Kim, Villegas share Honda Classic halfway lead

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Anthony Kim powered to the top of the leaderboard at the Honda Classic on a good day for low scoring at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Kim carded a six-under-par 64 in his second round, equalling the course record, and shared the lead at eight under with Camilo Villegas of Colombia.
Villegas went round in his second successive 66, as two of the brightest emerging stars on the PGA Tour - Villegas is 28 and Kim is 24 - led from one of its most senior players.
Fijian Vijay Singh, 47, is chasing his first win since 2008 and strengthened his chances with a round of 66 to follow his opening 67.
Kim's fellow American Jerry Kelly stood in fourth place on six under after a round of 65, and overnight leader Nathan Green dropped back into a share of fifth place on five under after a level-par 70.
Alongside Green in a group of five were former Masters champion Mike Weir and Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell after rounds of 64 and 67 respectively.
Two other players shot 64 - Canadian Stephen Ames and England's Paul Casey - and they both shot up into a share of 12th place.
Co-leader Kim was pleased with his round, after struggling in terms of scoring in the early weeks of the season.
He said: "I feel really good. I've been working hard on my game, and the last couple of months I've really started to play better. I haven't put four good rounds together. I'm happy to have another opportunity to putt four good ones together and hopefully have a chance to win the tournament on the back nine."
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 140 (2x70)
132 Anthony Kim 68 64, Camilo Villegas (Col) 66 66
133 Vijay Singh (Fij) 67 66
134 Jerry Kelly 69 65
135 Nathan Green (Aus) 65 70, Graeme McDowell (NIrl) 68 67, Matthew Every 69 66, Mike Weir (Can) 71 64, Chez Reavie 70 65
136 Michael Connell 65 71, Alex Cejka (Ger) 68 68
137 Paul Casey (Eng) 73 64, Stephen Ames (Can) 73 64
138 Ted Purdy 68 70, Sam Saunders 69 69, Henrik Bjornstad (Nor) 68 70, George McNeill 68 70, Brett Quigley 70 68, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 69 69, Tom Gillis 68 70, Rocco Mediate 73 65, Jason Bohn 71 67
139 Charlie Wi (Kor) 72 67, Chris Stroud 71 68, Michael Bradley 69 70, Oliver Wilson (Eng) 66 73, Steve Wheatcroft 71 68, Charles Howell III 69 70
140 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 71 69, Joe Ogilvie 72 68, Bubba Watson 67 73, Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 71 69, J.B. Holmes 71 69, Chris Tidland 73 67, Marc Leishman (Aus) 74 66, Bo Van Pelt 71 69, D.J. Trahan 67 73, Lee Westwood (Eng) 69 71
141 Will MacKenzie 69 72, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 69 72, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 73 68, Jimmy Walker 75 66, Alex Prugh 68 73
142 David Lutterus (Rsa) 73 69, Chris Riley 71 71, Vaughn Taylor 69 73, Jeff Quinney 73 69, John Senden (Aus) 74 68, Steve Lowery 69 73, Matthew Jones (Aus) 69 73, Mark Wilson 73 69, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 66 76, Justin Leonard 72 70, Justin Rose (Eng) 70 72, Chad Collins 72 70, Mark Calcavecchia 73 69, Craig Bowden 73 69, Briny Baird 72 70, Johnson Wagner 73 69, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 71 71
143 Brendon De Jonge 70 73, Jason Dufner 72 71, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 74 69, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 69 74, Scott Piercy 68 75, Garrett Willis 70 73, Blake Adams 75 68, Derek Lamely 71 72, Ernie Els (Rsa) 73 70, Jerod Turner 74 69, Brandt Snedeker 70 73, Rich Barcelo 73 70, Josh Teater 75 68, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 74 69
MISSED THE CUT
144 Aron Price (Aus) 70 74, Scott McCarron 74 70, Steve Flesch 78 66, Vance Veazey 70 74, Woody Austin 70 74, Harrison Frazar 72 72, Matt Bettencourt 69 75, John Mallinger 74 70, Boo Weekley 73 71, Rickie Fowler 72 72
145 Spencer Levin 72 73, Michael Letzig 72 73, Kevin Johnson 74 71, Chris Couch 71 74, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 77 68, Roger Tambellini 71 74, Greg Owen (Eng) 72 73, Graham Delaet (Can) 74 71, Webb Simpson 71 74, Chad Campbell 71 74, Bill Haas 78 67, Andres Romero (Arg) 75 70, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 77 68
146 Francis Quinn 76 70, John Rollins 73 73, Tim Herron 76 70, Davis Love III 74 72, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 76 70, Todd Hamilton 74 72, James Nitties (Aus) 72 74
147 Chris Wilson 74 73, Bob Estes 76 71, Ben Curtis 76 71, Tim Clark (Rsa) 73 74, Jonathan Byrd 68 79, James Driscoll 72 75, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 74 73
148 Robert Allenby (Aus) 76 72, Omar Uresti 76 72, John Merrick 78 70, Bill Lunde 78 70, Jay Williamson 73 75, Nicholas Thompson 74 74, Kevin Streelman 75 73
149 Jeff Overton 79 70, Lee Janzen 73 76, Greg Kraft 75 74, Brad Faxon 69 80, D.A. Points 77 72, Jeff Klauk 76 73, Paul Goydos 77 72, Troy Merritt 75 74, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 79 70
150 Jeff Maggert 80 70, Martin Flores 72 78, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 78 72, Brett Wetterich 73 77
151 Brian Davis (Eng) 75 76, Michael Allen 77 74, Andy Matthews 77 74, David Duval 75 76
152 Roland Thatcher 78 74
153 Brian Stuard 76 77
154 Ryan Palmer 73 81, Ryan Garrity 77 77
155 Perry Moss 81 74

