Grant Forrest two up after 18 holes of Scottish boys' final

FROM THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION WEBSITE
Consecutive birdies at the thirteenth and fourteenth holes gave Craigielaw’s Grant Forrest a two-hole lead at the halfway stage of the 36-hole Scottish Boys' Championship at sun drenched West Kilbride this morning.
Click here for live hole-by-hole scoring from the afternoon round of the 36-hole final.

WEST KILBRIDE CLIMAX TODAY

Forrest and Redford Set for Battle in

36-hole Scottish Boys Final

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION
By ROSS DUNCAN
Today's 2010 Scottish Boys Championship final will be between Craigielaw’s Grant Forrest and the New Club St Andrews’ Ian Redford as both players clinched their matches in style with birdies on the final green at West Kilbride.
Forrest will bid to become only the second player after Burntisland’s Colin Fraser (1987-88) to win the Scottish Boys U16s and Scottish Boys Match Play Double, after winning a superb contest with Jack McDonald by two holes. The 16-year-old East Lothian star picked up seven birdies in glorious sunshine this afternoon and was five-under par for his round.
The game was nip and tuck throughout, but Forrest turned the match with a brace of birdies on the 13th and 14th holes. A superb rescue club approach to 25-foot set up a winning birdie at the thirteenth before the reigning U16s champion knocked his wedge into close range at the next to gain a two-hole advantage.
McDonald bounced back by winning the 15th and with the 16th and 17th halved in pars, it was Forrest who calmly rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th green to book his place in the two-round final.
“I knew I had to produce my best golf of the week to win the semi-final against Jack,” beamed Forrest, a fifth-year pupil at Stewart’s Melville College in Edinburgh. “My putting was the difference today and I managed to hole a few crucial putts this afternoon at key moments.”
“It was a great game of golf with lots of birdies. It’s good to go head to head with someone as good as Jack and beat them. My win at the U16s Championship at Largs last summer gave me a lot of confidence, but it’s a big step up from there to this level.
“I’ll have a rest tonight and watch some of the Masters on TV and then look forward to Saturday's final.” he added.
Fellow Scottish Boys cap Redford showed tremendous character to win his semi-final against Falkirk Tryst’s Jamie Lynch, fighting back from one after eight to close out his match on the 18th green with a 25-foot birdie putt.
Both players were quick off the blocks, sharing birdies on the opening two holes before Lynch produced his third consecutive birdie on the third to go one up. Redford replied immediately with a birdie at the fourth as the golf matched the warm sunshine on the Ayrshire coast.
Lynch went one up again at the sixth after a Redford error but dropped a shot at the ninth as the match went back to all square. Redford, like Forrest a national champion at U16s level, birdied the 11th to go one up for the first time in the match and held on throughout the back nine to notch the most important win of his career.
Reflecting on his last-hole victory Redford, who father Ian starred for Dundee United in the final of the 1987 UEFA Cup, said:
“You work hard and practise for moments like that and it feels great to win by holing a big putt on the final green with the crowd watching. My drive on the eighteenth was probably my best of the day and I knew the putt was going in as soon as I hit it.”
“I got a bit nervous over the last few holes as I had chances to close out the match, but got a great up and down at the 17th which was crucial. It’s been a long, tough week but I kept believing in myself and stayed patient. I enjoy playing under pressure and so I’m looking forward to the final. Grant is an excellent golfer and I’ll need to be at my best to win.”

Click here for hole-by-hole scores from the semi-finals of the Scottish Boys Championship.

http://www.golfbox.dk/livescoring/leaderboardMatchPlay.asp?tour={416E0EA5-1EC8-463B-A837-E4CE41DD00B7}&grp=1&round=6&clubOnly=1&color=1&lang=1033

+The Editor of Scottishgolfview.com is indebted to Ross Duncan and the Scottish Golf Union for the service of reports and results this week.

