Sunday, October 30, 2016


Rory confirms absence from Turkish Open

 due to "security fears"

Rory McIlroy has confirmed he has withdrawn from the European Tour's Turkish Airlines Open, starting on Thursday,  because of security fears.
The European Tour were hoping to have both Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in its field, as well as American Patrick Reed. Now they have none of them.
McIlroy announced he would not play because of heightened security concerns in Turkey, the BBC reported. Reed, who intended to play the event, was on the entry list as late as Saturday, but was not on it on Sunday, though no other details are available. 
David Lipsky is the only American in the field.
“It was weighing on my mind and I have slept a lot better knowing that I’d made a decision," said McIlroy, who tied for fourth in the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai today.
“I gave it a lot of thought, basically all week. The fact that I have won the FedEx Cup this year and that I have won the Race to Dubai before made the decision a little bit easier.”
The U.S. Department of State on Saturday issued an updated Turkey Travel Warning that ordered “the departure of family members of employees posted to the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, Turkey. The Department of State made this decision based on security information indicating extremist groups are continuing aggressive efforts to attack U.S. citizens in areas of Istanbul where they reside or frequent.”
The Turkish Airlines Open will be played in  Antalya, about 300 miles south of Istanbul. However, the Antalya area was hit with three rocket attacks earlier this month.
Meanwhile, the State Department “continues to warn U.S. citizens of increased threats from terrorist groups throughout Turkey. U.S. citizens should avoid travel to southeast Turkey and carefully consider the risks of travel to and throughout the country."
In June, the Ladies European Tour cancelled the Turkish Airlines Women’s Open because of security threats.

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Paul Doherty (68) sharing second place in MENA Tour Championship first round


By VIREN VARMA
MUSCAT, Oman — Daniel Owen opened with a tidy five-under 67 to seize the early initiative in the MENA Tour Championship as Order of Merit leader Craig Hinton finished the day two shots off the pace today at Muscat Hills Golf Club in Oman.
England’s Owen mixed six birdies with a lone bogey to move one clear of his fellow countryman Max Williams and Scotland’s Paul Doherty on a day when 26 players broke par.
Doherty, a former Scottish U18 boys champion, birdied the ninth, 11th, 16th and 17th, dropping only one shot, at the fifth in halves of 35 and 33 for a 68.
A two-time winner on the tour this season, Hinton is one of six players tied for fourth place on three-under-par 69,along with his playing partner Zane Scotland, Joe Heraty, Jordan Garnish, all of England, Mariano Ochoa of Spain and Per Barth of Sweden.
Owen sounded very pleased with his day’s efforts, saying he struck the ball well and gave himself some decent scoring opportunities there. “I didn’t miss any green and played some solid golf,” said the Englishman who fell just one shy of equalling the course record.

“I chipped in from 20 yards on the first and that set the tone for the round. In fact, I never really got myself into any sticky situation which was the key,” said the Bahrain-based professional, who is seeking his first win on the MENA Golf Tour.
England’s Hinton made the turn at one over and then picked up four shots in a row from the 13th, but a bogey-bogey finish undermined what would have been an excellent round.
“I played really well on the back nine, but made some horrible mistakes that resulted in bogeys. It was kind of an up and down round and I feel I left at least three shots out there,” said the 27-year-old Thame native.
England’s Williams, who made six birdies against two bogeys, said he holed lots of good putts to keep the round going. “Very happy with my opening round. I made some good par saves, especially the one on the 15th which kept me track,” said Williams, who won the MENA Golf Tour Order of Merit title for amateurs in 2012.
Scottish boys' open stroke-play champion Rayhan Thomas (India), who won the best amateur award at the Ras Al Khaimah 2016 Golf Challenge on Saturday, returned a 71 to lie just one off the pace set by England’s Benjamin David in his division. 
“I struck the ball really well and created some good scoring chances, but my short game wasn't as sharp as it ought to be. Still I managed to finish in red numbers which is good,” said the 16-year-old prodigy, who flew into Muscat just hours before his earning morning tee time.
Featuring 52 professional and nine amateurs, the MENA Tour Championship will have no cut after the second round.

