How Phil Mickelson lost $5,000 to Ryan 

Ruffels, a 17-year-old professional 

FROM GOLF DIGEST

Ryan Ruffels, a 17-year-old Australian, is turning professional and is already ahead of the game, courtesy of taking $5,000 off Phil Mickelson on the golf course.

 “We get on the first tee, it’s pretty early in the morning and he says, ‘I don't wake up this early to play for anything less than $2500,’” Ruffels said in this story by Matt Murnane of the Sydney Morning Herald. 

Mickelson made him a deal, that if Ruffels won, Mickelson would give him $5,000, but if Mickelson won, Ruffels would owe him $2,500 once he turned pro. 

“I was a few down through nine but then I birdied six of my last seven to win by one shot and took his money, so that was pretty cool,” Ruffels said. 

Ruffels will make his professional debut on the US PGA Tour at the Farmers Insurance Open.

Getty Images

Ryan Ruffels, playing in the RBC Canadian Open as an amateur last summer.

CAPTAIN CLARKE'S STRESS REHEARSAL

“The Europe players did not require being introduced one by one to the Queen of Malaysia here on Thursday to take the EurAsia Cup seriously. Their captain has been drumming it into them all week,” James Corrigan of the Telegraph writes. 

“In the team room, [European captain] Darren Clarke has informed his 12 professionals and their caddies that defeat by Asia in this three-day match is not on the agenda, and when sitting down with the Ulsterman here at Glenmarie Golf Club it became clear that he has put everything into his first experience of captaincy. Indeed, never mind a Ryder Cup dress rehearsal, this could be described as a stress rehearsal.”

Scot Taylor finishes fourth on Algarve Pro Tour

Scot Jay Taylor, the first-round leader, slipped back to finish fourth in the 36-hole Algarve Pro Tour event at Boavista Golf Club, Lagos today.
Taylor had rounds of 66 and 71 for five-under-par 137 and earned 800 euros.
Winner of the top prize of 2,000 euros was Englishman Jordan Smith (Bowood Golf and Country Club) with rounds of 68 and 63 for 11-under-par 131.
He won by five strokes from England's Craig Farrelly (67-69) and Spain's Jose Luis Adarraga (69-67) who both earned 1,500 euros.
Joint second best Scots in a field of over 60 players were Jack Doherty (71-72) and Conor O'Neil (72-71) on 143.
Craig Lawrie came next on 146 with 72-74.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 142 (2x71)
131 Jordan Smith (England) 68 63
136 Craig Farrelly (Englands) 67 69, Jose Luis Adarraga (Spain) 69 67
137 Jay Taylor  (Scotland) 66 71
138 Tiago Cruz (Portugal) 73 65, Sam Matton (England) 71 67

OTHER SCOTS' SCORES
143 Jack Doherty 71 72, Conor O'Neil 72 71
146 Craig Lawrie 72 74
150 Lewis Reid (am) 75 75
153 Michael Stokes (am) 79 74

The MGR Fife Golfers of the Week are Fraser Carr (Crail GS) and Moira Cuthbertson of Drumoig Ladies who retain their No 1 positions on the MGR Fife Ladies and Men's MyGolfRanking respectively.

www.mygolfranking.net, Fife Men, Week 2016/01

1 Fraser Carr (Crail) 1158 points,                                                                                                                

2 Gary Wishart (Charleton) 1144,

3 Michael Riddell (Cupar) 1120,

4 Blaine McGowan (Thornton) 1117,

5 Stewart Lamond (Pitreavie) 1100,

6 Ryan Mackie (Balbirnie Park) 1085,

7 Michael Lindsay (Pitreavie) 1083

8 Graham Brown (Lundin) 1078                                                                                                               

9 Ross Gribbons (Dunfermline) 1071,

10 Stuart McGaulley (Balbirnie Park) 1066.

www.mygolfranking.net, Fife Clubs Men, Week 2016/01

1 Dunfermline 907 pts

2 Dunnikier Park 882

3 Balbirnie Park 859

4 Ladybank 837

5 Aberdour 823

6 Pitreavie 812,

7 Kirkcaldy 807,

8 Lundin 803,

9 Canmore 743,

10 Thornton 737.

David Moir

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Anthony Wall sharing lead after three rounds 

