Aberdonian improves by eight shots with 69 in Round 2

GEMMA DRYBURGH BOOSTS PROSPECTS 

OF BEATING CUT AT LPGA Q SCHOOL

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Aberdeen-born Gemma Dryburgh improved by eight strokes with a second-round, three-under-par 69 for a two-over 36-hole tally of 146 at the LPGA Final Qualifying School at Daytona Beach, Florida today (Thursday).

Only the leading 70 in a field of 156 will survive a cut after four rounds of the five-round competition.

Dryburgh, pictured, has brightened her prospects by moving up from tied 126th to tied 63rd.

Kylie Walker followed up her disappointing first-round 81 with a par 72 for 153 - the same tally as Sally Watson who had a 76. They are joint 142nd so both need good third and fourth-round scores to beat the cut.

England's Mel Reid shot the lowest second round of eight-under 64 and is tied with Japan's Nasa Hataoka, who had a 65, for the leader on 11-under 133.

LPGA FINAL QUALIFYING SCHOOL

Daytona Beach, Florida

LEADING SECOND-ROUND SCORES

par 144 (2x72)

133 M Reid (Eng) 69 64, N Hataoka (Jap) 68 65

136 J M Green (USA) 68 68, K Puisite (Lat) 69 69, K Dambaugh (USA) (am) 67 71.

SELECTED OTHER SCORES

142 F Johnson (Eng) 76 66 (T18)

143 B Law (Eng) 75 68, S Meadow (NIre) 73 70, A Ashok (Ind) 73 70 (T27).

144 C Thomas (Eng) 73 71 (T41)

146 G Dryburgh (Sco) 77 69, H Clyburn (Eng) 77 69 (T63)

148 H Burke (Eng) 73 75 (T94)

150 E Givens (Eng) 78 72 (T121)

153 K Walker (Sco) 81 72, S Watson (Sco) 77 76 (T142).

Field of 156 players

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Scott Jamieson in the mix in South Africa

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Defending champion Charl Schwartzel birdied the last hole to share the lead after the first round of the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa.

Home favourite Schwartzel, a four time winner of this event, posted a flawless 66  to join Irishman Paul Dunne on six under.

Dunne, meanwhile, made eight gains at Leopard Creek Country Club, with a double bogey at the ninth the only blemish on his card.

Home hopes Jean Hugo and Brandon Stone were among the group one shot behind the co-leaders, alongside Max Orrin, Pablo Larrazábal, Alexander Björk and Scotland's Scott Jamieson (pictured above).

Schwartzel reached the turn in 34, with the only birdie of his front nine coming at the short fifth.

The South African picked up a shot at the tenth before making another gain at the 11th after coming within inches of holing his approach shot.

Further birdies at the 13th and 15th followed, and when Schwartzel tapped in his birdie putt at the last, he found himself tied at the top.

Speaking about his start to the round, Schwartzel said: "I wasn’t doing anything wrong, really. A couple of the shots just didn’t finish as I planned.

 "I made a good par putt on seven, and those putts are sometimes more important than the birdie putts. 

"My game was feeling good, but it was just a matter of getting the execution I was looking for, and on the back nine it came together nicely."

Dunne made the perfect start to his opening round, following up birdies at the first and fourth with back-to-back gains at the seventh and eighth.

The 24 year old finished his front nine with a double bogey at the par-four ninth but did not let that derail his round, picking up shots at the 11th and 13th to return to four under.

Dunne made his seventh gain of the day at the 15th before curling in his birdie putt at the 17th to get to six under.

"For me I feel if I can get the ball in play off the tee, with how my irons are feeling and with how good the greens are, I feel if I drive the ball well I’ll give myself loads of chances," said Dunne.

"I’m feeling good. And look, I have the rest of the weekend - there's a long way to go."

LEADING FIRST-ROUND SCORES
par 72
66 P Dunne (Ire), C Schwartzel (SAf)
67 M Orrin (Eng), S Jamieson (Sco), J Hugo (SAf), P Larrazabal (Spa), A Bjork (Swe), B Stone (SAf).

