Murcar Links' Bryan Innes is top home Scot in third place at Glasgow Gailes

Vive la France! Wattel wins

Scottish open title by six

FROM THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION WEBSITE
Romain Wattel continued the trend of French success in the Home of Golf with an emphatic six-shot victory in the Scottish men's open amateur stroke-play championship at Glasgow Golf Club’s Gailes links course in Ayrshire today.
The 19-year-old French champion, pictured right by courtesy of the Scottish Golf Union, recovered from a double-bogey 6 on the opening hole of the final round after losing a ball to post a final round 69 and a nine-under-par aggregate total of 275. Englishman Billy Hemstock, bronze medallist in the European amateur championship last year, clinched the runners-up spot after a final round 70 left him on 281.
Bryan Innes, a one-time Scotland cap from Murcar Links, produced a stirring final round, equalling the best of the day 69 to leave him third on 285, one-over par for the championship. Glenbervie’s Stirling University student Graeme Robertson finished tied fourth on 287 alongside Matthew Nixon and Wattel’s French compatriot Guilluame Cambis.
Wattel’s success is the latest in a long list of French triumphs in Scotland, including Gregory Havret’s wins at the Scottish Open and Johnnie Walker Championship, Thomas Levet’s 2004 victory at Loch Lomond and Gladys Nocera’s capture of the 2008 Ladies Scottish Open.
A delighted Wattel said:
“I am very happy to win in Scotland and join some of the great French golfers who have won here. This is my first win in the UK which is a big honour.”
“The key was to stay focused, keep concentrating throughout the round and hole some good putts which I managed to do. I was quite nervous after starting the final round with a double bogey but I put it to the back of my mind and kept my cool.”
The Frenchman, who defeated Scotland’s Ross Kellett in the final of the Argentinean Amateur Championship last year, shot rounds of 68, 67, 71 and 69 and was never behind from the middle of the second round onwards.
Devon’s Billy Hemstock birdied three of the last four holes to finish of a good week, while Innes, who helped the North-east to victory in the recent Moneygate Scottish Area Team Championship, stormed home in three-under par this afternoon to cap an excellent fortnight for the 40-year-old, a semi-finalist at the Scottish Amateur Championship at Royal Troon last year.
“It’s been a good couple of weeks for me and I’m delighted with the way I’ve played at Gailes this weekend. My putting was great and I kept the ball in play off the tee, although I was giving some of these young guys about 70 yards in length,” admitted Innes.
“My game is suited to tough courses and it’s nice to have two bronze medals from Royal Troon last year and the Stroke Play this year. It’s not easy competing at this level with working full time and having two kids to look after, but I’ve proved again I can do it.”
Leven’s Brian Soutar finished strongly in a tie for seventh with Korean Ji Jeong and New Zealander Ben Campbell, while Kris Nicol was in joint tenth on five-over par alongside fellow Scot Peter Latimer (St Andrews New) and first round leader Chris Lloyd from Bristol.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71)
275 WATTEL, Romain (France) 68 67 71 69.
281 HEMSTOCK, Billy (Teignmouth) 67 70 74 70.
283 INNES, Bryan (Murcar Links) 70 71 75 69.
287 NIXON, Matthew (Ashton-Under-Lyne) 71 73 72 71, ROBERTSON, Graeme (Glenbervie) 71 72 70 74, CAMBIS, Guillaume (France) 73 70 71 73.
288 SOUTAR, Brian (Leven GS) 71 73 71 73, CAMPBELL, Ben (NZ) 72 70 74 72, JEONG, Jin (South Korea) 69 72 75 72.
289 LATIMER, Peter (St Andrews New) 71 74 74 70, NICOL, Kris (Fraserburgh) 73 70 74 72, WRIGHT, Darren (Rowlands Castle) 70 70 72 77, LLOYD, Chris (Kendleshire) 66 73 80 70, SENIOR, Jack (Heysham) 71 68 73 77.
290 BELL, Ross (Downfield) 75 70 74 71, McLEAN, Philip (Peterhead) 70 71 75 74.
291 CUTLER, Paul (Portstewart) 72 73 73 73, HOWARD, Paul (Southport & Ainsdale) 75 69 73 74, SMITH, Richard (Notts) 69 70 79 73.
292 WHITE, James (Lundin) 73 69 75 75, WINSTANLEY, Ian (Formby) 70 70 74 78, HARKINS, Chris (Ayr Belleisle) 71 68 79 74.
293 ROBINSON, James (Southport & Ainsdale) 73 70 76 74,YATES, Gordon (Hilton Park) 74 68 75 76,
294 HILLSON, Mark (Craigielaw) 72 72 75 77, SHIELDS, Paul (Kirkhill) 71 73 77 75.
297 WOOD, Ed (Crow Wood) 74 70 77 76, DUNTON, Adam (McDonald Ellon) 71 72 80 74.
298 WALLACE, Andrew (Glenbervie) 70 74 75 79, McEWAN, Steven (Caprington) 75 69 74 80, ZUNIC, Jordan (Australia) 68 76 79 75, PALMER, Andrew (Chorley) 72 71 79 76, BOOKLESS, Mark (Sandyhills) 70 73 81 74.
299 McPHEE, Paul (King James VI) 72 73 78 76.
300 BOLTON, Sandy (Goring & Streatley) 72 73 75 80, GIBSON, Scott (Southerness) 72 70 84 74.
301 REDFORD, Ian (St Andrews New) 73 71 81 76.
302 RENNIE, Steven (Drumpellier) 73 72 77 80, DOCHERTY, Richard (Bearsden) 72 73 76 81.
303 ALEXANDER, Paul (Caldwell) 72 71 81 79.
304 COWAN, Rob (Canada) 71 73 77 83.
306 CROWE, Ross (Westerhope) 69 75 83 79, CRICHTON, Scott (Aberdour) 77 67 77 85.

