Thursday, April 25, 2013

RICKY BARNES MAKES FLYING FINISH TO US PGA TOUR'S ZURICH CLASSIC

AVONDALE, Louisiana -- New father Ricky Barnes birdied six of the last eight holes at rain-softened TPC Louisiana on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Barnes finished the opening round with an eagle, seven birdies and a bogey for an 8-under 64. Boo Weekley and Lucas Glover were a stroke back, and D.A. Points and Morgan Hoffmann shot 66.
"Today it was nice because it was a pretty stress-free round," said Barnes, who did not arrive in New Orleans until late Wednesday afternoon after the birth of his daughter Monday night. "I only had to chip once in 18 holes so that's nice."
Read: Complete story on Thursday's round

Chinese teenage sensation Guan Tianlang announced Thursday that he plans to play in a U.S. Open qualifier in the Dallas area in two weeks. In the meantime, he is focused on making the cut at this week's Zurich Classic of New Orlean.
  The 14-year-old amateur posted even-par 72 in Thursday's opening round played in favorable conditions at TPC Louisiana, leaving him tied for 85th. He’ll likely have to shoot a red number Friday to make the cut at the 7,341-yard Pete Dye layout.   
Full story


LEADERBOARD
Par 72
Players from US unless stated
64 Ricky Barnes
65 Boo Weekley, Lucas Glover.

66 D A Points
67 Charlie Beijan, Matt Jones, Luke Guthrie, Ernie Els, Rickie Fowler, Billy Horschel, Chris Kirk, Stephen Ames (Canada), Jimmy Walker, Bobby Gates.
68 Matt Every, Harris English, Graham DeLaet (Canada), Jason Kokrak, Kevin Stadler, Justin Rose (England), Brian Davis (England), Gary Woodland, Tommy Gainey, J J Hendry, Trevor Immelman (S Africa)
70 Nick Watney, Keegan Bradley, Chad Campbell, James Driscoll, Chris DiMarco.

 
SELECTED SCORES
70 Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium) (T36)
71 David Lynn (England), Bubba Watson (T58).
72 Guan Tianlang (China) (amateur).

73 Marcel Siem (Germany), Ross Fisher (England), Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark).
74 Gary Christian (England) (T125)
76 Greg Owen (England)(T144)

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

CLICK HERE  

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LINK TO NGA TOUR'S MOUNTAIN LAKE CLASSIC





Check out the scores in the NGA Tour's Mountain Lake Classic.
Paul Cormack from Banchory is playing in it.

CLICK HERE

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STUDENT TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS LINK TO Kirkwoodgolf.co.uk

REPORT, FINAL TOTALS AND PICTURES FROM THE BUCS STUDENT TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS AT CRAIL AVAILABLE ON www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk

CLICK HERE

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FRENCHMAN FRANCOIS LEADS CHALLENGE TOUR IN MADRID BY TWO SHOTS

REPORT BY EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Frenchman François Calmels continued his domination of the 2013 Challenge de Madrid on Thursday, as a three under par 69 was enough to claim a two-shot lead over the pack as the tournament reached its halfway stage at El Encín Golf Hotel. 
Calmels, who shot a course record 63 in his first round on Wednesday, did though see his lead cut from three overnight as Philip Archer’s second consecutive 67 saw the experienced Englishman capture second place alone with 36 holes to play, one shot further clear of Sweden’s Jens Dantorp.
After a masterclass of golf that saw Calmels sink ten birdies in 14 holes during a blistering first round, the 31 year old Parisian looked like finding more of the same fine form on Thursday as he sprang out the blocks with a birdie at the opening par four first in Alcala de Henares. 
With more difficult conditions in Spain during the second round, though, it was to prove more of a steady if unspectacular day for Calmels, as a further gain at the long fourth preceded 13 straight pars before he finally found a third birdie of the day at the closing par five 18th.
“It was more difficult than yesterday with a strong wind and the pin positions were not easy,” said Calmels. “Some holes had changed a lot, for example yesterday I played driver and a wedge on the ninth and today needed driver and a three wood. My game was very good like yesterday but it was a little bit tougher today, it was impossible to shoot lower than on Wednesday!
“But my play was very good, I missed a few shots but managed to save pars. To be perfect I could have made two or three more birdies and I missed some good chances from around two meters. But I am happy because it is not easy to play well after such a good round, it was nice.”
Three-time Challenge Tour winner Archer, who began the day three off Calmel’s red-hot pace, backed up some excellent approach work with superb putting on Thursday to storm into contention at ten under par, two behind Calmels’ lead, and reflected afterwards that the warm Spanish weather was seeming to have a positive impact on his golf. 
“My game feels very good, it's been a long break,” said Archer, who made eight birdies and three bogeys during a rollercoaster second round. “As stupid as it sounds, too much rain and bad weather left me two months with no golf at all. I did not touch a club for three weeks and I started hitting balls a week ago.
“This is my first event of the season and it is great to play out there short sleeves! My routine and process around golf course is coming together."
Spaniard Alvaro Velasco showed some of the talent that saw the home contender crowned Challenge Tour Number One in 2010, signing for a best-of-the-day 65 on Thursday to move into a share for fourth place alongside England’s Sam Hutsby at eight under par. 
After starting on the back nine, Velasco found five birdies in reaching the turn with just 31 blows and refused to let up there, a monstrous drive and a pin-point wedge setting up an eagle on the long first before a further gain at the fourth was tempered by his only bogey of the day at the par four sixth hole.
“It's been a very solid round from tee to green, I am feeling very comfortable with my putting,” said Velasco. “I started off very well and gave myself many birdie chances. 
“I am feeling much better than at the beginning of the week when I wasn't very solid, I was tired but I am feeling better each day and seeing as my game seems to be coming back I’m looking forward to the weekend." 
Tapio Pulkkanen had perhaps the moment of the day at El Encín, however, when the Finn made his first competitive hole in one at the par three third hole with a picture perfect eight iron from 178 yards, en route to a five under par 67 – good enough for a share of tenth place heading into the final two rounds.
