FROM THE E-GOLF PROFESSIONAL TOUR, USA WEBSITE

In Remembrance

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In remembrance of the 20 children and six adults who lost their lives in the Newtown, Connecticut shootings. May you each rest in peace.

RORY AND ROGER WIN US GOLF WRITERS' PLAYER OF YEAR AWARDS

NEWS RELEASE FROM ESPN.COM
HOUSTON -- Rory McIlroy is the near unanimous choice as the best male player in 2013 by the Golf Writers Association of America.
McIlroy received 190 out of the 194 votes cast by GWAA members. Three votes went to FedEx Cup champion Brandt Snedeker, and the other went to Tiger Woods. McIlroy previously won player of the year awards from the PGA Tour, European Tour, PGA of America and British-based Association of Golf Writers.
The GWAA said Wednesday that Stacy Lewis was voted best female player with 79 percent of the vote, while double major winner Roger Chapman (from England) won the senior player award with 60 percent of the vote.
This is the fourth time in the last five years that the GWAA award has gone to a European player.

PGA SCOTLAND HONOUR RENTON LAIDLAW FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN GOLF JOURNALISM

Renton Laidlaw received a Lifetime Achievement Award from PGA Scotland at a lunch at the Hilton Hotel today. Colin Montgomerie, who was the PGA Scotland's Guest of Honour at the annual lunch in Glasgow, made the presentation
                  PICTURE BY ANDY FORMAN

Born in Edinburgh round about the outbreak of World War II - the two events were not related -  Laidlaw, now 73 but definitely not retired, spends a lot of his time at his Drumoig, Fife residence less than 15minutes from St Andrews. He also lives on and off at Sunningdale, Berkshire.
Renton's career spans more than 50 years in covering golf in print, radio and television.
"I've had an amazing life travelling the world doing something I enjoy. I've been very lucky. Golf is a great sport to be involved with. I have been in the right place at the right time," says Laidlaw.
"When The Golf Channel came along, I was fortunate enough to be selected by them to front the European golf each week."
Laidlaw began his professional career in 1957 as a junior reporter for the Edinburgh Evening News, where he was first given the opportunity to cover golf. A decade later, while working in a freelance capacity for Reuters covering golf worldwide, he switched to television. He began as sportscaster for Scottish Television in Glasgow, and later with Grampian TV in Aberdeen where he became an evening news anchor. 
Later, the BBC recruited Laidlaw to return to his hometown of Edinburgh as news anchor.
Laidlaw returned to print journalism in 1973 when he was offered a golf writer position with London's Evening Standard. 
By 1975, he was combining television and BBC radio assignments on weekends. For 15 years, he was BBC Radio's golf correspondent. In 1990, Laidlaw was spending his full time in broadcasting with British Satellite Broadcasting, which was later taken over by SKY.
In 1995, Laidlaw broadcast his first European Tour event for The Golf Channel from Dubai, site of the Desert Classic.
In November 1997, at the conclusion of the golf season, Laidlaw underwent double bypass heart surgery but was back on assignment by the following January at the Johnnie Walker Classic in Australia.
"I was hardly gone and nobody had missed me," laughed Laidlaw. "I had gone in to have my gall bladder removed and the specialist discovered that I had an 85 percent blockage. I never had a heart attack, but it must have been close. 
"I consider myself lucky to have been able to continue covering events worldwide."
Laidlaw, a former long-time secretary and past chairman of Great Britain's Association of Golf Writers, has been president of the AGW since 2004.
He is also editor of The R and A's Golfer's Handbook, which originated in 1899 and is published annually. It is still considered The Golfer's Bible as a reference book by many golf writers.
"I think that everyone in Europe has benefited from the tremendous working relationship between the golf writers and the various ruling bodies over the past 25 years," said Laidlaw.
 "Because of the close cooperation, the working conditions for journalists covering golf are superb and that helps us all cover the game to the very best of our ability."

