Connor Syme, joint 11th, leads Scots at Royal Dublin
By COLIN FARQUHARSON Connor Syme (Drumoig) is the best placed Scot, in joint 11th place and six behind the leader, at the halfway stage of the Irish men's open amateur stroke-play championship at Royal Dublin. Syme has had rounds of 74 and 68 for two-under-par 142. Setting the pace with a pair of 68s for eight-under 136 is Irishman Colm Campbell from Warrenpoint. Craig Ross (Kirkhill) is the next Scot after Syme in the leaderboard. He has had a pair of 73s for 146 and is sharing 39th place. Jamie Savage (Cawder), a former winner of this championship, is joint 48th on 147 (74-73). Liam Johnston (Dumfries and County) has scored 73 and 75 to be joint 59th on 148. Williamwood's Fraser Davren had a pair of 77s for 154 and a share of 102nd place. There is no halfway cut in this 72-hole tournament. Royal Aberdeen's Nick Macandrew (76-81) and Calum Fyfe (Cawder) (78-79) both hit the 157 mark. Scott Gibson (Southerness) followed an 84 with a 74 for 158. Ben Kinsley (St Andrews) brought up the rear with scores of 77 and 83 for 160. HALFWAY LEADERBOARD Par 144 (2x72) 136 C Campbell (Ire) 68 68 138 M Penge (Eng) 74 64, T Gandy (Isle of Man) 69 69, T McLarnon (Ire) 69 69 139 E Griffin (Ire) 68 71, J Hume (Ire) 67 72
SCOTS' SCORES 142 C Syme 73 73 (11th) 146 C Ross 73 73 (T39) 147 J Savage 74 73 (T48) 148 L Johnston 73 75 (T59) 154 F Davren 77 77 (T102) 157 N Macandrew 76 81, C Fyfe 78 79 (T115) 158 S Gibson 84 75 (T117) 160 B Kinsley 77 83 (120th).
By COLIN FARQUHARSON Scott Henry, in joint 10th place, and Chris Doak, sharing 35th sport, were the only Scots to beat the cut at 148 and better after two rounds of the European Tour's Trophee Hassan II tournament at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, Rabat in Morocco. George Murray (149), Jamie McLeary and Andrew McArthur (both 151) and Anglo-Scot Craig Sutherland (156) missed out. Henry is only four shots behind the front-running Italian Francescco Laporta who has scored 68-70 for six-under-par 138 and a one-stroke halfway lead. Henry has had a pair of 71s for two-under-par 142 and he would have been even closer to the leader but for bogeys at the 13th and 15th in his second round today. Doak has had steady rounds of 72 and 73 for 145. Murray missed out by one shot on 149 (74-75) McLeary shot 76-75 and McArthur 75-76 as both missed the cut by three strokes. Sutherland had a pair of 78s for 156
HALFWAY LEADERBOARD Par 144 (2x72) 138 F Laporta (Ita) 68 70 139 B V Astudillo (Spa) 69 70, J Scrivener (Aust) 68 71, J Wang (SKor) 71 69.
SELECTED SCORES 142 S Henry (Sco) 71 71 (T10) 145 C Doak (Sco) 72 73 (T35)
SCOTS WHO MISSED CUT (148 and better qualified) 149 G Murray 74 75 151 J McLeary 76 75, A McArthur 75 76 156 C Sutherland 78 78
Perth's Daniel Young had a one-under-par 71 and Scott Stewart-Cation from Kirkcaldy a 73 in the first round of the Alps Tour's Gosser Open at GC Erzherzog Johann in Austria today. Young is joint 39th and Stewart-Cation sharing 79th place in a field of 144 players. Three players, Leonard Bem, Marc Dobias and Englishman Matt Wallace, share the lead on six-under 66
The MyGolfRanking Angus Player of Week
2016/18 is Dinish Bailwal of Piperdam Osprey. He takes over from long-time
leader Aiden Smith at No 1 in the MGR Angus Men’s Ranking.
