CALIFORNIA DREAMING? NEWS FOR YOU - IT'S FROSTY AGAIN OVER THERE

THOUSAND OAKS, California – So you think the Sunshine State of California is the place to be, rather than cold, wet, snowy and windy Great Britain.
Think again.
Another day, another delay.
For a second straight day, tee times at the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge have been pushed back one hour due to FROST on the course.
The first twosome of the day – Jason Day and Jordan Spieth – will now start at 1:30 p.m. local time
Tournament host Tiger Woods will tee off with Graeme McDowell at 2:36 p.m. Zach Johnson, who leads after a 5-under 67, will pair with Matt Kuchar in the final group at 2:58.
Temperatures at Sherwood Country Club are expected to reach the mid-50s on Friday. Heavy rain is in the forecast for Saturday's third round.

SCOTS DOWN THE FIELD IN SPANISH GECKO TOUR EVENT AT ALMENARA

Ryan O'Neill from Penwortham Golf Club, Preston in Lancashire won the first prize of 2,000 euros in the Spanish Gecko Tour 36-hole event at Almenara Golf Club on the Costa del Sol, which finished today.
O'Neill shot 70-66 for eight-under par 136 and won by two shots from joint runners-up Marc Dobias (Switzerland) (68-70) and Spain's Manuel Quris (68-70) who each earned 875 Euros.
The Scots in the field of 84 players finished well down.
Malcolm Isaacs (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) had scores of 77 and 75 for 152 and a share of 42nd place.
Mark Rae had rounds of 76 and 79 for 155 and a share of 51st place. 
TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

CLICK HERE

JAMIE DONALDSON GOES THREE CLEAR AT NEDBANK CHALLENGE

REPORT FROM MICHAEL GIBBONS
European Tour staff writer

Jamie Donaldson, pictured, produced a domineering performance on the second day of the Nedbank Golf Challenge to establish a three-stroke lead over Henrik Stenson and Ryan Moore at the top of the world class leaderboard at the Gary Player Country Club, South Africa.
The morning after the death of former South African President Nelson Mandela began with a minute’s silence in honour of the great man at Sun City, before the weather-delayed first round was resumed.

Donaldson, 38, from Pontypridd, Wales, completed a first round of five under par 67 to finish round one in second spot on the leaderboard but he soon put his foot down to accelerate away from the field, firing seven birdies in 14 holes to move to 11 under par and three clear of golf’s man of the moment Stenson and American Moore. 

“I played really well. I hit a lot of iron shots quite close which enabled me to make a few putts.  The greens are not big here, so if you can get it near the flag you are never too far away,” said Donaldson.

“I have been playing nicely the last three weeks; it is a good end to the year and obviously the last event of the season.  I am looking forward to some time at home with the family and Christmas as home, but I have been on a good run and have two important days to go first, which I am very much looking forward to.” 

Asked if he would like to take a US $1.25 million Christmas present home to the family, the Welshman smiled: “That would be a nice present from Santa.”

Stenson, Moore and the rest of the world class field, including defending champion Martin Kaymer and Thomas Björn (both tied on seven under) may have something to say about Donaldson’s plans for a huge Christmas bonus over the next two days at Sun City.

Stenson admitted his dream 2013 season is beginning to catch up with him but hopes the adrenaline can keep flowing for a couple of more days to get him over the line. 

“I am kind of running of fumes to be honest,” said Stenson. “But I have put myself in a pretty good position so hopefully I can keep going and keep making birdies. If you can get yourself in a decent position early in the week then that can give you the little bit extra motivation to keep going to try and be there on Sunday so I am hoping that will be the case again this week.

“I am pretty tired mentally and physically but please don’t tell Jamie, Ryan Moore and the other guys at the top of the leaderboard – we’ll keep that little secret between us!”

