Friday, February 11, 2011

HARRINGTON IN THE PICTURE AT AT AND T NATIONAL PRO-AM

FROM THE PGATOUR.COM WEBSITE
PEBBLE BEACH, California-- Steve Marino is too busy soaking in the scenery and atmosphere at the AT and T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am to get worked up over his four-shot lead going into the weekend.
Marino made only one mistake -- with his conversation and his clubs -- on the par-5 14th for his only bogey of the tournament. He followed with three birdies over the last four holes for a 7-under 66 and a comfortable lead.
"This tournament is kind of strange," said Marino, who was at 13-under 141. "You play a different course every day. You're playing with amateur partners. It's a little more low key and laid back."
That's just the way Marino likes it, and it shows. He has the low round of the tournament on both courses he has played, having opened with a 65 at Spyglass Hill.
D.A. Points doesn't have that luxury, not with Bill Murray as his amateur partner. Points struggled from the start at Spyglass Hill and was slipping down the leaderboard until running off four birdies in a five-hole stretch around the turn. He salvaged a 70 and was four shots behind at 9-under par.
Points worried for a moment that Murray started to feel the pressure -- they opened the pro-am portion tied for the lead -- and perhaps tried to tone down his antics.
"Bill was struggling a little today, so he was maybe down on himself," Points said. "We still had a great time."
Next up for the celebrity rotation is Pebble Beach on Saturday, when the show is as much about the amateurs as the pros. Points says he plays his best when there are plenty of distractions, although he's not about to wish for more than he can handle.

"I'm not going to feed the beast," he said.

Keegan Bradley had an impressive gallery of his own. He is the nephew of LPGA Hall of Famer Pat Bradley, who followed him along Spyglass as the rookie shot a 69 to finish at 8-under par. Bradley was born in 1986, the year his famous aunt won three of four majors.

"Pat and I have a lot of similarities in our game, in our approach to the game, our work ethic," he said. "I look up to her in a lot of different ways, and that's one of the ways. I try to emulate her toughness and work ethic."

The large group at 7-under par included Padraig Harrington, who played with Marino; Hunter Mahan, Nick Watney and Sam Saunders, whose grandfather is among the owners of Pebble Beach -- Arnold Palmer.

Even with a four-shot lead, Marino won't know until Sunday how he really stands because of the three courses in the rotation. Still ahead of him is the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula, where Points opened with a 63. The fairways are running fast at the Shore, and some players have said the greens are a little bumpy.

That didn't stop David Duval on Friday. After opening with a birdie-free 77 at Pebble, he followed that with a 65 at Monterey Peninsula.

Dustin Johnson, trying to become the first player to win three straight times at the AT and T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, is more interested in making the cut. He had a 1-under at Spyglass Hill and was two shots below the projected playing cut -- not to mention 13 shots behind Marino.

Phil Mickelson did a much better job with a 68 at Spyglass, moving him to 3 under for the tournament.

Marino, though, looks tough to beat at the moment.

He knocked in a 15-foot birdie putt on the 13th, then made a mental error. After he and Harrington hit their tee shots on the 14th, they started reminiscing about the U.S. Open last summer, when the 14th was one of the toughest holes at Pebble Beach.

"It was silly," Harrington said. "We were talking about how tough this was at the U.S. Open, and that we both had made four pars and could have sold that to half the field. And then we both made a mess of it."
Bill Lunde's tee shot lands a foot from the cup during Round 2.
Marino was in the right rough after his second shot, still a good angle at the flag. But his wedge ran up the ledge of the steep bunker and turned left instead of right, tumbling into the sand. He did well to blast out to 12 feet and narrowly missed the par putt.
Harrington hit a fat shot with his sand wedge and plugged into the bunker. He hit a beautiful shot, running up the side of the bunker to see how it turned out just as it ran off the back of the green and down the slope. He had to scramble for a bogey on his way to a 68, a round he felt was much better than his score.
The Irishman made pars the rest of the way. Marino poured it on.
He stuffed his next shot into 5 feet for birdie, rolled in a 20-foot putt up the slope on the 16th and finished with a bunker shot to 15 feet and one last birdie.
Along the way, Marino soaked up spectacular views of yet another sunny, mild day along the Pacific.
He is the only American in an otherwise all-Irish group that features businessmen J.P. McManus and Dermot Desmond. Marino still isn't sure how he got invited to the McManus charity pro-am event last year -- an event so popular that even Tiger Woods made the trip -- but calls it one of the best weeks of the year.
"I think he had a good time," Desmond said. "He seems to be Irish. He's always smiling, and at the same time he has a fantastic golf game. He's got a great temperament. Even when he bogeyed the 14th, he didn't get irritated. He just said, 'I have to get that one back.' And he got it back."

