TIGER WOODS IS BACK AT TOP OF SPORT'S HIGHEST-PAID ATHLETES

FROM THE GOLF DIGEST WEBSITE'

By Alex Myers
Earlier this year, Tiger Woods reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking. Now he's back on top as the sports world's highest earner as well.

Forbes magazine has released its annual list of the world's 100 highest-paid athletes and Woods is first. The publication reports the 14-time major champ made $78.1 million in the past year (from June 1, 2012 to June 1, 2013) from prize money, endorsements, appearance fees and golf course design fees.
Woods was a mainstay in this position from 2001-2012 until the fall-out from his November 2009 scandal finally caught up with him in terms of lost sponsorships from the likes of Gatorade, Buick and Gillette.
Floyd Mayweather knocked him from the top spot last year, but the boxer  only checks in at No. 14 this year.
Woods has ranked No. 1 in Golf Digest's list of the top 50 earners in golf every year since its inception in 2004. In March, Golf Digest reported Woods earned $86.1 million in 2012. 
Figures for the list were compiled through interviews with agents, players, executives of companies involved with endorsements, industry analysts and through the official money lists of the professional tours. 
Golf Digest reported Woods earned nearly $122 million in 2009.
Forbes' list only includes active athletes. 
If it didn't, basketball legend/golf nut Michael Jordan would be No. 1 with his $80 million income. 
Other golfers in the top 100 are Phil Mickelson (No. 7 at $48.7 million), Rory McIlroy (No. 21 at $29.6 million), Ernie Els (No. 78 at $19.5 million), Brandt Snedeker (No. 81 at $19 million), who cracked the list for the first time on the strength of a $10-million bonus for winning the FedEx Cup.

FOX AND ORR SHARE FIRST PRIZE IN POLLOK PRO-AM

Graham Fox (Clydeway Golf) and David Orr (Mearns Castle Golf Academy), two of the most consistent performers on the Tartan Tour this season, tied for victory on four-under-par 67 in today's Pollok pro-am at Pollok Golf Club, Glasgow.
It was Fox's second win of the season and his sixth top 10 finish in seven starts.
For Orr, it was a first win of the season in his 10th start and his eighth top-10 finish in 2013.
They each earned £712. 
Runners-up, just a shot behind, were Neil Fenwick (Dunbar), Greig Hutcheon (Banchory), Greg McBain (Gamola Golf) and Chris Kelly (Cawder). They earned £338 apiece for 68s.
Stephen Gray (Hayston), who finished joint sixth individually on 69, led the Peter Tsim team of Mark Tsang (handicap 19), John Yau (17) and Daniel Chung (15) to victory in the pro-am with a net score of 23-under-par 119.

LEADING PRO SCORES
Par 71
67 Graham Fox (Clydeway Golf), David Orr (Mearns Castle), £712 each.
68 Neil Fenwick (Dunbar), Greig Hutcheon (Banchory), Greg McBain (Gamola Golf), Chris Kelly  (Cawder), £338 each.
69 Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle), Stephen Gray (Hayston), Jonathan Lomas (Caprington), Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills), David Patrick (Elie SC), £156 each.
70 Craig Ronald (Carluke), Gordon Law (Uphall), £106 each.
71 Christopher Currie (Caldwell), John McTear (unatt), Scott Henderson (Kings Links), Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs), £83 each.

ends

WEBSITE SPOTLIGHT ON FRASERBURGH COURSE

FROM GORDON MOIR

I'm sure you've heard of the website golfclubatlas.com which is

 

mostly used/viewed by golf course architects and golfers who 

 

love architecture. The person who administers the website is a 

 

Canadian called Ran Morrissett. 

 

He was over in Scotland recently and played Fraserburgh on 

 

recommendation of an  Australian who worked with us at St 

 

Andrews a couple of years ago.

 

He has just done a review of it on his website which I have linked

 

below.

 

Thought you might be interested.

