US PGA TOUR CHIEF SEES REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL

FROM THE PGATOUR.COM WEBSITE
By Helen Ross
PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida -- Despite the challenging economic climate, US PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem is pleased by the Tour's performance both on and off the golf course over the last 12 months.
In his final teleconference of the 2011 season, Finchem pointed toward the play of FedExCup champion Jim Furyk, Charles Schwab Cup champion Bernhard Langer and Nationwide Tour Player of the Year Jamie Lovemark as competitive benchmarks.
The rise of a new breed of players like US PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson, who challenged the established stars like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, was another highlight of the 2010 campaign, he said.
"I've never in my tenure seen so much buzz and interest about rookies and young players creating exciting performances," Finchem said.
"Actually, it has led us to conclude that we really need to focus on that dynamic as we go into 2011, and it will be our primary promotional focus to get people to pay attention to how well the veterans continue to play, and the young stars, the competition between the newer generation and the more experienced and older players, we think makes for good theatre this year, and we are excited about that development."
On the business side, the commissioner noted that six new sponsors have been added on the US PGA Tour level with eight renewals and several more on the horizon. Only two tournaments in a solid schedule of 45 events remain without a corporate sponsor and both are fully-funded for 2011.
"Although we continue to be challenged by underlying economic indicators and a concern among business about the economic future, we still have signed a lot of business," Finchem said.
"We now have over 30 percent of US PGA Tour title sponsorships extended beyond 2012. And so we made solid progress."
Other highlights of the press conference were:
• The final tabulations aren't done but the US PGA Tour and its events will have raised more than $120 million for charity in 2010. "That's a reflection of the strength of our tournament organisations, strength of the business model, and an uptake in sponsorship," Finchem said. "All three of those things I think work to the benefit of the bottom line of tournaments."
• The off week is positioned after the second event of the US PGA Tour Play-offs for the FedExCup rather than the third in 2011, but Finchem doesn't foresee any changes in the points structure of the FedEdCup.
The top five players entering the finale at East Lake all had a chance to win, but Furyk came from No. 11 to take the top spot and the $10 million bonus when he won THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola.
"I wouldn't ever say we wouldn't change it, but right now, we are very comfortable with it and we really like the trajectory of interest and focus by the fans on the Cup," Finchem said.
• The US PGA Tour will begin renegotiating its TV contracts in 2011. Finchem sees it as a "different mix of conversations" this time around since the Tour's cable partner, Golf Channel, is now a part of NBC Universal through its ownership of Comcast.
Obviously, the reach is broadened when Tiger Woods plays, but Finchem feels the "core audience is there week-in and week-out. It's not at the same level from a sales standpoint as it is at a higher rating point, but it is at an acceptable level. It is at a level that allows us to grow, and I think that that dynamic and that reality is sort of the backdrop to any conversations we have with television."
• Finchem expects to see players broaden their US PGA Tour schedules in 2011 to include tournaments that they might not ordinarily have played. This volunteer effort -- rather than a designated tournament rule -- is designed to help bolster the fields of some events that haven't necessarily been frequented by the game's top players.
"In the conversations I've had with players, certainly the reports I've seen up and through last week -- well, we are seeing a lot of movement," Finchem said. "So I think it's going to have the desired effect, but we'll wait and see how the year plays out."

TIGER 'DEFINITELY NOT PLAYING' IN QATAR MASTERS

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Tiger Woods' manager has denied that the World No 2 is to make his debut in the Qatar Masters in February.
There has been speculation that American star was planning to take part in the 2011 edition of the event but Mark Steinberg, global managing director of golf at International Management Group, said today:
"Tiger is absolutely not playing in the Qatar Masters and I have never had any discussions about it."
Woods is expected in the Middle East the following week, however, for the Dubai Desert Classic.

DEL MORAL, WAKEFIELD SHARE TOUR SCHOOL ROUND 5 LEAD

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Spaniard Carlos Del Moral carded a brilliant seven under par 65 today in the fifth round of The European Tour Qualifying School Final Stage to share the lead with Englishman Simon Wakefield.