MENA TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP 
Muscat Hills Golf and Country Club, Oman
FIRST-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 72

67 D Owen (Eng)
68 P Doherty (Sco), M Williams (*Eng)
69 Z Scotland (Eng), C Hinton (Eng), J Heraty (Eng), M Ochoa (Spa), P Barth (Swe), J Garnish (Eng).
SELECTED SCORE
75 C Lutton (Sco) (T47).

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Freshman Farrell from Manchester moves up 

to fifth place at El Paso, Texas

Oliver Farrell from Worcestershire, a freshman student at Marquette University, moved up to fifth place with a second-round, four-under-par round of 68 for a 36-hole tally of six-under 138 in the Price's Give Em Five Invite college tournament at Butterfield Trail Golf Club, El Paso in Texas.
Western New Mexico's Harry Wetton, a senior from Bedfordshire, and Ross White, a junior from Dollar, are sharing 28th place on 146 in a field of 75 players.
Wetton has had a pair of 73s, White a 74 and a 72.
Seton Hall Universiy's Alex McAuley, a freshman from Douglas, Isle of Man, and Alex Chalk, a freshman, from Castle Douglas, Scotland, are lying 59th and T69 respectively.
McAuley has scored 76-77 for 153, Chalk 79-81 for 160.
Three players share the lead with 18 holes to go - Zander Lozano (UTSA) (66-70), Andreas Sorenson (Texas El Paro) (66-70) and Prescott Mann (Texas El Paso) (67-69) - all on eight-under-par 136.
Texas El Paso (556) lead the team event from New Mexico State and Marquette, both on 567. 

Manchester student Loughlin's T11 finish 
Josef Loughlin, from Manchester, a final-year student at Bethany College, Kansas, finished T11 on 226 with rounds of 76, 76 and 74 at the Fall Midwest Invitational, played at Terradyne Country Club, Andover in Kansas.
The tournament was won by a Bethany College freshman, Meliton Moreno - who was not included in the Bethany College team, being fielded as an "individual."
Moreno shot rounds of 73, 73 and 71 for one-over-par 217. 
Without being able to count Moreno's scores, Bethany College (909) could finish only second in the team event behind Oklahoma Wesleyan (894) with Jamestown (919) third in a field of 10 teams.

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Monty loses lead in US Champions' Tour event


PowerShares QQQ Championship (Oct 28 - 30)

  • Course: Sherwood Country Club
  • Par: 72
  • Yardage: 7,059
Pos Name 1 2




T1 Tom Pernice Jr. 69   64
133
T1 Brandt Jobe 67   66 133
T3 Rocco Mediate 69 65     134
T3 Olin Browne 68 66 134
T3 Colin Montgomerie  65 69 134
6 Jerry Smith 67 68 135
T7 Jay Haas 69 67 136
T7 Scott McCarron 67 69 136
T9 Doug Garwood 69 68 137
T9 Jeff Hart 69 68 137
T9 Jeff Maggert 68 69 137
T9 Joey Sindelar 67 70 137
T13   Willie Wood 70 68 138
T13   Marco Dawson 69 69 138
T13 Fred Funk 67 71 138
T16 Scott Dunlap 72 67 139
T16 Kevin Sutherland 71 68 139
T16 Larry Mize 71 68 139
T16 Joe Durant 70 69 139
T16 Scott Parel 69 70 139
T16 Esteban Toledo 68 71 139
T22 Ian Woosnam 74 66 140
T22 Miguel Angel Jimenez 71 69 140
T22 Billy Mayfair 70 70 140
T22 Tom Lehman 69 71 140
T22 Stephen Ames 68 72 140
T22 Fred Couples 68 72 140
T28 Tom Byrum 72 69 141
T28 Mike Goodes 72 69 141
T28 Wes Short Jr. 71 70 141
T28 Miguel Angel Martin 69 72 141
T32 Mark Brooks 73 69 142
T32 Michael Allen 72 70 142
T32 Paul Broadhurst 71 71 142
T32 Tommy Armour III 70 72 142
T32 David Frost 69 73 142
T37 Jesper Parnevik 73 70 143
T37 Kenny Perry 73 70 143
T37 Lee Janzen 72 71 143
T37 Scott Verplank 72 71 143
T37 Mark O'Meara 69 74 143
T37 Jim Carter 67 76 143
T43 Todd Hamilton 75 69 144
T43 Jose Coceres 72 72 144
T43 Greg Kraft 71 73 144
T46 Carlos Franco 74 71 145
T46 John Riegger 73 72 145
T46 Duffy Waldorf 72 73 145
T46 Gary Hallberg 71 74 145
T46 Fran Quinn 71 74 145
T51 Paul Goydos 74 72 146
T51 Kirk Triplett 71 75 146
T53 Woody Austin 77 70 147
T53 Jeff Sluman 76 71 147
T53 Gene Sauers 74 73 147
T53 Grant Waite 75 72 147
T53 Billy Andrade 72 75 147
T53 John Daly 71 76 147
T59 Mark Calcavecchia 77 71 148
T59 Steve Pate 76 72 148
T59 Glen Day 74 74 148
T59 Brad Bryant 74 74 148
T59 Jay Don Blake 69 79 148
T64 Loren Roberts 75 74 149
T64 Rod Spittle 75 74 149
T64 Roger Chapman 73 76 149
67 Steve Lowery 78 76 154
68 Brian Henninger 76 81 157



























