NORTH-EAST NAME THEIR TEAM FOR BLAIRGOWRIE

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Colin@scottishgolfview.com

The North-east District Association selectors have chosen the following team to represent North-east at the Moneygate Scottish area team championship at Blairgowrie on May 19 and 20. 

Anthony Bews (Murcar Links), Adam Dunton (McDonald Ellon), Barrie Edmond (Bon Accord), Bryan Innes (Murcar Links), Scott Larkin (Royal Aberdeen), Laurie Phillips (Cruden Bay).

"It was was a tough selection meeting  with some good performances from within the squad at our get-togethers in the off-season and in some of the events in the last couple of weeks," said team captain Paul Gallacher.

North-east won the Scottish area team championship two years ago and last year were beaten by Fife in the final since when the majority of the North-east team have turned professional.

Adam Dunton's McDonald Ellon team-mate Kevin Duncan was unlucky not to be selected after a severe migraine attack derailed his bid to win the Battle Trophy at Crail on Sunday.

Duncan was lying second after opening rounds of 69 and 67 but he started to suffer from migraine during a third-round 75 and by lunchtime his vision was blurred. He had to walk in after only a couple of holes in the final round.

When Duncan returned to the clubhouse he was sick several times and was in no state to drive his car back home.

His mother and father had to drive down from Ellon to pick up Kevin and Adam Dunton and also take their son's car home.

 

+WHEN OTHER AREAS HAVE PICKED THEIR TEAMS FOR BLAIRGOWRIE, THEY ARE INVITED TO E-MAIL THE INFORMATION TO Colin@scottishgolfview.com FOR DISPLAY ON SCOTTISHGOLFVIEW.COM

 

DONALD MACANDREW WINS PHILLIPS TROPHY

 

Royal Aberdeen's Donald Macandrew birdied the last two holes at Fraserburgh on Sunday and then won the Phillips Trophy by virtue of having a better second round than Laurie Phillips (Cruden Bay).

Macandrew had scores of 70 and 69 for 139 while Phillips scored 67 and 72. Donald is pictured receiving the trophy from NE District president Mike Pocock.

Former Scotland cap Bryan Innes (Murcar Links) finished third on 140 (69-71).

+The Phillips Trophy made the journey to and from Fraserburgh Golf Club in the same car! Defending champion Scott Robertson (Hazlehead) was given a lift to the venue by Donald Macandrew. Macandrew won it as Robertson finished joint fifth.

 

LEADING TOTALS

139 Donald Macandrew (Royal Aberdeen) 70 69, Laurie Phillips (Cruden Bay) 67 72 (Macandrew won with better second round).

140 Bryan Innes (Murcar Links) 69 71.

142 Chris Forman (Peterhead) 74 68.

143 Scott Robertson (Hazlehead) 75 68, Neil Thomson (Fraserburgh) 74 69, Mark Halliday (Royal Aberdeen) 72 71, Barrie Edmond (Bon Accord) 71 72.

144 Andrew Hepburn (Fraserburgh) 76 68, Michael Buchan (Cruden Bay) 73 71, Kenny Gunnyson (Murcar Links) 68 76, Gordon Munro (Fraserburgh) 69 75.

145 Neil McKinnon (Murcar Links) 78 67.

146 Barry Mitchell (Murcar Links) 73 73, Ross Young (Nigg Bay) 76 70, Barry Brooks (Meldrum House) 74 72, Bruce Wisely (Inverallochy) 74 72, Anthony Bews (Murcar Links) 76 70, Ross McKen (Newburgh) 74 72.

147 Matthew Greig (Bon Accord) 75 72.

148 Stewart McCulloch (Cruden Bay) 76 72, John Godward (McDonald Ellon) 76 72, Ronnie Brechin (Murcar Links) 73 75, Clark Brechin Murcar Links) 74 74.

