JACK SENIOR BEATEN IN US AMATEUR CH/SHIP SEMI-FINAL

FROM THE USGA WEBSITE
By Dave Shedloski
Erin, Wisconsin – There was no great escape this time for the world’s top amateur, Patrick Cantlay. This time, he didn’t need one.
After twice rallying from 2 down with two holes to play this week at Erin Hills, Cantlay enjoyed a less stressful match Saturday morning versus Jordan Russell. Cantlay relied on his steady game to run away with a 4-and-3 victory in the semi-finals of the 111th U.S. Amateur.
Cantlay, 19, of Las Alamitos, Calif., will meet Kelly Kraft, of Denton, Texas, at 8:30 a.m. CDT Sunday for a 36-hole final to decide possession of the Havemeyer Trophy that goes to the U.S. Amateur champion.
Kraft, 22, eliminated Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team selection Jack Senior, 3 and 2, in the second semi-final (scroll down for a report of this match).
“It’s a great feeling,” said Cantlay, ranked No. 1 by the World Amateur Golf Ranking after an impressive run of golf the last four-five months. “So far this week I’ve come and done what I wanted to do, so it’s really exciting.”
“It was a good match. You know, it was just a fight. … But the better golfer obviously came out on top,” said Russell, 22, a senior at Texas A&M University. “This week was really great, making it this far.”
Two years ago, Russell caddied for his Aggie teammate Bronson Burgoon in the U.S. Amateur at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., after failing to make it through match play, so he was determined to give it … well, the old college try. “I just decided that that’s kind of what I want to do,” he said. “It seemed like a lot of fun so to make it this far was pretty cool.”
The match was a vintage seesaw affair with the two youngsters trading wins through the first seven holes – with five of those coming with pars. Cantlay, who never trailed, won the odd holes starting with a birdie at the first. At No. 7, he recorded a two-putt birdie on the par-5 hole with an unexpected win on the following hole that gave him breathing room.
At the par-4 eighth, playing 483 yards into the wind, Cantlay missed the green and couldn’t get up and down to save par. But Russell also needed three strokes to get on after laying up in the rough with a wedge, and then he three-putted for double bogey.
“That kind of got me started,” Cantlay said. “I just tried to play solid golf from there on out and hit smart shots. I wasn’t going to give any holes away.”
“Once Patrick got the momentum, he just played like he always does, and he did a really good job of just playing consistent,” Russell said. “He’s just clutch.”
That was evident at the finish.
Cantlay, a sophomore at UCLA, went 3 up at the 11th hole with a two-putt par after Russell missed the green long and couldn’t get up and down on the slick greens. At the 14th hole, another par 5, Cantlay again reached in two and two-putted from 9 feet to send the match dormie.
He ended it in style. Russell hit his approach to within 3 feet of the hole at the short par-4 15th, but Cantlay topped him yet again, sending his wedge to within 1 foot for the sure tie and putting himself into the final.
Cantlay undoubtedly feels like he’s where he should be. After four wins this spring as a freshman, he was the recipient of the Jack Nicklaus Award as the nation’s top collegiate golfer, accepting the award from the Golden Bear at the Memorial Tournament. The following day he survived U.S. Open sectional qualifying in Columbus, Ohio, in a field beefed up with professionals, and at the U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., he left as low amateur.
The week after that he set an amateur record with a second-round 60 at the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn., as part of a string of five straight top-25 finishes on the Tour, which had never been done.
“It’s been very special, probably the most fun I’ve ever had in my life this past … however long it’s been, like two and a half months or so,” Cantlay said. “It’s been a whirlwind, but it’s been a lot of fun.”
Of course, the work is not done. He has not yet won during his glorious summer.
“I feel like I’m playing well. I’m really excited to go out tomorrow and do my best,” he said.