European Challenge Tour Scoreboard
TELENET TROPHY
Rinkven Golf Club, Belgium.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
267 L Slattery (Eng) 64 68 68 67,
271 E Dubois (Fra) 67 72 63 69,
274 A Kaleka (Fra) 71 64 69 70,
276 M Tullo (Chi) 72 66 69 69, N Lemke (Swe) 69 70 72 65,
277 S Wakefield (Eng) 76 64 65 72, J Zapata (Arg) 71 68 70 68,
278 M Thorp (Nor) 72 70 67 69,
279 R Dinwiddie (Eng) 68 70 72 69, B Evans (Eng) 67 70 70 72,
280 T Feyrsinger (Aut) 70 73 68 69, K Eriksson (Swe) 70 71 69 70, N Meitinger (Ger) 68 70 69 73,
281 S Lewton (Eng) 71 70 68 72, J McLeary (Sco) 70 72 67 72,
282 O Floren (Swe) 70 73 69 70, D Perrier (Fra) 68 73 68 73, A Haindl (RSA) 70 73 69 70, O Whiteley (Eng) 69 71 70 72, L Jensen (Den) 71 69 70 72,
283 G Murray (Sco) 73 70 67 73, M Carlsson (Swe) 66 74 73 70, G Molteni (Ita) 71 67 76 69, S Tiley (Eng) 70 71 72 70, A Tadini (Ita) 67 72 72 72, M Korhonen (Fin) 70 72 71 70, G Shaw (Nir) 70 70 71 72,
284 B Mason (Eng) 69 73 71 71, J Sjöholm (Swe) 68 70 70 76, C Moriarty (Irl) 73 68 72 71,
285 A Hansen (Den) 69 74 70 72, D Denison (Eng) 69 70 71 75, A Blyth (Aus) 71 71 71 72,
286 B Grace (RSA) 70 67 77 72, J Garcia (Esp) 72 71 71 72, B Chapellan (Fra) 73 70 70 73, P Relecom (Bel) 66 76 71 73, K Sullivan (Wal) 69 68 74 75, J Larsen (Nor) 69 71 75 71, T Whitehouse (Eng) 70 69 73 74,
287 S Surry (Eng) 71 69 74 73, V Riu (Fra) 68 70 78 71, T Remkes (Ned) 72 71 69 75, F Calmels (Fra) 68 73 74 72, M Haines (Eng) 66 67 72 82, M Wiegele (Aut) 71 68 74 74, J Makitalo (Fin) 69 70 75 73,
288 A Snobeck (Fra) 75 68 73 72, B Etchart (Esp) 71 70 76 71, B Barham (Eng) 69 73 69 77, F De Vries (Ned) 72 70 74 72,
289 A Perrino (Ita) 70 71 75 73, R Santos (Por) 71 71 77 70, M Higley (Eng) 72 71 74 72, P Rolland (am) (Bel) 65 76 70 78,
290 G Houston (Wal) 72 71 76 71, G Woodman (Eng) 68 73 77 72, P Del Grosso (Arg) 70 71 75 74, F Colombo (Ita) 70 71 72 77, T Norret (Den) 69 71 75 75,
291 C Russo (Fra) 67 72 76 76, J Abbate (Arg) 73 68 75 75, S Ottosen (Den) 67 73 71 80,
292 O David (Fra) 71 71 73 77, A Bruschi (Ita) 71 72 74 75,
293 J Moul (Eng) 72 71 72 78, D Nouailhac (Fra) 68 73 79 73,
294 N Vanhootegem (Bel) 75 68 78 73,
297 A Mellor (Eng) 70 73 77 77,

