McILROY AND MICKELSON MAKE CUT WITH NOTHING TO SPARE

FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE

HUMBLE, Texas -- Steve Wheatcroft hates going to Monday qualifiers. He was reminded Friday why they can be worth it.
Wheatcroft, who narrowly qualified for the Shell Houston Open at the start of the week, ran off three straight birdies early in his round and kept bogeys off his card for a second straight 5-under 67. 
That gave him a one-shot lead over D.A. Points and Jason Kokrak going into the weekend at Redstone Golf Club.

Rory McIlroy also will be around for two more days, but just barely.
In only his 10th full round of the year, McIlroy walked onto the seventh green -- his 16th hole of the day -- and saw that he was tied for 77th. He two-putted from 85 feet on the fringe for birdie on his next hole, and then safely found the green at the par-3 ninth for a 70. By the end of the day, McIlroy made the cut on the limit mark of 143, as did Phil Mickelson.
"It’s a weekend where I can have a couple more rounds and try and get confidence in what I'm doing," McIlroy said.
His big surprise came later. McIlroy, feeling as though he needs more rounds to get ready for the Masters, decided to enter the Valero Texas Open next week.
Phil Mickelson also made the cut on the number after a bogey on the last hole for a 71. Mickelson, who has played the Masters with two drivers in the bag, decided to play Redstone on Friday with two 3-woods in the bag, though one of them is so strong it acts like a driver.
"If I can play like I did the back nine, I'm going to give myself a lot of birdie chances," Mickelson said.
Wheatcroft can't bank on anything.
Not only does he have no status on the PGA TOUR, he has only conditional status on the Web.com Tour. After missing out on a Web.com Tour event last week in Louisiana, he figured he might as well enter the Shell Houston Open qualifier Monday.
"Monday qualifiers are terrible. They're just not fun, plain and simple," Wheatcroft said. "I was on the PGA TOUR in '07, played terribly. I had no status. So I had to be back to Monday qualifiers and pre-qualifiers the next year. I hate them."
Wheatcroft had some good sessions with swing coach Matt Killen, felt his game was getting better in the last month, and figured it was all about timing. He made it by one shot into the field, and he's playing well against a strong field at Redstone.
He was at 10-under 134, the first time he has ever been atop the leaderboard on the PGA TOUR. The tournament is only halfway over, and Wheatcroft has been around long enough to not look too far ahead. Even so, this has Cinderella ramifications.
Wheatcroft can become the first Monday qualifier to win on the PGA TOUR since Arjun Atwal at the Wyndham Championship in August 2010. A win would put him into the Masters for the first time, and perhaps more importantly, give him a two-year exemption.
A pair of 67s has given him confidence. A career bouncing around tours has given him perspective that it can all change. "If I can be on top of the leaderboard at this point, I know I can keep playing well," he said.
"There's no reason to think I can't. I've never won on the PGA TOUR. I've won on the Web.com Tour -- I've won by 12. I know I can keep going forward. Who knows?
" I could shoot 61 tomorrow. I could shoot 81 tomorrow. I really don't know. I'm not going to sit here and think about it too much. I'm going to think about the first tee ball and we'll go from there."
Points had a 71 with 17 pars and one birdie. He didn't make anything on the greens, which he attributed to his putting stroke and firm, afternoon greens instead of the old putter he once borrowed from his mother.
"I made everything yesterday and made nothing today," Points said. "To be one shot back and be right in the mix is huge."
Kokrak shot a 69 and will play in the final group with Wheatcroft, whom he knows well.
"I'm happy for him," Kokrak said. "I'm happy he's doing well. Hopefully, I can go out there and overtake the lead. Hopefully, I overtake him late Sunday."
Stewart Cink, winless since the British Open in 2009, showed more signs of getting his game on track. Cink contended in the Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation on late Sunday afternoon, and feels as if he's getting closer. He had a 66 and was tied for fourth with
Brian Davis (70). Two-time major champion Angel Cabrera, the Argentine who has a home at Redstone, had a 72 and was four shots behind, along with Bill Haas (70) and Cameron Tringale (73).
Also lurking was Dustin Johnson, who threw away careless shots but was still only five shots out of the lead.
McIlroy remains a work in progress. He started slowly, not giving himself many birdie chances and hitting tee shots some 20 and 30 yards short of Johnson and Keegan Bradley. 
But the 23-year-old from Northern Ireland made birdie on the par-5 15th, followed with an 18-foot birdie on the 16th, and then cut loose with a tee shot that was some 20 yards beyond where Johnson hit his drive.
That wasn't an accident. McIlroy tends to hold back early in his round until he gets more comfortable with his scoring.
"The game is fickle," he said. "You make a couple of birdies, a few good shots, and your confidence goes up. A few bad ones, and it goes down a bit. I hit a couple of drives, and 17 is a good example, when I let it go and it's fine. It gets out there."
McIlroy said he hasn't played enough tournaments to get into that groove, and he was at least happy to have two more chances at the Shell Houston Open. He headed to the practice range after lunch, and then decided to make sure he played some more by signing up for the Valero Texas Open.