REPORT OF KELLY KRAFT v JACK SENIOR SEMI-FINAL

Kelly Kraft was a baseball player as a kid. No one in his family played golf, or cared much about it. He took it up on a whim, just to hang out with some friends.
Now he's battling the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world, playing for a U.S. Amateur title at Erin Hills.
“I'm thrilled,” said Kraft, after popping Englishman Jack Senior's dreams with a 3-and-2 win in a semi-final match on Saturday. “It hasn't really sunk in yet, I don't think. But I still have one more round to go before tomorrow, so I don't want to get too high before then. Hopefully, I can do some celebrating after tomorrow.”
Kraft already is ahead of himself, in a manner of speaking. He was not a high school star in Denton, Texas, and never won anything of note. He had a fine career at Southern Methodist University, a career he recently completed eligibility-wise. His senior season was solid, if unspectacular, and when summer ended, he planned to go back to school and complete a degree in Sociology.
“That's the plan,” he said with a grin that suggested plans could change. “As of right now, yeah.”
That was before he caught fire, winning the Texas Amateur and the Trans-Mississippi Amateur in consecutive outings. And that was before he started dropping 15-foot putts at Erin Hills like they were bad habits.
“I don't know how many of them I've made, but it's been quite a few,” he said. “I feel like I've made a lot, feel like I haven't missed many short putts. This is probably pretty close to the best I've ever putted.”
The flat stick was still on fire on Saturday. Senior was trying to become the first Englishman to win the U.S. Amateur since 1911, and to that end he took the early lead with a birdie on the first hole. But Senior's advantage was brief, vanishing when he bogeyed No. 2.
From that point Kraft, who survived a 23-hole marathon in the round of 16 to advance, enjoyed the upper hand. He led by 2 up after eight holes before a bogey at No. 9 opened the door a crack. But Kraft won No. 10 with a par, then birdied No. 11 to go 3 up.
Senior fought back with a birdie at No. 12 and it looked as if he might pick up another hole at No. 13. But Kraft's precision putting was prominent again, as he drained a downhill, 8-footer coming back to save par and halve the hole.
“That was definitely a key putt to make,” Kraft said. “I thought that would give me good momentum going to the par 5.”
He was correct. Kraft put a choke hold on the match with a spectacular eagle at the par-5 14th hole, knocking his second shot to within 6 feet. The players traded pars at No. 15 and when Senior couldn't drain a long birdie putt on No. 16, he conceded the match.
Kraft will go head to head with Patrick Cantlay in the 36-hole finale at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday.

DUSTIN JOHNSON WINS THE BARCLAYS OVER THREE ROUNDS

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
EDISON, New Jersey (AP) — Dustin Johnson beat the rain and everyone else Saturday at The Barclays to win the opening FedEx Cup playoff event today (USA time).
Johnson, pictured, shot a 29 on the front nine of rain-softened Plainfield for the second straight day. He closed with a 6-under 65 for a two-shot win over Matt Kuchar.
The Barclays was reduced to 54 holes because of Hurricane Irene. If the third round could not be finished Saturday, then it would have reverted to a 36-hole event and Kuchar would have been declared the winner.
Kuchar had a one-shot lead going into the round, but he couldn't hold up against the power and putting of Johnson. Kuchar shot a 68.
Johnson, with his fifth career win, goes to No. 4 in the world.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 213 (3x71)
Players from US unless stated
194 Dustin Johnson 66 63 65.
196 Matt Kuchar 63 65 68.
197 Brandt Snedeker 70 66 61, Vijay Singh (Fiji) 65 64 68.
198 Jonathan Byrd 65 66 67
199 Y E Yang (S Korea) 70 66 63, Brian Davis (England) 69 66 64, Camilo Villegas (Colombia) 68 68 65, Justin Rose (England) 67 65 67.
Selected scores
201 Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 65 67 69 (T13)
202 Luke Donald 70 66 66, Ian Poulter 71 67 64 (T18).
205 Graeme McDowell (N Ireland) 72 65 68 (T43).
207 Martin Laird (Scotland) 71 67 69 (T58)

