Super Syme leads by six at Battle Trophy halfway

Drumoig Golf Centre professional's son Conor Syme showed he was more than a chip off the old block by surging six strokes clear of a quality field at the halfway stage of this weekend's SGU 72-hole Order of Merit event, the Battle Trophy, over the Craighead Links of the Crail Golfing Society, Fife, writes Colin Farquharson.
Syme, 20, who won the Paul Lawrie Foundation Scottish schoolboys title twice in succession (2012 and 2013), opened up a two-stroke first-round lead with a great opening round of eight-under-par 64, only one shot outside the course record set by Jack McDonald in this tournament 12 months ago.
And Conor, son of and coached by Stuart Syme, the former Dumfries and Co pro who up sticks to buy the Drumoig Golf Centre in Fife, achieved his 64 despite a double bogey 5 at a short seventh hole had he had aced in Friday's practice round.
Syme, leading by two from British amateur champion Bradley Neil (Blairgowrie), just back from playing in the masters, then went out in the afternoon to also post the best second round of a five under par 67 and move to 13-under par 131. 

He ended the day's play six clear of Neil who shot scores of 66 and 71 for 137
And Beardsen's Ewan Ferguson, who dropped four shots but birdied the third, sixth, eighth, 14th and 18th - some of the most difficult holes on the course - remains in sight of a goal to capture three 72-hole  events in succession - the Scottish Champion of Champions (not an Order of Merit event) at Leven, the Craigmillar Park Open in Edinburgh last weekend, and the Battle Trophy,  with scores of 68 and 70 for six-under 138, the same mark as Fraser Davren.
The halfway cut fell at five-over-par149, by far the lowest since the tournament. Last year the corresponding figure was 158, which underlines the quality of the field this year.

Crail member, Fraser Carr is pleased to have carded a solid 70, moving him up the leaderboard and giving him every chance to pick up important WAGR points.
Defending champion Nick Macandrew (Royal Aberdeen) was the most notable player among those who missed the halfway cut at 149. He took one shot too many for a 150 total

 

QUALIFIERS FOR FINAL TWO ROUNDS
Par 144 (2x72) CSS 74 74
131 C Syme 64 67
137 B Neil 66 71
138 F Davren 69 69, E Ferguson 68 70
139 G Robertson 68 71
140 G Marchbank  70 70
141 C Ross 70 71, O Roberts 70 71, S Robertson 69 72, H Tomlinson 68 73
142 D Watson 73 69, D Young 71 71, R White 70 72
143 F Carr 73 70, A Culverwell 71 72
144 J McDonald 73 71, A Campbell 72 72, A Carrick 71 73, J Wright 69 75
145 A Cameron 75 70, S Gibson 73 72, M Pennycott 73 72
146 J Mathers 78 68, A Moir jun 76 70, A Davidson 73 73, S Rennie 74 72, L Robinson 72 74, J Bunch 71 75, J Savage 69 77, J A Wilson 71 75
147 C Maclean 74 73, S Grant 74 73, C Edgar 73 74, S Aitken 70 77
148 M Iten 77 71, M Clark 74 74, S Scott 74 74, M Bacigalupo 74 74
149 G Munro 76 73, J Harling 77 72

MISSED THE CUT
150 N Macandrew (Royal Aberdeen) 72 78, F Moore (Glenbervie) 72 78, D Mitchell jun (Leven Thistle) 73 77, R Campbell (Falkirk) 74 76, A Blaney (Liberton) 75 75, J Shaw (Boat of Garten) 76 74.
151 C Neil (Blairgowrie) 72 79, William Bremner jun (Edzell) 73 78, D Lawrence (Ballumbie Castle) 76 75.
152 S Fairburn (Torwoodlee) 72 80, Sean Lawrie (Portlethen) 76 76, K Godsman (Moray) 76 76, D Cairnie (Carnoustie Caledonia) 77 75, L Bain (Turnhouse) 79 73.
153 M O'Donnell (Hamilton) 75 78, C Telfer (Prestwick St Cuthbert) 79 74
154 G Wishart (Lundin) 75 79, G Forrester (Lundin) 75 79, R Wardlaw (Carnoustie Caledonia) 77 77, S Easton (Irvine) 78 76
155 B Kinsley (St Andrews) 73 82, D Macandrew (Royal Aberdeen) 79 76
156 M Miller (Lundin) 73 83, C Pirie (Millport) 81 75.
157 E Shannly (Linlithgow) 77 80, H Nelson (Kilsyth) 81 76
157 M Gray (North Berwick) 80 78
159 Nicholas Peoples (Royal Lytham) 80 79.
160 W Kerr (Craigielaw) 77 83
167 A McDougall (Drumoig) 81 86
NR J Berry (Torwoodlee) 79 NR, J Douglas (Leven Th) 81 NR



