RENTON UPDATE

from Mitchell Platts

Renton walked six or seven steps with the help of a Zimmer frame this morning (Friday). This is good news; good progress. Even so Renton is still quite low. This is understandable. His every day involves, or so it would seem, a test every minute. The staff at the hospital are brilliant and the care that Renton is receiving is astonishing. He is, however, exhausted and it looks like he will face another CT scan either this afternoon or tomorrow morning. He did stress to Jennifer this morning that he wanted everyone to know how delighted he is with all the support he has been receiving from around the world and he thanks everyone for their love and good wishes. He cannot wait to thank you all in person. That, however, will have to wait. He has still to eat or drink and he most certainly CANNOT receive visitors. Jennifer and I have decided that we will see how the weekend goes and then issue the next bulletin on Monday. So Jennifer thanks everyone for their fantastic support; she says the messages, the cards, the flowers, everything from everyone has been absolutely stunning and she hope that by Monday there will be more good news.

Regards

Mitchell

Sara Fallar beaten in final of SA Amateur

Irish Girl's International Sara Faller fought bravely but eventually went down to South African star Ashleigh Simon in the final of the Sanlam South African Amateur Matchplay Championship at George Golf Club.

The amazing, record-setting 17-year-old golfing dynamo Simon added the matchplay to her strokeplay victory for the third consecutive year breaking yet another record and making history. South Africa's best prospect since LPGA Hall of Fame star Sally Little who won three Majors in the 1980s, has the swing, the power, the dedication and drive to follow in Little's spikemarks.

17 year old Faller from Galway was equally determined to win her first major championship. Having beaten Henriette Frylink 5&4 in the first round; Iliska Verwey 4&3 and Border champion Lizelle Muller 3&2, she dispatched giant-killer Gina Switala in the semi-final. Faller, a girls International since 2005, has been earmarked as one of Ireland's most promising players and is currently attending college in the USA.

Ashleigh who was seven up on the 25th hole kept doing what she does best, one shot at a time until she overcame Faller on the 32nd hole. Simon, who does not intend taking up a college place in the USA, just wants to play golf and will turn to the Ladies European Tour and LPGA qualifying schools in late 2007. She adds this title to the Espirito Santo World Cup win which she captured with teammates Kelli Shean and Stacy Bergman at Stellenbosch in October 2006.

Full details at http://www.womensgolfsa.co.za/sanlam/2007/homepage_news_matchplaysemi2_thur29.asp

2007 Sanlam South African Matchplay Championship - George Golf Club
Final
Ashleigh Simon beat Sara Faller 6&4 (36 holes)

Semi-finals
Ashleigh Simon bt Ashleigh Holmes 5 and 4
Sara Faller bt Gina Switala at 19th

Keir McNicoll doing well in the Azalea Amateur

After two rounds of the Azalea Amateur, a major event on the US Amateur's circuit, Carnoustie's Keir McNicoll lies six shots off the pace and in joint 17th place with scores of 73 and 70.
Arnond Vongvanij leads on 137, one shot better than Luke List, who won the Jones Cup at Kiawah Island last month.

Scores with relation to par from the second round of the Azalea Amateur, played March 30 at the par-71, 6,809-yard Country Club of Charleston (S.C.):

1. Arnond Vongvanij 70-67--137 -5
2. Luke List 72-66--138 -4
3. John Finster 70-69--139 -3
3. Kyle Ellis 72-67--139 -3
3. Webb Simpson 70-69--139 -3
3. Billy Horschel 71-68--139 -3
7. Chris Kirk 73-67--140 -2
7. Pat Tallent 69-71--140 -2
7. Nathan T. Smith 68-72--140 -2
10. Hudson Swafford 72-69--141 -1
10. Brent Wicher 68-73--141 -1
12. Brendon Todd 74-68--142 E
12. Morgan Hoffmann 70-72--142 E
12. Frank Vana 70-72--142 E
12. Ryan Hybl 68-74--142 E
12. Peter Uihlein 68-74--142 E
17. Rickie Fowler 68-75--143 +1
17. Keir McNicoll 73-70--143 +1
19. Tyler Leon 73-71--144 +2
19. William Miller 72-72--144 +2
19. Brian Harman 72-72--144 +2

North East Alliance

News from Ronald Menzies

The final of the foursome match play competitions were completed at Murcar Links yesterday.

Evening Express Shield (Pro-Am)

Graeme McInnes, after his championship win the day before, the tournament professional attached to the host club and now partnered by Dean Yates won the Pro/am foursome after a close match with Ian Smith, formally from Hazlehead, and Billy Main Murcar Links. The winners were 4 down after 7 holes but squared the match by the 14th. After some scrappy halfs, they birdied the 320 yard last, where McInnes drove the green to win by 1 hole.

Final result
G McInnes, Murcar Links and D Yeates, Newmachar beat I Smith, Hazlehead and W Main, Murcar Links by 1 hole

Press and Journal Shield (Handicap Foursomes)

In the handicap competition Brian Ritchie, Inverallochy partnered by Donald Wood from Newburgh managed to win at the first extra hole. The losers were 3 up before the turn but when 1 up and playing the 10th could not find their ball after what appeared to be a great shot.. The remaining hole were either exchanged or halved until Ritchie and had good up and down for par at the 19th.

Final result
B Ritchie, Inverallochy (2) and D Wood, Newburgh (14) beat B Ritchie, Inverallochy (2) and D Wood, Newburgh (14) at the 19th.

LGU SELECT TEAM FOR COMMONWEATH TOURNAMENT

Naomi Edwards, Breanne Loucks and Melissa Reid, three players from the 2006 Curtis Cup, form the nucleus of the Great Britain team to compete in the Commonwealth Tournament from 7-11 May in South Africa. The remaining two places are taken by 2002 Curtis Cup player Kerry Smith and 18-year-old Scot, Krystle Caithness.

Canadian born Loucks, now living in and representing Wales, was the most successful player in the Curtis Cup match against the United States last year at Bandon Dunes, winning all three of her matches. In one of these, the second day foursomes, she partnered Melissa Reid in recording a 7/5 win, the biggest winning margin of the two day contest.

Reid had a highly successful 2006 in which she won the Scottish Stroke Play title, realising the potential she had shown in winning the English Girls’ title in both 2004 and 2005.

Yorkshire’s Naomi Edwards first came to national attention in 2003 with a place in the final of the English Match Play Championship. That was followed, in 2005, with wins in the English Mid-Amateur and the Scottish Stroke Play and last year with a title-winning performance in the Welsh Stroke Play.

At 35 years of age, Kerry Smith is by far the most experienced player in the side and has played international representative golf for England since 1997. A relative latecomer into golf at 15, she played in the 2002 Curtis Cup, was English Champion in 2004 and headed the English Order of Merit that year and also in 2006.

Krystle Caithness, 18, already has an impressive list of golfing achievements with wins in the Scottish Under-16, Under-18 and 21 Championships. Last year, over the Old Course, St Andrews, against a truly international field, Krystle won the St Rule Trophy.

Sue Turner, Captain of the Great Britain side said: “We have selected a relatively young team but one which already has extensive experience of competing at the highest international level.”

“I have no doubt therefore, that with the steadying influence of Kerry Smith, one of the country’s most experienced players, we have a real chance of winning the Commonwealth Tournament.”

TEAM

Krystle Caithness 18 St Regulus
Naomi Edwards 23 Ganton
Breanne Loucks 19 Wrexham
Melissa Reid 19 Chevin
Kerry Smith 35 Waterlooville

RESERVES

1. Sahra Hassan Vale of Glamorgan
2. Florentyna Parker Gut Waldhof
3. Sally Watson Elie & Earlsferry

CAPTAIN

Sue Turner

COACH

Lawrence Farmer

Midland Alliance

News from Lee Sutherland / Graham Suttie

This weeks Midland Golfer’s Alliance was held at blustery Brechin Golf and Squash Club, Angus yesterday. Using his local knowledge to full advantage was local professional Steve Rennie with the best scratch score of the day a 3 under par 69. Leading the way and by winning by 4 shots in the handicap was Derek Adams (Carnoustie) with a net 68.

Leading Scratch Scores

69, S. Rennie (P, Brechin)
70, S. Mann (Carnoustie), A. Webster (P, Edzell)
72, Lockhart (AP, Ladybank), L. Vannet (P, Carnoustie Links)
73, D. Adams (Carnoustie)
75, B. Gallaway (Carnoustie)
76, S. Rettie (AP, R. Troon)

Leading Handicap Scores

68, D. Adams (Carnoustie)
72, S. Whittaker (Panmure), C. Wallace (Caird Park)
73, D. Spaven (Pitlochry), G. Vannet (Carnoustie), R. Taylor (Crieff), B. Gallaway (Carnoustie), M. Watkin (Panmure)
74, G. Aitkenson (Dunfermline), S. Mann (Carnoustie)

Next Weeks Meeting, Monifieth Links, Broughty Golf Club, Tuesday 3rd April, 8,30 – 12.30

North East Alliance

News from Ronald Menzies

The Alliance Championship played over Duff House Royal and Fraserburgh on 14th and 21st March resulted in a tie on 134 between Graeme McInnes, Murcar Links (69,65) and Gary Esson, Portlethen (65,69) This was resolved by a playoff at Murcar yesterday with McInnes winning at the first hole. Both players were on the green in 2 with long putts but Esson three putted.

Final results

Champion Graeme McInnes 69+65=134 Murcar Links
Best Scratch Gary Esson 65+69=134 Portlethen
Handicap 1 John Roberts 66+70=136 Cruden Bay
Handicap 2 Paul Cornfield 71+68=139 Auchmill
Best over 60 Ian Smith 73+71=144 Hazlehead (Retired)

Following the playoff the first rounds of the foursome match play competitions took place.

Evening Express Shield (Pro-Am)
Round 1
S Davidson, Banchory and Mathieson, Murcar Links beat N Reid, Deeside and C Stephen, Meldrum House (2 and 1)
I Smith, Hazlehead and W Main, Murcar Links beat R Macdonald, Kemnay and S Fraser Royal Aberdeen (3 and 2)
G McInnes, Murcar Links and D Yeates, Newmachar beat S Troup, Kings Links and G Esson, Portlethen (4 and 3)
P Cormack, Inchnarlo and R Hyland Hazlehead beat P Lovie, Inchmarlo and G Grimmer, Nigg Bay (at 20th)
Semi-Final
Smith/Main beat Davidson/Mathieson (2 and 1)
McInnes/Yeats beat Cormack/Hyland (2 and 1)

Press and Journal Shield (Handicap Foursomes)
Round 1
J Roberts. Cruden Bay (6) and P Cornfield, Auchmill (11) beat C Alexamder, Murcar Links (3) and M Rogers, Kemnay (14) by 2 and 1
B Ritchie, Inverallochy (2) and D Wood, Newburgh (14) beat S Scott, Auchmill (3) and N Ogston, Turriff (11) by 5 and 4
J Hamilton, Murcar Links (5) and G Travis, Auchmill (15) beat A Grant, Portlethen (7) and W Rae, Kemnay (11) by 6 and 5
C Hood, Alford (9) and B Lumsden, Northern (16) beat D Nelson, Aboyne (6) and G Kennedy, Meldrum House (11) by 6 and 5
Semi-Final
Ritchie/Wood beat Roberts/Cornfield (4 and 2)
Hamilton/Travis beat Hood/Lumsden (at 19th)

Both Finals will take place tomorrow (Friday) at Murcar

Edinburgh and East of Scotland Alliance

News from Duncan Ireland

Alex Culverwell wins the Uni Royal Trophy

There was some great scoring at Dalmahoy in Tuesday's Edinburgh and East of Scotland Alliance event, but none better than Alexander Culverwell, whose scratch 36 hole total of 133 was 3 shots clear of his nearest rival, Craig Lee.

Tom Flaherty takes the Gavin Clark Trophy

Tom Flaherty proved how good his golf has been this year by winning the Gavin Clark trophy for the best nett scores of the day, with a nett 36 hole total of 139, 2 clear of 4 players all tied for 2nd on 141. Tom managed this in spite of getting his handicap down from 10 to 8 this winter.

Andrew Dunsmore wins the Order of Merit

Congratulations to Andrew Dunsmore on winning the Scratch Order of Merit for the first time. He beat Scott Grieve by only 10.5 points so it was quite a close run thing. Spare a thought for long time leader, Neil Colquhoun as not only did he get knocked off top spot but also narrowly missed out on 3rd spot, and some money, by an 1/2 of a one point.

EESGA Winner 2006/7 Uni Royal Trophy (Scratch)
A Culverwell

EESGA Winner Gavin Clark Trophy (Handicap)
T Flaherty

Scratch for Uni Royal Trophy
1st £300 A Culverwell 133
2nd £250 C Lee 136
3rd £200 S Lamb 137
4th £150 D Patrick 138
5th= £33 A MacKenzie 139
5th= £33 A Marshall 139
5th= £33 S Grieve 139

Handicap for Gavin Clark Trophy
1st £150 T Flaherty 139
2nd= £87.50 A Rothney 141
2nd= £87.50 G Davidson 141
2nd= £87.50 A Wight 141
2nd= £87.50 W Laing 141

Order of Merit
1 Andrew Dunsmore 705.50
2 Scott Grieve 695.00
3 Stevie Lamb 666.00
4 Neil Colquhoun 665.50
5 Mike Thomson 664.50
6 Craig Imlah 646.50
7 Andrew Marshall 587.50
8 Tom Buchanan 539.50
9 Ally MacKenzie 514.50
10 Steven Doyle 510.50

SGU CELEBRATES DOUBLE DINNER SPONSOR

The seventh annual Scottish Golf Dinner takes place tomorrow night (Friday 30 March) to celebrate Scottish golf’s amateur success and the event was given a boost with the capture of two new sponsors.

Leading independent financial advisers MDH Hughes and specialist golf surfaces company Golfcrete will sponsor this year’s Dinner, which is a complete sell-out as clubs, golfers and Scottish Golf’s partners gather to toast one of the most successful seasons in the domestic amateur game.

With Richie Ramsay’s victory in the US Amateur Championship, Scottish teams’ quadruple success in the Girls, Boys, Mens and Seniors Home Internationals and numerous other team and individual performances, the Dinner will be glittering with silverware.

Michael Hughes, Managing Director of MDH Hughes, is delighted to be involved in the 2007 Scottish Golf Dinner:

‘Our association with the Scottish Golf Union stretches back many years as the organisation’s employee benefits advisers and we hope that through the sponsorship we can widen our offering throughout the golf industry.’

‘Last season was a fantastic one for amateur golf in Scotland and the Dinner will provide a great showcase to celebrate the achievements of everyone involved,’ he added.

Ian Tittershill, Managing Director of Sportcrete, who provide an environmentally friendly and ecologically sound lining for lakes and bunkers on golf courses, sees sponsorship of the Scottish Golf Dinner as the perfect platform for launching the product in Scotland:

“Golfcrete has already been successful in continental Europe and the States so we hope that our presence at the Scottish Golf Dinner can build our awareness in Scotland.”

“We would like to congratulate the SGU and the SLGA for their efforts on and off the course in 2006 and wish them every success for the year ahead.”

The Scottish Golfer of the Year and SGU Order of Merit winner will be formally announced on the evening, whilst the leading female golfers from 2006 will also receive their awards on the night, as the SGU and SLGA bring both their awards evenings together for the very first time.

Former Scotland rugby star turned BBC radio presenter John Beattie provides the after-dinner entertainment alongside leading guest speaker Brian Voyle-Morgan.

WALLACE BOOTH TAKES HIS FIRST COLLEGIATE TITLE

Career-low, six-under 65 propels Jaguar senior to first collegiate victory
From the website of Augusta State:
AWENDAW, S.C. -- Augusta State’s Wallace Booth fired a final-round, six-under 65 Tuesday to capture The Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate at Bulls Bay Golf Club just outside of Charleston.
The victory is the first collegiate title for Booth, a senior from Perthshire, Scotland. His six-under 65 marks his lowest round as a collegian, besting the five-under 67 he registered in the second round of the Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic at The Farm Golf Club last fall in Rocky Face, Ga. The effort also is the lowest final round by a Jaguar in a victory since former standout Oliver Wilson shot an eight-under 64 in the final round of the 2003 Cleveland Golf/Augusta State Invitational at Forest Hills Golf Club.
The win also marked the third consecutive year a Jaguar has claimed medalist honors at The Hootie. Then-sophomore Jamie Miller won the tourney title on the strength of a second-round, seven-under 64 last year and Scott Jamieson had a final-round 68 to win the 2005 tourney.
Booth’s effort sparked ASU to a fifth-place finish -- its best finish of the season -- and matched Baylor for the low round of the day, a seven-under 277. Senior Major Manning carded a four-under 67 and jumped from 15th into a tie for seventh. Miller tallied a one-over 72 and finished 73rd, while sophomore Tarik Can posted a two-over 73 and tied for 58th. Junior Keith Guest had a three-over 74 and didn’t count toward the Jags’ team total, but posted ASU’s third-best finish – a tie for 36th – that included a first round of three-under 68.
“This is great – it’s a pretty awesome feeling,” said Booth, who tallied his second top-20 finish of the year with the win. “I didn’t have any idea about my chances (to win) until Coach Gregory told me what the situation was on the 17th hole. He pretty much let me do my thing out there on the course today and didn’t say a whole lot, which is what he normally does so things seemed pretty normal. I just wanted to finish strong and see where a good round would put me at the end of the day.”
Booth played the front nine in three-under 33 before reaching the 630-yard, par-five 10th hole. After a drive of 410 yards from an elevated tee, Booth hit a 3-iron to 35 feet and drained the putt for eagle. After a birdie at the par-3 12th moved him to five-under on his round, he suffered his lone miscue of the day on the par-4 16th. He bounced back with a birdie at the 17th, rolling in a 15-footer that turned out to be the difference.
Wake Forest’s Webb Simpson and 36-hole leader Greg Forest of Central Florida finished a shot back of Booth at seven-under 206. Jeremy Frye of Baylor and North Carolina’s Martin Ureta were two shots off the pace, tying for fourth at six-under 207.
The Jaguars, who began the final round in seventh place, also posted their lowest round of the season with their team total of 277. ASU fired an eight-under 280 at the General Jim Hackler Invitational two weekends ago in Murrells Inlet, S.C.
Wake Forest edged Baylor in a playoff for the team title, while Florida State was third. First and second-round leader Central Florida was the only team among the top seven to not shoot under par in the final round. The Golden Knights signed for a four-over 288 and took fourth, nine shots clear of ASU.
The Jaguars now turn their attention to hosting the Administaff Augusta State Invitational, slated for Friday-Sunday, March 30-April 1 at Champions Retreat Golf Club in Evans, Ga.
For full-field results of the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate, log on to www.golfstat.com.
Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate
Bulls Bay Golf Club
Awendaw, S.C.
Par 71 – 7,261 yards
March 25-27, 2007
Leading scores
205 Wallace Booth (Augusta State) 71 69 65
206 Greg Forest (UCF) 66 67 73, Webb Simpson (Wake Forest Univ) 72 68 66
207 Jeremy Frye (Baylor) 68 69 70, Martin Ureta (North Carolina) 72 69 66
208 Dustin Johnson (Coastal Carolina) 70 70 68
Team Results
1. Wake Forest 283-279-278=840 (-12)
Baylor 283-280-277=840 (-12)
3. Florida State 274-289-282=845 (-7)
4. Central Florida 270-288-288=846 (-6)
5. AUGUSTA STATE 286-292-277=855 (+3)
6. Duke 288-291-281=860 (+8)
7. North Carolina 287-293-282=862 (+10)
Coastal Carolina 285-290-287=862 (+10)
9. South Carolina 289-294-283=-866 (+14)
10. LSU 288-288-294=870 (+18)
11. North Carolina State 297-293-281=871 (+19)
12. College of Charleston 291-295-289=875 (+23)
13. Kentucky 301-285-290=876 (+24)
14. Vanderbilt 292-300-293=885 (+33)
15. Arkansas 307-293-294=894 (+42)

ROSS BAIN (SCOTLAND) QUALIFIES FOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

Five Win Open Places in Singapore

The Australian trio of Adam Groom, David Gleeson and Lee Won-Joon, together with Scotsman Ross Bain and Lam Chih-Bing of Singapore, have won their way into The Open Championship through 36 holes of International Final Qualifying-Asia over Sentosa Golf Club's Tanjong course.
Lam emerged as only the second Singaporean to qualify for the Championship, his six-under-par 66 in the second round included two eagles and five birdies and left him one stroke behind top finisher Groom. Lam will follow in the footsteps of compatriot Mardan Mamat who was the first Singaporean to make it to the Open Championship back in 1997.
"This is simply great. I cant wait as it has always been my dream to play in a major. I've never been to Scotland and my last trip to Europe was in 2002 on holiday," said Lam.
"My friends have told me so many things about their first ever experience at The Open and now it's my turn. I heard that the atmosphere there is unbelievable. Danny Chia mentioned that he had goose bumps while walking the course with the crowd all around, it's going to be amazing," added Lam.
After adding a 69 to his opening 66, the 28-year-old Groom was happy with a score that led the qualifying event. "It was going on well until I struck a triple bogey on the ninth hole. But I knuckled down on the back nine and struck four birdies without a single bogey, so that was a good way to end the day. This is fantastic being able to make it for my first ever major," he commented.
Thanks to solid iron play, Lee, who turned pro late last year, ended his day with a 70 and was forced into a play-off when compatriot Park Jun-Won scored 68 for a 137 total in a tie for fifth place. Lee took the final spot at the par-four first play off hole when he holed a three-foot birdie putt as Park parred.
"This is fantastic. I was fully focused on my last shot at the play-off and when it went in I was really happy. That was one of my most crucial shots as I've now sealed my place in Scotland," said Lee. "This is going to be my first major. I've been to Scotland before when I played at the St Andrews Links Trophy. So I can roughly know what to expect as I did get some feedback from the players about Carnoustie. I'm eager to go," he admitted.
Scotland"s Bain returned a second round 64 to seal his place, while Gleeson scored his second straight 68 and made it through after his ninth attempt at qualifying.
Top Scores & Qualifiers
135 GROOM, Adam (Australia) 66 69
136 LAM, Chih-Bing (Singapore) 70 66, BAIN, Ross (Scotland) 72 64 136 , GLEESON, David (Australia) 68 68
137 PARK, Jun Won (Korea) 69 68 LEE, Won Joon (Australia) 67 70 (Lee won playoff)
138 ISHIGAKI, Sushi (Japan) 67 71
139 LASCUNA, Tony (Philippines) 69 70
All scores can be found here

Scots out of the Australian Amateur Championship.

Scott Henry (Cardross) and Lloyd Saltman (Criagielaw), who came through the strokeplay qualifying rounds in 5th and 3rd place respectively are both out of the Australian Amateur Championship.
Scott was beaten in the first round by Troy Rophia of New Zealand 5 and 4.
Lloyd won his first round against Queensland's Ben Fletcher by 4&2, and then beat the current R&A World No1 ranked amateur, Jamie Moul (England) by 3&2. However he lost in the quarter-finals to Justin Roach (New South Wales).

North Scottish Golfers' Alliance Championship

Brian Fotheringham (Forres) won the Sir Hugh Makenzie Trophy as the Leading Scratch competitor in the North Scottish Golfers' Alliance Championship fixture over the Old Course at Moray. Out late he shot a one under par 70 recording three birdies at the 9th, 15th & 17th to offset bogeys at the 7th & 8th. He won by two shots from Mike Macdonald (Fortrose) & Kevin Thomson (Moray).

Brian Inch from Elgin off 5 won the Bank of Scotland Quaich as leading low handicapper with a net 69 and Dave Spence from Loch Ness off 12 the Jim Thom Quaich as high handicap section winner although a guest, the Moray Club Captain Glenn Roberts had the lowest net with a 72 off 12.

Leading Scratch Scores:
70 B Fotheringham (Forres) Winner of Sir Hugh Mackenzie Trophy.
72 M Macdonald (Fortrose & Rosemarkie), K Thomson (Moray);
73 G Morrison (Pro)(Fortrose & Rosemarkie);
74 J A Grant (Grantown), B A Watson (Nairn Dunbar), B H Inch (Elgin);
75 R McKerron (Forres), M Smith (Nairn Dunbar), S Wilson (Inverness);
76 G Hay (Grantown), J Forbes (Inverness);
77 A Thomson (Pro)(Moray), A Coutts (Inverness), R Aitken(Moray), J Simpson (Forres);
78 M Mann (Moray), D Hector (Elgin), J P Westwood (Moray), D Hexley (Inverness), M C Page (Moray), R G Macpherson (Moray);
79 C Kennedy (Nairn Dunbar), K Gaittens (Fortrose & Rosemarkie);
80 J R Ingram (Boat of Garten), W R Duncan (Moray), J B Thomson (Moray);
81 C Gaittens (Fortrose & Rosemarkie), K Taylor (Elgin), J S D Campbell (Grantown), G Donaldson (Elgin);

Handicap Section One (8 & Under)

69 B H Inch (Elgin)(5) Winner of Bank of Scotland Quaich.
70 R G Macpherson (Moray)(8);
71 M Smith (nairn Dunbar)(4);
72 W R Duncan (Moray)(8), M C Page (Moray)(6), A J Coutts (Inverness)(5);

Handicap Section Two (9 - 14)

72 G Roberts (Moray)(12);
74 D Spence (Loch Ness)(12) Winner of Jim Thom Quaich. , A Briggs (Inverness)(11)
76 A Finlay (Nairn Dunbar)(9);
77 K Smith (Elgin)(9);

Seniors: Scratch Section:
78 M Mann (Moray) Winner of the J A B Little Trophy.

Handicap Section;
74 A Briggs (Inverness)(11) Winner of the J M C Gourlay Trophy.

Gangjee and Groom share Asian qualifying lead on 66

The Open Championship - International Final Qualifying-Asia

Rahil Gangjee of India is tied for the first round lead with Australia's Adam Groom in the race for places in The Open Championship over 36 holes of International Final Qualifying-Asia at the Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore.

Six-under-par rounds of 66 were recorded by both men in their bid for a maiden appearance in The Open. Only the leading five players will qualify for a place at Carnoustie.

Gangjee and Groom took a narrow one stroke lead over India's Digvijay Singh who enjoyed a bogey free 67 alongside Australia's Lee Won-Joon and Sushi Ishigaki, the highest ranked Japanese player, in a tie for third place. Australia’s David Gleeson, in his ninth attempt at the qualifiers, and Toshinori Muto shared sixth spot after matching 68s at the Tanjong course.

Gangjee, who is currently ranked 41st on the Asian Tour Order of Merit, conquered the front nine with five birdies and coupled three more birdies against two dropped shots on the way home. "I'm pleased since this is my third time at the qualifiers. My goal for tomorrow is to not think about anything but focus on my pre-shot routine. If I strike it well of the tee, it will be a putting match and that's the key here," he said.

The leading 28-year-old Australian is equally determined to make it through after chalking up seven birdies against a lone bogey for a fine 66. "I finally produced a steady round today. I was shooting birdies and bogeys in previous tournaments this year but today I was consistent the entire round," said Groom.

"I was putting really well and rolling the ball good and I hope to keep it up tomorrow. I'm really excited as this has definitely boosted my chances to make it to The Open," he added.

Five birdies in a round of 67 has put Digvijay Singhhad in a strong challenging position. "I’m feeling confident now as I've been putting really well today. My putting has eluded me in the past two events and now it's back," he said. "Funnily enough I played a round with Rahil during practice yesterday and he was striking the ball 290-295 yards off the tee so I expect him to chew up this golf course. No expectations for me - I just hope to enjoy myself out on course."

Local favourite Mardan Mamat struck a 71 to tie for 12th place while Shiv Kapur of India was even-par for the day in joint 31st position.

For a complete listing of scores go to: http://scores.opengolf.com/

Top Scores

T1 GROOM, Adam Australia 66
T1 GANGJEE, Rahil India 66
T3 SINGH, Digvijay India 67
T3 LEE, Won Joon Australia 67
T3 ISHIGAKI, Sushi Japan 67
T6 GLEESON, David Australia 68
T6 MUTO, Toshinori Japan 68
T8 PARK, Jun Won Korea 69
T8 LASCUNA, Tony Philippines 69
T8 SONG, Chan Korea 69
T8 ICHIHARA, Tatsuhiko Japan 69
T12 LAM, Chih-Bing Singapore 70
T12 BLYTH, Adam Australia 70
T12 BASIC, Neven Australia 70
T12 QUE, Angelo Philippines 70
T12 KIYOTA, Taichiro Japan 70
T12 GHEI, Gaurav India 70
T12 LEE, Sungman Korea 70
T12 NAM, Young Korea 70
T12 MAMAT, Mardan Singapore 70
T12 MURAKAMI, Artemio Philippines 70
T22 SMITH, Craig Wales 71
T22 KENNEDY, Brad Australia 71
T22 ILES, Bradley New Zealand 71
T22 PARK, Unho Australia 71
T22 PHADUNGSIL, Chinarat Thailand 71
T22 FLINT, Gavin Australia 71
T22 TOMIDA, Masaya Japan 71
T22 SINGH, Arjun India 71
T22 TATEYAMA, Mitsuhiro Japan 71

RENTON TUESDAY UPDATE

This has been the best morning for Renton since the operation eight days ago. He is getting impatient which is a good sign! He wants out of the Critical Care Unit. In fact the nurses might try and push him in a wheelchair to the conservatory tomorrow, but at this time he cannot leave the CCU. He is still extremely weak and not able to eat or drink. The nausea is subsiding but very slowly. Nevertheless he is now very aware of where he is and Jennifer is quite upbeat today. She once again thanks everyone for their support and for their kindness in obeying the instruction not to send flowers, fruit etc at this time to the hospital. This will change when Renton is moved into a ward but that might not be until the weekend. Therefore the NO VISITORS sign remains posted.

Regards

Mitchell

NEW GOLF EVENT FROM MAGNERS IRISH CIDER

Magners Irish Cider is to introduce a new Scottish Golf Championship for the 2007 Season.

The Magners Scottish Golf Championship will be open to every male club golfer in Scotland. Each club in Scotland will be able to register one qualifying tournament at their club between 1st April and 31st July, where the two best golfers will progress to one of four Regional Finals. The Regional Finals will be held at Kings Acre, Kilmacolm, King James VI and Inchmarlo Golf Clubs.

The two golfers representing their club at the regional finals will play as a pair (two ball better ball, one score to count at each hole), and the top 6 pairs from each regional final will qualify for the Magners Grand Final at the Macdonald Cardrona Resort, which will be played at the end of September. The winning pair at the Grand Final will be crowned the Magners Scottish Golf Champions 2007, and win a fabulous golfing break in Ireland.

Jules Macken, Magners GB Brand Manager, said: ‘Magners has been a supporter of amateur golf in Scotland since the brand was first introduced here in 2003. There is also a long association with golf in Ireland. Magners and golf are a perfect fit. The brand has a strong presence in Golf Clubs where the iconic pint bottle and ice are enjoyed by golfers after completing their round.

‘Of the clubs in Scotland, we hope that more than 300 will participate, which would mean that around 24,000 club golfers could potentially enter the championship. We believe that this would make our event one of Scotland’s biggest nationally recognised participation golf events.’

Magners Scottish Club Golfers Championship – 2007 Schedule

Local Club Qualifying Events:
April – July

Regional Finals:
Inchmarlo Tuesday 21st August
Kilmalcolm Wednesday 22nd August
King’s Acre Tuesday 28th August
King James VI Wednesday 29th August

National Final:
Macdonald Cardrona Golf & Country Club Friday 26th September

Alliance Golf

By Robin Wilson

Tarbat Golf Club Green keeper, Mike Keay (pictured to the right in the photograph) a first season member of the North Golf Alliance emerged with the Mackintosh Salver the reward for consistent scoring over the winter season when the fixtures drew to a close at Tain Golf Club last weekend.

