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CHINESE 14-YEAR-OLD LIKELY TO MAKE THE CUT IN ZURICH CLASSIC

FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE
By Brian Allee-Walsh, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
AVONDALE, Louisiana  -- Just two weeks after making a historic cut at the Masters, 14-year-old Chinese sensation Guan Tianlang is on the verge of making another weekend on the US PGA Tour.
Guan carded a 3-under 69 in the second round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans today and sits at 3 under for the tournament. 
He was tied for 44th place when he finished with the afternoon groups still on the course. The top 70 players and ties make the cut, which was projected at 2 under.
"I think I played a very good round today," Guan said, "and I made a lot of birdies and a couple of good up and downs.  So I think I had a pretty good round, I think. I think I made the cut. ...
"Making the cut is one of my goals. I'm having fun these couple of days, and I hope to play my best and go a little further into the weekend."
Guan trails leader Lucas Glover by nine shots entering Saturday's third round. And while his chances of winning are slim, where he finishes seems of little importance to those golf fans who have taken a shine to him.
He appears to attract all ages, young and old, including his parents who were in his gallery Friday.
"I feel OK with them watching me,'' he said. "It makes it a little easier but it's still difficult to play on this course.''
Guan opened second-round play at even par, quickly moved to 1 under with a birdie on his first hole (No. 10), gave it back at No. 11, then sank a pivotal 17-foot for birdie at the 346-yard, par 4 16th.
He also posted birdies at Nos. 1 and 4, cracking par for the first time of his brief two-event career on the PGA TOUR. It also marks his lowest round in his first six rounds on TOUR, and he has not made worse than bogey on any single hole.
Friday's 69 was the same score shot by veterans Ernie Els and Justin Rose, among others. It's four strokes better than the 73 shot by Rickie Fowler, who at age 24 is among the closest players in the field nearest to Guan's age.
Morgan Hoffmann, who finished his second round about the same time as Guan did, said what the eighth-grader was doing "is unbelievable. You know, The Masters and then here, it's awesome. ...
"I hope he understands what he's doing, because everybody out here is following him."
Last year, Guan stayed in the New Orleans area for a month while working on his golf game. He said he was glad to see the big, supportive crowds.
"I'm not too surprised because I came here last year and I have some friends here," Guan said. "So I think I would play pretty good golf."
Two weeks ago, Guan made the cut as the youngest competitor Masters history en route to claiming Low Amateur honors.

CALMELS STILL LEADS IN CHALLENGE TOUR BUT THE PACK ARE CLOSING

REPORT BY EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

A third round of level par 72 was good enough to keep François Calmels ahead of the field at the Challenge de Madrid, but the Frenchman will be acutely aware of a chasing pack gaining momentum and bidding to stop his charge towards a second Challenge Tour title.

Led by Denmark’s Thomas Nørret, whose five under par 67 (the joint best round of the day) saw him charge into second spot on 11 under, there are 15 players within five strokes of Calmels going into the final round.

The Swede Jens Dantrop and Englishman Phillip Archer share third place on ten under, with Alvaro Velasco leading the home charge a further shot back, alongside Finland’s Tapio Pilkkanen and Frenchman Edouard Dubois.

On a tricky day at El Encín Golf Hotel on the outskirts of Madrid, Calmels cancelled out his three birdies with three dropped shots to remain on 12 under par with 18 holes to go.

Such has been the level of the 31 year old’s performance in the Spanish Capital this week, his first bogey of the day – on the difficult 210 yard par three sixth hole – was his first dropped shot in 25 holes.

With just one round to go in Madrid, Calmels knows that if he can eliminate the mistakes from his final round then he will be a tough proposition for the chasing pack in Saturday’s final round.

“I didn't play very good today,” admitted the Frenchman. “I made three very bad choices which all led to mistakes and dropped shots.

“Then, my putting was nowhere near as good as it had been for the first two rounds. I just had one of those days on the course where all of the mistakes were down to me, my own bad decisions.

“I really felt like I could go out there today and put another really good score together but I just didn’t play well enough. I just have to come back here tomorrow and try and eliminate the mistakes and putt more like the first and second rounds. If I can do that then I will have a great chance to win.”

