US PGA Tour Scoreboard
JOHN DEERE CLASSIC
The TPC at Deere Run, Silvis, Illinois
THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Par 213 (3x71)
199 Tim Petrovic 66 67 66, Darron Stiles 64 65 70, Matthew Jones (Aus) 68 68 63
200 Steve Stricker 71 61 68, J J Henry 65 69 66, Brett Quigley 69 69 62, Lee Janzen 64 70 66
201 Zach Johnson 69 68 64, Cameron Beckman 71 66 64
202 Chris Stroud 67 68 67, Charley Hoffman 71 65 66, Brandt Snedeker 67 67 68, Greg Owen (Eng) 67 67 68, Matt Bettencourt 65 70 67, Jason Day (Aus) 66 68 68
203 Jerry Kelly 69 64 70, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 67 70 66, Chad Campbell 68 67 68, Bart Bryant 69 69 65, Scott Verplank 70 64 69, Steve Elkington (Aus) 69 69 65
204 Bryce Molder 69 69 66, Spencer Levin 67 69 68, Kirk Triplett 67 67 70, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 67 68 69, Marc Leishman (Aus) 68 70 66, Peter Lonard (Aus) 67 69 68
205 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 68 69 68, Mark Calcavecchia 68 69 68, Ryan Palmer 70 64 71, Kevin Streelman 70 67 68, Webb Simpson 68 69 68
206 Pat Perez 69 68 69, Kyle Stanley 71 66 69, Davis Love III 70 68 68, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 67 70 69, Todd Hamilton 68 68 70, Heath Slocum 69 67 70, George McNeill 67 71 68, Jason Bohn 67 70 69, Frank Lickliter II 69 66 71
207 Brian Davis (Eng) 67 70 70, Chris Riley 71 67 69, Scott McCarron 68 66 73, Charles Howell III 69 69 69, Jack Newman 71 67 69, Jimmy Walker 71 64 72, David Mathis 69 69 69, Ryan Moore 71 67 69
208 Robert Garrigus 68 70 70, Jason Dufner 71 66 71, Casey Wittenberg 72 66 70, Mark Brooks 69 68 71, Garrett Willis 69 68 71, Kenny Perry 68 68 72, Dean Wilson 65 70 73, Ken Duke 71 65 72, D.J. Trahan 71 66 71
209 Roland Thatcher 70 68 71, Ted Purdy 68 70 71, Tommy Gainey 69 67 73
210 Jay Williamson 70 68 72, Matthew Borchert 66 72 72, Johnson Wagner 70 67 73
212 Carl Pettersson (Swe) 70 68 74

WILLIE SHARPE'S COUNTY NEWS

Ed Wood is Lanarkshire stroke-play champion

Crow Wood's Ed Wood is the new Lanarkshire men's county stroke-play golf champion. At Motherwell's Colville Park Golf Club today, he had rounds of 67 and 70 for a five-under-par total of 137. He won the county title by three shots from Andy Fairbairn (Kirkhil) who had rounds of 68 and 72.
These two players finished in the same order last weekend in the Cadzow Cup at Hamilton and they are also 1 and 2 in the Lanarkshire Order of Merit.
The top 16 available players play start the Lanarkshire match-play on Thursday and Friday at Crow Wood Golf Club.
Stroke-play leading returns
Par 142 (2x71) CSS 71 71
137 Ed Wood (Crow Wood) 67 70.
140 Andy Fairbairn (Kirkhill) 68 72.
143 David Oldham (Hamilton) 71 72, Tony Whitelaw (Mouse Valley) 70 73.
144 Garry Wood (Crow Wood) 72 72.
145 Gordon Taylor (Airdrie) 74 71, Kevin Loughrie (Cambuslang) 72 73, J J Smith (Cambuslang) 72 73.
146 Andrew Steven (Easter Moffat) 74 72, Calum Maclean (Hamilton) 72 74, Scott Douglas (Drumpellier) 72 74.
147 Alan McDonald (Crow Wood) 74 73, Paul Gault (Kirkhill) 74 73, Derek Loudon (Hamilton) 74 73, Stephen Haugh (Colville Park) 72 75, Alan Welsh (Torrance House) 70 77.
148 Stewart Henderson (Hamilton) 74 74.
149 Jordan Gallagher (Crow Wood) 80 69.
150 Alec Brown (Kirkhil) 73 77, Keith Turnbull (Larkhall) 71 79.

Match Play Draw:
E Wood v J Gallagher, J J Smith v A Steven, T Whitelaw v D Loudoun, G Wood v A McDonald, A Fairbairn v S Henderson, K Loughrie v C Maclean, D Oldham v S Haugh, G Taylor v S Douglas.
Dates of ties:
Thursday, July 16.
Friday, July 17.
Monday, July 20.
Final on Thursday, July 23.

PGA EUROPRO TOUR EVENT AT BRISTOL

Scott Jamieson 16/1 favourite

for Motocaddy Masters

By ANTHONY LEAVER
The Motocaddy Masters is the sixth event of the 2009 PGA EuroPro Tour, taking place at The Players Club in Bristol from this coming Tuesday.
With Order of Merit leader Steve Surry (Cumberwell Park), fourth placed Tom Haylock (Bright Green Golf Management) and sixth spot holder Elliot Saltman (Aegon) all in action at the Open championship at Turnberry, Glasgow's Scott Jamieson, pictured right, is Sky Bet’s 16/1 favourite for the tournament.
“Despite the likes of Surry, Saltman and Haylock all qualifying for The Open this week, we still have a strong field assembled,” said Sky Bet’s John Rhodes. “It looks a good time for Scott Jamieson to bag his second victory of the season – he is the 16/1 favourite to do so. The South African trio of Michiel Bothma, Louis Moolman and Louis De Jager also make the trip over this week and look to hold strong claims to the title.”
Daniel Brooks (Mill Hill) is second favourite at 22/1 with Jack Doherty (North Gailes) third favourite at 25/1. Dale Marmion won at The Players Club twelve months ago on his way to finishing second on the 2008 Order of Merit and he is 50/1 to win on his return to the Tour.
To view Sky Bet’s full market, click here: http://www.skybet.com/skybet?action=GoEvClass&id=34&aff=4527&EPT_Website
***The Motocaddy Masters begins early on Tuesday morning, with live scoring for the three days available at http://www.europrotour.com/ via the Score Updates link on the homepage.

Left to right: Mathew Clark, club captain E Whiteford, Paul O'Hara, Claire Thomson (daughter of Jack Sutherland, instigator of the tournament, K Logan (Royal Bank of Scotland sponsors), James Byrne and Craig Watson (image by courtesy of Dumfries & Galloway Golf Club; click on image to enlarge).