Wick’s scratch player member Ron Taylor (pictured left in the photograph) came to Tain to set his seal on another Alliance Quaich success but although he triumphed for a third successive season he had to give way to local five handicapper Steve Holmes for Sunday’s individual return giving Holmes his first Alliance scratch win.

Holmes shot a 72 to Taylor’s 73 in bright sunny conditions against a field of 55 where the scoring was not all that low due to tricky putting surfaces. But Holmes found no problems holing putts. Three single putts on the 2nd, 6th and 7th greens took his card to three under par after seven holes before dropping pack to a one under par 34 for the first nine with bogies on the final two outward holes. His momentum was maintained with a birdie three at the Alps only to let it slip away with a bogey six at the long 13th.where he took three from the front of the green and then another six arrived from an out of bounds wayward drive from the 15th tee. But it is great what a two does on a card and when Holmes chipped in for his fifth birdie of the round at the next hole he salvaged an inward 38 for 72 and first scratch success.

Keay had also done enough before Sunday’s final fixture and his late challenger for the handicap silverware was not his closest rival, Richard MacDonald (Reay) with whom he went into the fixture tied on aggregate scores of 276 but from the eventual scratch winner.

Neither Keay nor MacDonald made any improvement on their scores for the Salver so they remained tied and the separation came on comparison of away scores. Keay won this by ten shots from his two net returns of 68 in Caithness while MacDonald mustered only a 71 and a 75 at venues out with his home county. After his handicap was applied Steve Holmes’s gross 72 became a net 67 to climb into third place, just a stroke back on 277.

Taylor has just past his 53rd birthday but he has maintained a consistency that twenty years ago raised the standard of play at Wick and made him a regular selection in North District teams. Not long from the tee by today’s standards his strength is in his accuracy rarely missing a fairway. From a simple flawless swing his iron play is sound and he still holds onto a plus rating handicap.

Doug Thorburn (Thurso) resigned himself to second place in the Quaich competition by not playing at Tain and it would have been unlikely he would have closed the gap after Taylor carded another consistent round from halves of 36 and 37 to finish with 281 and Thorburn the runner up with 286.

Only visitors Ron Barker (Wick) and Francis Keith (Durness) broke the local stranglehold in the Class 1 Handicap section that was headed by Phil Blyth a net 68, off 8, and Bruce Fraser a net 70, off 5. Barker came third with net 73 and then the Salver winner, Mike Keay the best of two others with a similar score of 74.

The Class 2 winner Gerald Klein with a net 69 raised Durness to the Team trophy (Durness team pictured right) with a net total of 293, 13 ahead of second placed Reay. Completing the Durness total were Francis Keith, Martin Mackay and Lachie Ross. Hosts Tain, despite all their low scores in Class 1, were disadvantaged by having no players in the higher handicap section from where two scores had to be submitted in the team competition.

Results. Scratch – 72 S. Holmes (Tain). 73 R. W. Taylor (Wick). 75 B. Fraser (Tain). 76 P. Blyth (Tain). 77 M. Sangster (Tain). 79 B. Ferries (Tain). 80 L. Parnell (Reay), R. Barker (Wick). 81 M. Ferries (Tain), C. Ilett (Tain), M. Keay (Tain) W.R. Taylor (Wick).
Handicap Class 1 – P. Blyth (Tain) (8) 68. B. Fraser (Tain) (5) 70. R. Barker (Wick) (7) 73. M. Keay (Tain) 97), M. Sangster (Tain) (3), F. Keith (Durness) (10) 74. Class 2 – G. Klein (Durness) (20) 69. D. MacKenzie (Thurso) (12), L. Ross (Durness (11) 72. A. MacKay (Reay) (19), J. MacKenzie (Durness) (17) 75.

Club News. Results from Tain’s six-club stableford competition last Saturday were;
1st C Bottomley (6) 37 pts B.I.H. 2nd R Phillips (9) 37 pts and 3rd M Ferries (scr) 36 pts. leaving the Tain scratch player wondering how he can score a gross 70 with six clubs and twenty four hours later with all fourteen not get round in under 80!
Pairs - R Phillips & C Watson (11) 72 pts

HUGH HUNTER HONOURED BY SCOTTISH SCHOOLS GOLF ASSOCIATION

Former Scottish Golf Union president Hugh Hunter, who lives in Auchterarder, has been honoured by the Scottish Schools Golf Association of which he has been president twice.
“For all Hugh has done for junior golf in general and schools golf in particular over the last 40 years and more, we felt it was only right that he should become the first life member of the Scottish Schools Golf Association,” said secretary Dorothy Scott.
“Since he retired from teaching, he has been able to devote even more of his time to supporting junior golf. Hugh pops up everywhere there’s a tournament on.”
Robin Fyfe, Nairn Golf Club professional for many years, was one of the young lads encouraged to develop his golf when Hugh Hunter was a teacher at Alloa Academy in the late 1960s.
Hugh then moved to Callander and joined the teaching staff at McLaren High School.
The Scottish Schools Golf Association, which stages an annual championship for boys and girls and also organises an annual match against England, was formed in 1972.
Hugh became its president for the first time in 1983-84 and, 10 years later, he served a second term of office.
“He is the only person to have been president of the SSGA twice,” said Mrs Scott.
“I’m thrilled to become the first life member of the Scottish Schools Golf Association,” said Hugh who was president of the Scottish Golf Union in 2006. �

RENTON MONDAY UPDATE

(From Mitchell Platts)
Renton is very tired, very weak, and still not able to eat or drink, so progress is very slow but nevertheless going in the right direction. The cardiologist and surgeon are pleased with his progress. They did manage to get Renton to sit in a chair this morning and he glanced at a newspaper.

Four Open Places on Offer in Asian Qualifying

Frankie Minoza will be hoping to relive one of his most memorable moments when he competes in International Final Qualifying - Asia tomorrow and Wednesday at the Sentosa Golf Club, Singapore, with memories of the 1998 Open still fresh in the mind of the 47-year-old Filipino as he bids for one of the top four spots that will give him automatic qualification for Carnoustie.

Minoza heads the field of 73 players that include some of Asia’s leading players, including India’s Shiv Kapur, who was voted Asian Tour Rookie of the Year in 2005, local talent Mardan Mamat, and Japanese top players such as Tomohiro Kondo, Tatsuhiko Ichihara and Tadahiro Takayama.

Minoza, who has won numerous titles in the region since the 1980s, enjoyed his first ever outing at The Open where he finished in joint 50th position in 1998. Backed by his solid form this year that includes a win at his home Open on the Asian Tour last month, Minoza is on a mission this week determined to walk the course at Carnoustie in July.

“I will never forget my first experience playing at Royal Birkdale. The people gathered there really appreciated the game. As I was walking down the 18th hole in the final round, the fans all around were giving us a standing ovation and clapping, and I felt like I was walking on air, it was great,” admitted Minoza.

“It is a different game this week with two days qualifying. This is one of the toughest qualifiers I’ve played in with over 70 players fighting for four spots. Everybody has a good chance of making the top four. I will give it 100 percent and hope to come out good and make my second appearance in The Open,” said Minoza.

India’s Shiv Kapur, who enjoyed his maiden Open appearance last year, will not hold back on his game this week as he hopes to make it two appearances in a row. “It is always great playing in your first major, especially with The Open, with all the history that’s attached to it. Although I did not make the cut last year at Hoylake, I still had a wonderful experience and I hope to qualify this week,” said Kapur.

“The course this week is nice but it will mainly depend on who reads the greens the best. Top four qualify from over 70 players is a tough ask but it’s the same for everyone. But since it’s only two rounds, I will take on a more aggressive approach than the usual four rounds,” admitted Kapur.

Singapore-based Unho Park, who also enjoyed his first taste of The Open last year, has adjusted well to the playing conditions at the Tanjong Course and will be banking on his putting to see him through the top four this week. “I’m eager to make my second appearance. I’m hitting it fine and striking the ball solid, I think it’s down to my putting. Putting is the key as the course is wide open with hardly any rough. This is my fourth straight qualifier and it is the toughest field so far,” said Park.

For the draw go to http://scores.opengolf.com/rqfq/default.sps?file=RQ/IFQDraw_Asia.sps

Saltman just misses playoff- Dodt wins Australian Stroke Play Championship

By Alistair Hogg
Australian Golf Union Website writer

Andrew Dodt has won the 2007 Australian Stroke Play Championship after a thrilling playoff finale at New South Wales Golf Club.

The Queenslander went head to head with Scott Arnold after the pair was deadlocked at four-under par through 72-holes, finally triumphing on the fourth extra hole when his opponent found a bunker off the tee. Dodt made a clutch two-putt to claim the sudden death playoff and the title as 2007 Australian Amateur Stroke Play Champion.

The win also means Dodt has qualified for the 2007 MFS Australian Open at The Australian Golf Club, December 11-16. The 21-year old played at last year's tournament at Royal Sydney and emerged as Australia's best amateur, shooting a superb one-under to finish equal 11th along with professionals Paul Gow and Nick O'Hern.

He now goes into tomorrow's match play riding a wave of confidence after today's tense win.

The men will play the first round of their match play on Tuesday from 7:00am. This will be followed by the second round of the women's match play at approximately 9:30am and the men will play their second round later in the afternoon to make up for Sunday's lost time.

Dodt's first assignment is against Victorian Leigh Deagan, who won a four-way playoff to snatch one of the two remaining spots in the 32-man field. The match will begin at 9:00am.

Scots Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw) and Scott Henry (Cardross) are third and sixth seeds respectively in the match play.

Final qualifiers for Australian Amateur Match Play Championship:

276: A Dodt (QLD) S Arnold (NSW)
277: L Saltman (SCO)
279: J Roach (NSW) R Bezuidenhuot (NSW) S Henry (SCO)
280: D Horsey (ENG)
281: D Nisbet (QLD) J Gill (NZL)
283: M Raseta (NSW) J Sheratt (SA) G Boyd (ENG) R Blizard (NSW)
284: J Moul (ENG) B Parker (ENG) J Roxby (SA) M Jager (WA) K Lee (KOR)
285: L Peterson (NSW) J Younger (VIC) J Arnold (NSW)
286: R Beaufils (QLD) B Rankin (QLD) D Kim (NSW)
287: T Rophia (NZL) T H Choo (SIN) B Fletcher (QLD) R Kulacz (WA) D Lee (NZL) S Lewton (ENG)
288: J Bayron (PHI) L Deagan (VIC) - won on playoff

Renton Laidlaw update

RENTON SUNDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE
(from Mitchell Platts)

Cardiologist pleased with pacemaker but Renton heavily sedated and feeling quite nauseous. A little depressing for Jennifer (Renton's sister) but she is hopeful Renton will feel better tomorrow.

Colin on holiday

Colin is on a well deserved holiday and has left the updating of Scottish Golf View to his skeleton staff (i.e. Me!)
He'll be back ready to report on the final round of the Mens Champion of Champions on Sunday 8th April.
Meanwhile, if you have any golf news you would like published, please email it to me at gill@kirkwoodgolf.co.uk
Cheers
Gill Kirkwood

AUSSIE STROKE-PLAY DELAYED BY WIND

The fourth and final round of the Australian men's open amateur stroke-play championship had to be postponed for 24 hours as gale-force winds made play impossible at the New South Wales Golf Club near Sydney today.

TIGER WOODS GOES FOUR CLEAR WITH
ONE ROUND TO DO AT DORAL

Tiger Woods has created another "Who's gonna be second?" situation by posting a 54-hole tally of 11-under-par 205 in the world championships' arena that seems to bring the best out of him.
In the CA championship at the Doral Resort, Miami, Tiger has scored 71, 66 and 68 and will go into Sunday's final round with a four-stroke lead over fellow-American Brett Wetterich.

THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 216 (3 x 72)
205 T Woods 71 66 68.
209 B Wetterich 72 70 67.
210 N O'Hern 72 72 66.
211 VJ Sing 74 68 69, Tom Pernice jun 71 70 70, Aaron Baddeley 69 71 71, C Howell III 69 71 71, E Els 70 71 71, T Bjorn 68 72 71.
212 P Casey 76 70 66, N Fasth 72 70 70, S Garcia 71 70 71, G Ogilvy 72 69 71, H Stenson 67 73 72.
Other scores:
216 P Harrington 73 70 73, I Poulter 73 68 75.
217 P Broadhurst 73 71 73.
219 L Donald 74 70 75.
220 D Howell 74 73 73.
221 C Montgomerie 76 72 73.
223 J Bickerton 77 72 74.
228 A Wall 80 73 75.

SATURDAY NIGHT UPDATE ON RENTON LAIDLAW

From Mitchell Platts of the European Tour.

9pm. Pacemaker fitted. Sister Jennifer seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Nevertheless Renton to remain in Critical Care Unit for another week. So please continue to refrain from calling hospital or sending flowers, fruit etc. Cards to Jennifer at Caledonian Club as previously advised. No visitors at this time. But Jennifer says thanks again and sends her love.
Regards
Mitchell

Another great win for Belfast youngster at Sotogrande

McILROY FINISHES BIRDIE,

BIRDIE TO WIN INDIVIDUAL

TITLE AT NATIONS CUP

Denmark won the inaugural European Nations Cup (formerly the Sherry Cup) men’s team championship by one stroke from Ireland and England in an exciting finish at Royal Sotogrande Golf Club, Spain today.

But there was an individual sucess for Belfast teenager Rory McIlroy. He hit a nine iron to 6ft and holed the birdie putt at the 72nd hole to tie with Norway's Marius Thorp - winner of the Open championship amateur silver medal at Hoylake last summer - for the individual championship.

Then the confident McIlroy won the first hole of a sudden-death play-off by hitting his approach shot to 3ft and holing the putt for another birdie and another title.

Last summer, Rory (pictured right) won the European individual amateur championship. No wonder he is ranked No 2 in the R&A world rankings. He might even be No 1 by this time next week!

In the team event, the Danes totalled 863 to Ireland and England’s 864.

Wales were sixth on 871 and Scotland finished joint ninth of 16 with a final total of 883.

Scotland’s scorers on the final day were Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie) with a two-under-par 70, easily his best of the four days, James Byrne (Banchory) and John Gallagher (Swanston), both with 73s.

James Byrne finished the leading Scot in joint 11th place on 291.

Germany, as expected, ran away with the women’s team championship. Their final total of 644 gave them victory by 13 shots from Spain.

Katharina Schallenberg from Germany, winner of the Spanish women’s open amateur championship a few weeks ago, came from behind over the final round to catch her team-mate Caroline Masson and win the individual women’s title.

Katharina finished with a 69 for 284 – three shots ahead of Caroline who signed off with a 75, her worst score of the four days, for 287.

Kerry Smith (England) was fourth on 292 behind Spain’s third-place Marta Silva Zamora.

EUROPEAN NATIONS CUP SCOREBOARD AT SOTOGRANDE

FINAL TOTALS

MEN'S TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Par 864 (4 x 216)
1 - 863 DENMARK (P F Drost, P Balinsoe, R H Nielsen, N Rasmussen).
2 - 864 IRELAND (R McIlroy, S Ward, S Lowry, N Kearney), ENGLAND (G Wolstenholme, E Richardson, P Waring, M Cryer).
4 - 870 NORWAY (M Thorp, A Kristiansen, A Friestad, F Kollevold).
5 - 871 PORTUGAL (J M Cudell, J Carlota, P Figueiredo, A Rosado), WALES (C Cousins, N Edwards, C Evans, L Matthews).
7 - 872 SWEDEN ( J Carlsson, N Glans, O Bonning, T Rosendahl).
8 - 876 SPAIN (J Legarrea, I Urquizu, C Perez Barberon, G Vicente).
9 - 883 FINLAND (J Granberg, M Salminen, J-P Savolampi, M Veijalainen), GERMANY (J Kilbing, F Schulte, P Westermann, A Knappe), SCOTLAND (G Campbell, J Gallagher, J Byrne, S McEwan).
12 - 891 AUSTRIA (T Kromer, C Pfau, W Rieder, P Sharma).
13 - 896 NETHERLANDS ( F De Vries, R Kino, W De Vries, R Saxton).
14 - 898 ITALY (M Guerisoli, N Lomgardi, A Romano, J Kim).
15 - 901 BELGIUM (P Relecom, X Feyaerts, D Van Doren, G Watremez).
16 - 910 SLOVENIA (M Studen, T Gornik, J Vidmar, N Pogacar).

MEN'S INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Par 288 (4 x 72)
1 - 281 R McIlroy (Ire) 69 70 70 72, M Thorp (Nor) 69 69 70 73 (McIlroy won play-off at first hole with birdie).
3 - 286 G Wolstenholme (Eng) 71 74 72 69.
4 - 287 N Edwards (Wal) 73 71 72 71.
5 - 288 X Feyaerts (Bel) 69 72 72 75.
6 - 289 I Urquizu (Spa) 73 76 70 70, P Waring (Eng) 74 73 71 71, A Knappe (Ger) 73 74 71 71, O Bonning (Swe) 73 72 70 74.
10 - 290 M Veijalainen (Fin) 72 71 74 73.
11 - 291 P Drost (Den) 75 76 73 67, J Byrne (Sco) 75 68 75 73.
13 - 292 J Carlota (Por) 79 66 71 76.
14 - 293 N Rasmussen (Den) 73 77 73 70, S Lowry (Ire) 76 72 75 70, L Matthews (Wal) 71 73 77 72, S Ward (Ire) 71 73 76 73, R Nielsen (Den) 73 71 75 74, M Cryer (Eng) 72 74 72 75, P Baunsoe (Den) 68 80 68 77.
21 - 294 W Rieder (Aut) 75 74 74 71, A Kristiansen (Nor) 72 76 74 72, A Kristiansen (Nor) 72 76 74 72, T Rosendahl (Swe) 72 71 78 73.
24 - 295 G Campbell (Sco) 76 74 75 70, C Evans (Wal) 73 72 77 73.
Other placings and totals:
29 - 297 C Cousins (Wal) 75 76 77 69, J Gallagher (Sco) 76 75 73 73.
33 - 298 E Richardson (Eng) 81 74 71 72.
39 - 300 N Kearney (Ire) 74 77 75 74.
58 - 309 S McEwan (Sco) 79 76 79 75.

WOMEN'S TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Par 648
+Two from three individual scores per team counted in the first, second and third rounds. In the fourth round, all three individual scores counted.
1 - 644 GERMANY (K Schallenberg, C Masson, S Doering).
2 - 657 SPAIN ( M Silva Zamora, S Cologan Ruiz, A Urchegui Garcia).
3 - 668 WALES (B Loucks, S Hassan, T Davies).
4 - 669 DENMARK (M Jorgensen, T Koelbaek, S M Eriksen).
5 - 672 ENGLAND (N Edwards, M Reid, K Smith).
6 - 680 BELGIUM (L Gonzalez, L Herman, V Gevers).
7 - 684 NETHERLANDS (M Van der Graaff, J Kraats, K Van Leeuwen).
8 - 692 FINLAND (S Harju, S Mantyniemi, R Suahn).
9 -698 ITALY ( F Angioletti, A Roscio, V Valgassori).
10 - 701 AUSTRIA ( M Hochwimmer, J Zering, C Wolf).

WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Par 288 (4 x 72)
1 - 284 K Schallenberg (Ger) 69 71 75 69.
2 - 287 C Masson (Ger) 73 71 68 75.
3 - 291 M Silva Zamora (Spa) 71 74 71 75.
4 - 292 K Smith (Eng) 70 75 73 74.
5 - 295 A Urchegui Garcia (Spa) 77 73 77 68, M Jorgensen (Den) 73 74 71 77.
7 - 296 B Loucks (Wal) 74 75 74 73.
8 - 297 S Hassan (Wal) 74 72 78 73.
Other placings:
13 - 303 N Edwards (Eng) 77 75 73 78.
19 - 307 M Reid (Eng) 76 76 77 78.
25 - 310 T Davies (Wal) 75 82 76 77.

CATRIONA HOLDS ON TO SECOND PLACE
AT SUPERSTITION MOUNTAIN

Catriona Matthew held on to second place but saw the gap between her and the leader, Mexico's wonder girl Lorena Ochoa widen to three shots when the second ound of the Safeway International LPGA Tour event was completed at Superstition Mountain Golf Club, Arizona today.
In all 66 players had to come back early to finish their second rounds.
Ochoa had a brilliant second round of eight-under-par 64 to advance to 11-under 133.
Catriona repeated her first-round 68 for 136.
HOW THEY STAND AFTER TWO ROUNDS
133 Lorena Ochoa 69 64.
136 Catriona Matthew 68 68.
137 Suzann Pettersen 69 68.
138 Gloria Park 71 67, Jeong Jang 68 70.
140 Hee-Won Han 70 70, Shi Hyun Ahn 72 68.
141 Laura Diaz 70 71, Mi Hyun Kim 69 72, Sophie Gustafsson 75 66, Annika Sorenstam 73 68.
142 Rachel Hetherington 71 71, Young Jo 68 74, Irene Cho 74 68, Julieta Granada 73 69, Sarah Lee 72 70, Paula Creamer 74 68.

EUAN LITTLE JOINT FOURTH WITH ONE
ROUND TO GO IN MADEIRA OPEN

Argentinian Daniel Vancsik, not one of the better-known names on the European Tour, is not only the surprise leader but also by a runaway margin of four strokes with one round to plan in the Madeira Island Open.
Vancsik has shot three very good rounds of 68, 66 and 68 for a 14-under-par, 54-hole tally of 202.
His closest rival is Denmark's Mads Vibe-Hastrup (who played in one of the Doug Sanders European and world boys' championships in Aberdeen in the 1990s). Mads has shot 68,70 and 68 for 206, one clear of Frenchman Christian Cevaer, another player with a link to Aberdeen. Christian won the British youths championship - before the R&A deleted the tournament from the golfing calendar - at Royal Aberdeen.
Given that most of the "big names" are in the United States for the build-up to the US Masters, it is a golden chance for those who are normally overshadowed to get into the limelight.
Like Scot Euan Little for instance. He didn't set the South African Sunshine Tour ablaze a month or two back but here is in a European Tour event sharing fourth place on eight-under-par 208.
Steven O'Hara from Motherwell had a disappointing third round of 76 and he dropped back to one-over-par 217.
David Drysdale, the third Scot among the halfway qualifiers, is on 219 after a 74. David has yet to break the par of 72 in his three rounds.
THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 216 (3 x 72). Players from GB&I unless stated.
202 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 68 66 68
206 Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 68 70 68
207 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 70 65 72
208 Santiago Luna (Spa) 69 67 72, Euan Little 73 66 69
209 Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 74 67 68, David Frost (SAf) 72 65 72
210 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 68 72 70, Alexander Noren (Swe) 72 66 72, Simon Nash (Aus) 70 69 71, Jamie Donaldson 71 69 70, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 70 69 71
211 Gary Murphy 74 67 70, Peter Baker 67 72 72, David Park 71 68 72
212 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 75 70 67, Andrew Tampion (Aus) 74 68 70, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 74 68 70, Stuart Little 71 69 72
213 Steve Alker (NZ) 72 71 70, Johan Axgren (Swe) 75 70 68, Jamie Spence 74 65 74, Notah Begay III (US) 67 71 75, Andrew Marshall 73 71 69, Sam Little 70 69 74, Gregory Havret (Fra) 71 69 73, Ian Garbutt 71 69 73
214 Iain Pyman 77 67 70, Garry Houston 75 69 70, Sven Struver (Ger) 70 71 73, Oliver Wilson 70 69 75, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 71 74 69, Peter Gustafsson (Swe) 74 70 70, Simon Wakefield 74 67 73
215 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 78 67 70, Miguel Rodriguez (Arg) 77 68 70, David Griffiths 74 69 72, Birgir Hafthorsson (Is) 74 70 71, David Lynn 71 70 74, Tom Whitehouse 74 71 70, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 76 67 72, Antonio Sobrinho (Por) 74 70 71, Bradley Dredge 73 72 70
216 Benn Barham 74 69 73, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 75 67 74, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 74 70 72, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 68 73 75
217 Luis Claverie (Spa) 71 70 76, Steven O'Hara 71 70 76, Tiago Cruz (Por) 73 71 73, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 77 67 73, Ivo Giner (Spa) 74 71 72, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 73 71 73, Ricardo Santos (Por) 66 74 77, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 71 72 74
218 Nicolas Vanhootegem (Bel) 75 70 73, Denny Lucas 72 73 73, David Higgins 74 70 74, Manuel Quiros (Spa) 73 70 75
219 David Drysdale 73 72 74, Pedro Linhart (Spa) 73 71 75
221 Phillip Talbot 73 71 77
222 Alvaro Salto (Spa) 74 71 77, Kenneth Ferrie 74 70 78
223 Adrien Mork (Fra) 73 72 78, David Bransdon (Aus) 72 73 78
224 Phillip Archer 71 74 79.

CANADIAN LEADS ASIAN TOUR
EVENT AT SINGAPORE
Canadian veteran Rick Gibson produced a storming finish with two birdies to snatch the third-round lead at the inaugural Motorola International Bintan at Singapore today.
Gibson, 45, battled to a three-under-par 69 on a sun-kissed Ria Bintan Golf Club to top the leaderboard on 10-under-par 206, one shot clear of Korea's Mo Joong-kyung (66) and overnight leader Adam Blyth (72) of Australia in the US$350,000 Asian Tour event.
Chinese Taipei's Lu Wen-teh rewrote the course record with a blistering 64 to charge into a share of fourth place with former Australian Open winner Peter Fowler, compatriot Unho Park, American duo Jason Knutzon and Clay Devers and Korea's Park Jun-won.
Gibson, a multiple winner in Canada and Asia, surged ahead of a crowded leaderboard with a glorious finish with birdies on the 17th and 18th holes.
He conceded being lucky on the penultimate hole after landing in a divot on the fairway. "There's not a whole lot of bail-out on that hole as there's the ocean on the left and back of the green. I actually pulled my eight-iron to end up four feet of the pin, I'll be honest about that!" said Gibson, chasing his first win since the 2002 Philippine Open.
The Manila-based Gibson signed off in style, nailing an exquisite seven-iron to three feet at the par-3 ee hole at the last with its green nestled on the rocky beachfront. The Canadian took last week off to rectify flaws in his game with a swing coach and hopes it will lead him to glory. But Gibson warned that the 18th will be make-or-break on Sunday.

THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 216 (3 x 72)

206 Rick Gibson (Can) 68-69-69
207 Mo Joong-kyung (KOR) 70-71-66, Adam Blyth (AUS) 70-65-72
208 Jason Knutzon (US) 69-71-68, Park Jun-won (Kor) 68-71-69, Unho Park (Aus) 71-68-69, Clay Devers (US) 68-70-70, Mark Brown (NZ) 66-71-71, Lu Wen-Teh (Tpe) 71-73-64, Peter Fowler (AUS) 68-69-71
209 Airil Rizman Zahari (Mas) 69-69-71, Scott Strange (AUS) 69-67-73
210 Lin Keng-Chi (Tpe) 68-72-70, Scott Barr (AUS) 71-69-70, Yasin Ali (Eng) 69-71-70, Panuwat Muenlek (Tha) 69-69-72, Brad Kennedy (AUS) 70-68-72, Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 70-67-73, Mike Cunning (US) 66-69-75
211 Masaya Tomida (Jap) 70-72-69, Steven Jeffress (AUS) 71-72-68, Artemio Murakami (Phi) 72-68-71, Adam Groom (Aus) 70-70-71, Tatsuhiko Takahashi (Jap) 70-69-72, Angelo Que (Phi) 69-69-73, Gareth Paddison (NZ) 70-68-73, Lin Wen-tang (Tpe) 70-68-73, Ted Oh (Kor) 67-69-75
212 Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 69-72-71, Taichiro Kiyota (Jap) 70-71-71, Corey Harris (US) 72-67-73, David Gleeson (Aus) 71-68-73, Lucas Parsons (Aus) 71-67-74

SALTMAN AND HENRY IN

LEADING SEVEN WITH

ONE ROUND TO GO IN

AUSSIE STROKE-PLAY

BY ALISTAIR HOGG

Australian Golf Union website writer
Andrew Dodt has shot a 68 to take a share of the lead going into the final round of the Australian amateur stroke-play championship. He is joined by New South Welshman, Scott Arnold as the pair tamed the New South Wales Golf Club course at La Perouse on the Pacific coastline of Botany Bay.
Queenslander Dodt came home with a flurry as he carded a bogey-free back nine. In fact, Dodt's round of two-under 68 was almost blemish free other than a bogey on the par-4 seventh.
Arnold shot a 66 to join Dodt at the top of the leaderboard. The New South Welshman started the day at two-under-par but piled a hat-trick of birdies on the front nine to finish six-under the card and lead the race to the title.
Overnight leader Ben Parker struggled today, shooting a 77 to fall back to one-under, five shy of the leaders. The 19-year-old Englishman led the field by four at the start of play but two bogeys inside the opening four holes compounded by a double at the seventh saw him drop back to equal sixth.
Countryman David Horsey meanwhile catapulted himself into contention with a four-under 66. The Englishman opened with a birdie-bogey combination but was a picture of consistency after that. Horsey did not drop a stroke after the second hole and picked up and an eagle at 14.
Walker Cup Scot Lloyd Saltman (pictured above) is tied with Horsey two strokes behind the leaders. After an erratic front nine, Saltman settled to record four birdies on his way to a 68.

Scott Henry, the 2006 Scottish open amateur stroke-play champion from Cardross, gives Scotland a second player in the leading seventh. Henry is joint sixth on 209.
The winner of the event will earn himself an exemption into the 2007 MFS Australian Open at The Australia Golf Club in December while the top 32 qualify for next week's Australian match-play championship at the same NSW venue.

Leaderboard after the third round of the Australian Stroke Play Championship at New South
THIRD ROUND LEADERBOARD

Par 210 (3 x 70)

204 Scott Arnold (NSW), Andrew Dodt (Queensland).

206 David Horsey (England), Lloyd Saltman (Scotland).

207 Justin Roach (NSW).

209 Ben Parker (England), Scott Henry (Scotland).

210 James Gill (NZ), Jordan Sherratt (South Australia).

SATURDAY MORNING UPDATE ON RENTON LAIDLAW

From Mitchell Platts of European Tour

10.30am. Jennifer (Renton's sister) had a long talk with the surgeon this morning. She reported that Renton is lucky to be alive. But the pain has subsided this morning and he is going to the heart hospital to have the pacemaker fitted. A long, long way to go but Renton continues to make progress.
Regards
Mitchell

CATRIONA LYING SECOND WITH ONE HOLE
TO COMPLETE IN SUSPENDED ROUND 2

Catriona Matthew was one of 66 players who had not completed their second rounds when play was halted for the day at 6.11pm local time due to bad weather and failing light in the Safeway International LPGA tournament at Superstition Mountain Golf Club, Arizona.
On the overall scoreboard, Catriona is lying second at eight-under-par for the tournament after 17 holes. She started at the 10th and birdied the 10th and 11th, bogeyed the 12th and 16th before bogeying the 18th.
She then climbed back up the leaderboard with birdies at the third, fifth and seventh.
She is lying second to Lorena Ochoa who was nine under par for the tournament with four holes still to play in her second round.

OVERALL SCOREBOARD
-9 after 14 holes Lorena Ochoa 69 - .
-8 after 17 holes Catriona Matthew 68.
-7 after 18 holes Suzann Pettersen 69 68.
-6 after 18 holes Jeong Jang 68 70.
-6 after 15 holes Gloria Park 71 - .
-5 after 10 holes Young Jo 68 -.
-4 after 18 holes Hee-Won Han 70 70.
-3 after 18 holes Laura Diaz 70 71.
-3 after 18 holes Annika Sorenstam 73 68.
-3 after 18 holes Sophie Gustafson 75 66.
-3 after 17 holes Myun Kim 69.