French Allianz Golf Tour Qualifying School
Cap d'Agde Golf Club, France.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
218 Nicolas Porteboeuf (France) 79 70 69, Eric Chaudouet (France) 74 73 71, Clement Gallois (France) 71 72 75.
219 Rafael Gallardo Moreno (Spain) 79 68 72, Ivo Giner (Spain) 74 73 72, Kiriano Blais (France) 77 69 73.
220 Keir McNicoll (Scotland) 76 73 71, Jonathan Lomas (England) 76 71 73, Alberto Campanile (Italy) 73 72 75 (jt 7th).
221 Gavin Dear (Scotland) 76 72 73, Scott Hill (France) 73 77 71, Andrea Rota (Italy) 73 74 74, Cedric Menut (France) 72 73 76 (jt 10th)
+52 players gained playing rights on the tour.

Renault EPD Tour Scoreboard
AMELKIS CLASSIC
Marrakesh, Morocco
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72)
135 Marcel Haremza (Germany) 65 70.
139 Maximilian Tschinkel (Germany) 69 70, Damien Perrier (France) 70 69, Benjamin Miarka (Germany) 70 69, Gary Birch (England) 69 70, Reinier Saxton (Netherlands) 68 71.
140 Simon Boyd (England) 68 72, Michael Lowe (England) 71 69, Niklas Glans (Sweden) 66 74, Grant Jackson England) 70 70, Alessio Bruschi (Italy) 69 71, Christoph Pfau 68 72.
Selected scores:
141 Ben Parker (England) 71 70, Paul O'Hara (Scotland) 69 72, Brian McElhinney (Ireland) 72 70.
142 Stephen Grant (England) 70 72 (jt 18th).
144 Cian McNamara (Ireland) 68 75, Lee Corfield (England) 73 71 (jt 31st).

Haines, Fleetwood Britain's last
-
survivors in Spanish championship

England's Walker Cup players, Matthew Haines (Rochester & Cobham), pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, and Tommy Fleetwood (Formby Hall), winner of the Scottish open amateur stroke-play championship at Murcar Links last year, are the only two British players in the last eight of the Spanish men's amateur international championship at La Canada Golf Club on the Costa del Sol.
Fraserburgh's Kris Nicol, the No 3 qualifier, won his first tie by 2 and 1 over Adam Carson (England) but lost to Spain's No 19 qualifier, Sebastian Garcia, by two holes in the round of the last 16.
Gordon Yates, Scotland's only other representative among the 32 qualifiers for the match-play stages, was the No 6 seed. He lost to the 27th qualifier, R Lykke-Kjeldsen (Denmark) by one hole.
Results:
FIRST ROUND
Qualifying number in brackets
Matthew Haines (England) (1) bt James Watts (England) (32) 2 and 1.
Max Kieffer (Germany) (16) bt Carlos Pigem (Spain) (17) 1 hole.
Antonio Hortal (Spain) bt Ian Winstanley (England) 7 and 5
J Lopez-Lazaro (France) bt Alex Christie (England) 3 and 2
Juan Sarasti (Spain) bt Leo Lespinasse (France) 5 and 4.
J Lando-Casanova (France) bt #Adrian Otaegui (Spain) 3 and 2.
Nino Bertasio (Italy)bt Thomas Shadbolt (England) 5 and 3.
Emilio Cuartero (Spain)bt Jamie Abbot (England) (29) 3 and 2.

