Johnson and Chappell tied for lead in Tour Championship
Dustin Johnston dropped a couple of shots late on in the third round of the Tour Championship at East Lake and fell into a 54-hole tie on eight-under 202 with fellow American Kevin Chappell. Rory McIlroy is sharing third place with American RyanMoore two shots behind the joint leader. Paul Casey is tied seventh on 207, five off the pace,while Russell Knox is T11 on 210.
Yorkshire
and Hampshire will meet tomorrow in a title showdown at the English
Men’s County Finals at Sandwell Park Golf Club in Staffordshire.
They
both won in today’s strong winds to make it two wins from two matches
and set up the classic ‘winner-take all’ finale to the championship. Both
teams were wrong-footed in the foursomes and trailed 2-1 at lunch, but
they came out with such determination in the singles that tomorrow’s
head-to-head promises to be excellent. Hampshire,
which includes the Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands, powered
through the singles without losing a game and beat Warwickshire overall
by 6.5-2.5. Yorkshire’s singles challenge was spearheaded by Will
Whiteoak, who won on the 13th, and the team went on to defeat Cornwall
5.5-3.5. Hampshire’s
win was a milestone in their recent history for it’s the first time in
at least seven outings at County Finals that the team have won on the
Saturday. “We
always win on the first day then tie or lose on the second, so this is
fantastic,” said team captain Martin Young. He played his own part in
the success, teaming up with Billy McKenzie to get Hampshire’s sole
point in the foursomes and the polishing off his singles 7/5. “This
morning was a bit disappointing, but Warwickshire had lost yesterday
and they were really up for it and definitely putted better than us. But
this afternoon it came down to ball striking and, from what I’ve seen,
our players kept it straight,” said Young. He
added his point to those already scored by Tom Robson (3/2) and Ryan
Harmer (5/4) and set the stage for McKenzie to clinch the team’s win
when he finished 2/1. “I
knew coming down the 17th that this was the clincher and it’s a nice
feeling to do it,” said McKenzie, who has won all four of his games so
far (pictured top, copyright Leaderboard Photography). His
match against Max Martin was extremely close over the front nine and he
was four-under when he reached the turn all square, before winning 10,
11 and 12 to forge ahead. George Saunders (2 and 1) added another point
while Jordan Sundborg squeezed a half out of his game with Gareth
Jenkins. Yorkshire’s
plan for the afternoon was simple. Team captain Darryl Berryl told his
players: “I want the first point on the board to be a Yorkshire point to
level the game.” Whiteoak
(pictured right, copyright Leaderboard Photography) duly obliged. He
was bogey free and three-under par when he won 6 and 5. “We needed a couple
of players to get some early points and hopefully it would seep back to
the bottom end,” he said. Steve
Robins quickly supported him. He was also bogey free and was four-under
when he claimed the team’s second point 4 and 3 and maintained his own 100%
winning record. Kealan
Lowe, the Yorkshire order of merit winner, showed tremendous class as
he closed out his 4 and 2 win. First he played a remarkable shot out of
thick rough behind the 15th green which finished inches from the hole;
then he slotted a tricky, downhill birdie putt on the 16th for the win. Bailey
Gill, who became the Yorkshire matchplay champion last week, sealed the
team’s victory when he won 3 and 1. He had been three down after six but
turned the tables with three consecutive birdies from the 10th which got
him to one up and, as the match moved towards the closing holes, he
played crucial shots close to the pin. English
champion Dan Brown holed a 25-ft birdie putt on 17 to go down the last
one up – but his opponent Rob McGregor, replied by holing a 35-footer on
the 18th for his own birdie and a halved result. Darryl
Berry commented on his team’s performance: “It was all about getting
the momentum to feed the team and the guys have done what they needed
to.”
FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE Frenchman Alexander Levy will take a four-shot
lead into the third and final round of the Porsche European Open after
the tournament was reduced to 54 holes due to fog delays.
Nearly seven hours were lost on days one and two and when more mist
arrived on Saturday morning to claim another three hours, the decision
was taken to move the third round to Sunday.
Levy came into day three with a single hole of his second round to
complete and duly made par on the ninth to stay at 17 under at Golf
Resort Bad Griesbach.
