No one can hold that Tiger! Woods

goes seven clear with 9-under 62

Tiger Woods is back in business. Not that he's ever been away. He has shot into a seven-stroke lead in the US PGA Tour's BMW Championship at Cog Hill with a brilliant round - his lowest of the year - of nine-under-par course record score 62.
Tiger simply spreadeagled the 68-man field in this the third and penultimate FedEx Cup play-off event.
Woods also tied the tournament record, set last year by Jim Furyk outside St. Louis at Bellerive.
A course renovated by Rees Jones with hopes of landing a U.S. Open was no match for Woods. He never came close to missing a green in regulation.
His shot of the day was a three-wood from just over 300 yards to within 10 feet of the flagstick at the par-5 ninth for an eagle.
Woods is at 16-under 197 after 54 holes and has his largest lead on the US PGA Tour since he was eight shots in front in the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines early last year.
He will play in the final pairing Sunday with Brandt Snedeker, who had a 66. Marc Leishman had a 68 and joined Snedeker at 9-under 204, both of them hopeful of finishing high enough to get into the Tour Championship.
THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Par 213 (3x71)
197 Tiger Woods 68 67 62
204 Marc Leishman (Aus) 67 69 68, Brandt Snedeker 69 69 66
205 Matt Kuchar 71 68 66, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 68 68 69
206 John Senden (Aus) 70 70 66, Mark Wilson 69 66 71
207 Jim Furyk 70 70 67, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 71 68 68, Bubba Watson 69 68 70, Luke Donald (Eng) 70 69 68
208 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 66 70 72, Zach Johnson 73 65 70, Sean O'Hair 70 68 70, Bo Van Pelt 67 69 72, David Toms 68 71 69, Ian Poulter (Eng) 69 71 68
209 Kevin Na 72 72 65, Kevin Sutherland 75 67 67
210 Phil Mickelson 71 69 70, Anthony Kim 69 69 72, Bill Haas 71 68 71
211 Steve Marino 66 77 68, Heath Slocum 70 69 72, Charles Howell III 69 72 70
212 John Rollins 73 65 74, Chad Campbell 70 70 72, Mike Weir (Can) 72 69 71, Stephen Ames (Can) 76 67 69
213 Dustin Johnson 69 73 71, Brian Davis (Eng) 71 70 72, Steve Stricker 72 73 68, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 72 71 70, Jason Dufner 74 70 69, Camilo Villegas (Col) 68 74 71, John Mallinger 68 76 69
214 Nick Watney 70 71 73, Bryce Molder 70 73 71
215 Hunter Mahan 73 73 69, Jeff Overton 72 68 75, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 72 72 71
216 Charlie Wi (Kor) 71 73 72, Kenny Perry 77 69 70, Pat Perez 72 71 73, Charley Hoffman 73 71 72, Robert Allenby (Aus) 75 74 67, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 68 73 75, Stewart Cink 72 74 70
217 Justin Leonard 73 69 75, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 73 75 69, Scott Verplank 70 75 72, Webb Simpson 70 74 73
218 Jerry Kelly 76 73 69, Davis Love III 74 77 67, Ryan Moore 71 72 75
219 Paul Goydos 74 72 73, Ernie Els (Rsa) 75 67 77, Brian Gay 73 71 75, Jason Day (Aus) 71 73 75, Jason Bohn 71 74 74
220 Ben Crane 75 69 76, Nathan Green (Aus) 73 74 73, Lucas Glover 74 75 71, Woody Austin 76 72 72, Tim Clark (Rsa) 78 69 73
221 Jonathan Byrd 69 79 73
222 Y.E. Yang (Kor) 71 78 73
223 J.B. Holmes 78 73 72

