JUSTIN ROSE READY TO GIVE STRUGGLING TOM LEWIS SOME ADVICE

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By JAMES CORRIGAN
Justin Rose wants Tom Lewis to know he is not the first boy wonder to have embarked on a dramatic fall and has offered to help his young countryman.

Earlier today, Lewis was six under after 14 holes at the Open qualifier at Sunningdale and seemed almost certain of a return to the major where, two years ago, he set an amateur record by shooting a first-round 65 to lead.

However, Lewis played the remaining 22 holes in eight over to finish well down the 79-man field chasing the nine berths at Muirfield.

For Lewis, pictured right, this was all too familiar. He has appeared to have left his desultory form behind twice in the last month, in Austria and last week in Munich, when firing an opening 63 and 65 respectively.

Yet he self-imploded both times, even missing the cut at the BMW International last Friday after a second-round 78.

Since winning his third event as a professional in 2011, Lewis has failed to record a top-10 and looks in danger of losing his European Tour card.

Rose, who has confirmed that he will withdraw from the AT and T National this week, famously missed 21 cuts in a row after turning pro following the 1998 Open.
At Birkdale, he had finished fourth as a 17-year-old amateur. He recovered from that nightmare, beginning to forge a garlanded career which was capped two weeks ago by the US Open title.
Now he is willing to give Lewis the benefit of that experience.
“I like Tom a lot and I’d like him to know that my door is open to help him out,” Rose told Telegraph Sport. “Maybe, I could just reassure him and tell him what I learnt.
“Tom shot 65 in the Open, won his third event as a pro and I, like everyone else, thought 'wow, this kid is seriously good’.
"And Tom is seriously good. But this is a hard game which will eat you up if you let it.”
Paul Casey, the former world No 3, would testify to that. He also fell short at Sunningdale, a 71 and a 70 leaving him on two over, the same mark as Lewis.
Casey now requires heroics in the next three weeks to sneak into Muirfield via the back door – or else the player who finished third just three years ago will miss his first Open in 12 years.
The nine who did qualify included England’s Oliver Fisher and Richard McEvoy as well as Scotland’s Scott Jamieson and Northern Ireland’s Gareth Maybin.

 

WINNER AT AVIEMORE IS WINNING OF IFQ EUROPE AT SUNNINGDALE

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE R and A

American Brooks Koepka will make his debut in The Open Championship at Muirfield next month after capping a wonderful weekend by winning International Final Qualifying Europe at Sunningdale today.

The 23-year-old Floridian led the nine qualifiers from IFQ Europe after rounds of 69 and 65 left him with a 5-under-par total of 134. He finished one shot clear of England’s Oliver Fisher and two clear of Spain’s Alvaro Quiros, Frenchman Gregory Bourdy, Richard McEvoy, from England and Northern Ireland’s Gareth Maybin who all qualified for The Open. 

Sweden’s Niclas Fasth and Scott Jamieson from Scotland also secured spots at Muirfield.

Estanislao Goya took the final spot after a four-man play-off with Ross Fisher, David Drysdale, and Alejandro Canizares. The Englishman and the Scot, who had earlier missed a 2ft putt on the 15th and lipped out from 20ft on the 17th in his second round, were eliminated after taking bogey 5s on the first hole of the New Course. On the 171yd par-3 second, Goya found the green and left himself a 20ft putt. His first putt shaved the edge of the hole but he holed the putt coming back from 7ft for a par while Canizares failed to get up and down from the back of the green.

