North of Scotland Golfers Alliance Scoreboard

SPEY BAY
Leading Scratch Scores: (Entries 90).
68 K Thomson (Moray), B. Cruickshank (Garmouth & Kingston)
69 S. Johnston (Elgin)
70 A K. Pirie (Hazlehead), A. Cameron (Inverness), N. McWilliam (Garmouth & Kingston)
72 J A Grant (Grantown), G. Murray (Spey Bay)
73 J.S.D. Campbell (Grantown), J.R. Mackay (Muir of Ord)
74 M. Macdonald (Fortrose & Rosemarkie), S. Chisholm (Nairn), C Campbell (Nairn Dunbar) p, A.W. Mair (Moray), B. Moir (Spey Bay), D. Macleod (Loch Ness)
75 I. Hamilton (Elgin), G. Hay (Grantown), M.L. Macleman (Moray)
76 R. Stewart (Nairn Dunbar), G. Donaldson (Elgin), A. Tait (Fortrose & Rosemarkie), C. Small (Fortrose & Rosemarkie).
77 A. Henry (Inverness).
78 R.G. Macpherson (Moray), S. Wilson (Inverness), W.R. Duncan (Moray)
79 L. Fowler (Royal Aberdeen), R.R. Adams (Moray)
80 S. Mitchell (Moray), I. Macaulay (Elgin), R. Harrower (Boat of Garten) p, W. Hutchison (Inverness).
HANDICAP
Class 1 (8 and under)
65 S. Johnston (Elgin) (4)
68 I. Hamilton (Elgin) (7)
70 J.A. Grant (Grantown) (2), G. Donaldson (Elgin) (6), A Tait (Fortrose & Rosemarkie) (6), B Moir (Spey Bay) (4)
Class 2 (9 to 14)
62 D Macleod (Loch Ness) (12)
64 C Small (Fortrose & Rosemarkie) (12)
69 R G MacPherson (Moray) (9)
70 P L Taylor (Fortrose & Rosemarkie) (11)
71 A Grigor (Boat of Garten) (14), P MacMillan (Kinloss) (14)

Scroll down for Chevron World Challenge final totals

Message from Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods released the following statement on his website during the final round of the Chevron World Challenge -- a tournament he hosts, but was unable to attend this year after injuries he sustained in a car accident.

"As the final round of the Chevron World Challenge begins, I would like to extend my heartfelt thank you to everyone affiliated with the event, especially our amazing title sponsor, Chevron. They've been title sponsor for the last two years and have a vision and passion for creating real opportunities for my Foundation. I thank them for their ongoing commitment.
"I'd also like to thank all of our supporting sponsors and my tireless, dedicated staff, board and volunteers who collectively produce this first-class golf tournament. I am so grateful to them for their efforts, and I am sincerely sorry I was unable to fulfil my duties as host and player in this important event.
"There are also 18 outstanding pros in the field, and I thank them for providing us all with some excellent competition this week.
"Lastly, I'd like to thank our fans for continuing to support us. Like them, I am extremely dedicated to this tournament, to my Foundation and the millions of young lives we serve. Thank you all for your support."
Tiger Woods

CHEVRON CHALLENGE SCOREBOARD
Sherwood Country Club, Thousand Oaks, California
Par for 72 holes: 288 (4x72)
FINAL TOTALS
275 (-13) Jim Furyk 70 71 67 67.
276 (-12) Graeme McDowell 71 69 66 70.
277 (-11) Lee Westwood 71 67 69 70, Padraig Harrington 69 68 70 70.
279 (-9) Ian Poulter 68 69 71 71, Zach Johnson 68 70 74 67, Stewart Cink 70 73 68 68, Sean O'Hair 71 67 71 70.
280 (-8) Y E Yang 70 65 71 74.
281 (-7) Steve Stricker 71 74 71 65
282 (-6) Paul Casey 75 69 74 64, Kenny Perry 74 67 70 75.
286 (-2) Lucas Glover 74 67 70 75.
288 (level) Anthony Kim 71 74 73 70, Martin Kaymer 73 72 72 71, Camilo Villegas 73 69 74 72, Mike Weir 73 70 73 72.
291 (+3) Justin Leonard 72 74 72 73.

