US PGA TOUR SCOREBOARD

AT and T NATIONAL
Congressional Country Club, Bethesda, Maryland
LEADING HALFWAY TOTALS
Par 142 (2x71)
Players from US unless stated
135 Hunter Mahan 70 65
137 Brendon de Jonge (S Africa) 68 69, Jimmy Walker 68 69, Robert Garrigus 70 67
138 Pat Perez 69 69, Seung-Yul Noh (S Korea) 70 68, Rod Pampling (Australia) 71 67, Stewart Cink 70 68, Vijay Singh (Fiji) 68 70.
SELECTED SCORES
140 Tiger Woods 72 68 (T11)
141 Martin Laird (Scotland) 72 69 (T15)
143 Brian Davis (England) 74 69 (T27)
146 Greg Owen (England) 70 75 (T37)
MISSED THE CUT
148 or better qualified

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GORDON BRAND JUNIOR FOUR OFF THE PACE IN GERMANY

EUROPEAN SENIOR TOUR REPORT

From Michael Gibbons

mgibbons@europeantour.com

Gordon Brand Junior leads the Scottish Challenge at the Berenberg Bank Masters after an opening round of 69 saw him finish day one in a tie for eighth position, four shots behind early pacesetters Barry Lane and Peter Fowler.

Brand Jnr’s three under par effort did see him tie Bernhard Langer at the Golfclub Wörthsee on the outskirts of Munich, where the German legend was treated to a hero’s reception that lasted from the first tee to the 18^th green.

Ross Drummond is the next best placed Scot on the leaderboard on two under, with former Ryder Cup Captain Sam Torrance continuing to show signs of a return to form after a one under 71.

Torrance looked to be cruising as he reached the turn in three under but a double bogey six on the tenth hole halted his momentum. Another dropped shot on the par four 12^th took Torrance back to level but a fine closing birdie on the 18^th brought an optimistic finish to the day and kept him in the hunt at the €400,000 European Senior Tour event.

Bill Longmuir and Andrew Oldcorn will have to go very low over the next two days to get back into contention after a pair of opening 73s left them on one over, while Stephen McAllister and John Chillas struggled to respective first round totals of 77 and 78
OVERALL SUMMARY

On a searing hot day at the beautiful Golfclub Wörthsee, Barry Lane and Peter Fowler produced the white-hot form that saw them dominate the 2011 European Senior Tour as they tied for the first round lead of the Berenberg Bank Masters on seven under par.

With huge crowds flocking to Wörthsee to catch a glimpse of the legendary Bernhard Langer in his homeland, Fowler and Lane produced the best golf of the day to soar to the top of the leaderboard on seven under par.

Langer didn’t disappoint with an opening 69 to lie four of the pace in a tie for eighth place, with Mark Mouland and Tim Thelen just one off the lead on six under and John Harrison joining Juan Quiros a further shot back.

Fowler, who played alongside Langer and Massy Kuramoto during round one, made a steady start to get to the turn in two under before lighting up the back nine to come home in five under 31 and set the clubhouse target for the rest of the field to chase.

The big Australian, inspired by the company of two-time Masters Champion Langer, solved his putting woes to rekindle the form that saw him win the Senior Tour Order of Merit last season.

ALL ABOUT THE PUTTING

“It was a really good round and it was really all about the putting today,” said Fowler. “I have been putting very poorly but I managed to get here early and have two really good days practice on the putting green and it seems to have made the difference.

“This is a really fun golf course and very pleasant to play on and when you play with a champion like Bernhard then it is very easy to get motivated and fired up for the round. It gives you an extra edge when you play with players of Bernhard’s quality.

“Guys like me are still trying to prove ourselves against these guys. Bernhard is one of those players that you use as a benchmark for your own game and he has been so fit and strong over the last 30 years.

“I find playing with players like that inspiring because they still want to get everything out of their games and they still love the challenge and the competition.”

Lane, meanwhile, was over the moon to have produced such high quality golf given his uncharacteristic performance in Holland last week, where, affected by a calf muscle strain, he carded an opening score of 88.