Ross Fisher made a birdie on the seventh in his final three holes to
cut the Frenchman's overnight lead to five shots but it was Swede
Michael Jonzon who surged through the field, shooting a 63 to get to 13
under.
Jonzon only found out he was playing on Wednesday afternoon after
being fourth reserve for the event, but he will now have the chance to
win his third European Tour title, 19 years after claiming his first at
the Portuguese Masters. Levy is also looking for victory number three after winning twice in
2014 and should he lift the trophy on Sunday afternoon, it will be the
second time he has won a reduced event, with the Portugal Masters being
played over 36 holes due to heavy rain.
"I had four good shots and a nice par today but it was no good coming
up this morning and seeing the fog again," he said. "But it's okay, I
just stayed patient and made two good shots, one from the tee and one
from the fairway and that's all I wanted to do.
"I don't watch the leaderboard overnight. I'm just trying to think
about my own game and do the best that I can and that's the most
important thing."
Home favourite Martin Kaymer parred his remaining hole in the morning
to sit at 11 under alongside another German in Florian Fritsch and
Austria's Bernd Wiesberger.
Jonzon turned in 32 with four birdies and a bogey but really came to
life on the back nine, reeling off four birdies in a row from the 11th.
He then saw further birdie chances brush the edge on the 15th and 16th
before holing from the fringe on the penultimate hole.
"I always said I function well under these circumstances," he said.
"I struggle more just trying to make cuts because I can put a lot of
pressure on myself. I know what I can do and sometimes I try too much.
"I've been there before. I'm just going to go out tomorrow and try to
shoot as good a score as I can.Whatever happens after that is not in my
control. I'm going to be trying as hard as I can and be proud of my
effort tomorrow."
Wiesberger turned in 33 and when he put his approach to six feet for
an eagle on the tenth and birdied the 11th, he was at 13 under. A lost
ball on the 12th brought a bogey, however, and he dropped another on the
14th after coming up short of the green.
Fritsch was bogey-free in his 64 as he made three birdies in his last four holes.
Bradley Dredge fired a 64 to sit alongside early finishers Jean Hugo
and Robert Karlsson, a shot clear of Soomin Lee and Matthew Southgate.
"Two rounds of 65 for 12 under - it's decent but I'm five behind so I
need to play very well tomorrow," said Fisher. "Obviously Alex is
playing great and he's pretty good at reduced holes tournaments.
"There's still a lot to play for and it's nice to know now that we've
only got one round to go. It's a tough decision but I think they've
made the right call."
LEADERBOARD
Par 142 (2x71) 125 Alexander Levy (France) 62 63 129 Michael Jonzon (Sweden) 66 63 130 Ross Fizher (England) 65 65 131 Bernd Wiesberger (Austria) 63 68, Florian Fritsch (Germany) 67 74, Martin Kaymer (Germany_ 67 64.
SCOTS' SCORES 136 Craig Lee 69 67 (T33) 137 David Drysdale 70 67 (T46) 138 Jamie McLeary 68 70, Paul Lawrie 70 68 (T58)
MISSED THE CUT
137 and better qualified 139 S Jamieson 68 71, Andrew McArthur 68 71 140 Stephen Gallacher 66 74
FROM LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR By Bethan Cutler, LET Media Manager Edinburgh-based American Beth Allen birdied the 18th to edge local heroine Azahara Muñoz from Spain by one stroke heading into the final round of the Andalucía Costa del
Sol Open de España Femenino, setting up a fascinating final round duel between two of the Ladies European Tour’s top players.
Allen
made seven birdies and two bogeys in a sparkling third round of 67 to
reach nine-under-par on a hot and breezy day at the gorgeous but
demanding Aloha Golf Club
in Marbella.
Muñoz,
who led by one stroke at halfway, is in solo second after a bogey-free
round of 70 but Italian Diana Luna and Englishwoman Sophie Walker are up
to joint third
on four-under after rounds of 69 and 71.
Last
year’s ISPS HANDA Ladies European Masters champion, Allen is fighting
her way back to the top of the LET Order of Merit after losing her place
to Shanshan Feng
at last week’s Evian Championship.
