North of Scotland Seniors Open at Duff House Royal

McDONALD WINS AT BANFF ON TIE-BREAKER

Cowglen’s John McDonald won the North of Scotland Seniors Open golf tournament at Duff House Royal GC, Banff today.
He and David Smith (Stirling) both finished with two-round totals of 141 but McDonald’s second-round 71 to Smith’s 74 was the tie-breaker.
Smith and Lindsay Blair (Grangemouth) had been the joint overnight leaders on 67 but McDonald was able to make up three shots Smith a second-day 71.
Blair subsided to a 76 for 143 and a share of fourth place.
Ian Fraser (Dumfries and Co) had the best second round of 69. He finished joint sixth on 144.


FINAL TOTALS
Par 136 (2x68). CSS 69 70
141 John McDonald (Cowglen) 70 71, David J Smith ( Stirling ) 67 74 (McDonald won on better second round).
142 George Blair (Haddington) 68 74.
143 Bob Humble (Kilspindie) 71 72, Lindsay Blair (Grangemouth) 67 76.
144 Ian Fraser (Dumfries and Co) 75 69, David Gardner (Broomieknowe) 73 71, Michael Jenkins (Duff House Royal) 69 75.
145 John Sim (Duff House Royal) 72 73, Alan Ross (Northumberland) 71 74, Jim Watt (Edzell) 70 75.
146 Alan Gall (Deeside) 72 74, David Taylor ( Dunfermline ) 72 74, Sandy Pirie (Hazlehead) 72 74, Allan Cameron (Gourock) 71 75.
147 Ian Hutcheon (Monifieth) 71 71, Ian Taylor (Royal Burgess) 75 72, Colin Christy (Kilmacolm) 72 75.
148 Gordon MacDonald (Callander) 77 71, Sandy Fairweather (Carnoustie Caledonia) 76 72, Michael Currie (Glen) 71 77.




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Ryder Cup contenders are in the Czech Open mix

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE

Thirteen players are separated by only two shots at the halfway stage of the Czech Open 2010 - and they include two of the men chasing a Ryder Cup place.

Peter Hanson, 15th on the points table, shares the lead on seven under par with fellow Swede Fredrik Widmark.

England's Simon Dyson, one spot below Hanson in the cup race with only one more week to come, is on five under as he also seeks the win which would take him into the all important top nine.

Hanson, who received an invitation to the event on Monday, added a 70 to his opening 67 and said: "I left four or five shots out there, but I'm feeling good about my game.

“I’m driving okay and hit my irons shots very nicely. It is all about making those putts. I felt I could go low today and had a lot of opportunities on our front nine.”

Widmark is 1,354th - joint last - on the world rankings after having shoulder surgery and then breaking his wrist falling off the roof of his home. The injury was so severe and problematic that he was told at one point he might have to have his arm amputated and had only a ten per cent chance of playing golf again.

But the 34 year old not only made his first halfway cut of the season on The European Tour, but caught Hanson by grabbing three birdies in his last four holes for a 67.

“My goal getting in this event was just to play four rounds,” he said. “ I’ve been injured for a year and a half and I’m just getting back this season and I haven’t really played well so far. I was lucky to get this opportunity to play. I just want to get four rounds and get my game back in shape. It has been great so far but I didn’t expect to be in this position at all."

One behind the leaders are Ireland's Peter Lawrie, who in contrast bogeyed two of the last four, Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts, Argentina's Clodomiro Carranza and another Swede, Fredrik Andersson Hed.

Dyson returned a 69 and commented: "It's weird because I kind of expected there to be double figures (under par) by now, but there isn't and that stands me in good stead."

Ireland's Shane Lowry is alongside him after a best-of-the-day 64 and Welshman Bradley Dredge would have been as well but for arriving for his round 20 seconds late and being penalised two shots.

"I thought I was 12.20 (local time) and it was 12.10," Dredge said after having to sign for a 67 rather than 65.

"I wasn't too happy, but it's my fault for not getting it right."

Spaniard Miguel Ángel Jiménez is also three under and English pair Ross McGowan and Oliver Wilson made the cut on level par.

Colsaerts, who shot 70 playing with joint leader Hanson, said: “Peter got off to a good start so there was good motion in the group. It helps when someone else is playing well – you get a positive mood. You narrow the focus a little more.
“Today 70 was a disappointing score with the way I played, but it is good to be at the top of the leaderboard.
“Hopefully no-one will run away with it, the conditions are good so you have a chance to shoot low.
“It’s a funky course. It’s not the sort we play all year but the surfaces are good. You really have to place the ball well.”

