POULTER BEATS GALLACHER 2 and 1 IN ARIZONA FIRST--ROUND TIE

Play has finally resumed after a 4hr delay on Day 2 of the WGC Accenture World Match-play Championship at Dove Mountain, Arizona.
Early results:
I Poulter bt S Gallacher 2 and 1
B Van Pelt bt J Sender 6 and 5.
J Day bt Z Johnson 6 and 5.
J Rose bt K Choi 2 and 1.
N Colsaerts bt B Haas 5 and 4
S Garcia btr T Jaidee at 20th
M Kuchar bt H Fujita 3 and 2.

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JAMIE McLEARY WINS TOM GALLOWAY TROPHY AT THE GLEN

FROM ALAN GREENSHIELDS
Secretary and treasurer
Edinburgh and East of Scotland Alliance 

Dalmahoy's Jamie McLeary was the winner of the Tom Galloway Trophy at the end of our fixture at The Glen Golf Club, North Berwick.
McLeary's 68 was the best scratch score of the day by three shots from Neil Fenwick (Dunbar) on 71 with Craig Gordon (Edinburgh Golf Centre) third on 72.

Top handicap prize went to Danny Airens (Falkirk Tryst) with a  net 69 (76 less 7). Runner-up was Chris Gamble (Archerfield) with a net 70 (75 less 5).
The  third handicap position was shared on net 71 by George Wither (Lothianburn ), 73 less 2, and Justin White (Harrison), 75 less 4.

The Scratch Order of Merit sees Andrew Erskine (Ratho Park) regain top spot with the top three now being -

1 Andrew Erskine (Ratho Park) 495pts

2 Gordon Law (Uphall) 489.5pts

3 Scott Catlin (Greenburn) 446.5pts

Danny Airens (Falkirk Tryst) leads the Handicap Order of Merit.

1 Danny Airens (Falkirk Tryst) 170pts

2 Alan MacKay (Kingsknowe) 111.5pts

3 George Wither (Lothianburn) 111pts

The penultimate outing of the season takes place in two weeks at Eyemouth.

TOM GALLOWAY TROPHY MEETING AT THE GLEN GC

Overall Winner		Jamie McLeary (Dalmahoy)			68
Scratch	Prize	Surname	Forename	Club	Score
1st	£125	McLeary	Jamie	Dalmahoy	68
2nd	£100	Fenwick	Neil	Dunbar	71
3rd	£75	Gordon	Craig	Edinburgh Golf Centre	72
4th	£50	Russell	Chris	Archerfield	73
5th=	£5	Catlin	Scott	Greenburn	74
5th=	£5	Erskine	Andrew	Ratho Park	74
5th=	£5	Johnston	Richard	Glenbervie	74
5th=	£5	Lamb	Stevie	Cardrona	74
5th=	£5	Mackie	Steven	The Duke's	74
5th=	£5	Oldcorn	Andrew	Kings Acre	74
Handicap	Prize	Surname	Forename	Club	Net
1st	£125	Airens	Daniel	Falkirk Tryst	69
2nd	£100	Gamble	Chris	Archerfield	70
3rd=	£62.50	White	Justin	Harrison (Braids)	71
3rd=	£62.50	Wither	George	Lothianburn	71
5th	£25	Love	Darren	Archerfield	72
Senior	Prize	Surname	Forename	Club	Net
	£20	Fraser	Ian A	Duddingston	75
	£10	Cowie	Keith	Dunbar	77

McLEAN AND FINDLAY MISS CUT IN MOROCCO

The only two Scots in the field at the German PGA's Pro Golf Tour event, the Mogador Open, at Essaouira, Morocco, missed the 36-hole cut by big margins.  Peterhead's Phil McLean shot 75-80 for 11-over-par 155, 11 shots over the limit mark to play the final round. McLean had no birdies in halves of 38-42 for his second round. Fraserburgh's Jordan Findlay had nightmare rounds of 82 and 85 for 23-over-par 167. In his second round, the 2004 British boys champion had two triple bogeys and two double bogeys in halves of 40 and 45.  Christopher Mivis (Belgium) leads the field with a tally of 0nine-under-par 135 (64-71). He leads by four from England's Darren Wright (68-71) with four players on four-under 140 - Dutchmen Robin Kind (72-68) and Floris De Haas (71-69), France's Antoine Schwartz (69-71) and Germany's Florian Jahn (71-69) TO VIEW ALL THE SECOND-ROUND TOTALS CLICK HERE

