HENRICK STENSON BEST PLACED AT SUSPENSION

RAIN STOPS PLAY  IN TIGER'S TOURNEY

FROM GOLF.COM
By RYAN LAVNER
WINDERMERE, Florida – Only a biblical rainstorm could slow down Patrick Reed.
Playing in the same group as Tiger Woods and wearing the former world No. 1’s signature colours, Reed was 9 under par when he stepped onto the 18th tee at Isleworth. 
That’s when a steady rain turned into an all-out downpour, with water pooling on the fairways and greens and filling up the holes.
Play was suspended at the Hero World Challenge at 2:54 p.m. local time and was scheduled to resume at 4:20. 
Players headed back to the clubhouse as rules officials assessed the situation.
No player in the 18-man field had finished his second round at the time of the suspension of play.
With the final group of Jordan Spieth and Zach Johnson on the 11th hole, they were not going to be able to complete 36 holes by sunset in Florida on Friday.
Henrik Stenson had the lead at 10 under (through 11), with Reed (through 17) and Bubba Watson (through 13) two shots behind.
Tiger Woods, who opened with 77 and was in last place in his own event, played Nos. 13-16 in 4 under par and was4 under for the day with one hole to play.

AMERICAN'S 63 IN TURKEY PUTS HIM THREE AHEAD IN TURKEY

                                        The unmistakable backswing of John Daly.

JOHN DALY CELEBRATES FIFTH 

WEDDING-TO-BE BY TAKING LEAD


"Big, bad" John Daly celebrated his engagement today (Friday) to his long-time girl friend Anna Cladakis by surging into a three-stroke lead with a round to go in the PGAs of Europe's Beko Classic over Gloria Golf Club's Old Course at Antalya in southern Turkey.
Daly, four times married and winner of the US and British Opens a long time ago, is on 15-under-par 129 after rounds of 66 and 63 - his best sustained rounds of good scoring for many a long day.

Daly started the day with a birdie on the first followed by three regulation pars.  But then the American notched things up a gear with birdies at five, six and nine to go out in four-under.

Then John had a three-hole birdie streak through 10-11-12, followed by a birdie at 15 and another at 17 (his ninth birdie) to come back in 30 for a bogey-free 63.

The American's nearest rival is the first-round leader,Englishman Chris Gane who shot a nine-under 63 in the first round but could manage "only" a 69 in the second for 132. He had a bogey at the 14th.
Former Open champion Darren Clarke was in second place after an opening 64 but he subsided by 13 shots to a 77 for joint 14th position on 141.
Raymond Russell, the only Scot in the field and the 2010 winner of this tournament, is sharing eighth place on 139 with scores of 66 and 73.

The Team Pro-Am competition continues to be led by team Gloria (Fahir Telli, Dr. Nurettin Katiranci and Hatice Cetindere) with a total of 176 pts (-32) after a second-round total of 84 pts in conjunction with professional for the day, David Griffiths.

Still in second place, with the same Round 2 score of 84 points and a total of 173 points (-29), are GOLFIST (Esra Demirsoy, Ian Randell and Angus Mackenzie) today assisted by professional Adam Gee.

The final round will see the top 16 teams and professionals join forces on Gloria’s New course to battle it out for the Team Pro-Am honours and the Individual Professional prize fund of $80,000. 

SECOND-ROUND SCORES
Par 144 (2x72)
129 J Daly 66 63
132 C Gane 63 69
133 A Gee 67 66
135 K Phelan 66 69, R Coles 68 67
136 P Broadhurst 68 68
138 J Rask 69 69
139 R Enoch 69 70, R Russell (Sco) 66 73, K Eriksson 71 68
140 J Heath 72 68, G Poretous 69 71, D Griffiths 69 71
141 D Clarke 64 77, C Lloyd 71 70, A Marshall 70 71
142 J Little 71 71, G Houston 71 71, S Bebb 70 72
143 S Little 70 73
144 Z Martinez 74 70, L Bond 72 72
146 S Edwards 72 74, P Archer 74 72
147 J Elson 74 73, G King 72 75
148 A Murray 71 77, S A Little 73 75
150 J Kennedy 73 77, S Struever 71 79
154 S Davis 73 81