Kris Nicol (Scotland) (3)bt Adam Carson (England) (30) 2 and 1.
Sebastian Garcia (Spain) (19) bt Stiggy Hodgson (England) (14) at 21st.
Dara Lernihan (Ireland) (22) bt Tapio Pulkkanen (Finland) (11) at 19th.
R Lykke-Kjeldsen (Denmark) (27) bt Gordon Yates (Scotland) (6) 1 hole.
Elias Bertheussen (Norway) (26) bt Gary Stal (France) (7) 3 and 1.
Tommy Fleetwood (England) (10) bt Alexander Levy (France) (23) 2 and 1.
Toni Hakula (Finland) bt Ben Loughrey (England) (15) 4 and 3.
Julien Brun (France) (2) bt Manuel Gil C (Spain) (31) 2 holes.

SECOND ROUND
Haines bt Keiffer 2 and 1.
Lopez-Lazaro bt Hortal 2 and 1.
Sarasti bt Lando-Casanova 3 and 2.
Cuartero bt Bertasio 3 and 2.

Garcia bt Nicol 2 holes.
Lykke-Kjeldsen bt Lernihan 3 and 2.
Fleetwood bt Bertheussen 2 and 1.
Bruin bt Hakula 2 and 1.

BOYS' QUADRANGULAR INTERNATIONAL

Scots rally to beat France and keep

100 per cent record after Day 2


Scotland are favourites to win the boys' quadrangular international golf title at Chiberta Golf Club, Biarritz in southwest France after coming from behind to beat hosts France 5-4 on the second day of the three-day competition.
Sweden hammered Italy 6-1 in the other match.
The Scots, managed by Forfar Golf Club secretary Stuart Wilson, the former British amateur champion and Open championship leading amateur, go into their final match against Italy as the only team with two wins out of two.
Italy and Sweden have identical records of one win and one defeat. France have lost both their matches.
France had a 2-1 lead over Scotland after the morning foursomes but wins in the singles by Jack McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie), the Scottish boys' stroke-play champion last year, Grant Forrest (Craigielaw), the Under-16 boys' title-holder, Calum Stewart from Brora and Scott Gibson (Southerness) turned the deficit around as the Scots took the singles 4-2.
Jack Scott (Deeside) and Ian Redford (St Andrews New) are the other players in the Scotland Under-18s' squad.
Forrest, picture above by courtesy of Tom Ward Photography, and Stewart have each won four out of four ties. McDonald has won three out of four.
Thursday's results:
Scotland 6 1/2, Sweden 2 1/2
Italy 5 1/2, France 3 1/2
Friday results:
SCOTLAND 5, FRANCE 4
Foursomes (1-2)
Jack Scott & Scott Bison lost to Paul Barjon & Victor Perez.
Jack McDonald & Ian Redford lost to Pierre Tillement & Florian Loutre 3 and 1.
Grant Forrest & Calum Stewart bt Kenny Subregis & Thomas Chapon 1 hole.
Singles (4-2)
McDonald bt Perez 2 holes.
Forrest bt Barjon 5 and 4.
Stewart bt Tillement 3 and 2.]
Gibson bt Chapon 4 and 3.
Redford lost to Loutre 3 and 2.
Scott lost to Subregis 3 and 2.
Other result:
SWEDEN 6, ITALY 1
Foursomes: 2 1/2-1/2
Singles: 3 1/2-1/2 (two ties unfinished).

Duff House Royal will stage first round of NE Alliance championship

The first round of the North-east Golfers' Alliance championship will be played at Duff House Royal next Wednesday after all. Secretary Ron Menzies had been looking for an alternative venue but the condition of the Banff course has improved considerably over the past 48 hours with the fairways and most of the bunkers back in play.
The tee will be reserved from 8.15am to 1pm.
The second round of the championship is at Cruden Bay on Wednesday, March 17.
Philip McLean (Peterhead) is the defending champion.

Harkins 76, Fotheringham 78 in Riversdale Cup

Ayrshire's Chris Harkins and Fraser Fotheringham from Nairn had rounds of 76 and 78 respectively on the opening day of the Riversdale Cup stroke-play golf tournament at Riversdale Golf Club, Victoria today).
Ayr Belleisle member Harkins had a double bogey at the 12th and a birdie at the 18th in halves of 38 for a share of 76th place in the field of 156 players.
Fotheringham had double bogeys at the eighth and 16th and birdies at the seventh and 18th in halves of 40 and 38. He is joint 114th going into the second round.
Australian Cameron Powell and New Zealanader Ben Wallace share the lead on four-under-par 68.
LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 72, 6057 metres.
Players from Australia unless stated
68 Ben Wallace (NZ), Cameron Powell.
69 Alex Hendrick, Adam Boyer, Neil Raymond (Eng), Gavin Fairfax, Toby Burden (Eng), Patrick Wilson.
Selected scores:
76 Craig Whitehead (Eng), Chris Harkins (Sco) (jt 83rd).
78 Fraser Fotheringham (Sco) (jt 114th).

