JAPANESE ROOKIE WINS CASIO WORLD OPEN AND JAPAN TOUR MONEY TITLE

By Ryan Lavner

Hideki Matsuyama wrapped up the Japan Tour money title today – not bad for a 21-year-old who turned pro less than eight months ago.
Matsuyama won his fourth title of the season at the Casio World Open, where he edged Yuta Ikeda by a shot at Kochi Kuroshio Country Club. 
His transition to the pro ranks has been seamless.
Matsuyama became just the third player to break the 200-million yen mark in earnings, following Jumbo Ozaki and Toshimitsu Izawa, and he accomplished the feat in just 13 starts.
Matsuyama, who will play on the US PGA Tour in the 2013-14 season, finished inside the top 20 in all three major starts this year, including a pair of top 10s at the U.S. and British Opens. He also represented the International team at the Presidents Cup.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)

Kochi Kuroshio CC, Kochi, Japan

(Jpn players  unless stated, par 72):
276 Hideki Matsuyama 72 66 68 70
277 Yuta null Ikeda 73 67 68 69
279 Koumei Oda 72 66 70 71
281 Kazuhiro Yamashita 71 71 69 70, Sung-joon Park 72 73 67 69
282 Hideto Tanihara 76 70 68 68
283 Masahiro null Kawamura 75 68 70 70, Ashun Wu (Chn) 70 74 69 70, Ryuji Imada 72 72 71 68, Yusaku Miyazato 74 72 69 68, Hyung-sung Kim (SKor) 71 70 74 68
285 Satoshi Kodaira 72 71 71 71, David Oh (USA) 70 77 69 69, Tomohiro Kondo 73 71 71 70, Ryutaro Nagano 70 73 69 73, Toshinori Muto 74 66 72 73
286 Jung-Gon Hwang (SKor) 72 70 72 72, Min-gyu Cho (SKor) 70 73 74 69, Kenichi Kuboya 72 73 70 71
287 Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 73 71 71 72, Shingo Katayama 73 72 73 69
288 Tadahiro Takayama 74 74 70 70, K.T. Kim (SKor) 72 75 70 71, Kurt Barnes (Aus) 69 76 69 74, Masamichi Uehira 74 72 72 70
289 Ryo Ishikawa 72 73 74 70, Hiroo Kawai 77 68 72 72, Michio Matsumura 72 74 71 72, Han Lee (USA) 75 73 74 67, I j Jang (SKor) 76 72 72 69, Kyoung-hoon Lee 73 71 71 74
290 Sushi Ishigaki 76 71 72 71, Hidemasa Hoshino 73 73 72 72, Ryuichi Oda 73 72 73 72, Koichiro Kawano 74 74 72 70, Yui Ueda 72 73 74 71, S K Ho (SKor) 72 74 72 72, Hiroshi Iwata 71 77 71 71
291 Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 72 76 73 70, Ho-sung Choi (SKor) 77 69 72 73, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 71 76 71 73, Masanori Kobayashi 76 69 76 70, Hiroyuki Fujita 77 70 71 73
292 Kiyoshi Miyazato 75 73 70 74, Yosuke Asaji 75 73 72 72, J B Park (SKor) 72 73 72 75, Mamo Osanai 76 71 70 75, Daisuke Kataoka 70 76 72 74
293 Taichi Nabetani 72 74 75 72, Katsumasa Miyamoto 72 73 72 76, Keiichiro Fukabori 74 74 71 74
294 Ryuko Tokimatsu 74 74 73 73, Shinichi Yokota 76 72 72 74, Shintaro Kai 71 77 72 74
295 Kaname Yokoo 74 74 71 76, Kenta Konishi 75 70 73 77, Masahiro Kuramoto 76 70 74 75, Yoshinobu Tsukada 74 71 77 73, Norio Shinozaki 72 74 72 77, Daisuke Maruyama 74 74 74 73, Yuji Igarashi 76 72 73 74
297 Taichi Teshima 70 77 74 76, Satoru Hirota 72 74 74 77
298 Akio Sadakata 75 73 74 76, Katsunori Kuwabara 75 72 74 77

CHARL SCHWARTZEL RETAINS ALFRED DUNHILL CHAMPIONSHIP IN SOUTH AFRICA

                             Picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c)

