Robert McKnight scores first win on Florida's Minor League Tour


Russell Knox is not the only Scot to have won in the United States this month.
Robert McKnight, pictured right, from Kilmarnock has scored his first win on the Minor League Tour, which operates a circuit of one-day, 18-hole events, several a week.
McKnight won the Hammock Classic at Hammock Creek Golf Club, Palm City by one shot with a four-under-par effort of 68. That earned him $970 for his first win on this tour, although his total winnings are between $2,000 and $3,000 since he joined the satellite circuit in 2009.
He had five top-10 finishes before his breakthrough victory.
+Russell Knox won on the eTour on Sunday. Scroll down for details.

Ross Cameron in top 20 with

two-under-par 70

FROM THE SPANISH Hi5 PRO TOUR WEBSITE
Three players share the lead after round one of the 2010 Polaris World Riquelme Open.
Englishmen Matthew Evans and Ben Jones as well as Morten Hedegaard from Denmark shot six-under-par 66s to set hot pace at this Hi5 Pro Tour 25,000 Euro event at Hacienda Riquelme near the city of Murcia in south-east Spain.
No surprise to find Evans near the top of the leaderboard. He won on this tour less than two weeks ago and finished joint fourth last week.
A big field of 100 players teed off today in slightly windy but warm conditions after the early morning light showers had disappeared.
One of the highlights of the day was Scott Fitzgerald holing his second shot on the ninth and the 18th holes for a pair of eagle 2s.
The top 40 and ties after Wednesday's second round will qualify for Thursday's final round of a 54-hole event.
SCOTSWATCH: Tartan Tour player Ross Cameron, pictured above by Cal Carson Golf Agency, from Ellon in Aberdeenshire is the leading Scot with a creditable round of 70 for joint 16th place. One time European Tour player Raymond Russell matched the par of 72 and is sharing 31st place. Third best Scot is Edward Thomson with a 73 for a share of 48th place. Former Scottish boys match-play champion Paul Doherty could do no better than a 77 for joint 76th position after 18 holes. Ben Irvine has even less chance of surviving the 36-hole cut. He is joint 97th after a round of 83.

FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 72
Players from England unless stated
66 Matthew Evans, Ben Jones, Morten Hedegaard (Denmark).
67 James Busby, Stian Hansen (Norway).
68 Jacek Person (Poland), Kevin Harper.
69 Sergio Rodriguez (Spain), Sam Haywood, John Chjeetham, Tuomas Pollari (Finland), Anders Kristiansen (Norway) (am), Joachim Hansen (Denmark) (am), Gabriel Canizares (Spain), Florian Fritsch (Germany).
70 Alex Christie (am), Ross Cameron (Scotland), Jesper Lerchedal (Norway), James Ruth, Christian Aronsen (Norway), Robert Svensson (Sweden), Ryan Street (Canada).
71 Liam Murray, Richard Carter (am), Ross Whitelock), Neil O'Briain (Ireland), Ryan Williams ,(Canada), Lloyd Campbell, George Woolgar, Peter Erofejeff (Finland).
Selected scores:
72 Raymond Russell (Scotland), Barrie Trainor (Ireland), Mark Campbell (Ireland), Jonathan Gidney, Gary King, Miguel Angel Martin (Spain) (jt 31st).
73 Edward Thomson (Scotland), Lee Clark (jt 48th).
74 Jack Brooks (am), Michael McGeady (Ireland), Kris Jones, Ger Hall (Ireland) (jt 53rd).
75 James Housby, Stephen Redford, Ronan Collins (Ireland), Mark Finbons (am), Steven Kattenhorn, Edward Barry-Walsh, Kyron Sullivan (Wales), James Johnson (jt 62nd).
76 James Need, Oliver Reddick, Matthew Harrison (jt 72nd),
77 Paul Doherty (Scotland), Stuart McCance, Max Colman, Sam Watts, Peta Lockett (jt 76th).
79 Lewis Atkinson (jt 84th).
80 Sam Boyes (jt 90th).
82 Thomas Bolton (jt 93rd).
83 Ben Irving (Scotland), David Thomas (jt 97th).

