Russell Knox seven behind leader Weaver on eTour

Drew Weaver, the 2007 British Amateur champion, leads the field in the eTour pro circuit event, the Bolle Classic, at Salisbury, North Carolina.
Weaver has had rounds of 66, 65 and 63 over a par-72, shortish course of 6,620yd for a 20-under-par tally of 194 with one round to go.
He leads by one shot from Lee Williams.
Russell Knox from Inverness, who normally plays the Hooters Tour but has possibly been attracted by the bigger prize purses on this satellite circuit, is in joint 16th place on 201 with scores of 66, 71 and 64.
Evidence of how high the standard of place is provided by twice former Scottish youths champion Joel Hendry from Elgin, but a long-time resident of America.
Joel scored 70 and 69 for a three-under-par total of 139 - but that wasn't good enough to beat the cut!

LEADERBOARD
Par 213 (3x71)
194 Drew Weaver (US) 66 65 63.
195 Lee Williams (US) 64 64 67.
196 Tommy Biershenk (US) 68 63 65.
Selected scores:
201 Russell Knox (Scotland) 66 71 64 (jt 16th).
206 Jamie Hall (England) 66 72 68 (jt 49th).
207 Niall Turner (Ireland) 72 66 69 (jt 58th).
MISSED THE CUT
139 Joel Henry (Scotland) 70 69.

Barrie Edmond is new Aberdeen Links champion

It was third time lucky for Barrie Edmond in the final of the Aberdeen Links championship tonight.

Having lost on the previous two occasions, including last year, the 32-year-old Bon Accord player made no mistake this time.

He beat three times champion Alex Cruickshank (Caledonian) by 4 and 3 in the final.
Maybe "lucky" is not the right word to use.
Maybe it's as Gary Player used to say: "The more I practise, the luckier I get on the golf course."
For "lucky," read "skill."
Barrie was two under par for the 15 holes played. Alex led for the first and only time with a birdie at the opening hole.
Barrie squared the matched with an eagle 3 at the long fourth and went one up to stay with a par at the next.
Edmond doubled his lead to two with a birdie at the seventh and made it a three-hole advantage with another birdie at the eighth.
Cruickshank scored only his second success when a par was good enough to win him Spion Kop, the short 10th but that only cut his deficit to two holes.
The 12th was halved in birdies at the 13th in pars before Edmond fnished off his opponent with a winning birdie at the 14th - three up - and a par at the 15th - 4 and 3, thanks very much.

+Image of Barrie Edmond with the Aberdeen Links championship trophy by courtesy of Davie Grieve.