Paul O'Hara comes from behind

to win Sutherland Chalice

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Never mind the weather, it's been a good golfing month for Colville Park's Paul O'Hara.
At the start of it, he helped Scotland to win the European team championship at Conwy, North Wales and today, he won his second SGU Order of Merit event of the season, the Sutherland Chalice, sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland, at Dumfries & Galloway Golf Club.
O'Hara, who has been caddieing at the Ayrshire courses to make money to finance a tilt at the European Tour School later in the season, produced the kind of scoring he will need to make the grade as a pro with rounds of 69, 66, 68 and 67 for a 10-under-par tally of 270.
A final birdie at the 17th virtually clinched victory for the younger brother of European Tour player Steven O'Hara. Paul had been three shots behind halfway leader Michael Grunwell (Powfoot) but had narrowed the gap to one after three rounds and then forged past the faltering pacemaker over the final 18 holes.
O'Hara finished three shots clear of three players, Banchory's James Byrne, winner of the Tennant Cup and East of Scotland Open in successive weekends recently, former British amateur champion Craig Watson from East Renfrewshire, and banker Mathew Clark (Kilmacolm) who lost a play-off to Gavin Dear (Murrayshall) for the Craigmillar Park Open in the early weeks of the competitive season.
Byrne, leader of the SGU Order of Merit, had a roller-coaster tournament after missing last weekend's Cameron Corbett Vase because of the Open championship Final Local Qualifying early in the week. This was his chance for a hat-trick of Order of Merit competition victories and in the second and fourth rounds, the Arizona State University student uncorked the form that made him him a runaway winner at Haggs Castle and then Lundin Golf Club.
He dropped five shots to par over the first two holes of his opening round ... birdied the first four holes in his second round 64 ... sagged to a three-over 73 on Sunday morning ... before finishing with all guns blazing again to match his best-of-the-tournament round of 64.
Local hero Michael Grunwell (Powfoot) who was three shots ahead of the field at the start of Sunday's play and only one ahead after the third round, sagged to a closing effort of five-over-par 75 and a joint fifth finish.
O'Hara won the rain-reduced Edward Trophy SGU Order of Merit event after a play-off against James White (Lundin) at Glasgow Gailes at the end of April.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 280 (4x70). CSS 71 71 71 71
270 P O'Hara (Colville Park) 69 66 68 67.
273 M Clark (Kilmacolm) 68 68 69 68, C Watson (East Renfrewshire) 69 67 70 67, J Byrne (Banchory) 72 64 73 64.
277 G Yates (Hilton Park) 69 71 68 69, S McEwan (Caprington) 69 70 67 71, S Crichton (Aberdour) 72 65 68 72, C Thomson (East Renfrewshire) 69 66 71 71, M Grunwell (Powfoot) 68 64 70 75.
278 M Daily (Erskine) 71 66 74 67.
279 S Binning (Ranfurly Castle) 70 70 70 69, P Latimer (St Andrews New) 71 69 69 70, D Addison (Kilmarnock Barassie) 70 67 72 70.
280 J White (Lundin) 68 70 73 69.
281 S Pinckney (Arizona State Univ) 72 67 73 69, K McAlpine (Alyth) 66 70 70 75.
282 G Campbell (Blairgowrie) 68 71 71 72, R Crowe (Westerhope) 68 70 76 78, P Ferrier (Baberton) 68 69 74 71.
283 B Sloan Cathkin Braes) 74 69 70 70.
284 S Gibson (Southerness) 72 71 69 72, C Hamilton (NZ) 70 70 78 66, S Rennie (Drumpellier) 69 70 75 70.
285 C Riddick (Southerness) 70 74 70 71, M McNae (Dumfries & Galloway) 72 71 66 76, J Ross (Royal Burgess) 72 71 72 70, W Bremner (Edzell) 74 69 72 70.
286 F McKenna (Balmore) 76 67 69 74, G Robertson (Glenbervie) 71 70 72 73.
287 B Rushford (Grangemouth) 74 70 71 72, L Johnston (Dumfries & Co) 73 69 69 76.
289 L Kirton (Newmachar) 71 70 72 76, M Main (Thornton) 69 71 79 70, G Stevenson (Whitecraigs) 72 68 74 75, A Dick (Kingsknowe) 69 70 76 74.
290 M Smyth (Royal Troon) 69 72 72 77, R Graham (Hayston) 72 69 69 81.
292 C Harkins (Ayr Bellleisle) 73 70 78 71.
293 N Hamilton (Dumfries & Galloway) 72 70 75 76.
294 S Maxwell (Windyhill) 71 70 79 74.
298 F Campbell (Clober) 69 74 76 79.

Scots boys beaten 4-1 by France to be ranked 10th in Europe

Scotland boys' team were officially ranked 10th at Golf Club de Pan, Utrecht in the Netherlands at the conclusion of the European boys' team championship on Saturday.
The Scots lost the play-off for the top spot in Flight B - ninth ranking - 4-1 to France.
Ireland beat Portugal 3-2 to be ranked 11th.
England beat Sweden 5-0 in their last match in the Championship Flight. That gained them fifth place behind new champions Denmark who beat Germany 4-3 in the final.
Saturday's results:
CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT
Denmark 4, Germany 3.
Netherlands 4, Spain 3.
England 5, Sweden 0.
Belgium 3, Czech Republic 2.
FLIGHT B
France 4, Scotland 1.
Ireland 3, Portugal 2.

OFFICIAL RANKINGS
1 Denmark, 2 Germany, 3 Netherlands, 4 Spain, 5 England, 6 Sweden, 7 Belgium, 8 Czech Republic.
9 France, 10 Scotland, 11 Ireland, 12 Portugal, 13 Italy, 14 Norway, 15 Finland, 16 Switzerland, 17 Slovenia.
18 Wales, 19 Poland, 20 Hungary.

Next year's European boys' team championship will be played in Turkey.

Pampling and Marino plug the gaps

in Open championship field

Australian Rod Pampling and American Steve Marino both received call-ups to the Open today – and now 2002 runner-up Thomas Levet hopes he might be playing as well.
First Marino replaced Shingo Katayama after the Japanese player withdrew with an upper back injury.Then Pampling, the next highest-ranked player in the world to have entered the Open, took the place that became vacant when no non-exempt player finished in the top five of the Barclays Scottish Open.
Ten years ago at Carnoustie, Pampling made championship history when he led after an opening 71 and then missed the cut after a second round 86.
"Thankfully I've been back there and rectified that," he said after finishing 20th at Loch Lomond. He was 27th three years ago.
"I was trying to play my way in this week. That didn't work out, but I knew I'd become first reserve and now I'm in.
"Thankfully I entered for the tournament. Maybe some other guys didn't know the rules."His compatriot Aaron Baddeley and American Pat Perez, Kevin Na and Mark Wilson were all passed over for spots because they had either not filed entry forms or had withdrawn from qualifying.
Levet, who lost a five-hole play-off to Ernie Els at Muirfield, knew there was a good chance of him playing on Thursday.
One spot was also up for grabs on the US Tour, Englishman Ross Fisher's wife is expecting a baby on Tuesday and Indian Jeev Milkha Singh is thought to be battling with a rib injury.
Fisher flew home from Scotland tonight to be with his wife, but had plans to be at Turnberry on Tuesday if there was no sign of the baby coming.
*The full article contains 294 words and appears in scotsman.com newspaper.

European Tour Scoreboard
BARCLAYS SCOTTISH OPEN
Loch Lomond
FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71)
269 Martin Kaymer (Ger) 69 65 66 69
271 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 65 70 64 72, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 67 72 66 66
272 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 67 68 67 70, Adam Scott (Aus) 66 67 73 66
273 Nick Watney (USA) 67 68 71 67, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 68 63 69 73
274 Ross Fisher 69 67 71 67, Lee Westwood 73 66 64 71
275 Martin Laird 65 70 69 71
276 Steve Webster 71 70 67 68, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 70 69 67 70
277 Brian Gay (USA) 70 69 65 73, Ernie Els (Rsa) 69 69 67 72, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 69 70 67 71, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 69 70 66 72
278 Jamie Donaldson 69 68 65 76, David Lynn 70 72 65 71, Kenneth Ferrie 67 68 74 69
279 Rodney Pampling (Aus) 68 71 67 73, Oliver Wilson 74 65 70 70, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 69 70 69 71, Camilo Villegas (Col) 69 67 73 70, Graeme Storm 65 76 71 67
280 Anthony Wall 70 69 69 72, Damien McGrane 71 68 73 68, Paul Lawrie 68 72 68 72, Soren Hansen (Den) 67 68 73 72, Mark Foster 68 68 72 72, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 68 66 69 77, Seve Benson 70 72 69 69
281 Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 71 69 69 72, Ian Poulter 69 72 68 72, Thomas Levet (Fra) 70 71 69 71
282 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 67 73 68 74, Brett Rumford (Aus) 68 69 73 72, Richard Green (Aus) 64 72 73 73, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 70 71 66 75, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 72 70 69 71, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 74 66 69 73
283 Graeme McDowell 70 72 71 70, Darren Clarke 69 69 68 77, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 69 67 71 76, Paul McGinley 65 71 75 72, Gregory Havret (Fra) 67 70 72 74
284 Gary Orr 70 68 71 75, Rory McIlroy 68 71 72 73, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 69 66 76 73, Colin Montgomerie 73 69 69 73, Markus Brier (Aut) 69 69 73 73, Pablo Martin (Spa) 69 72 71 72, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 70 68 72 74
285 David Drysdale 67 73 72 73, Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 71 70 75 69, Scott Drummond 70 71 72 72, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 69 70 69 77, Chris Doak 72 68 69 76
286 Gary Lockerbie 69 73 73 71, James Kingston (Rsa) 69 72 67 78, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 70 69 76 71, Scott Strange (Aus) 70 72 74 70, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 70 69 70 77, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 68 72 73 73
287 Boo Weekley (USA) 71 70 72 74, Miles Tunnicliff 70 72 72 73, Ross McGowan 67 72 75 73
288 Alexander Noren (Swe) 70 71 74 73, Jason McCreadie 70 67 74 77, John Bickerton 72 69 71 76, Paul Broadhurst 71 71 74 72
289 Sam Little 70 72 72 75
290 Lee Slattery 71 70 73 76, Shane Lowry 69 71 71 79, Oliver Fisher 73 68 72 77
291 Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 70 72 75 74
292 Nick Dougherty 71 71 74 76
293 Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 73 69 75 76