E-mail from Len Plaxton

I would just like to congratulate you on a wonderfully informative website. Not only do you cover Scottish golf but also what happens elsewhere in the UK and abroad and it is your site I frequently return to for the latest news.

Len Plaxton
Father of Jonathan (former England team captain).

Editor's note: Thanks, Len. Your note cheered me up no end on a day when even more rain fell on our already waterlogged golf courses in Scotland! When is it going to stop? To be fair, it seems to be raining quite a lot in Florida too ... the LPGA Tour and the US PGA Tour Qualifying Schools have been badly hit by the weather, but I bet their rain is a lot warmer than ours.

US PGA Tour Final Qualifying School Scoreboard
FOURTH ROUND LEADING TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
271 Troy Merritt 67 69 68 67.
274 Jay Williamson 68 69 68 69, Graham Delaet 70 71 64 69, Jeff Maggert 71 67 68 68.
275 Andrew McLardy 71 67 68 69, Billy Horschelll 69 70 67 69.
277 J P Hayes 74 67 63 73, Martin Flores 72 68 69 68, Matt Jones 71 73 66 67.
278 Brenden Pappas 72 68 65 73, Michael Connell 71 67 69 71, Chris Riley 71 71 65 71, Joe Ogilvie 73 69 64 72, Kris Blanks 77 65 67 69.
Selected scores:
281 Rickie Fowler 74 68 66 73 (jt 26th)
282 Gary Christian 75 69 69 69 (jt 32nd).

NEDBANK CHALLENGE DRAMA

Allenby beats Stenson in

play-off in South Africa

Robert Allenby became the first Australian to win the South African Sunshine Tour's Nedbank Challenge today. He beating Ryder Cup Swede Henrik Stenson at the third hole of a sudden-death play-off at the Gary Player Country Club, Sun City, Johannesburg.
Allenby, pictured, finished the regulation 72 holes with a one-under-par 71 for a total of 11-under 277. Stenson made up two shots with a 69 for the saem total.
on the third playoff hole after a 1-under 71 in the final round.
The play-off was held on the par-4 18th, which both players bogeyed in regulation.
They scrambled to halve the hole in the first two play-off rounds before Allenby reached the green with his second shot for the first time in seven attempts in the third round. Stenson, meanwhile, went through the green and then chipped 25 feet past the pin. Allenby two-putted from about 5 feet for the win.
“I thought we were going to be there all night,” Allenby said. “But I’m proud to be the first Australian to win this title, and I knew once Henrik pushed his approach out right (in the third round), I had a chance if I could hit the green in regulation.”
Overnight leader Retief Goosen surprisingly faded out of the picture with a closing 75 to finish fifth in the 12-man field.
Tim Clark had a 69 and Ross Fisher shot a 70 to share third, while Masters champion Angel Cabrera was sixth after a 75.

REPORT FROM THE PGA OF AUSTRALIA WEBSITE:
Australian Robert Allenby ended four years without a win in South Africa - and nobody would have been surprised it came in sudden death.
Allenby beat defending champion Henrik Stenson at the third extra hole of the Nedbank Challenge at Sun City, his 11th play-off victory in 12 attempts.
The pair had both picked up bogeys at the closing hole to finish on the 11-under-par mark of 277 and then parred the 502-yard 18th twice before Swede Stenson bogeyed it again.
Allenby had struck a glorious second to seven feet and two-putted for a first prize of more than $A1.3 million. It was his first success since his 2005 hat-trick of Australian Open, PGA and Masters titles.
Stenson was a runner-up for the second Sunday running. Last week it was with Robert Karlsson at the World Cup in China.
England's Ross Fisher and South African Tim Clark tied for third on 10-under, Fisher just missing a 20-footer to make the play-off, while Retief Goosen, two in front overnight, dropped to fifth with a 75.
Stenson, winner by nine on 21-under last year, came from four behind to one in front, thanks to an eagle on the 10th and birdies at the 13th, 15th and 17th, but there were also two bogey 6s on his card and he three-putted the last for a 69.
Allenby then moved in front with a 14-footer on the 17th before pushing his approach and failing to get up and down.
He had to make a five-footer to stay alive on the first extra hole and at the next saved his par after driving into sand.
Things started going wrong for Goosen when he left a bunker shot in the sand at the fifth and, like Stenson, he found the lake at the ninth and took another 6 after a wild second to the 14th.
"I'm glad that's over," said Allenby on the tournament's official website, www.nedbankgolfchallenge.co.za.
"After bogeying the 72nd I knew I had a second chance and my record in play-offs is pretty good."
"I did think we were going to be here all night at one stage, but once I saw Henrik hit it out right I knew he had a difficult shot."
"The only thing in my mind then was hitting my six-iron straight at the pin and I hit it absolutely perfectly."

FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72) 7590yd
Prizemoney in South African Rand
277 R Allenby 68 70 68 71, H Stenson 70 68 70 69 (Allenby, 122,200, bt Stenson, 88,650, at third play-off hole.
278 T Clark 69 72 68 69, R Fisher 73 69 66 70 (55,100 each).
279 R Goosen 69 68 67 75 (36,250).
281 A Cabrera 71 67 68 75 (29,300).
282 N Watney 73 73 63 73 (24,300).
283 L Donald 72 71 68 72 (21,200).
284 R Karlsson 70 72 71 71 (18,900).
286 H Mahan 70 71 72 73 (13,350).
292 R Sterne 72 75 70 75 (16,200).
Retired: R McIlroy 73 76 - - (15,450).

Asian Tour finale for 2009

Scot Simon Yates beaten in three-way

play-off for King's Cup in Thailand

Scot Simon Yates lost a three-way play-off for the Asian Tour's King's Cup tournament at Singha Park Kohn Kaen Golf Club, Khon Kaen, Thailand.

Victory - his first on the Asian Tour - went to Chinese Taipei's Chan Yih-shin who holed a birdie putt from 5ft at the second hole of the sudden death play-off in which England's Nick Redfern was the third participant.

Yates, pictured, who had hit his approach shot closest of the three to the flagstick, missed his birdie putt from 3ft which would have taken the play-off to the third hole.

Chan Yih-shin ended the regulation 72 holes with a final round of two-under-par 70 for a 14-under-par 274 total which was matched by Redfern, who shot a blistering 66 which included an unfortunate double bogey on 17. Yates returned a 68 in the season’s final event.
The trio posted matching pars on the first extra hole but Chan rose to the occasion with an exquisite approach for his winning birdie putt to win the US$47,550 top prize in the King’s Cup presented by Singha and Sports Authority of Thailand.
“I’m feeling ecstatic. I played well throughout the week and I’m really happy. When I was trailing by a few shots with a few holes to play, I thought I didn’t have a chance to win and I just wanted to finish as high as possible,” said Chan, who ended his season in 28th place on the Order of Merit.
Chan, who led for the first three rounds, made a crucial 8ft birdie putt on the 17th hole to draw level with Yates and Redfern. “After Nick double bogeyed the 17th hole, I was back in the tournament. I made a crucial birdie putt on 17 from eight feet to draw level. That was an important moment,” he said.
Redfern was in red-hot form, reeling in eight birdies to o pen up a two-stroke lead with two holes to play before being plugged in a greenside bunker with his tee shot at the short 17th. He needed two attempts to escape the sand to stumble to a double bogey back into a tie for the lead.
“The incident on 17 didn’t affect me at all because I made a good putt for 5 and just kept myself going down the last,” said Redfern, who was playing in only his fourth Asian Tour tournament this year.
“Getting tied second is a pretty good result for me. I had 17 good holes but got a little bit unlucky on the 17th hole. Overall it is good, I will be taking back a lot of confidence from this tournament.”
Yates, who recently returned from an injury spell, brilliantly charged into the title hunt but was disappointed to miss his short putt to take the play-off to a third hole.
“It’s disappointing. The last putt broke so hard from right to left and I couldn’t believe it. I thought it was left edge as I saw Chan’s putt earlier and he missed it right and I got confused. So I aimed it in the middle and missed it,” said Yates, who was hoping to win a third Asian Tour title.
“It was still a good week. There were some nerves and it was nice to get that feeling again, especially yesterday when I got on a roll. I can take the positives away from this week.”

Asian Tour No 1 Thongchai Jaidee hailed his 2009 season as the “best year of my life” and then set his sights on next year’s Majors.