CHALLENGE TOUR REPORT, SCORES

Two Americans and a Spaniard lead in Morocco

From Challenge Tour Press Officer Paul Symes
The American duo of Nico Bollini and Christopher Baker and Spaniard Jesus Maria Arruti leaped to the top of the leaderboard on the second day of the Moroccan Golf Classic at Pullman Magazan Royal Golf and Spa.
Baker enjoyed the best second round of the three men, carding a six under par 66 to move one shot clear of overnight leader Thomas Norret, who dropped back to eight under par after a triple bogey at his last hole.
Dutchman Richard Kind, who had trailed Norret by one shot overnight, also endured a difficult day, as a round of 73 saw him share fourth place alongside the Dane.
But for Bollino and Arruti it was plain sailing, as they shot rounds of 70 and 68 respectively, while Italian Stefano Reale carded a nine under par 63 – comfortably the lowest round of the day – to move to six under par overall.
Baker, who notched eight birdies and two bogeys, said: “There are ten of us out here from the States this week, and we’re having a blast. It’s my first time in Morocco, and it’s a great country. The course here is fantastic – the last couple of holes you’re looking out over the sea, and you don’t get any more beautiful than that.
“I’m very pleased with how I’m playing. I only missed one fairway all day, and three greens. I can honestly say I didn’t leave any shots out there, and my putting was much better after working on it yesterday.”
Spaniard Arruti continued the fine form which has yielded two top five finishes this year. He said: “I’m ve pleased with how I’m playing, and just want to try and finish as high as I can this weekend. I’ve had two top fives this season so feel I am playing well, and while it was disappointing to miss the cut last week in Scotalnd, I couldn’t get the pace of the greens so I feel much more comfortable here.
“It’s hot here in Morocco but I’m looking forward to the weekend, when hopefully I will be as accurate for the last two rounds. Today I played much better tee to green but missed a few short putts. The conditions were perfect, much easier than yesterday when the wind was up. It’s a very tight course, where you have to be accurate off the tee to be able to attack the greens – and that is one of my strengths.”
Bollini attributed his fine performance over the first two days to the week he spent at the course in April, when the tournament was postponed at short notice because of the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud.
“The course is great and I have a little bit of an advantage in that I was here the whole week the tournament was cancelled, as I’d already arrived from the United States and was playing in Turkey the following week,” he said. “There was absolutely no one here, and my friend and I played a lot.
“I didn’t play quite as well as yesterday. On this course if you hit the fairways it’s usually just a wedge into the green, so there are a lot of birdie chances. But I didn’t hit as many fairways today and was hitting out of the rough a lot more.
“The climate and conditions are pretty similar to California, where I’m from, so I feel very comfortable here. I haven’t got a great category on the Challenge Tour at the moment, so it would be great to win. That’s the objective.”
SCOTSWATCH. Elliot Saltman dropped out of the top 10 to a share of 23rd place after following a 66 with a 76 for 142.
Other Scots who beat the cut with nothing to spare on 146 were Gavin Dear (71-75) and Jack Doherty (75-71. Lloyd Saltman missed another cut with 73 and 74 for 147. Greig Hutcheon too is out of the contest with scores of 77 and 75 for 152. Zack Saltman continues to return high scores - 77 and 80 for 157.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72). Yardage 6,848.
135 N Bollini (USA) 65 70, C Baker (USA) 69 66, J M Arruti (Esp) 67 68,
136 R Kind (Ned) 63 73, T Norret (Den) 62 74,
137 G Woodman (Eng) 65 72, P Del Grosso (Arg) 67 70,
138 S Reale (Ita) 75 63, J McLean (Aus) 70 68,
139 A Perrino (Ita) 74 65,
140 M Laskey (Wal) 72 68, J Roos (RSA) 70 70, F Henge (Swe) 69 71, N Bruzelius (Swe) 69 71, E Canonica (Ita) 70 70,
141 A Bernadet (Fra) 69 72, S Buhl (Ger) 70 71, T Haylock (Eng) 70 71, G Canizares (Esp) 70 71, D Nouailhac (Fra) 71 70, K Sullivan (Wal) 71 70, S Garcia (Esp) 70 71,
142 M Baldwin (Eng) 69 73, A Bruschi (Ita) 71 71, D Whitnell (Eng) 71 71, M Martin (Esp) 72 70, J Little (Eng) 71 71, V Almstrom (Swe) 70 72, A Hamilton (USA) 71 71, S Arnold (Aus) 70 72, E Saltman (Sco) 66 76, A Chopard (Sui) 70 72,
143 F Serghini (Mar) 73 70, Z Scotland (Eng) 70 73, R Santos (Por) 70 73, S Russi (Chi) 70 73, J Kavanagh (Eng) 72 71, J Cunliffe (RSA) 71 72,
144 O Turnill (Eng) 72 72, D Brooks (Eng) 71 73, J Moul (Eng) 72 72, N Sulzer (Sui) 71 73, P Dwyer (Eng) 72 72, A Sjöstrand (Swe) 76 68, B Etchart (Esp) 76 68, J Hack (USA) 71 73, D Hewan (RSA) 72 72, C Smith (Wal) 72 72, J Abbate (Arg) 75 69,
145 S Ottosen (Den) 72 73, J Sjöholm (Swe) 71 74, T Whitehouse (Eng) 70 75, M Mills (Eng) 72 73, F Adams Iii (USA) 71 74, C Simon (Esp) 76 69,
146 J Maurer (Aut) 72 74, J Billot (Fra) 69 77, A Mellor (Eng) 71 75, G Dear (Sco) 71 75, R Harris (Eng) 72 74, A Haindl (RSA) 73 73, G Molteni (Ita) 77 69, J Haas Jnr (USA) 74 72, L Goddard (Eng) 75 71, C Cannon (Eng) 71 75, P Relecom (Bel) 72 74, J Doherty (Sco) 75 71, F Roca (Esp) 73 73, J Gidney (Eng) 77 69, J Hedin (Swe) 74 72, J Caldwell (Nir) 75 71.
MISSED THE CUT
147 D Wardrop (Eng) 74 73, F Becker (Ger) 71 76, L Saltman (Sco) 73 74, D Marmion (Eng) 74 73, G Davies (Eng) 74 73, D Griffiths (Eng) 73 74, I Pyman (Eng) 77 70, M Rominger (Sui) 78 69, L Westerberg (Swe) 72 75,
148 B Ritthammer (Ger) 76 72, M Bliss (Can) 75 73, H Bacher (Aut) 73 75, J Relecom (Bel) 74 74, A Signor (Ita) 75 73, C Garcia (Esp) 73 75, T Benslimane (Mar) 77 71, I Ridgway (Eng) 75 73,
149 J Smith (USA) 74 75, D Bohannon (USA) 77 72, G Shaw (Nir) 71 78, S Barhoumi (am) (Tun) 73 76,
150 S Alvang (Den) 73 77, J Estevez (Arg) 77 73, J Campillo (Esp) 76 74, D Lazar Siegal (USA) 73 77, D Coughlan (Eng) 71 79, R Diab (Mar) 74 76, S Talbot (Can) 78 72,
151 Y El Hassani (Mar) 76 75, D Ulrich (Sui) 76 75, C Günther (Ger) 77 74, G Oyebanji (Ngr) 76 75, A Zanini (Ita) 82 69, S Osborne (Eng) 74 77, H Thethy (Ken) 76 75, J Ruebotham (Eng) 77 74,
152 G Hutcheon (Sco) 77 75, P Richardson (Eng) 74 78, J Freeman (Eng) 78 74, L Dodd (Eng) 80 72, M Saissi (am) (Mar) 74 78,
153 R El Kherraz (Mar) 76 77, P Ellerstrom (Swe) 79 74, T Remkes (Ned) 79 74, B Akesson (Swe) 83 70,
154 R Rhazali (Mar) 80 74, P Oriol (Esp) 83 71, A Vergari (Ita) 80 74, S Seijo (Esp) 77 77, J Zaroili (am) (Mar) 78 76,
155 A Sabi (Mar) 76 79, Y Benchetrit (Fra) 78 77,
156 A Joudar (Mar) 80 76,
157 Z Saltman (Sco) 77 80, I Schneider (USA) 77 80, S Rodriguez (Esp) 81 76,
158 A Odoh (Ngr) 80 78,
159 N Makroune (Mar) 76 83,
172 S Berrada (am) (Mar) 86 86,
** L Jensen (Den) 71 RT, P Gasnier (Bra) 82 DQ, L De Jager (RSA) DQ 0, W Razam (am) (Mar) DQ 0,

