LAST FOUR IN LOTHIANS CHAMPIONSHIP AT BROOMIEKNOWE

TONIGHT'S QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS


ALAN ANDERSON (Bruntsfield Links) bt MYLES CUNNINGHAM (Craigielaw) 3 and 2.

JAMIE McINTOSH (Broomieknowe) bt KEITH NICHOLSON (Haddington) 3 and 2.

MARK TIMMINS (Pumpherston) bt STUART BLAIR (Royal Musselburgh) 5 and 3.

STEVEN SMITH (Marriott Dalmahoy) bt CAMERON MARR (Musselburgh) at 19th.

Semi-finals and final on Saturday, May 7.

MORAY AND NAIRN LEAGUE: Elgin fight back to draw with Nairn at Forres

Elgin rallied to draw 4-4 this evening with Nairn in the opening match of the 63rd Moray and  Nairn Golf League, hosted by Forres Golf Club. Nairn, runners-up to champions Moray in 2009 and 2010, took a 3 1/2-1/2 lead from the first four matches to finish but Elgin turned the tables on their opponents by winning three and halving the other of the last four ties. Details: NAIRN 4, ELGIN 4 Nairn names first F Fotheringham lost to N McWilliam 1 hole; S Macdonald lost to D Ramsay 2 holes; S Burgess halved with S G Milne; A Burgess lost to K B Taylor 4 and 3; E Gordon bt F Baillie 3 and 2; G Morrison bt S H C Milne 6 an d 5; S Ritchie halved with D Hector; G Asher bt G Ross 5 and 4. Remaining matches: FRIDAY - Forres v Nairn Dunbar (5.30). SATURDAY - Moray v Elgin (9.30am), Forres v Nairn (10.30), Nairn Dunbar v Moray (2pm), Elgin v Forres (3pm). SUNDAY - Nairn v Moray (9.30am), Elgin v Nairn Dunbar (10.30), Moray v Forres (2pm), Nairn Dunbar v Nairn (3pm).

McILROY STRUGGLES TO A 75 BUT MARTIN LAIRD IS WORSE WITH 78

Defending champion Rory McIlroy got off to a slow start in defence of his Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow. He returned a three-over-par 75.
But even that was three shots better than Martin Laird's nightmare start of 78 .. a chapter of errors total he shared with Englishman Paul Casey.
Laird, the leading money-winner on the US PGA Tour this season, bogeyed the first, third, fourth and sixth before he had an eagle 3 at the seventh. But another bogey popped up at the ninth to put the Glasgow man out in three-over 39.
He bogeyed the 10th, birdied the long 15th but bogeyed the 17th. A double bogey 6 at the last put the tin hat on it for Laird.
Casey birdied the first and fifth but had eight bogeys, including the last three holes in a row.
McIlroy bogeyed the first and the last ... and a few in between.
The substantial rounds by European golfers came from Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia, who each carded a 69, the same mark as Phil Mickelson. Garcia has started well in his three previous US PGA Tour events this year.
The challenge for him is to pick up the pace on the final two days to chase down automatic qualification for the US Open. Garcia, who started the week as the world No 72, needs to leap 22 places in the next three weeks to avoid submitting to the qualification process.
Garcia has played in every major since making his debut at Carnoustie in 1999, a total of 47. Congressional will be the richer for his presence.
Martin Kaymer, who will reclaim the world No 1 spot with a win in South Carolina, carded a 70, the same score as Brian Davis, the unheralded Englishman on the US Tour,  to sit one behind Harrington and Garcia.
Justin Rose came in with a 71 - to be seven shots behind the leader, Bill Haas with an eight-under-par 64 over the 7,442yd course.
+SCROLL DOWN FOR THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE REPORT
LEADERBOARD
Par 72
Players from US unless stated
64 Bill Haas.
66 Jonathan Byrd, David Toms.
67 Lucas Glover, Pat Perez.
68 Stuart Appleby (Australia), Carl Pettersson (Sweden).
Selected scores:
69 Padraig Harrington (Ireland), Sergio Garcia (Spain), Phil Mickelson.
70 Martin Kaymer (Germany), Brian Davis (England).
71 Justin Rose (England).
72 Bubba Watson, Jim Furyk, Rory Sabbatini (S Africa), Edoardo Molinari (Italy).
75 Rory McIlroy (N Ireland), David Duval.
78 Martin Laird (Scotland), Paul Casey (England).

