Day displaces Spieth as No. 1 in World Rankings yet again; Tiger drops to 334

Jason Day, shown at the 2015 BMW Championship ( Associated Press )

By Andy Zunz

Monday, October 19, 2015

The first week of the 2015-16 PGA Tour season has come and gone, and with it came plenty of movement in the Official World Golf Ranking. That's despite the fact that many of the involved parties did not play.
Most notably is the ever-evolving situation at No. 1, where Jason Day now holds control, moving up from No. 2 to displace Jordan Spieth. Day also is No. 1 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Pro Rankings, with Spieth and Henrik Stenson at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively.
Matt Kuchar also made a nice move near the top of the OWGR list, advancing from 16th to 13th after winning at PGA Tour Australasia's Fiji International.
The weekend's two big winners advanced into the top 50. Emiliano Grillo, who triumphed at the Frys.com Open in a play-off over Kevin Na, rose from 72nd to 36th. Andy Sullivan, who won the European Tour's Portugal Masters, moved from 66th to 47th.
Na made a nice move himself, advancing nine spots, to No. 24, after nearly losing in a playoff.
A couple of rising stars on their respective tours inched closer to the top 50, with Chris Wood, the runner-up in Portugal, going from 76th to 65th, and Justin Thomas, who tied for third at Frys, moving from 75th to 62nd.
Tiger Woods dropped in the ranking, going from No. 321 to 334. He ended 2014 at No. 32 in the ranking.
Here's a look at the top 10:

• 1. Jason Day …      12.42
• 2. Jordan Spieth … 12.40
• 3. Rory McIlroy … 10.92
• 4. Bubba Watson … 8.11
• 5. Rickie Fowler … 7.76
• 6. Henrik Stenson … 7.33
• 7. Justin Rose … 7.13
• 8. Dustin Johnson … 6.71
• 9. Jim Furyk … 6.67
• 10. Zach Johnson … 5.04

 2016 British Masters to be hosted by Luke Donald at The Grove, Hertfordshire

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Following the huge success of the 2015 British Masters supported by Sky Sports on its return to The Race to Dubai after a gap of seven years, Luke Donald has accepted The European Tour’s invitation to become the tournament host in 2016.

Donald, who succeeds fellow Englishman Ian Poulter in the role, has selected The Grove, in Hertfordshire, as the venue for next year’s tournament, which will take place from October 13-16, 2016.

It will be only the second time The Grove has held a European Tour event, having hosted a World Golf Championship tournament in 2006, which was won by Tiger Woods, with Poulter joint runner-up alongside Adam Scott, and Donald in a share sixth place. 

Rob Watts is new England boys’ coach  Rob Watts, who coached Darren Clarke when he won The Open, has been appointed as the new lead coach for the England Golf boys’ squad.  He will deliver the national boys’ coaching programme and support England boys’ teams at specific events throughout the year. He will take up his position with immediate effect. Watts is based at Castle Royle in Berkshire, where he is the head PGA professional and runs the Rob Watts Performance Academy. He has extensive coaching experience and works with golfers across a wide spectrum, from European Tour players to elite amateurs and county squads as well as beginners and improvers.  He has been an England Golf U16 regional squad coach for the past three years and currently works with three England internationals.  Watts is an Advanced Fellow of the PGA and also has qualifications in exercise, nutrition and lifestyle coaching.  He said: “It is a great honour and I am very proud to have been given the opportunity to work with our national boys’ team. It is a very exciting time, I am very much looking forward to meeting and working with the boys, specialist coaches and management so we can continue to aspire and deliver performances for England Golf on an international level.” Nigel Edwards, England Golf’s Performance Director, said: “We are delighted to welcome Rob to his new role in our team and look forward to working with him to achieve even greater successes for our players.” Picture Caption: Watts (right) is pictured with Darren Clarke and the claret jug. Lyndsey Hewison Press Officer England Golf pr@englandgolf.org 07825 752 193 EDITORS’ NOTES England Golf is the governing body for amateur golf in England. It is one of the country’s largest sports governing bodies and looks after the interests of more than 1,900 golf clubs and 675,000 men, women, boy and girl club members. England Golf is at the heart of grassroots golf, inspiring people to have a lifelong involvement in the game.  Our development initiative ‘Get into golf’ introduces new golfers, juniors and adults, to start playing the game as well as increasing the interest and participation in golf.  Working with our partners we offer business support to clubs to encourage more golfers to enjoy the benefits of club membership and to help promote the game as being accessible, fun and family friendly. For competitive golfers, England Golf provides championships for all ages and abilities, both in individual and team events, hosted at some of the most prestigious courses across the country, some with qualifying events at any club.  England Golf identifies and develops the country’s most talented golfers through their amateur careers, many of whom go on to become the world’s leading professional golfers, such as Justin Rose, Lee Westwood, Charley Hull and Melissa Reid.

