THREE LATE BOGEYS SCUPPER LEE WESTWOOD CHARGE

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida (AP) — Delighted to be 5-under par at the midway point of the windy Honda Classic, Rory Sabbatini predicted the score would be enough to win the tournament.
A few hours later, his lead was gone.
The gusts of more than 20 mph abated some, and Kyle Stanley took advantage with his late tee time Friday, shooting a 4-under 66 for a one-stroke lead over Sabbatini.
Stanley, seeking his first US PGA Tour title, was at 6-under 134. Sabbatini shot a 64, matching the tournament's best round since it moved to PGA National in 2007.
Charl Schwartzel was third at 3 under after a 69, and Ricky Barnes (68), Jerry Kelly (67), Stuart Appleby (70) and Tommy Gainey (67) were 2 under.
Stanley had six birdies, including three in a row, to offset two bogeys. He was 1 under on holes 15 through 17, the daunting stretch known as the Bear Trap.
"The wind probably wasn't as strong as it was Thursday," Stanley said. "Late in my round it wasn't really a factor."
The 23-year-old Stanley played at Clemson University, turned pro in 2009 and had a career-best 13th-place finish last week in the Mayakoba Golf Classic.
"I feel like I've been playing well all year but haven't quite put four good rounds together," he said. "I'm getting better, and that's the main thing."
Among those five shots behind at one under were Lee Westwood, who fell to No. 2 in the rankings this week behind Martin Kaymer, and first-round leader Spencer Levin. Westwood shot a 69, and Levin a 72.
Matt Kuchar's tour-best streak of 153 consecutive holes without a three-putt ended, but he shot a 70 and was also one under. He won the tournament in 2002.
The cut was at six over par 146, highest on the tour this year. But the scores improved in the second round to an average of 72.3, compared with 73.9 in the opening round.
"It was much tougher Thursday morning than it was this afternoon," Kelly said. "On Thursday you couldn't hear anything; it was like a freight train coming through. Today you could hear people talking and things like that."
The wind was still stout Friday morning, however, and had many players scrambling. Defending champion Camilo Villegas missed the cut, shooting a 78 that put him 17-over par. Mike Weir had four double bogeys and a triple bogey en route to a career-worst 85, leaving him 22 over.
For much of the day, there was again a sense the course was winning.
"Who's on the leaderboard?" Kelly said. "This course could care less."
Soaring scores made Sabbatini's round especially impressive. The South African switched putters before the tournament, and the change paid off promptly.
He needed only 21 putts in the second round, one above the tour's tournament low this year.
"Probably I'm the most confident I've been with the putter in a really long time," he said.
While Sabbatini has five tour titles, Stanley never made an appearance in an interview room before Friday. From Gig Harbor, Washingston State, his first tournament title came in tennis, not golf, when he was in grade school.
By high school his focus had switched to golf. He became an All-American at Clemson, but his claim to fame may be that he was the college roommate of Sam Saunders, who is Arnold Palmer's grandson.
Not that Stanley phones Palmer for advice.
"I've played in his tournament a couple of times, I think in '07 and maybe '08. So I've met him a few times," Stanley said. "I remember the first time I saw him, I was on the putting green and I kind of looked up and he was right there, so that kind of caught me off guard a little bit. Yeah, he's a nice guy."
Three bogeys over the last six holes knocked a charging Lee Westwood back into a tie for eighth place.
Westwood had birdied the seventh, eighth, 11th and 12th to be breathing down the necks of the leaders. Then the deposed World No 1 from Worksop bogeyed the 13th, 16th and short 17th for 36 home and a one-under-par 69.
That represented a one-shot improvement on the 70 he salvaged from Thursday's wind-lashed opening day.