149 Lewis Mutch (Duff House Royal) 78 71, Euan McIntosh (Newmachar) 77 72, Mark McLean (Fraserburgh) 73 76.

150 David Morrison (Duff House Royal_ 73 773, Jack Walker (Fraserburgh) 75 75, Alan Holbrook (Murcar Links) 77 73, Nicky Slater (Nigg Bay) 76 74.

152 Neil Melvin (Oldmeldrum) 77 75, Sam Griffiths (Cullen) 75 77, Jamie Reid (Cruden Bay) 74 78, David McDowell (Portlethen) 76 76.

 

 

 

 

 Clackmannan boys' championship prizewinners. Centre left is junior boy champion Ryan Blyth (Braehead) with his trophy, and centre right is boys' stroke-play champion Rikky Alexander, also Braehead, with his trophy. The two champions are surrounded by other prizewinners and county boys' convener (in red) Sam Kinnaird.

  ALEXANDER the GREAT CONQUERS TULLIALLAN.

 The day after taking the top handicap prize in the Clackmannan county spring meeting, Braehead’s Rikky Alexander completed a highly successful weekend by taking the 2012 Clackmannan boys' stroke-play championship in difficult course conditions at Tulliallan.

It was a close finish. Rikky led by one shot with one hole to play and a closing par was sufficient to take the title from Alloa’s Brian McAdam, the 2011 county junior boys champion. Rikky scored 79 to Brian’s 80.

Top handicap prize went to Ryan Calder (Braehead) with a net 70, winning on the better inward half form Alloa’s Gregor McEwan.

In the junior boys' event, Ryan Blyth made it a double for Braehead, scoring 85, two shots ahead of Joshua Thatcher (Tillicoultry). Handicap prizes went to Ross Bundy ((Tillicoultry) and Jamie McEwan (Alloa).

Match-play qualifiers were obtained for the championship starting at Alva on Monday. In the junior boys' event for the Anderson Trophy, Jamie McEwan and Joshua Hatcher play off for a second-round match against Jonathan Clark (Tillicoultry) while Ross Bundy plays Ryan Blyth, also in the second round.

In the senior boys' event for the Ponton Shield, the matches are as follows

G McEwan v J Struthers,  G Murray v R Calder,  R Alexander v B McAdam and S Beattie v C Reid.

 CLACKMANNAN COUNTY SPRING MEETING WELL SUPPORTED

A very good entry of 200 competitors contested the Clackmannan county spring meetings in showery conditions. At Braehead (Division 1), Braehead junior Rikky Alexander took the top handicap prize with a 67 from J Maley, while best scratch scores came from home players Allan Watson (70) and David Finlayson (71). The CSS was 70 (Home players) and 72 (Visitors)

In the Division 2 event at Tulliallan, E Fairway, S Harris and S Young led the way with net 69’s. The CSS was 71. Full results will be published next week

CLACKMANNAN GOLFERS INTO BATTLE AT CRAIL

County team captain Jamie Aitken (Alloa) caused a few raised eyebrows at the weekend with an outstanding performance in the Battle Trophy, a 72 hole Scottish Golf Union Order of Merit event. Opening with a four-under-par 68, which led a field containing all the top Scottish golfers, he followed up with a 76 to slip back to 8^th position. 

Any doubters were proved wrong when he repeated the 68 in round 3, and then finished with a 75 to finish sixth.

Quite clearly Jamie has a golf game to compete with the top Scottish golfers and must be looking forward to the rest of the season - probably also back into the World Amateur Golf Rankings  Well done, Jamie!

It was a good tournament for the Wee County contingent - probably the best for some time. Alva’s Lawrence Allan opened with two sub-par rounds, and Dollar’s Scott Borrowman kept up with the other two. All three easily made the cut and continued into the top 15 placings in the competition

 FINAL PLACINGS

(out of 40 competitors)

 287 Jamie Aitken (Alloa) 68 76 68 75 (6th)

 292 Lawrence Allan (Alva) 71 70 76 75 (11^th)

 Scott Borrowman (Dollar) 73,75,72,73 (13th)

These performances hopefully will inspire the Clackmannan team when they take on Perth and Kinross in the final match of the Provan Salver over Dollar on Sunday.

