Saturday, October 02, 2010

Craig Lee (62) finishes joint fourth in EuroPro Championship

Craig Lee came storming through with the round of the championship - an eight-under-par 62 - to finish joint fourth in the Marfin Popular Bank-sponsored EuroPro Tour Championship at Aphrodite Hills Golf Club, Cyprus today.
The man from Stirling, pictured, had earlier rounds of 77 and 65 for a six-under-par total of 204. He earned £3,269.52.
Three Englishmen contested a play-off for the title and the first prize of £17,014. It was won by James Heath (68-68-67 for 203) from Kevin Harper (68-69-66) and Lawrence Dodd (71-65-67. Harper and Dodd each earned £7018.28.
Scott Henry (The Carrick on Loch Lomond), in contention overnight, finished with a 71 after earlier rounds of 71 and 64 for a final total of 206 and a share of sixth place for which he earned £1,276.05.

FOR ALL THE FINAL TOTALS,

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Gavin Dear finishes joint third

 on Alps Tour in Italy

Murrayshall's Gavin Dear finished joint third in the Alps Tour's Acaya Open at Acaya Golf Club, Italy today.
The Scot, pictured by Tom Ward, had rounds of 72, 67 and 71 for a total of three-under-par 210 and earned 2,632.50 Euros.
Englishman Jason Barnes (67-71-67 for eight-under 205) won by a shot from compatriot Matthew Cryer (68-73-65). Barnes earned 6,525 Euros, Cryer 4,432.
Italian Matteo Delpodio (69-69-72) shared third place with Dear.
Steven Hume, also from Perthshire, earned 441 Euros for 43rd place on 226 with rounds of 76, 74 and 76.

TO READ ALL THE SCORES,

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Renfrewshire pair win Belhaven

Scottish Club Handicap title

FROM THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION WEBSITE
As the world’s golfing elite were washed off the Celtic Manor course, Ranfurly Castle Golf Club duo Crawford MacKay and Colin MacDonald were battling the elements on their way to claiming a count-back victory in the 2010 Belhaven Best Scottish Club Handicap Championship final at The Duke’s, St Andrews.
The Renfrewshire duo secured the prestigious National title as they negotiated the horrendous conditions on the East Fife coast to record a three-over par 74 en-route to victory via the best last 6 holes to edge out Kinross GC and in doing so become the eleventh winners of Scotland’s biggest participation golf event.
In conditions that seen the highest profile team golf event in the world, The Ryder Cup suffer a seven and a half hour rain delay, Scotland’s Best Handicap partnerships fought against driving wind and rain to complete eighteen holes, paying testament to the forty teams particpating and equally to the Peter Thomson-designed course.
It was Ranfurly Castle who prevailed in the conditions, featuring some majestic golf from six-handicapper Colin MacDonald who made an astounding three birdies on the trot in the closing stages, the sort of form that would have sent the galleries wild if witnessed at Celtic Manor this weekend.
The birdie-blitz was ignited on the fifteenth with MacDonald striking a glorious five-iron to just two inches from the hole. With his tail now up, the Ronseal employee produced another magnificent iron shot, this time a six-iron to fifteen feet before dispatching a tricky, snaking down-hill putt to seal a second consecutive birdie. A third quickly followed after a fine drive by MacDonald left just a sand-wedge into the seventeenth, setting up another birdie opportunity which was duly rolled in.

Despite his quite remarkable run of birdies the modest MacDonald put the victory down a great team effort that didn't let the weather conditions get to them.

“It was by far the worst conditions we’ve ever played in and on a normal day we would have walked in but we’d come this far and wanted to give it our all. Rather than letting the conditions get to us we just decided to enjoy the occasion as much as we could and have a good laugh, which we did.”

MacKay, also a six-handicapper was full of praise for his team-mate:

“His performance in the closing stages was outstanding, a real joy to watch. We played well as a team today and when we needed a bit of magic near the end Colin provided it. This is by far the highlight of our golfing careers!”

There was a tense wait in the clubhouse to find out who was to be crowned the champions and it was the teams representing Falkland, Nigg Bay and an outstanding defence of their title by the Mount Ellen pairing of Graeme Kilpatrick and Paul Bradley who went agonisingly close to victory, losing out on the card countback.