THE BARCLAYS SCOTTISH OPEN

Kaymer makes more than a million with back-to-back victories FROM "THE INDEPENDENT" GOLF NEWS SERVICE By James Corrigan and Mark Garrod Martin Kaymer's form happens to be as rude as his bank balance as he goes into this week's Open Championship. For the second Sunday running the young German lifted one of the European Tour's most prestigious trophies and in doing so raised his earnings for the last fortnight to well over the £1m mark (£500,000 for the "Scottish" + £565,000 for the "French"). If anything, his victory in the Barclays Scottish Open was even more impressive than his last. After beating Lee Westwood in a play-off for the French Open the 24-year-old came from behind to defeat France's Raphaël Jacquelin and the overnight leader Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño of Spain by two strokes. Last week's cheque was just over £565,000. This week's was £500,000 – and he now is not only second to Paul Casey on the European money list, but also just outside the world's top 10 heading into Turnberry. Kaymer, who began his run of form in Paris the previous week with a course record 62, needed "only" a two-under-par 69 after starting the day a shot behind Fernandez-Castaño. "To win in Scotland, the home of golf is always something very special," he said. "I missed the cut the week after my first two wins, but this week was obviously different. "Now everybody asks me about a third win in a row, but we are playing in a major and the field is going to be the best we have all year. The money is nice, but it's not the most important thing. If you are out there playing for the money I think you have chosen the wrong job." Fernandez-Castaño's hopes of a fifth Tour win – this was Kaymer's fourth – nosedived when he did not manage a single birdie until the 14th hole. But running up a bogey 6 following a wild drive on the hole before that had given him a deficit he could not make up. Jacquelin came through to be joint runner-up with a 66. Disappointing on the final day were both Lee Westwood and Retief Goosen. Westwood had oozed confidence after middle rounds of 66 and 64, but closed with a level-par 71 for eighth spot alongside his fellow Englishman Ross Fisher. Whether Fisher plays in the Open remains to be seen. He flew back to London to be with his wife, Jo, who is expecting their first child on Tuesday, and said: "What will be will be. The Open is the most important tournament in a calendar year, but the birth of our first child is something I don't want to miss." If there are no signs of an imminent delivery on Tuesday he will be at Turnberry, but is ready to pull out at any moment – even if he was six ahead with a round to play, he says. "The ideal would be to two-putt to win next Sunday, make a short winner's speech and then fly home." Ian Poulter, the runner-up at last year's Open, was down in 32nd place after a disappointing 72, but that was still better than Colin Montgomerie and Rory McIlroy. They finished in a tie for 46th following 73s. Montgomerie, fortunate to make the halfway cut, said: "That was a poor round of golf. Again." McIlroy was just as despondent and explained how he needs to work on his iron play before Thursday's first round. "I was just struggling a bit," said the 20-year-old. "This week I really wanted to play well to give myself some momentum. Now I'll spend more time practising than I will on the course the next three days because I want to get it sorted out." The Ulsterman called his status as joint second-favourite for the Open as "bonkers" and added: "I wouldn't back myself at those odds." Kaymer is now second to Paul Casey on the European Tour's money list and just outside the top 10 in the world heading into The Open. DANE FINED £2,000 FOR SLOW PLAY AT LOCH LOMOND

Denmark's Mads Vibe-Hastrup has become the latest player to be handed a one-stroke penalty - and a £2,000 fine - for slow play on the European Tour.
The 30-year-old took 74 and 59 seconds rather than the allowed 55 to play his tee shots to the short eighth and 17th holes in the third round of the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond.

Two "bad" times in one round led European Tour chief referee John Paramor to turn his 70 into a 71, after he had come off the 18th green.

Martin Laird grinds it out to earn £60,000 for 10th place

FROM THE SCOTSMAN.COM WEBSITE

By MIKE AITKEN

Although he was some way short of his best form and spilled four shots in five holes on the front nine, Martin Laird gritted his teeth on the inward half at Loch Lomond, came home in 32 and marked his professional debut on the European Tour by finishing tenth at the Barclays Scottish Open and collecting a cheque for £60,000.
Eager to impress his ain folk, the Arizona-based pro, who plays most of his golf on the US PGA Tour, acknowledged he needed to rely on mental discipline to overcome a few shot-making flaws in order to post 71 for 275, nine under par.

The highest plac ed of the 14 Scots who took part in the £3million event, the 26-year-old said: "That was about as hard as I've ground it out in a while. I had to keep my focus because I didn't play very well. I wanted to chase the leaders. When that didn't happen, I was pleased with the way I played on the back nine to get it back.

"The last thing I wanted was to fall down the leaderboard on Sunday. There were plenty of shouts from the crowd and I don't normally get that in America. I was about as motivated as I could be on the back nine to try and shoot under par."

Having thoroughly enjoyed his first taste of pro golf on home turf, Laird now heads for Turnberry and his Open debut over the Ailsa. "When you are struggling, it's nice to hear people supporting you and hopefully it will be the same at The Open," he added. "I guess I'm not really under the radar now."

While his priority remains to retain his playing privileges in America, Laird says he would love to be able to play in the Diageo and the Dunhill Links as well as the Scottish Open.

"I've always said that if I do well over the next couple of months (on the US PGA Tour] then I can come back. I'd love to be able to play all the tournaments in Scotland if I could. If my game keeps going in the right direction then, hopefully, I can play in the Dunhill."

Apart from Laird's consistent debut – he received deserved applause for a terrific birdie 3 on the last – the home contingent won't remember this staging of the Scottish Open with any great affection. For example, Paul Lawrie, 72 for 280, four-under, felt the sheen was removed from a decent effort by successive bogeys over the two closing holes.

"I'd hit a beautiful shot into the 17th green, rolled the putt a couple of feet by and missed the one back," he rued. "Then I three-putted the last. That said, the best golf I played at Loch Lomond was in the last round. I hit it so well and couldn't hole a putt. In the earlier part of the week I'd chipped and putted great, but today it was shocking.

"Welcome to my world. On the days you play poorly, you up and down everything. And on days you play well, you can't get it in. It'd be nice to put the two together, and doing it at the Open would be even nicer than doing it here."

About to tee up in the oldest major for the first time as a professional, David Drysdale also signed off at Loch Lomond on a salutary note. He started the week encouragingly, but ran up a triple-bogey 7 at the last and posted 73 for 285, one over par.

He pulled his drive into the loch and was forced to unleash his third shot on the 18th from the tee. The second drive, all but inevitably, went right into the rough where he could do little more than hack out.

It would be wrong to suggest, mark you, that the experience was a sobering one since it's hard to imagine any golfer with a more realistic view of the game or a more modest appraisal of his own standing.

