I owe it all to Ernie Els, says Open champion Oosthuizen

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By OLIVER BROWN at St Andrew
Louis Oosthuizen did not take long to realise the significance of winning the Open Championship for South Africa on Nelson Mandela's 92nd birthday.
While he did not know if the country's former president and anti-apartheid icon was a fan of links golf, Oosthuizen said on Sunday night: "When I walked down the 18th, I was thinking about his birthday. It felt a bit special out there.
"I saw it in the morning on the news, on the internet. What he has done for our country is unbelievable, so happy birthday to him once again."
The son of a sheep farmer in Mossel Bay, Oosthuizen, a picture of composure for all four rounds, found his voice quavered as he made his acceptance speech with the Claret Jug in hand.
"I want to thank my mum and dad for helping me since I was very small," the 27 year-old said.
He reserved effusive gratitude, too, for Ernie Els, whose foundation supported Oosthuizen for three years before he turned professional.
Without the three-time major champion as his benefactor, he maintained that it would have been impossible for his parents to fund his development.
Els returned the compliment, saying: "Louis is simply a wonderful kid. You cannot find a better one and I am so pleased for him.
"He comes from a little town and needed help, so we took him into the foundation and sent him to various tournaments around the world. He is our first major champion and has made us all very proud."
Oosthuizen is so wonderful, indeed, that he left champagne for all the journalists in the press tent - shades of the late, great "Champagne" Tony Lema who also won the Open over the Old Course, St Andrews, in 1964.
Oosthuizen also disclosed that he had received a phone call on Saturday morning from Gary Player, the three-time Open champion, to galvanise him for the day.
"We had a little chat; he spoke in my home language, Afrikaans. He was saying, 'just stay calm out there.' It meant a lot, him phoning me up. He's just a great guy."
For Charl Schwartzel, his best friend among the ranks of emerging young South African golfers, the reaction was of incredulity.
"It's phenomenal," he said. "Louis has done an unbelievable thing. The guy has just outplayed everyone, and that has made him the Open champion."
The last word was best left to wife Nel-Mare, looking on by the 18th with their baby daughter Yana in her arms, her pride only too plain: "It's amazing, the highlight of his career. Earlier we just relaxed and cracked jokes. I can't believe what's happening."

A FEW DOLLARS MORE FOR KNOX

Inverness exile Russell Knox earned $1,764 for a joint 31st place finish in the weekend's Hooters Tour event, the Texas Open at Victoria Country Club, Texas, Knox, based at Jacksonville Beach, Florida for a number of year, had rouns od 73, 70, 68 and 70 for a three-under-par total of 281
He finished 12 shots behind the winner of the $30,000 first prize, American Ryan Henry with scores of 69, 70, 62 and 68.
Knox is eighth on the Hooters Tour money list this season with earnings of $43,180.

Europeans' success at St Andrews shows US dominance is over

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By MARK REASON at St Andrews
"Spanked by the Yanks" is the sort of pithy tabloid headline that tells the history of the Open since Arnold Palmer led the first invasion in 1961.
The Americans have run their tanks through St Andrews and other quaint towns on the British coast and looted at will.
There were occasional pockets of resistance led by freedom fighters such as Seve Ballesteros and Sir Nick Faldo, but they did not last. Our American friends have won 11 Opens in the past 15 years and six of the previous eight at St Andrews. They have owned the Europeans, as they say in Paris, Texas.
The times they are a changing. Big John Daly, the winner here in 1995, strode down the final fairway in his stars and stripes pants this afternoon, but they seemed like a salesman's trick. America has not flown the flag this week. It has been a parade of Europeans, four of who finished in the top five, led by a South African bandmaster.
Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie emerged from the Valley of Sin by the final green only too happy to talk about his prospective European team. He was buoyant about how well his men were playing and hopeful that Paul Casey would play his way into the team. Montgomerie said: "I don't want to have to waste my picks on world stars like Paul Casey."
There have been times in the past few days when the Open has resembled a European Tour event. Young Americans such as Sean O'Hair, Nick Watney and Jeff Overton have skirted the fringes of the leaderboard, but not one American could make the top five, a shocking result given their success over the years.
Their leader has also fallen. Tiger Woods used to have the freehold on St Andrews, but yesterday he was just another American passing through. There is no guarantee he will even turn up at Celtic Manor in October given his distaste for the Ryder Cup. Woods has constantly evaded references to the event.
American captain Corey Pavin would be secretly happy if Woods does stay away. He can then make Hunter Mahan, Anthony Kim and Lucas Glover part of a team. Glover played with Woods yesterday and was round in 76. He never looked comfortable. Woods's cool has won him many a major, but his never ignited America's Ryder Cup team.
Graeme McDowell's victory at the US Open and three other British victories in the States within a month suggest a shift in power. Lee Westwood looked at the head of the American Tour during a dinner speech last Tuesday and said: "It's always nice to see an American win on your tour." It was a sly reference to Steve Stricker's recent victory at a tournament short of Europeans.
"They're not going to be happy, are they?" said Ian Poulter. "If you look at the winners on their tour over the last few weeks, four out of five have been European â " and Justin [Rose] should have won the other one.
"Our guys are going over there and winning week in, week out. It's great. I love it. It really fires things up for the Ryder Cup – even more passion will be spilt out over Celtic Manor. I can't wait."
You can understand Poulter's enthusiasm, but Montgomerie will be wary of Europe being cast as super favourites. The Americans have regularly turned up with the better golfers over the previous 20 years and been beaten.
In 1999 and 2001 the Europeans thrashed the Americans in two Walker Cups in a row, the amateur equivalent of the Ryder Cup. That generation is now coming to its peak. Casey led the first victory and had his chance to win this week's Open until that horrible treble bogey on the 12th. McDowell was part of the 2001 team and is now a major winner.
Poulter says: "The American guys who have won all the tournaments over the past few years are getting older. The talent to replace them is very young and needs a bit more experience. We have a 15-year window.
"The Americans have a gap and that gap is being filled by Europeans, guys who are in their late twenties, early thirties and who are doing the job right now."