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES ON THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE

CLICK HERE

BILL HAAS IT GOING FOR HIM AT QUAIL HOLLOW
FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (AP) — Of all the times Bill Haas has played Quail Hollow, he never had a round quite like this.
Haas had stress-free birdies on all the par 5s and did little wrong on the rest of the holes Thursday in the Wells Fargo Championship, matching the tournament record for lowest opening round with an 8-under 64 for a two-shot lead.
"I've got good feelings around this place," Haas said.
It was his best score by four shots at Quail Hollow on the US PGA Tour, and way better than two dozen rounds he played as a kid when he would tag along with his father, Jay Haas, on the special trips they made to the course.
Haas had a two-shot lead over David Toms and Jonathan Byrd, who each had a 66 in the morning when it was barely above 40 degrees at the start of the tournament with a north wind that is uncommon for this tournament.
Ultimately, the afternoon turned out to be perfect - much like Haas and his round.
He did have a few key par saves, such as the 10-foot putt he made at the turn on the 18th hole. The key for Haas, though, was getting off to a good start on the slightly tougher back nine, and knowing he could afford to make a few mistakes.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy made some errors early, and he never quite caught up. In his first trip back to America after his Sunday collapse in the Masters, the 22-year-old from Northern Ireland opened with a 75.
"The story of the day for me is I really didn't hit it very well, which is unlike me," McIlroy said. "It'd be the strength of my game and today I just wasn't striking it well. My timing was off just a little bit."
Pat Perez and Lucas Glover were at 67, while Rickie Fowler overcame a rugged start - two bogeys on his opening three holes - to lead a group at 68 that included Vijay Singh and Stuart Appleby.
Phil Mickelson, in his first event since the Masters, hit two balls in the water on par 5s and scrambled for par each time. The first one was critical. He already was 1 over for the tournament through six holes when he came out of the pine straw and into the pond at No. 7. He holed a 12-foot par putt, then made birdie on the next four holes.
He wound up with a 69, along with Padraig Harrington.
"I hadn't played in a few weeks, and to shoot under par was a good start," Mickelson said. "It could have been a lot better, could have been a lot worse. I'll certainly take it."
The cold air made Quail Hollow play even longer in the morning, and it was particularly tough on the guys who don't blast it. Toms fits into that category, which explains why he had to hit fairway metals for his second shot on three par 4s. The good news is he made par on all of them, and threw in seven birdies for a 66.
"It was cold this morning, and we were all out there with our jackets and sweaters on and playing these long par 4s," Toms said. "If I can shoot 3 under on the front nine, as long as it played, I'll take that any day."
Toms won the first edition of this tournament in 2003.
Byrd rarely plays well here. Except for a tie for fifth a few years ago, he missed the cut in his other five appearance. He almost thought about skipping the Wells Fargo Championship, except that it's close to his South Carolina roots.
"It's pretty odd," said Byrd, who opened the year with a play-off win at Kapalua. "If it wasn't close to home, I might start saying, 'I just don't play well there, I need to go home.' But my family is close to home here in Columbia, South Carolina, and it's not far from Clemson. They just knock it out of the park at this golf tournament, and it's a tournament I can't miss."Haas wouldn't miss it, either - not now, certainly not as a kid. He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, although his father was a member and they often made the 90-mile drive to Quail Hollow.
"My dad would say, 'Let's go play Quail tomorrow.' It was a bigger deal than just playing at home," he said.
Haas figures he played some 30 rounds here before turning pro. He also has good memories of the times he played the tournament with his father, older brother (Jay Jr.) and his uncle (Jerry Haas).
Even so, nothing compares to playing and making so many birdies.
Haas opened his round with a 3-wood onto the 10th green for a two-putt birdie, and a 7-iron to 15 feet on the 12th, which played as the second-toughest hole in the opening round. Then came a 30-foot birdie on the 14th, and an easy up-and-down from the front bunker on the par-5 15th for a birdie.
He knew birdie chances awaited on the front with two par 5s, and he made birdie there, too.
Haas tinkered with a belly putter at Hilton Head a few weeks ago because the greens are flat. He was back to a conventional putter on the contoured greens of Quail Hollow, and wound up making his share of them.
"Putted well," he said, "which leads to everything."