SECOND-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 144 (2x72)
137 Peter Hanson (Swe) 67 70, Fredrik Widmark (Swe) 70 67
138 Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 73 65, Peter Lawrie 70 68, Clodomiro Carranza (Arg) 69 69, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 70 68
139 Richard Bland 68 71, Anthony Wall 70 69, Scott Hend (Aus) 69 70, Shane Lowry 75 64, Tano Goya (Arg) 67 72, Simon Dyson 70 69, Kenneth Ferrie 71 68
140 Shiv Kapur (Ind) 66 74, Phillip Price 70 70, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 70 70, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 68 72

141 Steve Webster 72 69, Nathan Smith (USA) 71 70, Marc Warren 70 71, Stephen Dodd 72 69, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 71 70, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 72 69, Bradley Dredge 74 67, Thomas Levet (Fra) 73 68

142 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 72 70, Anton Haig (Rsa) 70 72, Paul Waring 73 69, Gary Boyd 72 70, Stephen Gallacher 74 68, Rick Kulacz (Aus) 69 73, Richard Finch 69 73, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 72 70, Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 73 69, Pablo Martin (Spa) 74 68, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 74 68, Michael Hoey 70 72
143 Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 70 73, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 70 73, Ariel Canete (Arg) 72 71, Miles Tunnicliff 70 73, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 74 69
144 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 72 72, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 71 73, Richie Ramsay 75 69, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 70 74, Oliver Wilson 72 72, Alan McLean 70 74, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 72 72, Jamie Elson 75 69, Stephan Gross Jnr (Ger) 73 71, Jamie Donaldson 72 72, Alastair Forsyth 74 70, Ross McGowan 73 71, Tim Stewart (Aus) 72 72
145 John Parry 73 72, Soren Hansen (Den) 73 72, David Lynn 73 72, Victor Dubuisson (Fra) 77 68, Graeme Storm 71 74, Simon Lilly 72 73, Marco Ruiz (Par) 74 71, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 73 72, Mark Foster 74 71
146 Martin Wiegele (Aut) 72 74, Damien McGrane 74 72, Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 78 68, Marco Soffietti (Ita) 75 71, Peter Whiteford 79 67, Sion E Bebb 73 73, Scott Drummond 72 74, Steven O'Hara 76 70, Oliver Fisher 78 68, Anthony Kang (USA) 71 75, Gary Clark 76 70, Danny Lee (Nzl) 75 71, Gary Murphy 73 73, Tommy Fleetwood 75 71, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 73 73
MISSED THE CUT
147 Viktor Skalle (Cze) 74 73, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 75 72, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 73 74, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 69 78, James Morrison 73 74, Robert Rock 74 73, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 73 74, Simon Thornton 74 73, Sam Little 77 70
148 Andrea Maestroni (Ita) 74 74, Filip Mruzek (Cze) 76 72, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 75 73, Robert Coles 71 77, Martin Prihoda (Cze) 75 73, Richard McEvoy 75 73, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 76 72, Mark Brown (Nzl) 73 75, David Drysdale 72 76, Tony Carolan (Aus) 73 75, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 73 75
149 Fredrik Ohlsson (Swe) 74 75, Carl Suneson (Spa) 74 75, Mark F Haastrup (Den) 75 74, Luis Claverie (Spa) 76 73, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 76 73, Johan Axgren (Swe) 75 74, Peter Svajlen (Svk) 75 74
150 Gary Lockerbie 78 72, Andrew Butterfield 71 79, Stanisiav Matus (Cze) 76 74, Nick Dougherty 79 71
151 Christian Nilsson (Swe) 76 75, Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 76 75, Steen Ottosen (Den) 77 74, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 74 77, Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 75 76, Sam Hutsby 75 76, Lukas Tintera (Cze) 75 76, Markus Brier (Aut) 76 75
152 Jurgen Maurer (Aut) 78 74, Phillip Archer 80 72, Andrew Coltart 78 74, Keith Horne (Rsa) 78 74
153 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 76 77, George Coetzee (Rsa) 76 77, Julien Quesne (Fra) 78 75, Brett Rumford (Aus) 74 79, Robert Schovanek (Cze) 77 76, Ghislain Rosier (Fra) 77 76, David Dixon 75 78, Jonathan Lomas 77 76
155 Andrew Tampion (Aus) 77 78, Ondrej Lieser (Cze) 79 76, Jan Ryba (Cze) 80 75
156 Sebi Garcia (Spa) 74 82
157 Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 76 81
158 Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 82 76, Ondrej Lebl (Cze) 80 78
159 Petr Zima jr (Cze) 77 82
163 Marek Novy (Cze) 80 83, Petr Gal jr. (Cze) 81 82
167 Jiri Stryncl (Cze) 86 81
170 Jakub Svarc (Cze) 87 83
172 Petr Skopovy (Cze) 89 83
179 Martin Rudecky (Cze) 93 86

Red-hot Eric Ramsay charges into contention
in Germany

By GORDON SIMPSON

Director of Communications, European Tour

Carnoustie's Eric Ramsay broke 30 for nine holes for his first time in competition at Green Eagle Golf Club in Germany to rocket into a share of the halfway lead in the ECCO Tour Championship on the European Challenge Tour.

