Switch over to www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk for all the US college golf news ... Scot Rachael Taylor scored her first win today as a North Carolina State student ... World No 1 Leona Maguire finished T17 in another tournament.

McIlroy blows three-shot lead with three 

bogeys at Cadillac Championship


Rory McIlroy blew his gilt-edged chance of winning the WSC Cadillac Championship with bogeys at the seventh, ninth and 13th ... and not a birdie in sight.
How they stand going into the closing holes
12 under par  Adam Scott after 16 holes
11 under par Bubba Watson after 17 holes
11 under par Danny Willett after 17 holes
10 under par Phil Mickelson after 16 holes
10 under par Rory McIlroy after 16 holes

 Aussie picks up £33,700 for 4 scores in the 80s

Steven Bowditch became the first man since 1983 to shoot four rounds in the 80s at a US PGA event as he ended the World Golf Championship on 37 over par.

The Australian had a closing round of 12-over-par 84 at Doral, but picked up $48,000 (£33,700) for finishing 65th.
Bowditch, who completed his final round in two hours and 12 minutes, said: "I shot 37 over par and still made a paycheck. All's not that bad.
"No one wants to play that bad, but I earned my right to be here."
Bowditch qualified for the tournament, which does not cut the worst players after two rounds, by virtue of his world ranking of 78.
He opened with a nine-over 81 on Thursday and followed it with consecutive 80s before having two triple bogeys in his final round 84 to record the highest-ever score at a WGC event but said he never considered quitting.
He had to play the final two rounds on his own after Brandt Snedeker pulled out with a rib injury.
Mike Dunaway was the last player to have four rounds in the 80s at the 1983 Las Vegas Pro-Celebrity Classic.

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Chris Robb leads Scots in Tony Jacklin Open 

By COLIN FARQUHARSON 
Former Scottish amateur champion Chris Robb (Meldrum House) was the leading Scot, in joint 15th place, at the end of the first round of the Tony Jacklin Open tournament at Casablanca, Morocco today.

Robb, pictured, birdied five of the first 12 holes on his way to a three-under-par 69, four behind the Austrian leader, Bernard Neumayer.
Ross Cameron (Saltire Energy) and Sam Kiloh (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) were tied 54th in a field of 126.
They both matched the par of 72. Highlight of Cameron's card was an eagle 3 at the long eighth. He also birdied the 16th.
Young Kiloh was four over par after seven holes but then covered the remaining 11 in four under par with birdies at the eighth, 13th, 17th and 18th.
Peterhead's Philip McLean (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) and former Scottish amateur golf champion Alexander Culverwell (Dunbar) tied 74th on 74.
Neymayer led by two from Max Rohriug (Germany), Reinier Saxton (Netherlands) and Richard Bridges (Ireland).

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Hutcheon's tied seventh finish on Algarve

 

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Greig Hutcheon (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) outscored the winner, Germany's Hugues Joannes, 71 to 72 over the second and last round of the weekend's Algarve Pro Tour 36-hole event at Quinta da Cima Golf Club, but finished tied seventh in a field of 58.

Hutcheon could not make up the leeway after opening with a 76 and his 147 total saw him finish five behind Joannes (70-72), the winner by two from Joel stalter (France) (70-74) and Sam Day (England) (76-68)

There were five other Scots in the field.

James Steven (74-81 for 155) finished joint 25th.

Paul Shields (81-77) and Jordan McColl (79-79) tied for 31st place on 158.

Amateurs Lewis Reid (82-78 for 160) and Benjamin Henderson (86-85 for 171) finished tied 37th and 51st respectively.

LIAM JOHNSTON'S CONQUEROR GOES 

ON TO WIN SPANISH TITLE

British amateur champion Romain Langasque from Nice, France, conqueror of the last surviving Scottish hope, Liam Johnston (Dumfries and County GC) in the quarter-finals of the Spanish men's open amateur golf championship on Saturday at Seville Golf Club, today (Sunday) won the title with a 9 and 8 victory in the 36-hole final against Hampshire's Scott Gregory, the No. 12 qualifier. Langasque was the No 3 seed.