OPEN THOUGHT FOR THE DAY (from the Editor)
If they wanted to toughen up one of the closing holes on the Old Course for the Open, why didn't the RandA do something about the 18th - surely the easiest finishing hole in Major championship golf. Encircle it with one huge deep bunker - and that would stop them having a go for the green from the tee.

DOUBLE BOGEY TURNING POINT FOR STEVEN

TAYLOR AT BOTHWELL CASTLE PRO-AM

Home course professional Steven Taylor won the Bothwell Castle pro-am today with a four-under-par round of 66 – which included a double bogey 6 – to pick up the top prize of £1,047.
Taylor was two over par standing on the eighth tee, after running up a 6 at the par-4 seventh. But he covered the remaining holes in six under par – birdies at the short eighth, the 10th, short 11th, the long 132th, the 15th and ther short 17th without dropping another shot.
He won by two strokes from joint runners-up Stephen Gray (Hayston), Mark Finlayson (Edzell) and Chris Doak (unattached), who each earned £645.
Scott Henderson (Kings Links led the City Technical Services (UK) Ltd amateur trio of Kenneth Henderson (handicap 14), Stuart McKindless (15) and John McVey (19) to victory in the team event with a net total of 14-under-par 56. David Orr’s team also hit that mark but lost on on a comparison of the net inward halves.

PROFESSIONAL SCORES
Par 70
66 Steven Taylor (Bothwell Castle) (£1,047).
67 Stephen Gray (Hayston), Mark Finlayson (Edzell), Chris Doak (unatt) (£645 each).
68 Jonathan Lomax (unatt), Lindsay Mann (Carnoustie) (£345 each).
69 Alan Lockhart (Ladybank), Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle) (£251 each).
70 David Orr (Eastwood), Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills), Graham Fox (East Kilbride), Mark Kerr (Marriott Dalmahoy), Chris Kelly (Cawder), Mark King (Kingsfield) (£157 each).
71 James McKinnon (Irvine), Paul Wardell (Whitekirk) (£109 each).
72 Scott Clelland (Coatbridge DR), Samuel Cairns (Colville Park), Scott Henderson (Kings Links), Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs GR) (£78 each).
73 Hamish Kemp (Bishopbriggs GR), Kenneth Monaghan (Bothwell Castle) (£48 each).
74 Ewan Davie (Dunblane New), Michael Rae (Alyth), Craig Lee (Aspire) (£48 each).
75 Craig Matheson (Falkirk Tryst), Lee Harper (Archerfield Links), Colin Gillies (Braid Hills), Alan McCloskey (Bothwell Castle) (£48 each).
76 Stuart Roberts (Bothwell Castle), James Clive (Carrick) (£48 each).
77 Andrew Marshall (Houston GR), Fraser McLaughlan (Bothwell Castle) (£48 each).
78 Neil Colquhaoun (Merchants of Edinburgh), Kevin McAleer (Gleddoch), Nicholas Reid (unatt), Richard Mannering (Playsport Golf), Gavin Cook (Prestonfield) (348 each).
80 Gregor Abel (Alloa) (£48).
83 Euan Reid (Strathclyde Park) (£48).