TIGER WOODS IS BACK ON TOP OF THE
WORLD AS PUTTER GETS HOT

You can't keep a good man down. Tiger Woods, who finished with a catastrophic last round in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, is, only two rounds later, on top of the world at the Doral Golf Resort in Miami.
Woods got his putter going to shoot a second-round 66 for a halfway total of 137 in the CA world championship event and a two-shot lead from Rod Pampling, the man who once led in "our" Open.#
There are a heap of guys sharing third place on 140 including Thomas Bjorn, Ernie Els, Henrik Stenson and Trevor Immelman.

HALFWAY LEADERBOARD
137 T Woods 71 66.
139 R Pampling 70 69.
140 T Bjorn 68 72, Z Johnson 72 68, C Howell III 69 71, E Els 70 70, H Stenson 67 73, T Immelman 72 68, A Baddeley 69 71.
Other scores:
141 S Garcia 71 70, I Pulter 73 68.
142 VJ Singh 74 68.
143 P Harrington 73 70.
144 L Donald 74 70, P Broadhurst 73 71.
146 P Casey 76 70.
147 D Howell 74 73.
148 C Montgomery 76 72.
149 J Bickerton 77 72.
149 J M Olazabal 69 80.
153 A Wall 80 73.

IRELAND LEAD BY THREE IN MEN'S EUROPEAN
NATIONS CUP; GERMAN WOMEN WELL CLEAR

Ireland (649) lead by three strokes from England, Portugal and Denmark with one round to go in the men's team championship of the European Nations Cup at Sotogrande, Spain.
Scotland dropped to 10th place on 667 - 18 strokes behind Ireland - with third-round counting scores of 73 from John Gallagher (Swanston) and 75s each from James Byrne (Banchory) and Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie). For the third day in a row Steven McEwan (Barassie) had a non-counting score.
In the women's championship, it is all over bar the shouting - Germany (423) are 16 strokes clear of the field. England are in fourth place on 442 with Wales fifth on 445.

THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD

MEN'S TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
649 IRELAND (R McIlroy 70, S Lowry 75, N Kearney 75).
652 PORTUGAL.
652 DENMARK, ENGLAND (E Richardson 71, P Waring 71, G Wolstenholme 72).
656 NORWAY.
659 WALES (N Edwards 72, C Evans 77, L Matthews 77).
661 SWEDEN.
662 FINLAND.
664 GERMANY.
667 SCOTLAND (J Gallagher 73, G Campbell 75, J Byrne 75).
668 SPAIN.
673 AUSTRIA, NETHERLANDS.
674 BELGIUM.
681 SLOVENIA.
683 ITALY.

MEN'S INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP
208 M Thorp (Nor) 69 69 70.
209 R McIlroy (Ire) 69 70 70.
213 X Feyaerts 69 72 72.
215 O Bonning 73 72 70.
216 P Baunsoe 68 80 68, J Carlota 79 66 71, N Edwards (Wal) 73 72 71.
Other scores:
217 G Wolstenholme (Eng) 71 74 72 (jt 8th).
218 P Waring (Eng) 74 73 71, M Cryer (Eng) 72 74 72, J Byrne (Sco) 75 68 75 (jt 10th).
224 J Gallagher (Sco) 76 75 73 (jt 31st).
225 G Campbell (Sco) 76 74 75 (jt 34th).
234 S McEwan (Sco) 79 76 79 (jt 56th).

WOMEN'S TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

423 GERMANY.
439 SPAIN.
440 DENMARK.
442 ENGLAND (N Edwards 73, K Smith 73).
445 WALES (B Loucks 75, T Davies 76).
449 NETHERLANDS.
456 BELGIUM.
464 AUSTRIA.
465 FINLAND.
466 ITALY.

WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP
212 C Masson (Ger) 73 71 68.
215 K Schallenberg (Ger) 69 71 75.
216 M Silva Zamora (Spa) 71 74 71.
218 K Smith (Eng) 70 75 73, M Jorgensen 73 74 71.
223 B Loucks (Wal) 74 75 74, S Doering (Ger) 73 79 71, T Koelbaek 77 72 74.
Other scores:
224 S Hassan (Wal) 74 72 78 (jt 9th).
225 N Edwards (Eng) 77 75 73 (jt 11th).
229 M Reid (Eng) 76 76 77 (jt 18th).
233 T Davies (Wal) 75 82 76 (jt 25th).

Madeira Islands Open at Santo da Serra

THREE INWARD-HALF BOGEYS BY
PAUL LAWRIE PUT HIM ON SIDELINES

Paul Lawrie failed to get the birdies he needed over the last five holes to qualify for the final two rounds of the Madeira Islands Open over the Santo de Serra course.
Instead, the 1999 Open champion from Aberdeen bogeyed the short 17th to slip to four over par the tournament.
The cut mark eventally came down to one-over-par 145.
Paul finished with a 75 and 73 for 148.
Steven O'Hara was certain of making the cut after posting a 70 for 141 and compatriot David Drysdale finished right on the limit mark after adding a 72 to his first-day 73.
But former Scottish amateur champion and rookie tour pro George Murray was doomed for the sidelines with 79 and 70 for 149.
Another former Scottish amateur title-winner Andrew McArthur bowed out on 151 with 75 and 76. West Linton-based Welshman Gareth Wright exited on 156 (81-75).
Argentinian Daniel Vancsik and Spaniard Santiago Luna are the halfway leaders on 10-under-par 134. They are three strokes clear of South African David Frost.

SECOND-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 144 (2 x 72).
Players from GB&I unless stated; (x) denotes amateur.

134 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 68 66 136 Santiago Luna (Spa) 69 67.
137 David Frost (SAf) 72 65
138 Notah Begay (US) 67 71, Alexander Noren (Swe) 72 66, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 68 70
139 Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 70 69, Peter Baker 67 72, Sam Little 70 69, Simon Nash (Aus) 70 69, David Park 71 68, Jamie Spence 74 65, Oliver Wilson 70 69
140 Robert-Jan Derksen (Ned) 68 72, Ian Garbutt 71 69, Gregory Havret (Fra) 71 69, Stuart Little 71 69
141 Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 74 67, David Lynn 71 70, Gary Murphy 74 67, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 68 73, Steven O'Hara 71 70, Sven Struver (Ger) 70 71, Simon Wakefield 74 67
142 Andrew Tampion (Aus) 74 68, Jean Van de Velde 75 67
143 Steve Alker (NZ) 72 71, Benn Barham 74 69, David Griffiths 74 69, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 71 72, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 76 67
144 Tiago Cruz (Por) 73 71, Kenneth Ferrie 74 70, Peter Gustafsson (Swe) 74 70, Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice) 74 70, David Higgins 74 70, Garry Houston 75 69, Pedro Linhart (Spa) 73 71, Iain Pyman 77 67, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 73 71, Philip Talbot 73 71
145 Phillip Archer 71 74, David Bransdon (Aus) 72 73, Bradley Dredge 73 72, David Drysdale 73 72, Denny Lucas 72 73, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 75 70, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 71 74, Alvaro Salto (Spa) 74 71, Nicolas Vanhootegem (Bel) 75 70
MISSED CUT
146 Jose Manuel Carriles (Spa) 75 71, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 80 66, Oliver Fisher 72 74, Gary Lockerbie 73 73, Martin Maritz (SAf) 75 71, Andrew Raitt 75 71, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 75 71, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 74 72, Carl Suneson (Spa) 74 72, Sam Walker 73 73
147 Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 74 73, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 72 75, Mattias Eliasson (Swe) 77 70, Richard Finch 72 75, Marcus Higley 72 75, Lee James 74 73, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 73 74, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 79 68, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 74 73, Steve Webster 73 74, Fredrik Widmark (Swe) 78 69
148 Joakim Backstrom (Swe) 76 72, Sion Bebb 76 72, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 72 76, Paul Lawrie 75 73, Tim Milford 75 73, Thomas Nielsen (Den) 73 75, Matthew Richardson 74 74, Graeme Storm 74 74, Leif Westerberg (Swe) 76 72
149 Oskar Bergman (Swe) 77 72, Diego Borrego (Spa) 74 75, Francisco Cea (Spa) 77 72, James Heath 78 71, Peter Lawrie 75 74, George Murray 79 70, Gustavo Rojas (Arg) 75 74
150 Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa) 76 74, Francois Calmels (Fra) 77 73, Julien Foret (Fra) 73 77, Anders S Hansen (Den) 78 72, Juan Parron (Spa) 76 74, Edward Rush 74 76, Shaun Webster 78 72, Matthew Zions (Aus) 78 72
151 Andrew McArthur 75 76, Richard McEvoy 80 71, Hugo Santos (Por) 80 71, Kyron Sullivan 77 74
152 Chris Gane 78 74, Toni Karjalainen (Fin) 79 73, Anthony Snobeck (Fra) 77 75, Paolo Terreni (Ita) 77 75
153 Jonathan Lomas 75 78
154 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 80 74, Nuno Campino (Por) 80 74
155 John Wade (Aus) 80 75
156 Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 76 80, (x) Joao Pedro Sousa (Por) 78 78, Gareth Wright 81 75,
158 Antti Ahokas (Fin) 82 76
166 Duarte Freitas (Por) 83 83

NEW MUM CATRIONA SHARES LEAD
IN SAFEWAY INTERNATIONAL
AT SUPERSTITION MOUNTAIN

Motherhood obviously brings the best out of Catriona Matthew the golfer.
The North Berwick player looked in very good nick indeed considering she was making a comeback after taking a seven-month break from the LPGA Tour to give birth to her first child.
On a blustery day that must have reminded her of her native Scotland, Catriona shot a 4-under 68 for a share of the lead with Young Jo in the suspended first round of the Safeway International over the Superstition Mountain Golf Club's Prospector Course.
"You don't know what to expect coming out here, since I haven't played for a while," Matthew said.
Lorena Ochoa and Mi Hyun Kim were a stroke back and Beth Bader and Gloria Park were two strokes off the lead.
Seventy-two players were still on the course when play was suspended because of darkness at 6:06 p.m. Rain and lightning delayed play for about two hours.
Mrs Matthew is playing in her first tournament since last August, when she withdrew after one round from the Wendy's Championship for Children in Dublin, Ohio.
She was pregnant with her first child at the time. After giving birth to daughter Katie three months ago, she went back to work on her game at North Berwick. Her off-season training paid off immediately.
"After such a long lay-off, I've been practising well," said Catriona, who has two LPGA Tour victories, the last coming in 2004.
She birdied the par-4 first hole, hitting a 7-iron from 164 yards to 10 feet and making the putt.
That was the first of the Scot's six birdies. She also had two bogeys, one with a three-putt on the par-5 13th hole.
"I went out there and got off to a good start, which was very important, considering I hadn't had a tour round for seven months," said Catriona.

BARRY HUME RUNS UP AN

EMBARRASSING 85 IN

ASIAN TOUR EVENT - MISSES

CUT BY 17 STROKES

If Barry Hume thought things couldn't get much worse after his error-strewn 76 in the first round of the Motorola International Bintan tournament, the Scot was in for a shock in the second round in Indonesia today.

The former Scottish amateur champion, pictured right, played to a double-figure handicap in amateur terms with a 13-over-par 85 to miss the halfway cut in this Asian Tour event by SEVENTEEN strokes.

Hume's embarrassing second-round card included a triple bogey 7 at the ninth, a triple bogey 7 at the 12th, a triple bogey 7 at the 13th, a double bogey 7 at the 15th and a double bogey 6 at the 17th.

The Glasgow man required 47 shots for the inward half. By the way, he did birdie the seventh and 14th and dropped a single shot at the 10th.

Meanwhile, some people could play the course, such as Australian Adam Blyth who fired a new course record of seven-under-par 65 to charge into the joint halfway lead with American Mike Cunning.
The 25-year-old Blyth, chasing his maiden title on the Asian Tour, was flawless at the spectacular Gary Player-designed Ria Bintan Golf Club as he sank five birdies and an eagle to better the day-old record set by Cunning and New Zealand's Mark Brown.
India's Vivek Bhandari also carded a spectacular 65, an 11 shot improvement from his opening round 76 and was delighted to cancel his holiday plans after safely moving into the weekend rounds.
Cunning, who turns 49 this year, lived up to the old saying "beware the sick golfer" as he laboured to a 69 to retain his overnight lead in the US$350,000 event. The American, winner of Asia's Order of Merit in 1997 and struggling with the flu this week, sank an eagle at the par-5 16 for the second straight day and then tied Blyth with a 20ft birdie at the par-3 18th hole on this holiday isle off the coast of Singapore.
The halfway cut was set at 144 with 72 players qualifying for the weekend rounds.

Compatriots Simon Dunn and Ross Bain joined Hume on the sidelines although they were a good deal closer to the cut-off figure.
SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD

Par 144 (2 x 72)
135 Adam Blyth (Aus) 70 65, Mike Cunning (US) 66 69.
136 Ted Oh (Kor) 67 69, Scott Strange (Aus) 69 67.
137 Peter Fowler (Aus) 68 69, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 70 67, Mark Brown (NZ) 66-71, Scott Hend (Aus) 69 68, Rick Gibson (Can) 68 69.
138 Lin Wen-Tang (Tpe) 70 68, Airil Rizman Zahari (Mas) 69 69, Lucas Parsons (Aus) 71 67, Panuwat Muenlek (Tha) 69 69, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 70 68, Angelo Que (Phi) 69 69, Gareth Paddison (NZ) 70 68, Clay Devers (US) 68 70.
139 - David Gleeson (Aus) 71 68, Park Jun-won (Kor) 68 71, Unho Park (Aus) 71 68, Tatsuhiko Takahashi (Jap) 70 69, Corey Harris (US) 72 67.
140 - Adam Bland (Aus) 72 68, Roy Moon (US) 71 69, Adam Groom (Aus) 70 70, Jason Knutzon (US) 69 71, Yasin Ali (Eng) 69 71, Lin Keng-chi (Tpe) 68 72, Scott Barr (Aus) 71 69, Artemio Murakami (Phi) 72 68.
141 - Vivek Bhandari (Ind) 76 65, Scott Taylor (US) 71 70, Leigh McKechnie (Aus) 72 69, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 69 72, P. Gunasegaran (Mas) 68 73, Taichiro Kiyota (Jap) 70 71, Mo Joong-kyung (Kor) 70 71.

NON-QUALIFIERS INCLUDED (144 was cut-off figure)

146 Simon Griffiths (Eng) 70 76.

147 Simon Dunn (Sco) 74 73.

149 Ben St John (Eng) 75 74.

150 Ross Bain (Sco) 76 74.

151 Eddie Barr (Ire) 73 78.

161 Barry Hume (Sco) 76 85.

FROM THE AUSTRALIAN GOLF UNION WEBSITE

SALTMAN (65) IN JOINT FOURTH

PLACE AT HALFWAY STAGE

OF AUSSIE STROKE-PLAY

BY ALISTAIR HOGG (at New South Wales Golf Club, nr Sydney)

England's Ben Parker has stamped his authority on the Australian amateur stroke-play championship, streaking to eight-under-par 132 at the half-way mark of the tournament. Parker shot a 65, an improvement of two strokes on his first round and Ben is four ahead of Australians Andrew Dodt and Jordan Sherratt.
The Englishman showed a mixture of poise and power to top the leader board at New South Wales Golf Club on what was a tough day for most, played in blustery conditions.
Ben's superb round included five birdies and two eagles as he made the most of the more forgiving morning conditions.
After a birdie on the first, Parker was steady before cutting loose on the fifth, holing three consecutive birdies before topping it off with an eagle at the par-5 eighth to be out in just 31. His back nine was less consistent but good enough to propel him to a four stroke lead over the Aussie duo on four-under.
Dodt, who was joint leader on 66 after the opening round, carded a 70 and is well placed going into the second half of the tournament. The Aussie national squad member is joined by Sherratt who also carded an even par 70 in Friday's second round.
Josh Younger shot a 73 for 139 to slightly fall away after a strong opening round, as did Englishman David Horsey who shot a 74 for 140
BIG MOVER IN SECOND ROUND
The big mover was Rudi Bezuidenhout who atoned for an opening round of seven-over 77 with a seven-under 63 today. The spectacular form reversal was made even more impressive by the fact he achieved it in the tough, windy afternoon conditions at La Perouse.
The cut was made at eight over par 152. The winner, who will be be decided on Sunday, will win an exemption into the 2007 MFS Australian Open in December. However the main goal for most players will be to finish in the top-32 which will gain them entry into next week's Australian amateur match-play championship.
Colin Farquharson writes:
You wouldn't know it from the Australian website writer's report, but Walker Cup Scot Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw), pictured above, and Scottish open amateur stroke-play champion Scott Henry (Cardross) are doing well.
Saltman is in joint fourth place on 138 after an excellent second round of five-under-par 65 while young Henry is among a group in joint 10th place on 140. Scott has scored 71 and 69 so far.
Paul O'Hara (Colville Park) easily made the top 70 and ties who go on to the final 36 holes. Paul has scored 74 and 69 for 143.

Scottish amateur match-play champion Kevin McAlpine (Alyth) was a casualty, however. His scores of 72 and 77 for 149 added up to just one shot too many to beat the cut.

HALFWAY LEADER BOARD
Par 140 (2 x 70)
132 B Parker (England) 67 65.
136 J Sheratt (South Australia) 66 70, A Dodt (Queensland) 66 70.
138 L Saltman (Scotland) 73 65, M Foster (West Australia) 69 69, S Arnold (New South Wales) 70 68, J Gill (New Zealand) 70 68.
139 J Roach (New South Wales) 70 69, J Younger (Victoria) 66 73.
140 D Nisbet (Queensland) 70 70, T Ropiha (New Zealand) 67 73, J Roxby (South Australia) 68 72, S Smith (Queensland) 69 71, R Bezuidenhout (New South Wales) 77 63, S Henry (Scotland) 71 69, R Blizard (New South Wales) 70 70, D Horsey (Eng) 66 74.
141 D Lee (New Zealand) 72 69.

142 L Peterson (New South Wales) 70 72, N Ratanakul (Thailand) 67 65, B haines (West Australia) 66 76, M Jager (West Australia) 66 76.

143 P O'Hara (Scotland) 74 69, G Boyd (England) 71 72, J Scrivener (West Australia) 69 74, Adam Stephens (New South Wales) 68 75, Do Kim (New South Wales) 73 70, Kevin Lee (Korea) 66 77.

Other qualifiers included:

144 J Moul (England) 68 76, S Lewton (England) 74 70.
146 S Benson (England) 75 71.

Non-qualifiers included (148 was cut-off score):

149 K McAlpine (Scotland) 72 77.

153 J Palmer (England) 81 72.

Winner of British title at Balgownie named for April contest

ENGLAND NAME SQUAD FOR BOYS' MATCH v SWEDEN
British boys' champion Matthew Nixon, pictured left, has been named in a six-strong England boys team to face Sweden in a boys' international match at The Buckinghamshire Golf Club on April 10.
Nixon, 17, from Lancashire, joined an impressive list of former champions such as Jose Maria Olazabal, David Howell and Ken Ferrie when he took the title at Royal Aberdeen last August. The other members of the team to face the Swedes are Oscar Sharpe (Minchinhampton), Tom Berry and Gary King from Surrey, Jack Hiluta from Essex and Northamptonshire’s Adam Myers.
Hiluta, King and Nixon are members of England’s under-18 squad while Berry, Myers and Sharpe are in the under-16 squad.Hiluta, 17, made an impressive debut for England in last year’s boys' home internationals at Lossiemouth where he won five of his six matches. This year he has played in the triangular match against Canada and South Africa near Pretoria and beat full cap David Horsey on his way to the last 16 of the Spanish men's open amateur championship.
King, who made his debut in the annual under 16 international with Scotland at Hartlepool last autumn, is among a crop of talented youngsters to emerge from Surrey. A former Surrey under- 14 champion, earlier this year he finished runner-up to county colleague Seve Benson in the Qatar Open Amateur in Doha.
Prior to his British boys' championship triumph at Balgownie, Nixon finished second in the North of England under-16 championship in 2005 and last year was runner-up in the Lancashire men's and boys' championships.Berry, 16, the Surrey under-14 champion in 2005, finished runner-up in the Reid Trophy (England Under-14 championship) that year and played against the Swedes 12 months ago at Meon Valley. He helped England win the Nations Cup in last year’s McGregor Trophy at Worthing and represented Surrey in the boys' county finals at Pannal.
Myers, England under-16 champion in 2005, has been capped at that level for the past two years and was also a member of a winning Nations Cup team at Worthing.
Fourteen-year-old Sharpe from Gloucestershire made history last year when he won the under-14, 15 and 16 titles following his victories at Worthing and Gosforth. He also won the Douglas Johns Trophy and the North of England boys' championship and represented England at under-16 level against Spain and Scotland.The match with Sweden will consist of three morning foursomes followed by six singles.

The full England boys' team is:
Tom Berry (Wentworth), Jack Hiluta (Chelmsford), Gary King (Tyrrells Wood), Adam Myers (Northants County), Matthew Nixon (Ashton-under-Lyne), Oscar Sharpe (Minchinhampton).

LATEST BULLETINS ON RENTON
LAIDLAW'S CONDITION
(scroll down for 5.30pm update)

From Mitchell Platts of the European Tour.

Friday am
Renton remains upbeat, as do the specialists, but whenever the heart is strained or backfiring there is concern, so he might be transferred to the heart hospital this weekend to have a proper pacemaker fitted which the cardiologist wants done soon rather than later.
Otherwise Jennifer - his sister - reported good progress and once again thanks everyone for their thoughts and for so kindly not putting the hospital switchboard under pressure.
If you do wish to send a card, the address is:
Renton Laidlaw, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, The Critical Care Unit, Fulham Road, London SW3 6JJ.

Later message from Mitchell Platts:

I have just spoken to Jennifer again. Please direct all mail to her - Jennifer Laidlaw, The Caledonian Club, 9 Halkin Street, London SW1X 7DR.
No flowers, no fruit at this time to the hospital - they simply could not cope. We should wait until Renton is settled into a proper ward.

Friday pm update
Not such a great day for Renton. He has been in a lot of pain and they will be doing a scan to try and locate the problem.
Regards
Mitchell Platts
Thanks
Mitchell

JAMES BYRNE BOOSTS SCOTS

WITH A 68 IN EUROPEAN

NATIONS CUP IN SPAIN

A fine four-under-par round of 68 - the best of the day - by James Byrne, pictured right, from Banchory lifted Scotland up the standings at the halfway stage of the European Nations Cup, which used to be called the Sherry Cup, at Royal Sotogrande Golf Club on Spain's Costa del Sol.
Coupled with a 74 from Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie) and a 75 from John Gallagher (Swanston) that put the Scots in joint eighth place on 444 - 15 shots behind leaders Ireland for whom European individual champion Rory McIlroy from Belfast had a 70.
Byrne is now in joint fourth place in the individual standings on 143 - five behind Norway's Marius Thorp (138).
Germany are dominating the women's section with a seven-stroke lead from Spain in the team event and a four-shot advantage for Katharina Schallenberg in the individual standings.

HALFWAY SCOREBOARD
Par 144 (2 x 72)
MEN'S TEAM EVENT
429 IRELAND ( R McIlroy 70, S Lowry 72, S Ward 73).
432 PORTUGAL.
433 WALES (N Edwards 71, C Evans 72, L Matthews 73).
438 ENGLAND (P Waring 73, G Wolstenholme 74, E Richardson 74), DENMARK.
439 NORWAY, SWEDEN.
444 SCOTLAND (J Byrne 68, G Campbell 74, J Gallagher 75), GERMANY, FINLAND.
447 SPAIN.
451 SLOVENIA, AUSTRIA.
452 BELGIUM, NETHERLANDS.
454 ITALY

MEN'S INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS
138 M Thorp (Nor) 69 69.
139 R McIlroy (Ire) 69 70.
141 Xavier Feyaerts 69 72.
143 James Byrne (Sco) 75 68, T Rosendahl 73 71, M Veijalainen 72 71.
144 N Edwards (Wal) 73 71, R Nielsen 73 71, S Ward (Ire) 71 73, L Matthews (Wal) 71 73.
Other scores:
145 C Evans (Wal) 73 71, G Wolstenholme (Eng) 74 74 (jt 11th).
146 M Cryer (Eng) 72 74 (jt 17th).
147 P Waring (Eng) 74 73 (jt 19th).
148 S Lowry (Ire) 76 72 (jt 23rd).
150 G Campbell (Sco) 76 74 (jt 30th).
151 J Gallagher (Sco) 76 75, C Cousins (Wal) 75 76, N Kearney (Ire) 74 77 (jt 35th).
155 E Richardson (Eng) 81 74, S McEwan (Sco) 79 76 (jt 50th).

WOMEN'S TEAM EVENT
284 GERMANY.
291 SPAIN.
295 WALES (S Hassan 72, B Loucks 75), DENMARK.
296 ENGLAND ( N Edwards 75, K Smith 75).
297 NETHERLANDS.
303 BELGIUM.
308 FINLAND.
309 AUSTRIA.
310 ITALY.

WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS
140 K Schallenberg (Ger) 69 71.
144 C Masson (Ger) 73 71.
145 M Silva Zamora (Spa) 71 74, K Smith (Eng) 70 75.
146 S Hassan (Wal) 74 72.
Other scores:
149 B Loucks (Wal) 74 75 (jt 9th).
152 M Reid (Eng) 76 76, N Edwards (Eng) 77 75 (jt 16th).
157 T Davies (Wal) 75 82 (jt 26th).

STENSON AND ALLENBY SHARE

DORAL LEAD ON 67

Sweden's Henrik Stenson , pictured right, and Australian Robert Allenby led the field on five-under-par 67 at the end of the first round of the World Golf Championships- CA championship at Doral Golf Resort & Spa, Miami in Florida.

Tiger Woods bounced back from his catastrophic last round in the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a one-under-par 71.

But Ryder Cup team-mates Colin Montgomery and Paul Casey were well down the field on the 76 mark.

LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES

67 H Stenson, R Allenby.

68 T Bjorn.

69 A Baddeley, J M Olazabal, C Howell III.

70 E Els, R Pampling, J Furyk.

71 S Garcia, K J Choi, B Bryant, T Woods, R Sabbatini, T Pernice, jun.

Other scores included:

73 I Poulter, P Harrington, P Broadhurst.

74 Luke Donald, V Singh.
76 P Casey, C Montgomerie.

77 J Bickerton.

80 A Wall.

IRISH EYES SMILING ON

HAWAII AS DANIELLE

SCORES FIRST US WIN

Danielle McVeigh, the 2005 Irish girls’ champion from Kilkeel, Northern Ireland, has scored her first win on the United States’ women’s college golf circuit.
The occasion was the Donnis Thompson Invitational at Kaneohe Klipper Golf Club, Honolulu on Hawaii this week.
Danielle, a 6ft freshman (first-year) student at Texas A&M University – the Aggies – birdied two of her last three holes in the 54-hole tournament to tie with Gerina Mendoza (Texas El Paso) at the top of the leaderboard on one-over-par 217 for the 5,829yd, par-72 course.
Then Danielle, pictured above, rammed in yet another birdie putt, this one of some 15ft, for a winning birdie at the first sudden-death play-off hole.
Texas A&M women’s golf coach Joanne Sutherland said: “Danielle has been striking the ball well throughout the season. She’s been working hard on her putting and it’s been getting better and better. It’s great for her to see all the hard work pay off.”
The coach really had reasons to be cheerful because Danielle’s individual victory and terrific last round of three-under-par 69, enabled Texas A&M to come from behind to pip Arizona, the favourites, for the team title.
Miss McVeigh’s scores were 74, 74 and 69. Gerina Mendoza, who was five shots ahead of her Irish rival after 36 holes, scored 73, 70 and 74.
Danielle will be 20 on September 14.
Scotland international player Gemma Webster (Ohio State) finished joint 18th in a field of 73 with scores of 79, 75 and 78 for 232.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
217 Danielle McVeigh (Texas A&M) 74 74 69, Gerina Mendoza (Texas El Paso) 73 70 74. McVeigh won play-off at first extra hole.
221 Laura Fourdraine (Rollins) 75 73 73.
222 Alison Walshe (Arizona) 74 74 74.
223 Amanda Wilson (Arizona) 75 72 76.
Other score:
232 Gemma Webster (Ohio State) 79 75 78.
LEADING TEAM TOTALS
897 Texas A&M. 899 Arizona. 917 Brigham Youong. 9231 Rollins College. 924 Colorado State. 932 Ohio State. 12 teams took part.

NOW MICHELLE WIE WILL MISS

LPGA'S FIRST MAJOR OF

SEASON WITH WRIST INJURY

Michelle Wie is to miss the first major tournament of the LPGA season - the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
A wrist injury ruled her out of this week's Safeway Invitational. Now it has delayed the 17-year-old's comeback on the competitive season even longer.
"Michelle wants to make sure she gives fans everything she can the next time she steps on the course. She's not there yet," said a statement from her management team.
Wie tied for third in last year's Kraft Nabisco event at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage. She finished one shot out of a play-off, won in dramatic fashion by Karrie Webb.

YOUNG SPANISH ACE PABLO READY TO

TURN PROFESSIONAL IN JUNE

Pablo Martin, the young Spaniard who could be the next Sergio Garcia, has flown from the United States - where he is a student at Oklahoma State University, to Portugal for two European Tour events.

Pablo, pictured right, winner of the British boys open amateur championship at Ganton in 2001 as a 15-year-old and then beaten by Rhys Davies in the final of 2003 at Hoylake, will return to the States play for Oklahoma State in the season-ending NCAA championships - then he will say goodbye to the university instead of returning for a fourth and final year.

Oklahoma State coach Mike McGraw said that the Spaniard will probably turn professional after the NCAA event in June.

"Pablo's told me he's not coming back for the 2007-2008 college season," McGraw said. "Now, if he decides tomorrow he wants to come back (for his senior year), I'd welcome him with open arms. But I don't think that's going to happen."
Martin, 20, is a two-time All-American who captured both the Jack Nicklaus and Fred Haskins awards last season as the college nation's outstanding player. Martin, who has not been at his best over the 2006-2007 college season, tied for 63rd at the PGA Tour's Mayakoba Classic in Mexico in late February. He is ranked 22nd in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index this season.

He has won four tournaments at Oklahoma State and ranks first in stroke average for the Cowboys this season (71.08).
"You know I had heard a lot of people felt he would only be with us for one year and then turn pro," said McGraw. "We've had him for three years and they have been three very good years. He's a wonderful and talented young man and it's been great having him around. All of us here wish him all the best."

+Pablo Martin is off the boil at the moment. He had a three-over-par 75 in the Madeira Islands Open today.

LAWRIE (75) FACES UPHILL BATTLE
TO BEAT MADEIRA OPEN CUT

Paul Lawrie faced another uphill battle to beat the halfway cut after a first-round 75 (40-35) in the Madeira Islands Open at Sant da Serra Golf Club.
The Aberdonian should have felt at home because it was a day of wind, rain and cold.
Paul bogeyed the third, fifth, eighth, ninth and 13th and was five over par before he birdied the 16th and 17th to keep his hopes alive.
Steven O'Hara had a 71 (36-35), Euan Little a 73 (35-38). David Drysdale came in later with a 73 (37-36).
Andrew McArthur had a 75 (39-36) and West Linton-based Welshman Gareth Wright a sad 81.
Play was halted at 7.12 pm local time because it was too dark for a handful of players to complete their first rounds, the most notable of which is Italy's rising star, Edoardo Molinari. He is three under par with two holes to play.
Not so notable is former Scottish amateur champion George Murray who is seven over par with three holes to finish on Friday morning.

FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
66 Ricardo Santos (Por).
67 Peter Baker (Eng), Notah Begay III (US).
68 Robert-Ian Derksen (Net), Daniel Vancsik (Arg), Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Martin Kaymer (Ger).
69 Santiago Luna.
Other scores:
70 Sam Little (Eng), Oliver Wilson (Eng).
72 Oliver Fisher (Eng).