Nørret, meanwhile, is looking to repeat his third-round performance.

“I played very steadily today and didn't get into many problems,” said the Dane.

“At the start of the round I was playing nice but couldn’t seem to get the ball close enough to create any good birdie chances, but I managed to turn that around on the back nine and made four birdies there and now I am in contention for the final round.”

 THIRD-ROUND TOTALS

Par 216 (3x72)

204 F Calmels  (Fra) 63 69 72

205 T Nørret (Den) 67 71 67

206 J Dantorp (Swe) 66 69 71; P Archer (Eng) 67 67 72

207 A Velasco (Esp) 71 65 71; T Pulkkanen  (Fin) 72 67 68; E Dubois (Fra) 69 70 68

208 S Little (Eng) 68 75 65; C Garcia Simarro (Esp) 67 72 69; S Hutsby  (Eng) 66 70 72; S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) 69 68 71; C Brazillier  (Fra) 69 70 69

209 B An (Kor) 70 71 68; M Lampert (Ger) 70 72 67; M Korhonen (Fin) 69 72 68; B Hebert  (Fra) 71 70 68; M Zions (Aus) 68 72 69; C Aguilar  (Esp) 67 70 72; J Barnes (Eng) 67 72 70

210 R Kakko  (Fin) 67 74 69; T Pilkadaris (Aus) 69 72 69; M Crespi  (Ita) 72 71 67; M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) 71 73 66; D Im (USA) 68 72 70

211 N Elvira  (Esp) 71 73 67; A Domingo (Esp) 67 75 69; F Bergamaschi (Ita) 70 73 68; E Johansen  (Nor) 69 73 69; S Walker (Eng) 71 69 71; S Thornton (Irl) 67 74 70

212 D Suazo  (Esp) 66 75 71; J McLeary  (Sco) 71 71 70

213 R Davies (Wal) 66 72 75; A Pavan (Ita) 72 72 69; J Lima  (Por) 71 72 70; T Sluiter  (Ned) 76 68 69; A Bernadet  (Fra) 70 71 72; P Erofejeff (Fin) 69 73 71; D Frittelli (RSA) 68 73 72

214 C Suneson (Esp) 71 72 71; D Dixon (Eng) 70 70 74; P Bech (Esp) 74 69 71; W Besseling  (Ned) 70 74 70; G Shaw (Nir) 70 74 70;

215 A Levy (Fra) 69 73 73; M Glauert (Ger) 69 74 72

216 T Hatton (Eng) 71 73 72; K Ferrie (Eng) 71 73 72; S Tiley (Eng) 72 72 72

217 J Maurer  (Aut) 70 73 74; J Garcia  (Esp) 71 73 73; M Brier (Aut) 70 71 76; R McGowan  (Eng) 71 70 76

218 A Perrino  (Ita) 70 73 75; J Glennemo (Swe) 72 71 75; M Rominger  (Sui) 68 74 76; F McGuirk  (Eng) 74 69 75

219 C Lloyd (Eng) 71 73 75

221 P Oriol (Esp) 73 71 77

225 J Timmis (Eng) 69 75 81

 

DAVUD MILLER WINS SOUTH SENIORS AT POWFOOT

The Scottish Senior Golfing Society season is under way with Ayrshire's David J Miller (Kilmarnock Barassie) won the South of Scotland seniors open amateur stroke-play tournament over 36 holes at Powfoot Golf Club today.  Miller (pictured) had rounds of 73 and 72 for a one-over-par total of 145 - one shot ahead of Alan Elder (Kirkcaldy) (73-73) and Lindsay Gordon (Turnhouse) (72-74), both on 146.  Another Turnhouse player, Alastair Taylor was fourth on 147 (75-72).   LEADING FINAL TOTALS  Par 144 (2x72) 145 David J Miller (Kilmarnock Barassie) 73 72. 146 Allan Elder (Kirkcaldy) 73 73, Lindsay Gordon (Turnhouse) 72 74. 147 Alastair Taylor (Turnhouse) 75 72. 148 Alan Ross (Northumberland) 74 74, David Gardner (Broomieknowe) 73 75. 149 David J Smith (Stirling) 76 73. 150 Graham Forrest (Northumberland) 77 73, Alan O'Neill (West Lothian) 76 74, Graeme Millar (Swanston New) 73 77.  151 Terry Brown (Stand) 79 72, Stuart Blair (Cathcart Castle) 78 73, George Blair (Haddington) 77 74, Joe McManus (Uphall) 76 75, John Fraser (Royal Burgess) 76 75, Colin Christy (Kilmacolm) 74 77.

