ENGLISH PLAYERS FIRST AND THIRD IN COLOMBIA

ENGLAND'S PAUL HOWARD WINS SOUTH

AMERICAN AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP 

English players Paul Howard (Southport and Ainsdale), pictured above, and Jimmy Mullen (Royal North Devon) finished first and third in the prestigious South American men's open amateur championship at the windy Colombian coastal city of Barranquilla.
Howard shot a four-under-par total of 284 (71-69-75-69) to win by six shots from Colombia';s Ricard Celle who came up through the field with an excellent last round of four-under 68 for 290.
Mullen finished on 291 with scores of 66, 77, 72 and 76.
Stuart Grehan was the leading Irish player in joint 19th place on 300.
Adam Dunton from Ellon and the other Scot in the field, Craig Ross (Kirkhill) tied for 24th place on 302.
Dunton had a repeat of his third-round 75 on the last day and was outscored over the last 36 holes by Ross with rounds of 71 and 73, after he got used to the 30mph average winds which pushed his first two scores up to 77 and 81.
The South American men's and women's amateur championships, played concurrently at the same Barranquilla venue, was supported by the R and A who, earlier this week, alongwith the USGA, announced that they are starting a new event, the Latin American Amateur Championship (for men).

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
 Par 288 (4x72)
284 Paul Howard (England) 71 69 75 69
290 Ricard Cella (Colombia) 75 74 73 68
291 Jimmy Mullen (England) 66 77 72 76
292 Jose Andres Miranda (Ecuador) 75 72 72 73

SELECTED SCORES
297 Nicholas Marsh (England) 76 73 76 72 (T19)
300 Stuart Grehan (Ireland) 80 79 72 69 (T19)
302 Adam Dunton (Scotland) 78 74 75 75, Craig Ross (Scotland) 77 81 71 73 (T24)
303 Ashley Chesters (England) 76 80 72 75 (T24)
307 Stephen Healy (Ireland) 79 75 75 78 (T31)
316 Alastair Jones (Wales) 80 79 76 81 (T44)
318 Lee Jones (Wales) 82 81 75 80 (T49)
Field of 64 players

LEFT-HANDER'S UPCOMING SCHEDULE NOW IN DOUBT

cores »

PHIL MICKELSON QUITS FARMERS INSURANCE OPEN BECAUSE OF BACK PAIN 

FROM THE GOLFWEEK WEBSITE

By JIM McCABE

SAN DIEGO – Virtually all the props are in place for a stage that has been a fixture on the PGA Tour’s winter schedule since 1952. Brilliant sunshine. Blue sky. Soft Santa Ana breezes. Breathtaking scenes along the cliffs high above Black’s Beach. Phil Mickelson thrilling the hometown folks.
Oops, let’s take a mulligan on that last entry.
For just the second time in 12 years and the fifth time since 1991 at the Farmers Insurance Open, they will hold weekend festivities without the local hero. Late Friday night, some five hours after Mickelson had completed 36 holes at 2 under, he withdrew, citing nagging back discomfort.
“I love playing in San Diego. It’s a place where I grew up playing high school golf and coming out as a kid, so I love competing here,” said Mickelson in a release through his management company, Lagardere.
“It’s a place that gets me excited. But I also have to be smart because I’m getting into some bad habits so I’ve got to weigh where I’m at.”
It turns out that Mickelson’s back pain was an issue at last week’s Abu Dhabi Championship and he nearly withdrew there. But he received several treatments and wound up playing well enough on the weekend to come within a stroke of forcing a play-off. 
That performance lifted Mickelson’s spirits and he rode into Torrey Pines with a buoyancy.
But just after his warm-up session Thursday morning, the left-hander said his back “locked up” on him and that he “milked it” just to shoot 3-under 69 on the North Course. 
He talked late Thursday of being on the fence about playing the South Course Friday, but again, he had what he felt was a good treatment from the physical therapists and he got it around in 1-over 73 to sit in a tie for 32nd, eight off the lead.
He hedged his answers to questions about his back after Friday’s second round, saying he needed time to assess the situation. “I’m a little bit unsure,” he said. “I really want to play (but) part of me also says that I’m getting in bad habits and if I hit it into this rough here, I’ve really got an issue, because I’ve got to swing awfully hard to get it out and it jars (the back).”
Before leaving Friday night, Mickelson added: “I would like to get out and play (Saturday). But then I also want to have the big picture in mind, so I'm not quite sure where I'm at yet.”
Three or four hours later, he knew where he was: Headed for the sidelines, just the fourth time in his US PGA Tour career that he has withdrawn from a tournament, and the first time since the Memorial in 2011.
It was his 25th start in this home-town tournament. He’s won it three times, though not since going back-to-back in 2000-01. Now he’ll miss the weekend action for the sixth time, dating back to his debut as an amateur in 1988.
More pressing is this: It puts into doubt his upcoming schedule, which is supposed to include his title defence next week at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, and one of his favoUrite tournaments the following week, the ATandT Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
The press release from Lagardere indicated Mickelson would seek advice from doctors in coming days about the best course of action.