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HEBERT'S HAT-TRICK PROMOTES HIM TO EUROPEAN TOUR

By SARAH GWYNN
European Tour Press Officer
Frenchman Benjamin Hebert completed a stunning hat-trick of Challenge Tour victories this season by winning the Rolex Trophy by one shot after a five under par 67 in the final round at Geneva Golf Club, Switzerland today.
The 24 year old had an anxious wait as, unusually for a last round, he finished some five hours before play was completed. Thunderstorms marred Friday’s third round, leaving 16 groups to return on Saturday morning.
As a result, the fourth round had to be played with exactly the same draw as the third round in order to finish on time, and Hebert was out at 8.30am.
Having already claimed the Credit Suisse Challenge and the English Challenge in consecutive weeks earlier this summer, Hebert’s hat-trick gives him automatic promotion to The European Tour for the rest of this season and 2012. Remarkably, he has won three of the last five events on the Challenge Tour schedule – and two in Switzerland.
“I am delighted,” said Hebert, whose scores of 66, 65, 71 and 67 gave him a 19 under par total for the €24,400 winner’s cheque and a Rolex watch. “To win three times is a dream.
“I am very happy because I had a great finish. I putted brilliantly on the back nine. I holed a putt from 15 metres on the sixth, then one from five metres down the hill on the eighth for par as I’d hit my second shot in the water with a three wood. So that was crucial.
“And on the ninth I hit it very close with my approach and had an easy birdie putt. It was not easy out there with all the water on the course.”
Englishman Sam Hutsby had a one shot lead at the start of the final round, and extended that to two strokes at one stage, but his bid to match or exceed Hebert’s score unravelled at the seventh and eighth – his 16th and 17th – with a bogey and a triple bogey eight for a level par 72 and fourth place.
That left Spaniard Jorge Campillo the only other threat from the morning groups, but having reached 18 under par after 15 holes he was unable to birdie any of the last three to equal Hebert’s effort.
Austrian Florian Praegant and Englishman Tommy Fleetwod needed respective scores of 65 and 64 in the afternoon to force a play-off, and the latter nearly managed it, missing a five-metre birdie putt on the last to tie with Hebert.
“I knew I had to shoot eight under so I didn’t really think I had a chance,” said Fleetwood. “I usually go backwards on a Sunday so it was nice to do the opposite. I didn’t feel nervous. I’d got on a roll and felt really good. I don’t know whether I’d hit the putt differently if I had it again – it just rolled over the edge so it wasn’t far off going in.”
It is the third time this season Campillo has finished runner-up, and he was frustrated at another near-miss. He said: “I knew I had to birdie the last to go level with Benjamin, but I was in the rough for my second shot and it was 180 yards to the flag and a really tough shot.
“It left me with a 35-footer for birdie which only just missed. The 16th and 17th are also tough to birdie and I couldn’t manage it there.
“I played really well today, but it’s disappointing to miss out on winning again. However, in the past it has felt like I lost it; today it feels like I played well but someone else was a fraction better.”

