A FEW DOLLARS MORE FOR JIMMY GUNN Dornoch exile Jimmy Gunn earned $1,866 for a joint 16th place finish in this week's Gateway Tour Desert Winter 1 tournament over 54 holes at Anthem Golf & Country Club in the Arizona desert. Gunn's rounds were 67, 72 and 73 for a total of four-under-par 212. Winner of the $13,500 with an incredible total of 24 under par for the three rounds was American Jesse Mueller with scores of 62, 68 and 62 for 192. He won by nine shots from fellow American Matt Marshall who had rounds of 63, 69 and 69 for 201 and earned $7,800. LEADING FINAL TOTALS Par 216 (3x72) 192 Jesse Mueller (US) 62 68 62 ($13,500). 201 Matt Marshall (US) 63 69 69 ($7,800). 203 John Douma (US) 69 66 68 ($6,000). Selected totals: 212 Jimmy Gunn (Sco) 67 72 73 (jt 16th) ($1,866).

KNOX FINISHES JOINT FOURTH IN FLORIDA Florida-based Scot Russell Knox finished joint fourth in this week's NGA Hooters Tour Winter Series golf tournament at Shingle Creek Golf Club, Orlando in Florida. Knox, from Inverness, had rounds of 68, 68 and 72 for an eight-under-par total of 208 over the 7,228yd course. A double bogey 5 at the short fifth in his final round cost Knox a share of third place. He did birdie the 10th and 16th to salvage a pay day of $2,200, about $1,000 less than he might have got for a joint third finish.. Rob Oppenheim from Massachusetts led from start to finish to win the $8,500 first prize by three shots with rounds of 67, 66 and 68 for 15-under-par 201 *Russell Knox has now won $14,742 from the five Hooters Tour Winter Series events in which he has never been lower than joint 15th. He has had two top-five finishes. LEADING FINAL TOTALS Par 216 (3x72) 201 Rob Oppenheim (Massachusetts) 67 66 68 ($8,500). 204 Jim Renner (Massachusetts) 68 69 67 ($4,250). 206 Kelly Sellers (Florida) 70 66 70 ($3,300). 208 Russell Knox (Scotland) 68 68 72, Will Wilcox (Alabama) 71 68 69, Matt Gann (Kentucky) 70 69 69 ($2,200 each).

Martin Laird in field as US PGA Tour tees off in Hawaii

Scotland's Martin Laird is in the field in Kapalua, Hawaii as the 2010 US PGA Tour gets under way - follow the LIVE leaderboard.
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Craigielaw on verge of title win in Spain

FROM THE EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
Craigielaw remained on course to win the Junior Team Golf Home Nations Inter-Club Championship in Spain after beating the defending champions.
Following up their big win over English opponents Maylands on the opening day at the Polaris La Torre Resort, Murcia in south-east Spain, the East Lothian youngsters dug deep to beat Rosslare from Ireland 3½-2½.
Grant Forrest, Douglas Maxwell and Euan Donaldson all won their matches for Scotland's representatives, with Gabrielle MacDonald clinching the victory as she earned a half point.
A draw today against Welsh side Morriston will be enough to see Craigielaw crowned as champions at the third time of asking in the event.

Asian Tour Qualifying School Stage 1, Week 2

Barry Hume clickety-slicks with a 66 in second round

Glasgow's Barry Hume moved into a share of 12th place at the Majestic Creek venue with a five-under-par second round of 66 for a 36-hole tally of four-under 138 on the second day of the Asian Tour Qualifying School Stage 1, Week 2 competition at Hua Hin, Thailand today.
Hume's six-shot improvement boosted his hopes of making a return to the Asian Tour where he played for a couple of seasons before losing his card.
The former Scottish amateur champion is eight shots behind the leader at Majestic Creek, Spaniard Gabreiel Canizares who had a 66 for 12-under 130. The top 23 and ties at this venue will qualify for next week's Final Tour School.
Former Scottish boys' match-play champion Lee Harper (Archerfield Links) from Musselburgh is still within the safety zone after a par 71 for 139 and a share of 15th place.
Rookie pro Wallace Booth, last year's Walker Cup team player from Comrie, has drifted into the "must improve" category with a 73 for 142, which gives him a share of 36th place.
Aberdonian Clarke Lutton, based in Doha, Qatar for a number of years, has no chance of qualifying after a 79 for 155 and joint 104th place.
Peter Karmis of South Africa fired a sizzling second round six-under-par 66 to open up a five-stroke lead at the Kaeng Krachan Country Club & Resort venue. He is on 11-under-par 133.
Alessio Bruschi of Italy and Sam Osborne of England carded a 68 and 69 respectively to lie in tied second on 138.
From this venue, the top 17 players and ties will qualify for the Final Stage.
At Rayong Country Club, Senroku Isa of Japan remained in the lead after shooting a second round one-under-par 70 for six-under 136. The leading 14 players and ties will make their way to the next stage.

