Simon Khan beaten in Walton Heath play-off

for US Open place

WALTON HEATH-- Simon Khan, European golf's man of the moment, kept a smile on his face all day at Walton Heath today -- even when he was the one to lose out in a six-man playoff for five spots in next month's United States Open at Pebble Beach, California.

ENGLAND QUALIFIERS
FOR US OPEN
1. James Morrison 68-65-133
2. Rafa Echenique 69-66-135
T3. Gary Boyd 67-69-136
T3. Rhys Davies 66-70-136
T3. Rafael Cabrero-Bello 70-66-136
T3. Gareth Maybin 71-65-136
T7. Mikko Ilonen 68-69-137
T7. Jean-Francois Luquin 70-67-137
T7. Gregory Havret 68-69-137
T7. Rikard Kalberg 68-69-137
T7. Pablo Martin 68-69-137

Long after European Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomerie had missed out by three shots in the one-day, 36-hole European qualifier, brand-new BMW PGA Championship winner Khan was looking like he would make it through to Pebble Beach -- until Sweden's Rikard Karlberg, playing in the day's final group, birdied the 35th hole to force the big play-off.
That meant more work and Khan, understandably exhausted by then after getting "hardly any sleep," was the only one of the six play-off participants not to birdie the first hole of sudden death.
"Unbelievable. I thought one of them would miss," he said after seeing Karlberg make a 25-footer and then Frenchmen pair Gregory Havret and Jean-Francois Lucquin hole from 15 and 14 feet, respectively.
Already through in the European playoff were Spaniard Pablo Martin and Finland's Mikko Ilonen, while the qualifier was earlier won by England's James Morrison by two strokes over Argentina's Rafa Echenique and by three over Welshman Rhys Davies, Ireland's Gareth Maybin, England's Gary Boyd and Spain's Rafael Cabrera-Bello.
Khan might still earn a place in the U.S. Open as the first alternate from Walton Heath. But having changed his life by winning the European Tour's flagship event on Sunday, there will be no tears if that does not happen.
He had earlier shot rounds of 67 and 70 for a 7-under-par total after showing real professionalism by getting up at 6 a.m. the morning after the memorable night before.
"I had a few legless shots this afternoon," he said, referring to fatigue rather than a hangover. "Swing-wise I'm delighted with how I played, but I couldn't focus on the greens."
After his efforts of the day and the past week, he has now decided to skip this week's Madrid Masters and will return to action a week on Thursday in the Wales Open at Celtic Manor. He won that title in 2004.
Montgomerie blamed poor putting for failing in his bid to qualify for a trip to the course on which he finished third on his debut in 1992. He missed out on the play-off by three shots.
"It's very disappointing. I had an opportunity to get to 8 under easy, but missed too many putts as usual," he said. "Same old story for six years. I'll try again at Sunningdale."
That was a reference to the Open at St Andrews qualifier in two weeks' time, when he will be trying to earn a return to the Old Course, scene of his runner-up finish to Tiger Woods five years ago.
Ryder Cup star Darren Clarke also failed to qualify for Pebble Beavh, and so did 17-year-old Italian Matteo Manassero, who as an amateur came in 13th in the Open at Turnberry last July and 36th in the Masters last month. The youngster, who played with a Walton Heath member when his scheduled partner Chris Wood failed to show and was disqualified, finished on 5 under, but Clarke was way down the field on 2 over.
Like Khan, the 40-year-old Ulsterman has pulled out of this week's Madrid Masters and said: "I'm flogging a bit of a dead horse and need a break. I'm just not enjoying it -- I'm trying hard, but it ain't happening."
Wood, the 54-hole leader at Wentworth who then crashed to a 77, will avoid a fine after management spokesman Ian Garbutt said that messages about his withdrawal had been left with the U.S. Golf Association and the European Tour.
"He's just exhausted," said Garbutt. "Chris has been in contention the last three weeks and last week was a big week."
US OPEN QUALIFYING SCOREBOARD AT WALTON HEATH
Q-James Morrison England 68-65-133
Q-Rafa Echenique Argentina 69-66-135
Q-Rhys Davies Wales 66-70-136
Q-Rafael Cabrera-Bello ESP 70-66-136
Q-Gareth Maybin NIR 71-65-136
Q-Gary Boyd England 67-69-136
Q-Rikard Karlberg Sweden 70-67-137
Q-Jean-Francois Lucquin France 70-67-137
Q-Gregory Havret France 68-69-137
Q-Pablo Martin ESP 68-69-137
Q-Mikko Ilonen Finland 68-69-137
Failed To Qualify
Simon Khan England 67-70-137
François Delamontagne France 70-68-138
Lee Slattery England 68-70-138
Richard Green Australia 68-70-138
Gregory Bourdy France 69-69-138
Richie Ramsay Scotland 67-71-138
Markus Brier Australia 70-69-139
Matteo Manassero Italy 70-69-139
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano Spain 69-70-139
Danny Willett England 73-66-139
Peter Hedblom Sweden 69-71-140
Colin Montgomerie Scotland 70-70-140
Julien Quesne France 67-73-140
Michael Jonzon Sweden 71-69-140
Shane Lowry Ireland 71-69-140
Niclas Fasth Sweden 65-75-140
David Howell England 68-72-140
Nick Dougherty England 70-70-140
Phillip Archer England 69-71-140
David Horsey England 73-67-140
Thomas Levet France 69-71-140
Brett Rumford Australia 70-71-141
Graeme Storm England 70-71-141
Daniel Vancsik Argentina 70-71-141
John Parry England 66-75-141
Ricardo Gonzalez Argentina 70-71-141
Richard Finch England 69-72-141
Pablo Larrazabal Spain 70-72-142
David Drysdale Scotland 71-71-142
Oliver Fisher England 72-70-142
Thomas Aiken RSA 68-74-142
Maarten Lafeber Netherlands 73-69-142
Richard Bland England 71-71-142
Marcus Fraser Australia 71-71-142
Nicolas Colsaerts Belgium 70-72-142
Thomas Bjorn Denmark 68-74-142
(a) Tommy Fleetwood England 72-70-142
Steve Webster England 74-69-143
Jeppe Huldahl Denmark 68-75-143
Raphael Jacquelin France 69-74-143
(a) Chris Paisley England 71-72-143
Christian Cevaer France 70-74-144
Andrew Dodt Australia 72-72-144
Johan Edfors Sweden 69-75-144
Andrew McArthur Scotland 74-70-144