Swede Sture wins this week's Spanish Tour event

FROM THE SPANISH Hi5 TOUR WEBSITE
Robert Sture from Sweden closed out his first win on the Hi5 Pro Tour on Thursday with a two-shot margin of victory over Morten Hedegaard from Denmark.
Sture shot a last-round 73 but his nearest competitors, Spaniards Miguel Angel Martin and Carlos Aguilar, both shot 75s.
The Swede was only one shot ahead going into the 16th hole but Aguilar made a triple bogey on the par 5 to see his chances slip away. Sture, however, made things interesting going down the 17th.
After a way ward tee shot ended up in the left rough, he had to take a penalty drop from an unplayable which cost him a bogey but he still had a three-shot lead going into the final hole. After a solid tee shot it was a matter of going through the motions for the professional from Gothenburg. He collected a cheque for 4125 Euros.
For Hedegaard it was another solid performance after last week finishing in a play off for first and this week second on his alone. Top amateurs were Joachim B Hansen and Peter Baunsoe from Denmark both finishing at +4.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 213 (3x71)
206 Robert Sture (Sweden) 67 66 73.
208 Morten Hedegaard (Denmark) 70 68 70.
209 Sam Haywood (England) 74 69 66, Carlos Aguilar (Spain) 66 68 75.
210 Juan Parron (Spain) 69 70 71, Richard Kind (Netherlands) 70 68 72.
211 Matthew Evans (England) 76 67 68, Miguel Angel Martin (Spain) 71 65 75.
212 Barrie Trainor (Northern Irlenad) 783 67 72, Ben Jones (England) 73 67 72, Neil chaudhuri (England) 70 67 75.
213 Ross Cameron (Scotland) 67 77 69.
Selected scores:
215 Matthew Cryer (England) 75 67 73.
216 Neil O'Briain (Ireland) 73 73 780.
219 Gareth Davies (England) 75 70 74, Michael McGeady (Ireland) 79 68 72.
220 Jack Doherty (Scotland) 75 74 71.
221 Ruaidhri McGee (Ireland) 72 74 75, James Johnson (England) 74 73 74, Peter Lockett (England) 69 79 73, Steven Kattenhorn (England) 75 74 72.
223 Jonathan Gidney (England) 70 76 77, Mark Campbell (Ireland) 76 71 76,
224 James Busby (England) 71 76 77.
226 Paul Doherty (Scotland) 76 73 77, James Housby (England) 74 75 77.
228 Lloyd Campbell (England) 77 72 79, Ronan Collins (Ireland) 74 75 79.