Tadini triumphs in the Credit Suisse Challenge

By SCOTT CROCKETT, Chief Press Officer, European Tour
The recent success story of Italian golf had another chapter added to it in Switzerland when Alessandro Tadini clinched a dramatic victory in the Credit Suisse Challenge.
A week after Edoardo Molinari captured The Barclays Scottish Open on The European Tour and in the wake of Italy’s triumph in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup last November, Tadini grabbed his first Challenge Tour victory of the season at Golf Sempachersee near Lucerne.
In the end the statistics show that the 36 year old from Borgomanero finished with a final round 65 for a 22 under par total of 266 to beat Norway’s Marius Thorp and Stuart Manley of Wales by a shot. But that did little to underline the drama of the closing holes.
One shot behind Thorp with two holes to play, Tadini produced a grandstand finish to clinch the €24,000 first prize which moved him up to 13th on the Challenge Tour Rankings. Firstly a two-putt birdie on the long 17th took him level with the Norwegian before he holed a 15 foot putt for a winning birdie three on the final green.
“My caddie had a look at the line, we agreed on it and I hit it and it was just great to see the ball drop into the hole,” he said. “This is a fantastic win for me especially because my form up to now this season has been a bit patchy and I even missed the cut last week in Lyon.
“But I found something in my game in the pro-am and although my first two rounds weren’t spectacular, they were solid. Then I really played well on Saturday for a 64 and today’s 65 was excellent too. I’m now in the top 15 of the Rankings and I want to push on to try and get as high a card as possible for next year’s European Tour.”
Tadini admitted the recent emergence of Italian stars in the professional game had been a massive encouragement to everyone in his country.
“It has been a wonderful two years or so for everyone connected with Italian golf,” he said. “We have had both Francesco and Edoardo win on The European Tour as well as the World Cup and we’ve had Matteo Manassero come through. Now I’ve won as well which is great for me....and Italy too!”
Sharing second, both Manley and Thorp battled hard all day but came up one shot shy of Tadini’s total following respective final rounds of 69 and 66.
Thorp, looking for his first Challenge Tour victory, was particularly unlucky having produced a spectacular run for home. At level par for his round through ten holes, the 22 year old looked an unlikely candidate for success but four birdies and an eagle between the 11th and 17th set the target which Tadini eventually bettered.
Manley, who entered the final round in a share of the lead with Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen, struggled to get his game going in the early stages and was one over par for the day after ten holes. The 31 year old from Aberdare recovered gamely with five birdies in his closing eight holes, including at the 17th and 18th, but a bogey four at the short 16th proved his ultimate undoing.
Further down the final leaderboard, Italian teenage sensation Manassero himself produced his best round of the week, a six under par 66, to move up to a share of tenth place. He will now travel to next week’s English Challenge at Stoke by Nayland – alongside Tadini, Manley and Thorp – with renewed confidence.
SCOTSWATCH: Raymond Russell finished top Scot in this very low scoring tournament with rounds of 68, 69, 68 and 68 for 15-under-par 273, which saw him finish no higher than joint 14th place. He earned 2,325 Euros. Jamie McLeary just made the top 20 with scores of 69, 70, 65 and 71 for 275 for which he received 1,534 Euros. George Murray tied for 24th place on 276 (67-69-70-70) for 1,365 Euros while Andrew McArthur, who was going best of all of the Scots after two rounds, faed to joint 52nd place on281 with rounds of 66, 67, 75 and 73 for a payslip amounting to "only" 562 Euros, a lot less than he must have envisaged starting the third round.
FINAL TOTALS:
Par 288 (4x72)
266 A Tadini (Ita) 69 68 64 65 (24,000 Euros).
267 S Manley (Wal) 66 65 67 69, M Thorp (Nor) 68 64 69 66 (13,500 Euros each).
269 J Guerrier (Fra) 69 65 68 67, J Clément (Sui) 70 64 67 68 (8,250 Euros each).
270 M Zions (Aus) 69 66 67 68, A Kaleka (Fra) 67 66 69 68,
271 C Del Moral (Esp) 68 66 65 72, J Zapata (Arg) 67 67 65 72,
272 D Brooks (Eng) 66 67 68 71, W Besseling (Ned) 64 69 70 69, B Hebert (Fra) 67 65 70 70, M Manassero (Ita) 67 69 70 66,
273 R Russell (Sco) 68 69 68 68, M Korhonen (Fin) 68 68 68 69, L Gagli (Ita) 65 70 70 68, T Olesen (Den) 66 64 68 75 (2,325 Euros each).
274 R Steiner (Aut) 68 68 68 70, L Kennedy (Eng) 72 66 67 69,
275 M Carlsson (Swe) 67 69 70 69, J McLeary (Sco) 69 70 65 71, M Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 70 66 71 68, A Snobeck (Fra) 69 67 71 68 (1,534 Euros each).
276 J Roos (RSA) 68 69 72 67, J Arruti (Esp) 68 71 66 71, G Murray (Sco) 67 69 70 70, L Jensen (Den) 69 68 67 72 (1,365 Euros each).
277 M Quiros (Esp) 69 69 71 68, A Sjöstrand (Swe) 68 70 70 69, B Wiesberger (Aut) 69 69 69 70, O Floren (Swe) 66 66 73 72, C Ford (Eng) 65 71 70 71, J Larsen (Nor) 69 67 71 70, A Chopard (Sui) 68 70 69 70, V Riu (Fra) 69 66 69 73, G Molteni (Ita) 67 69 67 74, A Velasco (Esp) 71 68 69 69,
278 M Bothma (RSA) 69 69 69 71, R Dinwiddie (Eng) 72 63 72 71, F Praegant (Aut) 70 67 71 70, L Slattery (Eng) 71 66 68 73,
279 M Higley (Eng) 67 69 72 71, J Legarrea (Esp) 70 69 69 71, C Smith (Wal) 67 70 69 73, J Moul (Eng) 70 65 75 69, C Suneson (Esp) 69 69 71 70, L Claverie (Esp) 70 68 72 69, M Cobo (Esp) 72 66 70 71, F Svanberg (Sui) 74 64 71 70,
280 N Sulzer (Sui) 66 69 73 72, R Kakko (Fin) 68 70 68 74,
281 A McArthur (Sco) 66 67 75 73, H Bacher (Aut) 71 67 75 68, A Ahokas (Fin) 70 69 67 75, S Davis (Eng) 68 68 69 76 (562 Euros each), E Amacher (am) (Sui) 68 69 71 73,
282 J Ruth (Eng) 66 70 72 74, S Lilly (Eng) 68 69 74 71,
283 D Skinns (Eng) 72 66 73 72, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 68 70 69 76, K Benz (am) (Sui) 70 69 71 73,
284 S Surry (Eng) 70 69 72 73,
285 M Laskey (Wal) 68 70 70 77, A Bruschi (Ita) 69 68 73 75,
286 F Valera (Esp) 69 69 72 76,