Mercedes-Benz Championship in Cologne

Paul Lawrie three shots off the pace in joint

seventh place behind Peter Hanson

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Peter Hanson could be the man to give Sweden their third successive victory on the European Tour on Sunday.
After the victories for Peter Hedblom in Scotland and Alex Noren in Switzerland, the 31-year-old Hanson leads England's Simon Dyson, Dane Soren Hansen and South African James Kingston by one entering the final round of the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Cologne.
If he goes on to win, it would also keep the trophy in Swedish hands. Robert Karlsson, unable to play this week because of an eye problem which has kept him out since May, triumphed by two last year.
Three behind England's Chris Wood and Australian Scott Strange at halfway, Hanson came through with a joint best-of-the-day 67 while they shot 73 and 74 respectively.
Dyson won the KLM Open in Holland three weeks ago and his 68 came after he followed birdies on the 13th and 14th with an 18-foot eagle putt at the next.
"Confidence is amazing," said the 31-year-old. "When it's low you can't see yourself getting it, but when it's high you don't see it going away.
"I've probably not dedicated myself as well as I should have, but I'm really giving it everything now.
"I want to be pitting my wits against the best players in the world. I was hoping I would be by now, but I've seen my mates playing them and I want to be there."
Paul Lawrie is the top Scot on 208 - only three off the pace - after a third-round 69. The Aberdonian is in joint seventh place. Next Scot is David Drysdale on 210 after a 73.

THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
205 Peter Hanson (Swe) 70 68 67
206 James Kingston (Rsa) 67 69 70, Soren Hansen (Den) 65 71 70, Simon Dyson 68 70 68
207 Anthony Wall 69 70 68, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 70 68 69
208 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 68 71 69, Chris Wood 66 69 73, Anders Hansen (Den) 70 68 70, Paul Lawrie 68 71 69
209 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 69 69 71, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 70 67 72, Scott Strange (Aus) 67 68 74
210 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 69 72 69, David Drysdale 67 70 73, Darren Clarke 70 70 70, Alex Cejka (Ger) 70 72 68
211 Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 71 71 69, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 71 70 70, Lee Westwood 70 69 72
212 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 72 69 71, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 71 72 69, Graeme McDowell 70 72 70, Colin Montgomerie 72 69 71, Marcel Siem (Ger) 70 70 72, Paul McGinley 72 68 72, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 70 72 70
213 Alexander Noren (Swe) 71 72 70, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 71 68 74, Danny Willett 72 70 71, Tano Goya (Arg) 74 69 70
214 Anthony Kang (USA) 71 71 72, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 72 74 68, Ross Fisher 67 69 78, Stephen Dodd 69 74 71, Richard Finch 69 72 73, Scott Drummond 71 69 74, Thomas Levet (Fra) 70 71 73
215 Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 74 68 73, Christian Nilsson (Swe) 69 76 70, Markus Brier (Aut) 69 73 73, Jamie Donaldson 74 70 71, Graeme Storm 69 68 78
216 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 71 72 73, Bernhard Langer (Ger) 71 75 70, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 74 69 73, Hennie Otto (Rsa) 73 71 72, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 76 72 68, Gareth Maybin 76 73 67, Florian Fritsch (Ger) 74 71 71, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 70 74 72
217 Robert Rock 70 72 75, Steve Webster 76 67 74, David Howell 71 74 72, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 76 71 70, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 69 76 72
218 Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 72 76 70, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 73 70 75, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 72 73 73, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 75 72 71, Johan Edfors (Swe) 78 71 69
219 Shane Lowry 75 72 72
220 Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 78 73 69, Damien McGrane 72 72 76, Nick Dougherty 69 76 75, Kenneth Ferrie 72 78 70
221 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 70 74 77
222 Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 73 70 79, John Bickerton 74 73 75, Gregory Havret (Fra) 77 72 73
223 Alastair Forsyth 74 75 74, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 77 75 71, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 70 73 80
225 Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 76 78 71, Mark Brown (Nzl) 75 75 75
227 Michael Hoey 76 77 74
232 Michael Campbell (Nzl) 77 79 76
234 Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 79 81 74