NEDBANK CHALLENGE IN SOUTH AFRICA

    
LUKE DONALD'S 63 DAZZLES AT SUN 

CITY - LEADS BY 2 FROM ROSS FISHER
   
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Englishman Luke Donald, pictured below, soared to the top of the leaderboard at the Nedbank Golf Challenge with a sublime, course record-equalling, nine under par 63 in the second round at Gary Player Country Club, Sun City in South Africa.
The 34 year old’s flawless display was reminiscent of his halcyon days of 2011, when he reached the position of World Number One, and at ten under par 134 he leads by two shots from compatriot and first round leader Ross Fisher (68).

Another two strokes back is Frenchman Alexander Levy (70), and in fourth place is another Englishman, Danny Willett (68).
Donald enjoyed a superb front nine, carding six birdies, and picked up three more shots on the way in to equal the course record, despite being taken by surprise by a charging baboon on the 13th hole.
Quotes
Luke Donald
“It's been a while since I've gone really low. I've been seeing some signs of a lot of improvement in the last few weeks and some lower rounds in the mid to high 60s, but obviously nine birdies around this place is a great round and something I was very pleased with. I felt very in control. It's been a while since I felt like that. “Everything starts for me when I can feel like I can drive it in the fairway and then give myself some opportunities, and obviously when the putter is warm, it's always one of my best weapons in the bag.
“We were walking up 13 and saw a baboon hiding in the tree. I got to my ball and suddenly Shane (Lowry) said, ‘Watch out!’  I turned around and the thing is galloping towards me. I jumped out of the way.  My facial expression I'm sure was caught on camera and is probably on the Internet already by now.  It gave me a little bit of a fright.”
Ross Fisher
“I don't feel I played as solidly as yesterday. I didn't hit it as well off the tee. It would have been nice to have picked up a couple coming in, but six under yesterday and two under today, it's moving in the right direction and I'm only two shots behind with two rounds to go. Yesterday we read the greens really well but today we over-read them. I had seven or eight putts that I hit exactly where I wanted to, but I over-read the borrow. Hopefully tomorrow they will go in again.”
Alexander Levy
“I'm happy because it wasn’t my best golf but I managed well. It's always good to shoot 70 on this golf course, as it’s very difficult. Tomorrow I’ll be playing in the final group so it’s nice to finish the year like this and I’m very happy to be in this position for the weekend.”
SCOTSWATCH:  Stephen Gallacher is tied for 13th place on 143 - nine off the pace - with scores of 70 and 73. Marc Warren is in 23rd place with rounds of 75 and 73 for 148.

SECOND-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 144 (2x72)
134 L Donald  (Eng) 71 63,
136 R Fisher (Eng) 66 70,
138 A Levy (Fra) 68 70
139 D Willett  (Eng) 71 68
140 M Siem  (Ger) 68 72
141 C Schwartzel  (RSA) 70 71, T Clark (RSA) 70 71, T Jaidee (Tha) 71 70, B Todd (USA) 73 68, T Fleetwood (Eng) 74 67
142 L Westwood (Eng) 72 70, G Coetzee (RSA) 68 74
143 S Gallacher (Sco) 70 73, L Oosthuizen  (RSA) 70 73
144 M Jiménez (Esp) 70 74, S Lowry  (Irl) 72 72, J Blixt  (Swe) 71 73, B Koepka  (USA) 70 74, P Larrazábal (Esp) 73 71
145 K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 72 73, D Van Der Walt (RSA) 73 72,
146 J Luiten (Ned) 72 74,
148 M Warren (Sco) 75 73,
149 M Kaymer (Ger) 74 75, J Ahlers (RSA) 74 75,
150 K Na (USA) 77 73,
152 T Bjørn (Den) 80 72,
154 M Ilonen  (Fin) 76 78,
155 D Van Tonder  (RSA) 77 78
Withdrew: J Donaldson (Wal) 74 wd

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

THAI THANYAKON SHOOTS 63 TO BE CLUBHOUSE LEADER

BAD WEATHER HALTS HARRINGTON 

CHARGE IN INDONESIAN OPEN

 

ASIAN TOUR NEWS RELEASE

Jakarta: In-form Thanyakon Khrongpha of Thailand fired a superb eight-under-par 63 to seize the clubhouse lead as Padraig Harrington’s charge was stopped by bad weather at the BANK BRI Indonesia Open today.

The slightly-built Thai produced a near perfect card in the calm morning conditions which included nine birdies before stumbling to a lone bogey on his last hole to settle for a 12-under-par 130 total at the US $750,000 Damai Indah Golf, PIK Course.

Multiple Major winner Harrington negotiated his way in 12-under through 12 holes before the halfway stage was called off for the day due to inclement weather. The Irishman and 66 other players will resume play at 6.30am on Saturday. 

Among the players who finished their rounds include Asian Tour rookie Nathan Holman of Australia, who was two shots back after matching Thanyakon’s efforts of 63, while Scott Hend and Jarin Todd of the United States shot identical 64s for a 133 total.

The slightly built Thanyakon continued his rich vein of form after securing two top-five results in Japan and Chiangmai in the last three weeks. He is beginning to reap the rewards of working with his coach Andrew Knott since 2013.

“Everything in my game was good especially my ball striking. I hit a lot of shots for close range birdies. The longest birdie of the day was on the seventh hole from 30 feet,” said the 24-year-old Thanyakon.

“I enjoyed a good run after turning professional in 2010 but after that I didn’t do too well because I had no confidence in my swing. Mentally I was not strong enough. Then last year, I worked with Andrew and I’ve really improved since then,” he explained.

Harrington, a three-time Major winner, was five-under at the turn courtesy of an opening eagle which he holed from 15 feet. He marked his card with another bogey and birdie before play was abandoned.

“I had a nice start. I hit a nice drive and a five iron to about 15 feet for eagle. I birdied the next two as well. It was nice to be four-under after three holes. I didn’t play quite solid after that but we’ll have to see if I can finish strongly tomorrow,” said Harrington.

“The course is playing nicely. There was a bit of wind in the afternoon which made it trickier. As I play more rounds I get to know the course a little better. I have an early wake-up call tomorrow so hopefully I can continue to do well,” he explained.

Tour rookie Holman took advantage of the ideal scoring conditions without shooting a single bogey. Currently ranked 95^th on the Order of Merit, the Australian is spurred on by the thought of saving his card for next year.

“I’m looking to play on the Asian Tour until the end of the year and try to keep my card. Keeping my card is definitely on my mind and it is spurring me on a little bit. Anytime you shoot in the low 60s when you got something on the line is always good,” said Holman.

Big-hitting Hend, who won his first Asian Tour title on this course in 2008, eagled the 13^th hole from eight feet to charge into contention.

“I had some loose shots coming in and I’m a bit lucky to make some par putts and saves. I hit it good on the first nine and not so good on the back so it even out. Now I’m in a nice position,” said Hend, a six-time Asian Tour winner.

SECOND-ROUND SCORES

Par 142 (2x71) Yardage 7,100

130 Thanyakon KHRONGPHA (THA) 67-63.

132 Nathan HOLMAN (AUS) 69-63.

133 Jarin TODD (USA) 69-64, Scott HEND (AUS) 69-64.

137 Poosit SUPUPRAMAI (THA) 70-67, Chris RODGERS (ENG) 69-68, George GANDRANATA (INA) 69-68, Blair WILSON (AUS) 68-69.

138 Jordan IRAWAN (INA) 71-67, Quincy QUEK (SIN) 71-67.

139 Miguel TABUENA (PHI) 69-70, Jyoti RANDHAWA (IND) 71-68, Terry PILKADARIS (AUS) 69-70.

140 Sattaya SUPUPRAMAI (THA) 73-67, Mithun PERERA (SRI) 69-71, Rattanon WANNASRICHAN (THA) 73-67, Anirban LAHIRI (IND) 74-66, David LIPSKY (USA) 72-68.

141 Suppakorn UTHAIPAT (THA) 74-67, Paul PETERSON (USA) 73-68, Berry HENSON (USA) 72-69, Unho PARK (AUS) 71-70, Chinnarat PHADUNGSIL (THA) 73-68.

142 PARK Byung-joo (SKOR) 71-71, Martin ROMINGER (SUI) 74-68, Pavit TANGKAMOLPRASERT (THA) 73-69, CHAN Shih-chang (TPE) 73-69.

143 KIM Gi-whan (SKOR) 71-72, Kieran PRATT (AUS) 72-71, Simon YATES (SCO) 73-70, LAM Chih Bing (SIN) 71-72.

YOUNG AMERICAN KEEPS UP GOOD FORM

SPIETH LEADS WITH A 66 - 11 BETTER 

THAN TIGER'S COMEBACK 

FROM GOLFWEEK WEBSITE
WINDERMERE, Florida – Jordan Spieth has been around the world and back the past few days – so it’s only natural that the 21-year-old wunderkind grabbed the first-round lead at the Hero World Challenge.

Spieth, pictured, courtesy of Getty Images(c),  just five days removed from a dominating victory at the Emirates Australian Open, carded a 6-under 66 Thursday at Isleworth Golf and Country Club to take a one-shot lead among one of golf’s most impressive fields of the year.
Host Tiger Woods, making his comeback after months on the injured list, shot a disappointing 77.
“Six under on this course is a really good round,” said Spieth, who won by six last Sunday in Australia and nearly won the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan the week earlier. “I came here with a lot of confidence, and I played very well today.”
After starting his round on a high note with a birdie at the first, Spieth caught fire at No. 6, rattling home five consecutive birdies. None was more important than the tap-in at the seventh.
“I opened the face for kind of a spinner, and it came out perfectly and took one hop and just checked and almost went in. Hit the lip,” Spieth said of his pitch to the par-5 green from a downhill, sidehill slope. “That was a big birdie to grab."
He missed several makeable putts coming down the stretch but capped his round with a curling 12-footer for par at 18.
“I said, ‘Let’s just put a little smoother stroke on this and let it die in,’” Spieth said.
And it did.
Spieth is jet-lagged from travelling to Japan and Australia but hopes to ride the momentum of his strong play to another victory.
“I hit it the best I’ve hit it since maybe the spring in Japan," Spieth said. "I didn’t hit it great last week, but I putted out of my mind."
He credited his swing coach, Cameron McCormick, for making a minor tweak to his path when they practised on the putting green in Australia ahead of the tournament in Sydney.
“It was something so minor that I wouldn’t have been able to tell,” he said. “But it freed me up and gave me the confidence inside 10 feet to be aggressive. This week I’m just trying to continue that and get my ball-striking where it was last week or even in Japan.”
But the youngster has some big names snapping at his heels entering Friday’s second round.
Defending champion Zach Johnson shot a 5-under 67, thanks to a bag of eight birdies, to share second with Rickie Fowler, Steve Stricker and Henrik Stenson. 
Three more players, including Graeme McDowell, are a shot further removed after 68s.
“I gave myself a lot of opportunities today,” said Johnson, who won this event last year with a memorable hole-out down the stretch at Sherwood Country Club in California. “I don’t think I missed a green today; maybe I missed one fairway.”
For tournament host Tiger Woods, however, the day wasn’t quite so kind.
The 14-time major champion bogeyed the first hole and never recovered, carding a 77 in his first competitive round since the PGA Championship in August.
“I didn’t feel like I hit it that poorly,” Woods said, “I hit a lot of good shots. But my short game was just awful. It was one of those days where nothing went my way.”
Still, the former World No. 1 remained optimistic after the round and echoed a familiar philosophy that golf fans have come to expect from him over the years.
“I’ve got three more days,” he said. “If I can get under par for the tournament (which would mean shooting a 66) after tomorrow and then put together a really good weekend, you never know.”

FIRST-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 72. players from USA unless stated otherwise
66 Jordan Spieth
67 Zach Johnson, Steve Stricker, Rickie Fowler, Henrik Stenson (Sweden).
68 Graeme McDowell (N Ireland), Jimmy Walker, Hideki
 Matsuyama (Japan)
69 Matt Kuchar, Bubba Watson .

SELECTED SCORES
72 Justin Rose (14th)
77 Tiger Woods (last of 18)

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES, INCLUDING LIVE SCORING FROM THE SECOND ROUND

CLICK HERE

JAMES BYRNE HAS ADVENTUROUS 75

                           

 

PRESS RELEASE

 

RICHARDSON OPENS UP FIVE-SHOT LEAD AT KUALA LUMPUR

 

Kuala Lumpur: England’s Peter Richard streaked five-shots clear after a masterful five-under-par 66 in the third round of the PGM MIDF KLGCC Championship at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club today.

The 30-year-old Richardson put himself in a strong position to win the US$80,000 season-ending Asian Development Tour tournament  with local hope Rizal Amin and American Brett Munson sharing second place following rounds of 70 and 68 respectively.

Chinese Taipei’s Chan Tse-peng and R. Nachimuthu of Malaysia were a further stroke back, six shots behind the leader.
James Byrne from Banchory but now based in Thailand had an adventurous 75 for a three-round tally of 221 and a share of 41st place.
Byrne had six birdies but on the debit side he had one triple bogey, two double bogeys and three bogeys.

Overnight leader Richardson, chasing a second victory on the ADT, birdied four of his opening six holes before adding a birdie on 14 to put some daylight between him and the chasing pack. With his putter working like a charm, he holed 12-foot putts for vital par saves over the closing two holes to ensure a healthy cushion into the final round with his three-day score of 10-under-par 203.

“Yesterday I didn’t hole anything and today was one of those days where I holed a few,” said a delighted Richardson, who currently lies in 11^th place on the ADT Order of Merit.

“I hit it close and made the putts which is important. I got off to a fast start, three under through four and apart from 17 and 18, I didn’t look like I was going to drop a shot. I made two very good saves there and that was more pleasing than the five birdies as it kind of keeps the momentum going into tomorrow.”

A win could potentially get Richardson up to sixth place on the rankings which is one-rung outside automatic promotion onto the Asian Tour for 2015. Richardson could still get his Asian Tour card if any of the top-five on the ADT ranking breaks into the top-60 on the Asian Tour.

He warned his rivals that he intends to keep his foot on the pedal tomorrow. “I just want to keep doing the same. I thought if I could shoot in the 60s, I’d build a lead. Just try to get off to a fast start again and see what happens. When I’ve been in the lead in small events back home, I’m normally pretty good leading from the front,” said Richardson.

Rizal shot three birdies against two bogeys and marveled at Richardson’s hot putting. “Everything that he looked at pretty much went in,” said the Malaysian. “He had two big saves on 17 and 18. He’s playing pretty good, hitting the ball good and putting solid. A lot of work for us tomorrow.”

Munson, fifth on the Order of Merit, stayed on track to earn an Asian Tour card with a fine 68 that put him within touching reach of Richardson. He penciled down five birdies against a lone bogey.

“Tee to green, I was pretty solid and I took advantage of most of the par fives but I was a bit sloppy with my putting,” said the 28-year-old. “I didn’t convert some putts but I did hit it better. I just have to go out there and see what happens. I think I have a low one in me out there, so I just have to convert the chances that I get. You can’t control what the other guys can do, just what I can do.”

 

Leading Third Round Scores
Par 213 (3x71)

203: Peter RICHARDSON (ENG) 66-71-66

208: Brett MUNSON (USA) 71-69-68, Rizal AMIN (MAS) 68-70-70

209: CHANG Tse-peng (Tpe) 70-70-69, R. Nachimuthu (MAS) 73-66-70

210: Mitsuhiko HASHIZUME (JPN) 67-74-69

211: Nakarintra RATANAKUL (THA) 67-73-71, Lindsay RENOLDS (CAN) 70-69-72

213: Airil Rizman ZAHARI (MAS) 68-73-72, Roberto GALLETTI (USA) 70-70-73

214: Michael MOORE  (AUS) 73-70-71, Piya SWANGARUNPORN (THA) 73-69-72, Kemarol BAHARIN (MAS) 72-70-72, Kenneth DE SILVA (MAS) 72-70-72

SELECTED SCORE
221 James Byrne (Sco) 76 70 76 (T41)