Paul Lawrie-Adam Hunter coaching
-
relationship renewed


FROM THE PRESS AND JOURNAL
By STEPHEN KASIEWICZ
Aberdeen's Open champion Paul Lawrie had ended his working relationship with coach Bob Torrance.
Lawrie, 41, who won the Claret Jug at Carnoustie in 1999, teamed up with Torrance for last year's Open at Turnberry but will now be coached solely by Adam Hunter.
Lawrie, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, cited the journey from his Aberdeen home to Largs in Ayrshire as a factor in the split with Torrance.
He had been working with Hunter on his short game while also under the tutelage of Torrance.
Lawrie and Hunter go back a long way and the Aberdonian has elected to stay with the coach even although Hunter is currently in hospital in Glasgow after being diagnosed with leukaemia.
Hunter began coaching Lawrie in 1998 and guided him to his Open championship victory a week later. But in June 2007 Hunter was replaced by Meldrum House's Neil Marr.
Lawrie started working with Hunter gain in July 2008 and parted company with Marr in June last year before being coached by Torrance.
Lawrie said: "With every coach I have been with, and Bob was no different, there were a couple of thinks I liked and a couple of things I did not like. I just felt working with Bob and only doing a couple of things that he wanted me to do and travelling six hours to and see him in Largs was not in my best interests.
"We did not have a problem and it was not a sacking. I have decided that Adam Hunter will be doing some work with me again. It was another part of the reason for ending my time with Bob.
"I had a lot of success with Adam and, after having two or three different coaches, I now realise I want to get better and work it out with him, not anyone else.
"I have huge respect for Bob as a coach. He has been doing it for a long time and has enjoyed a massive amount of success with his players.
"Padraig Harrington is one of Europe's best players and Bob has coached him for 10 years. I was not questioning what he was doing."
Lawrie will next compete on the European Tour in the Andalucia Open at Malaga, from March 25 to 28.
He added: "Adam, who is in hospital just now, will now be my sole long-game and short-game coach. He will oversee things and give me advice but, ultimately , it is down to me.
"I have been hitting the ball well. I just need to get the ball in the hole a big more.
"You take good putting for granted when you are a top player. When you are a poor putter you realise how hard the game is. I have not become a poor putter. They are just not going in at the moment. I just need to keep working away at it."
+The above article appears in today's The Press and Journal.

Edinburgh & East of Scotland at Winterfield postponed

Tomorrow's Edinburgh & East of Scotland Alliance competition at Winterfield Golf Club has been postponed due to the frost and snow.
It has been re-scheduled for Wednesday, March 3.

Midland Alliance at Scotscraig postponed until April 19

This week's Midland Golfers Alliance Scotscraig pro-am, sponsored by Hi-Tech Acoustic Services Ltd, due to be played on Thursday, has been postponed because of snow on seven of the greens at the Fife course.
The new date for this competition is Monday, April 19. The entry-forms will be re-issed at a later date.

Marius Thorp wins again on Hi5 Pro Tour in Spain

FROM THE SPANISH Hi5 PRO TOUR WEBSITE
Marius Thorp claimed his second career victory on the Hi5 Pro Tour with a solid 69 performance in demanding weather conditions for the Polaris World Condado Open.
The young Norwegian player ended with a three-shot margin of victory over fellow Scandanavian player Fredrik Widmark of Sweden who made a strong attempt to take the title. Thorp made strong birdies on the 15th and 16th to take a two-shot lead over playing partner Florian Fritsch of Germany going into the 17th hole.
Thorp made a great saving par at the short 17th after a pushed tee shot left him with a difficult up and down. However the former world junior champion showed his great composure and sank his 5ft par putt.
With a two-stroke advantage shot going into the final hole, Thorp struck a magnificent tee shot down the middle of the fairway, leaving only a short iron into the green. Fritsch hit an errant tee shot to the right which caused him to make a double bogey, leaving Thorp clear for his professional victory in 2010 and the 4125 Euros first prize cheque.
Thorp has now won twice on the Hi5 Pro Tour. Last year he won the Polaris World El Valle Open.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
209 Marius Thorp (Norway) 7070 69.
212 Fredrik Widmark (Sweden) 72 71 69.
213 Florian Fritsch (Germany) 70 71 72.
215 Miguel Angel Martin (Spain) 72 71 72, Paul Doherty (Scotland) 70 74 71, Matthew Evans (England) 70 71 74, Elliot Saltman (Scotland) 72 71 72.

Selected scores:
222 Ross Cameron (Scotland) 70 77 75 (jt 28th).
228 Stephen Clark (Scotland) 76 75 77 (jt 44th).

MISSED THE CUT (151 or better qualified)
153 Zack Saltman (Scotland) 77 76.

Time for Monty

-

and Poulter to

-
call a truce

FROM THE HERALDSCOTLAND.COM WEBSITE

By Douglas Lowe
AS Ian Poulter, the new Accenture match-play champion, is handily placed to claim an automatic berth in Europe’s Ryder Cup team this year, his interaction with the captain Colin Montgomerie will be one to watch with interest, as the pair have a prickly relationship.
It is good news for Montgomerie, of course, that his potential team members, including the beaten finalist, Paul Casey, and fourth-placed Sergio Garcia, eclipsed the Americans at Dove Mountain, Arizona, in what is the only match-play tournament on either the European Tour or the US PGA Tour prior to the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor, Wales, on October 1 to 3.
Montgomerie and Poulter have a long history of bickering, the most recent spat having come last September in the run-up to the Vivendi Trophy in France. That event – it used to be called the Seve Trophy and pits Great Britain & Ireland against the Continent of Europe – is viewed by some as a Ryder Cup warm-up.
Poulter, who has moved with his family to the United States and is concentrating on the US PGA Tour, decided not to come. He was not alone, but Montgomerie singled
him out for public criticism.