DISNEYLAND DELIGHT FOR JOAKIM ON CHALLENGE TOUR

FROM PAUL SYMES
European Challenge Tour Press Officer
After sampling the high life at Disneyland Paris, Swedish teenager Joakim Lagergren went low on the first day of the Allianz Challenge de France to grab the lead on seven under par 64.
Lagergen, playing his first full season on the Challenge Tour after turning professional last year, spent Wednesday afternoon riding the theme park’s rollercoasters, then promptly produced some equally thrilling golf in a course record round of 64 on the opening morning of the €150,000 event.
The 19 year old from Stockholm – who has one victory on the Satellite Tour Nordic League to his name – is a relative newcomer to the Challenge Tour, having made only his second appearance at the recent Barclays Kenya Open.
But he belied his tender years and inexperience by notching eight birdies and a solitary bogey at a sun-kissed Golf Disneyland, on the outskirts of the French capital.
Lagergren, who went out in the first group of the day, leads by two strokes from Romain Bechu after the Frenchman signed for a round of 66 to take second place.
The Swede said: “Other than the dropped shot on the 13th hole, today was a very good day. I played really solid, hardly missed any fairways or greens and also putted well. The course is a lot of fun, and it suits my game. The fairways are quite narrow in places, especially on the front nine, but if you can drive the ball well you can set up a lot of birdie chances, and luckily I managed to take a few today.
“Picking up shots on the par fives is key, because they’re all reachable in two so if you make par, you almost feel like you’re dropping a shot to the field. It’s been a great couple of days after we went on the rollercoasters yesterday, and hopefully the next two are just as much fun.”
The highlight of Bechu’s round was an eagle at the first, where he holed his bunker shot. The Frenchman added a further five birdies, but gave shots back at the short fourth and the long 14th to drop back to five under par.
He said: “I felt good out on the course today, hit a lot of good shots and made some nice putts. The course is in great shape, and it’s a lot of fun to play. As I’m playing mainly on the Alps Tour this year, I need to do well whenever I get the chance on the Challenge Tour to give myself the best chance to receive invites and get back on the Challenge Tour next season, and luckily for me I managed to do that today.”
Eleven players currently share third place on four under par: Finland’s Antti Ahokas; the English quartet of Daniel Brooks, Matthew Cryer, Matt Evans and Charlie Ford; the French duo of Baptiste Chapellan and Thomas Fournier; Welshman Garry Houston; Norwegian Espen Kofstad; Italian Gregory Molteni; and last, but by no means least, Denmark’s Mark Vibe-Hastrup, who covered the front nine in a stunning 28 shots. 
FIRST-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 71
64 J Lagergren (Swe) 

66 R Bechu (Fra)

67 B Chapellan (Fra), M Evans (Eng) , E Kofstad (Nor) , C Ford (Eng) , A Ahokas (Fin) , M Vibe-Hastrup (Den) , G Molteni (Ita) , G Houston (Wal) , D Brooks (Eng) , T Fournier (Fra) , M Cryer (Eng) 

68 P Gustafsson (Swe) , J Lopez Lazaro (Fra) , A Bernadet (Fra) , R Kind (Ned) , N Kearney (Irl) , A Perrino (Ita) , S Thornton (Irl) , J McLeary (Sco) , A Marshall (Eng)

69 C Gane (Eng) , M Kieffer (Ger) , A Pavan (Ita) , J Hepworth (Eng) , T Fleetwood (Eng) , A Bossert (Sui) , I Keenan (Eng) , J Heath (Eng) , X Poncelet (Fra) , F Colombo (Ita) , K Le Sager (Fra) , B Hebert (Fra) , B Akesson (Swe) , J Larsen (Nor) , A McArthur (Sco) , A Bihan (Fra) , J Quesne (Fra) , P Archer (Eng)

70 W Schauman (Swe) , R Blaum (USA) , P Edberg (Swe) , S Little (Eng) , M Glauert (Ger) , J Robinson (Eng) , D Vancsik (Arg) , M Southgate (Eng) , S Robinson (Eng) , J Guerrier (Fra) , J Billot (Fra) , J Palmer (Eng) , A Domingo (Esp) , C Lee (Sco)

71 L Jensen (Den) , K Eriksson (Swe) , S Matus (Cze) , M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) , N Meitinger (Ger) , J Lucquin (Fra) , E Dubois (Fra) , C Paisley (Eng) , S Bebb (Wal) , P Dwyer (Eng) , C Moriarty (Irl) , J Lima (Por) , B Teilleria (Fra) , A Canete (Arg) , J Estevez (Arg) , A Forsyth (Sco) , C Brazillier (Fra) , F Calmels (Fra) , C Russo (Fra) , G Lockerbie (Eng) , R Santos (Por) ,

72 B Barham (Eng) , N Joakimides (Fra) , T Linard (Fra) , T Leon (USA) , G Dear (Sco) , G Cambis (Fra) , P Relecom (Bel) , R De Sousa (Sui) , G Adell (Swe) , G Watremez (Bel) , M Palm (Swe) , T Raillard (Fra) , M Lundberg (Swe) , B Ritthammer (Ger) , B Evans (Eng) , G Rosier (Fra) , J Doherty (Sco) , D Perrier (Fra) , J Grillon (Fra) , W Besseling (Ned) , O Maire (Fra) ,

73 P Del Grosso (Arg) , R Marguery (Fra) , M Erlandsson (Swe) , T Whitehouse (Eng) , M Baldwin (Eng) , I Giner (Esp) , B Miarka (Ger) , M Warren (Sco) , M Delpodio (Ita) , A Bruschi (Ita) , D Denison (Eng) , L Kennedy (Eng) , C Lloyd (Eng) , A Snobeck (Fra) ,