Selected for Clackmannan in this, the last match are:

Lawrence Allan, Steve McIvor, Michael Robertson (all Alva), Scott Borrowman, Darren Hulston  (both Dollar),  Allan Watson, Ross Benvie, Scott Moffat (all Braehead).

THIS WEEK’S WEE COUNTY GOLF SCENE

The golf season gathers pace in the Wee County. There is a Carlsberg Open at Tillicoultry (28^th), the Buick Trophy at Alloa (29^th) and a Mixed Open at Braehead (29^th).   The Provan Salver (Clackmannan v Perth and Kinross) tie is at Dollar on the 29th

Opening ties in the County Fours at Braehead take place next week (Alva v Alloa;  Braehead v Tillicoultry) and the Boys Match play is at Alva and Tillicoultry.

Entry sheets are available for the County Summer meeting to be held on the 12^th and 13^th May - a good bit earlier than usual due to fixtures difficulties.

FINALLY: FUN WITH CYBER GOLF

Five out of the six Clackmannan County Golf Clubs are signed up to “How did I do," a web site which collates golfers' scores form competitions and analyses them.  Its website contains a wealth of information for the golfers who have signed up. There are charts, graphs and statistics galore, quite enough to keep the most avid golfer happy. 

With a new initiative - the ”Titleist Order of Merit” - they have taken all this a bit further , and produced a ranking system which compares all golfers who have signed up. And it’s free.

The ranking system started on the 31^st March, and runs for six months. Already nationally over 19,000 golfers have signed up. Best local golfer last week was Ken Christie from Dollar at position 309 but that changes fairly rapidly. 

Running parallel to that is the Footjoy Club order of merit. That requires a minimum of 40 golfers from their golf club to sign up.  It all should encourage competition.  

FIFE GOLFING ASSOCIATION ORDER OF MERIT for The Mackay Bowl

Positions after 2 events

T1 Ewan Scott (St Andrews) 100 points

T1 James White (Lundin) 100

T2 Scott Crichton (Aberdour) 80

T2 Brian Soutar (Leven GS) 80

T2 Scott Stewart-Cation (The Duke’s) 80

6 David Mitchell (Leven Thistle) 60

7 Keith Anderson (Charleton) 40 .

The next counting event for the 2012 FIFE ORDER OF MERIT is THE A B MACKIE OPEN at KIRKCALDY GC on May 13.

BBC COULD LOSE OPEN BROADCASTING RIGHTS, WARNS DAWSON

 

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE 

The BBC risks losing broadcasting rights for The Open if it continues to scale back live golf coverage, according to the game's governors.

Peter Dawson, chief executive of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, says the corporation are on a "financial plateau" and admits the quality of their coverage has slipped.

From 2013, the BBC will screen only six days of live men's professional golf. It has a contract to show the Open live until 2016 but, speaking at this year's venue of Royal Lytham and St Annes, Dawson made it clear there is no guarantee of that agreement being extended.

"Certainly," replied Dawson (pictured) when asked if the BBC's lack of interest in golf was a concern to the R abd A. "We have had that conversation with the BBC. They know we have got our eye on them. It hasn't just been in golf but with the likes of tennis as well.

"You have to stay in practice and keep up with advances in technology. You need to be in practice to do it well. We obviously want the Open Championship to be seen by as many people as we can.
"The BBC know they need to get off the financial plateau they are on with the Open Championship by the next time it comes around. Who knows who will be on the scene then?"

The BBC's live coverage of last year's Open Championship was fronted by Hazel Irvine, after a short experiment with Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker. Peter Alliss, one of the BBC's longest-serving commentators, is the most distinctive broadcasting voice behind the microphone.

