KRIS NICOL, DAVID LAW TIE FOR NE ALLIANCE WIN WITH 68s AT BRUTALLY COLD FRASERBURGH

By COLIN FARQUHARSON Colin@scottishgolfview.com  Fraserburgh tour pro Kris Nicol, playing over his home course, and David Law (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) tied for victory with two-under-par 68s in brutal weather of heavy rain and temperatures as low as 2 degrees in today's North-east Alliance competition over the Buchan links today. Seasoned pro campaigner Colin Nelson said he could not remember ever being as cold on a golf course as he felt at one stage during today's round. Nicol and Law were playing partners so they knew the score in more ways than one. Law holed two 15ft putts to birdie the fourth and short fifth and he also birdied the 11th, the short 15th where he reckoned his four-iron tee shot to within 5ft of the stick was his best of the round, and also the long 15th. Nicol birdied the second and third with 6ft putts dropping for him and also the 12th where he holed a 30-footer from off the green.   In the end they earned £135 apiece after Nicol three-putted the 17th - his only bogey - to give Law the edge only for David, who had dropped shots at the eighth, and 12th, to bogey the last with a bunkered drive to restore equality. Carnoustie's Lee Vannet (pictured today) finished third with a 69 which included an eagle 2 at the 458yd, par-4 ninth where he drove the ball well over 300yd downhill and downwind and capped that by holing out with a wedge from 98yd range. Out in 32 to Nicol's 33 and Law's 34, Vannet, a former European Tour campaigner and a one-time British boys champion, bogeyed the 15th and 16th in the wintry conditions. In the first wintry conditions of the season, Nicol was never going to get near a repeat of last Wednesday's 10-under 59 in balmy weather at Montrose, but he did birdie the second, third and 13th. It was Nicol's fifth win, albeit shared on this occasion, in the past nine Alliance fixtures. Greig Hutcheon (Banchory), who had three 2s on his card, finished fourth with a 71 after running up a double bogey 6 at the last. He sets off on Friday to the warmer climes of Turkey and next week's PGA play-offs. Today's field at Fraserburgh was 91 strong - and it was indicative of the brutal weather that there were 22 No Returns.