LINK TO LIVE SCORING FROM CALIFORNIA TOURNAMENT

Follow the live scoring service from California (which is about 10 hours behind us in the United Kingdom for the $3,500,000 Northwestern Mutual World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club, Thousand Oaks.
Only 18 players in the field, including Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, bidding to win the $1,000,000 first prize.

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SPANISH GECKO PRO TOUR SCOREBOARD

VIEW THE FIRST-ROUND SCORES IN THIS WEEK'S SPANISH GECKO PRO TOUR EVENT AT ALMENARA GOLF CLUB

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DESIMONE NAMED UNITED STATES COACH FOR PALMER CUP MATCH

FROM THE GOLFWEEK WEBSITE
By CASSIE STEIN
University of California head coach Steve Desimone has been selected to coach the United States team at the Palmer Cup match this summer at Walton Heath Golf Club near London.
The Ryder Cup-style competition between college players from the United States and Europe will take place on the Surreyclub's Old Course on June 26-28.
Texas assistant coach Ryan Murphy, recipient of the 2013 Jan Strickland Award, will be the assistant coach.
Scotland’s Andrew Coltart and Stanford assistant Philip Rowe will again serve as Europe’s head and assistant coach, respectively.
“I’m honoured to be a part of the Palmer Cup as a member of the GCAA and representing the USA,” said Desimone.
“This news definitely has me smiling. I’ve worked with collegiate players for 35 years and I’m looking forward to this opportunity. I know this is going to be a lot of fun with plenty of great golf and serious competition. All in all, it should be a wonderful experience and Go USA.”
The United State won the 2013 Palmer Cup match 20.5-9.5 at Wilmington Country Club. That lopsided victory followed a series
of good performances by Europe.
The U.S. leads the Palmer Cup series nine wins to seven with one drawn match.

EUROPEAN TOUR FINE SIMON DYSON £30,000 AND SUSPENDED TWO-MONTH BAN

Decision of the European Tour Disciplinary Panel in the matter of Simon Dyson (pictured)

PRESS RELEASE

 

Decision of the European Tour Disciplinary Panel in the matter of Simon Dyson

 

1. This is a summary of the decision reached by the Disciplinary Panel following a hearing at the offices of the European Tour on 5^th December 2013.

 

2. Simon Dyson was charged by the European Tour with a Serious Breach of the European Tour’s Code of Behaviour, the facts alleged being that he intentionally tapped down a spike mark on the line of his putt on the 8^th green at Lake Malaren Golf Club during the second round of the BMW Masters on 25^th October 2013, and that in doing so he deliberately interfered with the line of his putt, contrary to Rule 16-1a of the Rules of Golf.

 

3. The Panel held that charge to have been made out by the Tour.  In particular, it found that:

(a)    Mr Dyson’s action in touching the line of his putt was a deliberate one;

(b)   that act was committed by him in the knowledge of the Rule forbidding such an act; and

(c)    his purpose in so acting was to improve his position on the green by pressing down a spike mark.

 

4.       As to sanction, the Panel bore two matters particularly in mind:

(a)    the extreme seriousness of the offence committed.  The Code of Behaviour starts with these very important words:

“On becoming a Member each person voluntarily submits himself to standards of behaviour and ethical conduct beyond those required of ordinary golfers and members of the public.  The European Tour has been the hallmark of honesty, fair dealings, courtesy, and sportsmanship and each Member is bound to honour and uphold that tradition at all times whether on or off the golf course.”

It is essential for the integrity of the professional game that all its participants adhere rigidly to this aspect of the code.  Conduct such as that committed by Mr Dyson is a very serious matter, which in the appropriate case would warrant an immediate suspension from the Tour;

(b)   the particular circumstances of the present offence.  Specifically:

(i)                  there is no history of misconduct on the part of Mr Dyson during his 14 years on the Tour;

(ii)                the fact, as the Panel found, that Mr Dyson’s conduct on the occasion in question involved a momentary aberration on his part, not a premeditated act of cheating; and

(iii)               the fact that his conduct and the Panel’s decision will have caused and will continue to cause detriment to Mr Dyson.

