Saturday, January 17, 2015

STEWART SHARING HALFWAY LEAD AT MORGADO

The next Algarve Pro Tour 36-hole, two-day event has started already. This one is at Morgado Golf Club near Portimao.
Duncan Stewart has carried on where he left off in the first event of 2015, at Salgados, by carding an eight-under-par 65 to share the halfway lead with England's James Heath.
Stewart's bogey-free card had birdies at the first, seventh, ninth, 12th, 14th, 16th, 17th and 18th in halves of 33 and 32.
Third placed Scott Drummond, the Shrewsbury-born son of a Scot and a former PGA championship winner, had the most birdies - nine in all - in returning a 66 for third place on his own. Drummond had bogeys at the 11th and 17th.

HALFWAY LEADERBOARD
Morgado Golf Club
Par 73
65 Duncan Stewart (Scotland), James Heath (England)
66 Scott Drummond (Scotland)
67 Marcus Armitage (England)
68 Neil Chaudhuri (England), George Abbott (England) (amateur)

OTHER SCOTS' SCORES
71 Conor O'Neil (T14)
72 Craig Lawrie, Jay Taylor (T1`7)
73 Jamie McLeary (T28)
Field of 70 players

Labels:

A GRAND PERFORMANCE BY DUNCAN STEWART

- RUNNER-UP TO AUSSIE ON ALGARVE

Grantown-on-Spey's Duncan Stewart earned £1,100 for a second-place finish in the first Algarve Pro Tour event of 2015 - a 36-hole tournament over the Salgados course.

Australian Daniel Gaunt was the winenr of the £1,650 top prize with rounds of 65 and 70 for nine-under-par 135.
Stewart, pictured, finished two shot behind on 137 with scores of 68 and 69.
The second Algarve Pro Tour event of the year has started - at Morgado Golf Club near Portimao but we don't have the official scores yet, although Duncan Stewart tells me that he and James Heath have both shot eight-under-par.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS AT SALGADOS
par 144 (2x72)
135 Daniel Gaunt (Australia) 65 70 (£1,650)
137 Duncan Stewart (Scotland) 68 69 (£1,100)
139 Rhodri Fieldhouse (Wales) 67 72, James Heath (England) 66 73, George Abbott (England) 69 70

OTHER SCOTS' TOTALS
142 Craig Lawrie 71 71, Jamie McLeary 68 74 (T11) (£250 each)
146 Scott Drummond 71 75 (T23)
148 Jay Taylor 73 75 (T32)
150 Conor O'Neil 70 75 (T35).
Field of 69 players

Labels:




A practice session for U.S. Walker Cup hopefuls at Frederica Golf Club on St. Simons Island, Georgia last month did not include several major names in the squad of 16.
The absentees included Ollie Schniederjans, No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, and 2013 Walker Cupper Jordan Niebrugge.
Schniederjans, 21, from Powder Springs, Georgia, is finishing up his senior year at Georgia Tech, and was contacted by the U.S. Golf Association and USA captain Spider Miller about being on the practice squad. 
Schniederjans informed them that he was "probably, 90 percent at least," sure he wouldn't stay amateur until September.
"They were really nice about it," Schniederjans said. "They let me know if I did decide to stick around, this would not affect my chances of getting a spot on the team."