 

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS

  Par 144 (2x72)

133 J Donaldson (Wal) 67 66

136 H Stenson (Swe) 69 67, R Moore  (USA) 71 65

137 M Kaymer (Ger) 71 66, T Björn (Den) 67 70

138 D Points (USA) 71 67, B De Jonge (Zim) 70 68, C Schwartzel  (RSA) 68 70

139 D Fichardt (RSA) 71 68, L Donald  (Eng) 68 71, G Fernandez-Castaño  (Esp) 67 72, T Jaidee (Tha) 69 70, P Uihlein  (USA) 70 69, S Garcia  (Esp) 66 73,

140 J Rose (Eng) 73 67,

142 J Luiten (Ned) 74 68,

143 L Oosthuizen  (RSA) 74 69,

144 D Lynn (Eng) 73 71,

145 V Dubuisson  (Fra) 73 72,

146 M Manassero (Ita) 72 74, K Streelman (USA) 75 71, R Sterne  (RSA) 73 73, F Molinari (Ita) 76 70,  E Els (RSA) 75 71, B Grace  (RSA) 75 71,

147 M Madsen  (Den) 76 71, G Woodland (USA) 74 73, T Wiratchant (Tha) 71 76,

148 P Senior (Aus) 80 68,

149 D Van Der Walt (RSA) 77 72

PAUL AND MARIAN LAWRIE AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE TODAY

         
 Paul Lawrie, with his wife, Marian, at Buckingham Palace today for his Order of

    the British Empire (OBE) investiture. Prince Charles did the honours.

NELSON MANDELA CHAMPIONSHIP NOW STARTING NEXT WEDNESDAY

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR

The Nelson Mandela Championship presented by ISPS Handa at Durban’s Mount Edgecombe Country Club will go ahead next week as planned, but will start a day earlier on Wednesday, December 11 and finish on Saturday, December 14. 

In recognition of the national period of mourning for the passing of former President Mr Nelson Mandela, provision will be made for observing the day of the state funeral for Mr Mandela which will take place on Sunday, December 15.

This is during the originally scheduled playing days (from Thursday, December 12 - Sunday, December 15), so the tournament will start a day early, and in that way, the four rounds can be completed by the scheduled close of the event. 

The tournament with its unique trophy will again be co-sanctioned by The European and Sunshine Tours and will be the fourth of seven co-sanctioned events between the two governing bodies on The 2014 Race to Dubai.

As with the inaugural event last year, won by Scotland’s Scott Jamieson, the tournament will honour Mr Mandela’s on-going charity work through the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.

KRUGER TRIBUE TO MANDELA AFTER TAKING HONG KONG LEAD

REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

South African Jbe Kruger paid tribute to the late Nelson Mandela after taking the lead at the halfway stage of the Hong Kong Open. 

The 27 year old fired a four under par 66 at Hong Kong Golf Club to move to seven under, one shot clear of Welshman Stuart Manley (67) and two in front of German Alex Cejka (67), India’s Shiv Kapur (66) and Australian Wade Ormsby (68).

Kruger, who played the back nine in six under par, said he was saddened by the death of Mandela, the former South African president, and was glad to finish well after a shaky start. 

“I think our country lost a real‑life hero,” he said. “He was probably one of the best people I've ever seen. It was an honour to wear this (pointing to the black ribbon on his shirt). I don’t think our country will ever have a leader like him again. I'm just trying to stay emotionally in a good place.

Of his round, Kruger, the only South African in the field, added: “I probably swung it the best I've swung it in a long time. I didn't miss many greens. I'm excited as I'm playing better for a change and I'm actually enjoying it. If the putts start to drop, you never know.” 

Manley grabbed the headlines at the ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf two weeks ago when his hole-in-one was followed by an 11 at the next hole, and he was delighted to remain in the limelight and in a strong position in Fanling.

“I’m happy and I’m looking forward to another 36 holes,” he said. “I’ll be trying to stay positive and keep doing what I’m doing. These are exciting times. 

“I played lovely today and hit the ball much better than yesterday. I made some good putts and I was over the moon to birdie the 17^th, 18^th and first, which are very tough holes.”

Defending champion Miguel Angel Jiménez will rue back-to-back bogeys to finish, but remains in a good position at three under par, however first round leader David Higgins struggled to a 74 to slip back to two under.

  SECOND-ROUND TOTALS

   Par 140 (2x70)

133 J Kruger (RSA) 67 66

134 S Manley (Wal) 67 67

135 W Ormsby (Aus) 67 68, A Cejka (Ger) 68 67, S Kapur (Ind) 69 66

136 C Doak (Sco) 68 68, B Ruangkit (Tha) 69 67, A Que (Phi) 69 67, R Derksen (Ned) 69 67, A Dodt (Aus) 66 70, E Kofstad (Nor) 68 68, P Meesawat  (Tha) 66 70, D Kataoka (Jpn) 68 68