Wakefield himself had an impressive round, seven birdies contributing to a five under par 67, and the pair reached 16 under par to lead Spaniard Alfredo Garcia-Heredia by a shot heading into the final day at PGA Catalunya Resort, Girona in north-east Spain.
Del Moral, who missed out on graduation to The European Tour through the 2010 Challenge Tour Rankings by one place and a mere €538, had the round of the day with five birdies in the first seven holes and nine overall.
The 25 year old, who won the third card at Qualifying school in 2008 but came 141st on The 2009 Race to Dubai, said: “It was an amazing round today. My caddie and I were saying this front nine owes us a bit, especially the first five holes yesterday as I didn’t score that well. Today it paid me back big time. I played beautifully and made many putts.
“Finishing 21st on the Challenge Tour was very hard to take. It took me three or four days to restart my practice. I’m not going to say it has paid off because there’s still tomorrow, but it is paying off.”
Del Moral, who had an albatross and three eagles in rounds three and four, added: “Yesterday was the craziest round of my life. I couldn’t take that many up and downs emotionally again. I slept 12 hours last night because I was a wreck. My pace was better today and hopefully it will stay tomorrow.”
Wakefield made a magnificent start, mirroring his previous round by birdieing the first three holes and then going one better by making it four in a row.
He said: “I’m happier than yesterday which is nice. I got off to a similar start with four in a row to start. I hit an awful putt at the fifth and hit it to three feet at the next and the putt lipped out so it could have been six in a row.
“This was my nervous round today. I was a bit apprehensive this morning and didn’t feel right, couldn’t settle and didn’t hit it well on the range in warm-up, so to hit a good tee shot and hole a tricky putt for birdie steadied the ship. Then I hit it close the next three and holed the putts, and I just tried to keep as calm as possible.
“From the 11th to the 15th I struggled a bit and had a silly three-putt on the 11th. But I birdied the 16th and I was delighted to finish with two pars after yesterday’s performance (two bogeys). So I’m heading into tomorrow in good spirits.
“I’ve come here to do one job and that’s finish in the top 30 but my goal now is to finish as high as possible. Tomorrow – and even the back nine today – I’ll treat like a normal tournament. I want to win this thing now. Thinking of being in the top 30 is out the window, I’m in Sunday tournament mode now.”
Garcia-Heredia, who signed for a one under par 71, admitted the long week was starting to take its toll. He said: “I’m trying to keep the same game as the last four or five days but it’s been a very long week and I’m hoping to play better tomorrow. I’m feeling a little bit tired because I was playing in the States, then second stage, then here and it’s a lot of golf.
“It’s difficult to keep your concentration sometimes after so much golf and on this golf course if you miss one shot you can end up with a very high score so you have to stay focused on every hole.
“I’ll be trying to play my best tomorrow and if I have the chance to win in the last few holes I’ll go for it. I got my card here in 2008 and made it in by four or five shots but I had a pretty bad back nine and had to deal with that pressure. So I know what it’s like to be under pressure in this situation.”

Young English amateur Matthew Nixon (pictured by Tom Ward Photography) also carded a 71 to be one of five players three shots off the lead on 13 under par.
“There’s still 18 holes left to play and a lot can still happen in those 18 holes, so I’m certainly not counting my chickens just yet,” said the 21 year old who won the British boys' championship at Royal Aberdeen in 2006.

 “I didn’t really get much sleep last night because there were too many thoughts racing through my mind, so I’m pretty tired at the moment, mentally and physically. But hopefully I’ll get a good night’s sleep tonight, come out refreshed tomorrow and finish the job off.”

LEADING FIFTH ROUND TOTALS

Par 356
340 Carlos del Moral (Spain) 68 72 64 71 65, Simon Wakefield (England) 70 68 65 70 67.
341 Alfredo Garcia-Heredia (Spain) 70 67 64 69 71.
342 Mikko Korhonen (Finland) 73 67 65 66 71.
343 Stuart Manley (Wales) 74 65 64 73 67, Roope Kakko (Finland) 71 68 64 71 69, Jorge Campillo (Spain) 66 781 68 69 69, Matthew Nixon (England) (amateur) 74 69 65 64 71, Steve Lewton (England) 63 72 66 70 72.
344 Thomas Norret (Denmark) 69 69 66 72 68, Romain Wattel (France) 71 68 65 72 68.
SCOTS SCORES
345 Chris Doak 67 73 64 73 68 (jt 12th).
347 Lloyd Saltman 68 69 65 72 73 (jt 25th).
349 Elliot Saltman 66 71 64 74 74 (jt 38th).
352 Jack Doherty 66 73 63 77 73 (jt 53rd).