Thai holes eagle pitch to lead with four holes to play

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ASIAN TOUR
Kuala Lumpur: Thailand ’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat held a one-shot lead at the weather-hit Maybank Malaysian Open today, thanks to a sensational holed pitch for an eagle 3.
The former world junior champion jumped into pole position after negotiating 14 holes of his second round in five-under-par at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club to lead the US$2 million event on nine-under-par. He still has four holes to play to complete his second round and is one of 58 players who will do so at first light on Saturday morning (local time).
A shot back was Spaniard Alejandro Canizares, who was amongst those lucky enough to finish his round in 69 for a two-day total of eight-under-par 136. Asian Tour stalwart Angelo Que of the Philippines and Denmark ’s Soren Hansen were a further stroke back on 137 after returning identical 67s in the morning session.
Malaysian duo Danny Chia (71) and M. Sasidaran (73) continued to fly the Malaysian flag, lying on 142 in the co-sanctioned Asian Tour and European Tour tournament.
Following a lightning storm which stopped play for 2hr 20min in the afternoon, 58 players failed to complete the second round and will return on Saturday morning (7.45am) to finish their remaining holes.
Korean star K.J. Choi kept himself in the hunt for a second Malaysian title in five months where he is seven under for the tournament after playing 16 holes in two-under, which included an eagle 2. Two-time Maybank Malaysian Open winner Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand was a further stroke back where he was even par through 16 holes as well.
Kiradech, 20, rose to the top of the leaderboard when he holed his third shot from 30 yards out at the par five fifth hole to give himself another shot of earning his first Asian Tour victory. Putting in new clubs in his bag seems to have paid off handsomely.
“I’m very happy. I was very lucky on that eagle. It wasn’t quite dark and one of my flight mates wanted to stop but I wanted to continue and chipped in for eagle. Finishing with an eagle was great,” said Kiradech, who finished fourth at the season-o pen ing Asian Tour International on home soil after leading into the final round.
Kiradech knows he must maintain his “A” game to finally prevail on the Asian Tour. “This time is much different because this tournament is bigger with a lot of top players like Thongchai. But I need to keep going and concentrate hard. I wasn’t playing good before playing here. I changed to new clubs before the Asian Tour International and didn’t feel comfortable with it. I changed to another set of clubs before coming into this tournament.”
Canizares, whose father Jose Maria was a member of Europe ’s victorious Ryder Cup team on four occasions, put himself in position to challenge for a second career victory following his lone success at the 2006 Russian Open .
“I am pretty pleased with that, especially considering I finished in the dark. I couldn’t see anything and I made a pretty good par putt. I pulled my second shot into the last and was in the semi-rough. I decided to putt it and I should never have done that. I left myself a horrible eight foot putt for par, downhill and on a nasty line but I almost shut my eyes and just hit it – thankfully it went in,” said the Spaniard.
A two-time winner on the Asian Tour, Que is hoping to break the bank and land what would arguably be his biggest career victory yet. He triumphed in a domestic tournament last month and challenged for the Asian Tour International.
“I have been hitting it good for the past two days but holed more putts today. Everything pretty much worked out fine except for one hole (where he bogeyed the 12th hole). Five-under on this course, and in this heat is good,” said Que, who started strongly with four consecutive birdies from the third hole.
Choi was happy to stay in touch with the leaders.
“I’ll try and go for birdies. If I’m able to stick to that game plan, I won’t go wrong,” said the South Korean star, who is a seven time US PGA Tour winner.
“No problem for me at all (in regards to the weather disruptions). I’m used to this sort of delays,” he added.
LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS (to be updated)
Par 144 (2x72)
*58 players still to complete second rounds early Saturday morning (local time).
136 Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 67 69
137 Soren Hansen (Den) 70 67, Angelo Que (Phi) 70 67
138 Brett Rumford (Aus) 71 67, Johan Edfors (Swe) 69 69
139 Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 69 70
140 Jason Knutzon (USA) 73 67
141 Stephen Gallacher 72 69, Peter Lawrie 69 72, Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha) 67 74, Matthew Griffin (Aus) 72 69
142 M Sasidaran (Mal) 69 73, Marco Ruiz (Par) 71 71, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 68 74, Scott Strange (Aus) 69 73, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 70 72, Danny Chia (Mal) 71 71, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 77 65
143 Rahil Gangjee (Ind) 68 75, Gary Boyd 72 71, Sang-moon Bae (Kor) 69 74, Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) 72 71, Unho Park (Aus) 70 73
144 Anthony Kang (USA) 73 71, Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 74 70, David Gleeson (Aus) 71 73, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 72 72, Antonio Lascuna (Phi) 72 72, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 73 71, Hyung-sung Kim (Kor) 70 74, Hideto Tanihara (Jpn) 73 71
PROJECTED CUT: 144 OR BETTER NEEDED TO QUALIFY
145 Joost Luiten (Ned) 72 73, Mars Pucay (Phi) 75 70, Steven O'Hara 74 71, Chris Rodgers 70 75, Julien Quesne (Fra) 74 71, Ross Bain 68 77, Mark Purser (Nzl) 74 71, Simon Khan 71 74, Anthony Wall 74 71, C Muniyappa (Ind) 73 72, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 75 70, James Kamte (Rsa) 74 71, Shingo Katayama (Jpn) 76 69
146 Sam Hutsby 75 71, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 73 73, Mohd Hisyam Abdul Majid (Mal) 77 69, Himmat Singh Rai (Ind) 73 73, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 75 71, Adam Blyth (Aus) 74 72
147 Gary Lockerbie 71 76, Chris Wood 75 72, Andrew Tampion (Aus) 75 72, Thammanoon Srirot (Tha) 74 73, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 73 74, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 72 75, Udorn Duangdecha (Tha) 77 70
148 John Parry 77 71, Peter Whiteford 73 75, Kwanchai Tannin (Hkg) 77 71, Daisuke Maruyama (Jpn) 76 72, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 74 74, Carl Suneson (Spa) 75 73, Rick Kulacz (Aus) 75 73, Sam Little 76 72, Joong Kyung Mo (Kor) 77 71
149 Andrew Butterfield 74 75, Mohd Iszaimi Ismail (Mal) 76 73, S Sivachandran (Mal) 76 73, George Coetzee (Rsa) 70 79, Miles Tunnicliff 72 77
150 Darren Clarke 73 77, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 74 76
151 Fredrik Ohlsson (Swe) 76 75, Gavin Green (Mal) 75 76
152 Danny Lee (Nzl) 76 76, Marcus Both (Aus) 79 73, Iain Steel (Mal) 78 74, Richard McEvoy 75 77, Akhmal Tarmizee Mohd Nazari (Mal) 79 73
153 Periasamy Gunasagaran (Mal) 75 78, Ted Oh (Kor) 73 80
154 Rashid Ismail Md (Mal) 76 78
155 Mohd Shukree Othman (Mal) 76 79
156 Nicholas Fung (Mal) 78 78, Kodai Ichihara (Jpn) 78 78
157 Gary Murphy 78 79
158 Abei Tam (Mal) 77 81
160 Andrew Coltart 76 84
162 Chris Gane 83 79
Retired: Simon Griffiths, Lin Wen-Tang (Tpe), Hwang Inn-Choon (Kor), David Howell
Disqualified: Jamie Elson
Withdrew: Jyoti Randhawa (Ind), Rafa Echenique (Arg)

