PGA EUROPRO TOUR REPORT

Scott Jamieson wins £1,650 for

third place at Stoke by Nayland

By ANTHONY LEAVER
Tom Haylock romped to victory in The Stoke by Nayland Championship 2009, shooting a final round 65 to win by eight strokes at 16 under.
Haylock (Ground Construction Ltd) began the day tied for the lead at nine under and followed a solid level opening three holes with birdies at four, six and eight to move to 12 under. He showed no signs of nerves on the back nine either; with four more birdies seeing him shoot 65 for a comprehensive victory.
The 45/1 pre-tournament shot with Sky Bet dropped just two shots in the three rounds, both on the front nine on the opening day, and his round matches Antonio Sobrinho’s eight shot win in 2003 as the biggest margin of victory in the Tour’s history, and takes Haylock into fourth spot on the Order of Merit.
Chris Gaunt endured a topsy-turvy round that eventually saw him rather fall into second place. The Australian parred just four holes in his final round and a bogey at the last saw him finish on level par for the day, eight under for the tournament.
It appeared that had ruined Gaunt’s chances of sole possession of runners-up spot, but James Ruebotham (Welwyn Garden City GC) – who began the day tied for the lead with Haylock – never got of the traps and found himself at eight under for the tournament at the last, where he dropped a shot to finish in a five-way tie for third.
Jamie Moul (Stoke by Nayland) shot a two under 70 to join Ruebotham in third, along with Glasgow's Scott Jamieson (pictured above), Matthew Ford (Marriot Tudor Park) and Nicky Harris (Whitefield GC) who won at Stoke by Nayland last year and follows his runners-up finish at Bovey Castle with a third place in Suffolk.
Steve Surry (Cumberwell Park) was one stroke behind overnight after a blistering nine under 63 in his second round, but it was a frustrating day for the 27 year-old, who was level until dropping a shot at the eighth and a double bogey at 13 prevented him from finishing higher than tied eighth, along with Mark Kerr (Golf Fit Ltd/Bathgate GC) and Elliot Saltman (Aegon) who carded a final round of 68. Both Scots earned £850.
Kerr is hoping his strong showing will earn him a spot in the Scottish Challenge later in the month.
While unable to secure his first win in the professional ranks – a closing round of 74 left him in a tie for eighth in the EuroPro Tour event – Kerr reckoned that he could take a lot of positives from his overall performance in Suffolk.
"Unfortunately, I dropped shots at the last two holes where pars would have seen me finish in the top three but it has still been a good week on the whole for me," he said.
"It was great to be in the mix again and my finish should earn me a spot in the Challenge Tour event at Spey Valley as a top-five Scot on the EuroPro Tour Order of Merit."
Kerr finished alongside Elliot Saltman on six-under, the Archerfield Links player having stormed up the leaderboard with a closing 68, the highlight of which was an eagle-3 at the The next event on the PGA EuroPro tour is the Motocaddy Masters at The Players Club in Bristol, beginning on July 14.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
1 Tom Haylock 68-67-65-200/ £10,000
2 Chris Gaunt 71-65-72-208/ £5,000
=3 Jamie Moul 71-68-70-209/ £1,560
=3 Scott Jamieson 70-69-70-209/ £1,560
=3 Matthew Ford 68-70-71-209/ £1,560
=3 Nick Harris 68-70-71-209/ £1,560
=3 James Ruebotham 71-64-74-209/ £1,560

WHERE THE OTHER SCOTS FINISHED:
=8 Mark Kerr 68-68-74-210/ £850.00
=8 Elliot Saltman 70-72-68-210/ £850.00
=15 Paul Doherty 69-72-72-213/£500.00
=15 Lorne Kelly 68-70-75-213/£500.00
=26 Jack Doherty 71-71-74-216/ £308.75
=34 Lee Harper 69-74-74-217/ £272.50
=38 Scott Herald 73-71-74-218/ £242.50
=38 John Gallagher 72-70-76-220/£242.50
50 Duncan Stewart 75-70-77-222/ £200.00
=55 Barry Hume 73-69-82-224/ £172.50