TO READ ALL THE SCORES ON THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE

CLICK HERE

ALFRED DUNHILL CHAMPIONSHIP SCORES AND REPORT

Leopard Creek Country Club
Malelane, South Africa
FIRST ROUND
Par 72
66 Anthony Michael (Rsa)
67 Dawie Van Der Walt (Rsa), Robert Rock, Sebastian Buhl (Ger), Marius Thorp (Nor)

68 Andrew Georgiou (Rsa), Alvaro Velasco (Spa), Keith Horne (Rsa), Klas Eriksson (Swe), Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa)

69 Jeremy Kavanagh, James Kingston (Rsa), Robert Dinwiddie, Oskar Henningsson (Swe), Omar Sandys (Rsa), Mark Brown (Nzl), Pablo Martin (Spa)

70 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), TC Charamba (Zim), Alan McLean, Phillip Price, Julio Zapata (Arg), Tjaart Van Der Walt (Rsa), David Drysdale, Grant Muller (Rsa), Anders Sjostrand (Swe), Colin Nel (Rsa)

71 Alex Haindl (Rsa), Neil Cheetham, Daniel Gaunt (Aus), Divan Van Den Heever (Rsa), Johan Du buisson (Rsa), Steven Jeppesen (Swe), Chris Swanepoel (Rsa), John Bickerton, Scott Jamieson, Michiel Bothma (Rsa), Lee Slattery, Gregory Molteni (Ita), Jean-Nicolas Billot (Fra), Thorbjorn Olesen (Den), Bernd Wiesberger (Aut), Trevor Fisher Jnr (Rsa), Alan Michell (Rsa)

72 Merrick Bremner (Rsa), Martin Wiegele (Aut), Jacques Blaauw (Rsa), Thomas Aiken (Rsa), Damien McGrane, Gary Evans, David Howell, Kyron Sullivan, Bradford Vaughan (Rsa), Seve Benson, Joel Sjoholm (Swe), Tommy Fleetwood, Daniel Greene (Rsa), Jbe Kruger (Rsa)

73 Andrew Johnston, Ian Keenan, Desvonde Botes (Rsa), Hennie Otto (Rsa), Bjorn Akesson (Swe), Floris De Vries (Ned), Julien Quesne (Fra), Andre Bossert (Swi), Josh Cunliffe (Rsa), Mark Laskey, James Kamte (Rsa),Charl Coetzee (Rsa), Martin Maritz (Rsa), Richard Sterne (Rsa)

74 Andrew Butterfield, Justin Harding (Rsa), Doug McGuigan, Kenneth Ferrie, Anthony Wall, Dale Whitnell, Warren Abery (Rsa), Tyrone Van Aswegen (Rsa), Darryn Lloyd (Rsa), Deane Pappas (Rsa), Michael Hoey, Titch Moore (Rsa), Clinton Whitelaw (Rsa), Richard Bland, Jaco Ahlers (Rsa), Jean Hugo (Rsa), Matthew Zions (Aus), Marcel Siem (Ger), Darren Fichardt (Rsa), Oliver Bekker (Rsa), Gary Murphy, David Dixon, Marcus Palm (Swe)

75 Reggie Adams (Rsa), Ulrich Van Den Berg (Rsa), Garth Mulroy (Rsa), Morne Buys (Rsa), Ben Mannix, Alex Cejka (Ger), Dion Fourie (Rsa), Gary Clark, Thabang Simon (Rsa), Christiaan Basson (Rsa), Des Terblanche (Rsa), Wallie Coetsee (Rsa), Ryan Tipping (Rsa), Louis De Jager (Rsa)

76 Garry Houston, Jamie Moul, John Parry, Henk Alberts (Rsa), Richard McEvoy, Matt Ford, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Louis Calitz (Rsa), Derik Ferreira (Rsa), Nick Mccarthy, Kevin Stone (Rsa), James Heath, Mark Murless (Rsa), Lindani Ndwandwe (Rsa)

77 Jeppe Huldahl (Den), Brett Liddle (Rsa), Peter Whiteford, Jake Roos (Rsa), Matthew Baldwin, Rikard Karlberg (Swe), Dean Burmester (Zim), Ryan Thompson (Rsa), Teboho Sefatsa (Rsa), Neil Schietekat (Rsa)