The Thai star ended a memorable campaign with an equal 11th place finish at the King’s Cup as he was officially crowned as Asia’s No 1 player for a record third time.
The former paratrooper won twice this season, finished top-10 in three other events and did not miss a single cut on the Asian Tour to earn a little over US$980,000, his career highest earnings in a single season.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS

Par 288 (4x72)
274 Chan Yih-shin (TPE) 64-73-67-70, Simon Yates (SCO) 71-69-66-68, Nick Redfern (ENG) 74-66-68-66 (Chan won play-off with birdie on second extra hole)
276 Harmeet Kahlon ( IND ) 71-67-72-66, Prayad Marksaeng (THA) 70-70-71-65
277 Kim Dae-hyun (KOR) 70-68-73-66, Anirban Lahiri (IND) 66-72-71-68, Rahil Gangjee (IND) 74-64-68-71, 279 - Mark Purser (NZL) 68-75-65-71
280 Matthew Griffin (AUS) 72-69-69-70
281 Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 70-73-71-67, Neven Basic (AUS) 73-68-70-70
282 Vasin Sripattranusorn [A] (THA) 71-70-71-70, Ross Bain (SCO) 69-69-71-73
283 Pavit Tangkamolprasert (THA) 70-71-75-67, Digvijay Singh ( IND ) 70-73-69-71
284 Artemio Murakami (PHI) 70-75-70-69, Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 71-70-73-70, Thammanoon Srirot (THA) 73-68-71-72, Corey Harris (USA) 69-70-73-72

Adam Scott wins Aussie Open by five strokes

Australian Adam Scott has won the Australian Open for his first pro victory in his home country, shooting an even-par final round of 72 to win by five strokes from runner-up and compatriot Stuart Appleby.
Scott won 14 times worldwide since turning pro in 2000 before breaking through in his native land. He finished at 15-under 273 at New South Wales Golf Club near Sydney.
The win followed Scott's worst season on the US PGA Tour, where he made only nine cuts in 19 tournaments and had just one top-10 finish.
"I always thought I'd get my chance," Scott said. "It's so bizarre, this game, that off the back of such a bad year I finally played good enough to win down here.
"I've worked really hard even though I've played terrible all year. But it pays off. You've got to stick with it."
Five-time Australian Open winner Greg Norman presented Scott with the Stonehaven Cup. Norman missed the tournament because of shoulder surgery.
"This is very, very special to me to win here," Scott said. "This is going to be very sweet and something I will treasure for the rest of my career."
Appleby closed with a 75.
New Zealand's Michael Long (70), American Bryce Molder (68) and Australia's Nick O'Hern (74) tied for third, nine strokes behind Scott.
John Daly closed with a 71 to finish at 2 over. He will play next week in the Australian PGA at Coolum in Queensland.
FINAL TOTALS TO COME

Merritt, Williamson share lead as US Tour Q

School is disrupted by Florida weather

FROM THE PGA.COM WEBSITE
Troy Merritt and Jay Williamson share the lead after an abbreviated day of play on Saturday at the US PGA Tour Q-School finals at Bear Lakes Country Club, West Palm Beach in Florida.
Inclement weather forced a suspension of play during the fourth round at 11:15 a.m. on Saturday. Play resumed at 3pm, and then was later suspended for the day due to darkness.
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PGATOUR.COM:
Complete coverage of PGA Tour Q-School
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At the time of the suspension, Merritt had played nine holes and Williamson had played eight, both on the Lakes Course, and they shared the top spot at 15 under. Brenden Pappas (through 10 holes) and Andrew McLardy (through nine holes) were one shot back.
Only a few players completed their fourth round on Saturday: Matt Jones (67/tied for ninth), Hunter Haas (68/tied for 64th), Bobby MacWhinnie (70/ttied for 102nd), Kevin Fortin-Simard (73/166th) and Chris Mundorf (76/tied for 141st).
The fourth round will resume at 7:45 am local time on Sunday. Fifth-round starting times will take place from approximately 11:00 a.m. until 1:10 p.m.
After the fourth round is completed, players will be regrouped according to their 72-hole scores. The field will be split into approximate equal portions. Competitors with the lowest scores will play the Links Course, players with the highest scores will play the Lakes Course.
After the fifth round, players will switch courses, stay in the same groups, start on the same tee and the groups will be in the same order as in the fifth round.
David Duval stood at 7 over through 17 holes at the time of the suspension and 4 over for the tournament. Making his first final-stage appearance since 1993, Duval is currently tied for 11th.
The top 25 players and ties at the conclusion of the tournament will receive 2010 PGA Tour cards, while the next number of players nearest 50 will receive full status on the Nationwide Tour. All remaining players will have conditional status on the Nationwide Tour in 2010.
FOURTH ROUND LEADERS
Par 288 (4x72)
-15 after nine holes Troy Merrett
-15 after eight holes Jay Williamson.
-14 after 10 holes Brenden Pappas
-14 after nine holes Andrew McLardy
-13 after 11 holes Graham Delat.
-13 after nine holes Billy Horschel.
-13 after nine holes Jeff Maggert.
-11 after 18 holes: 277 Matt Jones.
-11 after 10 holes Martin Flores.