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JOHN DALY'S GOLF BAG WILL BE AN ELECTRONIC BILLBOARD

FROM THE GOLFWEEK.COM WEBSITE
By Associated Press 
PEBBLE BEACH, California – John Daly is going multi-media. He now has a TV built into his golf bag. But it's not so that he can keep up with the latest shows, etc. Well, not yet!
No, Daly has signed up with ProBagAds.com, a new company that installs flat-screen monitors on a golf bag to display advertisements, much like an electronic billboard.
The screen rotates with Daly’s various sponsors.
Big John says it only weighs about 3lb, so it’s not a big strain on his caddie. And while it looks like a TV, Daly says he’s trying to make it work like one. He says he will be able to programme it through his mobile phone, and he hopes to get his home television programming on there.
Daly says when he plays golf overseas, he wants to have something to watch on TV – especially during the American (grid-iron) football season.
Kyeong Bae first used the built-in monitor last year on the LPGA Tour.

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REPORT THAT TIGER WOODS RECEIVED $55.4m FROM DEVELOPER

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A United Arab Emirates business magazine says Tiger Woods received $55.4 million from a developer to promote a local golf resort that has yet to be built.
Arabian Business reported Thursday that it has seen documents confirming Woods received the payments to promote the $1 billion project, with the course at the centrepiece of a complex of 100 villas, 75 mansions and 22 palaces.
Woods refused to comment on the contract he signed with the course developer, part of a conglomerate controlled by Dubai's debt-squeezed ruler. But he said he hoped to meet with developers to discuss reviving the project while he is in Dubai





Read more: http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,2048380,00.html#ixzz1DdhruwLV

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McILROY STILL LEADS BUT TIGER IS BACK IN HUNT WITH A 66

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Rory McIlroy’s second round 68 kept him at the top of the leaderboard at the halfway stage of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic today.
The 21 year old from Holywood, Belfast advanced to 11 under par to sit one shot ahead of in-form South African Thomas Aiken and a rejuvenated Sergio Garcia.

And former World Number One Tiger Woods is also lurking ominously after the American responded to a “scratchy” opening 71 with a magnificent best-of-the-day 66 which took him into a share of fifth place on 11 under.

Without a win for almost 15 months, Tiger even led for a few minutes after starting the day 27th, but that was before McIlroy hit the Emirates course again.
The Northern Irishman came back from a bogey on the second with five birdies, the last of them on the long 18th, edging him ahead of ex-World Number Two Garcia and Aiken.
They both had a second successive 67, the back-to-form Spaniard keeping a bogey off his card for the second day running.
McIlroy said: "I felt a little more at ease with my swing yesterday, but I stayed patient and picked up the birdies when I could.
"Maybe this time last year I would not have been able to grind out a 68 after the start I had. Rounds like this prove I am doing the right thing."
Woods charged past playing partners Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer, the two men who have overtaken him on the Official World Golf Ranking.
Westwood handed in a 70 for five under, Kaymer a 71 for four under.
Woods commented: "I played myself right back into the tournament. I felt I hit the ball a lot better and the greens were absolutely perfect.
"It was steady. I didn't make as many mistakes as yesterday and I felt it was important to post a number."
Westwood, who missed the cut last week, is still searching for his sparkling best.
"I'm a bit disappointed with the way I've hit it the first two days," he commented. "You have chances out there - you've just got to be on your game."

