It's Martin v An in US amateur championship final

Sunday's 36-hole final of the 109th United States men's amateur championship at Southern Hills, Tulsa in Oklahoma will feature a 17-year-old South Korean, Beyeong-Hun An and a 21-year-old senior year student from Clemson Univesity, Ben Martin from Greenwood, South Carolina.
If An wins he will replace last year's winner Danny Lee, also Korean-born, as the youngest ever in the history of the championship.
If Martin wins he will end a 20-year gap since Chris Patton in 1989 became the first and only player from South Carolina and Clemson to win the coveted Havenmeyer Trophy.
Martin advanced by defeating Charlie Holland, 23, of Dallas and a senior at Texas, 5 and 4, while An, a native of South Korea who has been living in Bradenton, Florida the past 3 1/2 years, beat Bhavik “Bobby” Patel, 18, of Bakersfield, Calif., and a sophomore at Fresno State, 3 and 2 in today's semi-fnals.
While the top prize will be decided on Sunday, both finalists gained the biggest U.S. Amateur perk – the traditional invitation to play in next year’s Masters at Augusta National and a spot in the starting field at the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
“I’m still in school, so I’ll definitely play in the Masters,” said Martin, who has attended the tournament for the past 10 years with his dad, Jim, who is caddying for him this week. “So I’ll stay amateur through the summer in order to play in the (U.S.) Open again (he qualified and missed the cut this year).

Gleneagles greens are the European Tour's

worst of the season - says leader Hedblom

The putting surfaces on the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles Hotel came in for more fierce crticism today - even from the Swede, Peter Hedblom, who has displaced Paul Lawrie at the leader with one round to go in the Johnnie Walker Championships at the Perthshire venue.
Hedblom said that in his opinion they were the worst greens the European Tour players have had to suffer this season.
Hedblom, who lost a play-off in Holland last week, fired a third-round 68 to overtake Lawrie, whose bogeys at the 15th and 16th holes led to a one-over 73.
They are eight under par and seven under respectively with 18 holes to play, and Hedblom said: "The scoring would be much lower if the greens were better. You know you're going to miss some short ones and you just need to keep cool - but it's tough."
His only dropped shot came on the 13th when he failed to hole from under three feet.
An hour later Northern Ireland's Jonathan Caldwell, two off the lead at the time, four-putted there from even closer range for a triple-bogey 7
Hedblom has recently started a practice putting routine of holing eight three-foot putts in a row and then eight from four feet, but he added: "I haven't managed it once this week.
"I was there almost two hours the other day and was pulling my hair out. I'm supposed to keep going until I do it, but I just had to stop."
Last year Lee Westwood called for the Gleneagles greens on the PGA Centenary Course to be ripped up and relaid before the 2014 Ryder Cup is played there.
Next August the controversial course will again be staging the final counting event for Europe's side and captain Colin Montgomerie - also this week's tournament chairman - admits the problem will not be solved by then.
Montgomerie, who returned a 72 to remain level par, stated: "They have a five-year (improvement) plan and this is the second year. There is obviously work to do. By definition, a five-year plan takes five years. The greens won't improve tomorrow, but there is nothing to worry about for the Ryder Cup – they will be fantastic by then.
"They weren't so good at the K Club about five or six years before the Ryder Cup was played there and they were fine come the championship, so I think the same goes for these."

SCROLL DOWN TO READ THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE REPORT ON THE SATURDAY PLAY AND THE SCORES.

GB&I boys step up a gear to win

Jacques Leglise Trophy 14.5-9.5

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE R&A
Great Britain and Ireland have won the 2009 Jacques Leglise Trophy Match at Ganton Golf Club, Yorkshire after defeating the Continent of Europe by 14 ½ points to 9 ½.
Having finished day one only one point ahead of the European team, GB&I found another gear today, winning the morning foursomes by 2 ½ to 1 ½ before dominating the afternoon singles 5 ½ to 2 ½.
For GB&I captain, Paul Dunne, the victory represented an important ambition achieved. A measure of importance that these young players place on the match, Dunne had turned down a place in the Irish men’s team, who played in the Home Internationals at Hillside earlier this week, to compete in the Jacques Leglise.
“It feels great, the boys just played so well. They just took one shot at a time and they kept the ball in play,” explained Dunne.
“I was offered a spot in the (Ireland) men’s team this year but I decided that this was more important to me as I’ve never played for GB&I before. I won’t get any other chances to play this whereas, hopefully, I can play in the full Irish side for many years to come.”
“I was thrilled when I heard that Paul was playing, it was a wonderful gesture,” added GB&I boys' chairman of selectors, Peter McEvoy. “There’s something about Paul Dunne.”
The honour of holing the winning putt went to Max Smith of England, who completed a 4&3 victory over Finland’s Toni Hakula to seal the result.
“It’s brilliant,” said Smith. “It’s been a great event which I’ve enjoyed so much. And it’s fantastic to be a part of the team that’s won.”
“We play a lot of golf on this sort of course so maybe a little bit of experience helped us in being able to keep the ball low and really control our shots. So in that way we might have had a bit of an edge over the Europeans.”
Andreas Pallauf, the Continent of Europe’s non-playing captain, concurred, but felt there was a little but more to it: “I do think they are a bit more used to these conditions,” he said, “but our players maybe didn’t play up to the standard they know they can achieve. They had the potential to win but GB&I were always there. They played beautifully; the short-game especially was where there was a difference.
“On the day, they were better on and around the green than we were.”
But, without exception, all of the 18 boys competing this week exhibited a level of golf in, at times, dreadful conditions that would have not been out of place at a major championship.
“People think you’re exaggerating when you say that their ball striking is comparable to the top professional game,” explained McEvoy, himself a two-time Amateur champion and five-time GB&I Walker Cup competitor. “But it really is. If you stuck any of these lads in the practice ground at a European Tour event, you wouldn’t be able to pick them out.”
Next year’s Jacques Leglise Trophy Match will be held in Italy.
Full match results from both days of the 2009 Jacques Leglise Trophy Match are available on www.randa.org.
Scottishgolfview Editor's note: Paul Shields (Kirkhill), Scotland's only representative in the match, lost his opening-day foursome in partnership with Paul Dunne but won his singles by 4 and 3 against Robin King.
Today, Shields did not play in the foursomes but won his singles tie even more easily, beating Max Rohrig 5 and 4.