Amateur Champion Alan Dunbar was unable to capitalise on a fine start to his professional career yesterday, when the Northern Irishman shot an opening 68, struggling to a six over par 78 to to miss the cut by two shots on 146
SECOND ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72)
132 F Calmels  (Fra) 63 69
134 P Archer (Eng) 67 67
135 J Dantorp (Swe) 66 69
136 S Hutsby  (Eng) 66 70, A Velasco (Esp) 71 65
137 C Aguilar  (Esp) 67 70, S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) 69 68
138 T Nørret (Den) 67 71, R Davies (Wal) 66 72
139 E Dubois (Fra) 69 70, C Brazillier  (Fra) 69 70, C Garcia Simarro (Esp) 67 72, J Barnes (Eng) 67 72, T Pulkkanen  (Fin) 72 67
140 D Dixon (Eng) 70 70, S Walker (Eng) 71 69, D Im (USA) 68 72, M Zions (Aus) 68 72
141 D Suazo  (Esp) 66 75, B An (Kor) 70 71, M Korhonen (Fin) 69 72, D Frittelli (RSA) 68 73, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 69 72, B Hebert  (Fra) 71 70, R Kakko  (Fin) 67 74, S Thornton (Irl) 67 74, M Brier (Aut) 70 71, R McGowan  (Eng) 71 70, A Bernadet  (Fra) 70 71
142 J McLeary  (Sco) 71 71, A Domingo (Esp) 67 75, P Erofejeff (Fin) 69 73, M Rominger  (Sui) 68 74, A Levy (Fra) 69 73, M Lampert (Ger) 70 72, E Johansen  (Nor) 69 73
143 F McGuirk  (Eng) 74 69, J Glennemo (Swe) 72 71, P Bech (Esp) 74 69, J Lima  (Por) 71 72, M Glauert (Ger) 69 74, S Little (Eng) 68 75, F Bergamaschi (Ita) 70 73, J Maurer  (Aut) 70 73, C Suneson (Esp) 71 72, M Crespi  (Ita) 72 71, A Perrino  (Ita) 70 73
144 P Oriol (Esp) 73 71, T Sluiter  (Ned) 76 68, N Elvira  (Esp) 71 73, G Shaw (Nir) 70 74, J Garcia  (Esp) 71 73, S Tiley (Eng) 72 72, K Ferrie (Eng) 71 73, C Lloyd (Eng) 71 73, J Timmis (Eng) 69 75, M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) 71 73, W Besseling  (Ned) 70 74, T Hatton (Eng) 71 73, A Pavan (Ita) 72 72
MISSED THE CUT 
145 S Benson (Eng) 71 74, N Quintarelli (Ita) 71 74, F Colombo (Ita) 73 72, V Riu  (Fra) 74 71, M Madsen  (Den) 72 73, X Guzman (Esp) 73 72, M Sell  (Eng) 72 73, R McEvoy  (Eng) 70 75, C Del Moral (Esp) 71 74
146 J Howarth (Eng) 70 76, B Etchart  (Esp) 74 72, S Luna (Esp) 71 75, J Moul  (Eng) 73 73, C Macaulay  (Sco) 75 71, D Griffiths  (Eng) 68 78, P Dwyer (Eng) 70 76, S O'Hara  (Sco) 73 73, H Bacher (Aut) 72 74, B Parker  (Eng) 69 77, D Wright (Eng) 71 75, A Dunbar (Nir) 68 78
147 B Dredge (Wal) 76 71, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 74 73, L Jensen (Den) 73 74, R Quiros  (Esp) 74 73, M Veijalainen (Fin) 75 72, A Salto (Esp) 71 76, M Jonzon (Swe) 73 74, S Piaget  (Mon) 69 78, B Koepka  (USA) 72 75, G Cambis  (Fra) 73 74, A McArthur  (Sco) 74 73, S Kim (Kor) 76 71, M Nixon (Eng) 75 72, B Ritthammer (Ger) 72 75
148 G Houston (Wal) 72 76, I Giner (Esp) 73 75, F Svanberg  (Sui) 69 79, F Praegant (Aut) 71 77, J Ruth  (Eng) 72 76, S Arnold  (Aus) 74 74, A Marshall (Eng) 72 76, L Claverie (Esp) 71 77, N Vanhootegem (Bel) 75 73, E Goya (Arg) 76 72, O Bekker (RSA) 74 74, D Ulrich (Sui) 69 79, E Espana (Fra) 76 72, I Del Castillo (Esp) 75 73
149 J Guerrier  (Fra) 73 76, A Otaegui  (Esp) 73 76, J San Felix (Esp) 71 78, P Fendt (Aut) 74 75, D Kemmer (USA) 73 76, D Law (Sco) 75 74, D Gaunt (Aus) 75 74, J Ballesteros (am) (Esp) 74 75
150 J Mommo  (Fin) 73 77, O Floren  (Swe) 71 79, T Murray (Eng) 76 74, G Stal  (Fra) 72 78, D Brooks (Eng) 75 75
151 J Senior (Eng) 72 79, R Russell (Sco) 76 75, A Gee  (Eng) 78 73, J Bragulat  (Esp) 77 74, J Huldahl (Den) 73 78, A Hortal  (Esp) 78 73, T Haylock  (Eng) 77 74, L Goddard  (Eng) 76 75
152 C Ford (Eng) 74 78, J Elson  (Eng) 74 78, I Pyman (Eng) 74 78, L Saltman (Sco) 74 78, P Maddy (Eng) 73 79, J Legarrea (Esp) 76 76, A Forsyth (Sco) 74 78
153 J Camargo (Esp) 73 80, G Murray  (Sco) 77 76, D Geminiani (Ita) 75 78, O Whiteley (Eng) 75 78
154 N Ravano (Ita) 76 78, V Blazquez (Esp) 73 81, G Seegmuller  (Bel) 76 78, X Puig (Esp) 73 81, P Edberg (Swe) 76 78
155 P Relecom  (Bel) 74 81, Å Nilsson (Swe) 77 78, M Prihoda (Cze) 76 79, O Wilson (Eng) 78 77, J Gallegos (am) (Esp) 75 80,
157 K Borsheim  (Nor) 75 82
160 S Gonzalez Garcia  (Esp) 79 81, F De Vries  (Ned) 73 87
 ** G Piris Mateu (Esp) 78 WD, D Vancsik (Arg) 80 RT,
 
