Fraser Mann lying fifth in at 

Desert Springs' senior event

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Carnoustie's Fraser Mann is in fifth place, nine shots off the pace, after two rounds of the Senior Golf Circuit's 54-hole stroke-play tournament at Desert Springs Golf Resort in south-east Spain.

Mann has had rounds of 72 and 71 for one-under-par 143.

Spaniard Jose Romero, with rounds of 66 and 68 for an eight-under-par tally of 134, leads by three shots from Englishman Nigel Sweet (66-71). 

Another pro from England, Shaun Ball, the first-round leader, is lying third on 138 (65-73).

Aberdeen amateurs Nick Robson and Gary Ross are in 19th and joint 23rd position respectively. Robson has had a pair of 76s for 152 while Ross has scored 79 and 76 for 155.

SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD

Par 144 (2x72)

134 J Romero (Spa) 66 68

137 N Sweet (Eng) 66 71

138 S Ball (Eng) 65 73

SCOTS' SCORES

143 F Mann 72 71 (5th)

152 N Robson 76 76 (19th)

155 G Ross 79 76 (T23)

Leadbetter blames split with Lydia Ko on her 

parents' interference with her career

GOLF DIGEST.COM
In a surprising move earlier this, World No. 1 Lydia Ko fired her coach of three years, David Leadbetter. Leadbetter says the decision may have been influenced by Ko's parents and their unrealistic expectations for the teenage prodigy.
In October, Ko parted company with her caddie, saying she needed "a new pair of eyes."

In interviews on radio and with Golf Digest this week, Leadbetter (pictured with Lydia) mentioned the interference of Ko's parents in her career. 
"It was a bit of a shock. But there are other forces involved. The parents are involved," he said of the split on Sirius XM on Friday.
Leadbetter praised Ko as a role model and a "delight" to work with, but attributed her faltering performance in the last part of her season to parental pressure and too many commitments: "With all these outside pressures and people in her team, I'll call it that, expecting that she should win every week...She's not a machine."

Leadbetter's comments about Ko's parents to Golf Digest were even more damning. “They tell her when to go to bed, what to eat, what to wear, when to practice and what to practice," he said. "And they expect her to win every tournament. They are good people, who love their daughter and want the very best for her...But they are naive about golf. And at some point, they’ve got to let the bird fly from the nest. I would often think, ‘It’s not easy coaching three people.’" Leadbetter said that Ko's father had taken to correcting and criticizing Ko's swing, overwhelming his daughter with extraneous and, Leadbetter says, unhelpful information.

The coach dates Ko's wobbling this fall to the Olympics, where she had her heart set on taking home a gold medal (a goal that was strongly encouraged by her father, according to Leadbetter). She walked away with a silver, and was "mentally and physically shattered" after the struggle to win was over. "There was so much pressure on her," he said on radio.

For all she has accomplished in her short career, Ko is only 19-years-old. Leadbetter hopes his former student will find a way to navigate her own path. He said he was hopeful she would heed his final advice to her: "Take control of your life. Take control of your golf game. Make more of your own decisions."

Poulter blames quadruple bogey 8 on cameraman

SKYSPORTS.COM

It’s likely your Friday was better than Ian Poulter’s. At least when it came to the disastrous quadruple-bogey eight he carded at the Hong Kong Open today.

Poulter nearly missed cut the thanks to a nightmare performance on the par-4 15th hole.

And the victim of Poulter’s wrath was an unsuspecting cameraman. After finishing the hole, Poulter lashed out. “Next time I’m ready to play my shot, don’t be running in behind me,” he said.

Poulter nailed three birdies in five holes and edged into the top 10 prior to the 15th.

Sky Sports describes the action from here:

Poulter sent his approach into the rough before chunking his chip into the sand. After two failed attempts to get out of the bunker, Poulter’s third got back into play but shot across the green and into the fringe before a long range two-putt completed a quadruple-bogey eight.

Poulter finished with a 78 Friday and make the cut. He had posted a two-under 68 on Thursday and was three under in the second round before arriving at No. 15.

SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE NEWS ABOUT THE HONG KONG OPEN AND SCORES

Link to scores in US PGA Tour's Franklin Templeton Shoot-out

Venue: Naples, Florida


CLICK HERE

Price is right for three-stroke lead in 

Mauritius Seniors

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Former Ryder Cup star Phillip Price picked up where he left off on the European Senior Tour, shooting an eight under par round of 64 to take a three-shot lead after the first round of the MCB Tour Championship today.