TARTAN TOUR TEES OFF A SPEY VALLEY NEXT TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY

Press Release from The PGA in Scotland

The PGA in Scotland golf season tees off in earnest next week, with the first of the nine events that will comprise the 2013 Order of Merit, the 36 Hole Challenge Series Tournament at Spey Valley to be played on Tuesday and Wednesday.

There are five Challenge Series events spread throughout the summer, which are open not only to PGA Members, but also to non-PGA Professionals who have affiliated to the series and to low handicap amateurs, seeking to gain experience competing against seasoned Professionals.

Three of the four players who fought out the play-off for first place at the corresponding event last year eventually succeeded in gaining their European Tour card for 2013, which clearly demonstrates the value of these events for those Scottish players with aspirations to play at the very highest level.

Greig Hutcheon, the winner of the 2012 Scottish OOM and the leading player across the Challenge Series last year heads the list of entries, while reigning Scottish PGA Champion Graham Fox, who did not play at Spey Valley last year due to the imminent birth of his first son, will be looking to build upon his Gleneagles success. 

Current British PGA Club Pro’s Champion Gareth Wright is another who should do well around the Aviemore course.

Also in the field are former European Tour winners Jonathan Lomas, Stephen McAllister and Andrew Oldcorn. The latter pair now ply their trade on the European Seniors Tour, but that has been severely affected by the economic problems blighting the continent, and has yet to get underway in 2013.

Ross Kellett and 2012 Scottish Alliance Champion John Henry, whose brother Scott eventually triumphed in the 2012 play-off are amongst those non-PGA Professionals due to compete, although Kellett’s participation may depend upon whether or not he gains entry to next week’s Challenge Tour event.

Another face familiar to the Scottish scene will also be treading the fairways next week; Colin Gillies the two-time Scottish PGA Champion who retired at the end of 2011 will be making a return to competitive action after playing only Invitational events in 2012.

Brian Mair, Secretary of the PGA in Scotland commented “Spey Valley kicks off one of the most exciting periods in Scottish golf history. The eyes of the golfing world are on Scotland on the lead up to Ryder Cup 2014. 

"The challenge is to embrace this unique opportunity to ensure the legacy will benefit all involved in Scottish golf for years to come. Sponsors, and potential sponsors, will have the benefit of aligning their businesses to a truly world–class product – and the PGA in Scotland are committed and determined to play our part. 

"When Fraser Cromarty, Ross Harrower and Graham Fox tee up at 8am on Tuesday they will be leading the way for Scottish Professional golf not just for the tournament or the season but for the next chapter in our history”

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LANARKSHIRE NAME THEIR TEAM FOR SCOTTISH INTER-AREA CHAMPIONSHIP

Lanarkshire Golf Association have announced their six-man team for the Scottish Inter Area Team Championship at Crail Golfing Society on May 18th and 19th.

 

The team is:

 

1. Robert Jenkins             Crow Wood

2. Ross Hinshelwood       East Kilbride

3. Steven Rennie              Drumpellier

4. Craig Ross                   Kirkhill

5. Colin Baird                  Bothwell Castle

6. James Steven               Bothwell Castle

 

  Team Manager: W S O Sharpe   Hamilton

Areas are invited to follow Lanarkshire's example and send
the names of their teams for May 18-19 for display on 
www.scottishgolfview.com
E-mail the info to
Colin@scottishgolfview.com   

STRESS-FREE JAMES BYRNE GOES FIVE CLEAR IN MALAYSIA AT 15-UNDER-PAR

                   James Byrne: 17 birdies over 36 holes

NEWS RELEASE FROM ASIAN TOUR

Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia, April 26: James Byrne of Scotland shot a superb seven-under-par 65 to take a commanding five-shot lead in the second round of the PGM LADA Langkawi Masters today.