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GARRIDO AND FOSTER SHARE LEAD AT GLENEAGLES

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Ignacio Garrido and Mark Foster share the clubhouse lead heading into Sunday's final round of the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles.
The Spaniard, who was the overnight leader, was caught twice by the Englishman and once by Dane Thomas Björn but edged two clear when he birdied the ninth and Foster bogeyed the 11th.
 However, former Ryder Cup player Garrido, who has had only one top 10 finish all season, also took 5 on the 11th and, although he birdied the 14th, a bogey on the next hole saw him drop a shot before Foster birdied the 16th to level up.Garrido matched Foster on the 16th to move one ahead before Foster’s two putt birdie on the par five last meant he and Garrido go into the final day on 11 under and three clear of the chasing pack
“I feel good. I think it's great to be back in this position. When you are, you never know when the next one is going to be, so it's nice to have another go at a title, as you say,” Garrido said.
“The good thing is, even though it' been a while, once you've been there, you know what the feeling is. So in that sense, well, I think I've got the experience to know how I'm going to be feeling tomorrow. 
“Obviously, the fact that you have the chance to win, it puts a little bit of pressure on you, but hope it's some nice pressure. I'm enjoying my golf lately, and that's what I've done these three days which is probably the key. I will try to do the same tomorrow.”
Foster finished with a four under par 68 and was pleased with the way he played.
“I just kept the ball in play and just kept hitting great shots into the par fives, getting on the greens in two, making eagle chances,” he said.
Pablo Larrazábal followed a bogey on the first with birdies on the second, seventh and eighth to continue his surge up the leaderboard, but a bogey on the penultimate hole saw him drop a shot and finish with a third round 70.
Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger made seven birdies, including two on the final two holes, in a round of 68 that saw him motor up the leaderboard on eight under par.
Björn caught Garrido after birdieing the second but four bogies saw him lose ground after shooting a 71.
America's Anthony Kang started well with birdies on the first two holes but a bogey on the eighth saw him drop to six under par. However, birdies on the 13th and 16th saw him move three shots off the lead.
Irishman Peter Lawrie parred his first eight holes and birdied the ninth and, although he bogeyed the 11th and 13th, further birdies on the 14th and final hole saw him keep in touch with the chasing pack.
Scot Stephen Gallacher, who made six birdies, including three consecutive starting from the 14th, sits seven under par after an impressive third round 67, his best of the week.
Englishman James Morrison also threw himself into the mix after birdieing the second and, despite a bogey on the fifth, another birdie on the 12th saw him continue his charge. Scotland's Marc Warren shot four birdies, including his first two holes, but two bogeys saw his progression thwarted as he finished with a two under 70.
“It was a tricky day today. Greens were a little bit softer towards the end there and I'm pleased to be around in under par,” Warren said.
Swede Magnus Carlsson shot four birdies and two bogies in a two under par round of 70, while Italian Lorenzo Gagli is seven under par after birdieing the final hole.
South African George Coetzee followed up his 69 yesterday with a 68 after countering two consecutive bogies on the second and third with seven birdies to move four shots off the lead.Sweden's Joel Sjöholm made a three under par 69, his best score of the week, but his good start, which included an eagle on the second and a birdie on the third, was overshadowed but four bogies, including two on his final two holes.
Irish Open champion Simon Dyson shot 69, with four birdies, to keep him in with a sniff of the leaders on six under par and England's Kenneth Ferrie, who shared the lead yesterday, struggled to assert himself on his third round with four bogies, but two birdies on his last two holes saw him finish with a one over 73.
Defending champion Edoardo Molinari tried to climb his way up the leaderboard but three birdies were overshadowed by bogeys on the sixth and 13th, leaving him with a three under par 69, his best of the week, but some way ahead of his brother Francesco, who ended the third round two over following another 74.
Colin Montgomerie finished with a third round 77, his worst of the week so far, to leave him four over par.

JOHNNIE WALKER CHAMPIONSHIP THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD

PGA Centenary Course, Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire

LEADING 54-HOLE TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
205 Mark Foster (England) 66 71 68, Ignacio Garrido (Spain) 67 69 69
208 Bernd Wiesberger (Switzerland) 69 71 68, Anthony Kang (US) 73 66 69, Pablo Larrazabal (Spain) 70 68 70, Peter Lawrie (Ireland) 68 69 71, Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 68 69 71

SCOTTISH SCORES
209 Stephen Gallacher 74 68 67, Marc Warren 70 69 70 (T8).
211 Chris Doak 71 72 68 (T17)
213 Richie Ramsay 69 72 72 (T29)
214 Gary Orr 71 72 71, James Byrne (amateur) 70 71 73
217 Paul Lawrie 72 72 73 (T53)
218 Alastair Forsyth 70 71 77 (T58)
219 Paul McKechnie 73 71 75 (T63)
220 Colin Montgomerie 70 73 77 (T66).

THIRD-ROUND TOTALS FROM ROLEX TROPHY IN SWITZERLAND

Please note 16 groups had to complete their third rounds on Saturday morning after thunderstorms forced the suspension of play yesterday afternoon.

THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)201 S Hutsby (Eng) 65 70 66
202 B Hebert (Fra) 66 65 71
204 J Campillo (Esp) 70 67 67, F Praegant (Aut) 65 67 72
205 A Bossert (Sui) 74 66 65, T Fleetwood (Eng) 66 65 74,
206 R Santos (Por) 72 69 65,
207 K Eriksson (Swe) 70 65 72,
208 M Southgate (Eng) 68 69 71, D Denison (Eng) 68 70 70, A Snobeck (Fra) 69 70 69
209 B Grace (RSA) 68 72 69, E Kofstad (Nor) 70 68 71, A Pavan (Ita) 66 69 74, A Tampion (Aus) 70 71 68, M Bothma (RSA) 72 67 70, A Tadini (Ita) 68 68 73,
210 M Ford (Eng) 66 70 74
211 J Estevez (Arg) 69 70 72, J Moul (Eng) 70 68 73, P Gustafsson (Swe) 69 73 69, F Colombo (Ita) 72 69 70
212 J Quesne (Fra) 71 72 69, V Riu (Fra) 70 74 68, S Tiley (Eng) 70 70 72,
213 M Baldwin (Eng) 69 71 73, C Lee (Sco) 68 70 75, B Åkesson (Swe) 72 69 72, M Kieffer (Ger) 67 71 75
214 D Vancsik (Arg) 72 73 69, C Russo (Fra) 72 71 71, E Dubois (Fra) 70 67 77, P Archer (Eng) 69 72 73
215 D Brooks (Eng) 72 75 68, T Ferreira (RSA) 73 75 67
216 C Lloyd (Eng) 70 72 74
217 A Hansen (Den) 71 76 70
218 L Jensen (Den) 71 73 74
219 C Gane (Eng) 72 75 72
221 B Barham (Eng) 69 76 76
222 M Erlandsson (Swe) 75 74 73
235 N Meitinger (Ger) 71 77 87