Scottish scores:
71 Steven O'Hara (36-35).
73 Euan Little (35-38), David Drysdale (37-36).
75 Paul Lawrie (40-35), Andrew McArthur (39-36).

GOOSEN TO MAKE DEBUT AT

CELTIC MANOR WALES

OPEN IN MAY

Twice US Open champion Retief Goosen will tee up as the biggest international name ever to appear in the Celtic Manor Wales Open when he makes his debut in the £1.5m event this May.
Goosen, pictured right, the world No 3 a year ago, has been one of the leading forces in world golf since winning his first major championship at the 2001 US Open in Tulsa.
He cemented his place among golf’s ‘Big Five’ alongside Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els when he won his second US Open with a supreme display of nerveless putting at Shinnecock Hills in 2004.
A truly global golfer with four other US Tour victories to his name, Goosen is second on this year’s Order of Merit after capturing his 14th title on the European Tour International Schedule at the Commercialbank Qatar Masters in January.
The easy-going South African will join a galaxy of stars at the Celtic Manor Wales Open from May 31 to June 3.

Now in its eighth year at the host venue for the 2010 Ryder Cup, and carrying a prize fund of £1.5m, the Celtic Manor Wales Open is one of the top ten events on the European Tour and continues to enjoy a prime early summer date the week after the tour’s flagship BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

MOUL STILL NO 1 AS DAVIES
MOVES UP TO NO 4
FOR FIRST TIME

England's Jamie Moul stays at the No 1 position in this week's R&A World Amateur Golf Rankings. It's his sixth week in that lofty position and there's no change in the Nos 2 and 3 spots currently held by Rory McIlroy from Belfast and former No 1 Richie Ramsay (Royal Aberdeen).
Edinburgh-born Welshman Rhys Davies (East Tennessee State University), on the strength of yet another win on the US college circuit - his 10th in all, moves up to fourth place, his highest yet, and American Billy Horschel also rises to No 5.

TOP 50 PLACINGS THIS WEEK.
1 Jamie Moul (Eng) 1171.05.
2 Rory McIlroy (Ire) 1154.00.
3 Richie Ramsay (Sco) 1119.44.
4 Rhys Davies (Wal) 1072.41.
5 Billy Horschel (US) 1064.15.
6 Pablo Martin (Spa) 1041.51.
7 Jamie Lovemark (US) 1029.73.
8 Gary Wolstenholme (Eng) 1021.82
9 Chris Kirk (US) 1011.11.
10 Kyle Stanley (US) 1000.00

11 Jonathan Moore (US) 996.61.
12 Webb Simpson (US) 991.53.
13 Bronson La Cassie (Aus0 983.87.
14 John Parry (Eng) 965.71.
15 Niklas Lemke (Swe) 957.58.
16 Dustin Johnson (US) 948.44.
17 Seve Benson (Eng) 946.34.
18 Tim Stewart (Aus) 945.88.
19 Julien Guerrier (Fra) 944.19.
20 Johan Carlsson (Swe) 930.30.

21 Gary Woodland (US) 926.67.
22 Rob Grube (US) 907.14.
23 Louis de Jager (SAf) 904.26.
24 David Horsey (Eng) 901.96.
25 Nigel Edwards (Wal) 897.56.
26 Bjorn Akesson (Swe) 893.94.
27 Ryan Yip (Can) 891.89.
28 Brian Harman (US) 890.00.
29 Cameron Tringale (US) 888.00.
30 Stephen Lewton (Eng) 881.82

31 Kevin Chappell (US) 881.82.
32 Dawie Van Der Walt (SAfr) 880.82.
33 Marius Thorp (Nor) 875.00.
34 Ruan Botha (SAfr) 872.00.
35 Lloyd Saltman (Sco) 869.81.
36 Oscar Floren (Swe) 868.42.
37 Alex Prugh (US) 866.00.
38 Daniel Summerhays (US) 858.00.
39 Colt Knost (US) 854.90.
40 Andrew Dodt (Aus) 854.41.

41 Rick Kulacz (Aus) 853.75.
42 Alan Wagner (Arg) 852.94.
43 Luke List (US) 851.92.
44 Paul O'Hara (Sco) 847.92.
45 Hudson Swafford (USP 847.06.
46 Trip Kuehne (US) 846.88.
47 James Gill (NZ) 842.86.
48 Gary Boyd (Eng) 837.50.
49 Branden Grace (SAf) 830.14.
50 Robert Riesen (US) 823.26.

Other Scots in the top 100:
62 Duncan Stewart 802.78.
78 John Gallagher 787.04.
84 Callum Macaulay 782.35.
93 Scott Henry 768.29.
99 Jonathan King 756.25.

Asian Tour moves on to Bintan, Indonesia

THREE HOLES WILL KEEP BARRY

HUME AWAKE TONIGHT AFTER

76 IN INDONESIA

Former Scottish amateur champion Barry Hume had the kind of round that the description "nightmare" does not do justice to in the first round of the Motoralo International Bintan tournament, Indonesia today.
While American veteran Mike Cunning and New Zealand's Mark Brown were jointly establish a new course record mark of six-under par 66, Barry, pictured right, was running up a four-over-par 76.

On the credit side, he had birdies at the first, eighth, 10th and 11 in halves of 37 and 39.

He did not have any single bogeys .... but he had a triple bogey 8 at the seventh, a double-bogey 6 at the 14th and a double-bogey 7 at the 16th.

Other Scots in the field for this latest Asian Tour event, Simon Dunn and Ross Bain, scored 74 and 76 respectively.

The inaugural US$350,000 Asian Tour event enjoyed a spectacular launch at the picturesque Ria Bintan Golf Club as Malaysia's P. Gunasegaran and England's Yasin Ali produced hole-in-ones en route to a 68 and 69 respectively.
Thailand's newcomer Kwanchai Tannin also delivered the fireworks with eight birdies for a 67 to share third place with Korean duo Ted Oh and Han Lee. Another Korean, Park Jun-won, American Clay Devers, Australian Peter Fowler, Canadian Rick Gibson and Chinese Taipei's Lin Keng-chi, Asia's No. 1 in 1995, are tied sixth on 68.
A 70min suspension of play due to lightning in the afternoon meant that 27 players failed to complete their opening rounds. They will resume play at 6.35am on Friday.
Ten years after winning Asia's Order of Merit, Cunning is preparing for a career on the Seniors Tour as he will turn 49 in July. But he showed glimpses of his best form with a glorious start in the Motorola International Bintan
"I've re-dedicated myself to the game. Last year wasn't much fun (when he missed 11 cuts from 15 tournaments). I wasn't concentrating and wasn't enjoying the golf that I was playing. If you're not enjoying what you're doing, it's always going to be a struggle," said Cunning, who has one victory and 27 top-10s on the Asian Tour.
The Motorola International Bintan, promoted by Global Premier Sports and is a full field Asian Tour event, also features 10 invited players each from the Japan Golf Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia.

LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 72
66 Mark Brown (NZ), Mike Cunning (US).
67 Kwanchai Tannin (Tha), Han Lee (Kor), Ted Oh (Kor).
68 Rick Gibson (Can), Lin Keng-chi (Tpe), Park Jun-won (Kor), P Gunasegaran (Mas), Clay Devers (US), Peter Fowler (Aus).
69 Cameron Percy (Aus), Scott Hend (Aus), Yasin Ali (Eng), Jason Knutzon (US), Angelo Que (Phi), Chapchai Nirat (Tha), David Diaz (Aus), Scott Strange (Aus), Airil Rizman Zahari (Mas)
70 Brad Kennedy (Aus), Tatsuhiko Takahashi (Jap), Adam Groom (Aus), Simon Griffiths (Eng), Gareth Paddison (NZ), Taichiro Kiyota (Jap), Chris Campbell (Aus), Masaya Tomida (Jap), Adam Blyth (Aus), Mo Joong-kyung (Kor), Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha), Mardan Mamat (Sin), Soushi Tajima (Jap), Lin Wen-tang (Tpe).

Other scores:

74 Simon Dunn (Sco).

76 Barry Hume (Sco), Ross Bain (Sco).
++ 27 players to complete round one on Friday morning.

SHAUN McALLISTER RETIRES

WITH CHEST PAINS AFTER

ONLY NINE HOLES IN AUSTRALIA

Scottish boys’ amateur stroke-play golf champion Shaun McAllister (pictured right) was taken for a medical check-up after suffering chest pains and withdrawing from the Australian open amateur championship after only nine holes at the New South Wales Golf Club.
His father Neil said:
“Shaun was taken to a doctor to check his heart rhythms, etc. He seems to have had a niggling injury as he told me he had noticed it a couple of times in New Zealand (where he has been spending the winter).
“He went for a big shot reach a par-5 hole and after that couldn’t swing a club and ran up a 9 at the next hole before having to retire. It looks like he has torn a muscle or something.
“He has gutted as he has been working hard on his golf and said he was playing well and was one under par before running up the 9. He has to go back to the doctor again tomorrow and then we will see about when he wants to come home to Scotland.”

Gullane-based Shaun, a Craigielaw Golf Club member, will not be 19 until December 28. After spending last winter in New Zealand working on his golf game, he came out of the blue to win the Scottish boys' open amateur stroke play championship at Alloa, beating the favourite and clubmate Zack Saltman by one stroke after starting the four-round tournament with a brilliant round of 64.
Later Shaun was a member of the Scotland team who won the boys' home international title at Lossiemouth.

HENRY TOP SCOT WITH A 73
Scott Henry, the Scottish open amateur stroke-play champion from Cardross, was the leading Scot at the end of the first round. He had a one-over-par round of 73 on a day when five Australians and England's David Horsey set the pace at four-under-par 68.
Conditions were ideal for the morning starters but those who teed off after lunchtime had to contend with a freshening wind which made sub-par scores very difficult to achieve.
Scottish match-play champion Kevin McAlpine from Alyth had a 74, Walker Cup man Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw) a 75 and Paul O'Hara (Colville Park) a 76.
The top 70 and ties will survive the halfway cut. The top 32 at the end of the four rounds will go forward to the Australian amateur match-play championship at the same venue next week.

LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 72
Players from Australia unless stated
68 Josh Younger, Brenton Haines, Kevin Lee, Jordan Sherratt, Andrew Dodt, David Horsey (Eng), Matthew Jager.
69 Ben Parker (Eng), Troy Ropiha (NZ), Ray Beaufils, Ratanakul Nakarinta (Thai).
Other scores:
70 Jamie Moul (Eng).
73 Gary Boyd (Eng), Scott Henry (Sco).
74 Kevin McAlpine (Sco).
75 Lloyd Saltman (Sco).
76 Paul O'Hara (Sco), Stephen Lewton (Eng).
77 Seve Benson (Eng).
Withdrew: Shaun McAllister (Sco).

SCOTTISHGOLFVIEW.COM SAYS

"SORRY" TO RONNIE MacASKILL

AND SCOTTISH GOLF UNION

Last Thursday, Scottishgolfview.com carried a story under the heading

“ADMIN MIX-UP COSTS RICHIE RAMSAY A PLACE IN ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL.”
In the article, Ronnie MacAskill, Director of Golf at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club, was quoted as saying:
“The ball would appear to be in the Scottish Golf Union’s court because they are responsible for looking after Richie’s administration. It is all part of a learning curve for him as an individual. I’m sure he will be double-checking registrations in future.”
The quote was first published in an Aberdeen newspaper and Scottishgolfview.com, in good faith, repeated it.
The Editor of Scottishgolfview.com now accepts that Mr MacAskill, pictured above, did not make that statement with its implied criticism of the Scottish Golf Union and is happy to apologise to both for any embarrassment caused.

LATEST HOSPITAL BULLETIN ON RENTON LAIDLAW

From Mitchell Platts:

8am Thursday. Huge improvement. The oxygen mask has been removed and Renton's temperature is coming down. The surgeon and the consultants are very happy. There is a long way to go and he will remain in the Critical Care Unit for several days and maybe a week. Jennifer again thanks everyone for their thoughts and love.
She also continues to be grateful to everyone for not trying to call as the hospital switchboard simply could not cope.
The NO VISITORS sign remains posted at this time but I can assure everyone that Jennifer was in a totally different frame of mind having spoken to Renton this morning and been told "You're in early!"
Regards
Mitchell

SCOTS MEN TRAIL AFTER FIRST ROUND
OF EUROPEAN NATIONS CUP IN SPAIN

Scotland have made a slow start in the men's section of the Grey Goose European Nations Cup (formerly the Sherry Cup) at Real Golf Club Sotogrande on Spain's Costa del Sol.
James Byrne from Banchory top-scored for the Scots with a three-over-par 75.
Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie) and John Gallagher (Swanston) both had 76s.
Steven McEwan (Barassie) had a non-counting 79.
Scotland's total of 227 put them in 14th position at the end of the first of four rounds. They are already 13 shots behind the joint leaders, Denmark and Ireland.

FIRST ROUND TEAM TOTALS

214 DENMARK (P Baunsoe 68, R Nielsen 73, N Rasmussen 73), IRELAND (R McIlroy 69, S Ward 71, N Kearney 74).
216 NORWAY (M Thorp 69, A Kristiansen 72, A Friestad 75).
217 WALES (L Matthews 71, N Edwards 73, C Evans 73), ENGLAND (G Wolstenholm 71, M Cyer 72, P Waring 74).
219 SPAIN, PORTUGAL.
220 BELGIUM.
221 SWEDEN.
223 GERMANY.
224 FINLAND, AUSTRIA, SLOVENIA.
227 SCOTLAND (J Byrne 75, G Campbell 76, J Gallagher 76. Non-counter: S McEwan 79).
228 ITALY, NETHERLANDS.

GERMANY LEAD IN WOMEN'S EVENT

In the women's section of the Grey Goose European Nations Cup, the in-form German team lead both the team and individual standings. Scores:

142 GERMANY.
144 SPAIN.
146 ENGLAND (Kerry Smith 70, Melissa Reid 76. Non-counter: Naomi Edwards 77).
148 WALES (Breanne Loucks 74, Sahra Hassan 74. Non-counter; Tara Davies 75), BELGIUM.
150 DENMARK.
151 NETHERLANDS.
155 AUSTRIA.
157 FINLAND, ITALY.
Leading individuals:
69 Katharina Schallenberg (Ger).
70 Kerry Smith (Eng).
71 Marta Silva Zamora (Spa)

EAST OF SCOTLAND OPEN AMATEUR

STROKE PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

ANNOUNCES NEW SPONSOR.
Lundin Golf Club has announced the signing of a new sponsorship deal with Bobby Jones Golf Europe who will become the new major sponsor of the East of Scotland Open Amateur Championship held at Lundin at the end of June each year.
The agreement, launched as the Scottish amateur golf season is looming, is worth a five-figure sum over three years. This will provide a boost to “The East” finances and enable the organisers to maintain the high standard expected of this event.
David Moir, President of the Scottish Golf Union and convenor of the East of Scotland Open Championship Committee since its inception in 1973, said:
“The securing of a sponsor of the calibre of Bobby Jones Golf Europe is a massive boost. It is vital that we continue to grow our revenues from sponsorship to keep The East at the level to which the most important people, the players, have grown accustomed over the last 35 years.”
Bobby Jones Golf Europe MD, Mark Richardson, added:
“We are delighted to be working with Lundin and are proud to sponsor an event as prestigious as the East of Scotland Amateur Stroke Play Championship. Bobby Jones was probably the finest amateur golfer of all time and Bobby Jones Golf Europe is pleased to sponsor a key amateur championship.
"The East is a thoroughly professionally run championship and we are looking forward to working towards a long term partnership.”
+++Bobby Jones Golf products befit the standards that the legendary R T Jones demanded for himself. The designs conceived by the world renowned designer Jesse Ortiz have been crafted with style but, at the same time, are exacting in choice and quality of materials. The range of clubs has been crafted with the amateur golfer in mind; easy to use and inspire confidence. The style, sound and feel is also appreciated by tour and club professionals alike.

LEHMAN AND WOOSNAM IN FIELD FOR
TELECOM ITALIAN OPEN MAY 3 to 6

Tom Lehman and Ian Woosnam, respective captains of the United States and Europe in the 2006 Ryder Cup, will be reunited for the first time on European soil since the contest at The K Club when they compete in the 2007 Telecom Italia Open which will feature a record prize fund of 1,700,000 Euros.
The tournament, at the picturesque Castello di Tolcinasco Golf and Country Club on the outskirts of Milan, will take place from May 3 to 6 and will be the 64th overall staging of an event which has been a fixture on The European Tour International Schedule since 1972.
This year’s record prize fund represents an increase of €300,000 on the 2006 figure and will feature a first prize of €283,330, €50,000 more than the cheque pocketed by Francesco Molinari after his memorable triumph in his home country last May.
Lehman, who has five US PGA Tour victories to his name, is a frequent visitor to Europe and indeed won the 1996 Open championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes and the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond on The European Tour a year later.
But the visit to Milan will represent the 47 year old American’s first appearance in the Telecom Italia Open.
“I am very much looking forward to my trip to Italy and my debut in the Telecom Italia Open,” said Lehman. “Milan is such a beautiful city and I have been told that Castello di Tolcinasco is a wonderful venue – I look forward to the test it will present.”

RENTON LAIDLAW IN HOSPITAL: LATEST BULLETIN

Later news on Renton Laidlaw's condition in hospital (scroll down for the earlier news):

FROM MITCHELL PLATTS of The European Tour:

4.00pm Bulletin: The pacemaker has been fitted! They came to Renton!! The surgeon decided it had to be done so that it is there to rectify any problems with the heart. It is a temporary job, fitted in his neck. All is well with that.
The one concern is his temperature. Clearly, they are monitoring the situation and if it remains high then they will do a scan in 36-hours to check for any potential causes such as an abcess. Jennifer again asked if I would thank everyone for their thoughts and especially for not bothering the hospital switchboard or herself at this time.
The NO VISITORS sign is posted at this time for all the right reasons. Renton is well aware of all the messages and love being sent to him from everyone around the world.
Thanks and regards,
Mitchell

ESSON AND McINNES TO PLAY

OFF FOR NORTH-EAST

ALLIANCE TITLE

From COLIN FARQUHARSON

Portlethen +3 amateur Gary Esson and Murcar Links staff professional Graeme McInnes, pictured right, will meet over the latter’s home course next Thursday (8.30 am) in a play-off to decide who is the North-east Golfers’ Alliance champion.
They tied on four-under-par 134 after the second round of the 36-hole championship at Fraserburgh Golf Club today.
Esson overtook halfway leader Terry Mathieson (Murcar Links), who shot a 64 at Duff House Royal in the first round last week, to take the clear clubhouse lead for several hours with a one-under-par 69 to add to his first-round 65.
Gary overcame a bogey-bogey start to birdie the seventh, 10th, 12th, 14th and 17th
Terry, who has a +2 rating, could not get a birdie putt to drop over the last 11 holes and parred every one for a 71 (36-35) and 135.
Then, playing in the last threesome in a field of 85, McInnes, sank birdie putts of 15ft at the 17th and 10ft at the last for a superb score of five-under-par 65 and an aggregate of 134.

ESSON LOST PLAY-OFF LAST YEAR
Esson was involved in a play-off for the championship last year – and lost to Ryan Fitzpatrick. McInnes won this title as an amateur in 1996 and a professional in 2001.
Billy Main (Murcar Links) made it an all-amateur 1-2-3 with a fine round of 67 for 139. Like Gary Esson, Billy started with back-to-back bogeys but birdied three in a row from the fourth and actually covered the last 15 holes in five under par because he birdied the 10th and 15th in halves of 34 and 33.
Retired professional Ian Smith, who had been given a handicap of six this past winter season to compensate for his age, rolled back the years in both rounds of the championship to finish up the winner of Class 1 of the Handicap Section.
Ian had a net 67 at Banff and then a net 65 at Fraserburgh to finish four strokes clear of the Class 1 field with a net total of 132.
"I could have been a lot better today, you know, but I did get up and down quite a few times when I missed the green. I'll suppose I'll be back to scratch for the start of the next North-east Alliance season," said Ian.
You can say that again, Mr Smith!
Paul Cornfield, an 11-handicapper at Auchmill, was No 1 in the Class 2 Handicap Section with net rounds of 71 at Duff House Royal and 68 at Fraserburgh for 139 - two shots ahead of clubmate Graeme Travis, who plays off 15.

ESSON-McINNES MEET AGAIN IN PRO-AM FOURSOMES
In the computer-drawn foursomes ties for Murcar Links next Thursday, Graeme McInnes and Gary Esson will meet again, immediately after their play-off is completed, in the first round of the Evening Express Shield pro-am tournament.
Graeme has young Dean Yeats as his partner while Gary will be partnered by Kings Links Golf Centre staff professional Steven Troup.

FINAL TOTALS
First round: Duff House Royal, Par 68.
Second round: Fraserburgh, Par 70
134 G Esson (Portlethen) 65 69, G McInnes (Murcar Links) 69 65.
135 T Mathieson (Murcar Links) 64 71.
139 W Main (Murcar Links) 72 67.
141 P Cormack (Inchmarlo) 67 74, P Lovie (Inchmarlo) 69 72.
142 G Grimmer (Nigg Bay) 69 73, C Stephen (Meldrum House) 69 73, D Yeats (Newmachar) 68 74.
143 C Nelson (MacKenzie Club) 71 72.
144 R Stewart (Cruden Bay) 69 75, R Hyland (Hazelehead) 73 71, I D Smith (Hazlehead) 73 71.
145 S Pert (Huntly) 70 75, S Fraser (Royal Aberdeen) 73 72.
146 S Finnie (Caledonian) 70 76.
147 A Campbell (Deeside) 69 78, B Ritchie (Inverallochy) 74 73, N Reid (Deeside) 77 70, S Troup (Kings Links) 70 77, C Alexander (Murcar Links) 71 76.
148 S Scott (Auchmill) 75 73, J Roberts (Cruden Bay) 72 76, L Barbour (Cruden Bay) 75 73, I Welsh (Nigg Bay) 79 69, R McDonald (Kemnay) 72 76.
149 J Nicholson (Auchmill) 72 77.
150 A K Pirie (Hazlehead) 74 76.
151 S Davidson (Banchory) 78 73.
152 J M Hamilton (Murcar Links) 74 78, A Innes (Murcar Links) 74 78.
153 S Chalmers (Banchory) 76 77.
154 D Nelson (Aboyne) 78 76, D Corkey (East Aberdeenshire) 74 80.
155 C Hood (Alford) 77 78, R L Nicoll (Murcar Links) 76 79, N Williamson (Banchory) 75 80.
159 B Harper (Newburgh) 76 83, J Kinsella (Braemar) 77 82, D Leighton (Murcar Links) 79 80.

LEADING HANDICAP TOTALS
CLASS 1
132 I D Smith (Hazlehead) (6) 67 65. 136 J Roberts (Cruden Bay) (6) 66 70. 137 C Hood C(Alford) (9) 68 69. 138 G Grimmer (Nigg Bay) (2) 67 71. 139 W Main (Murcar Links) (+2) 72 67, T Mathieson (Murcar Links) (+2) 66 73, S Pert (Huntly) (3) 67 72. 140 G Esson (Portlethen) (+3) 68 72. 141 C Alexander (Murcar Links) (43) 68 73, J Nicolson (Auchmill) (4) 68 73. 142 S Scott (Auchmill) (3) 72 70, J M Hamilton (Murcar Links) (5) 69 73, A Grant (Portlethen) (7) 71 71,D Nelson (Aboyne) (6) 72 70. 143 J Kinsella (Braemar) (8) 69 74, B Ritchie (Inverallochy) (2) 72 71, N Williamson (Banchory) (6) 69 74, S Fraser (Royal Aberdeen) (1) 72 71. 144 A Buchan (Northern) (9) 65 79. 145 R L Nicoll (Murcar Links) 95) 71 74, R Hyland (Hazlehead) (+1) 71 74.

CLASS 2
139 P Cornfield (Auchmill) (11) 71 68. 141 G Travis (Auchmill) (15) 68 73. 142 I Strachan (Royal Aberdeen) (11) 70 72. 144 B Lumsden (Northern) (16) 71 73, W McBain (Turriff) (13) 68 76. 146 W D Rae (Kemnay) (11) 73 73, D Wood (Newburgh) (14) 74 72, G Kennedy (Meldrum House) (11) 75 71, M F R Rogers (Kemnay) (14) 71 75, D Moir (Murcar Links) (12) 70 76. 147 N A Ogston (Turriff) (11) 70 77, J Wilson (Deeside) (10) 72 75. 150 J Short (Murcar Links) (14) 75 75. 151 R Alison (Deeide) (13) 76 75, R Addison (Newburgh) (18) 74 77, J Jessiman (Oldmeldrum) (14) 74 77. 152 W Forbes (Murcar Links) (15) 73 79.

FRASERBURGH PAR SCORECARD 70
OUT: 4-4-4-4-3-5-3-4-4-35. IN: 4-4-4-4-3-5-4-3-4-35

GRAEME McINNES 65
OUT: 4-4-3-4-3-5-3-4-4-34. IN: 3-4-3-4-3-5-4-2-3-31

BILLY MAIN 67
OUT: 5-5-4-3-2-4-3-4-4-34. IN: 3-4-4-4-3-4-4-3-4-33

GARY ESSON 69
OUT: 5-5-4-4-3-5-2-5-4-37. IN: 3-4-3-4-2-5-5-2-4-32

IAN WELSH 69
OUT: 4-5-3-3-3--5-4-4-4-35. IN: 3-4-4-5-3-4-4-3-4-34

NICK REID 70
OUT: 5-4-4-6-3-4-3-4-4-37. IN: 3-4-4-4-3-4-4-3-4-33

TERRY MATHIESON 71
OUT: 4-5-3-4-3-5-4-4-4-36. IN: 4-4-4-4-3-5-4-3-4-35

Draws for next Thursday and Friday's pro-am and am-am match-play foursomes competitions at Murcar Links:

EVENING EXPRESS SHIELD
First round

9.0 N Reid (Deeside) & C Stephen (Meldrum House) v S Davidson (Banchory) & T Mathieson (Murcar Links).

9.10 R McDonald (Kemnay) & S Fraser (Royal Aberdeen) v I D Smith (Hazlehead) & W Main (Murcar Links.

9.20 S Troup (King's Links) & G Esson (Portlethen) v G McInnes (Murcar Links) & D Yeats (Newmachar).

9.30 P Cormack (Inchmarlo) & R Hyland (Hazlehead) v P Lovie (Inchmarlo) & G Grimmer (Nigg Bay).

PRESS & JOURNAL SHIELD
First round

9.40 J Roberts (Cruden Bay) (6) & P Cornfield (Aucmhill) (11) v C Alexander (Murcar Links) (3) & I Strachan (Royal Aberdeen) (11). Roberts & Cornfield receive two strokes.

9.50 B Ritchie (Inverallochy) (2) & D Wood (Newburgh) (14) v S Scott (Auchmill) (3) & W McBain (Turriff) (13). Level match.

10.00 A Grant (Portlethen) (7) & W D Rae (Kemnay) (11) v J M Hamilton (Murcar Liks) (5) & G Travis (Auchmill) (15). Hamilton & Travis receive one stroke.

10.10 C Hood (Alford) (9) & B Lumsden (Northern) (16) v D Nelson (Aboyne) (6) & G Kennedy (Meldrum House) (11). Hood & Lumsden receive four strokes.

RENTON LAIDLAW RECOVERING FROM
PROSTATE OPERATION IN LONDON

Scottish-born golf journalist Renton Laidlaw, Editor of the R&A Golfers' Handbook and president of the Association of Golf Writers, is recovering in hospital in London following complications during an operation to remove his prostate on Monday.
Later news from Mitchell Platts, a long-time colleague, is:

"This morning's update is that Renton will probably be moved to the royal Brompton Heart Hospital to have a pacemaker fitt4ed. It would appear that the cancer surgery has been successful but that his heart is causing concern.
"Renton's heart did stop during the operation which lasted 11 hours instead of three and it was a very close call. He is drowsy this morning and he does not know where he is, which, his sister Jennifer says, is a very, very good bulletin compared with 24 hours ago.
"Jennifer thanks everyone for their calls (which clearly she cannot return) and messages."

Even later bulletin from Mitchell Platts:
"Latest from Jennifer is that Renton will not be moved because he must remain in the Critical Care Unit for four to six days. This is because his temperature is high and there would be a fear of infection if they tried to fit even a temporary pacemaker. Nevertheless Jennifer has been assured this morning that they are quite happy with Renton's progress at this time.
"She has also stressed, and she does apologise for this, that at this time it is best not to phone the hospital as they simply cannot cope with a high volume of calls, and understandably they might get a touch tetchy, and she thanks you all for your understanding. Jennifer will get round to making more calls herself next week."

Renton, who spent his early journalistic years with the Edinburgh Evening News and Grampian Television, originally moved south to work for the London Evening Standard.
He has homes at Drumoig and Sunningdale in Berkshire

INVERNESS, INSCH PRO-AMS ADDED TO
TARTAN TOUR FOR 2007
Two more pro-ams have been added to the Tartan Tour list of events which was issued a month or two ago.
There will be a SSPCA pro-am at Inverness Golf Club on September 10 and a young professionals' pro-am at Insch Golf Club on September 14.
This means that around £600,000 of prizemoney will be on offer on the PGA Scottish Region circuit this season.

CALLUM FINISHES JT 38th AFTER A
COUPLE OF TRIPLE BOGEYS

Tulliallan's Callum Macaulay (Mississippi University) had two triple bogey 7s over the three rounds of the Pinehurst Intercollegiate tournament at the Pinehurst No 8 course, North Carolina.
The Scot, pictured right, had rounds of 74, 77 and 77 for a 12-over-par total of 228 for the 7,035yd course. Callum had a triple bogey 7 at the 14th hole of his final round which included birdies at the second, 16th and 17th. He had a triple bogey 7 at the second hole in his second round. He finished joint 38th.
Irishman Ciaran McAleavey (Toledo) had scores of 77, 78 and 78 for a total of 233 to fill joint 64th place in a field of 96.
Individual title winner was Spanish student Jorge Campillo (Indiana) with 73, 67 and 73 for three-under-par 213. He won by two shots from Colt Knost (Southern Methodist) and Bill Rankin (Michigan).
Indiana (880) also won the title event by five shots from Michigan (885) with Penn State (889) third, Wisconsin (890) fourth and Mississippi sharing fifth place in a field of 18 teams with Southern Methodist on 895

TWO SCOTS FOR MEXICO CITY

Ross Kellett (Colville Park) and Bryan Fotheringham (Forres) will represent Scotland in the Mexican open amateur championship and international pairs tournament, to be staged at Mexico City from March 29 to April 1.

Rhys shaping to be the next Luke Donald or Paul Casey

EDINBURGH-BORN PLAYER

IS RANKED AMERICA’S

NO 1 COLLEGE GOLFER

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Edinburgh-born Welshman Rhys Davies, a senior-year golf scholarship student at East Tennessee State University, has been named the No 1 male player on the United States college golf circuit for the first time in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings this week.
Davies, pictured right, who will be 22 on May 28, was born in Edinburgh when his father worked there. He was later brought up in Bridgend, South Wales. Rhys has won his last two American college tournaments and 10 in all in his four years in America.
He won the British boys’ championship at Hoylake in 2003 and was a member of the GB&I Walker Cup team in Chicago in 2005. He is a racing certainty to play in this year's Walker Cup match at Royal County Down, Northern Ireland in September and looks like being the next Luke Donald or Paul Casey who both starred on the American college golf scene before turning professional and rapidly climbing to Ryder Cup status.

