good stead.
Once again, standing in the way of Saxton will be 2008 finalist, Tommy Fleetwood (Formby 1.51pm), who will be looking to go one better than he did last year when he was only 36-holes away from becoming The Amateur Championship’s youngest-ever winner.
Like Saxton, the 18-year-old from Southport is also enjoying a good run of form having comprehensively won the Scottish Stroke Play Championship by eight shots at the Murcar Links two weeks ago. He is currently 25th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), just five places below the reigning champion.
The current WAGR number two, Canada’s Matt Hill (West Lancs 11.07am), will cross the Atlantic to take his place as the highest-ranked player in the field. Last week he followed in the footsteps of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson when he was presented with the Jack Nicklaus Award for the best golfer in the NCAA Division 1. He has registered seven wins in his last eight events, including a victory at the NCAA Division 1 Championship two weeks ago in Toledo, Ohio, and will be one to look out for at Formby and West Lancs.
Also competing will be Nicol Van Wyk (West Lancs 1.35pm) of South Africa, currently number seven in the Ranking, and England’s Tom Sherreard (West Lancs 7.33am) who finished tied 19th at the 2008 Open Championship, narrowly losing out to Chris Wood as the highest-placed amateur at Birkdale.
In addition seven players from the eight members of Europe’s victorious Palmer Cup team will be competing next week at the Amateur Championship. The team of Europe’s top student golfers, who beat their American counterparts at Cherry Hills, included Stephan Gross (Formby 1.13pm) of Germany; England’s Chris Paisley (West Lancs 12.25pm); Italy’s Andrea Pavan (West Lancs 2.35pm) and Leonardo Motta (Formby 2.46pm), an R&A Scholar who beat world number one Morgan Hoffmann at the event; Henrik Norlander (West Lancs 9.50am) and Robin Wingardh (Formby 8.17am), both of Sweden; and the Netherland’s Tim Sluiter (West Lancs 2.13pm).
The Amateur Championship takes place at Formby and West Lancashire golf clubs from Monday 15 – Saturday 20 June.
Full scores, stories and video highlights will appear on randa.org throughout the competition.

Mel Webb dead

Well-known national golf writer Mel Webb died of a heart attack at home on Thursday night.

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Brian Gay leads before Memphis play suspended

First-round leader Brian Gay bogeyed the last two holes of his second round on Friday but still stretched his clubhouse lead as play was suspended for the day at the St Jude Classic due to the threat of severe weather in Memphis.
With hail, lightning and 70 miles per hour winds closing in on TPC Southwind, tournament officials blew the horn to suspend play at 4:23pm local time.
Play resumed at 7am Saturday local time, when 78 players returned to complete their second rounds. When the third round begins following the halfway cut, players will be re-grouped in threesomes rather than pairs and play off split tees.
Gay, who won the Verizon Heritage tournament in April by 10 strokes, had long posted his second-round score when the hooter sounded.
The American had taken a two-shot lead into Friday's play and quickly set about trying to build an equally formidable lead to the one he enjoyed at Harbour Town Links with five birdies in his first eight holes before a bogey at the 10th.
He moved to 12 under, five shots clear of the field with birdies at the par-four 12th and 15th holes but his good work was undone a little with his disappointing finish as he carded a four-under-par 66, adding to his opening 64 to move to 10 under at the halfway stage.
With many of the chasing pack including world number two Phil Mickelson and Europeans Jose Maria Olazabal and Mathias Gronberg among the day's late starters, PGA Tour veterans Guy Boros, Woody Austin and Loren Roberts took up the challenge.
Austin, 45, won the tournament in 2007 and he moved into contention once again with a second-round 66 to move to seven under, three shots adrift of the lead.
Boros, 44, was also at seven under following his second-round 66, while Champions Tour regular Roberts, 54 later this month and competing in his hometown tournament, shot a bogey-free 67 to reach the clubhouse at six under.
That put him level with former US PGA champion Rich Beem, who shot a 68 and Heath Slocum, who had the low round of the day with a 63 which was matched later by fellow American Bryce Molder.
SCROLL DOWN FOR CLUBHOUSE SCORES