78 Prinavin Nelson (Rsa), Grant Jackson, Robert Coles, Matt Evans, Andre Cruse (Rsa), Guillaume Watremez (Bel), Steven Ferreira (Rsa), Willie Van Der Merwe (Rsa), Louis Moolman (Rsa), Tyrone Ferreira (Rsa)

79 Jonathan Caldwell, George Murray, Steve Basson (Rsa), Peter Karmis (Rsa), Matt Haines, Florian Praegant (Aut)

80 Magnus A Carlsson (Swe)

81 Adilson Da Silva (Bra), Toto Thimba junior (Rsa), Warrick Druian (Rsa), Steve Surry

82 David Hewan (Rsa)

Withdrew: Oliver Fisher

REPORT FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITESouth Africa's Anthony Michael holds a one-shot lead after his morning round of 66 proved enough to set the pace in the first event of The 2011 Race to Dubai, the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
The 25 year old completed the Leopard Creek lay-out in six under par 66 to put him one stroke clear of compatriot Dawie Van der Walt, Norway's Marius Thorp, Robert Rock and Sebastian Buhl at Malelane.
Michael is a rookie on the Sunshine Tour, having turned professional a year ago and admits that his first love is baseball.
The Johannesburg golfer represented South Africa at junior level in baseball and even went to the motherland of the sport, the United States, to try and pursue his dream.
He attended the Oklahoma City University but then realised that golf was the way to go.
"I played baseball for South Africa on a trip to Japan when I was ten," Michael said after his seven birdies and one bogey round.
"I was going to go to the United States to play baseball, but the sport kind of died in South Africa, so I decided golf was the way to go."
Looking back on his round, Michael, who is still chasing the 'Best Rookie' prize on the 2010 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, added: "I struggled a bit today off the tees, I hit only three fairways, but from the rough to the greens was good and on the greens was amazing.
"I came in with a lot of confidence and I had a good feel out there.
"I find that I play pretty well under pressure. I'm not sure why, but I've always enjoyed the pressure."
England's Rock has had three runner-up finishes on The European Tour but is yet to taste victory, although he boosted his chances with a five under 67.
He carded five birdies and kept his card bogey-free courtesy of an impressive up-and-down at the 17th.
Buhl was a Challenge Tour regular last season and the 26 year old German took his chance to shine on the big stage with six birdies against a single dropped shot.
Thorp graduated from last season's Challenge Tour and kicked off his maiden European Tour campaign with an impressive round boosted by four closing birdies, including a chip in at the par three 16th.
Van der Walt atoned for a bogey on the 11th - his second hole of the day - with a burst of four birdies in the next seven holes to turn in 34 and added two more birdies on the way in.
Last year's Challenge Tour No 1 Alvaro Velasco, his fellow Spaniard Rafael Cabrera Bello, South Africans Keith Horne and Andrew Giorgiou and Swede Klas Eriksson were a shot further back on four under.
Defending champion Pablo Martin recovered from a disappointing front nine to finish the day three shots off the pace.
He eagled the driveable par four sixth after hitting his tee shot within a foot, birdied the second and fourth but double bogeyed the ninth after finding water.
"I'm happy," said Martin. "How can I not be happy after that flight and that score?" He had travelled from New York to defend his title.
The man Martin beat in last year's victory, Charl Schwartzel, had a round of mixed fortunes, but, like Martin, he finished strongly with a birdie on the 18th for a 70.
"It's still very early," said the 2004 winner. "I just didn't get going, and if it gets going soon, it will quickly be something like six under."