European Challenge Tour Scoreboard
CREDIT SUISSE CHALLENGE
Wylihof Golf Club, Luterbach, Switzerland
FIRST ROUND
Par 73
67 S Davis (Eng), S Robinson (Eng)
68 L James (Eng), T Cruz (Por), T Dykes (Wal) ,
69 R Kilpatrick (Nir) , N Meitinger (Ger) , J Quesne (Fra) , N Maestroni (Ita) , C Suneson (Esp) , B Pettersson (Swe) , G Woodman (Eng) , M Zions (Aus) , J Parry (Eng) , C Russo (Fra) ,
70 P Baker (Eng) , N Sulzer (Sui) , F Svanberg (Sui) , J Colomo (Esp) , P Gustafsson (Swe) , R Steiner (Aut) , T Carolan (Aus) , T Weiss (Sui) ,
71 M Mills (Eng) , S Jeppesen (Swe) , G Houston (Wal) , J Billot (Fra) , G Murray (Sco) , J Garcia Pinto (Esp) , J McLeary (Sco) , P Relecom (Bel) , F Colombo (Ita) , F Fritsch (Ger) , T Whitehouse (Eng) , D Wardrop (Eng) , N Smith (USA) , L Bond (Wal) , J Heath (Eng) , K Sullivan (Wal) , L Kennedy (Eng) ,
72 J Grillon (Fra) , F Calmels (Fra) , M Rominger (Sui) , D Denison (Eng) , A McArthur (Sco) , R Santos (Por) , J Bjerhag (Swe) , S Reale (Ita) , J Morgan (Eng) , N Fox (Irl) , P Niederdrenk (Ger) , A Bossert (Sui) , A Hansen (Den) , M Wiegele (Aut) , B Mason (Eng) , L Gagli (Ita) , A Marshall (Eng) , M Villegas (Col) , L Westerberg (Swe) , A Mellor (Eng) , A Bernadet (Fra) , E Molinari (Ita) ,
73 J Granberg (Fin) , A Mörk (Fra) , P Purhonen (Fin) , J Clément (Sui) , N Lemke (Swe) , J Ruth (Eng) , J Johnson (Eng) , V Riu (Fra) , O Floren (Swe) , M Jurgensen (Den) , M Tullo (Chi) , A Butterfield (Eng) , P Kaensche (Nor) , J Sjöholm (Swe) , A Gee (Eng) , M Laskey (Wal) , C Gane (Eng) , J Little (Eng) , R Russell (Sco) ,
74 G Shaw (Nir) , A Haindl (RSA) , J Campillo (Esp) , M Reale (Ita) , P Bocian (Swe) , P Karantzias (Gre) , G Paddison (Nzl) , A Zanini (Ita) , O Suhr (Den) , R De Sousa (Sui) , J Larsen (Nor) , L Brovold (Nor) , C Günther (Ger) , M McGeady (Irl) , M Delpodio (Ita) , A Roberts (Eng) , P Del Grosso (Arg) , M Cort (Eng) , S Juul (Den) , A Grenier (Fra) , F Praegant (Aut) , C Moriarty (Irl) ,
75 R Hie (Ina) , R Wiederkehr (Sui) , R Karlberg (Swe) , G Molteni (Ita) , J Boerdonk (Ned) , E Ramsay (Sco) , S Saavedra (Arg) , I Pyman (Eng) , Å Nilsson (Swe) , S Walker (Eng) , C Brazillier (Fra) , N D'Incau (am) (Sui) ,
76 K Jorgensen (Den) , A Ahokas (Fin) , A Wagner (Arg) , J Dusson (Fra) , A Murray (Irl) , S Luna (Esp) , D Marmion (Eng) , L Saltman (Sco) , C Achermann (Sui) , S Henry (Sco) , A Högberg (Swe) , V Honauer (am) (Sui) ,
77 O David (Fra) , R Furrer (Sui) , A Chopard (Sui) , F Li Puma (Sui) , Z Scotland (Eng) ,
78 J Schmid (Sui) , B Miarka (Ger) , A Rocha (Bra) , S Manley (Wal) , T Schuster (Ger) , J Parron (Esp) , K Webber (Aus) , G Gresse (Bel) , M Kramer (Ger) , S Rojas (am) (Sui) , K Benz (am) (Sui)
79 D Ulrich (Sui) , A Bruschi (Ita) , A Joudar (Mar)
80 J Wahlqvist (Swe) , T Ferreira (RSA) , J Burnier (Sui) , D Froreich (Ger) , J Zapata (Arg) , B Evans (Eng) , T Benslimane (Mar)
81 R Harris (Eng)
83 S Grant (Irl) , M Chatelain (Sui)

Kim defies doctor's orders, shoots 62

FROM THE ESPN.COM WEBSITE
By JASON SOBEL
BETHESDA, Maryland As late afternoon was slowly morphing into dusk on Tuesday, one lone figure remained on the near side of the Congressional Country Club driving range, beating balls into the sky, then following his shots -- more often than not -- by slamming his club into the ground in frustration.
Exactly one year after claiming the AT&T National for his second career PGA Tour title, Anthony Kim appeared miles away from returning to his previous form, the result of myriad injuries that left the precocious 24-year-old without a top-10 finish in his past dozen appearances. The latest ailment was a left thumb issue that had multiple doctors requesting he take 4-6 weeks away from the game. The kid, known as AK, wouldn't oblige.
Anthony Kim carded a 29 on the front nine at Congressional Country Club on Thursday. He could have gone even lower but missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the ninth hole.
"I can't help myself. I've got to come out here," he said on Thursday. "This has been a dream of mine to play on the PGA Tour, and I wasn't going to sit. ... I'm out here to get better. There's something that I can get better at every time I step out onto the golf course. ... I'm sure those doctors are a lot smarter than I am. But ... athletes and pros play through pain and play through injuries. There was no doubt in my mind I was going to come out here, learn something along the way and keep grinding away."
And so he continued doing just that, producing a row of divots that would make Vijay Singh proud in an effort to regain his swing and live up to his pervading confidence level. The old Anthony Kim, a self-described "lazy" golfer who would often simply roll a few putts prior to heading to the tee box at the first hole, likely would have been long gone. But the new, improved version kept working on slight mechanics that could refine his overall performance.
Two days later, the endeavour paid off, as Kim fired a blistering opening-round 8-under 62 to set the scoring record on this venerable venue.
Mission accomplished. Or maybe not. Perhaps just as impressive as his uncommonly low score on a course that has hosted three major championships (two U.S. Opens and one PGA) was the fact that, after the round, Kim hardly seemed satisfied with his game.
"Just because I shot 62 doesn't take away that bitter taste in my mouth when I'm not contending for tournaments, and that's what everyone out here works for," said Kim, who shot 67-67-69-65 in winning last year's edition of the event. "It's awful when you come out here and finish 20th and 30th and 50th. I mean, I've been lucky to finish 50th a couple times this year. I'm finally getting to that point where I feel like I'm going to be able to win every time I tee it up. It's not going to take anything crazy. It's just going to take solid golf."
Even so, there may be little room for improvement from his most recent performance. This week, Kim is employing a new stiff-shafted driver that allows him to play a left-to-right fade, which mirrors his strategy off the tee from last year as opposed to the draw he has used throughout this season.
On Thursday, he found the fairway on 10 of 14 occasions and missed only a single green in regulation en route to an eight-birdie, zero-bogey total.
For a young player hailed as the next big challenger to Tiger Woods' throne, it should be noted that some 30 minutes before the tournament host even stepped foot on the tee box, "AK" was already leaving the No. 9 green -- his final hole of the day -- with the same displeasure he displayed during that range session on Tuesday. A missed 8-foot birdie putt prevented him from going even lower -- something one of his playing partners knows Kim can do on any given day.
"He's got a lot of confidence," said Jim Furyk, who shot a sublime 66, four shots away from being low man in his own threesome. "Obviously, when he gets it going, he keeps it going. What impresses me the most? He just has no fear."
No fear. That's a perfect way to describe a guy who defies doctor's orders in favour of not only playing tournaments, but practising to the fullest extent as well. It's also the mark of a player who isn't afraid to go low and isn't afraid to admit that he can fare even better.
"I haven't solved it completely," Kim maintained. "I'm going to go have some lunch and go work on it. I'm not working on it for this week, I'm working on it for the rest of the year. And I'm building right now for the rest of the year, and it would be great to knock one off and play four great rounds. But my goals are to win major golf tournaments and be prepared to play in those.
"Right now, I'm going about it the right way. I'm starting to focus on my course management because I know at majors that's what's important. This is a major-championship type of golf course, obviously, because in two years we'll be here for the [U.S.] Open. I just know that if I'm working on the right things, it's going to pay off, whether it's tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday or next week."
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 70
62 Anthony Kim
64 D.A. Points, Tiger Woods, Bryce Molder
65 Steve Elkington (Aus)
66 Daniel Chopra (Swe), Jim Furyk, Stuart Appleby (Aus)
67 Rodney Pampling (Aus), Michael Allen, Justin Rose (Eng), Boo Weekley, Y.E. Yang (Kor)
68 Danny Lee (Nzl), Michael Letzig, Bart Bryant, Tim Petrovic, Cameron Beckman, Brandt Snedeker
69 Jeff Overton, Steve Flesch, Jeff Quinney, Lucas Glover, Joe Ogilvie, Davis Love III, Harrison Frazar, Tom Pernice Jnr., Hunter Mahan, Kevin Stadler, Sean O'Hair, Dean Wilson, Ryan Palmer, Bo Van Pelt, Ryuji Imada (Jpn), Troy Matteson, Ryan Moore
70 Nick Watney, Bill Lunde, Robert Garrigus, Matt Bettencourt, James Driscoll, John Mallinger, Chez Reavie, Vijay Singh (Fij), Marc Leishman (Aus), Martin Laird (Sco), Brian Davis (Eng), Pat Perez, Chris DiMarco, Cliff Kresge, Mark Wilson, Kevin Streelman, Peter Lonard (Aus), Ricky Barnes, George McNeill, Notah Begay III, Rocco Mediate
71 Charley Hoffman, John Senden (Aus), Matt Hill, James Nitties (Aus), Nick O'Hern (Aus), Parker McLachlin, Fred Funk, Kevin Na, Jeff Klauk, Nathan Green (Aus), Mike Weir (Can), David Mathis, Marc Turnesa, Nicholas Thompson
72 Chris Riley, Aron Price (Aus), Paul Azinger, Charles Howell III, Jason Bohn, Brad Adamonis, Scott McCarron, Jason Dufner, Eric Axley, Fred Couples, Aaron Baddeley (Aus), Richard S Johnson (Swe), Jeff Maggert, Mathew Goggin (Aus), Robert Allenby (Aus), Rich Beem, Corey Pavin, Olin Browne, Johnson Wagner
73 Charles Warren, Tim Herron, Ted Purdy, Todd Hamilton, Scott Piercy, Alex Cejka (Ger), Charlie Wi (Kor), Steve Marino, Bob Estes, Paul Goydos
74 Brendon De Jonge, Chris Stroud, Billy Mayfair, Lee Janzen, Steve Lowery, Billy Horschel, Webb Simpson
75 Vaughn Taylor, Bill Haas, Paul Casey (Eng), Greg Kraft, Greg Owen (Eng)
76 J J Henry, John Merrick, Jason Day (Aus), Jason Gore
77 Brett Quigley, K J Choi (Kor)
78 Will MacKenzie
WD: Bubba Watson

FRENCH OPEN REPORT

It ain't half hot .. Martin Kaymer

blisters way to lead with a 62

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Blistering heat and a blistered foot served only to bring out the best in young German star Martin Kaymer, pictured on right, in Paris today.
The 24-year-old began the French Open Alstom with a course record-equalling 62 to lead by three strokes at Le Golf National - 10 better than Padraig Harrington, who now has a fight on his hands to avoid a fifth successive missed cut just two weeks before his bid for an Open hat-trick at Turnberry.
So bad was Kaymer's right foot that as well as being seen by a doctor he had a hole cut in his golf shoe to allow him to play Wednesday's pro-am.
With the help of his three partners he won that by four shots with an amazing 16 under par best-ball of 55, but to be only seven worse than that on his own underlined what a massive talent he is.
Kaymer's round actually began with a bogey, but after five birdies in the next nine holes he chipped in for eagle at the long third and finished with three more birdies for an inward 30.
Harrington was paired with Ian Poulter, runner-up to him at Royal Birkdale last summer and to Swede Henrik Stenson in May's Players Championship in Florida, but they both finished down the field on one over.
Poulter, in Europe for the first time this year, went in the water twice for a triple bogey 7 on the 18th, his ninth, and had angry words with a photographer walking off the tee there.
Dougherty followed up his weekend win with a 66 and Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie, without a top-10 finish since he was runner-up in this event last year, returned a 69, but major winners Jose Maria Olazabal, Angel Cabrera and John Daly all fared worse than Harrington.
Daly was already eight over when he quit with a bad back on the 17th, Olazabal had a 74 and the 75 of current Masters champion Cabrera meant he even finished five behind his 20-year-old son Federico. The youngster was even on the leaderboard early in the day at three under, but then matched Poulter's 7 on the last.
Miguel Angel Jimenez, whose 500th European Tour event began with a hook into the water, hit back for a 67 and fellow Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal, the defending champion, matched that with five birdies in the last six holes - after a triple bogey 8 on the ninth.

FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 71
62 Martin Kaymer (Ger)
65 Peter Hanson (Swe), Scott Strange (Aus), Rafael Echenique (Arg), John Bickerton, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha)
66 Paul Waring, Nick Dougherty
67 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Francesco Molinari (Ita), Jean Van de Velde (Fra), Pablo Larrazabal (Spa), Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), David Drysdale, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Paul Lawrie, Alejandro Canizares (Spa), Sam Little, Thomas Levet (Fra)
68 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Soren Hansen (Den), Benn Barham, Danny Willett, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Gary Lockerbie, Alexander Noren (Swe), Marc Warren, Richard Green (Aus), Marcus Fraser (Aus), Lee Westwood
69 Alvaro Velasco (Spa), Anders Hansen (Den), Graeme Storm, Shane Lowry, Steve Webster, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe), Colin Montgomerie, Gareth Maybin, David Lynn, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind), Jamie Donaldson, Phillip Archer, Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Mark Foster, Cedric Menut (Fra), Ross McGowan
70 Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Damien McGrane, Federico Cabrera (Arg), Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Kenneth Ferrie, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Simon Wakefield, Robert Rock, Alessandro Tadini (Ita), Stephen Dodd, Thomas Bjorn (Den), Chapchai Nirat (Tha), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa), Seve Benson, Brett Rumford (Aus), Taco Remkes (Ned), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Richard Sterne (Rsa), Barry Lane
71 James Kingston (Rsa), Peter Lawrie, Steven O'Hara, Oliver Fisher, Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Niclas Fasth (Swe), Michael Jonzon (Swe), Pablo Martin (Spa), Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa), Miles Tunnicliff, Michael Hoey, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Richie Ramsay, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), Scott Arnold (Hkg), Simon Khan, Marco Ruiz (Par), Philip Golding
72 Oliver Wilson, Anthony Snobeck (Fra), Raul Quiros (Spa), Alastair Forsyth, Wade Ormsby (Aus), Shiv Kapur (Ind), Graeme McDowell, David Horsey, Scott Drummond, Andrew McLardy (Rsa), Alvaro Quiros (Spa), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Daniel Vancsik (Arg), Miguel Angel Martin (Spa), Richard Finch, Ian Poulter, Tano Goya (Arg), Paul McGinley, Padraig Harrington
73 Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), Gary Orr, Peter Hedblom (Swe), Paul Nilbrink (Swe), Darren Clarke, Simon Dyson, Paul Broadhurst, Anthony Wall, Lee Slattery, Markus Brier (Aut), Peter O'Malley (Aus), Bradley Dredge
74 Hennie Otto (Rsa), Daniel Brooks, David Howell, Robert Dinwiddie, Phillip Price, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Jose-Filipe Lima (Por), Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa), Gary Murphy, Stephen Gallacher, David Dixon, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra), Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Malcolm MacKenzie
75 Michael Campbell (Nzl), Damien Perrier (Fra), Francois Delamontagne (Fra), Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Angel Cabrera (Arg), Julien Guerrier (Fra), Fabrizio Zanotti (Par), Eduardo Romero (Arg)
76 Mikael Lundberg (Swe), Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe), David Frost (Rsa), Jyoti Randhawa (Ind)
77 Anton Haig (Rsa), Jeppe Huldahl (Den), Rhys Davies, Emanuele Canonica (Ita), Gregory Havret (Fra)
78 Anthony Kang (USA), Benoit Teilleria (Fra), Pelle Edberg (Swe), Alex Larrazabal (Spa)
79 Nicolas Joakimides (Fra), Mark Brown (Nzl)
80 Martin Erlandsson (Swe)
81 Marcus Higley, Marcel Siem (Ger)
RTD: John Daly (USA)