Murray, Coltart leading Scots in European Tour event

Dinwiddie takes up the running in Saint-Omer Open

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Challenge Tour No. 1 Robert Dinwiddie struck a brilliant six-under-par 65 to move to the top of the leaderboard at the halfway stage of the Saint-Omer Open presented by Neuflize OBC.
The Englishman had six birdies in a bogey-free round to reach six-under 136 after two rounds, one ahead of Austria's Martin Wiegele.
Already a winner at the Kenya Open this year, Dinwiddie is among a group of Challenge Tour players trying to secure a place on The European Tour by winning this week at Aa Saint Omer Golf Club.
"You get asked a lot of questions about how important this week is, and you try to downplay the importance. Really you've just got to treat it like any other event, and just try to hit the best shot you can every time," said the 27 year old.
"I'm really happy with a 65, especially as my neck went after my first shot on the range this morning.
"I hit a couple more and it felt pretty sore, so instead if hitting any more shots I went to the physio truck to see if they could loosen it up. It was still a bit stiff but definitely helped a little bit. Luckily it didn't affect my swing, because I had thought it might. Hopefully with a little bit of rest tonight I'll be feeling even better tomorrow.
"It's a very difficult track, but I did think the pins were a little easier today - though maybe that's just because I was playing better. The greens also seem to rolling better, and the wind wasn't affecting the putting as much as yesterday. But there were still some very tricky holes out there, so I'm delighted to have kept the bogeys off the card today.
Overnight joint leader Wiegele was unable to build on his first-round 66 as a round of two birdies and two bogeys kept him five under, one ahead of England's Jamie Elson and Matt Haines and Dane Mark F Haastrup.
"I didn't play much worse than yesterday," said Wiegele, a winner in his homeland two weeks ago on The Challenge Tour.
"The wind got up pretty early again. So I was pretty pleased with how I played, but disappointed that I made a few mistakes on my back nine, which cost me some shots. But I recovered well on the last with a good bunker shot and a birdie putt from four metres, which brought me back into a good position - that was a relief, and a nice way to finish."
Haastrup, fresh from his third place finish in Portugal, was delighted to maintain his good form.
"I played very well today," he said following a 67. "I made bogeys on the greens I missed, but also made a lot of birdies. So it was an up and down day, but luckily there were more ups than downs."
SECOND ROUND
Par 142 (2x71)
136 Robert Dinwiddie 71 65
137 Martin Wiegele (Aut) 66 71
138 Jamie Elson 71 67, Mark F Haastrup (Den) 71 67, Matt Haines 70 68
139 Colm Moriarty 66 73, Andrew Marshall 68 71, Fabien Marty (Fra) 71 68, Miles Tunnicliff 71 68
140 Liam Bond 72 68, Peter Kaensche (Nor) 70 70, Jan Are Larsen (Nor) 72 68, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 68 72
141 Joakim Backstrom (Swe) 68 73, Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 70 71, Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 72 69, Ake Nilsson (Rsa) 73 68, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 73 68, Marcus Higley 70 71, Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 73 68, David Vanegas (Col) 71 70, Thomas Feyrsinger (Aut) 70 71, Charles-Edouard Russo (Fra) 68 73
142 John Parry 72 70, Jordi Garcia (Spa) 69 73, Lee S James 71 71, Matthew Zions (Aus) 73 69, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 71 71, Florian Praegant (Aut) 73 69, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 70 72, Philip Golding 72 70
143 George Murray 74 69, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 68 75, Andrea Maestroni (Ita) 71 72, Andrew Coltart 71 72, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 72 71, Steven Tiley 71 72, Cesar Monasterio (Arg) 70 73
144 Chris Gane 72 72, Ben Evans 70 74, Benn Barham 73 71, Ben Mason 75 69, Steven O'Hara 73 71, Scott Jamieson 74 70, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 75 69, Andrew McArthur 71 73, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 73 71, Stuart Davis 74 70, Garry Houston 72 72, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 73 71, Stuart Manley 74 70, Ghislain Rosier (Fra) 70 74, Olivier David (Fra) 72 72, Steve Surry 74 70, James Kamte (Rsa) 76 68
145 Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 74 71, Floris De Vries (Ned) 72 73, Anders Schmidt Hansen (Den) 73 72, Clodomiro Carranza (Arg) 73 72, Anthony Snobeck (Fra) 74 71, Daniel Denison 72 73, Andreas Hogberg (Swe) 71 74, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 69 76, Francois Calmels (Fra) 72 73, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 71 74, Adam Gee 73 72, Mark Tullo (Chi) 69 76, Peter Gustafsson (Swe) 73 72, Michiel Bothma (Rsa) 69 76, Sam Walker 73 72, Stephan Gross Jnr (Ger) 71 74, Keith Horne (Rsa) 73 72, Benoit Teilleria (Fra) 72 73, James Ruth 75 70, Alexandre Kaleka (Fra) 74 71
MISSED THE CUT
146 Wil Besseling (Ned) 72 74, Carl Suneson (Spa) 73 73, Jamie McLeary 73 73, Peter Baker 75 71, Alan Wagner (USA) 70 76, Victor Dubuisson (Fra) 74 72, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 75 71, Fredrik Widmark (Swe) 71 75
147 Andrew Tampion (Aus) 73 74, Chris Gaunt (Aus) 73 74, Luis Claverie (Spa) 72 75, Johan Axgren (Swe) 73 74, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 74 73, Julien Grillon (Fra) 77 70, Simon Wakefield 75 72, Lee Slattery 73 74, Federico Colombo (Ita) 75 72, Julien Clement (Swi) 76 71, Santiago Luna (Spa) 74 73, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 76 71, Charlie Ford 69 78, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 73 74, Edouard Dubois (Fra) 72 75, Chris Rodgers 75 72, Gary Clark 72 75, Marcus Both (Aus) 75 72, Ryan Blaum (USA) 75 72, Chris Doak 73 74
148 Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 73 75, Roope Kakko (Fin) 75 73, Scott Drummond 77 71, Marius Thorp (Nor) 72 76, Oscar Floren (Swe) 75 73, Florian Fritsch (Ger) 76 72, Raymond Russell 76 72, Sam Hutsby 73 75, Rudy Thuillier (Fra) 73 75, Gary Murphy 75 73, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 78 70, Antti Ahokas (Fin) 77 71, Victor Riu (Fra) 75 73, Paul Eales 71 77
149 Raphael Eyraud (Fra) 76 73, Oliver Whiteley 75 74, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 77 72, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 77 72, Johan Lopez Lazzaro (Fra) 74 75, Lloyd Kennedy 70 79, Julien Quesne (Fra) 75 74, Eric Ramsay 74 75, Phillip Archer 75 74
150 Anthony Grenier (Fra) 76 74, Marco Soffietti (Ita) 76 74, Damien Perrier (Fra) 76 74, Christophe Brazillier (Fra) 76 74, Nicolas Meitinger (Ger) 75 75, Angelo Que (Phi) 75 75, Jaakko Makitalo (Fin) 77 73, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 74 76, Tim Stewart (Aus) 77 73, Manuel Quiros (Spa) 78 72
151 Gareth Paddison (Nzl) 76 75, Steve Lewton 75 76, Callum Macaulay 73 78, Lars Brovold (Nor) 77 74
152 David Dixon 76 76, Andrew Willey 77 75, Javier Colomo (Spa) 74 78, Adam Blyth (Aus) 72 80
153 Branden Grace (Rsa) 80 73, Zhigun Lam (Chn) 73 80
154 Julien Xanthopoulos (Fra) 77 77, Bruno-Teva Lecuona (Fra) 79 75, Roland Steiner (Aut) 78 76, Inder Van Weerelt (Ned) 81 73
155 Fredrik Ohlsson (Swe) 77 78, Louis Moolman (Rsa) 77 78
156 Baptiste Chapellan (Fra) 81 75
157 Julio Zapata (Arg) 81 76
158 Anton Haig (Rsa) 79 79
WD: Sion E Bebb (Wal) 78