TEE TIMES FOR SUNDAY'S FINAL TWO ROUNDS
07:10 and 11:40
Jack Harling and Gordon Mun07:20 and 11.50
Michael Bacigalupo and Sandy Scott
07:30 and 12.00
Matthew Clark and Marco Iten
07:40 and 12:10
Steven Aitken and Colin Edgar
07:50 and  12:20
Scott Grant and Chris Maclean
08:00 and 12.30
James A Wilson and Jamie Savage
08:10 and 12.40
James Bunch and Luke Robinson
08:20 and 12.50
Steven Rennie and Andrew Davidson
08:30 and 13.00
A Moir Jnr and John Mathers
08:40 and 13.10
Malcolm Pennycott and Scott Gibson
08:50 and 13:20
Allan Cameron and Jeff Wright
09:00 and  13:30
Angus Carrick and Andrew Campbell
09:10 and 13:40
Jack McDonald and Alexander Culverwell
09:20 and 13.50
Fraser Carr and Ryan White
09:30 and 14.00
Daniel Young and Darren Watsom
09:40 and 14.10
Henry Tomlinson and Scott Robertson
09:50 and 14.20
Oliver Roberts and Craig Ross
10:00 and 14.30
Greig Marchbank and Graeme Robertson
10:10 and 14:40
Ewen Ferguson and  Fraser Davren
10:20 and 14:50
Bradley Neil and Connor Syme

Battle Trophy first round scores from Crail

Name	Club	Rd1
Connor Syme	Drumoig	64
Bradley Neil	Blairgowrie	66
Ewen Ferguson	Bearsden	68
Henry Tomlinson	Lytham & St Annes	68
Graeme Robertson	Glenbervie	68
Fraser Davren	Williamwood	69
Jeff Wright	Forres	69
Scott - Thorn Robertson	Hazelhead	69
Jamie Savage	Cawder	69
Greig Marchbank	Thornhill	70
Craig Ross	Kirkhill	70
Ryan White	Leven GS	70
Steven Aitken	Leven GS	70
Oliver Roberts	Hong Kong GA	70
Angus Carrick	Douglas Park	71
Daniel Young	Craigiehill	71
James Bunch	Prestwick	71
James A Wilson	Balmore	71
Alexander Culverwell	Dunbar	71
Andrew Campbell	Dumbarton	72
Connor Neil	Blairgowrie	72
Luke Robinson	Bundoran	72
N Macandrew	Royal Abeerdeen	72
F Moore	Glenbervie	72
Simon FAIRBURN	Torwoodlee	72
Fraser Carr	Crail	73
B A A Kinsley	St Andrews GC	73
William Bremner Jnr	Edzell	73
Darren Watson	Cruden Bay	73
J McDonald	Kilmarnock Barassie	73
Malcolm Pennycott	Whiting Bay	73
Colin Edgar	Cochrane Castle	73
Andrew Davidson	Charlteon	73
David Jnr Mitchell	Leven Thistle	73
Matthew Miller	Lundin GC	73
Scott Gibson	Southerness	73
Michael Bacigalupo	Longniddry	74
Sandy Scott	Nairn	74
Scott Grant	Downfield	74
Chris Maclean	Balmore	74
Steven Rennie	Drumpellier	74
Ryan Campbell	Falkirk GC	74
Matthew Clark	Kilmacolm	74
Allan Cameron	Fortrose and Rosemarkie	75
Greg Wishart	Lundin GC	75
Anthony Blaney	Liberton	75
Mark O'Donnell	Hamilton	75
Greg Forrester	Lundin GC	75
Jordan Shaw	Boat of Garten	76
Sean A Lawrie	Portlethen	76
A Moir Jnr	Thornton	76
Gordon Munro	Fraserburgh	76
Dan Lawrence	Balumbie Castle	76
Kyle Godsman	Moray	76
Ralph Wardlaw	Carnoustie Caledonia	77
Willem Kerr	Craigielaw	77
Duncan Cairnie	Carnoustie Caledonia	77
Marco Iten	GC Rheinblick	77
Jack Harling	Banchory	77
Edward Shannly	Linlithgow	77
John Mathers	Haggs Castle	78
Stuart Easton	Irvine GC	78
Jackson Berry	Torwoodlee	79
Craig Telfer	Prestwick St Cuthbert	79
Lewis Bain	Turnhouse	79
D W Macandrew	Royal Aberdeen	79
Michael Gray	North Berwick	80
Nicholas Peoples	Royal Lytham & St Annes	80
Alasdair McDougall	Drumoig	81
Hugh Nelson	Kilsyth	81
Craig Pirie	Millport	81
John Douglas	Leven Thistle	81