ASIAN TOUR QUALIFYING SCHOOL. Stage 1, Week 2
SECOND-ROUND LEADERS
MAJESTIC CREEK
Par 142 (2x71).
Top 23 and ties qualify for Final Stage.
130 Gabriel Canizares (Spa) 64 66.
133 Matthew Rosenfeld (US) 66 67, Kunai Bhasin (Aus) 68 65.
134 J G Hwang (SKo) 66 68.
Selected scores:
138 Barry Hume (Sco) 72 66 (jt 12th).
139 Lee Harper (Sco) 68 71 (jt 15th).
140 James Horn (Eng) 71 69, Dale Marmion (Eng) 69 71 (jt 18th).
141 Brett Taylor (Eng) 70 71 (jt 28th).
142 Wallace Booth (Sco) 69 73, Haminder Matharu (Eng) 72 70, Chris Gill (Eng)( 69 73 (jt 36th).
155 Clarke Lutton (Sco) 76 79 (jt 104th).
RAYONG
Par 142 (2x72)
Top 14 and ties qualify for Final Stage.
136 Senroku Isa (Jap) 66 70.
135 Jani Pertilla (Fin) 71 67, Nick Jones (US) 70 68.
139 David Johnson (US) 70 69, Rohan Blizard (Aus) 69 790, Nathan Main (Aus) 67 72, Jake Grodzinsky (US) 67 72.
Selected scores:
142 Richard Walls (Eng) 73 69, Craig Smith (Wal) 73 69 (jt 12th).
143 James Sheffield (Eng) 70 73 (jt 18th).
144 Neil Chaudhuri (Eng) 72 72 (jt 22nd).
145 Kieran Staunton (Eng) 74 71, Laurence Warne (Eng) (am) 72 73, B en Stafford (Eng) 69 76 (jt 25th).
149 Lloyd Campbell (Eng) 73 76 (jt 47th).
150 Darren Robson (Eng) 73 77, Larry Batchelor (Eng) 75 75 (jt 49th).
155 Ben Jones (Eng) 80 75 (jt 60th).
KAENG KRACHAN
Par 144 (2x72)
Top 17 and ties qualify for Final Stage.
133 Peter Karmis (SAf) 67 66.
138 Alessio Bruschi (Itaq) 70 68, Sam Osbourne (Eng) 69 69.
140 Creighton Honeck (US) 75 65, Choi Jin-Ho (SKor) 66 74.
Selected scores:
144 Zane Scotland (Eng) 70 74 (jt 15th).
147 Lee Nash (Eng) 76 71 (jt 27th).
156 Davyd Reeves (Eng) 78 79.
165 Benjamin Tetlow (Eng) (am) 85 80.

Message from Keith Liddle
Secretary of Edinburgh & East of Scotland Golfers' Alliance

Outing to Gullane No 3 on Wednesday, January 13 - I've emailed Alison McLeod at Gullane and we've agreed that I should telephone her on Monday to assess the chances of playing on Wednesday the 13th.
We've provisionally pencilled in Wednesday, January 20, should next week's outing be cancelled due to the weather.

This week's R&A World Amateur Golf Rankings

1 Matteo Manassero (Italy).
2 Victor Dubuisson (France).
3 Nick Faylot (Canada).
4 Peter Uihlein (United States).
5 Morgan Hoffman (United States).

Scots' rankings:
26 Ross Kellett (Colville Park) (down 1 place).
41 James Byrne (Arizona State Univ & Banchory) (-1).
165 Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie) (no change).
173 Mark Hillson (Craigielaw) (no change).
202 Michael Stewart (East Tennessee State & Troon Welbeck) (no change).
229 James White (Stirling Univ & Lundin) (no change).
277 David Law (Hazlehead) (no change).
344 Steven McEwan (Caprington) (-1).
426 Philip McLean (Peterhead) (no change).

