Scots trio fail to make it to LPGA Final Q 

School last round

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Scots Gemma Dryburgh, Sally Watson and Kylie Walker failed to make it through to the fifth and final round of the LPGA Final Qualifying School at Daytona Beach, Florida.
But Edinburgh-based American Beth Allen is sixth among the leading 71 players with 72-hole totals of 290 and better who will play on Sunday with 25 LPGA players' cards for the 2017 season on the line.
Aberdeen-born Dryburgh shot a 71 for four-over 292, failing by two shots to beat the cut in T80th place.
Watson had her best score of the week - a two-under-par 70 - but it was too little too late for the Edinburgh-born player to advance to the final day. She had a total of 295 and was tied 105th.
Walker was never really in with a shout after starting with an 81 but she shoot 72-73-71 over her last three rounds for 297 and a T117 finish.
American Jaye Marie Green leads the qualifiers into the final round over the Hills Course.She had a third-round 70 (her worst so far!) for 15-under-par 273 and leads by two shots from Iceland's Olivia Kristinsdottir (68 for 275).
Beth Allen has had back-to-back 68s for 279 and is obviously pushing hard for LPGA Tour playing rights. She said in a pre-round interview that she has no wish to leave the Ladies European Tour, only to play in the States when there was no tournament in America.
Mel Reid is the leading English player in joint seventh place after a 72 for 280. 
England's Hannah Burke and Bronte Law (still an amateur but she will have to turn pro for LPGA Tour status) are bracketed in T30 place on 286. Hannah had a fourth-round 69, Bronte a 70.
Northern Ireland's Stephanie Meadow made it through with a 73 for 289 and T50 position.
Felicity Johnson was the fourth and last English-born player to make the final day. But she almost blew it with a fourth-round, fie-over-par 77 for 290 - the limit mark for the 71 qualifiers.
Holly Clyburn had to withdraw before the fourth round, as she explained by Email to Scottishgolfview.com:

"I picked up a sickness bug. My caddy had it on Day 2 and I caught it on the evening of Day 3 evening, which had me up all night so I couldn't force myself to play."

FOURTH-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 288 (4x72)
Leading qualifiers for final round
273 Jaye Marie Green (USA) 68 68 67 70
275 Olivia Kristinsdottir (Iceland) 74 66 67 68
276 Sadena Parks (USA) 69 72 67 68
277 Nasa Hataoka (Japan) 68 65 69 75
278 Angel Yin (USA) 74 67 69 68
279 Beth Allen (USA) 71 72 68 68

Other final-round qualifiers included:
280 Mel Reid (England) 69 64 75 72 (T7)
285 Aditi Ashok (India) 73 70 71 71 (T23)
286 Hannah Burke (England) 73 75 69 69, Bronte Law (England) (am) 75 68 73 70 (T30)
289 Stephanie Meadow (N Ireland) 73 70 73 73 (T50)
290 Felicity Johnson (England) 76 66 71 77 (T61)

MISSED THE CUT
(71 players with totals of 290 and better qualified)
291 Charlotte Thomas (England) 73 71 73 74 (T71)
292 Gemma Dryburgh (Scotland) 77 69 75 71 (T80)
294 Eleanor Givens (England) 78 72 70 74 (T96)
295 Sally Watson (Scotland) 77 76 72 70 (T105)
297 Kylie Walker (Scotland) 81 72 73 71 (T117)

Withdrew: Holly Clyburn (England) 77 69 75 wd

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Tiger Woods shoots brilliant 65 in

 World Hero Challenge second round

Tiger Woods recovered from a mixed first round by shooting a brilliant seven-under-par 65 as he continued his return to competitive golf on day two of the Hero World Challenge in Florida.

The 40-year-old 14-time major champion, who twice had surgery during 15 months out, hit seven birdies as he moved into joint ninth on six under par.

From trailing by nine after a 73 on Thursday, he is now six off the lead.

"Yesterday I had it going and lost it. Today was different," Woods said.

He told the Golf Channel: "It feels good. I played the middle of the round better, kept the momentum going and moved myself up the board."

First-round leader JB Holmes shot a one-over 73 to slip to joint seventh as his fellow American Dustin Johnson moved into a share of the lead with Hideki Matsuyama of Japan.

Matt Kuchar and Louis Oosthuizen - who both shot 67s - are tied for third, two shots back, while Bubba Watson had a nine-under-par 63 to move three shots off the lead.

Behind him, Brandt Snedeker had an eight-under-par 64 to move one shot ahead of Justin Spieth and Holmes on eight under.

Olympic champion Justin Rose, playing his first event after a seven-week break, withdrew with a bad back before play got under way at the four-round event in the Bahamas.