The Welshman, who famously beat Phil Mickelson 3 and 2 in the Sunday singles at The Belfry in 2002, carded five birdies on the front nine and made four further gains after the turn at Constance Belle Mare Plage, a European Tour Destination.

He quickly put a bogey on the sixth hole, his 15th after starting on the tenth tee, behind him, as he ended his round with consecutive birdies on the eighth and ninth holes.

Price made his debut on the over-50s circuit in October at the Senior Italian Open Presented by Villaverde Resort, where he finished runner-up to compatriot Stephen Dodd.

And the three-time European Tour winner was delighted to have found his best form in just his second Senior Tour start. 

“It’s the best score I’ve shot round here and I’ve been playing this course for a long time,” said Price. “I settled down quickly and started lovely.

“My game is in pretty good shape, obviously after shooting a score like this, but I need to look at the full 54 holes; I need to be thinking about what I would need to shoot to win.”

Play was delayed by three and a half hours due to heavy rain in Mauritius, but Price didn’t let that affect him as he moved ahead of two-time Senior Major winner Roger Chapman, fellow former Ryder Cup player Barry Lane and two-time MCB Tour Championship winner David Frost, who all shot five under par rounds of 67.

Frost, who played in the first group of the day alongside former Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomerie, started quickly as he birdied the first three holes.

The South African was victorious in 2010 and 2012 on the Legend Course and has finished no lower than fifth in this tournament in seven appearances.

“You have to have a strategy to play this golf course, whether you’re behind or ahead,” said Frost. “Every tee shot calls for a specific shot and you’ve got to take it; I enjoy the strategic part of it.

“You don’t win it on the first day, but you can lose it. You’ve got to stay in touch with the lead and then hope it goes your way with nine holes to play on Sunday.”

Lane, who represented Europe at The Ryder Cup in 1993, has been a runner-up in this event on two occasions and is determined to break his Mauritian duck this year.

“I’ve finished second twice and lost a six-hole play-off to Paul [Wesselingh] a few years ago,” said Lane. “It’s there for the taking but you still have to do it. Phil shot eight under and we’ll be chasing him for the weekend.”

“The scoring is good, Monty is doing well and Frosty and Chappers too; it’s going to be a good weekend.”

Chapman, who won both the US Senior Open and US Senior PGA Championship Presented by KitchenAid in 2012, added: “I played solid, had a good start and birdied three of the first five. I’m happy all round with today and hopefully I’ll keep the momentum going tomorrow.”

Montgomerie is joined by Paul Eales, Santiago Luna and Esteban Toledo on four under par, and five golfers share ninth place a shot further back.

FIRST-ROUND LEADERS
par 72
64 P Price (Wal).
67 R Chapman (Eng), B Lane (Eng), D Frost (SAf).
68 E Toledo (Mex), P Eagles (Eng), S Luna (Spa), C Montgomerie (Sco).
69 P Broadhurst (Eng), G Marks (Eng), S P Brown (Eng), M A Martin (Spa), C Williams (SAf).

OTHER SCOTS' SCORES
72 G Brand, jun (T28)
74 A Oldcorn (T36)

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

CLICK HERE

Savage has a second-round 77 but still top Scot on Algarve


By COLIN FARQUHARSON 
Jamie Savage slumped to a second-round 77 for an aggregate of 150 but still was the highest placed Scot in joint 21st place in the final totals at the Algarve Pro Tour's San Lorenzo Classic today (Friday)
James Steven (76-76) and Jack McDonald (75-77) tied for 36th place on 152 while Alan Welsh (77-78) finished joint 41st on 155.
Portugal's Ricardo Santos shot 70-71 for 141 to win by one stroke from two Englishmen, Sam Buss (73-69) and David Dixon (68-74).
A third player from England, Adam Chapman, finished fourth with 70-73 for 143.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
141 R Santos (Por) 70 71.
142 S Buss (Eng) 73 69, D Dixon (Eng) 68 74.
143 A Chapman (Eng) 70 73.
144 P Figueiredo (Por) 70 74.

SCOTS' SCORES
150 J Savage 73 77 (T21)
152 J Steven 76 76, J McDonald 75 77 (T36).
155 A Welsh 77 78 (T41).
Field of 59 players.

