LANE, JAMES AND THELEN SHARE SENIORS LEAD IN GERMANY

By SCOTT CROCKETT
European Tour Chief Press Officer
Englishmen Mark James and Barry Lane plus American Tim Thelen share pole position going into the final round of the Berenberg Bank Masters after a testing second round at the Cologne Golf und Land Club.
The trio all finished the demanding day – which featured a 95 minute delay for a thunder and lightning storm – on five under par 139. Lane produced the pick of the bunch with a battling 70 while James carded a level par 72 and first round leader Thelen posted 74.
Lane, who won the Scottish Senior Open in his rookie Senior season last year, had five birdies in total, a sterling effort considering he played with his left thumb heavily strapped due to injury.
“I’m having a problem with the tendon and the strapping is to try and keep a cap on it which is working so far,” he said. “It happened in Majorca a few weeks ago and I’ve been playing through the pain with it for the past three or four weeks including the PGA at Wentworth and in Wales.
“But I’ve decided I’m not going to play in Holland next week – I’m going to take a week off to see if I can try and sort it out properly. Looking ahead to tomorrow, I’m in a good position so we’ll give it a go and see what happens.”
James, back on the European Senior Tour for the foreseeable future, is eager to add to his two European Senior Tour titles to date but was honest enough to admit he will have to play better in the final round if that hope is to be realised.
“I scraped it round to be honest and really didn’t hole anything out there aside from a ten footer at the ninth to save my par,” said the man who captained Europe in The 1999 Ryder Cup at Brookline. “Therefore to be in a tie for the lead after not playing too well is really pleasing and I am delighted to have given myself a chance for tomorrow. It’s all I could do.”
Completing the trio sharing pole position Thelen, in his first European Senior Tour appearance having turned 50 only five days ago, understandably struggled to match the fireworks of his opening 65, but is still in the hunt to become the first player since Mike Cunning in Brunei in 2009 to win a regular European Senior Tour event at his first attempt.
“Obviously not as good as yesterday but if I am to be honest, it could have been a lot worse,” admitted the Texan. “I really didn’t drive the ball well today and hardly hit any fairways so to get it round in 74 was not a bad effort.
“It is hard to follow up such a good round as the one I shot yesterday with another good one but conditions were a lot harder for everyone out there with the wind swirling round and also the disruption of having to come off the course for a while didn’t help. But I am still very much in the golf tournament.”
Two shots behind the leading pack were six players who ended their second round on three under par 141. Included in that number was the 2006 European Ryder Cup captain Ian Woosnam as well as South African Bertus Smit.
The 58 year old from Cape Town was the unlucky player in his three ball alongside Bill Longmuir and Woosnam, as he did not have time to finish out on the 18th green before the klaxon sounded at 4.45pm to get the players off the course.
The Scot and the Welshman managed to complete their rounds but Smit, who won the 2009 Ryder Cup Wales Seniors Open, did not get to his ball in time and had to wait for 95 minutes until play resumed at 6.20pm to attempt to hole his birdie putt from six feet.
Perhaps not surprisingly, he missed and had to settle for a par five on the 520 yard hole and a second round 70.
Completing the round-up of former Ryder Cup captains in action in one of the strongest fields in the European Tour season were the two players who finished on two under par 142, Scotland’s Sam Torrance (70) and tournament host Bernhard Langer (73).
“I actually hit the ball better than yesterday but I just didn’t hole any putts,” said Langer. “I am going to try out a different putter now on the putting green before I go home tonight and see how that works. Not sure which one I will use in the final round tomorrow.
“It was a little disappointing to finish one over for the last three holes. One under would have been better to give me a slightly better chance for tomorrow. But it is what it is and three shots behind is not too bad. There are a lot of players between me and the leaders but if I can putt a little bit better tomorrow then you never know.”
LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72)
139 M James (Eng) 67 72, T Thelen (USA) 65 74, B Lane (Eng) 69 70
141 I Woosnam (Wal) 71 70, M Harwood (Aus) 71 70, J Rivero (Esp) 70 71, B Smit (RSA) 71 70, G Ryall (Eng) 66 75, A Fernandez (Chi) 69 72
142 B Langer (Ger) 69 73, S Torrance (Sco) 72 70