HALFWAY LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2x72)
Players from USA unless stated
134 Steve Wheatcroft 67 67.
135 Jason Kokrak 66 69, D A Points 64 71
137 Brian Davis (England) 67 70, Stewart Cink 71  66.
138 Bill Haas 68 70, Angel Cabrera (Argentina) 66 72, Cameron Tringale 65 73.
139 John Rollins 65 74, Scott Stallings 70 69, Dustin Johnson 69 70, Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 69 70, Ben Crane 69 70, Brendon De Jonge (South africa) 71 68, Charley Hoffman 68 71, Jimmy Walker 68 71, Boo Weekley 70 69.

SELECTED SCORES
140 Lee Westwood (England) 68 72 (T18).
141 Greg Owen (England) 68 73 (T27).
142 Ross Fisher (England) 73 69, David Lynn (England) 72 70, Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa) 70 72 (T38).
143 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) 73 70, Phil Mickelson 72 71 (T54).

MISSED THE CUT (143 and better qualified)

144 Martin Laird (Scotland) 75 69.
146 Shane Lowry (Ireland) 71 75, Retief Goosen (South Africa) 75 73.
157 Paul Casey (England) 78 79.
WITHDREW Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark) 82 wd   

TO VIEW THE COMPLETE SCORECARD AND TO CHECK
THE SCORECARDS

CLICK HERE



     

JOHN HENRY, NIGEL SCOTT-SMITH TIE AT WEST OF SCOTLAND ALLIANCE

Scottish Alliance champion from last year, John Henry (Clydebank and District) finished joint first alongside Nigel Scott-Smith (Palacerigg) on the two-over-par 73 mark at this week's West of Scotland Alliance competition at Irvine Bogside GC.
Said John (pictured with his new sponsor's shirt):
"It was a very windy and cold day with some light snow showers! I had 4 top layers on , a baseball cap with a beanie hat on top off it and long johns with dress trousers over them and mits on and off during the round! 
"I had four birdies, eight pars and sixbogeys In my round. Played OK, but let a lot of shots slide. Think the weather must have beaten the rest of the competitors instead of the course. My birdies came at 1, 2, 4 and 15."

Club Irvine Bogside Golf Club Date Wednesday 27th March 2013 Complete results Scratch Handicap Seniors
Scratch	Pos Name Club Gross T1 John Henry Clydebank and District 73 T1 Nigel Scott-Smith Palacerigg 73 T3 Hugh Burns Troon Wellbeck 74 T3 Chris Currie Caldwell 74
Handicap	Pos Name Club Gross Net T1 Stuart Clayton Crowood 78 74 T1 Derek Noble Crowood 86 74 3rd Paul Reilly Lochwinnoch 75 76
Seniors	Pos Name Club Gross Net 1st John Greene Cowglen 90 78 2nd Drew Wilson Clober 84 79
Scratch Sweep	Pos Name Club Net Wins 1st John Henry Clydebank & District 73 £21.00 = Nigel Scott-Smith Palacerigg 73 £21.00 3rd Chris Currie Caldwell 74 £8.00 10 entries @ £5.00 = £50.00. Half to winner, Two thirds to second, rest to 3rd.
Stableford Sweep	Pos Name Club Pts Wins 1st Still to work out £17.00 2nd £11.00 3rd £6.00 34 entries @ £1.00 = £34.00 Half to winner, two thirds to 2nd place, rest to 3rd.
Handicap Sweep	Pos Name Club Net Wins 1st Stuart Clayton Crowood 74 £27.50 = Derek Noble Crowood 74 £27.50 3rd Paul Reilly Lochwinnoch 76 £11.00 33 entries @ £2.00 = £66.00. Half to winner, two thirds to 2nd place, rest to 3rd.

