ABERDEEN-BORN MICHAEL SIM SHARING THIRD IN COLOMBIA

By Joe Chemycz, Nationwide Tour staff
BOGOTA, Colombia -- Billy Horschel was all smiles this time around. The former Florida Gator rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt on his final hole Friday for a second straight round of 66 in the Pacific Rubiales Colombia Championship. Horschel missed a two-footer on his closing hole Thursday and was hoping the miss wouldn't come back to haunt him.
His opening day 66 was good enough for a share of the first-round lead in the Nationwide Tour's 2012 season opener.
Three birdies in his four holes at the Country Club of Bogota Friday morning broke the tie and moved Horschel into sole possession of the lead. He finished the day with six birdies and one bogey, which came on the par-4, 9th hole, the same place his putting hiccup occurred a day earlier.
"I was really trying to get through without a bogey today," he said. "Overall, it was a good day."
Horschel's 10-under 132 total broke the tournament's 36-hole record and also left him two shots in front of Californian Brian Smock, who bogeyed his final hole for a round of 68.
Rookie Erik Flores, making his first career start on Tour, also shot a 3-under 68 and shows no signs of the jitters. His 7-under 135 score puts him for third with Aberdeen-born Australian Michael Sim (pictured above).
Andrew Svoboda (66) and first-round co-leader Peter Lonard (70) share fifth place, four shots back.
"You want to play well after a round like yesterday, but it's always tough because sometimes the putts don't go in," said Horschel. "Not that I had a really low round but sometimes it's difficult to follow up a decent round with another decent one. I made a couple of early birdies but then a few putts just slipped out, and that's going to happen."
Horschel says his biggest concern Friday was trying to slow things down.
"I'm a fast player by nature. I talk fast, I walk fast, I move fast," he said. "Everything I do is quick. I just have to go to the range and try go at a slower speed. When you've got shots out there and you don't want to miss it in a certain spot, you get a little quick."
Smock, meantime, is finding his game rounding into better shape after changing his style of play.
"Everyone evaluates from one year to the next. I played pretty poorly for the most part last year," he said. "I had a couple of good tournaments but that was it."
Smock made only 10 cuts in 23 starts in 2011 but still managed to finish No. 42 on the money list thanks to three top-10s. During his time off he changed coaches and the way he plays. The fade is gone and a draw is now the preferred trajectory.
"The cut just got shorter and shorter and more off line," he said. "The last couple of years I was fading the ball and it got to the point last year where it became weaker and weaker. I'm more solid now."
Second-Round Notes:
• Friday's weather: Mostly cloudy. High of 64. Winds NW 5-10. A brief period of rain showers at 3 p.m.
• A total of 73 players made the 36-hole cut, which came at 1-over 143.
• Among those missing the cut this week: Camilo Benedetti (144), Diego Vanegas (144), Josh Broadaway (145), Aaron Watkins (146), Jeff Gove (147), Len Mattiace (147), Carlos Franco (149), Russell Henley (150) and Scott Dunlap (150).
• Earlier in the week, former President Bill Clinton was in town to play in the Wednesday Pro-Am.
• Defending champion Brenden Pappas posted a 4-over 75 in the second round after opening with a 68. His 1-over 143 total made the cut on the number.
• Aberdeen-born Australian Michael Sim, the 2009 Nationwide Tour Player of the Year, matched the tournament record with four consecutive birdies. Sim's string came on holes 7-10. Sim closed his round with three straight birdies for a 6-under 65. He is tied for third.
• Steven Bowditch was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard.
• Lift, clean and place conditions were in effect for the second straight day.