EUROPEAN TOUR REPORT, SCORES

An eagle lands Luke Donald Madrid Masters title

FROM THE A O L GOLF NEWS SERVICE
England's Luke Donald, a loser last week after making a double bogey on his penultimate hole, hit back in style to win the Madrid Masters.

An eagle on the 16th hole proved decisive as Donald beat Welshman Rhys Davies by a stroke after they battled all weekend.
The shot came when Donald was tied with Davies and Italian Francesco Molinari and with two closing pars he grabbed his first victory for four years - and his first in Europe for six - with a 67 and 21-under-par total.
Davies, a winner in Morocco in March, birdied the 15th and 16th, but had to settle for second place with Molinari third.
Seven days after his agony at Wentworth it was ecstasy for Luke Donald as he ended four years without a win at the Madrid Masters.
And that makes it an incredible four English players in the world's top nine just nine years after Lee Westwood was the only one in the top 100.
The victory lifts Donald from 13th to ninth in the world - and to fourth place in the Ryder Cup points race, knocking Padraig Harrington out of the top nine who will earn automatic spots at the end of August.
His last victory was the Honda Classic in America in March 2006 and his last in Europe came in Switzerland in September 2004.
Donald won with a closing 67 to Davies's 68 and with a 21 under par total of 267. It earned him £214,242, but he said: "The money is secondary. It's been a while since I won and to put last week behind me makes me very proud.
"The way I played means a lot to me. The eagle was huge because Rhys put a lot of pressure on me. It's happiness and relief - definitely some relief."
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
267 Luke Donald 65 67 68 67
268 Rhys Davies 65 68 67 68
270 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 67 70 65 68
271 Graeme McDowell 68 68 70 65
273 Robert Rock 70 68 67 68
275 Stephen Gallacher 69 73 66 67, Jamie Donaldson 65 70 70 70, Peter Lawrie 71 69 68 67
276 Oliver Wilson 70 71 70 65
277 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 71 71 67 68, Brett Rumford (Aus) 67 71 71 68, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 71 72 65 69, Simon Dyson 70 69 70 68, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 69 70 64 74, Gregory Havret (Fra) 68 74 69 66
278 Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 67 70 70 71, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 67 71 70 70, Richard Finch 68 71 69 70, Julien Quesne (Fra) 72 69 71 66, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 69 70 68 71
279 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 73 68 68 70, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 68 73 68 70, Nick Dougherty 69 70 70 70, Markus Brier (Aut) 68 75 68 68, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 68 73 70 68, Graeme Storm 73 64 67 75, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 70 72 73 64
280 Gary Orr 73 67 71 69, Joost Luiten (Ned) 70 69 74 67, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 71 70 71 68, David Lynn 72 70 68 70, Clodomiro Carranza (Arg) 73 67 70 70, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 71 67 72 70, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 68 70 72 70, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 71 70 70 69
281 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 75 67 71 68, Damien McGrane 69 73 67 72, Christian Nilsson (Swe) 69 70 70 72, Alastair Forsyth 74 69 71 67, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 72 71 69 69
282 Peter Whiteford 73 70 66 73, Shane Lowry 69 74 70 69, Santiago Luna (Spa) 69 71 74 68, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 69 72 69 72, Paul McGinley 66 74 70 72, Johan Edfors (Swe) 67 73 71 71
283 Richard Green (Aus) 71 67 74 71, Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 70 71 69 73, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 72 71 71 69
284 Carl Suneson (Spa) 69 73 71 71, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 68 74 72 70
285 Danny Lee (Nzl) 69 74 68 74, Gary Boyd 73 68 74 70, Phillip Price 67 74 71 73, Tano Goya (Arg) 69 72 67 77, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 75 67 67 76, Oliver Fisher 70 72 73 70, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 70 72 74 69, Ross McGowan 68 74 74 69
286 Gary Clark 71 71 73 71, Sion E Bebb 70 71 72 73, Bradley Dredge 67 73 72 74
287 John Parry 72 70 73 72, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 66 76 73 72
288 Sam Hutsby 73 69 70 76, Paul Lawrie 73 70 69 76
289 James Kingston (Rsa) 68 71 76 74
290 Julien Guerrier (Fra) 68 74 71 77, James Morrison 70 70 76 74
291 Jorge Campillo (Spa) 72 70 75 74
292 Alvaro Salto (Spa) 74 68 72 78, David Drysdale 69 74 74 75, Stephen Dodd 69 74 75 74
294 Kenneth Ferrie 73 70 70 81
295 Marc Warren 70 71 81 73, Rick Kulacz (Aus) 72 71 78 74
296 Marcel Siem (Ger) 72 71 76 77

Englishman Davis, American Molder share US Tour lead

FROM THE PGA.COM WEBSITE
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Englishman Brian Davis and American Bryce Molder are hoping for a little plaid to signify finally winning on the US PGA Tour.

Davis had his second consecutive bogey-free 65 on Saturday while Molder, the second-round leader, shot 67 to put them both at 16-under 194 going into the final round at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, where the champion gets a plaid jacket along with a check of more than $1 million.
The closest Davis has come to winning was last month at Hilton Head, when he got into a playoff with Jim Furyk and then called a two-stroke penalty on himself on the extra hole. The 35-year-old Englishman had missed the cut his last three tournaments.
Molder has four top-10s this season, but the four-time All-American from Georgia Tech has only one professional victory since leaving college in 2001 -- on the Nationwide Tour in 2006.
It was another hot but ideal scoring day at Hogan's Alley, where there again were only light breezes. The forecast Sunday calls for nearly identical conditions.
Kenny Perry's tournament-record mark of 19 under, which he set when winning in 2003 and 2005, could be in serious jeopardy. The next-best score for a Colonial was 17 under by three players last year, when Steve Stricker won a two-hole playoff.
There are 17 players at 11 under or better going into the final round.
Zach Johnson (64) was a stroke behind the leaders. Ben Crane (64) joined first-round co-leaders Jeff Overton (66) and Jason Bohn (68) in a tie for fourth at 14 under.
Molder shot a career-best 62 Friday to take the halfway lead, then set another personal mark Saturday with nine consecutive one-putts. Except he wasn't able to parlay that streak into the outright lead again. He made putts ranging from 4 to 34 feet from holes Nos. 2-11, a stretch that included five birdies and a double bogey.
Then on the closing 441-yard 18th hole, Molder slid a 10-foot birdie try just past the cup.
Davis, who hasn't had a bogey since the ninth hole in the opening round Thursday, needed a couple of save shots Saturday.
At the par-5 11th, Davis made a 16-foot par putt after hitting from a fairway bunker to the rough and then over the green. He overcame a bad chip at the 430-yard 15th hole with a 21-foot par-saver. When he hit his second shot of the day from a fairway bunker and then went over the green at the only other par 5, he pitched a shot to 2 feet on No. 1.
Johnson had birdies on both backside par 3s, making a 22-footer at No. 13, and an 8-footer at No. 16 while wrapping up his bogey-free round. He made a 4-foot birdie putt at No. 18 to get to 15 under when Molder still had four holes to play.
Crane got to 14 under when he made an eagle from 143 yards at the par-4 17th hole. He had a hole-in-one Friday and another eagle Thursday.
Phil Mickelson missed the cut and a chance at being the No. 1 player in the world, so he wasn't around for the Colonial's second "Pink Out" to raise awareness of breast cancer. Hogan's Alley was swathed Saturday in pink -- from the clothing worn by most golfers, officials and spectators to signs and ribbons.
The first "Pink Out" was during the third round last year when Mickelson wasn't here to defend his 2008 title soon after finding out his wife, Amy, had breast cancer. Soon after that, he found out his mother also had the disease.
Mickelson said he would be wearing pink at home Saturday in San Diego while spending the weekend his family. Amy Mickelson's birthday is Monday.
K.J. Choi teed off at No. 18 with a chance to match the course record of 61 with a birdie. He instead had a quadruple-bogey 8.
Choi hit his tee shot into the left rough, flubbed his first chance to get out of it and then hit the next into the water. The 40-year-old South Korean knocked his drop through the green, then chipped another one off the green before finally making an 8-foot putt.
"Everything went all right before that hole," Choi said through an interpreter. "I knew that was a tough hole. In my mind, I thought bogey would be good. But things didn't go right."
Choi was at 14 under and still tied with Molder for the lead after his errant tee shot on the closing hole.
At about the same time, Molder was sinking a 34-foot putt at the par-3 No. 8, his second consecutive birdie getting him to 15 under. That stretch also made up for a double bogey at the 481-yard No. 5, when he hit his approach to the par 4 out of bounds.
The only player over par through three rounds is Ian Poulter, the No. 6 player in the world. A 73 on Saturday put him at 1 over.