INITIAL GB&I SQUAD SELECTED FOR

ST ANDREWS TROPHY MATCH

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE R&A
A preliminary Great Britain & Ireland squad has been selected for this year’s St Andrews Trophy Match, which will be played at Golf Club Castelconturbia, Italy, on August 27-28. The squad contains 18 players from whom the nucleus of the nine-man team to face the Continent of Europe will be drawn.
It is anticipated that this 18-man squad will also form the basis for selection of the GB&I team to contest the Walker Cup Match at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club next year.
Four 2009 Walker Cup team members – Tommy Fleetwood, Matthew Haines, Stiggy Hodgson and Chris Paisley – add valuable experience to the squad, while talented young players, like 2009 Scottish Amateur Champion David Law, and Paul Dunne, who captained GB&I to victory over the Continent of Europe in the 2009 Jacques Leglise Trophy Match, add considerable depth.
This year, Nigel Edwards will be taking charge of his first GB&I team after being named as Captain for both the St Andrews Trophy Match against the Continent of Europe, and the 2011 Walker Cup Match against the USA.
"We’ve selected a very strong initial squad for this year’s match. Every one of the 18 young players is more than capable of excelling at the highest levels of the amateur game,” said Edwards, a playing member of victorious St Andrews Trophy teams in 2002, 2004 and 2006.
“It is now down to the players involved, and to those who narrowly missed out on selection, to use the summer to prove that they are deserving of one of the nine places available in the team."
The group will assemble at Celtic Manor Resort for a two-day session on Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 May, giving players a chance to spend some time together, both on the golf course and socially, before the Match.
There is every chance for other players to force their way into the squad, and the selectors, who will be in attendance at events throughout the summer, fully expect several players not included in the initial 18 to be in contention for a place in the team.

The members of the squad are as follows:

Jamie Abbott – Fynn Valley Ross Kellett - Colville Park
James Byrne – Banchory David Law - Hazlehead
Paul Cutler – Portstewart Tom Lewis - Welwyn Garden City
Alan Dunbar – Rathmore Chris Lloyd - Kendleshire
Paul Dunne – Greystones Matthew Nixon - Ashton under Lyne
Rhys Enoch – Truro Chris Paisley - Stocksfield
Tommy Fleetwood – Formby Hall Eddie Pepperell - Drayton Park
Matthew Haines – Rochester & Cobham Darren Renwick - Hill Barn
Stiggy Hodgson – Sunningdale Michael Stewart - Troon Wellbeck

The Great Britain & Ireland selectors are as follows:

Nigel Edwards, Captain – Wales Michael Burns – Ireland
Tony Disley, Chairman – Wales Mark Heames – Wales
Allan Brodie – Scotland Jonathan Plaxton – England