THIS WEEK'S SPANISH EVOLVE TOUR FINAL TOTALS

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FOUR INCHES OF OVERNIGHT SNOW DELAYS DAY 2 START IN WORLD MATCH-PLAY

By Thursday morning (Arizona time) there was a four-inch covering of snow at Dove Mountain, forcing the start of play on Day 2 to be postponed in the WGC-Accenture Match-play Championship.

Forecasters predict that temperatures will rise well above freezing later in the day, with organisers confident that the snow will melt quickly and that the tournament will get going without further weather problems.
Ten of the 32 first-round matches had still to tee off, including those involving top seeds Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and Luke Donald.
It was still hoped to make up some of the lost time before nightfall.
Less than four hours' play was possible on Wednesday and not a single game had been completed.
Ian Poulter, winner in 2010, stood three up on Scot Stephen Gallacher after 12 holes, while Thorbjorn Olesen led by the same margin against Wales’ Jamie Donaldson – the player who pushed him into second in Abu Dhabi last month.
Lee Westwood was two up on Spaniard Rafael Cabrera Bello after five and Justin Rose two up at the turn on South Korean K J Choi, although he had been four up after five.
England’s Chris Wood, who won his first European Tour title in Qatar last month, was level with Masters champion Bubba Watson after six.
Closest to winning was Sergio Garcia, whose first shot on his return will be a 12 foot putt to beat Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee on the 16th green.

JAMES BYRNE OUTSIDE TOP 100 WITH 73 START AT MYANMAR

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE ASIAN TOUR

Yangon, Myanmar: Kiradech Aphibarnrat fuelled his hopes of erasing last year’s play-off defeat at the Zaykabar Myanmar Open presented by Alpine when he tied for the opening round lead with Chapchai Nirat on eight-under-par 64 on Thursday.

The Thais produced a classy performance at the Royal Mingalardon Golf and Country Club as they lead by one-shot over countryman Prom Meesawat, who is searching for a long-awaited second Asian Tour victory and Joonas Granberg of Finland.

Thanyakon Khrongpha cemented the Thai presence by sharing fifth place with Australia’s Darren Beck and Koreans’ Hwang In-choon and Young Nam and at the US$300,000 event which is the curtain raiser for the 10^th Asian Tour season.

Reigning Asian Tour number one Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand, who had the honour to hit the first drive to commemorate the occasion, settled for 71 together with title holder Kieran Pratt of Australia.
Banchory's James Byrne made a disappointing start with a one-over-par 73 which left him in joint 103rd place and in danger f missing the halfway cut.  
The Northern Open champion reached the turn in three-over 39 after a double-bogey 7 at the long second and further shots dropped at the sixth and short seventh with only one birdie, at the long fifth, to compensate.
After slipping to four with a bogey at the 10th, Byrne got his act together by covering the last eight holes in three-under par with birdies at the 11th, 12th and 14 for 34 home. 

The big-hitting Kiradech was six-under through eight holes but his confidence took a dent when he missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the 10^th hole. He gradually recovered and took advantage of the par fives where he birdied 14 and 18.

“I missed a big putt on the 10th hole. I had a 10 feet uphill straight putt but I pulled it. After that I lost some confidence with the putter. I was lucky get to get two birdies in the next par fives,” said the 23-year-old, who is hunting for a second Asian Tour victory.

Last year’s play-off defeat was agonising for Kiradech but the man nicknamed ‘Asia’s John Daly’ for his rip-it and grip-it style of play, believes he has grown into a better player.