23 SHOTS IMPROVEMENT 

“Well, what can I say? I suppose being 23 shots better than the first round last week is a bit of an improvement!” laughed the Englishman.

“I don’t know what happened last week – I made a 12 on one hole but 88 is still a big number. I just played terrible last week and I had to go and do some serious practice on Monday and Tuesday this week because I was a bit shocked by that.

“But we can forget about that now and talk about today because I played lovely today and just made one mistake on the par five that led to a bogey but other than that it was solid.

“It’s nice to be in the tournament after the first round instead of wanting to go home as I did last week and I will be playing with my rival again tomorrow – Number One and Two going at it again! I get on great with Peter and we have some nice friendly banter out there, especially after being so close to each other on the Order of Merit last year. It is great fun.”

LANGER'S MOTHER

Langer also enjoyed his opening round, where he was followed for 18 holes by his 89 year old mother, Walburga.

“I knew she was coming today but didn’t expect her to walk 18 holes,” he smiled. “I made a great start with two birdies in the first two holes and just expected to really go on and make a great score from there but it didn’t work out that way and I didn’t play as well as I have done for the past two days.

“I think the best way to describe the performance today would be to say that I usually operate on four cylinders and today was only two and a half.”

SCOREBBOARD
Par 72. Yardage 6,902

65 B Lane (Eng); P Fowler (Aus);

66 M Mouland (Wal); T Thelen (USA);

67 J Quiros (Esp); J Harrison (Eng);

68 G Norquist (USA);

69 A Forsbrand (Swe); M Cunning (USA); M Kuramoto (Jpn); P Wesselingh (Eng); B Langer (Ger); G Brand Jnr (Sco); B Ruangkit (Tha);

70 R Drummond (Sco); C Williams (RSA); B Cameron (Eng); G Manson (Aut); G Ryall (Eng); D Russell (Eng);

71 P Mitchell (Eng); M Harwood (Aus); J Gould (Eng); S Torrance (Sco); C Mason (Eng); G Wolstenholme (Eng); R Gibson (Can); G Banister (Aus); P Walton (Irl); R Davis (Aus); A Sherborne (Eng); N Job (Eng); K Spurgeon (Eng); A Fernandez (Chi);

72 D Merriman (Aus); M Martin (Esp); M James (Eng); N Ratcliffe (Aus); M Farry (Fra); D Hospital (Esp); T Elliott (Aus); L Carbonetti (Arg);

73 B Longmuir (Sco); A Franco (Par); S Cipa (Eng); B Lincoln (RSA); T Johnstone (Zim); D Smyth (Irl); B Smit (RSA); A Oldcorn (Sco); K Tomori (Jpn); M Belsham (Eng); G Brand (Eng); Z Martinez (USA);

74 I Woosnam (Wal); M Piñero (Esp); J Bruner (USA); D Cambridge (Jam); S Van Vuuren (RSA); J Rivero (Esp);

75 J Bland (RSA); J Hall (Eng); D Durnian (Eng);

76 P Dahlberg (Swe); G Ralph (Eng); C Rocca (Ita);

77 S McAllister (Sco); R Volding (USA);

78 J Rhodes (Eng); J Chillas (Sco)

79 D O'Sullivan (Irl)

85 A Garrido (Esp)

RAYMOND RUSSELL LEADS BY THREE ON CHALLENGE TOUR

CHALLENGE TOUR REPORT

From Sarah Gwynn

sgwynn@europeantour.com

Scot Raymond Russell will take a three-shot lead into the final round of the Challenge Provincia di Varese after scorching to a four under par 66 on day three.

At 14 under par, the 39 year old is ahead of Italian Marco Crespi, with whom he shared the second round lead, while four players – Andrew McArthur, Alessandro Tadini, Peter Uilhein and Daniel Vancsik – are another shot back at ten under.

