Jimmy Walker wins Texas Open by four

So Marc Warren failed to win a place in the Masters. He finished tied 35th in the Texas Open won by Jimmy Walker.
With rounds of 71, 67, 69 and 70 for 11-under 277, Walker won without breaking sweat, four shots ahead of runner-up Jordan Spieth (71 69 71 70 for 281).
Marc Warren totalled five-over 293 (74 74 875 70)
Martin Laird finished T50 on eight-over 296 (76 71 73 76.
Englishman Brian Davis also on 296 with scores of 73, 73, 75 and 75.
FROM CBS SPORTS.COM

SAN ANTONIO -- Jimmy Walker made himself right at home on the Texas Open leaderboard.
Walker won his hometown event Sunday to become the first two-time winner this season on the US PGA Tour, beating fellow Texan Jordan Spieth by four strokes.

Texas Open

 

Final scores, earnings

 

"[Spieth] really made me fight hard," Walker said. "He kept hitting it close, and I had to keep making putts."
Walker made birdie putts of 15 feet at No. 16 and 17 feet at the 17th in a 2-under 70 that left him at 11-under 277 at TPC San Antonio, a 35-minute drive from his home.
The 36-year-old former Baylor University player won the Sony Open in Hawaii by nine shots in January and has a tour-best five victories in the past two seasons.
"Everybody says it's hard to win at home," Walker said, "[but] it's hard to win any week -- home, away, out of the country, it's hard. So I feel good."
Spieth also finished with a 70, making four late birdies in a row. The 21-year-old Dallas player was coming off a playoff victory two weeks ago at Innisbrook.
"It actually looked like I had a chance," said Spieth, seven shots back with eight to play. "I didn't think that would be possible. You're never out of it in this game, but Jimmy shut that down pretty quickly with his made putts."
Walker and Spieth will move to career highs in the world ranking, with Spieth going from sixth to fourth and Walker from 13th to 10th.
"That's cool," Spieth said. "But I'm not pinching myself, because there are three guys ahead."
FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel was third at 4 under after a 71.
Daniel Summerhays, second last year behind Steven Bowditch, tied for fourth with Chesson Hadley at 3 under. Summerhays closed with a 69, and Hadley had a 71.
Doral winner Dustin Johnson shot his second straight 68 to match Ryan Palmer at 2 under. Palmer also had a 68.
"With the same wind the last three days it helped to figure out the course, and I played well," Johnson said, noting steady wind at past 20 mph much of this week. "I just played a couple of holes bad. Other than that, I played a lot of good golf in between and if I played those other holes better it's a whole different tournament."
Phil Mickelson, looking for some momentum heading to the Masters, closed with a 76 to drop into a tie for 30th at 4 over.
Ten players finished under par, with the Oaks Course playing the toughest on the PGA Tour this season with a 74.581 stroke average -- more than two shots over par. 
The previous high was PGA National's Champion course at 1.832 over par for the Honda Classic.
Marc Warren and Harris English failed to crack the top 50 in the world ranking, which would have given them spots in the Masters. Warren, 52nd, needed to finish ahead of Brendan Todd to get in, but closed with a 70 to finish 35th. English, 53rd, needed at least a top 10. His final-round 72 only got him to 30th.

PERTH AND KINROSS COUNTY MASTERS ENTRY 

DEADLINE IS TUESDAY FIRST

By TOM McLEVY
Perth and Kinross CGA secretary
We are running a county event this year in an effort to promote the value of club membership.
We have received sponsorship from Aviva for the tournament - the Perth and Kinross County Masters. 
It's a four-ball, better-ball pairs knock-out event run throughout the season with the semi-finalists being taken to East Lothian for the weekend to play the semi-finals at Gullane and the final and play off over the Renaissance Course. 
Entries close on Tuesday so I've maybe left it a bit late but I know your site is well visited by club golfers who might not necessarily visit our county website regularly. 
They can find more details by visiting http://www.perthandkinrosscountygolf.net/gents/PKCountyMasters.php

Ramsay takes it on the chin and bounces back 

to score third European Tour triumph 

Richie Ramsay in playful mood with the distinctive trophy at the Moroccan event. Picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c).

 EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Aberdeen's Richie Ramsay recovered from dropping four shots in the space of two holes to claim a dramatic one-shot victory at the Trophee Hassan II at Agadir on Morocco's western Atlantic coastline today.
The former US amateur champion  had looked on course for a third European Tour title when he birdied four holes in a row from the third to race clear at Golf du Palais Royal, but after a bogey on the seventh, he duffed two chips at the short eighth en route to a triple bogey 6.
That would have disheartened a lot of players but not this man from the Granite City - and true grit got him back in the pole position. 

A brilliant tee hot to a couple of feet at the 12th started Ramsay's recovery, and he birdied the 13th and 14th as well for a three under par 69 and ten under total.
That left Romain Wattel needing to pick up two shots over the closing two holes – he had chipped in for par on the 15th to keep his hopes alive - but after birdieing the 17th the Frenchman failed to find the 18th green in two and had to settle for second on nine under after a closing 70.

Speaking of his exploits at the eighth, Ramsay, whose victory was worth 250,000 euros (is first payslip of the year), said: “I made six, as simple as that. I just didn’t execute the shot the way I wanted to – hit a poor chip, it came back in the divot, wouldn’t come out, chipped on and two putts – easy six!
“I knew I was still in the mix and I made great putts on nine and ten just to keep the momentum going.
“I stood over the putt on the 12th hole and I just thought my putter feels absolutely great, I could see all the lines.
“I thought ‘just go for it, this is your time’. Pretty much took it by the scruff of the neck the next two holes and the seven iron on the last is probably one of the best shots I’ve ever hit in terms of visualisation and execution, it was just perfect.”

George Coetzee, who had required a win to sneak a place in the Masters Tournament in a fortnight, was part of a six-way tie for third on eight under along with fellow South African Jaco Van Zyl, Spain’s Pablo Larrazábal, Swede Mikael Lundberg, Ireland’s Kevin Phelan and England’s Chris Wood.
And amongst those a shot further back was former Ryder Cup Captain José María Olazábal, whose closing 66 gave him the 150th top-ten finish of his European Tour career.

“I didn’t expect this earlier in the week,” said the Spaniard, who will be at Augusta National next month as a two-time winner of the event.
“The first day I put together a decent score and struggled Friday, then yesterday it all fitted in on the back nine. Today was a bit like yesterday and I was really happy with my score.
“I saw the leaderboard on 18 and knew I had a putt to lead in the clubhouse. It’s nice to have a round like this and a tournament like this for confidence.
“It is a different course at Augusta; it is really long there for me now. It’s much better to have a score like this than not, but I know how tough Augusta is these days.”

Key player quotes

Richie Ramsay – 69 (-10 total)
“It is a great honour to win this dagger. I have a collection of trophies at home in a cabinet. It is nice to look at them and remind me of wins and this will sit pride of place with the US Amateur trophy, and the Omega European Masters and the South African Open. Those are the four that feel special. It’s a great tradition to have this dagger. It is a tournament unlike any other and it is a piece of history. It will be great when we have children to say this is where I went to Morocco and won a dagger.”

Romain Wattel – 70 (-9 total)
“It is always disappointing to finish so close in a tournament but at the same time I’m happy because it was not my best week at all. To be in contention without playing my best is great, and it is fasntastic to be in this position. Unfortunately there was just one shot, or two, missing. I wanted to feel I have done my best even if I couldn’t win. I’ve been struggling the last couple of months so to finish second this week without playing my best is good for me. I’ve shown improvement.”