The
34-year-old from San Diego began the third round a stroke behind Muñoz
but was three back after the Spaniard birdied the first hole. Allen then
hit back with three
straight birdies from the ninth followed by three more at 14, 15 and
18. Allen caught Muñoz after 14 holes and both players birdied 15, but
Allen made a putt of around five feet on the 18th green after Muñoz left hers short of the hole.
Pamela Pretswell is the leading Scot despite a third-round 79 that dropped her to a 54-hole tally of two-over par 218. She is one ahead of Sally Watson (7) with Laura Murray, in her first outing since winning on the LETAS Tour, on 220 after a 77. Aberdeen-born Gemma Dryburgh was another who struggled in the third round. She had a 79 for 226.
THIRD-ROUND LEADERS
Par 216 (3x72) 207 Beth Allen (USA) 72 68 67 208 Azahara Munoz (Spain) 72 66 70 212 Diana Luna (Italy) 72 71 69, Sophie Walker (England) 70 71 71.
Northern Counties Cup double foursomes at Royal Dornoch
Nairn Dunbar beat Royal Aberdeen by one
hole in final for their first win since 1900
Nairn Dunbar's winning line-up (left to right): Willie Barron, Freddie Brown, Graham Burnett and Brian Watson. Picture by Robin Wilson.
Nairn Dunbar, beaten finalists last year, went one better in the Northern Counties Cup final at Royal Dornoch Golf Club this afternoon.
Graeme Burnett, Willie Barron, Freddie Brown and Brian Watson beat Royal Aberdeen's Mark Halliday, Nick Macandrew, Donald Macandrew and Daniel Sim by two holes to win the prestigious double foursomes club match-play tournament which was first played in 1900.
This is Nairn Dunbar's first Northern Counties Cup success in the past 116 years!
After being four down in the first pairing's tie and four up in the second string's contest after 13 holes, the first pairing for Nairn Dunbar, Burnett and Barron, won the 15th
and 16th to halve their deficit to two down, while the Royal Aberdeen 2nd
pairing of Donald Macandrew and Sim lost a ball at Foxy, Dornoch's famous 14th
, to go five down.
Then the first pairing of Royal Aberdeen, Halliday and Nick Macandrew, won the last two
holes to go four up again but team-mates Donald Macandrew and Sim were unable to get one back, resulting in Nairn Dunbar winning overall by one hole.
Next year's Northern Counties Cup will be hosted by Moray Golf Club, Lossiemouth.
RESULTS SEMI-FINALS
Royal Aberdeen 1 bt
Moray 1 by 2 holes
M Halliday, N Macandrew 0, M L Macleman,
S Tatters 0; D Macandrew, D Sim 2, K Godsman, G Murray 0.
Nairn Dunbar bt Banchory
by 2 holes
G Burnett, W Barron 3, A Lindsay, L Smart 0; F Brown, B
Watson 0, J Harling, R Black 1.
FINAL
Nairn Dunbar bt Royal
Aberdeen 1 by 1 hole
G Burnett, W Barron 0, M Halliday, N Macandrew
4; F Brown, B Watson 5, D Macandrew, D Sim 0.
Beaten finalists Royal Aberdeen (left to right): Nick Macandrew, Mark Halliday, Donald Macandrew and Daniel Sim. Picture by Robin Wilson.
James Sutherland, pictured left,
a third year Davis and Elkins College student from Glasgow, tied for
fourth place in the recent Great Midwest Fall Invitational at Shaker Run
golf course, Lebanon in Ohio. Over
a par 72 course of 6,561yd, James had rounds of 72 and 74 for 146 - six
shots behind the winner, Jordan Reese (Cedarville), 71-69. Almost all of Davis Elkins College men's golf roster have been recruited from the British Isles. Alistair Kyle, a final year student from Glasgow, tied for 12th place with rounds of 79 and 73 for 152. Toby
Gibbons, a second-year man from Leigh-on-the Sea, finished T19 on 154
(78-76) and Jack Gibson, a sophomore from St Breladescored 79 and 76 for
155 and joint 22nd place. Cameron
Pettigrew from Skelmorlie, Ayrshire, a freshman at Ohio Valley
University, has not found his feet yet on the American circuit. He
scored 84 and 88 for 172 and finished 38th. Davis and Elkins (603) finished third in the team event behind Trevecca Nazarene (597) and Cedarville (597). Ohio Valley finished last of the seven competing teams.