The majority of Russell’s progress came on the front nine, with birdies at the fourth, sixth, seventh and ninth, and after another at the tenth he had seven pars and a bogey, at the 16th.

“The front nine I played really well and could have shot anything,” said Russell, who has never won on the Challenge Tour but claimed the 1996 Air France Cannes Open on The European Tour.

REALLY SOLID

“The first 11 holes were really solid, and I didn’t miss from inside six feet. Then I didn’t make birdie on the par five 12th which slowed my momentum a bit, and I hit my worst shot of the week off the tee at the 16th and made bogey there. But I’m happy and I’m pleased with the way I’m playing.”

Russell missed almost all of last season with a debilitating virus, having graduated from the Challenge Tour in 2010, and even a victory tomorrow would not make up for a wasted year.

“I only played one European Tour event and two on the Challenge Tour last year,” he said. “It was awful. I’m fully recovered now and playing well again, but I’d worked very hard to get back on The European Tour only for that to wreck the season.

“I’d started playing again in 2007 and worked very hard, and I was playing well at the end of 2010 and had momentum going into 2011. There’s nothing you can do about it, but no, winning tomorrow wouldn’t come close to making up for it.”

LOCAL HERO

Crespi, like Tadini, who grew up playing at Golf Club Varese, would love a win on home soil, following his maiden Challenge Tour victory last month in the Telenet Trophy.

“It would be great to win, but I will have to play very well to catch Raymond,” said the 33 year old, who signed for a 69. “I bogeyed the first and double-bogeyed the sixth, but I also had four birdies to keep me up there.

“Fortunately the back nine was a lot calmer and I had nine straight pars. I played very well from tee to green. I enjoyed the day and can’t wait for tomorrow. Being in contention for a tournament is always a good feeling, but it’s extra special here in Italy, where I have a lot of people supporting me.”

Round 3 scores:

196 R Russell (Sco) 63 67 66,

199 M Crespi (Ita) 64 66 69,

200 A McArthur (Sco) 64 68 68, A Tadini (Ita) 66 66 68, D Vancsik (Arg) 65 65 70, P Uihlein (USA) 68 67 65,

202 A Levy (Fra) 69 63 70, A Maestroni (Ita) 67 67 68, M Korhonen (Fin) 68 67 67, F Elli (Ita) 66 67 69, V Riu (Fra) 69 67 66, J Walters (RSA) 64 70 68,

203 S Kim (Kor) 66 68 69, R De Sousa (Sui) 64 67 72, N Lemke (Swe) 64 70 69, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 67 68 68, E Bertheussen (Nor) 68 67 68, F Praegant (Aut) 71 66 66,

204 S Benson (Eng) 69 67 68, P Archer (Eng) 70 67 67, L Goddard (Eng) 69 65 70,

205 J Abbott (Eng) 71 65 69, B Åkesson (Swe) 69 69 67, G Lockerbie (Eng) 66 72 67, M Ford (Eng) 70 68 67, S Bebb (Wal) 68 72 65, E Kofstad (Nor) 72 68 65, A Kaleka (Fra) 68 71 66, A Parr (Can) 69 71 65, W Besseling (Ned) 68 69 68, R Karlberg (Swe) 69 66 70,

206 A Perrino (Ita) 71 68 67, M Madsen (Den) 70 69 67,

207 C Hanson (Eng) 70 70 67, K Eriksson (Swe) 70 67 70, G Houston (Wal) 70 69 68, R Dinwiddie (Eng) 69 69 69, M Tullo (Chi) 67 70 70, J Hansen (Den) 68 71 68, M Delpodio (Ita) 69 69 69, R Echenique (Arg) 72 67 68,

208 A Bossert (Sui) 69 70 69, P Relecom (Bel) 68 71 69, J Dantorp (Swe) 65 72 71, S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) 73 66 69, S Pinckney (USA) 73 67 68, S Henry (Sco) 67 70 71, I Elvira (Esp) 71 68 69, H Mu (Chn) 71 68 69, S Strange (Aus) 72 65 71, B Pastore (Ita) 71 69 68,