SELECTED OTHER SCORES:
68 J Rutherford (Eng) (T9)
69 N Kimsey (Eng), C Hanson (Eng) (T18)
70 D Drysdale (Sco) (T32).
71 C Cannon (Eng), L Canter (Eng), M Foster (Eng), M Nixon (Eng), S Tiley (Eng).
72 S Henry (Sco) (T67)
78 D Clarke (NIre) (T141)

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Leading players selected  for England's 2017 squad Amateur Champion Scott Gregory and English champion Dan Brown are among the nine players selected for the England men’s squad for 2016/17. Harry Hall, Josh Hilleard and James Walker are all promoted into the men’s squad. Meanwhile, the England A squad includes four new players: George Bloor, Matthew Jordan, Josh McMahon and Jack Yule. The full squads are: England men: Dan Brown of Yorkshire, Scott Gregory of Hampshire, Harry Hall of  Cornwall, Josh Hilleard of Somerset, Bradley Moore of Derbyshire, Marco Penge of  Sussex, Alfie Plant of Kent, Sean Towndrow of Lancashire and James Walker of Yorkshire. England A: George Bloor of Derbyshire, Jake Burnage of Devon, Tom Gandy of the Isle of Man, Matthew Jordan of Cheshire, Josh McMahon of Cheshire, Gian-Marco Petrozzi of Staffordshire, Will Whiteoak of Yorkshire and Jack Yule of Norfolk. The players: Dan Brown, 22, (Masham) won the English amateur championship at Ganton, becoming the third Yorkshireman in a row to hold the title. He also won the North of England amateur. Scott Gregory, 22, (Corhampton) is the Amateur Champion and helped England to win the world silver medal at the Eisenhower Trophy. He made his GB&I debut in the winning St Andrews Trophy team. He won the 2016 England Men’s Order of Merit. (Pictured top, image © Leaderboard Photography) Harry Hall, 19, (West Cornwall) is an England international in his second year at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and was his Conference’s Freshman of the Year. He reached the last 16 in the Amateur Championship. Josh Hilleard, 21, (Farrington Park) was third on the English Men’s Order of Merit after winning four events, and helping England to beat France, win the Costa Ballena quadrangular tournament and take second place in the Colombian International. Bradley Moore, 19, (Kedleston Park) was joint runner-up in the Lytham Trophy, was in England’s winning team against France and helped Europe beat Asia Pacific in the 2016 Bonallack Trophy. He reached the matchplay stages of the US Amateur. Marco Penge, 18, (Golf at Goodwood) was fifth on the English Men’s Order of Merit, having tied for the French amateur among other high finishes. He captained the GB&I boys’ team in the Jacques Leglise match against Continental Europe. Alfie Plant, 24, (Sundridge Park) won the Lytham Trophy and sank the birdie putt to secure England’s world championship silver medal. He was in GB&I’s winning St Andrews Trophy team and runner up on the England Golf Men’s Order of Merit. Sean Towndrow, 25, (Southport & Ainsdale) is an England international who led the English challenge at the 2015 Amateur Championship, reaching the quarter finals. He also helped Lancashire to win last year’s English Men’s County Finals. James Walker, 22, (The Oaks) helped England beat France in their biennial international, won the Selborne Salver, reached the semi-finals of the Spanish amateur and had a string of top ten finishes in prestigious events. England A George Bloor, 21, (Cavendish) was runner-up to his great friend, Dan Brown, in both the English amateur championship and the North of England amateur. He was also sixth in the Scottish Open and the Midland Open. Jake Burnage, 21, (Saunton) was joint runner-up in the Midland Open and had top ten finishes in the South of England Open, the Brabazon Trophy and the South West county qualifier. Tom Gandy, 24, (Rowany) was a quarter finalist in the English men’s amateur and reached the matchplay stages of the Amateur Championship. His other high finishes included a top ten in the Irish amateur. Matthew Jordan, 20, (Royal Liverpool) had a string of good results, including being  runner-up in the Dutch Junior Open, third in the Hampshire Salver, fourth in the Irish Open and sixth in the Duncan Putter. Josh McMahon, 21, (Wallasey) also impressed with results which included seventh place in the Brabazon Trophy, third in the Northern county qualifier, fourth in the Lee Westwood Trophy and fifth in the West of England amateur. Gian-Marco Petrozzi, 19, (Trentham) reached the Amateur Championship matchplay and was fourth in the Brabazon Trophy. He helped England to second place in the Colombian International and was third individually. Will Whiteoak, 22, (Shipley) was in England’s winning team at the Costa Ballena quadrangular tournament against Finland, Germany and Spain. He also helped Yorkshire to win the 2016 English Men’s County Finals. Jack Yule, 22, (Middleton Hall) won the Biarritz Cup in France, was runner-up in the Italian international, and third in the North of England amateur. He represented England in the Home Internationals.   Lyndsey Hewison Press Officer England Golf pr@englandgolf.org 07590 878349

