MyGolfRanking.co.uk, Fife Golfing Association

Week ending 22 July

1 G Brooksbank (Falkland) 1033.33 pts

2 M Rickard (Cupar) 1013.64

3 B Mustard (Dunnikier Park) 1000

4 M Elvin (Forrester Park) 981.82

5 G Angus (Scotscraig) 975

6 J Henderson (Ladybank) 974.59

7 D Wood (Pitreavie) 966.67

8 I Fleming (Auchterderran) 959.09

9 M Rooney (Lundin) 957.14

10 A R Medcraf (Balbirnie Park) 947.57

11 D G G Begbie (Ladybank) 943.06

12 T G Caldwell (Burntisland G H) 941.67

13 R Ritchie (Elmwood) 928.57

14 J Woods (St Andrews GC) 921.43

15 B McGowan (Thornton) 916.71

16 M Cull (St Michaels) 916.67

17 M Clark (Thornton) 915

T18 T W Corke (St Andrews GC) 908.33

T18 G Lowe (Pitreavie) 908.33

20 B A A Kinsley (St Andrews GC) 907.14.

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

MONTROSE OPEN WEEK COMPETITION RESULTS

MONTROSE MENS OPEN WEEK

SPONSORED BY ASTUTE SCOTLAND

SCRATCH MATCHPLAY QUARTER FINAL RESULTS

THURSDAY 26 JULY 2012

Ross Coull (Edzell)  bt Andrew Simpson (Royal Montrose) 4 and 3

Barry Mitchell (Murcar Links) bt Azzie Paton (Royal Montrose) 2 and 1

Gary Tough (Edzell) bt Willie Bremner junior (Edzell) 3and 2.

Neil Leslie (Montrose Mercantile) bt Stuart Smith (Downfield) 3 and 1.

                      

MANLEY, DINWIDDIE SET PACE IN ENGLISH CHALLENGE

CHALLENGE TOUR REPORT
By NEIL AHERN
Robert Dinwiddie and Stuart Manley set the pace on seven under par after the opening day of the English Challenge at a sun-drenched Stoke by Nayland Hotel, Golf and Spa, where they both carded scorching 65s to share the lead.
There was not a bogey between them over the difficult lay-out on the Gainsborough Course at the Essex venue, just outside Colchester, as they lay one shot ahead of second-placed Francis McGuirk.
Welshman Manley started strongly, holing a 20 foot putt to open with a birdie at the first before chipping in from 25 yards for eagle at the fifth. He picked up another shot at the ninth hole before birdies at the 12th, 14th and 15th put him into contention to claim his maiden Challenge Tour title.
“I am high on confidence,” said the 33 year old. “I've been playing nicely recently and I had a good lesson with my coach last week and again this week and I felt things changing for me. I've been putting great recently but I haven’t been hitting the ball well enough to go with it.
“But I'm hitting the ball well now and I’ll do well if I can do that because I normally putt pretty well. I am confident because there’s no pressure on me at the moment and as long as I'm committed I’ll do well.
“This is the best I've felt all year really and I thought, ‘just try and be more aggressive this week’  because I've got a good enough short game to get up and down if I do miss a few greens so I wanted to push on and make birdies and be committed.”
England’s Dinwiddie is vying for a fourth Challenge Tour title and he started his home tournament perfectly with a birdie at the first hole before two more gained shots at the third and sixth. He kept a blemish off his card with a superb save at the eighth before a birdie at the ninth took him to the turn in three under.
He gave himself plenty of birdie chances on the back nine but could only capitalise at the 14^th, 16^th and 18^th, where he sank a 20-footer in front of the watching crowds to crown a superb day.
“It’s not an easy course and you can easily get out of position,” said the 29 year old. “But I found in the Pro-Am that I was reading the greens well and I feel like I've been putting well all year, I just needed to read the greens better.
“Hopefully I can read them well now for the rest of the week. It was a nice two on the last because it’s not an easy hole. It will be exactly the same game plan tomorrow and hopefully I can keep it going.”
Another Englishman, McGuirk, was a shot further back after three consecutive birdies from the third hole took him to the turn in three under before four birdies and a bogey meant he signed for a six under par round of 66.
Julien Grillon of France was another shot back on five under after a 67 while four Englishmen – Jordan Gibb, Matt Haines, Jamie Little and Chris Paisley – were all on three under and still in with a shout of claiming the title in the only England-based Challenge Tour event of the 2012 season.