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

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ATHOLL HOTEL SPONSOR FREE TROLLEY HIRE FOR TRUMP INTERNATIONAL COMPETITORS



Patrons of the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre Scottish Ladies Open Tour. L to R - Gordon Sinclair, Bill Hogg and Gordon Nicoll (Dutch Mill Hotel).


By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com 
The Atholl Hotel, Aberdeen, already offering competitors discounted B and B accommodation during the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre Scottish Ladies Open Tour events at Trump International (May 6) and Deeside (May 7), are now sponsoring free hire of pull trolleys at the Trump venue.

There are hard-and-fast rules with regards to the use of trolleys at the Trump International Links: all visiting golfers either carry their clubs over their shoulder, hire a caddie or hire one of the pull trolleys available at the venue.
Competitors in the Saltire Energy Classic 1 on May 6 will be able to take a friend with them to pull their trolley, but it must be a trolley hired from the Trump International pro's shop.
The £5 hire fee is now going to be paid by the Atholl Hotel management (Gordon Sinclair and Bill Hogg) for each and every competitor.
Messrs Sinclair, Hogg and Gordon Nicoll (Dutch Mill Hotel), who are also offering cheaper B and B accommodation for competitors, are also sponsoring the £10,000 cash prize for the first person to hole her tee shot at the short 16th at Trump International .... with a "consolation" prize, if nobody gets a hole in one, of £100 for the tee shot which finishes nearest the hole.
Saltire Energy, through the good offices of its Aberdeen-born CEO, Mike Loggie, are putting up over £3,000 in sponsorship for the North-east double-header on the PLGC SLOT - £1,000 to the Trump International prize fund, another £1,000 to the Deeside GC prize fund and, on top of that, £1,250 for a prizelist featuring the best 36-hole aggregates from the two 18-hole events.
A fledgling tour such as the PLGC SLOT needs friends and patrons.
Add the names of Bill Hogg, Gordon Sinclair, Gordon Nicoll and Mike Loggie to the "founding fathers" - Paul Lawrie, Stewart Spence and Martin Gilbert.  
  

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JAMIE McLEARY ONLY SCOT TO BEAT MADRID CHALLENGE CUT

Jamie McLeary was the only one of nine Scots in the field to beat the second-round cut in the Challenge Tour event atEl Encin Golf Hotel, Madrid today.
The Peterhead-born player shot a pair of 71s for 142 - aggregates of 144 and better qualified - 10 shots behind the French leader, Francois Calmels who followed up a course record 63 with a 69 for 12-under-par 132 and a two-stroke lead.
Callum Macaulaey (75-71) and Steven O'Hara (73-73) missed out by two shots on 146.
Andrew McArthur (74-73) totalled 147, two ahead of David Law (75-74).
Raymond Russell (76-75) finished on 151 while Alastair Forsyth (74-78) and Lloyd Saltman (74-78) were eight shots above the limit on 152.
 George Murray finished last of the nine Scots on 153 with scores of 77 and 76.
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'MORE RELAXED' JAMES BYRNE JOINT SECOND IN ASIAN DEVELOPMENTAL TOUR EVENT