Incredibly all five teams who finished with the three-over par total started their round at the 1st hole in the two-tee start format.


FOR ALL THE FINAL TOTALS,

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US CHAMPIONS TOUR

ENSURE CLASSIC
Rock Barn Golf and Spa, Conover, North Carolina.
FIRST ROUND LEADERS
Par 72
66 Peter Senior.
67 Tom Kite, Fred Couples, Bernhard Langer.
Selected scores:
69 Mark James (jt 14th).
73 Sandy Lyle (jt 56th).

FOR LIVE SCORING,

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RYDER CUP SESSION 2

FOURSOMES

M Jimenez and P Hanson v T Woods and S Stricker.

E Molinari and F Molinari v Z Johnson and H Mahan.

L Westwood and M Kaymer v J Furyk and R Fowler.

P Harrison and R Fisher v P Mickelson and D Johnson.

I Poulter and L Donald v B Watson and J Overton.

G McDowell and R McIlroy v S Cink and M Kuchar

FOR LIVE SCORING,

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RYDER CUP SESSION 1 COMPLETED

US lead Europe 2.5 to 1.5 after four-balls

The United States opened up a one-point lead over Europe at the Ryder Cup this morning (Saturday) as the opening four-balls were finally completed after the rain-affected opening day.
Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer won their four-ball but the Americans - underdogs in the pre-tournament betting, snatched the overall lead.
Tiger Woods and partner Steve Stricker fired the defending champions into a 2 1/2 to 1 1/2 lead at Celtic Manor after wrapping up a two-hole victory over English duo Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher.
It was a psychological boost for US captain Corey Pavin's team as they seek to score the first American victory on foreign soil since 1993.

Not since 1999 has a team come back from losing the opening session to win the coveted trophy.

"The team got off to a good start overall," Stricker said. "The atmosphere here is unbelievable - pro-Europe of course but great to be a part of it."

Earlier, Ryder Cup veteran Lee Westwood and Germany's Martin Kaymer had put Europe's first point on the board with a 3 and 2 victory over Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson.
"It's always nice to get the first point on the board. It's good to be here and it makes all the rehab worth it," said Westwood, whose participation had been in doubt after he suffered a calf injury in August.
Westwood also paid tribute to rookie Kaymer, who contributed important birdies on the ninth and 11th on Friday to resist a charge by Mickelson.
"I get on really well with Martin. He is a fantastic player and he has got a lot of bottle," Westwood said. "When he was needed in the middle of the round he holed some good putts and made some good birdies."
There was more for Europe to cheer about in the second four-ball, where Northern Irish duo Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell clawed back a two-hole overnight deficit to halve their match against Stewart Cink and Matt Kuchar.
McIlroy, who had struggled on Friday, was the hero for Europe, holing a magnificent long putt on the short 17th to level the match.

"I said to GMac going down 17 before we got to the green, let's just try and make a 2 here and try and win this match, and I was able to do that," McIlroy said. "It was an unbelievable feeling."
But there were no such heroics for Europe in the fourth match, where US rookies Bubba Watson and Jeff Overton coasted to a 3 and 2 victory over Luke Donald and Padraig Harrington.
Overton rattled in five birdies over the final 10 holes as the American duo became the first rookies to win an opening session since 1979.

After the first day's play was ruined by torrential rain on Friday, players headed back onto the course at 8am this morning in sunny but cold conditions.

Friday's delay forced organisers to unveil an improvised schedule for the remainder of the weekend's action.

A second session of six foursomes will be played Saturday. A third session of play will then comprise two foursomes and four four-balls, followed by the traditional 12 singles matches on Sunday, weather permitting.

However, officials have admitted the tournament is at the mercy of the weather, and with more rain forecast for Sunday, there is a possibility of the event finishing on Monday for the first time in history.