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/fraserburgh-golf-club/

CANADIAN CLUB HAS STAMPED OUT SLOW PLAY WITH 2hr 15min DEADLINE

FROM THE GOLF CHANNEL WEBSITE

Emerald Links Golf and Country Club at Greeley in Ontario, Canada have stamped out slow play at the 27-hole facility which opened in 1990.
According to the club’s official policy, golfers must complete each nine-hole turn in 2hr 15min which averages out at 15min per hole.
While many courses make such a statement, very few offer this ultimatum: Golfers who don’t adhere to this policy are ushered off the course and pay-and-play visitors are given their money back.
The threat is enough to quash slow play. General manager Martin Patterson said there have only been three such instances of refunds in the past 15 years.
“The usual reaction is a thank you from the people directly behind them and everyone else behind them,” he said. “You don’t need a slow pace; that gets you into trouble. I’d rather have four people unhappy than the 200 that are slowed up.”
Other courses hoping to speed up play could do a lot worse than following Emerald Links’ lead. Sure, this policy may alienate the occasional slow golfer, but it will have the majority of quicker golfers firmly in agreement.

ROGER CHAPMAN PULLS OUT OF US OPEN, STALLINGS TAKES PLACE

FROM THE EUROSPORT WEBSITE
By Liam Happe

England's Roger Champion, last year's United States Senior Champion, has withdrawn from next week's US Open at Merion with a shoulder injury. 

Amerocam Scott Stallings will take Chapman's place.
The 28-year-old Stallings came up short at the Memorial where he tied for fourth, but after shooting 70-69 at sectional qualifying in Memphis, he was chosen to step up as first alternate.
The Massachusetts golfer admitted to the Knoxville News Sentinel that he thought the call from the USGA was a prank at first.
“I said, ‘Which one of my friends called you and told you (to do this)?’” he explained, according to the report.
“He said, ‘No, this is real. We just got out of a meeting.’ I said, ‘Absolutely. I’ll be honoured to be there.’”
It will be Stallings' debut at Merion, though he says he has caddied there before.
"I've walked it – I just caddied – and thought ‘That’s the hardest golf course I’ve ever seen,’” he said. “Now, after being on Tour for a little bit, you have a new appreciation for how to play it.”

COULD VARDON HAVE BEEN ON THE TITANIC BUT FOR ILLNESS?

FROM THE GOLF CHANNEL.COM WEBSITE

• By Al Tays

Was Harry Vardon connected to the most famous maritime disaster of the 20th century? Might he have perished in the 1912 sinking of the Titanic, changing the course of history for Francis Ouimet and golf?
There is evidence that Vardon contemplated sailing on the ship, which struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage and sank on April 15, with a loss of more than 1,500 lives, but little to back up the notion that he was booked and missed the boat only because of an 11th-hour illness.
We know this: Vardon won the 1911 British Open. Given that he was 41, had suffered a long bout of tuberculosis and hadn't won the Open Championship in eight years, his popularity soared in a similar manner to that of Jack Nicklaus when he won the 1986 Masters at age 46.

Remembering Ouimet
•	Tays: Anatomy of upset
•	Tays: Turning point in U.S.
•	Timeline
•	Ouimet’s clubs
•	Why Vardon and Ray?
•	Photo gallery
•	Trivia
•	Full Coverage