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Charl Schwartzel continued his remarkable sequence of results at Leopard Creek Country Club, South Africa with a four-shot victory over a spirited Richard Finch in the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
A winner by 12 shots last year, the 29-year-old South African was winning event for a third time, having collected his first European Tour title in the 2005 Alfred Dunhill Championship. Since then he has also been runner-up four times..
After a double bogey on the tenth hole of his first round, the World Number 21 went 62 holes without dropping a shot and a closing 67 saw him finish 17 under par for the week.
“I had that hiccup in the first round through 17 and the first hole, and after that pretty much flawless with no bogeys from there on in,” he said. “Most of the time if you play 60 holes or whatever it may be without bogey then hopefully you’ll win.
“It’s always nice to get a win and get some confidence up. It’s been one of those years where I have played well and just didn’t get the wins.
“Whenever you win and you’re playing well is great, whichever time of the year it happens.
“I’ve got two tournaments left and last week I played just as well as this week. It shows that I’m playing nicely and I’d like to see if I can continue.”
The former Masters Tournament winner started the day two clear of Finch, who lost his European Tour card after a disappointing 2013 campaign and failed to regain at Qualifying School a fortnight ago.
The Englishman was soon level, however, with birdies at the first and third, only for Schwartzel to respond with a beautiful tee shot to a couple of feet at the fifth.
Both players birdied the sixth and eighth to leave the remainder of the field trailing, but Finch’s first mistake of the day at the 11th proved costly.
A wayward drive led to a penalty drop and, although he salvaged bogey on that occasion, a double bogey at the 14th ended his challenge after Schwartzel had birdied the 13th from eight feet.
“He got off to a fantastic start and mine was a little shaky,” Schwartzel said of his playing partner. “I know with this golf course out of experience that it’s a long way from over and you just have to keep hitting good shots.”
Finch’s runner-up cheque of €172,500 is likely to go a long way towards getting his card back for 2015, while Simon Dyson shot a final round of 67 to finish joint third on ten under, alongside compatriot Ross Fisher and France's Romain Wattel.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
271 Charl Schwartzel (S Africa) 68 68 67 68 (237,750 euros)
275 Richard Finch (England) 68 70 67 70 (172,500 euros)
278 Simon Dyson (England) 72 69 70 67, Ross Fisher (England) 72 65 72 69, Romain Wattel (France) 70 69 68 71 (79,800 euros each). 

SCOTS' TOTALS
282 David Drysdale (Scotland) 68 72 72 70 (25,150 euros) (T11_
292 Chris Doak (Scotland) 69 73 76 74 (5,100 euros) (T57).

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MYGOLFRANKING INTERNATIONAL @ DECEMBER 1, 2013

1 Toni McDonagh (Fortwilliam, N Ireland) 1217pts

2 Scott Hunter (Tillicoultry) 1185

3 Alastair Wastson (Langlands) 1175

4 Craig Meeks (Thornton) 1157

5 Jo Elson (Aqualate) 1143

6 Lewis Blyth (Prestonfield) 1133, 7 Adam Jobes (Seacroft) 1129, 8 Gary Barclay (Torrance Park) 1125, 9 Roger Leslie (Spey Bay) 1105, 10 Ricky McNeill (Dunnikier Park) 1102, 11 Douglas Taylor (Dunfermline) 1100, 12 Ian Gorn (Aberdour) 1092, 13 Kevin Wood (Prestonfield) 1085, 14 Daniel Alexander (Kingsknowe) 1075, 15 Peter Miller (Milngavie) 1067, 16 Alex McKenzie (Lothianburn) 1061, 17= Graeme Cox (Drumoig) 1058, Jack Owens (Bangor, NI) 1058, Jim Rice (Aberdour) 1058, 20 Paul Page (Kingsknowe) 1056, 21 John Douglas (Leven Thistle) 1055, 22 John Boag (Blairgowrie) 1048, 23= Greig Denton (Balfron) 1043, Laura McGeachy (Windyhill) 1043, 25 Russell Bracey (Ashridge Artisans) 1034.

 

For up-to-date ranking lists of participating clubs, the full Regional, National and International Rankings and how it works, visit www.mygolfranking.net.

The MyGolfRanking service is free to clubs and members. Clubs wishing to participate should register on www.mygolfranking.net or email info@mygolfranking.net for information.

 

This week’s MyGolfRanking Golfer of the Week is Laura McGeachy of Windyhill Golf Club, Glasgow. She retains her No 1 spot on the MGR Scottish Ladies Ranking for an 8th consecutive week and is 23= on the MGR International Ranking.                          

The MyGolfRanking Club of the Week is Fortwilliam Golf Club, Northern Ireland. The Belfast club, this week, jumps to No 1 on the MGR International Club list.

 

MyGolfRanking Men, 1 December 2013: 1 Scott Hunter (Tillicoultry) 1185 points, 2 Alastair Wastson (Langlands) 1175, 3 Craig Meeks (Thornton) 1157, 4 Lewis Blyth (Prestonfield) 1133, 5 Adam Jobes (Seacroft) 1129, 6 Gary Barclay (Torrance Park) 1125, 7 Roger Leslie (Spey Bay) 1105, 8 Ricky McNeill (Dunnikier Park) 1102, 9 Douglas Taylor (Dunfermline) 1100, 10 Ian Gorn (Aberdour) 1092.

