John Daly admits to drinking mid-round in a 

US PGA Tour event ... and he played better!

By

Sam Weinman

Let's just say ESPN didn't decide to do a documentary on John Daly because of his history of sound judgment on and off the golf course although he did win the US Open and the Open.

Instead, it was for all the ingredients that have made Daly one of golf's most intriguing and mercurial figures: the multiple marriages, the on-course meltdowns, and the drinking. Lots and lots of drinking.

In a teaser for the upcoming "Hit It Hard," which will debut November 1 as part of the popular "30 for 30" series, Daly acknowledges there were plenty of occasions when he played tournaments hungover from the night before. 

But as far as drinking during the round, Daly says it was only one time, years ago in the Los Angeles Open.

"It was so slow and I played the back nine first," Daly says. "I think I'm two or three over. I went in the locker room and downed like five beers, and I think I shot four under on the front nine. That is the only time I know I drank during a round, and I played great. I played great that week. I finished strong."

If Daly's candour from the one clip is any indication, we suspect the ESPN film will be worth watching.

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Duncan McNeill T51 finish in Quail Valley 

Invitational despite improving rounds

Duncan McNeill from Annan, a second-year student at McNeese State University, Lake Charles, Louisiana, finished T51 in a field of 75 at this week's Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational at Quail Valley Golf Club, Vero Beach in Florida.
Duncan had improving rounds of 75, 74 and 72 for a five-over-par total of 221 over a very long par-72 course - 7,350yd.
Elliot Fullalove (Jacksonville) from Kingswood, England, finished T7 on 210 with scores of 69, 69 and 72. 
Team-mate David Wicks from Bexhill scored 69, 72 and 71 for 212 and a T15 finish. 
Two players tied with the lowest aggregate of 13-under-par 203 - Ilari Saulo (Middle Tennessee State) (67-65-71) and Philip Knowles (North Florida) (67-68-68).
Michigan State (835) won the team title ahead of North Florida (837), Arkansas (845) and Jacksonville (848). McNeese State (861) finished eighth of 15. 

 Leadbetter and Howells make top 20 at Old 

Corkscrew Golf Club in Florida

James Leadbetter, son of famous coach David Leadbetter, and his Florida Gulf Coast University team-mate, Casper Howells, a final-year student from London, made the top 20 in the final placings at the Homewood Hilton Airport Invite college tournament at the quaintly-named Old Corkscrew Golf Club at Estero in Florida.
Leadbetter finished T11 in a field of 91with rounds of 76, 72 and 76 for eight-over-par 224.
Howells claimed T19 position on 228 with rounds of 80, 77 and 71.
At the top of the leaderboard there was a dramatic swing away from Will Sallee (Eastern Kentucky), the clear-cut leader after 36 holes with rounds of 70 and 68. He "blew up" to a third and final round of 81 for 219 and had to share the No 1 honours with Manuel Elvira (Central Florida) who made up an amazing 11 strokes on Salee over the final 18 holes to tie with him. Elvira's earlier rounds had been 75 and 74.
At least Sallee's scores helped Eastern Kentucky (888) to win the team title against of Florida Gulf Coast (892) and Central Florida (896) in a field of 16 teams. 

Paul McBride T56 at Georgia Collegiate

Paul McBride, from Dublin, a third-year student at Wake Forest University, finished T56 in a field of 90 at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate at Alpharetta, Georgia.
Over two courses, one of 7,017yd and the other 7,039, Paul had rounds of 76, 70 and 77 for a total of seven-over-par 223 - 16 shots behind the joint winners, Jimmy Stanger (Virginia) (67-68-72) and Max McGreevy (Oklahoma) (68-69-70). They finished two shots ahead of the field.
Virginia and Texas, both totalling 856, dead-heated for first place in one of the closest team finishes of the season.
Southern California and Stanford, both 857 (only one off the lead), tied for third place, one shot ahead of Texas A and M (858).
Oklahoma (859) came next, a shot ahead of Duke (860) who were a similar margin ahead of Oklahoma State (861) with Wake Forest (863) ninth in a field of 17 teams. 
So seven/eight shots covered the leading nine teams. You cannot get much tighter finish than that!