Americans take opening foursomes

3-1 in Walker Cup at Merion

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By MARK REASON
Britain and Ireland are trying to win the Walker Cup with a team of kids, and it was the more experienced Americans who took a surge of momentum into the afternoon singles at Merion Golf Club. They won the morning foursomes 3-1, an advantage that almost always leads to victory in the two-day, four sessions of play event.
Brian Harman, who helped the Americans to a 2 & 1 win in the crucial opening game, played in the Walker Cup four years ago with Anthony Kim. When he saw Kim partnering Phil Mickelson at last year's Ryder Cup, Harman texted him: "I'm still the best left-hander you're ever played with."
Harman was certainly too good for Wallace Booth and Sam Hutsby at the top of the order.
But the crusher for Colin Dalgelish's team came in the second match of the day. Walking off the 16th green Gavin Dear and Matt Haines were ahead against Peter Uihlein and Nathan Smith, but they lost both of the final two holes.
Stiggy Hodgson and Niall Kearney won the final match of the morning for GB&I, thanks to some fiendish putting from Hodgson. The 19-year-old said: "Putting is the strongest part of my game. Anywhere inside of 10 feet and I can be fairly deadly."
When did we last hear such words from an Englishman in America. But although Hodgson's brilliance on the greens limited the morning deficit to two points, you have to go back to 1995 to find the last time a team came back to win after losing the opening round of foursomes.
Padraig Harrington, who played on that winning team 14 years ago against an American side that included Tiger Woods, was yesterday trying to catch Woods for the lead of the BMW Championship.
The BMW is the penultimate tournament of a FedExCup series that culminates in a $10 million bonus next week. Harrington said: "They should give out the cash on the 18th green. We could take it in a wheelbarrow up to the clubhouse. Anything that falls out, it's the caddie's."
Remind me why these amateurs want to turn pro so quickly.
Eighteen months ago Chris Wood was playing amateur foursomes for England with Hutsby and harbouring Walker Cup ambitions. The haystack-haired one then finished fifth in the Open Championship and turned pro.
Already this season Wood has earned over half a million pounds in prize money and he goes into the final round of the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Cologne just three shots behind Peter Hanson of Sweden.
Wood salvaged a bogey on the final hole after being advised by on-course commentator Wayne Riley that he was about to take an illegal drop from a hazard. Should Riley have intervened? Is it fair that the leaders benefit from advice that would not be available to others further down the field. It doesn't sound like equity.
SCOREBOARD TO COME

What a carry-on! McArthur and Murray

score well despite late arrival

FROM STEVEN TODD
European Challenge Tour Press Officer
Glasgow's former Scottish amateur champion Andrew McArthur remains in contention going into the final round of the Challenge Tour's Dutch Futures tournament after using the frustration of getting his car towed away to his advantage with a superb 66.
McArthur and room-mate George Murray, another past Scottish amateur champion, found themselves in a spot of bother when the car they were sharing had been removed from its parking spot, meaning the pair, who were also playing partners, arrived at Golf Club Houtrak only 30 minutes before their tee time.
However the compatriots did not let the incident affect their concentration with Murray also carding a fine round of 68 in the Netherlands to lie in a share of third place.
McArthur, who is chasing his second European Tour victory, is just three strokes behind leader Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium after four birdies and a bogey on the front nine, followed by a birdie and an eagle on the last to move to 11 under par 205.
“I was in a bit of a huff going down the first after what happened with the car and only arriving half an hour before tee time – it wasn’t ideal preparation,” said the 30 year old. “But then I hit a good wedge into the second and made birdie and went on from there. Perhaps it took my mind of the golf a bit and actually helped. I always seem to play well with George too and he also plays well when paired with me.
“The eagle on the last was a great way to finish. I actually had a bad lie behind the pin but chipped in and it hit the flag at pace, otherwise it was going 10ft past.
“Maybe we should get the car towed again tonight!” he joked.
Murray had six birdies and two bogeys in his round to move to nine under par and in touching distance of the leaders.
Colsaerts fired a six under par round of 66 to finish on 14 under par 202, with Edoardo Molinari, the Challenge Tour Rankings leader, one stroke behind after also carding a 66.

LEADING THIRD ROUND TOTALS
202 N Colsaerts (Bel) 69 66 67,
203 E Molinari (Ita) 68 69 66,
205 C Suneson (Esp) 67 69 69, A McArthur (Sco) 71 68 66, A Butterfield (Eng) 68 67 70,
206 B Wiesberger (Aut) 68 71 67, J Quesne (Fra) 69 68 69,
207 G Boyd (Eng) 70 67 70, C Moriarty (Irl) 70 71 66, S Tiley (Eng) 69 71 67, G Murray (Sco) 70 69 68, C Brazillier (Fra) 67 69 71, S Bebb (Wal) 70 70 67,
208 L Bond (Wal) 72 68 68, K Sullivan (Wal) 69 72 67,
209 J Lima (Por) 69 70 70,