Fresh from securing his European Tour card by winning his third Challenge Tour event of the year at the Scottish Hydro Challenge at the weekend, Koepka showed no signs of fatigue as he maintained his excellent form over the Old and New courses at Sunningdale.
A round of six birdies and five bogeys on the Old Course in the morning paved the way for Koepka. 
An inspired afternoon round on the New Course saw him card birdies on the fifth, sixth, 12th, where he holed from 30ft, 13th and 17th, where he rolled it in from 25ft. He could afford a solitary bogey at the last.
Having managed only two hours’ sleep before taking a 6.30am flight from Scotland, Koepka said he was tired but delighted to have qualified for golf’s oldest Major Championship.
“It was a long day,” he said.  “I was in a lot of heather and I kind of felt like I was in it all day.  I didn’t hit it that great but I just tried to relax and hang in there. I putted really well and made some key putts on the second 18.
“It will be awesome to play in The Open. It’s what you prepare your game to play in. Any Major is special but The Open is up there. Everybody wants to win it.”
Fisher was relishing the prospect of playing in his second Open Championship after appearing at Turnberry in 2009. He said, “I haven’t played at Muirfield before but I watched Ernie Els win in 2002 and Nick Faldo also won there. I can’t wait to play there. I’m really pleased with my day’s work.”
A delighted Goya said it was “a dream come true” to be teeing it up at Muirfield next month. “I can’t believe it,” said the 25-year-old Argentinian. 
“I started the year not very good so to be able to play my second Major of the year is something hard to describe. 
“There is always pressure when you are trying to qualify for something as big as The Open. I had experience at Walton Heath and made it through the play-off there to get into the US Open.  I owe it to a lot of people so I am very happy for all of them as well.” Bourdy spoke of his determination to complete some unfinished business for French golf at this year’s Open venue. 
“Muirfield is my favourite links and one of the best courses I have ever played. I have practised there a few times and it is in wonderful condition. 
"The French have some good memories of Muirfield. We didn’t win with Thomas Levet. He lost in a play-off after finishing tied for first with Ernie Els, so the French have to come back and try to do their best.”
Levet was among those who failed to qualify from the 96-man starting field today, finishing joint 21st on one-over-par. First round leader Tom Lewis, stumbled to a six-over-par 75 in his second round, nine shots worse than his morning total, to finish on two-over-par, while England’s Graeme Storm, a two-time winner of this event, slipped to a 78 in the second round for a six-over-par total. 
Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley and his predecessor Jose Maria Olazabal both missed out after finishing on four-over-par totals of 143