MARCEL SIEM SITTING PRETTY IN MOROCCO LEAD

FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

A second round of four under par 68 from Marcel Siem (pictured above in action today by courtesy of Getty Images(c) at the magnificent Golf du Palais Royal, Agadir on Morocco's western Atlantic coastline was good enough to maintain the German’s three-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Trophée Hassan II.

In need of a victory to have any chance of breaking into the top 50 on the Official World Golf Ranking and therefore earn last-minute place in the Masters in a fortnight’s time, the 32 year old followed up on his brilliant first round 64 with a fine 68 to stay three clear of Englishman David Horsey and Finland’s Miko Ilonen heading into the weekend.

“It’s always nice to go under par after such a low round the day before because that can be quite difficult to follow up on sometimes,” said Siem. 

“I also don’t think I have had such a big lead before so there were points win the round today when I wasn’t sure whether or not I should be aggressive or try and hold back at points.

“I am trying my best for the Masters. It is a tournament I have always wanted to play and if I can keep calm and play the way that I have been for the first two days here then I have a chance.” 

Horsey and Ilonen are Siem’s closest challengers but the German will be also be wary of an in-form Pablo Larrazabal after the Spaniard’s outstanding second round of eight under par 64 took him to within four strokes of Siem’s 12 under leading total.

Three players share fifth place on six under – Denmark’s Andreas Hartø, Scotland’s Craig Lee and the Austrian Bernd Wiesberger – while Joost Luiten of Holland is a shot further back.

  Only players with totals of 147 or better qualified for the final two rounds.
 

SECOND ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72)

132 M Siem  (Ger) 64 68

135 D Horsey (Eng) 68 67; M Ilonen  (Fin) 69 66

136 P Larrazábal (Esp) 72 64

138 B Wiesberger  (Aut) 72 66; A Hartø  (Den) 71 67; C Lee (Sco) 69 69

139 J Luiten (Ned) 70 69

140 G Mulroy (RSA) 73 67; C Paisley  (Eng) 73 67; S Wakefield (Eng) 68 72; C Lloyd (Eng) 72 68

141 R McEvoy  (Eng) 71 70; A Velasco (Esp) 67 74; G Havret  (Fra) 70 71; D Howell (Eng) 71 70

142 S Arnold  (Aus) 71 71; M Baldwin (Eng) 72 70; D Brooks (Eng) 72 70; O Fisher  (Eng) 73 69; A Snobeck  (Fra) 75 67; M Lundberg (Swe) 73 69; J Walters (RSA) 71 71

143 S Gallacher (Sco) 75 68; J Lara (Esp) 72 71; S Henry  (Sco) 72 71; P Waring  (Eng) 71 72; R Ramsay  (Sco) 74 69; M Hoey  (Nir) 74 69; J Quesne  (Fra) 71 72

144 M Lafeber (Ned) 77 67; A Marshall (Eng) 73 71; S Dodd (Wal) 74 70; F Molinari (Ita) 73 71; M Wiegele  (Aut) 75 69; D Popovic (Aus) 72 72; M Delpodio  (Ita) 74 70; E Grillo (Arg) 74 70

