FITZPATRICK AND LYDIA KO WIN McCORMACK MEDALS

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE R AND A
 Matthew Fitzpatrick and Lydia Ko have won the Mark H McCormack Medals as the leading men’s and women’s amateur players in the 2013 World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

 

Fitzpatrick has enjoyed an outstanding season, winning the Silver Medal as the leading amateur at The Open Championship, becoming the first Englishman to win the U.S. Amateur Championship since 1911 and reaching the final of the English Amateur Championship. He secured his place in the field for next year’s Open Championship at Royal Liverpool (Hoylake), the U.S. Open at Pinehurst and will receive an invitation to play in The Masters.

New Zealander Ko has won the McCormack Medal for the third year in succession after another excellent year in which she has played in four Major Championships and several events on the LPGA Tour as well as other worldwide professional events. The 16-year-old’s best finish of the year was tied third in the ISPS Handa Australian Women’s Open but she also tied 17th in the Wegmans LPGA Championship and 25th in the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

The R&A and United States Golf Association (USGA) award recognises the outstanding performances of both players this year. Fitzpatrick was ranked number two before overtaking Cheng-tsung Pan this week after his 4&3 victory over Australian Oliver Goss, ranked 8^th, in the 36 hole final of the U.S. Amateur Championship at the weekend. Ko, who won the inaugural Women’s McCormack Medal in 2011, has led the rankings for 122 weeks.

Fitzpatrick said, “I’m absolutely delighted to win the McCormack Medal. For this to come along at the same time as winning the U.S. Amateur Championship is really special. I had a fair idea that if I had a good finish I might be able to scrape it but it was great that it went my way. It has been an amazing few weeks for me ever since The Open and I am really happy to have achieved so much.”

Ko said, “It means a lot. And to have won the medal three years in a row makes it more special.

"It’s awesome. To have maintained my position for the last three years has been meaningful. I won the U.S. Amateur last year. I wanted to win that championship so much and to have won it, it was great. Without winning it I may not have been able to maintain my position.”

John Bodenhamer, USGA Senior Managing Director, Rules, Competitions & Amateur Status, said, "On behalf of the USGA, I extend our congratulations to both Matt and Lydia for their outstanding performances in the last competitive year. We are impressed by their record of successes, particularly at spotlight events. They have earned our respect for their talents as golfers as well as their positions in the WAGR, which continually showcases the quantity and quality of amateur golf around the world.”

Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, Executive Director – Championships at The R&A, said, “I would like to congratulate Matthew and Lydia on winning the McCormack Medals. To maintain such a high level of consistency throughout the year is impressive but to compete in Major Championships, as both players have done this year, is exceptional.

“WAGR is an important tool for measuring the performances of amateur players around the world and highlighting the quality of players we have at the elite level of the men’s and women’s games.”

The World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), which is supported by Rolex, was established in 2007 when the men’s ranking was launched. The Men’s WAGR encompasses more than 2,900 counting events, ranking more than 6,500 players representing 100 countries worldwide. The women’s ranking was launched in 2011 and has a calendar of more than 1,700 counting events with over 3,400 ranked players representing 78 countries worldwide.

Fitzpatrick won the 2012 Boys Amateur Championship at Notts (Hollinwell) Golf Club. He came through Local Final Qualifying to secure his place in The Open Championship at Muirfield. After finishing on a ten-over-par total of 294 he won the Silver Medal as the leading amateur. His rich form continued when he reached the final of the English Amateur Championship where he lost by 4&3 to Callum Shinkwin, and on August 18 he won the US Amateur at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, becoming the first Englishman to do so since Harold Hilton in 1911. Fitzpatrick was named in the Walker Cup team to face the USA at the National Golf Links of America in Southampton, New York on 7 and 8 September. After that event he will play collegiate golf at Northwestern University in Chicago.

Ko became one of the youngest winners of a professional golf championship, in 2012, when she won the New South Wales Open on the Australian Ladies Professional Golf Tour aged 14. She also won the Australian Women’s Amateur and was runner-up in the Australian Women’s Stroke Play Championship. In last year’s U.S. Women’s Open Ko received the silver medal as the leading amateur and she was a semi-finalist at the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship.

Ends.

