Monday, May 17, 2010

France leading England at Chantilly

France were leading England 7 1/2 to 4 1/2 at the end of the first day of the two-day men's amateur internatinal match at Chantilly Golf Club.
England edged the first-day foursomes 3-2 but could salvage only one win and one square match from the seven afternoon singles.

All the first-day results available by clicking on the following link:

http://www.ffgolf.org/multimedia/medias/25_634096127599062500.pdf

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Lee Westwood is World No 3 for first time

Lee Westwood received a welcome boost ahead of this week’s BMW PGA Championship by moving up to World Number Three for the first time in his career.
England’s Westwood has moved ahead of American Steve Stricker on the Official World Golf Ranking and now has ""only Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson ahead of him.
The 37 year old climbed to fourth back in 2001, but then suffered a nightmare slump and fell outside the top 250.
After signalling a return to form with two wins in 2003 he had to wait another four years for his next success, but forced his way back to the top of the game last season to become European Number One for the second time after winning Dubai World Championship and the inaugural Race to Dubai.
Westwood has also come within a whisker of making his Major Championship breakthrough. He missed play-offs by a single shot at the 2008 US Open and last year's Open, finished third again in the US PGA Championship in August and at The Masters last month led after 36 and 54 holes, but was overtaken on the final day by Mickelson.
Meanwhile, Australian Adam Scott's victory in the Texas Open last night lifts him up from 43rd to 36th, while Swede Peter Hanson is up to 45th thanks to his win in the Iberdrola Cala Millor Mallorca.
If Hanson stays in the top 50 for another week he will earn an exemption for next month's US Open and avoid Monday's qualifier at Walton Heath. Last year he made it through that by holing-in-one in a play-off.

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North-east team Area Champions of Scotland

! Champions of Scotland! The happy North-east District team with captain Mike Pocock, immediately behind the trophy after their victory in the new-style Moneygate Scottish men's area team championship at Kinross on Sunday. Image (by Kenny Smith) by courtesy of the Scottish Golf Union. Click on the image to enlarge it.
The last time North-east were area team champions was 1992.Scroll down to read the report and all the results.
Pictured above (left to right): Kris Nicol (Fraserburgh), Scott Larkin (Royal Aberdeen), Bryan Innes (Murcar Links), team captain Mike Pocock, David Law (Hazlehead), Philip McLean (Peterhead) and Anthony Bews (Murcar Links).

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Justin Hicks wins Nationwide Tour event

FROM THE PGA.COM WEBSITE
GREENVILLE, South Carolina -- Justin Hicks outlasted everyone, including Mother Nature, to earn his second career Nationwide Tour title Sunday. Hicks shot a final-round 66 at the Thornblade Club to win the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by two strokes over a quartet of players and earn the $108,000 first-place cheque.
Needing only a two-putt par at the final green, Hicks rolled in a three-foot birdie to finish at 20-under 266, two strokes better than Kevin Chappell (68), Tommy Gainey (67), Chris Kirk (66) and Jamie Lovemark (65).
Fabian Gomez, the 54-hole leader and a playoff runner-up here a year ago, bogeyed the final hole for a 1-over 72 and solo sixth place.
The win is Hicks' first since capturing the 2008 Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic in a play-off over Casey Wittenberg.
"The first puts you on the map," said Hicks. "The second one says that you're not a one-hit wonder. I'd like to think I can make a career out of this game. It will probably take a day or two before this sinks in. Right now it just feels like I won the race for the day, not the whole tournament."
Hicks began the final round tied for fourth, three shots back of Gomez, but the pro-am format left him paired with the overnight leader.
"When I first saw the pairings, I thought it was a mistake," he said. "I had to check several places to make sure."
Hicks moved into contention with three birdies over his first six holes, joining a pack that, at one time, had five players tied for the lead and another five just one shot back.
"I kept saying all week it was going to be a shoot-out," said the winner. "We just had to stay patient enough and keep giving ourselves plenty of opportunities. I know I've had better putting weeks than this but my ball-striking took me home this week."
Hicks kept hitting it close all day and all week. The transplanted Floridian missed only five greens in four days. Hicks hit all 18 the first day, 17 in rounds 2 and 3, and 15 during the final round.
Birdies at Nos. 14 and 15 put Hicks at minus-19 and he held a tenuous one-shot lead when a thunderstorm rolled through the area, forcing him, Gomez and Gomez' amateur partner off the course just after they hit their tee shots on the 72nd hole.
"I've learned over the years that the best defense is a good offense," said Hicks. "I knew birdie would take care of everything and a par would be probably be good enough."
The delay began at 3:40 p.m. and lasted an hour.
"The break was great," said Hicks. "We just went to a place nearby where it was quiet. We listened to music and relaxed. I know how to play this game and I didn't want to be around a bunch of people telling me what I needed to do."
When Hicks returned to the 18th fairway, the tournament was on the line. Four players were done at 18 under and hoping for a playoff. Gomez had a shot to reach 19 under as well. A bogey by the leader would have resulted in a playoff.
Gomez's second shot came up short in a greenside bunker, essentially ending his chances.
That left it up to Hicks. With the ball slightly below his feet, Hicks' 7-iron from 173 yards landed a little bit right of his aiming point, but was nearly perfect, stopping pin high and three feet away.
"I don't like looking at the leaderboard. I just try to play my best golf," he said. "I'm out there playing a game and if it's good enough, it's good enough."