FIRST-ROUND SCORES
Par 72
65 S Manley (Wal), R Dinwiddie (Eng)
66 F McGuirk (Eng)
67 J Grillon (Fra)
68 J Gibb (Eng), J Little (Eng), C Paisley (Eng), M Haines (Eng)
69 F Delamontagne (Fra), M Glauert (Ger), S Grant (Irl), A Snobeck (Fra), J Busby (Eng), M Nixon (Eng), J Van Der Vaart (Ned), D Whitnell (Eng), N Lemke (Swe)
70 C Moriarty (Irl), R Wingardh (Swe), R Russell (Sco), A Maestroni (Ita), M Korhonen (Fin), A McArthur  (Sco), E Pepperell (Eng) , E Kofstad (Nor) , J Lima  (Por) , S Wakefield (Eng) , N Dougherty  (Eng)

71 J Palmer (Eng) , A Hartø  (Den) , H Santos  (Por) , C Brazillier  (Fra) , C Macaulay  (Sco) , J Garcia Pinto (Esp) , L Goddard  (Eng) , M Eliasson (Swe) , B Åkesson (Swe) , T Cruz  (Por), A Hansen  (Den) 

72 J Abbott (Eng) , P Archer (Eng) , T Hatton (Eng) , M Lemesurier (Eng) , A Bruschi  (Ita) , S Pinckney (USA) , F Fritsch  (Ger) , L Richard (Bel) , S Benson (Eng) , A Ahokas (Fin) , D Gaunt (Aus) , S Tiley (Eng) , A Otaegui  (Esp) , B Koepka  (USA) , G Clark (Eng)  

73 D Brooks (Eng) , D Smith (Eng) , P Uihlein  (USA) , R De Sousa (Sui) , M Delpodio  (Ita) , L Saltman (Sco) , M Haastrup  (Den) , B Ahlenback (Swe) , J Wahlqvist (Swe) , C Ford (Eng) , J Senior (Eng) , J Hansen  (Den) , G Lockerbie  (Eng) , B Barham (Eng) , J Hepworth (Eng) , S Lilly (Eng) , A Tampion  (Aus) , M Ford (Eng) , S Brown (Eng) , J Walters (RSA) , E Saltman  (Sco) , M Tullo (Chi) , R Schneider (Fra) , J Barnes (Eng) , G Porteous (am) (Eng) , O Carr (am) (Eng)

74 S Davis (Eng) , N Henriques  (Por) , K Eriksson (Swe) , G Dear (Sco) , B Parker  (Eng) , R Wallis (Eng) , C Lloyd (Eng) , T Rice  (Irl) , P Reed (Eng) , J Doherty  (Sco) , G Houston (Wal) , P Doherty (Sco) , M Southgate  (Eng) , B Chapellan (Fra) , J Huldahl (Den) , B Fowles (Eng) , P Streeter (Eng) , J Rask (Swe) , C Monasterio (Arg) , T Leon (USA) , M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) , N Raymond (am) (Eng) , B Stow(am) (Eng)

75 A Hortal  (Esp) , S Hodgson (Eng) , D Vancsik (Arg) , O Whiteley (Eng) , A Bernadet  (Fra) , L Jensen (Den) , C Gane (Eng) , D Wright (Eng) , M Madsen  (Den) , D Küpper (Ger) , B Hemstock (Eng) , M Cryer (Eng) 

76 F De Vries  (Ned) , P Relecom  (Bel) , S Buhl (Ger) , B An (Kor) , A Perrino  (Ita) , N Bertasio (Ita) , T Whitehouse  (Eng) , S Bebb (Wal) , J Heath  (Eng) , C Hanson (Eng) ,

77 J Parry (Eng) , W Booth  (Sco) , S Engell Andersen  (Ken) , A Kaleka  (Fra) , P Fendt (Aut) , J Mikkelsen (Nor) , A John (Ger)

78 P Dwyer (Eng) , M Brown (Nzl) , L Canter (Eng) , J Hiluta (am) (Eng) ,

79 D Law (Sco) , J McLeary  (Sco) , A Velasco (Esp) , S Jacklin (USA) , Å Nilsson (Swe) , S Garcia (Esp) , B Evans  (Eng)

80 C Goodfellow (Eng) , N Vanhootegem (Bel) , C Russo (Fra) , A Knappe (Ger) , P Kaensche  (Nor) 

81 F Keenan  (Eng) , J Kaske (Fin) , J Dantorp (Swe)

83 M Higley (Eng) , J Svoboda (Cze)

84 D Seymour (Eng)

85 G Giddie  (Ken)

86 B Loughrey (am) (Eng) ,

The European Tour winner and winner on this season’s Challenge Tour was in tied 18^th spot alongside 10 others, including his compatriot Andrew McArthur, after reaching the turn in one under thanks to three birdies and two bogeys.