209 R Quiros (Esp) 71 68 70, L Jensen (Den) 71 66 72, S Tiley (Eng) 69 70 70, C Macaulay (Sco) 72 68 69,

210 T Remkes (Ned) 69 69 72, A Rota (Ita) 71 68 71, O Henningsson (Swe) 70 70 70, S Davis (Eng) 71 69 70, C Paisley (Eng) 69 71 70,

211 G Stal (Fra) 70 65 76, B Chapellan (Fra) 72 67 72, B Ritthammer (Ger) 65 73 73, G Watremez (Bel) 69 71 71, A Gee (Eng) 71 68 72, M Kieffer (Ger) 71 66 74,

212 A Bruschi (Ita) 66 74 72,

213 E De La Riva (Esp) 70 67 76, R Steiner (Aut) 68 67 78, A Tampion (Aus) 69 65 79, Å Nilsson (Swe) 72 68 73,

214 C Lanza (Ita) 69 70 75, K Samooja (Fin) 75 65 74,

216 C Brazillier (Fra) 71 69 76,

217 C Mivis (Bel) 67 73 77

SCOTS WHO MISSED THE CUT

143 L Saltman (Sco) 73 70,  C Doak (Sco) 68 75, J Doherty (Sco) 69 74

149 G Dear (Sco) 74 75

KEVIN PHELAN MAINTAINS LEAD IN BRABAZON TROPHY

NEWS RELEASE FROM ENGLAND GOLF It was an ill wind that blew no one any good on the second day of the Brabazon Trophy at Walton Heath, but the cream definitely came to the top with internationals Kevin Phelan and Neil Raymond leading the way. Phelan maintained his place at the top of the leaderboard despite a 75 for 143, one under par, a shot ahead of Raymond, one of a few to better par with 71. His England team-mate Ben Stow matched his return for a share of seventh place. The Old Course is never an easy touch. It examines every part of your game but in the conditions that greeted the morning starters it certainly took no prisoners. It wasn’t just a tough wind, even stronger than on day one, but the addition of a veil of drizzle, often driven horizontally, offered an extra hazard to the morning starters. Some players described it as ‘brutal’. It certainly meant that some at the front of the field yesterday shot big numbers and will not be around for the weekend. Phelan would have enjoyed an even bigger lead but for a double-bogey six at the last. But it hasn’t done him too much harm with two rounds to play. “I played well overall but conditions were tough along with some pin positions,” he said. “I didn’t hole as many putts as yesterday and only managed two birdies.” He was out in one-over-par 36 but birdied the short tenth and seemed to be heading for a level par return. But he dropped a shot at the 15th after tangling with the heather, then he drove into a bunker at the 18th, laid up to the next trap, wedged on to 20 feet but then three-putted for his double bogey. Despite the conditions, Raymond, the defending champion, was happy with his round. “I played solid and made just two bad swings, at the seventh and ninth,” he admitted. The one at the seventh cost him a double bogey and further shots went at nine and 12. But he birdied the eighth and came home in 34 strokes with four more birdies. “I was happy with the way I was swinging the club and I felt I had the ball under control,” he added. “I hit a lot of decent tee shots, which is critical around here, and only missed one fairway. It was windy out there but we are playing in wind every week. I’d love to win this again but then it is nice to win any event.” Greg Eason is in third spot on 146 after a level-par 72 while Stow felt conditions were at least a three-club wind. “It was very hard work and I was pleased to get through the first eight holes only one over,” he said. “But I picked up a bonus with birdies at ten and 11, which are not easy holes to birdie, and I picked up another at 13. I also birdied 16 and managed to par the last two holes which were playing very tough today. I got a good draw today after a bad one yesterday so 71 is a great score in this wind.” The halfway cut came at 153, nine over par with 63 players surviving for the final 36 holes. Play begins at 7.30am on Saturday and admission is free. For those unable to attend, live scoring and news updates will available on the Championships Section of the England Golf website, www.englandgolf.org.to elite level.

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