Kevin Chappell, who bogeyed the final hole to wind up in a four-way tie for second place, still earned $39,600, enough to jump into the No. 1 spot on the money list. He has pocketed $190,621 -- that's $4,328 more than Bobby Gates, who had held the top spot since winning the season-opening Michael Hill New Zealand Open.
A total of 14 teams advanced to Sunday's round in the pro-am portion of the tournament. The team of Scott Gutschewski and amateur Rolf Klam finished at 47 under par for four days, four shots better than pro Rob Oppenheim and Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Rice.

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Aussie Scott wins Texas Open, first win in two years

FROM THE PGA.TOUR WEBSITE
Deep in the heart of Texas, Adam Scott only saw Australia. Harsh scrubland off the fairways that reminded him of Brisbane and sandbelt greens that looked like home.
"I had a feeling Aussies would do well here this week," Scott said.
None better than him.
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PGATOUR.COM: Complete coverage of the Valero Texas Open
==============================================
Rallying from four strokes back for his first US PGA Tour victory in two years, Scott was 11 under in a 36-hole Sunday finale at the Valero Texas Open, edging Frederik Jacobson by a stroke on the new Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio.
The course was designed by Scott's hero, fellow countrymen Greg Norman, who sent a congratulatory message after Scott's first win since the Australian Open in December.
Norman's note meant a lot to Scott. So did this victory.
"I questioned myself at times last year whether I was a great player or not," Scott said. "I still feel I am."
The 29-year-old Scott finished at 14-under 274 and earned $1,098,000 for his seventh PGA Tour victory and first since the 2008 HP Byron Nelson Championship. He overcame two early bogeys with an eagle on the par-4 17th in his third-round 66, then built his lead with six birdies en route to a closing 67.
Scott also survived a closing bogey -- his only one in the final round -- when Jacobson missed a 16-footer from the fringe on No. 18 that would've forced a playoff.
It was a long final day. More than 3 inches of rain had washed out Friday's round, setting up Sunday's 36-hole marathon.
Ernie Els, Aaron Baddeley and Jimmy Walker tied for third at 12 under. Els, the FedExCup leader, followed a third-round 69 with a 68.
Baddeley also entered the day four back and shot 67 and 68. Walker had rounds of 70 and 69 and ended up with a career-best finish on the tour.
Tim Petrovic and tour rookie Garth Mulroy were 11 under. But like Scott said -- this one belonged to the Aussies.
His only blemish of the final round was on the par-5 18th, though it nearly cost him. Scott's approach plopped in the greenside bunker, but he recovered to set up a 6-footer for par. But the putt rolled wide by a half-inch.
"A little bit of a disaster there," Scott said.
Good thing it was just a little one. Still, it gave give Jacobson a chance.
He started the day three strokes back but shot up the leaderboard with a bogey-free 7-under 65 in the third round. But the 35-year-old Swede couldn't keep up that pace over the final 18.
Jacobson finished with a 70 and another bogey-free round. But he struggled this time to break par, two-putting six of his first nine holes before finally sinking a 7-footer for birdie on No. 12.
