MAGNIFICENT SEVEN SHARE LEAD AT CREDIT SUISSE CHALLENGE

From Challenge Tour Press Officer Paul Symes
There were five star performances from seven players on day one of the Credit Suisse Challenge, where Jorge Campillo, Federico Colombo, Garry Houston, Jamie Moul, Andrea Pavan, Tim Sluiter and Daniel Vancsik all sit on top of a crowded leaderboard.
The in-form trio of Campillo, Colombo and Moul set the early pace with morning rounds of 66 at Golf Sempacharsee near Lucerne, in Switzerland, and they were joined on five under par later in the day by Houston, Pavan, Sluiter and Vancsik. Colombo, Moul and Sluiter took top marks for their flawless displays, but the best fightback of the day was mounted by Vancsik, who found himself two over par through three holes after struggling to adjust to the pace of the greens. But a restorative birdie on the fifth hole lifted his spirits, and he roared home in just 29 shots to join the leaders on five under par.
The Argentine said: “I played well, but it took me a while to get the speed of the greens, because they’re still quite wet. But on my back nine I got up to speed, and I shot six under after the turn. I made a long putt on the 13th hole for eagle, but other than that my irons were the main reason for my low score.
“I’m now feeling much calmer out on the course, which is what I’ve been working hard on with my coach and my sports psychologist. I feel much more stable now, even when things aren’t going my way. It seems to be working well for now, but tomorrow’s another day!”
Pavan has also worked hard on harnessing his Latin temperament, having become frustrated with a series of below-par performances in recent weeks. The young Italian came mightily close to breaking his duck in Austria, where he was pipped to the prize by Frenchman Edouard Dubois after leading for the first three days. Since then he has suffered something of a slump, but he now feels that his game is moving in the right direction again.
He said: “I missed a lot of fairways on the first four or five holes, but I managed to recover well. After that I managed to sort my tee shots out, and my mood and my game steadily improved. I’ve lost my temper a few times over the last few weeks and got frustrated with myself, but this week I just told myself to stay patient and keep calm, whatever happens. I hung in there at times today and holed everything from close range, except for a short one on the 15th hole. But I managed to make a birdie on the 17th and holed a good par putt on the last, so I’m feeling quite content.”
Likewise, Houston was all smiles after taking just 25 putts in a round of 66 which included three birdies either side of the turn. The Welshman revealed that he was inspired to post his lowest opening round of the season by his friend Thomas Björn’s stunning display at The Open Championship.
He said: “It was tremendous to see Thomas play so well this morning. I sent a text to congratulate him just before I went out, and I’m going to try to speak to him later on tonight if I can. It was pretty inspiring to watch, although I didn’t feel particularly inspired after bogeying the first. But I came back well with three birdies, thanks mainly to some good putting.