PGA EUROPRO TOUR REPORT

Amateur James Watts clinches Q School victory

BY ANTHONY LEAVER
Amateur James Watts blasted a brilliant six under par 65 in the final round to win the 2010 PGA EuroPro Tour Q School at Frilford Heath in Oxfordshire by one stroke at ten under.
Watts (East Herts) opened the day at four under par after recording back-to-back two under par rounds to tackle the final day three shots behind the leader at four under. An early bogey saw him drop further behind but three birdies and an eagle moved him to eight under at the eighth.
A dropped shot at the ninth was a brief setback as he sealed the win down the back nine with birdies at the 12th, 16th and 18th seeing him keep in nose in front of playing partner Lee Clarke, who finished one stroke behind Watts.
“Coming down the back nine was great fun today, everything just clicked,” said Watts. “There were plenty of birdies out there and thankfully I picked up a lot of them.
“I didn’t play well at first stage last week at Stoke by Nayland but the weather affected everyone’s game,” said the 22 year-old. “The weather here has been great though and the course is in fantastic condition – I’m absolutely delighted and it’s a really great start to rest of the year.
“I’ve been in Spain over the winter but it’s mainly been practicing so to get out on the course and have that competition element was great,” said Watts, from Hertford. “Fingers crossed that everything goes well, I’ll be playing The Amateur Championship then turning pro in June – and playing as many EuroPro Tour events as possible.”
Clarke (Everbuild Building Products) was five under at the beginning of the day and improved to eight under by the tenth thanks to four unanswered birdies, but a dropped shot at 13 proved costly as his birdie at the last was matched by Watts. The bright spot for Clarke was claiming the £2,400 prize for first place as a result of Watts’ amateur status.
“I really didn’t put a foot wrong today,” said the 29 year-old runner-up from Stanley Village in Derbyshire. “I hit 18 greens and you can’t do a lot more than that. But James played very, very well so full credit to him – and I’m happy to take the money for him of course!”
Welshman Tim Dykes (Wrexham GC) held the lead after the opening round but finished in third spot three shots behind Clarke at six under, finishing his final round with three birdies down the back nine to shoot a one under par 70. James Heath and Philip Waugh (Hexham) both carded rounds of 68 to finish in a three-way tie for fourth spot with Scott Bubb (WPGC).
Craig Corrigan’s birdie-birdie finish made it seven for the day in his five under par 66, seeing him move from one over par ahead of the final round to a four under finish. James Sheffield and Miguel Cantero both recorded six birdies in rounds of 68 to join Corrigan.
Overnight leader Matthew Swales was unable to make an impression on the day, bogeying the first before a double bogey at the third to drop him to four under – with the Cumberwell Park man recording a four under round of 75 to finish at three under for the tournament. Swales shared tenth spot with Marcus Armitage and Graham Benson (Leighton Buzzard), the former recording a two under final round of 69, the latter one over for the day.
The opening event on the 2010 PGA EuroPro Tour takes place at Wensum Valley in Norfolk on April 27-29.
To view the full leader board from the final stage of Q School, visit http://www.europrotour.com/
LEADING FINAL SCORES FROM FRILFORD HEATH
– B = Blue course (par 71), R = Red course (par 73), final round on Blue course.
1 James Watts (Am) 205 -10 69 B, 71 R, 75
2 Lee Clarke 206 -9 69 R, 70 B, 67
3 Tim Dykes 209 -6 66 B, 73 R, 70
= 4 James Heath 210 -5 69 B, 73 R, 68
= 4 Philip Waugh 210 -5 74 B, 68 R, 68
= 4 Scott Bubb 210 -5 69 B, 69 R, 72
= 7 Craig Corrigan 211 -4 76 B, 69 R, 66
= 7 James Sheffield 211 -4 71 B, 72 R, 68
= 7 Miguel Cantero 211 -4 72 R, 71 B, 68