74 P Baker (Eng) , J Van Der Vaart (Ned) , V Riu (Fra) , M Ford (Eng) , S Walker (Eng) , N Lemke (Swe) , M Bey (Fra) , M Thorp (Nor) , C Monasterio (Arg) , R Dupuis (Fra) , N Mourlon (Fra) , N McCarthy (Eng) , D Nouailhac (Fra) , 75 C Macaulay (Sco) , P Golding (Eng) , A Hansen (Den) , T Feyrsinger (Aut) , J Legarrea (Esp) , J Guillet (Fra) , Å Nilsson (Swe) , B Grace (RSA) , O David (Fra) , F Praegant (Aut)

76 M Bothma (RSA) , O Serres (Fra) , A Willey (Eng) , J Gressier (Fra) , C Doak (Sco) , S Davis (Eng) , R Schneider (Fra)

77 L Westerberg (Swe) , M Kramer (Ger) , D Wuensche (Ger) , T Ferreira (RSA) , N Lombardi (Ita) , J Foret (Fra) , G Jackson (Eng) , A Grenier (Fra) , S Fernoux (Fra)

78 A Butterfield (Eng) , J Little (Eng), C Judlin (Fra) 

79 J Clément (Sui) 

80 F Abadie (Fra), R Hjelm (Den) 

82 M Van Hauwe (Fra)

JAMIE ABBOT WINS £10,000 PRIZE FOR FIRST TIME ON EUROPRO

By MICHAEL EMONS
PGA EuroPro Tour Press Officer
Jamie Abbott has won for the first time on the PGA EuroPro Tour after a thrilling final day at Wensum Valley .
Abbott, 23, finished top of the YourGolfTravel.com European Championship in Norfolk and collected the £10,000 top prize.
He ended on 216, even par, after rounds of 74 (+2), 69 (-3) and 73 (+1) to finish three shots ahead of Jason Levermore, James Busby and George Cowan.
“This is by far the biggest achievement of my career and I now have the taste of winning,” said a delighted Abbott, who only turned professional last summer.
“I never finished a tournament off at amateur level and I was always second, third or fourth.
“But winning is a nice feeling and I want to feel it again so hopefully in the next event at Burhill I can win again.
“I feel great and it’s nice to get the season off to a good start.
“I came close to winning at Slaley Hall last year but I finished second as my England colleague James Robinson beat me by one shot.”
Abbott, a member of the Fynn Valley Golf Club, near Ipswich, Suffolk , played in one of the biggest events of last year - the 2010 Open.
This is his first full season on the EuroPro Tour and believes his time playing at the Open has helped his game.
“I used a bit of experience gained in the play-off to qualify for the Open and I fell back on that,” added Abbott.
“I was a bit nervous coming up for the last few holes but I just reminded myself that I’ve done it before and I could do it again.”
In a thrilling final day, the lead changed hands on numerous occasions and at one point only three shots separating the top 14 players.
Levermore (Clacton), Busby (The Shropshire) and Cowan (Westerhope) ended in joint second on three-over for the tournament, one shot ahead of Alex Belt (The De Vere Club), Sam Matton (Bowood Hotel Spa and Golf Resort) and Martin LeMesurier (South Winchester).
Ed Wood (Crow Wood) and Jamie Howarth (De Vere Mottram Hall) started the final day in joint first position on two-under but both fell away on Thursday.
Wood suffered a miserable round as he bogeyed nine of the first 15 holes, while Howarth also struggled with seven bogeys and a double bogey at the second as they finished tied 26th and tied 8th respectively.
Matchroom Sport will now produce a two-hour highlights programme from the event, which will be broadcast on Sky Sports on Wednesday, May 18.

For more information, visit the official website www.europrotour.com


LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
216 Jamie Abbott (Fynn Valley) 74 69 73 (£10,000).
219 Jason Levermore (Clacton) 73 72 74, James Busby (Shropshire) 69 76 74, George Cowan (Westerhope) 72 72 75 (£3,066.67 each).
220 Alex Belt (The De Vere Club) 75 75 70, Sam Matton (Bowood Hotel) 72 77 71, Marin LeMesurier (South Winchester) 71 74 75  (£1,200 each).
221 Stephen Gray (Broad Carin Services) 75 74 72, David Rawluck (Ireland) 73 75 73, Daniel Wardrop (Didsbury) 75 73 73, Tom Haylock (The Hertfordshire) 76 71 74 (£775 each).
OTHER SCOTS' SCORES
222 Shaun McAllister (Craigielaw) 74 75 73 (T14)(£489).
224 Ed Wood (Crow Wood) 76 66 82 (T26) (£312).
225 John Gallagher (Swanston) 77 69 79 (T33) (£297).
226 Ross Cameron (Saltire Energy) 77 73 76 (T37) (£255).
227 Duncan Stewart (Grantown on Spey) 74 75 78 (T42) (£232).
228 Paul Doherty (Vale Hotel, Glamorgan) 76 74 78 (T46) (£212).
230 Lee Harper (Archerfield Links) 72 77 81 (48th) (£210).