Tartan Tour Scoreboard

MURRAYFIELD PRO-AM
Friday, August 28
Par 70
65 Alan E Reid (West Lothian), Alan Lockhart (Ladybank) £925.50 each.
66 Callum Nicoll (Prestwick) £617.
67 Alastair MacKenzie (Duddingston), Graeme Lornie (Paul Lawrie Foundation) £416.47 each.
68 Michael McAllan (Murrayfield), Mark Loftus (Cowglen) £287.80 each.

BATHGATE PRO-AM
Saturday, August 29
Par 71
66 Mark Loftus (Cowglen).
67 Greig Hutcheon (Bnacory).
68 Lee Harper (Archerfield Links).
69 Brian Mason (Callaway Golf), Fraser McLaughlan (Bothwell Castle), Fraser Mann (Musselburgh), Chris Kelly (Cawder).
70 Christopher Currie (Caldwell), Mark King (Kingsfield).
71 Gordon Law (Uphall), Jonathan Lomas (unatt).
72 Paul Wardell (Whitekirk), Sean O'Donnell (Balbirnie Park), Alan Lockhart (Ladybank), David Orr (East Renfrewshire), Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs), Craig Matheson (Falkirk Tryst).
73 Steven Taylor (Bothwell Castle), Euan Cameron (Hamilton), Stewart Savage (Dalmuir), Lindsay Mann (Carnoustie), Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills), Hamish Kemp (Bishopbriggs), Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle), Andrew Oldcorn (Kings Acre), Ross Neil (Drumpellier).
74 Graem Lornie (Paul Lawrie Foundation), Christopher Russell (RAW Golf Course Design), Mark Kerr (Marriott Dalmahoy).
TEAM EVENT
57 (-14) Team led by Lee Harper (Archerfield Links).
58 Teams led by Brian Mason (Callaway Golf) & Sean O'Donnell (Balbirnie Park).

SOUTH EAST DISTRICT OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

Title-holder Scott Borrowman

misses the cut at Dunbar

Defending champion Scott Borrowman (Dollar) failed to beat the halfway cut on a windy day for the opening two rounds of the South East District Open Championship at Dunbar Golf Club.
Borrowman finished with a 36-hole aggregate of 161 (19 over the par) with rounds of 77 and 84 for the par 71 lay-out.
Only the leading 36 players on 13 over par 155 or better qualified.
Former US college circuit player Daniel Somerville (St Andrews) led the qualifiers into the second day with scores of 71 and 70 for one-under-par 141.
He leads by one stroke from Craigielaw's Myles Cunningham who shot 72 and 70.
Kevin McAlpine (Alyth), four-stroke winner of last week's North of Scotland open amateur championship for the David Blair Trophy, is handily placed once ahead with scores of 74 and 72 for 146 - five off the pace with 36 holes to play. But Nairn youngster and former British boys championship finalist Fraser Fotheringham, who finished fourth at Lossiemouth last Sunday, failed to beat the cut.

SECOND-ROUND LEADERS
Par 142 (2x71). CSS 72 72
141 Daniel Somerville (St Andrews) 71 70.
142 Myles Cunningham (Craigielaw) 72 70.
144 Gordon Stevenson (Whitecraigs) 74 70.
146 Graham Davidson (Winterfield) 73 73, Kevin McAlpine (Alyth) 74 72.
147 Mark Hillson (Craigielaw) 73 74, Richard Gill (Craigmillar Park) 77 70, Greg Paterson (St Andrews) 75 72, Kris Nicol (Fraserburgh) 72 75.
148 Dean Muir (Dunbar) 75 73, Malcolm Campbell (Swanston New) 75 73.
150 Ed Wood (Crow Wood) 74 76.
151 Bryan Fotheringham (Forres) 77 74, Gordon Yates (Hilton Park) 76 75, Stephen Neilson (Dunbar) 75 76, Steven Armstrong (Turnhouse) 78 73, Paul Betty (Hayston) 74 77, Stephen Neilson (Dunbar) 75 76.
Selected scores:
152 Matthew Clark (Kilmacolm) 75 77, Peter Spearman-Burns (NZ) 75 77.
153 Philip McLean (Peterhead) 75 78.
154 Alexander Culverwell (Dunbar) 78 76, Richard Grfaham (Hayston) 76 78.
155 Craig Watson (East Renfrewshire) 80 75, Keith Reilly (Silverknowes) 75 80, Adam Dunton (McDonald Ellon) 76 79.
MISSED THE CUT (155 or better)
156 Allyn Dick (Kingsknowe) 78 78.
157 Euan Polson (Inverness) 83 74, Neil Paterson (Dunbar0 78 79.
159 Steven Rennie (Drumpellier) 81 78.
160 Ross Crowe (Westerhope) 77 83, John Yuille (Royal Burgess) 81 79.
161 Scott Borrowman (Dollar) 77 84, John McGuinness (Dunbar) 81 80.
162 Fraser Fotheringham (Nairn) 83 79.
164 Richard Craig (Merchants of Edinburgh) 78 86, Graeme Fraser (Kingsknowe) 89 75.
165 Ian Redford (St Andrews New) 83 83.
167 Tom Caldwell (Silverknowes0 79 88, Chris Lawton (Stirling) 83 84.