TIGER WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
By Michael Bamberger
Senior Writer, Sports Illustrated
So much for the idea that the golf season ends with the US PGA Championship. Or, in even-numbered years, the Ryder Cup. The single most mesmerising event since Tiger's return and Phil's win at the Masters in April was last week's tournament, the Chevron World Challenge.
I promise never again to call it the Tiger and Friends' Silly Season Cash Grab. Because it's not, or wasn't on Sunday. You never know what a day is going to bring.
It was refreshing to hear the winner, Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland, refer to the host as "a great guy." By which he meant, and I'm doing some mind-reading here, he's fun to play with, he's good for the game, his sex life didn't impact me. He was talking about Tiger Woods the professional golfer. I believe that's common among Europeans, to separate public and private lives.
I realise that millions see it differently. Many people are still angry and disappointed in Woods and are actively rooting against him. If you want to enjoy the new golf season, you might consider following G-Mac's lead. Because it looks like we're going to see a whole lot of Woods in the new year, and hate just takes so much out of you. The pleasure of the Chevron was that it was pure golf, contested by two of the most engaging figures in the game. One is on top of the golf world, winner of the U.S. Open at Pebble, star of the victorious European Ryder Cup team in Wales.
Every time you see McDowell, he's on another continent. As for Woods, he's almost starting over. Between Woods and McDowell, whose future in the game do you think is more promising? I wouldn't want to guess.
You must be prepared for surprises in this game, like when you make a bomb for bogey and it winds up halving a hole. That also goes for the golfers we watch, for the shots they play, for the tournaments they play in. The networks and the golf magazines can try to build up this event or that one, but all that only goes so far.
I like watching the annual spring tournament on the Stadium Course (though it was better in March than May), but do you know anybody who gets Players Fever?
Surprise, like we had Sunday at the Chevron, is the true fan's stock-in-trade.
Maybe you had this experience. You were clicking through the channels one Sunday afternoon last month and came upon In-Kyung Kim, a sleek LPGA player, going crazy-low on a Sunday to overtake the way-telegenic Suzann Pettersen on a beautiful golf course in Guadalajara.
Elegant Lorena Ochoa, tournament host, was on hand to pass out the hardware. It was already good. And then what does the winner do? She pledges her entire first-place cheque, $220,000, to charity.
I nominated Billy Wagner for Sportsman of the Year, and Drew Brees was certainly an admirable choice, but with one dramatic, selfless act Kim separated herself from the crowd and into that conversation. There was no way you could know it was coming, could you?
Then last week, on a dank Sunday in December, there were two new characters to watch. Graeme McDowell is not the same man he was in mid-June, before he won the Open at Pebble. Tiger is not the same man he was before Y.E. Yang beat him in the 2009 PGA Championship.
He is not the same man he was before we knew the details of his private texts. He is not the same man he was before he started seeing Sean Foley as his swing coach. Maybe your view is that people don't change. I don't know about that.
Have you ever heard of the French actor Vincent Cassel? He was in "Ocean's Twelve" and has a new movie called "Black Swan," and the other day he was on NPR. The interviewer, Terry Gross, was talking to him about putting on weight for a role, and then taking it off.
Gross asked, "Were you afraid that you would never be yourself again physically?"
"Well, I have a tendency to think that you always change, really," Cassel said. "So you never really are the one you were yesterday."
What do you think about that? I had never thought about day-to-day life that way before, but I can see his point. You can apply it anywhere. The golf question of the moment is, "Is Tiger back?"
My belief is that Tiger will win again, win major championships again, maybe get to 18. But if he dominates again it won't be a repeat of his 2000 domination. He'll never be that person again. He'll never elicit the same feelings in us again.
I'm not saying they'll be better or worse, just different. We'll be different, too. You are not the one today who you were yesterday. Cue French accent.
There was some serious role reversal at Sherwood Country Club last week. GMac, making those two 20-footers on Woods on 18 — first in regulation, then in a play-off — did to Woods what Woods used to do to others.
The script's gone, out with the recycling. Woods hit a spectacular high fade approach shot to 18, showing faith in what is wrongly being called his new swing.
(It's just a continuing evolution of his old one. The thing I see is that his left toe is out more, and it lets him get his hands higher and slash at it, great for a cut, really more like Big Jack did in his fading prime).
Woods used to be the only guy in golf who could play defence. He could make you miss your putt. How, I don't know, but he did. He can't do that anymore. He's no longer the one he was yesterday.
Of course, it would be naïve to say people don't have habits. They do. We all have habits, patterns, comfort zones. Woods will almost never say something intimate in interviews, but he can talk about technical stuff all day long. That was true before the scandal, during it and after it.
When the golf was done on Sunday, he said this about his putting and his new putter:
"With the [new] groove technology, there's less loft. I was unfortunately trying to get my face to look like it normally does and address the same amount of face I normally see, and my hands were getting back, and I kept scooping it to the left or I would hold onto it because it was going to come. But then I figured, you know what, just put your hands and body right where you used to have it and just go putt and see what happens."
I could listen to this stuff all day, but is there anything there where the therapist could ask, "And how did that make you feel?"
When he returned to golf after his brief self-imposed exile, Woods said he would be more respectful of the game. At the Masters, I noticed he was doing a lot less on-course spitting. But at the Chevron, it was back to his old phlegmy ways. I don't care what kind of allergies he might have, spitting on a golf course is horrible manners and not respectful.
I never saw Jack Nicklaus or Annika Sorenstam or Bing Crosby or even Judge Elihu Smails spit on a course.
I'm not going to get Tiger to stop spitting, and he's not going to be able to stop people from holing putts on him. Maybe he'll develop that aura again where people are afraid to make putts on him.
I don't want to make any predictions. There's way too much of that these days, and at year-end it's practically an epidemic. I'm more eager to see who he'll be tomorrow. Ditto for myself.