of Joburg Open

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Zander Lombard is taking inspiration from Brandon Stone as he aims to become the second South African to claim a maiden European Tour win in as many weeks.
Stone won The BMW SA Open hosted by City of Ekurhuleni last week at the age of just 22 and Lombard, who does not turn 21 until Monday, is eager to follow in his footsteps.
A third-round 65 means he goes into Sunday's final round of the Joburg Open with a share of the lead and, after finishing one shot outside a play-off at the Australian PGA Championship before Christmas, he is confident he can handle the pressure.
"My game has definitely matured over the last year," he said. "It's my second year on tour and I've learnt a lot.

"I'm definitely looking forward to it. I did it in Australia and just didn't finish it off and I'm definitely going to look to finish it off this time.
"I think it gave me a lot of maturity in my game. You know every shot counts and I missed out by one, so I definitely have to keep it tidy tomorrow and try my best."
Countryman Haydn Porteous will also be going for his first win at Royal Johannesburg  and Kensington Golf Club as he sits level with Lombard and Englishman Anthony Wall at 15 under.
The 21 year old did not feel he was at his best on Saturday but believes he knows what will be the key to victory on Sunday.

"Around the East, if you're missing fairways it can be tough," he said. "You've got to accept that you are going to make bogeys and when I gave myself an opportunity to make birdie I did.
"Hopefully tomorrow I can hit a few more fairways and a few more greens and hopefully a few putts like today will drop.
"I think I've just got to do what I've done for the last three days and play every shot as it comes, to not get ahead of myself and hopefully if I do that I'll do the job and make South Africa proud."

Paul Lawrie lost ground in a low-scoring tournament with a third-round par 72
So far he has scored 69, 69 and 72 for five-under-par 210
That has him in T40 position 
Paul birdied three par-5 holes  the first, eighth and 18th, in halves of 36 but he bogeyed the fifth, 10th and 11th.


LEADING THIRD ROUND TOTALSar
par 215 (2x72, 1x71)
200 Anthony Wall (England) 65 67 69, Zander Lombard (South Africa) 71 64 65, Haydn Porteous (South Africa) 66 66 68
202 Ross McGowan (England) 67 62 73

SCOTS' SCORES
210 Paul Lawrie 69 69 72 (T40)
212 Scott Henry 71 69 72 (T52)
216 Craig Lee 71 69 76 (T72)
MISSED THE CUT
(140 and better qualified)
142 Jamie McLeary 73 69
145 David Drysdale 74 71, Peter Whiteford 75 70
148 Bradley Neil 75 73 

Jay Taylor halfway leader with a 66 at 

Boavista on Algarve Pro Tour

Scot Jay Taylor led the field going into today's (Saturday) second round of the Algarve Pro Tour 36-hole event at Boavista Golf Club.
Taylor shot a 66 yesterday to lead by a shot from Craig Farrell.
Next best Scots were Jack Doherty (71), Ctraig Lawrie (72) and Conor O'Neil (72).

FIRST ROUND LEADERBOARD
66 Jay Taylor (Scotland)
67 Craig Farrelly (England)
68 Ricardo Santos (Portugal), Jordan Smith (England).

OTHER SCOTS' SCORES
71 Jack Doherty
72 Craig Lawrie, Conor O'Neil
75 Lewis Reid (amateur)
79 Michael Stokes (amateur)
81 Sean Lawrie.

Luke Donald in the mix but Russell Knox jusst 

misses halfway cut in Honolulu


FROM BBC SPORT

England's former world number one Luke Donald lies two shots off the lead at the halfway point of the Sony Open in Honolulu, Hawaii after a second-round 65 for 10-under-par 130.