The 31 year old Scot, currently sitting in 228th place on the Challenge Tour Rankings with earnings of just €962, suddenly struck form after spending the last two weeks at home playing social golf with his mates at Carnoustie.

Ramsay, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, winner of the Australian amateur title before he turned pro, was out in a red-hot 28 on his way to recording an eight under par 65 to join Australian Matthew Zions at the top of the leaderboard on 138 going into the weekend.
His score is the lowest recorded over the brutally long North Course, measuring almost 7900 yards, but with preferred lies in operation, could not be counted as a course record.
“I have no idea where that came from” said Ramsay, who carded an eagle and five birdies on the outward nine. “To be honest, the last year has been pretty frustrating since I won in Poland last September and I just couldn’t make any cuts.
“I was hitting it sideways at the start of this year and couldn’t put a score together. Once things start to get away from you it’s hard to get it back and, yes, I was feeling pretty low at times. However golf can be like that, and you have to keep battling through the bad times.
“I took one week off recently without touching the clubs then just played some social golf over my home course at Carnoustie. I realised if I could play well there, I should be able to play well on most courses out on Tour. I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, but hopefully this week might help me turn the corner.”
Zions, also 31, fired a second round of 68 to join Ramsay on eight under par for the first 36 holes, and the Australian who is based in the United States admits he took inspiration from his room-mate this week, Chilean Mark Tullo.
Tullo won last week’s Rolex Trophy in Geneva and Zions laughed: “I’ve taken Mark’s mojo from him this week! It was great to see him win and although we are only at the halfway stage, I feel at ease with myself and enjoying the challenge that the game presents.”
Zions currently lies in 16th place in the Rankings – 212 ahead of his co-leader Ramsay – and after grabbing six birdies in his round of 68, believes that the Number One spot is within his compass this season.
“Last year was all about Edoardo Molinari, but it is more crowded at the top now” added Zions. “From the start of the year, the Number One position has been my top priority and it is certainly achievable with a lot of good money to play for before the end of the season.”
Four players are tied for third place, with Welshman Stuart Manley and Ireland’s Colm Moriarty firing 70 and 69 respectively to finish on 139, seven under par, and tied with two of the overnight leaders, Australian Daniel Gaunt and Swede Oscar Floren.