HALFWAY LEADERBOARD
Par 140 (2x70)
Players from US unless stated
134 Kyle Stanley 68 66.
135 Rory Sabbatini (S Africa) 71 64.
137 Charl Schwartzel (S Africa) 68 69.
138 Ricky Barnes 70 68, Jerry Kelly 71 67, Stuart Appleby (Australia) 68 70, Tommy Gainey 71 67.
139 Matt Kuchar 69 70, Y E Yang (S Korea) 68 71, Gary Woodland 71 69, Spencer Levin 67 72, Lee Westwood (England) 70 69.
Selected scores:
141 Luke Donald (England) 73 68.
144 Graeme McDowell (N Ireland) 73 71, Rory McIlroy (N Ireland) 73 71.
145 Ian Poulter (England) 74 71.
146 Edoardo Molinari (Italy) 73 73.
MISSED THE CUT (146 or better qualified)
148 Brian Davis (England) 78 70, Ross Fisher (England) 76 72.

CHECK ALL THE SCORES AND SCORECARDS ON US TOUR WEBSITE

CLICK HERE

TWO ENGLISHMEN IN SPANISH QUARTER-FINALS

England has two players - Laurie Canter and Stiggy Hodgson - through to Saturday morning's quarter-finals in the Spanish international men's amateur championship at El Prat.

TO VIEW ALL OF TODAY'S RESULTS AND THE MATCH-PLAY CHART
ON THE SPANISH FEDERATION WEBSITE

CLICK HERE

SCOTS BOYS LOSE TO ITALY BUT STILL HAVE TITLE CHANCE

It couldn't be tighter going into the last day of the Under-18 boys' international quadrangular contest at Acaya Golf Club, Pugilia in Italy.
All four teams have won one and lost one at the end of two days.
Scotland started brightly by beating France 5 1/2-3 1/2, but lost today to hosts and defending champions Italy 5-4.
So it will all boil down to the results of Saturday's final matches. Scotland must not only beat Sweden, they must beat them by a big enough margin to win a countback against the winners of the other match, France v Italy, unless, of course, France v Italy ends in a draw and Scotland win.

Results so far:

DAY ONE
SCOTLAND 5 1/2, FRANCE 3 1/2
Foursomes (1-2).
Grant Forrest and Liam Johnston lost to Antoine Rozner and Thomas Le Berre 5 and 4.
Jack McDonald and Bradley Neil bt Florian Loutre and Thomas Grava 1 hole.
Daniel Hendry and Ewan Scott lost to Julien Marot and Christian Verrougstraete 1 hole.
Singles (4 1/2-1 1/2)
Forrest b Rozner 3 and 2.
McDonald halved with Le Berre.
Neil bt Loutre 4 and 3.
Johnson halved with Grava.
Hendry halved with Marot.
Scott bt Verrougstraete 3 and 1.

ITALY 3 1/2, SWEDEN 5 1/2
Foursomes (1 1/2-1 1/2)
Edoardo Torrieri and Richard Broadhurst lost to Viktor Edin and Hannes Ronneblad 2 and 1.
Corrado De Stefani and Federico Zucchetti bt Niklas Kallange Nilsson and Hampus Bergman 5 and 3.
Luigi Botta and Giulio Castagnara halved with Adam Strom and Tobias Eden.
Singles (2-4)
De Stefani lost to Ronneblad 5 and 4.
Torrieri bt Viktor Edin 6 and 5.
Broadhurst lost to Bergman 4 and 3.
Botta bt Nilsson 2 and 1.
Zucchdetti lost to Tobias Eden 3 and 1.
Castagnara lost to Strom 3 and 2.

DAY TWO
SCOTLAND 4, ITALY 5
Foursomes (1-2)
Forrest and Johnson lost to Torrieri and Broadhurst 1 hole.
McDonald and Neil lost to De Stefani and Zucchetti 2 holes.
Hendry and Scott bt Botta and Castagnara 2 and 1.
Singles (3-3)
Forrest lost to Botta 1 hole.
McDonald bt Zucchetti 3 and 2.
Johnston halved with Castagnara.
Neil lost to Broadhurst 2 and 1.
Hendry halved with Torrieri.
Scott bt De Stefani 1 hole.

SWEDEN 4, FRANCE 5
Foursomes (1 1/2-1 1/2)
Strom and Bergman lost to Rozner and Le Berre 2 holes.
Nilsson and Ronneblad halved with Loutre and Grava.
Viktor Edin and Tobias Eden lost to Marot and Verrougstraete 8 and 6.
Singles (2 1/2-3 1/2)
Tobias Eden lost to Loutre 1 hole.
Viktor Edin lost to Rozner 6 and 5.
Ronneblad lost to Marot 1 hle
Nilsson bt Verroutstraete 1 hole.
Bergman halved with Le Berre.
Strom bt Grava 4 and 3.