 

ROGER CHAMPMAN AWARDED LIFE MEMBERSHIP OF EUROPEAN TOUR

    ROGER CHAPMAN (left) and GEORGE O'GRAY (Getty Images(c)    


NEWS RELEASE FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR

Englishman Roger Chapman has been awarded Honorary Life Membership of The European Tour in recognition of his historic Senior Major Championship double during a fairytale 2012 season.

In May, Chapman became the first Englishman to win the US Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid – and the first European since Jock Hutchison in 1947 – courtesy of a two stroke victory at Harbor Shores in Michigan.

He returned to the same American state in July and sealed an extraordinary double by capturing the US Senior Open at Indianwood Golf and Country Club, becoming only the fourth player following Gary Player (1987), Jack Nicklaus (1991) and Hale Irwin (1998) to capture both titles in the same season.

The 53 year old received the John Jacobs Trophy in Mauritius earlier this month for winning the 2012 European Senior Tour Order of Merit, and he was bestowed with yet another award when George O’Grady, The European Tour’s Chief Executive, announced that he would become the 45th player to receive Honorary Life Membership of The European Tour.

Chapman said: “This season has been an absolute dream for me, winning two Senior Majors and then then Senior Tour Order of Merit, so I am extremely proud to have now also been given Honorary Life Membership of The European Tour.

“It is an honour which was totally unexpected and I am very grateful to George and everyone at the Tour for their support and for giving me this recognition. I’m very proud of my career on The European Tour, certainly for its longevity, but to win two Senior Majors and the John Jacobs Trophy in the same season really is a Cinderella story.

“What was particularly memorable was having my wife Cathy by the 18th green when I won at Indianwood. She has always been my biggest supporter and afterwards she said to me: ‘I told you you could do it, just believe in yourself.’ It was so special having her there.”

After a superb amateur career, Chapman, who was born at Nakuru, Kenya on May 1, 1959,  turned professional in 1981 and played in 619 European Tour events, the third most number of appearances in The European Tour’s history appearance behind Sam Torrance (706) and Barry Lane (682). 

After finishing runner up on six occasions, he eventually made his breakthrough in his 472nd European Tour event, defeating future three-time Major Champion Padraig Harrington in a play-off to win the Brazil Rio de Janeiro 500 Years Open.

He also served on the European Tour’s Board of Directors from 2004 to 2009, and briefly worked as a Rules Official before joining the Senior Tour in 2009.

O’Grady presented Chapman with his Honorary Life Membership during The European Tour’s Golfer of the Year Luncheon in London on Tuesday, where Rory McIlroy was announced as the recipient of the main award.

O’Grady said: ‘’It was the unanimous wish of the Tournament Committee that Roger be awarded Honorary Life Membership of The European Tour. Roger has been a magnificent ambassador and servant of The European Tour, having played in 619 Tour events, crowned by his superb achievement in becoming the first Member to win both the US Senior PGA Championship and the US Open.

“When you consider that Roger is only the fourth player to win both titles in the same season, and the other three are Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Hale Irwin, it illustrates the magnitude of his accomplishment.”

 

