Sunday, January 22, 2012

RUSSELL KNOX MISSES CUT BUT MARTIN LAIRD SHARING 11th PLACE

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Russell Knox missed the cut for the second week in a row on the US PGA Tour with a total of three-under-par 213 for three rounds of the weather-hit Humana Challenge at La Quinta, California.
The Inverness exile, who has lived at Jacksonville Beach, Florida since his four years as a student at Jacksonville University, had rounds of 72, 66 and 75.
In a tournament where the scoring has been almost absurdly low, Knox had no chance of staying alive with a 75 (bogeys at the long sixth, eighth and short 15th and no birdies at all).
To qualify for the fourth round, a player had to shoot six-under-par 210 or better, and that's phenomenally low scoring, even for the US PGA Tour.
Englishman Brian Davis also missed ouot with rounds of 70, 72 and 72 for 214.
But Scotland's Martin Laird is again in the thick of things. He has scored 66, 69 and 67 for 14-under-par 202 and joint 11th place going into the final round.
England's Gary Chrisitan in T37 on 207 with scores of 66-68-73.
Phil Mickelson beat the cut but only with one shot to spare after rounds o f 74, 69 and 66 for 209.
American Mark Wilson led the field after 54 holes by three shots with a 21-under-par tally of 195 (66-62-67).
His nearest rivals were Zach Johnson, Robert Garrigus, Ben Crane and Brandt Snedeker, all on 198.

THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 216 (3x72)
Players from US unless stated
195 Mark Wilson 66 62 67.
198 Zach Johnson 68 65 65, Robert Garrigus 73 64 61, Ben Crane 65 63 70, Brandt Snedeker 64 68 66.
200 John Malinger 67 65 68, David Toms 63 65 72.

Selected scores
202 Martin Laird (Scotland) 66 69 67 (T11)
207 Gary Christian (England) 66 68 73 (T37)
209 Phil Mickelson 74 69 66

MISSED THE THIRD-ROUND CUT (players with totals of 210 or better qualified)
213 Russell Knox (Scotland) 72 66 75.
214 Brian Davis (England) 70 72 72.

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AMAZING GRACE! Branden beats Els, Goosen in Volvo Champions play-off

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
South African Branden Grace became the first player since Fred Couples in 1995 to follow his first European Tour win with another with victory at the Volvo Golf Champions.
A week after capturing his first European Tour title, 23-year-old Grace, pictured by courtesy of Getty Images (c),  beat two of his boyhood heroes in Ernie Els and Retief Goosen in a play-off today.
Amazing Grace indeed - he came through The European Tour Qualifying School only a month ago and did not even have a place in the 35-man winners-only field until he lifted last week's Joburg Open.
Els and Goosen were left as joint runners-up seven years after they left the rest for dead on The Links at Fancourt course in the South African Open, Goosen winning by a shot on that occasion.
"I'm really ecstatic," said Grace after his two-putt birdie at the first extra hole.
"It's a dream come true to win such a big event - pretty much the best tournament I've played in so far."
He was 258th in the Official World Golf Ranking little over a week ago, but now moves inside the top 100.
With Europe's Ryder Cup captain José María Olazábal dropping back to sixth after sharing the lead early in the final round and Padraig Harrington falling away to joint 10th, Grace could easily have won the event in regulation play.
But missing a birdie chance of under five feet on the last left him with a two under par 71 and put him alongside Els and Goosen on 12 under.
They had shot 67 and 70 respectively, Els sinking an 18 foot eagle putt on the 13th and then almost chipping in for another at the last, while Goosen also eagled the 13th and birdied three of the last four.
Grace had fallen four behind when he double-bogeyed the third and bogeyed the fourth, but he covered the remaining 14 holes in five under to prove himself made of stern stuff.
He then hit the longest drive when the trio returned to the 549 yard 18th for sudden death and, with Els driving into the rough and Goosen pushing his second, was the only one on the green in two.
Els hit his third to 18 feet and Goosen's chip stopped on the ridge 30 feet short of the hole.
Grace, though, rolled his long first putt down to three feet and made no mistake after his rivals had both missed.
Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts was also tied for the lead with one to play, but hit a wild drive and with a bogey 6 had to settle for fourth place, while Masters Tournament champion Charl Schwartzel finished two back as seven Major Champions finished in the top ten.
At least Els is now closer to returning to the Official World Golf Ranking's top 50, which he needs to do in the next two months to secure a place in The Masters Tournament, but Harrington's 76 means he still has a lot of work to do to get back into the top 64 in time for next month's World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play.
Els said: "A couple more putts here and there and that could have been something special.
"It's a very encouraging week, all four rounds under par, and I'm working on some good stuff."
Olazábal, at 596th in the Official World Golf Ranking the lowest-ranked player taking part, said: "The only weak part was my driver. The rest of the game has been pretty good.
"At certain moments in the round it looked a little bit like the old days."
+Not only did three South Africans contest the play-off, in all there were six South Africans in the leading nine finishers.