PAUL LAWRIE FINISHES TIED 11th DESPITE SUB-PAR FIINAL ROUND

    GARCIA WINS QATAR PLAY-OFF

          Sergio Garcia with the magnificent winner's trophy. Picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c)

REPORT BY EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Sergio Garcia claimed his 11^th European Tour title in dramatic fashion after a nail-biting play-off with Mikko Ilonen at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters today.

In fast fading light at Doha Golf Club, Garcia eventually saw off the Finn with a birdie at the third extra hole to collect the €305,232 winner’s cheque and move to second place in The Race to Dubai.

After both men had finished on 16 under par – Garcia courtesy of a superb closing round of 65 and Ilonen with a 66 – the duo halved the first two play-off holes with birdie 4s.

Third time around, Ilonen’s tee shot found the right rough and his approach ended up in the bunker, giving Garcia – who had located the heart of the green with his second shot – the chance to win it with an eagle 3, only for his putt to roll agonisingly past the cup.

Faced with a 20 foot putt to take the play-off into a fourth hole, Ilonen’s effort drifted wide to hand Garcia his first European Tour victory since the 2011 Andalucía Masters.

The Spaniard said: “It’s been a bit of a wait for my 11^th win, I came close a few times last season, including here in Qatar, but didn’t quite manage to get the job done. So it’s nice to get the win, and great to get more Ryder Cup points on the board.

“I feel like my game’s coming together really nicely – although I wouldn’t have said that after the first round, when I played terribly but shot one of the best rounds of 71 in my career. So to recover from that and grind out a win does an awful lot for my confidence, and the rest of the season excites me.”

Despite tasting defeat in the first play-off of his career, Ilonen was still pleased with his week’s work.

He said: “I played good golf this week, so I can’t be too disappointed. I gave it my best shot, but Sergio was a bit better this time. There’s no shame in losing to a great player like him.”

Garcia’s compatriot Rafa Cabrera-Bello finished in a tie for third place on 15 under par alongside Thorbjørn Olesen after the pair carded respective rounds of 69 and 68. 
SCOTSWATCH: Paul Lawrie, only two shots off the pace at the start of the day in joint fourth place, could not get the score in the 60s he needed, either to win the tournament for a third time or finish high up to boost his Ryder Cup selection prospects.
The 45-year-old Aberdonian finished joint 11th on 12-under-par 276 with scores of 67, 70, 69 and 70. He earned 32,599 Euros.
Stephen Gallacher finished on the eight-under 280 mark, signing off with his third sub-70 of the week, a 68 to earn 16,849 Euros. It was that third-round 75 that prevented a Feast of Stephen.
Craig Lee earned 9,830 Euros for a total of 283, closing with a par 72
Chris Doak finished with a 73 for level par 288 and a 3,846 Euros payslip. 

  

ALL THE FINAL TOTALS Play-off details:

Garcia 4 4 4

Ilonen 4 4 5

Par 288 (4x72) prizemoney in Euros
272 S Garcia  (Esp) 71 67 69 65, M Ilonen (Fin) 68 67 71 66 (Garcia, 305,232, bt Ilonen, 203,486, at third hole of sudden death play-off.

273 R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 66 65 73 69, T Olesen (Den) 68 69 68 68 (103,109 each)

274 G Coetzee (RSA) 64 69 73 68, A Cañizares  (Esp) 68 68 73 65, S Webster (Eng) 65 69 70 70, T Aiken (RSA) 67 68 70 69 (60,620 each).