Skipper Dalgleish looking for big things from

his "Black Watch" pair in Walker Cup

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By Mark Reason
Seven Englishmen, two Scots and an Irishman, with an average age of 21, are being sent over the top against America's best young guns when the Walker Cup match begins at historic Merion, in Pennsylvannia, on Saturday morning (US time)
It is the sort of tactic that usually ends in a bloodbath, but GB&I captain Colin Dalgleish does not agree. He thinks the result will be close – three previous Walker Cups have been decided by a point – and he is relying on his 'Black Watch' to spearhead the team.
Scots Gavin Dear, 25, and Wallace Booth, 24, are the two oldest members of the GB&I team and they are used to winning. Both men played in the Scotland team that won last year's Eisenhower (the world cup of amateur golf) and this year's European Championships.
Booth has been brought up to be a fighter. His father Wallace, a former bouncer for the Beatles, represented Great Britain at heavyweight wrestling and won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games. He still thinks he was robbed. Sister Carly became the youngest player to represent GB&I at last year's Curtis Cup.
The performance of Booth and Dear may just decide the match. If they can intimidate the Americans, then GB&I have a chance. But if the Americans get on top early, then the perma-tanned flag waving will turn even the most stoical stomach.
Whatever the outcome, there is always much entertainment to be had from playing 'Shooting Stars.' This year is the golden anniversary of the great American team of 1959 that included a 19 year-old Jack Nicklaus. Since then Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington and Rory McIlroy have all played in the Walker Cup.
In the American team Morgan Hoffman, 19, looks as though he might be the next mighty golfer. But even if Hoffman turns out to be more of a Lucas Glover – a member of the 2001 American team – than a Golden Bear, he would still have a wonderful career ahead of him. Glover is now the US Open champion.
The pick of the GB&I team in future years may be Tommy Fleetwood, 18. He won this year's Scottish open amateur stroke-play championship at Murcar Links with a record score and was runner-up in the Amateur Championship when just 17. Is Fleetwood Britain's next Open champion?
Meanwhile, a closing double bogey from Dane Soren Hansen left England's Chris Wood and Australian Scott Strange sharing the halfway lead at the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Cologne on Friday.
Wood, the 21 year-old from Bristol who was third in The Open in July, continued his bid for a first European Tour title with a 69.
Strange, winner of last year's Wales Open and this season's China Open, scored a 68, while Hansen's 71 dropped him into a tie for third with South African James Kingston and England's Ross Fisher.
Laura Davies remains on course to retain her title at the UNIQA Ladies Golf Open at Wiener Neustadt in Austria as she maintained a share of the lead after two rounds.
The 45 year-old from England is level with Germany's Bettina Hauert and Marjet van der Graaff from Holland, with the trio finishing at eight-under-par 136 before play was suspended due to darkness with just one group left to finish.

US PRO GOLF ROUND-UP

US PGA Tour Scoreboard
BMW CHAMPIONSHIP
Coghill G&CC, Lemont, Illinois
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 142 (2x71)
135 Tiger Woods 68 67, Mark Wilson 69 66
136 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 66 70, Marc Leishman (Aus) 67 69, Bo Van Pelt 67 69, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 68 68
137 Bubba Watson 69 68
138 Anthony Kim 69 69, John Rollins 73 65, Zach Johnson 73 65, Sean O'Hair 70 68, Brandt Snedeker 69 69
139 Bill Haas 71 68, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 71 68, David Toms 68 71, Luke Donald (Eng) 70 69, Matt Kuchar 71 68, Heath Slocum 70 69
140 Phil Mickelson 71 69, Chad Campbell 70 70, Jeff Overton 72 68, Jim Furyk 70 70, John Senden (Aus) 70 70, Ian Poulter (Eng) 69 71
141 Brian Davis (Eng) 71 70, Nick Watney 70 71, Mike Weir (Can) 72 69, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 68 73, Charles Howell III 69 72
142 Dustin Johnson 69 73, Justin Leonard 73 69, Ernie Els (Rsa) 75 67, Camilo Villegas (Col) 68 74, Kevin Sutherland 75 67
143 Steve Marino 66 77, Pat Perez 72 71, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 72 71, Bryce Molder 70 73, Stephen Ames (Can) 76 67, Ryan Moore 71 72
144 Charley Hoffman 73 71, Jason Dufner 74 70, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 72 72, Brian Gay 73 71, John Mallinger 68 76, Jason Day (Aus) 71 73, Webb Simpson 70 74, Kevin Na 72 72, Charlie Wi (Kor) 71 73, Ben Crane 75 69
145 Steve Stricker 72 73, Scott Verplank 70 75, Jason Bohn 71 74
146 Hunter Mahan 73 73, Kenny Perry 77 69, Paul Goydos 74 72, Stewart Cink 72 74
147 Nathan Green (Aus) 73 74, Tim Clark (Rsa) 78 69
148 Woody Austin 76 72, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 73 75, Jonathan Byrd 69 79
149 Jerry Kelly 76 73, Robert Allenby (Aus) 75 74, Lucas Glover 74 75, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 71 78
151 J.B. Holmes 78 73, Davis Love III 74 77
WD: Bob Estes 77