His back nine was much more steady as he birdied the 14^th and parred the rest to lie five shots behind the lead set by England’s Robert Dinwiddie and Welshman Stuart Manley.

Callum Macaulay signed for a one under par round of 71 to finish the day in tied 29^th spot while brothers Elliot and Lloyd Saltman were both on one over par alongside Jack Doherty. His brother Paul was two over par alongside Gavin Dear.

Raymond Russell carded a two under par first round of 70 on his 40^th birthday to put himself within five shots of the lead.

The European Tour winner and winner on this season’s Challenge Tour was in tied 18^th spot alongside 10 others, including his compatriot Andrew McArthur, after reaching the turn in one under thanks to three birdies and two bogeys. Callum Macaulay got under par with a 71.

LANGER HITS BACK AT THOSE WHO WANT TO BAN THE BROOM-HANDLE PUTTER

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE

By JAMES CORRIGAN

Bernhard Langer waved his wand to shoot a 64 in this magical setting of Turnberry before turning on the governing bodies and greats of the game who will soon see his broom-handle putter banned

It was probably a good job none of them was in the vicinity of the Senior Open when the German vented his anger; they may well have found golf’s equivalent of a jousting stick launched at their midriff to knock them off what he plainly considers to be their high horses.

The thrust of his complaint was “why now?” and “why not consult me?”.

Langer also accused the objectors – who apparently include the Royal and Ancient and United States Golf Association who will almost certainly decide to outlaw the “anchoring” of putters in September – of devaluing the triumphs of three of the last four major-winners.

“I don’t understand that they’ve been used for 20, 30 years and only now they say ‘we think they’re illegal’,” said Langer. “So for three decades nobody won a major with one. And now because three have, they’re illegal?

"I’m sorry, don’t accept that argument whatsoever. It doesn’t make sense.”

Peter Dawson, the R and A chief executive, denies that the recent results have influenced their deliberations. But it is undeniable that as Keegan Bradley (who, at last year’s USPGA, became the first long-putter merchant to win a major), Webb Simpson and Ernie Els have vaulted their way into the winners’ enclosures the issue has become a major talking point.

Like most in the locker room, Tiger Woods is all for a ban and revealed that he and Dawson have staged in-depth talks on the subject. Langer feels it has been a one-way debate.

“You hear all these quotes from Gary Player or Luke Donald and all these guys who use the small putter, saying ‘yeah, ban the long putters’,” said Langer.
"Why don’t they ask some of us [who do use them] just to make it fair? I even played with Peter Dawson in the Pro-Am here yesterday and he didn’t bring it up’.”
With so many young players now switching to what once was the last resort, the dissenters say they are worried about the future. Langer is more cynical about their motives.
“I guess they just want to ride the ‘traditional’ thing, whatever that is,” said Langer, before charging them with cheapening the triumphs of Bradley and Co.
“I think it does devalue their wins,“ he said. “Because it takes a lot of practice. It’s not like, oh take the long-putter and it automatically goes into the hole.
"That’s baloney. In many ways it’s actually harder to use because you have a longer thing to move and you have to be more precise.”
In the respect of the timing of the prospective ban, Langer’s bemusement is understandable. But the 54 year-old is in a small minority in believing the rules should not be changed.
Els, who won last week’s Open with a belly-putter, has called it “cheating”. “Nothing should be anchored to your body, and I still believe that,” said the South African.
Any rule change cannot be invoked until 2016, which leaves Langer three more seasons to anchor the club against his chest.
In Thursday's first round, it worked to fine effect, holing four birdie putts in the 10-20 feet range. Together with his meticulous long-game accuracy of line and distance, it handed him a one-stroke advantage over Ireland's Mark McNulty.