HOW THEY STAND
Scotland won 1, lost 1; Sweden won 1, lost 1; France won 1, lost 1; Italy won 1, lost 1.

FINAL MATCHES
Scotland v Sweden, France v Italy.

MICHAEL STEWART BEATS PAUL SHIELDS 5 AND 4 IN S A FINAL

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION
Troon Welbeck’s Michael Stewart overcame the challenge of countryman Paul Shields with an emphatic 5 and 4 victory in the 36-hole final to become the first Scot to lift the prestigious South African Amateur Championship title at Vaal de Grace Estate today.
The young Ayrshireman, who celebrates his 21st birthday on Sunday, lost the opening two holes of the morning round but recovered in style to repeat his 2008 Scottish boys' championship final at Southerness victory over Shields with a superb short game performance.
Victory earns Stewart a spot in next season’s South African Open Championship alongside Ernie Els and significantly boosts his chances of a place in Nigel Edwards’ GB and I Walker Cup team to face the USA at Royal Aberdeen in September.
“I’m absolutely delighted to win the South African Amateur Championship. To have my name alongside famous names such as Bobby Locke, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Trevor Immelman, who all went on to win Majors, is an incredible feeling,” said the reigning Scottish amateur champion.

“Paul was a fantastic opponent and it was tough to see a friend lose, but he’s had a great week. It’s a brilliant start to the season for Scottish amateur golf and having three of the squad in the last four as well as eight making the cut shows the strength in depth we have,” he added.
“My game seemed to get better as the week progressed and although I got off to slow starts against both Paul and Jordan, I was confident in my ability. I feel really comfortable in the match-play format and my short game has been in great shape for the whole trip to South Africa,“ concluded Stewart, who will lead the Scotland side in a Test match against their hosts next week at Leopard Creek.
Reflecting on the competitive winter trip to South Africa and the warm weather training stint in the UAE, Stewart commented: “The training we’ve had over here and in Dubai is really benefiting us all and I’m hugely grateful to the SGU, Aberdeen Asset Management and Johann Rupert for giving us these opportunities. It’s nice to pay our supporters back with results like this and hopefully there’s much more to come from us this season.”
It was Kirkhill golfer Shields who took the initiative early in the 36-hole final with back-to-back birdies at the opening two holes but Stewart bounced back with a birdie at the third and drew level with a stunning eagle at the fifth.
His putter came alive on the back nine, firing birdies at the 13th, 14th and 17th to reach the half-way stage with a four-hole cushion, posting a 7-under par 65 in the morning round. The Troon man increased his lead to five up at the 19th but Shields rallied with a birdie blitz to narrow the lead to two holes with nine to play.
Stewart, however, drew upon his experience of previous match-play finals to force the advantage again, winning the 29th before Shields three-putted the next to extend Stewart’s lead to three. He won the 31st to go four up and the match was conceded when Shields came unstuck at the 32nd hole, leaving Stewart to claim his third major national championship.
SGU National Coach Ian Rae, who is out with the squad in South Africa, praised the performance of both players:
“It’s fantastic to see two young Scots who have come through our programme from an early age perform so well on such a big international stage. All the players in the squad have been working very hard over the past few months and it’s great to see all the good results in recent weeks. South African golf is very strong and they’ve both beaten some excellent players along the way.”

TO ACCESS THE FINAL SCORECHART ON THE SOUTH AFRICAN WEBSITE

CLICK HERE

PETER LATIMER JOINS FELLOW SCOTS ON SPANISH SIDELINES

Scotland has no representatives in the match-play stages of the Spanish international men's amateur championship at El Prat Golf Club - a repeat of the state of affairs in the Spanish international women's amateur championship at Sherry Golf (Jerez).
Peter Latimer (St Andrews) had an outside chance of succeeding where fellow Scots Allyn Dick, Fraser McKenna and Scott Larkin had failed when he set out this morning to complete his second qualifying round.
But Peter finished with an 84 which, coupled with his opening 76, gave him a total of 160 - eight shots more than the qualifying limit.
Not all of those players who finished on 152 - the cut-off point - made it through to the match-play stages among the 32 qualifiers.
England's Steven Brown was one of the lucky ones with rounds of 79 and 73 but Jack Senior (75-77) and ireland's Dermot McElroy (76-76) are now on the sidelines.