Web: www.englandgolf.org Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/EnglandGolf Facebook: www.facebook.com/EnglandGolf

MENA SCOREBOARD - Muscat Hills Golf Citizen Championship Round 1

Scottish amateur Ben Alexander shoots best 

ever 67 to share lead

MUSCAT, Oman— Young amateur Ben Alexander, pictured, shot a career-best five-under 67 to join Stuart Archibald, Christofer Blomstrand and Cyril Suk atop the leaderboard on the opening day of the Muscat Hills Golf Citizen Championship here on Monday.

The 21-year-old Scottish prodigy from the Renaissance Club, Dirleton, near North Berwick, rebounded from an early bogey on the first with two birdies on the front nine and picked up three more shots coming home, including an eagle on the par-5, 13th, to introduce himself on the MENA Golf Tour after missing the cut in all of his six previous outings.

In all, Alexander had one eagle and four birdies (fourth, seventh, 10th and 15th). His only bogey came at the first.

England’s Archibald and Sweden’s Blomstrand went bogey-free while Czech Republic Suk, who won the 2014 Shaikh Maktoum Dubai Open, reeled off four birdies in his last seven holes to move into a four-way tie for the lead.

Sweden’s Per Barth, the winner of the Shaikh Maktoum Dubai Open last month, was placed solo fifth a further shots adrift with Aberdeen's Clarke Lutton, who won last week at The Els Club, heading a 10-man group at three-under.

On a hot and humid day when 30 players broke par, Alexander made his presence felt with a tidy round, but he was not too excited. “I should have been a lot lower ... missed many short putts,” said Alexander, who is playing in his first season on the tour.

“I was feeling mentally much stronger and that was the key,” said the Scot, who started playing competitive golf only a year back.

Of his eagle on the 13th, he said: “I missed the fairway off the tee, but hit my four-iron from 221 years to within two feet of the pin. It certainly lifted my round and my spirits,” he added.

England’s Archibald, who finished in solo third at last week’s event at The Els Club, sounded very pleased with his day’s work.

“I really didn’t know what to expect when I teed off, but things fell into place as the round wore on. I drove the ball well and hit my approaches close to the pin,” said Archibald, who made the turn at one under.

“I chipped in on the 18th for a birdie which was quite nice. In fact, I played the last three well, but missed out on a five-footer for a birdie on the 16^th, which was a shame.

“The course is very well designed. It’s just that the greens are a bit tough to read,” said the 31-year-old from Hampshire.

Elsewhere, England’s Joshua White, who won the MENA Golf Tour Order of Merit title last year, carded a 71 while India’s Rayhan Thomas returned a two-under 70, highlighted by an eagle on the 13^th, to occupy solo second in amateur division behind Alexander.

Fellow Scots Ted Innes-Ker and Paul Doherty shot rounds of 74 and 76 respectively. Innes-Kerr is lying T44 and Doherty T59 in a field of 74 players.

LEADERBOARD
Par 72
67 Stuart Archibald (Eng), Cyril Suk (Cze Rep), Ben Alexander (Sco) (am), Chrisopher Blomstrand (Swe).
68 Per Barth (Swe).
SELECTED SCORES
69 Clarke Lutton (Sco), Dan Waite (Eng), Craig Hinton (Eng), Joe Heraty (Eng).
70 Daniel Owen (Eng) (T16)
74 Ted Innes-Ker (Sco) (T44)
76 Paul Doherty (Sco) (T59).
Field of 74 players

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES 

CLICK HERE

BRIDGE CEMENTS GREENKEEPER’S PLACE IN WESTERWOOD HISTORY
  

NEWS RELEASE 

Long-serving greenkeeper Tam Sutherland has been rewarded for 29 years’ loyal service at his golf club by having a bridge named in his honour to mark his retirement.

The Westerwood Hotel and Golf Resort in Cumbernauld, near Glasgow – a member of QHotels, the UK’s largest golf resort operator – has paid a lasting tribute to Tam by calling its dry stone wall bridge on the 18^th hole of its golf course ‘The Tam Sutherland Bridge’.

The 68-year-old has been in charge of the greenkeeping team at The Westerwood since it opened in 1986 before deciding to call time on his career at the start of this month.

Situated close to the 18^th green, a plaque on the bridge reads: ‘This bridge honours the hard work and dedication Tam has shown to the course during his 29-year tenure.  Thank you, Tam, from your colleagues, friends and current and past members’.

Tam said: “The Westerwood has been a major part of my life for almost 30 years and I’m sad to leave. But I decided now was the right time to hang up my greenkeeping gloves and I’m very touched that a bridge has been built and named in my honour.”

Paul Bray, general manager at The Westerwood Hotel and Golf Resort, said: “Everyone at The Westerwood knows Tam and his face is well known to all our members.

“As someone who has been here since the resort opened, we wanted to do something special to mark his outstanding contribution and the bridge will be a long-standing tribute to the dedicated service he has given for nearly three decades.”

Tam and his team have looked after the Westerwood course on behalf of thousands of members over the years, and new members can now trial a winter membership at the resort from just £150.

Available from November 1 until the end of March, the membership  offers a range of attractive benefits including seven-day access to the course, discounts of 20 per cent on food and drink, 10 per cent savings on shop purchases and tuition and exclusive member events.

The Westerwood, one of 11 QHotels golf resorts, is situated in acres of spectacular grounds, with a golf course co-designed by one of the world’s greatest golfers: Severiano Ballesteros. 

 Working with the equally revered golf designer Dave Thomas, the legendary Spaniard created a course that is as challenging as it is beautiful, as it meanders through silver birches, firs and heather, offering stunning views towards the picturesque Campsie Hills.

The signature hole, the par-three 15th – created by Ballesteros and known as the Waterfall hole – requires a tee-shot from an elevated tee to a green surrounded by a 60ft rock face. 

It’s not for the faint hearted and nor are the undulating moorland greens which test one’s mettle when standing over those nervy four-foot putts.

Ibrahim Hussain has best SJGT score at Monifieth Ashludie

Here are the results from the Scottish Junior Golf Tour event at Monifieth yesterday on the Ashludie course. The Ashludie is in great condition with very fast greens. The format was 9:9Golf where only your best 9 holes count – you forget about the bad ones!  9:9Golf allows you to play with absolute freedom and go for every shot; it is a very attacking game and you need a lot of birdies to win.

Ibrahim Hussain had the best score of the day - a 5 under par 28. Scottish U14 Champion Jack Lockhart won the U14 section with 3 under par 30 and local boy Philip Brown won the U12s with level par 33.

 

LEADING SCORES
 

Under 16 years

28           Ibrahim Hussain (Eastwood)

30           Craig Jackman (Dunblane)

33           Sean Logue (Royal Montrose), Max McCluskey (Lenzie)

Under 14 years

30           Jack Lockhart (Pitreavie)

32          Toby Appleyard (Dalmahoy)

33          Ewan Wheat (Royal Montrose), Jamie Roberts (Muckhart)

Under 12 years

33           Philip Brown (Monifieth)

34           Cormac Sharpe (Blairgowrie)

35          George Cannon (Falkirk)

 

The handicap prize was won jointly by Bjorn Sandin (Dunblane) and Scott Hasell (Strathendrick) with  nett 27s.

Craig Jackman and Cormac Sharpe  won the skills competitions.