5.       Accordingly, the Panel decided as follows:

(a)    to impose upon Mr Dyson a period of suspension from the Tour of two months, but to suspend its operation for a period of 18 months.  The effect of this is that, if during that 18 month period, Mr Dyson commits any breach of the Rules of Golf, his case will be referred back to the Panel to determine whether in the circumstances the suspension should immediately become effective.  If, however, at the end of that period, he has committed no such breach, then the threat of a suspension will fall away;

(b)   to fine Mr Dyson the sum of £30,000;

(c)    to order Mr Dyson to pay the sum of £7,500 towards the Tour’s costs of these proceedings;

(d)   Mr Dyson is to make such payments within 56 days.

 

The Disciplinary Panel will in due course give detailed written reasons to the Tour and to Mr Dyson.  These detailed reasons will remain confidential to the parties.

 

No further statement by the Panel or any of its members will be made.

 

 

Ian Mill QC

Chairman              

5^th December 2013

LUKE DONALD GOES TWO CLEAR AT WEATHER-HIT NEDBANK CHALLENGE

REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS 

A sensational birdie-eagle start at the Gary Player Country Club handed Luke Donald the early lead at the Nedbank Golf Challenge before thunderstorms brought a premature end to day one at Sun City.

Donald flew out of the blocks to move to the top of the leaderboard on three under par through three holes before the day’s first weather suspension hit the South African venue. After a two and half hour delay, the players went back out on the course, allowing Donald the opportunity to make back-to-back birdies on the eighth and ninth to turn in five under par 31.

The Englishman, who successfully defended his Dunlop Phoenix title in Japan a fortnight ago, then made pars on ten and 11 before play was called for the day as further storms descended upon Sun City. 

“It doesn’t get much better than a three-three start around here,” said Donald. “Birdie-eagle and all of a sudden you are three under par through two holes. I played solid for those first 11 holes and hit a couple of very nice shots in that time that I was able to take advantage of. I feel good over the ball right now and I am playing with confidence. 

“I took a lot of confidence from winning in Japan. It is a place that I love to go back and a course that I love to play so it was very satisfying to be able to go back there and defend.

“I had seen good signs in Dubai the week before that and did some good work on my long game with Chuck Cook before I left for Dubai and I really felt the benefit of that. I also have to say that the putting came back in Dubai and Japan. That had been a little off for most of the year so it was very encouraging to get that back and I am feeling good about my game right now.”

Donald holds a two-stroke lead over Denmark’s Thomas Björn, Welshman Jamie Donaldson and Zimbabwean Brandon de Jonge, who holed out from 101 metres for an eagle on the ninth hole to charge up the leaderboard. 

Defending Nedbank Golf Challenge champion Martin Kaymer is on two under, while Henrik Stenson’s defence of his Race to Dubai crown got off to a solid start, with the Swede one under through seven holes. 

Round one will resume at 07:30 local time on Friday morning, with round two expected to tee off from 10:10.

 

FIRST ROUND LEADERBOARD
No player completed 18 holes due to bad weather
Luke Donald (England) 5 under par after 11 holes
Jamie Donaldson (Wales) 3 under par after 12 holes
Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 3 under par after six holes
Martin Kaymer (Germany) 2 under par after six holes

TO VIEW THE REST OF THE SCORES

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NE ALLIANCE PROVISIONAL TEE TIMES FOR INVERALLOCHY

JANUARY 8

1 08:15 

Charlie Cassie

Brian Harper

Andrew Campbell

Albert Smith

2 08:23
David Law
Chris Law
Keith Shanks
3 08:31
Sam Kiloh
Craig Dempster
Kamran Zeynalov
Reece Mitchell
4 08:39
Adam Dunton
Kevin Duncan
Bruce Mitchell
Phil Morrison
5 08:47 
Keil Beveridge
Laura Murray
Joel Hopwood
Chris Adam

6 08:55

Colin Nelson

John Dalgarno

Phil Anderson

Robert Masson

7 09:03

Raymond Brown

Mike Brown

Sandy Davidson

Donald Lawrie

8 09:11
Mike Winton
Derek McDougall
Jim Scott
9 09:19
Phil Craig
Brian Lawrie
Robert Orr

