MONEYGATE SCOTTISH MEN'S AREA TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP AT BLAIRGOWRIE

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Defending champions Fife are through to Sunday's last-four match-play stages of the Moneygate Scottish men's area team championship.
Fife qualified in second place with a total of 712, only a shot behind top qualifiers Perth and Kinross.
The other qualifiers are Renfrewshire and Stirlingshire
But North-east, champions two years ago and beaten by Fife in last year's final, missed out on the Sunday action for the third year in a row by the narrowest of margins. They finished fifth of the 16 area teams although they had the same total as Stirlingshire who went through after a countback.
So Sunday morning's semi-finals at Blairgowrie are:
Perth and Kinross (No 1 seeds) versus Stirlingshire (No 4 seeds)
Fife (No 2 seeds) versus Renfrewshire (No 3 seeds).
The major surprise of the stroke-play section was the failure of Lothians, the team who have been Scottish area champions more times than anyone else, to get even close to qualifying. Lothians finished T10.

QUALIFIERS FOR SUNDAY'S MATCH-PLAY
(1 versus 4, 2 versus 3)

1 PERTH AND KINROSS  357 355 712
2 FIFE 365 348 713
3 RENFREWSHIRE 366 358 724
4 STIRLINGSHIRE 366 359 725 (qualified on countback)

FAILED TO QUALIFY
5 NORTH-EAST 361 364 725
T6 LANARKSHIRE 373 361 734
T6 SOUTH 370 364 734
8 AYRSHIRE 372 364 736
9 CLACKMANNANSHIRE 378 362 740
T10 LOTHIANS 371 370 741
T10 DUNBARTONSHIRE 374 367 741
T10 GLASGOW 376 365 741
13 ANGUS 371 373 744
14 NORTH 377 370 747
15 ARGYLL AND BUTE 379 372 751
16 BORDERS 386 384 770

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P AND K MAKE HOME ADVANTAGE PAY

REPORT FROM THE SGU WEBSITE
Hosts Perth and Kinross will be joined by holders Fife, Renfrewshire and Stirlingshire after heading the stroke play qualifying rounds of the Moneygate Scottish Area Team Championship at Blairgowrie.
Led by the home club duo of former Scottish Amateur Champion Glenn Campbell (68 – 70) and Scottish Boys international Bradley Neil (71 – 71), the Perth and Kinross side posted a 10-round aggregate of 712 to book their place in tomorrow’s semi-finals as number one seeds.
Consistent performances from Mark Cameron (71 – 72) and Stuart Graham (74 – 70) bolstered their position, with George Brass’s 73 on the Landsowne and Scott Michie’s 72 on Rosemount also contributing to a fine team effort.
They finished a shot clear of defending champions Fife, who produced an impressive afternoon display to reach the last four in second place of the stroke play qualifying.
Scott Crichton’s best of the day  7-under par 65 on the Rosemount led the way in the morning, before a 67 from James White, and 69s from Brian Soutar and Scott Stewart-Cation put the Fifers in with a great chance of an historic second successive Area Team crown.Renfrewshire, champions three years ago, qualified in third place with an aggregate score of 724, with the experienced Ronnie Clark producing a four-under par tally of 140 to lead their challenge. A superb six-under par 66 by Matt Clark in the afternoon over the Rosemount course was key to their challenge, while Craig Watson’s 71 on the Lansdowne also proved pivotal.
The battle for the fourth and final qualifying berth went right to the wire, with Stirlingshire edging out 2010 champions North East to retain their hopes of a first title in 31 years. Ryan Campbell was Stirlingshire’s star man (72 – 67) with last year’s SGU Order of Merit runner-up Graeme Robertson (69 – 71) also scoring well.
Both sides finished on the 725 mark, but Stirlingshire qualify by the narrowest of margins virtue of the lowest aggregate non-counting scores, 152 ahead of North East’s 153.
Lanarkshire and South tied in sixth place on 734, with last year’s semi-finalists Ayrshire in eighth spot on 736. Clackmannanshire finished ninth with a tally of 736, four clear of the trio of record title holders Lothians, Dumbartonshire and Glasgow