SOUTH-EAST DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP WASH-OUT: 36 HOLES SUNDAY

No play is possible in the South-east District Open championship at Musselburgh Golf Club because of severe flooding.
The tournament has been cut from 72 to 36 holes which, weather permitting, will be played on Sunday.

RUSSELL KNOX SHOOTS SECOND-ROUND 66 TO MAKE THE CUT

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
KNOXVILLE, Tennessee -- The leaderboard is painted with veterans' names heading into the weekend of the 22nd News Sentinel Open presented by Pilot.
Californian John Mallinger, who has seven years of experience between the US PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour, backed up his opening 9-under 63 with a 7-under 65 on Friday to move to 16-under 128 and grab sole possession of the lead at the half-way point.
Knoxville native Garrett Willis, who has eight years of experience between both tours, fired 6-under 66 in the second round to be two strokes back at 14-under 130. Twenty-two year US PGA Tour veteran Kirk Triplett is three back after carding eight birdies en route to posting 8-under 64 to climb to 13-under 131.
Also in the hunt are Louisiana native Brian Bateman, Georgian Paul Claxton, South Korean Sungoon Kang, former University of Georgia Bulldog Kevin Kisner and Washington native Jeff Gove who are four off the pace at 12-under 132. Bateman and Claxton have a combined 32 years of experience between the US PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour
This week is Mallinger's third Nationwide Tour event of the year. He missed the cut at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open and finished T9 at the Stadion Classic at UGA. The 31-year old has spent the majority of his time on the PGA TOUR where he has played 14 events.
"A win is a win," said Mallinger, who is looking for his first win on either the PGA TOUR or Nationwide Tour. "Anytime you can prove to yourself and everyone else that you can win it's a good thing. The way I look at is I would take that momentum into the Fall Series."
Mallinger began his round by chipping in for birdie on the par-5 10th hole and quickly collected three more before making the turn. He continued the birdie barrage on the front nine by two-putting the par-5 1st hole for birdie and a 25-foot putt for birdie on second hole.
Mallinger, who has made a his way around the 7,110-yard, par-72 Fox Den Country Club with only one blemish in 36 holes, matched the lowest 36-hole total in tournament history, set in 1994.
"It seems like you have to birdie every hole," said the leader in birdies with 14. "These guys don't quit out here. I feel like by the time I tee off I'll be a few back."
Willis, who is playing in his first Nationwide Tour event of the year, also has just one lone bogey through the first two rounds. The 37-year old made a bogey on the par-4 9th hole, his last hole of the day, after failing to get up and down from behind the green. Through two rounds he has made two eagles and 11 birdies.
"I didn't really know what to expect after playing so well yesterday," said Willis, who has two career wins on the Nationwide Tour. "I know when you start off on a par-5 you want to get off to a good start. I made a solid six-foot putt on the first hole and it took a lot of pressure off me to ease into my round."
Willis has played 20 PGA TOUR events this year and has collected $417,270. His opening rounds of 64-66 are his best back-to-back rounds of the year.
"If you can keep the ball in the fairways out here you're going to give yourself tons of opportunities," said Willis, who has hit 24 of 28 fairways. "And the greens are rolling so good. There are a lot of birdies to be had out here."
Willis is no stranger to Fox Den Country Club. The first time he played the course was when he was a senior in high school. He lives about 15 miles away and when he's not travelling he'll play here on the weekends with his buddies.
"I'll have a lot of nerves going into the weekend," said Willis, who has family and friends in the crowds this week. "Typically once you hit that first tee shot all the nerves go away and it's game time."
Triplett, who has hit 31 of 36 greens in regulation, is playing in his fifth Nationwide Tour event of the season. He's made every cut with his best finish of T12 coming at the BMW Charity Pro-Am in May. The 49-year old has also played in seven PGA TOUR events this year with his best finish coming at the Viking Classic where he finished T18.
"I made a couple of putts coming in to turn a nice day into a really good day," said the three-time PGA TOUR winner. "This course has a lot of twists and turns to it -- you can't just pound driver -- so it's not about who is closest to the green after the drive. This course forces you to hit good approach shots."
Triplett's two-day total of 131 is his best of the year. Of the 41 rounds he's played this year on the PGA TOUR and Nationwide Tour, 20 have been in the 60s.
"The mind set of the guys out here is we're going to get after it," he said. "We know the winning score out here is going to be around 20-under par and you don't get to that number by aiming 30 feet away."
Second-Round Notes
• A total of 67 players made the 36-hole cut at 5-under 139. This year's cut matched the tournament record, set in 2009.
• Jeff Gove made two eagles on the back nine en route to a 6-under 66. On the par-5 10th hole he chipped in from off the green and on the par-4 14th hole he hit driver to 50 yards and holed out with a lob wedge.
• Two-time US PGA Tour winner Boo Weekley made his first start on the Nationwide Tour since the 2006 Nationwide Tour Championship. He carded rounds of 70-67 to be 7-under (T29) heading into the weekend. Weekley has played in 19 PGA TOUR events this year and missed the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup by finishing outside the top 125 in the point standings (157th).
• Two-time winner Mathew Goggin made nine birdies en route to posting a 9-under 63, the low round of the day. Goggin began the second round T79 after shooting 71 on Thursday but enters the weekend T10 at 10-under 134.
• John Daly, who is playing on a sponsor's exemption, recorded rounds of 70-65 to be seven shots back at 9-under 137. Quotes from Daly:
"I feel pretty good going to tomorrow but if the scores keep going the way the are I'll still be 10 strokes back. The difference between yesterday's round and today's is my wedges. I hit them a lot better but they still need some work. What I love about this course is we have four par-5s so you know you're going to make some birdies and get your confidence."