SECOND-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 146 (2x73)
138 E Ramsay (Sco) 73 65, M Zions (Aus) 70 68
139 O Floren (Swe) 67 72, S Manley (Wal) 69 70, D Gaunt (Aus) 67 72, C Moriarty (Irl) 70 69
140 F De Vries (Netherlands 72 68, C Del Moral (Spain) 70 70, A Hartø (Denmark) (amateur) 68 72
141 S Jamieson (Sco) 70 71, N Johansson (Swe) 70 71, K Sullivan (Wal) 67 74, L Bjerregaard (Denmark) (amateur 69 72,
142 A Ahokas (Fin) 70 72, A Wagner (Arg) 70 72, M Bothma (S Africa) 71 71, R Dinwiddie (Eng) 71 71, G Adell (Swe) 73 69, N Meitinger (Ger) 71 71,
143 C Russo (Fra) 71 72, A Haindl (S Africa) 73 70, T Norret (Den) 72 71, J McLeary (Sco) 70 73, T Olesen (Den) 75 68, A Velasco (Spain) 71 72, J Sjöholm (Swe) 75 68,
144 K Jorgensen (Den) 72 72, P Dwyer (Eng) 73 71, D Griffiths (Eng) 72 72, J Colomo (Spain) 70 74, A Marshall (Eng) 72 72, R Kakko (Fin) 74 70, J Larsen (Nor) 73 71, C Brazillier (Fra) 73 71,
145 C Gane (Eng) 73 72, F Henge (Swe) 73 72, J Campillo (Esp) 72 73, A Tadini (Ita) 74 71, S Surry (Eng) 73 72,
146 J Grillon (Fra) 74 72, S Buhl (Ger) 73 73, M Thorp (Nor) 69 77, A Snobeck (Fra) 72 74, M Hedegaard (Den) 75 71, W Ormsby (Aus) 72 74, R Kind (Ned) 73 73, R Hjelm (Den) 74 72, S Walker (Eng) 73 73, C Doak (Sco) 71 75,
147 A Hansen (Den) 70 77, A Willey (Eng) 74 73, M Manassero (Ita) 74 73, C Baker (USA) 72 75, P Golding (Eng) 75 72, J Rask (Swe) 74 73, Å Nilsson (Swe) 74 73, J Dantorp (Swe) 72 75, N Lemke (Swe) 75 72, R Santos (Por) 77 70, L Saltman (Sco) 77 70, C Macaulay (Sco) 75 72, C Lee (Sco) 69 78, B Ritthammer (Ger) 76 71, B Grace (RSA) 74 73, K Sorensen (am) (Den) 72 75, J Hansen (am) (Den) 71 76.
MISSED THE CUT
148 J Zapata (Arg) 75 73, L Slattery (Eng) 71 77, J Arruti (Esp) 73 75, J Kaske (Fin) 72 76, J Clément (Sui) 80 68, M Laskey (Wal) 78 70, J Makitalo (Fin) 76 72, P Kaensche (Nor) 76 72, L Johansen (Den) 74 74, J Doherty (Sco) 75 73, A Kaleka (Fra) 74 74, B Wiesberger (Aut) 74 74, S Wakefield (Eng) 74 74, N Bruzelius (Swe) 77 71, J Little (Eng) 72 76, A Gee (Eng) 75 73, M Rominger (Sui) 75 73, J Xanthopoulos (Fra) 77 71, G Houston (Wal) 76 72, D Lokke (am) (Den) 76 72,
149 A Perrino (Ita) 75 74, T Feyrsinger (Aut) 77 72, J Ruth (Eng) 80 69, L Jensen (Den) 74 75, S Lewton (Eng) 75 74, C Lange (Den) 73 76, P Gustafsson (Swe) 76 73, K Eriksson (Swe) 74 75,
150 T Whitehouse (Eng) 73 77, B Chapellan (Fra) 74 76, L Bond (Wal) 74 76, B Evans (Eng) 77 73, S Reale (Ita) 72 78, M Carlsson (Swe) 79 71, M Haines (Eng) 79 71, J Legarrea (Esp) 72 78, S Tiley (Eng) 74 76, M McGeady (Irl) 74 76, D Vanegas (Col) 71 79, T Remkes (Ned) 73 77, J Moul (Eng) 77 73, J Billot (Fra) 78 72,
151 M Quiros (Esp) 77 74, S Davis (Eng) 76 75, F Praegant (Aut) 75 76, W Besseling (Ned) 76 75, M Eliasson (Swe) 78 73, L Kennedy (Eng) 76 75,
152 V Riu (Fra) 76 76, G Murray (Sco) 77 75, M Tullo (Chi) 73 79, R Steiner (Aut) 74 78, P Malmgren (Swe) 78 74, D Slott (Den) 75 77, A Bruschi (Ita) 75 77, A Högberg (Swe) 76 76, C Ford (Eng) 73 79,
153 F Colombo (Ita) 76 77, J Lykke-Kjeldsen (Den) 73 80, I Van Weerelt (Ned) 75 78, S Piaget (Mon) 77 76, E Dubois (Fra) 78 75, G Molteni (Ita) 78 75,
154 J Christensen (Den) 80 74, J Bäckström (Swe) 78 76, A Jacobsson (Swe) 77 77, L Gagli (Ita) 80 74, P Erofejeff (Fin) 78 76, A Larsen (Swe) 73 81, M Korhonen (Fin) 77 77, A Bernadet (Fra) 79 75, J Wahlqvist (Swe) 78 76, J Espelund (Den) 77 77,
155 S Juul (Den) 73 82, R Russell (Sco) 80 75, C Smith (Wal) 75 80, J Granberg (Fin) 74 81, D Brooks (Eng) 75 80,
156 A Sjöstrand (Swe) 78 78, K Nielsen (Den) 81 75,
157 F Calmels (Fra) 75 82, M Higley (Eng) 80 77, S Gundorph (Den) 72 85, S Strüver (Ger) 76 81, M Madsen (am) (Den) 81 76,
159 L Moolman (RSA) 79 80,
160 J Lerchedahl (Den) 78 82, A Kasprzak (Den) 80 80,
163 M Ford (Eng) 82 81,
Withdrew: B Barham (Eng)

Gordon Simpson

Director of Communications

European Tour

FOX AND GRAY SHARE DEESIDE

PRO-AM VICTORY WITH 64s


By COLIN FARQUHARSON
East Kilbride’s Graham Fox and Stephen Gray (Hayston) both shot six-under-par 64s to be joint winners of the individual pro section of the Deeside Golf Club pro-am today.
They earned £1,096 apiece in finishing three shots ahead of Paul Lawrie (Carrick at Cameron House), Scott Henderson (Kings Links) and Callum Nicoll (The Els Club).
Fox, who did not have a bogey on his card, had the best outward half of five-under-par 31, birdieing the first, third, fifth, eighth and ninth. The flow of birdies halted after the turn and Fox was able to add only one, at the 17th, for 33 home.
Gray had bogeys at the second and 16th but he was seven under par for the holes between, birdieing the third, fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth – 32 to the turn – 13th and 14th. He had his eighth birdie of the day at the 18th.
Two Deeside Golf Club teams tied with net 14-under-par 126 scores in the pro-am. Victory by virtue of having the better net inward half went to Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills) and his amateur trio of club captain Doug Watson (handicap 7), past club captain George Esson (15) and Fiona Reiss (9).
They pipped the team of Jamie Wilson (12), Keith Ingram (6) and Leigh Howarth (13) who had Craig Gordon (Edinburgh Golf Centre) as their pro.