"I didn’t strike the ball as well as I would have liked so I’ll probably get here early in the morning to work on my swing on the range, but if I can sort a few things out and keep putting the way I did today, I might have half a chance.”
FIRST-ROUND SCORES
Par 71
66 J Moul (Eng) , A Pavan (Ita) , G Houston (Wal) , T Sluiter (Ned) , J Campillo (Esp) , F Colombo (Ita) , D Vancsik (Arg)
67 J Guerrier (Fra) , N Sulzer (Sui) , D Lokke (Den) , H Norlander (Swe) , M Cryer (Eng) , S Tiley (Eng) , B Hebert (Fra) , A Högberg (Swe) , A Bernadet (Fra)
68 P Dwyer (Eng) , L Jensen (Den) , N Cheetham (Eng) , F Valera (Esp) , O Whiteley (Eng) , W Besseling (Ned) , J Heath (Eng) , J Morgan (Eng) , W Schauman (Swe) , K Eriksson (Swe) , B Barham (Eng)
69 C Brazillier (Fra) , B Ritthammer (Ger) , M Southgate (Eng) , N Bertasio (Ita) , S Drummond (Sco) , M Kieffer (Ger) , J Roos (RSA) , J Burnier (Sui) , N Meitinger (Ger) , M Kramer (Ger) , I Keenan (Eng) , B Hemstock (Eng) , P Del Grosso (Arg) , B Etchart (Esp) , M Rominger (Sui) , C Carranza (Arg) , J Lucquin (Fra) , E Saltman (Sco) , A Perrino (Ita) , M Baldwin (Eng)
70 M Thorp (Nor) , A Tadini (Ita) , R Kind (Ned) , A Bihan (Fra) , S Harrington (USA) , B Grace (RSA) , C Moriarty (Irl) , G Jackson (Eng) , A Levy (Fra) , J Robinson (Eng) , J Lima (Por) , G Molteni (Ita) , N Lemke (Swe) , N McCarthy (Eng) , J Quesne (Fra) , E Canonica (Ita) , S Jeppesen (Swe) , F Praegant (Aut) , M Korhonen (Fin) , J Palmer (Eng) , J Abbate (Arg) , J Caldwell (Nir) , M Iten (am) (Sui)
71 J Garcia (Esp) , M Delpodio (Ita) , A Otaegui (Esp) , F Svanberg (Sui) , N Henriques (Por) , R Hjelm (Den) , M Ford (Eng) , S Little (Eng) , G Lockerbie (Eng) , C Doak (Sco) , D Brooks (Eng) , R De Sousa (Sui) , C Gane (Eng) , M Cobo (Esp) , B Hafthorsson (Isl) , M Evans (Eng) , J Legarrea (Esp) , J Estevez (Arg) , A Bruschi (Ita) , B Rusch (am) (Sui)
72 W Wei (Chn) , P Oriol (Esp) , C Lee (Sco) , N Bollini (USA) , K Borsheim (Nor) , R Steiner (Aut) , G Dear (Sco) , M Lundberg (Swe) , S Pinckney (USA) , P Gustafsson (Swe) , J Kennegard (Swe) , B Chapellan (Fra) , M Gojcic (Slo) , B Evans (Eng) , A Butterfield (Eng) , P Relecom (Bel) , K Benz (Sui) , J Girrbach (am) (Sui) ,
73 G Watremez (Bel) , A Maestroni (Ita) , T Mordt (RSA) , C Russo (Fra) , D Wuensche (Ger) , N Kearney (Irl) , J Doherty (Sco) , D Ulrich (Sui) , S Piaget (Mon) , J Van Der Vaart (Ned) , A Chopard (Sui) , J Clément (Sui) , T Whitehouse (Eng) , A Bossert (Sui) , T Ferreira (RSA) , A Hansen (Den) , F Calmels (Fra) , J Elson (Eng) , B Miarka (Ger) , R Wiederkehr (Sui) , J Schmid (Sui) ,
74 C Blaesi (Sui) , E Pepperell (Eng) , H Bacher (Aut) , M Bothma (RSA) , J Billot (Fra) , V Riu (Fra) ,
75 A Snobeck (Fra) , R Bescansa (Esp) , G Baumann (Sui) , S Hutsby (Eng) , S Garcia (Esp) , S Bebb (Wal) , F Delamontagne (Fra) , A Gabella (am) (Sui) ,
76 A Ahokas (Fin) , L Kennedy (Eng) , J Johnson (Eng) , M Vibe-Hastrup (Den) , J Nodér (Sui) , V Doka (am) (Sui) ,
77 N Lombardi (Ita) , T Weiss (Sui) , N D'Incau (am) (Sui) ,
78 T Leon (USA) ,
82 F Li Puma (Sui) ,
** H Thethy (Ken) , A Signor (Ita) ,