US Nationwide Tour Scoreboard
FORT SMITH CLASSIC
Hardscrabble CC, Fort Smith, Arkansas
FIRST ROUND
Par 70
61 Nathan Smith
64 Matt Davidson
65 Chris Kirk, Brenden Pappas, Chris Parra
66 Brian Bateman, John Daly, Jay Delsing, Doug LaBelle II, William McGirt, Zach Miller, Trevor Murphy, Michael Putnam, Kyle Thompson
67 Mark Anderson, Matthew Borchert, Ken Duke, Tommy Gainey, Paul Gow, Bradley Iles, Kevin Kisner, Won Joon Lee, Jin Park, Rick Price, Tag Ridings, Justin Smith, Darron Stiles, Jhonathan Vegas
68 Joe Affrunti, Jonas Blixt, Jeff Brehaut, Gavin Coles, Robert Gamez, Fabian Gomez, Scott Gutschewski, Bob May, Dicky Pride, Sonny Skinner, Scott Sterling, Julien Trudeau
69 Camilo Benedetti, Josh Broadaway, Ted Brown, Tom Byrum, Miguel Carballo, Gary Christian, Paul Claxton, Brad Elder, Jason Enloe, Nick Flanagan, Jeff Gallagher, Ty Harris, J.J. Killeen, Bronson LaCassie, Jamie Lovemark, David McKenzie, Chris Nallen, Bryan Novoa, Leif Olson, John Riegger, Dustin Risdon, Dave Schultz, Patrick Sheehan, B.J. Staten, Peter Tomasulo, Ron Whittaker
70 Brad Adamonis, Ryan Armour, D.J. Brigman, Mark Brooks, Scott Brown, Jeff Curl, Marco Dawson, Scott Dunlap, Todd Fischer, Ryan Hietala, Tom Kalinowski, John Kimbell, David Mathis, Jon McLean, Garrett Osborn, Justin Peters, Ewan Porter, Alistair Presnell, Aaron Watkins
71 Daniel Barbetti, Travis Bertoni, Keegan Bradley, Andrew Buckle, Jess Daley, Glen Day, Bryan DeCorso, Brent Delahoussaye, Todd Demsey, Jesse Hutchins, Brandt Jobe, Colt Knost, Luke List, Brent Long, Adam Meyer, Jon Mills, David Morland IV, Andrew Parr, Brendan Steele, Diego Vanegas, Will Wilcox
72 Steve Alker, Bronson Burgoon, Michael Clark II, Wil Collins, Tim Fleming, Scott Gardiner, Kelly Grunewald, Hunter Haas, Clint Jensen, Jim Kane, Cliff Kresge, Stephen Leaney, Bobby MacWhinnie, Major Manning, Geoffrey Sisk, Andre Stolz, Tjaart Van der Walt, Casey Wittenberg
73 Adam Bland, Bubba Dickerson, Matt Every, James Hahn, David Hearn, Justin Hicks, Mike Lavery, Steve Pate, Martin Piller, Kyle Reifers, Tom Scherrer, Scott Stallings, Esteban Toledo, Brian Vranesh
74 George Bradford, David Branshaw, Rob Oppenheim, Andrew Svoboda, Phil Tataurangi
75 Nick Beach, Jim Carter, Frank Lickliter II, Stephen Poole, Paul Stankowski
76 Dan Buchner, Alan McFerran, Michael Sims, Kyle Stanley
78 Tom Cannarozzo, Sal Spallone