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WGC-HSBC Champions in China

Knox crashes with four bogeys in a row: 

Japan's Matsuyama wins 

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Hideki Matsuyama became the second Japanese winner in European Tour history as he romped to a seven-shot victory at the WGC-HSBC Champions in China today.

The 24-year-old entered the final day at Sheshan International Golf Club, Shanghai with a three-shot cushion and nobody could get any closer than that as he signed for a 66 and a 23 under par total of 265.
Henrik Stenson claimed a share of second after a closing 65 and that moved him into first place in the Race to Dubai standings entering the Final Series, replacing Danny Willett who endured a disappointing week.
American Daniel Berger also finished at 16 under 272 after a closing 69, a shot ahead of World No. 3 Rory McIlroy and another American, Bill Haas.
England's Ross Fisher, 2010 champion Francesco Molinari and American Rickie Fowler were then at 14 under, with Spaniard Sergio Garcia and defending champion Russell Knox from Inverness completing the top ten two shots further back.
Four bogeys in a row from the eighth in a closing 74 ended the Florida-based Scot's challenge.
Matsuyama followed in the footsteps of Isao Aoki - who won the European Open 33 years ago - and also became the first Japanese player to win an individual World Golf Championships event.
The victory is a continuation of some remarkable recent form with a win at the Japan Open and a second-placed finish at the CIMB Classic in the previous two weeks. Those results moved him into the top ten in the Official World Golf Ranking this week and he could now go as high as sixth.
An opening birdie set the tone for the day and further gains on the fifth and seventh extended his lead to four at the turn. A 30-foot putt on the 13th started a hat-trick of birdies and when he put a stunning approach into the 15th, the rest of the field were eight shots behind.
Closing pars on the final two holes - despite finding the water on the 18th - meant Matsuyama finished the week with 29 birdies as he took his bogey-free run to 45 holes.
Stenson shared the joint lowest round of the day with Matthew Fitzpatrick as he made seven birdies in a blemish-free 65. He made birdies on the second, third, sixth, seventh, 11th and 14th but when Berger made a gain on the 16th, he remained in second on the Race to Dubai.
An excellent putt from the fringe on the last then got him back into a share for second on the week and brought a fist-pumping celebration from the Swede.
Northern Ireland's McIlroy turned in 34 before four birdies in six holes from the 11th catapulted him up the leaderboard and he saw a putt for a 65 lip out on the last.
Haas signed for a 69 with four birdies and a bogey.
Fisher finished in a tie for third here last year and had another productive week in Shanghai, making six birdies and two bogeys on Sunday, including a deflating dropped shot on the par five last.
Italian Molinari made four birdies and two bogeys, with Fowler joining Fisher in signing for a 68.
Garcia ended his week with a 67. 