IFQ Qualifier 2013

Sunningdale , United Kingdom
Official End of Round Scores

OC: Old Course, NC: New Course

Pos	Player	Country	Holes	OC	NC	Total	To Par	Status
1	Koepka, Brooks	USA	18	69	65	134	-5
2	Fisher, Oliver	ENG	18	70	65	135	-4
T3	Bourdy, Gregory	FRA	18	68	68	136	-3
T3	McEvoy, Richard	ENG	18	71	65	136	-3
T3	Maybin, Gareth	NIR	18	67	69	136	-3
T3	Quiros, Alvaro	ESP	18	66	70	136	-3
T7	Fasth, Niclas	SWE	18	69	68	137	-2
T7	Jamieson, Scott	SCO	18	66	71	137	-2
T9	Fisher, Ross	ENG	18	71	67	138	-1
T9	Canizares, Alejandro	ESP	18	67	71	138	-1
T9	Goya, Estanislao	ARG	18	70	68	138	-1
T9	Drysdale, David	SCO	18	67	71	138	-1
T13	Parry, John	ENG	18	72	67	139	Par
T13	Bland, Richard	ENG	18	70	69	139	Par
T13	Sjoholm, Joel	SWE	18	67	72	139	Par
T13	Havret, Gregory	FRA	18	70	69	139	Par
T13	Kjeldsen, Soren	DNK	18	69	70	139	Par
T13	Whiteford, Peter	SCO	18	67	72	139	Par
T13	Larrazabal, Pablo	ESP	18	69	70	139	Par
T13	Fleetwood, Tommy	ENG	18	67	72	139	Par
T21	Milkha Singh, Jeev	IND	18	69	71	140	+1
T21	Kofstad, Espen	NOR	18	70	70	140	+1
T21	Norret, Thomas	DNK	18	69	71	140	+1
T21	Levet, Thomas	FRA	18	70	70	140	+1
T21	Henry, Scott	SCO	18	71	69	140	+1
T21	Rock, Robert	ENG	18	70	70	140	+1
T21	Webster, Steve	ENG	18	68	72	140	+1
T21	Zanotti, Fabrizio	PRY	18	69	71	140	+1
T21	Hoey, Michael	NIR	18	69	71	140	+1
T30	Paisley, Chris	ENG	18	72	69	141	+2
T30	Vancsik, Daniel	ARG	18	72	69	141	+2
T30	Pepperell, Eddie	ENG	18	74	67	141	+2
T30	Lewis, Tom	ENG	18	66	75	141	+2
T30	Wattel, Romain	FRA	18	68	73	141	+2
T30	A Carlsson, Magnus	SWE	18	67	74	141	+2
T30	Casey, Paul	ENG	18	71	70	141	+2
T30	Kaleka, Alexandre	FRA	18	72	69	141	+2
T38	Campbell, Michael	NZL	18	72	70	142	+3
T38	Davies, Rhys	WAL	18	76	66	142	+3
T38	Dodt, Andrew	AUS	18	70	72	142	+3
T38	Slattery, Lee	ENG	18	70	72	142	+3
T38	Andersson Hed, Fredrik	SWE	18	68	74	142	+3
T43	Santos, Ricardo	PRT	18	71	72	143	+4
T43	McGinley, Paul	IRL	18	71	72	143	+4
T43	Campillo, Jorge	ESP	18	73	70	143	+4
T43	Maria Olazabal, Jose	ESP	18	71	72	143	+4
T47	Archer, Phillip	ENG	18	73	71	144	+5
T47	Uihlein, Peter	USA	18	71	73	144	+5
T49	Broberg, Kristoffer	SWE	18	75	70	145	+6
T49	Tullo, Mark	CHL	18	71	74	145	+6
T49	Nixon, Matthew	ENG	18	72	73	145	+6
T49	Storm, Graeme	ENG	18	78	67	145	+6
T49	Khan, Simon	ENG	18	73	72	145	+6
T49	Little, Sam	ENG	18	71	74	145	+6
T55	Gonnet, Jean-Baptiste	FRA	18	76	70	146	+7
T55	Im, Daniel	USA	18	74	72	146	+7
T55	Hansen, JB	DNK	18	74	72	146	+7
T55	Orum Madsen, Morten	DNK	18	73	73	146	+7
T55	Velasco, Alvaro	ESP	18	73	73	146	+7
T60	Warren, Marc	SCO	18	73	74	147	+8
T60	Lee, Craig	SCO	18	75	72	147	+8
T60	Boyd, Gary	ENG	18	73	74	147	+8
T60	Pilkadaris, Terry	ARG	18	76	71	147	+8
64	Horne, Keith	ZAF	18	79	70	149	+10
65	Brooks, Daniel	ENG	18	73	77	150	+11
66	Morrison, James	ENG	18	72	80	152	+13
67	Dougherty, Nick	ENG	18	77	78	155	+16

RUSSELL AND FARMER WIN SENIOR PROS BETTER BALL AT BUCHANAN CASTLE

The Buchanan Castle Senior Professional better-ball competition today  produced the tightest of finishes with four pairs tieing on the best score of four-under-par 66. 
David J Russell (Archerfield Links) and Jim Farmer, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club professional, came out the winners of the £1,000 first prize after a scorecard play-off. They had the best inward half of 32, edging out the Deeside partnership of Peter Smith and Frank Coutts, John Chillas and Martin Gray (unattached), and Garry Harvey (Kinross) and Gerry Reilly Lochwinnoch).
The popular tournament for the over-50s, run by the PGA of Scotland, is the brainchild of the Buchanan Castle pro Keith Baxter who partnered Steve Kelly (Tulliallan) to a share of eighth place with a 69.

BUCHANAN CASTLE SENIOR PROFESSIONAL BETTER BALL
Buchanan Castle GC.
Par 140 (2x70) 6,131yd

66 David J Russell (Archerfield Links) and Jim Farmer (Royal and Ancient Golf Club), Peter Smith and Frank Coutts (Deeside), John Chillas and Martin Gray (unatt), Garry Harvey (Kinross) and Gerry Reilly (Lochwinnoch) (Russell and Farmer won first prize with better inward half).
67 Billy Lockie (North Gailes) and John McTear (unatt), Russell Weir (Cowal) and Alastair Webster (Edzell).
68 Stephen Craig (Weinberg) and Robert Collinson (Bearsden).