Steven Hume misses the cut in Alps Tour event in France

Steven Hume from Murrayshall, Perthshire missed the 36-hole cut by six strokes - a margin exaggerated by bogeying the last four holes of the tournament - in the Alps Tour's Open International de Normandie at Golf de Saint Saens in France today.
Steven had scores of 75 and 77 for 152 over the par-71 course. He had the misfortune to run up a double bogey 7 in both rounds - at the 12th on Day 1 and at the eighth doay. He did birdie two long holes in his second round, the third and the 12th but he simply dropped too many shots.
He had bogeys at the second and fourth then let it slide over the last few holes with successive bogeys at the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th.
Leading the field jointly on eight-under-par 134 are Matteo Del Poddio (Italy), with a pair of 67s, and France's Julien Foret, also with two 67s.
LEADING QUALIFIERS
Par 142 (2x71)
134 Matteo Del Poddio (Italy) 676 67, Julien Foret (France) 67 67.
135 Juan Antonio Bragulat (Spain) 67 68.
136 Clement Gallois (France) 72 64.
138 Alan Bihan (France) 66 72, Jason Palmer (England) 69 69, Miguel Pujalte Sastre (Spain) 70 68, Jason Kelly (England) 68 70.
Selected scores:
139 Richard Kilpatrick (Northern Ireland) 70 69 (jt 9th).
140 Matthew Cryer (England) 73 67 (jt 13th).
142 Farren Keenan (England) 74 68 (jt 20t5h).
145 Sam Robinson (England) 72 73 (jt 40th).
146 Ricki Neil-Jones (England) 74 74.
MISSED THE CUT
147 Philip Rowe (England) 73 74, Adam Hodkinson (england) 73 74.
148 Jonathan Lomas (England) 74 74.
152 Steven Hume (Scotland) 75 77.

