FLYING DUTCHMAN IS TEN SHOTS CLEAR IN ST ANDREWS LINKS TROPHY

Daan Huizing, the top-10 world ranked Dutch amateur, is heading for another runaway win in one of the UK's leading stroke-play tournaments.
He won the Lytham Trophy by a double-digit margin a few weeks back.
Tonight he is 10 shots clear of a class field for the St Andrews Links Trophy after rounds of 65 and 64 for 14 under par 129
His closest rival is Australian Jrdan Zunic with rounds of 71 and 68.
The leading Scot is Glenbervie's Graeme Robertson on 143 (70-73), He is tied 11th, 14 shots behind the leader.
South African open amateur champion Brian Soutar (Leven GS) is on 144 (73-71) and inside the top 20.

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McLEARY LEADING SCOT IN CHALLENGE TOUR EVENT

EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR REPORT

FROM MICHAEL GIBBONS

Jamie McLeary continues to lead the Scottish challenge at the Kärnten Golf Open presented by Mazda after a one under par 71 in round three took him to nine under par for the tournament – seven strokes behind leaders Daniel Brooks of England and Frenchman Gary Stal.

McLeary is just one stroke ahead of a trio of his countrymen - Gavin Dear, Scott Henry and Callum Macaulay – going into the final round. Of that quartet, Dear produced the lowest third round of the day, a fine six under par 66, to join Henry (70) and Macaulay (68) on eight under.
It could have been so much better for Henry, however, who had played himself into contention with an outstanding first 15 holes before a combination of torrential downpours and a couple of bad swings robbed the 24 year old of three shots in his closing holes.
“I actually can’t believe that score given how well I played,” said Henry. “My iron play was outstanding for most of the round and then I got caught in that downpour on the par five and all of a sudden I make double and then drop another one coming in. To go from five under to two was so frustrating– I should have been close to the lead but now it is a long way to go to win.”
The other two Scots surviving the halfway cut, Scott Drummond and David Law, carded 73 and 71 respectively to end the day on four under and in a tie for 34^th place.
THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72) Yardage 7,053
200 G Stal (Fra) 65 67 68; D Brooks (Eng) 70 65 65;
202 G Lockerbie (Eng) 67 66 69;
204 J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 66 69 69;
205 J Huldahl (Den) 64 71 70;
206 T Hatton (Eng) 66 73 67;
207 J McLeary (Sco) 68 68 71; J Busby (Eng) 67 70 70; M Glauert (Ger) 66 69 72; J Wahlqvist (Swe) 69 71 67; P Uihlein (USA) 74 67 66;
208 M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 66 73 69; S Henry (Sco) 70 68 70; M Korhonen (Fin) 68 69 71; C Macaulay (Sco) 70 70 68; E Pepperell (Eng) 70 69 69; G Dear (Sco) 66 76 66; J Walters (RSA) 67 72 69;
209 J Abbott (Eng) 70 70 69; P Richardson (Eng) 70 71 68; A Hartø (Den) 67 72 70;
210 C Paisley (Eng) 69 72 69; J Maurer (Aut) 71 71 68; R Dinwiddie (Eng) 68 72 70; M Cryer (Eng) 66 72 72; P Relecom (Bel) 68 73 69; N Meitinger (Ger) 68 73 69; R Steiner (Aut) 70 69 71; F De Vries (Ned) 68 70 72; L Jensen (Den) 68 70 72;
211 M Delpodio (Ita) 75 66 70; D Geminiani (Ita) 71 70 70; J Bragulat (Esp) 71 69 71;
212 D Law (Sco) 67 74 71; D Smith (Eng) 70 69 73; P Erofejeff (Fin) 72 69 71; F Calmels (Fra) 68 71 73; B An (Kor) 73 69 70; S Drummond (Sco) 66 73 73; B Parker (Eng) 71 70 71; M Kieffer (Ger) 71 64 77; A Kaleka (Fra) 71 68 73; S Piaget (Mon) 73 68 71;
213 S Kim (Kor) 68 74 71; A Perrino (Ita) 69 72 72; L Astl (Aut) 69 73 71; A Högberg (Swe) 72 70 71; A Ahokas (Fin) 70 71 72; A Bossert (Sui) 72 69 72; L Nemecz (am) (Aut) 68 72 73;
214 C Aguilar (Esp) 71 69 74; F Praegant (Aut) 73 69 72; J Van Der Vaart (Ned) 71 71 72; P Gal (Cze) 71 69 74;
215 C Günther (Ger) 70 71 74; I Elvira (Esp) 74 68 73; B Pastore (Ita) 74 68 73; M Tullo (Chi) 70 70 75;
216 V Almstrom (Swe) 74 68 74; D Ulrich (Sui) 67 73 76; A Tampion (Aus) 71 71 74;
217 B Chapellan (Fra) 72 69 76;