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SUPER SIDDIKUR LEADS TAIWAN MASTERS


Taipei: Siddikur of Bangladesh put himself in prime position of securing a second Asian Tour victory by taking the third round lead of the Mercuries Taiwan Masters today.
Barely a month since becoming the first Bangladeshi to win on the Asian Tour, Siddikur registered a superb five-under-par 67 to open up a one stroke lead with a three-day total of five-under-par 211 at the Taiwan Golf and Country Club.
Thailand’s Pariya Junhasavasdikul, who is one of the most consistent players on the Asian Tour this season, stayed in touch with the leader with a 70 for a 212 total at the US$500,000 Asian Tour event.
South Africa’s Peter Karmis, who won his maiden Asian Tour title at the Handa Singapore Classic last month, posted a 71, two off the pace while Chinese Taipei’s Chan Yih-shin and Lu Wei-chih, a former Mercuries Taiwan Masters Champion lie in tied fourth place on a 216 total.
Asian legend Hsieh Min-nan of Chinese Taipei, who emerged as the oldest golfer on the Asian Tour at the age of 70 years and 53 days old to make the halfway cut, posted a solid 75 for a 226 total.
Siddikur made the turn in 32 and carded his only blemish of the round on hole 10 but recovered with birdies on holes 13 and 15.
“This is my best round so far and it was good. I got off to a good start and my ball striking was as good as yesterday. Everything just clicked for me,” said Siddikur, who learned the game by fashioning his first golf club with a seven iron head on a piece of metal rod.
The man from Dhaka has been making waves since becoming the first Bangladeshi to earn his Asian Tour card at the 2009 Qualifying School and he admitted that a second victory in the region’s elite circuit is within reach.
“I’m in a very good position of winning my second Asian Tour victory and I’m already dreaming about it! I’m really looking forward to tomorrow,” said the 25-year-old.
Pariya has four top-10s so far this season and he hopes to translate his impressive form into a victory tomorrow. The 26-year-old turned in 34 highlighted by an eagle on the par five seventh hole after his seven iron approach shot flew for about 165 yards before landing four feet from the pin.
He was disappointed not to take advantage in the back nine where he posted nine straight pars.
“There was nothing else I could do because I gave myself enough opportunities and I just couldn’t go lower. My eagle was one of those lucky shots because I was aiming for the edge of the green but it somehow landed near the pin,” said the graduate from Purdue University in the United States .
“I’m going to play my game and not get ahead of myself. The tournament is not over yet but I’m going to go out there and try to take it. If I keep shooting under-par, the results should take care of itself,” added Pariya.
Chinese Taipei’s Chan rued a cold putter but is confident of making a surge up the leaderboard.
“Anything can happen on this golf course as it is very unpredictable. The final round is not over yet and I still have a chance,” said Chan, who won his maiden Asian Tour title at the King’s Cup in Thailand last year.
After writing a slice of history, Hsieh, who was victorious in the 1972 World Cup of Golf where he won the team and individual titles is aiming to finish above at least 20 players on Sunday.
“I’m feeling very happy and lucky because I hold the record of being the oldest player to make the cut on the Asian Tour. I’m glad to be making history despite my age!” said Hsieh.
“Now I’m going to try to defeat 20 players! I’m having fun out there and I’m not even feeling tired,” he added.


LEADING THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
211 Siddikur (BAN) 75-69-67
212 Pariya Junhasavasdikul (THA) 71-71-70
213 Peter Karmis (RSA) 70-72-71
216 Chan Yih-shin (TPE) 75-68-73, Lu Wei-chih (TPE) 72-72-72
218 Prom Meesawat (THA) 72-75-71, Mardan Mamat (SIN) 76-71-71
219 Lam Chih Bing (SIN) 74-72-73, Lin Wen-tang (TPE) 73-73-73, Yeh Wei-tze (TPE) 76-71-72, Lu Wen-teh (TPE) 76-73-70
220 Iain Steel (MAS) 71-73-76, Udorn Duangdecha (THA) 73-74-73, Oscar Fraustro (MEX) 75-72-73, Danny Chia (MAS) 77-71-72
221 Tsai Chi-huang (TPE) 73-72-76, Scott Barr (AUS) 74-75-72, Artemio Murakami (PHI) 75-74-72, Simon Griffiths (ENG) 78-72-71, Digvijay Singh (IND) 77-74-70.
Selected scores:
224 Adam Blyth (Australia) 73 70 81.
226 Darren Beck (Australia) 76 72 78.
228 David Gleeson (Australia) 75 74 79.
+Only players with 36-hole totals of 151 or survived the cut.