"I just want to focus on what I'm doing and don't want to build it up to be anything bigger," he said of his major championship debut.

"I'll try to keep as much pressure off myself as possible, and just go out and play the way I know I can play."

Jason McCreadie, the Tartan Tour player who made the cut in a European Tour event for the first time here at the Scottish Open, found the standard over the weekend at Loch Lomond difficult to match and carded 77 for 288, four-over.

Scott Drummond, 167th in the Order of Merit, is battling to retain his Tour card and knows he needs much stronger finishes than 72 for 285 if he wants to keep his playing rights.
***The full article above contains 815 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper on Monday.

Longcake takes the biscuit with seven-shot

victory in English mid-amateur event

FROM THE ENGLISH GOLF UNION WEBSITE
John Longcake gave a masterclass in how to play golf in the wind to retain the English mid- amateur championship and the Logan Trophy over his home course at Silloth-on-Solway today.
While everyone else saw their chances blown away in conditions described by Silloth secretary John Hill as ‘a steady Silloth breeze’, Longcake was in full control.
A closing 70 for 209, seven under par, gave him a seven-stroke winning margin over Cheshire’s James Murphy, who returned 72, with another Cumbrian, Neville Johnstone, and Graham Forrest from Northumberland on 219 after rounds of 73 and 77 respectively.
A measure of Longcake’s supremacy was that he was the only man to beat par on the day and the only man to finish under par for the championship.
It also gave him his third mid-amateur title, only the fourth player to achieve the milestone alongside Alan Mew, Charlie Banks and Stephen East, the reigning European mid-amateur champion, who finished equal fifth.
“This win means a lot to me because all my family were here watching while it was over my home course,” said Longcake.
“When you are on your own course there is extra pressure because everyone expects a lot from you. But I don’t mind this wind. It’s the conditions we are used to here at Silloth so you just have to hit fairways and greens and roll your putts up stone dead.”
When he awoke and saw the rain and wind over the course, Longcake must have a wry smile. Starting the day three ahead, he was out in 37 to drop back to three under par, but if his rivals thought there might be a chink in his armour then they were in for a shock.
Birdies at the 11th and 14th cancelled those errors but he confirmed his title with an eagle-three at the long 17th where he holed from 60 feet.
“That was the first long putt I’ve holed all week,” Longcake added. “It was a good back nine of four under 33 which meant the others had to chase me.”
Murphy’s runner-up spot followed a third place in last year’s event, while Johnstone from nearby Carlisle birdied the last two holes, including a chip-in at the last, for his 73.
But the crowning glory for Longcake was that his victory was witnessed by his 82-year-old father Bill, ten times Silloth club champion and five times Cumbrian champion.
“He suffered a stroke two years ago and I lost my mother last year so it’s been tough for him. So it was nice to have him watch me,” Longcake added before collecting the trophy.

MARK BOOKLESS FINISHES

JOINT 11th IN CHIBERTA

GRAND PRIX

Mark Bookless from Sandyhills Golf Club, Glasgow, last year's Scottish boys' open stroke-play champion, turned the clock back to that title-winning performance at Blairgowrie by finishing a highly creditable joint 11th in an international field for the Chiberta Grand Prix tournament at Biarritz, southwest France today.
Bookless, pictured above by Rob Eyton-Jones, had rounds of 66, 73, 67 and 70 for a four-under-par total of 276 over the tricky par-70 course.
Kris Nicol from Fraserburgh tied for 39th place with a total of 289, made up of scores of 72, 70, 73 and 75.
Greg Paterson (St Andrews) was disqualified after returning a pair of 70s. There was no indication as to why he was ruled out of the tournament.
Frenchman Alexander Levy was the winner with an 11-under-par total of 269 (67 70 68 64), finishing two shots ahead of Billy Hemstock (68 73 64 66) from Teignmouth, Devon and Sweden's Arthur Gabella-Wenne (67 75 65 66).
France's Romain Schneider, who had a second-round 61 to take the lead which he maintained after 54 holes, faded with a closing score of 73 to a share of eighth place on 274.

LEADING TOTALS
Par 280 (4x70)
Players from France unless stated
269 Alexander Levy 67 70 68 64.
271 Arthur Gabelle-Wenne (Sweden) 67 73 65 66, Billy Hemstock (England) 68 73 64 66.
273 Daniel Lokke (Norway) 66 75 66 66, J Pierre Verselin 69 67 68 69.
Selected scores:
274 Romain Schneider 71 61 69 73 (jt 8th).
276 Mark Bookless (Scotland) 66 73 67 70 (jt 11th).
283 Liam O'Neil (England) 69 69 75 70 (jt 24th).
288 Adam Keogh (England) 70 74 73 72 (jt 35th).
289 Kris Nicol (Scotland) 72 70 73 74 (jt 39th).
Disqualified - Greg Paterson (Scotland) 70 70 disq.

Fife men's amateur match-play championship
AT CANMORE GC

Semi-finals
C Martin bt S Michie at 19th.
G Page bt A Moir 2 and 1.

FINAL
Colin Martin (Balbirnie Park) bt Gary Page (Balbirnie Park) 5 and 4.