OLDCORN CLOSES IN ON LEADER JAMES AT SLALEY HALL

Andrew Oldcorn washed away the blues of a rain hit few days with a brilliant 69 to set up a potentially exciting climax to the ISPS Handa PGA Seniors Championship at De Vere Slaley Hall.
The defending champion, who romped to a nine-stroke victory 12 months ago, is well-placed to retain his title having closed within two strokes of leader Mark James who carded a level par 72 to stay at five under for the £250,000 tournament.
Oldcorn is tied second alongside Sweden's Anders Forsbrand at three-under with Peter Fowler at two under. PGA pros Paul Wesselingh, Woodcote Park's Wraith Grant and Deeside's Peter Smith were among a group of players at one under.
But it was Oldcorn who impressed with some fine driving and a surer touch on the greens having swapped putters at the start of the rain-shortened event which has been reduced to 54-holes following Friday's abandoned play.
The 52-year-old, one of only six golfers to win both the PGA and PGA Seniors Championships, reaped the dividends of a new putter with birdies on 11, 15 and the difficult par four 18.
Another came on the third with just a solitary dropped shot on the last leaving Oldcorn to admit it was outstanding round.
"I think it was pretty exceptional, I hit it beautiful on the range this morning, I knew it was going to be a tough day for everybody but feel I have played really well and still feel I left one or two out there," he said.
"I took the decision to change my putter after the first round because I've been missing chance after chance in the last few weeks.
"I did hole one or two but still had 31 putts and was a bit disappointed to miss a six footer on the last but halfway round I said to my caddy, we'll play the fourth as a par four and the ninth as a par five so overall I played great and can't do any more than I did today."
Despite the sodden conditions the Scot had a spring in his step especially after birdieing the difficult 18th.
"That was awesome, that was the first bit of luck I've had in three weeks on the greens. I hit two great shots in a really heavy rain shower, I over hit the putt and it just bolted right in the middle and that was a real fillip and gave me a boost for the back nine.
"Tomorrow's another day, hopefully a drier day but conditions are going to be the same underfoot. If I play as well as I did today then I've got a chance."
Former Ryder Cup captain James, who became the first European to a US Senior Major championship when he won the Ford Senior Players Championship in 2004, had three birdies and three bogeys but was delighted with his effort in the conditions which keep him in pole position.
"It's so difficult, 72 is a good score, I don't think I can do much better," he said.
"It's so difficult hitting the ball off sodden fairways and putting on sodden greens so there is a lot of guess work, overall I've got to be fairly happy.
"The big problem is working out how the ball is going to come off the fairway, or what it is going to do on a long putt, you just can't judge it."
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NE RIVALS HENDERSON AND HUTCHEON SHARE KEMNAY SPOILS

North-east stalwarts Scott Henderson (Kings Links) and Banchory's Greig Henderson fittingly shared first place in their own neck of the woods at the Kemnay Golf Club pro-am today. Both shot four-under-par 67s to earn £825 each. Henderson had six birdies and two bogeys, Hutcheon five birdies and one bogey. Graeme Brown (Montrose Links) and Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills) shared third place, two shots back on 69. They earned £481 apiece. Stephen Gray (Hayston), who finished joint 18th with a 75, led the Yvonne Murray Property Services trio of amateurs to victory in the pro-am with a two-ball net aggregate of 17 under par 125. PRO SCORES AND PRIZE MONEY Par 71 67 Scott Henderson (Kings Links), Greig Hutcheon (Banchory) (£825 each). 69 Graeme Brown (Montrose Links), Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills) (£481 each). 71 Lee Vannet (Carnoustie Links), Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle) (£302 each). 82 Greg McBain (Gamola Golf), Neil Fenwick (Dunbar), Jonathan Lomas (unatt), Graham Fox (Rowallan Castle), Andrew Rollo (Moray), Jonathan Sharp (Carrick on Loch Lomond) (£172 each). 73 Ross McConnachie (Peterculter), Patrick Walker (Ballumbie Castle) (£114 each). 74 Joel Hopwood (Royal Aberdeen), Christopher Currie (Caldwell), Chris Brown (Kemnay) (£91 each). 75 Alan Stuart (Aspire), Iain Buchan (Alford), Stephen Gray (Hayston) (£64 each). 77 Steven Duncan (Carnoustie Links) 78 Brian Mason (Callaway Golf), Terry Mathieson (Murcar Links). 81 David Brown (Kemnay), Craig Gordon (Edinburgh GC)

LEE WESTWOOD WINS NORDEA MASTERS BY FIVE SHOTS

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Lee Westwood won his third Nordea Masters title in resounding fashion with a five shot triumph at Bro Hof Slott.
The World Number Three was simply irresistible from tee to green all week, and could even afford to miss five putts from inside six feet over the first ten holes of his closing 69.
That only one of those led to a bogey said everything about Westwood’s sumptuous approach play – the Englishman looking in commanding form as he prepares to make his 57th attempt at a first Major Championship victory at next week’s US Open.
Westwood, who recorded his first European Tour victory in this event back in 1996 and won again in 2000 en route to becoming European Number One for the first time, said: “It feels really special winning here another time – I’ve won it in three decades now which just shows how old we’re getting!
“I played really well this week - you don’t win tournaments by five shots without playing well.”
After starting the day with a three shot lead, Westwood curled in a 15 footer at the third.
He then missed a four foot birdie putt at the fourth, and saw a par putt of the same length horseshoe out at the sixth.
The 39 year old missed further birdie chances from inside six feet at the eighth, ninth and tenth and at that stage Ross Fisher and Peter Hanson had moved to within two.
But while those two had eventful back nines, Westwood hit top gear down the closing stretch.
He hit a brilliant approach to seven feet at the long 12th and eagled, and fired a wedge into five feet at the 15th for a birdie before paring his way in for a 19 under par total.
“I missed a few short putts on the front nine, had a lot of chances the first ten holes and could have really put some breathing space between me and the field,” Westwood added.
“Having said that when I needed to on the back nine – when they got a bit closer and put me under a bit of pressure – I managed to make a great eagle at 12, good birdie at 15 and pull away. I hit some really solid shots. It didn’t look like I was hitting it close on the last three holes but I can tell you those last three holes I hit it exactly where I wanted to every time.”
Fisher’s challenge effectively ended when he found water at the 13th and double bogeyed, but The Ryder Cup star recovered brilliantly with a hattrick of birdies from the 15th giving him a 71 and solo second place on 14 under.
Hanson also ran up a double bogey seven on the back nine, the Swede’s coming at the 15th, and his 71 saw him finish in a tie for third on 13 under.
He was joined by the fast-finishing Sergio Garcia and Finland’s Mikko Ilonen, who completed a solid week with a 68.
Spaniard Garcia had threatened to charge into contention from nowhere with six unanswered birdies, but he found water at the 17th and bogeyed, leading to a 67.
Lloyd Saltman finished the top Scot in joint 22nd place on 281

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MyGolfRanking.co.uk, Fife Golfing Association

 Week ending 3 June 2012:

1 M Rickard (Cupar) 1191.67 pts

2 A Jones (Kirkcaldy) 1121.43

3 I Fleming (Auchterderran) 1064.29

4 G Hay (Dunnikier Park) 1033.33

5 K Lowey (Kirkcaldy) 1013.5

6 M Elvin (Forrester Park) 975

T7 R Kemp (Cupar) 950

T7 M Rooney (Lundin) 950

9 E M Diston (Ladybank) 941.67

10 C Mackenzie (Thornton) 938.14

11 A Johnston (The Duke’s) 933.33

12 N Beattie (St Andrews GC) 913

13 B A A Kinsley (St Andrews GC) 907.14

14 G Walker (Earlsferry Th) 90

15 M Miller (Canmore) 878.57

16 J Henderson (Ladybank) 875

17 A Brown (Cupar) 871.4

18 D N Watson (Kirkcaldy) 864.29

19 S Watson (Ladybank) 857.14

20 G G Muir (Ladybank) 847.57

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

JAMIE McLEARY ON THE CHALLENGE TOUR MOVE IN AUSTRIA

A second consecutive 68 saw Jamie McLeary move into contention at the European Challenge Tour’s Kärnten Golf Open presented by Mazda.