SCOTSWATCH.
Paul Lawrie finished T10 on four-under-par 292. Third and fourth-round 74s (one over par) killed his hopes of mounting a title challenge but, considering it was his first tournament of the year, it was a creditable start to his 2012 campaign and, of those chasing Ryder Cup points, only Nicolas Colsaerts and Raphael Jacquelin finished ahead of him (skipper Jose Maria Olazabal says he won't play against the Americans).
Paul bogeyed the short second , birdied the long fifth and par-4 sixth before bogeying the long ninth to be out in level par 36. He dropped shots at the short 11th and par-4 14th before getting back to one-over-par by birdeing the long 18th.
Lawrie won 47,050 Euros.
In his blog for his own website, Paul wrote:

"I had a bit of everything today and eventually ended up with a 74 (+1). I drove the ball very well again but my irons were a little poor. Overall it has been pretty good for my first week of the year. I stay here tonight then fly to Abu Dhabi tomorrow via Joburg."
Colin Montgomerie finished with a 75 for 31st place on 300. He earned 25,500 Euros.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS AND PRIZEMONEY
Par 292 (4x73). Prizemoney in Euros.
Players from South Africa unless otherwise stated
280 Branden Grace 68 66 75 71, Ernie Els 71 71 71 67, Retief Goosen 72 68 70 70. Grace (350,000) beat Els (177,500) and Goosen (177,500) at first hole of a sudden death play-off.
281 Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium) 64 76 69 72 (110,000).
282 Charl Schwartzel 75 67 88 72 (93,000).
284 Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) 71 68 72 73 (80,000).
286 Raphael Jacquelin (France) 71 69 77 69, Louis Oosthuizen 69 71  71 74 (65,000 each).
287 Thomas Aiken 68 70 77 72 (53,000).
288 Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 69 73 70 76, Paul Lawrie (Scotland) 72 68 74 74 (47,050).
289 Oliver Fisher (England) 77 72 69 72, Robert Karlsson (Sweden) 74 70 72 73, Robert Rock (England) 73 70 79 67, Lee Slattery (England) 73 65 77 74.
Selected score:
300 Colin Montgomerie (Scotland) 70 75 80 75 (31st) (25,500).


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GERMAN WINS AUSTRALIAN MEN'S OPEN AMATEUR TITLE AT 37th

Marcel Sneider (Germany) is the new Australian men's open amateur champion.
He beat Queensland's Daniel Nisbet at the 37th hole of today's final at Woodlands Golf Club, Melbourne.

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Lydia Ko (New Zealand), the 14-year-old ranked World No 1 female amateur won the Australian women's open amateur championship at the same venue.
She beat the local hope, Breanna Elliott by 4 and 3 in the 36-hole final.

FULL REPORT ON http://www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk/

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DAN FORSMAN LEADS BY TWO IN US SENIORS TOUR EVENT

FROM THE US PGA SENIORS TOUR WEBSITE
KAUPULEHU-KONA, Hawaii (AP) -- Dan Forsman had six back-nine birdies for a 7-under 65 and a two-stroke lead Saturday after the second round of the Champions Tour's season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship.
Forsman, a two-time winner on the 50-and-over tour, had a 12-under 132 total at Hualalai Resort.
Brad Bryant had the day's low round, an 8-under 64, to match 2010 champion Tom Watson (65) and Jeff Sluman (66) at 10 under.
Forsman was back in the pack after playing the front nine in 35. He birdied the first two holes on the back nine, pitching to a foot at No. 10 and hitting a round-changing approach shot to No. 11.
"The shot of the day had to be my second shot at 11," Forsman said. "I hit a 5-iron 185 yards from a gnarly, rough lie and chased it to the back edge of the green. I knocked in an 8-footer for birdie. That shot could have gone anywhere. It could have been long, over, behind the green in a bunker, right or left, but I got the three and it was a super boost to my round.
It got me thinking, 'I could turn a corner here. It could be a good day.'"
He was prophetic. Forsman moved into a tie for first with birdies at Nos. 13 and 14, and pulled ahead by sinking an 11-foot birdie putt at the 17th and hitting within 2 feet on the final hole to set up another birdie. The five-time PGA TOUR winner needed just 21 putts in his round.
Bryant played a bogey-free round, chipping in for two of his eight birdies. His last win was the 2007 U.S. Senior Open.
Watson also avoided bogeys and eagled the 10th hole. At 62 years, 4 months, 18 days, he would be the third-oldest winner in Champions Tour history if he pulls it off Sunday. Watson has eight top-10 finishes in 11 previous starts in the event.
"I think I'll have to shoot 65 or better to have a chance to win, depending on what the wind does," Watson said. "If it blows like this, that's the right score. If it dies like it did three or four years ago (2006) -- I was in fourth place and it died. I shot 8-under 64 and lost a spot. I lost a spot and finished fifth. That's what can happen on this golf course. It's a good course to get the Champions Tour going."
Michael Allen and Jay Haas were tied for fifth, three shots back. Defending champion John Cook fired a 66 to share seventh with Jay Don Blake, Denis Watson, Loren Roberts and Bruce Vaughan, who was tied for first after the opening round with 2011 Player of the Year Tom Lehman. Lehman was one of 12 players, in a field of 41, who did not break par Saturday. His even-par 72 put him in a tie for 12th, four shots back, with Russ Cochran. Fred Couples was another shot at 6 under after a bogey-free 66.