Eric Ramsay leads Challenge Tour event by

four strokes with a round to go in Poland

From Challenge Tour Press Officer Paul Symes
Carnoustie's Eric Ramsay will carry a four-stroke lead into the final day of the DHL Wroclaw Open after carding a superb round of 65 on the third day.
Ramsay, who is still searching for his maiden Challenge Tour victory, closed with two birdies at Toya Golf and Country Club in Wroclaw, Poland, to finish on 16 under par.
His playing partner and fellow countryman Scott Jamieson found water on the 15th hole to drop back to 12 under par, level with England’s Andrew Butterfield and Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts, who both shot rounds of 66.
Ramsay, whose previous best finish was tied second in the 2007 Apulia San Domenico Grand Final, said: “It was a good day – I enjoyed playing with Scott. It was quite close with five or six holes left to play, but I had a decent finish which gives me a nice little cushion. But it’s important not to get into a defensive mindset tomorrow – I’ve just got to go out there and play my natural game.
“There are so many birdie opportunities out there, so a four-shot lead can disappear very quickly. I had a three-shot lead after the first day but got caught, so I certainly won’t be taking anything for granted. I’ll just try to relax tonight and get a good night’s sleep, then go out there and just try to do what I’ve been doing. I’m sure I’ll be keeping my eye on the leaderboards – I’d be silly not to.”
Jamieson was unable to replicate the form which saw him shoot a 62 on the second day, but the Scot was still happy to be in contention to land his maiden Challenge Tour title on only his 15th Tour appearance.
Speaking after his one under par round of 69, he said: “It’s always hard to follow up a low round, but I was three up through 14 and then hit a poor tee shot on the 15th which rolled into the water and cost me a double bogey, so that set me back a bit. I had a good chance for birdie at the last but that slid by, so it was a disappointing round but tomorrow’s another day.
"If I can get off to a good start and put some pressure on Eric, then anything can happen. I’m sure I’ll have a few nerves in the morning, but that’s only natural. You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t get nervous, but sometimes it can work in your favour.”
With one victory already behind him this season and a European Tour card for next season virtually assured, Butterfield can afford to relax and may be the man to put pressure on Ramsay.
The current Number Two, whose four birdies all came after the turn, said: “I probably played equally well on both nines, but just holed some putts on the back nine – that was the only difference really. I got going with birdies on the 10th and 11th, and after that I was up and running. I feel a lot happier with my game now – I don’t think I lost my confidence as such when I missed those three cuts, but it’s certainly very high now.
“Another 66 would do me very nicely tomorrow. I don’t know if it’ll be enough to win, but I’m just pleased to be playing well again. I can’t go top of the Rankings with a win, but it’d be nice to close the gap on Edoardo [Molinari] and give him a run for his money. But a lot can happen between now and the end of the season, particularly with Kazakhstan coming up. It’ll just be nice to go there in good form.”
Butterfield’s compatriot Steven Tiley is in fifth place on 11 under par after his round of 64, which was the joint lowest of the day; whilst another Englishman, David Griffiths, aced the 14th hole en route to a round of 65 which moved him to nine under par.
THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
194 E Ramsay (Sco) 61 68 65
198 A Butterfield (Eng) 66 66 66, N Colsaerts (Bel) 68 64 66, S Jamieson (Sco) 67 62 69
199 S Tiley (Eng) 66 69 64
200 M Wiegele (Aut) 68 66 66, C Gane (Eng) 67 67 66, R McEvoy (Eng) 66 66 68, L Gagli (Ita) 67 66 67
201 D Griffiths (Eng) 71 65 65, J Guerrier (Fra) 66 64 71, J Parry (Eng) 67 68 66, B Mason (Eng) 70 67 64, N Smith (USA) 68 65 68
202 R Santos (Por) 66 69 67, J Larsen (Nor) 67 66 69, N Meitinger (Ger) 67 68 67
203 S Surry (Eng) 66 72 65, F Fritsch (Ger) 68 67 68, O Floren (Swe) 71 68 64, C Günther (Ger) 68 68 67, C Moriarty (Irl) 69 67 67, A Bossert (Sui) 69 65 69, J Theunis (Bel) 70 67 66,
204 G Davies (Eng) 67 70 67, A Mellor (Eng) 65 66 73, J Olesen (Den) 69 64 71, T Whitehouse (Eng) 70 66 68, S Saavedra (Arg) 64 70 70, K Sullivan (Wal) 66 69 69
205 M Korhonen (Fin) 68 67 70, C Russo (Fra) 68 68 69, M Mills (Eng) 67 69 69, J Quesne (Fra) 67 70 68, D Wardrop (Eng) 69 67 69, G Boyd (Eng) 66 70 69, R Karlberg (Swe) 65 69 71, A Grenier (Fra) 68 71 66, A McArthur (Sco) 68 68 69
206 G Houston (Wal) 70 68 68, M Laskey (Wal) 71 67 68, A Högberg (Swe) 69 70 67, A Bernadet (Fra) 69 68 69, A Gee (Eng) 71 68 67, C Smith (Wal) 69 68 69, M Reale (Ita) 66 70 70, L De Jager (RSA) 69 68 69
207 B Taylor (Eng) 67 69 71, C Brazillier (Fra) 71 68 68, J Little (Eng) 68 71 68, G Shaw (Nir) 68 67 72
208 V Riu (Fra) 67 67 74, S Henry (Sco) 69 66 73
209 B Parker (Eng) 72 66 71, R Steele (Eng) 69 69 71, P Del Grosso (Arg) 66 73 70, D Marmion (Eng) 72 66 71
210 S Jeppesen (Swe) 73 66 71, P Purhonen (Fin) 68 70 72, J Arruti (Esp) 66 70 74, G Woodman (Eng) 74 65 71
211 D Ulrich (Sui) 69 70 72, A Kaleka (Fra) 70 69 72, P Kaensche (Nor) 70 69 72, R Davies (Wal) 69 70 72
212 C Aguilar (Esp) 66 72 74
213 A Bruschi (Ita) 71 68 74
214 A Hansen (Den) 70 69 75
219 J Elson (Eng) 71 68 80