Richie Ramsay has third-round 66 - still six shots behind
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMINICATIONS Aberdonian Richie Ramsay shot a third-round, six-under-par 66 for a 54-hole tally of 210, six shots behind leader Kiradech Aphibarnrat at the Shenzhen International Tournament in China. Despite an uncharacteristic late wobble, Kiradech Aphibarnrat will take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Shenzhen International, where the Thai is bidding to claim his second European Tour title. For much of the day, Kiradech had looked impregnable and on course to follow up his triumph at the 2013 Maybank Malaysian Open. But he double-bogeyed the par five 17th hole, and dropped another shot at the last to fall back to 12 under par 204 His nearest challenger on ten under 206 is halfway leader Peter Uihlein, who heads a threatening chasing pack and whose up and down round of one under par suddenly grew in value as his playing partner faltered. Aphibarnrat’s round of four under par was still impressive, featuring nine birdies which all came in the first 13 holes. The 25 year old started the day on eight under par, one stroke behind Uihlein, but burst out of the blocks with three straight birdies to overhaul the American. Either side of two bogey 5s, an excellent approach to the sixth hole led to another gain before he made four consecutive birdies around the turn. But having carded three straight pars to stay on course to equal the tournament’s lowest round of seven under par, set earlier in the day by China’s Li Hao-tong and then matched by Spaniard Pablo Larrazábal, Aphibarnrat’s putting let him down on the last two holes. Larrazábal occupies third place on nine under par after notching eight birdies at Genzon Golf Club, on the outskirts of Shenzhen. Key quotes Kiradech Aphibarnrat: “I’ve been striking the ball so well for the first three rounds. I made three straight birdies to jump to the top of the leaderboard, and I was still hitting the ball great on the back nine. “But I make a big mistake on last two holes, that was not the way to finish. After I played 14 holes and was still striking the ball well, maybe I thought the job was done. But I made some big mistakes on the 17th and 18th, which gives everyone a chance to catch me tomorrow. “It’s still been a good day though, I still shot four under for the third round and I’m still two shots in front. I’m still feeling positive, I’ll go to sleep and tomorrow is a new day.” Peter Uihlein: “I just made too many sloppy bogeys today. But I still made five birdies and missed a couple of pretty easy putts, so overall two one under is a pretty good score, given how sloppy it was. “Kiradech has been playing fantastic all week, and he was again today until 17.  