Hero World Challenge, round two
-12 D Johnson (US), H Matsuyama (Jpn) -10 M Kuchar (US), L Oosthuizen (SA) -9 B Watson (US) -8 B Snedeker (US) -7 J Spieth, J B Holmes (both US) -6 T Woods, R Fowler (both US), H Stenson (Swe) Selected others: -3 R Knox (Sco)

David Drysdale's 64 lifts him into sixth 

place in South

Africa

South Africans continue to dominate the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Golf Club, Malelane, South Africa.
Long-time leader Brandon Stone shot a third-round, six-under 66 for 17-under 199 and now leads by three shots from compattiors Charl Schwartzel (68 for 202) and Keith Horne (67 for 202).
Sharing second place in England's front-runner, Chris Hanson after a 68 for 202.
Scotland's David Drysdale, pictured above,  moved up to sixth place with a brilliant round of 64 - the lowest round of the day - for 11-under 205.
+SCROLL DOWN FOR QUOTES FROM DRYSDALE
Scott Jamieson moved back into the top 10, well a share of 10th place, with a 69 for 207. Highlight of his card was an eagle 3 - his second in 54 holes - at the 1tth.
THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 216 (3x72)
players from South Africa unless stated otherwise
199 Brandon Stone 67 66 66
202 Charl Schwartzel 66 68 68, Chris Hanson (England) 69 65 68, Keith Horne 69 66 67.
204 Ben Hebert (France) 70 66 689
205 David Drysdale (Scotland) 70 71 64.
206 Bryce Easton 70 69 67, Pablo Larrazabal (Spain) 67 70 69, Richard Sterne 68 70 68

SELECTED SCORES
207 Scott Jamieson (Scotland) 67 71 69 (T10)
208 Graeme Storm (England) 73 67 68 (T18)
209 Max Orrin (England) 67 73 69 (T21)
210 Michael Hoey (N Ireland) 69 71 70, Richard McEvoy (England) 72 66 72, Ashley Chesters (England) 72 71 67 (T23)
211 George Coetzee 70 65 76, Paul Dunne (Ireland) 66 73 72.
DRYSDALE LOVES THE COURSE

David Drysdale sang the praises of Leopard Creek Country Club after Saturday's 64 saw him jump up the leaderboard at the Alfred Dunhill Championship.

The Scot began the day eight strokes behind halfway leader and home favourite Brandon Stone after posting rounds of 70 and 71 on Thursday and Friday respectively.

But Drysdale, playing his 408th European Tour event this week, made a fantastic start to his third round, reaching the turn in 30, courtesy of gains at the second, fourth, sixth, seventh and ninth.

And after picking up another shot at the 11th, Drysdale rolled in his ten foot birdie putt at the 13th before repeating the trick from eight feet at the next.

The 41 year old Scot from Dunbar finished his round with a great par save at the 18th to head into Sunday's fourth round on 11 under par, six shots behind leader Stone.

Drysdale, who has his wife Victoria on the bag this week, said: "It's a fantastic golf course - one of my favourites. It's one of the first events I pencil in for my season every year.

"I love coming down here. The course is amazing.

"It's such a good golf course, I think every aspect of your game is tested.

"The greens can be slopey - quite quick in places - so your putting is definitely tested, you've got to drive the ball straight and you've got to hit your irons to the correct places to give yourself chances.

"And also it throws up half a dozen really demanding shots over water.

"There's no let-up and it's so hot here as well."

Phillip Price wins place on lucrative

USA seniors' tour
By Kevin Casey 
The US PGA Champions (Seniors) Tour has five new members.
The circuit’s Q-School concluded Friday at Disney’s Magnolia Course in Lake Buena Vista, Florida  with the top five finishers earning cards for the 2017 season on the lucrative over-50s American tour.
Welshman Phillip Price, pictured above, and American Scott Parel led the way, as the pair co-medalled at 13-under  275 to secure their place on the Champions Tour. 
Bobby Gage, birdieing his last three holes, finished solo third at 11 under 277 for his, and Fran Quinn and Skip Kendall proved to be the remaining card-carriers after getting through a three-for-two play- off (with Gibby Gilbert III being the odd man out) for those finishing on nine-under 279.
Price, a three-time European Tour winner, actually opened the tournament in 73 but played his final 54 holes in 14 under (66-68-68) to secure his spot.
Still even with the slow start, Price went for the jugular on the final day.
“I wanted to try to win the Q-School because it would have been very easy to try and go out and get the fifth card, which I think would have made me very negative,” Price said.
 “I wanted to make birdies rather than to try not to make mistakes because I think I could have got myself in trouble with that mindset.”
After Quinn, a four-time Web.com Tour winner, birdied his final hole of regulation and then the the first extra hole to earn his card, that fifth spot came down to Kendall and Gilbert.
Kendall, also a four-time Web.com Tour winner, would birdie the very next hole, knocking his approach from a hazard to six feet to snatch that fifth and final spot.
Those who didn’t make the top five didn’t go away empty handed. The finishers from sixth through 30th (and ties) gained associate membership, which affords players access to tournament qualifying and the ability to bypass pre-qualifying.
Jose Coceres and Frenchman Jean Van de Velde, the man who threw away the 1999 Open championship,  were among the notables to gain associate membership.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
par 288 (4x72)
275 Scott Parel (USA) 65 72 69 69, Phillip Price (Wales) 73 66 68 68
277 Bobby Gage (USA) 71 70 69 67
279 (after play-off) Fran Quinn (USA) 69 72 70 68, Skip Kendall (USA) 67 70 70 72