69 Richard Bowman (unatt) and Campbell Elliott (Haggs Castle), Keith Baxter (Buchanan Castle) and Steve Kelly (Tulliallan), David Thomson (Carnegie Club) and Anthony Caira (Kirkcaldy).
71 Graeme Lennie (Crail GS) and Robbie Stewart (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre), Jim McAlister (unatt) and Tom Eckford (Ranfurly Castle), Tom Melville (Alyth) and Kevin Phillips (Winterfield).
72 Ian Collins (Stirling) and Craig Maltman (Eyemouth), Peter Kerr and Steve Barnett (Hayston).
74 Kevin Stables (Foremost Golf) and Gregor Howie (Kilmarnock Barassie), Gordon Gray (unatt) and Gareth Dick (Dumfries-shire).

76 Ron Wallace (PGA) and Brian Anderson (Brora).
79 Billy McCondichie (unatt) and Peter Thomson (Erskine).

JACK'S THE LAD - WITH TENNANT TROPHY AT GLASGOW GOLF CLUB

  Jack McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie) receives the Tennant Trophy from Lorna Ash, wife of the Glasgow Golf Club captain Gordon Ash (pictured right).

   PICTURE BY COURTESY OF GLASGOW GOLF CLUB

Scroll down to our Sunday report and all the scores from the Tennant Cup.

DARREN CLARKE REACHES CAREER MILESTONE AT CASTLE STUART

              DARREN CLARKE ... playing in 20th Scottish Open
                       Picture by courtesy of Getty Images
 
NEWS RELEASE FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR

Open Champion in 2011,  reaches Darren Clarke will reach a notable milestone when he competes in this year’s Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Castle Stuart Golf Links near Inverness.

The Northern Irishman clocks up his 20^th appearance in the tournament, from July 11-14, as he seeks to recapture the spirit which helped inspire him to Major Championship glory at the age of 42 at Royal St.George’s back in 2011.

Remarkably, Clarke will be teeing up professionally in Scotland, the Home of Golf, for the 53^rd time in total, encompassing 20 Scottish Opens, 12 Open Championships, 12 Alfred Dunhill Links Championships, six Alfred Dunhill Cups and three Johnnie Walker Championships.

Clarke, a winner of 14 titles on The European Tour in a glittering professional career spanning more than two decades, returns to Inverness for the 2013 Aberdeen Asset Management  Scottish Open knowing that the stunning links provides the perfect stage from which to launch another Open Championship challenge.

 

Two years ago, the five-time Ryder Cup player from Portrush fired rounds of 69, 67 and 75 to finish down the field in the rain-shortened event, but the opportunity to re-acquaint himself with the eccentricities of links golf was a powerful launch pad for the following week in Kent.

 

Clarke, who made his Scottish Open debut at Gleneagles in 1992, has come agonisingly close to winning the title on a number of occasions, most notably in 2003, 2005 and 2010 when only one player finished ahead of him on each occasion.

Seven times in the top ten, Clarke was tied second in 2003 behind Ernie Els and occupied the same position two years later, when Tim Clark captured the title. In 2010 he finished runner-up on his own, three shots behind the champion Edoardo Molinari, who also returns to Scotland for this year’s championship with his eye on a second crown.

Clarke went on to play the golf of his life in the 2011 Open Championship, savouring the finest moment of his distinguished career by claiming the Claret Jug by three strokes from Americans Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson.

He said: “I am looking forward enormously to getting back to Castle Stuart. I grew up on links courses in Northern Ireland and have always had a special affinity with that style of golf. Of course, it eventually paid off when I finally won The Open at Royal St. George’s two years ago.

“It was a moment I will never forget, but I also appreciate the importance of playing the previous week at Castle Stuart. It’s the ideal way to prepare for Muirfield this year, but I would love nothing better than to head into The Open with the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open title under my belt.