LANGER LEADS WITH A FLAWLESS SIX-UNDER 64 AT TURNBERRY

REPORT BY EUROPEAN TOUR

COMMUNICATIONS

Germany’s Bernhard Langer, the last man to win The Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex on Scottish soil, began his bid to reclaim the title with a flawless six under par opening round 64 to establish one shot lead over Turnberry's Ailsa links in Ayrshire.

The former World Number One and two-time Masters Champion birdied the second, third and seventh holes before the turn and then produced an almost identical back nine, picking up further shots on the 11th, 12th and 17th holes.

Said Florida-based Langer (pictured above)
“I’m very pleased with the way I played,” said Langer, who was Senior Open Champion at Carnoustie two years ago.
 “I played smart, played well, hit some good drives, good iron shots and made a few putts. I maybe even left a couple of putts out there, as well. But overall, it was very solid. No blemishes.”

“The only trouble really I had was the 18th.  I drove it in the fairway bunker but I had checked it out in practice, that bunker is maybe the only one on the whole golf course where you have a chance to reach the green.  I didn't reach the green but I got close enough to get it up and down.”

Langer, who finished in a tie for 12th in last year’s event at Walton Heath, claimed his maiden Senior Major two years ago when he completed a wire-to-wire victory at Carnoustie in 2010, a victory he described as “one of the highlights of my career”.

It was also one that propelled the ten-times Ryder Cup player onto a second Major triumph the following week when he won the US Senior Open at Sahalee Country Club, and the Anhausen man looked to have brought his fine season form to Scotland this week.

In all three of his appearances on the European Senior Tour this year Langer has finished in the top five, narrowly missing out on a third Senior Major when he surrendered a four shot lead in the final round of the US Senior Open, eventually finishing tied for second as Chapman seized his second Major title in succession at Indianwood in Michigan.

“It still hurts and it's going to hurt a while,” he reflected. “That's golf.  Roger played a great round of golf and I can't take that away from him.  It was my tournament to win or to lose, and I just didn't perform well enough on Sunday.

“But I took a lot of positives away from it.  It was some of the best golf I've played in my whole life.”

Despite having never won an Open Championship during a glittering career that has yielded 42 European Tour titles – including his two Masters titles in 1985 and 1993 – Langer retains a good record on links courses and in the aforementioned Championship, having finished in the top ten on eight occasions, including two second place finishes at the 1981 and 1984 Opens.

Langer also finished in a tie for third when Turnberry hosted The Open in 1986 as Greg Norman stormed to his first Claret Jug, so the Ailsa has long suited the German’s eye.

He said: “It's playing very long.  Someone said this course is playing longer than they played last week at The Open Championship.

“But I like links golf.  It's just fun to hit off that kind of turf and you really have to think your way around some of these golf courses, not just hit driver, blast it away and find it and hit it again.  That's what makes it so much fun.”

Ireland’s Mark McNulty, who opened with back-to-back birdies, is Langer’s nearest challenger following a five under par 65, while six players, including 1996 Open Champion Tom Lehman, are a shot further back on four under par.

“I kept myself out of trouble today, and that's my game plan this week, trying to strategise myself around this golf course, because as we have all seen over the years that when you play these links courses and get into these bunkers, all hell can break loose,” said McNulty.

“I was very lucky to get off to a good start, get a couple of birdies and I just played very solid.”

Tom Watson made a satisfying return to Turnberry three years after almost winning The Open Championship at the age of 59.

The American, winner of Claret Jug over the Ailsa Course in 1977 as well as The Senior Open Championship in 2003, carded a one under par opening round 69 to claim bragging rights in his mouth-watering three-ball with Englishman Roger Chapman and Australian Greg Norman.

“It was a good start,” said Watson. “The golf course was there for the taking if you played some good shots. On the back nine, I got sloppy, but the front nine I played pretty well and I was happy with the way I started.”

After winning both the US Senior PGA Championship and US Senior Open Championship already this season, Chapman began his bid for the hat-trick of Senior Majors with a two over par 72, the same as Norman who won The 1986 Open Championship over the Ailsa Course.

FIRST-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 70
64 Bernhard Langer (Germany)
65 Mark McNulty (Ireland)
66 Michael Allen (US), Chien Soon Lu (China), Dick Mast (US), David Frost (South Africa), Tom Lehman (US), Jay Don Blake).