145 L Slattery (Eng) 74 71; S Luna (Esp) 72 73; P Erofejeff (Fin) 76 69; G Storm  (Eng) 68 77; G Lockerbie  (Eng) 69 76;

146 B Ritthammer (Ger) 73 73; R Coles (Eng) 76 70; J Parry (Eng) 73 73; K Horne (RSA) 77 69; S Webster (Eng) 74 72; J Elson  (Eng) 77 69; R Green (Aus) 75 71; I Garrido (Esp) 77 69; D Drysdale (Sco) 74 72; C Del Moral (Esp) 78 68; J Campillo (Esp) 72 74; A Tadini (Ita) 72 74; A Cañizares  (Esp) 73 73; J Hansen  (Den) 73 73

147 M Madsen  (Den) 78 69; A Levy (Fra) 73 74; F Andersson Hed (Swe) 75 72; L Gagli  (Ita) 74 73; E Molinari  (Ita) 81 66; M Korhonen (Fin) 76 71; E Kofstad (Nor) 74 73; M Southgate  (Eng) 72 75; J Sjöholm (Swe) 78 69 

MISSED THE CUT

148 B Rumford (Aus) 73 75; R Jacquelin (Fra) 76 72; K Broberg (Swe) 76 72; G Orr (Sco) 79 69; R Wattel  (Fra) 77 71; M Lampert (Ger) 72 76; T Fleetwood  (Eng) 75 73; S Hansen (Den) 76 72; D Higgins (Irl) 73 75; E De La Riva  (Esp) 73 75; S Kjeldsen (Den) 78 70

149 J Olazábal (Esp) 79 70; R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 74 75; P Lawrie (Irl) 75 74; M Foster (Eng) 82 67; G Maybin (Nir) 79 70; R Davies (Wal) 73 76; R Rock (Eng) 73 76; K Kyung-Nam (Kor) 71 78; J Lagergren (Swe) 74 75; J Morrison  (Eng) 74 75; N Fasth (Swe) 81 68; M Zions (Aus) 78 71; G Murray  (Sco) 74 75; D Gaunt (Aus) 75 74

150 C Cévaër (Fra) 75 75; S Little (Eng) 76 74; E Porter (Aus) 73 77; J Edfors (Swe) 76 74; R Derksen (Ned) 78 72; L Jensen (Den) 75 75; F Aguilar (Chi) 79 71

151 M Carlsson  (Swe) 80 71; T Van Der Walt (RSA) 78 73; B Dredge (Wal) 78 73; E Pepperell (Eng) 80 71; S Walker (Eng) 79 72; G Cambis  (Fra) 76 75; T Levet (Fra) 75 76

152 Y El Hassani (Mar) 77 75

153 E Goya (Arg) 81 72; S Benson (Eng) 80 73; R Bland (Eng) 77 76; J Busby (Eng) 76 77; P Whiteford (Sco) 81 72

154 A Forsyth (Sco) 79 75; A Joudar (Mar) 78 76; D McGrane (Irl) 80 74

155 P Hedblom (Swe) 80 75; A Sullivan (Eng) 78 77; F Serghini  (Mar) 80 75; M Crespi  (Ita) 82 73; S Jamieson  (Sco) 77 78; A Kaleka  (Fra) 76 79; M Glauert (Ger) 83 72

156 J Gonnet  (Fra) 83 73; M Jonzon (Swe) 80 76; M Tullo (Chi) 80 76; O Floren  (Swe) 80 76; G Bourdy (Fra) 83 73

157 G Boyd  (Eng) 84 73; M Kieffer (Ger) 85 72; C Macaulay  (Sco) 85 72; A Quiros  (Esp) 76 81

159 C Yuan (am) (Chn) 84 75

161 M Nixon (Eng) 84 77; B Åkesson (Swe) 81 80; M El Maouas (am) (Mar) 82 79

162 O Wilson (Eng) 85 77

 ** C Doak (Sco) 79 WD; P Price (Wal) 79 WD; J Svoboda (Cze) Retired

 

 