US PGA Tour Scoreboard
ST JUDE CLASSIC
TPC Southwind, Memphis, Tennessee
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 140 (2x70)
Play was suspended due to inclement weather and will resume at 7am local time Saturday.
130 Brian Gay 64 66
132 Bryce Molder 69 63
133 Guy Boros 67 66, Woody Austin 67 66
134 Loren Roberts 67 67, Rich Beem 66 68, Heath Slocum 71 63
135 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 68 67, Jason Dufner 68 67, Brett Quigley 69 66, Vance Veazey 67 68, John Senden (Aus) 69 66, Jason Day (Aus) 70 65
136 Ricky Barnes 67 69, Nathan Green (Aus) 70 66, Bob Estes 69 67, Paul Goydos 72 64
137 Michael Bradley 70 67, Bill Lunde 71 66, Graeme McDowell (NIrl) 66 71, Chris DiMarco 69 68, Marc Leishman (Aus) 69 68, David Mathis 68 69, Jimmy Walker 65 72, Tim Clark (Rsa) 70 67, Jason Gore 72 65
138 John Merrick 72 66, Brendon Todd 73 65, Dicky Pride 69 69
139 Brian Vranesh 73 66, Aron Price (Aus) 73 66, Tim Herron 68 71, Lee Janzen 68 71
140 Omar Uresti 70 70, David Gossett 70 70, Ronnie Black 72 68, Cliff Kresge 71 69, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 72 68, John Daly 72 68, Jay Delsing 70 70, J J Henry 70 70, Roland Thatcher 70 70
141 Tim Petrovic 73 68, Andres Romero (Arg) 73 68, Neal Lancaster 72 69, Boo Weekley 69 72, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl) 71 70
142 Kent Jones 76 66, Michael Allen 71 71, Kirk Triplett 73 69, J.P. Hayes 69 73, Charles Howell III 71 71
143 Scott Sterling 74 69, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 70 73, Rick Price 74 69
144 Will MacKenzie 74 70, Billy Horschel 71 73, Tyler Aldridge 69 75, James Oh (Kor) 70 74, Stephen Ames (Can) 74 70
145 Rodney Butcher 72 73, Casey Wittenberg 74 71, Tom Pernice Jnr. 70 75
146 Chris Smith 73 73, Tommy Gainey 78 68
147 Jay Williamson 73 74, Scott Gutschewski 75 72, Matthew Jones (Aus) 75 72
148 Parker McLachlin 74 74, Brandt Snedeker 74 74, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 73 75, Edward Loar 77 71
149 Doug Barron 72 77, Bill Haas 77 72, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 73 76
152 Mark Brooks 72 80
153 Rob Garland 74 79
155 Robin Freeman 73 82

Robert Karlsson out of US Open

Robert Karlsson has pulled out of the US Open because of an eye infection.
The Swede has withdrawn after failing to beat the infection, which causes a lack of depth perception in his left eye.
The Ryder Cup star's place at Bethpage State Park will go to New York native Andrew Svoboda, who earns the chance to play in front of his home crowd having claimed the first reserve place with rounds of 70 and 69 in qualifying rounds at Century Country Club and Old Oaks.
Svoboda will tee off with Henrik Stenson and Steve Stricker on Thursday morning.

Arise, SIR Nick Faldo!

Nick Faldo, the most successful British golfer in the modern era, has been awarded a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours.
Faldo, 51, becomes Sir Nick after a career that saw him win six majors including three Opens.
Possibly the last British golfer to be knighted - belatedly - was the late Sir Henry Cotton.