 

“I’ve been very close in the past, as my record proves, and I have always enjoyed playing in the event down the years. There is always a high quality field and it’s just the sort of intense competition I need to get into the right physical and mental shape to tackle The Open.” 

 

A world class field is assembling at Castle Stuart, which hosts the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open for the third consecutive year before the tournament moves to Royal Aberdeen in 2014.

Major Champions Clarke, Mickelson, Padraig Harrington and Paul Lawrie are joined by defending champion Jeev Milkha Singh, new BMW PGA champion Matteo Manassero and a host of other European Tour winners and Ryder Cup players on the banks of the Moray Firth.

 

A season ticket can still be bought for £70 in advance of the tournament, a saving of £10 on admission at the gate. Adult day tickets are currently priced at £30, rising to £35 on the gate.

 

Concessions (60 and over) start at £50 for a season ticket and £20 for any one day tickets if purchased in advance. Under-16s accompanied by an adult are admitted free of charge and all car parking is also free.

 

Entrance to the Pro-Am on Wednesday is £12 in advance and £15 on the day.

Reserved grandstand seating can also be purchased immediately for the Saturday (£10) and the Sunday (£15) of the event. Hospitality packages are also available.

 

Additionally, new summer ‘stay and play’ packages are available via Castle Stuart on www.castlestuartgolf.com/stay-and-play.php

 

Full ticket information can be found at:  www.aamscottishopen.com or www.europeantour.com/tickets or telephone Ticket Hotline:  +440800 023 2557. Postal enquiries should be sent to: European Tour Tickets, Mirren Court Three, 123 Renfrew Court Three, Paisley, PA3 4EA.

 

 

GAVIN GREEN: REMEMBER THE NAME - AN AMATEUR GOING PLACES

  NEWS RELEASE FROM THE ASIAN TOUR

Singapore: Malaysia’s Gavin Green left many of the Asian Tour’s established stars in awe of his talent after he held his own to finish tied-sixth at the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters over the weekend.

At only 19 years of age, the Malaysian amateur (pictured) showed he can match up against the region’s best players when he spearheaded the home charge since day one and upstaged several of the Tour’s marquee names after four days of intense competition.

Thailand’s Pariya Junhasavasdikul, who completed a wire-to-wire victory at the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters, hailed Green as the next hope for Asian golf after witnessing the Malaysian’s class act at the Seri Selangor Golf Club.

“In two to three years, I won’t be able to match up with him (Green). I told him to starting buying a house in the United States after his tee shot on the par five fifth green where he had a sand wedge into the green. I told him that he is looking at PGA Tour right now. There’s no such thing as stepping stone for him. He will be on the PGA Tour quicker than he thinks,” said the 29-year-old Thai.

Australia’s Scott Hend, a three-time winner on the region’s premier Tour, played alongside Green in the opening two rounds and was impressed with the Malaysian who was bidding to become only the fourth amateur to win on the Asian Tour last week.

“He’s a good player. When I first saw him, he played golf on Thursday and Friday like how I do on Saturday and Sunday. He’s very aggressive. I guess he’s got nothing to lose at the moment and all to gain. He goes for his shots like a 19 year old should. He’s got a bright future. He’s a good ball striker, hits it very long,” said Hend.

Hend, however believes Green will need to adapt to the short putter when the anchoring ban is enforced in 2016.

“I don’t know what he’s going to do with the belly putter. He’s got a good swing and it seems to have a lot of good things going for him. He’s very young and he just needs to learn to use the short putter,” said the Australian.

The University of New Mexico undergraduate, who is back in Malaysia for the summer holidays, believes he will be back in contention as he ended his campaign the way he started by epitomising the true spirit of golf.

“I’ve got to try to play better when I make the cut. I played well all week. I can’t complain about that. I’ve got to practise more, especially on the short game. But I’m getting close to them (the pros). It’s a good experience,” said Green, who earned plaudits for calling a penalty on himself when his ball moved on the 11^th green to earn a one-stroke penalty on Sunday.