ANGUS MEN
1 Dinish Bailwal (Piperdam Osprey) 1098 pts
2 Aidan Smith (Edzell) 1059
3 Donald Smith (Kirriemuir) 992
4 James Howe (Arbroath) 983
5 Louis Perera (Edzell) 938
6 Gary Pyott (Arbroath) 935
7 Brian Melville (Caird Park) 925
8 *Steven McGlashan (Arbroath) 914
9 Colin Brunton (Monifieth) 906
T10 *David Bernard (Ballumbie Castle)
888
T10 *Pat Doran (Caird Park) 888
ANGUS CLUBS – MEN
1 Kirriemuir 843 pts
2 Edzell 760
3 Arbroath 713
4 Caird Park 688
5 Brechin 634
6 Panmure 619
7 Ballumbie Castle 608
8 Montrose Caledonia 606
For up-to-date ranking lists of
participating clubs, the full Regional, National and International Rankings and
how it works, visit www.mygolfranking.net.
The MyGolfRanking service is free to
clubs and members so
CLUB SECRETARIES, PLEASE EMAIL THIS TO
YOUR MEMBERS in order that they may sign in.
Clubs wishing to participate should
register on www.mygolfranking.net or email info@mygolfranking.net for
information.
By COLIN FARQUHARSON Bearsden amateur Ewen Ferguson (140), Blairgowrie's Bradley Neil (142), Duncan Stewart (also 142) from Grantown on Spey and Ross Kellett (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) (143) made the cut after the second round of the Turkish Airlines Challenge at Gloria Golf Club, Belek in the Antalya region. But six Scots - Jack McDonald, David Law, Peter Whiteford, Grant Forrest, Paul Shields and Jack Doherty - were over the limit mark of one-under-par 143. Walker Cup player Ferguson has had a pair of 70s, birdieing the 15th and 18th in his second round. Neil, beginning to settle as a pro, has scored 72-70. He had six birdies today and once he eliminates the negative - four birdies - he will start posting some really good scores. Stewart has had rounds of 70-72. He had a mixed bag of birdies and bogeys in his second round. Kellett made it through with nothing to spare after rounds of 73 and 70. Law does not miss many cuts but he had only two birdies over the 36 holes. Walker Cup man Grant Forrest crashed from a first-round 68 to a 76, his only second-round birdie coming at the 18th. His 144 total was only one shot over the cut mark.
TURKISH AIRLINES CHALLENGE Gloria Golf Club, Belek, Antalya SECOND ROUND LEADERBOARD Par 144 (2x72) 132 M Pavon (Fra) 68 64 134 S Soderberg (Swe) 66 68, C Sordet (Fra) 66 68.
SELECTED SCORES 135 O Farr (Wal) 69 66 (T26). 140 E Ferguson (Sco) (am) 70 70 (T26) 142 B Neil (Sco) 72 70, D Stewart (Sco) 70 72 (T49) 143 R Kellett (Sco) 73 70. SCOTS WHO MISSED CUT (143 and better qualified) 144 J McDonald 74 70, G Forrest (am) 68 76 145 D Law 74 71, P Whiteford 74 71. 146 P Shields 72 74. 147 J Doherty 69 78.
Martin Laird slumps from 69 to 76 in second round of Wells Fargo
Scot Martin Laird, well in the mix with an opening round of 69, crashed to a 76 today (Friday) in the second round of the US PGA Tour's Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow.
SKYSPORTS.COM
By Keith Jackson
Steve Wheatcroft and Andrew
Loupe upstaged a host of elite PGA Tour stars as they claimed a share of
the lead after the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship.
Wheatcroft
and Loupe made light of tricky scoring conditions as they opened with
excellent seven-under 65s at Quail Hollow in Charlotte to snatch the
lead away from early clubhouse leader Anirban Lahiri.
Justin Rose
got to within three of the lead only to make a mess of the final hole
and close with a double-bogey that dropped him back to two under with
fellow Englishmen Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and Greg Owen, while Phil
Mickelson is a shot better alongside big-hitting Scot Martin Laird.
But it was a tough day for the highest-ranked players in the field, with defending champion Rory McIlroy
and recent form horse Adam Scott firing erratic 73s, while Henrik
Stenson fired a 72 and Rickie Fowler needed a late birdie to get under
the card.
Wheatcroft put together an entertaining round which
featured a pitch in for eagle at the fifth and another eagle-three at
the 10th after he hammered a 280-yard second to six feet. He also added
five birdies although two dropped shots cost him the outright lead.
The
American journeyman soon had company at the top of the leaderboard when
Loupe completed a flawless round which included a run of four birdies
over six holes in a superb, outward 31.
Lahiri defied the cold and
damp early conditions as he got up and running with three birdies in
four holes from the fourth, and the Indian ace picked up further shots
at 10, 15 and 16 while also keeping a bogey off his card.