Sub McDowell shares lead

with Yang at Tiger Woods'

tournament in California

FROM THE PGA.COM WEBSITE

Ulsterman Graeme McDowell was surprised as anyone to hear the news last week about Tiger Woods in a car accident, having no idea where it would lead -- for either of them.
McDowell, pictured, was summoned to replace him in the Chevron World Challenge, which could turn into quite the bounty.
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PGATOUR.COM:

Complete coverage of the Chevron World Challenge
================================

McDowell played a six-hole stretch at Thousand Oaks, Sherwood in California in six under par on Saturday on his way to a 6-under 66, giving him a share of the lead with Y E Yang (71) going into the final round of the $5.75 million tournament.
They are at 10-under 206, two shots ahead of Padraig Harrington and European Tour money champion Lee Westwood, with Ian Poulter and Jim Furyk another shot behind.
"Obviously, a huge blow for the tournament not to have Tiger here," McDowell said. "I feel very fortunate to receive the invite. It was a great opportunity for me."
Timing is everything for McDowell, a 30-year-old from Northern Ireland who is No. 55 in the world. Because this is the first year Woods' tournament offers world ranking points, a victory or even top finish likely makes him eligible for the Masters.
McDowell was at the World Cup, partnering Rory McIlroy, in China last week, presumably his last tournament of the year. He planned to go home to Florida instead of chasing world ranking points in Australia, believing he could crack the top 50 next year to get an Augusta National invite.
That's when he got the call that tournament host Woods might not even play.
He was to fly through Los Angeles on his way home, and when he arrived Sunday night, he was asked to stick around for one day until Woods knew for sure what he was doing.
McDowell ran off three straight birdies on his back nine, then ripped a 3-wood into 15 feet on the par-5 13th for an eagle, finishing his stretch with a long birdie on the 15th. His only flaw came from a soft lie in the bunker on the par-5 16th, where a fat shot went into the hazard and he took double bogey.
Yang also was in China for the World Cup and knew he was playing Sherwood all along. He wasn't planning on a fever that has dogged him throughout the week, although it's hard to tell from the score.
The US PGA Championship winner opened with a birdie with hopes of a big day, then stalled until making two birdies on the back nine.
"As the day went by and my body wore down a bit more, I bogeyed a few holes," he said.
Oddly enough, few players felt worse than Harrington, who had a 70 and is very much in contention to win for the first time this year. Why the sad face? Harrington isn't quite sure.
The Irishman felt no co-ordination over any of his shots, one of those days when he walked off the first green and couldn't wait to get back to the clubhouse.
"I must have got out of bed on the wrong side or something," Harrington said. "Something wasn't right today. I played great yesterday, played well the first day, played horrible today. Who know what will happen tomorrow?"
He was expecting just about anything -- from him and everyone else.
Eight players were separated by three shots on a course that features five par 5s, where birdies and bogeys await at every turn. Also in the hunt were Sean O'Hair and Kenny Perry, both at 7-under 209.
Harrington has been under great scrutiny, a three-time major champion to spent six months searching for a swing key and didn't get very good results -- much less a victory. What would it mean to finally get a win in the last tournament of his season?
"I just can't get too much into that," he said. "That's not going to help me win tomorrow. I'll wait for the results and we can decide how important it is for my year."

SCOREBOARD TO COME