SCOTS' SCORES

(Winner -10).
=14 Wallace Booth 214 -1 72 R, 70 B, 72 B
=28 Ross Cameron 217 +2 69 B, 79 R, 69 B
=50 Mark Lawrie 219 +4 77 R, 71 B, 71 B
=50 Jason McCreadie 219 +4 74 R, 72 B, 73 B
=58 Scott Henry 220 +5 75 R, 74 B, 71 B
=58 Shaun McAllister 220 +5 73 R, 70 B, 77 B
=71 Steven Duncan 221 +6 75 R, 75 B, 71 B
=71 Martin Lawrence 221 +6 76 R, 74 B, 71 B
=71 Paul O'Hara 221 +6 76 B, 74 R, 71 B
=76 Paul Cormack 222 +7 73 B, 75 R, 74 B
=100 Steven Mackie 224 +9 76 R, 75 B, 73 B
=104 Steven Hume 225 +10 79 R, 70 B, 76 B
=104 John Henry 225 +10 78 R, 72 B, 75 B
=104 Steven Clark 225 +10 77 R, 73 B, 75 B
=104 John Gallagher 225 +10 81 B, 70 R, 74 B
=104 Euan McIntosh 225 +10 72 R, 79 B, 74 B

European Tour Scoreboard
MADEIRA ISLANDS OPEN
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72)
Collated second-round scores (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):
132 James Morrison 67 65
133 George Murray 66 67
134 Simon Thornton 68 66
137 Jamie McLeary 67 70, John Parry 71 66, Andrew McArthur 67 70, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 70 67
138 Chris Gane 66 72, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 70 68, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 70 68
139 Gary Clark 69 70, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 68 71, Phillip Archer 68 71, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 71 68, George Coetzee (Rsa) 69 70, Oliver Fisher 67 72
140 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 69 71, Callum Macaulay 72 68, Jamie Moul 71 69, Lasse Jensen (Den) 72 68, Sion Bebb 70 70, Steven Tiley 70 70, Charles-edouard Russo (Fra) 74 66, Michael Hoey 72 68
141 Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 72 69, Steve Lewton 70 71, Charlie Ford 69 72, Robert Coles 73 68, Benn Barham 69 72, Oliver Whiteley 73 68, Julien Quesne (Fra) 67 74, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 66 75, Marcus Higley 70 71, Federico Colombo (Ita) 71 70
142 Ben Evans 66 76, Anton Haig (Rsa) 72 70, Ake Nilsson (Rsa) 73 69, Daniel Brooks 72 70, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 73 69, Andrew Coltart 69 73, Richard McEvoy 69 73, Fredrik Henge (Swe) 75 67, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 71 71, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 73 69, Stephan Gross Jnr (Ger) 72 70, Andrew Willey 73 69, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 68 74, Manuel Quiros (Spa) 70 72
143 Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa) 71 72, Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 71 72, Richie Ramsay 72 71, Christophe Brazillier (Fra) 71 72, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 73 70, Jonathan Bell 70 73, Ghislain Rosier (Fra) 69 74, Alexandre Kaleka (Fra) 74 69, Paul Eales 71 72