Frenchman wins on pro debut on

European Challenge Tour

From: Press Officer Roddy Williams
Frenchman Alexandre Kaleka is celebrating his first professional victory - a wire-to-wire in the Allianz EurOpen - just six days after joining the paid ranks.
The 22 year old, who last week was playing for the French team in the European Amateur Team Championships in Wales before opting to turn professional last Monday, shot a final round three under par 68 to finish on 16 under par 268 at Golf du Gouverneur, one clear of playing partner Anders Schmidt Hansen.
It was quite a debut for the young man from Orleans, Paris, becoming only the seventh player to win on his Challenge Tour debut, a select group that includes, most recently, Edoardo Molinari and Martin Kaymer.
“This is a dream,” he said. “It is an unbelievable feeling. I was just trying to play my golf and stick to my routine and stay positive and attack. I just played great golf all week.”
With a maiden title under his belt already, Kaleka can already start thinking about his goal of playing on The European Tour. “If I can win this week, I can win again and then try and get on The European Tour,” he said. “I hope to have this feeling again.”
Kaleka looked to be coasting to victory as he pulled clear of the field with an eagle three on the third and birdie on the fourth. And as Kaleka stepped on the gas, Hansen faltered, dropping a shot on the fifth and compounding his mistake with a double bogey on the sixth.
With nine holes to go it was Kaleka’s to lose and he nearly surrendered his lead as Hansen fought back well. He dropped a shot on the tenth and then went in the water over the back of the 12th green. Memories of another famous Frenchman came to the fore as Kaleka took his shoes and socks off, rolled his trousers up, and proceeded to play the shot. But unlike Jean Van De Velde in The 1999 Open Championship at Carnoustie, Kaleka managed to get the ball out and walk away with just a bogey - and a fair splattering of mud.
“If I had taken a drop I would have had a very bad lie so tried to play it,” he explained. “I got a bit messy but it worked out well. It was a good bogey.”
Hansen closed to within a shot with back-to-back birdies on the 12th and 13th before Kaleka gave himself a two stroke cushion with a birdie on the 15th. That proved enough as even Hansen’s brave birdie on the last for a 69 could not deny the Frenchman.
Kaleka becomes the first Frenchman to win on home soil since Julien Foret in 2006 and the seventh first time winner of the 2009 Challenge Tour season. He was also the second French winner of the year and third wire-to-wire winner.
Hansen played well but ultimately two holes in the middle of the front nine proved his undoing.
“I had some good chances at the beginning when the putter didn’t work and then two bad holes,” he said. “It was difficult to get it back after that. I played well today apart from those two holes where I made a bogey and double bogey. I almost caught him but he holed all the crucial putts today. It was very impressive how he played in his first week as a professional. But I had a good week and this will help me move up the Rankings. Just got to take my good game onto the next week and try and win there instead.”
Remarkably a teammate of Kaleka’s from last week’s European amateur team championship, Victor Dubuisson, claimed a share of third place with England’s Marcus Higley and Austrian Florian Praegant. Dubuisson, however, is likely to remain an amateur until the end of the season.
Andrew McArthur’s hopes of victory ended in disappointment as the Scot fell down the field with a closing 76.
McArthur had high hopes of mounting a title challenge after starting the final round at Golf du Gouverneur in a share of fourth place, five behind the leaders, but any hope of a good finish were dashed with a triple bogey 7 on the tenth.
McArthur closed with a five over par round to finish on three under par 281 and in a share of 36th place.
Peter Whiteford emerged instead as the leading Scot in France as he closed with a two under par 69 and a six under par total of 278 for a share of 17th.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71)
268 A Kaleka (Fra) 63 67 70 68
269 A Hansen (Den) 64 67 69 69
273 M Higley (Eng) 71 68 65 69, F Praegant (Aut) 67 68 72 66, V Dubuisson (am) (Fra) 67 70 69 67
274 F Calmels (Fra) 68 68 69 69
275 C Brazillier (Fra) 69 67 71 68
276 G Houston (Wal) 66 73 67 70, J Arruti (Esp) 68 69 71 68, A Willey (Eng) 70 69 67 70
277 S Bebb (Wal) 70 70 67 70, R Coles (Eng) 72 65 74 66, P Golding (Eng) 67 68 72 70, R McEvoy (Eng) 69 70 71 67, T Carolan (Aus) 65 70 70 72, E Molinari (Ita) 68 71 72 66
278 C Rodiles (Esp) 70 65 72 71, G Paddison (Nzl) 66 73 71 68, B Mason (Eng) 66 70 72 70, J Heath (Eng) 69 71 69 69, J Guerrier (Fra) 73 68 68 69, C Günther (Ger) 67 69 70 72, P Whiteford (Sco) 71 68 70 69
279 L Bond (Wal) 70 66 75 68, R Muntz (Ned) 67 70 72 70, S Davis (Eng) 69 73 67 70, A Snobeck (Fra) 66 72 73 68, A Grenier (Fra) 65 71 71 72, J Grillon (Fra) 67 73 68 71, J Quesne (Fra) 71 66 71 71, J Parry (Eng) 69 68 70 72, C Russo (Fra) 69 69 68 73
280 R Karlberg (Swe) 71 68 69 72, C Suneson (Esp) 70 71 69 70, A Butterfield (Eng) 72 69 65 74
281 R Thuillier (Fra) 71 70 71 69, A McArthur (Sco) 63 72 70 76, C Moriarty (Irl) 71 71 70 69
282 A Gee (Eng) 67 72 70 73, M Zions (Aus) 70 70 70 72, S Juul (Den) 70 70 72 70, R Santos (Por) 67 75 67 73, B Pettersson (Swe) 73 69 71 69, B Lecuona (Fra) 68 68 75 71, J Lando-Casanova (am) (Fra) 71 70 70 71
283 S Manley (Wal) 67 71 74 71, P Rowe (Eng) 71 68 69 75, M Villegas (Col) 70 66 74 73,
284 A Högberg (Swe) 71 70 70 73, J Billot (Fra) 73 69 70 72, D Nouailhac (Fra) 69 69 74 72, M Mills (Eng) 72 68 74 70, A Bernadet (Fra) 69 73 72 70, A Zanini (Ita) 67 74 75 68, B Hebert (Fra) 68 70 73 73
285 N Meitinger (Ger) 69 73 74 69, J Bjerhag (Swe) 71 68 72 74, J Sjöholm (Swe) 72 70 71 72, Z Scotland (Eng) 69 70 76 70, M McGeady (Irl) 65 77 73 70, R Steele (Eng) 70 71 73 71,
286 D Küpper (Ger) 74 66 72 74, D Griffiths (Eng) 70 70 74 72, J Lima (Por) 68 67 76 75, L Gagli (Ita) 70 71 74 71
287 M Cort (Eng) 70 71 74 72, B Miarka (Ger) 70 71 76 70, N Fox (Irl) 77 65 71 74,
288 S Luna (Esp) 73 69 73 73, A Wagner (Arg) 71 71 69 77
291 F Cupillard (Fra) 72 70 72 77
292 L James (Eng) 71 71 77 73, P Niederdrenk (Ger) 75 66 71 80
293 L Westerberg (Swe) 71 70 74 78

Tiger Woods tees off for first practice

at a wet and chilly Turnberry

Rainy, chilly - by US summer standards - weather greeted Tiger Woods for his first practice round over Turnberry today.
Without hitting any balls before hand, he drove off with a long iron just before 1pm.
Caddie Steve Williams must have forgotten to pack his trousers. He was wearing shorts. Only mad dogs and New Zealanders wear shorts in Scotland at any time, and certainly not in July.
Turnberry is uncharted territory for the world's No 1 golfer. Mind you he had never seen Hoylake before he arrived to win his third Open title at Royal Liverpool in 2006.
The last time the Ayrshire links of Turnberry hosted the open was in 1994. Woods did not play in his first open until the following year over the Old Course, St Andrews.
Woods comes into the Open after a victory last week at his own AT&T National, his third victory of the year, each coming two weeks before a major championship. Woods then went on to tie for sixth at both the Masters and U.S. Open.
Last year, Woods missed the Open while he was recovering from reconstructive knee surgery. It was the first time he had not played in a major since 1996, and Padraig Harrington went on to win his second straight Open.
Since returning from surgery in February, Woods has played in nine tournaments, with top 10s in all eight stroke-play events and a US PGA Tour-leading three victories.

Turnberry members lost 480 balls in Open



rough .... but not from the back tees!


FROM THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

By Peter Corrigan
Just so you can get the full flavour of the task facing the world's best golfers in The Open at Turnberry this week, let me pass on some idea about the state of the rough on the Ailsa course.
Player after player who have had a sneak preview have told how tough it is. Padraig Harrington says it is the thickest he's ever seen.
But Colin Montgomerie came out with the most revealing fact. Turnberry members were given the rare treat of playing on The Open course a couple of weeks ago.
Usually club members are forbidden to tread the hallowed fairways for weeks before the event but 150 of them were allowed to play a medal on the Ailsa.
Between them they lost 480 balls in the tall and cruelly-thick rough. I don't have a record of the scores but I am told they were very high and there were between 70 and 80 "no returns".
In other words, half the competitors either ripped up their cards or gave up keeping count of the shots they'd taken. You get a few "NRs" in most club medals but that number represents a slaughter of epic proportions.
And the members weren't even playing off The Open tees. They were off the whites.
It does help to get some perspective on the difficulties presented by an Open course when you see how ordinary golfers perform on it.
Back in the days when golf stars used to have a pint or two with the press during tournaments I remember Wayne Grady propounding his belief that before every major tournament club golfers should be sent out to sample the problems the pros face and prove how hard is the challenge. He suggested the Press would be ideal for the job.
I said it was like sending canaries down a mine shaft but it is a good idea to send out guinea pigs to give us a measure of how tough it is.
Watching the top golfers in action on television can often make the game look too easy and not give a true impression of their achievements.
If you are at the course as a spectator you can see the distances involved and the level of accuracy required and you can feel whatever discomforts the weather is bringing. You also see the bad shots as well as the good.
What you see at home is a sanitised version. TV foreshortens a course, smooths out the bumps and hollows, hides the difficulties. And the cameras tend to show better players making the better shots with apparent ease.
There is an upside to this because the seeming simplicity of it all persuades people to take up the game. By the time they discover they've been conned, they're hooked.
Since I've been moaning about the rough at Royal Porthcawl I shall be taking a close look at Turnberry's rough this week and an even closer look at how the pros keep out of it.
Of course, the pros will have far more help than Turnberry's members in finding the balls that go adrift. Thousands of spectators will be assisting by trampling down the grass.
There will be even more than usual when they hear there's a good few balls waiting to be found.

