DA SILVA WINS NASHUA CHALLENGE AFTER CLOSING 63

FROM THE SOUTH AFRICAN SUNSHINE TOUR WEBSITE
Adilson Da Silva turned in the round of his life today as he carded a nine-under par 63 to win the R500,000 Nashua Golf Challenge by five strokes.
Da Silva’s score equals the best ever achieved around the 7,162-metre Gary Player Country Club, Swede Henrik Stenson’s 63 from 2008. However, the Nedbank Golf Challenge uses some different tee positions, so Da Silva’s is the best off the professional markers at the famous resort course.
He ended up with a total of 202, 14-under-par.
“From the beginning, I felt wonderful,” said Da Silva, “and somehow, I managed not to get ahead of myself.
“I’ve been hitting the ball really well for quite a while now, and I think the last two rounds – and today especially – the putting started to fall into place,” he added.
Not that he needed his putter on a couple of occasions: He chipped in on 16 in the middle of a sequence of three consecutive birdies which took him out of the reach of the chasing pack.
In the end, second-round leader Trevor Fisher junior carded at two-under-par 70 to finish in 207, and rookie Dean O’Riley closed with a six-under-par 66 to secure third place alone with 209, one stroke ahead of Vaughn Groenewald.
To put Da Silva’s round into some sort of context, only eight players of the 40 who made the 36-hole cut were able to finish the final round under par.
He was immaculate on the day, picking up his first birdie on the second and making three more before the turn to reach halfway at four-under and already in a very strong position.
He made that position impregnable as he birdied 10 and 12 before his closing burst of three in a row from the 15th. “It was impressive to watch,” said Fisher.
Veteran Andre Cruse, who started the day in a share of third at four-under-par, got stung by a bee on his right hand at the fifth. It was still swollen as he came in with a seven-over-par 79, and his hand was shaking.
“It’s shaking because of the way Adilson played,” he laughed.
It has been a quiet start to 2011 for Da Silva, who has his Asian Tour card: After his 2010 which had 10 top-10 finishes, including two victories, he had only one top-10 in 2011 before the victory at Sun City.
“I’m enjoying my golf now,” he said. “I’m really feeling like I can win again.”
That sounds ominous for his fellow Sunshine Tour professionals.

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US PLAYERS' CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY HOLD-UP DUE TO STORMS

Play in the third round of the US Players Championship at Sawgrass, Florida was suspended for 4 1/2 hours because of severe thunderstorms that circled the area for much of the afternoon (local time).
Play was scheduled to resume at 5.30pm (local time), which would be 10.30pm UK time.
David Toms, the 36-hole leader by one shot over Nick Watney, finished his second round about 1 p.m. Friday. Today's delay meant he would not tee off until shortly after 7 pm (local time) , and would only be able to play about four holes.


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NORTH-EAST, LOTHIANS, FIFE AND AYRSHIRE IN AREA SEMI-FINALS

Defending champions North-east carried on where they left off last year in winning the first Moneygate Scottish area team championship under its new stroke-play/match-play format at Kinross.
In this year's event, North-east headed the four teams who qualified from the rounds of stroke-play at Prestwick and Prestwick St Nicholas. North-east 718, 17 shots ahead of No 2 seeds Lothians, and will play the fourth qualifiers, Ayrshire (747) in Sunday morning's semi-finals.
Lothians will play the No 3 qualifiers, Fife (746).
The semi-final winners will meet in the afternoon final.

MATCH-PLAY QUALIFIERS
Prestwick-Prestwick St Nicholas totals in that order, followed by gross totals
1 NORTH-EAST 366 352 718
142 Kris Nicol 72 70.
143 Adam Dunton 76 67, Jordan Findlay 72 71.
146 David Law 74 72.
149 Scott Larkin 77 72.
151 Philip McLean 72 79.

2 LOTHIANS 374 361 735
142 Myles Cunningham 74 68.
144 Allyn Dick 72 72, Grant Forrest 74 70.
152 Stephen Simants 77 75.
155 Malcolm Campbell 79 76.
157 Graham Robertson 77 80.

3 FIFE 380 366 746
146 Brian Souter 76 70.
147 Scott Crichton 73 74.
149 Scott Stewart-Cation 76 73, James White 75 74.
155 Kevin Blyth 80 75.
165 Peter Latimer 85 79

4 AYRSHIRE 383 364 747
146 Jack McDonald 76 70.
148 Michael Smyth 74 74.
150 Jamie Mackay 76 74.
152 John Haggarty 80 72.
153 Gary Bryden 77 76.
160 Ewan Brown 86 74.







NON-QUALIFIERS FOR MATCH-PLAY
5 LANARKSHIRE 748
6 RENFREWSHIRE 752
7 ANGUS 757
T8 GLASGOW 762
T8 CLACKMANNANSHIRE 762
T8 NORTH 762
11 SOUTH 764
12 STIRLINGSHIRE 766
13 PERTH and KINROSS 767
14 DUNBARTONSHIRE 771
15 BORDERS 798
16 ARGYLL and  BUTE 808

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CHRIS WOOD LEADS BY FOUR SHOTS WITH A ROUND TO GO

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE

Chris Wood remains on course for a first European Tour title at Majorca's Iberdrola Open after extending his lead to four shots with a third round 69.

But two very familiar faces are sure to be chasing hard in the final round at Pula GC - with Darren Clarke and José Maria Olazábal forming the penultimate group on Sunday.

Wood's one under par effort took him to nine under for the week, four ahead of Clarke and Irishman Shane Lowry, who matched Grégory Bourdy's course record 63 from the opening round.
Olazábal is one further back at the course he designed on Majorca after a 66 - and all this after the Spaniard missed any tournament preparation to attend the funeral of close friend Seve Ballesteros on Wednesday.
Wood wasted little time stretching his overnight lead - the 23 year old holing a ten foot birdie putt on the first before eight consecutive pars saw him turn in 34.
A magnificent two iron second shot at the par five tenth led to another gain, before good par saves at the next two holes.
Wood - who has two top-five Open Championship finishes under his belt and lost a play-off for the Africa Open at the start of the season - finally dropped a shot at the 14th, although he might have got it back at the last when his six foot birdie putt rolled agonizingly past the left edge.
"I have extended my lead by one which is good but it was pretty tough today and I thought that I played pretty well and didn't really get the rewards I deserved," said Wood. "A lot of my birdie chances stayed out but overall it was a good day.
"I felt I was pretty flawless on the front nine today so I just need to do what I have been doing and hole a couple of more putts and I should be alright. It's pretty solid at the moment.
"I was eager to get going and I will be the same again tomorrow. I am ready to go again now if I had to. Tomorrow could be a big day for me but I need to try and treat it like any other round of golf."
Former Ryder Cup star Clarke had two bogeys in his first three holes but struck his approach to the fifth within three feet and made it consecutive birdies at the next.
He holed a 20 footer at the 13th, but three putts on the last saw him sign for a level par 70.
"I played nicely all day again," he said. "I played great and kept giving myself chance after chance and found myself with a very cold putter.
"I was disappointed at the last because I thought I had hit a great shot all over the flag and it turned out to be the worst place I could have missed it. Misread the first putt and misread the second putt but that's the game. The forecast for tomorrow is for strong winds so hopefully I can play the way I have been and the putter warms up a bit."
When asked about his former team-mate Olazábal's charge onto the leaderboard Clarke joked: "He should be - it's his course!
"It is always nice to see Chema up there and play well. He has been through an awful lot last week and this week so it's nice to see him contending."
Olazábal had a bogey at the second but put that behind him with five birdies - an approach to five feet at the seventh and a 20 foot putt at the 12th among the highlights.
"It's been an extraordinary day on the greens," said The Ryder Cup Captain. "I holed many putts and that reflects on the scores.
"I am really happy, four under par is a great score, but I know that I need to keep working.
"I don't remember putting so well in such a long time - I made 23 putts, there aren't many putt days like today.
"If you play well, everything will come back. My goal is hit the ball well and if I can do that, results will come. Tomorrow I will go out there and fight like every day."

The 24 year old Lowry - who burst onto the scene when he captured the Irish Open as an amateur in 2009 - carded six birdies, one bogey and an eagle at the par five sixth.

"It was one of those day when it all happened quickly and I was off and running," he said. "I was speaking to my coach last night and was saying that we have one of those courses here where you have to stay patient and plot your way round and hopefully the birdies will come.

"That's exactly what's happened over the first two rounds and then today I got off to a great start and was four under through six holes."

Bourdy recovered from the disappointment of his second round 77 with a 67 that leaves him sharing fifth place with England's David Lynn and Glasgow's Scott Jamieson (69-207).
There are three Scots in the top 10 - Alastair Forsyth with a 68 for 208 and a share of eighth place, and Paul Lawrie with a 72 for 209.
THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 210 (3x70)
201 Chris Wood (England) 67 65 69.
205 Shane Lowry (Ireland) 72 70 63, Darren Clarke (N Ireland) 65 70 70.
206 Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) 71 69 66.
207 Gregory Bourdy (France) 63 77 67, Scott Jamieson (Scotland) 67 71 69, David Lynn (England) 68 68 71.
208 Thomas Aiken (S Africa) 70 72 66, Alastair Forsyth (Scotland) 68 72 68 (T8).
OTHER SCOTS' SCORES
209 Paul Lawrie 68 69 72 (T10).
210 Peter Whiteford 72 70 68 (T16).
211 Lloyd Saltman 73 69 69 (T22).
213 Elliot Saltman 68 71 71, David Drysdale 68 71 74, Chris Doak 71 70 72 (T39).


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FRENCHMAN SNOBECK LEADS BY ONE ON CHALLENGE TOUR

By Sarah Gwynn
European Challenge Tour Press OfficerFrenchman Anthony Snobeck fired a flawless third-round six-under-par 65 to take a one-shot lead into the final day of the European Challenge Tour's Mugello Tuscany Open.
It was all change at the top of the leaderboard as joint overnight leader Benn Barham slipped back with a four-over-par 75, and Snobeck and a number of others took full advantage at Poggio dei Medici Golf Club near Florence.
With only six shots separating the entire field at the start of the third round, it was likely there would be plenty of movement and so it proved, with Chris Lloyd, Raphaël De Sousa, Andrea Maestroni and Birgir Hafthorsson all shooting low rounds to reach seven under, alongside Jordi Garcia, one shot back from Snobeck.
Snobeck had a three-hole birdie run from the fourth, then picked up more shots at the ninth, 15th and 16th to reach eight under for the tournament.
“It’s a nice position to be in,” said the 28 year old from Lyon.
“I played really well today. I won on the Challenge Tour in 2006 (the Tessali-Metaponto Open di Puglia e Basilicata) but I came from about ten shots behind on the final day and won a play-off, so this situation is a little different but it’s fine.
“I missed a couple of putts today but that’s life. The rest of my game was excellent. It’s a tough course and I need to use my driver a lot. It’s also a very long walk but I have been getting plenty of rest so I’m not too tired. I am looking forward to tomorrow.”
Italy’s Maestroni attributed his 67 to finding form on the greens, saying: “The key was having 27 putts today instead of the 33 I had on each of the first two days. I played beautifully today. There was a little more wind but it was okay.
“I played well here last year too so I know the course very well. It would be very nice to win here in Italy but I don’t want to think about that. I just need to play like today again and we will see.”
Lloyd feared he was in for a tough day when he bogeyed the first two holes, but he bounced back with five birdies for a three under par 68.
“It’s nice to be up there,” he said. “It’s been good this week, although I haven’t putted that well. I changed putters after the first two days and put an old favourite back in the bag. That certainly did the trick.
“After I three-putted the first I feared the worst but I just told myself to stay patient and there were plenty more holes left to make some birdies and that’s what happened. I can’t wait to get out there again tomorrow.”
Birgir Hafthorsson, who had a 67, added: “I had a couple of strokes of luck, two or three lucky bounces, but sometimes you need that to win. Overall I’m very pleased. I’m exhausted because it’s my first tournament of the year, but being near the top of the leaderboard gives me extra energy.”
José-Filipe Lima stormed up the leaderboard with a 65 to be one of three players on six under. He made a stunning start with four consecutive birdies from the second, and added three more on the back nine. The only blot on his scorecard was a bogey at the par three eighth.
He said: “Finally I’ve played 18 good holes. Yesterday should have been better as I was five under nine holes but I finished very badly – it was very hot for me and carrying my bag made me very tired.
“Today I tried to eat more and it has worked. I’m very happy with 65. I missed a couple of putts at the end – from about a metre and a half for birdie at the 17th and from about three metres for eagle at the last – but that’s golf. I’ve been playing very well these last few weeks but my putting has not been great. Now I am putting better and today was perfect apart from one stupid bogey.
“It is so close. When I saw the scores yesterday I thought to myself, ‘I am level par but the leader is only six shots away’. Tomorrow is another day and if I can play the same again I might have a chance.”
Jamie McLeary remains the leading Scot but a third-round 73 knocked him down to 210 - five shots off the pace.
THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 213 (3x71)
205 A Snobeck (Fra) 71 69 65
206 A Maestroni (Ita) 69 70 67, B Hafthorsson (Isl) 67 72 67, C Lloyd (Eng) 68 70 68, R De Sousa (Sui) 68 70 68, J Garcia (Esp) 67 69 70

207 F Colombo (Ita) 71 68 68, A Tadini (Ita) 68 71 68, J Lima (Por) 73 69 65

208 L Westerberg (Swe) 71 69 68, R Santos (Por) 72 67 69, D Denison (Eng) 70 70 68

209 H Bacher (Aut) 68 73 68

210 J Moul (Eng) 68 69 73, C Brazillier (Fra) 69 73 68, E Kofstad (Nor) 69 72 69, J McLeary (Sco) 70 67 73, A Hansen (Den) 70 68 72

211 B Hebert (Fra) 65 72 74, G Lockerbie (Eng) 70 70 71, B Akesson (Swe) 67 71 73, R Whitelock (Eng) 73 69 69, L Jensen (Den) 69 69 73, K Sullivan (Wal) 74 67 70, A Bernadet (Fra) 69 73 69, B Barham (Eng) 67 69 75, A Rota (Ita) 70 70 71, M Thorp (Nor) 72 70 69, T Fleetwood (Eng) 69 71 71

212 J Lucquin (Fra) 71 69 72, J Palmer (Eng) 69 70 73, A Domingo (Esp) 71 68 73, L Canter (Eng) 70 70 72, A Ahokas (Fin) 69 70 73, E Pepperell (Eng) 73 66 73, F Praegant (Aut) 68 70 74, C Russo (Fra) 72 66 74, B Grace (RSA) 70 69 73

213 T Whitehouse (Eng) 71 70 72, A McArthur (Sco) 69 71 73, P Streeter (Eng) 72 70 71, M Evans (Eng) 67 74 72, M Bothma (RSA) 73 68 72, M Delpodio (Ita) 69 68 76, C Ford (Eng) 72 70 71, A Pavan (Ita) 71 71 71

214 A Butterfield (Eng) 70 70 74, T Shadbolt (Eng) 72 70 72, R Kind (Ned) 73 68 73, F Pasqualucci (Ita) 70 71 73, C Lee (Sco) 70 72 72, J Van Der Vaart (Ned) 71 69 74

215 F Svanberg (Sui) 70 71 74, M Erlandsson (Swe) 71 71 73

216 B Miarka (Ger) 71 71 74, J Abbate (Arg) 73 69 74, W Schauman (Swe) 70 71 75

217 M Ford (Eng) 68 70 79, G Molteni (Ita) 71 69 77

218 B Ritthammer (Ger) 70 72 76

219 V Riu (Fra) 74 68 77, C Gane (Eng) 70 72 77

220 J Gallagher (Sco) 72 69 79

GALAXY OF STARS LIINE UP AT BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE EUROPEAN TOURNo fewer than 12 Major champions, boasting some 19 Major titles between them, will feature in the BMW PGA Championship later this month, when a glittering array of talent, including six of the top seven players in the world, descend on Wentworth Club.
At the close of entries yesterday, a stunning line-up of winners, including the four current Major Champions, will be vying to win The European Tour’s flagship event and the €750,000 first prize over the iconic West Course from May 26 – 29.
South African Charl Schwartzel, the new Masters Champion, will be joined by Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell and and Louis Oosthuizen, as the event welcomes all four ‘Major Men’ to Wentworth Club at the same time – a unique occurrence in the long and distinguished history of the Championship.
They are joined by a pair of genuine superstars who are members of the elite ‘Three Major Club’ – Ernie Els of South Africa, the architect behind the recent renovations to the West Course, and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington, a talisman for the current crop of Major winners with his three successes in the space of 13 months from July 2007 to August 2008.
Retief Goosen of South Africa, Spain’s José Maria Olazabal and American John Daly, who all have a pair of Major titles to their names, are competing along with New Zealand’s Michael Campbell, Paul Lawrie of Scotland and Korean Y E Yang.
Six of the current top seven players in the Official World Golf Ranking – Lee Westwood (World Number One), Kaymer (Two), Luke Donald (Three) and McDowell (Five), Rory McIlroy (Six) and Paul Casey (Seven) – will be present and all but 2009 Champion Casey are trying to win their first BMW PGA Championship. Donald came close last year but had to settle for second behind champion Simon Khan, who blitzed through the field on the final day with a brilliant six under par 66.

DEHYDRATED BARRY HENSON LEADS PHILIPPINE OPEN

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ASIAN TOUR
Manila: Berry Henson of the United States battled through dehydration in the last four holes to take the third-round lead at the ICTSI Philippine Open today.
Henson, an Asian Tour rookie, posted a one-under-par 71 in tough scoring conditions where only nine players broke par at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club.
Jbe Kruger of South Africa , who finished second on three occasions last year, and local hope Jay Bayron were two strokes back after shooting 73 and 74 respectively for a 212 total in the US$300,000 event.
Thai trio Pariya Junhasavasdikul, Chapchai Nirat and Prom Meesawat shared fourth place with Filipino Mars Pucay and 49-year-old Wang Ter-chang of Chinese Taipei on matching 214s.
Henson was blemish free with three birdies after 14 holes but fell dizzy due to dehydration as he returned with two bogeys for a six-under-par 210 total.
“I really had it going after my birdie on 13 but started feeling dehydrated and dizzy and made a couple of stumbles coming in,” said Henson, who won his first international title on the Asian Development Tour two weeks ago.
He said playing at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club was like boxing with Filipino legend Manny Pacquaio.
“My game is feeling really sharp right now but the course is so difficult. It is like fighting against Pacquai (Manny). You can’t go for the K.O. but need to box your way around,” said the 31-year-old.
Bayron, a former caddie, made a flying start with three straight birdies from the fourth hole before wobbling with five bogeys.
“My driving and irons let me down. The course is very difficult and I need to keep the ball on the fairways to give myself a chance tomorrow,” said the 2005 Southeast Asian Games team gold medallist.
Veteran Wang, a former Philippine Open champion in 1992, bogeyed two of his last three holes but was delighted to be in the running of securing his first top-10 finish since 2008.
“The course was very difficult because it was playing longer by at least 40 yards. I’m aiming to finish in the top-10 tomorrow. That will be an excellent result for me,” said the four-time Asian Tour winner.
Australian Brad Smith shot the best score of the day with a 68 to move up to tied 13th place, six strokes from the leader.
THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 216 (3x72)210 Berry HENSON ( USA ) 69-70-71.
212 Jbe KRUGER (RSA) 71-68-73, Jay BAYRON (PHI) 69-69-74.
214 Pariya JUNHASAVASDIKUL (THA) 71-72-71, Chapchai NIRAT (THA) 72-71-71, Prom MEESAWAT (THA) 70-72-72, Mars PUCAY (PHI) 69-73-72, WANG Ter-chang (TPE) 69-72-73.
215 Kwanchai TANNIN (THA) 73-70-72, Juvic PAGUNSAN (PHI) 73-69-73, Digvijay SINGH (IND) 70-72-73, Himmat RAI (IND) 68-70-77.
216 Brad SMITH (AUS) 72-76-68, Thammanoon SRIROJ (THA) 71-73-72, HSU Mong-nan (TPE) 74-70-72, Lucas LEE (BRA) 72-70-74.
Selected scores.
223 Frankie MINOZA (PHI) 76-72-75

World Hickory Open at Craigielaw on October 10-11

Dear Reader.
I am pleased to announce that the 7th World Hickory Open will take place at Craigielaw Golf Club Aberlady East Lothian on October 10th-11th.
Details will shortly be on the World Hickory Open website www.info@worldhickoryopen.com
The link for World Hickory Golfer is www.worldhickorygolfer.com
Issue 9 was out at the beginning of May and all issues are archived.
The magazine covers many aspects of golf and is a most interesting read.


Best regards
Lionel Freedman
Chairman of The World Hickory Open
Editor of World Hickory Golfer