PRO TOTALS
Par 70
64 Graham Fox (East Kilbride), Stephen Gray (Hayston).
67 Paul Lawrie (Carrick at Cameron House), Scott Henderson (Kings Links), Callum Nicoll (The Els Club).
68 Ross Cameron (McDonald Ellon), Chris Kelly (Cawder).
69 Ian Bratton (Newburgh on Ythan).
70 Greig Hutcheon (Banchory), Lindsay Mann (Carnoustie).
71 Graeme Lornie (Paul Lawrie Foundation), Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs GR), Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills), Mark King (Kingsfield), Mark Kerr (Marriott Dalmahoy), Steven Taylor (Bothwell Castle).
72 Lee Harper (Archerfield Links), Craig Matheson (Falkirk Tryst), David Orr (Eastwood).
73 Craig Gordon (Edinburgh Golf Centre), Euan Cameron (Hamilton), Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle), Ewan Peebles (Half Moon GC).
74 Edward Thomson (Senit Associates).
75 Craig Ronald (Carluke).
76 Iain Donaldson (Meldrum House), Neil Murray (Cruden Bay).
77 James McKinnon (Irvine), Neil Colquhoun (Merchants of Edinburgh).
78 Mark Finlayson (Edzell).
79 Colin Gillies (Braid Hlls).

RALPH’S QUEST TO RETAIN SCOTTISH CROWN STARTS IN STYLE

By MICHAEL GIBBONS
Deputy Chief Press Officer, European Tour
Glenn Ralph made a brilliant start to the defence of his Cleveland Golf / Srixon Scottish Senior Open crown at Fairmont St Andrews by firing an excellent opening score of four under par 68 in difficult conditions around the Torrance Course.

The Englishman, who recently discovered he is diabetic, fired four birdies and a single bogey to tie South African Chris Williams at the top of the leaderboard.
Playing alongside Sam Torrance (-1) and Barry Lane (-3), Ralph outscored his playing partners to rekindle fond memories of his breakthrough victory at Fairmont St Andrews 12 months ago. He also banished the notion that suffering from diabetes would affect his golf.
“That was a great way to start the defence of the title: in fact it probably couldn’t have gone much better,” said Ralph after signing his card.
“I played a beautiful golf course today alongside two of the nicest guys you could play with in Sam Torrance and Barry Lane. I played nicely all day – there was nothing spectacular on the card but nothing disastrous either, I was very steady and that is what you are looking for.
“I am alright at the moment – I was diagnosed with diabetes just eight weeks ago so I am starting to get used to that and starting to manage it with medication and just getting used to it. I have Type 2 diabetes which is controlled with tablets and it has taken a while to come to terms with that and get used to managing it.”
Williams managed his way around the Torrance Course in a similar fashion to Ralph, notching five birdies and just a single dropped shot to take a share of the lead. The South African has been a model of consistency throughout the season with six top ten finishes, including two second places, taking him to fifth on the Order of Merit.
Torrance played well from tee to green over his own golf course but was left to lament a poor putting stroke that turned a potentially great round into a one under 71 – the same mark as his fellow former Ryder Cup Captain Ian Woosnam.
“I’m disappointed,” said Torrance. “I played really well and had 35 putts. But I hit the ball really solid and that’s a good sign. Conditions were really tough. It was a tough test but very playable. My long game is on the mend. My problem all year has been my first round so it’s good to get a decent score.”
Lane was joined on three under by Argentina’s Luis Carbonetti, who finished second here last year, American Doug Johnson and England’s DJ Russell, while the Scottish duo of Terry Burgoyne and Andrew Oldcorn played themselves into contention on two under alongside the Australian pair of Mike Clayton and Peter Fowler as well as England’s Peter Mitchell.


FIRST-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72. Yardage: 6,849
68 C Williams (S Africa), G Ralph (Eng).
69 L Carbonetti (Arg), D Johnson (US), B Lane (Eng), D Russell (Eng).
70 P Mitchell (Eng), A Oldcorn (Sco), T Burgoyne (Sco), M Clayton (Aus), P Fowler (Aus).
71 S Torrance (Sco), S Owen (NZ), D O'Sullivan (Ireland), R Chapman (Eng), D Smyth (Ireland), B Cameron (Eng); I Woosnam (Wales), R Drummond (Sco); B Larratt (Eng).
72 J Chillas (Sco); M Belsham (Eng); A Murray (Eng); G Brand junior (Sco);
73 J Hall (Eng); J Rhodes (Eng); N Ratcliffe (Aus); G Brand (Eng); G Banister (Aus); J Bruner (USA); E Rodriguez (Spain), H Carbonetti (Argentina), J Harrison (Eng); E Darcy (Ireland); C Mason (Eng).
74 G Ryall (Eng); M Poxon (Eng); T Allen (Eng); T Charnley (Eng); J Heggarty (Nir); S Cipa (Eng); M Piñero (Esp); J Quiros (Spain).
75 D Durnian (Eng); K Spurgeon (Eng); M Miller (Sco); P Oakley (US); B Smit (S Africa).
76 M Farry (Fra); N Job (Eng); D Merriman (Aus); R Freeman (US); A Tapie (US); D Cambridge (Jamaica), T Giedeon (Ger).
77 G Cali (Ita); E Polland (N Ireland); B Longmuir (Sco); M Gray (Sco); D Hospital (Spain).
78 A Franco (Par); M Bembridge (Eng); B Lincoln (RSA); J Gould (Eng); T Johnstone (Zim); L Cooper (USA);
79 A Fernandez (Chi);
80 M Williams (Zim); M Cunning (USA); A Sowa (Arg);
81 V Garcia (Esp); G Hopkins (USA); I Mosey (Eng);
82 A Johnsson (Swe); B Hardwick (Can); S Bennett (Eng); F Mann (Sco);
84 B Marchbank (Sco);

