DONALDSON AND GALLACHER EQUALLY FOCUS

Ryder Cup hopefuls keeping emotions in Czech

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Jamie Donaldson and Stephen Gallacher both enter the penultimate week of the race for a place in Paul McGinley’s European team at The 2014 Ryder Cup either side of the cut-off point for automatic qualification, but they are equally focusEDed on victory at this week’s Czech Masters.
Welshman Donaldson currently lies in eighth position in the Ryder Cup points list and, while his path to Gleneagles Hotel is not yet secured, a win would certainly be enough to earn the 38 year old a debut at golf's most prestigious team event.
Gallacher’s fate, meanwhile, is a little more precarious as the Scot attempts to climb from 11th place into the all-important top nine which gain automatic qualification. 
Strong performances at the pristine Albatross Golf Resort this week and next week’s final counting event, the Italian Open, could well prove enough for the man from Bathgate.
With such a huge amount at stake, however, both players know they have a job on their hands if they are to remain focused on the immediate task at hand – winning the inaugural Czech Masters.
Key Player quotes
Jamie Donaldson
“Things are quite close with The Ryder Cup spots but I just have to take each week at a time. There are two events left and I have to go out here this week and play well, play to win the tournament as I do every week.
“I need to enjoy myself and play well. It’s in the back of your mind but these things can help you. It’s a great target to have and it’s been a target for me for quite a while. 
"You just need to ignore it and get on with the things that make you play well and keep doing those things to enable you to have the best week you can.
“It’s hard to get in the team. Whether you were in the List for a while or you’re fighting to get in, it’s difficult whatever angle you’re going at it. You’re playing against the best players in Europe so it’s never going to be easy.
"You’ve just got to keep playing well all year and it’s as simple at that. I’ve had a nice week at home and here we are, playing another event so I'm pretty fresh and looking forward to it.”

Stephen Gallacher
“Obviously The Ryder Cup will be in the back of my mind. The hardest thing is just trying to do what you do normally. I'm in a position with two tournaments to go where I can still automatically qualify, which is a great place to be.
“It’s exciting and it’s just a case of trying to do as well as you can at this tournament and prepare to win it. It’s been good golf that got me into this position so the worst thing I can do is try and think of something else.
“I'm just taking it week by week, until it’s done. You’ve got to play your own game. Some tournaments you’ll be more aggressive and others you’ll be more cautious, depending on the course lay-out and set-up and the weather, but once I get on the golf course I won’t really think about it much.
“Off the course, it’s just the desire to get there so I just have to keep doing what I’m doing. It is what it is, it’s The Ryder Cup in Scotland and I want to be there so the only way I can do that is by playing well.”
Key facts 
The Czech Masters is the fifth of five new events on The European Tour International Schedule in 2014.
This is the first European Tour event in the Czech Republic since 2011, when Oliver Fisher won the Czech Open.
This is the third D+D REAL-sponsored event in 2014. The first two were on the European Challenge Tour -  the Czech Challenge and the Slovakia ChallengeThe Albatross Golf Resort is hosting a European Tour tournament for the first time.
The European Tour first played a European Tour event in the Czech Republic 1994. Per-Ulrik Johansson won the Czech Open. The tournament continued between 1995-97 and again between 2009-2011.
There are three previous winners of events which took place in the Czech Republic competing. They are:  Stephen Gallacher (1998 KB Golf Challenge), Oskar Henningsson (2009 Czech Open) and Oliver Fisher (2011 Czech Open).



EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

NEWS RELEASE FROM PGA IN SCOTLAND

Elgin Golf Club  Pro-Am tee times September 5 Tee Time Name 1B 8:55 AM Greig Hutcheon, Paul Lawrie Golf Centre 5B 8:55 AM Gavin Hay, Nairn Dunbar Golf Club 14B 8:55 AM Graeme Brown, Montrose Golf Links Ltd. 1A 9:00 AM Michael McAllan, Elgin Golf Club 2A 9:00 AM Stephen Gray, Hayston Golf Club 3A 9:00 AM Craig Matheson, Falkirk Tryst Golf Club 4A 9:00 AM Mark Kerr, Marriott Dalmahoy Golf & Count 5A 9:00 AM Lee Vannet, Craibstone Golf Centre 6A 9:00 AM Chris Brown, Carrick on Loch Lomond 7A 9:00 AM David Thomson, Carnegie Club 9A 9:00 AM Jason McCreadie, Buchanan Castle Golf Club 10A 9:00 AM Ross Harrower, Boat of Garten Golf & Tennis C 11A 9:00 AM Jonathan Lomas, Caprington Golf Club 12A 9:00 AM Scott Henderson, Kings Links Golf Centre 13A 9:00 AM Kenneth Hutton, Downfield Golf Club 14A 9:00 AM Greg McBain, Paul Lawrie Golf Centre 15A 9:00 AM Graham Fox, Clydeway Golf 16A 9:00 AM Chris Kelly 17A 9:00 AM Ross McConnachie, Peterculter Golf Club 18A 9:00 AM Paul McKechnie, Braid Hills Golf Range Complete information is available at Tournament Information Page (TIP)

FENWICK HAS CHANCE OF £10,000 PRIZE

FENWICK HAS BEST SCOTTISH CHANCE

OF LANDING £10,000 FIRST PRIZE

Six Scots survived the cut at this week's EuroPro Tour 54-hole event at Prince's Golf Club, Kent and, in theory, have a chance of winning the £10,000 first prize.

Dunbar's Neil Fenwick has the best shot  at it. He is tied seventh overnight on 141 (69-72) - only three shots behind the new leader, Darren Wright (Rowlands Castle) with 72-66 for six-under 138.

Paul Shields (Kirkhill) 75-70, Ross Kellett (Kingsfield) 75-70), Ross Cameron (Saltire Energy) 72-73 and Tulliallan's Calum Macaulay 72-73 are tied 33rd on 145.

Anglo-Scot Mark Hillson (Tandridge Park) made the cut to the leading 50 and ties with nothing to spare on 146 (74-72).

Carnoustie's Eric Ramsay (74-74) and Elliot Saltman (Archerfield), 77-71, missed out by two shots.

Jordan McColl (Scotscraig) 73-77 and Zack Saltman (Archerfield) 77-73 both totalled 150.

Neil Henderson (Renaissance) 76-76 and Paul Doherty (Vale Hotel) 80-72 both bowed out on 152.

Paul Robinson (Largs) shot 76-77 for 153, a shot better than Paul McGhee (East Renfrewshire) 74-80. Malcolm Isaacs (Newmachar) had a 157 total with rounds of 79-77.

Scott Crichton (Aberdour) had a pair of 79s for 159.

And what is about the EuroPro Tour that brings out the worst in Lloyd Saltman?

For the second week in a row he had a second round up in the 80s. This time it was an 84 for 159, including three double bogeys and only two pars over an inward 44.

LEADING QUALIFIERS

Par 144 (2x72)