Relieved, Jacobson threw his hands up in victory when the putt dropped.
But his final birdie was on the par-4 15th.
Jacobson was unable to replicate the five straight birdies he sank on hole Nos. 14 through 18 in the first round that morning.
"I certainly felt with five holes to go I could do something," Jacobson said. "I had good feelings coming from the morning. I gave myself good looks on all five of them. Just didn't happen."
J.B. Holmes had the 54-hole lead at 12 under but fell apart from the get-go in the final round. His had a double bogey on the par-4 first -- overshooting the green for the second time of the day -- then bogeyed four of his next seven holes.
Holmes was 4 over in the final round and finished 8 under.
Scott got his first top-10 finish this year, two weeks after he missed the cut at Quail Hollow and tied for 26th at The Players Championship.
Scott's last three PGA Tour victories have come in Texas. He won the Houston Open in 2007 and the Byron Nelson two years ago.
.John Daly withdrew because of hip problems after double-bogeying two of his first four holes in the final round. It's the second straight withdraw for Daly, who did the same at the Zurich Classic in April.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
274 Adam Scott (Aus) 71 70 66 67
275 Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 71 69 65 70
276 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 75 66 67 68, Ernie Els (Rsa) 72 67 69 68, Jimmy Walker 70 67 70 69
277 Garth Mulroy (Rsa) 71 67 67 72, Tim Petrovic 70 68 71 68
278 Steve Flesch 69 73 66 70
279 Spencer Levin 70 69 67 73, Ryan Palmer 75 69 71 64, Tom Gillis 71 70 70 68, James Driscoll 70 68 72 69
280 Charley Hoffman 68 70 71 71, J.B. Holmes 68 70 66 76, Brett Wetterich 69 68 69 74, Garrett Willis 71 68 71 70
281 Charlie Wi (Kor) 72 70 68 71, Aron Price (Aus) 70 68 71 72, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 69 72 70 70, Harrison Frazar 73 71 71 66, James Nitties (Aus) 70 67 71 73
282 Chris Tidland 72 70 68 72, Pat Perez 72 66 72 72, Paul Stankowski 67 73 71 71, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 74 69 68 71, Cameron Percy (Aus) 71 68 72 71, Matthew Jones (Aus) 66 71 73 72
283 Bo Van Pelt 72 69 69 73, Cameron Tringale 71 70 70 72
284 Kris Blanks 77 67 73 67, Marc Leishman (Aus) 70 73 68 73, Scott Piercy 75 64 72 73, David Duval 75 66 71 72
285 Chad Campbell 74 70 69 72, Vaughn Taylor 72 72 67 74, Jeff Gove 74 68 69 74, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 70 72 70 73, Frank Lickliter II 75 69 72 69, Josh Teater 73 71 71 70, Chez Reavie 73 70 70 72
286 Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 70 72 71 73, Joe Durant 69 70 73 74, Troy Matteson 72 72 70 72, Greg Owen (Eng) 71 68 76 71
287 Bill Lunde 72 69 75 71, Craig Barlow 72 71 72 72, Robert Damron 72 68 74 73, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 73 68 73 73, Michael Connell 72 72 71 72, Steve Elkington (Aus) 72 71 67 77
288 Chris Wilson 72 72 71 73, Martin Flores 72 72 67 77
289 Charles Warren 71 73 73 72, Mark Hensby (Aus) 72 71 70 76, Jay Williamson 73 69 75 72, Jason Gore 73 70 75 71
290 Matt Weibring 68 73 68 81
291 Michael Bradley 71 71 73 76, Ted Purdy 70 72 72 77
292 Tom Byrum 70 74 73 75
293 Jeff Burns 72 71 73 77, Guy Boros 76 68 75 74
296 Richard S Johnson (Swe) 73 68 73 82
WD: 213 John Daly 77 67 69