Dawson volunteered ESPN – who hold a US broadcast deal with the R and A – as potential rivals to the BBC. Contractual talks are due to get underway between the R and A and the BBC about 18 months before the present deal ends.
For now, the Open is placed on a B section of listed events earmarked for free-to-air coverage. Others alongside them, such as the Ryder Cup and domestic Test cricket matches, only have highlights coverage on terrestrial television.
Dawson reiterated his personal stance that the respective tours in Europe and the US should make it public when players are punished for bad on-course behaviour. Tiger Woods again generated unwanted attention at the Masters for swearing and kicking a club; the former world No1 has previous for spitting on courses.
"It is a rather unedifying spectacle, there's no doubt about that," Dawson said. "I am on record as saying public sanctions would not be a bad thing and that they would be more likely to lead to a correction of bad behaviour."

DAVID WILSON'S WEEKEND DOUBLE WHAMMY IN AYRSHIRE

Last year's Scottish boys' champion, David Wilson (Troon Welbeck) capped a great golfing weekend and made a bit of history on Sunday with his first win in the Ayrshire men's amateur stroke-play championship at Prestwick St Nicholas. Twenty-four hours earlier, Wilson who reached the last 32 in defence of his Under-18 boys title at Murcar Links, won the won the prestigious Edward Trophy by four strokes at Glasgow Gailes. Wilson, 17, repeated this winning margin in becoming the second youngest winner of the Ayrshire stroke-play championship (see below for details of the 16-year-old previous winner). It was a come-from-behind win - something Wilson specialises in if you remember his eight-down position in the 2011 where his opening round of one-under-par 68 left him one shot behind halfway leaders Keith Hamilton (Ayr Belleisle) and John Haggarty (Loudoun). Stephen Spence (Irvine) and John Sloan (Doon Valley) were a shot behind Wilson on 69. Wilson, playing in the final group, knew what he had to do to win after Keith Hamilton posted the clubhouse target with a 74 for 141. Needing a thre over par 72 or better to take the title, Wilson stood on the final tee on level par. His tee shot flirted with a greenside bunker at this par-3 hole but he played a delicate chip to within a couple of feet of the hole and confidently holed the putt for a 69 and a four-shot win with an aggregate of 137. LEADING FINAL TOTALS CSS 72 (reduction only), 72 (+3) 137 David Wilson (Troon Welbeck) 68 69. 141 Keith Hamilton (Ayr Belleisle) 67 74. 142 Tommy McInally (Loudoun) 73 69, John Shanks (Irvine) 70 72, John Haggarty (Loudoun) 67 75, 144 Stephen Murray (Troon Welbeck) 72 72, Paul Moultrie (Royal Troon) 71 73, Stephen Spence (Irvine) 69 75. 145 Chris Bone (Loudoun) 75 70, David Orchiston (Ballochmyle) 74 71, Michael Smyth (Royal Troon) 74 71, Steven Stamper (Girvan) 73 72, Ian Walker (Turnberry) 71 74. 146 Stuart Miller (Kilmarnock Barassie) 77 69, Euan Brown (Kilmarnock Barassie) 71 75.147 Del Chamberlain (Troon Welbeck) 77 70, Gary Bryden (Girvan) 76 71, Stuart Robin (Prestwick St Nicholas) 74 73, John Cairney (Ravenspark) 72 75, Steven McEwan (Loudoun) 72 75, John Sloan (Doon Valley) 69 78. E-mail from Ross Duncan's dad My son, Ross Duncan (Brodick GC), won the Ayrshire stroke-play championship  as a 16 year old in 2002 to become the youngest winner. His 17th birthday fell on August 22, 2002, well after the championship was played. He also won the championship as an 18 year old in 2004 in a tie with Alex Gourlay (Irvine GC). That was the only time in the event's history that a tie had been the final result. This was because they had the same score in regulation play and after several play-off holes bad light stopped play! Ross was also runner-up in 2003 to Lloyd Saltman at the Scottish boys' stroke-play at Prestwick GC. He then played in the Boys' Home Internationals at Royal St David's, Harlech, where one of his opponents was a certain (very young) Rory McIlroy who hasn't done too badly since! Yours in golf Russell DuncanBrodick Isle of Arran

The Global Golf Post : Monday April 23rd Edition Available

Click here to see this weeks edition.