We’ll see how it is tomorrow, I’ll just have to try to hang in there with him.” Pablo Larrazábal: “My game was brilliant today. I missed two shots, the second shot on 17 and the second shot on 18. But I played very solid otherwise, and I only made one long putt – I think I made five birdies from four feet. But I was one over par on the par fives, so I’ll have to do much better than that if I’m going to have a chance tomorrow.” Scores after round  3: Par 216 (3x72) 204 K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 67 69 68   206 P Uihlein  (USA) 67 68 71 207 P Larrazábal (Esp) 73 69 65 208 S Hend (Aus) 70 70 68, T Fleetwood  (Eng) 70 69 69, E Grillo (Arg) 71 67 70, M Ford (Eng) 69 69 70 209 K Broberg (Swe) 73 69 67, Y Yang (Kor) 72 71 66, T Lewis (Eng) 72 71 66, L Hao-Tong (Chn) 71 73 65, D Fichardt (RSA) 68 70 71 210 H Wen-Yi (Chn) 66 74 70, A Levy (Fra) 71 70 69, D Howell (Eng) 71 70 69, A Wall (Eng) 69 72 69 211 T Hatton (Eng) 72 70 69, M Fraser (Aus) 72 71 68, M Crespi  (Ita) 69 70 72, R Fisher (Eng) 69 74 68, G Havret  (Fra) 70 68 73, R Ramsay  (Sco) 72 73 66 212 R Wattel  (Fra) 69 74 69, R Bland (Eng) 71 71 70, J Kruger (RSA) 71 74 67, J Campillo (Esp) 72 71 69, F Zhi-Peng (Chn) 70 72 70 213 L Bjerregaard  (Den) 72 67 74, J Quesne  (Fra) 71 69 73, M Hoey  (Nir) 74 71 68, N Fasth (Swe) 73 69 71, W Ormsby (Aus) 73 73 67, G Stal  (Fra) 70 74 69, M Manassero (Ita) 69 70 74, S Kapur (Ind) 69 74 70 214 G Bourdy (Fra) 72 72 70, C Wood  (Eng) 75 70 69, G Mulroy (RSA) 69 74 71, M Kieffer (Ger) 72 70 72, H Ze-Yu (Chn) 73 73 68, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 69 75 70, W Wei-Huang (Chn) 70 73 71 215 L Yan-Wei (Chn) 73 73 69, M Carlsson  (Swe) 73 73 69, A Noren  (Swe) 73 71 71, R Paratore (Ita) 72 71 72, M Korhonen (Fin) 71 72 72, D Horsey (Eng) 70 71 74 216 A Sullivan (Eng) 69 75 72, F Aguilar (Chi) 67 75 74, M Madsen  (Den) 71 71 74, M Nixon (Eng) 73 73 70 217 L Gui-Ming (Chn) 74 71 72, A Quiros  (Esp) 72 71 74, Z Xin-Jun (Chn) 72 74 71, B Evans  (Eng) 75 71 71, T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 71 70 76 218 B Watson (USA) 70 74 74, A Otaegui  (Esp) 76 69 73 219 R Jacquelin (Fra) 71 74 74, J Lando Casanova  (Fra) 72 73 74, E Pepperell (Eng) 73 72 74 220 D Lipsky (USA) 73 68 79 221 Y Yi-Nong (Chn) 70 73 78 222 J Carlsson (Swe) 72 74 76, Y Yechun (Chn) 71 75 76 224 C Lee (Sco) 75 71 78

Woosie sharing lead, Monty T40 when US senior event halted by rain

FROM CBS SPORTS.COM
 DULUTH, Georgia -- Ian Woosnam was tied for the lead at 4 under with five holes left Friday when first-round play in the Champions Tour's Greater Gwinnett Championship was suspended because of rain.
The round is scheduled to be completed Saturday morning at TPC Sugarloaf, followed by the second round. There is more rain in the forecast Saturday and Sunday.
Woosnam, playing in the event for the first time, was tied with Tommy Armour III, Joey Sindelar, Gary Hallberg and Olin Browne. Armour and Hallberg had four holes left, Sindelar three and Browne six.
Defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez was even par through 11 holes. Bernhard Langer, second last year after winning the inaugural tournament in 2013, was 1 under through 12 as was Sandy Lyle. They were T28
Colin Montgomerie was in T40 position at level par and Roger Chapman T67 at three over par when play was halted
Only one group completed the first round, with Tom Byrum the clubhouse leader at 3-under 69.
Water was standing on the greens when play was halted. Hallberg said fairways were ''unplayable.'' 


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