143 T Johnstone (Zim) 73 70, J Quiros (Esp) 70 73, L Carbonetti (Arg) 68 75, B Lincoln (RSA) 71 72, B Ruangkit (Tha) 71 72,

144 G Wolstenholme (Eng) 68 76, M Mouland (Wal) 71 73, D O'Sullivan (Irl) 74 70,

145 J Gould (Eng) 75 70, M Cunning (USA) 71 74, A Franco (Par) 74 71, P Fowler (Aus) 70 75, G Manson (Aut) 73 72,

146 M Belsham (Eng) 74 72, J Bland (RSA) 74 72, D Durnian (Eng) 73 73, F Mann (Sco) 73 73, G Banister (Aus) 74 72,  

147 B Cameron (Eng) 72 75, R Drummond (Sco) 72 75, D Hospital (Esp) 74 73, R Davis (Aus) 72 75,

148 A Sowa (Arg) 74 74, A Oldcorn (Sco) 73 75, G Brand (Eng) 72 76, S Van Vuuren (RSA) 73 75, G Ralph (Eng) 73 75, K Tomori (Jpn) 73 75, D Frost (RSA) 72 76, D Merriman (Aus) 75 73,  

149 K Spurgeon (Eng) 75 74, M Clayton (Aus) 75 74, H Carbonetti (Arg) 73 76, B Longmuir (Sco) 71 78, D Russell (Eng) 74 75, P Mitchell (Eng) 71 78, M Farry (Fra) 73 76, P Dahlberg (Swe) 71 78, A Sherborne (Eng) 74 75,

150 J Stuart (USA) 79 71, J Harrison (Eng) 75 75, J Chillas (Sco) 70 80, C Mason (Eng) 78 72,

151 M Piñero (Esp) 75 76, J Rhodes (Eng) 77 74, D Cambridge (Jam) 72 79, N Job (Eng) 73 78, C Rocca (Ita) 76 75, G Cali (Ita) 74 77,  

152 D Smyth (Irl) 77 75,

153 C Williams (RSA) 75 78, J Bruner (USA) 74 79,

154 T Giedeon (Ger) 76 78,  

155 M Moreno (Esp) 77 78, N Ratcliffe (Aus) 74 81,

157 M Bembridge (Eng) 77 80,

158 S Lyle (Sco) 76 82, A Forsbrand (Swe) 85 73,

159 D Blakeman (Eng) 83 76,

160 C O'Connor Jnr (Irl) 75 85, A Garrido (Esp) 79 81,

AUSSIE BEATS MICHAEL STEWART IN BRITISH AMATEUR FINAL

Hillside, Southport: Australia’s Bryden Macpherson has won the 116th Amateur Championship, at Hillside Golf Club in England’s north west. The 20-year-old from Melbourne defeated Scotland’s Michael Stewart 3&2 in today’s 36-hole final, to make sure of a place in The Open Championship at Royal St George’s next month, and an invitation to the 2012 Masters Tournament at Augusta National.
Macpherson, who has just finished his sophomore year at the University of Georgia, becomes only the second Australian to win the Amateur Championship; the first being Doug Bachli in 1954.
“I can’t believe it just yet. It feel’s pretty good to bridge the gap of 57 years. I hope there are a few proud Aussies having a barbeque,” he said.
The Victorian went one down after the first hole of the day, but after winning the sixth hole with a four, and likewise the ninth, he would establish a lead that would last until he closed out victory on the 34th green.
“My judgement of speed was awesome today, so that was real important, but the real key to this week was patience. As hard as it was to believe, I had complete confidence that it was going to happen for me this week. I did a really good job of staying out of my own way, and celebrating everything I did well. Staying in the moment was a major key.
“I love the whole atmosphere of the Amateur Championship. One of the main things is the crowds: it’s amazing how much people love their golf round here. It’s a credit to them"
Speaking before the final, Macpherson said: “The Open is my dream tournament. As the title suggests it’s The Open, and if I could choose to win just one event in my life, I’d choose that one.”
For Stewart, it was a difficult day, characterised by a number of missed short putts and a number of shots pushed a long way right into deep rough.
“I didn’t play well today. I was dire, this morning. I don’t know what it was. I just didn’t feel comfortable over the ball,” explained the 21-year-old. “And the long game had an effect on my putting. Because I wasn’t hitting it as well as I wanted to, I felt more pressure over the putts.
“This morning, he wasn’t really winning holes, I was giving them to him, but this afternoon it was a much better game. I hit it good in the afternoon, and when I holed that one on 11, I thought “right, I’m going to win now.”
"All credit to him, though. I was thinking that I had to make birdie to win a hole, because he was getting up and down all day. He putted absolutely fantastic,” added the world number 36, who was well supported by members of the 700-strong galleries that had travelled down to watch him. “A lot of people came down from Troon, and I’m really grateful for that.”
Highlights of the 116th Amateur Championship will be shown tomorrow [Sunday] on Sky Sports 2 at 5.30pm, ahead of Sky Sports’ US Open coverage, with a repeat shown at 00.30am.
Complete results from the 2011 Amateur Championship can be found on http://www.randa.org/, along with video highlights of each of the match play stages.
Next year’s Amateur Championship will take place at Royal Troon Golf Club from June 18 to 23.
+It was the second year in a row that a Scot had lost in the final of the Amateur championship. Last year it was Banchory's James Byrne who failed to make the match-play stages this past week.