“[Poulter] having been picked for the last Ryder Cup team, a little more effort might have been made,” he said pointedly.
It was hardly a five-star insult but, given the history between the pair, it was a remark sure to cause a raising of the hackles.
In Monty’s eyes, nothing should stand in the way of regaining the Ryder Cup.
The scenario is there for Montgomerie to be disappointed again on June 3 to 6 at the Wales Open that will be played over the Ryder Cup venue. He has urged all his likely lads as a matter of top priority to come and play the TwentyTen course in this tournament to gain experience of the lay-out and, thereby, give themselves an edge over the Americans.
However, it is staged the week after the Colonial in Texas and with Poulter, who has had decent results there in the last two years, likely to play in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth the week before, the prospect of four transatlantic flights in three weeks will not be particularly appealing. Casey and Garcia are in similar situations.
Poulter’s victory on Sunday, the first by an Englishman in an individual world golf championship event, took him up to world No.5 and goes a long way to vindicating his decision to move to the US.

In Montgomerie’s eyes, though, nothing should stand in the way of regaining the Ryder Cup.
He was unimpressed 18 months ago when Poulter failed to show at Gleneagles for the Johnnie Walker Championship, of which Montgomerie is chairman and which is the final counting event for the Ryder Cup team.

Poulter, again, had scheduling reasons for not turning up at a time when he needed a wild-card pick by captain Nick Faldo.
Montgomerie, who also needed a pick, suggested Poulter had a hotline to Faldo, implying he knew he had already been selected. It was a remark that started a “handbags across the Atlantic” squabble with Poulter, suggesting Montgomerie should concentrate on his golf and the Scot, in turn, remarking “It’s nice to be told what to do by one so young and inexperienced.”
Poulter, as it turned out, did get the nod from Faldo – unlike Montgomerie – and emerged as a ray of futile sunshine at Valhalla, Kentucky, winning four points out of five, the best record by any player on either side, and showing himself without question to be a team player of the highest calibre.
That was hardly what Montgomerie thought just over four years ago in the Seve Trophy at the Wynyard, in North-east England, where Poulter, having finished his game, went to the range to practise and could be heard hitting balls while the remaining matches were coming up the 18th.
Montgomerie, who was captaining the GB&I side, marched up to Poulter to suggest he should be out on the course supporting his team-mates and reportedly received a very sharp retort. Poulter later referred to the captain’s “schoolmaster-like” approach to team meetings.
Then they were paired together at the 2008 European Open where Montgomerie took a dig at his rival’s exotic dress sense. “I don’t like being beaten by men dressed in pink,” he remarked. Pink, as fate would have it, is the colour Poulter was wearing at Dove Mountain on Sunday for his greatest success.
Montgomerie will have more control over what his team wears at Celtic Manor this autumn, but I daresay he would have them all out in purple if he thought it would make the slightest difference.
You tend to hope the pair will have a quiet word with each other before too long to call a truce to this sniping so that sweetness and light can reign – at least until the Ryder Cup is back in European hands. Then normal tit-for-tat service can be resumed.

Denis Durnian (59) receiving treatment for cancer

FROM THE PGA E-BULLETIN
Two-time PGA Professional Champion and PGA Cup player Denis Durnian has been diagnosed with cancer.
The 59-year-old European Senior Tour regular, who has survived two heart operations in the last six years, was informed of the news six weeks ago.
“I was diagnosed at the end of December and I've started treatment at the Christie Hospital," said Manchester's most enduring professional.
“I'm just going along with everything they tell me and hoping that everything will be all right.
“I was looking forward to playing in Brunei next month then Bangkok and South Africa but I'll have to hang on and see what happens. If I get the all-clear I could be back in June,” he added.
“But I've not given up playing altogether and I feel as though I'm swinging the club better than I have for a long time, although I know that when you get older the body won't function as it used to do.”
He felt no ill-effects when he
turned out in the Manchester
Alliance at Worsley this month
and intends to play in as many
fixtures as he can as long as
he feels fit enough.
"I take each day as it comes,"
said the former Northenden
professional who will be 60 in
June.
During the 1980s, he was a
prolific winner and high-profile
player within PGA circles,
which he combined with
success on the European Tour.
Durnian won the PGA
Professional Championship in
1982 and 1984 and
sandwiched those victories with
success in the PGA National
Pro-Am Championship with
amateur partner Max Brown.
He also joined forces with
Derrick Cooper in 1984 as the
duo shared the inaugural PGA
Fourball Championship.
He also featured in four PGA
Cup teams - 1981, 1982, 1984
and 1986 - winning nine and
losing nine of his matches.
At the same time he twice
narrowly missed out on Ryder
Cup selection before retiring
early to open a golf school at
Stockport which he later
moved to Heaton Park.
But the desire to return to
competitive action spurred him
to join the senior circuit 10
years ago and he made an
immediate impact, in
successive seasons finishing
second in the Order of Merit
after victories in the Wales and
Scottish Opens and Estoril
Championship.
"Those early years before my
heart attack were the best in
my career," he reflected.
"I'm disappointed to miss the
start of the season because the
month away would have done
me good," added Durnian who,
when not playing, is house dad
to his two-year old daughter
while his wife Samantha runs a
physiotherapy business from
their Chorley home.