REFRESHED GAUNT GRABS LEAD IN ROLEX TROPHY ON CHALLENGE TOUR

FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

• Fresh from a family holiday, Daniel Gaunt climbed to the top of the leaderboard on the opening day of the Rolex Trophy with a career-low round of 63.
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• Just as the Australian cricket team made hay while the sun shone during the fifth Ashes test, so Gaunt enjoyed himself at a sun-soaked Golf de Genève with nine birdies in a flawless display which bettered by one his previous lowest round on the Challenge Tour.
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• Gaunt has endured a hit-and-miss campaign on the Challenge Tour so far this year, with one victory at the Telenet Trophy and a top ten finish in St Omer interspersed with five missed cuts.
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• But after holidaying with his family in Egypt last week, the man from Melbourne rediscovered his form in spectacular fashion, notching four birdies on the front nine and adding a further five after the turn to end the day on nine under par.
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• Gaunt is currently two shots clear of the Spanish duo of Agustin Domingo and Adrian Otaegui and American Brinson Paolini, who carded rounds of 65 on the opening day of the elite 42-man event, which is again played in a Pro-Am format. 
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• Gaunt said: “It was a great day. This format is good for me, because I can get frustrated and uptight on the course but playing with the juniors and amateurs really helps me to relax, and it’s nice for the juniors to play with pro golfers to get them used to the levels they need to aspire to if they’re going to make it in the game.
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• “I played really well today, I only hit one or two ordinary shots and anytime I was out of position, I managed to recover. Coming into the week I felt really fresh – putting the clubs away helped me to re-assess and free my mind, and I came back from holiday refreshed and raring to go again. I’d been playing quite well recently, so it’s been frustrating to miss so many cuts. But you know there’s no cut this week, so that automatically helps you to relax.
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• “I play my best golf when I don’t overthink things too much, I just hit the ball find it and hit it again. It sounds so simple to say, but it’s much harder to do. Today was like the good old days and I really enjoyed it, so if I can keep the same attitude for the next three days I should be in with a decent shout of picking up my second win.”
• 
  

Domingo and Otaegui are still searching for their first victories, but after notching 15 birdies and an eagle between them, the pair will feel confident of ending their respective droughts this week.

Like Gaunt, Domingo used the one-week break in the Challenge Tour schedule to spend some quality time with his family, and he duly reaped the benefits of his R&R with a vastly improved performance.

Domingo climbed to seventh places in the Rankings on the back of his top ten finish in St Omer in June, but since then a series of missed cuts has seen the Spaniard slip out of the top 20.

But after recharging his batteries in Menorca with wife Isabel last week, the 32 year old arrested his recent slump with eight birdies – including four in a row from the 16^th hole.      

Domingo said: “I hit two good shots into the par five [15^th hole], then made good putts on 16 and 17 – from about three metres and eight metres – and hit a great approach shot into the last. So it was a very good finish to a solid round, which was much needed because I haven’t been playing very well recently.  

“My holiday helped me clear my head and forget about golf, which I needed to do. I had been trying too hard and forcing it instead of letting things happen, but after the break I feel a lot more relaxed.

“It also helps that I have my wife [Isabel] here with me this week, which helps me switch off because we don’t really speak about golf in the evenings. And I love this country – I’m half Swiss, so I feel at home in Switzerland because I spent a lot off time here when I was growing up.”

Domingo was mentored through his formative years by his uncle Domingo Hospital, a European Tour stalwart who now plies his trade on the Senior Tour; whilst José María Olazábal fulfils a similar role for Otaegui who, like the 2012 Ryder Cup-winning Captain, was born and raised in Spain’s Basque region.

Otaegui is in regular telephone contact with Olazábal, and he showed some of his mentor’s deft touch around the greens with a sparkling round of 65 which included a chip-in eagle two at the fourth hole.

He said: “It was a beautiful day and the course is in great shape, the greens were nice and receptive and I managed to take advantage of the perfect conditions. My only two bogeys were both three-putts from long range, but other than that I was very solid from tee to green.

“It’s my first-time here, and so far I’m really enjoying it. It’s great to play a different format, it makes a nice change and I’m really looking forward to the rest of the week now.”

LEADING FIRST-ROUND SCORES 
Par 72 

63 D Gaunt (Aus) ,

 65 A Domingo (Esp) , B Paolini (USA) , A Otaegui  (Esp) ,

 66 V Riu  (Fra) , T Nørret (Den) ,

 67 A McArthur  (Sco) , J Dantorp (Swe) , R Dinwiddie  (Eng) , J McLeary  (Sco) ,

 68 J Elson  (Eng) , K Borsheim  (Nor) , F Calmels  (Fra) , J Huldahl (Den) , L Kennedy  (Eng) , C Brazillier  (Fra) ,

 69 S Kim (Kor) , J Guerrier  (Fra) , T Sluiter  (Ned) , J Garcia Pinto (Esp) , J Lima  (Por) , D Ulrich (Sui) , B An (Kor) ,

 70 D Im (USA) , R Davies (Wal) , W Besseling  (Ned) , J Fahrbring (Swe) , A Pavan (Ita) , B Ritthammer (Ger) , M Crespi  (Ita) ,

