Monty's last-hole bogey knocks him down to tied seventh


Colin Montgomerie has shot 67-72 for 139 to be five shots off the lead in a share of seventh place at this weekend's US Champions Tour event at Tucson 
 He would have had less ground to make up but for a bogey at the last.

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REPORT FROM ESPN.COM
TUCSON, Arizona -- Marco Dawson made a 15-foot par putt on the par-4 18th for a 5-under 67 and the second-round lead Saturday in the Champions Tour's Tucson Conquistadores Classic.
Dawson, making his 21st start on the 50-and-over tour, opened with two birdies, made four in row on Nos. 7-10 and had his lone bogey on the par-3 17th. He holed consecutive birdie putts of 50 feet on No. 7, 18 on No. 8 and 35 on No. 9.
"I putted really well," Dawson said. "I made some long putts. I also had a lot of saves."
Dawson had a 10-under 134 total in the first-year event on Tucson National's Catalina Course, the long-time home of the PGA Tour's defunct Tucson Open.
The 51-year-old Dawson was second last year in the ATandT Championship in San Antonio. He's winless in 412 PGA Tour starts and has one victory in 161 events on the Web.com Tour.
"I was in this position last year and I thought I did pretty well on Sunday, but Michael Allen played really well down the stretch," Dawson said. "I have no control over what everyone else does. If I play well, I'll be happy with that. The main things is to play well."
Wes Short Jr. and Bart Bryant were 9 under. Short eagled the par-5 second hole in a 66. Bryant, coming off a playoff loss to Lee Janzen last month in Naples, Florida, had an eagle on the par-5 10th in his 67.
Jerry Smith, the first-round leader after making a hole-in-one in a 65, dropped three strokes on the final two holes to fall to 8 under. He matched Dawson with a bogey on 17 and made a double bogey after driving into the left-side water on 18.
Allen (67) and David Frost (71) were 6 under. Colin Montgomerie bogeyed the 18th for a 72 to fall into a tie for seventh at 5 under.
Bernhard Langer was tied for 10th at 4 under after a 71. He had five victories last year.
Kirk Triplett, the winner of the PGA Tour's final Tucson Open in 2006 at Tucson National, was tied for 20th at 3 under after a 73.
Jesper Parnevik was 1 over after a 74 in his Champions Tour debut. The five-time PGA Tour winner turned 50 on March 7. He missed the cut two weeks ago in the PGA Tour's Puerto Rico Open after injuring his back in a fall during a practice round.
Fred Couples was 3 over after a 75. Tom Watson was another shot back after a 72.

STENSON GOES TWO CLEAR AT BAY HILL

Henrik Stenson has hit the front with a second 66 in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Golf Club. The Swede is on 16-under-par 200 with a two-shot third-round lead over second-day leader, American Morgan Hoffman.
Rory McIlroy is seven shots off the pace with a 71 for 207 and joint 12th place.
Scots Russell Knox and Martin Laird are T23 and T39 respectively on 209 and 211. Knox had a 67 today, Laird a 71.