Aberdeen Brunei Senior Masters

Merriman and Ruangkit sizzle in the Brunei heat

By PAUL SYMES, European Seniors Tour Press Officer
Sparkling rounds of 64 saw Australian David Merriman and Thai ace Boonchu Ruangkit grab the lead on the first day of The Aberdeen Brunei Senior Masters presented by The Stapleford Forum, with England’s Roger Chapman in a group of players three shots behind.
Merriman, winner of the Senior Tour Qualifying School in 2006, got off to the perfect start at The Empire Hotel & Country Club in Brunei, hitting his approach shot to the first green to 15 feet and holing the birdie putt.
The man from Sydney, who has a cult online following due to his trick shot repertoire, proved it was no fluke by rattling off another three birdies on the front nine and adding a further three after the turn to sign for a flawless seven under par round of 64.
He said: “It was my putting that really saw me through today – I think it’s the best I’ve putted in the last 18 months. It helps that the greens are fast and very true. It’s just a great course, the kind of course where you have to use every club in the bag. It’s not a particularly long course or short course – it’s just perfect.”
Merriman will be partnered in the second round by Ruangkit, who won the US Champions Tour Qualifying School the same year the Australian won the European Senior Tour equivalent. Ruangkit, a former kick boxer, won five times on the Asian Tour, including the Thailand Open in 2004 aged 48. The 53 year old has never won on the Senior Tour before, but eight birdies have given him every chance of breaking his duck over the next two days.
He said: “The only hole I bogeyed was the 16th, which was annoying. But other than that it was a good round, and I’m very happy with the way I’m playing. Everything was working well. I drove the ball well, and when I got onto the greens my putting was also good. The course is very good, and the greens are so smooth and fast – maybe too fast in places! But hopefully I can play as well tomorrow.”
European Tour champion Chapman leads the chasing pack, having opened with a round of 67. Chapman cancelled out his opening birdie with a bogey at the second hole, but picked up a further four shots to finish on four under par, level with South African Bobby Lincoln, Frankie Minoza of the Philippines and Japan’s Katsuyoshi Tomori.
Minoza, making his first Senior Tour debut, at times struggled to cope in the conditions, saying: “I’m used to playing in hot conditions, but not this humidity. It’s quite difficult to keep your momentum when you have to stop every hole to mop up all the sweat!”
Another player to struggle in the heat was Welshman Ian Woosnam, who signed for a one over par round of 72 to sit in a tie for 32nd place.
He said: “I really struggled in the conditions – it was really hard work. I’m not sure whether it’s because of jet lag or the heat, but I felt really shaky when I was out there. The course is good but it’s tough, and if you’re not playing too well it’s very tough because once the ball ends up in the rough, it’s really difficult to get your game back on track. It’s a good test though – I think the more I play it, the better I’ll get.
“The main thing is to build up my confidence. I changed my grip on the last few holes and it seemed to work, so that has boosted my confidence a bit going into tomorrow. I’m not going to practice this afternoon, as this heat just wears you out. But I’m feeling ok about tomorrow – those last few holes have helped.”
One stroke further back is Woosnam’s fellow former Ryder Cup Captain Sam Torrance, who said: “I was actually fairly happy with the way I played, but seven bogeys probably speaks for itself. It was really tough out there in the conditions, not helped by the jet lag and tiredness. But I don’t actually think I played that badly, and hopefully I’ll have a better day tomorrow.”
Torrance was joined on two over par by his fellow Scot Sandy Lyle, whose round was blighted by lost balls on the 11th and 17th holes.
He said: “This course is dangerous. It’s a great course if you’re playing well, but if you miss the fairway and end up in the rough there’s no way back. I was really disappointed with the end of the round, especially as I’d started quite positively.”
FIRST-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 71
64 D Merriman (Aus), B Ruangkit (Tha)
67 K Tomori (Jpn), F Minoza (Phi), B Lincoln (RSA), R Chapman (Eng)
68 J Quiros (Esp), B Longmuir (Sco), C Williams (RSA)
69 L Carbonetti (Arg), A Franco (Par), T Burgoyne (Sco), M Clayton (Aus) , D Johnson (USA)
70 I Mosey (Eng) , M Cunning (USA) , D Cambridge (Jam) , N Job (Eng) , S Ebihara (Jpn), A Tapie (USA) , J Bruner (USA) , B Cameron (Eng) , G Ryall (Eng)
71 P Mitchell (Eng) , B Boyd (USA) , S Choi (Kor) , S Taylor (USA) , L Stephen (Aus) , J Hall (Eng) , P Dahlberg (Swe) , I Palmer (RSA) ,
72 P Teravainen (USA) , B Hardwick (Can), R Drummond (Sco), J Hawkes (RSA), A Sowa (Arg) , M Farry (Fra) , I Woosnam (Wal)
73 S Torrance (Sco) , J Chillas (Sco), T Chen (Tpe) , G Gunn (Can) , S Owen (Nzl) , G Cali (Ita) , P Oakley (USA) , D Russell (Eng) , P Harrison (Eng) , N Ratcliffe (Aus) , M Piñero (Esp) , G Brand (Eng), S Lyle (Sco)
74 J Sallat (Fra), F Mann (Sco), G Ralph (Eng) , M Ramayah (Mas) , J Rhodes (Eng) , T Johnstone (Zim) , G Davies (Wal) , H Carbonetti (Arg)
75 M Poxon (Eng) , M Miller (Sco), D O'Sullivan (Irl) , J Heggarty (Nir) , P Allan (Eng) , C Nirat (Tha)
76 S Bennett (Eng), A Johnsson (Swe) , R Willison (Eng) , M Harwood (Aus) , K Spurgeon (Eng), B Smit (RSA), A Garrido (Esp)
77 T Chen (Tpe), C Rocca (Ita)
78 M Williams (Zim), M Gray (Sco), T Gale (Aus) , R Metherell (Aus)
82 G Banister (Aus)