Leader Brandt Snedeker, who had a share of the lead after the opening round, is on 12 under par 128 over the par-70 course - one clear of fellow United States player Kevin Kisner.
Donald, pictured right, five under par for the day after coming home in 31, is now 10 under, level with Americans Zach Johnson, Zac Blair and Chez Reavie.
Snedeker was third at last week's Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.
His short game helped him take the lead on day two as he holed out from 15 foot on his first hole, chipped in from 35 feet on his 12th, and then had a 20-footer at the next on the way to match Donald's five-under-par round of 65.
"This is why we spend so much time away from our families as well as so much time on the golf course, [working] to be in contention and have a chance to win at the weekend," he said.
Fiji's Vijay Singh, 52, who is hoping to become the oldest winner on the PGA Tour, is four off the lead after a one-under round of 69.
Singh had shared the early lead with Snedeker, Kisner, Ricky Barnes and Morgan Hoffman after the quintet al
l hit 63s in their first round.
Irishman Padraig Harrington (66-68) and England's Greg Owen (69-65) are tied for 25th place on six-under 134.
Russell Knox (73-65 for two-under 138) missed the cut by one stroke.
Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell had another bad tournament by his standards.He shot 70-73 for three-over 143 

LEADERBOARD
Par 140 (2x70)
players from USA unless stated
128 Brandt Snedeker 63 65
129 Kevin Kisner 63 66
130 Zach Johnson 64 66, Luke Donald (England) 65 65, Zac Blair 
65 65.
SELECTED SCORES
134 Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 66 68, Greg Owen (England) 69 65 (T25)
138 Russell Knox (Scotland) 73 65
143 Graeme McDowell (Northern Ireland) 70 73

Luke Donald moves up to challenge Brandt Snedeker in Hawaii

FROM BBC SPORT England's former world number one Luke Donald, pictured above, lies two shots off the lead at the halfway point of the Sony Open in Honolulu after a second-round 65. Leader Brandt Snedeker, who had a share of the lead after the opening round, is on 12 under par - one clear of fellow United States player Kevin Kisner. Donald, five under par for the day, is now 10 under, level with Americans Zach Johnson, Zac Blair and Chez Reavie. Snedeker was third at last week's Tournament of Champions in Hawaii. His short game helped him take the lead on day two as he holed out from 15 foot on his first hole, chipped in from 35 feet on his 12th, and then had a 20-footer at the next on the way to match Donald's five-under-par round of 65. "This is why we spend so much time away from our families as well as so much time on the golf course, [working] to be in contention and have a chance to win at the weekend," he said. Fiji's Vijay Singh, 52, who is hoping to become the oldest winner on the PGA Tour, is four off the lead after a one-under round of 69. Singh had shared the early lead with Snedeker, Kisner, Ricky Barnes and Morgan Hoffman after the quintet all hit 63s in their first round.

Connor Syme v Travis 

Smyth 36-hole final 

in Aussie Amateur

FROM THE AUSTRALIAN GOLF WEBSITE

by Mark Hayes

Sunday's 36-hole final of the Australian men's amateur championship at the Metropolitan Golf Club, Melbourne will feature Scotland's Connor Syme, pictured, against Australian Travis Smyth 

 Smyth swept aside fellow Sydneysider Austin Bautista this afternoon to reach his first Australian Amateur Championship final.
Smyth, 21, played near flawless golf to beat his Bonnie Doon rival 5 and 3 and set up a mouth-watering finale tomorrow Scotland’s Connor Syme (Drumoig), who was equally impressive in his semi.
Syme took down Welshman Evan Griffith 6 and 5 in quick time, easing concerns over blisters on his feet, especially with the decider a two-round showdown.
Griffith had beaten top seed Charles Pilot 6 and 4 in the morning quarter-finals.
Smyth, a New South Wales state team player from St.Michael’s, didn’t make a bogey and was four under par when Bautista ran out of holes on the 15^th.
“I’m really happy with the way I played today … I putted well and didn’t make too many mistakes,” he said.
“And I managed to get my way out of trouble when I did make a bad swing, so it was pleasing, especially in a semi-final of the national championship.”
In the morning quarter-finals, Smith beat Walker Cup Scot Grant Forrest (Craigielaw) by 4 and 3.
Syme, who also rolled in some fantastic putts in his earlier quarter-final, was again frugal with the flat stick in downing his fellow Brit.
“I’m starting to get a good feel for the greens, which is nice,” said Syme, who played down his blisters.
“It won’t be a problem for the final, especially with only playing 13 holes this afternoon.”