STEWART AND CAMERON FINISH IN TOP 20 AT ALPS TOUR Q SCHOOL

By COLIN FARQUHARSON Colin@scottishgolfview.com Michael Stewart and Ross Cameron assured themselves of regular starts on next year's Alps Tour by finishing within the top 20 on the last day of the Final Qualifying School at La Cala Golf Resort, Marbella on the Costa del Sol today. But John Henry, after a 67 in the second round, ran up an 80 and a final placing of joint 62nd puts him well down the pecking order for starts on the 2013 Tour. Troon's Stewart, whose pro career has never got out of the starting blocks since the Walker Cup in September 2011, at last showed he could still string three good rounds together as he used to do as an amateur on a regular basis. He shot 70, 72 and 69 for five-under-par 211 and a share of 12th place. He had seven birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey 7 at the long 11th in halves of 33-36. Cameron, from Ellon, Aberdeenshire, finished joint 18th on 212 with scores of 68, 72 and 72. He had one birdie and one bogey in a so-steady final round. Henry, from the Clydebank and District GC, shot 75-67-80 or six-over 222. He had a triple bogey 7 at the 15th and a double bogey 6 at the second. Winner of the Alps Tour Q School was Spain's Carols Pigem with a 13-under-par total of 203 (72-64-67). Joint runners-up were Alex Christie (England) and Walker Cup Welshman Rhys Enoch on 204 Former Stirling University student David Booth, winner of the Scottish youths championship in 2008 - and Englishman from Rotherham, finished in joint ninth place on 209. The top 38 players with 54-hole totals of level par 216 or better earned full playing rights on next year's Alps Tour. The remainder who made the second-round cut will be in a lower category of membership, which means they will not get into all the Alps Tour events, only those that don't have full fields of entries. ALPS TOUR FINAL QUALIFYNG SCHOOL La Cala Golf Resort, Marbella, Spain LEADING TOTALS Par 216 (3x72) 203 Carlos Pigem (Spa) 72 64 67 204 Alex Christie (Eng) 68 68 68, Rhys Enoch (Wal) 71 64  69 205 Ben Evans (Eng) 69 73 73, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 69 68 68 SELECTED TOTALS 209 David Booth (Eng) 71 71 67 (T9) 211 Michael Stewart (Sco) 70 72 69 (T12) 212 Ross Cameron (Sco) 68 72 72 (T18) 222 John Henry (Sco) 75 67 80 (T62) TO VIEW ALL THE FINAL TOTALS CLICK HERE

ONEASIA TOUR TO HOLD Q SCHOOLS IN CALIFORNIA AND MALAYSIA

  NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ONEASIA TOUR

HONG KONG - OneAsia will hold two final stage Q-School tournaments next year -- including one in the United States -- because of unprecedented demand for places on the lucrative Asia-Pacific circuit.

Slots will be up for grabs in California from January 29 - February 1, and also in Sabah, Malaysia from February 5-8. 

"As we enter our fifth season, there has been phenomenal interest in OneAsia from around the world and we feel that holding one of our Q- School tournaments in the United States will satisfy that demand and also help promote the tour there," said Sang Y. Chun, OneAsia's Chairman and Commissioner.

"With our tournaments all offering a minimum purse of around one million dollars, it is hardly surprising that interest in OneAsia has spread outside the region. In just four years we have become a major golf brand with international recognition."

Chun said an increasing number of Asia-Pacific players were basing themselves on the U.S. western seaboard to go through the college system there or to take advantage of playing and coaching facilities not generally available in South Korea or northern China during winter.

Holding Q-School in the U.S. would give them the opportunity to qualify for OneAsia tournaments.

The U.S. Q-School will take place at the Industry Hills Golf Club at Pacific Palms, in Industry Hills, California, while the Malaysian event will be staged, as last year, at Sutera Harbour Golf Club in Kota Kinabalu.

 

OneAsia was founded four years ago by the China Golf Association, the Korea Golf Association, the Korea Golf Tour and the PGA of Australia.

It has doubled in size since 2009, and the tour's elite suite of tournaments now includes the national Opens of Australia, China, South Korea and Thailand -- as well as numerous other prestigious events.

Chun said OneAsia's unique TV platform -- all tournaments are broadcast live for a minimum four hours a day to hundreds of millions of homes, clubs and offices around the world -- meant the tour's sponsors were getting an excellent return on their investment.

"A comprehensive traditional and social media platform -- including live web-streams of tournaments via a dedicated Youtube channel -- further enhances the profiles of  OneAsia's commercial partners,"  he added.

The winners of both Q-Schools are guaranteed starts at all OneAsia's tournaments in 2013, while those who finish second and third will likely get starts in most events.

Positions are then accorded alternatively between the Malaysian and U.S. Q-Schools and full details of the categories are available for download from here.