FANTASTIC FOX LEADS WITH 66 IN RAIN AT STRANRAER

By ALAN TAIT
A four-under-par 66 by Graham Fox (East Kilbride) in very difficult conditions - we had a 2hr rain delay - set the 2011 Optical Express Pro Golf Tour rolling at Stranraer Golf Club today.
Graham was one over par after six and then birdied the eighth to go out in level par 35. He then covered the back nine in four-under-par 31 with birdies at the 12th, 13th, 14th and 18th.
His fantastic score of 66 gives him a two-shot lead from Northern Open champion Greig Hutcheon (Banchory) going into the second and final round on Friday.
Paul O'Hara, taking a break from campaiging on the German PGA's EPD Tour, is lying in third place with a 69.
Carnoustie's Katy McNicoll had the best ladies' score - a 73 - which put her in joint 13th place overall, alongside big names such as Colin Gillies and Andrew Oldcorn. Heather MacRae (Downfield) had a 77.

SCOREBOARD
Par 70
66 Graham Fox.
68 Greig Hutcheon.
69 Paul O'Hara.
70 Chris Kelly, Eric Ramsay.
71 Neil Fenwick, David Roger, Craig Matheson.
72 Robert Arnott, Chris Currie, Mark King, Lindsay Mann.
73 Lorne Kelly, Jim McKinnon, Katy McNicoll, Colin Gillies, Andrew Old corn, Paul McKechnie.
74 Ben Irving, David J Russell, Graeme Brown, Alan Tait.
75 Craig Ronald.
76 Steven Duncan, Andrew Fullen.
77 John Henry, Heather MacRae.
78 Tom Buchanan, Lewis Burnett.
79 Jason McCreadie.
80 Scott Henderson, Jonathan Malin, Kevin McAlpine, Stewart Savage.
81 James Erskine, Francisco Pintor Smithy, Craig Gordon.
82 Norman Huguet, Lauren Mackin.
83 Ted Innes Kerr.
84 James Smallwood, Alan Lockhart.
85 Henry Barton.

FRIDAY'S TEE TIMES
7.30 Barton, Lockhart, Kerr.
7.38 Huguet, Mackin, Erskine.
7.46 Smith, Gordon, Henderson.
7.54 Malin, McAlpine, Savage.

8.02 McCreadie, Buchanan. Burnett.
8.10 Henry, MacRae, Duncan.
8.18 Fullen, Ronald, Irvine.
8.26 Russell, Brown, Tait.
8.34 Kelly, McKinnon, McNicoll.
8.42 Gillies, Oldcorn, McKechnie.
8.50 Arnott, Currie, King.
8.58 Mann, Fenwick, Roger.

9.06 Matheson, Kelly, Ramsay.
9.14 O'Hara, Hutcheon, Fox.

NEIL HARVEY APPOINTED HEAD COACH AT WOODHALL SPA CENTRE

NEWS RELEASE
The National Golf Centre, Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire today announces the appointment of experienced teaching professional Neil Harvey to the role of Head Coach. The newly created position will see him spearhead the growth of the highly acclaimed National Golf Centre Academy, one of the UK’s most important teaching facilities.
Neil, 45, who turned professional in 1991, joins The National Golf Centre, Woodhall Spa, with a reputation as one of Yorkshire’s finest golf coaches.
He was previously Club Professional at Headingley Golf Club, Leeds, and has worked with some of the UK’s top amateur and professional players.
Neil is also renowned for creating ground-breaking youth development programmes that have subsequently produced some of the country’s most promising young golfers.

BUCKLE UP! GLENMUIR LAUNCHES BELTS FOR NEW SEASON

NEWS RELEASE
Glenmuir, the leading golf apparel brand, has introduced a range of new
accessories to its latest 2011 collection, including belts for the first
time.
With a growing market for golfers to match accessories with their outfits,
the leather 'Tranter' belt in three colours brown, white and black with a
subtle Glenmuir 1891 logo on the stylish silver buckle.
While the classic brown and black belts blend seamlessly with all products
in Glenmuir’s latest seasonal collection, the bold white version allows
golfers to make a statement – especially when combined with the bright new
Mango, Hot Pink and Kingfisher blue colour schemes which can be found
throughout the clothing range. RRP £32.
Lanark-based Glenmuir is well-known for the quality of its golf socks and
new Men’s and Ladies’ models have been introduced this year which feature special technology to help keep feet cool and fresh.
Ridley – a twin pack of men’s performance golf socks - features Coolmax
moisture management and Aegis anti-bacterial technology for freshness. Made
from a Cotton/Coolmax/Lycra/Polyester blend they offer cushioning, a comfort
toe, heel grip, arch support and breathable mesh panel. Colours: White/Grey
Marl and White Navy. Sizes UK 7-11. RRP £8.
For ladies, the twin pack Manon is a shorter 3" erformance sock with all
the features of the Ridley. Colours are White/Hot Pink and White/Peapod.
Sizes - UK 4-8. RRP £8.
Other socks available include the Men's twin pack ‘Dunbar’ sock with a fully
cushioned footstep in five colours (black, white, navy, stone, grey) while
the ‘Logo Sock’ can be embroidered with a club crest or logo. RRP £7.50.  Also available is the twin-pack ‘Ardelle’ secret socks in white with
contrast tipping in five colours RRP: £7.50  and ‘Jessica’, twin pack of 5"
socks in white, black and stone RRP: £7.50.For Spring/Summer 2011 Glenmuir offers a fully-coordinating collection of
clothes and accessories with three new and modern colour schemes: Hot Summer
where bright pink combines with navy, white and stone; Tequila Sunrise, with
stunning mango and peapod accent colours against white, khaki and black; and
Cool Waves, where vibrant kingfisher blue sits alongside yellow, black,
white and mercury.

SCOTT JAMIESON CLICKETY-CLICKS TO LEAD IN SPAIN WITH A 66

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Glasgow's Scott Jamieson, playing just the 11th European Tour event of his career, shot a six-under-par 66 to hold a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Open de España at El Prat, Barcelona today. 
The 27-year-old Challenge Tour graduate, who has already produced three top-11 finishes in his maiden European Tour campaign, leads France's Romain Wattel, India's Jeev Milkha Singh, England's Steve Webster and home favourite Pablo Larrazabal.
Jamieson, who first came to the forefront as the winner of the Scottish boys' open amateur stroke-play at Lanark in 2001 when he was a member at Cathkin Braes GC, grabbed eight birdies and would have been clear out in front but for bogeys at the 14th and fourth.
He is a former student at Augusta State and dreams of returning there one day to play in The Masters Tournament.

"We were allowed to play the course once a year and that was thrilling," he said.

"I didn't get a wink of sleep the night before the first time I played. In my first three rounds at Augusta National I shot 80 - same as Rory McIlroy last month, of course - and on my fourth I finally had a respectable 74.

"Not to make excuses, we always played in the winter when it was cold and wet.

"You look at the first hole and during The Masters those guys are hitting nine iron and wedge into the green, but my shortest second shot was a four iron.

"It's a really special place."
FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW

SCOTSWATCH: Elliot Saltman, playing on the European Tour for the first time since his three-month ban, had a satisfactory par round of 72 (39-33), which was not a bad effort considering he began with a double bogey 6 and also bogeyed the third and sixth. A birdie 2 at the long second helped him to get out in three-over 39 but he had a flawless inward half of 33, studded with birdies at the long 10th, the 12th and 16th.

Richie Ramsay had 16 pars, a bogey at the long seventh and a birdie at the long 18th in halves of 37 and 35.

Paul Lawrie and David Drysdale also hit the 72 mark. Lawrie dropped three shots over the last two holes - a double bogey 6 at the 17th and a bogey 6 at the 18th in halves of 34-38.
Next to Jamieson in the Scots' roll of honour came Colin Montgomerie and Lloyd Saltman, both on two-under-ar 70. 


FIRST-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72
66 Scott Jamieson (Scotland).
67 Romain Wattel (France), Pablo Larrazabal (Spain), Jeev Milkha Singh (India), Steve Webster (England).
68 Gregory Bourdy (France), Peter Lawrie (Ireland), Thomas Aiken (S Africa), Anthony Wall (England).


OTHER SCOTS' SCORES
70 Colin Montgomerie, Lloyd Saltman.
72 George Murray, Richie Ramsay, Elliot Saltman, Paul Lawrie, David Drysdale.
73 Peter Whiteford.
74 Stephen Gallacher, Steven O'Hara.

 TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES ON THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE


CLICK HERE

TUESDAY BARGAN GREEN FEE AT THE DUKE'S, ST ANDREWS

NEWS RELEASE
The Duke’s Course, St Andrews has entered the ‘twilight zone’ with the introduction of a green fee of just £35 between 3pm and 5pm every Tuesday.
With summer on the horizon and the nights becoming longer, The Duke’s is keen to attract some late afternoon golfers to its championship heathland course located just outside St Andrews and boasting wonderful panoramas over the historic town, West Sands and the Grampian Mountains.
“With the wonderful spring weather that we’ve been enjoying over the last few weeks, we decided that we’d try and tempt people on to the golf course for an afternoon round of golf,” says David Scott, Manager of The Duke’s. “And after golf, the balcony of The Duke’s Clubhouse with its spectacular views of St Andrews and beyond is the perfect place to sit and enjoy a sundowner or two.”
Part of the iconic Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort & Spa, The Duke’s was originally designed by five-time Open champion Peter Thomson and then in 2004 underwent a remodelling by Pete Dye-prodigy, Tim Liddy.
By 2006, the American had transformed the course into a heathland masterpiece. Liddy replaced the old pot bunkers with rough-edged, spacious bunkers reminiscent of the romantic bygone years of heathland golf, improved the course drainage and completely redesigned five holes.
The Duke’s now boasts five sets of tees measuring from the front tees an inviting 5,216 yards to the challenging back tees of the Championship Course at 7,512 yards, offering a choice of tees to match every level of golfer.
The result is that The Duke’s is now on many golfers must-play list following the inclusion of the course in Golf World’s Top 100 Golf Courses in the UK in 2008 and 2010.

www.playthedukes.co.uk or www.oldcoursehotel.co.uk














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SHOULDER OPERATION MEANS BOOTH IS OUT FOR SEASON

Wallace Booth, the Comrie tour pro, is out for the next of the golf season before it has hardly started.

The former Walker Cup player who won the Eisenhower Trophy in 2008 for Scotland with team-mates Gavin Dear and Calum Macaulay has had his pro career hampered for some time by a niggling shoulder injury.

Now he has had an operation in an effort to heal the problem but the price the 25-year-old has to pay is that it will take months of recuperation before he can even start hitting balls again.

SABBATINI DENIES HAVING CONFRONTATION WITH O'HAIR

FROM THE GOLFWEEK.COM WEBSITE
Alleged to have had a heated on-course confrontation with Sean O’Hair during the second round of last week’s Zurich Classic, South African Rory Sabbatini said the stories reported by outlets such as The Associated Press and CBSSports.com were "untrue."
So, too, according to him, are reports he’ll be suspended later this month. It’s been reported that Sabbatini, who will compete at Wells Fargo beginning today, has this week and next (Players Championship) to appeal what could be a 30-day suspension for conduct unbecoming.
“I heard it all,” Sabbatini said in the locker room after his pro-am. “Supposedly I had a fight with O’Hair and I told the tour to ‘F-off.’ Heresy (hearsay) is heresy.”
The “heresy” which Sabatini spoke of was a verbal disagreement that allegedly took place between O’Hair and Sabbatini on the 14th hole at TPC Louisiana. According to sources, Sabbatini spent much of last Thursday and Friday complaining about the speed of play. Eventually he asked O’Hair directly if he thought the speed of play was a problem and reportedly O’Hair said the problem was Sabbatini.
Sources said O’Hair told Sabbatini that playing in a group with Sabbatini, a known speed-of-play advocate, was equal to a two-shot penalty for his playing competitors.
Sources said no other words were spoken during the round. Two sources said the two confronted each other again in the locker room.
“There is not anything I know about,” said Amy Sabbatini, Rory’s wife, when asked about any possible issues involving her husband. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Talk to the Tour.”
A US PGA Tour source confirmed that reports of the incident reached PGA Tour headquarters and that an investigation from a possible prior incident earlier this season in Los Angeles – involving Sabbatini dressing down a teenage Shotlink volunteer – still was ongoing. Sabbatini was spotted on Tuesday at Quail Hollow having a lengthy conversation with Andy Pazder, the PGA Tour's chief of operations.
“I don’t think they will ever talk to each other again,” Pat Perez, the third member of the group at Zurich, said Wednesday regarding the O’Hair/Sabbatini incident from Zurich. “It’s never good to get in the middle of two guys in a heated discussion, so I walked away.”
After his pro-am round, Sabbatini termed the entire situation “crazy rumours.”
“Well I’m playing this week, so I wouldn’t worry about too much,” Sabbatini said.
Sabbatini was asked whether the Tour was investigating him for something that might have happened at the Zurich event.
“No, that’s just the rumor,” Sabbatini said. “You’re going based on a rumour. How many times do I have to tell you?”
Sabbatini, 35, a six-time winner on the PGA Tour, was the lone principal who would comment on the record. His agent, Bud Martin of Wasserman Media Group, would not comment. O’Hair’s agent, Jon Wagner of IMG, told CBSSports.com that O'Hair was not suspended and did not wish to comment. O’Hair, who has missed five consecutive cuts, withdrew from Wells Fargo earlier this week and was not on-site in Charlotte.
As a policy, the PGA Tour does not comment on any disciplinary action involving its players.
SCROLL DOWN FOR THE ORIGINAL STORY