MyGolfRanking Women, 1 December 2013: 1 Toni McDonagh (Fortwilliam) 1217 points, 2 Jo Elson (Aqualate) 1143, 3 Laura McGeachy (Windyhill) 1043, 4 Emily Aird (Blairgowrie) 1010, 5 Mary Carragher (Arrowe Park) 1006, 6 Susan Baldwin (Scotscraig) 988, 7 Pat Magill (Newton Stewart) 981, 8 Hilary Brown (Scotscraig) 979, 9 Josie Cooper (Aqualate) 975, 10= Alison Maillardet-O’Neill (Kingsknowe) 969, Fay Paterson (Kinghorn) 969.

MyGolfRanking Clubs, 1 December 2013: 1 Fortwilliam, NI 915 points, 2 Kingsknowe 879, 3 Prestonfield 871, 4 Dunfermline 868, 5 Blairgowrie 861, 6 Aberdour 859, 7 Awali 856, 8 Alyth 844, 9 Dunnikier Park 841, 10 Falkirk Tryst 840.

David Moir

in LEAGUE with GOLF Ltd
23 Links Road
Lundin Links
Leven
Fife KY8 6AS
Scotland

RORY MCILROY PIPS ADAM SCOTT FOR AUSSIE OPEN TITLE

FROM THE PGA OF AUSTRALIA WEBSITE
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy has snatched the Emirates Australian Open title from the hands of Adam Scott to claim his first victory of the year at Royal Sydney Golf Club.
Trailing Scott for the majority of Sunday, the World Number 6 sank a 12 foot birdie on the 18th green to collect his first title since November 2012, while it was heartbreak for Scott who bogeyed the last - a decisive two-shot swing in McIlroy's favour.
McIlroy’s final round of 6-under 66 for a 16-under-par total of 270 was just too good for Scott who with a one-under 71 (his worst round of the tournament), finished at 17-under 271 in second position, six shots ahead of the third placed John Senden.
2006 Australian Open Champion John Senden finished in third position, claiming one of three spots up for grabs in the 2014 Open Championship at Hoylake.
In only his second year as a professional Bryden Macpherson also secured a return to the Open Championship, the Victorian last competing for the Claret Jug in 2011 as an amateur.
Finishing at 9-under par alongside Macpherson, Rhein Gibson will also make the trip to Royal Liverpool in July for his Open (and Major) debut.
But Sunday was all about two-time Major Champion Rory McIlroy who was delighted to finish atop the leaderboard for the first time in 2013.
“Since the end of September I've just felt in a better place, a better place mentally with some things off the course,” said McIlroy.
“Golf's a long career and I'm 24 years old. I get a little impatient at times and if I actually just took a step back and looked at the bigger picture, it hasn't been too bad a year.”
While admitting that he felt a little guilty at ruining Scott’s Triple Crown glory, McIlroy had nothing but praise for Scott who led Rory by seven shots after starting the tournament with a record 62 to McIlroy's 69.
“He's had a phenomenal year. Masters champion, he won one of the FedEx Cup play off events. He came down here to Australia, won the Aussie PGA and then the Aussie Masters. Then World Cup last week and here,” he said.
“He's a true gentleman and he's a credit to the game but he's also a credit to this country. I was just lucky to be able to come out on top today.”
Whilst disappointed that the Triple Crown fairytale didn’t end as predicted, a dejected Scott was thankful for such a successful season that included victory at the US Masters and back-to-back wins at the Australian PGA Championship presented by Coca-Cola and the Talisker Masters in November.
“It's been a great year. Obviously I didn't want to finish like that. If I didn't play any good the first few days and played great today and finished second I'd be pretty chuffed going into Christmas, so that's how I should look at it,” said Scott who shot a course record 10-under 62 on Thursday.
“I'm gutted. I felt like I never had a better chance to win the Aussie Open but it was tight the whole back nine.”
“Nothing was going my way on the greens today. I could have put this thing away I think early on if the putter was behaving how it should have, like it did the rest of the week but I just misjudged into the last and a player as good as Rory is going to take that opportunity.”
Regardless of the result Scott still secured the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit title, his second since turning professional in 2000.
Western Australia’s Brady Watt also didn’t leave empty handed, his 5-under par finish in a tie for 14th earning him the title as low amateur in the field.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
Players from Australia unless otherwise stated
270 Rory McIlroy (N Ireland) 69 65 70 66
271 Adam Scott 62 70 68 71
277 John Senden 73 68 70 66
279 Bryden Macpherson 71 70 69 69, Rhein Gibson 71 70 69 69
280 Jason Day 70 74 66 70, Matthew Jones 68 68 72 72, Mark Brown 75 70 66 69

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