O'Hara is on Grunwell's tail as Sutherland

Chalice moves into final round at D&G

Local hero Michael Grunwell is still leading in the Sutherland Chalice 72-hole SGU Order of Merit tournament, sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland, at Dumfries & Galloway Golf Club.
But his two-shot halfway advantage has shrunk to one shot after he shot a third-round par-matching 70 for a 54-hole tally of eight-under-par 202.
Paul O'Hara (Colville Park), a member of Scotland's European title-winning team, is hot on the trail of his second SGU Order of Merit event victory of the season - he won the Edward Trophy at Glasgow Gailes at the end of April.
Paul had a third round 68 to be a shot off the pace on 203.
Kilmacolm banker Mathew Clark, beaten by Gavin Dear in a play-off for the Craigmillar Park Open at the start of the season, is sharing third plAce with S Crichton of Aberdour.
Banchory's James Byrne, winner of back-to-back events, the Tennant Cup and the East of Scotland Open, continued his roller-coaster weekend with a third-round 73. He dropped five shots to par over his first two holes of his opening round but birdied the first four in his second round. He is one of a bunch on 209 - seven shots to make up over the last 18 holes.

HOW THEY STAND AFTER THREE ROUNDS
Par 210 (3x70). CSS 71 71 71
202 M Grunwell (Powfoot) 68 64 70.
203 P O'Hara (Colville Park) 69 66 68.
205 M Clark (Kilmacolm) 68 68 69, S Crichton (Aberdour) 72 65 68.
206 C Thomson (East Renfrewshire) 69 66 71, C Watson (East Renfrewshire) 69 67 70, K McAlpine (Alyth) 66 70 70, S McEwan (Caprington) 69 70 67.
208 G Yates (Hilton Park) 69 71 68.
209 James Byrne (Banchory) 72 64 73, D Addison (Kilmarnock Barassie) 70 67 72, R Graham (Hayston) 72 68 69, P Latimer (St Andrews New) 71 69 69, M McNae (Dumfries & Galloway).
210 G Campbell (Blairgowrie) 68 71 71, S Binning (Ranfurly Castle) 70 70 70.
211 M Daily (Erskine) 71 656 74, P Ferrier (Baberton) 68 69 74, J White (Lundin) 68 70 73, L Johnston (Dumfries & Co) 73 69 69.
212 S Pinckney (Arizona State Univ) 72 67 73, F McKenna (Balmore) 76 67 69, S Gibson (Southerness) 72 71 69.
213 L Kirton (Newmachar0 71 70 72, G Robertson (Glenbervie) 71 70 72,
M Smyth (Royal Troon) 69 72 72, B Sloan (Cathkin Braes) 74 69 70.
214 R Crowe (Westerhope) 68 70 76, S Rennie (Drumpellier) 69 70 75, G Stevenson (Whitecraigs) 72 68 74, C Riddick (Southerness) 70 74 70.
215 A Dick (Kingsknowe) 69 70 76, W Bremner (Edzell) 74 69 72, J Ross (Royal Burgess) 72 71 72, B Rushford (Grangemouth) 74 70 71.
217 N Hamilton (Dumfries & Galloway) 72 70 75.
218 C Hamilton (New Zealand) 70 70 78.
219 M Main (Thornton) 69 71 69, F Campbell (Clober) 69 74 76.
220 S Maxwell (Windyhill) 71 70 79.
221 C Harkins (Ayr Belleisle) 73 70 78.

Professional poker player Dusty fights

USGA to remain an amateur golfer

The case of the amateur golfer/successful online poker player versus the United States Golf Association will have a preliminary hearing tomorrow in a US District Court in Portland, Oregon.
The golfer's name is Dusty Schmidt. He wants to compete - anywhere - as an amateur golfer, but the USGA - as powerful in American golf as the R&A is on this side of the Atlantic - claims that he forfeited his amateur golfer status when he devised, then publicised a $1 million challenge to anyone who could beat him at 72 holes of golf and at poker.
Schmidt has filed a complaint seeking a temporary restraining order on the USGA action that would allow him to keep his amateur status and play in a series of events in the Pacific Northwest.
Schmidt admits he's no angel but says he is an innocent victim who simply wants to compete in the sport he loves. But the USGA case claims he is a self-promoter who flouted the rules for amateur status with his golf-and-poker challenge.
"At the end of the day, I'm trying to get my amateur golfer status back. I am trying to fight for my right NOT to make money playing golf, basically," he said. "I just want to play golf, and I believe I should be allowed to play golf."
Schmidt was a promising young golfer in Southern California who turned pro after a year at the University of Irvine. His pro golf career ended abruptly when he had a heart attack at age 23.
During his rehabilitation, Schmidt took up online poker, i.e. poker played for cash on the Internet.
Shmidt, now 28, estimates he's made $3 million gambling online and lives a comfortable lifestyle. But what he says he really wants to do is play golf competitively but as an amateur.
The USGA revoked his amateur status on June 11 when they got wind of the "Million Dollar Challenge" that Schmidt proposed in April through a website he co-owns, 10thGreen.com. The challenge was also the subject of a press release.
The crux of Schmidt's argument is that no one took him up on the golf+poker challenge, so he never did play anyone for money.
In court documents, the USGA maintains that Schmidt's challenge violated a rule aimed at actions "detrimental to the best interests of the amateur game," and another related to gambling and the spirit of the rules.
"Having promoted his prize money golf/poker contest for two months and having obtained tremendous publicity for himself, his entrepreneurial website and his prize money scheme, Mr Schmidt cannot unring the bell no matter how hard he tries," the USGA said in court documents.
Schmidt, who plans to represent himself in court, realises that in this one the odds are stacked against him.

USPGA Nationwide Tour Scoreboard
FORD WAYNE GRETZKY CLASSIC
The Georgian Bay Club, Lora Bay, Clarksburg, Ontario, Canada
THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 213 (3x71)
196 Roger Tambellini 64 66 66
198 Garth Mulroy 67 66 65
200 Blake Adams 68 68 64, David Branshaw 67 66 67
202 Chris M. Anderson 67 68 67
203 Craig Bowden 65 71 67, Josh Broadaway 67 69 67, Derek Lamely 69 68 66, Dustin Risdon 68 69 66, Brian Stuard 68 68 67
204 Craig Barlow 67 69 68, Paul Claxton 67 66 71, Bubba Dickerson 67 69 68, Alex Prugh 70 67 67, Kyle Reifers 61 72 71
205 Gavin Coles 70 68 67, Bret Guetz 68 70 67, Jon Mills 70 69 66, Cameron Percy 69 69 67, Matthew Richardson 68 67 70, Brian Smock 66 69 70, Dan Wax 67 70 68
206 Ryan Armour 67 71 68, Justin Bolli 66 68 72, Chad Collins 68 68 70, John Kimbell 69 68 69, Fran Quinn 68 69 69
207 D J Brigman 66 70 71, Gary Christian 69 67 71, Jason Enloe 64 69 74, Brenden Pappas 65 72 70, Martin Piller 68 67 72, Jhonattan Vegas 67 70 70
208 Ben Bates 68 69 71, Scott Gardiner 70 69 69, JJ Killeen 65 69 74, Jin Park 68 70 70, Michael Sims 68 69 71, Byron Smith 70 66 72, Joseph Sykora 69 67 72, Dustin White 72 66 70
209 Matthew Every 72 68 69, Todd Fischer 69 66 74, Steve Friesen 69 71 69, Tom Gillis 70 70 69, David McKenzie 67 71 71, Tjaart Van Der Walt 71 69 69
210 Michael Arnaud 67 69 74, Graham Delaet 73 67 70, John Ellis 69 65 76, Seung Su Han 70 70 70, Bob May 71 69 70, Mauricio Molina 67 73 70
211 Christopher Baryla 66 69 76, Jeff Gallagher 68 72 71, Jeff Gove 68 72 71, Troy Merritt 72 67 72, Kyle Thompson 71 69 71
212 Andrew Buckle 70 69 73, Chris Nallen 67 73 72, Dennis Paulson 70 66 76, Ron Whittaker 67 72 73
213 Bryan DeCorso 69 71 73, Todd Demsey 68 72 73, Martin Flores 71 69 73, Michael Putnam 70 70 73
214 Brad Fritsch 70 70 74