Garcia almost matched England’s David Howell with a hole-in-one at the seventh, but settled for birdie as the ball rolled a fraction past the cup.
“I've definitely hit the ball much better than lately, it's been pretty good so far,” said the 31 year old.
“It's been enjoyable, and I think the course is playing great. It seems like every day, it's playing a bit harder. But even like that, people still managed to shoot nice scores, so it was good to be able to keep up.”
Garcia’s top-ten finish in Qatar last week certainly seems to have reinvigorated the former Ryder Cup star.
“It has been two good rounds, but the tournament is not over,” he warned. “So I'm definitely looking forward to keeping going.
“Last week it was nice to play well on the weekend in tough conditions, and then to be able to do it yesterday and today here. Like you said, make no bogeys, it's always special and it's always nice.”
Aiken has finished in the top 14 in six of his seven European Tour events this season, and believes a maiden title is just around the corner if he can maintain his form.
“Been pretty consistent the last two years,” said the 27 year old, who held the clubhouse lead for most of the day after being amongst the early starters.
“Feel like I've been putting myself in position to win a golf tournament, and just haven't been getting it done on the weekend.
“Just been really consistent and it shows in the results, and been really happy with the way that I've been playing. And if I keep putting myself in these positions, it's inevitable that something will happen.”


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LEADERBOARD TWO-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72)
133 Rory McIlroy (N Ireland) 65 68.
134 Thomas Aiken (S Africa) 67 67, Sergio Garcia (Spain) 67 67.
136 Steve Webster (England) 68 68.
137 Tiger Woods (US) 71 66, Anders Hansen (Denmark) 68 68, Michael Hoey (N Ireland) 70 67, Jean-P Baptiste (France) 68 69, Brett Rumford (Australia) 69 68.
Selected totals:
139 Lee Westwood (England) 69 70, Marc Warren (Scotland) 72 67 (32-35), Stephen Gallagher (Scotland) 70 69 (34-35) (T11).
140 Richie Ramsay (Scotland) 71 69 (34-35), Martin Kaymer (Germany) 69 71 (T20).
144 David Drysdale (Scotland) 73 71 (35-36) (T58).


SCOTS WHO MISSED THE CUT (144 or better qualified)
146 Steven O'Hara 76 70 (35-35) (T75).
147 Peter Whiteford 75 72 (35-37) (T90).
148 Paul Lawrie 75 73 (39-34) (T95).
149 Colin Montgomerie 76 73 (36-37) (T114).
153 Gary Orr 76 77 (38-39) (132nd).
156 Callum Nicoll 77 79 (40-39) (T135).

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DAVID LAW LOSES PLAY-OFF FOR SOUTH AFRICAN TITLE

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Aberdonian David Law, 19, led at the end of the first three rounds and still held the No 1 position jointly after the fourth round - but he did not win the South African international men's amateur stroke-play championship at Mount Edgecombe, near Durban.
In his best performance since he won the Scottish men's amateur match-play championship at Royal Troon in August 2009, having won the Scottish boys' match-play title at Royal Aberdeen in April of the same year, Law finished tied after 72 holes with South African Jared Harvey who finished with a one-under-par 71 for 14-under 274, while Law signed off with a 72 for 274, having had earlier rounds of 64, 67 and 71.
Law bogeyed the 13th and 16th down the home straight, which, in the final analysis, proved to be costly slips.
Southerness youngster Scott Gibson, another member of the SGU Elite Squad who are in South Africa for eight weeks, did very well to finished joint fifth on 10-under-par 278 with four very steady rounds of 69, 68, 70 and 71.
Fraserburgh's Kris Nicol tied for eighth place on 279 with scores of 71, 68, 66 and 74.
Scottish champion in 2010, Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck) tied for 13th place on 283 with rounds of 71, 68, 72 and 72.
Kirkhill's Paul Shields, in with a chance after second and third rounds of 65, cracked in the final round with a nine-over-81 (38 for the first nine, 43 to come home). He finished joint 26th on 285 with St Andrews' Greg Paterson (71-70-69-75).
Ross Kellett (Colville Park) finished joint 21st on 286 with scores of 73, 68, 70 and 75.
Philip McLean (Peterhead) came joint 25th on 287 with scores of 71, 70, 76 and 70.
Scottish Alliance champion Jordan Findlay (Fraserburgh) tied for 43rd place with scores of 75, 73, 76 and 70 for 294.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
274 Jared Harvey (S Africa) 69 65 69 71, David Law (Scotland) 64 67 71 72 (Harvey won sudden death play-off at first extra hole).
276 Ryan Dreyer (S Africa) 69 69 67 71.
277 Clement Sordet 71 66 69 71.
278 Scott Gibson (Scotland) 68 68 70 71, Edouard Espana (Spain) 68 68 70 72, Brandon Stone (S Africa) 69 69 66 74.
Selected totals
279 Kris Nicol (Scotland) 71 68 66 74 (T8).
283 Michael Stewart (Scotland) 71 68 72 72 (T13).
285 Greg Paterson (Scotland) 71 70 69 75, Paul Shields (Scotland) 74 65 65 81 (T16).
286 Ross Kellett (Scotland) 73 68 70 75 (T21).
287 Phil McLean (Scotland) 71 70 76 70 (T25).
294 Jordan Findlay (Scotland) 75 73 76 70 (T43).