IT'S SOUTH AFRICA'S DAY!

Oosthuizen wins Open by 8 shots

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Louis Oosthuizen marked Nelson Mandela Day in exactly the way he dreamed of - by becoming only the fourth South African ever to win The Open Championship.
The 27 year old did it at the venue every player wants to most, the Home of Golf at St Andrews, and he did it by lapping the field as he finished the week with a seven-shot gap.
Oosthuizen, pictured left, had no need to get too animated as he turned his four-shot overnight lead into an almost unbelievable seven-stroke triumph over Lee Westwood.
Paul Casey, triple bogeyed the 12th and by coming home in 40 for a 75, slipped to joint third with 21 year old Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy and Swede Henrik Stenson - Retief Goosen ensuring all of the top six were European Tour Members.
Since 1913 there has been only one bigger victory in the event - Tiger Woods by eight over the same Old Course ten years ago.
And this from a 200-1 outsider who had missed the halfway cut in seven of his previous eight Majors and came last in the other.
With a closing 71 and a 16 under par total of 272, three more than Woods in 2000, he followed in the footsteps of Bobby Locke, Gary Player - four and three-time winners respectively - and 2002 champion Ernie Els, whose Foundation gave him his career lift-off as a teenager.
His first Major title earned him €1,011,840 and moves him up to 15th in the Official World Golf Ranking.
"It's unbelievable - just amazing," said Oosthuizen. "It's probably going to hit me tomorrow or the week after. I felt like I played well all week and the biggest goal for me was to stay cool.
"I'd like to have kept the record of not going in the bunker (like Woods in 2000), but I went in one on the 14th.
"It became a bit difficult having a big lead, but I'm glad I had all those shots in hand on the 17th."
As he stepped from the last green as the newly crowned Open champion Oosthuizen said: “My biggest goal this week was to keep calm. It became very difficult after the 12th hole on the back nine with an eight shot lead, but I was glad of those eight shots at the 17th. I cramped up a bit. But that was unbelievable.”
Later he added: “I felt I needed something to get me going and the eagle was the thing that did it. During the final round I made good putts when I had to and rarely missed anything under six feet, but it was much tighter than it looked until that 12th hole.”
The last hole still held its dramas. “Coming down the 18th I didn’t want to hit driver and thought about the three-iron, but that might have bounced on the road and finished anywhere. It was amazing when I saw the ball hit the fairway.”
Of the great breakthrough in his career he said: “Everyone told me it was just a matter of me believing in myself and my first win on the European Tour really helped. But to win an Open is special. To win at St Andrews is extra special.”
The new champion secured his first win on the European Tour earlier this year in the Open de Andalucia, but had won four times in his home country, including a successful defence of the South African PGA title in 2008. He had failed to make the cut in three previous Open appearances at Troon, Hoylake and Turnberry, and had also failed to progress in the US Open and Masters.
The 27-year-old lives on a farm next door to his parents in Gouritz River, South Africa, and also has a home in Manchester.
He was a graduate of the Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation which gives financial assistance, playing, practice and coaching help to young players, and he was the first from that programme to play in the Masters. He represented South Africa at boys, youths and adult levels and he is now putting something back into the game by starting his own junior golf academy.
I NEED TO IMPROVE, SAYS RUNNER-UP LEE WESTWOOD
Ltt Westwood, who lost by one after a closing bogey at Turnberry last year and was runner-up to Phil Mickelson at The Masters Tournament in April, is not going to beat himself up too much over this one.
"I know what I've got to do - improve," he said after his 70 gave him a top three or four finish in his last four Majors..
"I'm showing a lot of consistency, but it's not quite good enough. I'm not sure what it is quite. I keep putting myself in position and in contention - that's all I can do.
"I didn't get off to a quick enough start today. I thought if I could turn in five under anything was possible, but it was difficult out there.
"The pin positions were tough. This is not an easy course when there's a 20mph wind blowing. And Louis is obviously playing really well."
Casey will probably spend more time than his Ryder Cup teammate thinking what might have been - and so will McIlroy after starting with a Major Championship record-equalling 63 and following it with an 80 in Friday's 40mph gusts.
The youngster came back with rounds of 69 and 68, but the damage had been done.
After a superb approach to five feet on the first, Casey missed the chance to cut the gap instantly to three.
He then came up short of the second green and, after chipping 20 feet past, bogeyed to fall five back.
Meanwhile, Oosthuizen showed no sign of frailty as he calmly parred the first five holes.
However, although he added another at the next, Casey birdied from four feet and when the leader failed to get up and down from just off the green at the short eighth the difference was down to three.
Both drove the green on the 352 yard ninth, but when Oosthuizen holed from over 40 feet for an eagle two the tournament was back in his firm grip.
With Casey making birdie it was still between the two of them, but even with The Road Hole 17th to come the outcome was effectively decided by the 348 yard 12th, innocuous by comparison.
Oosthuizen reduced it to a drive, a pitch and a 15 foot birdie putt. Casey, on the other hand, went in gorse, took a penalty drop, was short in three, long in four and with a 7  his Claret Jug hopes were buried barring a total collapse from the man he was playing with.
It was his second triple bogey of the week. The other, at the 17th in round two, was one he could come back from - this one will stick far longer in the memory.
Oosthuizen's only mistake on the back nine came when it did not matter, a 5 at the 17th.


OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
272 Louis Oosthuizen (S Africa) 65 67 69 71 (£850,000).
279 Lee Westwood 67 71 71 70 (£500,000).
280 Rory McIlroy 63 80 69 68, Paul Casey 69 69 67 75, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 68 74 67 71 (£256,666 each).
281 Retief Goosen (S Africa) 69 70 72 70 (£175,000).
282 Nick Watney (USA) 67 73 71 71, Robert Rock 68 78 67 69, Sean O'Hair (USA) 67 72 72 71, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 69 71 68 74 (£97,000 each).
283 Jeff Overton (USA) 73 69 72 69, Luke Donald 73 72 69 69, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 72 70 74 67 (£81,400 each).
284 Charl Schwartzel (S Africa) 71 75 68 70, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 71 71 70 72, Tom Lehman (USA) 71 68 75 70, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 69 71 72 72, Dustin Johnson (USA) 69 72 69 74, J.B. Holmes (USA) 70 72 70 72, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 69 71 73 71, Rickie Fowler (USA) 79 67 71 67 (£57,125 each), Jin Jeong (SKor) (amateur silver medal winner) 69 72 69 74.
285 Tiger Woods (USA) 67 73 73 72, Stephen Gallacher 71 73 70 71, Graeme McDowell 71 68 76 70, Trevor Immelman (S Africa) 68 74 75 68
286 Adam Scott (Aus) 72 70 72 72, Marcel Siem (Ger) 67 75 74 70, Matt Kuchar (USA) 72 74 71 69, Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn) 68 73 75 70, Kevin Na (USA) 70 74 70 72, Robert Allenby (Aus) 69 75 71 71, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 72 67 74 73, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 67 71 71 77, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 69 76 73 68, Bradley Dredge 66 76 74 70
287 Peter Hanson (Swe) 66 73 74 74, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 74 70 71, Hunter Mahan (USA) 69 76 71 71, Colm Moriarty 72 73 72 70, Vijay Singh (Fij) 68 73 76 70, Ross Fisher 68 77 68 74, Shane Lowry 68 73 71 75
288 Ricky Barnes (USA) 68 71 72 77, Bo Van Pelt (USA) 69 72 73 74, Camilo Villegas (Col) 68 75 70 75, Darren Clarke 70 70 77 71
289 Phil Mickelson (USA) 73 71 70 75, (USA) John Daly 66 76 74 73, Lucas Glover (USA) 67 76 70 76, John Senden (Aus) 68 76 73 72, Stewart Cink (USA) 70 74 71 74, Simon Dyson 69 75 73 72, Kyung-Tae Kim (Kor) 70 74 73 72
290 Steve Stricker (USA) 71 74 71 74, Steve Marino (USA) 69 76 69 76, Zane Scotland 70 74 72 74, Danny Chia (Mal) 69 77 74 70, Simon Khan 74 69 73 74
291 Marc Leishman (Aus) 73 71 72 75, Ian Poulter 71 73 76 71, Tom Pernice junior. (USA) 72 74 71 74, Heath Slocum (USA) 71 74 73 73, Peter Senior (Aus) 73 71 74 73, Y.E. Yang (SKor) 67 74 76 74, Toru Taniguchi (Jpn) 70 70 77 74, Jason Day (Aus) 71 74 75 71
292 Hirofumi Miyase (Jpn) 71 75 73 73, Colin Montgomerie 74 71 74 73, Steven Tiley 66 79 73 74, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 67 74 73 78
293 Andrew Coltart 66 77 74 76
294 Mark Calcavecchia (USA) 70 67 77 80
295 Thomas Aiken (S Africa) 71 73 77 74, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 73 73 76 73
296 Zach Johnson (USA) 72 74 74 76, Scott Verplank (USA) 72 73 74 77

+The Open championship is one of the few pro tournaments in the world where every competitor receives a cash award, whether they made the halfway cut or not. The minimum amount paid to a player was £2,250.