137 M Fraser (Aus) 68 69, U Park (Aus) 71 66, D Im (USA) 71 66, M Jiménez (Esp) 70 67, D Lipsky (USA) 69 68, J Lara (Esp) 69 68, S Chowrasia (Ind) 68 69, R Karlberg  (Swe) 69 68, R Finch  (Eng) 70 67, A Pavan (Ita) 65 72, R Kakko  (Fin) 71 66, S Webster (Eng) 71 66, L Bjerregaard  (Den) 70 67

138 J Colomo  (Esp) 72 66, B Paolini (USA) 70 68, J Morrison  (Eng) 71 67, A Lahiri (Ind) 68 70, C Lam (Sin) 66 72, D Higgins (Irl) 64 74, S Benson (Eng) 66 72, A Byeong-Hun (Kor) 69 69, L Wen-Tang (Tpe) 74 64, J Campillo (Esp) 73 65, J Hahn (USA) 70 68, J Sjöholm (Swe) 68 70, J Makitalo  (Fin) 67 71, O Fisher  (Eng) 68 70

139 J Randhawa (Ind) 72 67, K Gi-Whan (Kor) 70 69, C Phadungsil  (Tha) 68 71, C Plaphol (Tha) 69 70, P Pittayarat (Tha) 69 70, N Elvira  (Esp) 67 72, H Rai (Ind) 72 67, S Singh (Ind) 66 73

140 S Henry  (Sco) 68 72, L Sung (Kor) 70 70, S Hend (Aus) 70 70, J Carlsson (Swe) 70 70, T Olesen (Den) 69 71, M Joong-Kyung (SKor) 70 70, A Forsyth (Sco) 68 72, D Drysdale (Sco) 72 68, D Brooks (Eng) 69 71, A Levy (Fra) 70 70

141 T Tang (Hkg) 71 70, J Knutzon (USA) 70 71, T Chuayprakong (Tha) 69 72, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 70 71, J Pagunsan (Phi) 71 70, H Wen-Yi (Chn) 72 69, A Wall (Eng) 71 70, G Stal  (Fra) 70 71, P Junhasavasdikul (Tha) 73 68, A Sullivan (Eng) 70 71, C Nirat (Tha) 71 70, C Paisley  (Eng) 71 70, A Lascuna (Phi) 72 69, L Wei-Chih (Tpe) 69 72, G Havret  (Fra) 71 70, A Da Silva (Bra) 71 70, E Molinari  (Ita) 72 69

 MISSED THE CUT

142 J Singh (Ind) 71 71, J Heath  (Eng) 69 73, K Phelan (Irl) 70 72, L In-Woo (Kor) 72 70, Z Moe (Mya) 70 72, A Gee  (Eng) 66 76, A Vongvanij (Tha) 74 68, M Both (Aus) 73 69, L Wen-Chong (Chn) 71 71, M Mamat (Sin) 66 76, J Lagergren (Swe) 72 70

143 K Sihwan (SKor) 69 74, F Andersson Hed (Swe) 71 72, M Korhonen (Fin) 70 73, D Gaunt (Aus) 76 67, D Stewart (Sco) 69 74, B Henson (USA) 75 68, J Hansen  (Den) 74 69, K Sung-Hoon (SKor) 74 69, G Charoenkul (Tha) 70 73, K Broberg (Swe) 70 73,

144 S Hansen (Den) 71 73, D Chopra (Swe) 75 69, J Stewart (Hkg) 70 74, S Barr (Aus) 76 68, S Rahman (Ban) 71 73, K Samooja (Fin) 72 72

145 F Zanotti (Par) 72 73, S Walker (Eng) 73 72, S Lam (am) (Hkg) 70 75

146 P Archer (Eng) 74 72, J Doherty  (Sco) 73 73, J Daly (USA) 78 68, G Tian-Lang (Chn) 71 75

147 M Perera (Sri) 70 77, Z Lian-Wei (Chn) 70 77, T Chi-Huang (Tpe) 73 74, J Dantorp (Swe) 79 68, A Hartø  (Den) 70 77, P Lawrie (Irl) 77 70

148 M Tabuena (Phi) 75 73, J Fahrbring (Swe) 74 74, L Yu Jui (Tpe) 74 74

149 P Hyun-Bin (SKor) 75 74, S Hak (Hkg) 74 75, D Gleeson (Aus) 75 74, W Wong  (Hkg) 71 78, S Mizuno (am) (Hkg) 77 72,

150 N Tantipokhakul (Tha) 76 74

151 J Parry (Eng) 75 76, B Åkesson (Swe) 74 77, G Bhullar (Ind) 74 77

152 A McArthur  (Sco) 74 78, C Muniyappa (Ind) 77 75,

153 E Salvador (Phi) 78 75, H Wong (am) (Hkg) 75 78, M Wong (am) (Hkg) 75 78, D Williams (am) (Hkg) 76 77

156 C Yih-Shin (Tpe) 77 79

164 M Ting (am) (Hkg) 85 79

 ** K Tannin (Tha) 74 RT, B Fox (USA) 82 WD, K Pratt (Aus) 79 WD

 

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

ZACH JOHNSON LEADS NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL WORLD CHALLENGE

FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE

In the opening round of the 2013 Northwestern Mutual World Challenge, Zach Johnson leads at 5-under par.

THOUSAND OAKS, California -- Ryder Cup player Zach Johnson already is looking ahead to next year, and one of his priorities is to score better on the par 5s. He got started on that Thursday in the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge.

Full leaderboard
Rd. 2 tee times
Video highlights
Round 1 photos 
Tweet @TWFoundation
Like on Facebook

Johnson, pictured, birdied four of the five par 5s on a chilly afternoon at Sherwood Country Club, sending him to a 5-under 67 and a one-shot lead over Matt Kuchar. They were among only five players in the elite 18-man field who broke par.
One of them was tournament host Tiger Woods, who had a new driver in the bag and missed only two fairways. The problem was his putter. Woods opened his round by missing a short par putt, and he finished it by missing a 4-foot birdie putt on the 18th. He wound up with a 71.
Kuchar played with Woods -- they were partners at The Presidents Cup -- and hit his approach into 2 feet for birdie on the final hole.
Hunter Mahan and Bubba Watson were at 70. They are among seven players who have yet to win a tournament anywhere in the world this year, even though all 18 players in the World Challenge are in the top 30 in the world ranking.
The tournament counts toward the ranking, though everything else about it is unofficial. For some players, it's a time to shake off some rust and test new equipment. For others, it's the end of a long year.
Johnson had his annual "summit" with his team of coaches at the start of the week. They go over the year, crunch statistics and lay out goals for where to improve in 2014. One of the areas was par-5 scoring.
"A highlight that we're looking into next year is trying to play those holes a little bit better," Johnson said. "(Today,) I hit it close. I had good shots in there with the proper spin, nothing more than that. But you've got to take advantage of them. You've got five of them. The thing is ... one errant shot, you're staring a 6 right in the face, if not more. There's a lot of penal areas."
There was plenty of punishment for some players in the field.
Steve Stricker was among those under par until a bogey-bogey-double bogey finish put him at 75. 
Jordan Spieth, coming off a sensational rookie season and playing for the first time since the HSBC Champions in Shanghai a month ago, had a 77 and was last in the field at the end of the first day. 
Jason Day, who won the individual and team titles at the ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf two weeks ago at Royal Melbourne, had a 76.
Rory McIlroy, with girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki following him, was hopeful of building momentum from his first win of the year last week in the Australian Open. He missed a few short putts, found the water on the par-3 15th and had a 73. He played with defending champion Graeme McDowell, who had a 72.
McDowell saw a note that his last eight rounds at Sherwood were in the 60s. That streak ended Thursday, though for good reason.
"The course hasn't been this tough in a couple years," McDowell said. "The scoring reflects that. The greens are much firmer. The speed of them caught me by surprise a little bit today. My speed was a little clumsy, and it showed today on the greens."
This is the final year the tournament is being played at Sherwood. It moves to Isleworth just outside Orlando, Fla., next year.
Woods has played only one tournament since The Presidents Cup, and that was a tie for third in the Turkish Open. He said he struggled with his irons -- even though he missed only two fairways, he hit just 12 greens -- and couldn't get enough putts to fall.
"I made a few mistakes today," Woods said. "I also hit a couple of good shots that ended up in some interesting spots. That can happen out there. I shot about the score ... maybe could have gotten one or two more out of it."
Johnson had few complaints. He opened with two birdies, and then surged ahead on the back nine with five birdies in a seven-hole stretch, three of them on the par 5s. Johnson has a pair of runner-up finishes at this event, and with the tournament moving, this is his last shot at Sherwood.
"I did everything decent," he said. "Just a real solid day all around. I was aggressive when I needed to be aggressive, and I was conservative when I needed to be conservative. It's nothing more than a decent start."