275 D Van Der Walt (RSA) 65 72 70 68, M Carlsson  (Swe) 69 71 70 65 (38,826 each).

276 P Lawrie (Sco) 67 70 69 70, R Wattel  (Fra) 67 68 74 67 (32,599 each).

277 B Grace  (RSA), 67 69 71 70, C Del Moral (Esp) 72 68 69 68, S Benson (Eng) 68 71 69 69 (28,113 each). 

278 D Fichardt (RSA) 69 70 69 70, S Dyson  (Eng) 68 69 71 70, J Carlsson (Swe) 69 65 72 72, A Saddier (Fra) 70 71 64 73; P Uihlein  (USA) 70 69 69 70 (23,272 each), D Foos (am) (RSA) 70 70 70 68.

279 M Baldwin (Eng) 68 66 74 71, G Bhullar (Ind) 67 70 73 69, P Hanson (Swe) 69 67 75 68, F Zanotti (Par) 69 69 68 73, R Rock (Eng) 70 71 81 67, T Hatton (Eng) 69 71 71 68 (19,871 each).

280 J Quesne  (Fra); K Broberg (Swe); S Gallacher (Sco) 69 68 75 68, A Quiros  (Esp); H Stenson (Swe) (16,849 each).

281 S Kapur (Ind); R Bland (Eng); G Stal  (Fra); T Jaidee (Tha);

282 T Lewis (Eng); H Otto (RSA); E Els (RSA); B Koepka  (USA); A Wall (Eng); S Hansen (Den);

283 M Siem  (Ger); D Willett  (Eng); R Fisher (Eng); C Lee (Sco) 72 67 72 72 R Derksen (Ned); R Santos  (Por); J Singh (Ind); C Wood  (Eng); S Manley (Wal); R Dinwiddie  (Eng); S Thornton (Irl) (3,340 each).

284 F Calmels  (Fra); R Karlsson (Swe); M Fraser (Aus)

285 M Kaymer (Ger); L Donald  (Eng); M Foster (Eng); S Kjeldsen (Den)

286 M Hoey  (Nir); J Daly (USA)

287 J Olazábal (Esp); E Pepperell (Eng); P McGinley (Irl); J Morrison  (Eng)

288 C Doak (Sco) 69 72 74 73, N Elvira  (Esp); W Ormsby (Aus) (3,846 each)

289 J Lima  (Por); M Crespi  (Ita)

290 V Riu  (Fra); J Dufner (USA)

291 E Grillo (Arg)

292 T Fleetwood  (Eng)

293 L Slattery (Eng)

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

RUSSELL KNOX HAS SEVEN BIRDIES IN 67 FOR JT 6TH PLACE

  SPIETH OUTPLAYS TIGER TO LEAD

 Jordan Spieth: 'Phenomemal putter,' said playing partner Tiger Woods. Picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c)

FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE

LA JOLLA, California (AP) -- Jordan Spieth turned out to be the star attraction on Friday, playing with Tiger Woods at Torrey Pines.
Spieth again showed game well beyond his 20 years with a 9-under 63 on the North Course, giving him a one-shot lead over Stewart Cink going into the weekend at the Farmers Insurance Open. 
Cink drilled a 3-wood from 280 yards onto the green at the par-5 ninth on the tougher South Course for a two-putt birdie and a 71. 

FARMERS

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Woods rarely gets upstaged at Torrey Pines, where his eight professional wins include the 2008 U.S. Open.
But in his first competition in six weeks, Woods hardly looked the part as the defending champion. He did not make birdie on any of the par 5s for the second straight day, and a three-putt bogey on the par-5 ninth hole on the North gave him a 71.
He was nine shots behind.
Phil Mickelson's ailing back wasn't much better, though Lefty plodded along and shot 73 on the South to finish eight shots out of the lead. Mickelson contemplated pulling out to rest his back, and said only that he would give it a shot Saturday depending on how he felt.
It was the first time Spieth has played with Woods in a tournament -- they played a practice round together at The Presidents Cup last fall -- and theTexan felt and played as if it were 0any other round on the US PGA Tour.
Then again, the first time he played with Mickelson, Spieth closed with a 62 at the TPC Boston last year, a round that led Mickelson to call Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples and lobby for Spieth to be picked for the team.
In both cases, Spieth was more interested with the score than the audience.
"Any time you can shoot a lower score than a 66 or 65 and you can really get it deep and be in a zone and not worry about what your score is ... that's special," Spieth said. 
"That's proving that I can play my best golf when it matters on a US PGA Tour venue. Each time you can do that, you get more and more confident that you can do it more often."
As for playing with Woods? He only shrugged.
Spieth grew up watching, idolizing and being amazed by Woods. But this was only a Friday.
"They were both rounds that I needed to move up the leaderboard," he said about playing with Woods this week and Mickelson last year. 
"They weren't in the last couple groups on Sunday, so they weren't to win. They were to get myself up and in a position."
Spieth was at 10-under 134 and will be in the last group Saturday with Cink and Nicolas Colsaerts, who shot 67 on the South and was two shots behind.
"I'm looking forward to playing with Jordan. I've never seen him hit a ball, so that will be fun," Cink said. 
"It's always exciting to see the young guys play. I'm playing really well. I'm really excited about golf right now and the way I'm playing. I'm having some fun out there and seeing a lot of good things."
The final two rounds will be on the South, which is about 600 yards longer and on Friday played more than four shots harder.
Spieth didn't hit the ball better than his opening-round 71 on the South. His putter made the difference. 
He rolled in a bending 18-foot birdie putt on the 10th hole and his confidence grew up there. He avoided a three-putt on the 17th by making a 15-footer for par, and he really took off down the stretch. He holed another sidehill birdie putt on the par-3 sixth from about 20 feet, and he made a 15-footer for his final birdie on the eighth hole. The rest of his birdie putts were inside 4 feet.
"The kid's got talent," Woods said. "He hits it a long way and he's a phenomenal putter. He made a boat load of putts today from the 10- to 20-foot range, and on poa greens, that's not easy to do.
"He was pouring them in there. He had speed to them, too. That's what you have to do to putt on poa.
"He putted with a lot of confidence."
That wasn't the case for Woods, whose only birdies came on his opening hole and on his sixth hole, a flip wedge to 4 feet. He didn't feel like he was off by much, but that's all it took. The course is set up in such a way that the thickest grass is just off the fairway.
"I wouldn't say it's rusty," Woods said. "I was just a fraction off, and at this level and on golf courses like this, if you're just a fraction off it doesn't take much, especially as tight as the North Course is. 
"I had so many balls that landed in the fairway that went in the rough. Now I can't be aggressive, I've got to play conservative into some of these flags. When you should be able to fire at some of these flags, I just couldn't."
The cut was at even-par 144, and 83 players advanced. There will be another cut to top 70 and ties after the third round.
Woods wasn't ruling himself out just yet. He remembered the time he made the cut by two shots in 1999, and then had a 62-65 weekend to win by two shots. But that was before the South Course was lengthened. No had better than 67 the first two days this week on the South. 
SCOTSWATCH  Russell Knox is lying joint sixth after a five-under 67 for 138 - four shots off the lead. Knox birdied the second, seventh, eighth and ninth in an outward 32. He "wobbled" with back-to-back bogeys but got back into his stride with birdies at the 14th, 16th and 17th for 35 home.
Martin Laird is T20 on 140 after rounds of 69-71.
SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2x72) Players from USA unless stated
134 Jordan Spieth 71 63
135 Stewart Cink 64 71
136 Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium) 69 67
137 Billy Horschel 70 67, Marc Leishman (Australia) 66 71
138 Morgan Hoffman 72 66, Gary Woodland 65 73, Russell Knox (Scotland) 71 67, Pat Perex 67 71, ErikCompton 69 69.

SELECTED SCORES
140 Martin Laird (Scotland) 69 71 (T20)
141 David Lynn (England) 68 73, Lee Westwood (England) 73 68 (T22)
142 Ian Poulter (England) 75 67, Phil Mickelson 69 73 (T32)
143 Tiger Woods 72 71 (T50)
144 Greg Owen (England) 70 74 (T66)

MISSED THE CUT (144 and better qualified)
149 Brandt Snedeker 77 72, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain) 72 83.

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