Top 20 finish by two Scots in

McGregor Trophy Under-16s

Liam Johnston (Dumfries & Co) finished a creditable joint 12th in a big field for the English Golf Union's McGregor Trophy Under-16s open amateur stroke-play championship at Radcliffe on Trent Golf Club today Thursday.
Johnston had four steady rounds of 70, 72, 72 and 70 for a total of 284.
The only othe Scot to survive the halfway cut, Grant Forrest (Craigielaw) also made a top-20 finish with scores of 74, 74, 71 and 71 to share 16th place on 286.
There was a five-way play-off between those who finished on 279 - two English lads, a Welshman, a Spaniard and a Belgian.
The winner was the defending champion Seb Crookall-Nixon from Workington) who beat Rhys Pughj (Vale of Glamogan), Nick Newbold (Kedleston Park), Adria Arnhaus (Spain) and Bertrand Mommaerts (Belgium).

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 280 (4x70)
279 Seb Crookall-Nixon (Workington) 66 72 73 69, Rhys Pugh (Vale of Glamorgan) 69 71 72 67, Adria Arnhaus (Spain) 69 69 66 75, Bertrand Mommaert (Belgium) 67 70 73 69, Nick Newbold (Kedleston Park) 68 70 73 68.
280 Max Orrin (North Foreland) 70 67 72 71.
282 Callum Shinkwin (Porters Park) 69 75 68 70, David Boote (Walton Heath) 70 68 67 74, Liam Harper (Lydd) 67 71 74 70.
283 Sam Edwards (Bigbury) 71 72 69 71, Curtis Griffiths (Wentworth) 70 68 73 73.
284 Liam Johnston (Dumfries & Co) 70 72 72 70, Harry Casey (Enfield) 71 71 72 70, Joe Richards (Frilford Heath) 68 763 72 71, Patrick Kelly (Woodhall Spa) 71 69 70 74.
286 Grant Forrest (Craigielaw) 70 74 71 71, Oliver Carr (Heswall) 69 72 72 73.

Crookall-Nixon wins five-way play-off to retain title

REPORT FROM ENGLISH GOLF UNION WEBSITE
Seb Crookall-Nixon retained the English Boys Under 16 Stroke Play Championship for the McGregor Trophy after a dramatic five-way playoff at Radcliffe-on-Trent. The quintet, Adria Arnaus from Spain, Crookall-Nixon from Cumbria, Bertrand Mommaerts from Belgium, Nick Newbold from Kedleston Park and Welshman Rhys Pugh tied on 279, one under par, after a dramatic afternoon in the sunshine when, at one stage, the title looked to be safely in Arnaus’ grasp.
Arnaus and Newbold bogeyed the first playoff hole and were eliminated and Mommaerts followed at the second extra hole, the 18th, with another five. The conclusion came on the second visit to the first where a par four was sufficient for Crookall-Nixon to edge past Pugh, who took five.
“This is a dream come true,” said the lad from Cumbria. “Even when I was seven behind I still felt I could win. I had a game plan and I stuck to it when people were hitting drivers and I was hitting irons off the tee.
“Having won before I knew I could do it again and to be only the second player to retain the title is like making history.”
Apart from Arnaus, all had chances to win in regulation but missed birdie putts on the 18th green. Arnaus, who almost went out of bounds with his approach to 18, had to get up-and-down to make the play-off.
Arnaus, 15 from Barcelona, will look back on the day and wonder how the title managed to escape from his grasp. A morning 66 put him four shots clear and he was still in control at the turn. But he started the back nine bogey-double bogey-bogey to lose that lead and with others making headway it was all to play for.
Pugh returned 67 to set the target which was systematically matched by the other four. Then came that sensational conclusion that was befitting of the Radcliffe-on-Trent club in its centenary year.