10 09:27

Gibbie McDonald

Chris Duncan

11 09:35

Christopher Lamb

Robert Lamb

Merchant Manson

John Duff

12 09:43
Michael Rendall
Leslie Roger
John Hamilton
Colin  Redman

13 09:51

Norman Stewart

Jackie Forrest

Ron Buchan

Mike Duncan

14 09:59
Ben Lumsden
Peter Cheyne
Dick, Wright
Graham Clayton
15 10:07
John Jessiman
Ian Grant
Alister Petrie
Peter Leech
16 10:15
Craig Lawrie
Phil McLean
Grant Joss
17 10:23
David Leslie
Gary Homer
Willie Shaw
Hamish McNaughton
18 10:31
Alan Gall
Lee Vannet
Alister Graham
Ryan MacRae
19 10:39
Gordon Milne
Jim Duncan
David Fleming
Jim Emslie
20 10:47
Steve Lawrie
Billy Fyfe
Cameron #Grant
Billy Main
21 10:55
Willie Skene
Robbie Duncan
David Lane
Alister Clark
22 11:03
Mark Lawrie
David Brown
Tommy Collie
John Borthwick
23 11:11
David Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Derek Randall
Mike Rogers
24 11:19
Stewart Finnie
David McKay
Mike Booth
David Wilson
25 11:27
Graham Allan
Scott Mackie

IRISHMAN HIGGINS LEADS HONG KONG OPEN

                  DAVID HIGGINS IN ACTION TODAY. Picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c)

REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Irishman David Higgins racked up nine birdies in a superb six under par 64 to lead the first round of the Hong Kong Open. 

The 41 year old, who finished 115^th in The 2013 Race to Dubai, missing out on retaining his full playing rights by five spots, is one shot ahead of Italian Andrea Pavan at Hong Kong Golf Club, which this week is celebrating hosting the event for the 55^th consecutive year.

Higgins was delighted with his opening effort, which he signed off by birdieing the last, on a course known for being tight and tricky. 

“It's my type of track,” he said. “You have to be very precise with your iron shots, be a good putter, have a good short game and keep it on the fairway. So it suits me perfectly. It's the type of course I grew up playing, where it's almost linksy.  You have to be careful as the ball runs out and runs off the edges of greens. 

“The end of the year was disappointing for me.  I didn't keep my full playing rights but I still have some, so I'm going to have chances and every time I get a chance, I've got to make the most of it. 

“This is a great start.  I still have a long way to go, so we won't get ahead of ourselves, but I'm delighted with today.”

Pavan, the 2013 Challenge Tour Number One, continued his promising form from the last two weeks to notch six birdies and a bogey.

“I started off well and hit it close many times on my front nine, starting from the 11th. I was four under and playing pretty flawless golf, but I made a few mistakes towards the end. Overall though it’s a good round and I'm pleased. 

“Last year was a good year, so that brings you confidence. You want to always improve, and I know that I'm moving in the right direction.”

Seven players are another shot back at four under, and defending champion Miguel Angel Jiménez opened with a level par 70.

 

FIRST ROUND SCORES:

Par 70

64 D Higgins (Irl) 

65 A Pavan (Ita) 

66 M Mamat (Sin) , C Lam (Sin) , S Benson (Eng) , A Dodt (Aus) , P Meesawat  (Tha) , A Gee  (Eng) , S Singh (Ind) 

67 J Makitalo  (Fin) , W Ormsby (Aus) , J Kruger (RSA) , N Elvira  (Esp) , S Manley (Wal) 

68 C Doak (Sco) , S Henry  (Sco) , O Fisher  (Eng) , M Fraser (Aus) , A Forsyth (Sco) , E Kofstad (Nor) , S Chowrasia (Ind) , A Lahiri (Ind) , D Kataoka (Jpn) , A Cejka (Ger) , C Phadungsil  (Tha) , J Sjöholm (Swe) 

69 S Kapur (Ind) , D Brooks (Eng) , A Byeong-Hun (Kor) , J Lara (Esp) , B Ruangkit (Tha) , D Lipsky (USA) , R Derksen (Ned) , D Stewart (Sco) , L Wei-Chih (Tpe) , R Karlberg  (Swe) , A Que (Phi) , T Chuayprakong (Tha) , P Pittayarat (Tha) , J Heath  (Eng) , T Olesen (Den) , C Plaphol (Tha) , K Sihwan (SKor) 