SABBATINI FACING US TOUR SUSPENSION FOR ROW WITH O'HAIR

FROM THE STUFF.NZ.CO WEBSITE
South Africa Rory Sabbatini could face suspension from the US PGA Tour for what was described as a profanity-laced argument with Sean O'Hair during last week's Zurich Classic in New Orleans.
According to multiple players and officials, it was the second time this year that Sabbatini has run into trouble because of his behaviour on the golf course.
Sabbatini was playing the Wells Fargo Championship pro-am on Wednesday. O'Hair, who has missed his last five cuts on tour, withdrew from the tournament Monday. He recently fired his second caddie in four months, and split with swing coach Sean Foley earlier in the week. He could not immediately be reached for comment. The first incident was at Riviera in the Northern Trust Open, where Sabbatini was said to have spoken harshly to a teenage volunteer who was trying to help him find a lost ball.
It was not clear what triggered the argument between Sabbatini and O'Hair on the 14th hole at the TPC Louisiana last week. Both players missed the cut.
Pat Perez was the third player in the group, and when contacted he said, "I can't really say anything. The tour has asked me not to talk about it."
Two other players who were near Sabbatini's group in New Orleans said the argument became so heated that Steve Lucas - O'Hair's father-in-law and caddie - stepped in to keep the dispute from getting physical. Lucas is a college basketball referee.
Player confrontations in golf are not uncommon, although they typically are handled privately between players in the locker room or the scoring trailer after the round. What made this unusual is that it happened during the round.
Not so unusual is that it involved Sabbatini, a spunky South African with six career wins.
The players and officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the tour keeps all disciplinary matters private.
O'Hair also was in Sabbatini's group at Riviera. Two people familiar with the incident said the volunteer wrote a five-page letter to the US PGA Tour, but Sabbatini escaped punishment by offering to apologise to anyone he offended.
Sabbatini won two weeks later at the Honda Classic.
Stewart Cink also played in the group with O'Hair and Sabbatini at Riviera.
"It was raining. It was hard. We were all stressed trying to make the cut, and I think we might have been behind," Cink said today.
"There were a lot of factors. And then the incident happened."
Cink didn't go into details and said it involved "another player in my group," without mentioning Sabbatini by name.
"It was embarrassing for me as a golfer," Cink said.
"He did apologise directly to me. I hope he meant it and he moved on."
Two people with direct knowledge of the Riviera incident said the teenager placed an empty plastic bottle on foot-high grass right of the fifth green where he thought Sabbatini hit his ball. Sabbatini is said to have berated the youth for affecting his ball, although it turned out the ball was not his. The grass was so dense that three other balls were found, none belonging to Sabbatini.
US PGA Tour spokesman Ty Votaw said in an email that the tour was aware of what happened in New Orleans, and that it had responded to the incident at Riviera.
"We don't discuss disciplinary matters," Votaw said.
Two officials said Sabbatini hasn't been suspended and that he has 14 days to appeal any discipline. He is playing in the Wells Fargo Championship this week and is expected to play next week at The Players Championship.
Another official said a 30-day suspension would be typical in this case, although he did not know how it would be resolved.
Sabbatini showed a quick temper in 2005 at the Booz Allen Classic when he became so frustrated with Ben Crane's pace of play that he played ahead on the 17th hole and walked to the 18th tee as Crane was still in the fairway.
There was a buzz about Sabbatini at Quail Hollow today, unrelated to the allegations from the previous tournaments.
Sabbatini's wife, Amy, walked with him in the fairway while pushing their infant son in a stroller during a practice round, according to two players who saw it.
If he is suspended, it would come at a pivotal time for Sabbatini. The two tournaments that follow The Players Championship are in the Dallas area, where Sabbatini lives - Colonial and the Byron Nelson Championship. Sabbatini is a past champion at both events.
Sabbatini is No. 58 in the world and not yet exempt for the US Open. He would have until the Colonial to get into the top 50 and avoid having to qualify

BRYDEN v SMYTH IN TONIGHT'S AYRSHIRE MATCH-PLAY FINAL

Tonight's final of the 2011 Ayrshire men's match-play championship at Troon Portland will be between Gary Bryden of Girvan and Michael Smyth of Royal Troon.
In last night's semi-finals, Gary Bryden won on the 18th green against Stephen Murray (Troon Welbeck) while Michael Smyth also won by one hole against Marc Smith (Troon Welbeck).
The final tees off at 5pm.