Jin Jeong completes Amater title and Open amateur medal double

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By OLIVER BROWN at St Andrews
The endearingly unassuming Jin Jeong, who captured the Silver Medal as the Open’s leading amateur, has the unusual practice of using his coach as his caddie.
Australian Trevor Flakeman could hardly have looked prouder to be on the bag, hugging his young Korean student as they celebrated an eagle 2 at the last after he had driven the green.
Flakeman, the head professional at Waverly golf club in Melbourne, has also been moonlighting as Jeong’s dietitian for the week. “I tried to eat black pudding,” the 20 year-old said after the most mature 72.
“That was quite tough. I like fish and chips, but haggis came out the other day for breakfast. My coach says, ‘Don’t try it,’ so I didn’t.”
Jeong was a picture of wide-eyed wonderment in trying to grasp the significance of this moment. He has grown accustomed to being acclaimed as a prodigy, after becoming the first Asian winner in 125 years of the Amateur Championship at Muirfield last month, but a symbolic prize at the Home of Golf was almost too much to take in.
Asked if he could believe he was the leading Asian player at St Andrews, eclipsing such renowned compatriots as KJ Choi and YE Yang, Jeong replied: “It’s hard to believe I’m here. It was a dream come true. I played the Open at St Andrews, played well and finished with an eagle — I don’t think I can forget that.”
It is four years since Jeong’s family transplanted themselves to Australia, and the breezy conditions on the Melbourne coast appear to have ensured junior’s passion for links golf.
Curiously, on the parkland layout of Loch Lomond this month he was clueless, missing the cut at 16 under par, but the memories of Muirfield — where he beat Banchory’s James Byrne 5 and 4 in the amateur final — set him up perfectly for the fast-running Old Course, where he performed serenely all week.
The wisecracking of Flakeman had, he explained, helped to relax him at any stressful points. But competitively, the tension evaporated when all his rivals for the top amateur prize fell at the halfway stage.
As the first Korean winner of the Silver Medal, Jeong confirmed that he would retain his amateur status at least until next year’s Masters.
“I was going to turn pro this year, but I won the British Amateur, so now I can play at Augusta,” he said. “So I’ll probably stay amateur until then. I want to play in the United States.”
Jeong’s pursuit of American ambitions can wait. His accomplishment on the Fife fairways guarantees he will be lauded as a celebrity in South Korea, where golf has been treated with the utmost gravity since Yang beat Tiger Woods in a final-round duel at the US PGA in 2008.
Still, he had one regret. If his Open breakthrough had earned him money, his father would have taken a week off from running the family’s construction company.




Poulter clashes with a heckler - and then a security guard

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
Ian Poulter finished his Open Championship seven hours earlier than he had hoped today - not wanting to say anything more about his Saturday clash with a heckler and then a security guard.
"Idiots - I guess it's the sort of thing that happens every now and again," commented Poulter after teeing off in the second group of the day at 7.35am and ending the week three over par following a 71 at St Andrews.
The world No 8 claimed to have had a "personal and inappropriate" comment made to him as he walked back to the players' lounge and then found himself confronted by the guard.
Poulter said the man wanted him "out of my space" and they had a long exchange of words.
Police nearby wanted to know what was going on, but decided there was no need for further investigation and the Royal and Ancient Club, who run The Open, said that with no complaint made they would not get involved.
As for his performance at the Home of Golf, Poulter, runner-up to Padraig Harrington at Birkdale two years ago, said: "I just didn't hole any putts. That's it in a nutshell."

My last Open at St Andrews, says Monty (he'll be 52 in 2015)
Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie joked that he should walk the plank for his performances in the Open. The 47-year-old Scot shot a final-round 73 to finish four over for the 139th edition of the tournament and with the event scheduled to return to the Home of Golf for another five years he admits it could be his last on the famous Old Course.
"I'll never pause on the bridge - that is only for winners," said the eight-time European number one, whose best Open performance came at St Andrews five years ago when he was second to Tiger Woods. "There is sort of a plank on the right-hand side and I should walk across that and not use the bridge."
He added: "This will probably be my last Open here as I'll be 52 when it comes back here in 2015.
"Having to go down to Sunningdale and qualify at 52 would be a better effort than doing it at 47 (as he did this year for a 21st successive Open appearance).
"That is my fifth Open here and I've enjoyed them all and I look forward to playing next year down at Royal St George's."
Montgomerie was hugely disappointed with his display this week, blaming his putting for most, if not all, his problems.
"My performance doesn't take long to analyse. I didn't putt well," he said. "I'm getting fearful on the greens - why I don't know because I'm hitting the ball as hard as I used to but the ball is not going in.
"The belly putter (he turned to for his opening round) was lucky it lasted a day. It doesn't matter what implement is used, it unfortunately is the person using it who is to blame.
"To play four days is always important but it is disappointing I never competed or contended here in any shape or form."