JAMES BYRNE BEATS CUT WITH SUB-PAR RUN

James Byrne covered his last 13 holes in three under par to make the cut on the limit mark of two-under 142 in the Asian Tour's Chiangmai Classic in Thailand.The Banchory man, holder of the Northern Open title, followed up his opening 73 with a three-under 69, which included birdies at the first, sixth, eighth and 14th. He had only one bogey, at the second.Byrne trails leader Prayad Marksaeng (Thailand) (65-67 for 132) by 10 strokes at the halfway stage - but has hauled himself into the weekend action. NEWS RELEASE FROM ASIAN TOUR   PRAYAD OPENS UP TWO-SHOT LEAD  AT CHIANGMAI GOLF CLASSIC   Chiangmai, Thailand: Thailand’s smooth-swinger Prayad Marksaeng maintained his title charge at the inaugural US$750,000 Chiangmai Golf Classic presented by PTT with a second round of five-under-par 67 to stretch his advantage to two shots today. The overnight leader, who is a six-time Asian Tour winner but has not on the region’s premier tour since 2007, tightened his grip atop the leaderboard with his 12-under-par 132 total at the Alpine Golf Resort-Chiangmai. A host of talented Asian Tour stars, including Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand and Asia’s first Major champion Y.E. Yang of Korea, are hot on his heels. The Chiangmai Golf Classic presented by PTT offers the highest Official World Golf Ranking points in Asia this week with 16 points for the winner. Thongchai, who needs a win in Chiangmai to qualify for the Masters Tournament, shot a fabulous 65 to move to tied second place with American Jonathan Moore (68) and India’s Digvijay Singh, who birdied his last three holes for a 67. Hu Mu, playing on a sponsor’s invitation, stayed in the title hunt with a solid 69 for tied fifth place, three behind Prayad. The powerful Yang shot a 68 and will enter the weekend rounds four back while Ernie Els of South Africa, using a short putter for the first time in a long while, battled to a 71 for tied 41st place on 140. Prayad, who stuck to the cross-handed putting grip which he changed midway through the first round, credited his fine form to his new irons and golf ball. “I changed to a new golf ball and it seems to be giving me more distance. Last time I hit my driver to about 280 yards but now I’m hitting it 20 yards longer. I’m getting more distance and that’s good for my age,” said the 47-year-old Prayad. Starting from the back nine, Prayad, who has won three titles on home soil this year including his national Open two weeks ago, bounced back from an early bogey on two with acurate irons shots and was rewarded with six birdies, which all came inside of 10 feet. “I’m happy with how I played. My game, from my driver, irons and putting, were very good. I used the cross-handed grip again today. It seems to be working. I’ve been playing very good this year and I hope I can maintain my form,” added the smiling Thai. Three-time Asian Tour number one Thongchai produced some wonderful golf to put himself in position to win and break into the world’s top-50, which is required to earn an invitation to the Masters Tournament next month. The former paratrooper birdied the third from close range and then holed out with a wedge for a stunning eagle three on the fourth hole which sparked his round. He added four more birdies on the back nine as he outshone playing partner Els. “It is actually a good idea to keep thinking about the Masters Tournament,” said Thongchai, who is ranked 59th in the world. “ “I want to win this tournament. It is only the