DUNCAN STEWART LEADING SCOT
The leading Scots in the updated rankings are Jacksonville University, Florida pair, Duncan Stewart from Grantown on Spey and Russell Knox from Inverness in 34th and 82nd positions respectively.
Callum Macaulay (Mississippi University) from Tulliallan is ranked No 128 and Wallace Booth (Augusta State) from Comrie is 158th.
The full list - if we have missed out anyone, please contact us - of British and Irish players in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin male US college rankings is coming up, but first, let us have a look at the top 10 from every nation (US unless stated).
1 Rhys Davies (East Tennessee State) from Wales.
2 Jamie Lovermark (South Carolina).
4 Billy Horschell (Florida).
4 Brian Harman (Georgia).
5 Chris Kirk (Georgia).
6 Niklas Lemke (Arizona State) from Sweden.
7 Charlie Beijan (New Mexico).
8 Daniel Summerhays (Brigham Young).
9 Kyle Stanley (Clemson).
10 Dawie Van DerWalt (Lamar) from South Africa.
Now to pinpoint the GB&I players:
30 Niall Turner (Minnesota) from Cork.
34 Duncan Stewart (East Tennessee State) from Grantown-on-Spey.
46 Peter Richardson (Purdue) from Carlisle.
60 Charles Ford (Tennessee) from Leicester.
61 Gareth Shaw (East Tennessee State) from Lisburn, N Ireland.
79 Johnny Caldwell (South Alabama) from Belfast.
82 Russell Knox (Jacksonville) from Inverness.
118 Daniel Willett (Jacksonville State) from Sheffield.
128 Callum Macaulay (Mississippi) from Tulliallan.
142 Chris Paisley (Tennessee) from Newcastle.
158 Wallace Booth (Augusta State) from Comrie.
191 Tom Sherreard (Georgia State) from Maidstone.
199 Farren Keenan (Texas) from Middlesex.
264 Aaron O'Callaghan (SE Louisiana) from Cork.
277 Ben Taylor (Georgia State) from Hexham.
308 James Taverner (SE Louisiana) from London.
344 Lewis Kirton (Louisville) from Oldmeldrum.
400 Alan Glynn (Xavier) from Middlesex.
403 Fergal Rafferty (Sam Houston) from Omagh, N Ireland.
440 Alex Hogben (Missouri-Kansas City) from Manchester.
518 Ciaran McLeavey (Toledo) from Banbridge, Ireland.
555 Jordan Findlay (East Tennessee State) from Fraserburgh).
562 Cian McNamara (East Tennessee State) from Limerick.
725 Chris Carson (Sam Houston) from Dunoon.
732 Tom Oliver (Purdue) from Nottingham.
1220 Jamie Kennedy (Jacksonville) from Edinburgh.
1709 Stuart Burns (Evansville) from Auchterarder.

+There are other GB&I players at US colleges but some, like Peter McLachlan and Stephen Clark at Missouri-Kansas City have not played in the minium number of tournaments required. Students at junior (two-year) colleges do not qualify for the rankings.

ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

club-out™ – NEVER LOSE A GOLF CLUB AGAIN

Running back to the previous hole to pick up a mislaid club can be a thing of the past, thanks to a new accessory from club-out™ – the latest product to sign up to next month’s London Golf Show.
A unique, simple-to-instal design alerts golfers when they have taken more than one club from the bag – ensuring all clubs are collected on each hole.
club-out™ comprises a patented tube which displays a small alert flag every time a club is removed. If golfers attempt to move on while a flag is showing they know a club is missing.
It’s a simple, yet stunningly practical idea, which will always be there to save golfers both time and money. And the flags are customisable meaning the product is an ideal marketing tool for businesses as well as an invaluable aid for the golfer.
SIMPLE DEVICE BUT IT WORKS
Steve Harper, managing director of Pinnacle Stream, an authorised club-out™ reseller for UK and Europe, explained: “A number of golfers we have spoken to since we launched the product have confirmed what we initially thought – that this simple device will prevent clubs being lost or mislaid and stop the need to go searching for a club left on a previous hole.
“They have also been amazed by the simplicity and effectiveness of club-out™. It’s particularly useful where you are using a buggy or trolley – and have to take several clubs with you when you look for your ball.
“But it is a huge benefit to any golfer simply because it prevents the loss of clubs. It’s just like having your own personal caddy.”
club-out™ makes a perfect gift for a golf-mad loved one or an ideal logo-ed corporate present at a golf day.
club-out™ is available in packs of three and costs only £29.99 each plus P&P. Visit www.club-out.co.uk for more details or to purchase.
■ The London Golf Show is at ExCeL, from April 26-29.

THIS IS HOUSTON CALLING

SCOTLAND - IT'S 80 DEGREES

OVER HERE

Two well-known North-east golfers who are glad to be thousands of miles away from home at this moment in particular are John Gray and Ronnie Brechin, pictured right.

Both played for the North-east District team in their day but now live and work in the Houston area of Texas.

John is employed by Kellogg, Brown & Root while Ronnie works for Wachovia Bank.

"I hear that you've got snow in Aberdeen and the North-east," said John in an E-mail to the Editor. "Sorry to rub it in but it was 80 degrees here in Houston yesterday. The picture shows us after enjoying a game at a local course, which we do often, right through the winter."

ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

SHAUN FLIES OVER FROM
NZ TO JOIN SCOTS
IN AUSSIE STROKE-PLAY

Five Scots are in the field for the Australian men's amateur stroke-play championship which begins on Thursday near Sydney at the New South Wales Golf Club's Dr Alister-MacKenzie-designed links course on the Botany Bay shoreline of the Pacific Ocean.
They are the Scottish Golf Union squad of Kevin McAlpine (Alyth), Scott Henry (Cardross), Paul O'Hara (Colville Park) and Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw) plus Scottish boys' open stroke-play champion Shaun McAllister (Craigielaw), pictured right, who has flown over from New Zealand where he has been spending the winter for the second year in a row.
England have six in the championship - Seve Benson, Gary Boyd, David Horsey, Stephen Lewton, Jamie Moul and Ben Parker.
There will be a cut to the leading 70 players and ties after Friday's second round. The top 32 at the end of the 72-hole championship will qualify for the Australian amateur match-play championship at the same venue from Monday to Thursday next week.
Eric Ramsay (Carnoustie) won the Aussie match-play title in 2005.

NORTH-EAST ALLIANCE CHAMPIONSHIP STILL ON

There is no snow on the Fraserburgh Golf Club course which is open for play today so the second round of the North-east Alliance championship should go ahead as planned tomorrow.
Terry Mathieson (Murcar Links) leads the the field with a four-under-par 64 from the first round at Duff House Royal last week.

DURNESS ALLIANCE
FIXTURE LOST
BECAUSE OF BAD
WEATHER

By ROBIN WILSON
(pictured playing the testing short
18th at Durness - and hitting
the green!)
Unpleasant weather over Durness last weekend caused a second cancellation of the North Golf Alliance fixture at this North-west Sutherland venue. This fixture is now lost as the final Alliance meeting of the season takes place at Tain this weekend followed by the presentation of trophies.
While Tain’s lefty, Munro Ferries, was quite pleased with the first Durness cancellation, the second cancellation meant he lost his last chance to improve on his North venue scores and it leaves the way open for Wick’s Ronnie Taylor to play at Tain on Sunday and make a successful defence of the scratch trophy.
LOCAL PAIR IN THE HUNT

In the hunt for the Handicap Salver are local pair Mike Keay and Steve Holmes. They will be hoping Reay’s Richard MacDonald has an off day when he plays Tain on Sunday for the Caithness player needs only to better net 75 at Tain to win unless the two locals improve greatly on net 71’s they scored at a previous Tain fixture.
Keay and MacDonald share the lead with four-score counts of 276, Holmes is on 281. A danger to all three could yet be Helmsdale’s Graham Grant (278) who is left with a last chance to better a Brora net score of 76 included in his aggregate.
Up for grabs also on Sunday is the Team Trophy with Thurso the holders.

TAIN SIX-CLUB COMPETITION
Tain Golf Club’s official start to the season is scheduled for the weekend of March 31-April 1 but as a preview to the season and an end to winter fixtures they are staging a member’s six club competition on Saturday.
On the same day Golspie Golf Club were due to begin their open fixtures but due to inclement weather being forecast, they have cancelled their first open walk-on competition. No new date has been set.

NORTHERN COUNTIES INVITE

PROFESSIONAL TRIO

TO '40th PARTY' AT ELGIN

By ROBIN WILSON

More details have been released about the Northern Counties Ladies Golf Association's 40th year party at Elgin Golf Club on Sunday, April 22.

To help make the day even more memorable the rule on amateur status for entry into the competition has been waived thus enabling Northern Counties captain, Mairi Orr (Tain) to send invitations to three very notable past county champions and team players who are now professionals - Gillian Stewart (Inverness), pictured right, Liz McKinnon (Nairn) and Lesley Mackay (Golspie).There is also an invitation to all former NCLGA players and officials who would like to play to contact the county captain.

NO SCOTLAND WOMEN'S TEAM IN SHERRY CUP
(NATIONS CUP) IN SPAIN THIS WEEK

The Sherry Cup - two separate individual 72-hole open amateur stroke-play tournaments in the past - become the European Nations Cup championships this year.
Both the men's and women's sections will be played at Royal Sotogrande Golf Club on Spain's Costa del Sol.
Nigel Edwards (Whitchurch) and Katharina Schallenberg (Germany), winners of last year's individual titles, are in the field for this week's events, starting on Wednesday and finishing on Saturday.
The only notable country missing from the men's line-up is France but in the women's Sherry Cup, not only is France absent but also Scotland, Ireland, Sweden and Portugal.
In the women's tournament, there is an entry listed from the host club, Sotogrande, which does not quite add up with the new title of European NATIONS Cup. What it does mean is that Spain have, in effect, two teams in the women's category.
The teams notified to the Spanish Federation are:

MEN
AUSTRIA - Tano Kroer, Christoph Pfau, Wolfgang Rieder, Philip Sharma.
BELGIUM - Xavier Feyaerts, Dimitri Van Doren, Pierre Relecom, Guillaume Watremez.
DENMARK - Peter Baunsoe, Phillip Drost, Rasmus Nielsen, Nicklaez Rasmussen.
ENGLAND - Matthew Cryer (Coventry), Ed Richardson (Southern Valley), Paul Waring (Bromborough), Gary Wolstenholme (Kilworth Springs).
FINLAND - Joonas Granberg, Mikael Salminen, Jukka-Pekka Savolampi, Miro Veisalainen.
GERMANY - Alexander Knappe, Jonas Kilbing, Frederik Schulte, Philip Westermann.
IRELAND - Niall Kearney (Royal Dublin), Shane Lowry (Esker Hills), Rory McIlroy (Holywood), Simon Ward (Co Louth).
ITALY - Marco Guerisoli, Joon Kim, Nunzio Lombardi, Andrea Romano.
NETHERLANDS - Floris De Vries, Wouter De Vries, Richard Kind, Reinier Saxton.
NORWAY - Are Friestad, Frederik Kollevold, Anders Kristiansen, Marius Thorp.
PORTUGAL - Joao Carlota, Jose Maria Cudell, Pedro Figueiredo, Antonio Rosado.
SCOTLAND - James Byrne (Banchory), Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie), John Gallagher (Swanston), Steven McEwan (Barassie).
SLOVENIA - Tim Gornik, Nejc Pogacar, Miha Studen, Jaka Vidmar.
SPAIN - Jesus Legarrea, Carlos Perez Barberan, Inigo Urquizu, Gonsalo Vicente.
SWEDEN - Otto Bonning, Johan Carlsson, Nicklas Glans, Tobias Rosendahl.
WALES - Chris Cousins (Aberdare), Nigel Edwards (Whitchurch), Craig Evans (West Monmouthshire), Llewellyn Matthews (Southerndown).

WOMEN
AUSTRIA - Martina Hochwimmer, Julia Zering, Claudia Wolf
BELGIUM - Valentine Gevers, Laura Gonzalez, Laurence Herman.
DENMARK - Sara Eriksen, Malene Jorgensen, Therese Koelbaek.
ENGLAND - Naomi Edwards (Ganton), Melissa Reid (Chevin), Kerry Smith (Waterlooville).
FINLAND - Satu Harju, Suvi Mantyniemi, Rosa Suahn.
GERMANY - Stephanie Doering, Caroline Masson, Katharina Schallenberg.
ITALY - Federica Angioletti, Anna Roscio, Vittoria Valvassori.
NETHERLANDS - Marjet Van der Graaf, Joan Van de Kraats, Kyra Van Leeuwen.
RGC SOTOGRANDE - Catalina Castillejo Oriol, Emy Garzon Lopez, Minna Kaarnalathi, Maria Orueta Pemartin.
SPAIN - Sonji Cologan Ruiz, Marta Silva Zamora, Ane Urchegui Garcia.
WALES - Tara Davies (Holyhead), Sahra Hassan (Vale of Glamorgan), Breanne Loucks (Wrexham).

TOP SCOTTISH WOMEN'S AMATEUR GOLF
EVENTS NEXT YEAR

Next year's dates and venues of leading women's amateur golf tournaments in Scotland:

May 13-17: Scottish women's closed championship (Moray GC, Lossiemouth).
May 30-June 1: Curtis Cup: GB&I v United States (Old Course, St Andrews).
June 11-15: British women's open amateur championship (North Berwick).
July 15-18: Scottish Under-18 girls' championship (Alyth).
July 24-25: Scottish Under-21 girls' open championship (Powfoot).
August 5-7: British girls' home internationals (Panmure Barry, Carnoustie).
August 11-15: British girls' open championship (Monifieth).
September 3-7: Scottish senior women's closed championships (Deeside).

ENGLISH SENIORS OPEN PRO CHAMPIONSHIP
RETURNS TO NICKLAUS COURSE, ST MELLION

Carl Mason will be afforded the opportunity to extend his remarkable love affair with the English Seniors Open professional championship and also the Nicklaus Course at St Mellion International Hotel Golf & Country Club after Crown Golf, Europe's largest golf owner/operator, announced that it will continue to promote the event in 2007.
This year's English Seniors Open will be played over 54 holes at St Mellion International Hotel Golf & Country Club, Saltash, near Plymouth, Cornwall, from August 17-19, with a minimum prize fund of £150,000.
Among the new players eligible to compete in this year's event is 2008 European Ryder Cup Captain Nick Faldo.
Mason won the first two editions of the English Seniors Open in 2003 and 2004 (at Hillside GC and Formby Hall GC respectively) before extending his perfect record with a one stroke triumph over Stewart Ginn at St Mellion last year.
Crown golf is Europe's largest owner and operator of golf clubs. The company has a total of 56 courses at 32 separate clubs in the UK. Its portfolio caters for all abilities, from entry level to championship standard.
The St Mellion International Hotel Golf & Country Club was opened in 1976. Set in 450 acres of rolling countryside, St Mellion has two courses and is undisputedly one of the finest golf resorts in the UK.
The Nicklaus Course officially opened in July 1988, and was the first golf course Jack Nicklaus designed in the United Kingdom.

CLARE FINISHED 17th IN S AFRICAN
MONEY LIST AFTER ONLY 2 EVENTS

Clare Queen finished 17th on the South African Women’s Tour money list.
Now playing out of The Carrick at Loch Lomond, Clare won 15,688 Rand from the two events in which she played.
South African Stacy Bregman, who played in all four competitions on the South African circuit, headed the money table with 84,338 Rand.

LEADING PLACINGS
1 Stacy Bregman (SAf) 84,338 (4).
2 Julie Tvede (Den) 70,688 (4).
3 Rebecca Hudson (Eng) 67,444 (4).
4 Lee-Anne Pace (SAf) 60,904 (4).
5 Tania Elosegui (Spa) 60,375 (2).
6 Eleanor Pilgrim (Wal) 46,112 (4).
7 Kaisa Ruuttila (Fin) 43,500 (2).
8 Laurette Maritz (SAf) 37,812 (4).
9 Nora Angelhrn (Swi) 33,244 (4).
10 Sophie Walker (Eng) 31,924 (4).
11 Morgana Robbertze (SAF) 27,492 (4).
12 Hanna-Oeena Salonen (Fin) 246,169 (4).
13 Marianne Skarpnord (Nor) 22,587 (4).
14 Amanda Moltke-leth (~Den) 22,374 (4).
15 Johanna Westerberg (Swe) 20,680 (4).
16 Lisa Jean (Aus) 17,391 (4).
17 Clare Queen (Sco) 15,688 (2).
18 Carmen Alonso (Spa) 15,360 (2).
19 Antonella Cvitan (Swe) 15,234 (4).
20 Martina Gillen (Ire) 14,738 (4).
Other totals included:
23 Kiran Matharu (Eng) 12,375 (1).
25 Sarah Heath (Eng) 11,326 (4).
27 Jo Clingan (Eng) 10,753 (3).
28 Felicity Johnson (Eng) 10,353 (4).
29 Kirsty Fisher (Eng) 10,062 (4).

UPHALL STUDENT DOWN THE FLORIDA FIELD

Iain Stoddart (Webber International University) from Uphall finished joint 36th in a field of 66 for the Grenelefe Spring Invitational college tournament at Grenelefe Golf Club's East course, Haines City in Florida.
Stoddard, a sophomore student, had rounds of 82 and 83 for 165 over the 6,802yd, par-72 course.
Webber International team-mate Craig Isabel from Stanford-Le-Hope in England, was joint winner with Ryan Cantrell (Faulkner University) on 149. Isabel shot 74 and 75.
A third Webber International student, Alex Evans from the Wirral, finished joint 27th with a pair of 81s for 162.

VIJAY SINGH SCORES HIS SECOND WIN
OF THE YEAR ON US PGA TOUR

Vijay Singh became the first two-time winner on this year's US PGA Tour when he came with a fine last round of 67 for an eight-under-par tally of 272 in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
Singh won by two shots from Rocco Mediate with Vaughn Taylor third and former Open champion Ben Curtis fifth.
Singh now has 19 victories since turning 40 — the same as Davis Love III, Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite won in their entire careers.
Luke Donald finished eighth on 278 and Paul Casey shared 14th place on 281 but it was a bitterly disappointing last day for Tiger Woods.
His score of 76, which include a triple bogey, two double bogeys and a nine-hole score of 43, was his worst for four years and his joint 22nd place was probably his lowest finish too for a year or two.
LEADING TOTALS
Par 280 (4 x 70)
272 Vijay Singh (Fij) 70 68 67 67.
274 Rocco Mediate (US) 66 65 76 67.
275 Vaughn Taylor (US) 64 71 67 73.
276 Ben Curtis (US) 68 67 69 72.
Other totals:
275 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 66 69 71 71 (jt 5th).
278 Luke Donald (Eng) 68 71 70 69 (8th).
281 Paul Casey (Eng) 64 70 73 74 (jt 14th).
283 Tiger Woods (US) 64 73 70 76 (jt 22nd).

CALLUM JT 17th WITH 74 AT PINEHURST

Callum Macaulay (Mississippi) from Tulliallan was lying joint 17th in a field of 96 at the end of the first round of the Pinehurst Intercollegiate tournament over the Pinehurst No 8 course today.
Callum had a two-over-par round of 74 over the7,035yd lay-out with birdies at the 10th and 17th but bogeys at the fifth, sixth, 13th and 15th.
Trent Schambach (Marshall University) leads with a 69, one shot ahead of Bill Rankin (Michigan).
Southern Methodist (293) lead the team event from Mississippi (294) with Indiana and North Carolina-Greensboro sharing third place on 297 in a field of 18 teams.

WALLACE BOOTH SLIPS OUT OF TOP
20 IN GEORGIA INVITATIONAL

Former Scottish youths champion Wallace Booth from Comrie, a student at Augusta State University, faded with a third-round 77 to finish joint 38th in a field of 89 for the Schenkel Invitational college golf tournament at Forest Heights Country Club, Georgia today.
Booth's earlier rounds of 73 and 74 had put him in joint 19th place with one round to go. Wallace had no birdies in his final round in which he had a double-bogey 78 at the long ninth and dropped single shots at the third, 10th and 18th.
Chris Kirk (Georgia) won by shots from team-mate Brendon Todd with scores of 70, 68 and 72 for a six-under-par total of 210 for the 6,962yd, par-72 course.
Georgia (854) won the team event by six shots from Alabama with Auburn (868) third. Augusta State (888) finished eighth of the 18 competing teams.

VIKKI EARNS $517 IN FLORIDA

Vikki Laing earned $517 for a joint 43rd place finish in the Greater Tampa Futures Classic at Summerfield Crossings Golf Club, Florida today.
The 26-year-old former Curtis Cup player from Musselburgh, whose professional career has never got off the ground, had rounds of 77, 75 and 73 for a total of nine-over-par 225 over the 6,377yd, par-72 course.
The tournament was won by Liz Janangelo (Connecticutt) who played for the United States in the Curtis Cup match at Formby three years ago. She scored 71, 72 and 72 for a total of 215 and the first prize of $10,500.
Lisa Hall from Stoke on tied for ninth place on 219 with 74, 75 and 70 to earn $1,294.

LGU MATCH AT HOYLAKE ABANDONED

Today's match between the Cheshire men's county team and the LGU GB&I Training Squad at Royal Liverpool Golf Club was abandoned after only a few holes because the weather was so bad.

EDINBURGH & EAST OF SCOTLAND
ALLLIANCE CHAMPIONSHIP DRAW
FOR DALMAHOY, MARCH 28

FROM DUNCAN IRELAND
Secretary, Edinburgh & East of Scotland Alliance.

Please see below for the championship draw for Dalmahoy on March 28. The cost per head will be £25 with an optional £5 sweep. There will be no discount for trainees. The times listed are subject to confirmation by Dalmahoy and as I soon as I get it, I will let you all know.
If for any reason you will be unable to play then please let me know ASAP as I will need to get a reserve to take your place. I have posted a copy of this draw to everyone I think is not on E-mail but please check with any of your friends to ensure that they are aware of their times.
See you at Dalmahoy.

WEST COURSE am & EAST COURSE pm

8.00 & 12.30: George Thomson, Mark Bonas, Paul Terras.
8.10 & 12.40: Andrew McLennan, David Patrick, Stuart Brown.
8.20 & 12.50: Ronald Grant, David Graham, Gary Walker.
8.30 & 1.00: Ian A Fraser, Wilson Morton, Michael Louden.
8.40 & 1.10: James McGhee, Justin White, Graeme Davidson.
8.50 & 1.20: Graham Johnston, Jim Noon, Ross Neill.
9.00 & 1.30: Graeme D Johnston, Richard Johnston, Alexander Culverwell.
9.10 & 1.40: Ross Noon, Adam Strang, Andrew Rothney.
9.20 & 1.50: Kenneth Glen, Callum Smith, Colin Fraser.
9.30 & 2.00: Ally MacKenzie, George Wither, Chris Morris.

EAST COURSE am & WEST COURSE pm

8.00 & 1.00: Ian Fyfe, Brian Smith, David Miller.
8.10 & 1.10: Paul Wardell, Colin McLachlan, Gavin Cook.
8.20 & 1.20: Craig Lee, Harry Cartmill, William Laing.
8.30 & 1.30: Norman Forsyth, Thomas Wilson, Norman Huguet.
8.40 & 1.40: Scott Walker, Owen Leslie, Derek Fish.
8.50 & 1.50: John Kerr, Alistair Anderson, Derek P Miller.
9.00 & 2.00: Tom Buchanan, Ross Harrower, Andrew Wight.
9.10 & 2.10: Andrew Marshall, Steven Doyle, Andrew Oldcorn.
9.20 & 2.20: Steven Lamb, Craig Imlah, Mike Thomson.
9.30 & 2.30: Scott Grieve, Neil Colquhoun, Andrew Dunsmore.

Please ensure that you check in a minimum of 20 minutes before your time
and are ready to play at least 5 minutes before your time.
Check in is on the first floor of the Sports Centre, not in the main hotel.

PRIZE LIST
SCRATCH
1- £300, 2 £250, 3 £200, 4 £150, 5 £100.
HANDICAP
1 - £150, 2 £125, 3 £100, 4 £75, 5 £50.

Additional prizes (awarded only to someone who has not won one of the main prizes):
Best scratch for West Course pm - £25.
Best scratch for East Course pm - £25.
Best net for West course pm - £25.
Best net for East course pm - £25.

THAILAND'S CHAPCHAI CLAIMS
MAIDEN TITLE AT TCL CLASSIC

Chapchai Nirat completed a dominant start-to-finish victory at the TCL Classic today, becoming the third Thai to win a tournament co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.
The 23-year-old, who led the US$1 million event from the opening day after smashing the course record with a 61, signed off with a one-under-par 71 at Ya Long Bay Golf Club, Sanya on an island off the coast of Southern China. Nirat finished three shots clear of Argentinean Rafael Echenique, who closed with a 68.
Chapchai totalled 22-under-par 266 for the week and later dedicated his breakthrough triumph in Asia to his parents, who have backed his career so diligently since he turned professional at a tender age of 15.
Prayad Marksaeng made it a memorable day for Thailand by finishing third after a 67 .
Englishman James Heath was the leading GB&I player in joint fourth place after a closing round of 69 for 16-under-par 272.
Marc Warren from East Kilbride achieved a top-10 finish with a closing round of 67 for 274 and a share of ninth place.
CLASSY VICTORY
Chapchai's classy victory was the third straight win by an Asian Tour member in a co-sanctioned event following recent triumphs by South Africa's Anton Haig and China's Liang Wen-chong in the Johnnie Walker Classic and Clariden Leu Singapore Masters over the past two weeks.
"There was pressure today. I was nervous but I talked to my caddie (Manop Santhiap) and we stuck to our game plan just as we have done so for the past three days," said Chapchai.
The big-hitting Chapchai led by five strokes going into the final round and was never really threatened by the chasing pack. Echenique, a graduate from the European Challenge Tour, was Chapchai's chief rival, closing to within three strokes after turning in 33.
The Argentinian could have piled on more pressure on the young Thai going down the stretch but missed birdie chances from inside eight feet on the 13th and 14th holes.
Chapchai steered a steady ship all day, holing a two-putt birdie on the par-5 ninth hole before giving the shot back at the next. However, a 20ft birdie coversion at the par-3 240 yard 15th hole proved to be decisive as it gave him a four-shot cushion playing the last three holes which he parred home comfortably.
EUROPEAN TOUR EXEMPTION
The burly Thai will take up membership with the European Tour where he will be exempted until the end of 2009. "Absolutely, I will join the European Tour. This victory means a lot to me. I would like to gain more experience playing on both the Asian Tour and European Tour. And I will certainly head to Europe and play there as well," said Chapchai.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
(Players from GB&I unless stated)
266 Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 61 66 68 71.
269 Rafael Echenique (Arg) 64 69 68 68.
271 Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 71 68 65 67.
272 James Heath 72 63 68 69, Simon Nash (Aus) 67 66 71 68.
273 Taichi Teshima (Jap) 69 65 66 73, Wen-chong Liang (Chi) 69 68 66 70, David Bransdon (Aus) 67 66 74 66
274 Marc Warren 70 67 70 67, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 71 64 69 70, Lee Westwood 66 70 68 70, Peter Fowler (Aus) 69 68 68 69.
275 Nick Dougherty 69 66 69 71, Miles Tunnicliff 70 65 65 75, Oliver Fisher 67 69 67 72, Kane Webber (USA) 67 71 66 71
276 Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 73 62 70 71, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 69 68 68 71, Adam Blyth (Aus) 67 66 70 73.
Ashley Hall (Aus) 67 69 69 71
277 Scott Barr (Aus) 69 68 71 69, Scott Strange (Aus) 69 69 70 69, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 67 67 69 74, Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 68 69 70 70
278 Richard Lee (NZ) 65 70 70 73, Gary Rusnak (US) 67 70 67 74, Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 70 69 68 71, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 69 69 69 71, Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice) 68 70 72 68, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 68 70 72 68, Carl Suneson (Spa) 66 68 72 72, Stephen Scahill (Nzl) 71 68 71 68, Iain Steel (Myn) 71 68 67 72.
279 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 67 66 73 73, Wei Chih Lu (Tha) 72 66 71 70, Mark Pilkington 68 70 71 70, James Kingston (Rsa) 66 70 74 69, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 66 71 70 72, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 68 70 71 70, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 69 69 72 69, Paul McGinley 72 67 72 68, Wen Teh Lu (Tpe) 65 69 68 77.
280 Steve Alker (Nzl) 67 71 70 72, Gareth Paddison (NZ) 69 69 72 70, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 67 70 70 73
281 Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 68 68 69 76, Keith Horne (SAf) 65 72 70 74, Unho Park (Aus) 68 71 74 68, Simon Griffiths 68 70 72 71, Francois Calmels (Fra) 69 68 74 70, Barry Lane 68 71 70 72
282 Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 67 70 73 72, Neven Basic (Aus) 71 67 71 73, Sam Little 68 67 74 73
283 Ter-Chang Wang (Tpe) 73 66 72 72, Julien Foret (Por) 69 70 72 72, Luis Claverie (Spa) 68 70 73 72, Matthew Zions (Aus) 69 68 72 74, Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn) 73 65 72 73, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 68 66 73 76, Adam Groom (Aus) 69 70 72 72.
284 Scott Hend (Aus) 66 73 74 71, Danny Chia (Myn) 68 70 74 72, Simon Hurd 71 67 74 72.
285 Sung-Man Lee (Kor) 71 68 70 76.
287 Matthew Richardson 71 67 74 75

AUSSIES THRASH ENGLAND 11-4
IN GOLFING ASHES DOWN UNDER

Australia gave England an 11-4 thrashing in the two-day “Golfing Ashes” contest at Moonah Links, Victoria.
The Aussies led 6 ½-2 ½ at the end of a very wet and windy first day and then confirmed their overall superiority by taking the second-day singles 4 ½-1 ½.
England’s Jamie Moul, the No 1 player in the R&A world amateur golf rankings, gained only half a point from three sessions of play.
“We were taken to the cleaners,” said Seve Benson, England’s only winner in the second-day singles.
“Australia simply outplayed us, particularly around the greens where their scoring skills were far better than ours,” said English Golf Union director of coaching Peter Mattsson with commendable frankness.
The foursomes were played after the singles on the first day.
Results:
AUSTRALIA 11, ENGLAND 4
First day (Australian names first)
SINGLES (Australia 4 ½-1 ½)
Rohan Blizard halved with Jamie Moul.Andrew Dodt bt Gary Boyd.Richie Gallichan bt David Horsey 2 holes.Ray Beaufils bt Ben Parker 4 and 3.Josh Younger bt Seve Benson 2 and 1.Rudi Bezuidenhout lost to Stephen Lewton 2 and 1.
FOURSOMES (Australia 2-1)
Bezuidenhout & Blizard bt Moul & Benson 1 hole.Younger & Gallichan halved with Parker & Lewton.Dodt & Beaufils halved with Boyd & Horsey.
Second day
SINGLES (Australia 4 ½-1 ½)
Bezuidenhout halved with Boyd.
Younger bt Horsey 3 and 2.
Beaufils bt Moul 5 and 4.
Gallichan bt Lewton 2 and 1.
Dodt bt Parker 2 and 1.
Blisard lost to Benson 2 and 1.