England’s Gregory takes runner-up spot in Spanish amateur England’s Scott Gregory finished runner-up in the Spanish men’s amateur championship, bowing out to British amateur champion and world number seven, Romain Langasque of France. Gregory, from the England Golf A squad and ranked 110 in the world, lost the 36-hole final at the Real Club de Golf Seville by 9/8. But afterwards he was upbeat about the overall experience. “I’m disappointed not to have got the win but Romain is an incredible player!” said Gregory. “This is the first time I’ve got to the final of an international field event which is a huge positive for me. “My goal going in to the week was to make the match-play stages so there’s nothing but positives to take. I putted very well all week and today was just one of those days when nothing really got going.” He went on: “It was an incredible experience for next time I’m in this position which, with how my form has been of late, shouldn’t be too far away. So a positive week and a lot of things learned about myself and my game!” The 21-year-old from Corhampton in Hampshire led the English challenge from the start of the championship, qualifying in 11th place for the matchplay stages where he was joined by Bradley Moore (Kedleston Park), James Allan (Chelmsford), James Walker (The Oaks), Marco Penge (Golf at Goodwood), Jamie Li (Bath) and Dan Brown (Bedale). Gregory beat Penge in an all-England tie and was joined in the second round by Walker and by Moore, who also defeated a compatriot, in this case Allan. Moore lost his second round match but Gregory and Walker moved steadily on, reaching the semi-finals in opposite sides of the draw and generating hopes of an all-England final. But, Walker met Langasque in his semi-final and despite a superb effort was eventually beaten on the 19th hole. The 21-year-old, who was eighth on the England Golf order of merit in 2015, is the son of England men’s coach, Graham Walker. Gregory, however, made it safely through to the final with a 4/3 win over Ireland’s John Ross Galbraith. But his challenge ended when he met Langasque and, for the second time, Gregory was runner-up in a national championship, following his great run to the final of the 2014 English amateur. Gregory has already tasted success in Spain this season, having helped England to a decisive win in the Costa Ballena Quadrangular tournament. Caption: Scott Gregory (left) with Romain Langasque (image courtesy Adolfo Juan Luna). Click here for full scores - Lyndsey Hewison Press Officer England Golf pr@englandgolf.org

 Scottish Golf chief executive Hamish Grey 

leaving to seek 'new challenge'

 

SCOTTISH GOLF NEWS RELEASE

The Board of Scottish Golf today announces that Hamish Grey, chief executive, is leaving the organisation. This position has been agreed between the parties.

Hamish Grey commented: "I have enjoyed my time in Scottish Golf immensely and look back on my time with great pride. I have been very fortunate to work with many dedicated people, volunteer and executive, throughout this time and their commitment to Scottish Golf has been an inspiration.

“Amalgamation is now achieved and the new body established. Scottish Golf in is good health and has an excellent base from which the new Board can consider the future strategy for golf in Scotland. It is therefore timely for me to seek a new challenge."

Eleanor Cannon, Chair of Scottish Golf, said: “Hamish leaves Scottish Golf with our thanks for a significant contribution to the game in Scotland over a number of years and with our best wishes for the future.

"The new Board of Scottish Golf will engage our clubs and our members and put in place the leadership we believe is required to help bring about the change we want to see in the game in Scotland.

“Our priority is to recruit a new chief executive and we have started that process. In the meantime, Andy Salmon, deputy chief executive, will report to me.

“The excellent work undertaken by the wider team at Scottish Golf goes on and we look forward to working with them.”

McIlroy has three-shot lead after three rounds

Rory McIlroy leads by three shots with a round to go in the WSC Cadillac Championship.
The Ulsterman has had rounds of 71, 65 and 68 for a tally of 204.
Next come Dustin Johnson (72-64-71) and Adam Scott (68-66-73) on 207.
Phil Mickelson (67-72-70), Danny Willett (68-68-072) and Bubba Watson (69-69-71) are sharing fourth place on 209.
Russell Knox is T17 on 214 (71-71-72)

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 Trump stands by to present trophy to Rory