STENSON'S POLISHED FINISH 
REPORT FROM ESPN.COM
BY BOB HARIG
 ORLANDO, Florida-- Henrik Stenson has shown a remarkable finishing kick at Bay Hill. Seven shots out of the lead in the second round, Stenson closed with four straight birdies for a 66 to stay close. 
On Saturday, he was two shots behind when he again played the final four holes in 4-under par, including a 20-foot eagle putt.
That gave him another 66 and a two-shot lead going into the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
  "Four under in the last four holes ... that normally moves you in the right direction," Stenson said.
All that's left is for the Swede to finish off the tournament, and he realises the task is just starting.
Stenson will play in the final group Sunday with Morgan Hoffmann, who stumbled on the front nine, recovered with three birdies in four holes and then stalled over the last four holes with pars for a 71.
Six players are separated by three shots going into the final round, a group that includes defending champion Matt Every.
"It's a new day tomorrow, so whatever has happened these first three days has put me in a nice position," Stenson said. "But it's got to be done all over tomorrow."
Rory McIlroy looked as though he would be among the contenders.
The world's No. 1 player pulled to within one shot of the lead with his fourth birdie of the round on the 13th hole. But he ran off three straight bogeys, missing a par putt from just inside 3 feet on No. 15 and chopping up the par-5 16th hole.
 McIlroy effectively gave up two shots to the field on the 16th, where only one other player failed to make par or better.
McIlroy missed the cut in the Honda Classic and finished eight shots behind at Doral. Asked if Bay Hill counted as being in contention, he replied, "Not anymore."
"I guess if I can get off to the fast start tomorrow ... maybe I will have a chance," he said. "It would have been nicer to be a little closer to the lead going into tomorrow.Stenson, the No. 3 player in the world, is at 16-under 200.
A two-shot lead can disappear quickly, especially on the back nine. Even so, Stenson has been steady during his three stops on the Florida swing. He tied for fourth at Doral and missed the three-man playoff at Innisbrook by one shot last week.
Hoffmann regained the lead with back-to-back birdies early on the back nine, but his tee shot rolled up to the lip of a bunker on par-5 16th and he was one of only two players in the third round who had to lay up short of the creek. Hoffmann had to settle for pars, though he is still in the final group with Stenson.
Every had a 69 and is in the group at 13-under 203 that includes Jason Kokrak (65), Matt Jones (67) and Las Vegas winner Ben Martin (68). Jones birdied his last four holes, including a 75-foot putt across the green at the par-3 17th.
Hoffmann had a chance to limit the number of contenders if he had posted a better score. 
The scoring average was low again because of slow, receptive greens this week. But he kept getting funny lies in the fairway, mud on his ball and a few breaks that didn't go his way.
But he still has a chance, as do so many others, especially considering the most recent trend on the PGA Tour. In the past eight tournaments (including the Puerto Rico Open), the winner came from behind in the final round.
Stenson was asked to explain why it has been so hard for 54-hole leaders, and the Swede deadpanned, "They haven't played well enough." He paused to let the obvious answer sink in before adding, "I'm not just a pretty face."
"I'll try and make that different tomorrow, but I can't give any guarantees," he said. "I think it just shows it's a tighter game these days -- more guys who can win. More of the players go out harder, try to attack, especially if they're a few shots behind. 
"That's why I said you can't really sit back if you've got a one- or two-shot lead. You've got to play a solid round."
Sean O'Hair, who was in the play-off at Innisbrook last week, had a 68 and is five shots behind. The group six shots back includes Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand, who matched the low score of the third round with a 65. 
Harris English, No. 52 in the world as he tries to get into the Masters, hit two balls in the water on the front nine and battled back with four birdies over his last four holes for a 72.
Daniel Berger made the first albatross at Bay Hill, hitting 4-iron from 237 yards into the hole for a 2 on the par-5 sixth hole.
And still on the fringe of contention is Sam Saunders, the 27-year-old grandson of Palmer, who shot 67 to join the group at 8-under 208.
DIVOTS: Ernie Els made seven birdies in his round of 72. The Big Easy also had four bogeys and a triple-bogey 8 on the sixth hole. ... Stenson is among four players who have shot in the 60s each round this week. ... Only three players are over par for the tournament going into the final round. That includes Davis Love III and Vijay Singh, both over 50 years old.

THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 216 (3x72)
200 H Stenson (Sweden) 68 66 66
202 M Hoffman (USA) 66 65 71
203 J Kokrak (USA) 67 71 65, Matt Jones 71 65 67, Ben Martin (USA) 68 67 68, Matt Every (USA) 68 66 69

SELECTED SCORES
207 Rory McIlroy (N Ireland) 70 66 71 (T12)
209 Russell Knox (Scotland) 74 68 67 (T23)
211 Martin Laird (Scotland) 68 72 71 (T39)

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Ayrshire Winter Golf Association pro-am

GLASGOW GAILES GC, Tuesday, March 24
        
        
9.00 GRAHAM FOX    JOHN RUSHBURY
        STEVE FORREST    JOHN WATT   
 
9.10  JOHN HENRY    ED McCOSH
        JOHN FREESTONE    KEVIN McCANN
           
9.20       
           
 9.30 MIKE PATTERSON    GRAHAM FORBES
        REG SHORT    JAMES MCPHERSON
      
9.40 STEPHEN GRAY    STEVEN MAXWELL
        FRED HALLSWORTH    PAUL GALLAGHER
           
9.50          
             
10.00  DEREK WATTERS     ALLAN PATERSON
        DREW WADDELL    SCOTT MILLER
      
10.10  SCOTT GARRETT    ERIC EWART
           BRUCE LYLE    BILL RAE
         
10.20 PAUL ROBINSON    ALLAN JOHNSTON
        JIM MCEWAN    DAVID WORDSWORTH
        
10.30  JASON MCCREADIE    HARRY MILLER
        BLAIR ANDERSON    IAN WALLACE
       
10.40  ALASTAIR FORROW    IAN McCONNOCHIE
        THOMAS ROGERS    GEORGE JENKINSON
          
10.50 ADAM ROLFE    ALISTAIR KERR
        GEORGE HIGGINS    CAMERON GLENNIE
         
11.00  CRAIG RONALD    PETER THOMSON
        ROBERT KERR    PETER MILLER
          
11.10  PAUL MCKECHNIE    KEITH ROSS
        NIALL LAMOND    BILL McMAHONN   
 
11.20 PAUL WILSON    ALISTAIR CONNELL
        JOHN LAPPIN    GORDON CLARK
    
11.30  IAN REDFORD    TOM MCGILL
        MARK LIRONI    COLIN PEDDIE
       
11.40 DAVID FLEMING    DAVID ROBERTSON
        STEVEN SHAW    COLIN McLATCHIE
           
11.50  CAMPBELL ELLIOTT    ALEX FALLIS
        GORDON CREE    SCOTT RITCHIE
        
12.00   BLAIR HARVEY    JONATHAN D'AGUILAR
        BRIAN LAMB    TOM  HARWOOD
      
12.10  JONNY MULLANEY    GEORGE HANSON
        ALEC ROBERTSON    JOHN JONES
      
12.20  NICK WALTON    IAN McLARTY
        PETER MACKIE    GERRY SMITH

WHITEFORD IN CONTENTION AS 

MADEIRAOPEN CUT TO 36 HOLES 

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
After a heavily weather-delayed opening three days at the Madeira Islands Open – Portugal – BPI, the tournament has been reduced to 36 holes, meaning a thrilling race to the finish line is in store on the final day.
The weather once again played havoc at the mountain-top Clube de Golf do Santo da Serra on the picturesque Portuguese island  in the Atlantic Ocean and when the first round resumed on Saturday morning, only one hour and 13 minutes of play took place before torrential downpours called a halt to proceedings once again.
When play got underway a second time, a trio of Finns in the shape of Anti Ahokas, Roope Kakko and Jaako Makitalo, Scotland’s Peter Whiteford and Alessandro Tadini of Italy joined Frenchmen Jean-Baptiste Gonnet and Adrien Saddier and Englishman Andrew Marshall in second place on three under par as Joachim B Hansen stayed firm at the summit of the leaderboard on four under 68.
There are 43 players within four shots of the Dane’s lead so it is all to play for on the final day. With heavy rain, wind and possible thunderstorms forecast for Sunday, all 82 players that made the cut will start at 8am with a shotgun start.
Player quotes:
Anti Ahokas: “My round was bits and pieces because I only had six holes played on Friday. I think we were a bit lucky with the draw, and I got the birdies that I needed on Friday afternoon at the start of the back nine, the easiest part of the course.
“Then this morning I started and felt really comfortable playing. Then we got another delay and the last part, I started at the second which was mentally the most challenging part because that’s the toughest stretch on the course.
“I putted solidly even though the greens have taken some damage from the rain, but I’m happy to finally have 18 holes done on Saturday afternoon. It’s a different tournament but I feel pretty fresh and ready to go tomorrow.
“In these conditions you just have to take it one shot at a time. I was talking to my caddie about it, with the way this tournament is going to be now, every shot counts even more than normal.
“That was the main idea so if we get on the course tomorrow that will be the same plan tomorrow. We’ll see what happens tomorrow but there could be still a long way to go before we finish another 18 holes, looking at the forecast. It’s my first tournament of the year though so I feel fresh and full of energy.”
Jaako Makitalo: “Of course I’m happy with that. Not a great three-putt on the 17t but I had a tough putt downwind and that can happen and after all of that, I’ll take a 69.
“I just tried to keep my hands warm, have a good rhythm in the swing and try to get the putts near and something will roll in.
“It’s always different when you go back out and it’s difficult. But that’s how it is and it’s the same for everybody. We had the first day of laying on our beds in the hotel and the other groups had the same situation back then.
“At this point I’m happy it’s 36 holes because it’s cold and it’s never fun playing golf in that weather. I’ve also played a lot of golf in Finland, Denmark and Sweden and, I’m not going to say I’m used to it because I don’t like playing in this weather, but I guess it helps that I’m experienced.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow, the forecast is not great but I hope we get the 18 holes in.”
Peter Whiteford: “I’m quite happy, played nicely and left a few out there to be honest, which is nice to say considering I was probably the worst golfer on The European Tour last year!
“It’s been blowing a hurricane back home so it’s kind of what I’ve been practicing in anyways. It’s the first time I’ve been on a golf course and enjoyed it for a maybe a year so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.
“I feel very refreshed after taking a little break from the game. The driver is a lot better and that was the thing that was killing me last year, but you work twice as hard when you’re playing badly and I was doing more than I should have been doing, working on the wrong things.
“It feels better, the time away helped to refresh the brain a little bit and if I enjoy it I’ll play alright. I don’t care how I do at the moment as long as I enjoy it.
 “It’s a major for us on the Challenge Tour, the biggest one of the year so with me certainly, being selfish, I definitely want to get the second round in so I can get a pay cheque and some money onto the Rankings.
 “After just one round it’s going to be an absolute rat race with a huge number of people on the same scores. It’ll be a shotgun start so it’s not like you’ll be under the cosh coming down the stretch because you’ll never know where the scores will come from.”
FIRST-ROUND SCORES
par 72
68 J Hansen  (Den)
69 A Ahokas (Fin) , A Tadini (Ita) , P Whiteford (Sco) , R Kakko  (Fin) , J Gonnet  (Fra) , A Marshall (Eng) , A Saddier (Fra) , J Makitalo  (Fin)