KELLETT, NICOL SCORE SUB-70 BUT McLEAN MISSES CUT IN AUSTRIA

Motherwell's Ross Kellett and Kris Nicol (Fraserburgh) both scored in the 60s in today's second round of the Alps Tour's Gosser Open in Austria - but Peterhead's Philip McLean missed the cut by six shots.
Kellett is T10 on 138 after rounds of 70-68.
Nicol is T39 after scores of 75 and 66 for 141.
McLean had rounds of 75 and 72 for a total of 147 which put him T95 and an early exit.
Irishman Brendan McCarroll is sharing the lead with an Austrian, Jurgen Maurer, and an Italian, Joon Kim on 10-under-par 134.
McCarroll owes his elevated position to rounds of 68 and 66, the same scores as the two other joint leaders.
Northern Irishman Gareth Shaw is in fourth place on 135 after rounds of 67-68.


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PAUL LAWRIE PLAYS NICOLAS COLSAERTS IN SUNDAY SEMI-FINALS

FROM THE BBC SPORT.COM WEBSITE

Paul Lawrie and Graeme McDowell are into the semi-finals of the Volvo World Match Play in Spain after defeating Retief Goosen and Sergio Garcia respectively.

Lawrie was in fine form as he beat Goosen 6 and 5 without dropping a shot, while McDowell won in sudden death.
"The wind really picked up and [being] under par, you are going to be tough to beat," said Lawrie.
The Scot now meets Nicolas Colsaerts in the last-four, and Northern Ireland's McDowell faces Rafael Cabrera-Bello.
Lawrie's good form at Finca Cortesin is also timely, as he bids for a place in Europe's Ryder Cup team for the first time since 1999 - the same year he won the Open at Carnoustie.
He currently stands fifth in the points race and has a chance to move into second spot this weekend, not least because he beat the incumbent Peter Hanson of Sweden during the group stage.
"I'm not thinking about that [the Ryder Cup], even if I win this week," said Lawrie, who has decided not to compete at next month's US Open.
The 43-year-old Aberdonian , who benefited from South African Goosen's sloppy start, added: "If things go well then obviously it's a step closer, but that's all it is.
"There's a lot of tournaments to be played."
McDowell was made to work harder than Lawrie for his victory, and he missed a five-foot putt for victory on the final green.
That sent the match into sudden death, where home favourite Garcia three-putted the first extra hole, the 18th, to send McDowell through to Sunday's semi-final.
"It wasn't exactly El Clasico and I feel like I dodged a bullet there," said the 2010 US Open champion.
"I kind of resigned myself to the fact that I was going home, but sometimes you have to win ugly and sometimes to win you need what just happened to me. I count myself lucky."
His opponent in the last four, Cabrera-Bello, won six of the last eight holes to recover from a three-down deficit at the turn to win 3 and 1 against fellow Spaniard Alvaro Quiros.
In the other quarter-final, Belgian Colsaerts beat American Brandt Snedeker 4 and 3 to reach the last four for the second year in a row.
Quarter-final results
 (seeded positions in brackets)
Paul Lawrie (Sco) (11) beat Retief Goosen (South Africa) (18) 6 and 5
Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium) (14) bt Brandt Snedeker (US) (7) 4 and 3.
Graeme McDowell (Northern Ireland) (4) bt Sergio Garcia (Spain) (5) at 19th.
Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spain) (16) bt Alvaro Quiros (Spain) (12) 3 and 1.