LANARKSHIRE COUNTY MATCH-PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

FIRST-ROUND RESULTS
J Whitelaw (Hollandbush) bt L Grindrod (Crow Wood) 2 and 1.
J Lamb (Lanark) bt L McHenry (Lochview) at 19th
S Houston (Kirkhill) bt C Climson (Lochview) 3 and 2
R Main (Airdrie) w.o. J Ralston (Shotts) scr.
D Lee (Crow Wood) bt R Corrigan Airdrie) 3 and 2.
D Ford (Airdrie) bt G McCutcheson (Airdrie) 4 and 3.
M O’Donnell (Hamilton) bt G Dalzell (Airdrie) 3 and 2.
J J Smith (Cambuslang) bt G Gillick (Drumpellier) at 20th

QUARTER-FINALS
Friday, July 14 at 5pm
 Willie Sharpe
President
Lanarkshire Golf Association

CULTS HOTEL ABERDEEN MEN'S PENNANT LEAGUE SCOREBOARD

THURSDAY NIGHT MATCHES

BON ACCORD 5, STONEHAVEN 0
At Kings Links

Mat Greig and Graham Somers bt Neil Irvine and Gordon Adamson 3 and 2.
Barrie Edmond and Andy Crawford bt Steve Guzik and Steven Shand 2 and 1.
Willy Smith and A Shand bt Chris Taylor and Graeme Masterton 2 and 1.
Matty Smith and Mark Greig bt Neil Robertson and Stuart Dempster 2 and 1.
Matty Dunn and Matty Edmond bt Alan Cruickshank and David Callaghan 1 hole.

AUCHMILL 3.5, ROYAL ABERDEEN 1.5
At Auchmill
Brian Nicolson and Scott Mackie bt Steve Buchan and Ewan Laird 4 and 3.
John Nicolson and Steve Scott bt Bill Barclay and Donald McAndrew 3 and 2. Gary Geddes and Graham McGlaggan lost to Mike Wilson and ian Morrison 1 hole.
Phil Benson and Les Taylor bt Robert Patterson and Austin Buchan 7 and 6. Mike Lynch and Alex Allan halved with Willie Park and Graham Webster.


MURCAR LINKS 4, NEWMACHAR 1
At Murcar Links

Bryan Innes and Adrian Styles bt Mark McKechnie and Chris Simpson 6 and 5.
Anthony Bews and Iain Galbraith lost to Keith Martin and George Mitchell 3 and 2.
Duncan Raitt and Stephen Burt bt Richard Barr and Paul Henderson 2 and 1.
Iain Powell and Gregor Stewart bt Euan Duthie and Bryan Robson 1 hole.
Sam Strachan and Neil Sadler bt Dennis Grant and Ross MacRae 4 and 3.

BANCHORY 3.5, DEESIDE 1.5

UPDATED TABLE WILL APPEAR LATER

SCOTT HENRY DISAPPOINTS WITH A THREE-OVER 74 IN MADRID

Scotland's Scott Henry, who has been playing well on the Peugeot Tour and is lying well up its Order of Merit, had a disappointing first round in the Alps de Espana tournament which teed off today at Club de Campo, Villa de Madrid.
Henry had a three-over-par 74 which relegated him to a share of 70th place and in danger of missing the cut after two rounds.
England's Chris Paisley and Ireland's Brendan McCarroll were among a bunch on 71, sharing 26th place.
Appropriately enough on Bastille Day - France's National Day - it was a Frenchman Jacques Guillet who set the pace with a four-under-par 67 to lead by a shot from six players, including Jason Barnes (England) and Richard Kilpatrick (Northern Ireland).

BRADLEY NEIL FINISHES SECOND IN ENGLISH UNDER-16s' EVENT

Bradley Neil, Blairgowrie's outstanding prospect, finished a creditable second behind local hero Jack Hermeston, winner of the English Under-16 boys' open stroke-play golf championship at South Moor Golf Club, Durham today.
Neil won the English Under-14s' open title last year and though he did not win this one, he did the next best thing and finished two shots clear of the Norwegian and French lad who shared third place on 287.
Neil had rounds of 71, 73, 71 and 70 for a total of three-under-par 285.
He finished four strokes behind the winner of the McGregor Trophy, Jack Hermeston (City of Newcastle) whose home is only a 20min drive from the South Moore course.
Jack admitted that he had played countless rounds over the course once he knew it was going to stage the McGregor Trophy tournament.
He scored 71, 68, 72 and 70 for a seven-under-par total of 281 over the par-72 course.
Euan Walker (Kilmarnock Barassie) finished ninth in a quality international field with scores of 74, 71, 73 and 72 for two-over 290.
Willem Kerr (Craigielaw) came joint 16th on 292 with scores of 78, 68, 75 and 71.
Bearsden's Ewen Ferguson had scores of 72, 78, 75 and 72 for a share of 28th place on 297.
Alexander Wilson (Gullane) finished joint 39th on 301 with scores of 75, 74, 77 and 75.
Connor Syme (Dumfries and Co) totalled 306 with rounds of 72, 77, 82 and 75 for a share of 45th place.
These were the only Scots who survived the halfway cut.