McLeary’s eight under par total, just four shots off the pace set by young Frenchman Gary Stal, will see him lead the Scottish charge over the weekend, but he will be supported by no less than five of his countrymen at the Golf Club Klagenfurt-Seltenheim in south east Austria.
Scott Henry, third last week in Tenerife, matched McLeary’s second round 68 to move to six under for the tournament, while Scott Drummond (-5), Callum Macaulay (-4), David Law (-3) and Gavin Dear (-2) all survived the halfway cut to keep their hopes alive over the final two rounds.
“I am very pleased with the last two days,” said McLeary. “I have to be honest and say that I didn’t think I was going to have a great week because this golf course didn’t seem to fit my eye when we got here.
“But I have managed to get it round and hit a lot of fairways and greens so I should really change that attitude for the weekend. It feels good to be up there and in contention again.”
While McLeary and his five fellow Scots go on the hunt for their first Challenge Tour title of the season, they will no doubt spare a thought for Chris Doak, who began the day on five under par and reached the turn on eight under before a nightmare finish saw him drop seven strokes in seven holes to miss the cut by one and join James Byrne (+6), Jack Doherty (+8) and Andrew McArthur (+8) on an early flight home.

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THREE TIE FOR VICTORY IN EAST OF SCOTLAND SENIOR OPEN

There was a triple tie for first place in the Scottish Senior Golfing Society's East of Scotland Open at Forfar Golf Club.
Graham Bell (Downfield) 68-71, Fraser McCluskey (Royal Burgess) 67-72, and Len Grindrod (Cawder) 65-74 all finished on the 139 mark, one shot ahead of fourth placed Lindsay Gordon (Turnhouse) 68-72.
Former Walker Cup player Sandy Pirie (Hazlehead) and his son Neil competed in this competition, thought to be the first time a father and son have taken part in a SSGS event.
The start of the second round was delayed for an hour, due to heavy overnight rain.
LEADING SCRATCH TOTALS
139 Graham Bell (Downfeield) 68 71, Fraser McCluskey (Royal Burgess) 67 72, Len Grindrod (Cawder) 65 74.
140 Lindsay Gordon Turnhouse) 68 72.
141 Alan O'Neill (West Lothian) 69 72.
142 Brian Smith (Kilmacolm) 73 69, Davie Downie (Kirriemuir) 71 71, Alasdair J Macgregor (Hazlehead) 71 71, Ricky T Gray (Cowglen) 71 71, Ian Jeen (St Andrews New) 70 72.
143 Ian Brotherston (Dumfries and Galloway) 70 73.
144 John Fraser (Royal Burgess) 70 74, Keith Bruce (Edzell) 68 76.
145 Derek Sim (Panmure) 77 68, Tony McLure (Whickham) 74 71, David Imrie (thornton) 71 74, Stuart Black (Cathcart Castle) 70 75.
LEADING NET TOTALS
134 Alasdair J Macgregor (Hazlehead) (4) 67 67
135 Derek Sim (Panmure) (5) 72 63, Len Grindrod (Cawder) (2) 63 72.

 

DARREN LLOYD LEADS EUROPRO TOUR EVENT AT WINDY BURHILL

LLOYD LEADS AT WINDY BURHILL
South African shoots 68 to top opening-day leaderboard by two shots

Darryn Lloyd shot a four-under-par 68 to rise to the top of the field at the end of a blustery first day’s play in the Kerry London PGA EuroPro Tour at Burhill Golf Club in Surrey on Friday.

The South African holds a two-shot lead over Dan Seymour (Newbury Golf Club) and Billy Fowles (Wentworth) who are tied for second ahead of eight golfers tied fourth on the leaderboard with scores of one under par.

Lloyd (Acrabuild Ltd/W.Ash & Sons) began his first round at the tenth tee and birdie fours at the 11^th and 13^th saw him off to a flyer. He completed the remaining back-nine holes to par before turning home to the par-four first where he carded a three, an achievement he matched on the ninth.

Seymour would not have expected to end the day second when he opened with a double-bogey on the first. The Berkshire golfer, who won the opening event of the 2012 888poker.com PGA EuroPro Tour at Wensum Valley, regained his composure with a par at two before birdies at three, five and seven guided him below par.

He stuttered with a bogey four at eight but negotiated the back nine with seven pars and birdies at 10 and 17 to sign for 70 when he returned to the clubhouse.

Fowles hit birdies at three and five to move to two under par early on but was pegged back by bogey fives at six and seven. A solid back nine which included birdies at 11 and 16 saw the Wentworth man return to two under par for his round and join Seymour in second place on the leaderboard.

Eight players are tied for fourth after taking 71 shots to complete their opening round and a further eleven completed the opening 18 holes to par, three shots off the lead.

The first groups off the tee get their second round underway at 7:30am on Saturday morning. Entry is free throughout the event at Burhill and live scoring will be available at www.europrotour.com.