Cunning play sees Mike lead at Royal Porthcawl

By SCOTT CROCKETT
Chief Press Officer, European Tour
It might not quite be classed as local knowledge just yet, but a growing awareness and an appreciation of links golf helped American Mike Cunning into the lead after the first round of The Ryder Cup Wales Seniors Open at Royal Porthcawl.
The 51 year old from Phoenix took advantage of near perfect conditions at the iconic south Wales venue to post a superb seven under par 65 which gave him a one shot lead over former Ryder Cup Italian Costantino Rocca with Australian Peter Fowler and Gordon Brand Jnr of Scotland a further shot adrift in third.
Cunning played in last year’s tournament but could do no better than 75 in any of his three rounds on his way to a share of lowly 53rd place. But he stored away the information gained on how to play links golf and brought it out to good use on his return this week.
“Everything was new to me last year and so to be able to come back and play it again the second time around, you get a little bit more familiar as you go along,” said Cunning, who claimed his maiden European Senior Tour title in last season’s Aberdeen Brunei Senior Masters.
“I only play links golf when I’m over here. We don’t really have any links courses back home. There are a few up in Oregon but I haven’t really been up there. Last year was all a new experience for me. I played the Dunhill as well a lot of years ago but that wasn’t like playing here.
“You have to plot your way around, you just can’t go bashing the ball out there like you do on some of the courses we play. But it’s a neat form of golf, it’s different.”
Certainly, if Cunning continues to produce the form he showed in the first round – especially on the back nine which he conquered in 31 blows with birdies at the tenth, 12th, 14th, 17th and 18th, he will be a hard man to catch.
Leading the chase at present, Costantino Rocca was delighted with his flawless 66 but more delighted with the fact he was playing at all having arrived in Wales in such pain from a back injury that he considered withdrawing from the tournament altogether.
“I’ve been having physio and am taking some anti-inflammatory tablets as well as the odd glass of red wine which never does any harm,” said the Italian who memorably beat Tiger Woods in the singles during Europe’s Ryder Cup victory at Valderrama in 1997.
“The other good thing is that, because my back is the way it is, I am not forcing my shots, I am just trying to keep an easy rhythm and good timing,” added Rocca who, like Cunning, birdied both the closing holes. “I hit some good ones and holed some good putts too so it wasn’t bad.”
Another man with back issues is Peter Fowler who showed he is on the way back after eight months out of action following two operations with a flawless 67 while the man who shares third with the Australian, Gordon Brand Jnr, could not have found a more inappropriate word than flawless to describe his extraordinary 67.
The Scot, who won the Coral Classic at Royal Porthcawl on The European Tour in 1982, posted three bogeys in his first nine holes but still managed to reach the turn in three under par 33 thanks to four birdies and an eagle three at the eighth, while he carded another eagle three at the 12th.
“That’s links golf for you I suppose and, as they say, there are no pictures on the scorecard,” he said. “The two eagles helped my cause. At the eighth I hit three wood, three wood to about 20 feet and knocked it in and on the 12th I hit a really good drive there, a fantastic five wood onto about 25 feet and holed that one as well which was nice. I didn’t play that great but I hit the right shots at the right time and made a few putts.”
Elsewhere, the local crowds who came to roar on Ian Woosnam did not have their vocal chords tested too much as the former Ryder Cup Captain could only manage a three over par 75 although he did raise a cheer at the 18th when he chipped in from the right of the green for what was only his second birdie of the day.
FIRST ROUND
Par 72
65 M Cunning (USA) ,
66 C Rocca (Ita) ,
67 G Brand Jnr (Sco) , P Fowler (Aus) ,
68 B Lincoln (RSA) , J Chillas (Sco) , D Cambridge (Jam) ,
69 B Cameron (Eng) , J Bland (RSA) , T Johnstone (Zim) , J Quiros (Esp) , K Tomori (Jpn) ,
70 E Darcy (Irl) , C Williams (RSA) , R Drummond (Sco) ,
71 B Ruangkit (Tha) , A Franco (Par) , S Owen (Nzl) , M Belsham (Eng) , B Boyd (USA) , N Job (Eng) , D Durnian (Eng) , M Harwood (Aus) , D Smyth (Irl) , J Heggarty (Nir) ,
72 R Chapman (Eng) , H Carbonetti (Arg) , A Murray (Eng) , D O'Sullivan (Irl) , J Gould (Eng) , B Longmuir (Sco) , M Clayton (Aus) , D Merriman (Aus) ,
73 J Bruner (USA) , M Bembridge (Eng) , S Torrance (Sco) , M Williams (Zim) , A Fernandez (Chi) , J Rhodes (Eng) ,
74 E Polland (Nir) , K Spurgeon (Eng) , G Banister (Aus) , A Oldcorn (Sco) , E Rodriguez (Esp) , D Hospital (Esp) , G Davies (Wal) , P Mitchell (Eng) , M Gray (Sco) ,
75 I Woosnam (Wal) , G Brand (Eng) , T Giedeon (Ger) , D Russell (Eng) , G Ralph (Eng) , P Teravainen (USA) ,
76 V Garcia (Esp) , C Mason (Eng) , G Cali (Ita) , D Johnson (USA) , L Carbonetti (Arg) , J Harrison (Eng) , B Smit (RSA) , C O'Connor Jnr (Irl) ,
77 A Johnsson (Swe) , G Ryall (Eng) , N Ratcliffe (Aus) , M Piñero (Esp) , P Oakley (USA) , F Mann (Sco) ,
78 J Cañizares (Esp) , I Mosey (Eng) ,
79 A Sowa (Arg) , M Farry (Fra) ,
80 J Rivero (Esp) , M Miller (Sco) , B Charles (Nzl) ,
81 J Hawkes (RSA) ,
82 T Gale (Aus) , K Stimpson (am) (Wal) ,
90 A Garrido (Esp) ,