GREENBURN PAIR

CATLIN, FERGUSON

WIN TURKEY TRIP

A bricklayer's labourer laid the foundations for Greenburn Golf Club, Fauldhouse professional Scott Catlin (pictured right) to secure an instant return to the grand final of Europe's largest pro-am at Antalya on the Turkish Riviera coastline on the Mediterranean.
Amateur Nicky Ferguson, who has a 13 handicap, cemented the duo's participation in the Virgin Atlantic PGA National Pro-Am Championship showpiece, with a flawless round that included four net birdies in their nine-under-par 61 at Lanark Golf Club today (Thursday).
Catlin, who received a cheque for £500, weighed in too, crucially with an eagle at the par four 17th - when he drove the green - to secure them a two-shot winning margin over former finalist Gordon Law and partner Mark Proudfoot of Uphall. Law's consolation award was £350.
The victory, just a week before Catlin's 35th birthday, gives him an opportunity to improve on last year's sixth place finish he achieved with Michael Carrigan - a friend of Ferguson's - over the PGA Sultan Course at Antalya Golf Club.
"The aim was get back their this year," said Catlin, who is the first of last year's 16 grand finalists to book a return.
"I'd not played with Nicky before today and he was pretty solid. We tried to play together last week but we got the tee times mixed up, so it was a case of just seeing how we went today.
"Nicky played really well, he knew what we were playing for as he's a good pal of Mike, who I played with last year. He'd told so much about it, so he knew what was at stake.
"Nicky got three birdies on the front nine and I got going on the back nine getting three birdies plus the eagle at 17, with Nicky getting another birdie.
"I knew when we reached the turn at three under we'd need to up our game and get to at least eight-under, which we more than managed."
Qualification is an amazing feat for Ferguson, who only joined the West Lothian club this year after five years of playing park golf.
"I'm really looking forward to the experience," said the 28-year-old from Cleland.
"I only joined the club this year so to qualify after just a few months of being at the club is fantastic.
"I was really please with the way I played today after getting off the first tee. I played pretty solidly, getting birdies and nett pars. I had a few putts to save par and not having any bogey was a real bonus."
This year's final, which carries a professional prize fund of £30,000, is being staged in Antalya, Turkey from December 6-10 and features 16 teams from across Great Britain and Ireland, who will enjoy an all expenses stay at the Sirene Beach & Hotel Resort.
It is the 25th staging of the tournament and the first year it has been sponsored by Virgin Atlantic, the UK's long haul specialists.

Prize-winning pros at Lanark today:
Par 70
69 Scott Catlin (Greenburn) £500.
63 Gordon Law (Uphall) £350.
64 Ian Taylor (Drumpellier), Andrew Fullen (Largs), Paul Wytrazek (Burntisland), James Stevenson (Braehead) £125 each.

SIR BOB AT CRUDEN BAY

Sir Bob Charles, Cruden Bay Golf Club captain Dr Jim Morrison and Robbie Stewart, the Cruden Bay Golf Club head professional (image by Cal Carson Golf Agency).

Sir Bob Charles lining up a putt on Cruden Bay's 18th green ... after (right) playing his approach shot. Below (left to right) Cruden Bay professional Robbie Stewart, Jim Hardie, John Crammond and Sir Bob (images by Cal Carson Golf Agency). You can enlarge the images by clicking on them.

Sir Bob Charles takes 77

shots to navigate

uncharted Cruden

Bay - but 'I love

the course'

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Sir Bob Charles' "Tour of Discovery" of Scotland links courses continued in sweltering heat today at Cruden Bay but, by his own admission, the 73-year-old left-handed winner of the 1963 Open

at Royal Lytham did not play as well as he did at Montrose on Tuesday when the tall New Zealander beat his age by two strokes.

"I'm sorry to say I had a 77, out in 42, back in 35. The inward half, one over par, wasn't so bad but I really would like to come back and play some of the holes that tripped me up on the outward half," he said.

"But what a great natural Scottish links course. This was what golf was all about years ago, hard baked fairways, the ball runs for miles but you have to control the bounce, master the pitch and run shot and so on. I didn't play well on the outward half but I still love links golf and a course like Cruden Bay." Sir Bob said this wasn't a kind of "Frank Sinature fairwell golf tour" ... "Anything but," he said, "More like a Tour of Discovery. There are too many links courses to play on just one trip to Scotland. I'm coming back for more." Sir Bob and his partner, Cruden Bay club pro Robbie Stewart had a square match with two low-handicap Aberdeen amateurs, Jim Hardie and John Crammond. Hardie is the Aberdeen businessman who spends the Scottish winters in New Zealand (where it is summer of course) and plays regularly with Sir Bob on courses near Christchurch. "Sir Bob E-mailed me a few months ago, saying that he wanted to play a few of the Scottish links he had heard so much about but never got round to playing them, could I fix him up with tee times and partners? " said Hardie. "Which I did. He played North Berwick in a thick haar on Tuesday, and here at Cruden Bay today in glorious sunshine. Then he's going north to play Lossiemouth, Nairn, Brora and Tain." It's quite a punishing schedule for a 73-year-old – but Sir Bob is almost certainly the same weight as he was at the peak of his golfing ability. In these days of "rip it and grip it," Sir Bob remains a joy to watch … if any male golfer can be elegant then Sir Bob is an elegant left-hander. "Sir Bob is different class on and off the golf course," said Jim Hardie.

The Great Escape: Scots do a 'Houdini' to beat

Swedes from 0-2 down

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Well, I said at lunchtime that if Scotland could wriggle off the hook of a 2-0 foursomes deficit to beat Sweden, even the late great Harry Houdini would have been proud of such an escape. And the Scots did just that with a magnificent afternoon performance in the singles to win four out of five and finish up with a 4-3 scoreline in their favour at the end of the day.