second round and I’m halfway there. I think I have a good chance because I’m only two shots away. If I can get another low round then I have a chance of winning,” add the Thai, who has 13 titles on the Asian Tour, which is celebrating its milestone 10th season in 2013. Moore, who graduated from the Asian Development Tour in 2011 and finished seventh on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit in 2012, said his carefree attitude on the course has given him a chance of landing a first Asian Tour title. “A few things I’ve learned over the years, one of them is to send the ball on its way. I can’t make it go to a particular spot. Just envision that all I’m going to do is to hit it into the ocean instead of a small fairway. Just make that free swing and hit it into a big wide ocean. I think that’s helped a bit,” said Moore, who hit 10 fairways and 14 greens in regulation. Singh was delighted to be feature on the leaderboard again, nearly a year after he claimed his breakthrough victory at the Panasonic Open India which he will defend the title next week. “It has been a long time (being in contention). Since my win, I haven’t done much. It has been a bit of a flash in the pan kind of performance so far. I was trying too hard and trying to get too much out of my rounds,” said the 41-year-old. Els struggled to a 71 to fall eight shots off the pace but still hopes to go low over the weekend.  “It’s going to take a lot of work (to win). I’ll go out there with an aggressive mindset tomorrow and hope to get something going. I’ve not had a really low round all year and I would love to have a low round in the next two days. "That’s what I’ll be aiming for. It’ll take a lot to win the tournament from where I am. I just want to get some momentum going through the weekend,” said the reigning British Open champion. The halfway cut was set at two-under-par 142 with a total of 71 players making the weekend rounds.   LEADERS AT HALFWAY   Par 144 (2x72) Yardage 7,471 132 Prayad MARKSAENG (THA) 65-67. 134 Jonathan MOORE (USA) 66-68, Digvijay SINGH (IND) 67-67, Thongchai JAIDEE (THA) 69-65. 135 HU Mu (CHN) 66-69, Pawin INGKHAPRADIT (THA) 67-68, Bryce EASTON (RSA) 68-67, Matthew STIEGER (AUS) 68-67. 136 Jason KNUTZON (USA) 67-69, Mithun PERERA (SRI) 70-66,  SIDDIKUR (BAN) 69-67. 137 YANG Y. E. (SKOR) 69-68, Scott HEND (AUS) 68-69, MO Joong-kyung (SKOR) 70-67, Atthaphon SRIBOONKAEW (THA) 72-65, Zaw MOE (MYN) 70-67. 138 Kiradech APHIBARNRAT (THA) 71-67, David LIPSKY (USA) 69-69, Panuphol PITTAYARAT (THA) 71-67, BAEK Seuk-hyun (SKOR) 69-69, Thitiphun CHUAYPRAKONG (THA) 68-70, KIM Seng-yong (SKOR) 70-68, Himmat RAI (IND) 71-67, Anton HAIG (RSA) 72-66, Prom MEESAWAT (THA) 66-72, Tetsuji HIRATSUKA (JPN) 70-68, Carlos PIGEM (ESP) 68-70, Chapchai NIRAT (THA) 70-68, Jake HIGGINBOTTOM (AUS) 70-68, Boonchu RUANGKIT (THA) 70-68, Jaakko MAKITALO (FIN) 72-66, Chris RODGERS (ENG) 72-66, Jazz JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 68-70. 139 Udorn DUANGDECHA (THA) 70-69, Panuwat MUENLEK (THA) 68-71, HUNG Chien-yao (TPE) 70-69, Javi COLOMO (ESP) 74-65, Mardan MAMAT (SIN) 70-69, Pariya JUNHASAVASDIKUL (THA) 69-70, Marcus BOTH (AUS) 71-68. 140 Gaganjeet BHULLAR (IND) 70-70, Antonio LASCUNA (PHI) 69-71, Adam GROOM (AUS) 68-72, Wade ORMSBY (AUS) 70-70, Namchok TANTIPOKHAKUL (THA) 71-69, Jbe KRUGER (RSA) 71-69, Ernie ELS (RSA) 69-71, Anirban LAHIRI (IND) 71-69, Shiv KAPUR (IND) 69-71, LAM Chih Bing (SIN) 73-67, Sam CYR (USA) 70-70, Pavit TANGKAMOLPRASERT (THA) 71-69, LU Wen-teh (TPE) 74-66.