PAUL McKECHNIE WINS PORTLETHEN PRO-AM WITH A 67

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Braid Hills Golf Range pro Paul McKechnie won for the third time this season on the Tartan Tour with a five-under-par round of 67 in the Portlethen pro-am.
It was McKechnie's 11th top 10 finish of 2011 and his £1,096 prize was his third four-figure cheque this year.He did it with a card which had on it one eagle at the (fourth), five birdies (at the first, eighth, 13th, 16th and 18th) and a couple of bogeys, at the short fifth and 17th.
Joint runners-up, two shots off the pace on 69, were Stephen Gray (Hayston) and David Orr (East Renfrewshire). They each won £767. 
Ross Cameron (McDonald Ellon), Steven Taylor (Bothwell Castle) and Greig Hutch

David Orr (East Renfrewshire) led the Noble Drilling Team 2 of Jim McKandie (handicap 10), Dino Becci (13) and Michael Thompson (5) to a two-shot victory with a 14-under-par net team total of 58.

LEADING PRO SCORES
Par 72
67 Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills Golf Range) (£1,096).
69 Stephen Gray (Hayston), David Orr (East Renfrewshire) £767 each).
70 Ross Cameron (McDonald Ellon) Steven Taylor (Bothwell Castle), Greig Hutcheon (Banchory) (£405 each).
71 Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle), Craig Ronald (Carluke), Lindsay Mann (Carnoustie Links) (£245 each).
71 Colin Gillies (Braid Hills), Peter Smith (Deeside), Craig Mathieson (Falkirk Tryst), Craig Kelly (Cawder) (£161 each).
71 Graeme Brown (Montrose Links), Garry Forrester (St Andrews Golf Schhool, Graham  Fox (East Kilbride), David Patrick (Elie).

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RORY McILROY LEADS BY SIX AT HALFWAY IN US OPEN