Craig Bowden leads Utah Championship
FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE
Craig Bowden recorded his second consecutive 65 Friday to get to 11 under par and leads by a shot after the second round of the Utah Championship. John Kimbell is one back at 11 under and the quintet of Steve Wheatcroft, Dave Schultz, Alistair Presnell, Josh Teater and Garrett Willis is tied for third at 10 under par.
Bowden was in the first group of the day and took the early clubhouse lead. He attributes his performance so far to prowess on the greens.
"I'm putting the ball really well," he said. "I'm seeing and hitting my lines and have made some putts, which you sure have to do to be competitive. I've gotten some good breaks and created some for myself as well."
After hitting 12 of 12 fairways in the first round, Bowden hit only six in the second. He recorded a 4-under-par 32 on the back nine despite missing every fairway opportunity but one.
"I didn't drive it as straight today and hit some first cuts [of rough]. But I was able to capitalize when I got good lies and convert a few times for birdies," he remarked. "I've kind of got it on auto-pilot right now -- just letting it roll and not worrying too much."
Bowden and Kimbell are the only players in the field yet to make a bogey after 36 holes.
"I haven't made any bogeys up to this point and if I can continue that trend I think it'll be alright by the time Sunday afternoon rolls around," he continued. "My goal is to get to about 20 under and see if that holds up. If I continue doing what I'm doing, I think I'll have a decent shot at it."
Bowden, 41, is a Nationwide Tour veteran making his eighth appearance at the Utah Championship. He finished tied for second here in 1999 and has three career Tour wins.
Willis made charge in the afternoon wave, firing a 7-under-par 71. He was 8 under through 13 holes and within one shot of Bowden before bogeying No. 8 (his 17th of the day).
First-round leader Presnell had a rollercoaster round that included six birdies, two bogeys and a double en route to a 2-under-par 69. Schultz turned in the low round of the day with a course record-tying 63. His round included an eagle, seven birdies and one bogey.
The field was cut to 61 players at 3 under par or better. The third round begins at 8:45 a.m. on Saturday morning with twosomes going off the first tee. The final group of Bowden and Kimbell tees off at 1:30 p.m.
Notebook: American flags were used on the pins Friday in remembrance of Sept. 11th. ... Fran Quinn holed out for eagle on the par-4 14th with a gap wedge from 110 yards. In the same group, Bob Burns was next to play and hit his approach to a foot and subsequently converted for birdie. Josh Broadaway then hit his second, which found the left greenside rough -- from which he proceeded to chip in for birdie.
SCOREBOARD TO COME

Scroll down a bit to read earlier E-mails on the subject

Last word from Franco Henningan
(on the topic of who should pay the whacking
Tour School entry fee - if not the player himself!)

Colin,
May I draw your attention to a statement by Hamish Grey, Chief Executive of the Scottish Golf Union, which appears on their website: "The SGU and our partners are focused on providing opportunities and support towards Scottish golfers who have potential to deliver results on a world stage."
So, in view of what has previously been written, who decides which players recieve funding?
Is it 'sport for all' or a welfare state for the elite?
Kevin (McAlpine) was correct (scroll down to read his E-mail), I don't know what I am talking about, but that is because I am asking questions as a golf club member, not as an elite athlete.
I am keen that my golf club is sustainable with a healthy participation level, as opposed to trying to survive financially with nomad visitors, freebie juniors and funded elite players.
And I do value the Professional.
By the way, I do notice that the SGU appear to have at least 19 full-time employees theese days, and if as Mr (Chris) Kelly said, their remit is to develop young amateurs into good professionals, then can I ask, What exactly happened to the National Golf Centre at Drumoig?
All these issues, and those people at the helm, must have a bearing on where we are with the health of golf in Scotland.
Franco Henningan