Schniederjans won't turn professional right after the NCAA Championship. As the winner of the 2014 McCormack Medal, awarded to the world's top-ranked amateur, Schniederjans is exempt into the U.S. Open and Open Championship.
 He also told Golfweek that he is seeking a sponsor exemption into the Scottish Open for a second consecutive year. That event this year, the week before the Open, is at Gullane. 
Schniederjans finished tied for 41st at Royal Aberdeen last July.
After the Open Championship at St Andrews from July 16 to 19,, Schniederjans would play in any US PGA Tour event for which he could get an exemption. Otherwise, he wants to rest his body to prepare for the start of the US PGA Tour's wraparound 2015-16 season. 
He doesn't want to put too much pressure on himself to make it onto the US PGA Tour right away.
"I want my mind and body rested to do something great," he said.
Niebrugge, meanwhile, didn't receive such a call from the USGA. He just wasn't one of the 16 players named to the squad.
"I don't think I played well enough this last summer to earn a spot, to be honest," Niebrugge said. "I was just mediocre. I had nothing to show for."
Niebrugge, who battled a wrist injury for most of the summer, did receive an email from Miller after the announcement was made in which Miller told him to "keep working hard."
Despite the injury, the junior (third year student) at Oklahoma State University was still able to compete in a few tournaments. He finished second at the Northeast Amateur, tied for 27th in the US PGA Tour's John Deere Classic and made it to match play at the U.S. Amateur.
In 2013, Niebrugge, ranked 46th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, essentially was the only player to play his way onto the team throughout the summer. He was not one of the 16 players invited to that practice session, either. 
That just gives the Mequon, Wisconsin native more motivation to get back to where he was in 2013.
"It's a long season this spring, and I plan on playing well and playing my way on," Niebrugge said. "You just have to go into the spring and this summer, and not worry about that, and let the golf take care of itself.
"That's all you can do. If you play well you will get your rewards." 

 The players named in United States provisional 2015 Walker Cup squad (US colleges in brackets).
  • Charlie Danielson of Osceola, Wisconsin. (Illinois)
  • Bryson Dechambeau of Clovis, California (SMU)
  • Doug Ghim of Arlington Heights, Illinois. (Texas)
  • Scott Harvey of Greensboro, North Carolina
  • Rico Hoey of Rancho Cucamonga, California. (USC)
  • Beau Hossler of Mission Viejo, California (Texas)
  • Kyle Jones of Snowflake, Arizona (Baylor)
  • Denny McCarthy of Rockville, Maryland. (Virginia)
  • Lee McCoy of Clarkesville, Georgia (Georgia)
  • Mike McCoy of West Des Moines, Iowa
  • Maverick McNealy of Portola Valley, Caliornia. (Stanford)
  • Byron Meth of San Diego, California (Pacific)
  • Robby Shelton of Wilmer, Alabama (Alabama)
  • Nathan Smith of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • Hunter Stewart of Lexington, Kentucky (Vanderbilt)
  • Will Zalatoris of Plano, Texas. (Wake Forest)
Harvey, McCoy and Smith are mid-amateurs. At least two mid-ams must be be a part of each Walker Cup team, according to a USGA mandate.
Harvey (2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur), McCoy (2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur), Meth (2014 U.S. Amateur Public Links), Smith (2003, 2009, 2010, 2012 U.S. Mid-Amateur) and Zalatoris (2014 U.S. Junior Amateur) are USGA champions. 
Dechambeau, Hossler and McCarthy combined to win the World Amateur Team Championship in Japan last autumn
Only Smith has past Walker Cup experience (2009, 2011, 2013). In fact, he won the clinching point for the American team in 2013 at National Golf Links of America in Southampton, New York

Labels:

MARTIN KAYMER, SIX AHEAD, SET TO JOIN ELITE 

WITH ANOTHER ABU DHABI VICTORY




EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Martin Kaymer, pictured in action today, courtesy of Getty Images(c), is on the verge of joining an elite band of golfers to win the same event four or more times in their career, as he streaked six strokes clear of the second placed Thomas Pieters at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
Two birdies to start the third round saw the German pick up where he left off the previous day, with a further five gains following on Saturday to see him card a seven under par 65, and pull within four shots of his own tournament scoring record of 24 under par.
Were the reigning US Open champion to hold on for a fourth title at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, then Kaymer would join a group that includes Seve Ballesteros, Sir Nick Faldo, Miguel Angel Jiménez, Bernhard Langer, Mark McNulty, Tom Watson and Tiger Woods in having won the same European Tour event on at least four occasions.
His playing partner Pieters was afforded a front row seat to the German’s excellence on Moving Day in the desert, but the 22 year old Belgian proved his undoubted talent en route to a two under par round of 70 to finish 14 under par.
He is a stroke clear of two-time European Tour winners Alexander Levy and Bernd Wiesberger, who fired rounds of 67 and 66, respectively, to be in with a chance of victory, were Kaymer to falter.
World Number One Rory McIlroy heads a trio in a tie for fifth at 12 under thanks to a 71 on Saturday, and will start the final day on the leaderboard alongside South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel, who signed for a 65 with his wife Rosalind on the bag, as well as Gary Stal of France, who shot a 67.
Further down the field, US Ryder Cup star Rickie Fowler is in a tie for 67th after a one over par 73.
QUOTES
Martin Kaymer (-20)
“I'm not scared of leading a golf tournament. I really enjoy the challenge, because it's a challenge against yourself. You challenge yourself all day long and it's about really trying to minimise the mistakes and the bogeys, and fortunately I did that yesterday and again today.
“The (scoring) record is not that interesting for me to be honest. To me the most important thing is that I win the golf tournament; if it’s by one shot, by six shots or by ten shots, I don’t really care, just as long as I win.”