Walter Burns

Scottish Junior Golf Tour

 

Mob: 07951 103 827

 

Email: walter@scottishjuniorgolftour.co.uk

Web: www.scottishjuniorgolftour.co.uk

 

Fortrose and Rosemarkie Men's 18-hole open prizewinners

Players from Fortrose and Rosemarkie unless stated otherwise

 Home CSS 69 and Visitors CSS 70

 Scratch Section

 M MacDonald 66; A. Cameron 67; L Reid, A Brown 73

Handicap Section 

Class 1 – S MacKenzie (6) 67; S Bassindale  (6), B Hunter (8) 68; D Munro (Ullapool) (11) 69

Class 2  – B Catto (14) , J. Fyfe (18) 62; A Gray (13) 66; P. Rawlinson (14) 67
Closest to Pin at 5^th Hole – M O’May (Balfron)
Closest to Pin at18^th Hole – C Brindle.

 

 

Mike MacDonald

 

Mike MacDonald - Club Secretary

Fortrose & Rosemarkie Golf Club

Langer chalks up Win No. 25 on US 

Champions Tour

SAN ANTONIO -- Bernhard Langer rallied to win the San Antonio Championship on Sunday for his second victory of the year and 25th overall on the Champions Tour.
The 58-year-old Florida-based German star birdied the final two holes to win the £270,000 first prize.
Langer won on TPC San Antonio's AT and T Canyons Course after losing play-offs in the event to David Frost in 2012 and Kenny Perry in 2013. In June in Massachusetts, Langer successfully defended his Senior Players Championship title for his fifth senior major victory.
Three strokes behind defending champion Michael Allen and Scott McCarron entering the round, Langer had eight birdies and one bogey Sunday to finish at 12-under 204.
Dunlap shot a 68. Allen and McCarron, making his seventh start on the tour after turning 50 in July, each shot 70 to tie for third at 8 under.
Langer earned 270 Charles Schwab Cup points to pull within 66 points of leader Colin Montgomerie with two events left. Montgomerie tied for 15th at 3 under after a 72. The Scot earned $27,930.
 Jeff Maggert, 39 points behind Montgomerie, withdrew during the second round because of a lingering left calf injury.
England's Roger Chaman finished joint 40th on 218 after a disastrous opening round of 77 followed by scores of 71 and 70 to earn $8,460.
Welshman Ian Woosnam finished on 219 with a closing 73 and earned $6,660.
Sandy Lyle earned only $1,994 after a T65 finish on 224 with second and third rounds of 76.

SCROLL DOWN TO VIEW ALL THE FINAL TOTALS AND PRIZEMONEY

US CHAMPIONS TOUR SCOREBOARD: SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