10 Adult members leave = 40 new juniors needed
Ian Hamilton examines the present day methodologies of member recruitment and explores the myths between perception and reality.

A lot of people have recently been asking me: ‘What is the best method of marketing their golf club? Is it via the internet, magazines or publications? Is it through cut-price offers such as two for one or discounted twilight rates?”
When I recover from the induced wincing, I get round to asking them what is it that they actually want to achieve? At times; the silence can be deafening. It seems that the natural approach to generate sales in the golf facility market is to throw a lot of money into mainstream golf publications on the whim that ‘being out there’ will attract business. When everybody thinks along the same lines, they all become lost in the ‘noise’ of augmented competition. It becomes impossible to stand out and furthermore, it drives the consumers into a conclusion that the lowest priced offer becomes the most attractive. Not a good scenario to be in and very much counterproductive.
The other mitigating factor which currently catches my eye is that the golf sector seems content that junior golf promotion is going to save golf clubs from the current recession and future proofing it for years to come. I am not entirely convinced on this particular facet.
Don’t get me wrong, every golf club should pour their heart and soul into junior golf but they need to be aware of a few critical parameters. The first is that junior golf promotion is only a small piece of the overall jigsaw. The main reason being is that on average, it is going to take at least three or maybe four discounted junior golf subscriptions to financially balance the loss of one adult paying subscription. If ten adults leave the club membership (a common trend right now) then 40 new juniors are required.
If mainstream golf clubs set junior golf development as their one and only sales drive, then they will need to find about 40 new junior members – per year. It’s a tough ask and likely to fall short.
Secondly; in terms of augmented expenditure, junior golf members do not spend anywhere near the same as the adult members. To an extent, they will still support the financial commerce of the club professional and catering operation but their additional revenue generation to the club is negligible.
Thirdly; golf club memberships are in effect top loaded. That is the bulk of the club membership is likely to be over 55 years old or in business speak – customers with a limited lifecycle. Customer replacement in the method of junior development becomes the natural succession. Correct me if I am wrong, but this is the first time that golf facilities have ever had to rely on junior development as a sustainable source of investment? Golf clubs and junior golfers have rarely formed a harmonious relationship but it is welcome to see attitudes change and barriers removed. The fly in the ointment is that at some stage, somebody will need to explain to them that they are going to have to financially underpin the golf operation for not one generation but two. Creating a long term and loyal customer base in this particular era where customer mobility is automatic is in my eyes extremely ambitious to say the least.
This particular examination can be manipulated by asserting that new adult members are joining clubs on specific open days etc but how many of these new members are actually new to the game. My reckoning is that they are ‘drifters’ and move around golf clubs because they don’t have to pay large joining fees. So we are in essence ‘recycling’ existing adult golfers and not generating any new ones. Any smart money would now be on a method of retaining existing golf members whilst attracting the drifters. I don’t know about you, but I get lots of letters from credit card companies, offering me to switch banks or transfer debt. Have we reached that level in the golf industry? Unscrupulous as it is, it can’t be too far away. You heard it here first.
I have often waxed lyrical about the strength of the product – in our specific case, the golf course and the augmented golf experience. This is because golf clubs don’t realise the importance of increasing their market share and out performing their competitors. It’s not exactly rocket science to work out that there is more supply than demand and golf facilities are going to compromise their business through lack of investment and then fail completely. Let’s put it another way, there are going to be lots of farmers buying up redundant golf courses in the not too distant future. Probably at a fraction of the cost they initially sold the land for in the first place. Farmers are not often out-foxed.
There is an easy solution for all of this but it involves the dreaded C word – change. A change in attitude is required coupled with a sense of belief. Belief that change is going to attract market interest and generate sales. Let’s put in the simplest terms possible. You want to sell your twenty year old family car which looks tired, needs investment and doesn’t run too well. This is what golf clubs are essentially asking from their marketing campaigns.
All the glossy pictures, spruced up price promotions in all the fancy magazines aren’t going to make a bit of difference. The thousands of pounds spent could be better invested on actually making the product more attractive or at least creating a unique selling point.
The one common trait provided by British private members’ golf clubs is that they consume an enormous amount of energy preserving their past and fail to invest any energy analysing their future. All products have life cycles and an evolvement process – golf courses are no different. Am I talking about digging up the Old Course here?.No, of course not.
But look carefully at how the Old Course has evolved. How it appears on the ground now and how it appeals to the market. Look how St Andrews Links Trust has included diversity in their product portfolio. Look at top courses such as Wentworth, Pinehurst #2 and the Dukes and see how they continue to advance their product to capture market interest and therefore increase their market share.
This last week has seen the introduction of a new Government and, more importantly, a new style of politics. In strategic terms, we call this “enforced diversification” –‘An action induced to meet the challenges of present market conditions’. Golf facilities would be wise to follow a similar lead.
+Ian Hamilton is committed to ‘Changing Golf for Good’ and assisting golf facilities to meet their true potential. The full range of services can be viewed at www.ianhamiltongolfconsultancy.co.uk.
To comment on this column or discuss the services further, please email ian@ianhamiltongolfconsultancy.co.uk.

Angus name team for Scottish boys' area team championship

The Angus team for the Scottish boys' area team championship at Peebles Golf Club on June 6 is:

GRANT BOWMAN (Monifieth)
REECE MITCHELL (Downfield)
ROSS MUNRO (Monifieth)
CALUM McKAY (Grange)

Mark Leading Qualifier at Scotscraig

TARTAN TOUR SCOREBOARD
GLENMUIR PGA PROFESSIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SCOTTISH REGION QUALIFIER
Scotscraig Golf Club, Fife
FINAL SCORES
Par 71
QUALIFIERS
68 Mark King (Kingsfield) (£500).
70 Gordon Law (Uphall), Campbell Elliott (Haggs Castle),
Alistair Brown (Whitecraigs) (£250 each). 
71 Andrew Crerar (Panmure) (£150).
72 Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs Golf Range), Martyn Huish (North Berwick), Samuel Cairns (Colville Park), Kenneth Campbell (Machrihanish), Stuart Syme (Dumfries & Co) (£20 each).
73 (after play-off): Mark Loftus (Adam Hunter Golf).
NON-QUALIFIERS
73 (after play-off) Andrew Fullen (Largs), Ian Bratton (Newburgh on Ythan). 
74 Scott Grieve (Turnhouse), Richard Valentine (Craigielaw), Stewart Savage (Dalmuir),
Gavin Cook (Prestonfield), Ross Murdoch (Dumfries & Galloway), Gary Dingwall (Royal Dornoch).
75 Sean O'Donnell (SCO) Balbirnie Park 0.00 »»
76 Paul Wytrazek (SCO) Burntisland 0.00 »» Craig Donnelly (SCO) Balbirnie Park »» Alan Purdie (SCO) Kings Barns »» Craig Ronald (SCO) Carluke »» Gordon Stewart (SCO) Cawder »» Ross Harrower (SCO) Boat of Garten »» James Erskine (SCO) Portpatrick Dunskey »»
Patrick Walker (ENG) PGA Golf Management »»
29= 77 +6 Craig Mackie (SCO) Scotscraig 0.00 »»
George Boswell (SCO) Mearns Castle »»
Euan Cameron (SCO) Hamilton »»
George Mackechnie (SCO) Terwesse »»
33= 78 +7 Donald McKay (SCO) Wellsgreen 0.00 »»
Andrew Erskine (SCO) Ratho Park »»
Paul Malone (SCO) Braid Hills »»
Andrew Meikle (SCO) Archierfield Links »»
James Smallwood (SCO) Fereneze »»
Craig Knowles (SCO) Panmure »»
39= 79 +8 Kieron Stevenson (SCO) Royal Troon 0.00 »»
Norman Huguet (SCO) Musselburgh »»
Calum Smith (SCO) Royal Musselburgh »»
42 80 +9 Craig Imlah (SCO) Peebles 0.00 »»
43= RTD Jonas Hedberg (SWE) Royal Aberdeen 0.00 »»
Andrew Cooper (SCO) Newmachar »»

+ Official tour scoring and statistics provided by the
Professional Golfers' Association website.

Wentworth test boosts Craig Lee's self-confidence

FROM THE PGA WEBSITE
Craig Lee believes he has emerged stronger and more confident after his game was put to the test during four tough rounds at Wentworth.
The Scot, who with Neil Cheetham was one of the two PGA pros to make the cut at the BMW PGA Championship, fired a final round 72 to sign off on a positive note.

It followed opening rounds of 69, 76 and 75 to leave him eight over for the tournament, two better than Cheetham who signed off with a 73 including birdies on the first and last holes.

"I was pleased with the round, I hit the ball quite nicely and putted pretty good," said Lee.

"It would have been nice to get under par. I had some chances but didn't quite take them."

Lee, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, hopes to use the experience as a springboard towards further improvement in his game and is targeting a top 30 finish in the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond in July.
The 32-year-old still harbours Tour hopes having played on it two years ago and has made changes to equip himself for the challenge.
"2008 was a massive learning curve for me," he added.
"I had to work on certain parts of my game and put them into practice. This was another opportunity to put them under examination at a big championship and see how I perform.
"I'm delighted with some of the changes I have made and how they stood up. I'll work on a few things for Loch Lomond and look to progress with a top 30 finish rather than just thinking about making the cut.
"I've got a Europro Tour event next and I'll try and take the confidence I've gained from Wentworth and hope it snowballs into that."
Meanwhile Lee also hailed the new lay-out at Wentworth as 'tremendous' although he admits the eighth hole will give him a few nightmares.
"The eighth is a seriously good hole. You have to hit the golf shot, you can't bail out anywhere you have to commit to it 100 per cent," he said.
"Ironically I did the hard part today but then three putted it. It's a very tough green, not one you look forward too so once you get past it you can relax a little bit."
"I like pretty much all the changes," he added. "The 18th is a pretty tough par five and there's no reason why it should be straightforward.
"The changes are tremendous. It still has the Wentworth appearance and personality but they've also modernised it and brought into the 21st Century. You can stick some of the pins away and make it nasty - yesterday proved that - and I'm a fan of that."
Dore & Totley's Cheetham meanwhile will hope to build on his Wentworth exploits during forthcoming Tour appearances at the Madrid Masters and Wales Open.

ELS HITS BACK AT THOSE WHO DON'T LIKE THE CHANGES HE HAS MADE

Criticism of Wentworth from 'a bunch of spoiled golfers'

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
Ernie Els has hit out at players who criticised his redesign of Wentworth's West Course this week, saying they had "put the knife" into him.
Wentworth owner Richard Caring, who spent £6.5 million on the changes, had been "kicked in the teeth" by the players, Els said.
"If they had criticisms they could've handled it differently. That's the sad part of the whole week, a lot of the guys I've known for a very long time came out and basically put the knife in and I don't really appreciate that," Els said on Sunday.
The redesign left few of the 18 holes untouched and several players at the PGA Championship complained in the media about the changes, especially the new moat and elevated green at the 18th.
"There is going to be criticism with any new design but I really wasn't expecting the backlash I got," Els said. "I don't think anybody deserved it.
"If the people who made all those comments, especially the players, look back at what they said and what they achieved this week, it was all negative," said Els after finishing well down the field following a closing 72 for 287, three over par.
"The tour doesn't need it, the club doesn't need it, the owner who has put all this money in doesn't need it, I don't need it."
Caring acknowledged mistakes had been made with the redesign of the famous West Course and told reporters on Friday that he would take the blame.
"It's unfortunate he had to come out (and say that)," said Els. "He is the guy who spent 6.5 million pounds on the changes.
"Who on earth is going to spend that money to enhance a golf course on television and make the sponsor happy, make the players happy and then the players kick him in the teeth because they don't like a couple of holes?
"For all this money we are playing for (a $5.63-million prize fund) we could be playing down the road...not come in here like a bunch of spoiled golfers," said the world number seven.
"This guy is enhancing the flagship event, the whole tour, and players come in and criticise that. That's amazing - how must he feel?"
Els said he could not understand why some players had not spoken to him directly.
"Some players who made critical comments came to me, some players haven't come to me - and I don't understand that."
The 40-year-old South African added: "Obviously the 18th didn't quite come out the way we wanted...but we didn't need a bunch of know-all people to criticise everything - that is the disappointing part.
"These greens were only laid in November and December and we are now holding the biggest tournament on tour on these greens. I think it's a hell of a feat by the whole team."
Els said he would make some changes for the 2011 PGA Championship, particularly the eighth and 18th holes.
"Definitely 18. I can show you the plans I drew for it at the get-go," said Els. "I'd also like to make changes on eight, I don't like the heather on the mounds there.
"I'd even like to change the eighth green because that's another one I wanted lower.
"But for the rest I think it's unbelievable. The green superintendent Chris Kennedy has really got these bunkers almost the way we want them," added the triple major winner.

Edinburgh Evening News Dispatch Trophy report

Harrison in a Stew as former pupils hand out lesson

FROM THE EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
Harrison, title-winners three times and beaten finalist on two other occasions in the last 20 years, have failed to make it to the last 16 for the fourth year in a row in the Evening News Dispatch Trophy, being staged at the Braids in association with Edinburgh Leisure.
On an opening weekend when sunburn proved as much of a threat as the gorse bushes that line the fairways on the picturesque Capital course, Harrison's recent dismal run in the event continued as they lost 6 and 5 to Stewart's-Melville in the second round.
Represented by the same side that reached the final in 2005, the school FP side finished five up at the front and one up at the back to set up a tasty clash tomorrow night with Watsonians, who squeezed through by one against Hailes C.
Kevin Cattanach and Alan Anderson, the top Stew-Mel couple, struck a crucial early blow against Mike Robson and Scott Knowles when they holed from ten feet at the seventh and then watched their opponents miss from less than half that distance.
Anderson also holed a ten-footer for an important half at the 11th to keep his side two up before winning the next two while, behind, Ally Ritchie and Dave Donaldson did enough early on to prevent a back-nine fightback from Andy Laurence and Graeme Millar turning the tie around."It was always going to be a tough game as Harrison are a good team and I was surprised it ended before the 18th as I honestly thought it would go all the way," said Cattanach.
As Laurence was making his exit from this year's event, the three players he won the trophy with in 2005 for Riccarton were helping the Baberton club win a close second-round encounter with Scottish Life. On this occasion, Stephen Marshall, Ian Gourlay and Grant McCall have Dougie Waugh as their fourth team member and the top couple of Marshall and Gourlay finished 3-3-3 in helping secure a 2 and 1 success after Scottish Life had fought back from being five down overall at the turn.
Carrickvale, bidding to win the event for the fourth year in a row, came through two tricky tests, beating 2003 winners Rhodes 5 and 4 on Saturday before claiming a 4 and 3 success over Braids United, who'd pulled off the first shock in the 111th staging of the event as they beat Lothian & Borders Police, last year's runners-up, in the first round.
Seven up over the double foursome at one point in that one, the Braids United boys "tightened up as our opponents powered up" but held on thanks to Sandy Myles holing from five feet for a half at the last.
Carrickvale's top pairing, David Ewen and Allyn Dick, were two under and three up after five before Andrew Goodwin pitched in for an eagle-2 at the seventh and, overall, Braids United gave an excellent account of themselves.
Next up for Carrickvale are Temple Seniors, who, in Ian Fraser, have one player who probably didn't mind the hot conditions in the slightest. He's just back from a seven-week stint in Florida, during which he played in the TPC Sawgrass Pro-Am with Duddingston clubmates Steve Gilhooley and Gavin Clark as well as Braid Hills pro Paul McKechnie.
Temple's top team, comprising of Keith Millar, Stuart Smith, Gus Santana and John Shepherd this year, are also through to the last 16, where they take on Heriot's, who are bringing in Dougie Livingstone to replace stalwart John Archibald due to him being unavailable.
In addition to posting the biggest win of the weekend, Silverknowes also produced some of the best golf as they launched their bid to regain the trophy with a 15 and 13 success against Morningside, who must have felt as though they'd been hit by a runaway train.
Tam Caldwell and Graham Robertson had four birdies up front for Silverknowes, while Keith Reilly and newcomer Paul Ross went one better at the back for the three-times winners.
They now take on Longniddry 918, whose back couple crucially won the 17th and 18th in beating Aegon, while BBT face Thistle Thursday in the other tie in the top quarter of the draw.
BBT's Steven Armstrong and Olly McCrone recovered from being two down after seven to finish three up in their match, while Thistle Thursday's quartet of Brian Smith, Ross Topping, Jason Coughlan and Stuart MacRae earned some bragging rights as they beat some lower handicap clubmates in the guise of Edinburgh Thistle Old Pretenders.
Helped by three successive 3s from the 13th from Mark Timmins and John Liddle, FORE progressed past Portobello to set up a clash with RICS, who holed decisive six-foot birdie putts at the 16th in both matches in beating Harrison B.
Cramond proved too strong for a British Rugby Club of Paris side that once again included Gavin Hastings and they now face Lochend, who have three Duddingston members in their team, the odd one out being James Tetlow

Irish glad to see the back of PGA Championship course

Frustration is another name for 'new' Wentworth

FROM THE IRISH TIMES.COM WEBSITE
Philip Reid talks to some of the Irish contingent, who are glad to see the back of Wentworth’s West Course
The “F” word, as in frustration, was etched into many an Irish face on exiting the recorder’s hut behind the 18th green at Wentworth on Sunday.
Rory McIlroy had the look. So too Shane Lowry. So too Paul McGinley, who described the old and new West Course as “different animals,” but – being a golf course designer himself and a friend of Ernie Els – stepped back from blatant criticism.
“Doctors don’t criticise other doctors,” he observed, with some diplomacy.
Still, for one and all, there was a sense that the road back down Wentworth Drive – be it to a corporate gig in Royal Birkdale in McIlroy’s case, to Walton Heath for today’s US Open international qualifying for Lowry or the short hop home to Sunningdale in McGinley’s – brought a measure of relief as the focus turns to other challenges in the days and weeks ahead.
“I felt a bit handcuffed on the course. I couldn’t really do anything (right),” claimed McIlroy, who will hope that a stint back across the Atlantic in the coming weeks will provide some invigoration. “It’s hard to get going around here, hard to get any momentum. It was one of those weeks when I was playing to get in and get out of here.”
Any positives? “I don’t really know. Not much,” said McIlroy, who shot a closing 73 for 289, five over. The 21-year-old Ulsterman – who conducts a corporate day in Birkdale today – will have a week off before turning for a three-week stint in the States that takes in the Memorial tournament next week, then the St Jude Classic in Memphis and will be completed by the US Open in Pebble Beach.
“I’ll be glad to get to the Memorial, which is a great golf course. I’ll be glad to get back playing a decent golf course, I suppose.” McIlroy added: “I just feel very frustrated, because I felt I was coming in here playing pretty well. It’s (typical) of most of my season. I feel like I’m playing well but not getting the most out of it.
"Yet, there’s weeks where it all comes together and it works. It’s hard to enjoy yourself when you’re down the bottom of the field. I hate going out in the morning on Sundays, it’s crap. You don’t feel part of the tournament.”
Frustration! It was a common emotion, with Lowry – who finished with a 75 for 292 – nevertheless taking a philosophical view. “I just wasn’t firing on all cylinders for the whole week but stepping on to any course after this one is going to seem easy,” remarked Lowry, with particular emphasis on the US Open qualifying at Walton Heath, where he will be one of five Irish players seeking a place in the field for Pebble Beach.
Lowry will be joined at Walton Heath by Gareth Maybin, Gary Murphy, Peter Lawrie and Darren Clarke.
But not by McGinley, who underwent his eighth knee operation last December. Unable to play 36-holes in the same day, McGinley has decided to bypass Walton Heath – but he left Wentworth with a degree of frustration, particularly because of his finish in Saturday’s third round (where he went bogey-bogey-double bogey) having played his way into contention.
“It was one of the most disappointing finishes I have ever had in professional golf,” he said, adding: “I’ve had some bad finishes and lost tournaments but that finish on Saturday just knocked the stuffing out of me. To play as well as I did and to get myself right into the heart of the tournament, totally in control but then to drop four shots in the last three holes, and not particularly to be hitting a bad shot either was hard. That’s why I didn’t get much sleep on Saturday night.”

Tiger not guaranteed Ryder Cup place, says skipper Pavin

Tiger Woods is not guaranteed a spot on the US Ryder Cup team and will have to play his way on like every other player, skipper Corey Pavin said on Sunday.
Woods, who took five months out of the game after his private life unravelled at the end of 2009 and has suffered neck problems since his return, is currently 11th in the US Ryder Cup points race.
Only eight players will automatically qualify for the American team's showdown with Europe in October in Wales, while Pavin will have four other picks.
"I'm not going to treat Tiger any different than any other player," Pavin told Reuters after the final round of the Byron Nelson Championship. "He's certainly not going to be an automatic pick.
"He's just going to be treated like everyone else. I'd love to have him on the team but I want him to be playing well," added Pavin, who said he had not spoken to Woods this year.
Woods has played only three tournaments since returning to golf from his self-imposed exile and just two weeks ago pulled out of the Players Championship during the final round, citing a neck injury.
Pavin does not know when he will speak with the 14-times major winner but indicated there was plenty of time to qualify with the Ryder Cup still more than four months away.
Woods has a relatively poor Ryder Cup record of 10 wins, 13 losses and two halves from five events. He has been on the winning team only once, in 1999, and was absent recovering from knee surgery when the Americans ended a nine-year drought by winning the event in 2008.

McDowell wins qualifying exemption for US Open and Open

IRVING, Texas -- Ulsterman Graeme McDowell is among 14 players who don't have to worry about qualifying for the United States Open.
McDowell tied for 28th in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on Sunday, then had to wait some eight hours Sunday until the HP Byron Nelson Championship ended in Texas to make sure he stayed among the top 50 in the world ranking.
McDowell is No. 49, making him exempt from qualifying for the US Open and the Open at St Andrews.
Sunday's two winners on either side of the Atlantic will still have to qualify Monday to play in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach next month. England's Simon Khan, who rallied to win on the European Tour, moved up to No. 7 on the money list, but only the top five are exempt. Europeans will go through 36-hole qualifying Monday at Walton Heath.
Australian Jason Day, the winner of the Byron Nelson, only moved up to No. 79 in the world ranking. He will try to qualify in two weeks.
This was the final week to earn an exemption to the U.S. Open by getting into top 50 in the world ranking, top 10 on the PGA Tour money list or top five on the European Tour money list. No one moved into those categories who was not already there.
Other exemptions went to Australia's Robert Allenby and Adam Scott, Camilo Villegas of Colombia, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa, Sweden's Robert Karlsson and Peter Hanson, Spaniards Alvaro Quiros and Miguel Angel Jimenez, K.J. Choi of South Korea, Edoardo Molinari of Italy, American Ben Crane and Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee.
That means 77 players in the 156-man field are exempt from qualifying for the U.S. Open.

US NATIONWIDE TOUR REPORT, SCORES

Riegger declared winner after Sunday wash-out

RALEIGH, North Carolina - John Riegger collected his second career Nationwide Tour title, winning the Rex Hospital Open without having to hit a single shot on Sunday. Riegger, the 54-hole leader, was declared the champion when thunderstorms prevented the final round from being completed and forced tournament officials to revert back to the third-round results.
Riegger fired an 8-under 63 Saturday and bolted to a five-stroke advantage over Chris Nallen.
"A win's a win. I'm not going to complain," said Riegger, who finished at 20 under par, collected $99,000 for his efforts this week and jumped to No. 10 on the 2010 Nationwide Tour money list. "I would have rather had it with a normal routine today and played. I knew what the forecast was for today. I've been through this before so I was mentally prepared for whatever Mother Nature threw at us today."
The start of the final round was delayed three hours in the morning when a heavy thunderstorm rolled through the area and dumped an additional 7/10ths of an inch of rain on the TPC Wakefield Plantation course that received the same amount the night before.
Riegger's original 11:00 a.m. tee time was pushed back to 2:00 p.m.
"I was still on the putting green. I still had almost 20 minutes when that storm started rolling in. I was ready," said Riegger. "I had probably my best warm-up today. Every other day I just hit it horrible on the range and I get on the golf course and it was pure. I don't know if I was even more focused today or what."
Another storm popped up and forced officials to suspend play at 1:45 p.m.
"We have a regulation on this Tour that doesn't allow us to play on Monday unless half the field finishes," said Nationwide Tour Tournament Director Jim Duncan. "We can't start or re-start a round just to get half the field finished. So we pretty much had a 'go' point that we needed to be playing golf again by 3:25.
"Obviously with the last rain we got out of the most recent batch we just weren't going to be able to continue," he added. "We were looking at another 2 1/2 hours before we could have gotten the golf course playable again."
As a result, the tournament was called, leaving Riegger in the winner's circle for the first time since the 2007 LaSalle Bank Open.
"It's a crazy game," said Riegger, who broke the tournament's 54-hole record by four strokes with his rounds of 66-64-63. "You never know when you're going to come out and play the way I did this week."
Final-Round Notes: The last time a tournament was reduced to 54 holes was the 2005 Oregon Classic, where the fourth round never got underway. Jeff Gove was the winner. ... The last time a tournament was reduced to 54 holes after the fourth round had begun was the 2002 Nationwide Tour Championship. The scores on that Sunday were wiped out and the tournament reverted back to the 54-hole standings, where Patrick Moore held a two-stroke lead. Moore was declared the winner.
High school sophomore Grayson Murray finished tied for 55th, posting scores of 73-66-72?211 (-2) and became second-youngest player ever to make a cut in a Nationwide Tour event (16 years, 7 months, 20 days).
FINAL TOTALS
Par 213 (3x71)
*Thunderstorms prevented the final round from being completed and forced tournament officials to revert to the third-round totals
193 John Riegger 66 64 63
198 Chris Nallen 67 65 66
201 Adam Bland 68 67 66, Dustin Risdon 70 64 67, B.J. Staten 68 67 66
202 Scott Brown 62 72 68, Troy Kelly 65 71 66, Ron Whittaker 67 67 68
203 Ted Brown 68 68 67, Michael Clark II 67 68 68, David Mathis 69 66 68, Alistair Presnell 71 67 65, Kyle Stanley 68 69 66
204 Brian Smock 69 70 65, Andrew Svoboda 68 66 70, Tjaart Van der Walt 68 68 68
205 Daniel Barbetti 70 66 69, Jonas Blixt 70 68 67, Josh Broadaway 72 65 68, Andrew Buckle 66 70 69, Jeff Gallagher 69 69 67, Jim Herman 68 67 70, Andre Stolz 67 71 67, Daniel Summerhays 68 69 68
206 Jeff Brehaut 67 70 69, Bubba Dickerson 68 69 69
207 Joe Affrunti 75 64 68, Craig Barlow 70 67 70, Kevin Chappell 69 69 69, Todd Fischer 67 72 68, Kevin Fortin Simard 71 67 69, Kelly Grunewald 69 66 72, Clint Jensen 68 67 72, Chris Kirk 65 70 72, Jamie Lovemark 68 69 70, Bob May 67 70 70, Chris Mundorf 73 65 69, Nathan Smith 67 70 70
208 Jess Daley 70 68 70, Tommy Gainey 67 70 71
209 Mark Anderson 72 67 70, Miguel Carballo 71 68 70, Bryan DeCorso 72 66 71, Nick Flanagan 72 67 70, Scott Gutschewski 68 70 71, Neal Lancaster 68 71 70, Stephen Leaney 70 69 70, Jin Park 70 67 72, Stephen Poole 64 74 71, Geoffrey Sisk 71 68 70
210 John Douma 66 70 74, Barrett Jarosch 68 70 72, Jonathan Kaye 70 69 71
211 Bradley Iles 68 69 74, J.L. Lewis 69 69 73, Grayson Murray 73 66 72, Justin Peters 69 68 74, Dave Schultz 68 71 72, Darron Stiles 67 72 72, Jason Enloe 71 68 72
212 Brad Elder 69 70 73
213 David Branshaw 68 71 74, Hunter Haas 71 67 75, Luke List 70 69 74
214 Ewan Porter 68 70 76
DQ: Ryan Armour 69 70 74