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Gleneagles needs earlier Ryder

Cup date in 2014

FROM THE HERALDSCOTLAND WEBSITE
By Douglas Lowe
The idea of bringing the Ryder Cup to a river valley in Wales in October was looking like a damp squib yesterday in conditions more suitable for floating an ark than staging a showpiece golf tournament.
The players were actually sent out two by two for their brief introduction to the sub-aqua version of the royal and ancient game.
The chances of earthquakes, tornadoes, plagues and pestilence to follow the deluge are small, but fog is forecast for today and if that happens the problems that became serious yesterday could extend golf’s pride and joy into an unwanted extra day in a turn of events that has the potential for repercussions in Scotland.
Gleneagles is next in line when the Ryder Cup is hosted on this side of the Atlantic in 2014. Yesterday, general play was suspended on some courses at the Perthshire venue because of heavy rain, meaning there might have been the same trouble had the 2010 Ryder Cup gone to Scotland instead of Wales when the joint announcement was made a decade ago to initial dismay. Today we can thank our lucky stars.
What is happening at the Twenty Ten course at Celtic Manor now could equally be the case at the PGA Centenary course at Gleneagles four years hence when the Ryder Cup is proposed to be held actually a week later. The Welsh Tourist Board’s current embarrassment could easily become the discomfort of the Scottish Tourist Board.
The Welsh had been hoping the Ryder Cup would enhance the principality’s claim to be a globally recognised golfing destination. The pictures of sodden mayhem and abject misery beamed to an estimated 620 million homes in 185 countries yesterday will hardly have hordes rushing to book up holidays, no matter how unrepresentative.
With the nights fair drawing in, there is little room to manoeuvre at this time of year. All the leeway that was planned for this match was four hours on Sunday morning before the concluding singles session. That was insufficient to make up time and the format has had to be restructured as an emergency measure.
The Ryder Cup used to be the preserve of the Professional Golfers Association. Control has since been passed on this side of the Atlantic to the European Tour while the PGA of America remain custodians in the US, and not the PGA Tour, who run the FedEx Cup play-offs which were responsible for pushing back the date.
Yesterday, the PGA of America said the current sticking point, the PGA Tour’s televison contract, was subject to renegotiation in 2012 and thereafter the date of the 2014 Ryder Cup was up for discussion with a general desire to have it held earlier.
When every minute of daylight counts, as illustrated by the substantial alterations in format this year to try to catch up, holding the Ryder Cup in September can make a big difference. The absolute deadline for concluding play in this Ryder Cup, for example, is 6.43pm on Monday, the official time of sunset in Newport.

Last year at Valhalla the date was September 19 to 21 and at the K Club in Ireland, where rain came close to causing serious trouble, it was September 22 to 24. The European Tour have the power to make provision for the event to be staged in, say, August, but the PGA of America hardly have the clout to free such a date on the PGA Tour schedule and successful negotiation will be needed.

Whether a few weeks’ difference will make a big difference weather-wise is a moot point, but the earlier it is the better the chances.

Links such as Carnoustie or Turnberry, part of the original bidding process, would have been better able to cope with the deluge, but choosing the ideal course is hardly a priority against a powerful fiscal voice, in this case billionaire Celtic Manor resort owner Sir Terry Matthews, who had the ear of the then European Tour chief executive, Scot Ken Schofield.

Schofield made no secret of the fact that money talks when Ryder Cup venues are under discussion.
 “I believe it to be prudent to use the Ryder Cup to generate as much money as possible for the tour,” he said.
The price of going to the highest bidder could be regarded as yesterday’s troubles, which were actually forecast two years ago by Colin Montgomerie himself, before he was appointed Europe’s Ryder Cup captain. He said then: “There’s a river here and the temperature between rivers and land causes fog. There could be delays here. We have a problem obviously here and we just pray that Him upstairs is good to us.”

Him upstairs had a thrawn moment yesterday.