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WIND HALTS HUMANA CHALLENGE BEFORE END OF THIRD ROUND

FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE
By Staff and wire reports
LA QUINTA, California -- When the wind knocked a big scoreboard into a lake and ripped a few trees out of the ground Saturday, Mark Wilson realized he really didn't mind if he couldn't finish his third round at the Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation.
Wilson and his fellow pros were more than happy to wait out the windstorm and just come back Sunday, when Wilson will attempt to maintain his momentum for what might be a marathon finish to the erstwhile Bob Hope Classic.
Wilson held a three-stroke lead over Ben Crane at 21 under when play was suspended midway through the third round. Ferocious wind reaching 35 mph caused damage on all three courses, even interrupting former President Bill Clinton's round with Greg Norman.
"I think they made the right call," Wilson said. "You don't want to see anybody get hurt."
The pro-am tournament will resume third-round play Sunday morning without the amateurs. They'll also attempt to finish the fourth round, which could be tough after the event's first wind delay since 1999 -- the first on the US PGA Tour since 2009 in Houston.
Nobody was hurt by the wind at the Humana Challenge, even after an awning collapsed in the Bob Hope Square fan area. Conditions weren't terrible on two of the tournament's three courses, but several trees were toppled at the La Quinta Country Club course, making the decision easy.
"It's really bad," said Slugger White, the US PGA Tour's vice president of rules and competitions. "They've got a lot of trees down. It's a real mess. ... We knew (the wind) was going to be bad, but we thought it would be something we could play with, and then the bottom fell out."
La Quinta didn't even get the worst of the Coachella Valley craziness: A 66-mph gust was recorded at the Palm Springs airport.
White said he believes they can finish the four-round event Sunday "in a perfect world." Wilson doubts it after vicious gusts interrupted a previously perfect weekend of Palm Springs weather.
Wilson got through the first eight holes at La Quinta under ideal conditions, but the light winds suddenly turned into gales. He battled to five straight pars before a birdie on his 15th hole of the day, but play was suspended moments later.
"It's amazing how it happened so quickly," said Wilson, who was 5 under through 15 holes. "I went from the mentality of making birdies to just making solid pars when I could."
None of the 142 pros finished the third round, but nearly everybody was around the turn when the wind kicked up -- blowing balls around the course, sending that large scoreboard into a lake on the Palmer Private course and causing mischief in the fan area. White said the grounds crews would use chainsaws to remove the fallen trees at La Quinta.
With tee times starting at 7:30 a.m. Sunday, White believes it might be possible to finish the event on time "in a perfect world." Most players are staying in Southern California next week for the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.
"I doubt it. I've done the math," Wilson said. "I don't know how they could get it done tomorrow (Sunday), but if we do, I would love to get it done. More power to them."
Clinton, who's hosting the tournament, and Greg Norman had just hit their tee shots on the 10th hole of the Palmer Private course when play was suspended. A short time later, the scoreboard blew into the lake that's flanked by the 10th and 18th holes, leaving oversized number placards floating in the water.
Wilson shared the lead after two rounds with Crane and David Toms, who dropped back to 15 under. Zach Johnson moved within four strokes of the lead after going 6 under through 13 holes.
"We knew there was wind in the forecast, but I've never really experienced anything like that," Johnson said. "Not that quick and that fierce and that intense in that amount of time."
Until the wind kicked up, extremely low scores had dominated the first two days. Robert Garrigus jumped into contention Saturday by making nine birdies in 13 holes on the Nicklaus Private course before play was suspended.
Garrigus joined John Mallinger and John Senden at 16 under, five strokes behind Wilson.
Sam Saunders, Arnold Palmer's grandson, made a hole-in-one on the fifth hole of the Palmer course.

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