-ends-



Scott Crockett

Chief Press Officer

The European Tour

CRAIG LEE OUTCLASSES EUROPRO TOUR


FIELD TO WIN £10,000 BY SIX STROKES

Stirling’s Craig Lee’s long drive to Bovey Castle, Devon this week was certainly worthwhile. He outclassed the field for at PGA EuroPro Tour Dunlop Masters, taking the £10,000 top prize by the comfortable margin of six strokes at the end of 54 holes despite starting the tournament with a double-bogey 6.
Lee, playing out of the Aspire Golf Centre, near Aberdeen this season, signed off with a spectacular round of nine-under-par 61 for an 18-under-par total of 210
He birdied seven of the first eight holes, reached the turn in 29 (one more than in his second-round 63), birdied the 11th and then had an eagle 3 at the long 12th.
For the third day in row, the Scot bogeyed the short 16th but he notched his eighth birdie of the round at the 18th.
When the 33-year-old Lee is in this low-scoring mood he really looks as if he should be on the European Tour.
Runner-up was Steve Ussell (Hornsea) who collected £5,000 for scores of 68, 65 and 65 for 198.
The next best Scot after Lee was Scott Henry (The Carrick on Loch Lomond) with scores of 74, 69 and 67 for a share of 18th place on level par 210. He earned £404.
John Gallagher (Swanston) received £235 for a share of 43rd place on 216 with three rounds of 72 over the par-70 lay-out.
Barry Hume (Haggs Castle) tied for 48th place on 218 with rounds of 74, 71 and 73 and a £210 pay-out.
South Wales-based Paul Doherty and Steven Mackie (Dunnikier Park) finished joint 51st on 220. Doherty had rounds of 77, 68 and 75, Mackie 71, 70 and 79. Both earned £197.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 210 (3x70)
192 Craig Lee (Aspire) 68 63 61.
198 Steve Uzell (Hornsea) 68 65 65.
199 Andrew Johnston (North Middlesex) 69 65 65, James Busby (Shropshire) 66 69 64, Sean Doherty (Bury) 67 64 68.
201 Nick McCarthy (Moortown) 66 66 69.
202 Daniel Gaunt (Aus) 69 67 66.
Other Scottish scores:
210 Scott Henry (The Carrick on Loch Lomond) 74 69 67 (jt 18th)
216 John Gallagher (Swanston) 72 72 72 (jt 43rd).
218 Barry Hume (Haggs Castle) 74 71 73 (jt 48th).
220 Paul Doherty (Vale Hotel) 77 68 75, Steven Mackie (Dunnikier Park) 71 70 79 (jt 51st).

STILL A CLASSY TENNANT CUP FIELD


THIS WEEKEND WITHOUT BYRNE

Events have conspired to prevent Banchory’s James Byrne from attempting to repeat his impressive double victory on successive June weekends last year in two of the major 72-hole events on the Scottish men’s amateur golf calendar – the Tennant Cup and the East of Scotland Open.
The 21-year-old Arizona State University, who has a handicap of +5.4, will miss the Glasgow Golf Club’s four rounder, starting with 36 holes on Saturday at Gailes and finishing with two rounds at Killermont on Sunday. With all due respect to the Tennant Cup, which was first played in 1880, Byrne has bigger fish to fry – in the Amateur championship 36-hole final at Muirfield on Saturday.
And Byrne will be representing Europe against the United States in the Palmer Cup transatlantic students’ international match next weekend when the East of Scotland Open is being played at Lundin Golf Club, Fife.
Even in Byrne’s absence the Tennant Cup field has a classy look about it with every other Scotland team place contender entered. Philip McLean (Peterhead), winner of the Edward Trophy over the Glasgow Gailes course in April, looks the possible favourite ahead of Ross Kellett (Colville Park) who will be keen to get back on track after recent disappointing performances.
Scottish men’s and boys’ match-play champion last year, David Law (Hazlehead) will be looking to recapture his excellent form of 2009 and his North-east team colleague, Kris Nicol (Fraserburgh) looks sure to be in contention come Sunday evening.
Steven McEwan (Caprington) was runner-up to Byrne in last year's Tennant Cup, albeit seven shots adrift but he did have Walker Cup man and now rookie pro Gavin Dear (Murrayshall) behind him in third place.
That was just about McEwan's best performance of 2009. Perhaps the event will inspire him to rise to the occasion again.