Russell Knox shot a second-round 66 to make the cut on 138

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LEFT-HANDER RUSS COCHRAN LEADS US SENIORS TOUR EVENT

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
SNOQUALMIE, Washington (AP) — Russ Cochran shot a 6-under 66 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead over Jeff Sluman after the first round of the Champions Tour's Boeing Classic.
Cochran, the left-handed winner of the Senior British Open winner last month, had an eagle, five birdies and a bogey at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge.
Defending champion Bernhard Langer was two strokes back at 68 along with Hale Irwin and Ted Schulz. The 66-year-old Irwin had a hole-in-one on the par-3 ninth.
Fred Couples, the hometown star coming off a victory Sunday in New York in the Seniors Players Championship, shot a 73.
Cochran eagled the par-5 eighth to reach 2 under. The left-hander birdied No. 11, then had three straight birdies on Nos. 14-16 to take sole possession of the lead. He dropped a stroke on 17, but countered with a birdie on 18 to get back to 6 under.
Cochran missed more than two months this year because of a right wrist injury. He returned for the First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, then won the Senior British Open for his third Champions Tour victory and first major title.
Sluman birdied four of the final five holes.
Irwin holed a 6-iron shot from 185 yards on the ninth. His shot landed on the front collar of the green just over a bunker and rolled up and in for the ace. It was Irwin's sixth career ace and first on the Champions Tour. His last hole-in-one came in the 2004 US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

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England's Jack Senior in semi-finals of US amateur championship

Jack Senior, pictured, from Heysham GC, Lancashire, one of the GB and I team for the Walker Cup match against the United States at Royal Aberdeen in a fortnight's time, is through to the semi-finals of the US amateur championship at Erin, Wisconsin.
Team-mate Tom Lewis from Welwyn Garden City lost in the round before the quarter-finals.

REPORT FROM GOLF.COM WEBSITE
ERIN, Wisconsin (AP) — UCLA star Patrick Cantlay won two matches Friday at Erin Hills to advance to the U.S. Amateur semifinals, while defending champion Peter Uihlein dropped out in the quarterfinals.
Cantlay beat England's Tom Lewis, the leading amateur in this year's British Open, 3 and 1 in the round of 16, then edged Max Buckley in 19 holes in the afternoon quarter-finals. Jordan Russell beat Uihlein 2 and 1 to set up a semifinal match with Cantlay.
In the other quarterfinals, Kelly Kraft beat Patrick Rodgers 6 and 4, and England's Jack Senior edged Jordan Spieth by one hole.
After Russell knocked off Uihlein, the Oklahoma State star told the Texas A and M player that he was the most underrated player in college golf.
"That's pretty cool if he thinks that," said Russell. "I think I'm maybe a little underrated, but I kind of like it that way. I have my own motivation with that. It kind of keeps me going. So, I'm fine with that"
Uihlein was trying to become the first player to successfully defend his title since Tiger Woods won three straight from 1994-96.
"I made too many pars. I only birdied the first hole (as did Russell)," Uihlein said. "Jordan played too solid to beat him with pars. I didn't hit it close enough to put pressure on him and I didn't make any putts going in."
Russell was 2-up after six holes, but Uihlein rallied to tie the match with a par 4 on the 12th hole. Russell won the next two holes and Uihlein never recovered.
"I kind of got the momentum early," Russell said. "He kind of swung it, but I made a 60-footer on 13, so that kind of flipped it right there, and I made birdie on the next hole."
Cantlay, the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world, won the final two holes to tie Lewis, then won with a par on the first extra hole. It was the second extra-hole match for Cantlay in the tournament.
"I don't know if it's helping me," Cantlay said, "but I've had to do it. It's nice to know I can hit good shots coming down to the wire, but I'd love to hit good shots earlier in the match and have the lead."
Senior has a chance to join Harold Hilton (1911) as the only English winners. Aberdeen's Richie Ramsay, in 2006, became the first Scot to win the US amateur title in over 100 years.
"It would mean a lot to me," Senior said. "I'm just taking every shot as it comes. I'm not thinking too far ahead."
Spieth, a two-time U.S. Junior champion from Dallas, led most of the match and was 2-up after winning the par 12th with a birdie. They traded the lead several times and were tied going into the final hole, which Senior won with a par.
"He played great all day, but unfortunately made some mistakes (on the final hole)," Senior said.