Hedblom leads by one stroke from Paul

Lawrie with 18 holes to go at Gleneagles

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Sweden's Peter Hedblom takes a one-shot lead into the final day of The Johnnie Walker Championship over the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles Hotel after a difficult, blustery day at the Perthshire venue.
Hedblom, loser of a play-off at the KLM Open in The Netherlands last week, fired a third round 68 to overtake the 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie, who carded a one over 73 after being bogey-free through his first 36 holes.
Hedblom, whose only dropped shot came on the 13th when he missed from under three feet, said: “Today's round felt really, really good. I didn't feel, you know, very good at the practice round this morning. I was a little bit delayed, as well, so I was hurrying up a little bit and didn't feel that good and didn't hit it very good.
“I came out and played really good today, very similar to last week when I played really good the third round. I didn't really hit too many bad shots and felt like I holed some putts, as well, which is not that easy on the greens, but overall, it was a fun day.”
He added: “I felt really good today and relaxed, so hopefully I can feel like that tomorrow.”
Lawrie, who was in a bunker on the 17th but saved par from 15 feet, said: "Overall, I thought it was a very tough day, toughest day of the week so far, for me.
“The wind was blowing extremely hard. And it was changing direction quite a bit out there, which made club selection quite difficult. We got quite a few wrong today, because it just kept dropping and changing so that was hard.
“I could have easily been a couple under after five, and was one over. I hit three really good shots at the first three holes, lipped out with two of them, serious lipouts too, I mean.
“I hit a good shot at five and made a bogey. That shot was right down the pin, made a hard bounce and made bogey, and so you find yourself one over from not hitting a poor shot.
“But obviously that's golf and that's what happens. Overall, one over, I played a lot better than that, but that's the score you get.”
Hedblom and Lawrie are eight under par and seven under respectively, leading a group of four on six under: France’s Gregory Bourdy, Jamie Donaldson of Wales, Denmark’s Soren Hansen and Motherwell’s Steven O'Hara.
“It was pretty blowy all day, we had quite a bit of rain off and on, overall I’m pretty happy with the score,” Donaldson said.
“You don't have to go ballistic. You've just got to know how to do it I suppose and put yourself in positions, and here we are in position.”
He added: “Obviously the more you put yourself up there, the easier it is I suppose. I've just kept doing it week after week, and all I can do is just keep doing it and keep concentrating on one shot at a time.”
O’Hara is trying to become the first player in European Tour history to win after surviving the halfway cut with nothing to spare. The 29-year-old matched the low round of the week with his 66 early in the day.
In contrast, double the Masters Tournament champion Jose Maria Olazabal bogeyed the final four holes for a 77 that dropped him from fifth to 32nd alongside Colin Montgomerie.