MATCH-PLAY CHART ON SPANISH FEDERATION WEBSITE (results later)

CLICK HERE

LONGMUIR AND FOWLER SET PACE WITH 66s IN BRUNEI

By STEVE TODD
European Seniors Tour Press Officer
Australian Peter Fowler and Anglo-Scot Bill Longmuir share the lead after the first round of the Aberdeen Brunei Senior Masters presented by The Stapleford Forum following opening rounds of five under par 66.
Fowler climbed off his sick bed to set the clubhouse target at the Empire Hotel and Country Club, firing six birdies and just the single bogey on the par three seventh hole.
The 51 year old former European Tour winner, who is still looking for his maiden Senior Tour triumph, finished his rookie year in 29th place on the 2010 Senior Tour Order of Merit but a strong end to that campaign, and a share of sixth place in the 2011 season-opening Handa Australian Senior Open, has boosted his confidence.
Despite struggling with an overnight illness and the humid conditions, Fowler sank a 30ft birdie putt on the first hole and never looked back.
“I putted really well today which always important on the courses in Asia to get a good rhythm going on the greens,” he said. “I holed a nice 30ft putt on the first and they were all good from there on in.
“I wasn’t feeling very confident at all before the round, I’ve been ‘crook’ all night so I was just happy that I felt good enough to play this morning.
“I’m exhausted but pretty happy. It’s good to get a good rhythm going. It’s different when you’re an Asian player and these greens are second nature but for us guys who turn up for one week, you hopefully get out of bed on the right side and get the rhythm going on the greens. You get a bit of the X factor – it’s nothing to do with your stroke, it’s all down to reading the greens properly.
“I’ve been playing pretty steady for the past few months and my putting at the end of last season finally came good after a pretty bad year last year.
Longmuir, pictured above by courtesy of Getty Images (c), who is chasing his ninth Senior Tour title, condensed his five birdies into just 10 holes after opening with a run of five straight pars.
The 57 year old year old is hoping for a ‘Stapleford double’ after also winning the inaugural Handa Senior Masters presented by The Stapleford Forum last May.
He said: “I didn’t know what to expect this week as I’ve got a new set of golf clubs. I drove it really well though which I was overjoyed with because my back’s been a big problem for a long time now.
“I felt good with the driver although at the two long holes I didn’t drive it so well. But I drove it miles today, long and straight which set me up nicely for the round.
“I never really felt like I was under any pressure. I was hitting a lot of greens and took 26 putts. I’ve just counted because I couldn’t believe it, but whenever I missed a green I was just off.
“All in all it was a very steady round. There were no massive fireworks. Carl Mason (his playing partner) is normally the steady one and I’m not but he was a little bit up and down today before he recovered the round nicely. But I was pleased overall.”
The leading pair are one stroke clear of a group of five players that includes 2009 Rookie of the Year Mike Harwood, Paraguay’s Angel Franco, Korean Sang-ho Choi, Jamnian Chitprasong of Thailand and Tsang-te Chen of Chinese Taipei.
Former Ryder Cup player Barry Lane is a further shot back on three under par while Mason, who is pursuing a record breaking 24th Senior Tour title, is on two under par following an opening round 69.
Mason’s total was matched by 2002 Ryder Cup Captain Sam Torrance, who had been flirting with the top of the leaderboard after four birdies in his opening 15 holes until a costly double bogey six on the par four 16th hole saw him slip back.
Defending champion Boonchu Ruangkit, whose victory in the event 12 months ago proved the catalyst to the Thai winning the 2010 Order of Merit, found the going a little tougher this time round, carding five birdies and four bogeys in his one under par opening round of 70.
Former Masters Champion and Ryder Cup Captain Ian Woosnam is a further shot adrift on level par, while current Order of Merit leader and two-time Major Champion Sandy Lyle is one over par after a frustrating end to his round. The Scot was three under for the day through 14 holes but double bogeyed the 15th and followed that with back-to-back bogeys on the 16th and 17th to lie six shots off the pace.
SCOREBOARD
FIRST ROUNDPar 71
66 B Longmuir (Sco), P Fowler (Aus) 
67 S Choi (S Kor), J Chitprasong (Tha), M Harwood (Aus) , A Franco (Par) , T Chen (Tpe)
68 C Williams (SAf), G Manson (Aut), J Chillas (Sco) , F Mann (Sco) , C Chung (Tpe), B Lane (Eng)
69 D Russell (Eng), D O'Sullivan (Irl), C Mason (Eng) , S Torrance (Sco) ,
70 B Ruangkit (Tha) , B Lincoln (SAf), G Wolstenholme (Eng) , M Farry (Fra) , J Heggarty (Nir), R Davis (Aus)
71 D Merriman (Aus) , J Bruner (USA) , B Cameron (Eng) , G Ryall (Eng) , I Woosnam (Wal) , D Cambridge (Jam) , M Kuramoto (Jpn) , K Tomori (Jpn) , B Smit (SAf) 
72 T Price (Aus) , N Job (Eng), N Ratcliffe (Aus), J Rivero (Esp), J Quiros (Esp) , M Clayton (Aus), S Lyle (Sco), M Moreno (Esp), S Bennett (Eng), G Banister (Aus), J Stuart (USA) , A Sowa (Arg)
73 T Gale (Aus), M Ramayah (Mas), S Owen (Nzl) 
74 S Van Vuuren (RSA) , B Hardwick (Can) , M Cunning (USA) , D Hospital (Esp), T Charnley (Eng)
75 M Piñero (Esp), L Carbonetti (Arg) , H Carbonetti (Arg), P Dahlberg (Swe) , G Brand (Eng), W Grady (Aus) , G Ralph (Eng), F Illouz (Fra), K Spurgeon (Eng)
76 D Durnian (Eng), G Cali (Ita) , T Johnstone (Zim) , S Cipa (Eng)
78 A Garrido (Esp) 
79 M Miller (Sco), L Stephen (Aus)
80 M Belsham (Eng)
81 T Burgoyne (Sco) 
85 R Metherell (Aus) 