Kevin
Chappell and Dawie van der Walt are a further shot adrift, while
Mickelson offset two birdies with bogeys at the second and ninth on the
front nine before vaulting up the leaderboard with a composed, inward
33.
Poulter started at the 10th and birdied 12 and 13 before
parring his remaining 14 holes to stay at two under, and Casey had four
birdies against two bogeys - including a late blemish at the 17th - as
he also fired a 70.
Rose
got off to a dreadful start with bogeys at the second and third, but he
responded with three birdies in four holes and added two more at 10 and
14 before producing one of the shots of the day at the par-five next,
pitching to within two feet of the cup despite being hampered by the
out-of-bounds fence after a wayward second.
The
resulting birdie got him to four under, but he undid much of his good
work at the last when he pulled his second from the fairway, chipped to
15 feet and raced his par putt eight feet past the cup before missing
the return.
Fowler, who claimed his breakthrough PGA Tour win at
Quail Hollow four years ago, managed to break par despite knocking his
tee-shot into water at the tough 17th and running up a double-bogey
five, and two-time major champion Martin Kaymer slipped back to one
under after he bogeyed the final two holes.
Defending
champion McIlroy was in serious trouble when he double-bogeyed the 18th
- his ninth - to plummet to four over par, but he regrouped on the
front nine and three consecutive birdies from the fifth helped him claw
his way back to one over.
The
MGR Fife Golfers of the Week are
Michael Lindsay (Pitreavie GC) and Sheila Johnston (Scotscraig GC), both of whom have entered their
respective MGR Fife Rankings at No 9 .
Lee Westwood and UPS deliver unique access for Scottish Golf.
NEWS RELEASE
Fresh off his second place finish at the Masters, iconic British golfer and UPS global golf
ambassador, Lee Westwood was today on hand to deliver a very special
experience for the next generation of champion golfers.
In
support of the Bags for Birdies campaign launched last month, Westwood
presented the very first sets of specially designed PING Moxie junior
clubs to excited school children at the famous Open venue of Royal Troon Golf Club.
Following
an interactive clinic masterly delivered by Scottish Golf under the
tutelage of Troon professional Adam Rolfe, Westwood surprised and
delighted the young golfers, providing inspiration as they take their
first steps on the road
to golfing success.
Rolfe commented “it is fantastic to have Lee back
at Royal Troon today, promoting the Bags for Birdies initiative. Lee has
a strong record at Troon and we hope he can contend again at this
year’s Open”
Jackie
Davidson, Scottish Golf Club Development Manager was present to receive
the clubs on behalf of ClubGolf, Scottish Golf’s national junior
programme, supported by the Golf Foundation. "We are delighted
to have been involved in this
fantastic opportunity. For 12 young people, chosen to represent the six
primary schools from the Troon area, to meet Lee is a once and lifetime
experience and one which we hope will inspire the boys and girls
to continue to develop their golf and stay within the sport,” said Davidson.
A
fervent supporter of junior golf, Westwood spoke passionately about the
campaign.
“It is so great to see kids being given another opportunity to
take up the game and importantly UPS and PING are proving the right
equipment, tailored for
the youngsters to start their golfing experience," said Westwood.
About Bags for Birdies:
For
every birdie or better recorded by Lee Westwood and fellow UPS
ambassador Louis Oosthuizen at this years four Major Championships, UPS
with will donate a set of PING Moxie junior clubs to support grass roots
golf in 8 international
territories.
Following
a successful showing at the Masters in April, the duo have already
recorded an impressive twenty nine birdies and one eagle to kick start
the campaign with a running total of 31 bags.
To follow their progress, search #Bags4Biridies on Facebook and Twitter.
This
week’s financial press has carried several reports that Adidas AG is
actively seeking a buyer for parts of its golf unit, after years of
slumping sales.
The Wall Street Journal,Bloomberg
and others say that a strategic review finished in March convinced the
German sportswear maker’s board of directors that it should divest its
Taylormade-Adidas Golf, Adams and Ashworth golf brands which largely
produce golf hardware. The company would continue to focus on golf
apparel and footwear through its Adidas Golf brand. Taylormade-Adidas Golf, which Adidas bought along with Salomon in
1997, used to be one of the company’s top performing business units and
is still the market-leading golf brand. Ashworth was bought by Adidas for $72.8 million in 2008, and Adams Golf for $70 million in 2012.