European Tour Scoreboard
JOHNNIE WALKER CHAMPIONSHIP
Gleneagles Hotel PGA Centenary Course, Perthshire
THIRD ROUND
Par 216 (3x72)
208 Peter Hedblom (Swe) 72 68 68
209 Paul Lawrie 67 69 73
210 Soren Hansen (Den) 69 70 71, Jamie Donaldson 69 71 70, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 70 69 71, Steven O'Hara 68 76 66
211 Richard Bland 72 72 67, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 69 70 72, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 70 69 72, Maarten Lafeber (NIrl) 71 67 73, Gregory Havret (Fra) 68 76 67
212 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 69 69 74, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 70 71 71, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 73 69 70, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 72 70 70, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 72 69 71
213 Danny Lee (Nzl) 71 70 72, Danny Willett 69 71 73, Graeme Storm 69 74 70
214 Jonathan Caldwell 72 66 76, Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 72 70 72, David Carter 74 70 70, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 74 70 70, Pablo Martin (Spa) 72 71 71, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 70 72 72
215 Gary Murphy 73 69 73, Damien McGrane 72 72 71, Gary Orr 73 71 71, Oliver Wilson 73 68 74, David Lynn 76 68 71, Bradley Dredge 75 67 73
216 Alan McLean 69 73 74, Colin Montgomerie 76 68 72, Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha) 70 70 76, Anthony Wall 69 75 72, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 71 68 77, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 72 70 74, Phillip Archer 71 69 76, Ross McGowan 74 68 74
217 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 69 75 73, Alexander Noren (Swe) 69 74 74, Michael Curtain (Aus) 72 70 75, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 70 73 74
218 Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 70 72 76, Richie Ramsay 71 73 74, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 71 71 76, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 72 71 75, Simon Khan 70 72 76, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 72 69 77, David Dixon 76 68 74, Richard Finch 73 70 75, Chris Doak 72 72 74
219 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 73 71 75, John E Morgan 70 71 78, Ake Nilsson (Swe) 68 73 78, Stephen Dodd 73 70 76, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 68 73 78, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 71 72 76, Simon Dyson 76 68 75
220 Gareth Maybin 69 73 78, Inder Van Weerelt (NIrl) 73 71 76, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 71 71 78
223 Gary Lockerbie 72 72 79, Scott Arnold (Aus) 71 72 80
227 Wil Besseling (NIrl) 73 70 84

O'Hara out in 31 at windy Gleneagles

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
England's Richard Bland and Scot Steven O'Hara both defied strong winds to make significant strides through the field in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles today.
Both had survived the halfway cut with nothing to spare at level par, but with three and nine holes of their third rounds to play they had moved up from joint 48th to joint fifth.
Bland, first man out, turned in 34 and then eagled the driveable 12th - reduced to 280 yards because of the wet state of the fairway - and picked up another birdie at the 14th.
O'Hara, meanwhile, eagled the 516-yard second and birdied the fourth, fifth and eighth to turn in a magnificent 31.
They were up to five under par, only three behind former Open champion Paul Lawrie, who led by two at halfway from Northern Ireland rookie Jonathan Caldwell, Dutchman Maarten Lafeber and Argentina's Daniel Vancsik.
In the group ahead of O'Hara his fellow countryman Colin Montgomerie, another to make it into the weekend by the skin of his teeth, double-bogeyed the third, but came back with birdies on the sixth, seventh and ninth to stand one under.

South Korean An (17) could break US

amateur's youngest winner record

One year after Danny Lee surpassed Tiger Woods as the youngest winner in the history of the United States men's amateur championship, South Korean-born Byeong-Hun An is two wins away from making it two straight years the record is broken.
"I never thought about that," said An, a 17-year-old who beat Stanford junior Steve Ziegler at the 21st in Friday's quarter-finals at Tulsa, Oklahoma.
"I didn't know I could make it this far, because I was playing bad before. It would be awesome if I win, but I'm happy winning tomorrow's match to get in the Masters."
Last year's champion, Danny Lee -- 18 years and one month old at the time -- broke Woods' record by just under seven months. Now, An's hoping to break it again.
He won't turn 18 until September 17.
An's opponent in today's semi-finals will be Fresno State sophomore Bhavik Patel, who defeated Clemson senior Phillip Mollica by one hole in the quarters.
Texas senior Charlie Holland defeated Oklahoma State sophomore Peter Uihlein in 19 holes to reach the other semi-final against fourth-seeded Ben Martin, who finished his college career at Clemson last year. Martin beat Arkansas senior David Lingmerth 2 and 1.
An squandered a three-hole lead on the back nine, bogeying the 17th and 18th holes to give Ziegler a chance in extra holes. It was the second straight day that Ziegler was two down as he arrived at the 17th hole, only to win the last two holes.
An prevailed when Ziegler missed the green with his second shot at the third extra hole and An followed by leaving his right in the middle of the green. When Ziegler missed a long par putt, he flipped his putter into the air and swatted at it before removing his cap to shake An's hand.
"I'm pretty happy obviously because it's quite an accomplishment to get this far in the tournament," said Ziegler, who will be exempt at next year's event by reaching the quarter-finals. "There are a lot of guys who went home unhappy a lot earlier. But then again, it's a lot of mixed emotions because I know I had a chance to do something pretty special."
Sports success runs in An's family. An's father, his caddie this week, and mother both won Olympic medals in table tennis in the 1988 Seoul Games. Not quite a decade later, An was six and following his dad around at the driving range when he tried golf.
"I guess I had nothing to do that day other than just hit some shots," An said. "I think my dad liked it. He liked my swing."
He started playing tournaments at age 7 -- "I wasn't that good," he admits -- and developed enough that three years ago, he and his father moved from South Korea to Florida to take advantage of the top-notch golf facilities. He was the runner-up at this year's American Junior Golf Association Rolex Tournament of Champions and a quarter-finalist at the Western Amateur before qualifying for the U.S. Amateur earlier this month.
If not for the tournament, he'd be in school this week at Bradenton Preparatory Academy -- and he's got another tournament next week.
"I'm missing the first two weeks of school. Pretty bad," he said.
An conceded that he was impressed when he looked around at the range earlier this week and saw top-ranked amateurs like Rickie Fowler and Morgan Hoffman. Now, he's outlasted both -- and just about everyone else, too.
"I don't have to feel different than them. We're the same golfers," An said. "They're better players than me, but we all qualified for this tournament, so I think we all have the same golf ability."