SEL

HOPWOOD AND HARPER DAZZLE IN MURCAR LINKS SUNSHINE

Left to right: Joel Hopwood, Brian Harper, Alliance jt sec Dave Wilson, Hamish McNaughton and Alan Gall. Picture by Cal Carson Golf Agency. By COLIN FARQUHARSON Colin@scottishgolfview.com Royal Aberdeen Golf Club staff professional Joel Hopwood and Newburgh-on-Ythan GC five-handicapper Brian Harper won the North-east Alliance foursomes scratch title with some sparkling golf in the spring sunshine at Murcar Links today (Friday). Hopwood and Harper were two or three under par in beating two amateurs, Jim Duncan (Newburgh-on-Ythan) and David Nelson (Aboyne), by 7 and 6 in the final. Aboyne man Hopwood - he had his first golf lesson from the late Innes Wright - and Harper took a grip on the proceedings by winning the first three holes with a birdie-par-par start. With Hopwood outdriving his amateur opponents by as much as 100 yards, by the turn he and Harper  were six up, having won four holes in a row from the sixth with a one-under-par run, highlighted by a birdie at the eighth. There was no way back for Duncan and Nelson. They lost the 10th to go seven down but delayed the inevitable by winning the 11th - only their second success of the match - and an 8ft birdie putt at the 12th for Hopwood and Harper finished the one-sided match. Hopwood, 24, who did his PGA assistant training at Skibo Castle's Carnegie links,  will be a married man by the time of next year's tournament. His wedding will be in late September. The handicap final was a much closer contest with Hamish McNaughton (Cruden Bay) (12) and Alan Gall (Deeside) (5)0 beating Tommy Collie (Kemnay) (12) and Jackie Forrest (Northern) (9) by one hole. McNaughton and Gall were conceding three shots but were able to make a winning comeback from three down after 11 holes. They won the 12th and 13th, halved the 14th, and won the 15th and 16th to surge into a one-hole lead. The last two holes were halved. The North-east Alliance 2013-2014 season begins on September 4 at Auchmill Golf Club. NORTH-EAST ALLIANCE FOURSOMES Murcar Links Golf Club SCRATCH FINAL  (Evening Express Shield) Joel Hopwood (Royal Aberdeen) and Brian Harper (Newburgh) bt Jim Duncan (Newburgh) and David Nelson (Aboyne) 7 and 6.            Brian Harper and Joel Hopwood with the Evening Express Shield. HANDICAP FINAL  (Press and Journal Shield) Hamish McNaughton (Cruden Bay) (12) and Alan Gall (Deeside) (5) bt Tommy Collie (Kemnay) (12) and Jackie Forrest (Northern) (9) 1 hole.       Hamish McNaughton and Alan Gall with The Press and Journal Shield.

FRENCH SELLING 2018 RYDER CUP MERCHANDISE ALREADY

The 2014 Ryder Cup match at Gleneagles has still to come but the French Federation is already marketing official merchandise for the 2018 Ryder Cup, to be held in France for the first time.
The "Boutique Officielle," with a 15 per cent discount already, is on the French Golf Federation website.

SIX INCHES OF SNOW AT SLALEY HALL, SWITCH TO OULTON HALL

NEWS RELEASE FROM PGA EUROPRO TOUR
The first stage of PGA EuroPro Tour Qualifying School, due to be held at De Vere Slaley Hall, has been switched to De Vere Oulton Hall due to heavy snow covering the course at Slaley Hall.
The first stage Qualifying School events at Stoke By Nayland and Players Club are unaffected.
Heavy snow across the country has been particularly badly felt in the north east of England, with up to six inches of snow remaining on the ground at Slaley Hall. 
The weather forecast for the area does not indicate an improvement in temperatures and in view of this, the bank holiday weekend and the state of the course, the decision has been made to move first stage Qualifying School due to take place at Slaley Hall to De Vere’s Outlon Hall near Leeds.
The decision has been made at this time to allow players to make any necessary arrangements for travel and accommodation.
The 36-hole qualifying event will remain on Wednesday, April 3 and Thursday, April 4, with practice taking place on Tuesday, April 2.
To book a practice time, players should call PGA HQ on 01675 470333 or the tournament office from midday on Monday (April 2) on 07920 135 915. Practice will commence from 12:06pm on Tuesday, April 3.
Players who have already booked a room at Slaley Hall will be automatically transferred to a room at Outlon Hall. However, it is the player’s responsibility to ensure this transfer has been made by contacting Outlon Hall on 0844 567 6482. 
There are rooms available at Oulton Hall for those who are yet to book accommodation, these can be booked on the same phone number.
Players entered into this qualifying event will receive further information via email.