Murray Naysmith T23 after opening 69 in Arizona
Murray Naysmith from Edinburgh, a freshman student at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, shot a two-under-par 69 in the first round of the Maui Jim Intercollegiate at Mirabel Golf Club, Scottsdale, Arizona yesterday (USA time).
Naysmith, pictured, is T23 in a field of 93 players who are led by Josh Whalen (Kent State) with a seven-under 64. Three players are tied for second place on 65. Team placings: 264 Kent State 269 Baylor 270 Kansas, Louisiana State 273 South Carolina 279 Alabama-Birmingham
Sandy Scott sharing 28th place at Albuquerque Sandy Scott, pictured below, a freshman from Nairn at Texas Tech, has had rounds of 75 and 74 over the University of New Mexico Course in the William H Tucker college tournament at Albuquerque.
His 149 tally has him in joint 28th place in a field of 92 players, nine shots behind the triple joint leaders, Rhett Rasmussen (Brigham Young) 69 71, Blake Cannon (Colorado State) 71 69, and P J Samiere (San Diego State) 69 71. Texax Tech does not appear in the team standings after 36 holes, which are headed by 573 San Diego State 581 Colorado State 583 New Mexico
NOTE TO PARENTS AND FRIENDS: If you have a son or daughter or know someone currently at college in the USA, and their scores are not appearing on Scottishgolfview.com or Kirkwoodgolf.co.uk, the reason will be that we don't know at which the universities they are students. Email the info to Colin@scottishgolfview.com and help us compile a complete list of Scots/English/Irish/Welsh students in America.
Aberdeen-born Michael Sim finished tied 20th in the South Pacific Open championship at Tina Golf Club, Noumea on New Caledonia. Sim scored 69, 72, 70 and 72 for a one-under-par total of 283 over the par 71 course. Australians Adam Blyth (67-69-65-71) and Jake McLeod (63-67-72-70) tied on 12-under-par 272 after the regulation 72 holes. Blyth won the play-off with a par at the third extra hole (they played the 18th three times). A third Aussie, Matthew Millar, finished third, one behind Blyth and McLeod with scores of 70, 65, 70 and 68 for 273.
U.S. Amateur champion Curtis Luck’s 8-under 63 in the third round of
the World Amateur Team Championship has Australian far ahead of the pack
heading into the final round in Mexico.
Luck led the Aussies third-round 131, handing them a 16-shot lead at 32 under par from second-placed Ireland heading into Saturday’s final round.
Cameron Davis backed up Luck’s 63 with a 3-under 68.
Irland’s Jack Hume shot a 5-under 66 to push Ireland into a distant
second place at 16 under. They lead the U.S. by one shot after the
Americans counted scores of 69 by Scottie Scheffler and 71 by Maverick
McNealy.
Three teams are joint fourth at 13 under – England, Austria and Poland. Scotland are in 13th postion at nine under par after daily aggregates of 134, 144 and 143. Grant Forrest has scored 68, 73 and 71; Robert MacIntyre 69, 71 and 72; Connor Syme 66, 73 and 78.
Jason
Day is out of the running for the $10m FedExCup windfall. The Australian was
forced to withdraw from the Tour Championship during the second round.
Day continued to struggle with a back injury that has
affected him on several occasions this season, a problem which also
caused him to pull out of the BMW Championship two weeks ago during the
final round.
The
world No 1 admitted feeling "sharp pain" in his back on the opening day
at East Lake in Atlanta, particularly after he hit driver off the tee,
although he insisted the pain was not constant.
"When
I get to the top of the swing, as soon as my hips start to unfold and
then there's that little bit of separation, it just crunches down," Day
said on Thursday. "It just hurts."
Day
defied the problem to fire a three-under 67, but he was in clear
discomfort while playing the eighth in his second round and picked his
ball up before completing the hole.