Hutcheon moves up to share of third place in 

PGA Play-offs with a 69 for two-under 140

Banchory's Greig Hutcheon, seeking a third win in the PGA Play-offs, moved up to a share of third place, three behind new leader Paul Streeter (Lincoln) at the halfway stage of the tournament, being contested by a select field of 24 at Saunton Golf Club's East Course in Devon.
Hutcheon, playing out of Paul Lawrie Golf Centre Inchmarlo added a two-under-par 69 to his opening 71 for a two-under tally of 140.
He birdied the long second and par-4 fourth and then reeled off 14 par figures for the remaining holes in hlaves of 34-35.
Graham Fox (Clydeway Golf) is tied seventh on 141 after a 68 (36-32) which included fourth birdies and one bogey.
Anglo-Scot Ian Campbell (Cheshunt Park) shot a 69 (36-33) for 143 to move up to a share of 11th place.
Paul O'Hara (North Lanarkshire Leisure) improved by six shots with a one-under 70 (35-35) for 146 and joint 16th place. 
 The top ten finishers are guaranteed a place in next year’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth while there are two places up for grabs at the British Masters as well three spots in the Great Britain and Ireland PGA Cup team.

SCROLL DOWN PAST THE SCORES FOR
THE PGA NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY OF DAY 2 

PGA PLAY-OFFS
Saunton Golf Club East Course, Devon
SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 142 (2x71)
137 P Streeter (Eng) 69 68
138 M Cort (Eng) 69 69
140 G Hutcheon (Sco) 71 69, D McGrane (Ire) 70 70, N O'Briain (Ire) 70 70, A Willey (Eng) 71 69.


OTHER SCOTS' SCORES
141 G Fox 73 68 (T7)
143 I Campbell 74 69 (T11)
146 P O'Hara 76 70 (T16).
Field of 24 players

TO VIEW THE COMPLETE SCOREBOARD

CLICK HERE

 Streeter takes lead with a 68 for 137

PGA NEWS RELEASE

Former champion Paul Streeter hit a purple patch on the greens to surge into the lead at the halfway stage of the PGA Play-Offs at Saunton Golf Club.

The Lincoln Golf Centre pro, who won this title in 2007, reeled off five birdies on the front nine to set the pace in the £15,000 event.

While closing bogeys took the shine off the round, his three-under-par 68 was still enough to give him a one stroke advantage over Beedles Lakes’ Matt Cort who added a second 69.

Benign weather greeted the 24-strong field and Streeter wasted little time in capitalising on the favourable conditions at the Devon links – holing a tricky putt on the first and then getting up and down from a bunker.

“I had a good chance on the third too, then holed a 20 footer on six, hit it stone dead on eight and made an eight footer on nine,” said Streeter.

“It was looking like one of those days and then the putter went cold.”

Further chances came and went on 10, 11, 13 and 16 before he missed an eight footer for par on 17 and three putted the last.

“I read it as left half and it swung a lot more than I thought and missed the hole,” admitted Streeter.

“I think now the greens have dried out, they are just taking a bit more break, when they were damper you could hit them straight and they would go in so obviously I need to recalculate.

“But like I said yesterday, my aim is to shoot under par every round, if I win great – if I don’t so be it, but if I shoot under par the next two rounds I’ll be happy.”

Behind the leading pair, a bunched leaderboard features two Irishmen – Neil O’Briain and Damien McGrane – a Scot – Greig Hutcheon – and Englishman – Andrew Willey – who are three shots adrift of Streeter at two-under-par.

Robert Coles from Maylands in Essex is also in the mix having carded a best of the day 65 which included eight birdies and leaves him one under par for the 72-hole tournament alongside Graham Fox and Colm Moriarty.

"I had a bad day yesterday and I had a bad opening hole today - so I was six over par for the tournament and I wasn't feeling too good about it,” said Coles.

"I hit a couple of shots close on the front nine and managed to do quite well by the turn. From the 11th I started making some putts which really helped the score.

"I started to give myself some chances and I had a bit of luck here and there which was nice. "I am relieved to be back in the realms of contention."

The top ten finishers are guaranteed a place in next year’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth while there are two places up for grabs at the British Masters as well three spots in the Great Britain & Ireland PGA Cup team.

Scottish Golf unveils changes to national championships in 2017

 

Scottish Golf has announced a number of changes to its national championships following a comprehensive review, with several to come into effect from the start of next season.

The governing body has engaged with players, clubs and other stakeholders to help shape the changes, helping to provide a better platform for the nation’s amateur golfers to perform on while showcasing some of the country’s outstanding courses.

The most significant developments concerns changes to the formats and timing of the major national match play championships, while the Scottish Youths Championship will be removed from the schedule, with the category no longer complimenting the national structure or international amateur calendar.

In line with a number of other countries, the Scottish Boys' and Men’s Amateur Championships will change from straight knock-out to 36-hole stroke play qualifying, with the leading 64 players (and ties) reaching the match play stages.

 The Scottish Boys' Championship also moves from its traditional April slot into the school summer holidays, to be played for the first time alongside the Scottish Girls' Championship, running concurrently on two neighbouring courses, with Fife's Scotscraig  and Drumoig named as the 2017 host venues. The boys’ field size will reduce to 180, with the girls at 64.