BANCHORY'S BYRNE REACHES MUIRFIELD FINAL

FACES FIRST ASIAN TO MAKE LAST DAY

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE RandABanchory's James Byrne has a chance of becoming the first Scot to win the Amateur Championship on home soil since Stuart Wilson won at St Andrews in 2004. He’ll face Korea’s Jin Jeong, who becomes the first Asian player to reach the final in the event's history. The winner will become the 2010 Amateur Champion, receiving an exemption into the 150th Anniversary Open Championship and a Masters Tournament invitation.
Jin Jeong is No 10 in the RandA World Amateur Golf Rankings. James Byrne is No 20.
In the morning quarter-finals, Byrne overcame France’s Edouard Espana 2 and;1 in a tight encounter, before commencing a fiercely-contested semi-final with Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup star Chris Paisley, which was followed by well over 200 spectators. The Englishman took an early lead after Byrne, 21, failed to make par at the 213-yard, par-3 fourth.
That would be the greatest advantage the Englishman would enjoy over the Arizona State University student. The Banchory man got back on level terms with a 20ft birdie putt at the eighth, then developed a two-hole lead courtesy of wins at the 10th and 13th holes. Four consecutive halves in par followed, the last of those ensuring his second 2 and 1 victory of the day.
“It would be absolutely brilliant to win (the championship). I played in the Amateur down south last year and saw the massive crowds following Tommy [Fleetwood] so hopefully it will be the same,” Byrne said. “It would be good to win it for them.
“This is the highlight of my summer. I’ve been gearing towards this tournament and to have all the hard work pay off would be excellent,” he added.
“I am disappointed to be beaten,” said Paisley, who had defeated Italy’s Andrea Pavan earlier in the day. “But I don’t mind as much when it’s by a player as good as James. He played some quality shots today and deserved to win.”
Jeong, meanwhile, was rarely troubled in both his quarter and semi-final matches. A comfortable 3 and 2 victory over Ulsterman Paul Cutler in the morning, which was rounded off by an eagle 2 on the 443yd, par-four 15th, preceded a dominating triumph against Matthew Nixon of England.
The 20-year-old got off to the perfect start, winning the first two holes with a par four and a birdie three respectively. Nixon won the fourth to reduce the deficit to one, but Jeong would take four of the next six to build a five-hole advantage by the 10th. The 2010 Riversdale Cup champion maintained that margin, winning the match 5 and 4.
“I’ve been thinking about winning this tournament for a long time,” said Jeong, who plays off a plus five handicap. I’ve been dreaming about The Open since I started playing golf and, about two years ago, I realised that if I win the Amateur, I would get to play in The Open.
“I couldn’t get in back then because I wasn’t good enough, but I’ve won a couple of national tournaments, and now I’m in the final.”
Defeated Nixon, the 2006 Boys Amateur Champion, said: “I am not too disheartened. I’m more than happy to be here and get into the last four.”
The 36-hole final will take place at Muirfield, East Lothian, tomorrow. The first round gets underway at 8.30am, with the second due to commence at 1pm.
The winner of the final will receive an exemption into the 150th Anniversary Open Championship and a 2011 Masters Tournament invitation.
Entry to the course is free and car parking is available. Live text commentary will be available on RandA.org.

Jin Jeong played links golf for first time only three weeks ago

FROM THE GOLFWEEK WEBSITE
By ALISTAIR TAIT
Jin Jeong, the first Asian player to reach the British Amateur final, only started playing links golf THREE weeks ago. His first taste of old-fashioned golf came in the Scottish open amateur stroke-play championship at Glasgow Gailes. The 20-year-old did well to finish seventh, considering it was a new experience.
Last weekend Jeong played in the St Andrews Links Trophy and missed the cut because he couldn’t handle the capricious nature of the Jubilee Course.
“I didn’t like it (links golf) the first time,” Jeong said. “When I play in the U.S. or Australia I can control the ball, but here the ball bounces everywhere.
“I just hated last week. I couldn’t do anything around the greens. Most times I hit it over the green. I couldn’t spin the ball on the greens. Now it’s fun.”
Jeong has been dreaming of playing in the Amateur Championship for some time. He first became enamored with links golf when he watched television footage of Ernie Els winning the 2002 Open Championship at Muirfield.
“I dreamed of hitting out of the long rough. We don’t have rough like that in Korea or Australia.”
Thankfully Jeong hasn’t had to do much of that this week. Besides Nixon and Cutler, he’s overcome strong players in Tom Lewis, the reigning British boys champion, and France’s Romain Wattel, winner of the Scottish stroke-play championship.
Now he’s on the verge of realising another dream.
“I’ve been dreaming about winning this tournament for a long time, since I found out that if I win I get to play in the British Open. My goal this week was to win this tournament.”
Jeong no longer lives in South Korea. He moved to Australia three years ago to play golf full-time. He is a member of Waverly Golf Club in Melbourne, where he takes lessons from head pro Trevor Flakemore. He has permanent residence status and can apply for Australian citizenship at the end of this year.
Not only has he adapted well to links golf, but to life in Australia. He has won two of Australia’s biggest amateur championships this year, the Tasmanian Open and Riversdale Cup.
It should be a riveting final, and a dream come true for whoever takes the trophy.

FRIDAY'S RESULTS

QUARTER-FINALS
Matthew Nixon (Ashton under Lyne) bt Rhys Enoch (Truro) 3 and 2.
Jin Jeong (South Korea) bt Paul Culter (Portstewart) 3 and 2.
James Byrne (Banchory) bt Edouard Espana (France) 2 and 1.
Chris Paisley (Stocksfield) bt Andrea Pavan (Italy) 5 and 4.

SEMI-FINALS
Jin Jeong bt Matthew Nixon 5 and 4.
James Byrne bt Chris Paisley 2 and 1

Aberdeen Pennant League
sponsored by the Cults Hotel

Northern 3, Royal Aberdeen 3

Played at the Kings Links
Home players first
T Robertson and C Ross bt M Halliday and A Reith 1 hole.
C McBain and G Horne lost to S Buchan and E Laird 2 and 1.
S Slessor and J Inglis bt D MacAndrew and B Barclay 4 and 3.
R Stewart and I Watt lost to M Black and I Middleton 2 and 1.
W West and D Leslie bt D Harris and J Emslie 1 hole.
D Nicholson and C Johnstone lost to G Webster and D MacAndrew junior 1 hole.