1	Bernhard Langer	71	68	65	-7	-12	204	$270,000
2	Scott Dunlap	68	71	68	-4	-9	207	$158,400
T3	Michael Allen	69	69	70	-2	-8	208	$118,350
T3	Scott McCarron	69	69	70	-2	-8	208	$118,350
T5	Kenny Perry	70	73	66	-6	-7	209	$78,750
T5	Wes Short Jr.	67	72	70	-2	-7	209	$78,750
T7	Olin Browne	70	71	69	-3	-6	210	$57,600
T7	Scott Hoch	70	71	69	-3	-6	210	$57,600
T7	Paul Goydos	68	72	70	-2	-6	210	$57,600
T10	Woody Austin	69	71	71	-1	-5	211	$45,000
T10	Tom Pernice Jr.	72	68	71	-1	-5	211	$45,000
T12	Fred Funk	73	72	67	-5	-4	212	$36,600
T12	Corey Pavin	72	71	69	-3	-4	212	$36,600
T12	Loren Roberts	72	70	70	-2	-4	212	$36,600
T15	Mark Calcavecchia	73	72	68	-4	-3	213	$27,930
T15	Stephen Ames	68	74	71	-1	-3	213	$27,930
T15	Tom Byrum	69	73	71	-1	-3	213	$27,930
T15	Colin Montgomerie	71	70	72	E	-3	213	$27,930
T15	Jeff Sluman	68	72	73	+1	-3	213	$27,930
T15	Fred Couples	70	69	74	+2	-3	213	$27,930
T21	Jay Don Blake	76	70	68	-4	-2	214	$19,944
T21	Russ Cochran	70	75	69	-3	-2	214	$19,944
T21	Brandt Jobe	73	72	69	-3	-2	214	$19,944
T21	Tommy Armour III	75	69	70	-2	-2	214	$19,944
T21	Jesper Parnevik	70	72	72	E	-2	214	$19,944
T26	Joey Sindelar	72	73	70	-2	-1	215	$16,020
T26	Chien-Soon Lu	75	73	67	-5	-1	215	$16,020
T26	Duffy Waldorf	68	76	71	-1	-1	215	$16,020
T26	Lee Janzen	71	72	72	E	-1	215	$16,020
T30	Rod Spittle	71	74	71	-1	E	216	$13,275
T30	Esteban Toledo	71	74	71	-1	E	216	$13,275
T30	Kevin Sutherland	69	74	73	+1	E	216	$13,275
T30	Scott Verplank	75	74	67	-5	E	216	$13,275
T34	Jeff Hart	73	72	72	E	+1	217	$10,620
T34	John Huston	76	72	69	-3	+1	217	$10,620
T34	Joe Durant	69	79	69	-3	+1	217	$10,620
T34	Bart Bryant	75	74	68	-4	+1	217	$10,620
T34	Larry Mize	72	70	75	+3	+1	217	$10,620
T34	John Cook	71	70	76	+4	+1	217	$10,620
T40	Blaine McCallister	74	73	71	-1	+2	218	$8,460
T40	Steve Pate	73	73	72	E	+2	218	$8,460
T40	Roger Chapman	77	71	70	-2	+2	218	$8,460
T40	Kirk Triplett	72	77	69	-3	+2	218	$8,460
T40	Mike Goodes	75	75	68	-4	+2	218	$8,460
T45	Willie Wood	73	74	72	E	+3	219	$6,660
T45	Ian Woosnam	71	75	73	+1	+3	219	$6,660
T45	Mark Brooks	74	72	73	+1	+3	219	$6,660
T45	Tom Lehman	74	74	71	-1	+3	219	$6,660
T45	Marco Dawson	76	74	69	-3	+3	219	$6,660
50	Billy Andrade	76	73	71	-1	+4	220	$5,580
T51	Gene Sauers	71	75	75	+3	+5	221	$4,397
T51	Greg Bruckner	77	70	74	+2	+5	221	$4,397
T51	Jay Delsing	72	75	74	+2	+5	221	$4,397
T51	Steve Lowery	72	76	73	+1	+5	221	$4,397
T51	Carlos Franco	74	75	72	E	+5	221	$4,397
T51	Rocco Mediate	74	75	72	E	+5	221	$4,397
T51	Brad Bryant	76	75	70	-2	+5	221	$4,397
T58	Mark McNulty	72	76	74	+2	+6	222	$3,330
T58	Brad Faxon	74	74	74	+2	+6	222	$3,330
T58	Grant Waite	70	74	78	+6	+6	222	$3,330
T58	Mark O'Meara	77	75	70	-2	+6	222	$3,330
T62	Brian Henninger	77	72	74	+2	+7	223	$2,700
T62	Doug Garwood	78	72	73	+1	+7	223	$2,700
T62	Bobby Wadkins	77	74	72	E	+7	223	$2,700
T65	John Inman	73	74	77	+5	+8	224	$1,994
T65	Sandy Lyle	72	76	76	+4	+8	224	$1,994
T65	Craig Stadler	75	73	76	+4	+8	224	$1,994
T65	Jim Rutledge	76	73	75	+3	+8	224	$1,994
T65	Jerry Smith	78	73	73	+1	+8	224	$1,994
70	Ben Crenshaw	77	76	72	E	+9	225	$1,584
71	Greg Kraft	77	71	78	+6	+10	226	$1,476
72	Steve Jones	77	76	74	+2	+11	227	$1,368
73	David Frost	75	79	74	+2	+12	228	$1,260
T74	Tom Kite	71	77	81	+9	+13	229	$1,152
T74	Mark Wiebe	74	80	75	+3	+13	229	$1,152
76	Bob Tway	82	76	74	+2	+16	232	$1,044
77	Bob Gilder	80	75	80	+8	+19	235	$972
78	Nolan Henke	78	83	82	+10	+27	243	$900
79	Jeff Maggert	72	36	CUT	-	-	108	-
80	John Riegger	79	36	CUT	-	-	115	-
81	Tom Purtzer	81	WD	WD	-	-	81	-
-	Hal Sutton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-