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Rory McIlroy shot the lowest halfway total in US Open Championship history and will take a record-equalling six stroke lead over Korean Y E Yang into the third round at Congressional Country Club.
The 22 year old Northern Irishman stands 11 under par after adding a 66 to his opening 65.
McIlroy even reached an unprecedented 13 under - and an amazing ten shot advantage at the time - when he holed from 12 feet at the 17th.
But, needing a closing par four to become the first player to break 130 for two rounds at any of the Majors, he went from rough to water and ran up a double bogey.
Yang then shot 69 to narrow the gap still further from eight to six.
McIlroy remains bang on course, though, to follow compatriot Graeme McDowell as champion - and become the US Open's youngest winner since amateur Bobby Jones in 1923.
The World Number Eight refused to let his last-hole six take the shine off what until then had been another marvellous performance.
There was so much to admire, including a holed approach to the eighth for an eagle two that drew applause from playing partner Phil Mickelson.
"I'm feeling good - feeling very good," he said.
"It's funny to me. It feels quite simple. I'm hitting fairways, I'm hitting greens, I'm holing my fair share of putts.
"It's been two very, very good days of golf. I've put myself in a great position going into the weekend.
"But I know more than probably anyone else what can happen, so I've got to stay really focused and try and finish this thing off."
At The Masters Tournament in April, of course, he was four ahead with only 18 holes to go, shot 80 and finished ten shots behind winner Charl Schwartzel.
Winning golf's very next Major after that experience would be the stuff ofdreams, and that is what it is all about - not 36-hole records or matching the six stroke advantage Tiger Woods held at Pebble Beach in 2000.
"These records, they're nice, but they don't really mean anything until the end of the tournament," he added. "If I can look back on this tournament with a trophy in my hand and look back at the records that would be nice."
For McIlroy to be doing what he is doing at his age is truly remarkable. He is a few months younger than Jack Nicklaus was when he lifted the first of his 18 Majors in 1962.
Resuming three clear, he made a 25 footer at the fourth and pitched over water to six feet for another birdie on the long sixth.
The unexpected eagle two, courtesy of spinning a 113 yard wedge into the cup, enabled him to turn in 32 and then came further birdies at the 14th from four feet, long 16th - he actually missed a ten foot eagle chance there - and 17th.
But then came a hook into the rough down the last and a second that curled into the water on the left. He had not had a bogey all week until then.
McIlroy stated: "It's been very near the best I can play. The second on the eighth was a bonus, but I hit a couple of iron shots on the back nine that were so pure.
"I'm halfway there, but there's still a long way to go. It's a big challenge, but every time I put myself in position I am becoming more and more comfortable and that's important.
"I felt very much at ease today - you are when you hit so many good shots."
Yang's 69 for five under prevented McIlroy from having a nine shot 36-hole lead that would have equalled the biggest in all Majors, a mark that has stood to Sir Henry Cotton alone since 1934.
Spain's Sergio Garcia is part of the group on two under and five-time runner-up Mickelson would have been alongside them if he had birdied the last, but he also found water on the 18th and double-bogeyed for a 69 and one over total.
England's Robert Rock - whose visa problems ensured he arrived only at 3.30am Thursday - remained one under after a 71, but admitted jet-lag had caught up with him. Spain’s Alvaro Quiros was amongst those on the same mark.
Padraig Harrington and defending champion McDowell were both two over after rounds of 73 and 74 respectively, while Lee Westwood had improved from four over overnight to one over.
Playing partner and World Number One Luke Donald stood four over, just a stroke inside a halfway cut mark.
Play was suspended for the day at 8.04pm, with a handful of players still on the course.

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CRAIG LEE SHARING LEAD IN SAINT-OMER OPEN

Craig Lee is sharing the lead in the Saint-Omer on five-under-par 137.

VIEW ALL THE SCORES ON THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE

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ROSS BROTHERS PLAYED IN 1907 UNITED STATES OPEN

E-Mail from W D M Mackay
Marketing Convener, Royal Dornoch Golf Club

It was mentioned on TV on Thursday evening that Italian's Eduardo and Francesco Molinari may be the first brothers to play together in the US Open but Royal Dornoch's brothers Donald and Alex Ross competed together back at the turn of the 20th century with Alex winning in 1907 (although we are not sure if they played in the same group during the event !!).
Check www.royaldornoch.com and the history and heritage section. Posters entitled Dornoch to the U.S.A.are available from Royal Dornoch Pro Shop to prove the point.
Further details from Neil Hampton - neil@royaldornoch.com


W D M Mackay

LATER E-MAIL FROM WILLIEMacKAY

Hi Colin,
Maybe you can match up this forwarded email from Gerry Stafford of the Donald Ross Society to the first I sent about the Ross brothers and the Molinari brothers.
As you can see, in 1907, Donald Ross came in just ten strokes behind his brother, earning tenth place ($ 10). Alex won $300 for as US Open Champion.
In my role as Marketing Convenor at Royal Dornoch Golf club we have been working for several months now and have a committee set up and working towards 400 Years of Golf in Dornoch 1616 - 2016.
We already have promotional bag tags and are compiling a 2016 calendar of events and others each year leading up to 2016. A big focus on international visitors.
Best Wishes,
Willie MacKay
 (clubgolf regional manager, Highlands and Islands)