O'Meara's last-hole eagle has him flying high

after Boeing Classic's opening round

Former Open champion Mark O'Meara got an eagle 3 at the 18th hole to completed a six-under-par 66 and take a two-stroke lead at the end of the first round in the US Champions (Seniors) Tour's Boeing Classic at Snoqalmie, Washington State.
O'Meara has never won on the American over-50s pro circuit and it's 11 years since he won both the US Masters and the (British) Open in 1998, two peak performances that helped him to go as high as No 2 in the world rankings.
His last victory any description was on the European Tour - the Dubai Desert Classic in 2004.
"Absolutely, it would be nice to win. Besides winning at Dubai the last thing I won was the par-3 competition at Augusta National two years ago," O'Meara joked. "It would be nice to get my first win and hopefully soon."
O'Meara was 5 under after making birdie on No. 12, but fell back into the pack after a bogey on 16. On the uphill, 498-yard par 5 finishing hole -- that ranked the easiest hole in last year's tournament -- O'Meara knocked a 3-iron from about 205 yards to 17 feet. He then curled in the eagle putt, one of only two golfers on Friday to eagle the closing hole.
It was O'Meara's best opening round of the year and the second time he's led after the first round of a Champions Tour event. But leading after the first round at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge, the picturesque foothills course about 30 miles east of Seattle has not been a good thing in the first four years of the tournament. No first-round leader has gone on to win.
"Today the difference was I putted well. Last week I hit the ball well ... and didn't putt very well," O'Meara said. "This week, so far I've putted a lot better and hit some really good shots."
Australian Mark McNulty had the best round of the day going, shooting a sizzling 6-under 30 on his first nine holes -- the back nine at Snoqualmie Ridge. But with the big names of O'Meara, Nick Price, Gary Player and defending champion Tom Kite sent off on the front side, very little attention was paid to McNulty. He made the turn and played his 10th hole with a gallery of just seven people watching.
But McNulty couldn't keep the rhythm from his hot start going. He scrambled for pars on the first three holes of his backside, then bogeyed his 13th hole. He bogeyed his last -- the par-3 ninth -- when his tee shot on the 207-yard hole with water fronting the green found one of the greenside bunkers.
"You shoot 6 under the first nine and come back 2 over it's always disappointing," McNulty said.
Joining McNulty at 4 under were Allen Doyle, Loren Roberts and John Jacobs, who has played in just one tournament in the last two months. Jacobs, who limits himself to 11 tournaments a year, eagled No. 8, his 17th, to jump into contention.
The oldest winner on the Champions Tour was Mike Fetchick, who won the Hilton Head Seniors Invitational on his 63rd birthday in 1985. Jacobs wouldn't mind supplanting him.
"I've thought about that," the 64-year-old said. "It might not happen this week, but I tell you what, if I behave myself it will happen."
Fifteen players were within three shots of O'Meara, including Kite, the two-time champion, John Cook and Bernhard Langer. It's been a busy, coast-to-coast week for Kite, who played in last week's Tradition in Sunriver, Ore., then jetted to the East Coast to promote Liberty National, the course he helped design and is being used this week for The Barclays.
Then it was back to Seattle, where Kite birdied three straight on the back nine before pulling his second shot into a bunker on 18 and making bogey. Thirty-two golfers broke par Friday, including Hale Irwin (70), Craig Stadler (70), Fuzzy Zoeller (71) and Hal Sutton (71).
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72
66 Mark O'Meara
68 Loren Roberts, Mark McNulty (Irl), John Jacobs, Allen Doyle
69 Gil Morgan, Bernhard Langer (Ger), Tom Kite, Joe Ozaki (Jpn), Don Pooley, James Mason, Bruce Vaughan, John Cook, Dan Forsman, Chip Beck, Nick Price (Zim)
70 Bruce Lietzke, R.W. Eaks, Russ Cochran, Craig Stadler, Bob Gilder, Hale Irwin
71 Mike McCullough, Gary Hallberg, Mark James (Eng), Morris Hatalsky, Hal Sutton, Brad Bryant, John Harris, Fuzzy Zoeller, Scott Simpson, Sandy Lyle (Sco)
72 Jeff Sluman, Blaine McCallister, Fred Funk, Ronnie Black, Wayne Levi, Robert L Thompson, Mark Wiebe, Lonnie Nielsen, Bobby Wadkins
73 Phil Blackmar, Bruce Fleisher, Gene Jones, Larry Mize, Jay Don Blake, Jerry Pate, Tim Simpson
74 Andy Bean, Fulton Allem (Rsa), Tom Jenkins, Jeb Stuart, Steve Thomas, Tom McKnight, Graham Marsh (Aus), Dave Eichelberger, Olin Browne
75 Kirk Hanefeld, Bruce Summerhays, Tom Wargo, Jeff Coston, Lanny Wadkins, David Eger
76 Denis Watson (Zim), Jim Thorpe, Tom Purtzer, John Morse, Ben Crenshaw, Eduardo Romero (Arg)
77 David Edwards, Gary Player (Rsa), Keith Fergus, Mike Reid, Isao Aoki (Jpn)
78 David Ogrin
79 Mike Hulbert, Mike Goodes
84 Jim Albus