Now for second seeds Italy in Friday's semi-finals!

Scoreboard:

SCOTLAND 4, SWEDEN 3
Foursomes (0-2):
Wallace Booth & Michael Stewart lost to Pontus Gad & Pontus Widegren 3 and 1.
Gavin Dear & Glenn Campbell lost to Jesper Kennegard & Henrik Norlander 4 and 3.
Singles (4-1):
Dear bt Robin Wingardh 2 and 1.
Booth bt David Lingmerth 1 hole.
Stewart lost to Kennegard 1 hole.
Ross Kellett bt Widegren 1 hole.
Paul O'Hara bt Norlander 4 and 3.

FROM THE WELSH GOLF UNION'S CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE:
Scotland bounced back from a 2-0 deficit against Sweden after the morning foursomes to grab a place in the semi-finals against Italy.
Despite the disappointments of the morning, the Scots were full of confidence in the afternoon with Wallace Booth turning his match around to win it by one hole.
To watch video interview with Ross Kellett click here
With Gavin Dear and Paul O’Hara also winning their singles, that meant everything came down to Ross Kellett (pictured above by Cal Carson Golf Agency) who managed to close out his victory on the 18th.
“The mood is pretty upbeat with a good win today, it was pretty special,” said Kellett.
“We knew we were playing well, our coach reminded us of a few times we had done it in the past and we knew we had to win matches – a halved match would not do us any good.
“Mine was tight and when I got the shout coming down the last that it was all riding on my match then things changed again, but obviously it was not just me – it was down to all the guys, even though I did hole the winning putt.
“We are feeling better because of the way we won, maybe one each in the morning it would have been anybody’s game, but the way we won it definitely gives us more inspiration and happiness for tomorrow.”
Scotland came into the event as world champions, after winning Eisenhower Trophy in Australia at the end of last year.
“The guys did great out in Adelaide and it is good for the team that we have two guys who did win that because we can learn from them,” said Kellett.
“We thrive on what we did, it gives us inspiration to add a European Championships to that.
“In any round now it will be a tough game - the Italians are playing well with good scores in the strokeplay and great success last week with Matteo winning the British Amateur, but if we are on our golf then we can cause an upset.”
Other results in the Championship Flight

Norway (No 1 seeds) bt Finland (No 8 seeds) 5-2.

Foursomes: Norway 2, Finland 0.

Singles: Norway 3, Finland 2.

England (No 4 seeds) bt France (No 5 seeds) 4 1/2-2 1/2

Foursomes: England 2, France 0.

Singles; England 2 1/2, France 2 1/2.

Italy (No 2 seeds) bt Germany (No 7 seeds) 5 1/2- 1 1/2

Foursomes: Italy 2, Germany 0.

Singles: Italy 3 1/2, Germany 1 1/2

FRIDAY SEMI-FINALS

Norway v England

Scotland v Italy

Aberdeen Off the Tee Trophy boys' inter-club results:

Aberdeen City Section
Nigg Bay bt. Caledonian by 5 holes
Northern bt. Deeside by 1 hole
Hazlehead bt. Auchmill by 5 holes
Westhill lost to Portlethen by 2 holes.

West Section
Newmachar bt Kemnay by 11 holes
Alford bt Craibstone by 4 holes

North Section
Inverallochy bt Cruden Bay by 6 holes
Newburgh bt Royal Aberdeen by 5 holes.
Peterhead bt Murcar Links by 5 holes.

New Torrance Course opens to public

at Fairmont St Andrews on July 13

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY FAIRMONT ST ANDREWS
The Fairmont St Andrews, a five-star cliff-top resort at St Andrews, the Home of Golf, announced this week it will open the exiting new Torrance Course to the public for play from Monday, July 13 onwards.
The new improvements on the Torrance Course were conducted under the direction of golf course architect Gary Stephenson. With eight holes re-designed, new tee boxes and revetted bunkers throughout, the course is set to become one of Scotland's most dramatic new courses.
It has already been named an Open qualifying venue for the 2010 Open championship (when the Old Course is the Open venue) and the popular course is set to go from strength to strength when some of the legends of golf play the Torrance course next month at the Cleveland/Srixon Scottish Senior Open.
"We are simply delighted with the progress of the Torrance Course," said Charles Head, general manager of Fairmont St Andrews. "Already being selected as the host site for two of Scotland's more prestigious events, is very telling as to the quality of experience the Torrance Course will offer our guests when it opens."
The most striking changes to the Torrance Course are the re-routing of eight holes, four from the Kittocks Course and four from the Torrance Course and the new Scottish links-style revetted bunkers.
Now, with the changes complete, the course has gained its own remarkable identity.
From the tee shot on the first hole to the final putt on the 18th green, the Torrance Course offers a truly unforgettable round of golf, complete with stunning, panoramic views of the Fairmont St Andrews hotel, the town of St Andrews and the Eden Estuary.
"The golf course is a must-play for those making their golfing pilgrimage to St Andrews. It's without a doubt among the best if you ask me and that's not easy to do in this country, " said Sam Torrance, the original course architect for The Torrance.
"The new sightlines on some of the holes have created a uniqueness and playability unmatched by any other course in the area. If I may say so, I think the new Torrance course is simply brilliant!"
The hotel has just recently completed a £17 million refurbishment project that includes the opening of the new Kittocks Course, a stunning coastal golf course with spectacular views over the Eden Estuary and sands of St Andrews.
Other upgrades recently undertaken by the resort include refurbished rooms, a new Rock and Spindle sports bar with large LCD televisions and a pool table, and a sensational brand new signature Spa, featuring Kerstin Florian products (usually found in Oscar night goodie bags").
The Fairmont St Andrews sits on 520 acres of stunning open coastline overlooking the North Sea and the historic town of St Andrews.