A GRAND PERFORMANCE BY HUTCHEON AND McCREADIE

Banchory's Greig Hutcheon followed up his victory in the Teddy Bear pro-am at Gleneagles on Friday by sharing the honours in the Buchanan Castle pro-am on Saturday (today).
Hutcheon set the clubhouse target of eight-under-par 62 and it was matched very late in the day by home club professional Jason McCreadie who won the event 12 months ago with a 66.
Preferred lies were in operation so the 62s cannot count for course record purposes.
Hutcheon's and McCreadie's cards were remarkably similar. Both were out in five-under-par 30 and home in three-under 32.
Hutcheon needed a 4 at the ninth to reach the turn in a notable 29 but he bogeyed the hole! Earlier Greig had had an eagle 3 at the long sixth and birdies at the first, second, short fourth and ninth.
Coming home Hutche birdied the 12th, long 14th, 15th and 18th, dropping one more shot, a 4 at the short 16th.
McCreadie's bogey free outward half was highlighted by birdies at the first, second, third, long sixth and ninthy. Coming home he had birdies at the short 10th, 12th, long 14th and 15th. Jason had one bogey, the 13th.
The joint winners earned just over £1,000 each.
Third place was shared by past PGA Cup player Craig Matheson (Falkirk Tryst) and Christopher Currie (Caldwell) on 66.
Chris Kelly (Cawder) led the HSB Insurance Ltd trio of Robert Garrity (handicap 13), Hector Munro (9) and John Cameron (17) to victory with a net score of 14-under-par 56.

LEADING PRO SCORES
Par 70
62 Greig Hutcheon (Banchory), Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle).
66 Christopher Currie (Caldwell), Craig Matheson (Falkirk Tryst).,
67 Graeme Brown (Montrose Links).
68 Iain Colquhoun (Dundonald Links), Andrew Marshall (Houston GR), Mark Kerr (unatt), James McGhee (Duddingston), Graham Fox (Rowallan Castle), Stephen Gray (Hayston).
69 Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs GR), Jonathan Lomas (unatt), Alan Lockhart (Ladybank).
70 Garry Forrester (St Andrews Golf School), Mark King (Kingsfield GR) James McKinnon (Irvine), Chris Kelly (Cawder), David Patrick (Elie SC), David Orr (Means Castle GA).
71 Steven Taylor (Bothwell Castle0, Paul McKechnie (Braaid Hills GR).
72 Andrew Fullen (Largs).
73 Terry Burgoyne (Glencruitten), Ross Dixon (Renaissance Club).
74 Russell Weir (Cowal), Keith Baxter (Buchanan Castle).
76 Scott Catlin (Greenburn), Mark Loftus (Mearns Castle GA).
77 Jonathan Holmes (Buchanan Castle).
78 Paul Gallacher (Dalmuir).
7 Christopher Russell (RAW Gof Course Design), Brian Mason (Callaway Golf).
80 Stuart Reekie (Blairgowrie), Vincen Brown (Westerwood).

ends

JASON DUFNER TAKES LEAD WITH BUNCH OF LATE BIRDIES

FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE

Round 2 Recap: HP Byron Nelson Championship

Jason Dufner birdied four of last five holes and leads by one stroke heading into the weekend.

May. 18, 2012
By Staff and wire reports

IRVING, Texas -- Standing over his ball in a swale behind the 18th green, Jason Dufner would have been content with a par and a spot in the big group tied for the lead in the HP Byron Nelson Championship.

HP BYRON NELSON

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Instead, Dufner had the lead to himself Friday. He finished by chipping in from 37 feet, his fourth birdie in five holes, after driving wide right and having his approach roll over the green.
"No, that wasn't in the thought process," Dufner said. "Pretty lucky for it to go in, but that's part of golf. Sometimes you get those breaks."
His second long chip-in wrapped up a 4-under 66 for a two-round total of 7-under 133. That put Dufner a stroke ahead of a group of six players that included Matt Kuchar, currently sixth in the FedExCup standings, who won THE PLAYERS Championship last week.
Dufner got married the week after his first PGA TOUR victory in New Orleans last month, and returned to play last week.
He has the 36-hole lead for the fourth time this season, including the Masters, and the seventh time in his career. The experience of having a victory can provide a different mindset while leading at the halfway point again.
"Maybe a little bit," he said. "I'm confident with my game and happy with where my game is right now."
Kuchar shot a 68 to join first-round leader Ryan Palmer (70), Chad Campbell (66), Pat Perez (67), Dickey Pride (68) and Marc Leishman (69) at 6 under.
Defending champion Keegan Bradley (68), who last summer won the PGA Championship three months after becoming a first-time winner in a Nelson playoff against Palmer, was two strokes behind the leaders along with Ryuji Imada (68) and Charley Hoffman (69).
Kuchar recovered from a miserable early stretch when he had two bogeys and a double bogey in a four-hole span.