SCOTS' SCORES
70 Ross Drummond (T33)
71 Bill Longmuir (T49)
72 Peter Smith, Sandy Lyle, Andrew Oldcorn (T66)
73 Sam Torrance (T85).
75 Stephen McAllister, Gordon Brand junior (T114).
77 Campbell Elliott, Alastair J Webster (T129).

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THORBJORN OLESEN GOES THREE CLEAR IN AUSTRIA'S LYONESS OPEN

FROM PAUL SYMES

European Tour Press Officer

Thorbjørn Olesen’s hot streak showed no sign of abating as the Dane established a three-shot clubhouse lead midway through the second round of the Lyoness Open powered by Greenfinity at Atzenbrugg in Austria 

Before afternoon thunderstorms and heavy rain caused play to be abandoned for the day, Olesen continued the fine form he had shown during last week’s Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes, where he finished in ninth place to record his sixth top ten of the season.

The 22 year old, whose first European Tour title came at the Sicilian Open in April, resumed his first round this morning one shot behind Pablo Larrazábal, but swiftly joined the Spaniard at the top of the leaderboard on eight under par, courtesy of a birdie at the 17^th hole.

After a quick turnaround, Olesen signed for a second round of 68 to move to 12 under par and establish a three-shot lead over Frenchman Thomas Levet.
“There was quite a strong wind out there at times,” said Olesen. “I struggled a bit round the turn and hit a few bad drives, but I managed to hit some good shots coming home, so I’m happy to get in on 12 under par. It’s been a long day, but a very good one. 

“I’ve been playing well for the past few months really, so I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t win again. I’m just looking forward to the next two days now, hopefully I can get the job done.”

LEADERBOARD OF COMPLETED SECOND ROUNDS
Par 144 (2x72)
132 Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark) 64 68
135 Thomas Levet (France) 65 70,
136 Richard Bland (England) 69 67.
SCOTS' SCORES
137 Scott Jamieson 71 67 (T7)
140 David Drysdale 71 69 (T16)
*Alastair Forsyth (-4 after four holes), Chris Doak, James Byrne and Peter Whiteford are among the Scots who will not complete their second rounds until Friday morning.
PROJECTED CUT (145 and better to qualify)
148 Craig Lee 69 79
150 George Murray 76 74, Scott Drummond 80 70

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MONTROSE OPEN WEEK COMPETITION RESULTS

CAMERON CUP – SEMI FINAL RESULTS

THURSDAY 26 JULY 2012

Findlay Soutar (Montrose Mercantile)          lost to Greg Spark (Montrose Mercantile) 6&4                  

Callum Bayfield (Montrose Mercantile)       lost to  Will Porter (Letham Grange) 2&1         

EASTWOOD PRO AND MEMBER WIN TRIP TO MEXICO

Eastwood Golf Club, Glasgow professional Stuart Wilson and amateur member David Dickson today won themselves a trip to Mexico and the Virgin Atlantic PGA National pro-am final in December.

Wilson and Dickson won the regional final at Haggs Castle GC with a great net score of eight-under-par 64.

They finished five shots ahead of joint runners-up Joseph McBrearty (pro) and Ralph Macpherson (Haggs Castle), and the Ranfurly Castle pair of Andrew McIntyre (pro) and Alan Hughes.

Stuart Wilson won the £500 first pro prize and McBrearty and McIntyre received 300 runners-up cheques.

Wilson and Dickson will join 15 other regional final winners in the £30,000 final at Moon Palace Golf and Spa Resort at Cancun, Mexico.

LEADING NET SCORES AT HAGGS CASTLE

First name in each pair is the club professional

Par 72

64 Stuart Wilson (£500) and David Dickson (Eastwood).

69 Joseph McBrearty (£300) and Ralph Macpherson (Haggs Castle), Andrew McIntyre (£300) and Alan Hughes (Ranfurly Castle).

70 Alexander James (£50) and Ram Malla (Catterick), Gary McFarlane (£50) and Gordon Leitch (Clober), Scott Catlin (£50) and Walter Swan (Greenburn), Andrew Sowerby (£50) and Kenny MacLellan (Penrith).