DATES AND VENUES FOR THE NEXT THREE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

2011 (July 14 to 17) - Royal St George's Golf Club, Sandwich, Kent.

2012 (July 19 to 22) Royal Lytham and St Annes, Lancashire.

2013 (July 18 to 21) Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, Muirfield, Gullane, East Lothian.

Rushford takes up the running at Newlands Trophy

Stirling University student Bobby Rushford (Grangemouth) leads the Lanark Golf Club's Newlands Trophy 72-hole SGU Order of Merit tournament into this afternoon's fourth and final round.
There have been three different leaders so far, Rushford moving into the pole position with rounds of 70, 72 and 72 for a four-over-par running tally of 214.
But it's not all over yet by any means. Matthew Clark (Kilmacolm) and Brian Soutar (Leven Golfing Society) are only one shot behind on 215 and there are two players on 216 - Allyn Dick (Kingsknowe) and Kyle McClung (Wigtownshire).
Andrew Wallace (Glenbervie) had a third-round, four-under-par 66, the lowest of the tournamet so far to be sharing sixth place on 217.
Stirling student James White (Lundin), winner of the Sutherland Chalice at Dumfries and Galloway last Sunday, improved from a second-round 80 to a third-round 68 for 220.

LEADING THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Par 210 (3x70)
214 Bobby Rushford (Grangemouth) 70 72 72.
215 Matthew Clark (Kilmacolm) 70 74 71, Brian Soutar (Leven GS) 71 71 73.
216 Allyn Dick (Kingsknowe) 69 72 70, Kyle McClung (Wigtownshire Co).
217 Andrew Wallace (Glenbervie) 76 75 66, Paul Shields (Kirkhill) 78 68 71, Jordan Findlay (Fraserburgh) 72 74 71, Mark Collin (Eyemouth) 73 72 72.
218 Ross Crowe (Westerhope), Aaron Sweeney (Carnoustie) 71 73 72, Robert Carson (Dalmahoy ) 762 74 72, Craig Hamilton (NZ) 75 70 73.
219 Thomas Sharkey (Helensburgh) 74 72 73, Grant Carnie (Newburgh on Ythan) 74 70 75.
220 James White (Lundin) 72 80 68, Scott Gibson (Southerness) 74 75 71, Steven Rennie (Drumpellier) 74 72 74, Gordon Yates (Hilton Park) 72 72 76, Stephen Speirs (Kyles of Bute) 73 69 78.
221 Mark Bookless (Sandyhills) 75 76 70, Simon Lockhart (Bathgate) 73 74 74.
222 Scott Larkin (Royal Aberdeen) 76 74 72, Michael Campbell (Renfrew) 77 72 73, James Hendrick (Pollok) 72 74 76, Adam Dunton (McDonald Ellon) 74 71 77, Alexander Culverwell (Dunbar) 70 75 77.
223 Ben Renfrew (The Wynward) 78 74 71, Michael Daily (Erskine) 76 76 71, Ed Wood (Crow Wood) 78 73 72, Graham Robertson (Silverknowes) 75 71 77.
224 Richard Graham (Hayston) 73 76 75, Richard Docherty (Bearsden) 72 76 76.
225 Joshua Seale (US) 79 70 76.
226 James Johnston (Greenburn) 74 78 74, John Shanks (Irvine) 74 77 75, Ken Cameron (Lanark) 75 75 76, Steven McEwan (Caprington) 72 76 78.
2267 Chris Lawton (Stirling) 70 81 76, Colin Thomson (East Renfrewshire) 74 75 78.
228 Ross Bell (Downfield) 72 80 76, Sean McGarvey (Glenbervie) 75 76 77.
232 Chris Orr (Lanark) 75 78 79, Alan Sutherland (Ladybank) 78 74 80, Colin Baird (Bothwell Castle) 75 76 81.

New Scottish girls champion Lesley Atkins from Hawick with the trophy after her Saturday final success at Eyemouth Golf Club. Scroll down for a report.

Tiger's putter has cooled since the 'old days'