 

2013 FIFE GOLFING ASSOCIATION ORDER OF MERIT

Presented by www.MyGolfRanking.net, for The Mackay Bowl. Positions after 6 events

1 Ewan Scott (St Andrews) 300 pts

2 Alan Sutherland (Ladybank) 210

3 Scott Crichton (Aberdour) 160

4 Jordan McColl (Scotscraig) 140

5 Paul Stewart (Ladybank) 125

T6 Alister Hain (St Andrews) 100

T6 James White (Lundin) 100

8 Colin Martin (St Andrews) 80.

The next counting events for the 2013 FIFE ORDER OF MERIT are THE EAST OF SCOTLAND OPEN AMATEUR STROKE PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP, presented by Golf in DUBAi, at LUNDIN on 29 and 30 June and THE ABERDOUR 36 HOLE OPEN on 30 June.

HUGH HUNTER'S CLACKMANNAN COUNTY NEWS

LOCALS JUST MISS OUT AT THE AMATEUR

Some call it the British Amateur, but really it is THE Amateur, the most prestigious event in the amateur golf calendar. 

Two Clackmannan county locals made the long trip to South-east England to compete in the field of 288 elite golfers from all over the world.   

With only 64 qualifying for the match-play stages, Dollar’s Scott Borrowman just missed the qualifying cut of 147 with rounds of 78 and 71.   

Alva’s Lawrence Allan looked good with a first round of 73, but fell away in the second round with an 80, missing out by six shots.  The Scots contingent didn’t make much impression this year. Of the 30 who entered, only seven made the cut and they all lost in the early stages.

               BETTER LUCK FOR BOB STEWART

  Tulliallan’s Bob Stewart showed some good golfing form in the Scottish seniors championship held at Elie last week. Opening with an ordinary 76, Bob added two 71s to lift him into equal sixth place in the three-round event,  ten shots behind the winner and fourth best Scot in the field.

At present Bob is in eleventh place in the Senior Order of Merit. The points gained should lift him into the top ten, and give him some confidence for the rest of the season.

                            BORROWMAN BOUNCES BACK

The Tennant Cup, played over the courses of Glasgow Golf Club at Gailes and Killermont, resulted in a top finish for Scott Borrowman.  With rounds of 77, 73, 68 and 70, he finished in fitth equal place.  Since Scott is already in third place in the SGU Order of Merit, it seems pretty certain that he will be named in the Scotland six-man team to contest the European team championship in Denmark in early July.

Two rounds of 72 and 78 over Glasgow Gailes also ensured Alloa’s James Aitken played in the final 36 holes over Killermont in Glasgow.  Although his Sunday rounds of 73 and 75 didn’t lift him up the field, he must have been pleased to be in the company of many of the Scottish elite golfers.

 

        CONFIDENCE BOOST FOR CALLUM

With rounds of 69, 68, 74 and 69,  Tulliallan’s Callum Macaulay finished the BMW International Open in Munich with an eight under par total - his best performance for some time - and  a share of 35th place. 

Three birdies in the last four holes must have been especially pleasing.  Just three weeks ago he looked very good with opening rounds of 68 and 66 in the Lyoness Open, but fell away in the final two rounds.  Just stringing together four very good rounds could do wonders for him. Callum certainly has the game to compete at the European level; it's just some consistency that eludes him.       

After being a reserve for the lucrative Irish Open this week at Carton House,  Maynooth, Callum now has a place in the field and a chance to build on last week’s good work.

 

                       LOCAL GOLF COMING UP

The County Mixed Fours is due this weekend, and hopefully all six Clubs will be represented for what is usually an enjoyable competition.  On the 29th June there is the William McLean Open at Braehead (handicaps 13-28)  and the Lamert Trophy at Tulliallan         (scr-12).   
There is also a Gents Open Scramble at Dollar.  Local golfers are urged to support these events. They entry fees are good value for money and travelling is minimal. Golfers should check for late entries to these events.

 On the National scene, the East of Scotland Amateur is being played over the weekend and next week is the Under-16s Scottish boys championship at Portlethen. Sadly no local (Clackmannan) boys are playing. Hopefully, they will be supporting the Boys Open at Braehead on July 3.