SELECTED TOTALS
279 (lost play-off) Gibby Gilbert (USA) 72 70 70 67
283 Miguel Angel Martin (Spain) 74 70 71 68 (T17)
287 Stephen Dodd (Wales) 74 77 72 69, Jean Van de Velde (France) 70 75 71 71 (T28)
291 Barry Lane (England) 75 72 73 71 (T41)
305 Paul McGinley (Ireland) 85 75 72 73 (T72)

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Doherty and Byrne lose ground in Thailand

Jack Doherty and James Byrne, the only Scots in the field at the Asian Development Tour's Thongchai Jaidee Foundation tournament at Hua Hin, Thailand, both lost ground with third-round scores of 74 and 76 respectively.

Doherty is tied 18th on two-over 218 while Byrne is joint 33rd on 220.

 Peradol Panyathanasedh of Thailand holed a huge birdie putt on the last hole to grab a three-shot lead 

The 27-year-old, searching for a first Asian Development Tour (ADT) title, sank a 45-foot putt on the 18^th hole to end the day on three-under-par 69 at the award-winning Black Mountain Golf Club.

Kasidit Lepkurte of Thailand also shot a 69 to trail in second place while Chapchai Nirat (67), Pannakorn Uthaipas (70) and Udorn Duangdecha (72) are a further shot back at the four million Baht (approximately US$115,770) ADT event.

Malaysia’s Gavin Green, ranked second on the ADT Order of Merit, produced a 70 to sit in tied 13^th place. He needs at least a fourth place finish this week to become the new Merit leader.

After changing his name from Varut Chomchalam over a year ago, Peradol has enjoyed better fortunes as he leads in the ADT Thongchai Jaidee Foundation on nine-under-par 207.

“My dad got sick (brain cancer) and we went to the temple for advice. The monk told us that our whole family must change our name for better luck and we did it. It is normal for Thai people to change their names,” said Peradol, who traded six birdies against three bogeys.

A two-time winner on the local Thai circuit, Peradol hopes to secure his career’s biggest victory in front of his idol and tournament host Thongchai Jaidee.

THIRD ROUND LEADERBOARD

Par 216 (3x72)]