----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Gerry Stratford
To: WILLIAM MACKAY
Cc: Michael Miller
Sent: Saturday, 18 June, 2011 0:35:50
Subject: Re: Dornoch brothers

Yes, I too picked up on Neil's comment and passed it along to the historian at our local Ross course (Peninsula GCC). Also of note is that Donald Ross came in just ten strokes behind his brother, earning tenth place ($ 10). Alex won $300 for first.

Gerry

DARREN WRIGHT BIDS TO RETAIN THE BRABAZON TROPHY

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ENGLISH GOLF UNION
Darren Wright (Rowlands Castle, Hampshire) will attempt to become the first player in two decades to successfully defend the Brabazon Trophy, supported by SkyCaddie, when it is staged at Burnham and Berrow Golf Club in Somerset next Thursday to Sunday (June 23 to 26).
Wright, 22, won the English Men’s Open Stroke Play Championship at Royal Liverpool last year but no one has won two successive titles since 1991 when Gary Evans shared top spot with Mark Pullan at Hunstanton.
Evans also shared the title the previous year, ironically at Burnham and Berrow, with Frenchman Olivier Edmond and even when Rodney Foster won at Little Aston in 1970 he had finished tied with Michael Bonallack the previous year at Moortown.
This year’s field of 150 players contains the cream of amateur golf including all members of the England team that beat Spain at The Berkshire last month, as well as many internationals from home and abroad. Also in action will be several players who will be hoping for selection for the GB amd I Walker Cup team to face the USA at Royal Aberdeen in September.
So a solid performance over the splendid and testing Somerset links will go a long way in catching the eyes of Walker Cup selectors on duty.
Most of the top ten in the current Titleist/Footjoy EGU Order of Merit will be in action including No.1 Tom Lewis (Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire) recent winner of the St Andrews Links Trophy, Andy Sullivan (Nuneaton, Warwickshire), who won the Scottish Stroke Play, Jack Senior (Heysham, Lancashire), who lifted the Lytham Trophy last month, while Wright has the Welsh Stroke Play under his belt.
Among the younger element competing are Nathan Kimsey (Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire), a boy international and winner of the 2010 Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters, Toby Tree (Worthing, Sussex), another boy cap and current English Under 16 Champion, and Seb Crookall-Nixon (Workington, Cumbria), the Under 16 Champion in 2008 and 2009.
Adam Frontal (Cookridge Hall, Yorkshire), last year’s English Counties Champion, is also in the field, as is Warren Harmston (Wentworth, Surrey), runner-up in the 2010 English Amateur Championship.
The other Home countries are well represented as are internationals from France, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain as well as from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States.
Two qualifying competitions were staged last month with 30 players from each joining 90 who were exempt. Luke Cornford (East Sussex National, Sussex) won the Southern event at The Berkshire, while Scotland’s Steven Smith came out on top in the Northern qualifier at Pannal.
Burnham and Berrow has hosted many EGU events as well as R and A championships down the years. This will be the third occasion the Brabazon has visited the club, the second being 1990 with the tie between Evans and Edmond but on the first playing, in 1956, the title was won by Stanley Fox.
Born in 1921, Fox served in the Royal Naval Air Service during World War II, joined Hartley Wintney Golf Club as an artisan and became a full member in the 1950s. After his Brabazon success, he represented England for three years, was a Hampshire County player on countless occasions, and won the Hampshire and Isle of Wight County Championships twice. He died in 2008 at the age of 87.

The Brabazon has been won by many famous players including Sir Michael Bonallack, Sandy Lyle and Peter McEvoy and in 2002 by South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel, this year’s US Masters Champion.
Play begins at 7am on the first two days and 7.30am on the last two and admission is free. For those unable to attend, live scoring and news updates will available on the Championships Section of the EGU website, http://www.englishgolfunion.org/.

Lynne Fraser
EGU Marketing and PR Manager
Email: pr@englishgolfunion.org
Tel: 01526 354500