OneAsia's class of 2012 did particularly well this year, with American Garrett Sapp finishing 14th on the Order of Merit with earnings of nearly $90,000 from six events.

Other Q School graduates who finished in the top 50 and secured their cards for next year include Brazilian Lucas Lee and Jason Kang of the USA.

The first event of the 2013 season will be the U.S.$ 1 million Thailand Open from March 14-17. 
 The tournament is fully co-sanctioned by the Japan Golf Tour Organisation with earnings counting for both money lists.

Full details and application forms (in English, Chinese and Korean) are available on the OneAsia website here.

 

NICKLAUS VALUES HITTING CEREMONIAL MASTERS OPENING TEE SHOT

FROM THE GOLF DIGEST WEBSITE
By Stephen Hennessey
This April, when the golf world's attention turns to Augusta National as it does at the start of every spring, it will mark two special 50th anniversaries.
In 1963, a then-23-year-old Jack Nicklaus, coming off his historic play-off win against Arnold Palmer at the 1962 U.S. Open, became the youngest winner in Masters history.
At the start of that tournament, Jock Hutchison and Fred McLeod hit the first ceremonial opening tee shots. Now 50 years later, Nicklaus hopes to continue the tradition started in his first win, by again joining fellow legends of the game -- Arnold Palmer and Gary Player -- at Augusta. 

Nicklaus is greeted by Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne in April before hitting the ceremonial tee shot, with Palmer and Player. Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images

"I don't think that letter [from Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne] has come, one way or the other. But I would assume that it will," Nicklaus said Tuesday in a small teleconference with some media members ahead of the 50-year anniversary of his first green jacket. 
"It's not my call. but I would assume we'd probably do that. And how long we do it? I don't know. It's not my call. I mean, it's the Chairman's call. We'll just go from there, on a year-to-year basis and see what happens."
Asked also if he'd be playing in the 2013 Masters, in honoUr of the special anniversary, Nicklaus was caught off guard. He had just competed with son Gary in the PNC Father/Son Challenge this past weekend, finishing T-6 and just four strokes back of winners Davis Love III and his son Dru. 
But Jack hasn't teed it up for real in the Masters since retiring in 2005.
Golf fans, of course, would love to see the Big Three competing for real, or at least playing a ceremonial nine holes, as Hutchison and McLeod did at the start of the tradition. 
Player joined Palmer and Nicklaus for the first time last year, with Jack joining Palmer at the start of Thursday in 2009.
But just to hear Nicklaus recollect on his Masters victories was a nice respite from the cold December weather.