Lord Northcliffe, owner of the Times of London and the Daily Mail and a friend of Vardon's, sought to cash in by sending Vardon on a tour of the United States, with an eye toward winning the 1912 U.S. Open. 
After 16 years of domination by Scots and Englishmen, John J. McDermott became the first American-born winner of his country's national championship in 1911.
 Northcliffe wanted the trophy back in England, and he felt that Vardon, who had won in his only previous U.S. Open appearance, in 1900, was just the man to reclaim it.
The Vardon/Titanic story makes an appearance in two books – Mark Frost's "The Greatest Game Ever Played" and Audrey Howell's "Harry Vardon: The Revealing Story of a Champion Golfer." Howell is married to Peter Howell, Vardon's son.
Neither author got the Titanic story directly from Vardon, who died in 1937. Each one words it slightly differently, leaving room for different interpretations.
Frost wrote that Northcliffe "booked first-class passage" for Vardon on the Titanic, that Vardon became ill just two weeks before his scheduled departure, and that Vardon, after the sinking, "confessed to Lord Northcliffe that it was the first and only time he could say his illness had saved his life."
Howell wrote that Vardon became ill and scrapped the trip "(w)hen it was time to make all the arrangements," suggesting that he never actually booked passage.
GolfChannel.com, in an e-mail, asked Frost what his source was for the anecdote. He wrote back that he could not recall a specific source, that he did the research 15 years ago (his book was published in 2002), but that he remembered feeling comfortable enough to print it.
Howell could not be reached for comment.
Some golf historians think the story is overblown at best, and point to a lack of references to it at the time.
"We did an exhaustive search," said historian Martin Davis. "I had one of my researchers go through it and we checked a whole bunch of sources including Herb Wind's book 'The Story of American Golf' where there's a chapter on Vardon." No reference to Vardon and the Titanic was found.
Steve Guyot of North Attleboro, Mass., who created the website 1913usopen.com while doing extensive research on the tournament and its participants, said his doubt is rooted in the fact that "Lord Northcliffe was not exactly the shy, quiet type. He owned The Times and The Daily Mail and was very much a golf enthusiast, and yet I can't recall seeing anything in my reading of The American Golfer back issues, and I am unable to imagine him not letting The American Golfer in on his plans."
British golf author and historian Dale Concannon scoured back issues of The American Golfer and Golf Illustrated magazine, "of which I have copies for the years 1910–1914." He also found no mention of a Vardon/Titanic connection.
There's another angle that makes this story even more curious: It was reported in 1915, in The New York Times and other newspapers, that Vardon, Ted Ray, George Duncan and C.H. Mayo were booked on the Lusitania to depart on May 17 for the U.S. and that year's Open at Baltusrol.
 But the Lusitania never made it to Europe on its voyage from the U.S. On May 7 it was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland, with the loss of almost 1,200 lives. 
If the Vardon/Lusitania story is true, it's a mystery why reports at the time did not mention his earlier having missed sailing on another doomed ocean liner.
Regardless of the veracity of any Vardon/Titanic stories, without him canceling his plans in 1912, the 1913 U.S. Open likely would have been played under vastly different circumstances, and its 100th anniversary might have a completely different meaning, if any at all.
If Vardon had played in the 1912 U.S. Open, it's all but inconceivable Ouimet would have been in the field. First, it was played in Buffalo, New York State, negating Ouimet's appeal as a "local" entrant. Second, in 1912 Ouimet had yet to even make a cut in the U.S. Amateur, and had not yet won his first Massachusetts Amateur.
He had expressed no interest in playing in U.S. Opens, instead saying that winning the U.S. Amateur was his goal. And even if Vardon had won the U.S. Open in 1912, he was no sure bet to return to defend a title in 1913. 
He was still suffering from the effects of tuberculosis, and trips to America were a rarity for him.
Also, if Vardon were not entered in the 1913 U.S. Open, there would have been no reason for the USGA to delay its date from June to September. Ouimet would have had a Massachusetts Amateur title to his credit, but he didn't successfully qualify for the U.S. Amateur until September of that year. So local boy or no local boy, he very well might not have been invited to play.
U.S. golf history would be all the poorer for it.

+To recall the story of Francis Ouimet, the US amateur golfer who, with a 10-year-old caddie, won the US Open in 1913

CLICK HERE

TOP SEED BEATEN IN FIRST ROUND OF LOTHIANS' BOYS' CHAMPIONSHIP

Murray Naysmith (Marriott Dalmahoy), the leading qualifier for the match-play stages of the Lothians' boys championship , was beaten in his first-round tie by Murray Paterson (Bruntsfield Links) at the Braids last night.
Paterson won by one hole.

