O'HARA MAKES TOP 20 IN TURKEY, FIRST PRIZE MONEY FOR LAW

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Motherwell's Paul O'Hara finished joint 16th in the Sueno Pines Classic, the last event of the EPD Tour's Turkish swing before it moves on to Morocco.
O'Hara had rounds of 69, 74 and 73 for a level par total of 216 at the Belek venue.
He earned 451 Euros as he finished nine shots behind the German winner of the 5,000 Euros first prize, Daniel Wunsche (67-67-73 for nine-under 207).
The only othe Scot to survive the cut after two rounds, rookie pro David Law from Aberdeen, earned his first money of the year, 382 Euros for a joint 23rd place finish on 218 with scores of 73, 73 and 72.
A double bogey 6 at the last hole cost the twice Scottish amateur champion a top 20 finish. Law had four birdies (more than winner Wunsche had) in his final round - at the long first, 14th, long 15th and long 17th.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
207 Daniel Wunsche (Germany) 67 67 73 (5,000 Euros).
210 Stephan Gross (Germany) 70 67 73 (3,000 Euros)
211 Ken Benz (Switzerland) 73 70 68, Janne Kaske (Finland) 72 68 71, Christoph Pfau (Austria) 70 70 71.
212 Andre Bossert (Switzerland) 70 72 70.
SELECTED SCORES
213 Grant Jackson (England) 74 70 69 (T7).
215 Lee Corfield (England) 74 70 71 (T14)).
216 Paul O'Hara (Scotland) 69 74 73 (T16) (451 Euros)
218 David Law (Scotland) 73 73 72 (T23) (382 Euros).
222 James Wilson (England) 73 75 73 (T32)

KEVIN PHELAN, RHYS ENOCH IN THE PICTURE AT JONES CUP

Irishman Kevin Phelan, a US college student in Florida, is in contention with one round to go in the Jones Cup men's amateur tournament at Ocean Forest Golf Club, Sea Island, Georgia.
And only one shot behind him is Rhys Enoch from Cornwall - and Wales - a student at East Tennessee State University.
Phelan, pictured, at one time a contender for a place in last year's winning GB and I Walker Cup team at Royal Aberdeen, is lying joint third on 146 (74-72) - four shots behind the three-stroke leader, Manav Shah (California) (71-71), the only player under par after 36 holes over a long, tough course.
Curtis Thompson, Dixie Amateur winner and brother of US LPGA Tour teenager Lexi Thompson, is lying second on 145.

SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2x72). Yardage: 7,321
142 Manav Shah (California) 71 71.
145 Curtis Thompson (Florida) 70 75.
146 Kevin Phelan (Ireland) 74 72, Michael Hebert (Florida) 73 72, Bobby Wyatt (Alabama) 74 72.

SELECTED SCORES
147 Rhys Enoch (Wales) 74 73 (T6).
154 Garrick Porteous (England) 80 74 (T37).
159 Bryden Macpherson (Australia) 81 68.
161 Jason Shufflebotham (Wles) 84 77.