Oliver Wilson (66) one off pace in Honda Classic

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Australian Nathan Green and American Michael Connell shared the lead after the first round of the Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
They both carded five-under-par rounds of 65, avoiding dropped shots, to edge clear of the field. England's Oliver Wilson was just one shot off the pace, after a bogey-free round of 66 which put him in a group of three sharing third place, with Colombian Camilo Villegas and Brazil's Alexandre Rocha.
Former Masters champion Vijay Singh was a further shot back, with the Fijian at three under, while Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell and Germany's Alex Cejka stood on two under.
England's Lee Westwood and Argentinian Angel Cabrera, who will return to Augusta next month to defend his Masters title, stayed in touch with the early leaders.
They were both positioned on one under on a congested leaderboard, with Westwood's compatriot Justin Rose on level par.
Padraig Harrington and Rory McIlroy were six shots off the lead after one-over rounds of 71, alongside Chad Campbell, Jeev Milkha Singh and Mike Weir.
Several big names struggled badly, though, with Ernie Els three over after following a double bogey at the short 17th with another bogey at the par-five 18th.
England's Paul Casey was three under after a birdie at the first and eagle at the long third, but his round fell apart on the back nine with four bogeys and a double bogey, and he went to the clubhouse at three over.
Sergio Garcia also had an unsatisfactory round, with three birdies on the front nine countered by seven dropped shots in his round, and he was ailing on four over.
SCOREBOARD
FIRST ROUND
Par 70.
Players from US unless stated
65 Nathan Green (Aus), Michael Connell
66 Alexandre Rocha (Bra), Oliver Wilson (Eng), Camilo Villegas (Col)
67 Vijay Singh (Fij), Bubba Watson, D.J. Trahan
68 Graeme McDowell (NIrl), Ted Purdy, Scott Piercy, Alex Prugh, Alex Cejka (Ger), Henrik Bjornstad (Nor), Anthony Kim, George McNeill, Tom Gillis, Jonathan Byrd
69 Jerry Kelly, Vaughn Taylor, Michael Bradley, Steve Lowery, Angel Cabrera (Arg), Sam Saunders, Matt Bettencourt, Matthew Jones (Aus), Charles Howell III, Will MacKenzie, Brad Faxon, Richard S Johnson (Swe), Fredrik Jacobson (Swe), Matthew Every, Lee Westwood (Eng)
70 Brendon De Jonge, Aron Price (Aus), Brett Quigley, Justin Rose (Eng), Vance Veazey, Woody Austin, Garrett Willis, Brandt Snedeker, Chez Reavie
71 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Chris Riley, Chris Stroud, Chris Couch, Steve Wheatcroft, Roger Tambellini, Derek Lamely, Webb Simpson, J.B. Holmes, Chad Campbell, Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Mike Weir (Can), Bo Van Pelt, Jason Bohn, Padraig Harrington (Irl)
72 Spencer Levin, Michael Letzig, Martin Flores, Jason Dufner, Joe Ogilvie, Harrison Frazar, James Driscoll, Greg Owen (Eng), James Nitties (Aus), Charlie Wi (Kor), Justin Leonard, Chad Collins, Rickie Fowler, Briny Baird
73 David Lutterus (Rsa), Jeff Quinney, Steve Marino, Chris Tidland, Ryan Palmer, Ernie Els (Rsa), Boo Weekley, Craig Bowden, Stephen Ames (Can), Lee Janzen, Mark Wilson, John Rollins, Trevor Immelman (Rsa), Mark Calcavecchia, Paul Casey (Eng), Jay Williamson, Brett Wetterich, Johnson Wagner, Rocco Mediate, Tim Clark (Rsa), Rich Barcelo
74 Scott McCarron, Sergio Garcia (Spa), John Senden (Aus), Davis Love III, Kevin Johnson, Todd Hamilton, Graham Delaet (Can), Nick O'Hern (Aus), John Mallinger, Chris Wilson, Marc Leishman (Aus), Jerod Turner, Stuart Appleby (Aus), Nicholas Thompson
75 Brian Davis (Eng), Greg Kraft, David Duval, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl), Kevin Streelman, Blake Adams, Andres Romero (Arg), Jimmy Walker, Troy Merritt, Josh Teater
76 Brian Stuard, Tim Herron, Omar Uresti, Greg Chalmers (Aus), Ben Curtis, Jeff Klauk, Francis Quinn, Bob Estes, Robert Allenby (Aus)
77 D.A. Points, Michael Allen, Paul Goydos, Ryan Garrity, Andy Matthews, Mathias Gronberg (Swe), Carl Pettersson (Swe)
78 Bill Haas, Bill Lunde, Mathew Goggin (Aus), John Merrick, Roland Thatcher, Steve Flesch, Rich Beem
79 Jeff Overton, Y.E. Yang (Kor)
80 Jeff Maggert
81 Perry Moss