ENGLISH U16 BOYS' OPEN STROKE-PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP
South Moor GC, Durham
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
281 Jack Hermeston (City of Newcastle) 71 68 72 70.
285 Bradley Neil (Blairgowrie) 71 73 71 70.
287 Jarand Ekeland Amqy (Norway) 71 78 73 65, Pierre Mazier (France) 72 73 72 70.

OTHER SCOTS' TOTALS
290 Euan Walker (Kilmarnock Barassie) 74 71 73 72 (9th).
292 Willem Kerr (Craigielaw) 78 68 75 71 (T16).
297 Ewen Ferguson (Bearsden) 72 78 75 72 (T28)
301 Alexander Wilson (Gullane) 75 74 77 75 (T39)
306 Connor Syme (Dumfries and Co) 72 77 82 75 (T45).

LAURIE PHILLIPS THROUGH TO LAST FOUR AT CRUDEN BAY

Leading qualifier Laurie Phillips of the host club is through to the semi-finals of the Steadfast Scotland Challenge Cup four-day men's open tournament at Cruden Bay Golf Club. He now plays Donald McAndrew (Royal Aberdeen) for a place in the final.
The other semi-final is between Donald's brother Nick and Chris Gilbert (McDonald Ellon). 
FIRST ROUND
 L  Phillips (Cruden Bay) bt S Strachan (Murcar Links) 3 and 2.
G Munro (Fraserburgh) bt D King (Cruden Bay) 1 hole
D McAndrew (Royal Aberdeen) bt B Mitchell (McDonald) 3 and 2.
S Buchan (Cruden Bay) bt T Sharkey (Helensburgh) 4 and 3.
N McAndrew (Royal Aberdeen) bt F Clark (Royal Aberdeen) 5 and 4.
A Duff (Cruden Bay) bt M Buchan (Cruden Bay) 3 and 2.
S McCulloch (Cruden Bay ) bt M Christie (Cruden Bay) 1hole
C Gilbert (McDonald Ellon) bt J Batchelor (Kirriemuir) 5 and 3.
QUARTER-FINALS
Phillips bt Munro 5 and 4.
D McAndrew bt Buchan 2 and 1.
N McAndrew bt Duff 1 hole.
Gilbert bt McCulloch 6 and 4.


ends

AMATEUR LEWIS EQUALS BJORN'S 65 LATE ON DAY 1 AT THE OPEN

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
A day of surprises at The Open Championship ended with the lowest-ever round by an amateur in the 140-year history of the tournament as Tom Lewis joined Thomas Bjorn in a share of the lead.
Twenty year old Lewis, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, a qualifier from the same Welwyn Garden City club that produced Sir Nick Faldo, went round Royal St George's in a five under par 65.

And he leads with Bjorn, the Dane who eight years ago on the course led by three with four holes to play before stumbling over the closing stretch and losing by one to shock winner Ben Curtis.

Lewis, the first amateur to share the lead in the event since Michael Bonallack at Carnoustie in 1968, has a previous memory of the links too - but a great one.
He won the British boys' championship here two years ago and earned a return trip by winning a final qualifying event down the coast at Rye two weeks ago.
His 65 beats by one the previous amateur record set by American Frank Stranahan in 1950 and subsequently matched by Tiger Woods in 1996 and Justin Rose two years later.