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MICKELSON LEADS BY ONE AT NORTHERN TRUST OPEN HALFWAY

FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE
By Staff and wire reports
LOS ANGELES -- Phil Mickelson wasn't at his best Friday at Riviera. Two shots at least helped him stay in the lead.
Despite having only two birdie chances inside 15 feet, Mickelson holed out from the eighth fairway for eagle and chipped in for birdie on the par-3 16th. That carried him to a 1-under 70 and a one-shot lead over Pat Perez in the Northern Trust Open.
Mickelson made three par saves from outside 10 feet, starting with his opening hole at the par-4 10th. He went from the front bunker to the back bunker, blasted out safely to 18 feet and curled in the par putt.
That set the tone for a day that only looked good on the scorecard.
"I probably didn't play the greatest today, but I was able to kind of salvage a good round and had a good break on eight where I holed out from the fairway," he said. "That was a nice little bonus."
Perez had a tournament-best 65, without a bogey on his card, and he saved his best shot for the final hole. He hit his tee shot on the 18th and was too far right, the green blocked by the eucalyptus trees. Perez cut a 6-iron, hopeful of finding the green, and it wound up 12 feet away for a birdie he wasn't expecting.
"I didn't hit it like you'd think I would," Perez said. "I didn't drive it all that great. I just scrambled well. I put myself in the right places to make par or birdie."
Mickelson was at 6-under 136, assured of being atop the leaderboard for the third straight round.
The group at 4-under 138 included Jimmy Walker (66), Carl Pettersson (70), Jonathan Byrd (70), Marc Leishman (69) and Matt Kuchar (69), who had a solid day without too much excitement until he drilled his tee shot to a back left pin on No. 6 and left himself 5 feet for birdie.
Before he could putt, he was stung by a bee in his arm.
"I haven't been stung by a bee in probably 20 years," Kuchar said. "I had stopped being scared of bees. The thing got me, and it was really painful. It was not much fun."
Bubba Watson had a 69 and was in the group another shot back, while world No. 1 Luke Donald had a 72 and was only six shots out of the lead.
As usual, the 144-man could not finish before darkness. Eight players will have to return Saturday morning to finish, with the cut likely to be at 3-over 145.
Sergio Garcia is on 145, thanks to scores of 69 and 76, so he's a borderline case but there is no hope for Martin Laird. The Scot totalled 148 with rounds of 76 and 72.
Mickelson and Perez will be in the final group, both of whom grew up playing each other in San Diego. This is different. Perez hasn't missed a cut this year on the West Coast Swing, but has only one career win. Mickelson is going for his 41st, and trying to become the first player since Tiger Woods in 2009 to win consecutive TOUR events.
Mickelson is coming off a big win last week at Pebble Beach.
"He's playing well, and I'm going to have to play awful well to beat him this weekend," Perez said. "I'm not worried about him. It'll be fun to play with him, but I know that I have to play well out there to beat everybody else, as well."
Joe Ogilvie delivered the shot of the day, making an ace on the 16th hole with a 7-iron. It was his third hole-in-one on the PGA TOUR, and he has yet to win a prize. At least at a TOUR event, he didn't have to buy drinks.
"There were 10 guys up there that looked like they could drink 1,000 beers," he said. "I'm glad I didn't do this at my club."
He shot 71 and was at even-par 142.
Mickelson was on the ropes early until his great bunker-bunker par save on No. 10. The trouble was getting the ball close. Mickelson tried to hit a pitching wedge on the 13th and have it run toward the hole, but it checked up and left him 50 feet. On the 15th, he hit 8-iron to stop near the whole, and it released some 40 feet.
Lefty couldn't get anything right until he got to the 16th, with a tee shot that just ran off the green about 30 feet away. He studied the chip from every angle, and before hitting the shot, leaned over to analyze a section of the green. It was softer, so that became his target with a low pitch that hit the ground quickly and ran to the cup like a putt.
"If I flew it another 5 feet, it was going to be firm, so if I flew it 5 more feet and brought it in higher, I thought it would have raced 15 feet by," he said.
He ended both nines by missing par putts inside 5 feet, but the eagle atoned for that. Wary of how the greens were earlier in the round, Mickelson said he couldn't afford his wedge on No. 8 to go long, so he played it out to the right with side spin, and it spun back into the hole.
"I put myself in contention heading into the weekend, which is what my initial goal was," Mickelson said. "And so with 36 holes to go, I'm right in the thick of it. I've got to go out and shoot some low scores, because they're out there. But I gave myself an opportunity."
Tim Clark, meanwhile, was headed home after an 82 and a smile. It was his first tournament since THE PLAYERS Championship because of elbow surgery he had five months ago.
"I felt pretty good, to be honest," Clark said. "I'm quite surprised with how my body actually felt. I wasn't able to score at all. In terms of the arm, and how the body felt, I was quite encouraged.
"The fact I could get through 18 holes without having any pain is quite nice."
• Phil Mickelson chipped in for birdie on the 18th hole to take the outright lead after round one and holed out from the fairway on No. 8 (with a lob wedge from 110 yards; his second-to-last hole) in round two en route to the 36-hole lead at the Northern Trust Open. Its Mickelsons 13th under-par round of the season (16 rounds).
• Mickelsons six-under-par total is the highest score to lead the Northern Trust Open after 36 holes since 1998 when Billy Mayfair led at Valencia Country Club at 136 (-6). At Riviera Country Club, this is the highest 36-hole leading score since 1996 when Robert Wren led at 136 (-6).
• Mickelson, a winner at last weeks AT and T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, last won consecutive events in consecutive weeks in 2006 at the BellSouth Classic and Masters. He also accomplished the feat in 2005 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and AT and T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and then in 1996 at the Nortel Open and Waste Management Phoenix Open.
• Mickelson (2008, 2009) is looking to join Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer as three-time winners of the Northern Trust Open. MacDonald Smith and Lloyd Mangrum each won this event four times.

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ROBERTSON BEATS CUT IN PORTUGAL, CULVERWELL, BINNING FAIL

Stirling student Graeme Robertson (Glenbervie) made the third-round cut with a shot to spare but he has no chance of winning the Portuguese men's amateur golf championship which ends at the Montado Golf Resort, Lisbon tomorrow.
Robertson has had rounds of 69, 77 and 73 for a tally of three-over-par 219 and a share of 25th place.
He is 12 shots behind the leader by five, Germany's Moritz Lampert (68-74-65 for 207).
Alexander Culverwell (Dunbar) and Sam Binning (Ranfurly Castle) failed to figure among the leading 40 who qualified for the final round with toatales of 220 or better.
Culverwell shot 76-81-74 for 231 while Binning scored 81-81-72 for 234.

THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 216 (3x72)
207 Moritz Lampert (Germany) 68 74 65.
212 Adrien Saddier (France) 72 70 70.
Selected scores
213 Eddie McCormack Ireland) 69 71 73 (T3)
214 Jamie Rutherford (England) 72 70 72
219 Graeme Robertson (Scotland) 69 77 73 (T25)

MISSED THE CUT (220 and better qualified)
231 Alexander Culverwell (Scotland) 76 81 74.
234 Sam Binning (Scotgland) 81 81 72.

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PETER WHITEFORD LEADS BY TWO AT AVANTHA MASTERS HALFWAY

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Kirkcaldy's Peter Whiteford followed his opening 66 with a second round 68 to open up a two-shot lead at the Avantha Masters as the Scot chases his maiden European Tour title.
Sharing the lead with Spaniard Alejandro Cañizares overnight, Whiteford moved to ten under par at the halfway stage with six birdies, three bogeys and an eagle three on the long sixth at DLF Golf and Country Club.
The 31 year old Fifer (pictured) leads by two from Thailand’s Prom Meesawat, who birdied five of the last six holes in his best-of-the-week 64.
France’s Jean-Baptiste Gonnet compiled a 69 to sit to be one of four players in third place on seven-under 137.
Cañizares posted three bogeys on the back nine in a one over 73 to slip to five under, along with Jbe Kruger, Jamie Moul, 2010 winner Andrew Dodt and Marc Warren.
Whiteford was only one under for his outward nine, but curled in a 20 foot birdie putt at the fourth.
That was followed by a bogey at the next, but after reaching the green in two at the 538 yard sixth he sank a 30ft eagle putt and birdied the short eighth for good measure.
“I had a sticky patch at the start - it was freezing cold this morning and it's a lot harder,” said Whiteford.
“But once it warmed up a bit I started to play a bit better and gave myself a few chances. I had a good eagle on the sixth which kick-started me a bit to finish well. I hit driver and a six iron and then holed a good putt, about 30 feet across the slope.
“I wouldn't say the swing feels brilliant, but sometimes that's when you play your best golf, when you're struggling a wee bit. I just need to concentrate - to be ten under is very good, but I wouldn't say I'm overly confident. I just need a good round tomorrow to be in contention come Sunday.”

SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2x72)
134 Peter Whiteford (Scotland) 66 68.
136 Prom Meesawat (Thailand) 72 64.
137 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (France) 68 69, Chapchai Nirat (Thailand) 70 67, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand) 68 69, Kieran Pratt (Australia) 71 66.

OTHER SCOTS' SCORES
139 Marc Warren 72 67 (T16).
141 Scott Jamieson 69 72 (T30)
144 George Murray 70 74, Ross Bain 74 70 (T54).

MISSED THE CUT (144 or better qualified)
145 David Drysdale 72 73, Richie Ramsay 72 73.

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2001 CHAMPION BARRY HUME HAS TURNED HIS BACK ON GOLF

FROM THE HERALD WEBSITE
http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/golf

By NICK RODGER

A decade ago Barry Hume was Scottish golf's next big thing.

Nowadays, the 30-year-old's career is consumed by a different kind of ball game. As the operations director of Soccer Innovation, a Glasgow-based US college scholarship placement service which he runs in partnership with former St Mirren and Aberdeen midfielder Ricky Gillies, Hume is striving to help promising youngsters achieve their potential. And he knows only too well how perilous that particular process can be.

When Hume made the step up into golf's professional ranks back in 2002, hopes were high. He had produced a match-play master class in beating Craig Watson 5 and 4 in the final of the 2001 Scottish Amateur Championship at Downfield before joining an elite group of double winners by adding the national strokeplay crown to his collection at Southerness the following season.

In between, there were a couple of other order of merit titles and a European Team Championship gold medal with a Scotland squad that also featured Marc Warren and Steven O'Hara. Hume, in fact, plundered the winning point in that 2001 final against an Ireland team spearheaded by Graeme McDowell and Michael Hoey.

Those dazzling amateur dramatics were expected to be replicated in the professional theatre, but it never happened.

There were the odd moments. Hume qualified for two Open Championships, in 2004 and 2008, and was runner-up in the Malaysian Masters during a brief flirtation with the Asian Tour in 2006. Yet the financial rigours of trying to gain a solid foothold in the paid game eventually took its toll. Another failed attempt at the European Tour's qualifying school in 2010 was the final straw. "I was chasing after a lifetime goal with no money and it was never going to happen," he said. "It was not a hard decision to take. There's only so long you can bang your head off the wall before you have to say 'enough is enough.'
"I played for five years with my last 500 quid, so success is all relative. To play for five years with 500 quid in your pocket is good but that's not success in other peoples' eyes."

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