VIKKI BEATS FLORIDA CUT WITH
NOTHING TO SPARE

Musselburgh's Vikki Laing made her first cut of the new United States Futures Tour with rounds of 77 and 75 for 10-over-par 152 on a second day of high winds, without the first-round rain, in the $75,000 Greater Tampa Classic at Summerfield Crossings Golf Club, Riverview in Florida.
Vikki, who was 26 last Wednesday, was among the 73 players who made it through to the final round - but with nothing to spare in joint 67th position on the limit mark.
Lisa Hall from Stoke-on-Trent was the only other British qualifier with scores of 74 and 75 for 149. She is in joint 38th position.
The non-qualifiers included Brenda McLarnon from Belfast with 76 and 77 for 153 and Polly Willett from London with 79 and 76 for 155.
Two former US Curtis Cup players lead the field on one-over-par 143 - 26-year-old Emily Bastel (Ohio) and 23-year-old Liz Janangelo from Connecticut.
Both had scores of 71 and 72.
SECOND-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 142 (2 x 71)
143 Emily Bastel (Ohio) 71 72, Liz Janangelo (Connecticutt) 71 72.
144 Janell Howland (Idaho) 68 76, Rachel Bailey (Aus) 72 72, Kristen Samp (Missouri) 72 72, Kelly Froelich (Fra) 72 72, Dana Lacey (Aus) 72 72, Audra Burks (Florida) 73 71.
Other qualifiers included:
149 Lisa Hall (Stoke on Trent) (jt 38th).
152 Vikki Laing (Musselburgh) 77 75 (jt 67th).
Non-qualifiers included:
153 Brenda McLarnon (Belfat0 76 77.
155 Polly Willett (London) 76 76.

WALLACE (73-74) CANCELS OUT

BIRDIES WITH BOGEYS

AT FOREST HEIGHTS

Comrie's Wallace Booth (Augusta State University) had rounds of 73 and 74 for a 36-hole tally of 147 in the Schenkel Invitational college tournament at Forest Heights Golf Club, Statesboro in Georgia.
Wallace, pictured right, a former Scottish youths champion, had one birdie and two bogeys in his first round over the par-72, 6,972yd course. He boosted his number of birdies to three but also his tally of bogeys to five on the second circuit.

At the end of the day, Booth was in a creditable joint 19th place in a good class field with one round to go.

Chris Kirk (Georgia) led with 70 and 68 for 138 - three shots ahead of Wallace Booth team-mate Major Manning, Baker Elmore (South Carlina) and Brendon Todd (Georgia).

Georgia (564) lead the team event from South Carolina (578) with Alabama (580) third, Auburn (582) fourth and Augusta State (585) fifth of the 18 teams taking part.

SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2 x 72)

138 Chris Kirk (Georgia) 70 68.

141 Baker Elmore (South Carolina) 72 69, Major Manning (Augusta State) 74 67, Brendon Todd (Georgia) 73 68.

Other score:

147 Wallace Booth (Augusta State) 73 74.

DAWN-MARIE 20 STROKES IN ARREARS
AT BATON ROUGE
Ireland's Dawn-Marie Conaty (Memphis University) had two mediocre rounds of 77 and 80 for a tally of 157 over a longish women's course of some 6,404yd (par 72) for the Louisiana State University Cleveland Classic at University Golf Club, Baton Rouge.
Dawn-Marie had a triple-bogey 6 at the short 13th in her first round. She is lying joint 62nd in a field of 108 with one round to go.
US Curtis Cup player Amanda Blumenherst is heading for another runaway victory. She has had rounds of 68 and 69 for a seven-under-par total of 137 - three shots ahead of Amanda Mathis (Mississippi State) (71-69).
Duke (586) lead the team event from Auburn (589) and Vanderbilt (592) with Tennessee (597) in fourth place. Memphis (643) are 19th of the 21 competing team.

SWITCH OVER TO www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk FOR MORE NEWS FROM THE AMERICAN COLLEGE CIRCUIT TOURNAMENTS.

TAYLOR LEADS FROM CURTIS WITH ONE
ROUND TO GO IN PALMER INVITATIONAL

Ben Curtis, the little-known American who won the Open at Royal St George's in 2003 and then slipped back into obscurity, has a winning chance going into the fourth and final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Golf Club.
Fellow-American Vaughn Taylor leads at eight-under-par 202 with rounds of 64, 71 and 67.
But Curtis is lying clear second, two strokes behind on 204 with scores of 68, 67 and 69.
Overnight leader Rocco Mediate and Englishman Paul Casey, second at the start of the day, were too busy watching each other and slipped down the field, Mediate with a 76 for 207 and Casey on the same mark after a 73.
Tiger Woods and Retief Goosen (South Africa) are also joint 10th on 207.

LEADERBOARD
Par 210 (3 x 70)
202 Vaughn Taylor (US) 64 71 67.
204 Ben Curtis (US) 68 67 69.
205 Vijay Singh (Fij) 70 68 67, Tom Lehman (US) 67 69 69.
206 Trevor Immelman (SAf) 66 70 70, Jerry Kelley (US) 67 69 70, Shaun Micheel (US) 67 68 71, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 66 69 71, John Rollins (US) 69 65 72.
Other scores:
207 Retief Goosen (SAf) 69 68 70, Tiger Woods (US) 64 73 70, Rocco Mediate (US) 66 65 76, Paul Casey (Eng) 64 70 73 (jt 10th).
209 Luke Donald (Eng) 68 71 70 (jt 21st).
210 Ernie Els (SAf) 69 70 71 (jt 26th).
212 Phil Mickelson (US) 72 68 72 (jt 35th).

AUSSIES LEAD ENGLAND IN GOLFING ASHES

Australia were leading England 6 1/2-2 1/2 at the end of wet and windy first day of the two-day, so-called "Golfing Ashes" encounter at Moonah Links, Victoria.
The home side came out firing as Rohan Blizard set the tone for the rest of his team by squaring the opening singles match against the world's number one ranked amateur, Jaime Moul.
England's only winner in the morning six-singles programme was Stephen Lewton.
The foursomes were played in the afternoon - a break in the traditional order of play for some unknown reason - and the Aussies were able to increase their lead by one point to lead by four points at the halfway stage.
First day results (Australian names first):

AUSTRALIA LEAD ENGLAND 6 1/2- 2 1/2

SINGLES (Australia 4 1/2-1 1/2)
Rohan Blizard halved with Jamie Moul.
Andrew Dodt bt Gary Boyd.
Richie Gallichan bt David Horsey 2 holes.
Ray Beaufils bt Ben Parker 4 and 3.
Josh Younger bt Seve Benson 2 and 1.
Rudi Bezuidenhout lost to Stephen Lewton 2 and 1.
FOURSOMES (2-1)
Bezuidenhout & Blizard bt Moul & Benson 1 hole.
Younger & Gallichan halved with Parker & Lewton.
Dodt & Beaufils halved with Boyd & Horsey.

KRYSTLE SALVAGES HALF-POINT
AS LGU GIRLS BEATEN
BY LANCASHIRE MEN
Scottish Under-21 girls’ champion Krystle Caithness (St Regulus) did best of the four Scots playing for the Ladies Golf Union GB&I training squad against the Lancashire men’s county team at West Lancashire Golf Club today.
Krystle, 18, pictured right, bound for the University of Georgia on a four-year golf scholarship in the autumn, halved the No 2 singles game with Michael Hunt (Pleasington).
Youngsters Carly Booth (Comrie) and Sally Watson (Elie & Earlsferry), who both flew back from the David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Florida to play in this the first of two training matches over the weekend, both lost.
All the ties were played to the 18th green and Carly lost by four holes to Jonathan Hurst (Shaw Hill) while Sally lost by two holes to Tommy Fleetwood (Formby Hall).
Kylie Walker (Hilton Park), the fourth Scot in the 13-strong LGU line-up, went down by only one hole to Richard Walker (Frodsham).
The Lancashire men’s county team made the most of their local knowledge to win the match by 8 ½ - 4 ½. In the holes-up count, the men were +15 and the LGU squad +10.
The girls played off the yellow tees (a course of some 6,250yd). The men played off the back white tees.
All things considered, it was a close match overall, considering that it was a very windy day and that the girls barely knew the lay-out of the course. Three of the ties were halved and in six other games, the position was either one up/one down or all square playing the 18th.
The LGU GB&I Training Squad play the Cheshire men's county team in four-ball ties at Royal Liverpool Golf Club's Hoylake links on Sunday.
RESULTS
LGU names first:
Kerry Smith (Waterlooville) lost to Matthew Baldwin (Royal Birkdale) 5 holes.
Krystle Caithness (St Regulus) halved with Michael Hunt (Pleasington).
Mel Reid (Chevin) halved with Sam Stuart (St Annes Old Links).
Carly Booth (Comrie) lost to Jonathan Hurst (Shaw Hill) 4 holes.
Tara Davies (Holyhead) lost to Matthew Cox (Royal Birkdale) 1 hole.
Sally Watson (Elie & Earlsferry) lost to Tommy Fleetwood (Formby Hall) 2 holes.
Liz Bennett (Brokenhurst Manor) lost to Jack Senior (Heysham) 1 hole.
Naomi Edwards (Ganton) bt David Corsby (Fleetwood) 4 holes.
Kylie Walker (Hilton Park) lost to Richard Walker (Frodsham) 1 hole.
Rachel Bell (Ganton) bt Garry Boardman (Castle Hawk) 1 hole.
Sahra Hassan (Vale of Glamorgan) lost to Ken Hudson (Hart Common) 1 hole.
Florentyna Parker (Royal Birkdale) bt Stevn McGlynn (Blackburn) 5 holes.
Breanne Loucks (Wrexham) halved with James Robinson (Southport & Ainsdale).

TITLEIST PUTTERS HAVE POPULARITY
EDGE OVER ODYSSEY ON US TOUR

Titleist still leads the way in putters used on the US PGA Tour - 43 Titleist Scotty Cameron users compared to 27 Odyssey users in the top 125 on the money list up to and including the recent Honda Classic.
But Odyssey had a five-to-three advantage among the top 10 players in earnings and an 18-to-16 edge in the top 60.
Among Odyssey's putting leaders this season in the States are:
Phil Mickelson (fourth) and David Howell (21st), as well as non-staffers Padraig Harrington (fifth), rookie Jeff Quinney (eighth) and Bernhard Langer (23rd), one of the circuit's original broom-handle converts.
+Information supplied by Golf Week.

JACKLIN (62) MAKES COMEBACK AT CARNOUSTIE

Tony Jacklin, who has been in self-imposed retirement from tournaments for a number of years, has entered this year's Open at Carnoustie from July 19 to 22.
Now 62, Jacklin last played in the Open in 2005 at St Andrews where he missed the halfway cut after rounds of 79 and 76.
His victory in the 1969 Open at Royal Lytham - followed up by a triumph in the 1970 US Open at Hazeltine (where Richie Ramsay won the US amateur title last year, entitles him to go straight into the Open without having to pre-qualify for as long as he wants to.
Jacklin played in seven consecutive Ryder Cup matches from 1967 to 1979, and captained the side four times from 1983 to 1989, twice leading Europe to victory.

MARC WARREN 14 SHOTS OFF THE
LEAD IN SOUTH CHINA

Thai talent Chapchai Nirat kept his pace in the third round after a solid four-under-par 68 for a five stroke lead at the TCL Classic today.
The 23-year-old fired seven birdies against three bogeys for an impressive 21-under-par 195 at the Ya Long Bay Golf Club, Sanya in southern China. Chapchai was two strokes off the mark in matching the Asian Tour’s low 54-hole record of 23-under-par 193 held by David Howell and Ernie Els.
Chapchai had previously equalled the two-day record in Asia after a 17-under-par 127 total on Friday.
Marc Warren from East Kilbride, the only Scot to survive the halfway cut, had a third-round 70 for nine-under-par 207. He is 27th equal going into the final day.
Chapchai, who is ranked 25th on the Asian Tour’s UBS Order of Merit, is now riding high with a five-stroke lead over Englishman Mills Tunnicliff who leaped to second place after a 65 in the co-sanctioned Asian Tour and European Tour event.
Also in tied second place was Japan’s Taichi Teshima who scored a bogey-free 66 while Argentina’s Rafael Echenique shot a 68 in fourth spot six strokes adrift in the US$1 million tournament.
Chinese Taipei’s Lu Wen-teh fired a similar score in lone fifth position for a 202 total while China’s Liang Wen-chong, last week’s winner in Singapore, shot his best round of 66 and was tied in sixth place alongside Australians Adam Blyth and Brad Kennedy together with English duo of Oliver Fisher and James Heath on 203.
With an eagle at the 16th hole, Tunnicliff, a two-time winner on the European Tour, will be banking on a breezy day on course heading into the final round.
“I played really solid again today. I haven’t been playing great but the last two days, I’ve found some form and started holing some putts. I’ve given myself a chance,” said Tunnicliff.
“I hope the wind stays up on Sunday, because I play pretty well in the wind, and let’s just see what happens,” he added.
England’s Nick Dougherty was tied 11th after a 69 together with compatriot Lee Westwood who shot a 68 and Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng who carded a lowly 65 for a 204 total.
THIRD-ROUND LEADERS
(Players GB&I unless stated; par 216, 3 x 72)
195 Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 61 66 68.
200 Miles Tunnicliffe 70 65 65, Taichi Teshima (Jap) 69 65 66.
201 Rafael Echenique (Arg) 64 69 68.
202 Lu Weh Teh (Tpe) 65 69 68.
203 Liang Wen-Chong (Chi) 69 68 66, Oliver Fisher 67 69 67, James Heath 72 63 68, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 67 67 69, Adam Blyth (Aus) 67 66 70.
204 Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 71 68 65, Kane Webber (Aus) 67 71 66, Gary Rusnak (US) 67 70 67, Lee Westwood 66 70 68, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 71 64 69, Nick Dougherty 69 66 69, Simon Nash (Aus) 67 66 71.
205 Peter Fowler (Aus) 69 68 68, Thaworn Wirachant (Tha) 69 68 68, Ashley Hall (Aus) 67 69 69, Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 68 68 69, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 73 62 70, Richard Lee
(NZ) 65 70 70.
206 Iain Steel (Mas) 71 68 67, Carl Suneson (Spa) 66 68 72, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 67 66 73.
207 Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 70 69 68, Patrick Sjoland (Swe) 69 69 69, Scott Barr (Aus) 69 68 71, Marc Warren 70 67 70, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 67 70 70, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 66 71 70, Chawalit Paphol (Tha) 68 69 70, Keith Horne (Rsa) 65 72 70, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 68 66 73, David Brandson (Aus) 67 66 74.
208 Steve Alker (NZ 67 71 70, Scott Strange (US) 69 69 70.
209 Lee Sung (Kor) 71 68 70, Barry Lane 68 71 70, Rafal Cabrera Bello (Spa) 68 70 71, Nevan Basic (Aus) 71 67 71, Lu Wei-Chih (Tpe) 72 66 71, Mark Pilkington 68 70 71, Matthew Zions (Aus) 69 68 72, Sam Little 68 67 74.
210 Stephen Scahill (Nzl) 71 68 71, Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice) 68 70 72, Fredrik Andersson-Hed (Swe) 69 69 72, Simon Griffiths 68 70 72, Zhang Lian-Wei (Chi) 73 65 72, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 68 70 72, Gareth Paddison (NZ) 69 69 72, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 67 70 73, James Kingston (SAf) 66 70 74
211 Adam Groom (Aus) 69 70 72, Paul McGinley 72 67 72, Julien Foret (Fra) 69 70 72, Wang Ter-Chang (Tpe) 73 66 72, Luis Claverie (Spa) 68 70 73, Francois Calmels (Fra) 69 68 74
212 Simon Hurd 71 67 74, Danny Chia (Mas) 68 70 74, Matthew Richardson 71 67 74
213 Unho Park (Aus) 68 71 74, Scott Hend (Aus) 66 73 74

VIKKI LAING 77 ON WET, WINDY BUT
WARM DAY IN FLORIDA


Musselburgh's Vikki Laing returned a first-round score of six-over-par 77 in the weather-disrupted opening day of the Greater Tampa Futures Classic at Summerfield Crossing Golf Club, Florida.
Vikki had halves of 39 and 38 against the scorecoard par of 36-35 for the 6,377yd course.
The temperature stayed up in the 70s but there was rain and there was wind, gusting up to 25mph, and two suspensions of play because of the weather.
Eventually, the organisers ran out of daylight to finish the first round with 27 players still out on the course. They were due to resume at 6.30am Saturday morning.
LEADERBOARD
68 Janell Howland (Idaho) 36-32.
69 Salimah Mussani (Ontario) 35-34, Yoen Joo Lee (South Korea) 36-33.
Other scores:
74 Lisa Hall (Stoke on Trent) 38-36.
76 Brenda McLarnon (Belfast) 40-36.
77 Vikki Laing (Musselburgh) 39-38.
79 Polly Willett (London) 41-38.

PRESS RELEASE FROM NIKE GOLF
ABOUT SUMO DRIVERS AND R&A/
USGA REGULATIONS
Nike Golf has discovered that an unauthorised manufacturing variance occurred such that the Characteristic Time (CT) measurement of a number of drivers fell out of Nike Golf’s approved engineering specifications.
While the result of this variance is an additional distance benefit of only 1 to 2 yards, it lies outside of the parameters as established by the R&A for elite competition only. There is no impact on the safety or durability of the product.
As a result, a number of SUMO drivers manufactured may not conform to USGA regulations.
As a precaution, another conforming SUMO2 driver has already been submitted to the USGA to be approved for placement on the conforming list. Nike Golf anticipates that it will complete the approval process with the USGA by March 19.
It should be noted that in Europe/Middle East/Africa the rules and regulations of golf are governed by the Royal and Ancient Club of St Andrews,
In Europe/Middle East/Africa, the clubs in question can be used until January 2008 in a round of golf for recorded handicap, but can not be used in elite competition (condition of competition). Nike Golf, being a global company, wants to ensure that it addresses any SUMO golfer who may be concerned about this rule for play in Europe/Middle East/Africa.
In addition, Nike Golf is implementing the Nike Golf SUMO Conformance Program -- the primary element of a Nike Golf action plan to ensure marketplace conformity to USGA regulations of the highly popular SUMO driver.
In the absence of a published protocol, Nike Golf is taking the lead for the industry by voluntarily conducting this testing and replacement program that could serve as a model for other manufacturers. Nike Golf also expects other manufacturers’ products to be tested in the future. Nike Golf was notified by the USGA in late February 2007 that there was a potential concern pertaining to the CT of SUMO drivers in the marketplace. CT is a measurement that predicts the potential for a spring-like effect on a driver’s face.
On receipt of this notification, Nike Golf immediately embarked on a full and thorough investigation into what transpired since the original October product submissions for approval to the R&A and USGA, prior to manufacturing. It was subsequently revealed that during early production, an unauthorized manufacturing variance occurred.
“Nike Golf is a company that cares about fair golf competition, and that our customers have complete confidence that the club in their bag conforms to the Rules of the game,” said Nike Golf President Bob Wood. "As such, we are working with golf's governing bodies to implement a process to replace any SUMO driver. It is Nike Golf’s commitment to do the right thing for golfers in an open and straightforward manner.”
Nike Golf EMEA recommends that golfers visit www.nikegolfeurope.com where they will be informed about the details of the SUMO Conformance Program.
Within a matter of weeks Nike Golf will contact golfers with information on how they can have their driver tested and, if necessary, replaced with a new SUMO©— which will feature a defining mark of full compliance. This will be done at Nike Golf's expense.

PRESS RELEASE

SWM GOLF MANAGEMENT LOOKING FOR
SPONSORS FOR THREE PLAYERS

SWM Golf Management ( click on www.swmgolfmanagement.com ) are currently looking for sponsors for the 2007 season for three accomplished players from golf development tour level right through to Challenge Tour and European Tour winner status.
We are looking for the likes of club, hotel or business 'attachments' for individual players to endorse and promote sponsors' products/ services. This can be via attachment, clothing sponsorship, professional golf bag sponsorship/ advertising, car sponsorship, headwear/ advertising sponsorship etc.
Our players participate on the various professional golf tours ie. European, Challenge, Asian, Tour de las Americas, US Tight Lies, PGA EuroProtour etc.
Each event on the EuroProtour circuit (www.europrotour.com) is played over three days on a 54 holes stroke-play competition basis, with the top 50 plus ties going through to the 3rd and final round.
Every tournament carries a minimum prize fund of £40,000, and the season will culminate in the Tour Championship with the top 50 players from the Order of Merit.
Highlights of every PGA EuroPro Tour event are shown around the World, in countries such as America, Canada, Japan and South Africa, as well as on Sky Sports in the UK.
Any party interested in providing sponsorship on an individual or team basis, please contact graham@swmgolfmanagement.com for further details.

PAUL CASEY SHARING

SECOND PLACE

BEHIND MEDIATE

Paul Casey, pictured right, is sharing second place on six-under-par 134 (64-70), three shots behind halfway leader Rocco Mediate (66-65) in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Golf Club.

Tiger Woods is back on 137 with Ernie Els and Luke Donald on 139.

A total of 79 players with 36-hole totals of one-under-par 143 and better qualified for the weekend's final two rounds.

That meant Colin Montgomerie - still smarting at being introduced as "Colin Montgomerie from London, England" by the starter in the first round - just made it with nothing to spare after rounds of 70 and 73.

HALFWAY LEADERS

Par 140 (2 x 70)

131 Rocco Mediate (US) 66 65.

134 Paul Casey (Eng) 64 70, John Rollins (Us) 69 65.

135 Stephen Ames (Can) 68 67, Shaun Micheel (US) 67 68, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 66 69, Ben Curtis (US) 68 67, Vaughn Taylor (US) 64 71.

Other scores:

137 Tiger Woods (US) 64 73.

139 Ernie Els (SAf) 69 70, Luke Donald (Eng) 68 71.

140 Phil Mickleson (US) 72 68.

143 Colin Montgomerie (Sco) 70 73.

SCOTLAND GIRLS' TEAMS FOR CRAIGIELAW

Scotland junior teams named by the Scottish Ladies Golfing Association to take part in the international team contest staged in conjunction with the Scottish Under-16 girls' open amateur stroke-play championship at Craigelaw Golf Club, East Lothian on April 5-6 are:

TEAM 1
Eilidh Briggs (Kilmacolm).
Jordana Graham (Southerness).
Sammy Vass (Tain) (pictured above).
TEAM 2
Cara Easton (Dalmahoy).
Jill Meldrum (Dullatur).
Annabel Niven (Crieff).
Reserves:
1 Gillian Simpson (Murrayfield).
2 Samantha Leslie (Westhill).

MATHARU FAILS TO SHINE IN INDIA
AS TAIPEI PLAYER WINS PLAY-OFF
English amateur champion Kiran Matharu, a tour professional since immediately after last summer's Curtis Cup, had a very disappointing return to the land of her fathers - India - to finish joint 37th of the 51 qualifiers for the final round in the inaugural Women's Indian Open at DLF Golf & Country Club, New Delhi today.
Kiran, who had her 18th birthday last month, had deteriorating scores of 77, 78 and 80 for a 19-over-par total of 235.
The winner was Taipei's Ya Ni Tseng (pictured) who beat Thailand's Russamee Gulyanamitta at the first hole of a sudden-death play-off.
Russamee sent her third shot into a lake, which virtually finished the contest in favour of Ya Ni Teseng.
They had tied on one-under-par 215 for the regular 54 holes.
Fame More, another former Curtis Cup player, from Chesterfield tied for 11th place on 223 with scores of 75, 75 and 73.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
215 Ya Ni Tseng (Tai) 70 70 75 bt Russamee Gulyanamitta (Thai) 70 71 74 at first hole of sudden-death play-off.
218 Lee Bo-ri (Kor) 71 76 71.
220 Irina Brar (Ind) 70 79 71, Titiya Plucksataporn (Thai) 75 70 75, Meghna Bal (Ind) (am) 68 74 78.
222 Rie Shiraki (Jap) 72 77 73, Jade Schaeffer (Fra) 75 72 75, Lee Eun-Kyoung (Kor) 71 72 79, Yeo Ji-yae (Kor) 75 71 76.
223 Fame Moore (Eng) 75 75 73, Yu Pei Lin (Tpe) 73 77 73 (jt 11th).
Other totals:
226 Libby Smith (US) 76 76 74 (jt 13th).
227 Helena Alterby (Swe) 73 80 75 (jt 15th).
235 Kiran Matharu (Eng) 77 78 80 (jt 37th).

CLASH WITH DATES OF MEN'S HOME INTERNATIONALS

VENUES, DATES CONFIRMED FOR
2007 EURO TOUR QUALIFYING

The venues and dates for the 2007 European Tour Qualifying School have been confirmed.
The First Stage will again be separated into two Sections, with Section A being played from September 11-14, at three venues, namely, Chart Hills Golf Club, The Oxfordshire Golf Club, both in England, and a new addition to the Qualifying School rota, the Scandinavian Course at the Fleesensee Golf and Country Club in Germany.
Fleesensee Golf and Country Club is an excellent 72-hole complex situated in the Mecklenburg Lake District to the north west of Berlin.
Section B will be staged the following week, from September 18-21*, at St Annes Old Links, England, Golf de Moliets in France and the Circolo Golf Bogogno in Italy.
From there, the Qualifying School moves to Spain, where the Second Stage, to be played from November 7-10, will be contested over four courses including another exciting new addition at the tranquil Arcos Gardens near Jerez, as well as the PGA Golf de Catalunya, Golf Costa Ballena and Sherry Golf Jerez.
The six round Final Stage (November 15-20) will be held over the Old and New Courses at the San Roque Club in Cadiz for a fourth successive season, where the top 30 players (plus ties) will be awarded full playing rights for The 2008 European Tour International Schedule.

+The men's home amateur internationals will be played at County Louth Golf Club, Ireland from September 19 to 21 - a head-on clash with Section B of the Qualifying School process.

VOLVO MASTERS STAYS AT VALDERRAMA
FOR ANOTHER THREE YEARS

The Volvo Masters celebrates its 20th anniversary this year with the announcement that the European Tour's season finale will continue at Club de Golf Valderrama for at least a further three years until 2010.
The announcement continues the partnership between the European Tour, Turismo Andaluz, Volvo and Valderrama which dates back to the first Volvo Masters in 1988.
Felipe Ortiz-Patiño, President of Club de Golf Valderrama, said: "It's an honour to follow in my father's footsteps as President of Valderrama, which will be the perfect setting where Europe's No 1 player will be decided. I am sure that, as in the previous years, the union between Volvo and Valderrama will produce one of the great sports events of the year."

CLARE QUEEN FINISHES JOINT 7th
IN SOUTH AFRICAN CLASSIC

Clare Queen continued her good start to her 2007 campaign by finishing joint seventh in the South African Telkom Women's Classic at Benoni Lake Club near Johannesburg.
The Drumpellier player, who will be 24 at the end of next month, had rounds of 71, 67 and 74 for a four-under-par total of 212. She earned 12,000 South African Rand.
A few weeks ago, Clare, pictured right by Tristan Jones, was joint sixth in the ANZ Ladies Masters in Queensland, Australia.
Victory went to the front-running Spaniard Tania Elosegui who went clear of the field with opening rounds of 67 and 65 and then held on down the home straight with a par 72, including a bogey at the last hole, for a 12-under-par total of 204.
She had one shot to spare at the finish from England's Rebecca Hudson, who finished with a great score of 65, and South African rookie Stacy Bregman, 20, who won the South African Ladies Tour Order of Merit title with 84,338 Rand.
Ashleigh Simon, the 17-year-old South African amateur who recently won the South African Women's Open for a second time, finished third on 208.

FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
Competitors from South Africa unless stated; (am) denotes amateur.
204 Tania Elosegui (Spa) 67 65 72 (48,000 Rand).
205 Rebecca Hudson (Eng) 69 71 65, Stacy Bregman 65 68 72 (30,400 Rand each).
208 Ashleigh Simon (am) 67 70 71.
209 Nora Angehrn (Swi) 70 66 73 (19,200 Rand).
211 Carmen Alonso (Spa) 72 69 70 (15,360 Rand).
212 Julie Tvede (Den) 71 72 69, Clare Queen (Sco) 71 67 74 (12,000 Rand each).
213 Caryn Louw 69 72 72, Martina Gillen (Ire) 74 66 73 (8,800 Rand each).
214 Sophie Walker (Eng) 71 69 74, Margherita Rigon (Ita) 74 69 71 (6,880 Rand each).
215 Emma Zackrisson (Swe) 70 73 72, Cecilie Lundgreen (Nor) 69 73 73, Karen Margrethe Juul (Den) 75 71 69, Felicity Johnson (Eng) 69 73 73, Jo Clingan (Eng) 71 72 72.
216 Lee-Anne Pace 73 69 74, Laurette Maritz 68 76 72, Maria Boden (Swe) 74 72 70.
217 Marianne Skarpnord (Nor) 68 70 79, Kelli Shean (am) 71 71 75, Eleanor Pilgrim (Wal) 72 72 73, Sarah Heath (Eng) 68 74 75.
218 Johanna Westerberg (Swe) 72 74 72, Ellen Smets (Bel) 76 71 71, Morgana Robbertze 70 75 73, Jehanne Jail (Fra) 72 74 72, Julie Berton (Fra) 74 70 74.
219 Suzette Venter 74 72 73, Frederique Seeholzer (Swi) 72 73 74, Ana Larraneta (Spa) 73 68 78, Mandy Adamson 71 74 74.
220 Hanna-Leena Salonen (Fin) 72 78 70, Sohvi Harkonen (Fin) 72 71 77.
221 Hanna-Sophia Svenningsson (Swe) 74 77 70, Natou Soro (Cdi) 76 72 73, Amanda Moltke-Leth (Den) 73 75 73.
222 Mette Buus (Den) 72 74 76, Elin Brask (Swe) 71 78 73
223 Lena Tornevall (Swe) 73 76 74, Antonella Cvitan (Swe) 72 77 74
224 Michelle Smith (Eng) 75 75 74, Andrea Hirschhorn 73 75 76, Frederique Dorbes (Fra) 73 77 74, Claire Coughlan (Ire) 78 74 72
225 Lill Kristin Saether (Nor) 74 76 75, Leandri Pieterse 72 80 73, Lisa Jean (Aus) 75 71 79, Anna Becker (Swe) 74 73 78.
226 Kirsty Fisher (Eng) 75 73 78.
227 Lisa Holm Sorensen (Den) 74 73 80, Nina Hansson (Swe) 71 77 79, Chloe Garner (am) 75 76 76.
228 Florence Luscher (Swi) 76 74 78, Odette Grotepas (am) 74 77 77.
229 Kim Williams (am) 77 74 78, Anne-Sophie Le Nalio (Fra) 73 77 79.
230 Tandi von Ruben (am) 72 78 80, Vanessa Bell (Eng) 78 71 81.
232 Angie Green (Can) 72 79 81.
233 Josefin Svenningsson (Swe) 77 75 81.

MARC WARREN ONLY SCOT TO BEAT

FIVE-UNDER-PAR CUT IN CHINA

Big-hitting Chapchai Nirat raced into a commanding six-shot halfway lead at the TCL Classic en route to matching the Asian Tour's opening 36-hole record on Friday.

In a tournament of very ow scoring, only those with FIVE-under-par halfway totals of 139 or better qualified for the final two rounds.

The only Scot to beat this sharpest of cuts was Marc Warren from East Kilbride, pictured right, with 70 and 67 for seven-under-par 137.
Nirat, the overnight Thai leader, maintained his sparkling form at Ya Long Bay Golf Club, Sanya in southern China, firing a six-under-par 66 for a 17-under-par 127 total which equalled the two-day record in relation to par held by Briton David Howell and Frankie Minoza of the Philippines.
On Thursday, Chapchai smashed the course record with a sizzling 61 which also equalled the 18-hole record in Asia.
The 23-year-old kept his foot firmly on the pedal in his bid for a maiden Asian Tour triumph, sinking one eagle and five birdies against a lone bogey, and leads comfortably from Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Gonet (66), Rafael Echenique (69) of Argentina and the Australian trio Simon Nash, Adam Blyth and David Bransdon, who all carded error-free 66s.
Chapchai, whose best finish on the Asian Tour was a runner-up outing in the 2005 Taiwan Open, dropped his first bogey of the tournament at the fourth hole but was delighted to double his overnight lead.