70 J Lagergren (Swe) , B Ritthammer (Ger) , G Pinto (Por) , J Robinson (Eng), G Maybin (Nir) , J Fahrbring (Swe) , K Phelan (Irl) , R Paratore (Ita) 
71 T Cruz  (Por) , J Senior (Eng) , N Elvira  (Esp) , B Stone (RSA) , E Saltman  (Sco) , S Einhaus (Ger) , M Armitage (Eng) , J Edfors (Swe) , J Scrivener (Aus) , P Lawrie (Irl) , J McLeary  (Sco) , G Murray  (Sco)
72 N Ravano (Ita) , D Im (USA), B Åkesson (Swe) , M Orrin (Eng) , S Wakefield (Eng) , G Porteous (Eng) , J Billing (Swe) , J Stalter (Fra) , C Paisley  (Eng) , D Woltman (USA) , M Schneider (Ger) , R Santos  (Por) , J Huldahl (Den) , C Ford (Eng) , C Hanson (Eng) 
73 V Phillips (Eng) , P Edberg (Swe) , P Figueiredo  (Por) , S Tiley (Eng) , S Chawrasia (Ind) , D Gaunt (Eng) , R Coles (Eng) , E Dubois (Fra) , J Walters (RSA) , T Murray (Eng) , J Doherty  (Sco) , P Relecom  (Bel) , D Stewart (Sco) , J Guerrier  (Fra) , D Dixon (Eng) , T Pilkadaris (Aus) , S Thornton (Irl) , A Hartø  (Den) , S Gros (Fra)
74 C Shinkwin (Eng) , H Joannes  (Bel) , L Jensen (Den) , R Gouveia (Por) , S Jeppesen  (Swe) , W Harrold (Eng) , C Mivis  (Bel) , W Booth  (Sco) , F Andersson Hed (Swe) , J Lima  (Por) , S Heisele (Ger) , B Dredge (Wal) , T Linard (Fra) , F Calmels  (Fra) , T Sluiter  (Ned) , C Gloet  (Den) , P Archer (Eng) , A Hortal  (Esp) , T Bessa (am) (Por) 
MISSED THE CUT
75 M Delpodio  (Ita) , J Sandelin (Swe) , J Dantorp (Swe) , P Oriol (Esp) , J Carlota (Por) , D Huizing (Ned) , M Lafeber (Ned) , A McArthur  (Sco) , B Virto Astudillo (Esp) , N Quintarelli (Ita) , T Elissalde  (Fra) , L Gagli  (Ita) , N Bertasio (Ita) , A Knappe (Ger) , S Manley (Wal) , S Brown (Eng) , A Velasco (Esp) , R McGee (Irl) , J Barnes (Eng) , S Kim (USA)
76 S Henry  (Sco), S Fallon (Eng) , H Casey (Eng) , J Hahn (USA) , J Rask (Swe) , C Bouniol (Fra) , P Widegren  (Swe) , J Lara (Esp) , N Geyger (Chi)
77 J Heath  (Eng) , A Forsyth (Sco) , D Palm (Swe) , S Walker (Eng) , F Bergamaschi (Ita) , S Soderberg (Swe) , C Del Moral (Esp) , V Riu  (Fra) , S Griffiths (Eng) , P Dwyer (Eng) , G Lockerbie  (Eng) , T Sinnott (Aus) , A Gee  (Eng) , C Pigem (Esp) ,
78 R Finch  (Eng) , R Davies (Wal) , D Law (Sco) , K Ferrie (Eng) , A Bernadet  (Fra) , M Søgaard  (Den) , E Cuartero Blanco  (Esp) , J Ballesteros (Esp) 
79 J Sousa (Por) , D Coupland (Eng) , B Evans  (Eng) , C Laranja (am) (Por)
80 A Rajmont  (Cze) , E Bertheussen (Nor) , J Glennemo (Swe) , S Hodgson (Eng) 
82 R Brackenbury (Eng) , E Goya (Arg) 
** P Maddy (Eng)

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

MADEIRA OPEN REDUCED TO THREE ROUNDS

Heavy rain and a flooded course again held up the first round of the Madeira Islands Open – BPI – Portugal on Saturday morning.
In a tournament already reduced to 54 holes after strong winds wiped out Thursday’s play, half the field had completed their opening rounds on Friday amid further weather delays, with Denmark’s Joachim B Hansen leading the way with a four under par 68.
 There was time for fellow Scandinavians Jaakko Makitalo and Joakim Lagergren to join him on four under when play resumed today, but after an hour and 13 minutes play had to be suspended once more.

Finland’s Makitalo had two holes left to play and Swede Lagergren was through 13 when the players were called in, with England’s Andrew Marshall, Finns Roope Kakko and Antti Ahokas, Germany’s Bernd Ritthammer, Swede Pelle Edberg and French pair Jean-Baptiste Gonnet and Adrien Saddier all one shot off the lead./