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE ASIAN TOUR

Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia, April 25: Nils Floren of Sweden shot his career’s best score of nine-under-par 63 to take the opening round clubhouse lead at the PGM LADA Langkawi Masters today.
Jame Byrne of Scotland, a former Walker Cup star, and newcomer Malcolm Kokocinski of Sweden were a further shot back on matching 64s at the RM200,000 (approximately US$65,000) Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.
Nicholas Fung was the best placed Malaysian in fourth place after posting a 66 at the Gunung Raya Golf Resort. A total of 15 players will return on Friday morning (8am) to complete the opening round after play was stopped for two hours due thunderstorms in the afternoon.
Floren, who is playing in his second year in Asia, took advantage of his sweet-hitting iron play and was rewarded with nine birdies from inside 15 feet. He earned an Asian Tour card at Qualifying School last year but failed to retain his playing rights for the new season.
“There was nothing special going on but I was never in trouble. It was a normal round but I hit my irons well and gave myself chances. This is my best score and I had a lot of fun on the course,” said the 23-year-old, who is searching for a first professional win.
“I have an old friend caddying for me this week and it was great. I wasn’t very down on myself when I lost my Asian Tour card last year because I feel that I’m fairly young and I’m happy to play professional golf as a career,” said Floren.
Byrne, who won the season-opening PGM CCM Rahman Putra Masters in February, bounced back into form with a more relaxed approach. 
“Maybe the reason why I play so well on the ADT is because I feel more relaxed. I guess I need to maintain this relaxed attitude when I’m playing on the Asian Tour,” said Scottish Northern Open champion Byrne, who earned his Tour card in Qualifying School in Thailand earlier this year.
“I haven’t been playing quite as well since winning at Rahman Putra because the standard on the Asian Tour is so much higher. I guess I have to take this approach with me onto the main Tour next time,” he said.
 
Leading round 1 scores:
63 - Nils FLOREN (SWE)
64 - James BYRNE (SCO), Malcolm KOKOCINSKI (SWE)
66 - Nicholas FUNG (MAS)
67 - Wasin SRIPATTRANUSORN (THA)
68 - Pasavee LERTVILAI (THA), Mitsuhiko HASHIZUME (JPN), LEE Shih-hung (TPE), Ben CAMPBELL (NZL)
69 - Michael MOORE (AUS), Lindsay RENOLDS (CAN), Darren TAN (AUS)
70 - Shaaban HUSSIN (MAS), Chris CAREY (AUS), YANG Fei-hao (TPE), Nicholas PUA (MAS), George GANDRANATA (INA), Hans JAMIL (MAS), Adam BLYTH (AUS), R. Nachimuthu (MAS), David PALM (SWE), LAM Chih Bing (SIN), Ian KEENAN (ENG)
 