"EVERYTHING WAS VERY GOOD"
"The only thing on my mind was to keep hitting fairways and keep making putts. I just wanted to ensure I didn’t make any mistakes. Today my irons were good, my putting was good. Everything was very good.
"I just want to make as few mistakes as possible. I’m quite happy with my golf right now. The previous two weeks was not so good, but I feel comfortable this week. But I still feel a bit of pressure because I know that on a course like this, it’s possible for someone to catch me. So tomorrow I still have to score low," said Chapchai, who is presently 25th on the Asian Tour's UBS Order of Merit.

He is also counting on the support of experienced Thai caddie Manop Santhiap to help him pull of a maiden victory. "He caddied for Chinarat Phadungsil when he won on this course last year [Crowne Plaza Open last August]. He’s got a lot of experience and he’s helped me a lot this week."

The 24-year-old Gonnet, who graduated from the European Challenge Tour last season, enjoyed three closing birdies, including a chip-in on the par four 18th to head the chasing pack. "I hope to begin tomorrow morning like that," he said.
With Yalong Bay yielding birdies and eagles from all corners of the course, the swashbuckling Englishman, Nick Dougherty, is not ruling himself out, despite going into the third round trailing by eight shots.

DOUGHERTY STILL CONFIDENT
"There are a lot of birdies out there and every time you don’t make one you feel you’ve given up a good opportunity," said Nick who finished tied fourth last week in the Clariden Leu Singapore Masters.
"I feel I’ve left a few out there on the back nine. I was nine-under for the tournament after 10 holes, so to finish on that is a little disappointing, especially when the leader is pushing on like he is."
The halfway cut at five-under-par 139 was the joint second lowest in Asian Tour history, with 66 players moving into the final two rounds. Among the big names who missed the cut were Welshman Ian Woosnam, Filipino Frankie Minoza, Spaniard Ignacio Garrido and India's Shiv Kapur.

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS

Par 144 (2 x 72)
(Players from GB&I unless stated)
127 Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 61 66
133 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 67 66, Simon Nash (Aus) 67 66, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 64 69, David Bransdon (Aus) 67 66, Adam Blyth (Aus) 67 66
134 Carl Suneson (Spa) 66 68, Taichi Teshima (Jpn) 69 65, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 67 67, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 68 66, Wen Teh Lu (Tpe) 65 69
135 Richard Lee (NZ) 65 70, James Heath 72 63, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 73 62, Nick Dougherty 69 66, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 71 64, Sam Little 68 67, Miles Tunnicliff 70 65
136 Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 68 68, James Kingston (Rsa) 66 70, Lee Westwood 66 70, Ashley Hall (Aus) 67 69, Oliver Fisher 67 69
137 Gary Rusnak (US) 67 70, Matthew Zions (Aus) 69 68, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 69 68, Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 68 69, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 67 70, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 67 70, Scott Barr (Aus) 69 68, Marc Warren 70 67, Keith Horne (Rsa) 65 72, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 69 68, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 66 71, Peter Fowler (Aus) 69 68, Francois Calmels (Fra) 69 68
138 Wei Chih Lu (Tha) 72 66, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 69 69, Matthew Richardson 71 67, Luis Claverie (Spa) 68 70, Neven Basic (Aus) 71 67, Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice) 68 70, Simon Griffiths 68 70, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 68 70, Steve Alker (Nzl) 67 71, Scott Strange (Aus) 69 69, Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn) 73 65, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 69 69, Kane Webber (US) 67 71, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 68 70, Mark Pilkington 68 70, Gareth Paddison (Nzl) 69 69, Danny Chia (Myn) 68 70, Simon Hurd 71 67
139 Ter-Chang Wang (Tpe) 73 66, Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 70 69, Unho Park (Aus) 68 71, Adam Groom (Aus) 69 70, Sung-Man Lee (Kor) 71 68, Scott Hend (Aus) 66 73, Stephen Scahill (Nzl) 71 68, Julien Foret (Por) 69 70, Iain Steel (Myn) 71 68, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 71 68, Paul McGinley 72 67, Barry Lane 68 71
DID NOT QUALIFY
140 Shu Tao Gu (Chn) 69 71, Mahal Pearce (Nzl) 70 70, Damien McGrane 69 71, Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 70 70, Ross Bain 73 67, Jason Knutzon (US) 70 70, Edward Loar (US) 73 67, Tony Carolan (Aus) 69 71, Young-Woo Nam (Kor) 71 69, Marcus Both (Aus) 69 71, Hendrik Buhrmann (SAf) 70 70, Michael Hoey 70 70
141 Frankie Minoza (Phi) 72 69, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 73 68, Christopher Hanell (Swe) 70 71, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 72 69, Paul Nilbrink (Swe) 70 71, Anthony Kang (US) 71 70, Thammanoon Srirot (Tha) 70 71, Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 69 72, Ted Oh (Kor) 71 70, Gavin Flint (Aus) 71 70, Cesar Monasterio (Arg) 68 73
142 David Carter 71 71, Yong-Huan Huang (Tpe) 74 68, Mitchell Brown (Aus) 70 72, Corey Harris (US) 71 71, Ben Leong (Myn) 75 67, Barry Hume 71 71, Martin Rominger (Swi) 73 69, Han Lee (US) 70 72, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 72 70
143 Richard Bland 70 73, Andrew Butterfield 70 73, Benn Barham 71 72, Chris Rodgers 74 69, Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 72 71, Jun-Won Park (Kor) 74 69, Ian Woosnam 72 71, Angelo Que (Phi) 73 70
144 Craig Smith 75 69, Amandeep Johl (Ind) 72 72, Gui Ming Liao (Chn) 75 69, Jong Yul Suk (Kor) 72 72, Steven O'Hara 72 72, Keng-chi Lin (Tai) 74 70
145 Yasin Ali 74 71, Per Barth (Swe) 73 72, Richard McEvoy 71 74, Olle Nordberg (Swe) 74 71, Mike Cunning (US) 70 75, Chang Song (Kor) 73 72, Lei Shang (Tpe) 71 74, Stuart Little 75 70
146 Ming Jie Huang (Chn) 71 75, Craig Kamps (Rsa) 74 72, David Gleeson (Aus) 76 70, Clay Devers (US) 74 72, Tze-chung Chen (Tpe) 72 74, David Higgins 72 74, Chao Li (Chn) 75 71
147 Christian Nilsson (Swe) 72 75, Andrew Raitt 75 72, Anda Liu (Chn) 71 76, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 73 74
148 Troy Kennedy (Aus) 74 74, Ari Savolainen (Fin) 75 73, Adam Le Vesconte (Aus) 71 77
149 Zhi-Jin Xiao (Tpe) 72 77, Edward Michaels (US) 75 74, Yongzong Tan (Chn) 76 73, Tadahiro Takayama (Jpn) 76 73, Guo-Jie Liu (Tpe) 75 74, Yu Chen (Chn) 75 74
150 Lei Gao (Chn) 78 72, Zhi-Feng Qiu (Tpe) 74 76
152 Wei-Huang Wu (Tpe) 74 78, Cui Lin Gu (Chn) 78 74

JAMES BYRNE HEADS EIGHT SEEDS FOR
SCOTTISH BOYS CHAMPIONSHIP

James Byrne, pictured right, from Banchory heads the eight seeds listed in the draw for the Scottish boys' match-play championship at Dunbar Golf Club from April 9 to 14.
Byrne, who will enrol at Arizona State University in the autumn, has the lowest handicap of the 354 boys aged 18 and under on January 1 who entered.
James' handicap at the time of entry was +2.3.
The other seven seeds are:
Scott Fraser (Royal Aberdeen) (handicap at time of entry: 0.6).
Kyle Smith (Barassie) (0.2).
Cameron Gray (West Kilbride) (+0.4).
Tom Spencer (Inchmarlo) (0.7).
Sam McLaren (King James VI) (0.4).
Michael Main (Thornton) (+0.8).
Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck) (+1.3).

James Byrne was beaten in the semi-finals last year by Michael Main who lost in the 36-hole final to fellow Fifer James White (Lundin).
There is room only for 256 boys in the match-play format. The cut-off point came at those boys with handicaps (at time of entry) of 5.3, a figure which is coming down every year, reflecting how the standard of of Scottish boy golfers in general is improving steadily.
There were 16 boys with handicaps of 5.3 and only eight could get in. Those who were balloted out were:
Declan Christie (Portlethen).
Scott Barbour (Milnathort).
Gavin Hay (Grantown on Spey).
James Hendry (Douglas Park).
Taylor Edwards (Lochmaben).
Rodger Clarke (Moray).
Shaun Clark (St Andrews).
Philip Gordon (Paisley).
The good news for these boys is that they are top of the waiting list to get into the championship should there be any call-offs, which there certainly will be.
There are 23 boys with handicaps of scratch or better in the championship.

If you want to see the full draw for the Scottish boys' championship it is available on the Scottish Golf Union website. Cut and paste the following:

http://www.scottishgolfunion.org/index.cfm?action=eventDraw&eventid=2&instanceid=784&CFID=17871218&CFTOKEN=51350405

JAN RETIRING FROM DUFF HOUSE ROYAL POST

Jan Corbett, who has been administration secretary at Duff House Royal Club, Banff since 1980 is to retire from the post in the autumn.
"When I started 27 years ago, it was a three hours a day job," said Jan who is looking forward to playing a lot more golf than she has been able to because of work ... and perhaps some gardening.

Scot in contention again with one round to go

CLARE QUEEN, SIX UNDER PAR, IS SIX
SHOTS OFF LEAD IN SOUTH AFRICA

Clare Queen will start the final round of the Telkom Women's Classic in joint sixth place, six shots off the lead, at Benoni Lakes Club, Johannesburg on Friday.
The Scot has had rounds of 71 and 67 for a six-under-par tally of 138.
Leading the field is Spain's Tania Elosequi with 67 and 65 for 12-under-par 132, one shot ahead of Springbok Stacy Bregman (65-68).

LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
132 Tania Elosegui (Spa) 67 75.
133 Stacy Bregman (SAf) 65 68.
136 Nora Angehrn (Swi) 70 66.
137 Ashleigh Simon (SAf) (am) 67 70.
138 Clare Queen (Sco) 71 67, Marianne Skarpnord (Nor) 68 70.
140 Sophie Walker (Eng) 71 69, Rebecca Hudson (Eng) 69 71, Martina Gillen (Ire) 74 66.
Other scores:
142 Felicity Johnson (Eng) 69 73, Sarah Heath (Eng) 68 74 (jt 13th).
143 Jo Clingan (Eng) 71 72 (jt 18th).
144 Eleanor Pilgrim (Wal) 72 72 (jt 23rd).
148 Kirsty Fisher (Eng) 75 73 (jt 39th).
MISSED CUT
153 Shelley McKevitt (Eng) 79 74.
164 Cheryl Smith (Eng) 80 84.

MONTY TEAMS UP WITH ROY CASTLE
LUNG CANCER FOUNDATION

Colin Montgomerie and The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation today announced a joint venture to build a UK centre of excellence dedicated to lung cancer to be named the Elizabeth Montgomerie Centre.
Colin and the Foundation will work together to establish the Centre dedicated to lung cancer patients, carers and health professionals to be based in Glasgow with the ambition to have a profound impact on the future of lung cancer.
The partnership with Colin Montgomerie was announced at a special event held by The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation at the House of Lords. It was very fitting that the event was taking place to recognise the progress that the charity's Women Against Lung Cancer campaign held in the week leading up to Mothers' Day.
The campaign aims to mobilise women to press for more resources to be invested in research and patient care. Dame Gill Oliver, the Head of Campaign, said: "Colin's support could not have arrived at a better time and is a wonderful lead for others whether in the statutory or private sector to follow.”
Colin, whose mother Elizabeth died of lung cancer in 1991, said: “The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation is the only charity in the UK wholly dedicated to the defeat of lung cancer – the biggest cancer killer of women as well as men. I am thrilled to be working with The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation on this exciting project.
The Centre will look to provide the following:
1 Highest quality information, support and training for lung cancer patients and carers.
2 First-class training for lung cancer multi-disciplinary teams particularly specialist nurses and health and other professionals.
3 A UK-wide hotline for patients and carers.
4 Research into all aspects of patient care – including the establishment of a Chair in Lung Cancer Studies.
5 Consultancy in all aspects of The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation work.
6 A home for the Foundation’s patient care team.
Professor Ray Donnelly, the Charity’s founder, said: “We are delighted to have Colin’s support – his profile will be a significant contribution in helping lung cancer patients throughout the UK and his energy and passion for the project will be an inspiration to us all. To get the ball rolling he is personally funding our business plan and we are already in contact with the Scottish Executive and Glasgow City Council.”
Dr David Dunlop, Consultant Medical Oncologist at the Beatson Cancer Centre in Glasgow, commented: “To have such a facility in Glasgow will be hugely complementary to other developments in cancer services. This Centre will facilitate the concept of improving the experience of individuals with lung cancer which is embedded in Delivering for Health (SEHD 2005).
“Through providing facilities and a venue for information and support, this centre will strongly complement contemporary health policy, and Glasgow is the right place. There are so many unique aspects of this proposal; I am not sure why nobody has thought of it before!
“I am sure that the support of Colin Montgomerie will generate huge interest. This is a fantastic opportunity for the Foundation to develop a partnership with an inspirational sportsman which will result in a lasting legacy, to improve lung cancer patient care.”

KIRAN TRAILS IN WOMEN’S INDIAN
OPEN WITH ONE ROUND TO GO

English amateur champion Kiran Matharu, who turned professional after last summer’s Curtis Cup match in the United States, survived the 36-hole cut in the Women’s Indian Open but is a distant 15 shots off the pace with one round to go.
Kiran, pictured right, from Leeds but of Indian extraction, has had rounds of 77 and 78 for a share of 31st place on 11-over-par 155 at the DLF Golf & Country Club, New Delhi.
Another past Curtis Cup player, Fame More from Chesterfield, is in joint 12th place on 150 with a pair of 75s.
Taiwan rookie Ya Ni Tseng, who turned pro only two months ago, leads the field by one shot with two rounds of 70 for 140.
Indian amateur Meghan Bal, the surprise first-round leader with a 68, dropped back to third place with a 74 for 142.

LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
140 Ya Ni Tseng (Tai) 70 70.
141 Russamee Gulyanamitta (Thai) 70 71.
142 Meghna Bal (Ind) (am) 68 74.
Other scores:
147 Jade Schaeffer (Fra) 75 72 (jt 7th).
150 Fame Moore (Eng) 75 75 (jt 12th).
153 Helena Alterby (Swe) 73 80 (jt 24th).
154 Fany Schaeffer (Fra) 80 74 (jt 28th).
155 Kiran Matharu (Eng) 77 78 (jt 31st).

ADMIN MIX-UP COSTS RICHIE

RAMSAY A PLACE IN ARNOLD

PALMER INVITATIONAL

An administration mix-up cost Richie Ramsay, Scotland's reigning United States amateur champion, a place in the field for the Arnold Palmer Invitational tournament which began at Bay Hill Golf Club today.

Ramsay arrived in Florida to take his place among the the likes of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson only to be told that there was no place for him because he had not been registered as taking part in what is a US PGA Tour event.

Richie had been given an invitation to play after winning the US amateur title.

"I will now use the time to concentrate on my preparations for the Masters and also the Georgia Cup match (against British amateur champion Julien Guerrier from March) at the end of the month," said the Aberdonian who is a student at Stirling University.

"The ball would appear to be in the Scottish Golf Union's court because they are responsible for looking after Richie's administration. It is all part of a learning curve for him as an invidiual. I'm, sure he willo be double checking registrations in future," said Ronnie MacAskill, director of golf and head professional at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club.

"It's a big disappointment for him but he will be putting in extra hours on the range and focusing on the Georgia Cup now.

"It would have been great for our members to watch him teeing the ball up in such grea company at Bay Hil. Instead, we'll just have to watch Coronation Street."

+Royal Aberdeen Golf Club have commissioned an oil painting of Richie Ramsay to be given a place of honour in the Balgownie clubhouse.

MARC WARREN (70) LEADING SCOT IN SOUTHERN

CHINA TOURNAMENT

Marc Warren, with a two-under-par 70, was the leading Scot at the end of the first round in the TCL Classic at the magnificent Ya Long Bay Golf Club, Sanya (pictured right) in southern China.
Warren birdied the first, second, fourth, 11th, 16th and 18th in hlaves of 33 and 37. His roller-coaster inward half also inclued a double bogey 6 at the 17th and single shots dropped at the 10th and 13th.
The projected halfway cut is that only players with two-under-par (142) or better will survive so that means Barry Hume (71), Steve O'Hara (72), Ross Bain (73) and Simon Yates (76) will have to avoid mistakes on Friday.
Thai sensation Chapchai Nirat got off to a flying start when he fired a sizzling 11-under-par 61 for the opening round lead.
Thanks to a change in putter, Chapchai, 23, enjoyed a blemish free round as he chalked up an impressive 11 birdies and bettered the previous course record of 62 set by American Edward Loar and China’s Liang Wen-chong last year. The in-form Thai had also equalled the low 18-hole record on the Asian Tour set by Chun Chung Chun-hsing in 2001 and Chanin Puntawong in 2003.
Chapchai, who turned pro at the age of 15, took a three stroke lead over Argentina’s Rafael Echenique who shot a 64 for lone second position in the US$1 million event.
South African Keith Horne blasted a 65 in tied third place together with New Zealander Richard Lee and Chinese Taipei’s Lu Wen-teh who was bogey free for the day.
Australia’s Scott Hend was in joint sixth position after a 66 and was tied alongside compatriot Wade Ormsby, England’s Lee Westwood, South African James Kingston and Spain’s Carl Suneson.

LEADING FIRST-ROUND SCORES
Par 72
61 Chapchai Nirat (Tha).
64 Rafael Echenique (Arg).
65 Richard Lee (NZ), Lu Wen-teh (Tpe), Keith Horne (SAf).
66 Scott Hend (Aus), Lee Westwood (Eng), James Kingston (SAf), Carl Suneson (Spa), Wade Ormsby (Aus).
67 Gary Rusnak (US), David Bransdon (Aus), Adam Blyth (Aus), Ashley Hall (Aus), Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Oliver Fisher (Eng), Simon Nash (Aus), Alexandre Rocha (Bra), Brad Kennedy (Aus), Kane Webber (Aus), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Steve Alker (NZ)
68 Unho Park (Aus), Simon Griffiths (Eng), Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice), Luis Claverie (Spa), Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa), Mark Pilkington (Wal), Juvic Pagunsan (Phi), Sam Little (Eng), Mardan Mamat (Sin), Danny Chia (Mas), Barry Lane (Eng), Cesar Monasterio (Arg), Chawalit Plaphol (THA), Carlos Rodiles (Spa).
Other scores included:
70 Marc Warren (Sco).
71 Barry Hume (Sco).
72 Steven O'Hara (Sco).
73 Ross Bain (Sco).
76 Simon Yates (Sco).

SCOTS QUARTET IN ACTION IN LGU
TRAINING MATCHES
AGAINST COUNTY MEN

Four Scots - Krystle Caithness, Kylie Walker, Sally Watson and Carly Booth - will be in action this weekend in the Ladies Golf Union GB&I Training Squad matches against the men's county teams of West Lancashire and Cheshire.
The West Lancs match features 13 singles ties at West Lancashire Golf Club on Saturday.
The Cheshire match will be seven four-ball ties at Royal Liverpool Golf Club's Hoylake links, venue for last summer's Open championship.
Sally and Carly have flown back to play in these training squad matches from Florida where they are pupils at the David Leadbetter Golf Academy. GB&I selectors will be watching.
Great Britain & Ireland play the Continent of Europe in the Vagliano Trophy match at Fairmont St Andrews (formerly St Andrews Bay) on July 27 and 28.
Before that there is the Commonwealth tournament, featuring teams of five players from Great Britain, Australia, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand, in South Africa from May 7 to 11.
GB&I Vagliano Trophy team manager Tegwen Matthews, a Curtis Cup player in the 1970s, will play in the Sunday four-balls to make up an even number of partnerships.

The weekend programme of matches is:

SATURDAY
CHESHIRE MEN v LGU GB&I TRAINING SQUAD
at Royal Liverpool Golf Club
J Howarth & D Marmion v Kerry Smith & Sahra Hassan.
S Capper & C Lewis v Mel Reid & Branne Loucks.
K Kean & A Hardie v Tara Davies & Florentyna Parker.
D Peel & I Davie v Liz Bennett & Kylie Walker.
J Murphy & J Sims v Rachel Bell & Krystle Caithness.
E Parker & P Bolton v Naomi Edwards & Tegwen Matthews.
A Wills & R Fitzgerald v Sally Watson & Carly Booth.
SUNDAY
LANCASHIRE MEN v LGU GB&I TRAINING SQUAD
at West Lancashire Golf Club
Matthew Baldwin (Royal Birkdale) v Kerry Smith.
Michael Hunt (Pleasington) v Krystle Caithness.
Sam Stuart (St Anness Old Links) v Mel Reid.
Jonathan Hurst (Shaw Hill) v Carly Booth.
Matthew Cox (Royal Birkdale) v Tara Davies.
Tommy Fleetwood (Formby Hall) v Sally Watson.
Jack Senior (Heysham) v Liz Bennett.
David Corsby (Fleetwood) v Naomi Edwards.
Richard Walker (Frodsham) v Kylie Walker.
Garry Boardman (Castle Hawk) v Rachel Bell.
Ken Hurdson (Hart Common) v Sahra Hassan.
Steven McGlynn (Blackburn) v Florentyna Parker.
James Robinson (Southport & Ainsdale) v Breanne Loucks.

CLARE QUEEN HAS 71 BEFORE LIGHTNING
HITS SOUTH AFRICAN TOURNAMENT
South African rookie professional Stacy Bregman fired seven birdies just before a lightning storm forced a suspension of play for the rest of the day in the first round of the Telkom Women's Classic tournament at Benoni Lakes Golf Club, Johannesburg.
Bregman's bogey-free round of seven-under-par 65 gave her a two-stroke lead from compatriot Ashleigh Simon, the amateur who won the South African Women's Open last week, and Spain's Tania Elosegui.
England's Sarah Heath is sharing fourth place on 68 and two other English players, Felicity Johnson and Rebecca Hudson, are on 69.
Clare Queen had a satisfactory one-under-par 71.
FIRST ROUND (still to be completed)
65 S Bregman (SAf).
67 A Simon (SAf) (am), T Elosegui (Spa).
68 M Skarpnord (Nor), S Heath (Eng), L Maritz (SAf).
69 F Johnson (Eng), R Hudson (Eng).
Other scores:
71 C Queen (Sco).

JODI'S FOUR-UNDER-PAR TOTAL

EARNS HER ONLY A SHARE

OF FIFTH PLACE

Jodi Ewart, from Middleham, Yorkshire, finished with a very creditable four-under-par aggregate of 212 - but so high was the standard of scoring among the leaders that her total earned her "only" joint fifth place in the UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational college tournament at Boulder Creek Golf Club, Boulder City in Nevada.
Jodi had rounds of 68, 70 and 74. In her last round she birdied the second and 11th but ran up a double bogey 6 at the very last hole. It was her only serious slip of the round and her only double bogey of the 54 holes over which she had 10 birdies and four single bogeys and that doube bogey.
Miss Ewart, a freshman student at New Mexico University and a member at Catterick Golf Club, disputed the lead with Rachel Newren (Brigham Young Univerity) over the first two rounds.
But they were overhauled over the final round by some brilliant scoring in perfectly calm conditions from Jennifer Shipley (Fresno State University, California) and Kelly Nakashima (Idaho University).
Jennifer, pictured above, started the fiinal day in seventh place but shot a career-low, eight-under-par 64 over the 6,199yd, par-72 course after earlier rounds of 71 and 70.
She tied at the top of the leaderboard on 11-under-par 205 with Kelly Nakashima who scored 72, 68 and 65.
Jennifer won the sudden-death play-off at the third extra hole. It was her first ever win on the US college circuit.
Rachel Newren finished third on 209 with scores of 67, 70 and 72.
Jodi Ewart's very good effort did help her college, New Mexico, to finish runners-up behind Brigham Young in the field of 18 teams.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL TOTALS
205 Jennifer Shipley (Fresno State) 71 70 64, Kelly Nakashima (Idaho) 72 68 65 (Shipley won play-off at third extra hole).
209 Rachel Newren (Brigham Young) 67 70 72.
210 Danielle Von Arnim (Brigham Young) 71 68 71.
212 Jodi Ewart (New Mexico) 68 70 74 (jt 4th with four players).
LEADING TEAM TOTALS
847 Brigham Young. 857 New Mexico. 959 Idaho. 864 Indiana. 873 UNLV, San Francisco (18 teams).

WEBSTER, VANNET BEST AT BURNTISLAND

Professionals Alistair Webster (Edzell) and Lee Vannet (Carnoustie Links) tied for the top scratch prize with one-over-par scores of 71 in the Midland Golfers' Alliance's Dave Smith OBE and Eddie Sherry-sponsored pro-am at Burntisland Golf House, Fife.
Webster also lead his team to joint first place with a score of 130.

LEADING SCRATCH SCORES
71 A J Webster (Edzell) p, L Vannet (Carnoustie Links) p.
72 P Brookes (Pitreavie) p, D McKay (Wellsgreen) p.
73 E Walker (Burntisland) ap.

LEADING TEAM SCORES
130 A J Webster (Edzell) p, K Bruce (Edzell), I Milne (Edzell), A Smith (Edzell); P Wytrazek (Burntisland) p, G White (Burntisland), E White (Burntisland), J Edminston (Burntisland).
131 K McGowan (Burntisland) ap, H Haldane (Burntisland), D Adams (Burntisland), D West (Burntisland).

Next week's meeting is on Thursday, March 22 at Crieff Golf Club (tee reserve: 8.30 – 12.30).

MIKKO ILONEN WINS EUROPEAN TOUR
SHOT OF THE MONTH FOR FEBRUARY

Mikko Ilonen’s superb tee shot at the testing 236yd 15th hole, on his way to his maiden European Tour victory in the Enjoy Jakarta Astro Indonesia Open, has been recognised as The European Tour Shot of the Month for February.
Having taken the lead at the previous hole, the Finn was faced with an extremely testing tee shot on the 15th to a tight pin position on a green surrounded by water. Showing tremendous courage the 27 year old fired a rescue club straight at the flag, the ball coming to rest 12 feet from the pin from where two putts for a par 3 gave him the platform to go on to become the first Finnish golfer to win on The European Tour.

Edinburgh & East of Scotland Golfers' Alliance

GRAEME JOHNSTON WINS THORNTON
CUP AT MUSSELBURGH

By DUNCAN IRELAND
Secretary, Edinburgh & East of Scotland Alliance

Another fine day at Musselburgh for our final event of the year. A total of 89 played on an excellent course, which was playing very tricky, as the scores will testify to. Nevertheless a massive thank you to Musselburgh as a long-time supporter of the Alliance.
Congratulations are finally due, after quite a long wait, to Graeme Johnston. His net 69 off four was just enough to beat John Kerr's net 70, also off four, into second place and was only one off the best scratch of the day, a 72, from Kenneth Glen.
Incredibly close at the top as you can see from the prizes. We had six tied for fourth scratch and five tied for fifthhandicap.
Now with the final qualifier completed, we move on to the championship at Dalmahoy. The top 60 from the scratch order of merit have qualified by right to play.
Congratulations to Stevie Doyle of Liberton on winning the Handicap Order of Merit even before the championship begins. He can't be caught but second and third places are still very much up for grabs.
The Scratch Order of Merit is also still very much in the melting pot with six players still being able to win and numerous others able to take the minor places.
I hope you enjoyed your Edinburgh and East of Scotland Golfers’ Alliance season and the courses we played. If you have any suggestions for outings for next season, then please forward them to me or, better still, come along to the AGM & Presentation of Prizes on April 23 and let us know then.

LEADING RETURNS FROM TODAY’S MUSSELBURGH COMPETITION:

OVERALL WINNER (Thornton Cup) – Graeme D Johnston (Glenbervie) (4) 69.

SCRATCH
1st (£100) Kenneth Glen (Royal Musselburgh) t 72.
2nd equal (£70 each) Stevie Lamb (unatt) p, Ross Noon (Longniddry) 74.
4th equal (£13 each) Neil Colquhoun (Merchants of Edinburgh) p, Andrew Dunsmore (Deer Park) p, Scott Grieve (King’s Acre) t, Neil Shillinglaw (Glencorse), Jim Noon (Leven), Paul Wardell (Whitekirk) p 75.
Other leading scratch scores:
76 Derek Fish (Glenbervie), Ian Fyfe (Musselburgh), Norman Huguet (Royal Musselburgh) t, Craig Imlah (Peebles), James McGhee (Turnhouse) t, Callum Smith (Royal Musselburgh) p, Adam Strang (Rothco Mortgages) p, Mike Thomson (Cardrona) p.
77 Alexander Culverwell (Dunbar), Graham Johnston (Baberton) t, William Laing (Prestonfield), Andrew Marshall (Houston GR) p, John McLean (Bathgate) s, George Wither (Lothianburn).
78 Harry Cartmill (Bathgate), Kevin Connachan (Royal Musselburgh), Richard Johnston (Glenbervie), Colin McLachlan (Glenbervie) s, Derek P Miller (Murrayfield), Chris Morris (Kingsknowe) p, Andrew Rothney (Deer Park).
79 Alistar Anderson (Peebles), Steven Doyle (Liberton), Ronald Grant (Baberton), Ewan Hogarth (Peebles) t, Andrew Wight (Glencorse) s.

HANDICAP
(Prizes in vouchers)
1st (£100) Graeme D Johnston (Glenbervie) (4) 69.
2nd (£80) John Kerr (Deer Park) (4) 70.
3rd (£60) George Thomson (Duddingston) (4) 71.
4th (£40) Willie Laing (Prestonfield) (5) 72.
5th equal (£8 each) Harry Cartmill (Bathgate) (5), Tom Flaherty (Gullane) (8) s, Ian Fyfe (Musselburgh) (3), John McLean (Bathgate) (4) s, Peter Sewell (West Linton) (8) 73.
Other leading net scores:
74 Derek Fish (Glenbervie) (2), Ronald Grant (Baberton) (5), Colin McLachlan (Glenbervie) (4) s, James Rankeiller (Edinburgh Western) (11) s, Graham Roberts (Liberton) (9), Neil Shillinglaw (Glencorse) (1).
75 Alistair Bell (Mortonhall) (5), Steven Doyle (Liberton) (4), Graham Grieve (Torphin) (7), David Jeffrey (Whitekirk) (7), Ross Noon (Longniddry) (+1).
76 Alistair Anmderson (Peebles) (3), John T Anderson (Kingsknowe) (7) s, Eric Bird (Pumpherston) (6), James Laurieston (Easter Moffat) (10), Derek P Miller (Murrayfield) (2), Alistair Robertson (Kingsknowe) (10), George Wither (Lothianburn) (1).

p denotes professional; t trainee professional; s senior amateur. All the remainder are amateurs.

MAN IN FORM MATHIESON (64)

LEADS NORTH-EAST

ALLIANCE CHAMPIONSHIP

Murcar Links’ man in form Terry Mathieson followed up last week’s win at Cruden Bay by taking the halfway lead from a field of 110 for the first round of the North-east Golfers’ Alliance championship at Duff House Royal, Banff today.
Mathieson, pictured right, who has a +2 rating, returned a four-under-par 64 and will take a one-stroke lead over another amateur, Gary Esson (Portlthen) into next Wednesday’s second round at Fraserburgh.
“I’ve been having a lesson or two from Frank Coutts (the Deeside Golf Club director of golf) and he has made some changes in my set-up that have made me feel a lot more comfortable over the ball,” said Terry.
In ideal, windless conditions, from forward tees, Mathieson birdied the second, third, fifth, 13th, 15th and 17th in two halves of 32. He three-putted the ninth and 14th, both from about 40ft at the back of both greens.
Esson, a +3 player at Portlethen, birdied the third, fifth, seventh and 12th with only one bogey, at the second in halves of 32 and 33.
Third-placed Paul Cormack (Inchmarlo) bogeyed the 17th on his way to a 67 (33-34) while Dean Yeats (Newmachar) bogeyed the last three holes for a 68 (32-36) and fourth place.
Defending champion Ryan Fitzpatrick (Inchmarlo) told secretary Ron Menzies that he would not be able to play in next week’s second round of the championship at Fraserburgh as he was going on a golfing holiday to Spain.
Fitzpatrick had a three-over-par 71.