George Coetzee – 70 (-8 total)
“It all comes down to Sunday and I’ve left a few shots out there today. It was a good performance though so I’m happy with the result. I’ll have a nice long holiday now. I’m a little tired as it has been a long stretch. I would like to have pulled it off but that’s just the way things go. I’ll watch the Masters – you can’t not watch a Major if you aren’t playing, but I’ll be wishing I was there.”
ALL THE FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
278 R Ramsay  (Sco) 72 66 71 69 
279 R Wattel  (Fra) 68 74 67 70
280 K Phelan (Irl) 70 70 70 70, P Larrazábal (Esp) 70 69 73 68, C Wood  (Eng) 67 72 74 67, M Lundberg (Swe) 70 75 66 69, G Coetzee (RSA) 67 72 71 70, J Van Zyl (RSA) 69 71 70 70
281 B Evans  (Eng) 69 70 74 68, R Bland (Eng) 69 70 71 71, J Olazábal (Esp) 69 76 70 66, M Schneider (Ger) 73 69 72 67, W Ormsby (Aus) 71 72 68 70
282 S Kjeldsen (Den) 68 73 69 72, A Wall (Eng) 68 72 72 70, M Foster (Eng) 73 72 71 66
283 P Edberg (Swe) 71 71 71 70, A Marshall (Eng) 71 73 69 70, B Ritthammer (Ger) 71 70 71 71, T Fleetwood  (Eng) 70 71 73 69, D Horsey (Eng) 70 71 69 73, E Pepperell (Eng) 71 74 69 69, S Benson (Eng) 73 68 72 70 
284 J Quesne  (Fra) 70 75 72 67, S Jamieson  (Sco) 74 69 71 70, M Kieffer (Ger) 73 73 68 70 
285 D Howell (Eng) 70 70 77 68, G Bourdy (Fra) 75 71 68 71, E Grillo (Arg) 74 69 67 75, T Lewis (Eng) 69 77 71 68, M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) 74 72 70 69, R Green (Aus) 68 70 76 71, B Hebert  (Fra) 75 71 69 70
 286 R Karlsson (Swe) 72 74 68 72, A Saddier (Fra) 65 77 71 73, J Campillo (Esp) 71 69 73 73, J Lagergren (Swe) 72 68 75 71, B An (SKor) 72 71 71 72, R Rock (Eng) 74 72 72 68, O Wilson (Eng) 68 73 73 72, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 69 69 74 74, E De La Riva  (Esp) 68 75 71 72, A McArthur  (Sco) 71 71 67 77, M Lampert (Ger) 68 75 73 70, M Hoey  (Nir) 70 73 76 67
 287 S Kapur (Ind) 72 73 67 75, R Jacquelin (Fra) 70 76 70 71, M Carlsson  (Swe) 73 70 70 74, M Korhonen (Fin) 68 74 71 74
 288 M Orrin (Eng) 70 70 72 76, C Paisley  (Eng) 71 70 72 75, J Walters (RSA) 71 73 71 73, A Johnston (Eng) 72 71 77 68,
 289 P Oriol (Esp) 71 75 69 74
 290 D Drysdale (Sco) 67 73 76 74, L Slattery (Eng) 77 69 76 68, N Fasth (Swe) 71 73 74 72, P Waring  (Eng) 70 74 72 74
 291 O Farr (Wal) 70 68 74 79, F Fritsch  (Ger) 70 72 76 73, M Manassero (Ita) 72 71 72 76
 292 N Elvira  (Esp) 73 72 73 74
 293 C Lloyd (Eng) 76 69 75 73
 294 R Finch  (Eng) 75 71 77 71, M Matsumura (Jpn) 72 74 74 74
 296 E Espana (Fra) 73 70 76 77
 297 K Broberg (Swe) 73 70 74 80, O Fisher  (Eng) 74 71 76 76, R Santos  (Por) 69 72 73 83
 298 J Morrison  (Eng) 72 73 72 81, P Widegren  (Swe) 73 73 69 83
 300 S Hend (Aus) 71 73 84 72

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
FINAL TOTALS

PORTER AND CURRAN SHARE THE HONOURS

IN JUNIOR TOUR EVENT AT LONGNIDDRY
Carnoustie's Will Porter and Christopher Curran from Harburn Golf Club, West Lothian shared the honours in the Scottish Under-18 Junior Tour 54-hole event at Longiddry Golf Club pver the weekend, writes Colin Farquharson.
They both finished on 215 - 11 over par, an indication of how tough the conditions were with a strong
wind blowing over the West Lothian links on Saturday.
Porter  and Joseph Bryce (Bathgate), both with rounds of 75 and 71,  shared the overnight lead on eight-over 146.
Bryce faded a bit to post a third-round 73 in easier conditions today (Sunday) to finish joint seventh on 219.
Porter posted a closing 69 for 215, a total matched by Curran, thanks to a final-round 68.
Sandy Scott's long trip from Nairn was well worthwhile. He finished third, only a shot behind the joint winners after following up his Saturday scores of 75-73 with a 68.
The only sub-par score of the tournament, a one-under 67, was returned in the third round by Robert Watson (Muckhart), enabling him to climb the leaderboard and finish joint seventh on 219.
The tournament was regarded as a good warm-up for the Scottish Under-18 boys' match-play championship which tees off at Dunbar on Monday, April 6 and ends with a 36-hole final on Saturday, April 11.