US PGA TOUR EVENT CUT TO 54 HOLES: "Pathetic," says Ian Poulter

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
EDISON, New Jersey (AP) — What once looked to be a long week at The Barclays suddenly has turned into a sprint.
Matt Kuchar heard the news from his walking scorer when he reached the eighth green Friday that the US PGA Tour's opening play-off event would be reduced to 54 holes on Saturday because of Hurricane Irene. By then, the defending champion had already left his mark on Plainfield Country Club and closed with a pair of pars for a 6-under 65.
That gave Kuchar a one-shot lead over Dustin Johnson and Vijay Singh, and it could loom large.
Even now, no one is sure what to expect from Irene. The plan is to start the third and final round Saturday morning and hope to finish before the storm arrives. If the rain shows up early and they can't finish, it will revert to a 36-hole tournament.
"The best players generally come out winners after 72, so for me, I feel like the more golf we play, the better my chances," Kuchar said. "But given the situation, I love being on top of the leaderboard with 18 holes to go. Hard to find something to complain about with the situation I'm in. Yeah, I'm quite happy that I've got this opportunity. I just feel like we've got one last round to go."
Johnson missed birdie putts inside 10 feet on his last three holes and still shot 63. Singh, who has gone 67 starts on the PGA Tour since his last win at the BMW Championship in 2008, two-putted for par from 40 feet on his last hole for a 64.
"I'm pretty happy with my position," Singh said. "I would have loved to be in the lead in case we don't play."
What helped is that only 72 players made the cut at 4-under 138, which at least makes for a quicker third round.
It's the first time a FedEx Cup playoff event has been reduced to 54 holes since the series began in 2007, and there was not much choice.
Plainfield already had received about 10 inches of rain the past two weeks and 10 more were expected Sunday. There also were safety issues. Crews began dismantling electronic scoreboards Friday afternoon and an army of volunteers from the area had to make their own plans to evacuate, if necessary.
"It kind of makes you want to cry because of all the effort that went in, and all of the energy that surrounded this event going into the week, which is going to be the best Barclays we have ever had," tournament director Peter Mele said.
The tournament had been a sellout, and fans still turned out Friday in warm weather. They were treated to quite a show.
Kuchar, who won The Barclays last year at Ridgewood, played without a bogey in a round so efficient that his most memorable shot was punching under a tree and onto the green for a two-putt par on the eighth.
He finished his first round earlier Friday with a birdie on the 18th for a 63, and he was at 14-under 128 going into the final round.
On the other side of the course was Johnson, using his sheer power to overwhelm a soft course. Johnson was blasting driver whenever he thought he could carry the trouble off the tee. He came up just short of the par-4 fourth and ninth greens, making birdie on both as he went out in 29. Johnson made an 18-foot birdie on the 11th to tie for the lead, but his 3-iron into the par-5 12th turned just enough to catch the water, and he had to scramble for par.
It was a spectacular round in many ways, no matter how soft the conditions, no matter how many chances he missed.
"There's no way I can say I'm disappointed by any means," he said. "I could have done a little better with the short game. But overall, I mean a 63 is a 63. I'm going to be smiling." And, yes, he said that with a smile.
Singh had only one blemish when he three-putted from 30 feet on the 15th, but he countered with eight birdies. He recently went to Germany to get the same treatment on his back as Fred Couples, who won on the Champions Tour last week.
Jonathan Byrd birdied his last hole for a 66 and was at 11-under 131.
Among those at 10 under were Justin Rose (65), Aaron Baddeley (66) and a surprise - at least this year - in Padraig Harrington. The three-time major champion only got into the FedEx Cup playoffs last week at No. 124 of the 125 who qualified. He opened with a 65 for his low round of the year, and followed it with seven birdies in his round of 67.
He played with William McGirt, the No. 125 seed, who had a 69 and was another shot behind. They now only have one more round to secure a spot among the top 100 in the standings and move on to the second playoff event outside Boston next week.
"I wouldn't say we played with desperation," Harrington said. "I think there was a bit of freedom in it. We had nothing to lose. We were the last men in."
McGirt was planning to play Nationwide Tour events in Tennessee and Idaho. Instead, he went to Plainfield and appears headed to the TPC Boston, two tournaments with $8 million in prize money.
"Kind of got everything going, but hey, it's golf," McGirt said. "And the worst thing I could finish this week is 125."
US PGA Tour events are not official unless they go at least 54 holes. If the rain arrives earlier than expected Saturday and the tournament reverts to 36-hole scores, the tour will still distribute FedEx Cup points as if it were official, which is significant for those trying to get into the top 100.
Adam Scott won a playoff at Riviera six years ago after rain allowed just 36 holes, and while he received official money, it didn't count as a PGA Tour win and he only received 75 percent of the world ranking points available that week.
None of the players seemed to mind that it would be 54 holes, even as a playoff event. One look at the forecast, and news of a hurricane warning for New Jersey, was enough to make anyone realize golf is secondary.
"I think they made the right decision," Harrington said. "There's bigger things going on, once this hurricane hits, to be worried about coming back for the last round of a golf event. There's going to be bigger issues."
The only beef for Ian Poulter (pictured above) was the timing of it all. He found out it was reduced to 54 holes when he saw the announcement on a video board with only four holes left in his second round. Poulter didn't understand why the tour couldn't mention that as a possibility.
"It's a little frustrating that you get told it's a 54-hole tournament when you've got four holes to play," he said. "The guys going out now for the second round know exactly what's going on. There's been no information about what might happen. And I think that's pathetic."
He at least finished with four pars for a 67 and was at 4 under, which made the cut and gives him a chance to get to Boston.
This is the second straight year a hurricane has been the focus at a playoff event. Hurricane Earl threatened the Deutsche Bank Championship outside Boston last season, although it never developed.
"I think you never know with hurricanes. They are fickle, as we all know," Mele said. "Unfortunately, this one wasn't."

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