US PGA TOUR REPORT, SCORES

Jason Day the winner but Spieth (16) in spotlight

FROM THE PGATOUR.COM WEBSITE
IRVING, Texas -- Jason Day knows all about being a young, up-and-coming golf star. So he didn't mind one bit sharing the spotlight of his first PGA Tour victory with 16-year-old Jordan Spieth.
Heck, it might have helped.
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PGATOUR.COM: Complete coverage of the HP Byron Nelson Championship
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"I was walking to the fourth hole and it looked like there was a thousand people following him," Day said. "It took a little bit of pressure off my shoulders knowing that the good majority of the fans that were following me were close friends and family."
Spieth was within three strokes of the lead on the final nine holes of the HP Byron Nelson Championship on Sunday, then drifted back into a tie for 16th. It's still an incredible finish for a kid who last week was playing in the state high school tournament.
While Spieth likely will be remembered as the big winner of this week, it is Day's name that will go up on the champion's wall behind the oversized statue of Nelson near the first tee.
Already in the record books as the youngest winner on the Nationwide Tour -- he was 19 -- Day had to wait until he was 22 for this breakthrough.
"It's been a hard, tough road," Day said. "I've had a lot of negative thoughts go through my head. ... I would always think of what jobs I could do if I didn't secure my card. ... I'm glad I just stuck through it."
He's glad he stuck through this week, too.
Day nearly withdrew Thursday morning because he felt so ill. He wound up tied for the lead after the first round and was near the top all week, even while scuffling through a 2-over 72 Sunday.
He thought he might have blown it when his approach to the final hole went into the water. But he got a reprieve when playing partner Blake Adams -- who said he didn't see Day's ball get wet -- knocked his ball into the water, too.
Day salvaged a bogey, while Adams, a 34-year-old Tour rookie, took a double bogey and dropped into a tie for second with Brian Gay and Jeff Overton. Gay shot 7-under 63, the best round Sunday by three strokes.
"I wasn't nervous," Adams said. "I just didn't play well."
Spieth will be headed back to his junior year of high school Monday with a whole lot to talk about.
He became the sixth-youngest player to make the cut on the PGA Tour, then said he was serious about wanting to win. When he shot 3 under Saturday, it wasn't so farfetched.
Then came back-to-back bogeys early in the final round and a shot out of a fairway bunker that angered Spieth so much, he pulled back with his iron, ready to throw it at his bag.
But a deft chip led to a par putt. And then the kid turned everything around.
Three birdies and three near-misses left him standing on the 11th tee at 7 under while the leaders were at 10 under. Imagine what it would've been like had those three near-misses fallen.
A few holes later, he started backing up again -- a bogey, then a double bogey. Yet he bounced back once more, too, with a birdie on the next hole and knocking his tee shot to the par-3 17th just 14 feet from the cut.
Alas, Spieth (pronounced SPEE-th) missed that putt and a par putt of about the same distance on No. 18 for a closing bogey. He walked off to a loud ovation, a handshake from playing partner Corey Pavin and a hug from Peggy Nelson, widow of the tournament's namesake.
"It was awesome ... the entire round, the entire week," Spieth said. "Starting the week, I definitely would've taken a top-20, in a heartbeat. Obviously now, looking back, being a competitor, I look back at the mistakes I made that didn't give me an opportunity to win."
Spieth, the reigning U.S. Junior Amateur champion, would've made $91,185.71 had he turned pro this week. But he's planning to wait through another year of high school, then attend the University of Texas.
At least, that's the plan right now.
"I wouldn't say (this week) changed me fundamentally," he said. "I can't wait to get back out there and do it again."
He's already gotten a sponsor's exemption to play in the PGA Tour stop in Memphis next month. First, he'll play an American Junior Golf Association event in Arizona next week. Then he has finals.
Day's next event is the Colonial in Fort Worth, where he lives. As if that isn't enough of a boost, he also seems to have conquered the illness that's befuddled him since the opening week of the season.
It's been diagnosed as swine flu, bronchitis and allergies. Medicines to fight those things caused so many problems he withdrew from a tournament and went to the emergency room. Finally, on Monday, another doctor called it a chronic sinus infection, and Day is convinced that's right.
But even that diagnosis caused a problem. A heavy-duty shot and other antibiotics left him so queasy Thursday morning that when he went to get an umbrella from his car, he thought about driving home. He might not have made it through that first round without a nearly 4-hour delay because of threatening skies, which let him sit, relax and drink lots of water.
"I still have blocked ears and some gunk in the back of my throat and my nose," he said. "But it's dried up a lot more than it was."
Day was as amazed as anyone by Spieth's success, which is saying something.
Hailed as another Tiger Woods while growing up in Australia, he began playing PGA Tour events at 18. He played 65 tournaments before finally winning one, but figures the experience was worth it, admitting he got a bit lazy after having success and money at a young age.
His advice for Spieth?
"Keep at it, keep learning, keep playing a lot of tournaments and try and win as many as you can," he said. "Make (winning) a habit and keep pushing through, no matter what happens. As long as you push through those hard experiences and work hard, you'll come out on top. It will all work itself out."
FINAL TOTALS
Par 280 (4x70)
270 Jason Day (Aus) 66 65 67 72
272 Jeff Overton 67 65 69 71, Brian Gay 72 68 69 63, Blake Adams 66 64 70 72
273 Cameron Beckman 69 61 75 68, Scott Verplank 70 65 71 67
274 D.A. Points 68 66 70 70, Dustin Johnson 67 68 72 67, Ben Crane 70 64 74 66, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 69 71 64 70, Tom Pernice Jnr. 69 68 66 71
275 Sean O'Hair 70 65 69 71, Marc Leishman (Aus) 67 67 72 69, Heath Slocum 69 70 65 71, Johnson Wagner 70 69 67 69
276 Kenny Perry 70 67 66 73, Chris Riley 71 64 73 68, Jay Williamson 67 67 72 70, Harrison Frazar 70 67 71 68, Jordan Spieth 68 69 67 72, Steve Elkington (Aus) 66 66 73 71, Alex Cejka (Ger) 72 66 68 70
277 Michael Sim (Sco) 66 72 70 69, Corey Pavin 68 67 69 73, Stewart Cink 70 68 71 68
278 Justin Leonard 72 67 68 71, Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 66 70 71 71, Robert Garrigus 69 65 73 71, Mark Hensby (Aus) 68 71 64 75, Briny Baird 68 71 71 68, Shaun Micheel 68 66 72 72
279 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 72 67 68 72, Spencer Levin 71 67 70 71, Pat Perez 71 66 75 67, Jeff Gove 70 67 74 68, Gary Woodland 71 69 65 74, J J Henry 69 69 70 71, Brandt Jobe 68 69 72 70, Brett Wetterich 70 70 67 72, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 70 69 69 71
280 Bryce Molder 71 68 74 67, Joe Durant 66 69 74 71
281 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 68 67 73 73, J.B. Holmes 73 67 71 70, Chris Smith 69 70 70 72, James Nitties (Aus) 68 69 71 73
282 Greg Owen (Eng) 67 70 73 72
283 Jerod Turner 70 70 75 68, Matt Weibring 71 68 67 77
284 Hunter Mahan 66 72 71 75, Yuta Ikeda (Jpn) 73 64 74 73, Kevin Streelman 71 68 73 72
285 Brent Delahoussaye 69 71 74 71, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 69 68 75 73, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 70 66 81 68, Jimmy Walker 71 69 73 72, Martin Laird (Sco) 72 67 74 72, Parker McLachlin 67 70 74 74
286 James Driscoll 69 70 75 72, Alex Prugh 67 69 78 72
287 Paul Stankowski 70 70 71 76, Tim Herron 72 68 73 74
288 Nathan Green (Aus) 67 70 76 75, Garth Mulroy (Rsa) 69 69 74 76, Jason Schultz 69 68 82 69, Chez Reavie 74 64 74 76
289 Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 70 69 75 75, Lee Janzen 71 69 77 72
290 John Merrick 70 70 73 77
293 Vance Veazey 71 68 77 77, Josh Teater 70 70 79 74