PGA SENIORS CHAMPIONSHIP CUT TO THREE ROUNDS AT SOGGY SLALEY HALL

PRESS RELEASE
Peter Fowler saw his charge up the leader board at the ISPS Handa PGA Seniors Championship brought to a soggy end after play was abandoned at De Vere Slaley Hall.
The Australian, starting on the tenth, carded three birdies through 12 holes to move within two shots of overnight leader Mark James before persistent heavy rain forced second round play to be suspended at 10.55am.
With the course heavily waterlogged, play was scrapped for the day at 2pm and the decision taken to reduce the £250,000 tournament to 54-holes with play set to resume at 7.30am with the today’s afternoon starters out at 8.30am.
The second round will be completed on Saturday with a cut for the top 60s and ties.
First round leader James, who sits at five-under following his 67, goes out at 8.50am alongside Sam Torrance and Sweden’s Anders Forsbrand.
For Fowler, the early end to his round was a source of frustration following a bright start which brought gains at holes 11, 12 and 15 to move to three-under.
"It's always a bit frustrating when you are going well and you have to stop," said Fowler, who turns 53 on Saturday.
"On the 11th hole I got up and down from 60 yards after two good shots, then on 12 I chipped it to three foot and on 15 I hit a nice eight iron to 15feet and hole the putt. So it was a nice start and I was playing solid. I was keen to carry on but the forecast wasn't good."
Fowler, the 2011 European Senior Tour Order of Merit winner, who finished joint third at Slaley Hall 12 months ago, has had a relatively slow start to his defence of the John Jacobs Trophy with injury ruining his preparations.
"As I was recovering from one knee operation in January the other one snapped and I had to have an op on that one too," said Fowler.
"So I've had a pretty poor run. The most recent one was worse than the other one ever was. It's no problem hitting golf balls, it's just walking.
"I didn't play much because of the knee. I hadn't walked a round between December and the start of the season, so fitness wise it has been a slow start."
Kedleston Park PGA professional Paul Wesselingh, looking to continue his superb start to his seniors’ career, was at one-under through 12 holes with three birdies on his card.
PGA pro Brian Rumney from Arcot Hall, who carded a 73 in his first round, moved up the leader board to one-under through seven holes with three birdies in four holes.

Visit www.PGA.info for up to date reports from the ISPS Handa PGA Seniors Championships and all national and regional PGA tournaments

WESTWOOD LEADS WITH A ROUND TO GO IN NORDEA MASTERS

Just for a change, this weekend's European Tour event - the Nordea Masters - ends today (Saturday) because of the Wednesday start to allow players an extra day for making it over to the United States Open.
So it's and England 1-2 in the shape of Lee Westwood (200) and Ross Fisher (203) with one round to go in the Nordea Masters.

THIRD ROUND LEADERBOARD
200 Lee Westwood (England 68 64 68
203 Ross Fisher (England) 70 68 65
204 Peter Hanson (Sweden) 67 68 69
SELECTED SCORES
209 Peter Whiteford (Scotland) 71 69 69 (T22)
210 Lloyd Saltman (Scotland) 71 64 75 (T32)

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RORY McILROY LEADS IN JUDE CLASSIC

Back-in-form Rory McIlroy leads the Fedex St Jude Classic at TPS Southwind, Memphis, Tennessee at the halfway stage with rounds of 68 and 65 for 133 - a shot ahead of Americans J B Holmes, Jeff Maggert and Kevin Stadler.
Padraig Harrington (68-68 for 136) is well up for a change in joint eighth place.
Martin Laird beat the cut in joint 65th place on 142 (72-70)
But Russell Knox (78-70) and Graeme McDowell (75-73) missed out on 148.

HALFWAY LEADERBOARD
133 Rory McIlroy (N Ireland) 68 65
134 J B Holmes (US) 70 64, Jeff Maggert (US) 66 68, Kevin Stadler (US) 69 65.
SELECTED SCORES
136 Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 68 68 (T8)
139 Greg Owen (England) 72 67 (T22)
141 Gary Christian (England) 70 71 (T52)
142 Martin Laird (Scotland) 72 70 (T65)

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LIVE SCORING FROM ST ANDREWS LINKS TROPHY: Daan Huizing leads by four after Day 1

LIVE SCORING FROM THE SECOND ROUND OF THE ST ANDREWS LINKS TROPHY

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FIRST-ROUND RECAP

Runaway Lytham Trophy winner Daan Huizing, the world No 7 amateur from the Netherlands, went four strokes clear of the star-studded field with an opening round of six-under-par 65 over the New Course.

LEADERBOARD
Par 71
65 Daan Huizing (Netherlands)
69 Brandon Stone (South Africa), Ben Stow (Rushmore), Jamie Rutherford (Knebworth), Paul Kinnear (Formby), Reeve Whitson (Mourne).