DORAL, Florida -- Rory McIlroy came into the Cadillac Championship insisting that everything about his game is solid right now, and that his ability to contend rested solely on his mental game.
His mind must be right, because he played a mistake-free third round at Doral on Saturday.
McIlroy made four birdies and no bogeys in the third round on the Blue Monster as his 4-under 68 got him to 12 under for the week and three shots ahead of Adam Scott and defending champion Dustin Johnson with 18 holes left in the first World Golf Championships event of the season.
"I just played a really solid round of golf," McIlroy said.
If he wins Sunday, McIlroy would go over $30 million in career PGA Tour earnings, and could get handed the trophy by the course owner himself. 
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said he will attend Sunday's final round, though it's unclear how visible he will be or how much of the day he'll spend at Doral.
"I think it's Rory's to lose, really," said Danny Willett, who shot 72 and is in a group five shots off the pace.
  "We're going to have to go out there and play clever and play aggressive when we can, and hopefully we can knock a few birdies off and post a good number."
McIlroy made nine birdies and nine bogeys or worse in two rounds last week at The Honda Classic, which is why his preparation for Doral could start two days early with a missed cut there.
At Doral, he hasn't been flawless, but close enough. McIlroy's last bogey was on the second hole in his second round.
In 34 holes since, it has been 11 birdies and 23 pars, fueling his climb atop the leaderboard. He took the lead with a birdie at the par-4 fifth, one of only eight made on that hole Saturday. And he escaped brushes with the sand on each of his final two holes, keeping his mistake-free streak intact.
"I've seen Rory play some great golf," Scott said. "I think he's going to be very satisfied with that round. Looked like he was under total control."
McIlroy's tee ball at the par-4 17th found a bunker -- with the wind picking up a bit -- so he simply knocked his second onto the green and two-putted from 45 feet. And his approach from the middle of the fairway on 18 landed in a greenside bunker, but he knocked in a testy 6-footer for par to cap the round.
"My first bogey-free round of the year," McIlroy said. "To do it in a round like this is very pleasing."
Johnson gave himself a chance to end his day with a great par, then missed a 4-footer. After spraying his tee shot way right, Johnson punched out and then knocked a wedge close. But he missed the par try and fell to 9 under for the tournament, 1 under for the round.
Johnson rallied from five shots back in the final round to win last year at Doral. This time, his deficit is only three.
"Anything's possible," Johnson said. "With this golf course, there's trouble on just about every hole, so I just need to go out and keep playing like I'm playing. I feel like I'm playing really well. Today I missed a couple short putts and didn't really hole any putts and still shot 1 under on a tough day. So I'm pleased with that."
Willett, Bubba Watson (71) and Phil Mickelson (70) are tied for fourth, five shots off the lead. World No. 1 Jordan Spieth struggled again, his round of 73 leaving him at 2 under for the week and tied for 17th place.
Spieth played with Justin Thomas, who followed up a 66 on Friday with a 78 on Saturday.
"A rough day for us both," Thomas said.
Divots
A pair of Spaniards, Sergio Garcia and Rafa Cabrera Bello, had the low rounds Saturday, each shooting 67. They're both at 5 under for the week, tied for seventh place and seven shots back of McIlroy. ... India's Anirban Lahiri, who has never finished better than 28th in four previous WGC stroke-play events, is tied for seventh at 5 under. He shot 71 on Saturday. 
"This is the third day in a row that we've had a different wind. So honestly, I have no idea what to expect tomorrow," Lahiri said. ... Five players shot 80, including first-round co-leader Marcus Fraser, who is now 20 shots off the lead.

Jeff Wright wins 

Alliance honours at 

Elgin with par 69

Jeff Wright (Forres) won Saturday's penultimate North Scottish Golfers' Alliance fixture at Elgin with a par round of 69 and in so doing won the aggregate award for the season. 
It was his second outright win of the season during which he has also had a tied first.

An eventful round started with a double bogey 6 which was countered with an eagle 2 at the 13th. Elsewhere he birdied the fifth, eighth and 17th, bogeying the fourth, 10th, 14th and 18th.

Willie Donnelly made his last Alliance appearance. He is leaving the area, moving to be nearer his family near Coventry. He has played in NSGA fixtures for over 30 years and finished his farewell appearance with a holed 30 yard pitch to card a net 71 off five, thus tieing for top honours in Handicap Class 1.

He won the North Scottish Alliance Championship at Forres  in 2004.

NORTH SCOTTISH GOLFERS' ALLIANCE

Elgin Golf Club

LEADING SCRATCH

Par 69

69 J Wright (Forres)

70 K Godsman (Moray)

71 R Clarke (Pro)(Moray) p, K Thomson (Moray)

74 J S D Campbell (Grantown on Spey)

75 M Mcallan (Elgin) p, A W Mair (Moray), S Wilson (Inverness)

76 R H Stewart (Torvean), W Donnelly (Moray),D Gordon (Inverness)

77 S Mullen (Elgin), B R Fotheringham (Forres), R McKerron (Forres), A J England (Moray), J A Grant (Grantown on Spey);

78 S Dingwall (Grantown on Spey), L Reid (Fortrose and Rosemarkie), D McGrouther (Inverness), A Henry (Inverness)

79 G Mackenzie (Moray), N McWilliam (Elgin), J Simpson (Kinloss), M McDonald (Boat of Garten), D Hector (Elgin), A Macintosh (Torvean), A Henry (Inverness)