Forrester Park pair finish fourth in Spain

Forrester Park Golf Resort, Dunfermline professional Paul Edgcombe and club captain Andrew Sturton finished fourth with a 10-under-par total in a selected field of 10 pairs at the Golfplan Pro-Capt Challenge Final over 36 holes at Lumine Beach and Golf Club, Tarragona in Spain today (THU).
Edgcombe and Sturton had better-ball net rounds of 67 and 65 for a total of 132 - eight strokes behind the runaway winners, by six shots, Ian Walley and Richard Smith (Kedleston Park, Derby) who had rounds of 61 and 63 for an 18-under-par aggregate of 124.
Walley earned £5,00 and Edgcombe £2,600.
After a bogey at the first in their second round, the Scots had five net birdies and a net eagle 1 at the par-4 seventh in halves of 32 and 33. 
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 142 (2x71).
Pros named before club captains
124 I Walley and R Smith (Kedleston Park, Derby) 61 63.
130 J Levermore and H Appiah (Channels, Chelmsford) 66 64
131 N Stead and B Ireland (Shipley, Bingley) 64 67
132 P Edgcombe and A Sturton (Forrester Park, Dunfermline) 67 65.

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And the winners were ... pro Ian Walley and club captain Richard Smith of Kedleston Park Golf Club, Derby. Picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c).