Stephen Gallacher top of the Scots with 70 in South Africa

Five share Africa Open lead on seven-under 66

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
A storming finish to his round enabled Trevor Fisher junior to share a five-way tie at the top of a clustered leaderboard after day one of the Africa Open in East London, South Africa.
The South African ended with back-to-back birdies to move to seven under par 66 alongside countrymen Titch Moore and Richard Sterne, while Sweden's Patrik Sjoland and Dane Mark Haastrup made sure there were at least some Europeans firmly in the mix.
Four players were a further stroke back after 67s - Thomas Aiken, Keith Horne, Tjaart van der Walt and Charl Schwartzel, the highest world ranked player in the field at 66 - with 16 players at five under on a day of low scoring in the coastal city, more commonly associated with windy conditions.
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Links to more golf news:
First day key - Montgomerie
Clarke sets Ryder target
Echenique hailed for hot shot
Ogilvy keen to capitalise on Woods' absence
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Among those was England's Robert Coles, who fired an incredible six straight birdies to move into a share of the lead, before a bogey on the penultimate par-4 seventh saw him slip back.
Other Britons in the same pack were Sam Hutsby, Michael Hoey, James Morrison, Miles Tunnicliff and Justin Walters.
However, it was not a great day for two of the pre-tournament favourites, Englishman Nick Dougherty and rising New Zealand star Danny Lee, who struggled in their first outings of 2010.
Liverpool golfer Dougherty ended his round with a disappointing 76 - his effort including a pair of bogeys and double-bogeys amongst three birdies - with 19-year-old Lee finishing a shot worse.
Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke did his best to stay in touch with a four-under 69, a card that had two blemishes in the form of bogeys on five and 18.
Stephen Gallacher was the leading Scot on three-under-par 70, a shot ahead of Alan McLean, Andrew McArthur, Jamie McLeary and Steven O'Hara.
Callum Macaulay and Peter Whiteford had 72s.