SATURDAY RESULTS
Quarter-finals
players from Australia unless stated
Evan Griffith (Wales) bt Charles Pilon 6 and 4
Connor Syme (Scotland) bt Harrison Endycott 2 and 1
Travis Smyth bt Grant Forrest (Scotland) 4 and 3 
Austin Bautista bt Shae Wools-Cobb 1 hole.
Semi-finals
Syme bt Griffith 6 and 5
Smyth bt Bautista 5 and 3.


For news and everything else on the Australian Amateur, visit www.golf.org.au/australian-amateur.

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 Europe goes 9-3 ahead in EuraAsia Cup


FROM EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Europe are in the driving seat heading into the final day of the EURASIA CUP presented by DRB-HICOM after history repeated itself on Saturday.
Just as he had done on Friday, Ian Poulter helped Europe put their first point on the board in the foursome matches as Europe earned 4½ points for the second day running to extend their advantage to 9-3 in the match at Kuala Lumpur.
But it was not all plain sailing for Darren Clarke's team, who were trailing in four of the day's six matches when Poulter and playing partner Danny Willett reached the turn.
Poulter, who along with Bernd Wiesberger delivered the visitors' first point in the fourball matches on Friday, was on song again as he and Willett beat Byeong-hun An and Thongchai Jaidee 3 and 2 in the day's first match.
Shane Lowry and Andy Sullivan combined to deliver a point for the second day in succession, beating Shingo Katayama and Prayad Marksaeng 3 and 2.
Wiesberger and Ross Fisher recovered from losing the first hole to beat K.T Kim and Jeung Hun Wang by two holes, while Lee Westwood and Matt Fitzpatrick cruised to a 5 and 4 win over Anirban Lahiri and Wu Ashun.
Victor Dubuisson and Søren Kjeldsen finished all square in their match with Danny Chia and Nicholas Fung, while Kristoffer Broberg and Chris Wood lost by two holes to Kiradech Aphibarnrat and SSP Chawrasia in match three.
Willett and Poulter found themselves two up after as many holes without making a single birdie, with the Asian pair twice missing the chance to halve the hole.
The Englishmen extended their lead at the fifth after Willett sent his tee shot to within a foot of the cup, and the Sheffield native sank his ten foot putt at the sixth to give the European duo a four-hole lead.

An and Jaidee took a hole back at the next, but Willett and Poulter won the ninth to regain their four-hole advantage.
The Asian pair reduced the deficit to two holes by taking the 12th and 13th before Europe won the 14th and safely parred the next two holes to close out victory.
Poulter was pleased with their day's work. He said: "It was good golf. We had all intentions to play smart today, keep them under pressure. 
"It's probably their strongest pairing. They played nicely yesterday.
Willett added: "I think me and Poults between us only missed a couple of shots. Like you say, when we were out there, when one of us hit a bad one, the other one backed him up and hit it close on a chip. 
"We didn't really make any mistakes and made a good few birdies for foursomes."
Sullivan and Lowry lost the first hole of the match and remained behind until the ninth, when opponents Katayama and Marksaeng failed to make par.
The European duo went two up after carding birdies at the tenth and 11th, but were pegged back as the Asian pair took the 12th. 
Lowry and Sullivan opened up a three-hole lead after taking the 13th and 14th, and although they lost the 15th, they claimed the 16th to seal the point.
Lowry said: "We went down pretty early and I said to Andy, we just need to be patient, we're playing good enough, and that should do us at the end of the day. 
"I holed a good putt from eight, ten feet on the eighth hole to stay one down and we won the ninth with a par.
"From there on, we played really good. Early doors, there was a lot of red on the board, so it was nice to see the lads dig in and get a bit of blue on the board, as well."