71 Graeme Lennie and David Boyter (Crail GS), Scott Garrett and Stephen Pettigrew (Fereneze).

72 Paul Edgecombe and Stephen Pettigrew (Forrester Park), Derek Watters and Tommy Sneddon (Gourock), Thomas Atkinson and Neil Williamson (Heswall), Gavin Cook and Duncan Johnston (Prestonfield).

73 Graham King and Ged Corrigan (Easter Moffat), Kevin Campbell and Ian Jamieson (Greenock).

74 Charles Dernie and Phil McKenna (Blairgowrie), Alastair Forrow and Brian Carroll (Whitecraigs).

75 Stuart Adair and John Kennedy (Wishaw).

76 Robert Farrell and John McFall (Cardross), David Murchie and Alan Godfrey (Crieff).

85 John Strachan and Peter Connolly (Shotts).

 

GRAHAM FOX WINS GLENEAGLES SCOTTISH PGA TITLE BY TWO SHOTS

 

Graham Fox with the championship trophy at Gleneagles

             Image by ANDY FORMAN

FROM THE PGA WEBSITE

A battle royal among the final three-ball in the Gleneagles Scottish PGA Championship ended with Graham Fox duly winning his first-ever 72-hole title.

Playing over a calm King's Course, the 35-year-old Ayrshireman pegged away, with hardened stalwarts, Greig Hutcheon and Scott Henderson, trading blow for blow with him all the way round.

After carding a closing 69 for a two-shot win over Hutcheon, with Henderson a further shot behind, the Rowallan Castle pro commented: "I stuck at it, kept believing and trusting all the work I've done with Ross Aitken (head pro at Rowallan) and the fitness programme set by John Welsh at Maximum Potential."

By the eighth hole, Aberdonian Henderson had wiped out Fox's three-stroke overnight lead, but a Fox birdie at 11 and a par at the next stretched the gap to two as Henderson faltered.

Hutcheon, out in a two-under 33, birdied 10, as did the two others, but got into trouble at the short par-four 14th, where Fox picked up a valuable birdie.

The Banchory pro was two behind as they stood on the par-five final tee, but even an eagle there was matched by the new champion.

Fox will again bid for his European Tour card at the end of the year, bolstered by this victory, "now that I've got the puppy fat removed."

The round of the championship came from last year's runner-up, Chris Currie, who swept round in a staggering 63.

"I failed to hit only two greens in the last 36 holes", said the Caldwell pro. "I was hitting them so close I couldn't miss holing the putts." The outcome was nine birdies and a solitary bogey

FINAL TOTALS

Par 284 (4x71)

269 Graham Fox (Rowallan Castle) 68 67 65 69 (£8,900).

271 Greig Hutcheon (Banchory) 68 68 68 67 (£6,500)

272 Scott Henderson (Kings Links) 68 69 66 69 (£4,500)

274 Greg McBain (Gamola Golf) 73 67 68 66 (£3,250)

276 David Orr (Mearns Castle) 71 69 68 68, Chris Kelly (Cawder) 68 70 69 69 (£2,475 each)

277 Christopher Currie (Caldwell) 71 72 71 63, Kenny Hutton (Downfield) 68 67 69 73 (£1,800 each)

278 Gareth Wright (West Linton) 68 70 72 68 (£1,500)

280 Jonathan Lomas (unatt) 71 71 68 70 (£1,300)

281 Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills) 71 73 70 67, David Patrick (Elie SC) 70 72 70 69 (£1,100 each)

282 Stephen Gray (Hayston) 73 70 71 68, Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs) 71 68 70 73 (£875 each)

283 Steven Taylor (Bothwell Castle) 71 71 69 72 (£800)

284 Ronan Raffery (Roxburghe) 71 72 69 72 (£750)

285 Neil Fenwick (Dunbar) 76 70 70 69 (£725)

287 Paul Wardell (Whitekirk) 75 70 73 69, Ross Dixon (Renaissance Club) 75 70 73 69, Iain Colquhoun (Dundonald Links) 78 67 70 72, Alan Lockhart (Ladybank) 67 69 78 73 (£661 each)

290 Ed Wood (Crow Wood) 75 72 75 68, James McGhee (Duddingston) 73 74 73 70, Jonathan Cliff (Murrayfield) 70 73 76 71 (£560 each)

291 Scott Grieve (Turnhouse) 74 73 7371, Scott Herald (Mearns Castle) 71 72 74 74, Craig Gordon (Edinburgh GC) 72 71 74 74, Andrew Crerar (Panmure) 74 71 72 74, Ian Taylor (Drumpellier) 71 72 73 75 (£450 each)