“I always try to get better and better. I lost in a play-off last year and I even lost in the pro-am on countback this week (to Pratt)! But my game is better than last year. This year I’m hitting it better,” smiled Kiradech.

The tenacious Chapchai was even-par after five holes but recovered with eight birdies in his last 13 holes to share the lead. He holds the world 72-hole scoring record with a stunning 32-under-par 256 winning total in India in 2009 but has yet to win since then.

“My putting was very good. Last year I struggled with my putter. Usually when you start the first tournament, you feel a bit uneasy but it was different today. Putting is very important for me. If I can putt well, I will feel confident,” said Chapchai, who welcomed his new born son ‘Jedi’ to his family last year.

Granberg, who is among three Finnish players this week, shot his best round since winning his first Asian Tour title in 2011 and will take pride in his return to form after a dismal 2012 season.

“This is a very low score already and I just wanted to play and relax.  There was nothing special in my round. I hit it very good off the tees and found about 13 fairways. It was solid golf. I struggled last year. I had some personal problems and was dealing with that. I’m feeling better now,” said Granberg, who carded five birdies and one eagle.

Playing on minimal Asian Tour events in the last three years, Nam rediscovered his love for golf at the right time and was tied for the lead before dropping shots in his last two holes.

“Golf wasn’t really on my mind in the last three years or so. I’m here to enjoy the game now. I’m not getting any younger. There’s pressure out there but less pressure. Playing with a free mind has made golf a little bit easier for me,” said the 39-year-old.

FIRST-ROUND LEADERS

Par 72. Yardage: 7,218 

64 Chapchai NIRAT (THA), Kiradech APHIBARNRAT (THA).

65 Joonas GRANBERG (FIN), Prom MEESAWAT (THA).

66 Thanyakon KHRONGPHA (THA), HWANG In-choon (SKOR), Young NAM (SKOR), Darren BECK (AUS).

67 Mardan MAMAT (SIN), CHOO Tze Huang (SIN), Chawalit PLAPHOL (THA), Antonio LASCUNA (PHI), HUNG Chien-yao (TPE), CHAN Shih-chang (TPE), Sam BRAZEL (AUS), Carlos PIGEM (ESP), HU Mu (CHN), Rikard KARLBERG (SWE), BAEK Seuk-hyun (SKOR), Gunn CHAROENKUL (THA), Lionel WEBER (FRA).

68 Sattaya SUPUPRAMAI (THA), Arnond VONGVANIJ (THA), Danny CHIA (MAS), Pariya JUNHASAVASDIKUL (THA), Marcus BOTH (AUS), Prayad MARKSAENG (THA), Sam CYR (USA), Yuta IKEDA (JPN), Soe Kyaw NAING (MYN), Miguel TABUENA (PHI), Shaaban HUSSIN (MAS).

69 Koichi KITAMURA (JPN), Jaakko MAKITALO (FIN), Panuwat MUENLEK (THA), Dodge KEMMER (USA), Stephen LEWTON (ENG), Chris RODGERS (ENG), Matthew STIEGER (AUS), Angelo QUE (PHI), Thammanoon SRIROJ (THA).

SELECTED SCORE
73 James Byrne (Scotland). 

  .

AMERICAN BOWEN SHARES LEAD IN MALAYSIA

Kedah, Malaysia: James Bowen of the United States continued his good form when he posted a seven-under-par 65 to take a share of the second-round lead with Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert at the PGM Sime Darby Harvard Masters today.

The American posted a two-day total of 13-under-par 131 and is determined to play his way back into the main Tour after missing the cut at the Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage last month.

Pavit returned with the day’s lowest score of 63 to move atop the leaderboard after starting the day in tied-fifth while Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Chi-hsien, a one-time Asian Development Tour (ADT) winner is three shots back in third place on 134.

Malaysia’s S. Siva Chandhran, who won the ADT Order of Merit in 2010, traded seven birdies against one bogey to take equal fourth with Canada’s Lindsay Renolds and Thailand’s Jakraphan Premsirigorn on 135 at the RM200,000 (approximately US$65,000) ADT event which is held at the Harvard Golf and Country Club this week.