144 Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 71 73, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 72 72, Robert Dinwiddie 71 73, Scott Drummond 71 73, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 69 75, Jamie Elson 73 71, Lee Slattery 71 73, Carl Suneson (Spa) 74 70, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 71 73, Bernd Ritthammer (Ger) 73 71, Christopher Doak 72 72, Cesar Monasterio (Arg) 74 70
MISSED THE CUT
145 Liam Bond 72 73, David Griffiths 76 69, Ben Mason 71 74, Clodomiro Carranza (Arg) 70 75, Scott Jamieson 72 73, Simon Wakefield 76 69, Nicolas Meitinger (Ger) 73 72, Anthony Snobeck (Fra) 71 74, Richard Kind (Ned) 76 69, Wil Besseling (Ned) 72 73, Jordi Garcia (Spa) 72 73, Gary Murphy 76 69, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 76 69, Taco Remkes (Ned) 73 72
146 Tiago Cruz (Por) 75 71, Garry Houston 72 74, Stuart Davis 71 75, Louis Moolman (Rsa) 73 73, Mark F Haastrup (Den) 73 73, Stuart Manley 77 69, Miles Tunnicliff 69 77
147 Gareth Shaw 76 71, Jan Are Larsen (Nor) 72 75, Hugo Santos (Por) 73 74, Antonio Rosado (Por) 75 72, Michiel Bothma (Rsa) 74 73, Lee S James 76 71, Andrew Marshall 74 73, Julien Clement (Swi) 72 75, Alan Wagner (USA) 72 75, Tom Whitehouse 74 73, Ricardo Santos (Por) 73 74, James Ruth 76 71, Reinier Saxton (Ned) 71 76, Manuel Violas (Por) 76 71
148 Juan Abbate (Arg) 76 72, Steven O'Hara 72 76, Sam Hutsby 74 74, Niklas Bruzelius (Swe) 76 72, Iain Pyman 77 71, Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 76 72, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 74 74, Steve Surry 73 75, Fredrik Widmark (Swe) 74 74
149 Anders Schmidt Hansen (Den) 73 76, Luis Claverie (Spa) 74 75, David Vanegas (Col) 73 76, Lloyd Saltman 80 69
150 Branden Grace (Rsa) 72 78, Mark Brown (Nzl) 69 81, Luke Goddard 73 77, Steen Ottosen (Den) 77 73, Paul Dwyer 78 72, Jurgen Maurer (Aut) 75 75, Thomas Haylock 76 74, Francois Calmels (Fra) 76 74
151 Colm Moriarty 74 77, Adam Gee 71 80, Dale Whitnell 75 76, Anders Sjostrand (Swe) 77 74, Santiago Luna (Spa) 76 75, Ricardo Melo (Por) 73 78
152 Andrea Maestroni (Ita) 75 77, Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 81 71, Eric Ramsay 81 71
153 Floris De Vries (Ned) 78 75, Antonio Sobrinho (Por) 78 75, Oscar Floren (Swe) 76 77
154 Fredrik Ohlsson (Swe) 74 80, Sam Walker 82 72, Niall Kearney 74 80, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 76 78, Philip Golding 74 80
155 Martin Wiegele (Aut) 80 75, Gabriel Canizares (Spa) 74 81, Nuno Campino (Por) 74 81
156 Luke Gough 78 78, Antonio Dantas (Por) 77 79, Andreas Hogberg (Swe) 77 79
157 Rolf Muntz (Ned) 74 83, Tim Stewart (Aus) 79 78
159 Joao Pedro Sousa (Por) 78 81
161 Duarte Freitas (Por) 81 80
163 Henrique Paulino (Por) 78 85
183 Edgar Rodrigues (Por) 92 91