USPGA Champions' Tour
3M CHAMPIONSHIP
TPC Twin Cities, Blaine, Minneapolis
SECOND ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72)
133 Nick Price (Zim) 65 68
134 Andy Bean 65 69, Gene Jones 66 68
135 Bernhard Langer (Ger) 67 68
136 Scott Hoch 67 69, Tom Kite 69 67
137 Steve Thomas 73 64
138 Dan Forsman 67 71, Fuzzy Zoeller 70 68, Larry Mize 71 67
139 John Cook 71 68, Mike Goodes 68 71
140 Bruce Vaughan 71 69, Dana Quigley 71 69, Mark McNulty (Irl) 70 70, Mark James (Eng) 71 69, Jay Haas 71 69
141 David Edwards 70 71, Fulton Allem (Rsa) 68 73, R.W. Eaks 70 71, Brad Bryant 70 71, Mark O'Meara 71 70, Chip Beck 71 70, John Morse 70 71, Ronnie Black 67 74
142 Gary Hallberg 68 74, Bruce Fleisher 69 73, Tom Jenkins 73 69, Jeff Sluman 72 70, Ben Crenshaw 68 74, Keith Fergus 70 72, Wayne Levi 70 72
143 James Mason 74 69, John Harris 71 72, David Eger 72 71, Hale Irwin 72 71, Jerry Pate 70 73
144 Olin Browne 71 73, John Jacobs 70 74, Don Pooley 71 73
145 Mike McCullough 71 74, Gil Morgan 71 74, Joey Sindelar 69 76, Mike Hulbert 70 75, Gary McCord 73 72, Fred Funk 70 75, Graham Marsh (Aus) 71 74, Bobby Wadkins 73 72, Tim Simpson 73 72
146 Mike Reid 73 73, Lanny Wadkins 71 75, Morris Hatalsky 71 75, Blaine McCallister 74 72, Lonnie Nielsen 71 75, Tom McKnight 72 74, Robert L Thompson 69 77, Bruce Lietzke 73 73, Phil Blackmar 72 74, Scott Simpson 75 71, Allen Doyle 78 68
147 Mark W Johnson 73 74, Mitch Adams 75 72, Dave Stockton 75 72, Hal Sutton 72 75, Leonard Thompson 73 74
148 Denis Watson (Zim) 71 77, Tom Purtzer 75 73, Mark Wiebe 75 73, Tom Herzan 75 73, Bob Gilder 72 76
149 Jim Thorpe 78 71, Larry Nelson 75 74
150 Jay Sigel 79 71, Ron Streck 73 77
151 Jim Colbert 75 76, Dave Eichelberger 77 74
153 Bruce Summerhays 77 76
154 Jim Dent 73 81
156 Peter Jacobsen 75 81

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE R&A

Withdrawn Competitors

The following competitor has withdrawn from The Open Championship.

Shingo Katayama (Japan) has withdrawn and is replaced from the OWGRanking Reserve List by Steve Marino (USA).

Reserves:
Rod Pampling (Australia) is now Reserve 1.
Thomas Levet (France) is Reserve 2.
John Senden (Australia) is Reserve 3.
Charlie Wi (Korea) is Reserve 4.
John Rollins (USA) is Reserve 5.

There's be another 'Tiger' after Woods ...

Padraig Harrington predicts Tiger Woods will break Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 majors - and that somebody else will then come along and win even more.
This coming week's Open Championship at Turnberry sees Harrington, winner for the last two years, out to stop Woods claiming his 15th major.
"I do believe he (Woods) will - all records are going to be changed," said Harrington. "If Tiger Woods set that record 30 years ago and Jack Nicklaus was in his prime now, Jack would beat the record. All you're basically looking at is each generation produces somebody who is most likely to beat whatever record is there."
He continued: "Jack did it in his time, Tiger is going to do it in his time.
"You can't compare the two of them because they never played against each other and we'll never know who is the best.
"All I know is that if Tiger beats Jack Nicklaus' record, somebody will beat it in time."