138 D Wright (Rowlands Castle) 72 66

139 P Tarver-Jones (Worthing) 72 67, R Wallis (North Foreland) 71 68, K Harper (Sidmouth) 68 71

SCOTS' SCORES

141 N Fenwick 69 72 (T7)

145 P Shields 75 70. R Kellett 75 70, R Cameron 72 73, C Macaulay 72 7

146 M Hillson 74 72

SCOTS NON QUALIFIERS

148 E Ramsay 74 74, E Saltman 77 71

150 J McColl 73 77, Z Saltman 77 73

152 N Henderson 76 76, P Doherty 80 72

153 P Robinson 76 77

154 P McGhee 74 80

156 M Isaacs 79 77

158 S Crichton 79 79

159 L Saltman 75 84

CHALLENGE TOUR REPORT AND SCORES

GREAT DANE JENSEN SHOOTS 11-UNDER 

61 IN GENEVA: HENRY TOP SCOT ON 69

  EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Lasse Jensen rode a wave of Danish goodwill en route to an exemplary opening round of 61 and a two stroke lead over South Korea’s Byeong-hun An at the Rolex Trophy at Golf Club de Geneve, Switzerland.
Fresh from a star turn at his home event on The European Tour last week – Made in Denmark – where he finished in a tie for seventh, the 2012 Qualifying School graduate fired 11 unanswered birdies on Wednesday to finish atop the leaderboard.
Earlier in the season Jensen finished runner up to South Africa’s Jake Roos at the Barclays Kenya Open, which tied his previous best European Challenge Tour finish from 2012, and he is now ideally placed to go one better with three rounds to play in this pro-am event.
Some might have seen their amateurs as a distraction this week, but not the Dane, with Jensen seeing his junior playing partners as one of the reasons he went so low on day one.
“I hit it very close all day and I just made all the putts,” said the man at 23rd on the Challenge Tour Rankings. “It was just a day where everything went right and I couldn't do anything wrong. I am just really happy to have shot 11 under, that is unbelievable, and a great start to the week.
“Playing with the juniors today was maybe an advantage for me, as I was a bit more relaxed and a bit more casual, because we were laughing and I was forgetting how well it was going. If I had played with three other pros, maybe it would have been a different story.
“I was just trying to have some fun with my partner Marc, so it was a very calm day, even though I shot 11 under. Actually the only putt I made a little fist pump on was the last hole, as the rest of the time we were just walking on the course and everything was normal.”
Just a couple back, after an impressive opening round of his own is An, who continues to play well this season as he looks to secure a place on The European Tour at the third time of asking.
His position on the Ranking has improved year on year, and after four top ten finishes so far in 2014 – including a couple of runners-up places at both the Kärnten Golf Open presented by Mazda and Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge – the South Korean is handily placed once again to pick up a maiden trophy.
“This week is going to be a short game contest as the course is not very long, so you have to be accurate with your wedges, and you have to make sure you hole plenty of putts from inside ten feet to score your best.”
Just a shot further back is Frenchman Michael Lorenzo-Vera, after an eight under par score for the first 18 holes saw him continue a resurgence in form that goes back to a runner-up finish at the Azerbaijan Open Golf Challenge a few weeks ago.
He is currently eighth on the season-long Rankings, and is in good position to improve upon that as he looks to earn a return to The Race to Dubai.
The English pair of Sam Hutsby (65) and Andrew Johnston (66) are also handily placed in fourth and fifth place respectively, as the former looks for a first win on the second tier, and the latter looks to add a third of the season to his victory haul. Damian Ulrich is the only home grown player in the field, but he got off to a solid start after a round of 67. He is in a four way tie for sixth place alongside the French trio of Cyril Bouniol, Edouard Espana and 2011 Rolex Trophy winner Benjamin Hebert.

Rolex Trophy - Round One Scores
par 72
61 L Jensen (Den)  63 B An (SKor)  64 M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra)  65 S Hutsby  (Eng)  66 A Johnston (Eng)  67 C Bouniol (Fra) , E Espana (Fra) , B Hebert  (Fra) , D Ulrich (Sui) ,  68 S Brown (Eng), B Åkesson (Swe) , A Bernadet  (Fra), T Pilkadaris (Aus) , J Roos (RSA) , F Fritsch  (Ger) , A Hortal  (Esp) 69 S Henry  (Sco) , J Lando Casanova  (Fra), J Garcia Pinto (Esp) , M Fitzpatrick  (Eng) , M Tullo (Chi) , P Relecom  (Bel) , C Shinkwin (Eng) , 70 R Coles (Eng) , L Gagli  (Ita) , M Delpodio  (Ita) , A McArthur  (Sco) , J Fahrbring (Swe) , D Gaunt (Eng) , J Barnes (Eng) , W Harrold (Eng) 71 D Coupland (Eng), T Linard (Fra) , A Marshall (Eng) , A Tadini (Ita) , F Bergamaschi (Ita), J Huldahl (Den) , P Widegren (Swe) 72 C Arendell (US), O Farr (Wal) 74 C Aguilar  (Esp) , J Palmer (Eng) 75 P Oriol (Esp) 76 N Quintarelli (Ita)

RUSSELL KNOX QUALIFIED IN 48TH PLACE

MARTIN LAIRD MISSED FEDEX CUP 

PLAY-OFFS BY TWO PLACES


By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
It's not nearly the end of August yet but the professional golf tours over in America are entering play-offs mode.