 71 S Tiley (Eng) , P Edberg (Swe) ,

 72 E Dubois (Fra) , R Kakko  (Fin) , S Walker (Eng) , J Carlsson (Swe) , P Archer (Eng) ,

 73 S Manley (Wal) , S Kapur (Ind) ,

 74 D Huizing (Ned) ,

 75 A Gee  (Eng) ,

 76 D Frittelli (RSA) ,

 

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES 

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NEWS FROM THE PGA EUROPRO TOUR

FOUR SHARE HOTELPLANNER.COM CHAMPIONSHIP CLUBHOUSE LEAD ON 888POKER.COM PGA EUROPRO TOUR          
First round to conclude on Thursday after fog delay at Dale Hill

Four golfers share the clubhouse lead on three under par in the HotelPlanner.com Championship, but the first round will not be concluded until Thursday morning after heavy fog caused a two-hour delay to the start of the 888poker.com PGA EuroPro Tour event at Dale Hill Golf Club in East Sussex.

Sam Forgan, Jack Colegate, Elliot Saltman and Todd Adcock all signed for three-under-par rounds of 67, while Scott Fallon is also three under after completing 15 holes of his opening round.

Twenty-seven players of the 144-man field will resume their opening round on Thursday morning, while the second round will begin on time at 6:40am on the first tee. X golfers trail the leaders by one on two under.

Forgan (Stowmarket Golf Club) began strongly with birdies at one and three but returned to level par when he double bogeyed the par-four ninth. However, a three-under-par back nine which included an eagle on the 11^th took him into the clubhouse with a score of 67.

Colegate (Rochester and Cobham Park) was three under at the turn and remained at that score despite bogeys at 11 and 13 thanks to par breakers on the tenth and 14^th.

Scotsman Elliot Saltman (Archerfield Links Golf Club) shot six birdies in his opening round of 67, but dropped shots on the seventh, tenth and 12^th – all par threes.

Todd Adcock (The Nevill Golf Club) dropped just one stroke on his way to a three-under-par opening round. Birdies were carded at two, three, 13 and 14 with the only dropped shot a four on the tenth.

The first two rounds see 144 golfers compete before a cut to the leading 50 players plus ties is made. Entry to the event is free throughout the week, and Sky Sports HD will film Friday’s final round for a highlights programme to be shown during the week commencing September 2.

Following the conclusion of this week’s HotelPlanner.com Championship, the top six players on the 888poker.com PGA EuroPro Tour Order of Merit will gain exemptions to the second stage of European Tour Q School (provided that they have already entered European Tour Qualifying School).

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PORTPATRICK'S JAMES ERSKINE WINS CLEVELAN D GOLF AND SRIXON INVITATIONAL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Cleveland Golf and Srixon Invitational Pro-AM 2013 has been won by Portpatrick Golf Club’s James Erskine. Played on the Kintyre and Ailsa at Turnberry, the 36-hole competition saw 44 UK-based professionals battle it across two days on the Scottish links courses. After day one, local man Erskine held a 3 shot lead over last year’s winner Keith Baxter (Buchanan Castle Golf Club) and Raymond Burns (Lisheen Springs Golf Club), having shot a round of level par on the Kintyre course.

It proved to be an insurmountable lead for the chasing pack, as Erskine went on to play a near perfect display of tee-to-green golf to hold onto his lead on the historic Ailsa championship course. As reward for his efforts, Erskine picked up the trophy and winner’s cheque for £2000.

Erskine said: “I’m delighted to have won this event and keep up the winning run for us Scots in the competition. This is an incredible event to even be a part of so to end up winning the professional event makes me very proud. I’d like to thank everyone at Cleveland Golf and Srixon for making this such a memorable event.”

The team event was won by Darlington Golf Club’s team of Simon Calvert and Simon Jones. The pair started the final round in the last group, facing off against the team of Steve Harrison and Richie Armstrong from Stocksfield Golf Club. A strong finish from the Darlington team saw them eventually claim victory by 6 shots after making an eagle at 17 and following it up with a birdie down the last.

Calvert and Jones have now won themselves the trip of a lifetime to next year’s US Masters tournament courtesy of YourGolfTravel.com.

Armstrong said: “Myself and Simon are just over the moon to have won. Neither of us have ever been to the US Masters before so obviously we are both now incredibly excited.”

To view the full event leaderboard please visit: http://uk.vpar.com/live/clevelandsrixon13

For more information on Cleveland Golf or Never Compromise please contact:- Ben Davis, at ben.davis@clevelandgolf-europe.com or +447825056433, or Jon Parsons at jonP91@aol.com or +447885327948

For more information on Cleveland Golf, Srixon, Never Compromise and their tour staff, please visit www.clevelandgolf.com  Uwww.srixon.co.ukUH and HUwww.nevercompromise.comUH