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS Rafa Cabrera Bello will take a three-shot lead into the weekend at the UBS Hong Kong Open after another impressive performance in the Far East. The Spaniard opened with a 64 on Thursday at Hong Kong Golf Club to take a one-shot lead and he matched the lowest round of the day again today with a 65 to get to 11 under and lead the way from Australian Sam Brazel, who shot 66 to move to eight under. Masters champion Danny Willett joined Brazel in firing a 66 to then sit at six under alongside fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, American Paul Peterson and South African Justin Walters. Cabrera Bello's progress into the weekend continues a remarkable run that has seen him not miss a single cut in 2016 while also making his Ryder Cup debut and finishing eighth on the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex. The only thing missing from his stellar campaign is a win and the 32 year old is confident he will soon lift a trophy, something he has not done on the European Tour since the Dubai Desert Classic in 2012. Defending champion Justin Rose will start the weekend ten shots behind Cabrera Bello after a one under 69 in round, but the Olympic Gold medallist is hoping overcome his putting woes to have a low scoring weekend.   Player Quotes Rafa Cabrera Bello: “I'm in a commanding position, but it might even be by the time I tee off tomorrow, I'm not even leading anymore. I'm going to try to do nothing different. Just stick to my game plan and try to keep playing smart and being patient, waiting for my opportunities, and hopefully hitting good shots and creating some birdie chances. “I know I will win again. I've won before and will do so again. I just need to keep giving myself chances. I have been working on some mistakes that maybe I have done on other occasions. I don't think I'm doing anything wrong not to get the win, so it will happen. Hopefully it will happen in two days' time." Sam Brazel: “It was fun out there again. I got lucky a couple of times and the putter seems to be working okay, so it's nice. Going into the weekend I’ll just try to go and do my thing. I'll just try and control what I can control once again. Things are working well.” Danny Willett: “We played pretty good yesterday and didn't take loads of chances. Played just nice and steady again today. It's a golf course you've got to put your ball in position off the tee. You can take a few things on but as soon as you get in the rough around here, you've not got much control of your golf ball. The greens are a bit firmer this year, and obviously then with a few tight pins, it makes it more difficult. But we put the ball in position most of the day and I hit a lot of greens, so although we weren't close loads, we tried to make it as simple as possible. Yeah, two good days' work, I'd say. “It's nice to be in this position after the last few months. But it was nice last week, after the DP World Tour Championship to take a couple of weeks off and rested well. Actually took some proper time off, which I've not been able to do for a while. That was really nice. Then came out here, probably as fresh as I've been for a month and a half, which is nice, and it's probably showed mentally more than anything. The frustrations, even when you hit bad shots, you don't let it get to you as much as I did probably in the previous couple of months.” Round two scores par 140 (2x70) 129 R Cabrera Bello (Esp) 64 65 132 S Brazel (Aus) 66 66 134 P Peterson (USA) 66 68, D Willett  (Eng) 68 66, J Walters (RSA) 67 67, T Fleetwood  (Eng) 66 68 135 S Lewton (Eng) 68 67, D Chia (Mas) 69 66, H Chien-Yao (Tpe) 69 66, T Jaidee (Tha) 67 68 136 J Scrivener (Aus) 67 69, D Im (USA) 69 67, D Lipsky (USA) 66 70, B Hebert  (Fra) 66 70, A Dodt (Aus) 69 67, P Uihlein  (USA) 66 70, C Pigem  (Esp) 68 68 137 J Campillo (Esp) 66 71, S Hend (Aus) 69 68, J Fahrbring (Swe) 67 70, N Kimsey (Eng) 67 70, G Bourdy (Fra) 69 68, M Jiménez (Esp) 69 68, P Dunne (Irl) 68 69, N Bertasio (Ita) 67 70, S Rahman (Ban) 67 70, S Kapur (Ind) 68 69, D Perrier (Fra) 69 68 138 R Rock (Eng) 70 68, D Boonma (Tha) 67 71, T Khrongpha (Tha) 71 67, J Pagunsan (Phi) 67 71, M Tabuena (Phi) 69 69, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 69 69, G Bhullar (Ind) 69 69, J Kruger (RSA) 66 72, S Gros (Fra) 65 73 139 M Armitage (Eng) 68 71, D Drysdale (Sco) 69 70, B Rumford (Aus) 71 68, J Smith (Eng) 66 73, P Meesawat  (Tha) 73 66, J Rose (Eng) 70 69, P Larrazábal (Esp) 69 70, P Waring  (Eng) 71 68, S Gallacher (Sco) 69 70, N Srithong (Tha) 69 70, N Elvira  (Esp) 66 73 140 P Pittayarat (Tha) 69 71, A Björk (Swe) 69 71, P Angles  (Esp) 69 71, P Reed (USA) 70 70, M Fraser (Aus) 71 69, A Da Silva (Bra) 69 71, S Lee (SKor) 72 68, D Brooks (Eng) 75 65, L Wenchong (Chn) 70 70, J Janewattananond (Tha) 69 71, A Atwal (Ind) 70 70, W Ormsby (Aus) 68 72, D Howell (Eng) 70 70, C Phadungsil  (Tha) 71 69, I Poulter (Eng) 68 72, E Molinari  (Ita) 72 68, P Tangkamolprasert (Tha) 69 71, J Stalter (Fra) 70 70, C Paisley  (Eng) 69 71, T Chuayprakong (Tha) 73 67 141 A Que (Phi) 73 68, L Wei-Chih (Tpe) 68 73, B Ritthammer (Ger) 71 70, R Gangjee (Ind) 71 70, H Porteous (RSA) 72 69, S Henry  (Sco) 73 68, M Carlsson  (Swe) 70 71, T Detry  (Bel) 73 68, J Wang (Kor) 72 69, 142 S Norris  (RSA) 72 70, N Fung (Mas) 72 70, R Lee (Can) 72 70, D Zecheng (Chn) 70 72, P Junhasavasdikul (Tha) 74 68, M Pavon (Fra) 74 68, A Lascuna (Phi) 69 73, D Stewart (Sco) 69 73, M Mamat (Sin) 69 73, L Jensen (Den) 72 70, 143 K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 75 68, J Quesne  (Fra) 72 71, L Wen-Tang (Tpe) 70 73, R Wattel  (Fra) 74 69, J Randhawa (Ind) 71 72, S Barr (Aus) 72 71, D Frittelli (RSA) 74 69, C Kumar (Ind) 73 70, 144 G Storm  (Eng) 69 75, L Chieh-Po (Tpe) 70 74, C Nirat (Tha) 71 73, J Knutzon (USA) 76 68, M Kawamura (Jpn) 72 72, Z Lianwei (Chn) 74 70, A Groom (Aus) 72 72, G Havret  (Fra) 74 70, K Richardson (Aus) 72 72, S Tiley (Eng) 74 70, 145 S Chawrasia (Ind) 71 74, K Horne (RSA) 74 71, 146 R Paratore (Ita) 77 69, J Colomo  (Esp) 72 74, M Perera (Sri) 75 71, U Park (Aus) 76 70, 147 L Weber (Fra) 71 76, R Beem (USA) 76 71, S Walker (Eng) 75 72, H Rai (Ind) 72 75, 148 J Stewart (Hkg) 72 76, C Hanson (Eng) 75 73, 149 S Dyson  (Eng) 75 74, H Wong (am) (Hkg) 76 73, Y Artigolle (am) (Hkg) 74 75, 150 B Munson (USA) 71 79, C Plaphol (Tha) 75 75, 151 C Shih-Chang (Tpe) 72 79, T Ng (am) (Hkg) 74 77, 157 Y Yin Ho (Hkg) 74 83, ** R Khan  (Ind) 76 WD

Heavy rain delays Seniors' Mauritius tournament

Play has been suspended on the opening morning of the MCB Seniors Tour 54-hole championship on Mauritius where heavy rain has flooded parts of the course.
It is hoped to restart play at noon local time.
Colin Montgomerie is among the favourites.

Death of Harold Swash, 'Britain's Putting Doctor,' at 83

ASSOCIATION OF GOLF WRITERS NEWS RELEASE

By Bernie McGuire, secretary

I know many of our more senior members will be saddened to learn of the passing of Harold Swash.

Harold, or 'Britain's Putting Doctor' as he referred to himself, coached many of Europe's great golfers, including the likes of Nick Faldo, Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood to name just a few.

He designed his first putter in the early 1960s before establishing the Harold Swash Putting School of Excellence.

There was an incident at the 1998 Masters when Harold collapsed while he was being conveyed to the medical centre and was later diagnosed with a ruptured aortic aneurysm.  He returned to Augusta for many years later to have dinner with those who saved his life.  

Harold was also a long-time proud member of Hillside Golf Club where the flags are certain to flying at half-mast.

It is understood Harold was aged 83.

The Association extends its deepest sympathy and condolences to Harold's family.