 

R AND A ALLOW SPECTATORS MOBILE PHONES AT THIS OPEN!

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE R AND A
Mobile phones will be permitted at this year’s Open Championship with spectators able to keep up-to-date with all the action thanks to a host of official smartphone apps.
Since 2006, mobile phones have not been permitted throughout The Open venue for the entire week. However, at Royal Lytham and St Annes this July, spectators will be able to carry their phones, with calls allowed in designated areas.
Photography and video recording will still not be permitted during Championship days although spectators will be allowed to check their smartphones from the course and in grandstands, and so they will be able to keep up-to-date with live scores, course guides, video, live action and much more from the official Open Championship apps.
“There is no denying the attachment people feel to their mobile phones, both in terms of gathering information and staying in touch with family and friends. We understand this and allowing their use at the Championship will enrich The Open experience,” said Peter Dawson, Chief Executive of The R&A.
“We are offering spectators access to an enhanced range of apps for Android, iPhone and iPad that will offer live video of play and other attractions at The Open and will keep them up-to-date with essential Championship information including scoring, tee times, news and an interactive course guide.”
Spectators will have restricted use of their phones and will be limited to making calls in designated areas around the tented village and food and drink outlets. Strict rules will be put in place designed to ensure that play is not affected in any way by the change.
Dawson added: “We understand there will be concerns over this change in policy but will be liaising with spectators at the Championship to ensure calls are not taking place near play. Our spectators are very knowledgeable and understand golf, and so we are confident they will respect the players.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: Bit of a contrast with the US Masters where anyone (Media included) can be frogmarched to the entrance and banned from coming back in if caught with a mobile.

Global Golf Post: Europe, Asia-Pacific Brace For Bonallack Trophy Battle

Andy Morgan will be hoping there are no last-minute hiccups as his European team assembles for this week's Sir Michael Bonallack Trophy against Asia-Pacific at  Monte Rei Golf & Country Club in Portugal.  Two years ago, the Welshman travelled all the way to India to captain the European side in the same competition but then watched on helplessly as the biennial match had to be cancelled due to the travel chaos caused by the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland.  "I went out about 10 days before the match but then the volcano erupted in Iceland and I spent most of my time desperately trying to rearrange flights in an attempt to get our team over to India," the Welshman said. "We tried everything we could but in the end we had to admit defeat."

Defeat is something the current chairman of Golf Development Wales will

be keen to avoid once the 2012 match starts on Wednesday. On paper, at least he looks to have every chance of succeeding because he has at his disposal a strong team comprising 2011 European Amateur champion Manuel Trappel from Austria, Irish Walker Cup player Alan Dunbar, Englishmen Jack Hiluta and Ben Taylor, Welshman Rhys Enoch, Dutchmen Daan Huizing and Robin Kind Germans Moritz Lampert and Marcel Schneider, Belgian Thomas Detry, Swede Robert Karlsson (no relation) and Spaniard Jon Rahm-Rodriguez.  "I'm delighted with the team we have been able to put together," Morgan admitted.  "Several potential team members turned pro over the winter but I think we've got a strong side and one that is very capable of defending the title won at Valderrama four years ago."

The European captain is clearly determined to leave nothing to chance after the cancellation of the match at Karnataka.  He has even enlisted the services of Rory McIlroy, who played on the 2006 European team in Auckland, New Zealand, and is a strong supporter of the match.  "Rory played on the 2006 team so I wrote to him to see if he'd compile a message of support for this year's team and he did it with great style," said Morgan.  "It wouldn't be fair to divulge the contents but I will be sharing his thoughts with the players when we meet up."

Morgan freely admits the Asian team is something of an unknown quantity.  However, one name that will be instantly recognisable to many fans is that of Japan's Hideki Matsuyama, who has played at the last two Masters thanks to successive victories in the Asian Amateur.  He has also won on the Japan PGA Tour.  "Matsuyama is the one name which stands out but I have no doubt his teammates will be good players, too," said the European captain. "They are all there on merit and as we know Asian golf is getting stronger and stronger all the time." The rules of the match state there can be no more than two competitors from any country and, as a result, the Asia-Pacific team is as diverse as its opponents.