The former Walker Cup star from Banchory, near Aberdeen traded nine birdies against two bogeys for 15-under-par 129 to lead over Phuket-based Canadian Lindsay Renolds, who also shot a 65, at the RM200,000 (approximately US$65,000) Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.

Overnight leader Nils Floren of Sweden shot a 72 to slip back for a share of third place with Japan’s Mitsuhiko Hashizume (67) on 135, six shots behind Byrne.

The powerful Byrne snared 17 birdies in two days at the Gunung Raya Golf Resort but he will not take his impressive lead for granted.

“I’m just focusing and playing one shot at a time. I think my scores reflect how focussed and relaxed I’m. When you are not playing well you tend to get stressed out and anxious. Being stress free is definitely the key to why I’ve been playing so well,” said Byrne.

The 23-year-old struggled off the tees but made amends with a hot putter. “I putted really well but it was a bad ball striking day because I missed a bit of fairways. Evidently you can make a lot of birdies and if I stay in the process then I think I can hit another few low rounds.”

Renolds, currently fifth on the ADT Order of Merit, was delighted to be in contention heading into the weekend rounds as he aims to win his first ADT title and boost his position on the Official World Golf Rankings.

“At the start of the year I was ranked about a 1000 over in the world and now I’m in 788^th position. That’s the best part about the ADT because it gives you world ranking points. If you play a minimum of 10 events and if you have six top-five results, you can easily get a better ranking,” said Renolds.

“Canada is the country I represent and I want to play in the 2016 Olympics. It is a long way to go but I think it is very attainable.”

The halfway cut was set at one-over-par 145 with 55 players heading into the last two rounds.

LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS

Par 144 (2x72)

129 James BYRNE (SCO) 64 65

134 Lindsay RENOLDS (CAN) 69 65

135 Nils FLOREN (SWE) 63 72, Mitsuhiko HASHIZUME (JPN) 68 67

136 Malcolm KOKOCINSKI (SWE) 64 72, HSIEH Tung-shu (TPE) 68 68, Wasin SRIPATTRANUSORN (THA) 67 69

137 R. Nachimuthu (MAS) 70 67, LAM Chih Bing (SIN) 70 67, Ian KEENAN (ENG) 70 67, Anthony KANG (USA) 67 70, LEE Shih-hung (TPE) 68 69, Nicholas FUNG (MAS) 66 71, Jakraphan PREMSIRIGORN (THA) 73 64

138 David PALM (SWE) 70 68, YANG Fei-hao (TPE) 70 68

139 Clement RAMEAUX (FRA) 72 67, Shaaban HUSSIN (MAS) 70 69

140 Darren TAN (AUS) 69 71, Pasavee LERTVILAI (THA) 68 72, Iain STEEL (MAS) 71 69

141 Ben CAMPBELL (NZL) 68 73, Nick PUGH (ENG) 71 70, Arie FAUZI (MAS) 72 69, Michael MOORE (AUS) 69 72, George GANDRANATA (INA) 70 71

142 Grant JACKSON (ENG) 71 71, Adam BLYTH (AUS) 70 72, Sukree OTHMAN (MAS) 71 71, Airil Rizman ZAHARI (MAS) 71 71, Daniel BRINGOLF (AUS) 73 69, CHAE Bum-geun (KOR) 74 68, Sam CYR (USA) 71 71

143 Mohd. Nazri MOHD ZAIN (MAS) 71 72, Hans JAMIL (MAS) 70 73, Zen DHARMARATNE (MAS) 71 72, KIM Leun-kwang (MAS) 71 72, S. Siva Chandhran (MAS) 72 71, Quincy QUEK (SIN) 71 72, S. Murthy (MAS) 75 68

 

PAUL LAWRIE SHOOTS A 67 IN SECOND ROUND OF BALLANTINE'S CHAMPIONSHIP

NEWS RELEASE FROM ASIAN TOUR

Icheon, South Korea, April 26: Thailand’s Arnond Vongvanij stood tall among the giants when he posted a second round three-under-par 69 to share the clubhouse lead with Australia’s Wade Ormsby after play at the €2,205,000 (Approximately US$2.8 million) Ballantine’s Championship was suspended due to fading light on Friday.