Rookie Webb Simpson leads at Liberty National

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
US PGA Tour rookie Webb Simpson defied difficult conditions in the second round of The Barclays at Liberty National, New Jersey to take a two-shot lead at the halfway stage.
The 24-year-old American shot a three-under-par 68 to move to eight under, two clear of countrymen Steve Marino and Paul Goydos, who both settled for level par.
With Tropical Storm Danny affecting the east cost of the US, most players struggled, but for Simpson it was a welcome return to form after missing 10 of his last 19 cuts after beginning his tour career with two top-10 finishes.
Fredrik Jacobson and Heath Slocum tied for fourth at four under while England's Ian Poulter led in the clubhouse for much of the day on three under despite only managing a one-over-par 72.
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That was the same mark as Steve Stricker and Richard S Johnson, with Ernie Els one further back after an impressive 68, the joint best round of the day with Simpson.
Sergio Garcia had a day to forget after his 65 in round one, the Spaniard dropping to a tie for 11th after a 76.
Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington also struggled, a 75 leaving him on level par heading into the weekend, the same score as Englishman Luke Donald, whose 69 was one of only four under 70, and world number one Tiger Woods.
Justin Rose's 72 ensured he made the cut, which should be enough to earn him a spot at next week's Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston.
"I was in a precarious situation this week," said the Englishman. "Miss the cut and I don't advance. Make the cut and I'm pretty much assured.
Defending champion Vijay Singh was an early casualty, though, the Fijian shooting a second successive 75 to miss the cut by three.

US PGA Tour Scoreboard
THE BARCLAYS
Liberty National, Jersey City, New Jersey
SECOND ROUND
Par 142 (2x71)
134 Webb Simpson 66 68
136 Steve Marino 65 71, Paul Goydos 65 71
138 Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 66 72, Heath Slocum 66 72
139 Steve Stricker 69 70, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 68 71, Ian Poulter (Eng) 67 72
140 Charley Hoffman 66 74, Ernie Els (Rsa) 72 68
141 D.A. Points 70 71, Nick Watney 68 73, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 68 73, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 65 76, Matt Kuchar 68 73, Tim Clark (Rsa) 71 70
142 Tiger Woods 70 72, Zach Johnson 70 72, Brian Gay 70 72, David Toms 67 75, Stewart Cink 70 72, Bill Haas 72 70, Jim Furyk 69 73, Mike Weir (Can) 71 71, Cameron Beckman 70 72, Luke Donald (Eng) 73 69, Troy Matteson 71 71, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 67 75
143 Bill Lunde 70 73, Jeff Overton 72 71, Lee Janzen 68 75, Alex Cejka (Ger) 71 72, Jason Day (Aus) 70 73, Justin Leonard 68 75, Robert Allenby (Aus) 68 75, Scott Verplank 73 70, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 71 72
144 Hunter Mahan 72 72, Dustin Johnson 70 74, John Rollins 71 73, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 70 74, Bo Van Pelt 70 74, Harrison Frazar 73 71
145 John Senden (Aus) 72 73, Davis Love III 70 75, Joe Ogilvie 73 72, Kevin Sutherland 69 76, Todd Hamilton 71 74, Greg Owen (Eng) 71 74, Kevin Na 73 72, Phil Mickelson 70 75, J J Henry 72 73, Justin Rose (Eng) 73 72, Tim Petrovic 69 76, Boo Weekley 75 70
146 Jerry Kelly 72 74, James Nitties (Aus) 71 75, John Mallinger 74 72, Kevin Streelman 68 78, Charles Howell III 76 70, Kenny Perry 71 75, Charlie Wi (Kor) 73 73, Anthony Kim 75 71, J.B. Holmes 73 73, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 77 69, Jonathan Byrd 72 74, Ryan Moore 68 78
147 Chris Riley 72 75, Adam Scott (Aus) 75 72, Vaughn Taylor 71 76, Mark Wilson 72 75, Fred Couples 71 76, Bob Estes 73 74, Ben Crane 74 73, Chad Campbell 72 75, Brett Quigley 70 77, Brandt Snedeker 72 75
MISSED THE CUT
148 George McNeill 72 76, Nathan Green (Aus) 71 77, Mark Calcavecchia 69 79, John Merrick 68 80, Steve Flesch 72 76, Bubba Watson 74 74, Matt Bettencourt 77 71, Jason Bohn 74 74
149 Scott McCarron 76 73, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 76 73, K J Choi (Kor) 73 76, Bryce Molder 75 74, Stephen Ames (Can) 70 79
150 Robert Garrigus 75 75, Jason Dufner 73 77, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 73 77, James Driscoll 74 76, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 72 78, Vijay Singh (Fij) 75 75, Kevin Stadler 76 74, Jeff Maggert 71 79, Briny Baird 75 75, D.J. Trahan 76 74
151 Jeff Klauk 74 77, Brian Davis (Eng) 73 78, Pat Perez 71 80, Marc Leishman (Aus) 74 77
152 Michael Allen 75 77, Tim Herron 76 76, Woody Austin 76 76, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 72 80
153 Ted Purdy 75 78, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 76 77
154 Sean O'Hair 77 77, David Mathis 79 75, Scott Piercy 76 78
156 Lucas Glover 75 81, Jeff Quinney 78 78, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 74 82, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 78 78
157 Chris DiMarco 77 80
158 Roland Thatcher 79 79
159 Ben Curtis 75 84
Withdrew: Michael Letzig 69, Camilo Villegas (Col) 75, Chris Stroud 77, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 78
Disqualified: 148 Steve Flesch 72 76