Matsuyama is joined in Portugal by compatriot Taihei Sato, Australians Jake Higginbottom and Cameron Smith, New Zealanders Benjamin Campbell and Mathew Perry, India's Seenappa Chikkarangappa and Khalin Hitesh Joshi, Koreans Chang-Woo Lee and Soo-Min Lee and Chien-Yao Hung and Natipong Srithong from Thailand.  "The Sir Michael Bonallack Trophy is not as well known as the likes of the Walker Cup and the Curtis Cup but I think that is primarily due to the fact it has not be around so long," said Morgan. "I consider it to be one of the best events on the calendar and I am sure it will grow in stature as the years go on."

The Sir Michael Bonallack Trophy was inaugurated in 1999 when the Europeans claimed victory at Lake Karrinyup GC in Australia. Subsequently, there have been five further matches with this year's home team currently holding a 4-2 lead in the series.  The contest has a similar format to the Ryder Cup. The first two days comprise five four-ball matches in the morning and five foursomes matches in the afternoon. On the final day, all 12 team players compete in singles match play.

 

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DAVID PATRICK RECEIVES £1,000 AS LEADING SCOTTISH ASSISTANT

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE PGA
Former Walker Cup player David Patrick excelled off the course as the leading Scottish-based PGA professional in the Titleist PGA Assistant of the Year awards.
The 37-year-old, based at Elie Sports Centre in Fife, finished fifth overall out of more than 250 of his peers who have completed the three-year PGA Foundation degree.
In recognition of his achievement, Patrick, who won the Rookie of the Year award two years ago, received a cheque for £1,000 from Titleist director of sales Ken Graham and PGA Captain Eddie Bullock at the PGA Graduation Ceremony at the University of Birmingham.
Patrick said today:
"I am obviously delighted to win this award for the third year in a row. I undertook my PGA training after a career switch from playing full time on the European Challenge Tour.
"My focus has been on building a coaching business, which I am now doing at Kingsfield and Elie, but I also enjoyed learning about the other aspects that make up the PGA qualification.
"I am grateful for the support Ian Muir at Elie and Ian Rae have afforded me. I am now able to concentrate on the next stage of my career, building my teaching business, http://www.shortgamedoctor.com/ and continuing to enjoy to compete on the Tartan Tour."
Graham said: “We are pleased to continue our support of the Titleist PGA Assistant of the Year award, recognising this as a starting point of the PGA's commitment to provide its members with a framework for lifelong learning.“PGA professionals play a key role in the development and growth of the game across all levels, and we are delighted to support the next generation of qualified professionals and to wish them well with their future careers.”
The PGA training programme, which was founded in 1961, concentrates on all aspects of golf including business, equipment technology and repairs, rules and tournament organisation, sports science, sports psychology and playing.
PGA chief executive Sandy Jones said:  “The PGA Graduation Ceremony at the Great Hall of the University of Birmingham has now earned its place as one of the most enjoyable and inspirational days in the PGA calendar.
“On this day we are able to celebrate men and women completing their PGA training programme and becoming qualified as the next generation of PGA members.
“I always feel enormously proud of these graduates as I know they have all worked extremely diligently during their training years to achieve their PGA qualification.
“Of course the graduation day will not be the end of the story but only the opening to the next chapter of their career as a PGA professional.  At this time golf is expanding across new frontiers throughout the world and it will indeed be many of today’s graduates who will take the game forward and successfully grow it within these new territories around the globe.
“They should all feel rightly proud to have successfully completed their PGA training programme which in the eyes of many is the best in the world and they can now go forward confidently with the PGA stamp of approval on their golfing passport which will take them wherever they wish in their careers.  I wish them all good luck and success wherever they travel.”
There are more than 7,500 PGA members employed in more than 50 different positions within golf with 1,600 working overseas in more than 70 different countries.