70 B Paolini (USA) , M Perera (Sri) , J Hahn (USA) , M Joong-Kyung (Kor) , J Carlsson (Swe) , K Broberg (Swe) , R Finch  (Eng) , J Knutzon (USA) , L Bjerregaard  (Den) , L Sung (SKor) , R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) , G Charoenkul (Tha) , K Phelan (Irl) , Z Moe (Mya) , A Levy (Fra) , A Hartø  (Den) , G Stal  (Fra) , S Hend (Aus) , K Gi-Whan (Kor) , M Jiménez (Esp) , J Stewart (Hkg) , Z Lian-Wei (Chn) , A Sullivan (Eng) , M Korhonen (Fin) , S Lam (am) (Hkg) 

71 J Morrison  (Eng) , C Nirat (Tha) , J Pagunsan (Phi) , R Kakko  (Fin) , S Webster (Eng) , D Im (USA) , L Wen-Chong (Chn) , T Tang (Hkg) , U Park (Aus) , J Singh (Ind) , A Da Silva (Bra) , F Andersson Hed (Swe) , S Rahman (Ban) , S Hansen (Den) , G Havret  (Fra) , A Wall (Eng) , C Paisley  (Eng) , W Wong  (Hkg) , G Tian-Lang (Chn) 

72 L In-Woo (Kor) , J Randhawa (Ind) , H Rai (Ind) , J Lagergren (Swe) , A Lascuna (Phi) , F Zanotti (Par) , J Colomo  (Esp) , H Wen-Yi (Chn) , D Drysdale (Sco) , K Samooja (Fin) , E Molinari  (Ita) 

73 P Junhasavasdikul (Tha), J Campillo (Esp), T Chi-Huang (Tpe) , J Doherty  (Sco) , S Walker (Eng) , M Both (Aus) 

74 S Hak (Hkg) , P Archer (Eng) , J Fahrbring (Swe) , A McArthur  (Sco) , J Hansen  (Den) , K Sung-Hoon (Kor) , K Tannin (Tha) , B Åkesson (Swe) , A Vongvanij (Tha) , L Wen-Tang (Tpe) , G Bhullar (Ind) , L Yu Jui (Tpe) 

75 B Henson (USA) , P Hyun-Bin (Kor) , M Tabuena (Phi) , D Chopra (Swe) , D Gleeson (Aus) , J Parry (Eng) , H Wong (am) (Hkg) , M Wong (am) (Hkg) 

76 S Barr (Aus) , D Gaunt (Aus) , N Tantipokhakul (Tha) , D Williams (am) (Hkg) 

 77 P Lawrie (Irl) , C Muniyappa (Ind) , C Yih-Shin (Tpe) , S Mizuno (am) (Hkg) ,

 78 J Daly (USA) , E Salvador (Phi) ,

 79 J Dantorp (Swe) , K Pratt (Aus) ,

 82 B Fox (USA) ,

 85 M Ting (am) (Hkg) ,

REPORT FROM ASIAN TOUR

Hong Kong: Singapore’s Lam Chih Bing and Mardan Mamat spearheaded the Asian charge when they opened with matching four-under-par 66s to stay two shots back of first round leader David Higgins of Ireland at the US$1.3million Hong Kong Open on Thursday.

The Singapore duo were among seven players that also included India’s Sujjan Singh and Thailand’s Prom Meesawat bunched in tied-third place at the Hong Kong Golf Club.

In one of the most unlikely twists to the opening day of the Hong Kong Open, Lam who was the second reserve for the storied championship found himself stepping up to the tee after Korean-American Anthony Kang decided to give up his spot to become a caddie for Singapore-based Unho Park of Australia.

Finland’s Joonas Granberg was earlier disqualified as he missed his tee time due to his caddie showing up on the wrong tee.

Lam rode his luck and even made the best of his opportunity to be among the early pacesetters at the Hong Kong Open, which is celebrating its 55^th anniversary.

“You probably couldn't have scripted this any better. And to get paired together (with Kang), that was just hilarious.  When I got a call to go to the 11^th tee, I just ran out there. I had an extra club which I took out before I teed off.  I had a bunch of old golf balls, no yardage book, no caddie.  But it worked out pretty well in the end for me,” said Lam

Mardan meanwhile continued to put in another assured performance as he seeks his fourth win on the region’s premier Tour.

“I'm very pleased with my round today.  I played very solid from tee to green and I just need to avoid making silly mistakes. If I can do that, I believe I stand a good chance this week,” said Mardan.

The Hong Kong Open is co-sanctioned by The European Tour, the Asian Tour and the Hong Kong Golf Association and is the third event of The 2014 Race to Dubai, and one of the last on the 2013 Asian Tour schedule.