80 G H Hay (Grantown on Spey), A Casey (Moray), I Hamilton (Elgin), W R Duncan (Moray), R Mackie (Rothes)

81 R Stewart (Nairn Dunbar), D Johnston (Moray), F Mackellar (Grantown on Spey), D Macleod (Grantown on Spey), A Philip (Inverness)

LEADING HANDICAP

Class 1

71 W Donnelly (Moray)(5), D Gordon (Inverness)(5);

72 A Macintosh (Torvean)(7), S Wilson (Inverness)(3);

73 A Henry (Inverness) (5), A J England (Moray) (4), A W Mair (Moray) (2), R H Stewart (Torvean) (3), M McDonald (Boat of Garten) (6), D McGrouther (Inverness) (5)

Class 2

70 A Casey (Moray) (10)

71 I Hamilton (Elgin) (9), R Mackie (Rothes) (9)

72 M Lyall (Torvean) (11), D Ross (Elgin) (13), S Taylor (Boat of Garten) (12).

John Broadfoot wins first seniors event with 

44pt at Stirling

The first Scottish Seniors Golf Society event on the year, a Stableford at Stirling, was won by John Broadfoot (Turnberry) with a superb score of 44 points.
Highlight of his card was a birde-par-birdie-birdie sequence from the fifth to the eighth holes.
Course specialist Gordon MacDonald (Glenbervie) was runner-up with 40 points. Local players Alex Hogg and
Murray Ferguson tied for third place with 37 points.
Last year's Order of Merit winner Alan Harrington (Western Gailes) and George Barrie (Callander) were a point further back. Scoring on the day was excellent and it was due to the superb  condition of Stirling Golf Club withgreens putting as if it were summer.
The second event is at West Kilbride on Thursday, March 10.

POINTS TOTALS AT STIRLING
44 John Broadfoot (Turnberry) (5)
40 Gordon MacDonald (Glenbervie) (2)
38 Alex Hogg (Stirling) (10), Murray Ferguson (Stirling) (5).
37 George Barrie (Callander) (2), Alan Harrington (Western Gailes) (5).
36 David Smith (Stirling) (4), Brian Halbert (Callander) (6).
35 Alan Elder (Kirkcaldy) (3), Denis McQuade (Glenbervie) (5),
Bruce Hunter (Stirling) (9), Drew Wilson (Clober) (5), Gordon MacLeod (Glenbervie) (3).
34 Ian Jeen (Scotscraig) (2), David Millar (St Andrews New) (5),
Colin Halcrow (Windyhill) (4), Les Pirie (Millport) (2), Joe McManus (Uphall) (1).
33 Kenneth Harrison (Peebles) (5), Gordon Doig (Southerness) (5),
Keith Ross (Beith) (5)
32 Ian Kerr (Kilmacolm) (7), Phil Dempsey (Tulliallan) (4), Jalil Aman (Grangemouth) (2), Stewart Drysdale (Turnhouse) (5), Innes Christie (Mortonhall) (4), Bill Erskine (Kilsyth) (2).
31 Robert Craw (Glenbervie) (2), Ian Reid (Dumfries and Galloway) (2), David Shields (Glenearn) (scr), Jim McArthur (St Andrews New (2).
30 Tom Sirel (Largs) (2), Jim Paton (Kirkintiloch) (5), Gordon Rennie (Cathkin Braes) (3), Alistair Raphael (St Andrews) (4).
29 Neish Chisholn  (Kemnay) (12), Ian Dickson (Lundin) (6).
28 Gordon Gray (Newmachar) (8), Keith Bruce (Edzell) (2), Rickie Gray (Rowallan Castle) (2).
27 Ken Smith  (Dun Whinny) (1), Ian Logue (Northumberland) (4),
Neil McGarva (Kilmacolm) (5)
26 Duncan Hamilton (Mortonhall) (1), Tom Nicol (Elderslie) (11), Robert Gordon (Glenearn) (11), Sandy Pirie (Hazlehead) (4).
25 John McDonald (Cowglen) (2), David Causon (Elderslie) (7).