RESULTS:
Murray Paterson (Bruntsfield Links) bt Murray Naysmith (Marriott Dalmahoy) 1 hole.
Willem Kerr (Craigielaw) bt Jack Valentine (Musselburgh) 3 and 1.
Alexander Wilson (Renaissance) bt Andrew Ni (Murrayfield) 6 and 5.
Joe Bryce (Bathgate) bt Leigh Lawson (Turnhouse) 3 and 1.
Rory Smith (Marriott Dalmahoy) bt Mark Napier (Dundas Parks) 3 and 2.
Lewis Bain (Musselburgh) bt Ross Millar (Whitekirk) 2 and 1.
Chris Curran (Harburn) bt Josh Cullerton (Carrickvale) at 19th.
Calum Hill (Tantallon) bt Rob Paterson (Kilspindie) 6 and 4.

BRANDON STONE TURNS PRO, SIGNS WITH IMG

 

LONDON —South African golf sensation Brandon Stone announced today that he has both turned professional and appointed IMG, the global sports, fashion and media company, for exclusive worldwide management and marketing representation.

Stone’s amateur career has made him the talk of the golfing world and, after a year at the University of Texas where he finished the season ranked second on the collegiate rankings according to GolfWeek, he will play in his first professional event at the BMW International Open on a sponsor’s exemption. Ahead of his professional debut, Stone will also be signing deals with Ping and Titleist/Footjoy. 

Stone headed to the United States on a golf scholarship last year as the top ranked amateur in South Africa and has had a freshman year to remember, winning the 2013 Big 12 Conference Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, the Bayou City Collegiate Championship and the Big 12 Championship. 

Last week, he was announced as the 2013 NCAA Freshman of the Year and a Ping First Team All-American. 

Named Golf Digest Amateur of the Year in 2011, Stone has represented South Africa at junior and senior levels. He served as a member of South Africa’s 2012 Eisenhower Trophy and has amassed a staggering 18 titles over the past four years. 

Explaining his decision to sign with IMG, the industry leader which also manages his fellow countrymen Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Branden Grace, Trevor Immelman and Richard Sterne, Stone said, “I have had an amazing year in Texas and I would like to thank the University of Texas Golf coaches and my teammates for their support. I am very excited to turn professional and get started with the next phase of my golf career.

"I spoke to a lot of management companies but IMG, with all of their offices around the world and many decades of experience, make them the perfect fit for me. 

"Initially, I will need invitations to play and IMG has the global influence to ensure I get the opportunities to compete in the right tournaments to give myself the best possible chance to win cards in Europe and the US.”

He continued, “My first start will be at the BMW International Open and I am very grateful for the opportunity BMW are giving me and hope I reward them with a great performance.” 

Brandon will be managed by Duncan Reid out of the London office with assistance from Katie Gordine and Jacques Retief from IMG South Africa.

Reid, who also manages Ernie Els and Branden Grace, commented, “We are delighted to welcome Brandon to IMG and believe he has a very bright future ahead of him.  His achievements over the past couple of years have been remarkable and along with his fantastic golfing ability he is an extremely charismatic young man who will be very appealing to sponsors.”

 

Guy Kinnings, Global Head of IMG Golf, added, “Brandon’s outstanding amateur record has established him as one of the world’s best young golfers and he has the looks, personality and charisma to become one of the most sought after personalities in golf.”

                                                                                   

WORLD ONE-ARMED CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH-PLAY QUALIFIERS

HOSTED BY BALLATER GOLF CLUB

 

Scratch: 

146 Reinhard Schuhnecht (South Africa) 72 74. 
147 Alex Hjalmarsson (Sweden) 72 75.

159 Darren Grey (England) 83 76.

162 Robert Paul (England) 81 81.

165 Cian Arthurs (Ireland) 78 87

169 David Schutsander (Sweden) 84 85

170 David Waterhouse (England) 85 85

172 Nicholas Champness (England) 91 81

173 Marcus Malo (Sweden) 83 90

174 Michael O’Grady (Ireland) 91 83, Brendan Swan (Ireland) 89 85.

177 Petri Takkunen (Finland) 91 86

178 Krister Munther (Sweden) 91 87

182 Frank Morrison (Scotland) 90 92, Steven Hutchinson (England) 89 93.
184 Douglas Jopp (Scotland) 94 90.

 Handicap: 

143 John Condie (Ireland) (24) 72 71.

148 Norman Kelly (England) (18) 74 74

151 Declan Burns (Ireland) (24) 78 73 , Malcolm Guy (Scotland) (20) 77 74.

 