Link to scores at US PGA Champions (Seniors) Tour Q School

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Deadly Dodt storms into the lead on the Gold Coast
Tournament: Australian PGA Championship Venue: RACV Royal Pines Resort, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia Prize fund: A$1.5 million Hashtag: #AusPGA
Round One Report Andrew Dodt fired a sparkling opening round of 65 to establish a two-shot lead before the threat of lightning saw play suspended on day one of the Australian PGA Championship. In the calmer morning conditions, Dodt recorded eight birdies and a solitary bogey to sit one stroke ahead of New Zealander Ryan Fox and Americans Julian Suri and Harold Varner III, with the latter still left with four holes to complete when the horn sounded at 3.15pm. Beautiful conditions had greeted the players as the 2017 Race to Dubai got underway on Thursday morning, with 2016 Challenge Tour Rankings winner Jordan Smith hitting the opening tee-shot. But the expected high winds arrived in the afternoon and brought with them some biblical storms, with half the field yet to complete their first rounds. That was no problem for Dodt, however, who was in the clubhouse on seven under par having come home in an excellent 31 after starting on the back nine. The two-time European Tour winner made just seven of 20 cuts last season, but has been working on his game in recent months and is glad to see that work starting to bear fruit. Fox’s flawless round of 67 was a continuation of the fine form he showed on the Challenge Tour last season, as the Kiwi – whose father Grant won the Rugby World Cup with the All Blacks – finished fourth in the Road to Oman Rankings.  US PGA Tour Member Varner III is also yet to drop a shot after 14 holes, whilst his compatriot Suri fought back bravely – he was one over par after four holes – to get his European Tour career off to a flying start.   Home favourite Adam Scott showed his intent with a four under par opening round of 68, which featured a long eagle putt on the 12th hole, while Ian Poulter is on level par after 15 holes. Aberdeen-born Michael Sim, based in Australia since his family emigrated from the Westhill suburb of the Granite City when he was seven years old, had a three-under-par 69 Key quotes Andrew Dodt: “I wanted to hit the ground running for the 2017 season, right from hole one, shot one, and luckily I managed to do that today. Tom, my caddie, and I said at the start of the week that probably maybe ten under would win it, so it’s nice to be seven under after round one. “It’s pretty windy out there at the moment and I knew I had to take advantage of the morning with the way the weather was, but having said that it was still quite windy early on. I know it’s going to be tough tomorrow afternoon, so you have to take advantage of the morning conditions. Thankfully I did, but it’s going to be tough tomorrow afternoon and maybe ten under is still the mark. It just depends how windy it gets.  “Probably this year and last year I’ve been trying to swing it perfectly, because I thought if you swing it perfectly you’re going to play well. I’d rather swing average and play better. I’ve finally figured that out a bit, but it’s always a work in progress.” Ryan Fox: “I think every afternoon is probably going to be a little breezy, like it’s been earlier in the week, which makes it really tough to score so you have to post a number in the morning if you can.  As soon as the golf course dries out it gets really tough to hit the greens and there is a real penalty for missing some of them, so it’s nice to be in this position to start off with but it’s going to be a little bit of a grind for the rest of the week, I think.” Adam Scott: “There was lots of good solid stuff in there today, and a quick start and a quick finish adds up to a good score. I was just treading water for a while but on those holes in the middle of the round, I never had the perfect number. I was cautious of going over the green because I was often in between clubs, but you just have to be patient and luckily for it paid off with birdies on the last three holes.” Partial Round One Scores PAR 72 1 65 -7 Andrew Dodt AUS 65 18 2= 67 -5 Ryan Fox NZL 67 18 2= 67 -5 Julian Suri USA 67 18 2=   -5 Harold Varner III USA (-5) 14 5= 68 -4 Adam Scott AUS 68 18 5= 68 -4 Nick Cullen AUS 68 18 5= 68 -4 Natipong Srithong THA 68 18 5= 68 -4 Paul Waring ENG 68 18 5= 68 -4 Todd Sinnott AUS 68 18 5= 68 -4 Geoff Drakeford AUS 68 18 11= 69 -3 Michael Sim AUS 69 18 11= 69 -3 Peter O'Malley AUS 69 18 11= 69 -3 Danny Lee NZL 69 18 11= 69 -3 Daniel Nisbet AUS 69 18 11= 69 -3 Niclas Johansson SWE 69 18 11= 69 -3 Rohan Blizard AUS 69 18 11=   -3 Jarrod Lyle AUS (-3) 13 11=   -3 Matthew Griffin AUS (-3) 13 11=   -3 Ashley Hall AUS (-3) 11 11=   -3 Adam Stephens AUS (-3) 10 21= 70 -2 Daniel Popovic AUS 70 18 21= 70 -2 Greg Chalmers AUS 70 18 21= 70 -2 Marc Leishman AUS 70 18 21= 70 -2 John Senden AUS 70 18 21= 70 -2 Robert Allenby AUS 70 18 21=   -2 Brett Rumford AUS (-2) 14 21=   -2 Lincoln Tighe AUS (-2) 12 21=   -2 Oliver Farr WAL (-2) 11 29= 71 -1 Cameron Smith AUS 71 18 29= 71 -1 Hyowon Park SKOR 71 18 29= 71 -1 Rhein Gibson AUS 71 18 29=   -1 Simon Dyson ENG (-1) 15 29=   -1 Jordan Zunic AUS (-1) 13 29=   -1 Stephen Leaney AUS (-1) 11 29=   -1 Ryan McCarthy AUS (-1) 10 29=   -1 Jason Norris AUS (-1) 10 37= 72 Par Stephen Gallacher SCO 72 18 37= 72 Par Adam Blyth AUS 72 18 37= 72 Par Bradley Neil SCO 72 18 37= 72 Par Thitiphun Chuayprakong THA 72 18 37= 72 Par Jake McLeod AUS 72 18 37= 72 Par Harry Bateman NZL 72 18 37=   Par Brad Kennedy AUS (Par) 17 37=   Par Mathew Goggin AUS (Par) 15 37=   Par Ian Poulter ENG (Par) 15 37=   Par Wade Ormsby AUS (Par) 13 37=   Par Brett Coletta (am) AUS (Par) 12 37=   Par Scott Laycock AUS (Par) 11 37=   Par Ben Eccles AUS (Par) 11 37=   Par Ross Kellett SCO (Par) 11 37=   Par Martin Pettigrew NZL (Par) 10 37=   Par Ryan Haller AUS (Par) 9 37=   Par Scott Strange AUS (Par) 9 37=   Par Jamie Hook AUS (Par) 8 37=   Par Paul Hayden AUS (Par) 7 56= 73 1 Peter Lonard AUS 73 18 56= 73 1 Craig Parry AUS 73 18 56= 73 1 Tom Lewis ENG 73 18 56= 73 1 Anthony Brown AUS 73 18 56= 73 1 Jason Scrivener AUS 73 18 56= 73 1 Marcus Both AUS 73 18 56= 73 1 Ryan Evans ENG 73 18 56= 73 1 Byungjun Kim SKOR 73 18 56= 73 1 Borja Etchart ESP 73 18 56=   1 Duncan Stewart SCO (+1) 15 56=   1 Rod Pampling AUS (+1) 14 56=   1 Brett Drewitt AUS (+1) 14 56=   1 Prom Meesawat THA (+1) 12 56=   1 Michael Hendry NZL (+1) 12 56=   1 Matt Ford ENG (+1) 11 56=   1 Aaron Rai ENG (+1) 11 56=   1 Michael Jonzon SWE (+1) 11 56=   1 Josh Younger AUS (+1) 11 56=   1 Kalem Richardson AUS (+1) 10 56=   1 Matthew Docking AUS (+1) 9 56=   1 Tom Power Horan AUS (+1) 8 56=   1 Chris Duke AUS (+1) 8 56=   1 Chris Gaunt AUS (+1) 8 56=   1 Matthew Giles AUS (+1) 7 80= 74 2 Richard Green AUS 74 18 80= 74 2 Richard Finch ENG 74 18 80= 74 2 Jaco Van Zyl ZAF 74 18 80= 74 2 Daniel Fox AUS 74 18 80= 74 2 Gary King ENG 74 18 80= 74 2 Terry Pilkadaris AUS 74 18 80= 74 2 Cameron Davis AUS 74 18 80= 74 2 Romain Langasque FRA 74 18 80= 74 2 Danthai Boonma THA 74 18 80= 74 2 Nino Bertasio ITA 74 18 80= 74 2 Jarryd Felton AUS 74 18 80= 74 2 Charlie Ford ENG 74 18 80= 74 2 Sam Cyr USA 74 18 80= 74 2 David McKenzie AUS 74 18 80= 74 2 Panuphol Pittayarat THA 74 18 80= 74 2 Michael Wright AUS 74 18 80= 74 2 Taylor Macdonald AUS 74 18 80=   2 Stuart Manley WAL (+2) 17 80=   2 Y.E. Yang SKOR (+2) 15 80=   2 Matthew Millar AUS (+2) 15 80=   2 Darius van Driel NED (+2) 15 80=   2 Scott Hend AUS (+2) 14 80=   2 Aaron Pike AUS (+2) 14 80=   2 Ben Evans ENG (+2) 12 80=   2 Nathan Buzimkic AUS (+2) 10 80=   2 Anthony Summers AUS (+2) 10 80=   2 Mark Brown NZL (+2) 9 80=   2 Rory Bourke AUS (+2) 8 80=   2 Edward Stedman AUS (+2) 8 109= 75 3 Scott Arnold AUS 75 18 109= 75 3 Steve Webster ENG 75 18 109= 75 3 Kristopher Mueck AUS 75 18 109= 75 3 Weiyu Zhu CHN 75 18 109= 75 3 Junsung Kim KOR 75 18 109= 75 3 David Klein DEU 75 18 109= 75 3 Pavit Tangkamolprasert THA 75 18 109= 75 3 Mitchell A. Brown AUS 75 18 109= 75 3 Sangyeop Lee KOR 75 18 109=   3 Kurt Barnes AUS (+3) 17 109=   3 Max McCardle AUS (+3) 16 109=   3 Nathan Holman AUS (+3) 14 109=   3 Marcus Fraser AUS (+3) 14 109=   3 Edoardo Molinari ITA (+3) 12 109=   3 Stephen Dartnall AUS (+3) 11 109=   3 James Nitties AUS (+3) 10 109=   3 Borja Virto Astudillo ESP (+3) 9 109=   3 Deyen Lawson AUS (+3) 8 109=   3 James Gibellini AUS (+3) 8 128= 76 4 Peter Uihlein USA 76 18 128= 76 4 Curtis Luck (am) AUS 76 18 128= 76 4 Michael Long NZL 76 18 128= 76 4 Darren Beck AUS 76 18 128=   4 Josh Geary NZL (+4) 11 128=   4 Ryan Lynch AUS (+4) 10 128=   4 Jin Jeong SKOR (+4) 10 128=   4 Mikael Lundberg SWE (+4) 10 128=   4 David Gleeson AUS (+4) 8 128=   4 Maverick Antcliff AUS (+4) 8 128=   4 Brett Rankin AUS (+4) 8 139= 77 5 Aron Price AUS 77 18 139= 77 5 Dimitrios Papadatos AUS 77 18 139=   5 Jamie Sadlowski CAN (+5) 16 139=   5 Robert Dinwiddie ENG (+5) 14 139=   5 Samuel Brazel AUS (+5) 11 139=   5 Christopher Akers AUS (+5) 9 139=   5 Callan O'Reilly AUS (+5) 8 146= 78 6 Jordan Smith ENG 78 18 146= 78 6 Brad Moules AUS 78 18 146= 78 6 Neven Basic AUS 78 18 146= 78 6 Nelson Turner AUS 78 18 146=   6 Simon Khan ENG (+6) 13 151= 79 7 Anthony Houston AUS 79 18 151= 79 7 Ben Campbell NZL 79 18 151=   7 Jack Wilson AUS (+7) 7 154 80 8 Cory Crawford AUS 80 18 155 88 16 Ryan Laird AUS 88 18 156 DSQ - Jose-Filipe Lima POR DSQ 18
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