Harrington looking for a confidence

boost in run-up to the Open

FROM THE IRISHTIMES.COM WEBSITE
Padraig Harrington admits he is in a race against time to have his game in good enough shape to win a third successive Open title at Turnberry later this month.
“If I’m going to play well in the Open it’s got to start now – I’m running out of time,” said Harrington on the eve of the French Open at Le Golf National on the outskirts of Paris.
The Dubliner has missed his last four halfway cuts – and five of the last six – during a nightmare run after deciding to make swing changes despite his back-to-back major wins last season.
But he added: “I’m always optimistic and I still believe I am going to be ready. But, then again, I thought I would be ready for the US Open.”
That was Harrington’s last tournament and he had two rounds of 76 at Bethpage Black to crash out by eight shots. He finished joint 137th of the 156 players.
Because of his triumphs at Carnoustie, Birkdale and Oakland Hills, Harrington still finds himself joint second favourite – behind Tiger Woods, of course – for Turnberry. But it is a demonstration of where he is at right now that he is only joint-fourth favourite for this week behind Ryder Cup team-mates Ian Poulter, runner-up to him last July, Lee Westwood and Soren Hansen.
Without a top-10 finish since January, Harrington ranks an incredible 195th out of 212 in driving accuracy on the European Tour this season.
“I’m still trying to find the magic stick that goes straight and long,” he commented. “Aren’t we all?”
Harrington has been experimenting with different drivers and gives no guarantee that the one he settles on for the opening round in France is the one he will stick with.
Three days were spent with coach Bob Torrance last week, but the work was only to bed in the changes as much as possible.
“At the US Open my backswing had totally gone off. We were not trying to change that, but I was focusing so much on my downswing. Last week we were doing a lot of covering of old stuff, putting things back in position.
“For my preparations to be spot-on I should not be tinkering with my swing. I am well capable of winning when I have not prepared properly, but it reduces the chances.”
Harrington also defends his Irish PGA title at The European Club next week before heading to Scotland and of the two tournaments he states: “It’s more important that I play well (in terms of ball-striking) rather than perform well (in terms of his results).
“I do need these two weeks to show myself some form. Having not performed very well I need a certain level of confidence going into the Open and it’s important I show signs of having control over the ball. I’d like to score well too, but other things can affect that. I don’t need the results, but I do need to play well.”
Long term, however, the 37-year-old is excited about the prospects of adding to his three majors. “I’ve never been more enthusiastic or more positive about my game going forward.
“It’s still not bedded in and I will not be going to the first tee here with it automatic, but I’m thrilled with what I see when it’s good. I’m always trying to improve and sometimes there are short-term sacrifices for long-term gains.”
Poulter, on the other hand, feels he has everything in place for his attempt to go one better than last year. Except for one thing, that is. Having based himself in Florida for the first half of the year he returned to the heat of Britain last week wishing he had had air-conditioning installed in his home.
This is his first tournament in Europe since the Volvo Masters almost eight months ago. He has not won in that time, but did have another notable second place behind Henrik Stenson at the Players Championship in May and has risen to 16th in the world.
That is only five places behind the sliding Harrington. This time last year there were 28 spots between them.

"Hard times" for Tiger and Phil? We don't think so ...

Average earnings for leading athletes - not just runners but golfers, tennis players, basketball players et al - in the United States have dropped for the first time in six years, according to Sports Illustrated magazine.
In a list of the 50 top-earning American athletes -- based on salary, winnings, endorsements and appearance fees -- the average take-home pay was down by $1.5 million to $23.6 million per athlete.
However, the drop was primarily affected by the leading two names in the standings, golfers Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, Sports Illustrated reported this week.
Both Americans failed to match their on-course income in 2008 from the previous season, especially world number one Woods who was sidelined for eight months while recovering from reconstructive knee surgery.
Woods earned $5.775 million on last year's US PGA Tour, compared to $10.867 million in 2007.
Second-ranked Mickelson had a less substantial drop-off, winning three times on the 2007 PGA Tour for earnings of $5.819 million before triumphing twice and taking in $5.188 million last year.
Of course, the Sports Illustrated article does not touch on Woods' income from Nike and other sponsors and also the multi-million dollar appearance fees he enjoys when he plays outwith the United States.
Multiply his US PGA Tour earnings by four or five and you get a true idea of what Tiger is making annually.
Next best on the Sports Illustrated list of top sportings earners was Cleveland Cavaliers basketball player LeBron James with New York Yankees baseball player Alex Rodriguez in fourth place.
Editor's Note: Never heard of them? Well, they're laughing all the way to the bank!