After missing out on the opportunity to earn his Asian Tour card at Qualifying School, Bowen believes the best way to prove himself again would be to excel on the ADT.

“Coming from the States, I heard a lot of good things about the Asian Tour and that’s why I decided to brave the long journey to come out here and compete,” said Bowen.

“I shot rounds of 71 and 76 and missed the cut in Q School. I’m trying to regain my confidence and play my way back into the Asian Tour again. Hopefully my performance over two rounds this week would allow me to do that,” said the American who hit 17 greens in regulation his opening round where he signed for a 66.

Siva is also on a mission of reclaiming his place among the best players on the region’s premier Tour again.

Despite being crowned as the ADT’s best player in 2010, Siva could not carry his best form over to the main Tour.

After winning his second ADT title in Malacca in 2011, he only had one top-10 to show for on the Asian Tour that year.

Siva made two cuts in eight attempts on the Asian Tour in 2012 and lost his card after finishing in 103^rd place on the Order of Merit.

“It was a huge setback to have lost my card. I had limited playing opportunities and it was not a nice feeling,” said the Malaysian who was once ranked as the country’s best amateur.

“But today’s performance brought back the confidence and belief that I’m still able to play my best golf. I need such performances to lift my spirits and be in the position to be ranked as one of the best in the game again,” added Siva whose otherwise flawless card was marred by a lone bogey on the par-five three.

Leading second round scores

131 James BOWEN (USA) 66 65, Pavit TANGKAMOLPRASERT (THA) 68 63

134 HSIEH Chi-hsien (TPE) 68 66

135 Lindsay RENOLDS (CAN) 65 70, S. Siva Chandhran (MAS) 69-66, Jakraphan PREMSIRIGORN (THA) 71 64

136 Spencer SHISHIDO (USA) 67-69

137 Anthony CHOAT (AUS) 68 69, Akhmal TARMIZEE (MAS) 68  69, Zurie HARUN (MAS) 70 67, Zanie Boy GIALON (PHI) 71 66

138 Clement RAMEAUX (FRA) 70 68, Shaifubari MUDA (MAS) 65 73, Wasin SRIPATTRANUSORN (THA) 70 68, Ratchapol JANTAVARA (THA) 69 69, Hafiy SUHAILI (MAS) 69 69, James LAM (PHI) 69 69

 

NORTH-EAST ALLIANCE WINNER DUFF DISQUALIFIES HIMSELF

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com  
John Duff (Newmachar), "winner" of yesterday's North-east Alliance over his home club's Swailend course, has disqualified himself for signing for a wrong score, a 71 instead of 72.
"I signed for a lower score, a 4, on the sixth hole whereas I had actually made a bogey 5 on that hole. A very silly error on my part," said John who contacted Alliance joint secretary Dave Mackay last night as soon as he realised his faux pas. 
It is a great credit to Duff that he disqualified himself. No one bar the player himself would have realised his mistake.
It shows once again that golf is not only a great game it is a game of great integrity and honesty.  
The £100 first prize voucher now goes to Kevin Duncan (McDonald Ellon) who had a par 72 and everybody moves up one on the official list of scores.
REVISED LEADING SCRATCH SCORES
Par 72
72 K Duncan (McDonald Ellon)
73 C Lamb (Newmachar)
74 J Hopwood (Royal Aberdeen), J Duncan (Newburgh).
75 C Nelson (Mackenzie Shop), F Clarke (Newmachar), S Mann (Nevada Bob), K Zeynalov (Portlethen)
76 R Fitzpatrick (Inchmarlo), J Emslie (Royal Aberdeen), M Merchant (Newmachar), D Leslie (Northern), K Beveridge (Inchmarlo), B Nicolson (Auchmill).
77 S Finnie (Caledonian), C Lawrie (Deeside), S McNeil (Aboyne), S Mackie (Auchmill).
78 D Clark (Duff House Royal).
79 L Fowler (Royal Aberdeen), Laura Murray (Alford).