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AUSSIE PRATT LEADS WITH 67 AT BALLANTINE'S CHAMPIONSHIP

NEWS RELEASE FROM ASIAN TOUR
Icheon, South Korea, April 24: Asian Tour winner Kieran Pratt kept Australia’s flag flying high on the world stage again after carding a flawless five-under-par 67 to take a share of the first round clubhouse lead at the weather-disrupted €2,205,000 (Approximately US$2.8 million) Ballantine’s Championship today.
Poor visibility and rain in the morning led to play being suspended and with over two hours of play lost, all 78 players from the afternoon session will have to return at 7.30am on Friday morning to resume their first round.
France’s Jean-Baptis Gonnet, Sweden’s Johan Edfors, England’s Matthew Baldwin and Korea’s Kim Gi-whan joined Pratt atop the leaderboard after they returned with matching 67s at the Blackstone Golf Club.
2010 Open Champion and world number seven, Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa is one shot back of the leaders at four-under through 16 holes when play was suspended due to fading light.
Pratt is no stranger to success, having won his maiden Asian Tour title in Myanmar last year.
The 25-year-old Australian, who was once ranked 15th in the World Golf Amateur Ranking, however knows he has to keep himself grounded to keep up Australia’s proud record of having wins in Thailand, India and the United States in the past two months.
“That's a great start, but the tournament probably starts on Sunday really.  So I'll try to get myself into position to contend and then we'll go from there,” said Pratt, who is among the 10 Australians from the Asian Tour competing at the Ballantine’s Championship this week.
Edfors, who has triumphed twice on the region’s premier Tour in China and Thailand in 2006 and 2009 respectively, is determined to return to his winning ways having made only two cuts in seven appearances on the European Tour so far this year.
“I had a really tough year last year both on and off the golf course but I've done my preparation really well this year.  I've done all the practice that is needed and I guess I now need to be patient to make it happen and I did that well today,” said Edfors.
The Swede started well when he birdied the third and fourth holes before picking up further shots on the sixth, eighth and ninth holes.
Edfors’ momentum was then halted by the play suspension which forced players off the course for over two hours.
The Swede resumed play on the par-four 11th with a bogey and could not extend his advantage for the outright lead after coming home with an inward 36.
“I was really happy I came out of the block pretty good there on the front nine, five-under and played some really, really good golf.  Then we had the fog delay there, and I didn't really sleep very much last night, so I was a bit tired when we started playing again to be honest,” said Edfors.
“I then started off with a bad three-putt and only managed to make one birdie coming in.  So I was a bit disappointed with my back-nine but overall it was really a good start,” added Edfors.
Meanwhile Asian Tour honorary member Y.E. Yang found himself trailing behind the clubhouse leaders by three shots after an opening 70.
Yang, who earned the distinction of being Asia’s first Major winner when he won the PGA Championship in 2009, will have to tame the elements if he wants to earn another honour of being the first South Korean to win the Ballantine’s Championship.
“I’m quite used to the hot weather of Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, and also the chilly weather of Korea and the United States,” said Yang.
“I know that as a golf player, I need to overcome those difficulties, including the weather conditions and prepare myself to perform well. However, it was tough today and it was not that easy out there,” said Yang.
LEADING MORNING SCORES
Par 72 Yardage 7281 
67 - Jean-Baptiste GONNET (FRA), Johan EDFORS (SWE), Kieran PRATT (AUS), KIM Gi-whan (KOR), Matthew BALDWIN (ENG).
68 - Peter LAWRIE (IRL), LEE Jung-hwan (KOR).
69 - David HOWELL (ENG), Rikard KARLBERG (SWE), RYU Hyun-woo (KOR), KIM Dae-sub (KOR), Ricardo GONZALEZ (ARG), Fabrizio ZANOTTI (PAR), Javier COLOMO (ESP).
70 - Espen KOFSTAD (NOR), Y.E. YANG (KOR), Stephen GALLACHER (SCO), Marc WARREN (SCO), Romain WATTEL (FRA), HWANG Jung-gon (KOR), Berry HENSON (USA), Peter WHITEFORD (SCO).
71 - Bernd WIESBERGER (AUT), S.S.P. CHOWRASIA (IND), Richie RAMSAY (SCO), Kiradech APHIBARNRAT (THA), Shiv KAPUR (IND), HAN Min-kyu (KOR), Damien MCGRANE (IRL), Jose Manuel LARA (ESP), HONG Soon-sang (KOR), SHIN Yong-jin (KOR).
72 - Kristoffer BROBERG (SWE), Lorenzo GAGLI (ITA), BAE Sang-moon (KOR), Gaganjeet BHULLAR (IND), Soren KJELDSEN (DEN), Eddie PEPPERELL (ENG), Thitiphun CHUAYPRAKONG (THA).
Selected scores
73 - Jeev Milkha SINGH (IND)
74 - Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA)
  