ALISTAIR TAIT HAS RESERVATIONS ABOUT HALL OF FAME PLACE FOR MONTY

FROM THE GOLFWEEK WEBSITE
By ALISTAIR TAIT (pictured)
I have mixed feelings about the next induction for the World Golf Hall of Fame.
As a proud Scot, I should be jumping for joy at the thought of two of my compatriots, Ken Schofield and Colin Montgomerie, in the hall, but something is nagging at me. I have reservations about Montgomerie’s induction.
I have no problems with Schofield. The European Tour would not be where it is today without the former executive director’s vision.
Schofield had the foresight to take the Euro Tour outside Europe’s borders. He first did that in 1982 with the Tunisian Open. Then came the 1989 Dubai Desert Classic. It paved the way for a European Tour that now goes to the far corners of the globe.
Yes, Schofield was lucky to be in charge when Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam played the European Tour. However, he still had to deliver sponsors to the table, and he did that brilliantly for 30 years.
Besides, if Deane Beman is in the hall, then Schofield deserves a place, too.
As for Montgomerie, quite how he makes it in before Ian Woosnam or Padraig Harrington has me baffled beyond belief.
(While we’re talking baffled beyond belief, if golf truly is an international game, then why does the Hall of Fame insist on an international ballot for Montgomerie? Surely there should be only one ballot for all players, right?)
There is no question Monty was a huge player in the 1990s. Though I disagree with those who say his seven consecutive European Order of Merit titles will never be repeated, that achievement was impressive.
Covering the European Tour in the 1990s meant covering Monty’s halcyon days. You can’t imagine how many times he provided a story when stories were pretty thin in the ground.
Of course, you were never sure what story you were going to get from the Scot. We had a saying back in those days. Monty could be “wonderful on Wednesday, but thunderous on Thursdays.” And he often was. He was Jekyll and Hyde.
I ghost wrote for him when he was a guest columnist at a previous magazine employer. I sometimes went to his house to collaborate on such columns. He could be charming and engaging. Three days later I’d encounter him at a tournament after a bad round and he’d be the devil incarnate. I can’t think of many tour pros as rude as Monty could be after a bad round.
Yes he was a prolific winner, but he never recorded the major championship he coveted so badly. He never reached European No. 1. He never won on American soil. Woosnam did all of the above. Harrington never reached World No. 1, but three majors is three more than Monty has. Yet they’ve had to take a back seat to the Scotsman.
Moreover, Woosnam and Harrington have no skeletons in their cupboards. The word “Jakarta” won’t be mentioned in May when Monty is inducted into the hall in St. Augustine, Fla., during Players Championship week. Yet the 2005 Indonesian Open, in which Monty took a controversial drop after weather suspended play, hangs over him like a dark cloud.
Many, myself included, still are uncomfortable with Monty’s actions during that event. Yet that tournament has been glossed over as if it never occurred.
You can’t deny Monty’s record of 31 European Tour wins, eight Ryder Cups and captaining Europe to victory in the 2010 match. Does that deserve induction before Woosnam or Harrington? I don’t think so.
No qualms with Schofield, but Woosnam or Harrington would have been my choices for the Class of 2013.

Do you share Alistair Tait's views about Colin Montgomery being elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame or do you think he is being unfair in his judgement?

E-mail your view for publication on Scottishgolfview.com to Colin@scottishgolfview.com 

FIRST RESPONSE

From:

"DNealSte"

 

I do think Alistair Tait is being unfair in his story about Monty and the Hall of Fame.

It is never easy to compare candidates especially over different eras and I certainly wouldn't argue that Harrington and Woosnam should both be in the Hall of Fame but I also believe that it is right for Monty to be included.  His record stands for itself and Alistair Tait is a little dismissive of Monty's record. 

There is no mention of his Ryder Cup record - unbeaten in singles - which more than stands comparison with for example, Tiger Woods, who some would argue was the best player ever seen. 

Yes, Monty didn't win a major but he came second 5 times albeit a distant second on a couple of occasions but lost a playoff twice.  He is also, I believe I am right in saying, the winner of a record number of tournaments on the European Tour.  His record certainly stands comparison with Christy O'Connor (himself), Neil Coles and Isao Aoki who are already in the Hall of Fame.

 So there will be no mention of Jakarta when he is inducted.  Was there any mention of problems on the Indonesian tour when Vijay Singh was inducted?  Will there be mention of Tiger Woods' behaviour both on and off the course when Tiger is inducted?  It seems to me that the biblical quote "You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye" is appropriate.  

There have been stories and rumours about other golfers over the years, some of whom have won Majors, and yet in Alistair Tait's view this one story about Monty is sufficient to nullify all the rest of his career.  I think that is a sad state of affairs.  

 For goodness sake let us be positive about this news story and be thankful that Monty will be in the Hall of Fame; a richly deserved honour.

 

Hopefully Woosnam and Harrington will be inducted in the future.