 FINAL TOTALS
   par 288 (4x72)

265 H Matsuyama  (Jpn) 66 65 68 66,
 272 D Berger (USA) 66 70 67 69, H Stenson (Swe) 69 71 67 65,
 273 R McIlroy  (NIr) 71 66 70 66, B Haas  (USA) 67 67 70 69,
 274 R Fisher (Eng) 69 68 69 68, R Fowler  (USA) 65 73 68 68, F Molinari (Ita) 67 69 68 70,
 276 R Knox (Sco) 66 68 68 74, S Garcia  (Esp) 68 72 69 67,
 277 E Grillo (Arg) 72 67 71 67,
 278 A Noren  (Swe) 68 72 70 68, P Casey  (Eng) 67 70 72 69,
 279 A Scott  (Aus) 69 80 64 66, T Pieters  (Bel) 71 70 66 72,
 281 J Luiten (Ned) 72 68 71 70, M Fitzpatrick  (Eng) 72 74 70 65, J Kokrak  (USA) 70 73 67 71,
 282 R Karlberg  (Swe) 64 75 71 72, R Cabrera Bello (Esp) 71 74 68 69,
 283 Z Xinjun (Chn) 68 69 70 76, M Kuchar  (USA) 73 66 68 76,
 284 R Moore  (USA) 71 72 66 75, S Lowry  (Irl) 74 68 65 77, J Thomas (USA) 71 70 72 71, W Ashun (Chn) 73 69 73 69, C Wood  (Eng) 69 70 70 75, T Hatton (Eng) 70 76 67 71,
 285 L Westwood (Eng) 69 70 77 69,
 286 T Jaidee (Tha) 70 73 73 70, R Castro (USA) 73 74 73 66, C Schwartzel  (RSA) 72 71 72 71, R Bland (Eng) 68 68 75 75, B Grace  (RSA) 73 75 71 67,
 287 D Burmester (RSA) 68 70 74 75, D Johnson (USA) 74 74 70 69, B Wiesberger  (Aut) 71 72 73 71, J Holmes (USA) 71 74 70 72, K Chappell (USA) 70 71 72 74,
 288 S Kjeldsen (Den) 73 75 72 68, G Coetzee (RSA) 69 79 68 72, D Zecheng (Chn) 77 70 72 69, B Koepka  (USA) 73 70 69 76, M Kaymer (Ger) 72 68 74 74,
 289 J Vegas (Ven) 79 71 73 66, L Oosthuizen  (RSA) 71 75 69 74,
 290 L Wenchong (Chn) 72 75 72 71, B Dredge (Wal) 72 73 74 71, K Kim (SKor) 74 74 71 71, A Johnston (Eng) 75 69 69 77, G Woodland (USA) 71 74 73 72,
 291 G Bourdy (Fra) 74 70 76 71, Y Song (SKor) 75 74 72 70,
 293 S Hend (Aus) 72 72 72 77, B Watson (USA) 71 73 76 73, K Na (USA) 75 71 73 74, H Tanihara (Jpn) 73 73 73 74,
 294 A Levy (Fra) 72 75 73 74, J Zunic (Aus) 72 75 75 72,
 295 P Reed (USA) 78 75 66 76, S Chan  (Tpe) 79 74 71 71, R Sterne  (RSA) 77 74 69 75,
 296 S O'Hair (USA) 73 73 72 78, S Piercy (USA) 79 72 74 71, L Haotong (Chn) 73 72 74 77, S Kim (SKor) 74 81 72 69, B An (Kor) 74 75 76 71,
 298 M Tabuena (Phi) 72 76 72 78, M Millar (Aus) 72 75 74 77,
 299 S Lee (SKor) 76 76 75 72, M Fraser (Aus) 78 73 71 77, K Kisner (USA) 72 80 69 78, J Wang (Kor) 82 76 69 72,
 301 J Blaauw  (RSA) 76 73 77 75,
 302 D Willett  (Eng) 74 78 75 75,
 305 Z Hui-Lin (Chn) 72 78 76 79,
 306 J Walker  (USA) 78 79 77 72, N Holman  (Aus) 75 79 77 75

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