US PGA TOUR REPORT

Rocket man Stricker zooms into second

place at John Deere Classic

Look out! Here comes Steve Stricker! He rocketed into second place at the US PGA Tour's John Deere Classic at Silvis, Illinois with a 10-under-par round of 61, equalling the course record and matching the lowest score of his career. He had only 22 putts in his memorable round.
But Steve is still three shots behind leader Darron Stiles with Sunday's decisive 18 holes to come.
Joint first-round leader with Lee Janzen, Stiles had a 65 to stay on top of the heap at 13-under-par 129.
But it was Stricker who hogged the limelight on a sunny day at TPC Deere Run. The Wisconsin native and Illinois alum had plenty of support from the crowd as he assaulted a course that was battered the previous day by the second big rain storm of the week, causing the second round to be pushed back.
By the time he was through, he was at 10-under for the tournament after matching a record set by 2002 champion J.P. Hayes. That put him in contention for his sixth US PGA Tour victory and second this year heading into the final two rounds on Sunday.
“I have to admit I didn’t see it coming,” Stricker said. “I warmed up very poorly on the range this morning. I spent some time out here yesterday later in the day and putted a lot and found a little catch there in my putting.
"I made a lot of great putts today. I wasn’t very aggressive at times, but I hit the ball well and gave myself some opportunities.”
Tim Petrovic (67) and Jerry Kelly (64) are on Stricker's tail at 9-under, and two-time U.S. Open champion Janzen (70) is in a pack at 8-under.
With 36 holes scheduled for catch-up Sunday, the players are staring at a long day and a short break between rounds — if they get one at all — because they won’t be re-grouped.
“You may not be playing with the leader at all,” Stricker said. “The leader could be behind us, in front of us. You don’t know where they can come from.”
Stricker seemed to come out of nowhere after an even first round. He teed off on No. 10 in the morning and set the tone with birdies on four of his first six holes. The assault continued on No. 17, when he holed out with a wedge from 93yds for an eagle on the par-5 to go 6-under, and he made the turn at 7-under after draining a 17ft birdie putt on 18.
Two more on the first and second holes dropped him to 9-under, and that’s when thoughts of the Tour-record 59 started creeping into Stricker’s head. The momentum momentarily came to a stop when he bogeyed the par-3 No. 4, but that vision came back on the par-4 sixth when his 130yd approach settled 8 feet from the cup to set up a birdie to go 10 under with three holes remaining.
“It entered my mind, but yet, I tried to play smart, too, and not get crazy and do anything out of my norm,” Stricker said.
So he settled for a course record, instead of a Tour record. He delivered one of his best performances, instead of a historic performance. Overall, quite a day.He needed just nine putts on his first nine holes and 22 in all, matching a career-best.The 61 tied the career low he set in January in the third round at the Bob Hope Classic. He followed that with a 62 but wound up in a tie for third after a collapse on the fifth day.
“I feel comfortable going low and I don’t get spooked,” said Stricker, who won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in May.
As low as he went on Saturday, he still has some more work ahead of him to finish the job. Standing in Stricker’s way is Stiles, a 36-year-old who has never finished higher than ninth on the tour and had made just one of 11 cuts this year. Now, he has the lead heading into Sunday.
“I’ve done it before,” said Stiles, a four-time winner on the Nationwide Tour. “Maybe not on the big tour, but I’ve done it."
SECOND ROUND TOTALS
Par 142 (2x71)
129 Darron Stiles 64 65
132 Steve Stricker 71 61
133 Jerry Kelly 69 64, Tim Petrovic 66 67
134 Scott McCarron 68 66, Kirk Triplett 67 67, Lee Janzen 64 70, Greg Owen (Eng) 67 67, Jason Day (Aus) 66 68, J J Henry 65 69, Ryan Palmer 70 64, Brandt Snedeker 67 67, Scott Verplank 70 64
135 Chris Stroud 67 68, Chad Campbell 68 67, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 67 68, Dean Wilson 65 70, Jimmy Walker 71 64, Matt Bettencourt 65 70, Frank Lickliter II 69 66
136 Kenny Perry 68 68, Spencer Levin 67 69, Charley Hoffman 71 65, Ken Duke 71 65, Todd Hamilton 68 68, Heath Slocum 69 67, Tommy Gainey 69 67, Peter Lonard (Aus) 67 69, Matthew Jones (Aus) 68 68
137 Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 67 70, Webb Simpson 68 69, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 67 70, Jason Bohn 67 70, Brian Davis (Eng) 67 70, Pat Perez 69 68, Kyle Stanley 71 66, Zach Johnson 69 68, Jason Dufner 71 66, Mark Brooks 69 68, Garrett Willis 69 68, Kevin Streelman 70 67, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 68 69, Mark Calcavecchia 68 69, Cameron Beckman 71 66, Johnson Wagner 70 67, D.J. Trahan 71 66
138 Chris Riley 71 67, Bart Bryant 69 69, Robert Garrigus 68 70, Charles Howell III 69 69, Brett Quigley 69 69, Roland Thatcher 70 68, Marc Leishman (Aus) 68 70, David Mathis 69 69, Bryce Molder 69 69, Casey Wittenberg 72 66, Davis Love III 70 68, Ted Purdy 68 70, Matthew Borchert 66 72, Steve Elkington (Aus) 69 69, Jack Newman 71 67, George McNeill 67 71, Jay Williamson 70 68, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 70 68, Ryan Moore 71 67
139 Charles Warren 72 67, Michael Bradley 72 67, Andrew Ruthkoski 68 71, Eric Axley 73 66, Lucas Glover 69 70, John Senden (Aus) 70 69, Matt Kuchar 71 68, Harrison Frazar 71 68, Scott Piercy 72 67, Steve Marino 71 68, Derek Fathauer 72 67, Bob Estes 70 69, Rich Beem 70 69, Bo Van Pelt 69 70, Dicky Pride 66 73
MISSED THE CUT
140 Kris Blanks 70 70, Vaughn Taylor 71 69, Bill Lunde 72 68, Jeff Quinney 68 72, Joe Ogilvie 71 69, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 72 68, David Berganio jun 68 72, Tom Lehman 72 68, Kevin Sutherland 69 71, Bob Tway 68 72, Danny Lee (Nzl) 70 70, Ricky Barnes 69 71, Marc Turnesa 70 70
141 Mark Hensby (Aus) 72 69, David Duval 75 66, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 72 69, Mike Van sickle 70 71, Cliff Kresge 67 74, Brian Bateman 72 69, Jeff Klauk 68 73, Brian Vranesh 70 71, Scott Sterling 73 68, Leif Olson 74 67, Briny Baird 68 73, Jason Gore 75 66
142 Brad Adamonis 71 71, Patrick Sheehan 68 74, Tag Ridings 73 69, David Toms 71 71, Gary Woodland 72 70, Charlie Wi (Kor) 73 69, Jeff Maggert 72 70, Bill Haas 75 67, Guy Boros 71 71, Glen Day 72 70, Bob Heintz 71 71, Troy Matteson 74 68, Matt Weibring 73 69
143 Scott Gutschewski 73 70, J.L. Lewis 67 76, Chez Reavie 74 69
144 Brendon De Jonge 76 68, Peter Tomasulo 70 74, Zack Sucher 73 71, Wil Collins 72 72, Woody Austin 73 71, James Driscoll 75 69, Philip Francis 73 71, Nathan Green (Aus) 70 74, Kevin Stadler 72 72, Troy Kelly 75 69
145 Jonathan Kaye 76 69, Colt Knost 71 74, J.P. Hayes 74 71, Brady Schnell 70 75, Mark Wilson 75 70, Joel Kribel 74 71, Steve Allan (Aus) 70 75, Rick Price 77 68
146 D A Points 71 75, Brandt Jobe 73 73
147 Joe Durant 76 71, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 73 74
148 Brad Faxon 77 71, Shaun Micheel 75 73, Notah Begay III 73 75
149 Robert Gamez 74 75, Brendon Todd 77 72, Nicholas Thompson 74 75, Tyler Aldridge 73 76
150 Kent Jones 76 74
153 Aaron Krueger 75 78

Hugh Hunter's Clackmannan County News

CLACKMANNAN BOYS STAR IN NATIONAL EVENT

Clackmannan county boys' champions Lawrence Allan (Alva) and Gary Chalmers (Dollar) put in a couple of very good performances at the Scottish Under-16 championships at Largs (par 70) last week.
In the 54-hole event, both made the cut into the top 40 after two rounds and finished well up the field. Lawrence, who has another year to go in this event, finished 16th equal and Gary 26th equal.
If you were to exclude the competitors from outwith Scotland, Lawrence and Gary would have finished seventh and 13th equal, placings that must give them some confidence for the Under-18s stroke-play event, to be held at Ladybank soon.
Lawrence started with a finely-compiled 73 with Gary a bit further back with 78. Looking at a cut figure of just over 150 for two rounds, the boys did what was needed with second rounds of 75 for Lawrence - it could have been a good bit better because he dropped strokes in the closing holes - and a great 71 from Gary.
In the final round, both boys held on to their positions with steady rounds. The highlight for Gary in the last round was an eagle 3 at the third hole, while Lawrence just outscored Gary in birdies with eight to seven over the three rounds.
Clackmannan county president Sam Kinnaird was delighted by their performances. “Clackmannanshire probably has the best group of boys for some time and we hope they will continue improving towards national honours,” he said.
RESULTS
221 Lawrence Allan (Alva) 73 75 73 (jt 16th).
225 Gary Chalmers (Dollar) 78 71 76 (jt 26th).
The tournament was won by Grant Forrest (Craigielaw) with a one-under-par total of 209 (70 68 70).

AND JOHN IS THERE TOO!
Alloa’s John Salmond is fast developing into an outstanding junior golfer with wins in the Braehead and Muckhart boys' events. He crowned these in spectacular fashion when he lifted the premier men’s event at his own Club, the Purkis Trophy.
John gave a quality field a golfing lesson with a four-under-par 66 to win the event by six shots, justifying his one-handicap status. John has one more year at junior level, and could give the top Scottish juniors a run for their money.

Alyth Open top prizewinners Sandy Squires (left) and Steve Richardson (right) with Alyth Golf Club captain Willie Robertson. Image and competition details by courtesy of Jim Docherty, manager-secretary of Alyth GC.

Sandy Squires pips Nicky Barr in Alyth 36-hole Open

Downfield two-handicapper Sandy Squires beat Nicky Barr (Craigie Hill) by virtue of a better second round to claim the top scratch prize in the Alyth Golf Club men's 36-hole open, played in calm conditions.
Third prize went to local Billy Grace who edged out Blairgowrie Stewart Graham, again by a better second round.
The handicap prize went to Forester Park's Steve Richardson.
Details:
Scratch
137 S Squires (Downfield) 69 68 (better second round), N Barr (Craigie Hill) 68 69.
138 B Grace (Alyth) 69 69 (better second round), S Graham (Blairgowrie) 67 71.
Handicap
134 S Richardson (Forester Park) (17) 66 68.
136 I Davidson (Alyth) (13) 68 68 (better second round), D Watson (Blairgowrie) (4) 67 69.
138 B McLean (Alyth) (8) 70 68.

+Note to organising officials: If you want your open competition results and prizewinners' displayed on Scottishgolfview.com, all you have to do is to E-mail them to Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Please follow the above style for laying out the results (in handicap results, we need to show the players' handicaps) as well as their net scores.