Law lowers Hazlehead

record with a 61 (-9)

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Last year's Scottish men's and boys' amateur champion David Law has shaved a shot off the course record at his home course, Hazlehead.
David had a round of nine-under-par 61, one under the 62 set by Braemar's Graeme Mitchell junior in the North-east boys' championship three or four years ago.
"I was just hitting it close all the way. The longest putt I think I had was from about 15ft to save par at the ninth after birdieing six in a row from the third to the eight," said David who was out in six-under-par 28 and home in three-under 33 with birdies at the 10th, 15th and 17th. Law's scorecard read:

OUT - 4 4 3 2 3 3 3 3 3: 28.
    IN - 3 4 3 4 4 4 3 4 4: 33.

Torrance makes it 23 Scots in field for Gleneagles
NEWS RELEASE
Former Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance has been given an invitation to play in The Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles from August 26-29, taking the number of Scottish golfers challenging for the title to 23 of the 156-man field.
The 23 include the likes of Tournament Chairman and current Ryder Cup   captain Colin Montgomerie, Sam’s fellow invitee, George Murray, and 2007 champion, Marc Warren, the only Scot to date to have won the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles.
Fans will be also be looking forward to watching Stephen Gallacher, who played well in the US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits last week and who also finished tied fourth in The Barclays Scottish Open in July; Richie Ramsay, who won his first Tour title in South Africa earlier this season; and the 1999 Open Champion, Paul Lawrie.
There will be stiff international competition at Gleneagles for the Scots as joining the 2008 and 2009 Champions, Grégory Havret and Peter Hedblom, are no fewer than 90 players with wins on The European Tour boasting a total of 252 titles between them including America’s Todd Hamilton, the 2004 Open Champion.
With this the final qualifying event for The 2010 Ryder Cup, there are 27 of the top 50 on the current European Ryder Cup Ranking in the field, each looking to seize their final chance to claim vital Ryder Cup points or catch the eye of Captain Montgomerie and his Vice Captains as they ponder the three wild cards picks.
These include Simon Dyson, Alvaro Quiros, Francesco and Edoardo Molinari, Peter Hanson, Ross McGowan, Rhys Davies and Grégory Havret who will all be looking to claim a victory which could help secure a place on the team.
Sam Torrance, victorious Captain of the 2002 European Ryder Cup team at the Belfry, will no doubt be an asset to Captain Montgomerie in this key week in his campaign.
He said “I love playing in front of my home fans and was thrilled to be invited by the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles to play next week. I’ll be fully acclimatised as I am playing in the Cleveland Golf / Srixon Scottish Senior Open this weekend and I am really looking forward to returning to The European Tour and hoping for a great week at Gleneagles.
"With The Ryder Cup in mind, I am also looking forward to being around when Monty’s team takes shape and will certainly be available if he wants to chat about anything during the week.”
Previous winners of the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles include Englishmen Warren Bennett (1999) and Miles Tunnicliff (2004) along with their fellow countryman Paul Casey who, to date, is the only player to have won the tournament on two occasions (2001 and 2006).
They are joined on the Roll of Honour by Sweden’s Pierre Fulke (2000), Australia’s Adam Scott (2002), Denmark’s Søren Kjeldsen (2003), and Italy’s Emanuele Canonica (2005). The only Scot to have his name on the trophy to date is Marc Warren who triumphed in 2007.
The last two Championships were won by Frenchman Grégory Havret (2008) and Sweden’s Peter Hedblom (2009).
This year’s winner will receive a cheque for £233,330 from a total prize fund of £1,400,000 as the players compete over The PGA Centenary Course, venue for The 2014 Ryder Cup.
The Championship has secured the services of IMG, the world’s leading sports, entertainment and media company, to stage the tournament as they look to build on the heritage and prestige of the tournament and continue to raise its profile on the global stage.
Included in the field next week will be two of the Scotland men's amateur squad, James White (Lundin) and Kris Nicol (Fraserburgh) at the invitation of the sponsors. Both men are really looking forward to the event and
are very grateful to Johnnie Walker and the SGU for the oppourtunity.