Lewis played with five-time champion Tom Watson - the player he is named after - and was inspired just like 16 year old Matteo Manassero was at Turnberry in 2009.

Watson indirectly helped the young Italian finish 13th while he himself, of course, was agonisingly just missing out on becoming golf's oldest Major Champion by 12 years.

This time the American legend was out-scored by seven shots by an English amateur who has now stepped onto the global stage at the very time England also have the top two players in the (professional) Official World Golf Ranking.

Luke Donald and Lee Westwood both came in with 71s, as did 22 year old Rory McIlroy in his first event since his runaway US Open Championship success.

But they were pushed into the shade by Lewis, who qualified with rounds of 63 and 65.

"I don't even know what happened out there - I can't remember," he said.

"I'm thrilled to bits and I couldn't have played with a more generous man.

"Tom was great to play with. He wanted me to do well and helped me out."

Bjorn's 65 had long finished when Lewis teed off just after 2.30pm, but he started making inroads with a 2 at the 240-yard third.

Conditions were kind to the late starters, with rain clearing away and the wind speed dropping, but nobody made hay like the youngster.

He got up and down from a bunker at the long seventh, then added another birdie at the 453 yard next to turn in 32.

It looked as if he might fall back into the pack when he bogeyed the 11th and 13th, but then came an incredible four birdies in a row at a quirkey links where Curtis was the only player to finish under par eight years ago.

The last of Lewis's birdies was a 20 footer that brought him alongside Bjorn and he then chipped to five feet on the last and made the putt to stay there.
+Tom Lewis will be playing over Royal Aberdeen Golf Club's Balgownie links next Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday as a member of Walker Cup captain Nigel Edwards' practice squad for the match against the United States on September 10-11.