Poulter and Westwood share Masters' halfway

lead but Tiger is on their tail in joint third place

FROM THE EUROSPORT GOLF NEWS SERVICE
England's Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood share the lead at the half-way stage of The Masters at Augusta - but world number one Tiger Woods is just two shots back in a tie for third place.
-----------------------------------------
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-----------------------------------------
Poulter shot his second successive 68 to record the best round of the day and post an eight-under-par total of 136, but looked likely to be in second place as Westwood reached 10 under par with some stunning golf.
Yet bad drives on the 14th and 18th cost Westwood three shots, and despite birdies on 13 and 15 he finished tied with his Ryder Cup team-mate.
Woods was among the early starters on a blustery day at Augusta, with difficult pin positions and tee locations making the course a far sterner challenge than it had been on the opening day.
But the world number one played a round as steady as his first round was dramatic, with one bogey and three birdies for a 70 to end up tied for third alongside world number two Phil Mickelson, Korea's KJ Choi, last week's winner Anthony Kim and 2009 US Open nearly-man Ricky Barnes.
In his superb round Poulter picked up birdies on the 2nd, 8th, 12th, 13th and 16th to climb to nine under par before his only bogey of the day on the last hole set him back to eight under par.
Westwood's round, meanwhile, got off to an astonishing start with an eagle at the second hole and huge birdie putts rolled in on the sixth and seventh. Birdies at 13 and 15 helped offset his double bogey on the 14th, but a bogey on the last after a drive into the trees left him alongside Poulter.
After yesterday's superb 68 Woods had a poor start, pulling his opening drive into the trees on the first before a good recovery shot helped him save par.
A bogey on the 4th pegged him back to four under par, but a pair of birdies on the par-5 13th and 15th holes lifted him up to six under par for the championship and in third place.
Choi, playing alongside Woods, added a 71 to his opening 67. Choi's compatriot YE Yang - winner of last year's US PGA Championship - made a dramatic par at the last from out of the trees to finish in eighth place on five under par.
Overnight leader Fred Couples followed his opening 66 with a three-over 75 after complaining of a bad back, while Tom Watson shook off early wobbles to produce a battling 74. The pair are in a tie for ninth place at three under par alongside Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen.
Toby Keel /Eurosport