Tickets for the Johnnie Walker Championship are priced from £22 for a daily ticket to £45 for a season ticket and are available at the gate. Normal concessions apply. Car parking is free. For full details please visit www.europeantourtickets.com

US CHAMPIONS (Seniors) TOUR SCOREBOARD
JELD-WEN TRADITION TOURNAMENT
Crosswater Club at Sunriver Resort, Sunriver, Deschutes County, Oregon
FIRST ROUND
Par 72
67 D A Weibring, Tom Lehman
68 Gil Morgan, Fulton Allem (Rsa), Corey Pavin, Bob Gilder, Fred Funk
69 Bernhard Langer (Ger), Tom Jenkins, Bobby Clampett, Mark James (Eng), Jay Don Blake, Don Pooley, Michael Allen, Mark Calcavecchia, Bruce Vaughan, Loren Roberts, Mark Wiebe, Scott Simpson, Hale Irwin
70 Andy Bean, Tom Purtzer, Chien-Soon Lu (Tpe), J.L. Lewis, Bob Tway
71 Gene Jones, Russ Cochran, Jeff Sluman, Tom Watson, Joe Ozaki (Jpn), Morris Hatalsky, Tommy Armour III, David Peoples, Eduardo Romero (Arg), Larry Mize, Nick Price (Zim)
72 Brad Bryant, John Cook, Bobby Wadkins
73 Joey Sindelar, Craig Stadler, Ronnie Black, Peter Senior (Aus), Mark O'Meara, Fuzzy Zoeller, Jay Haas, Tim Simpson
74 Dan Forsman, Tom Kite, Olin Browne, Mike Goodes, David Frost (Rsa), Wayne Levi
75 David Eger, Jerry Pate, Hal Sutton
76 Bruce Fleisher, Denis Watson (Zim), Ben Crenshaw
77 Graham Marsh (Aus), Chip Beck, Keith Fergus, Allen Doyle
78 Isao Aoki (Jpn)
79 Mike Reid
81 Phil Blackmar