Westwood and Fitzpatrick found themselves one down after they were unable to make par at the first but they soon bounced back, taking the second and third to go one up.
The Englishmen then won the ninth, tenth, 13th and 14th holes to seal their win.
Westwood was happy with their performance. He said: "We played well, made a bogey on the first and gave them one, but after that we were six under and finished on 14, we didn't hit too many bad shots. 
"A lot of fairways, a lot of greens and made putts when we needed to and just always felt in control once we came back from the first hole."
Wiesberger and Fisher were all square with Kim and Wang at the turn after twice bouncing back from going one down.
The European pair went ahead for the first time thanks to Fisher's superb eagle putt at the 11th and they extended their lead further at the 13th.
  Their lead was cut in half as their opponents fired a birdie at the next, but they took the 15th to restore their two-hole lead.
Another birdie from the hosts at the 16th reduced the deficit but Wiesberger and Fisher held their nerve, birdieing the last to make sure of the point.
Dubuisson and Kjeldsen were behind for much of their match with home favourites Chia and Fung and were trailing by two holes going into the back nine.
But a sensational eagle from the Frenchman cut the Malaysian duo's lead to one before the Europeans took the 15th to square the match.
Chia and Fung regained their one-hole lead at the next but after Dubuisson holed his tricky par putt at the 17th, Fung missed from three feet, so the match was all square going into the final hole, where neither team could do better than par.
After finding themselves two down after as many holes, Broberg and Wood struggled to get a foothold in the match and went three down when they lost the seventh hole.
A birdie at the 12th and a par at the 17th saw them take their opponents to an 18th hole but it was the Asian pair who came out on top, taking the 18th to win by two holes. 

SATURDAY 16th JANUARY                                                                      

FOURSOME                                                                   

MATCH EUROPE                              ASIA                     RESULT

1             I Poulter                             B H An                  3 and 2

               D Willett                             T Jaidee              

2             B Wiesberger                    K T Kim                 2 holes

               R Fisher                              J H Wang                           

3             K Broberg                           SSP Chawrasia   2 holes

               C Wood                              K Aphibarnrat                  

4             S Lowry                               P Marksaeng       3 and 2

               A Sullivan                           S Katayama                       

5             S Kjeldsen                          D Chia                  All square

               V Dubuisson                      N Fung                

6             L Westwood                      A Lahiri                 5 and 4

               M Fitzpatrick                     Wu A                   

               POINTS TOTAL   4 ½         POINTS TOTAL   1 ½

Sunday 17th January

SINGLES DRAW                     

    EUROPE                                             ASIA

MATCH 1:   08.35             

Ian POULTER                     v             Danny CHIA

MATCH 2:   08.45             

Danny WILLETT                 v             Byeong Hun AN

MATCH 3:   08.55             

Andy SULLIVAN                 v             Thongchai JAIDEE

MATCH 4:   09.05             

Matthew FITZPATRICK    v             Kiradech APHIBARNRAT

MATCH 5:   09.15            

 Shane LOWRY                   v             Anirban LAHIRI

MATCH 6:   09.25             

Bernd WIESBERGER         v             K.T. KIM

MATCH 7:   09.35             

Lee WESTWOOD              v             Nicholas FUNG

MATCH 8:   09.45             

Ross FISHER                       v             Jeung Hun WANG

MATCH 9:   09.55             

Chris WOOD                      v             S.S.P. CHAWRASIA

MATCH 10: 10.05             

Kristoffer BROBERG         v             Shingo KATAYAMA

MATCH 11:   10.15           

Victor DUBUISSON           v             WU Ashun

MATCH 12: 10.25            

 Søren KJELDSEN                v             Prayad MARKSAENG