Ormsby also continued his solid run following his maiden Asian Tour victory in India earlier this month by signing for a 67 to lead the field with his two-day total of seven-under-par 137 at the Blackstone Golf Club.

South Africa’s Jbe Kruger, who has one win on the Asian Tour, posted a 67 to take a share of third place with Sweden’s Alexander Noren and England’s James Morrison on 138 total.

A total of 77 players will return at 7.30am, local time on Saturday morning to complete their second round with the third round scheduled to start not before 11am.

After having his opening round disrupted by rains, Arnond returned in the morning to complete his remaining eight holes and quickly moved within a shot of the leaders with his first round efforts of 68.

The 25-year-old then started his second round on the back-nine 10^th and continued where he left off by surging ahead with birdies on holes 15 and 18.

After an outward 34, Arnond birdied the second hole before dropping a shot on the fourth hole.

He recovered well with another birdie on the fifth to move back to seven-under and also a share of the lead heading into the weekend rounds.

“The conditions were not easy, and the pins were kind of tough, especially with the wind blowing.  So I'll take what I can get,” said Arnond.

“I'm just happy with the way I played and wherever the score stands, I'll still stick to my game plan tomorrow and go from there. I try not to have one, because, you know, if you just focus on your game, then it will always work out,” added the Thai.

Meanwhile Ormsby also returned in the morning to complete his remaining five holes  from his opening round before heading back for his second round where he traded six birdies against a lone bogey.

“My game’s in a pretty good shape.  Obviously I won a couple of weeks ago, took two weeks off and I’m now trying to keep that form going,” said Ormsby.

“The Ballantine’s Championship’s a big event but it’s still the same process, it's still playing golf.  I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and see where I finish up,” added Ormsby.

Inclement weather in the morning brought play to a halt again and when it finally resumed after more than an hour, Ormsby returned to the par-four second, only to dropped a shot there.

The 33-year-old, however, recovered well by coming home with two birdies in his last three holes.

“No player likes the stops and starts, because it's difficult to judge the pace of the green and get your rhythm going again,” said Ormsby.

“On that last restart, I went back out and was struggling with the pace of the green.  I might have to take a couple extra look at the putt just to reassure myself that I've got the right pace,” added Ormsby.

Kruger’s affinity with the Blackstone Golf Club continued as he took advantage of his good drives to keep himself in contention for his second win on the Asian Tour which is celebrating its 10^th season this year.

“This is a golf course where you need to get your distances.  You can hit a couple yards left or right, but you need to hit it high and that's one of my strong points and that's why I like it,” said Kruger.

“The wind’s blowing a bit harder than yesterday, but I think it's the kind of course that if you're hitting it well, you can definitely go low.  The greens are very good.  If you hit them close, if you manage to hit them close, you'll definitely make a lot of birdies,” added Kruger.

The sixth edition of the Ballantine’s Championship will be the first event to be played in Korea on the Asian Tour this season and is once again sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and Korea PGA.

 

LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72) Yardage 7,281
 
137 Wade ORMSBY (AUS) 70-67, Arnond VONGVANIJ (THA) 68-69.

138 Alexander NOREN (SWE) 71-67, James MORRISON (ENG) 72-66, Jbe KRUGER (RSA) 71-67.

139 Tommy FLEETWOOD (ENG) 68-71.

140 Matteo DELPODIO (ITA) 71-69, Pablo LARRAZABAL (ESP) 70-70, KIM Hyung-sung (KOR) 71-69, Louis OOSTHUIZEN (RSA) 69-71, Marcus FRASER (AUS) 70-70, KANG Kyung-nam (KOR) 72-68, Magnus CARLSSON (SWE) 71-69, Brett RUMFORD (AUS) 73-67, WU Ashun (CHN) 75-65, JOO Heung-chol (KOR) 70-70.

141 Jyoti RANDHAWA (IND) 72-69, Lee SLATTERY (ENG) 70-71, HU Mu (CHN) 72-69, Gregory HAVRET (FRA) 71-70.

Selected scores

142 Paul LAWRIE (SCO) 75-67

143 Thongchai JAIDEE (THA) 71-72

 

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