Knock-out ties start on Thursday (players would be delighted if specators came along)

Here’s the draw:

 

8.00        Reinhard Schuhnecht v Nicholas Champness

8.10        David Waterhouse v Cian Arthurs

8.20        Petri Takkunen v Frank Morrison

8.30        Robert Paul v Marcus Malo

8.40        Darren Grey v David Schutsander

8.50        Brendan Swan v Michael O’Grady

9.00        Douglas Jopp v Krister Munther

9.10        Alex Hjalmarsson v Steven Hutchinson

 

Handicap:

 

9.20        Norman Kelly v John Condie

9.30        Malcolm Guy v Declan Burns

 

WHEN DAVID LYNN SAVED IAN POULTER'S LIFE IN CZECH REPUBLIC

FROM THE GOLF CHANNEL WEBSITE
By DOUG FERGUSON
David Lynn is the Englishman who earned his US PGA Tour card last year by finishing eight shots behind as the runner-up to Rory McIlroy at the US PGA Championship. He can be racy on Twitter. And in his first year on the American Tour, he already has done well enough to earn over $1.3 million and be No. 29 in the FedEx Cup standings.

Not so well known about Lynn is the story of how he once saved Ian Poulter's life.
''We were in the Czech Republic,'' Poulter said earlier this year about his time on the Challenge Tour in Europe. ''There was four of us in a room to have a shower after the tournament – to try to save money, we keep one room open – and all these golf clubs were strewn across the floor.''
One of the players knocked on the door, and Poulter (pictured) tried to jump over the bags to get there.
''I caught my ankle in the loop, went down on it and cracked it,'' Poulter said. ''It was so painful. I sat on the toilet as they ran a freezing cold bath, and when I put my foot in the bath I passed out. And as I passed out, my teeth clenched and I swallowed my tongue. He had to wrench my mouth open. It was horrible.''
A decade later, Poulter offered him advice on whether to take up his US  PGA Tour card. Poulter recommended that Lynn at least play the first half of the season in America, and that's what he has done. 
Lynn is not playing the U.S. Open because he already booked a holiday, and while it seems like a bad idea, he's not kidding about needing a break. Lynn already had played 15 events when he finished The Players Championship.

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THE ART JUNKIE: Fred Couples was amazed by his most recent visit to the White House as Presidents Cup captain. And while he said President Barack Obama was in a jovial mood, what impressed Couples the most was the art on the walls.
That's when he (Fred) let on that he's somewhat of an ''art junkie.''
''What do I collect? I have California art,'' Couples said. ''I have some, you know, inexpensive expensive. There's some you can buy for 6 grand, some from 150 grand. I like buying one a year. It used to be cars, and now it's a piece of art. I'm almost done.''
He might be running out of space. Couples is trying to sell his home in the Palm Springs, California area, and when that happens, his other house in Los Angeles is smaller.

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TOUGH ROUGH: Johnny Miller and Peter Jacobsen miss the days when the U.S. Open was renowned for its long, thick rough.
During an NBC Sports conference call last week for the U.S. Open, Miller said the rough used to be so tough that it put a premium on hitting fairways. 
USGA executive director Mike Davis, starting in 2006, began a concept of graduated rough, making it deeper the further away it was from the fairway. Players have considered that to be a fairest test over the least seven years.
Miller disagreed, saying the U.S. Open became ''more like a PGA Tour event.''
''I think it lost its identity, personally,'' Miller said. ''I don't agree with that (graded rough policy) one bit. To me, the U.S. Open is supposed to be the ultimate test. ... I just thought like at Torrey (Pines), they set it up like an old Andy Williams with distance. Not that it wasn't a good Open - it was a great Open. But I like the rough, personally.''
Jacobsen recalled watching Hale Irwin in 1974 at Winged Foot, one of the toughest U.S. Opens ever (and one that followed Miller shooting 63 in the final round at Oakmont). 
Jacobsen said the U.S. Open was about survival, and it was one of the most intimidating events on the PGA Tour schedule.
''You had to drive it in play, get it out of the rough, into the right position where you could get it up and down, and the greens were quick, and hard, and sloping,'' Jacobsen said. 
''It was just very difficult. It's really going to be fun for me at Merion to see a return – hopefully a return – to that way of golf.''