The Australian was level par
for the round after seven holes, but he pulled his drive at the eighth
into the water and blocked his next shot into the thick rough on the
right, from where he was unable to find the green.
Day
then informed the match official of his withdrawal and shook hands with
playing partner Si-woo Kim before walking gingerly back to the
clubhouse, and his management company soon released a statement on his
condition. "Jason has a strained ligament in his lower right back
with muscle spasm," the statement read. "He withdrew as a precautionary
measure. Jason should be fine with some rest after a long break in the
off-season."
Day's
absence from the remainder of the tournament now means only four
players can be crowned FedExCup champion on Sunday, with US Open
champion Dustin Johnson the firm favourite ahead of Patrick Reed, Adam
Scott and Paul Casey.
Johnson is also now guaranteed to win the
PGA Player of the Year points race, while he is the front-runner to be
named PGA Tour Player of the Year in the annual vote of all playing
members.
Dustin Johnson remained on course to end a
memorable season as FedExCup champion as he claimed a one-shot lead at
the halfway stage of the Tour Championship.
Trailing
joint-overnight leader Kevin Chappell by one at the turn, Johnson
suddenly found himself two clear at the top of the leaderboard when he
birdied 10 and 11 before Chappell dropped his first, and only, shot of
the day at the 11th.
Johnson did falter twice coming in, but a 67
was enough to give him the outright lead on seven under ahead of
Chappell, while Rory McIlroy recovered from a poor front nine to salvage
a 70 which left him five off the pace along with Paul Casey as only 10
players completed 36 holes under par.
With Day having withdraw, Johnson, Patrick Reed, Adam
Scott and Casey are the only players who can land the $10m FedExCup bonus
on Sunday.
Johnson made a steady start before holing back-to-back
six-foot putts for birdies at the fifth and sixth, and he converted two
further chances from inside 10 feet immediately after the turn before
blocking a routine wedge approach to the 12th into a bunker and failing
to get up and down.
The
US Open champion got the shot back with a 12-foot putt for his fifth
birdie of the round at the 16th, although a poor drive led to another
bogey at the next before he found rough again from the tee at the long
final hole and had to settle for a closing par-five. Chappell, an
outside contender to earn Davis Love's final captain's pick for next
week's Ryder Cup, reeled off three consecutive birdies from the sixth to
hit the front on seven under, but he missed the green at the short 11th
and ran up a four.
He
parred the final seven holes to stay one behind Johnson and three ahead
of Kevin Kisner (70) and Hideki Matsuyama (71), with McIlroy, Casey and
Ryan Moore one further adrift.
McIlroy admitted he struggled with
his swing from the start as he bogeyed the first two holes and erred
again at the fifth before he halted the slide with a confident
seven-foot putt for birdie at the next.
But
he missed another fairway at the eighth and pulled his second into the
water, although he did well to limit the damage to a bogey before
staging a spirited comeback on the inward half.
The Deutsche Bank
Championship winner holed from 12 feet at the 10th and set up another
birdie with a delightful 100-yard pitch to two feet at the 12th, and he
atoned for a poor approach to the 17th with a morale-boosting 20-foot
putt for a welcome three.
McIlroy
mis-hit his second to the last after a monster 360-yard drive and
walked off with a disappointing par, which could have been worse after
he pitched to 15 feet and raced his birdie putt five feet beyond the
target.
Casey struggled to make much happen as he offset two
birdies with a pair of bogeys in a workmanlike 70 while Moore, another
player on Love's radar for Hazeltine, birdied two of the last three
holes to return a creditable 68.
Russell Knox is tied eighth on 139 after rounds of 73 and 66
LEADERBOARD Par 140 (2x70). Players from USA unless stated 133 Dustin Johnson 66 67 134 Kevin Chappell 66 68 137 Kevin Kisner 67 70, Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) 66 71 138 Ryan Moore 70 68, Paul Casey (England) 68 70, Rory McIlroy (N Ireland) 68 70 SELECTED SCORE 139 Russell Knox (Scotland) 73 66 (T8) TO VIEW THE HALFWAY SCOREBOARD