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HUGH HUNTER'S CLACKMANNAN COUNTY NEWS

County Clackmannan county boys' match-play finalists: Kevin Ross (Tillicoultry), runner-up on left), Lawrence Allan (Alva), winner of Ponton Shield, on right. Image by courtesy of Hugh Hunter.

COUNTY BOYS' MATCH-PLAY TITLE FOR LAWRENCE

The postponed 2010 Clackmannan county boys' match-play final for the Ponton Shield was played at Tillicoultry between Kevin Ross (Tillicoultry) and Lawrence Allan (Alva).
Home player Ross moved into a one-hole lead on the outward nine, increasing it to two holes after 12. Lawrence fought back and the turning point came at the 15th (Brugglie bank--- Tillicoultry’s equivalent of the famous water hole at Sawgrass) where a misjudgement by Kevin allowed Lawrence to square the match.
This must have given Allan some confidence because he won the next two holes to take the 2010 title by 2 and 1.

SCOTTISH YOUTHS DEBUT FOR LAWRENCE


Playing in an age group two levels above him, Alva’s Lawrence Allan must have been generally pleased with his performance in making the cut and finishing in 34th position in an experienced field for the Scottish youths championship at Monifieth.
At the same time, however, he must have been a bit disappointed with his opening and closing rounds of 79. It’s all a valuable learning experience and his excellent third round of 71 must give him confidence for upcoming boys’ events--- he plays in the SGU Junior Tour event this weekend at Brunston Castle golf course in Ayrshire, and is drawn with two other good under 16’s golfers in a 39 strong field of the top Scottish boy golfers.
In the Boys Order of Merit, Lawrence is in 13th position, so a good finish at Brunston could move him up towards the top group of Scottish boys .

TOP TEN FINISH FOR THE COUNTY GOLF TEAM

In the Scottish area team championship at Kinross, the Clackmannan county six-man team did some credit to themselves when they finished 10th out of the 16 areas. In the first stroke play round (5 scores out of 6 to count) the team scored 378. In more difficult windy afternoon conditions, the team slipped back to 389 and a total of 767, out of the top four qualifiers, and a good way behind the top qualifier North East who went on to win the match play event next day.
Team captain John Gullen said “Some of the individual scores could have been a bit better, but congratulations must go to Scott Borrowman for rounds of 67 and 72 to give the leading individual aggregate from the 96 players”

CHALLENGE TOUR GOLF FOR CALLUM

Tulliallan’s Callum Macaulay continues his busy schedule on the European Challenge Tour. In the Mallorca Open, Callum made the cut with rounds of 74 and 70, but could not find an improvement in the last two rounds which he completed in 74 and 76.
This week Callum moves to Italy for the Tuscany Open; his objective is to improve in the Challenge Tour events hopefully to get into the top twenty--- this would give full playing rights on the European Tour next season.

AND FINALLY…. WEE COUNTY RULES AGAIN--- OK

The World Amateur Golf Rankings are published on a weekly basis (Wednesday at 12 noon)up to a position of just over 4000. This week, three local golfers feature--- Scott Borrowman (Dollar) 886; Jamie Aitken (Alloa) 3028 and Lawrence Allan (Alva) 3637. Lawrence gained points for his Scottish Youths performance which boosted his ranking by no less than 472 places!
Comparing them with only Scottish players, then their rankings become much better looking --- Scott 28th; Jamie 90th and Lawrence 102nd. And that’s in a population of over 150,000 golfers
On the world stage our Wee County with six golf clubs has three world ranked players--- Poland, Greece Cyprus plus many other countries have none.
Maybe Clackmannanshire should look for Nation status in golf!

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