---

NICKLAUS HONOUR: Jack Nicklaus has been selected for the Ambassador of Golf Award, which is given each year to a person who has promoted golf around the world. He will be honored on the first tee at Firestone Country Club on July 31, the afternoon before the opening round of the Bridgestone Invitational.
Nicklaus won the 1975 PGA Championship at Firestone, along with the World Series of Golf.
He is the second Nicklaus to receive the award from the Northern Ohio Golf Charities. His wife, Barbara, previously was honoured.
''This is certainly a special and meaningful recognition. I feel blessed to be included among such a distinguished list of past recipients, including my wife, because I am certainly Barbara Nicklaus' biggest fan,'' Nicklaus said.
 ''As Barbara and I look back on our careers and our lives together, we realize and appreciate that golf has contributed to us having a lifetime of fulfillment, enrichment and happiness. But we also felt a responsibility to give back, whenever and wherever we could.''

---

FOLLOWING THE PROS: Rand Jerris, the senior managing director of public services for the USGA, is trying to dispel the notion that pace-of-play issues in golf are primarily related to recreational players trying to copy tour players, especially on the greens.
A tired argument is that amateurs take too much time reading their putts because that's what they see pros do. Jerris said ongoing research by the USGA shows that player behaviour is but a small piece of the pace-of-play puzzle.
That led him to one observation that amateurs don't follow everything they see on TV.
''If we did everything professionals do, there would be no ball marks on the green,'' he said.
Indeed. Next time you're playing golf, see how many people neglect to repair the pitch marks.

---

.

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STAT OF THE WEEK: Tiger Woods earned $12,896 at the Memorial Tournament, his smallest cheque from finishing a tournament since the 2004 Bay Hill Invitational.

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FINAL WORD: ''Let's put it this way. There will be some guys that play the tour to make a living, period. All the good players play the tour to win golf tournaments to be the best player they can.'' – Jack Nicklaus.

ABERDEEN LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP SCOREBOARD

MURRAY CUP - FIRST ROUND

J Leslie (BA) (24) bt S Guyan (N) (12) 6 and 5

A Pirie (N) (13) bt J Craig (BA) (11) 5 and 4

C Carson (C) (19) bt I Petrie (N) (12) 4 and 3

R Smith (C) (16) bt A.McDonald (C) (10) 3 and 1

D Cumming (BA) (18) bt J Hay (BA) (12) 2 and 1

C Murphy (BA) (16) bt D Still (BA) (22) 4 and 3

C Dunn (BA) (16) bt G Fiddes (N) (12) 3 and 1

G Mair (N) (13) bt R Kane (C) (19) 1 hole

 
D Gill (N) (18) bt F Kennedy (C) (12) 2 and 1

B Lumsden (N) (14) bt D Barclay (BA) (14) 2 and 1

I Rowe (N) (24) bt R Jones(N) (15) 1 hole

J Ritchie (N) (18) bt M Winton (C) (13) 1 hole

G McBeath (C) (9) bt P Gray (BA) (12) 1hole

D McPherson (C) (12) bt J Smith (BA) (22) 3 and 2

S Meade (C) (10) bt E Anderson (N) (14) 3 and 2

N Christie (BA) (17) bt S Kelly (BA) (10) 2 and 1

ABERDEEN LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP
TONIGHT'S SECOND-ROUND TIES

TIE TO FINISH 
G V Somers (BA) v S Murphy (BA)

5.00 B Reid (C) v  S Allan (C)

5.06 A Shand (BA) v G Meade (C)

5.12 W Ross (C) v C McBain (N)

5.18 B Edmond (BA) v L Minty (N)

5.24 R Evett (N) v D Leslie (N)

5.30 M Dunn (BA) v D Mullen (C)

5.36 M Greig (BA) v S Allison (C)

5.42 C Somers (BA) v G V Somers (BA) or S Murphy (BA)