Challenge Tour event in Ireland

Hutcheon in the hunt despite dropped shots

From Challenge Tour Press Officer Paul Symes
Despite a disappointing finish to his round of 70, Scotland’s Greig Hutcheon is still in contention to capture his fourth Challenge Tour title in the Challenge of Ireland presented by Moyvalley.
After two rounds at Moyvalley Hotel and Golf Resort in Co. Kildare, Ireland, the Peterculter ace is tied with Wales’ Rhys Davies on six under par, three shots behind leader Ake Nilsson of Sweden.
But Hutcheon’s position would have been so much better had he not dropped four shots in his final five holes.
He said: “It was a shame, because I didn’t do an awful lot wrong. I played safe with a two iron off the tee on the 13th, and it fell into the trap. I could only get it into the next bunker from there. My fourth shot ended up in the greenside bunker, so I splashed out and hit a good putt, but it stopped a couple of inches short of the hole.
“So I walked off with a seven, then hit a poor tee shot into the rough on the 16th, which cost me a bogey. I hit the wrong club on the 17th and three putted for bogey, then should have found the green in two on the 18th, but hit a poor three wood. So I feel like I gave a lot of shots away today, but I’m still not too far behind. If I can cut out the mistakes, I have a chance."

Caldwell and Coles on Nilsson’s tail

Home hope Jonathan Caldwell and England’s Robert Coles are in hot pursuit of Sweden’s Ake Nilsson, who will carry a slender lead into the third day of the Challenge of Ireland presented by Moyvalley.
A morning round of 68, compiled in damp conditions, saw Nilsson carry on where he left at Moyvalley Hotel and Golf Resort in Co. Kildare, Ireland. The Swede notched seven birdies to move to nine under par, one shot clear of Caldwell and Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts, and two clear of Coles.
Welshman Rhys Davies and Scotland’s Greig Hutcheon complete the top six after recording respective rounds of 67 and 70. The joint lowest round of the day was posted by Ireland’s Michael McGeady, who set a new course record with a 66 which was matched late in the day by Colsaerts.
But the man they all still have to catch is Nilsson, who feels more relaxed on the Challenge Tour after struggling somewhat to cope with the hectic pace of life on The European Tour.
He said: “When I used to come over to Challenge Tour events after playing mainly in the Nordic League in the past, I put too much pressure on myself to do well instead of just trying to relax and enjoy myself, which affected my form. But having come from the main Tour, I don’t feel as much pressure to perform this week, and I think that’s showed in the way I’ve played.”
Fellow Qualifying School graduate Caldwell is also playing his first Challenge Tour event of the season. After a second successive round of 68, the Ulsterman is well in contention to capture his maiden title since turning professional late last year.
He said: “I’d love to be there or thereabouts come Sunday. I haven’t won a tournament since turning pro, so to do it in Ireland would be great. I’ve got a few friends and family down here with me, and my brother’s on my bag. So I’m looking forward to the weekend, and hopefully we can get the same kind of weather. It’d be good to take some decent form back onto the main Tour with me, because I felt like I was getting the hang of it. I had a habit of pulling my drives slightly left, but I’ve done some work on it and we seem to be getting there. My putting’s also improved, so hopefully I can put it all together over the weekend.”
The more experienced Coles is well used to being in contention going into the weekend, having won in Morocco earlier in the season and finished runner-up on two other occasions.
He said: “I still feel I can play better. I putted well today and yesterday, but other parts of my game aren’t quite at 100%. But I suppose if I can still score well without playing at my absolute best, that has to be a good sign. Sometimes you play well and don’t score, then other times you’re not at your best but the puts drop. That’s the beauty of golf I suppose. Over the course of four rounds, it evens itself out and the best man usually wins. I just hope it can be me.”
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
135 Å Nilsson (Swe) 67 68,
136 N Colsaerts (Bel) 70 66, J Caldwell (Nir) 68 68,
137 R Coles (Eng) 68 69,
138 R Davies (Wal) 71 67, G Hutcheon (Sco) 68 70,
139 P Gustafsson (Swe) 70 69, A Mellor (Eng) 72 67, P Whiteford (Sco) 71 68, P Kaensche (Nor) 68 71,
140 M McGeady (Irl) 74 66, P Baker (Eng) 68 72, C Moriarty (Irl) 70 70, M Haastrup (Den) 70 70, F Calmels (Fra) 72 68
141 A Marshall (Eng) 70 71, M Tullo (Chi) 76 65, J Hepworth (Eng) 70 71, J Etulain (Arg) 68 73, 142 C Carranza (Arg) 70 72, S Walker (Eng) 72 70, M Kramer (Ger) 68 74, D Ulrich (Sui) 72 70, R Karlberg (Swe) 72 70, M Curtain (Aus) 73 69
143 C Monasterio (Arg) 68 75, B Mason (Eng) 72 71, R Harris (Eng) 73 70, E Ramsay (Sco) 74 69, D Küpper (Ger) 72 71, N Lemke (Swe) 72 71, A Haindl (RSA) 71 72, G Woodman (Eng) 69 74, M Korhonen (Fin) 70 73, J Olesen (Den) 71 72, M Durcan (am) (Irl) 75 68
144 M Millar (Aus) 73 71, S Surry (Eng) 75 69, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 73 71, S Thornton (Irl) 74 70, J Morrison (Eng) 72 72, J Parry (Eng) 71 73, M Quiros (Esp) 75 69, C Russo (Fra) 73 71
145 J Quesne (Fra) 71 74, T Rice (Irl) 72 73, J Moul (Eng) 77 68, R Treis (Ger) 72 73, M Rodriguez (Arg) 70 75, G Clark (Eng) 71 74, R Kilpatrick (Nir) 76 69, N Turner (Irl) 72 73, A Hansen (Den) 73 72, C McNamara (Irl) 71 74, L De Jager (RSA) 74 71, D Wardrop (Eng) 74 71, L Kennedy (Eng) 72 73, F Svanberg (Sui) 73 72
146 P Del Grosso (Arg) 73 73, R Santos (Por) 76 70, J Abbate (Arg) 72 74, S Bebb (Wal) 76 70, P Bocian (Swe) 74 72, R Giles (Eng) 73 73, N Fox (Irl) 75 71, M Zions (Aus) 74 72, F Fritsch (Ger) 72 74