STILL TO FINISH

Scott Jamieson +1 after 15 holes.
Paul Lawrie + 3 after 15 holes

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

CLICK HERE 

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN OUT IN 30
REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
 Louis Oosthuizen finished the weather-affected first day of the Ballantine’s Championship one shot off the top of a packed leaderboard in South Korea.
The World Number Seven, who is making his debut in this week’s €2,205,000 event, covered the front nine at Blackstone Golf Club in just 30 strokes, but dropped two shots after the turn to finish the day on four under par.
The South African still has two holes of his first round left to play after a two hours and ten minutes suspension caused by heavy rain and poor visibility in Icheon, near the capital city Seoul.      
Oosthuizen said: “I got off to a great start, and was hitting it really well early on. But then on the back nine the wind came in and the weather got worse, and I miscued two shots and paid the price. But overall I haven’t hit it that well for a long time, so it was very encouraging. I was striking it very nicely on the range this morning, and then managed to take it onto the course with me this afternoon. So I’m very happy.”
 The early pace was set by England’s Matthew Baldwin, Sweden’s Johan Edfors, Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Gonnet, Korean Gi-whan Kim – who eagled the last hole – and Australian Kieran Pratt, all of whom managed to complete their five under par rounds of 67 after the delay.
Gonnet and Pratt, who closed with three birdies in succession, were the only members of the leading quintet to keep the bogeys off their cards, and the Frenchman was understandably delighted with a round which was his lowest to par this season.
He said: “It was good to put my name up there straight away, because I haven’t played like this for more than a year. I hit it very straight off the tee and my putting was great, which it was last week. So I’m pleased I managed to keep the same feelings on the greens.”
Edfors, a winner of three European Tour titles in 2006, has only made two cuts this season, with a tie for 56th place in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship his highest finish to date. But the Swede is on course to better that after notching six birdies and a solitary bogey.
He said: “I was really happy I came out of the blocks pretty well on the front nine, I played some really, really good golf. Then we had the fog delay there, and I didn’t really sleep very much last night so I was a bit tired when we started playing again.
“I started off with a bad three-putt, and then only managed to make one birdie coming home. So the back nine was a bit disappointing, but overall it’s still a really good start.”
In-form Englishman Tommy Fleetwood was alongside Oosthuizen on four under par when bad light brought a premature end to his round at 7.03pm.  
The duo, who share sixth place with Ireland’s Peter Lawrie and Korean Jung-hwan Lee, will resume their rounds at 7.30am on Friday morning.
 

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FALDO ADVISES CHINESE WONDER BOY TO STAY AN AMATEUR UNTIL 20 AT LEAST

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By JAMES CORRIGAN 
Sir Nick Faldo has urged Guan Tianlang to wait to until he is “bored winning amateur events” before turning professional as the 14-year-old Chinese prepares to play his first regular US PGA Tour event in Louisiana on Thursday.
Sir Nick Faldo tells Guan Tianlang to stay amateur as teenager prepares for regular PGA Tour bow
Some may question the wisdom of a schoolboy playing against the elite professionals twice in three weeks, but Faldo is more concerned about the temptation to join them on a permanent basis.
“Sure, he can play Tour events,” Faldo said. “But I think he should stay an amateur. He needs to keep winning, to get bored winning because he’s just won everything in the amateur game. Then move over.
“He has growing to do – physically, mentally, all those things. Golf is a sport that we can view as a 20-year window competing at the highest level. Do you get started at 14 to go to 34? Or get started at 20 to go to 40? I think that’s the smartest thing.”
Faldo got to know Guan during a recent trip to Mission Hills, in China, where the teenager was awarded a trophy for his play on the Faldo Junior Series last year.
At the Masters, Guan led the putting stats and he and Lee Westwood were the only players who managed to avoid taking a three-putt.
Guan will likely require a similar week on the greens at TPC Louisiana if he is to achieve his objective and again make the weekend.
He averages a little over 250 yards off the tee, which makes him comfortably the shortest-hitting player in an event which as well as Rose, the world No 4, features Ernie Els, Bubba Watson and Keegan Bradley.
The tournament is being screened in China, with Faldo telling the US PGA Tour on Wednesday he has been waiting for this teenager to emerge.
“It’s what I said years ago about places like China – as soon as they get a hero, watch out. And now, my goodness, their hero is only 14-years-old.”

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