COMPLETE FIRST-DAY SCOREBOARD
Par 73
66 Titch Moore (RSA), Patrik Sjoland (Swe), Mark Haastrup (Den), Trevor Fisher junior (RSA), Richard Sterne (RSA)
67 Tjaart Van Der Walt (RSA), Thomas Aiken (RSA), Charl Schwartzel (RSA), Keith Horne (RSA)
68 James Kingston (RSA), Robert Coles, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por), Miles Tunnicliff, Michael Hoey, Charl Coetzee (RSA), Deane Pappas (RSA), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), Jake Roos (RSA), Andre Cruse (RSA), George Coetzee (RSA), James Morrison, Sam Hutsby, Dion Fourie (RSA), Justin Walters (RSA)
69 Paulo Pinto (Arg), Joost Luiten (Ned), Pelle Edberg (Swe), Jaco Van Zyl (RSA), Kenneth Ferrie, Bradford Vaughan (RSA), Thabang Simon (RSA), Louis De Jager (RSA), Neil Schietekat (RSA), Jacques Blaauw (RSA), Garry Houston, Hennie Otto (RSA), Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), Darren Clarke, Michiel Bothma (RSA), Oliver Bekker (RSA), Carl Suneson (Spa), Marco Ruiz (Par), Jbe Kruger (RSA), Martin Maritz (RSA)
70 Sion Bebb, Branden Grace (RSA), Klas Eriksson (Swe), Clodomiro Carranza (Arg), Oliver Fisher, Gary Boyd, Alejandro Canizares (Spa), Mark Murless (RSA), Desvonde Botes (RSA), Reggie Adams (RSA), Clinton Whitelaw (RSA), Tyrone Mordt (RSA), Steve Basson (RSA), Peter Baker, Darren Fichardt (RSA), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Christiaan Basson (RSA), Stephen Gallacher, Andrew Marshall, Phillip Archer, Ryan Tipping (RSA), Alexandre Kaleka (Fra)
71 Anthony Michael (RSA), Adilson Da Silva (Bra), Benn Barham, Stuart Anderson (Can), Chris Swanepoel (RSA), Mervyn Galant (RSA), Steven O'Hara, Andrew Georgiou (RSA), Andrew McArthur, Thomas Bjorn (Den), Tyrone Ferreira (RSA), Benjamin Hebert (Fra), Alex Haindl (RSA), Prinavin Nelson (RSA), Magnus A Carlsson (Swe), Jean Hugo (RSA), Alan McLean, Julien Guerrier (Fra), Julien Quesne (Fra), Marc Cayeux (Zim), Jamie McLeary, Grant Muller (RSA), Willie Van Der Merwe (RSA)
72 T C Charamba (Zim), Steven Jeppesen (Swe), Jamie Elson, Scott Hend (Aus), Callum Macaulay, Peter- Henric McIntyre (RSA), Warren Abery (RSA), Tyrone Van Aswegen (RSA), Fredrik Ohlsson (Swe), Christian Ries (RSA), Brandon Pieters (RSA), Ulrich Van Den Berg (RSA), Peter Whiteford, Jaco Ahlers (RSA), Matthew Zions (Aus), Phillip Price, David Lynn, Ryan Cairns (Zim), Louis Moolman (RSA), Daniel Greene (RSA), Chris Williams (RSA), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra)
73 Martin Wiegele (Aut), Joakim Haeggman (Swe), Carlos Del Moral (Spa), Scott Dunlap (USA), Andrew Tampion (Aus), Roope Kakko (Fin), Shaun Norris (RSA), Mark Fensham, Andrew Curlewis (RSA), Heinrich Bruiners (RSA), Gary Clark, Dawie Van Der Walt (RSA), Rick Kulacz (Aus), Niall Kearney, Francois Calmels (Fra)
74 John Parry, Tota Thimba junior (RSA), Doug McGuigan, Stuart Manley, Simon Khan, James Ruth, Simon Thornton, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita), Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe)
75 Gary Murphy, Henrik Nystrom (Swe), Robert Dinwiddie, Mark Brown (Nzl), Wayne Westner (RSA)
76 Brett Liddle (RSA), Johan Du buisson (RSA), Des Terblanche (RSA), Richard McEvoy, Keenan Davidse (RSA), Marcel Siem (Ger), Nick Dougherty
77 Danny Lee (Nzl), James Kamte (RSA), Lindani Ndwandwe (RSA)
79 Anton Haig (RSA), Callie Burger (RSA)
80 Merrick Bremner (RSA), Lee Slattery
DQ: Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor)

Sheehan (only 22 putts) leads Victorian Open with a 66

FROM THE PGA OF AUSTRALIA WEBSITE
A red-hot putter has helped drive Paul Sheehan to the top of the leaderboard following the opening round of the 2010 Subaru Victorian Open at Spring Valley Golf Club.
Sheehan, winner of the 2006 Jacob’s Creek Open and a multiple winner on the Japanese Tour, required just 22 putts on his way to a five-under-par 66 to lead by one-stroke from Victorian Anthony Brown.
Brown vaulted into outright second place after making a spectacular eagle on his third last hole.
Fellow Victorians Jarrod Lyle, David McKenzie and Jason Norris all made promising starts after having early tee-times with rounds of 68 and finished the day in group tied for third.
Sheehan, 32, suffered his worst season in Japan, but said after his round that his form had begun to turn the corner late last year.
"I really felt things were starting to improve at Coolum (at the Australian PGA), so it's good to pick up that form again after a couple of weeks off," the New South Welshman said.
"I hit it all over the place early on, so the putter kept me in it a little bit until I got going a bit."
McKenzie, thawing out after spending his Christmas break with his wife's Canadian family near Toronto, was his usual consistent self and ground out his score rather than tearing the course apart.
Lyle, having recovered from a staphylococcal infection that disrupted his 2009 US PGA Tour campaign, showed signs his game was returning to its awesome best when he recovered from an early bogey with an eagle on the 17th, his eighth hole.
But he could only manage 10 closing pars after that.
"But that's the way it is - it's the type of course where things can go south pretty quickly, so I'm happy with that," Lyle said.
One who wasn't as enthusiastic about his score was defending champion Ashley Hall, who "couldn't buy a putt" and struggled to a four-over 75.
New South Welshman John Onions produced the shot of the day with an ace on the 135m par 3, 10th.