The Scottish Women’s Amateur Championship will be held at Royal Aberdeen (6 – 10 June) for the first time since former Solheim Cup star Janice Moodie won the event there 25 years ago, while Royal Troon’s Old Course will continue to host the prestigious Helen Holm Scottish Women's Open Stroke Play Championship accompanied by the Troon Portland course.

Also in Ayrshire, Prestwick will be joined by Prestwick St Cuthbert in hosting the stroke play qualifying for the Scottish Men’s Amateur Championship (31 July – 5 Aug) and Western Gailes welcomes the leading male amateurs for the Carrick Neill Scottish Stroke Play Championship in early June.

Like their match play equivalents, the Scottish Boys and Girls Stroke Play Championships will be played on the same dates, moving to the Spring (Easter) holiday slot of 10 - 12 April next year, with Monifieth welcoming the boys and Montrose staging the girls.

Eleanor Cannon, Chair of Scottish Golf, said: “Following our review, it is important that we embrace the traditions and history of the game, but equally vital that we look to the future and ensure our championships remain relevant to participants.

“The Scottish Golf Board is acutely aware on the increasing demands on people’s time, both the players and the parents of competitors, which has an impact on a number of our events, while consideration was given to why players compete in events, which is often different between male and female competitors.

“We stage national championships not only to give our players a great experience on courses which showcase their talents, but also to profile our clubs. Scotland has a fantastic variety of courses and we are hugely grateful to all member clubs who support our events, who can hopefully benefit from the spotlight being on them for that particular week.”

“Our member clubs provide us with their facilities free of charge to enable us to deliver quality championships, for players at all levels, whether competing at the very top of the amateur game or enjoying the experience of competing on the national stage for the first time.” 

Details of dates and venues for the various Area, County and Club team championships will be confirmed later in the year, while Scottish Golf will also be announcing the schedule for its portfolio of national handicap championships once discussions with host venues and sponsors are concluded in the near future.

 

Online entries for national championships will be available at scottishgolf.org/events in January.

 

Scottish Golf National Championships Schedule 2017

 

DATE	VENUE	EVENT
1 - 2 April	TBC	Scottish Junior Tour U18
10 - 12 April	Monifieth Links	Scottish Boys Open Stroke Play Championship
10 - 12 April	Montrose, Medal	Scottish Girls Open Stroke Play Championship
21 - 23 April	Royal Troon and Troon Portland	Helen Holm Scottish Women's Open Stroke Play Championship
13 - 14 May	TBC	Scottish Junior Tour U16 & U14
2 - 4 June	Western Gailes	Carrick Neill Scottish Men's Open Stroke Play Championship
6 - 10 June	Royal Aberdeen	Scottish Women's Amateur Championship
21 - 23 June	Royal Burgess	Scottish Senior Men's Open Championship
28 June - 1 July	Blairgowrie	Scottish Senior Women's Open Championship
30 June - 5 July	Scotscraig & Drumoig	Scottish Boys and Girls Championship
11 - 13 July	Fairmont St Andrews, Kittocks	Scottish Boys U16 Open Championship
17 - 18 July	TBC	Scottish Girls U16 Open Championship
31 July - 5 Aug	Prestwick and Prestwick St Cuthbert	Scottish Men's Amateur Championship
13 - 14 Aug	Crail, Balcomie Links	Loretto School Scottish Boys and Girls U14 Championship

 

ts

·         Please note dates, venues and further details for Area, County, Club and National Handicap Championships will be announced shortly.

Aberdeen's Clarke Lutton moves up to share 

of fourth place at Muscat, Open

By VIREN VARMA

MUSCAT, Oman — Extremely accurate off the tee and clinical with his putter, Ahmed Marjan shot a career-best seven-under 65 to join Fernand Osther atop the leaderboard going into Wednesday's final round of the MENA Golf Tour’s Ghala Open

The talented Moroccan reeled off eight birdies against a lone bogey while Netherlands’ Osther showed great mental resilience, picking up five shots on the back nine after making the turn at two over en route to a 69.

On nine under, the duo edged two shots clear of Younes El Hassani of Morocco and three of a four-man group that included Aberdeen-born Clarke Lutton, Craig Hinton of England, Fredrik From of Sweden and South Africa’s Luke Trocado.

It was Marjan, who lit up the proceedings with a sparkling round that also set a new course record at Ghala Golf Club. 

“I didn’t miss anything out there. Everything was rock solid and everything was good. I drove the ball well, my iron play was spot on and I holed some solid putts,” said Marjan, who needed just 24 putts to complete his second round.

“The good thing is that I have regained confidence in my driver which wasn’t the case recently. So, very pleased to get some momentum going this week.