207 Peradol Panyathanasedh (Thai) 68 70 69

210 Kasidit Lepkurte (Thai) 71 70 69.

SCOTS' SCOTS

217 Jack Doherty 71 73 74 (T18)

220 James Byrne 74 70 76 (T33)

Aussie Dodt still two ahead in Queensland  EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS Andrew Dodt maintained his two-shot lead heading into Sunday's final  round of the Australian PGA Championship after a day of dramatic twists and turns at RACV Royal Pines Resort on Queensland's Gold Coast. The Australian entered the third round with a two-shot advantage after beginning the tournament 65-67 and while he extended that to three in the early stages, he would not have it all his own way. Ashley Hall and Harold Varner III both recorded a pair of eagles as they attempted to chase him down, with Hall drawing himself level twice on the back nine. Dodt was not to be passed, however, and five birdies and three bogeys in a round of 70 got him to 14 under, two shots clear of Hall and Varner. Adam Scott and John Senden were then at ten under as the top five broke away from the chasing pack. Dodt made just seven of 20 cuts in a frustrating 2016 season but a win on Sunday would hand him a third European Tour title and make him the first wire-to-wire winner since Alexander Levy at the Porsche European Open. Key quotes Andrew Dodt: “It was really solid again, I’m really happy with how I’m swinging it, and I’m happy with my mental processes. I feel really comfortable out there, even in the wind and especially on the greens. I drove really well again today, so hopefully that can continue tomorrow. “My two wins on the European Tour have been from behind, so this position is new to me, but I’m enjoying it. I’m really trying to embrace it and enjoy my time out there on the course.  “The first three rounds are irrelevant now. There are a lot of world-class players behind me, so I’ve got to keep the foot down tomorrow and keep playing the way I’m playing. “It would be one of my biggest achievements to win here this week, for sure. I’ve thought about it a couple of times this week, and you don’t want to get ahead of yourself, but it would be huge. All the top guys have won the Australian PGA, so it would be nice to put my name alongside theirs on the trophy.” Ashley Hall: “Obviously the last two holes were disappointing, but it could’ve been worse. We were on edge a little bit because the stork felt like it was closing in towards the end of our round, but we managed to get in just in time. “The two eagles were obviously very nice, I actually didn’t hit that good a shot on the ninth but made a really long putt. The eagle on the 15th was a little more conventional, I hit a really nice approach and rolled in the putt.”      Harold Varner III: “I finished amazingly well. Eagles are always good, and I had two in the last four. I got a little lucky on the 17th, because it hit the pin and went in when it could just as easily bounced off the green. My round was almost the reverse of Adam’s, because he had a really good front nine then I played well on the back nine. But it was tough out there, when the wind blows hard here you just need to try to hang in there and not make too many mistakes.” Adam Scott: “I hit two in the water on the back nice, so there’s no escaping that. After such a good front nine I kind of stalled my way in, but I’m still in there – as long as Harold doesn’t hole any more shots tomorrow. There are only three players ahead of me, so I’m going to need a good score on the final day. But if I can get off to a fast start and have a front nine as good as today’s, then I’ll be right in the tournament.” Third Round Scores par 216 (3x72) 202 A Dodt (Aus) 65 67 70 204 A Hall (Aus) 65 69 70, H Varner Iii (USA) 65 72 67  206 A Scott  (Aus) 68 68 70, J Senden (Aus) 70 68 68  209 R Fox (Nzl) 67 69 73  210 S Hend (Aus) 74 70 66, J Suri (USA) 67 71 72, S Webster (Eng) 75 70 65   211 T Sinnott (Aus) 68 76 67, B Rumford (Aus) 69 71 71, M Sim  (Aus) 69 74 68, S Brazel (Aus) 75 71 65, B Coletta (am) (Aus) 72 69 70  212 O Farr (Wal) 69 73 70, R Gibson (Aus) 71 71 70, B Drewitt (Aus) 73 69 70, M Griffin (Aus) 66 74 72, T Chuayprakong (Tha) 72 71 69, R Langasque  (Fra) 74 70 68, R McCarthy (Aus) 72 70 70, I Poulter (Eng) 72 68 72, R Haller (Aus) 71 71 70, G Chalmers (Aus) 70 69 73   213 P Pittayarat (Tha) 74 71 68, S Gallacher (Sco) 72 69 72, P Lonard (Aus) 73 73 67, C Smith (Aus) 71 73 69, R Blizard (Aus) 69 73 71, M Leishman (Aus) 70 74 69, S Leaney (Aus) 71 70 72, R Kellett (Sco) 71 73 69, D Van Driel  (Ned) 72 73 68   214 J Zunic (Aus) 73 71 70, R Allenby (Aus) 70 76 68, D Lee  (Nzl) 69 73 72, N Srithong (Tha) 68 71 75, T Lewis (Eng) 73 72 69, A Stephens (Aus) 70 73 71, D Nisbet  (Aus) 69 72 73, J Van Zyl (RSA) 74 72 68  215 N Cullen (Aus) 68 74 73, B Kennedy (Aus) 71 68 76, J McLeod (Aus) 72 71 72, R Pampling (Aus) 74 71 70, P Waring  (Eng) 68 72 75   216 J Gibellini (Aus) 74 70 72, D Popovic (Aus) 70 70 76, C Davis  (Aus) 74 68 74, B Eccles (Aus) 73 69 74, A Rai (Eng) 72 71 73, J Scrivener (Aus) 73 73 70, M Ford (Eng) 75 71 70, P Meesawat  (Tha) 71 73 72, B Evans  (Eng) 74 69 73  217 D Klein  (Ger) 75 69 73, G Drakeford (Aus) 68 72 77, N Johansson (Swe) 69 76 72, G King (Eng) 74 72 71, J Norris (Aus) 72 74 71, R Green (Aus) 74 72 71, S Dyson  (Eng) 71 73 73  218 J Nitties (Aus) 74 71 73, A Brown (Aus) 73 73 72   219 P O'Malley (Aus) 69 75 75, B Neil (Sco) 72 71 76, A Pike (Aus) 74 72 73, J Lyle (Aus) 69 73 77, Y Yang (SKor) 74 71 74, S Strange (Aus) 73 73 73, M Goggin (Aus) 72 71 76  220 M Jonzon (Swe) 72 74 74, S Arnold  (Aus) 75 68 77, S Manley (Wal) 74 71 75, R Evans  (Eng) 73 73 74, K Barnes (Aus) 74 71 75  221 J Felton  (Aus) 74 71 76   222 M Lundberg (Swe) 78 68 76, M Millar (Aus) 73 72 77  224 M McCardle (Aus) 75 68 81

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS