SCOT BEN COLLIER PIPPED IN BULGARIA PLAY-OFF

By COLIN FARQUHARSON Colin@scottishgolfview.com  Callander, Perthshire exile Ben Collier was pipped in a play-off for the PGAs of Europe championship at Pravets Golf Resort, Bulgaria today. Collier, the left-handed 1990 Scottish boys match-play champion now a club pro based in Holland, tied with Portugal's Hugo Santos on 11-under-par 277 after running up a double bogey 5 at the short 17th in his final round. The 18th was replayed as the first hole of a sudden-death play-off and Santos birdied it to Collier's par. Ben's consolation prize was a cheque for £6,800 while Santos, who had lost his overnight lead with a triple bogey at the first but later birdie the 13th and 16th to get into the play-off, went off with the £10,000 jackpot prize. Santos's rounds were 67, 69, 69 and 72; Collier's 67, 67, 73 and 70. The Scot had six birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey in his final round. PGA Cup player Craig Matheson (Falkirk Tryst) finished on 289 with scores of 70, 75, 70 and 74. He earned £975. A third Scot, Ian Taylor, finished on 300 with rounds of 78, 76, 74 and 72 and received £580. LEADING FINAL TOTALS Par 288 (4x72) 277 Hugo Santos (Portugal) 67 69 69 72, Ben Collier (Scotland) 67 67 73 70. Santos (£10,000) bt Collier (£6,800) in a sudden death play-off. 280 Ralph Miller (England) 72 67 71 72 (£3,900). 281 Simon Edwards (Wales0 69 70 70 72, Michele Reale (Italy) 71 69 71 70 (£2,750 each). 283 Andrew Barnett (Wales) 70 74 70 69 (£2,100). 284 Jean-Pierre Cixous (France) 73 71 70 (£1,800). 285 Simon Brown (Germany) 69 71 74 71 (0£1,550). Selected scores: 288 Craig Matheson (Scotland) 70 75 70 75 (£975). 300 Ian Taylor (Scotland) 78 76 74 72 (£580). TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES CLICK HERE

CHALLENGE TOUR SCOREBOARD

FRED OLSEN CHALLENGE DE ESPANA
La Gomera GC, Canary Islands

LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 142 (2x71)
128 Alessandro Tadini (Italy) 65 63, Matthew Cryer (England) 64 64.
129 Christophe Brazillier (France) 62 67, Nicolas Meitinger (Germany) 62 67, Lloyd Kennedy (England) 63 66.
130 Matthew Baldwin (England) 63 67, Klas Eriksson (Sweden) 66 64.

SCOTTISH SCORES
135 Gavin Dear 67 68 (T23)
137 Jamie McLeary 69 68, Chris Doak 69 68 (T42).
138 Elliot Saltman 67 71, Craig Lee 65 73 (T56).

MISSED THE CUT (138 or better qualified)
139 Callum Macaulay 74 65 (T67)
140 Alastair Forsyth 73 67 (T76)
142 Andrew McArthur 71 71 (T72).
143 Jack Doherty 70 73 (T100).

FLEETWOOD AND HOEY SHARE HALFWAY LEAD IN DUNHILL LINKS

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
England's Tommy Fleetwood is on target to complete one of the most unlikely doubles in golf after claiming a share of the lead in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Fleetwood, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, won the Kazakhstan Open earlier this month, with the first prize of €64,000 taking him top of The Challenge Tour rankings and securing his place on The European Tour for 2012.

But the 20 year old from Lancashire can win almost ten times that amount with victory at St Andrews on Sunday after storming into contention with a superb 63 at Kingsbarns.

Fleetwood, a former Walker Cup player and English Amateur Champion, carded nine birdies and no bogeys to finish 12 under par, sharing top spot on the leaderboard with Northern Ireland's Michael Hoey, who shot 66 at the same venue.

"It feels pretty good," Fleetwood said. "It's pretty unexpected to be honest. Just to get the invite and the experience of playing here is great.
"I didn't hit it very well yesterday but I holed good putts on the first three or four holes today and didn't really look back. I learn every time I play at the moment.
"The last couple of weeks I've had no pressure on me really. I know where I'm playing next year, which is great, and it's definitely given me confidence because there was a bit of thought of 'Can I win?' because I had been in there so many times.
"I finally got it done, so let's see if I can do it on the bigger stage now."
Asked about the prospect of battling some of the game's biggest names over the weekend - five of the world's top six are in the field - Fleetwood added: "It's pretty cool.
"I've watched it on TV for years and pretty much analyse everything they do, try to learn off them, and obviously my name is in pretty good company right now.
"Hopefully I can shoot a decent score at Carnoustie tomorrow and then play with somebody like Martin Kaymer or Lee Westwood. That would be really cool."
Hoey is another former Walker Cup player - he was on the winning side along with World Number One Luke Donald in 2001 - and is seeking his second European Tour win of the year this weekend.
"I've always enjoyed this pro-am format," the 32 year old said. "A couple of years ago I was tied for the lead after two rounds. It's slow, but it really takes your mind off stuff between shots."
Former Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen, who lifted The Claret Jug at St Andrews in 2010, is one off the lead after adding a 67 at Carnoustie to his opening 66 at Kingsbarns.
That means the 28 year old now has two rounds left over The Old Course to try to claim a second victory at The Home of Golf.
However, Oosthuizen will have his work cut out, with 25 players within five shots of the lead going into the final two rounds.
Former US Open Champion Graeme McDowell completed a second consecutive 67 to lie two shots back on ten under, alongside Australian Daniel Gaunt, Scotland's Marc Warren, Austria's Markus Brier and South African Jaco van Zyl.

Defending champion Martin Kaymer (67) is a shot further behind after dropping two shots in his last three holes at Carnoustie, with Lee Westwood, US Open Champion Rory McIlroy and former amateur star Tom Lewis all on seven under.

Westwood also endured a disappointing finish at Carnoustie, dropping shots at the 17th and 18th in his round of 69, while McIlroy drove into the Barry Burn on the 17th to drop his only shot of the day in a 67.

Donald, attempting to become the first man to top the money list on both sides of the Atlantic in the same season, looked set to be in contention until dropping four shots in the last four holes, including driving into the Barry Burn on the 18th to run up a double-bogey 6.

SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD

Par 144 (2x72)

132 Tommy Fleetwood (England) 69 63, Michael Hoey (Ireland) 66 66.

133 Louis Oosthuizen (S Africa) 66 67.

134 Daniel Gaunt (Australia) 69 65, MarkusBrier (Austria) 66 68, Marc Warren (Scotland) 67 64, Graeme McDowell (N Ireland) 67 67, Jaco Van Zyl (S Africa) 67 67.

OTHER SCOTS' SCORES

136 George Murray 70 66 (T11).

138 James Byre 67 71, Richie Ramsay 72 66 (T28).

139 Sandy Lyle 69 70, Paul Lawrie 71 68 (T38).

140 Colin Montgomerie 68 72, Scott Jamieson 73 67 (T51).

142 David Drysdale 69 72, Stephen Gallacher 74 68 (T82).

143 Peter Whiteford 75 68, Steven O'Hara 71 72 (T95)

144 Alan McLean 72 72 (T111).

148 Gary Orr 75 73 (T152).

PORTUGUESE SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPE SCOREBOARD

Belas Clube de Campo,
West of Lisbon.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72)
135 M Cunning (USA) 69 66,
136 J Bruner (USA) 65 71,
138 D Johnson (USA) 67 71, G Brand junior (Sco) 70 68, G Manson (Aut) 67 71, N Ratcliffe (Aus) 68 70, A Sherborne (Eng) 74 64,
139 T Johnstone (Zim) 68 71, I Woosnam (Wal) 70 69, M Mouland (Wal) 70 69, R Chapman (Eng) 70 69, G Wolstenholme (Eng) 69 70,
140 K Spurgeon (Eng) 69 71, J Gould (Eng) 74 66, D Russell (Eng) 65 75, P Fowler (Aus) 72 68, M Moreno (Esp) 71 69, A Forsbrand (Se) 73 67,
141 K Tomori (Jpn) 70 71, A Franco (Par) 71 70, G Brand (Eng) 69 72, D Smyth (Irl) 70 71,
142 A Sowa (Arg) 73 69, C Mason (Eng) 71 71, R Davis (Aus) 70 72, M James (Eng) 73 69, J Chillas (Sco) 72 70,
143 S Cipa (Eng) 73 70, A Fernandez (Chi) 74 69, B Cameron (Eng) 71 72, M Belsham (Eng) 71 72, A Oldcorn (Sco) 71 72, D Merriman (Aus) 71 72, C Williams (RSA) 71 72,
144 J Stuart (USA) 74 70, M Farry (Fra) 73 71, E Darcy (Irl) 70 74, M Harwood (Aus) 73 71, J Heggarty (Nir) 72 72, N Job (Eng) 73 71,
145 B Longmuir (Sco) 72 73, D Hospital (Esp) 68 77, J Quiros (Esp) 71 74, C Rocca (Ita) 73 72, P Dahlberg (Swe) 76 69, G Cali (Ita) 72 73,
146 R Drummond (Sco) 73 73,
147 J Rivero (Esp) 72 75, G Ralph (Eng) 75 72, H Carbonetti (Arg) 76 71, L Carbonetti (Arg) 78 69,
148 M Piñero (Esp) 74 74, S Van Vuuren (RSA) 75 73, J Cañizares (Esp) 75 73, G Banister (Aus) 77 71,
149 E Costa (Por) 74 75, J Harrison (Eng) 74 75, T Thelen (USA) 80 69, T Charnley (Eng) 74 75,
150 D Cambridge (Jam) 78 72, E Polland (Nir) 74 76, F Mann (Sco) 76 74,
151 M Bembridge (Eng) 74 77, D Durnian (Eng) 75 76, B Lincoln (RSA) 78 73,
152 J Rhodes (Eng) 78 74, A Garrido (Esp) 72 80,
153 S Bennett (Eng) 78 75,
154 M Miller (Sco) 76 78,
156 B Smit (RSA) 84 72,
157 L Neto (am) (Por) 82 75,
159 V Garcia (Esp) 82 77,
160 K Barrett (Eng) 79 81, M Gray (Sco) 81 79,
164 J Dias (Por) 85 79,

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RUSSELL KNOX ONE UNDER PAR BUT T71 ON NATIONWIDE TOUR

So high is the standard of scoring on the US Nationwide Tour, that Inverness exile Russell Knox had a first-round 71 - one under par - and is T79 in the WNB Golf Classic at Midland Country Club, Texas.

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CALLUM TRAHAN RISES 540 PLACES IN WORLD AMATEUR RANKINGS

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Meldrum House Golf Club member Callum Trahan has risen 540 places in this week's R and A World Amateur Golf Rankings after finishing joint 32nd in the Canadian Professional Tour's autumn qualifying school at Burlington, Ontario.
Torphins-based Trahan, pictured, shot 77, 71, 68 and 74 for a two-over-par total of 290 which placed him 37th of 54. Only the leading seven gained playing rights for the Canadian Tour.
Trahan was 2693 in the World Rankings before his trip to Canada - and 2153 when he returned.
I have expounded on this website in the past that ruling pro golf bodies all over the world exploit the desire of young men (and women) to turn professional and play in qualifying schools.
The entrance fees are way over the top. Something like £1,500 for the 2011 European Tour School.
The Canadian Tour have carried this means to making money to a new height - they have not one but THREE qualifying schools a year.  And at each one they charge the entrant Canadian $2,500. What a rip-off!

LUKE DONALD'S NO THREE PUTTS RUN ENDS AT 440 GREENS

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
By Paul Mahoney, Contributor to Golf Magazine
ST ANDREWS — Never mind the $800,000 on offer for the winner of the Dunhill Links Championship, Luke Donald had his mind fixed on greens not greenbacks during his first round at Kingsbarns. He teed off at the 10th with 434 consecutive holes without a single three-putt, the longest running streak in the game.
In an age when it feels like half the players on tour are converting to the belly putter in a desperate attempt to coax the ball into the hole, Donald's short flatstick has been rattling them in for seven tournaments over eight weeks, stretching back to the Canadian Open, the week after the Open at Royal St George's. A remarkable statistic in a sport obsessed with them.
Donald extended his magical touch on the greens all the way through his front nine and got to the seventh (his 16th) before disaster struck. Well OK, it wasn't THAT tragic, but his run of holes without a three-putt came to an end at 449. After lagging up from 70 feet, Donald was left with an eight-footer for par -- and missed.
"I was a little upset, yeah," Donald said with a wry smile after signing for a three-under-par 69. It's the little victories in golf, isn't, that we look for. I didn't want to miss. But 69 is not a bad score to start the week."
Pin a "Putting Stats Geek" Badge to your lapel if you knew that the new three-putt-avoidance champ is now, of all people, Sergio Garcia at 131 consecutive holes. And you thought he was supposed to be struggling with his putting.
Donald is tucked in behind a group of players leading at six under par. Among them is Louis Oosthuizen, who scorched Kingsbarns on a glorious Californian summer's day in Fife when the temperature sneaked above 70 degrees.
He clearly enjoyed getting back on a links course just seven miles along the coast from the Old Course, where he won the Open last year. He also sent out a clear message to Greg Norman, who chose not to pick him as a wild card for the Presidents Cup international team.
"I was not surprised," Oosthuizen said. "I would have done the same, picking two Australian players. I was more upset that I didn't make the team."
Maybe the Dunhill Links Championship is going to be the comeback tournament for 2010 major champions. U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell was one shot further back after a first-round five under 67 while PGA champion Martin Kaymer is on four under par on a day when the stellar players all played Kingsbarns. Phil Mickelson, the 2010 Masters champ, probably should have made the trip.
Oosthuizen, McDowell and Kaymer will follow each other to Carnoustie for round two before playing at St. Andrews on Saturday and then -- if they make the cut -- a final round over the hallowed Old Course. McDowell has been fighting to recreate the mojo that helped him to be the star of the show at Pebble Beach and again at Celtic Manor during the Ryder Cup.
"Me and my caddie had to have a bit of a heart-to-heart about what we were doing and what needed to change," McDowell said. "It was a bit of soul-searching after the PGA."
He believes he has turned the corner.
"It feels good to go out there are score well," McDowell said. "I'm excited about the rest of the season and maybe achieve something out of what has been a frustrating year."
Colin Montgomerie hasn't won a major, but he's certainly majored in frustration on a golf course. So it was grinning Monty rather then grumpy Monty that bounced off his final green at Kingsbarns like Tigger. That's Tigger from "Winnie the Pooh," not Tiger from Jupiter, Florida. He is four under par along with Kaymer, Padraig Harrington and World No.2 Lee Westwood.
How appropriate for Montgomerie to see his name writ large on leaderboards in his homeland. The omens are good as well. He has been reunited with his amateur partner from 2005 when he won the tournament, two-time Academy Award winner Michael Douglas.
"He's a cancer survivor. That's what he calls himself," Montgomerie said.
"He did extremely well. It's great to see him back here and battling through."
(Monty's mother died of cancer and he campaigns for funds to build care homes in he rmemory).
 A year ago this week, Montgomerie was in his pomp and Lord of the (Celtic) Manor at the Ryder Cup. He's back in the limelight once again at age 48.
Rory McIlroy had a low-key day by his standards with a two-under-par 70 playing with his father Gerry.
"Glad I had a good partner in my dad today!" McIlroy tweeted after his round. "He carried me for 11 holes before I eventually removed my head from my ass! Solid day in the end."
It was also a family affair for McIlroy's playing partner Dustin Johnson, who shot a one-under-par 71 with his brother Austin lugging his bag around the humps and hollows of Kingsbarns.
Johnson shared his thoughts for the first time about how he feels about his caddie Joe LaCava ditching him last Sunday for Tiger Woods.
"[LaCava] told me in the locker room after the Tour Championship," Johnson said. "Things happen. He's gotta do what he's gotta do. I'll be all right. I'll find me a caddie."
Johnson said that Tiger called him directly.
"I talked to Tiger. Everything's good. No hard feelings," he said. "Joe got offered the chance to go caddie for Tiger and he took it. You can't blame the guy. If he wanted to go caddie for him, that's fine with me. He can do whatever he wants."
Johnson said he wasn't angry or disappointed with how the whole affair had panned out.
"No, not at all. I like Joe," he said. "It's a business. And you've got to make decisions."

VEGAS AND McGIRT LEAD HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN OPEN

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jhonattan Vegas and William McGirt shot career-best 8-under 63s on Thursday to share the first-round lead in the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
Vegas, the Venezuelan rookie who won the Bob Hope Classic in January for his first US PGA Tour title, had 10 birdies and two bogeys at TPC Summerlin in the first of four Fall Series events.
McGirt, also a US Tour rookie, had eight birdies in a bogey-free round.
Nathan Green and Charlie Wi were a stroke back.
Vegas, playing in hot afternoon conditions, birdied the par-4 15th and par-5 16th to reach 8 under, dropped a stroke on the par-3 17th and closed with a birdie on the par-4 18th to get back to 8 under.
"I feel like I'm hitting the ball absolutely great, which is something fun to do," Vegas said. "But the main thing was I made a lot of putts today.
"The two greens I missed today, I missed by probably half an inch. And just putting from the fringe I three-putted both times, which was kind of ironic. It's just golf. It is what it is. You have to stay positive, and the more positive you can be the better you'll be out there."
McGirt, playing in one of the last groups of the day, made seven birdies in a 10-hole stretch from Nos. 7 to 16, then parred the final two holes to match Vegas at 8 under.
"I really didn't set a number," McGirt said. "I was just trying to make as many birdies as I could. Thursday through Saturday, all you're doing is jockeying for position so that you can make a move on Sunday.
"I knew there was a 7 under posted (by Green) before I even teed off. So you knew it was out there, and it was just a matter of staying aggressive and making some putts."
Green, the leader until Vegas overtook him in the final hour, made seven birdies. The Australian won the 2009 Canadian Open for his lone US Tour title
"Just no mistakes, which was nice," Green said. "No bogeys, which was pretty unusual. "I didn't hit it overly close. It was just one of those steady rounds where I just managed to pick up; there's probably three or four sort of unexpected birdies out there."
Nick Watney, a two-time winner this year, was two strokes back at 65 along with Harrison Frazar, Tim Herron, Vaughn Taylor, Steve Flesch, Matt Jones, Rod Pampling, Derek Lamely, Blake Adams, Garrett Willis and Alex Cejka. Frazar and Lamely eagled the 524-yard 16th hole.
Jonathan Byrd, the winner last year when he made a hole-in-one on the fourth hole of a play-off with Martin Laird and Cameron Percy, opened with a 71.
This year, Martin Laird is T78 after an opening round of one-under-par 70.
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