Thomas Pieters (-14)
“Not much happened, but give credit to Martin, he played a really, really good round of golf and didn't really make any mistakes, so credit to him.
“I've just got to do the same thing tomorrow and hopefully the putts drop, but he played great. I thought I drove it well today too, but just didn't really take advantage of my chances and I didn't really hit it close enough to the hole. Tomorrow I just need to go as low as I can.”
Rory McIlroy (-12)

“I can't really fault my game from tee to green, but I just couldn't hole anything at all. I made a couple but I struggled to read them, struggled with the pace. Because of that, it wasn’t good enough and, realistically, it looks like I'm playing for second place tomorrow.”

SCOTSWATCH: Paul Lawrie had eight birdies and a double-bogey 7 at the long seventh on his third-round card of a five-under-par 67. The 1999 Open champion is now T26 on eight-under 208 - 12 shots behind leader Kaymer. Craig Lee had a 70 for 211 and T45 position but David Drysdale drifted to a 74 for 215 and T67 position.
Scores after round three:
par 216 (3x72)
196 M Kaymer (Ger) 64 67 65
202 T Pieters  (Bel) 65 67 70
203 A Levy (Fra) 66 70 67, B Wiesberger  (Aut) 72 65 66
204 G Stal  (Fra) 68 69 67, C Schwartzel  (RSA) 71 68 65, R McIlroy  (NIr) 67 66 71
205 V Dubuisson  (Fra) 69 72 64, J Donaldson (Wal) 73 67 65, D Van Der Walt (RSA) 70 70 65, P Uihlein  (USA) 67 68 70
206 G Bourdy (Fra) 66 74 66, M Madsen  (Den) 68 69 69, M Jiménez (Esp) 72 67 67, E Pepperell (Eng) 70 68 68
207 R Green (Aus) 68 68 71, M Fraser (Aus) 72 68 67, R Karlsson (Swe) 67 71 69, B An (Kor) 67 75 65, A Wall (Eng) 70 71 66, J Morrison  (Eng) 68 67 72, N Fasth (Swe) 69 70 68, B Grace  (RSA) 66 74 67, T Hatton (Eng) 66 71 70, S Webster (Eng) 73 67 67
208 P Lawrie (Sco) 68 73 67, S Hansen (Den) 69 69 70, E Grillo (Arg) 70 70 68, O Wilson (Eng) 71 71 66
209 M Kieffer (Ger) 70 71 68, R Fisher (Eng) 71 69 69, A Hansen (Den) 68 73 68, O Fisher  (Eng) 69 70 70, A Sullivan (Eng) 71 71 67, S Benson (Eng) 69 73 67, M Ilonen  (Fin) 66 75 68, G Coetzee (RSA) 68 73 68, Y Yang (Kor) 70 70 69, R Jacquelin (Fra) 69 71 69, M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) 69 69 71
210 A Noren  (Swe) 67 75 68, S Hend (Aus) 70 70 70, K Broberg (Swe) 69 71 70, A Cañizares  (Esp) 69 70 71
211 C Lee (Sco) 73 68 70, R Sterne  (RSA) 71 70 70, E Els (RSA) 70 72 69, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 72 67 72, D McGrane (Irl) 71 69 71, J Rose (Eng) 73 69 69, N Colsaerts  (Bel) 68 71 72, A Johnston (Eng) 73 68 70, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 70 71 70
212 B Dredge (Wal) 72 70 70, J Singh (Ind) 68 73 71, R Paratore (Ita) 70 69 73, A Lahiri (Ind) 72 68 72, D Willett  (Eng) 70 71 71, R Rock (Eng) 69 73 70, S Khan (Eng) 73 67 72
213 J Carlsson (Swe) 70 72 71, M Nixon (Eng) 68 71 74
214 R Bland (Eng) 69 73 72, T Olesen (Den) 72 69 73, J Kruger (RSA) 74 68 72, O Farr (Wal) 73 69 72
215 D Drysdale (Sco) 70 71 74, R Fowler  (USA) 67 75 73
217 G Tian-Lang (Chn) 70 69 78
218 J Palmer (Eng) 71 71 76




EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Labels:


SCOTTISHGOLFVIEW NOW BACKING OFFICIAL 

 NORTH-EAST ALLIANCE ORDERS OF MERIT


By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Scottishgolfview.com is closing down its unofficial North-east Alliance Orders of Merit to support the OFFICIAL tables, run by joint secretaries David Wilson and David Mackay.
The scratch and handicap sponsorship secured by Scottishgolfview.com will also be transferred to the official North-east Alliance Orders of Merit.

That means Marshall Leisure's Brimmond Bistro at Craibstone Golf Club is putting up £245 to be divided among the final top three in the Scratch Order of Merit at the conclusion of the NE Alliance championship at Craibstone GC in March.
And independent teaching pro Willie McKenzie of WLMgolf, pictured left, is donating £50 vouchers to the winners of Class 1 and Class 2 in the Handicap Orders of Merit, also concluding with the NE Alliance championship.






HERE ARE THE CURRENT LEADING POINTS TOTALS

BRIMMOND BISTRO SCRATCH
630 Paul Lawrie
470 John Duff 
340 Joel Hopwood
300 Nick Macandrew
290 Tony Robertson
270 David Law
265 Lee Vannet
210 Ross McConnachie
205 Kevin Duncan
190 Keith Shanks
190 Craig Lawrie
180 Fergus Bisset


WLMgolf HANDICAP CLASS ONE
185 D Leslie
160 M Forster
140 D Fleming
130 D Mackay
120 J Emslie
110 W Shaw
90 J Borthwick
80 Steve Lawrie. S Allison
70 R McRae, N Foster, H Roulston
50 C Carnegie

WLMgolf HANDICAP CLASS TWO
350 H McNaughton
320 D Craigie
190 G Allan
170 B Lumsden
130 L Roger
120 A Benton
110 G Homer, M Smith
100 M Winton, N K Parker
90 G Mackie
80 S Dillon, D Lawrie 

+UPDATED TABLES WILL APPEAR ON THIS WEBSITE
AFTER EACH NORTH-EAST ALLIANCE FIXTURE.

Labels:


CANADIAN CONNERS WINS AT LAKE MACQUARIE

Canada's Corey Conners won the prestigious Lake Macquarie men's amateur championship at Belmont Golf Club, Newcastle, New South Wales today.
Conners continued his blistering form in the final round, carding an eagle and three birdies on his way to a third consecutive 68 to go with his first round 67 for a tournament total of 271 – 17 under the card.
Andrew McCain from the USA also shot a 68 today including 6 birdies to run second on his own.
Ryan Chisnall from New Zealand followed up rounds of 70, 68, 70, with another 68 featuring 6 birdies to be 12 under for the tournament as did Cameron Davis, but Chisnall prevailed on a count back for third.
Travis Smyth from St Michaels also compiled a fine 65 with an eagle and seven birdies to be 9 under for the tournament along with Harrison Endycott from Avondale who had a 69, Jake McLeod from Queensland who fired a second 69 for 9 under and Simon Vitikangas who ended his run of three consecutive 69’s with a par round of 72. .
 



Ben Stow (pictured), the English stroke-play champion from the Rushmere club, Dorset, shot six birdies and an eagle for his 68 to finish T9 on eight-under-par 280 as did the Junior winner of the tournament, Kevin Yuan from The Australian.
Paul Howard (Southport and Ainsdale) fuinished T13 on 282 after a closing 72.
Jimmy Mullen (Royal North Devon) matched the lowest round of the final day - a seven-under-par 65 - to finished T16 on 283.
English match-play title-holder Nick Marsh (Huddersfield) finished T40 on 292, failing to break par in any of his four rounds, although he was level par over the final 36 holes. 
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
271 Corey Conners (Canada) 67 68 68 68
275 Andrew McCain (USA) 73 68 66 68
276 Ryan Chisnall (NZ) 70 68 70 68, Cameron Davis (Australia) 69 70 67 70

ENGLISH PLAYERS' TOTALS
280 Ben Stow (Rushmere) 72 72 68 68 (T9)
282 Paul Howard (Southport and Ainsdale) 73 68 69 72 (T13)
283 Jimmy Mullen (Royal North Devon) 71 73 74 (T16)
291 Nick Marsh (Huddersfield) 75 73 72 72 (T40)

LINK TO ALL THE SCORES ON BELMONT GOLF CLUB WEBSITE

CLICK HERE

Labels:

Kuchar, Simpson, Thomas share Sony Open 

lead in Hawaii, Knox three shots behind

FROM GOLF CHANNEL.COM 
BY WILL GRAY
Matt Kuchar and Webb Simpson played the first two rounds together at the Sony Open, and they'll tee it up together once more in Saturday's final pairing. Here's how things look in Honolulu, where Kuchar and Simpson share the lead along with an upstart rookie:
Leaderboard:  
128 (-12) Matt Kuchar, Webb Simpson, Justin Thomas.
130 Tim Clark, Troy Merritt. 
131 Rory Sabbatini, Russell Knox  66 65
132 Jimmy Walker, Robert Streb
What it means: Kuchar led for much of the afternoon before Simpson caught him with a birdie on the final hole, while Thomas joined the party just before play finished. Simpson remains in contention while using a regulation-length putter for the first time on the US PGA Tour, while Kuchar is in position for his fourth straight top-10 finish at this event.
Round of the day: Thomas closed birdie-birdie-eagle, playing his final five holes in 5 under to card a bogey-free, 9-under 61, the lowest at this event since 2006. The 21-year-old had seven birdies and an eagle across his final 12 holes and now holds a share of the lead on the PGA Tour for the first time.
Best of the rest: After an opening 73, it looked like Jerry Kelly would be slamming his trunk Friday. Instead, Kelly bounced back with an 8-under 62 that moved him to 5 under for the championship and well inside the 36-hole cut line. It marked the lowest round at Waialae for Kelly, a 48-year-old veteran who won this event in 2002.
Biggest disappointment: Paul Casey was out in front after an opening 62, but the Englishman was unable to back it up with another low round. While an even-par 70 is good enough at some Tour stops, it meant that Casey got lapped at Waialae, where the scoring average approached 67 and where Casey dropped four shots off the pace.
Main storyline heading into Saturday: Kuchar and Simpson appear poised for a weekend duel, but members of the pack are sure to challenge and Thomas, who won last year during the Web.com Tour Finals, will continue to press them. 
Other likely contenders include Clark, a runner-up here in both 2011 and 2013, and Walker, the defending champ coming off a play-off loss Monday at Kapalua.
Shot of the day: Jhonattan Vegas was flirting with the cut line and had missed the 16th fairway when his fate changed rather quickly. Vegas' approach from the left rough cleared a greenside bunker, took three hops and dropped into the hole after squarely hitting the flagstick. The unexpected eagle took Vegas from 2 under to 4 under and secured his spot in the field this weekend.
Quote of the day: "I drove it really well, and when you drive it well this course becomes much more attackable." - Kuchar

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

CLICK HERE

Labels:

Copyright © Colin Farquharson

If you can't find what you are looking for.... please check the Archive List or search this site with Google