REPORT, SCORES FROM JOHNNIE WALKER CAMBODIAN OPEN

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ASIAN TOUR
Siem Reap, Cambodia: Japan’s Kenichi Kuboya opened his campaign strongly by posting a flawless seven-under-par 65 to take the first round lead at the Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open today.
Thailand’s Atiwit Janewattananond who made history by becoming the youngest player at 14 years and 71 days to make the cut at the Asian Tour season-opener in February carded a 66 for second place while Bangladesh’s Siddikur and defending champion Marcus Both of Australia returned with matching 67s to share third place at the penultimate US$300,000 full field Asian Tour event before the season finale Black Mountain Masters in Hua Hin next week.
Kuboya who teed off in the front-nine in the morning posted his first birdie on the par-four fourth before adding successive birdies on the eighth and ninth holes to reach the halfway mark in 33.
The red colours on his card continued to show on holes 10, 12, 16 and 17 after the turn, giving the Japanese a one-shot cushion going into the second round.
“I like this golf course as it really suits my game. Although the winds were picking up mid-way through my round, I still putted really well and I believed that gave me the confidence to do so well today,” said Kuboya.
Meanwhile Atiwit’s stocks have been rising since he turned professional at the King’s Cup a fortnight ago. He marked his 15th birthday by making it into the weekend rounds in his first tournament as a professional then and is now among the leaders in his second tournament.
Having got off to an encouraging start, the young Thai is however planning to adopt a defensive approach for his second round.
“I feel that I’m not hitting the ball long enough. As such, I don’t plan to go on the offensive and attack the pins as some of these shots may cost me dearly,” said the young talent who posted seven birdies at the Phokeethra Country Club.
“I hope to continue what I’ve done today and hopefully it’ll be another good round tomorrow,” added Atiwit whose only blemish to his card was a bogey on the par-four 10th.
Siddikur continued to make good on his promise to spearhead the rise of golf in Bangladesh with another inspired performance on the Asian Tour.
Starting on the back-nine, Siddikur posted three birdies on holes 12, 13 and 17 to reach the turn in 33.
He continued his birdie blitz on the par-five second and fourth hole to return home comfortably in 67.
“Playing conditions were perfect today and I couldn’t have asked for a better start,” said Siddikur.
“You can say that I was quite lucky on the 17th and second hole. My second shot went into the bunker but I got it back onto the green with my third shot. I managed to birdie both holes from about 30 feet,” added Siddikur who is one of the favourites to win the US$300,000 full field Asian Tour event that is now into its fourth edition.
Another strong favourite, Both put up a stout defence of his title after settling the early nerves. Like Siddikur, the 31-year-old Australian also enjoyed a blemish-free round, marking his card with birdies on the fourth, eighth, ninth, 10th and 12th holes.
“You tend to feel a little bit of pressure especially when you’re the defending champion. But once I got the first tee shot somewhere in the middle of the fairway, I got more relax and did not feel that anxious anymore,” said the defending champion.
“I controlled the ball nicely and made a couple of putts today which made a difference on the leaderboard. 67 around here anytime here is good, especially in the afternoon where the greens were a little bumpy. Hopefully we can get some nice benign conditions in the morning tomorrow and get a good number on the board,” added Both.
LEADING FIRST-ROUND SCORES
Par 72
65 Kenichi Kuboya (JPN)
66 Atiwit Janewattananond (THA)
67 Siddikur (BAN), Marcus Both (AUS)
68 Mo Joong-kyung (KOR), Adam Groom (AUS), Panuwat Muenlek (THA), Stuart Lunn-Walker (AUS), Young Nam (KOR)
69 Antonio Lascuna (PHI), Juvic Pagunsan (PHI), Thaworn Wiratchant (THA), Lu Wen-teh (TPE), Rory Hie (INA), Joshua Kelley (USA), Quincy Quek (SIN), Jason King (AUS), Lam Chih Bing (SIN), Jakkapong Juntavara (THA), Kim Hyung-sung (KOR), Guido Van Der Valk (NED), Wisut Artjanawat (THA)
Selected scores
70 Thongchai Jaidee (THA), Mardan Mamat (SIN), Justin Evans (Eng).
72 Ross Bain (Sco).
73 Mark Foster (Eng), Simon Dunn (Sco).
75 Simon Griffiths (Eng), Lee Harper (Sco).
76 Chris Rodgers (Eng).