After a birdie at No. 10 to start his second round, Kuchar had a bogey at the 455-yard 12th when his approach from the rough landed in a bunker. His approach at No. 14 went in the water, leading to a double bogey before he again wasn't able to get up-and-down out of a greenside bunker at the par-4 15th.
"I got on the wrong side of things," Kuchar said. "Par 5, took advantage of that. So I was pleased that I was able to hang in there and bounce back."
His approach at the 546-yard 16th was inside of 5 feet. That was the first of his five birdies without another bogey over his final 12 holes.
Kuchar still has chance to become the first PGA TOUR player since Tiger Woods in 2009 to win in consecutive weeks. Woods also was the last player to win in his next start after winning THE PLAYERS Championship. That was in 2001, two years after David Duval pulled off that feat.
Phil Mickelson had a fitting finish in a round of 69 with a double bogey after his tee shot at No. 18 went in the water and his approach after the drop went over the green.
"I hit it terrible today, there was no other way around it," Mickelson said. "I've just got some mechanical issues where I was not striking the ball very solid. I was able to hit decent shots on the backside to make birdies and make a run, but that last hole stunk."
Dufner was 4 under when he caught a glimpse of a scoreboard early in his back nine and noticed the crowd near the top with little movement on a day with steady winds.
"I was kind of around par for the day, trying to stay patient a little bit, maybe get a birdie or two," Dufner said.
Even after a bogey at No. 12, when his approach landed in a greenside bunker, Dufner did much more than he hoped for down the stretch.
That started with three birdies in a row. There was a 21-foot putt at No. 14 before he holed a 35-foot chip at No. 15, then made a 21-foot birdie putt at No. 16.
"Ended up getting birdie on four of the last five, couple of chip-ins, which you don't expect, especially the one on 18," Dufner said. "It was a nice way to finish."
Before his last hole, which he preceded with consecutive birdies, Mickelson had only one bogey despite being in trouble several times.
There was the par save at No. 8 after he missed the fairway but knocked his second shot from the rough to inside 4 feet. His tee shot at No. 9 landed under a tree and he used a 5-wood to punch the ball under branches. It rolled up onto the green and he made a 17-foot birdie putt.
The consolation for Mickelson is that he is within six strokes of the lead with two rounds to play.
"There will be a bunching on the leaderboard," he said. "If I give myself some more chances (Saturday), I `m starting to feel a little bit better with the putter, and I should be able to make some."


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MyGolfRanking.co.uk, Fife Golfing Association

Week ending 13 May 2012:
1 I Fleming (Auchterderran) 1058.33 pts
2 M Rickard (Cupar) 983.33
3 R Kemp (Cupar) 966.67
4 P Taylor (Kirkcaldy) 937.5
5 A Johnston (The Duke’s) 933.33
6 N Beattie (St Andrews) 902.83
7 M Rooney (Lundin) 900
8 A Jones (Kirkcaldy) 875
9 R Stenhouse (Scoonie) 871.43
10 D N Watson (Kirkcaldy) 864.29
11 N Jones (Scoonie) 850
12 D Waddell (Kirkcaldy) 833.33
13 G J Walker (Kirkcaldy) 825
14 C Mackenzie (Thornton) 825
15 R Thomson (St Andrews) 816.71
16 J G Mitchell (Lochgelly) 816.67
17 S Brady (Burntisland G H) 808.33
18 J Stenhouse Jnr (Scoonie) 803.57
19 J Haddow (Scoonie) 795.83
20 G McLelland (Lochgelly) 785.71.

For ranking lists of participating clubs, the full Fife and Lothians ranking lists and How It Works, visit www.MyGolfRanking.co.uk