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US PGA TOUR

VIKING CLASSIC
Annandale GC, Madison, Mississippi
SECOND ROUND
Par 144 (2X72)
132 Brendon De Jonge 66 66, Bill Haas 66 66
135 Nathan Green (Aus) 67 68, Michael Allen 69 66
136 Bill Lunde 66 70
137 Joe Durant 70 67
138 Brian Davis (Eng) 71 67, Charles Warren 70 68, Chris Stroud 73 65, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 66 72, Martin Flores 71 67, John Senden (Aus) 70 68
139 Lee Janzen 72 67, J.P. Hayes 71 68, Michael Connell 70 69, Steve Elkington (Aus) 70 69, Chris Wilson 71 68, Roland Thatcher 74 65, Tom Gillis 68 71, Rocco Mediate 72 67, Jason Bohn 69 70
140 Jerry Kelly 70 70, Jeff Quinney 67 73, Ken Duke 66 74, Graham Delaet (Can) 71 69, Cliff Kresge 70 70, Cameron Tringale 72 68
141 David Toms 71 70, Garrett Willis 68 73, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 71 70, Matt Bettencourt 69 72, Charlie Wi (South Kor) 67 74, Henrik Bjornstad (Nor) 72 69, George McNeill 71 70, Craig Barlow 68 73, Jonathan Byrd 69 72, Briny Baird 73 68, Johnson Wagner 71 70, D.J. Trahan 69 72
142 Brent Delahoussaye 71 71, Brian Stuard 77 65, Scott McCarron 71 71, Jeff Gove 72 70, Chris DiMarco 70 72, Scott Piercy 71 71, Heath Slocum 70 72, Charles Howell III 70 72, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 68 74, Dean Wilson 67 75, Sean O'Hair 68 74, Carlos Franco (Par) 72 70, Brett Wetterich 70 72
143 David Lutterus (Rsa) 73 70, Kirk Triplett 72 71, Paul Stankowski 71 72, Brian Gay 72 71, Kevin Johnson 70 73, Steve Wheatcroft 72 71, Brett Quigley 66 77, Boo Weekley 73 70, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 70 73, Tim Herron 73 70, Eric Axley 73 70, Mark Brooks 73 70, Vance Veazey 69 74, Kevin Stadler 73 70, Skip Kendall 71 72, Troy Matteson 73 70
144 Jim Gallagher junior 72 72, Cameron Percy (Aus) 70 74, Tom Pernice junior 69 75, Mark Wilson 73 71, Shaun Micheel 73 71, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 69 75, Will MacKenzie 71 73, Chad Campbell 76 68, Chris Tidland 73 71, Cameron Beckman 71 73, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 75 69

MISSED THE CUT
145 Spencer Levin 74 71, Chris Riley 71 74, Joe Ogilvie 68 77, Woody Austin 70 75, David Duval 68 77, Brenden Pappas (Rsa) 71 74, John Mallinger 73 72, Rocky Cleland 71 74, Webb Simpson 70 75, Nicholas Thompson 71 74

146 Michael Bradley 74 72, Michael Letzig 73 73, Willie Wood 76 70, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 72 74, Omar Uresti 73 73, Daniel Mitchell 71 75, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 74 72, Bob Estes 74 72, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 76 70, Len Mattiace 72 74, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 74 72, Glen Day 75 71

147 Aron Price (Aus) 71 76, John Merrick 75 72, Roger Tambellini 72 75

148 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 74 74, Jeff Maggert 76 72, Steve Lowery 73 75, Jay Williamson 77 71, Jonathan Randolph 76 72, James Nitties (Aus) 73 75

149 John Daly 72 77, Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 75 74, Kris Blanks 75 74, Craig Bowden 78 71, Ted Purdy 74 75, Troy Merritt 70 79

150 Brad Faxon 79 71, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 74 76, Justin Bolli 76 74, Robert Garrigus 75 75, Billy Mayfair 73 77, Rich Barcelo 72 78

151 Kevin Sutherland 71 80, Todd Hamilton 73 78

152 Tim Petrovic 76 76, James Driscoll 75 77, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 77 75

153 Greg Kraft 79 74

154 Jordan Payne 76 78

155 Phil Schmitt 82 73

159 Parker McLachlin 76 83

WD: Greg Owen (Eng) 75

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