GATES AND BUCKLE ON TOP DOWN UNDER

FROM THE PGA OF AUSTRALIA WEBSITE
By Luke Buttigieg at Coolum, Sportal
American Bobby Gates has joined morning pacesetter Andrew Buckle at the top of the leaderboard on the opening day of the Australian PGA Championship at Hyatt Regency Coolum.
After Buckle capitalised on the benign morning conditions and soft fairways and greens to roll in 10 birdies on the way to an eight-under 64, current New Zealand Open champion Gates began with an eagle and picked up seven more birdies to be the best of the afternoon players.
Two shots back in a tie for third are local Steven Bowditch, who picked up four shots in as many holes from the start of his back nine to threaten Buckle's lead as well as China's Liang Wenchong, who twice drew within a shot and veteran Aussie Peter Fowler.
Buckle's playing partner Matthew Millar, James Nitties, Andre Stolz, rising Australian star Kieran Pratt and Japan's Akio Sadakata all shot 67s, although Nitties shared the lead with Buckle at seven under after grabbing seven birdies in 12 holes only to stumble with three bogeys coming home.
Matthew Griffin, Brad Hughes and Brad Kennedy are among those who share 11th place on minus four while Michael Long, John Senden and Tetsuya Haraguchi all carded rounds of 69.
2008 champion and last-start Australian Open champion Geoff Ogilvy finished with a 70 but it could have been much lower as his six birdies were undone by four bogeys, while defending champion Robert Allenby, Aberdeen-born Michael Sim and Nick O'Hern are also at two under.
Allenby and Liang's playing partner, American drawcard John Daly, opened with successive birdies but couldn't maintain the momentum and finished with a one-under 71 that leaves him alongside Craig Parry, Stephen Leaney and Brett Rumford.
Buckle's fellow Queenslander and world No.21 Adam Scott, who played with Ogilvy and Matt Jones (73), had to be content with a 73 having slumped to a quadruple bogey 8 at the 13th when he twice found the water.
Buckle, who is fresh from a disappointing season on the Nationwide Tour in which he finished 72nd on the money list to leave himself with only conditional status for 2011, made the most of the ideal early conditions helped immeasurably by torrential rain earlier this week.
Having gone more than four years since his last win, at Virginia Beach on the Nationwide Tour in 2006, Buckle had a mixed start to his round with birdies at the 1st and 3rd holes and bogeys at the 2nd and 4th.
From there though he charged up the leaderboard, a third birdie of the day at the 5th triggering a run of three in succession before he grabbed four more on the trot from the 10th and a score in the low 60s looked on the cards before he missed gettable birdie putts at four of the last five holes to finish with his 64.
"Absolutely, today I just tried to get back to just using my instincts a little bit, which I haven't really done since I was a kid, so it was a lot of fun to play that way again instead of just thinking about my swing," Buckle said.
"(At) 14 the par-three I just missed, then (at) 15 I had a makeable one, (at) 16 I had a makeable one and (at) 18 I had a makeable one, they all just missed (even though) I was hitting good putts."
"(And) my two bogeys were just soft bogeys really, I really didn't expect this today that is for sure."
Gates, who is headed to the US PGA Tour for the first time next year, began with a bang by eagling the 1st before adding three more birdies in four holes from the 5th, which set him on his way as he started and finished his back nine with consecutive birdies, his only blemish at 14 when he found the water.
Playing in Australia both as a late-year holiday and to try and get himself ready for an early start to 2011 in Hawaii, Gates finished in style with a 45-footer for birdie.
"It was a good putt, it broke and I looked up about halfway and I just said 'speed looks good, speed looks good' and it went in, so it was nice to see," Gates said.
Like Buckle earlier, Liang looked on track to post a number in the low 60s when he went out in 30 with six birdies but lost momentum with three birdies and three bogeys on the back nine.
Scot Simon Yates is joint 51st after a 71.

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