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AFRICAN GOLF ASSOCIATION WEBSITE

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LAST-DAY REPORT FROM THE SOUTH AFRICAN GA WEBSITE
Almost from the time he first hit shots as a three-year-old with father George on the fairways at Mount Edgecombe, Jared Harvey has been a grinder.
A no frills, no entourage guy, Harvey believed that good old fashioned hard work and an unflappable self belief would finally take him to the winner’s circle.
So it came as no surprise to the 22-year-old when he messed up a chance to win the South African Amateur Stroke Play outright and had to grind it out in overtime against Scotland’s David Law to roll in the winning putt and lift the trophy today.
“My card looked like a colouring book,” joked Harvey. “Six birdies, five bogeys, definitely not pretty golf. But at the end it things finally went my way, so I guess there is something to say for hard work.”
Harvey’s workmanlike route around the No 1 course was indeed littered with birdies and bogeys from start to finish.
One behind at the start of the round, Harvey caught up to Law at the fourth but two poor pitch shots led to back-to-back bogeys at the fifth and sixth. Two shots clear, Law bogeyed the seventh and Harvey holed a bunker shot to close the gap to one.
“I finally got my nose in front when I birdied the 14th and he dropped at the 15th,” said Harvey, who made a solid par at the 16th to stay ahead but nearly lost the advantage again at 17.

“I drove the greenside bunker and Dave pulled off an incredible shot from the fairway bunker,” he said. “He had eight feet for birdie, so I knew I had to up and down. I had to keep the lead going down 18, because that hole has been my Achilles Heel all week.”

Job done, Harvey held a one-shot lead at 15 under par, but he wasted the chance to win it outright when his nerves got in the way. After a reasonable drive up the right, his approach finished just short of the green and he skimmed his approach putt straight through the green, 30ft past the pin. A two-putt bogey left the door wide open for Law, forced the play-off with a tidy par for a round of 72.

“No doubt about it, the pressure got to me,” Harvey admitted, smiling. “Not once this week had I played the 18th well. I think it was in the back of my mind and I was telling myself I can’t play the hole.

“In the play-off, I suddenly just relaxed about the whole thing. I was going to go with driver, because the wind was so fierce, but when Dave hit it into the trees on the left, I realised he was in a tough spot and I just needed to par.”

Harvey got to the green in two while Law, under pressure to go for the green, put his approach into the water guarding the front of the green. His fourth shot flew the green, his putt ran through the green and when his ball finally dropped, he had seven shots on his card.

“I felt sorry for him because he has been a solid competitor all week and to go out that way, must have been hard to imagine,” said Harvey, who rolled his first putt to within an inch of the cup and tidied up for par, and the title, under thunderous applause from the large home crowd.

And there was an ironic footnote to his victory.

“I guess the term “like father, like son” is really appropriate now,” said the 22-year-old.

George Harvey won the same title twice. He beat Andries Oosthuizen in a play-off in 1973 and followed the same route against Peter Todt, to clinch the title in 1976.

“This is an unbelievably special moment for me, to follow in my father’s footsteps like this,” he said. “I'm proud of the way I hung in there, especially with the wind up. I was pretty anxious and nervous and I had a lot of emotions going. To finally get the job done is a great feeling.

“I'm kind of lost for words. It's still pretty unbelievable.”

Ryan Dreyer carded a final round 71 to finish two shots behind the duelling leaders, while France’s Clement Sordet sneaked into fourth on 11-under-par 277 with his final round 71.

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