Leading returns (par 68).
SCRATCH
64 T Mathieson (Murcar Links).
65 G Esson (Portlethen).
67 P Cormack (Inchmarlo) p.
68 D Yeats (Newmachar).
69 R Stewart (Cruden Bay) p, G Grimmer (Nigg Bay), I Bratton (Newburgh) p, P Lovie (Inchmarlo) p, A Campbell (Deeside), G McInnes (Murcar Links) p.
70 S Troup (Kings Links) ap, S Finnie (Caledonian), R Hyland (Hazlehead), S Pert (Huntly).
71 C Nelson (MacKenzie Club) p, R Fitzpatrick (Inchmarlo) p, A Graham (Portlethen), C Alexander (Murcar Links) s, G Forbes (Murcar Links) p, M Barnard (Inchmarlo) ap.
72 W Main (Murcar Links), J Roberts (Cruden Bay) J Nicolson (Auchmill), R McDonald (Kemnay) p, E Kennedy (Stonehaven).
73 I D Smith (Hazlehead) s, C Stephen (Meldrum House), S Fraser (Northern).
74 P Morrison (Oldmeldrum), J Dalgarno (Hazlehead), A K Pirie (Hazlehead) s, B Ritchie (Inverallochy), J M Hamilton (Murcar Links), A Buchan (Northern), A Links (Murcar Links), D Corkey (East Aberdeenshire).
75 C Cassie (Nigg Bay), L Barbour (Cruden Bay), S Scott (Auchmill), S Lawrie (Portlethen), N Williamson (Banchory).
76 B Harper (Newburgh), R L Nicoll (Murcar Links), N Murray (Cruden Bay) p, A Swift (Auchmill), D McKay (Caledonian).
77 J Kinsella (Braemar), C Hood (Alford), J Harrison (Newmachar), N Reid (Deeside) ap, K Smith (Aboyne).
78 S Elrick (Kemnay), S Davidson (Banchory), A Grant (Portlethen), D Nelson (Aboyne).
79 I Welsh (Nigg Bay), A Grant (Portlethen), D Leighton (Murcar Links), M Ord (Royal Aberdeen) (12) s.

HANDICAP
Class 1 – A Buchan (Northern) (9) 65; J Roberts (Cruden Bay) (6), T Mathieson (Murcar Links) (+2) 66; C Cassie (Nigg Bay) (8), G Grimmer (Nigg Bay) (2), I D Smith (Hazlehead) (6) s, A Graham (Portlethen) (4), S Lawrie (Portlethen) (8), S Pert (Huntly) (3) 67; G Esson (Portlethen) (+3), C Alexander (Murcar Links) (3) s, J Nicolson (Auchmill) (4), D Yeats (Newmachar) (scr), C Hood (Alford) (9) 68; A Campbell (Deeside) (scr), P Morrison (Oldmeldrum) (5), J Dalgarno (Hazlehead) 95), J M Hamilton (5) 69.

Class 2 – M Ord (Royal Aberdeen) (12) s 67; W McBain (Turriff) (13) s, G Travis (Auchmill) (15) 68; N A Ogston (Turriff) (11) s, I Strachan (Royal Aberdeen) (11) s, D Moir (Murcar Links) (12) 70; A Dent (Ellon) (16), P Cornfield (Auchmill) (11), B Lumsden (Northern) (16), H McNaughton (Cruden Bay) (10), M F R Rogers (Kemnay) (14) s, J Penny (Huntly) (12) 71; D Lawrie (Inchmarlo) (12), J Wilson (Deeside) (10) s 72; W D Rae (Kemnay) (11) s, W Forbes (Murcar Links) (15) s 73; T Collie (Kemnay) (10), G Homer (Lumphanan (12), D Wood (Newburgh) (14) s, J Jessiman (Oldmeldrum) (14) s, R Addison (Newburgh) (18) s 74.

SCORECARD FOR DUFF HOUSE ROYAL:
OUT: 4-4-4-4-4-3-4-4-3-34. IN: 4-3-5-3-4-4-3-4-4-34.

TERRY MATHIESON 64
OUT: 4-3-3-4-3-3-4-4-4-32. IN: 4-3-5-2-5-3-3-3-4-32.

GARY ESSON 65
OUT: 4-5-3-4-3-3-3-4-3-32. IN: 4-3-4-3-4-4-3-4-4-33.

PAUL CORMACK 67
OUT: 3-4-4-3-3-3-5-4-4-33. IN: 4-3-4-3-4-4-3-5-4-34

DEAN YEATS 68
OUT: 3-3-5-3-3-3-4-4-4-32. IN: 4-3-5-3-3-4-4—5-5-36

ENGLAND SENDING TOP YOUNG GIRLS
TO SLGA EVENT AT CRAIGIELAW

England team for the Nations Cup event at the Scottish Under-16 girls' open stroke-play championship at Craigielaw Golf Club on April 5 and 6 is:
Kelly Tidy (Manchester) 15.
Holly Clyburn (Woodhall Spa) 16.
Raffi Dyer (Hayling) 15.
Kelly is in ELGA's Futures U-18 Squad and is the current English Under-15 champion. She won the English U-13 championship in 2004 and 2005.
Holly is in the Select Midlands Squad and Raffi is in Select South-East.
The full squad of England players for the Scottish Under-16 open championship is:
Heidi Baek (Felixstowe Ferry) 13, Holly Clyburn (Woodhall Spa) 16, Raffi Dyer (Hayling) 15, Sian Evans (Faversham) 15, Rebecca Gibbs (Burnham & Berrow) 16, Alexandra Peters (Notts Ladies) 13, Helen Searle (West End) 14, Kelly Tidy (Manchester) 15.
The squad will be accompanied by Pat Smillie, ELGA’s national junior coach, and overseer Di Williams.

SALLY FLIES HOME FOR LGU

MATCHES AFTER

FINISHING 12th IN TEXAS

David Leadbetter Academy student Sally Watson from South Queensferry is flying back to Britain from Florida - via Texas - in time to play for the Ladies Golf Union Elite Squad in selection trial matches against Cheshire and Lancashire men's county teams this weekend.
Sally finished joint 12th in a field of 69, including the very best Under-18 girl golfers in the United States in the Kathy Whitworth Invitational 36-hole tournament at Mira Vista Golf Club, Fort Worth in Texas earlier this week.
Miss Watson, who won't by 16 until July, had rounds of 75 and 73 for a six-over-par tally of 148 over the 6,152yd, par-71 course.
The winner of the prestigious Kathy Whitworth event - one of the top girls' tournaments in the United States - was a 14-year-old from Buena Park, California, Kristen Park. She had rounds of 71 and 70 for one-under-141.
Kristen won by one shot from Kimberly Kim, the 15-year-old holder of the US women's amateur championship from Hawaii, Florida-based Isabelle Lendl, one of the former world tennis champion's daughters, and Kristna Wong (Florida).

LEADING SCORES
Par 142 (2 x 71)
141 Kristen Park (California) 71 70.
142 Isabelle Lendl (Florida) 72 70, Kristina Wong (Florida) 72 70, Kimberly Kim (Hawaii) 70 72.
145 Cheyenne Woods (Arizona) 71 74, Elisa Aoki (Florida) 75 70, Megan Grehan (New York) 73 72, Courtney Ellenbogen (Virginia) 72 73.
146 Jane Rah (California) 74 72, Tiffany Lua (California) 71 75.
147 Angela Villela (California) 73 74.
148 Sally Watson (Scotland) 75 73, Glory Yang (California) 76 72, Andrea Watts (Florida) 75 73, Cydney Clanton (North Carolina) 71 77.

THE WEBSITE FOR TAMSEL TOUR SCORES, NEWS

ADAM STOTT WINS TAMSEL TOUR OPENER
AT PRESTATYN WITH 139 TOTAL

Adam Stott from Reddish Vale won the opening event of the 2007 Tamsel Tour at Prestatyn, Wales yesterday.
He had rounds of 69 and 70 for a total of 139, one stroke ahead of Andrew Willey (Ramsdale Park).
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
139 Adam Stott (Reddish Vale) 69 70.
140 Andrew Willey (Ramsdale Park) 67 73.
141 James Harper (Seaton Carew) 72 69, Daniel Wardrop (Didsbury/ISM) 70 71.
142 David Smith (Swinton Park) 68 74.
143 Peter Baker (South Staffs) 75 68, Gareth Wright (ISM) 72 71, Barry Taylor (Houghwood) 70 73.
144 Matt Morris (Forest of Arden) 71 73.
145 Stuart Andrew (Clitheroe) 76 69, Richard Gruney (England) 73 72, Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills DR) 72 73.
146 Paul Gault (Gary Mitchell Golf) 75 71, Simon Robinson (England) 70 76.
147 Ian Keenan (Royal Liverpool) 77 70, Ian Ridgway (High Leigh Park) 76 71, Michael Hempstock (Doncaster) 76 71, Chris Handson (Crosland Heath/go2sports.com) 75 72.
148 Neil Oakley (St Mellons) 75 73, Chris Russell (Dunbar) 74 74, Steve Carter (South Staffs) 72 76, Lee Corcoran (Moreton Hills/Wilson Garages Ltd) 72 76.
149 Lloyd Bond (Seaton Carew) 76 73, Paul Wesselingh (Kedleston Park) 75 74.
150 Ben Hutton (Sudbrook Moor) 77 73, Jon Hems (Little Aston) 76 74, Andrew Bradley (Doncaster) 74 76, David Wilcock (Dean Wood) 74 76, Adrian Carey (Walmley) 72 78.
151 Mike Kanski (Hesketh) 78 72, Peter Wheatcroft (Worksop) 76 75, Adam Scallon (Bancroft Ltd) 75 76, James Whatley (jameswhatley.co.uk) 75 76.
152 Eurig Williams (Garnant Park) 76 76, Simon Eaton (Nelson) 75 77, James Brute (Old Colwyn) 75 77.
153 Anthony Mackrell (Scotland) 80 73, Mark Hancock (Stand/M&J Motors) 79 74, Richard Jones (England) 78 75, Mike Lindfield (Playgolf Manchester) 77 76, David Mansell (Silkstone) 76 77, Jamie Farnsworth (Coxmoor) 76 77, Andy Lambert (Wales) 73 80.
154 David Ames (Prestatyn) 78 76, Craig Simmons (Patshull Park) 77 77.
155 Daniel Bardsley (Moor Hall) 78 77, James Salt (Nefyn) 76 79.
156 Philip Barlow (Helsby) 74 82, Matthew Edwards (Hill Valley) 77 79, Micael Tchobanian
(Blackpool North Shore( 74 82.
157 Kyle Cullum (MAD Solutions) 76 81.
158 Liam Hunt (Mere 78 80.
159 Thomas Burns (England) 80 79.
160 Joseph Feather (Perrott Associates/Leeds GC) 81 79, Kenny Monaghan (Bothwell Castle) 83 77, Neil Jones (Vicars Cross) 87 73, Nathan Stead (Queensbury) 84 76.
162 Simon Locke (CCS Comms Ltd) 79 83.
163 Carl Davis (Carden Park) 80 83, Ian Simpson (Total Signs & Graphics) 81 82.
164 Alan Watson (Bentham) 79 85.
165 Jonathan Craddock (Stagecraft Systems) 81 84, Danny Midgelow (Northenden) 80 85.
168 David Middleton (Sudbrook Moor) 78 90.
169 John Coppack (England) 84 85.
170 Clive Burfoot (Hawarden) 87 83.
176 Tony Canning (Golf Solutions) 91 85.
NR James Whatmore (Wynyard) 77 NR.
Ret Steve Parry (Bolton) 77 Ret.
DQ Harry Proos (Dunscar) 80 DQ.
Ret Ru Barlow (England). Ret.
Ret David MacKinnon (Didsbury) Ret.
Ret James Pye (Preston) Ret.
NR Dean Brady (Classic Car Rentals) NR.
DQ Peter James (Belmouth) DQ.
DQ Paul Nicholson (England) DQ.


NEXT FOUR TAMSEL TOUR TOURNAMENTS:
Monday, March 26 - Fordsham Golf Club (18 holes).
Monday-Tuesday, April 2-3 - Leasowe Golf Club (36 holes).
Tuesday-Wednesday, May 1-2 - Withington Golf Club (36 holes).
Monday-Tuesday, May 14-15 - Helsby Golf Club (36).

For more details, E-mail http://www.tamsel.com

THIS IS YOUR WEBSITE FOR TAMSEL TOUR SCORES AND NEWS.


ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

JODI AND RACHEL NECK AND NECK
AT BOULDER CREEK, NEVADA

Former Daily Telegraph national girls champion Jodi Ewart from Middletham, Yorkshire is on the six-under-par mark after two rounds of the UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational – only one shot behind the pacemaking Rachel Newren (Brigham Young University).
Jodi, pictured right, a member of Catterick Golf Club and a freshman (first year) student at New Mexico University, has shot rounds of 68 and 70, compared with Rachel’s 67 and 70 over the par-72, 6,199yd course AT Boulder Creek Golf Club, Boulder City in Nevada.
Rachel had two eagle 2s in her opening round and that has made all the difference so far at the top of the leaderboard.
Miss Ewart has had nine birdies over her two rounds. She birdied the fourth, fifth, 11th and 16th on her second circuit on which her two bogies came at the eighth and 18th.
Brigham Young (563) are leading the team event from Indiana (570) with Idaho (573) third and New Mexico (574) fourth of the 18 competing colleges.
The 54-hole tournament ends on Wednesday.

LEADING INDIVIDUALS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
137 Rachel Newren (Brigham Young) 67 70.
138 Jodi Ewart (New Mexico) 68 70.
139 Danielle Von Arnim (Brigham Young) 71 68.
LEADING TEAMS
563 Brigham Young.
570 Indiana.
573 Idaho.
574 New Mexico (4th of 18 teams).

GET RID OF PAR AND YARDAGE, SAYS FORMER
OPEN WINNER TODD HAMILTON


Now here's a thought-provoking suggestion from Todd Hamilton - yes, the same Todd Hamilton who won the 2004 Open at Royal Troon.
The American says he would like to see only one number on the signs at every tee on any course, and that would be to identify what hole you're playing.
"Get rid of the par. Get rid of the yardage,'' he said. "Go play the course.''
Hamilton made his comment after Arnold Palmer announced that he was converting two par-5s into par-4s to make his Bay Hill course a more testing par-70 than a "easy" par 72.

ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

MICHELE PULLS OUT NINE DAYS AHEAD OF EVENT

A wrist injury has forced Michele Wie to withdraw from the LPGA Safeway International, NINE days ahead of the start of the event at Superstition Mount Golf & Country Club's Prospector Course.
Michele, who is at Stanford College, California, obviously did not think the lingering injury was going to clear up before a week on Thursday.

ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

SALLY WATSON STARTS

WITH A 75 IN KATHY
WHITWORTH TOURNEY

British girls championship runner-up Sally Watson from South Queensferry had a three-over-par 75 in the first round of the prestigious Kathy Whitworth Invitational girls’ tournament at Mira Vista Golf Club, Fort Worth in Texas.
Scotland women’s international team player Miss Watson, a 15-year-old student at the IMG David Leadbetter Golf Academy at Bradenton, Florida, was lying 16th , five shots behind the leader, Hawaiian youngster Kimberly Kim who, at the age of 14, was the youngest ever winner of the United States women’s championship last year.
Sally, pictured left, flies back to Britain immediately the Texas tournament is over so that she can take part in the Ladies Golf Union Elite squad matches against the Cheshire and Lancashire men’s county squads this weekend.

Match-play form in these weekend matches will play a big part in the later selection of the Great Britain & Ireland team for the Vagliano Trophy match against the Continent of Europe at Fairmont St Andrews (formerly St Andrews Bay) on July 27 and 28.
Kathy Whitworth scored 88 career wins, six of them majors, during her years as an LPGA player.

THREE SCOTS IN TOP 50 OF
R&A WORLD RANKINGS
This week's top 50 R&A world men's amateur golf rankings include three Scots - Richie Ramsay (Royal Aberdeen), the former No 1 and now No 3, Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw) in No 31 position and Paul O'Hara (Colville Park) in the 42nd position.

One of the most significant changes in the make-up of the upper echelon of the rankings is that more and more American college players are making their presence felt. There are now four in the top 10, whereas a few months ago there were none.

The list then was top-weighted with British and Irish players but the balance of power is swinging the Americans' way, which is possibly a more accurate reflection of where the world's leading male amateur players are based.

Top 50 are:

1 Jamie Moul ENG 1171.05.
2 Rory McIlroy IRE 1154.00.
3 Richie Ramsay SCO 1119.44.
4 Jamie Lovemark US 1050.00.
5 Rhys Davies WAL 1049.18.
6 Billy Horschel US 1047.17.
7 Pablo Martin SPA 1041.07.
8 Gary Wolstenholme ENG 1021.82.
9 Jonathan Moore US 1009.68.
10 Kyle Stanley US 1000.00.
11 Webb Simpson US 991.53.
12 Bronson LaCassie AUS 990.32.
13 Chris Kirk US 970.37.
14 John Parry ENG 965.71.
15 Niklas Lemke SWE 957.58.
16 Seve Benson ENG 946.34.
17 Julien Guerrier FRA 944.19.
18 Dustin Johnson US 940.62.
19 Tim Stewart AUS 932.10.
20 Johan Carlsson SWE 930.30.
21 Gary Woodland US 926.67.
22 Stephen Lewton ENG 908.00.
23 Rob Grube US 907.14.
24 Louis de Jager SAf 904.26.
25 David Horsey ENG 901.96.
26 Nigel Edwards WAL 897.56.
27 Bjorn Akesson SWE 893.94.
28 Ryan Yip CAN 891.89.
29 Cameron Tringale US 888.00.
30 Kevin Chappell US 881.82.
Other GB&I players in top 50:
31 Lloyd Saltman SCO 879.59.
42 Paul O'Hara SCO 854.55.
48 Gary Boyd ENG 837.50

PRESS RELEASE

TETRA
TECHNOLOGIES
RE-SIGN

PAUL LAWRIE

TETRA Technologies, Inc. announced today that they have extended their relationship with 1999 Open Champion, Paul Lawrie.
Paul will wear the TETRA branding on the side of his headwear in the year of his much anticipated return to Carnoustie, the scene of his Open triumph. Paul said, “I am very grateful to TETRA for their support over the years and delighted that we will be working together for the foreseeable future.”
Duane Sutherland, Vice President Europe and Africa, of Tetra added, “We are delighted to continue our relationship with Paul. He has been a great ambassador for us, both locally in Aberdeen and on the global stage. He has also been a great asset to us in our business to business marketing and the golf days he hosts are eagerly anticipated by all.”

***TETRA Technologies, Inc is a geographically diversified oil and gas services company that provides niche products and services focused on well completion and on late-life production enhancement and decommissioning. In addition, it is the world's largest, vertically integrated producer, marketer, and distributor of calcium chloride, which it supplies as feedstocks-along with its brominated products-for its completion fluids business as well as for applications in a variety of other markets.
Headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, TETRA is a global company with employees and operations on five continents.

JODI EWART HAS 68 AT BOULDER CREEK

Yorkshire player Jodi Ewart (New Mexico University) from Catterick was lying joint second, only one shot off the lead, with a four-under-par 68 after the first round of the UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational women's college tournament at Boulder Creek Golf Club, Boulder City in Nevada.
Jodi started at the 10th and put herself in the mood for a low score with a birdie at the 11th before a string of pars saw her complete her first nine holes of the 6,199yd par-72 course in one-under 35.
Then she birdied the third, fourth, sixth and ninth with her only shot dropped at the eighth.
Rachel Newren (Brigham Young) leads on 67 and Jodi shares second place with Lehua Wise (New Mexico State) in a field of 98 players.
Brigham Young (280) lead the team event from New Mexico (284) with Indian (285) third and New Mexico State (291) fourth of the 18 colleges competing.

RHYS DAVIES CHALKS UP 10th WIN
ON AMERICAN COLLEGE CIRCUIT

Scots Wallace Booth (Augusta State University) from Comrie and Fraserburgh’s Jordan Findlay (East Tennessee State University) finished joint 34th and 64th respectively in a field of 98 as Edinburgh-born Welsh Walker Cup player Rhys Davies chalked up his 10th win on the American college circuit.
The tournament was the General Jim Hackler College Championship over 54 holes from the back tees – a course measuring 6,950yd with a par of 72 – at TPC of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Davies, pictured above, shot 70, 65 and 71 for a 10-under-par total of 70, 65 71. Rather in Nick Faldo style, Rhys shot 17 pars and one birdie in his final round to win by one shot from South African Dawie Van Der Walt (Lamar University).
Another Lamar player from South Africa, Oliver Bekker) was third on 208.
Wallace Booth had rounds of 76, 73 and 71 for a total of 220, improving his position by some 21 places with a sub-par final round that include a double-bogey 7 at the second but eagle 3s at the sixth and 14th as well as birdies at the third and 10th in halves of 37 and 34.
Jordan Findlay also saved his best to last in scores of 78, 75 and 74 for a total of 227. He took climbed the best part of 20 places, with a steadier round of two birdies and four bogeys in halves of 36 and 38.
Ulsterman Gareth Shaw (East Tennessee State) tied for 13th place on 214 with scores of 75, 69 and 70.

Team-mate Seamus Power, a freshman from Waterford, shared 51st place with 75, 75 and 74 for 224.
Englishman Peter Richardson (Purdue University) from Carlisle came joint 30th with 76, 68 and 75 for 219.
Cian McNamara (East Tennessee State) from Limerick finished 81st with scores of 76, 77 and 77 for 230.
Another Purdue student from England, Tom Oliver of Nottingham, finished 86th with rounds of 77, 80 and 75 for 232.
Lamar University (838) won the team event from Coastal Carolina (848) with Southern California (851) third, Duke (868) and East Tennessee State (869) fifth in a field of 18 college teams. Augusta State (875) came eighth.
LEADING INDIVIDUALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
206 Rhys Davies (East Tennessee State) 0 65 71.
207 Dawie Van Der Walt (Lamar) 66 70 71.
208 Olvier Bekker (Lamar) 69 72 67.
Other totals:
214 Gareth Shaw (East Tennessee State) 75 69 70 (jt 13th).
219 Peter Richardson Purdue) 76 68 75 (jt 30th).
220 Wallace Booth (Augusta State) 76 73 71 (jt 34th).
224 Seamus Power (East Tennessee State) 75 75 74 (jt 51st).

227 Jordan Findlay (East Tennessee State) 78 75 74 (jt 64th).
230 Cian McNamara (East Tennessee State) 76 77 77.
232 Tom Oliver (Purdue) 77 80 75.
LEADING TEAM TOTALS
838 Lamar. 848 Coastal Carolina. 851 Southern California. 868 Duke. 869 East Tennessee State. Also: 875 Augusta State (eighth of 18 teams).

CARNOUSTIE CALEDONIA CLINCH TITLE IN
ANGUS WOMEN’S GOLF WINTER LEAGUE

Carnoustie Caledonia are this year’s winners of a women’s winter league golf competition contested by seven clubs in the Angus area over the past six months. It’s the Carnoustie team’s first success in the tournament since 1999-200.
Brechin, Montrose, Panmure Barry and Monifieth all hosted earlier rounds of the William Low Ladies Coastal Winter League and the competition ended at Carnoustie’s Burnside course on Sunday.
Winners on the day – and thus clinching the overall championship - were Carnoustie Caledonia, whose three representatives took the first three places in the individual competition.
Chris Healey was first with 37 Stableford points, Susan Sneddon second with 33, and Ros Fletcher third with 31 points, on the better inward half from Kate Lowden (Monifieth).
With the two best scores out of three counting towards the team competition, the team placings on the day were:
1 Carnoustie Caledonia 70pt, 2 Monifieth 59, 3 (equal) Brechin, Grange, Panmure Barry B 57, 6 Royal Montrose 56, 7 Panmure Barry A 54, 8 Ballumbie Castle 43.
In the overall league championship, the final positions were:
1 Carnoustie Caledonia 325pt, 2 Panmure Barry A 304, 3 Panmure Barry B 303, 4 Grange 296; 5 Monifieth 290; 6 Royal Montrose 284; 7 Brechin 279; 8 Ballumbie Castle 278.
Recent previous winners of the title:
2005-2006 Royal Montrose.
2004-2005 Royal Montrose.
2003-2004 Panmure Barry B.
2002-2003 Royal Montrose.
2001-2002 Letham Grange.
2000-2001 Abertay.
1999-2000 Carnoustie Caledonia.

ROOKIE MEAGAN BEATS ANNIKA

IN MEXICO CITY PLAY-OFF

LPGA Tour rookie Meaghan Francella, pictured right, beat the formidable figure of Annika Sorenstam at the fourth hole of a play-off to bring to an end of the fourth day of stop-start-play in the weather-extended MasterCard Classic at Bosque Real Country Club near Mexico City.

Francella, who played on the US women's college tour with the University of North Carolina and the University of Memphis, turned pro in June 2004 and went straight on to the Futures Tour.

Last year she won an event on the Futures Tour and had a clutch of top-10 finishes which meant she finished last year as fifth on the Futures Tour money list, giving her automatic promotion to the LPGA Tour this season.

This was her fourth LPGA event and she had banked around $5,000. Now Meaghan is $180,000 richer after beating the world's No 1 female professional in head-to-head match-play. Annika's runner-up cheque was for $109,000.
Sorenstam, with 69 wins since she turned pro in 1994, tied with rookie Francella on 11-under-par 205.
Both players started at the 10th in their delayed third and final rounds. Annika birdied the fourth, fifth, sixth and ninth for 32 and a six-under-par 66.
Meaghan, who had led the field after 36 holes, birdied the fourth, fifth and ninth on her second nine in the final round but bogeyed the sixth (a crucial slip) for 34 and a 69.
Laura Davies finished with a 71 for 213, the same score as Becky Morgan who had a 74. They finished joint 15th and gained $16,119 each.
Janice Moodie had a final round of 72 to fill joint 45th place of the 74 qualifiers. Janice finished on 217. Her earlier rounds were 77 and 68. Moodie's pay-out amounted to $4,751.
The early holes of the tournament "killed" the Scot's hopes of a high finish, and almost knocked her out of the tournament. Janice bogeyed the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth, five holes in a row.In the end, for the 54 holes, Janice had 10 birdies and 11 bogeys.

LEADING FINAL PLACINGS

205 Meaghan Francella 68 68 69 bt Annika Sorenstam 69 70 66 at fourth hole of a sudden death play-off.

208 Kyeong Bae 71 70 67, Angela Stanford 74 67 67, Stacy Prammanasudh 67 70 71.

Other totals:

213 Laura Davies (Eng) 68 74 71, Becky Morgan (Wal) 69 70 74 (jt 15th).

217 Janice Moodie (Sco) 77 68 72 (jt 45th).

LEWIS KIRTON HELPS LOUISVILLE

TO TEAM TITLE IN FLORIDA

Freshman student Lewis Kirton (University of Louisville, Kentucky) from Oldmeldrum helped his college to a 14-stroke team-title win in the Mission Inn Collegiate Invite college tournament at El Campeon Golf Club, Howie in the Hills, Florida at the weekend.
Kirton, pictured right, had rounds of 74, 81 and 74 for a 13-over-par total of 229 over the 6,923yd par-72 course. That put him in joint 53rd place in a field of 87 players.
Mike Van Sickle (Marquette University) won the individual honours with scores of 70, 68 and 74 for four-under-par 212.

Two English-born students at Xavier University, Cincinnati, Alan Glynn from Middlesex and Kieran Lovelock from Surrey - both first-year freshman - finished joint 49th and joint 55th respectively.

Alan had rounds of 80, 73 and 75 for 228, while Kieran scored 78, 78 and 74 for 230.
Louisville had three players in the top 10 at the end of the 54 holes but Kirton's 74 was a counting score for the team in the final round.
Lousville (860) won from UNC Greensboro (874) with Marquette and Wichita State joint third on 882 in a field of 16 colleges.

LEADING INDIVIDUAL TOTALS

Par 216 (3 x 72)

212 Mike Van Sickle (Marquette) 70 68 74.

Other scores:

228 Alan Glynn (Xavier) 80 73 75 (jt 49th).

229 Lewis Kirton (Louisville) 74 81 74 (jt 53rd).

230 Kieran Lovelock (Xavier) 78 78 74 (jt 55th).

LEADING TEAM TOTALS

860 Louisville. 874 UNC Greensbro. 882 Marquette, Wichita State. 16 teams in field.

SCOTS STRUGGLE TO KEEP UP

WITH RHYS DAVIES

AT MYRTLE BEACH

Scots Wallace Booth (Augusta State University) from Comrie and Fraserburgh’s Jordan Findlay (East Tennessee State) were lying joint 55th and 80th respectively in a field of 98 for the General Jim Hackler men’s college tournament after 36 holes from the back tees (6,950yd, par-72) at the TPC of Myrtle Beach course in Florida.
Booth scored 76 and 73 for five-over-par 149, Findlay 78 and 75 for 153.

Jordan had a double bogey 6 at the fourth in his first round and one birdie, at the 14th. In his second round, the Buchan loon had birdies at the second, 11th and 15th.
Edinburgh-born Welsh Walker Cup player, Rhys Davies, pictured above, also a student at East Tennessee State and bidding for his 10th win on the American college circuit, shared the lead on nine-under-par 135 with one round to go with Tom Glissmeyer (Southern California).
Davies had scores of 70 and 65, Glissmeyer 67 and 68.
Lamar University (560) lead the team event from Southern California (560) with Coastal Carolina (572) third and Duke (579) fourth. East Tennessee State and Tulsa shared fifth place on 580 with Augusta State next on 581.

LEADING INDIVIDUALS

Par 144 (2 x 72)

135 Rhys Davies (East Tennessee State) 70 65, Tom Glissmeyer (Southern California) 67 68.
136 Dawie Van Der Walt (Lamar) 66 70.

Other scores:

144 Peter Richardson (Purdue) 76 68, Gareth Shaw (East Tennessee State) 75 69 (jt 20th).

149 Wallace Booth (Augusta State) 76 73 (jt 55th).

150 Seamus Power (East Tennessee State) 75 75 (jt 63rd).

153 Jordan Findlay (East Tennessee State) 78 75, Cian McNamara (East Tennessee State) 76 77 (jt 80th).

LEADING TEAMS

553 Lamar. 560 Southern California. 572 Coastal Carolina. 579 Duke. 580 East Tennessee State, Tulsa. 581 Augusta State. 18 teams competing.

JANICE BEATS THE CUT AND PICKS UP
ANOTHER TWO BIRDIES

Janice Moodie did indeed "pull up her socks" - as we suggested - and crammed five birdies and only one bogey into a second-round, four-under-par 68 to beat the 36-hole cut in the weather-disrupted LPGA Tour MasterCard championship in Mexico.
Janice had rounds of 77 and 68 for one-over-par 145. Those with totals of 147 or better made the final day which has been extended to Monday because of continuing electrical storms in the area.
In her final round, Janice started at the 10th and bogeyed the short 11th but picked up a couple of birdies at the 12th and 13th before play was finally suspended for the day on Sunday.
Among those who did not beat the cut were Paula Creamer on 148 (75-73) and Mhairi McKay 149 (77-72).
Meaghan Francella led the field after two rounds of 68 for six-under-par 136. She had a one-stroke advantage over Stacy Prammanasudh (67-70). Annika Sorenstam is not all that far off the pace.