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72)
T1 - Ian Poulter 68 68 - - 136
T1 - Lee Westwood 67 69 - - 136
T3 - Phil Mickelson 67 71 - - 138
T3 - Ricky Barnes 68 70- - 138
T3 - Anthony Kim - 68 70 - - 138
T3 - K.J. Choi 67 71 - - 138
T3 - Tiger Woods - 68 70 - - 138
8 - Y.E. Yang - 67 72 - - 139
T9 - Tom Watson 67 74 - - 141
T9 - Fred Couples - 66 75 - - 141
T9 - Soren Kjeldsen - 70 71 - - 141
T12 - Bill Haas - 72 70 - - 142
T12 - Hunter Mahan - 71 71 - - 142
T12 - Trevor Immelman - 69 73 - - 142
T15 - Robert Karlsson - 71 72 - - 143
T15 - Mike Weir- 71 72 - - 143
T15 - Dustin Johnson - 71 72 - - 143
T15 - Matt Kuchar - 70 73 - - 143
T15 - Sean O'Hair - 72 71 - - 143
T15 - Kenny Perry - 72 71 - - 143
T21 - Ernie Els 71 73 - - 144
T21 - Francesco Molinari - 70 74 - - 144
T21 - Steve Marino E 12:35 pm ET - 71 73 - - 144
T21 - David Toms E 12:35 pm ET - 69 75 - - 144
T21 - Sergio Garcia E 12:55 pm ET - 74 70 - - 144
T21 - Adam Scott E 12:55 pm ET - 69 75 - - 144
T21 - Zach Johnson E 1:05 pm ET - 70 74 - - 144
T21 - Nick Watney E 1:05 pm ET - 68 76 - - 144
T29 - Retief Goosen +1 12:05 pm ET - 74 71 - - 145
T29 - Heath Slocum +1 12:05 pm ET - 72 73 - - 145
T29 - Ryan Moore +1 12:15 pm ET - 72 73 - - 145
T29 - Charl Schwartzel +1 12:15 pm ET - 69 76 - - 145
T33 - Geoff Ogilvy +2 11:25 am ET - 74 72 - - 146
T33 - Jerry Kelly +2 11:35 am ET - 72 74 - - 146
T33 - Scott Verplank +2 11:35 am ET - 73 73 - - 146
T33 - Steve Stricker +2 11:45 am ET - 73 73 - - 146
T33 - Camilo Villegas +2 11:45 am ET - 74 72 - - 146
T33 - Ben Crane +2 11:55 am ET - 71 75 - - 146
T33 - Steve Flesch +2 11:55 am ET - 75 71 - - 146
T40 - Robert Allenby +3 10:45 am ET - 72 75 - - 147
T40 - Angel Cabrera +3 10:45 am ET - 73 74 - - 147
T40 - Chad Campbell +3 10:55 am ET - 79 68 - - 147
T40 - Matteo Manassero(a) +3 10:55 am ET - 71 76 - - 147
T40 - Nathan Green +3 11:05 am ET - 72 75 - - 147
T40 - Yuta Ikeda +3 11:05 am ET - 70 77 - - 147
T40 - Lucas Glover +3 11:15 am ET - 76 71 - - 147
T40 - Miguel Angel Jimenez +3 11:15 am ET - 72 75 - - 147
T40 - Jason Dufner +3 11:25 am ET - 75 72 - - 147
MISSED THE CUT
(lowest 44 36-hole totals plus those within 10 strokes of the leaders)
CUT - Tim Clark +4 - - 75 73 - - 148
CUT - Ben Curtis +4 - - 73 75 - - 148
CUT - Ryo Ishikawa +4 - - 72 76 - - 148
CUT - Larry Mize +4 - - 76 72 - - 148
CUT - John Senden +4 - - 71 77 - - 148
CUT - Luke Donald +5 - - 74 75 - - 149
CUT - Soren Hansen +5 - - 74 75 - - 149
CUT - Padraig Harrington +5 - - 74 75 - - 149
CUT - Martin Kaymer +5 - - 76 73 - - 149
CUT - Bernhard Langer +5 - - 71 78 - - 149
CUT - Graeme McDowell +5 - - 75 74 - - 149
CUT - John Merrick +5 - - 72 77 - - 149
CUT - Mark O'Meara +5 - - 75 74 - - 149
CUT - Ryan Palmer +5 - - 72 77 - - 149
CUT - Nathan Smith(a) +5 - - 74 75 - - 149
CUT - Brad Benjamin(a) +6 - - 73 77 - - 150
CUT - Simon Dyson +6 - - 77 73 - - 150
CUT - Justin Leonard +6 - - 75 75 - - 150
CUT - Edoardo Molinari +6 - - 75 75 - - 150
CUT - Kevin Na +6 - - 74 76 - - 150
CUT - Alvaro Quiros +6 - - 75 75 - - 150
CUT - David Duval +7 - - 76 75 - - 151
CUT - Brian Gay +7 - - 74 77 - - 151
CUT - Todd Hamilton +7 - - 74 77 - - 151
CUT - Marc Leishman +7 - - 72 79 - - 151
CUT - Rory Mcilroy +7 - - 74 77 - - 151
CUT - John Rollins +7 - - 75 76 - - 151
CUT - Oliver Wilson +7 - - 78 73 - - 151
CUT - Stewart Cink +8 - - 76 76 - - 152
CUT - Shingo Katayama +8 - - 75 77 - - 152
CUT - Louis Oosthuizen +8 - - 75 77 - - 152
CUT - Paul Casey +9 - - 75 78 - - 153
CUT - Ross Fisher +9 - - 77 76 - - 153
CUT - Rory Sabbatini +9 - - 75 78 - - 153
CUT - Vijay Singh +10 - - 76 78 - - 154
CUT - Chris Wood +10 - - 78 76 - - 154
CUT - Byeong-Hun An(a) +11 - - 78 77 - - 155
CUT - Ben Crenshaw +11 - - 77 78 - - 155
CUT - Chang-Won Han(a) +11 - - 79 76 - - 155
CUT - Sandy Lyle +11 - - 69 86 - - 155
CUT - Ben Martin(a) +11 - - 75 80 - - 155
CUT - Henrik Stenson +11 - - 80 75 - - 155
CUT - Jim Furyk +12 - - 80 76 - - 156
CUT - Anders Hansen +13 - - 80 77 - - 157
CUT - Craig Stadler +13 - - 79 78 - - 157
CUT - Michael Campbell +20 - - 83 81 - - 164
CUT - Ian Woosnam +20 - - 81 83 - - 164
WD - Thongchai Jaidee - - - - - - - -