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By KEVIN GARSIDE at St Andrews
When this tournament is done Tiger Woods might yet have cause to celebrate.
He would prefer it if the Claret Jug was part of the story. While still possible, the lesser trophy he takes back to America is acceptance.
His appearance at St Andrews marks his first in Britain since the halo shattered. The pre-tournament press conference was still part inquisition, golf merely the pretext for further moral probing.
The galleries of the opening two days at The Open are not the teamed up boys of the weekend, who go after the amber nectar with good natured enthusiasm. Woods had enjoyed an easy ride.
This would be a stiffer test of Tiger’s standing, a barb count that would tell us if the disapproval dished up in the wake of the disclosures about his private life retained its potency in the raucous crucible of big Saturday.
Though he has not particularly excelled in the company of Darren Clarke he does like the Ulsterman and would not have been displeased to be drawn with his old Ryder Cup adversary, who had him in stitches on the putting green.
A good start. Sightings of the Woods teeth are a rare thing on a golf course in 2010. “Thought you’d like that one,” Clarke said, leaving the cheeky among us to infer ribald content. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Well, Tiger does have form.
This was Clarke’s second start of the day. He was out before breakfast to complete the remainder of his second round. He finished with the St Andrews classic – five and three, bogeying the Road Hole then smashing one up the 18th for a birdie to close on four under.
Out of the breeze, stiffening to 30mph-plus in the more exposed precincts, the afternoon was almost balmy. Beers taken in the sun offered encouragement to those inclined to voice their opinion. Woods was about to discover which way the wind was really blowing. The answer rattled out of the gallery to his right, the biggest cheer of the week following Woods and Clarke down the first.
Woods was back in the mix on a Saturday afternoon at St Andrews, a blue sky widening overhead. This is what golfing nirvana used to look like when he was a clean living lad with a wife and kids waiting for him over the rainbow. Maybe this would be the day that the game came back to him, and he to the game. The message on the breeze was “Go Tiger, sink some putts”.
Clarke’s putter ended the dream sequence, taking three to get down from inside 20 feet. Woods described his second round as one of the best. Golfing in high wind is like wrestling with a bear. He fought the beast all the way, managing to land a blow on the snout with his birdie at the last.
Any tournament, if it is to be remembered, needs its stars to fire. Mark Calcavecchia and Louis Oosthuizen were a novel final pairing but nothing like sexy enough to carry this event. The galleries wanted to see Tiger rip up the Old Course as he did in 2000 and 2005.
What Woods required was the ball to bounce his way. He thought it had on the second when a 30-yard putt that started life on a part of the surface owned by the 16th green lasered towards the hole. Tiger thought the ball had dropped. Up went the arms, the gallery behind the green followed suit, but the ball lipped out.
The Woods putter has cooled these past couple of years. The luck has deserted him, too. A fantastic tee shot on the fifth landed on a slope, tricky in a raging crosswind. His approach found gorse. Not the reward his ball striking this week deserved. A one-shot penalty took him back to three under. A duffed chip at the eighth saw another slip away.
With the wind from the west the ninth hole offers convalescence for troubled golfers. At just 352 yards it is vulnerable to the big hitter. Woods had no choice but to open his shoulders and let the club head go. The crowd around the St Andrews loop loved it when the ball rolled on to the green and, two putts later, disappeared. That’s magic. An afternoon of give and take took him to the Road Hole level for the day at four under.
At the 17th he went out of bounds, but recovered for bogey. While at the last, a massive drive gave a good chance for an eagle. Wayward putting, however, saw him finish with a par for a round of 73 and a three-under total.

Monty's Black Hole: Too old for main tour, too young for seniors

FROM THE SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY WEBSITE

By Paul Forsyth in St Andrews
Expletives, terrible shots, sulks, yet moments of genius. There's still plenty of compelling moments when following this old-timer
Colin Montgomerie is nothing if not predictable. For the third successive day, he decided against sharing his thoughts with the press. For the second time this week, he came to grief on the Road Hole, racking up a double- bogey on the par-4 17th. After a third-round 74 yesterday, Europe's Ryder Cup captain issued a polite "no thank you" and made a beeline, presumably, for the car.
As the silhouette of that familiar figure disappeared into the crowd, a depressing drive back to Dunning was in prospect. After going to the trouble of qualifying for his 21st consecutive Open Championship with a 62 at Sunningdale, it cannot be easy wondering if it was all worth it. Out in 37, back in 37, an eagle, two doubles, three birdies and three bogeys made for a mixed bag that amounted to the same old story.
The majors were his bête noir even when he was at his best. Now the prospect of winning one slips ever further into the distance. The sooner this latest effort is over and done with the better. Then he can head for Wentworth on Tuesday, where he will name his vice-captains for this year's match at Celtic Manor. It is, at this stage of his career, a challenge he should be rather more comfortable with.
You wouldn't believe it, but Monty is 47 now. When did that happen? As Mark Calcavecchia and Tom Lehman are being congratulated for bringing their zimmer frames to golf's oldest tournament, don't forget that the Scot, still flogging the regular tour for all it is worth, is only three and four years their junior. This, remember, was the point in his career when he was supposed to bow out gracefully. He said he would rather quit than content himself with making up the numbers.
Well, Montgomerie is 377th in the world rankings, which isn't anyone's idea of competitive. He hasn't won since the 2007 Smurfit Kappa European Open. It is well over a year since he recorded a top-ten finish. His best this year is a tie for 36th at the BMW International. He has disappeared into what is a black hole in the career of many tournament professionals - too old to cut it on the main tour, too young to be eligible for the seniors.
Of course, he has said all along that he has no intention of playing on the over-50s circuit, but if it is anything like the rest of his promises, he'll be there. In three years' time, don't be surprised if he's cutting about the Carnousties of this world, teeing it up with the Gary Players, the Tom Watsons, still seeking that elusive major.
His last, and probably final, shot at the real thing was at Winged Foot four years ago, when that fateful 7-iron cost him the title.