ANOTHER NEW EUROPEAN TOUR EVENT IN CHINA IN OCTOBER

NEWS RELEASED ISSUED BY THE EUROPEAN TOUR

The European Tour, the China Golf Association and BMW today unveiled a new tournament on The European Tour International Schedule, the US$7 million BMW Masters at the Lake Malaren Golf Club in Shanghai from October 25-28, 2012.

The BMW Masters will bring the total number of tournaments on The 2012 Race to Dubai now to 47 and represents the third on mainland China this year. It will also be the first of two consecutive weeks of European Tour action on mainland China with the BMW Masters preceding the WGC-HSBC Champions at Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen.

BEN CURTIS COMES IN FROM THE COLD WITH TEXAS VICTORY

FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE

SAN ANTONIO -- Six years later, Ben Curtis is a US PGA Tour champion again.
His victory Sunday in the Valero Texas Open didn't come easy. Neither did his words describing the redemption of nearly a decade spent falling from British Open champion to, this year, waiting by the phone simply for a chance to play.
His voice quivered, and his eyes welled up.
"It's been a tough couple years just fighting through it," Curtis said.
Holding off Matt Every and John Huh in a tense back-nine finish, Curtis finished with flourish by holing a 12-footer for birdie on the par-5 18th, sealing a two-stroke victory and his fourth PGA TOUR title. His even-par 72 put him at 9 under and triggered a wave of emotions that Curtis said he didn't know were in him.
Curtis won $1,116,000 and a two-year TOUR exemption -- a more meaningful reward after being relegated to a status so low that this victory came in just the fourth PGA TOUR event he managed to get into this year.
"You think you're just staying positive and not worried about it, but I think deep down, you realize all the hard work you put in that, you know, finally paid off," Curtis said.
It was 2003 when Curtis kissed the Claret Jug at Royal St. George's with a square jawline and closely cropped black hair. This time, he was handed a pair of cowboy boots, smiling with a rounder face and a better appreciation of the journey.
"When you come out here and win one, well, if I win one every year I have a great career. That would be true," Curtis said. "But, you know, to get to three, four, five wins -- you're a solid player. I just feel like you get yourself into contention and just have that belief, and anything can happen."
Every had a 71 and lost a chance at his first TOUR win with a shaky putter. Huh roared back with a 69, but the Mayakoba Golf Classic winner fell just short of completing what would have been a remarkable comeback.
Huh nearly withdrew Thursday when he plunged to 5 over through only his first three holes and finished with a 77. But he rebounded with rounds of 68 and 67 to give Curtis and Every another player to worry about Sunday.
"I didn't really expect too much, final round," Huh said.
While Huh's first round was ultimately too big of a hole to overcome, Every couldn't close the deal after starting the tournament with a course-record 63. Four blown putts from 9 feet or closer -- including a 6-footer for birdie -- kept Every a stroke back until Curtis birdied No. 18.
"A little bummed out," Every said. "Kind of a pillow fight there for a while between the three of us."
If missing one badly needed putt after another was a learning experience, Every didn't want to hear it.
"Been hearing that for about 15 years," Every said. "But I don't know, man. I mean they got to go in sometimes and it didn't today, but maybe it will one day. Saving for something bigger, maybe."
Defending champion Brendan Steele, a distant afterthought for three rounds, made himself known again at TPC San Antonio with a bogey-free 67 to finish an impressive weekend climb from 56th. He tied for fourth with Bob Estes (69), Brian Gay (70), and Charlie Wi (71) at 5 under.
Curtis wasn't the only emotional player on No. 18. Scott Piercy walked to the final hole tied for fourth at 5 under but walked off snapping his putter in half with two furious strikes over his knee. That was after the TOUR journeyman quadruple-bogeyed in a meltdown that started with a penalty stroke and ended with him tossing his glove in disgust after two-putting.
Piercy finished the round at par and eight back. Matt Kuchar, the tournament's top-ranked player at No. 15, had a 73 to finish at 2 under.

To see the whole report CLICK HERE
To see all the scores CLICK HERE