SCOTTISH UNDER-18 JUNIOR TOUR
Longniddry GC, East Lothian
FINAL TOTALS
Par 204 (3x68) SSS 71. CSS 74 (r/o) 74 70
215 Will Porter (Carnoustie) 75 71 69, Christopher Curran (Harburn) 72 75 68.
216 Sandy Scott (Nairn) 75 73 68.
217 Matthew McCulloch (Portpatrick Dunskey) 73 74 70, Jack Thomas (Irvine) 71 76 70
218 Murray Naysmith (Marriott Dalmahoy) 73 74 71
219 Joseph Bryce (Bathgate) 75 71 73, Robert Watson (Muckhart) 75 77 67
221 Stephen Roger (Cruden Bay) 73 76 72, Niall McMullen (Lundin) 74 78 69
222 Calum Fyfe (Cawder) 80 72 70
223 Aaron McManus (Darlington) 74 77 72
224 Ryan Brown (Dunfermline) 79 75 70
225 Rory Franssen (Inverness) 80 77 68, Jamie Stewart (Old Ranfurly) 79 75 71
226 Duncan McNeill (Powfoot) 74 80 72
227 Isaac Alexander (Moray) 81 75 71, John Paterson (St Andrews New) 79 77 71, Glen Burrett (Haggs Castle) 79 76 72
228 Connor Farrell (Longniddry) 76 82 70, Darren Howie (Peebles)76 80 72
229 Lewis Breslin (Fereneze) 82 73 74, Benjamin Henderson (Deeside) 81 75 73. Sam Locke (Banchory) 76 80 73.
230 Jamie Duguid (Dunbar) 78 76 76, Jack Currie (Greenock) 77 73 80
232 Conor MacCallum (St Andrews) 75 82 75
233 Callum Bruce (Duff House Royal) 79 77 77
235 Andrew Moir (Elgin) 72 82 81
236 David Rudd (Longniddry) 76 79 81

MISSED CUT
159 Cameron Black (Cardross) 74 85, Kieran Cantley (Liberton) 82 78.
160 Callum Burns (Balmore) 82 78, Mark Napier (Turnhouse) 81 79, Graeme Greer (Carluke) 81 79, Conor Toal (Old Ranfurly) 81 79, Robbie Kemsley (Balmore) 79 81.
161 Calum Graham (Crieff) 79 82, Ellis Hart (Dullatur) 76 85
162 Marc Watt (Inverallochy) 80 82.
163 Dylan Smith (Deeside) 79 84.
164 Andrew Ni (Murrayfield) 82 82.
165 Calum Bauchop (Glenbervie) 85 80, Hamish Mills (Cardross) 85 80
166 Euan Munro (Reay) 84 82, Keith Bowman (St Andrews New) 81 85, Finlay Asher (Nairn) 79 87.
167 Andrew Thomson (Lanark) 86 81, Greg Brown (Cathkin Braes) 84 83.
168 Angus Bendall (Castle Douglas) 86 82.
169 Rhys Thomson (Palacerigg) 81 88
170 Euan Gill (Inverness) 88 82.
172 Aran Sinclair (Bearsden) 89 83
175 Fraser Kane (Kirkhill) 89 86.
177 Marc Reid (Haddington) 93 84
180 Andrew McColl (Erskine) 88 92.
NR Calum Giffen (Dunfermline) 84 NR
Retired: Michael Watt (Turnhouse) 82 ret, Calum Cheyne (Newmachar) 84 ret, Christopher Finnie (Lockerbie) 79 ret.

P AND K TOO STRONG FOR CLACKMANNAN

Perth and Kinross made an impressive start to their Provan Salver campaign by scoring a 6 1/2-1 2/2 home win over Clackmannan at the Lansdowne course, Blairgowrie Golf Club today (Sunday).
Details:
PERTH and KINROSS 6 1/2, CLACKMANNAN 1 1/2
P and K players named first
Glenn Campbell bt Steven Horne 4 and 3
Stuart Graham halved with John Maxwell
Mark Rose bt David Malloy 3 and 2
Stuart McKendrick bt Bill Hatley 6 and 5
Stephen Carruthers bt Gary Chalmers 5 and 4
Willie Hutton bt Steve McIvor 2 holes.
Scott Michie lost to Darren Hulston 5 and 4.
Mark Cameron bt Jamie Aitken 3 and 2.