MISSED THE CUT
147 M Ruiz (Par) 71 76, D Higgins (Irl) 73 74, C Gane (Eng) 74 73, J Heath (Eng) 70 77, A Garcia-Heredia (Esp) 71 76, J Little (Eng) 73 74, S Arnold (Aus) 73 74, D Hewan (RSA) 73 74, C Devlin (Nir) 72 75, S Robinson (Eng) 76 71, J Kehoe (Irl) 76 71, S Manley (Wal) 76 71, J Billot (Fra) 72 75, A McArthur (Sco) 72 75, A Butterfield (Eng) 73 74, R Steele (Eng) 70 77
148 C Phadungsil (Tha) 75 73, D Denison (Eng) 74 74, J Mommo (Fin) 72 76, P O'Hanlon (Irl) 76 72, P Relecom (Bel) 73 75, T Whitehouse (Eng) 72 76, A Bernadet (Fra) 74 74, J McCreadie (Sco) 77 71, P Streeter (Eng) 73 75
149 J Levermore (Eng) 76 73, R McEvoy (Eng) 78 71, T Ferreira (RSA) 72 77, L Westerberg (Swe) 76 73, S Grant (Irl) 75 74, J Boerdonk (Ned) 74 75, G Murray (Sco) 74 75, B Evans (Eng) 77 72, J McLeary (Sco) 71 78, A Grenier (Fra) 76 73, M Ramsdale (Eng) 76 73
150 G Shaw (Nir) 74 76, G Houston (Wal) 75 75, J Ruth (Eng) 73 77, C Aguilar (Esp) 72 78, L Brovold (Nor) 76 74, D Nouailhac (Fra) 74 76, K Jorgensen (Den) 71 79, S Henry (Sco) 72 78, M McDermott (Irl) 74 76, J Kelly (Irl) 74 76, F Andersson Hed (Swe) 76 74, M Campbell (Irl) 75 75, P O'Keeffe (Irl) 79 71, A Murray (Irl) 74 76, A Willey (Eng) 77 73
151 A Tampion (Aus) 78 73, J Sköld (Swe) 78 73, T Mullally (Irl) 77 74, K Sullivan (Wal) 72 79, L Saltman (Sco) 73 78, S Jeppesen (Swe) 75 76, D Griffiths (Eng) 70 81, M Hooper (Eng) 75 76
152 M Laskey (Wal) 77 75, S Juul (Den) 72 80, L James (Eng) 73 79, D Marmion (Eng) 75 77, V Riu (Fra) 79 73, A Bruschi (Ita) 79 73, K Webber (Aus) 73 79, T Cruz (Por) 71 81, C Selfridge (am) (Irl) 75 77
153 K Staunton (Eng) 77 76, P Purhonen (Fin) 78 75, A Oldcorn (Sco) 76 77, A Thorpe (Eng) 80 73
154 A Mörk (Fra) 75 79
155 S Saavedra (Arg) 75 80, M Mackenzie (Eng) 75 80, J Wahlqvist (Swe) 79 76
156 F Praegant (Aut) 79 77, L Bond (Wal) 79 77, J Grillon (Fra) 76 80
157 M Pilkington (Wal) 80 77, D Froreich (Ger) 78 79, P Reavey (am) (Irl) 77 80
159 D Reilly (am) (Irl) 77 82
160 O Suhr (Den) 81 79
Disqualified - M Cort (Eng) 73, M Murphy (Irl) 73, R Gonzalez (Arg) 75.
Retired - M Mills (Eng) 76.
Withdrew - O Floren (Swe) 83.