The end-of-season play-offs concept originated, I think, in the NFL (American Football), and was so successful in stimulating interest that a few years ago the US PGA Tour thought they should copy.
So we have the FedEx Cup play-offs for the top 125 money-winners and also Web.Com Tour play-offs to decide the top 25 who will gain promotion to the Big League.
Russell Knox qualified for the FedEx Cup play-offs, being 66th in the US PGA Tour money list. He has won $1,350,830.
Fellow Scot Martin Laird (pictured above) missed out by two places - he is 127th - in the Fedex table but 138th in the US PGA Tour's money table for 2014, having earned $583,663.
Highlander Jimmy Gunn has not had a good first season on the Web.Com Tour. He is 113th in its money list with $36,031.
There is one more event to go in its regular season programme. Gunn would need to win it to make the top 25. Maybe even that would not be enough.
What Jimmy has to worry about is finishing high enough in the rankings so that he does not have to go back to Q School which in the last year or two has merged with the Web.Com Tour end-of-season schedule.
I don't pretend to understand it all but good luck to Messrs Knox, Laird and Gunn.
2014 MONEY TABLES
totals in US dollars, players from USA unless stated otherwise
US PGA TOUR  
1 Rory McIlroy (N Ireland), 6,965,890
2 Jimmy Walker 5,337,340
3 Bubba Watson 5,185,611
4 Jim Furyk 4,635,595
5 Sergio Garcia (Spain) 4,371,100
6 Dustin Johnson 4,249,180
7 Matt Kuchar 4,129,969
8 Martin Kaymer (Germany) 4,007,537
9 Rickie Fowler 3,942,317
10 Jordan Spieth 3,8564,682
SELECTED TOTALS
12 Justin Rose (England) 3,493,735
34 Phil Mickelson 2,119,875
36 Graeme McDowell (N Ireland) 2,009,330
62 Luke Donald (England) 1,433,840
66 Russell Knox (Scotland) 1,350,830
78 Lee Westwood (England) 1,205,264
105 Brian Davis (England) 827,419
111 Paul Casey (England) 807,768
138 Martin Laird (Scotland) 583,663

CHAMPIONS TOUR
1 Bernhard Langer (Germany) 2,652,520
2 Colin Montgomerie (Scotland) 1,865,121
3 Jay Haas 1,200,967
4 Kenny Perry 1,183,900
5 Jeff Sluman 1,084,816
SELECTED TOTAL
32 Roger Chapman (England) 329,154
75 Sandy Lyle (Scotland) 85,893

WEB.COM TOUR
1 Carlos Ortiz 371,403
2 Andrew Putnam 320,438
3 Zack Sucher4 294,166
4 Justin Thomas 271,061
5 Alex Cejka (Germany) 263.648
SELECTED TOTALS
26 Greg Owen (England) 139,243
95 David Skinns (England) 43,308
113 Jimmy Gunn (Scotland) 36,031

LPGA TOUR
1 Stacy Lewis 2,0p31,832
2 Michelle Wie 1,627,653
3 Inbee Park (S Korea) 1,146,814
4 Lydia Ko (NZ) 1,234,749
5 Anna Nordqvist (Sweden) 940,315
 SELECTED TOTAL
26 Catriona Matthew (Scotland) 394,303

HE'S LEARNING FROM HIS MISTAKES

Bubba Watson says he's sorry

FROM THE ESPN.COM WEBSITE

By Farrell Evans | ESPN.com

PARAMUS, New Jersey -- Bubba Watson apologised on Tuesday at the Barclays for a series of gaffes he made two weeks ago during the PGA Championship.
"You've got to learn from your mistakes," said the two-time Masters champion. "You learn from being selfish instead of looking at the bigger picture in life. Obviously, I've made some mistakes, and I'm going to make more mistakes as the years go on, and hopefully, if that's my worst mistake, then I'm doing all right.
"So the guys that wrote articles and my friends that called me out, friends that sent me different quotes, obviously, I look up to them and say thank you, because that's how I'm going to get better. 
"That's how I'm going to get better as a man, better as a husband, better as a dad and, last but not least, better as a golfer."
Watson admitted that it was a mistake not to compete in the long-drive contest, once a pre-tournament staple at the PGA that was restored this year. Watson, 35, complained that the long drive interfered with his practice, despite the fact that he annually plays in the Par 3 tournament at the Masters.
"When you look at just me as an individual, that was the selfish part, because I didn't agree with it," Watson said.
Watson also apologized for complaining aloud during the second round at Valhalla about water on his driver face.
"It's all childish stuff and trying to mature and become a better man," he said. "Obviously, I take it on the chin. It was my fault. Everything's my fault, and I should be bigger and stronger and better than that.