No-card Atwal leads with nine-under 61

GREENSBORO, North Carolina (AP) — If Arjun Atwal keeps this up, he'll have a new US PGA Tour card in no time.
Atwal tied a tournament record with a 61 and took a two-stroke lead at the Wyndham Championship.
Matching Carl Pettersson's two-year-old mark at the par-70 Sedgefield Country Club course, Atwal was nine under through the first round of the US PGA Tour's final event before the playoffs.
Brandt Snedeker shot a 63. John Rollins, Kevin Streelman, Lucas Glover, Boo Weekley, David Toms and Jeev Milkha Singh were at 64, and six players shot 65s during an occasionally wet day that left Sedgefield's greens soft and its leaderboard crowded.
It was quite the encouraging start for Atwal, who lost his tour card last month and had to play his way into this event in a Monday qualifier across town at Forest Oaks Country Club - where this tournament was held from 1977-2007.
He played that course twice before, finishing sixth in 2004, and wound up shooting a 67 to share first place with three other qualifiers. No Monday qualifier has won a tournament since Fred Wadsworth did it at the 1986 Southern Open.
"You get used to making a lot of birdies in the Monday qualifier - otherwise you won't make it," Atwal said. "I kind of continued that today."
The loss of his card capped a series of events that began when he injured his shoulders last year while lifting weights. He received a minor medical extension, but when he came up short on the money list following the RBC Canadian Open, his card was history.
He isn't eligible for the FedEx Cup playoffs that begin next week in New Jersey, not even if he wins. But he can claim his card for 2011 with a victory - either here or at a fall series tournament - or a climb up the money lists of the PGA or Nationwide tours.
"I prefer to win," Atwal said with a laugh.
Three more days like this, and he'll almost certainly take care of that.
Atwal started his bogey-free round on the back nine, made the turn at 4 under and birdied three of his final four holes, sinking a 7-foot putt on No. 9 to cap things.
His big day also included a rare birdie on the peskiest hole of the day - the 18th.
There were a course-low 10 birdies and a course-high 54 bogeys on the freshly lengthened, 507yd par 4 that wound up knocking several players down a peg on the leaderboard.
Jay Williamson, who birdied four of his first five holes to move to 6 under through 17, was on the 18th green in two shots but "just hit a terrible first putt" and ultimately three-putted for his second bogey of the round. He finished at 65.
John Mallinger, who had vaulted up the leaderboard with three straight birdies midway through his back nine, birdied No. 17 to move to 6 under before finishing his 65 with a three-putt bogey.
Toms had three straight birdies on Nos. 15-17 to go to 7 under. He recovered after sending his second shot into a greenside bunker, only to roll his par putt past the hole and bogey the hole.
Snedeker, who was at 8 under through 17, sent his second shot onto the back fringe, chipped well past the pin and left his 35-foot par putt about 3 feet short to close with a bogey and fall off the lead.
That put a slight damper on a brilliant back nine for Snedeker, the 2007 Greensboro winner who had six birdies in a seven-hole stretch, including five in a row on Nos. 13-17.
"I realised that it's going to be a long tournament, a long week," Snedeker said. "A guy that shoots 9 under's not going to shoot 9 under for four straight rounds, so it's going to be kind of, wait until you get hot, and when you get hot, take advantage of it, and when you don't, try to minimise your mistakes."
Day 1 was marked by threatening skies and early off-and-on showers - a "nuisance rain," Williamson called it - that softened up and slowed down the Donald Ross-designed greens. At times, they even might have been too slow for the players who left putts short.
But at least the horn didn't sound, as it did repeatedly during a 2009 tournament memorable for its combined 9 1/2 hours of weather delays.
The greens were "a little slower than we normally play on, but overall, it was pretty much attack mode out there," Rollins said.
Local favorite Brandan Gielow, who graduated from nearby Wake Forest, had a hole-in-one on the 164-yard, par-3 No. 6. ... Matt Bettencourt (wrist injury) withdrew midway through his round.
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 70
61 Arjun Atwal (India)
63 Brandt Snedeker
64 Jeev Milkha Singh (India), John Rollins, Lucas Glover, David Toms, Boo Weekley, Kevin Streelman
65 Spencer Levin, Scott McCarron, Jay Williamson, John Mallinger, Blake Adams, Jason Gore
66 Michael Letzig, Jeff Quinney, Chris Couch, Webb Simpson, Bob Estes, Chris Tidland, Tim Petrovic, Marc Leishman (Australia), Craig Barlow, Briny Baird, Jerry Kelly, Kent Jones, Michael Sim (Australia/Scotland), Jason Dufner, Garrett Willis, Scott Piercy, Michael Connell, Aaron Baddeley (Australia), Kevin Na, Andres Romero (Argentina), Skip Kendall, Jonathan Byrd, Josh Teater
67 Aron Price (Australia), Chris Riley, Paul Stankowski, Mathias Gronberg (Sweden), James Driscoll, Graham Delaet (Canada), James Nitties (Australia), Mike Weir (Canada), Martin Laird (Scotland), Charles Warren, Tim Herron, Chris DiMarco, Richard S Johnson (Sweden), Fredrik Jacobson (Sweden), Cameron Beckman, Glen Day, Drew Weaver, Troy Merritt
68 Garth Mulroy (S Africa), Marco Dawson, Billy Mayfair, Kevin Johnson, Woody Austin, Brian Duncan, John Daly, Will MacKenzie, Justin Leonard, Joe Durant, Roland Thatcher, Chris Stroud, John Merrick, John Senden (Aus), Davis Love III, Brian Harman, Cameron Percy (Aus), Tom Pernice Jnr., Mark Wilson, Chris Wilson, Brad Faxon, Jeff Maggert, Chad Collins, Trevor Immelman (S Africa), Troy Matteson, Ryan Moore
69 Brian Stuard, Seung-yul Noh (S Korea), Kirk Triplett, Robert Garrigus, Brian Gay, J.P. Hayes, Chris Smith, Steve Wheatcroft, Greg Owen (England), Alex Prugh, Nathan Green (Aus), Steve Marino, Bill Haas, Ryuji Imada (Jpn), Henrik Stenson (Swe), Kris Blanks, Omar Uresti, Steve Lowery, Matt Hill (Can), George McNeill, Tom Gillis, Carl Pettersson (Swe), D.J. Trahan, Cameron Tringale
70 Patrick Moore, Mark Hensby (Aus), David Duval, Todd Hamilton, Daniel Chopra (Swe), Curt Sanders, Dean Wilson, Nicholas Thompson, Frank Lickliter II, Brent Delahoussaye, Lee Janzen, Brendan Gielow, Derek Lamely, Anthony Kim, Kevin Stadler, Jerry Jr. Richardson, Brett Wetterich, Rocco Mediate
71 Michael Bradley, Martin Flores, Jeff Gove, Greg Chalmers (Aus), Roger Tambellini, Andrew McLardy (S Africa), J J Henry, Jarrod Lyle (Aus), Brett Quigley
72 Robert Gamez, Mark Brooks, Ted Purdy, Vance Veazey, Tanner Kesterson, Fred Couples, Alex Cejka (Germany), Henrik Bjornstad (Norway), Mathew Goggin (Aus), Craig Bowden, Carlos Franco (Paraguay)
73 David Lutterus (S Africa), Rodney Pampling (Aus), Steve Flesch, Jimmy Walker, Johnson Wagner
74 Joe Ogilvie, Greg Kraft, Brenden Pappas (S Africa), Cliff Kresge
75 Eric Shriver, Jerod Turner
76 Rich Barcelo