Aberdeen Links Championship Scoreboard

QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS

G PATERSON (N) bt L MORRICE (C) 1 hole.
D MULLEN (C) bt S.MURRAY (BA) 2 holes.
B EDMOND (BA) bt D GARDINER (C) at 19th.
M GREIG (BA) bt A DOIG (C) 1 hole.

LINKS HANDICAP

N GRAY (BA) bt D GRIEVE (BA) 3 & 2.
A DIVERS (C) bt R A CHEYNE (BA) 2 holes.
J KILMAN (BA) bt J RITCHIE (N) 3 & 2.
W WEST (N) bt A HAINING (BA) 2 & 1.

MURRAY CUP

G W MACKIE (C) bt M RIMMER (C) 3 & 2.
G MILNE (C) bt J CRAIG (BA) 3 & 2
S KENNEDY (N) bt M THOMSON (C) 2 & 1.
R DAVIDSON (C) bt C MURPHY (B) at 19th.

Joint leading qualifier Barrie Edmond came through a stern test in the quarter finals of the Links Championships.
Three down after 11 holes against Dean Gardiner, Barrie fought back with birdies at 12 , 13 and 15 to take the tie to extra holes.
A superb approach to 4 feet at the 19th gave him a winning birdie. Edmond will now meet clubmate and long time friend Matthew Greig in the semi-final after he scraped through in a tight match against Alan Doig.
The match was closely contested and Doig holed a superb 35 ft putt on 17 for a half in 4s to be all square on the 18th tee. Doig pushed his tee shot slightly and failed to get up and down, allowing Matthew a two-putt par for victory.
The other semi-final will be between George Paterson and Davie Mullen who both prevailed in tight encounters against Lee Morrice and Sean Murray respectively.
In the Murray Cup , the run of 13 year old Mark Rimmer was brought to an end by Graham Mackie and holder Richie Davidson won at the first extra hole for the second night in succesion.

MONDAY'S SEMI-FINALS

5.00 G PATERSON (N) v D MULLEN (C).
5.10 B EDMOND (BA) v M GREIG (BA).

5.20 N GRAY (BA) v A DIVERS (C).
5.30 J KILMAN (BA) v W WEST (N).

5.40 G W MACKIE (C) v G MILNE (C).
5.50 S KENNEDY (N) v R DAVIDSON (C).