Singapore, Philippines and Pakistan qualify

for Omega Mission Hills World Cup

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ASIAN TOUR
Petaling Jaya , Malaysia , August 29: Muhammad Shabbir and Muhammad Munir etched their names in the history books when they guided Pakistan to their first Omega Mission Hills World Cup after finishing in the top-three at the Asian Qualifier today.
The unheralded Pakistani duo shot a superb three-under-par 68 in the final round foursomes at Seri Selangor Golf Club to finish third behind winners Singapore, represented by Lam Chih Bing and Mardan Mamat, and the Philippines pair of Mars Pucay and Angelo Que.
Lam and Mardan secured their fourth World Cup appearance together after claiming a one-stroke victory following a closing 72 for a four-day total of 15-under-par 269 while Que and Pucay also signed off with a 72 to finish one back.
A World Cup appearance continues to elude the Malaysian pair of Iain Steel and Danny Chia as they ended fourth after a battling 71 while Myanmar finished a further three strokes behind following a 74.
“Pakistan have played in the cricket World Cup, hockey World Cup and squash World Cup but never before in our history that we’ve been in golf’s World Cup. We showed that we are in there for the first time and hopefully we will be able to perform well in China ,” said a delighted Munir, who plays on the Asian Tour.
“I don’t know how to describe how we feel right now. I’m sure everyone in Pakistan will be very happy,” he added.
Pakistan mixed their scorecard with four birdies against two bogeys before a nailing a crucial final birdie on the 18th hole to seal an historic debut against the world’s best in China later in November.
Shabbir, who recently recovered from a long-term back injury, relied on Munir’s experience and said his partner steered them to third place. “I couldn’t read the greens this week and I told Munnir that I was out of form. But he told me that he had confidence in me and he guided me along. That’s why we made the cut.”
Lam and Mardan last qualified for the World Cup in 2006 at Seri Selangor and they were delighted to win again at the par-71 course.
“Two years now that we have played here and twice we’ve won it. Maybe this course likes us or we like the course. We kept ourselves very relaxed and that was the key. We managed to complete our mission and get ourselves into the top-three,” said Mardan, a double Asian Tour winner.
Lam, winner of last year’s Volvo Masters of Asia, said: “All we did was to focus on our own game. Starting out with a big gap over third place this morning, we were comfortable out there. The World Cup is such an enjoyable experience and I really missed playing in it the last couple of years.”
Pucay and Que also qualified for their second straight World Cup appearance after a solid week. They recovered from an early bogey with an eagle on the sixth hole before dropping shots again with double bogeys on the 10th and 18th holes to finish with a four-day total of 270. Que was pleased they achieved their goal.
“It didn’t matter if we finished first, second or third, it only mattered if we qualified for the World Cup. It was a relaxing feeling after nine holes,” said Que, who finished top-10 at the World Cup with Pucay last year.
Pucay is relishing the opportunity to better their top-10 finish at Mission Hills. “There was no pressure for us. We just wanted to hit it on the fairway on every hole. And that’s what we managed to achieve and we are happy and excited making it into the World Cup again.”
Malaysia ’s Chia and Steel, chasing Malaysia ’s first World Cup appearance in eight years, fought gamely but a bogey on the 17th hole dashed their hopes. Steel, playing in his fifth qualifier, praised Pakistan for their courageous effort.
“ Pakistan played well. They shot three under and in this format it is very good. I had a feeling after the 14th hole that we needed to make some birdies and we were pressing but unfortunately, we didn’t get it done,” said Steel.
The Omega Mission Hills World Cup Asian Qualifier is supported by One World Hotel, Srixon and 100Plus.
FINAL TOTALS
269 – Singapore (LAM Chih Bing, Mardan MAMAT) 64-71-62-72
270 – Philippines (Mars PUCAY, Angelo QUE) 60-72-66-72
274 – Pakistan (Muhammad SHABBIR, Muhammad MUNIR) 68-73-65-68
(Top three teams qualify for Omega Mission Hills World Cup)
276 – Malaysia (Danny CHIA, Iain STEEL) 66-74-65-71
279 – Myanmar (Zaw MOE, Soe Kyaw NAING) 67-73-65-74
284 – Hong Kong (David FREEMAN, WONG Woon Man) 66-72-67-79
286 – Bangladesh (Milon AHMED, Siddikur RAHMAN) 69-74-69-74
293 – Indonesia (Maan NASIM, SARMILIH) 69-77-72-75
296 – Sri Lanka (Lalith KUMARA, Anura ROHANA) 70-77-68-81
296 – Nigeria Christian UTUBOR, Edet UMOH) 70-80-69-77
308 – Ghana (Theophilus KODJO, Emos KORBLAH) 74-81-75-78
309 – Brunei (Faiz DAMIT, Pengiran HASSANAL) 74-77-77-81
332 – Mauritius (Rajesh MOHUN, Jocelyn SAVRIMOOTOO) 77-89-74-92
DQ – NEPAL (Ramesh NAGARKOTI, Pashupati SHARMA) 82-84-75

Note: The first and third rounds used the four-ball format, the second and final rounds the foursomes format.