Andy Oldcorn joint 13th in US Seniors PGA event

+Rookie senior Andy Oldcorn from Edinburgh is lying joint 13th on 215 in the US Senior PGA Championship. He has had rounds of 73, 75 and 67. Sam Torrance is in joint 47th position on 223 with scores of 78, 72 and 73.
FROM THE PGA.COM WEBSITE
PARKER, Colorado. Jay Don Blake considers himself a stealth golfer, lurking around the leaderboard while everybody else has their eyes fixed on the game's bigger names.

He'll be hard to miss Sunday when he tees off in the last group with co-leader Tom Lehman at the 71st US Senior PGA Championship.
Blake, of St. George, Utah, shot a 2-under-par 70 Saturday at the Colorado Golf Club to take a share of the 54-hole lead at the senior circuit's oldest and most prestigious event.
Lehman fired a 71 through swirling winds that add to the adversity facing golfers at the 3-year-old course co-designed by Ben Crenshaw, a 7,450-foot monster that cuts through open meadows, wooded hillsides and streams and plays to a par-72.
Fred Couples, who led going into the weekend, faltered with a score of 75 but is still just two shots off the pace, along with Mark O'Meara (67) and Mike Goodes (70).
Seven others are within four strokes of the leaders.
"There are six or eight or 10 guys that if they play good tomorrow can win it," O'Meara said.
That group features Lehman, who played steady golf in the final group while playing partners Couples and Tom Kite (79) stumbled, and Blake, the 1980 NCAA champion whose only professional wins came in 1991 at the Shearson Lehman Brothers Open and the Argentine Open.
Blake entered the weekend tied for fourth at 4 under, three shots behind Couples.
Blake said earlier in the week that he thought he had a good shot here because his game is in top shape and so is his back, which bothered him for his last nine years on the PGA Tour after he rejected his doctor's advice and returned too soon from an appendectomy.
He incorporated core strengthening exercises to save his back and his career and he gave up fishing, boating and drag racing to concentrate on the Champions Tour when he celebrated his 50th birthday 18 months ago.
David Frost collected seven birdies in a bogey-free round, setting the course record with a 65. Frost, making his debut at the Senior PGA Championship, fired a 72 and a 77 in the first two rounds.