 

With kind regards

 

D Neal Stewart

GROWTH BUT NO HARMONY IN ASIAN GOLF

FROM THE KHALEEJ TIMES
Rapid growth has made Asia the big new destination for world golf but there’s an unmistakable sense of gloom as long-standing events face an uncertain future and local talent stalls.
While rich tournaments and even richer stars continue to flood east, grabbing widespread attention and making large sums for the game’s elite, for the home-grown scene it’s a different story entirely.
A bitter turf war between two rival circuits, which has spooked sponsors and divided players, shows little sign of easing, and Asian golfers are making slow progress on the world stage with just nine listed in the top 100.
China, the great new market with an ever-increasing number of courses and recreational players, is developing at a glacial rate in competitive terms with only three men ranked among the world’s best 800.
Asia’s inter-circuit rivalry even ended up before the courts with four struggling players, who were fined and suspended by the Asian Tour for taking part in OneAsia events, winning a restraint of trade case in Singapore.
Meanwhile traditional cornerstone events are facing trouble. Prize money at the venerable Hong Kong Open was slashed to just $2 million, and organisers went cap-in-hand for government funds to pay appearance fees for top players.
The Singapore Open, touted as ‘Asia’s Major’ and its oldest national open dating back to 1961, lost title sponsor Barclays and is missing from next year’s European schedule, with its future date and backers unclear.
While those events hit hard times, the European and American tours remain in a powerful position with a series of big, multi-million dollar tournaments that remain the season’s highlights.
The CIMB Classic in Malaysia, headlined this year by Tiger Woods, will become a full-status PGA Tour event next season — and with just 10 Asian Tour players in the field, according to current plans.
The WGC-HSBC Champions, which featured just nine winners of Asian Tour events and four Chinese players at its last edition in November, has signed on for a five-year stint in Shanghai with Major-level prize money of $8.5 million.
The European Tour also bypassed both the Asian Tour and OneAsia by co-sanctioning the $7.1 million BMW Masters, a much-criticised exhibition tournament when it emerged last year, with China’s domestic circuit.
But the year’s most talked-about event, China’s ‘Duel at Jinsha Lake’, was unsanctioned, featured only Woods and Rory McIlroy and was over in just one day of spectator mayhem and gratuitous displays of wealth by the organisers.
Perhaps not surprisingly, local players barely figured at the top tournaments and out of five European and PGA-backed events since late October, only three Asians, in total, finished in the top 10, and none in the top five.
And among Asia’s top performers this year, several, including Asian Tour merit winner Thaworn Wiratchant, and Thongchai Jaidee and Jeev Milkha Singh, who won the Wales and Scottish opens respectively, are in their forties.
However those victories also show it’s not all bleak for Asian golf, and there are other signs to cheer the optimist.
In June, Beijing-born Florida resident Andy Zhang played the US Open at just 14, and China’s Guang Tianlang, who is the same age and also trains frequently in the United States, is set to break the US Masters age record next year.
Asians continue to dominate the women’s game with four of the top five players, including world number one Yani Tseng and Park In-Bee, the highest earner on this year’s US LPGA tour.
And just this month, Naomichi ‘Joe’ Ozaki’s Asia team won the Royal Trophy in a play-off against a European side led by Jose Maria Olazabal, who masterminded September’s famous Ryder Cup victory.
The men in charge of Asia’s rival tours both insist that the future is bright and that the trajectory, despite admitted problems, remains upward.
Asian Tour executive chairman Kyi Hla Han said his organisation provides the ‘right balance’ of tournaments to nurture players, adding in an email: ‘We are confident the future of professional golf in the region is secure.’
OneAsia chairman and commissioner Sang Y. Chun called Asia’s development ‘alarmingly strong’, and even held out the possibility of working with the Asian Tour to bring the region on to a more equal footing with Europe and the PGA.
However for some observers, the current situation is very different from the high hopes of nearly 20 years ago, when the Asian Tour first came into being.
‘Some people on all sides are claiming they’re working for the betterment of golf and in fact they’re doing no such thing,’ Spencer Robinson, managing editor of Asian Golf Monthly, told AFP last month.
‘You just want to shake these guys, pick them up by the ears and bash their heads together and say, ‘For Christ’s sake, there’s a big enough pie. Let’s all sit down and work together’.’