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

CLICK HERE

PAUL LAWRIE LEADS QATAR MASTERS WITH A ROUND TO GO

                               PAUL LAWRIE IN ACTION DURING TODAY'S QUALITY ROUND

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Paul Lawrie is looking to bridge a 13-year gap as he goes into the final round of the Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy with a one stroke lead.
Lawrie was the second winner of the title in 1999 - and followed it by becoming Open Champion at Carnoustie that July.
Now, in an event cut to 54 holes because of strong winds, the 43 year old Aberdonian stands eight under par after a superb second round 67. That included a one-stroke penalty on the tenth green after he dropped his ball on his marker - amazingly for the second week running.
"I'd never done it in my life - 20 years on Tour - but last week in Abu Dhabi I was lucky because my caddie saw it and said the marker never moved," he said.
"This time I wasn't sure and (senior referee) Andy McFee said I had to be 100 per cent sure.
"I wasn't watching and you guys didn't have it on the telecast, so you've got to take the penalty and kick on."
It meant a par 5 rather than birdie there, but he then picked up shots on the 11th, 16th and long 18th, where he chipped to five feet.
The added incentive for Lawrie, currently 78th in the Official World Golf Ranking, is that victory would lift him not only into the 64-man field for the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play in Arizona later this month, but also back into the game's top 50 and in with a great chance of earning a return to The Masters Tournament in April. He last played at Augusta in 2004.
Big-hitting Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts is in second place after a 68, with Swede Peter Hanson (69) and Argentina's Ricardo Gonzalez (67) a stroke further back.
“It was fun playing with Paul,” said Ryder Cup star Hanson. “I got off to a great start, four under par after seven, and then made some stupid mistakes around the turn.
“I lost a bit of rhythm, and was just trying to hang in there, and Paul was playing very well.
“It's always nice to play with someone who is playing well and both at the top of the leaderboard, so it was nice to finish with those two birdies as well to get to six under mark. I think if I would have stayed back to three or four under, it would be too far back.”
Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño and American John Daly had led the tournament after starting with 66 and 67 respectively, but Fernandez-Castaño did not have a single birdie in a 75 that dropped him to three under, while Daly's 73 left him in a nine-way tie for seventh and part of a group which also included Sergio Garcia.
Lee Westwood has five shots to make up like Fernandez-Castaño after a 70 and among those on the same three under mark are Ryder Cup Captain José María Olazábal and World Number Four Martin Kaymer.
Round of the day was a 65 from defending champion Thomas Björn.
It followed a 79, however, and so the Dane still made the cut with only a stroke to spare on level par.
Graeme McDowell made it through right on the limit of one over, but those missing out on the final round included K J Choi - round in 78 after his opening 68 - Hunter Mahan, Paul McGinley, Colin Montgomerie, Robert Karlsson, Ross Fisher and Henrik Stenson.

SECOND-ROUND LEADERS
Par 144 (2x72) Yardage 7,412.
136 Paul Lawrie (Scotland) 69 67.
137 Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium) 69 68.
138 Peter Hanson (Sweden) 69 69, Ricardo Gonzalez (Argentina) 71 67.
139 James Kingston (South Africa) 70 69, Simon Khan (England) 71 68.
140 Marc Warren (Scotland) 72 68, David Lynn (England) 71 69, Jason Day (Australia) 68 72, Maarten Lafeber (Netherlands) 72 68, Marcel Siem (Germany) 71 69, John Daly (US) 67 73, Anthony Wall (England) 74 66, Andrew Dodt (Australia) 71 69, Sergio Garcia (Spain) 72 68, Victor Dubuissn (France) 72 68.
141 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain) 66 75, Lee Westwood 71 70, Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) 71 70, Martin Kaymer (Germany) 71 70.

SELECTED SCORES
142 Scott Jamieson (Scotland) 73 69 (T26).
144 Retief Goosen (South Africa) 73 71 (T52)
145 David Drysdale (Scotland) 73 72 (T62).

MISSED THE CUT (145 and better qualified)
147 George Murray (Scotland) 75 72.
148 Richie Ramsay (Scotland) 76 72.
149 Stephen Gallacher (Scotland) 73 76, Colin Montgomerie (Scotland) 76 73.
150 Peter Whiteford (Scotland) 78 72.

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES ON THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE

CLICK HERE

AUSSIE HEND STILL LEADING IN MYANMAR OPEN ON ASIAN TOUR

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY ASIAN TOUR
Yangon: Scott Hend of Australia kept pace in his title charge after shooting a three-under-par 69 to take a one-shot lead in the third round of the Zaykabar Myanmar Open presented by Air Bagan today.
Hend will be on a mission of ending a three-year title drought but will need to overcome the challenge from Thai rising star Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who shot a 69 for a 201 total at the Royal Mingalardon Golf and Country Club.
Title-holder Tetsuji Hiratsuka of Japan kept his hopes of retaining the title alive when he posted a 67 to share third place with Marcus Both (68) of Australia, a two-time Asian Tour winner and Ben Fox (69) of the United States on 202 in the US$300,000 event.
The big-hitting Hend, who last won on the Asian Tour in 2008, fired a flawless round with three birdies and is not perturbed by the challenges of the chasing pack.
“It doesn’t really worry me, I’m a good player myself, why should I worry about what’s behind me? I’ll just look at what’s in front,” said Hend, who totalled 16-under-par 200.
He rued a cold putter but was delighted with his performance so far where he has shot two bogeys in three days.
“It was a bit difficult because I didn’t hole any putts. That was an opportunity gone to put some people out of the tournament and I didn’t do that. It is going to be a good day tomorrow, should be a good shoot-out so let’s see what happens,” added the 39-year-old.
Kiradech, known for his grip-it and rip-it style of play, birdied the last hole to stay within touching distance of the leader.
“I knew I needed to birdie the last hole. I didn’t want to be too far back. There’s a good chance for me now because I’m hitting the ball better,” said the Thai, who won his first Asian Tour title at the SAIL Open in India last year.
Hiratsuka, who finished second on the Order of Merit last year, birdied all the par fives in a round of seven birdies against two bogeys to give himself a chance of defending the title he won in 2010.
“Honestly, the game is not as good as the time when I won in 2010. I need to make more birdies on the shorter holes,” said Hiratsuka, who made 27 putts today.
“I need to make a lot of birdies early in the round and put some pressure on the leader. That will be the goal. I have never successfully defended a title in my career before so I hope that this will be the first,” said the four-time Asian Tour winner.
Fox, playing on his second year on the Asian Tour, remained in the hunt for his first victory in the region after shooting four birdies and one bogey in the closing six holes.
“I did a good job in the first two days to keep the bogeys out of the way. Today’s mistakes were just careless mistakes. If I take those away I’ll be tied for the lead. On this course we have seen low numbers already and there’s one still out there so we will see who goes the lowest on Sunday,” said the 24-year-old.
THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72) Yardage: 7,218. Royal Mingalardon GCC course
200 Scott HEND (AUS) 64-67-69.
201 Kiradech APHIBARNRAT (THA) 66-66-69.
202 Tetsuji HIRATSUKA (JPN) 69-66-67, Marcus BOTH (AUS) 68-66-68, Ben FOX (USA) 64-69-69.
204 Jonathan MOORE (USA) 70-67-67, Kodai ICHIHARA (JPN) 67-67-70.
205 Chapchai NIRAT (THA) 72-67-66, Kieran PRATT (AUS) 70-69-66.
206 PARK Hyun-bin (SKOR) 69-71-66, Adam GROOM (AUS) 71-67-68, Wade ORMSBY (AUS) 64-70-72.
207 Makoto INOUE (JPN) 72-66-69, KIM Gi-whan (SKOR) 65-72-70, Martin ROMINGER (SUI) 67-70-70, Arnond VONGVANIJ (THA) 67-69-71, Chawalit PLAPHOL (THA) 68-67-72, Chinnarat PHADUNGSIL (THA) 65-68-74.
208 LEE Sung (SKOR) 70-70-68, Adam BLYTH (AUS) 71-68-69, BAEK Seuk-hyun (SKOR) 67-71-70, Jesper KENNEGARD (SWE) 71-63-74.

SELECTED SCORES
209 Stephen Lewton (England) 70 66 73 (T23).
211 Simon Griffiths (England) 67 72 72 (T38).
213 Chris Rodgers (England) 66 71 76 (T55).

NEWS FROM SPAIN'S Hi5 PRO TOUR

Only 10 Days to El Valle......

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE Hi5 PRO TOUR
Entries have hit 78 for El Valle (European Tour Seniors Venue) which starts on
Tuesday, February 14 - to enter register on the Hi5 website.

King and Lidyard Triumph at Altorreal
In the pairs event at Altorreal this week in excellent conditions the English pairing of Gary King and Charly Lidyard took first place closely followed by Sebastion Rodriquez Garcia and Antonio Hortal.
The pairs were tied going up the 18th with King and Lidyard's par enough to just edge out the Spainish Challenge Tour duo.
With a fantastic collection of venues and very strong entry lists, our 2012 Series promises to be the most exciting set of events in the Tour's history, the Tour continues at Hacienda Del Alamo on Tuesday, February 7.

Introducing Steve Denby
Steve will be on site at Haciend Del Alamo he is a corrective exercise and sports performance professional specialising in the following areas: Exercise Kinesiology, Cardiac Phase 4 Rehabilitation, Development of Fitness Programmes, Massage Therapy, Nutrition and Life Coaching.
if you would like to take advantage of his services he will be available.