“Going forward the plan is to keep things simple and see where that leave me come Wednesday,” said Marjan, who created history in 2014, becoming the first golfer from the MENA region to win a tour event, a feat he achieved at the Ras Al Khaimah Classic. 

Starting the day two in front, Osther responded to an early bogey with a birdie on the second, but dropped further shots on fourth and eighth to turn in 38. The back nine was vintage Osther, who kept it clean, making five birdies to firmly stay in contention for a maiden title on the MENA Golf Tour.

Morocco’s El Hassani also kept himself in the frame, going bogey-free in his five-under 67. “I am feeling good about my game. Struck the ball really well and created several scoring opportunities with my wedges.

 “I am not thinking too much about the final round. Will try and focus on each shot as it comes and see what happens,” said El Hassani, who is seeking first win on the MENA Golf Tour.

The English duo of Benjamin David and Todd Clements carded matching 69s to share the lead in the amateur division on four under, one ahead of Chile’s Matias Calderon who returned a second-round 73.

 England’s Joe Heraty, who won the Sahara Kuwait Championship last week, missed the cut by one shot after carding a 78 that included a quadruple bogey on the 11th while defending champion Lee Corfield left himself with a mountain to climb, finishing the day seven shots off the pace.

The cut was made at three-over par 147 with 50 professionals and 10 amateurs making it to the final round.

SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2x72)
135 A Marjan (Mor) 70 65, F Osther (Ned) 66 69
137 Y El Hassani (Mor) 70 67
138 C Lutton (Sco) 70 68, C Hinton (Eng) 70 68, F From (Swe) 72 66, L Trocado (SAf) 68 70

OTHER SCOTS' SCORES
140 J McDonald 70 70 (T9)
143 J Doherty 75 68 (T23)
147 P Doherty 74 73 (T50)

Fear of flying: European Tour pro Fritsch 

keeps card by DRIVING to just 12 events

    GOLF DIGEST

   By Alex Myers

Florian Fritsch used to not mind flying. That was good, because Florian Fritsch is a golfer, and flying, of course, is a prerequisite for being an elite tour pro these days. Then a rough flight in 2005 changed everything for the German.

"I was flying from Frankfurt to Turin and the plane and suddenly it starting rocking all over the place and my coach turned to me and said 'if it goes wrong, it will be over with quickly,'" Fritsch wrote in a diary entry for the European Tour's website.

 "From that moment I began thinking a lot about flying and it developed from an awareness, to an interest, to scepticism, to fear. I flew a few times more but in 2010 I was in Zurich on the way to an event in Kenya and I decided I couldn’t do it anymore. 
"I called my management company, told them I was quitting professional golf and took a train back home."

The rising star was suddenly grounded, and it looked like the end of a promising golf career for a 24-year-old who already had two wins on the European Professional Development Tour. Fritsch says he took a regular job for a year before giving pro golf another go. To his surprise, he earned his European Tour card for the first time through Q School.

"It sort of made me mad in a way. You spend all this time trying to be a pro and grinding and then you take a year off, barely practice and get through Q School," Fritsch said. "This game is messed up. That’s golf I guess."

But to be successful on a tour that plays tournaments all around the world, surely he'd have to overcome his fear of flying, right? Wrong. After several years of bouncing around different tours and winning two more times on the EPD, Fritsch once again earned his European Tour card for 2016. And this time, he stuck.

While Padraig Harrington was winning the Portugal Masters this past week, Fritsch was finishing 44th to wind up 101st on the tour's Race to Dubai standings at the end of the regular season (the top 111 earn full playing privileges for the following year). He accomplished this despite only driving to tournaments and playing in just 12 events. How impressive a feat is that? To put what Fritsch did in perspective, consider the two players he finished between on the money list were Oliver Fisher and Pelle Edberg, both who played in 30 events.

Because of his flying phobia, Fritsch's schedule is made up entirely of events he can reasonably travel to via land or sea. As a result, Fritsch missed the European Tour's stops in South Africa, Australia and Asia, and began his season in May. Despite the slow start, he was buoyed by three seventh-place finishes in his last six tournaments, including one at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

"To give you an example of how I travel, I do around 25,000 miles a year in my car," Fritsch writes. "To get here to Portugal I left London on Sunday night after the tournament, drove to Portsmouth and got on a ferry at 10:30 pm that got into Bilbao in Spain on Tuesday at 7:45 am. I then drove for ten hours to get to Vilamoura.

" It sounds like a lot of driving but I love it. I get to see so much of Europe and because I’m into history, if I pass something interesting I always pull over and check it out."

Sounds great, Florian. We just wonder, what happens if you ever qualify for the Masters