294 Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle) 70 77 71 76 (£380)

296 Keir McNicoll (Gullane) 74 72 79 71 (£360)

299 Paul Wilson (Cawder) 71 73 79 76 (£350)

300 Stephen Lamb (Macdonald Cardrona) 79 68 75 78 (£340)

301 Alastair Mackenzie (Renaissance Club) 72 72 82 75, Terry Mathieson (Murcar Links) 72 72 81 76 (£325 each)

OLESEN JOINS LARRAZABAL IN LUNCHTIME LEAD AT LYONESS OPEN

FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Red hot Dane Thorbjørn Olesen joined overnight leader Pablo Larrazábal at the top of the leaderboard on the second morning of the Lyoness Open powered by Greenfinity.
Despite getting to bed around midnight and waking up at 5am in order to resume his first round, Olesen picked up where he left off with a birdie at the 17th hole to move to eight under par alongside Larrazábal, who posted a flawless round of 64 either side of the three hours and 40 minutes rain delay on day one.

Buoyed by his top ten finish in last week’s Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes, where he partnered World Number Two Tiger Woods in the third round, the 22 year old is now confident of doubling his tally of European Tour titles at Diamond Country Club in Atzenbrugg, Austria.
Clad in Rickie Fowler orange, the Sicilian Open champion said: “Obviously my confidence is high after last week, and I’ve been shaping my irons very well recently. You can be really aggressive with your approach shots here because the greens are so soft, but they’re rolling really well and the course is in great shape considering how much rain we had. The weather looks good for the day, so hopefully I can have another good round – and then catch up on some sleep tonight!”
Frenchman Thomas Levet also shrugged off any lingering lethargy to move to seven under par courtesy of a tap-in birdie at the 18th hole. Levet’s round of 65 was matched by Qualifying School graduate Wil Besseling, who was delighted to return to form after a stop-start season.
Larrázabal, meanwhile, will return to the course at 1.50pm this afternoon after all second round tee times were pushed back an hour. Despite torrential rain on the opening morning, the Spaniard signed for a flawless round of 64 which included an eagle three at the 13th hole.

He said: “My long game is as good as it’s ever been, so I feel like I can go low any time I step onto the course. It just comes down to the putts with me, so I hope they keep dropping.”

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SCORES SERVICE FROM TURNBERRY AND GLENEAGLES

LIVE SCORING FROM THE SENIOR OPEN AT TURNBERRY

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LEADERBOARD CHECK ON FINAL DAY OF GLENEAGLES SCOTTISH PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

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GOLFING LETTER FROM AMERICA

By PAUL CORMACK
paulcormack5@hotmail.com
It has been too long since my last report and I apologise. 
As I hear that the weather back in Aberdeen has been less than adequate for golf, I will not bore you with stories of hot and humid days here in the U S of A.

This week I am in Mobile, Alabama for an NGA event called the TimberCreek Classic. I played here last year so I know the course. The last few days I have just been familiarising myself with certain tee shots and the speed of the greens.

I believe they have had some rain (that dreaded word)  as the greens are slow and bumpy. Very familiar to those of you who have played at your in-land courses this year I am sure.

One or the other (either slow or bumpy) you can stand, both leads lack of putts being holed. So finding a lot of greens in regulation is a must this week.
This will be my third to last event on the NGA Tour this year as I will be heading back to Scotland for first stage of European Tour School at the Roxburghe.

So hopefully we can get some dry weather before and when I am at home. I will then return Stateside for the last year of US PGA Tour qualifying. So it is a big few months ahead.

I feel my game has been in a great shape this year and the plan is for the hard work that has been put in to climax at the end of the year. I feel mentally ready for the Q School.

I'll be the first to admit that I have been a bit apprehensive at this time of year. The work that has been put in at the golf course and away from it in the gym and mentally etc has me calmer and more confident in the processes I am going through. 

Hopefully when I am home I can get to play some links golf. Watching the Open last week has made me crave that hard sea breeze and firm fairways. Although they may not be so firm this year.

I hope everyone is well and getting some kind of golf in. I will be sure to be in touch again before I land back in Bonnie Scotland.
Regards from a hot and humid (couldn't resist) Alabama.

Paul Cormack