AEGON PULLS PLUG ON SPONSORSHIP OF SALTMAN BROTHERS

FROM THE SPORT.SCOTSMAN.COM WEBSITE
http://sport.scotsman.com/
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
Aegon, the Edinburgh-based life insurance and pensions company, has ended its four-year sponsorship of the three Saltman brothers but denied the move has been made because of the bad publicity caused by the ban handed to Elliot when he was found guilty of "cheating" by the European Tour.
The decision, which has been made just over 12 months after a new three-year deal was struck, is described as a "mutual agreement" and follows Aegon carrying out a review that has resulted in job losses and cost-cutting of 25 per cent across its business.
It also comes, however, in the wake of Elliot being handed a three-month ban by the European Tour after he was found guilty of a "serious breach" of the rules during a Challenge Tour event in Russia last September.
While continuing to maintain his innocence, which he claimed was backed up after he passed a "lie-detector" test, the 28-year-old decided against lodging an appeal, which George O'Grady, the European Tour chief executive, confirmed recently could have resulted in a longer ban if unsuccessful.
However, it is no secret that there were concerns over how the incident would affect Elliot commercially, with sponsors known to be sensitive to being attached to "bad news" stories, as Tiger Woods found out when he was dumped by some of his backers in the wake of the scandal that unfolded in his private life.
Elliot, the oldest of the brothers, and Lloyd, a former Walker Cup player who won the Siver Medal as leading amateur in the 2005 Open Championship at St Andrews, have been sponsored by Aegon since 2007, with Zack joining "Team Saltman" two years later when he also turned professional.

TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY MARTIN DEMPSTER, BUY A COPY OF

"THE SCOTSMAN" TODAY OR LOG ON TO THE SPORT.SCOTSMAN.COM

WEBSITE

CLICK HERE