THOMAS BJORN - THE EARLIER STORY ON
DAY 1 OF THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPThomas Bjorn's career has been something of a roller-coaster since he narrowly missed out on the 2003 Open Championship at Sandwich, but his opening five under par 65 on the tournament's return to the Kent course certainly represented a high point.
It held the clubhouse lead for most of the day until Welwyn Garden City GC amateur Tom Lewis, pictured left, a Walker Cup team place candidate, birdied seven holes in all, including four in a row from the 14th, to match the Great Dane's 65.
So some found the Royal George's quirky links easy -but others, such as runaway US Open winner Rory McIlroy, World No 1 Luke Donald and Lee Westwood had to work really hard for 71s.
In Bjorn's case there was a story behind a story, more to it than just a popular golfer rising to the top at a venue that brought him such heartache.The 40 year old Dane was the sixth reserve for the event nine days ago and knew he was playing only late on Monday when Vijay Singh - joint runner-up with him eight years ago - withdrew.
But there was even more to it than that.
Bjorn lost his father Ole, the man he always turned to when things were going wrong either in his golf or his personal life, after a long illness two months ago.
He is still grieving and it was too much for him when his passing was mentioned at his post-round press conference.
"He meant a lot to me," said Bjorn before tears started flowing and, after asking for a moment to gather himself again, he added: "He would have been very proud of what I did today. That's all I've really got to say."
This is Bjorn's first trip to Royal St George's since, eight years ago, he stood four under par with four to play and finished bogey, double bogey, bogey, par to lose by one to shock winner Ben Curtis.
If the Dane had played as he did this morning over the same stretch he would have won the 2003 Open title by four strokes!
Off at 7.25am - "this is about the only championship where I look forward to a tee time before eight," he joked - Bjorn reached three under after eight holes before missing a two foot par putt at the next.
Far from it leading to a downward spiral, however, he came back with another birdie at the 11th and had three more in a row, starting at the long 14th.
On the short 16th, the hole where he needed three attempts to get out of a bunker eight years ago, he gave a sigh of relief and then a big smile when his tee shot not only avoided trouble, but kicked off a bank to eight feet.
Bjorn insisted he stayed in the moment all day rather than thinking back - not just to the last day, but also the opening day when he took 8 on the 17th after being penalised for hitting the sand before he was out of it.
This time he parred it, but at the last he chose to chip rather than putt from just left of the green, struck it too hard and bogeyed.
"A lot of people have asked me what I feel about the 2003 Open," he added.
"It's in the past. I always look ahead - I'm 40 years old and there might just be a little bit more in me."
McIlroy, trying to be the youngest Open Champion since 1893 just a month after he was the youngest US Open Champion since 1923, had his mind mostly on what he was doing, of course.
But after coming back from two over par after three the 22 year old commented: "On the 11th tee we're like 'What is he (Thomas Bjorn) doing? How is he six under par?' Fantastic - great to see him doing well.
"It would be a great story if he could get himself into contention again going into Sunday."
Bjorn was in a play-off just a week after his Open heartbreak, but a year later walked away from the game for a while after revealing he was "fighting demons."
He has won four times since his return, most recently in Qatar in February, and was a runner-up in the 2005 US PGA championship, where he equalled the Major record with his third round 63.
Donald, clear winner of the Barclays Scottish Open last Sunday, mixed three birdies with four bogeys, while Lee Westwood, third and second the last two years, left himself with catching up to do as well after a hat-trick of bogeys from the third.
Westwood finished the day on one-over-par 71, th3e same mark as Luke Donald and The 46 year old Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez had a 66, the same score as former US Open champion Lucas Glover and they bedded down for the night in joint third place behind Bjorn and Lewis on 65.
Westwood made birdie 4 at the long 14th here and with a 20 footer at the next had recovered to one over par, which was his score at the end of 18 holes.
Lewis was already having a day to remember, but it got even better when made it four birdies in a row with a 20 foot putt on the 17th and with that went into the joint lead with Bjorn.
Westwood finished with a 71 and Graeme McDowell, who opened with a double bogey and stood three over after five, came roaring back to shoot 68.
SCOTSWATCH
It was not a day to be waving the Scottish Saltire with Stephen Gallacher and Peter Whiteford the best from north of the Border on the par 70 mark which left him joint 37th going into Day 2. Phil Mickelson also had a 70.
Paul Lawrie, who finished high up in the field behind winner Greg Norman in the 1993 Open over the Sandwich links, had a 73 which leaves him in danger of missing the cut. He is currently sharing 94th position with a Scot who won the Open over this course, Sandy Lyle.
Scott Jamieson had a disappointing 75 to be in joint 129th position, definitely in need of something special tomorrow.
LEADERBOARD
Par 70
65 Thomas Bjorn (Denmark), Tom Lewis (Welwyn Garden City) (am)
66 Miguel-Angel Jimenez (Spain), Lucas Glover (US), Webb Simpson (US).
68 Simon Dyson (England), Kyle Stanley (US), Darren Clarke (N Ireland), Graeme McDowell (N Ireland), Martin Kaymer (Germany), Fredrik Andersson Hed (Sweden), Ricky Barnes (US), Pablo Larrazabal (Spain), Jeff Overton (US), Kurt Barnes (Australia).
69 Danny Willett (England), Mark Calcavecchia (US), Ryan Moore (US), Yuto Ikeda (Japan), Ian Poulter (England), Anders Hansen (Denmark), Alexandr Noren (Sweden), Seung-Yul Noh (S Korea), Richard McEvoy (England), Chad Campbell (US), Edoardo Molinari (Italy), Adam Scott (Australia), Bubba Watson (US), Steve Stricker (US), Robert Allenby (Australia), J B Holmes (US).

SELECTED OTHER SCORES
70 Stephen Gallacher (Scotland), Peter Whiteford (Scotland), Phil Mickelson (US) (T37)
71 Rory McIlroy (N Ireland), Luke Donald (England), Lee Westwood (England) (T53).
72 Justin Rose (England), Tom Watson (US), Jim Furyk (US), Martin Laird (Scotland) (T71).
73 Paul Lawrie (Scotland), Sandy Lyle (Scotland) (T94).
75 Scott Jamieson (Scotland) (T129)

To view all the scores and scorecards

CLICK HERE FOR THE OPEN SCOREBOARD