Saturday, November 23, 2013

AUSSIES ON TOP DOWN UNDER WITH A ROUND TO GO IN WORLD CUP

        JASON DAY ... leading individual in the World Cup after three rounds
                          Picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c)

REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Home hero Jason Day leads Denmark’s Thomas Björn by one shot going into Sunday's final round of the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf.



Day’s five under par round of 66 took him to nine under par, and the World Number 18 also leads the team competition in partnership with his compatriot Adam Scott. 

Björn had surged four strokes clear of the field when he birdied the first hole from six feet, and his closest rival Kevin Streelman of America dropped four shots in three holes from the second.


The 42 year old Dane was still three strokes clear when he turned in 35, but by failing to break par on the way home Björn finished the day where he started it on eight under par, one shot behind Day. 
The Australian had birdied the first hole from ten feet and two-putted the par five second for a further gain; but it was a 20-footer for birdie at the ninth hole which really ignited the 26 year old’s charge.


An approach to eight feet at the 13th hole and subsequent birdie putts of 20 and ten feet at the 15th and 17th holes respectively saw him come home in 33 to lead at Royal Melbourne Golf Club.

“I got off to a good start and I stayed patient and just let it happen,” said Day. “On the way home I made a load of putts. I’m very excited with how I played today. 
“On this sort of course you have to be patient; you can’t get to the point where the course is beating you up.”


With World Number Two Scott carding a 68 to get to two under, Australia lead defending champions America by one in the team competition. 
“Scotty’s been playing great,” Day added. “It would be very fitting for us to bring it home at Royal Melbourne for all the people that have been here supporting us.”
Björn has all but conceded winning the team title after his fellow Dane Thorbjørn Olesen slumped to a round of 76, but he is firmly in contention to capture the lion’s share of the US$7 million prize fund allocated for the indivdual event.
He said: ““I have played really, really well again today, but the putter just didn’t really do what it had to do.
“I am doing everything right and playing the golf course the way it should be played.
“It was disappointing the couple of mistakes I made, but in general I am in a good position and it’ll be good fun tomorrow.
“I’m up against a guy that we all know what he is capable of and I’ve got to go out and try and keep playing the same sort of golf that I have been playing for three days and hopefully roll a few putts in.” 
America’s Matt Kuchar sits third on six under after a second consecutive 68, while Italy’s Francesco Molinari matched Day’s best-of-the-day 66 to move into fourth on five under. 

 SCOTSWATCH
Scotland's Martin Laird and Stephen Gallacher dropped down from a share of sixth place over night to joint 11th after 54 holes on four-over-par 430, two behind Ireland but on the same mark as England.
Laird's score is going up everyday - 67-72-74 and he has gone down to T17 on level par 213.
Gallacher has outscored his team-mate over the last two rounds with rounds of 74-71-72 but the Bathgate man is T33 on four-over-par 217

SCROLL DOWN PAST THE FOLLOWING
STORY TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

 MELBOURNE MADNESS ENVELOPES
HOLE-IN-ONE WELSHMAN MANLEY
 
FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Even a Hollywood scriptwriter would have rejected the story of Stuart Manley’s third day at the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf as a little too farfetched.
The bald facts are that Manley shot a round of 72 which saw him fall back into a tie for eighth place on two under par, but the bare figures do not even begin to tell the story of what unfolded at Royal Melbourne Golf Club on Saturday November 23 – a date which, one suspects, will linger long in the Welshman’s memory. 
Consecutive birdies from the first hole got the 34 year old’s round off to the perfect start, and his day got even better when his tee shot on the par three eighth hole landed at the front of the green, took three bounces and rolled straight into the cup for the third hole in one of his career.
Thinking he had also won the AUS$130,000 Mercedes on display behind the tee, Manley broke off his celebrations and gave the car a quick pat. He then made his way to the green, only to be told by a rules official that the prize was, in fact, only on offer during the final day’s play. 
His disappointment was compounded at the next hole, where he took four shots to locate the putting surface from the edge of the green en route to posting an 11 – the highest score of his professional career.   
Said Manley: “It’s the highest high and then the lowest low I’ve ever experienced on a golf course. I thought the car was mine, and with the crowd, all the hype, I was just buzzing. The adrenaline was pumping so much, I could have flown to the green.
“Then I found out about the car, and go and have an 11. I kept asking my caddie, “How many shots is that now?” I actually thought it was a ten but I was not going to argue, because my head was pretty fried at that point, to be honest.”
To his eternal credit, the Challenge Tour champion then showed immense mental strength to bounce back with birdies at the sixth and 15th holes, and an eagle at the 15th which, miraculously, moved him back to level par for the day.
There was time for one last bizarre episode, however, as he pulled his approach shot on the last and his ball ended up in the container beneath the big screen adjacent to the 18th green.
Having taken a free drop, Manley chipped onto the green and two-putted for a round of 72 which has to rank amongst the most eventful in history.
He said: “Even though it probably sounds a bit strange, I’m actually quite proud of the way I held it together after my 11. I think I am pretty strong mentally. My caddie said a lot of people would have folded after that, but I made some good chances after that and I just kept plugging away.
“It’s obviously a shame I bogeyed the last, but if somebody had told me I would’ve finished on two under at the end of the day after taking an 11, I would have taken it. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at that point, but you’ve just got to pick yourself up and get on with it. I won’t forget this day for a while, talk about mixed emotions. But hopefully it’ll have a happy ending
THIRD-ROUND TEAM TOTALS

1    Australia    415 (-11)
2    United States    416 (-10)
3    Japan    422 (-4)
4    Denmark    424 (-2)
5    Canada    426 (Par)
6=    Portugal    428 (+2)
6=    Thailand    428 (+2)
6=    Brazil    428 (+2)
6=    Germany    428 (+2)
6=    Ireland    428 (+2)
11=    England    430 (+4)
11=    Scotland    430 (+4)
11=    France    430 (+4)
14=    South Africa    433 (+7)
14=    South Korea    433 (+7)
14=    Finland    433 (+7)
14=    Spain    433 (+7)

18=    Philippines    434 (+8)
18=    Italy    434 (+8)
20    Netherlands    436 (+10)
21=    Sweden     438 (+12)
21=    Chile    438 (+12)
23    New Zealand    439 (+13)
24    Argentina    441 (+15)              
25    China    445 (+19)
26    India    450 (+24)

 
INDIVIDAL STANDINGS
Par 213 (3x71)
1 204 -9 Jason Day AUS 68 70 66
2 205 -8 Thomas Bjorn DEN 66 68 71
3 207 -6 Matt Kuchar USA 71 68 68
4 208 -5 Francesco Molinari ITA 75 67 66
5 209 -4 Kevin Streelman USA 66 69 74
6= 210 -3 Graeme McDowell IRL 72 71 67
6= 210 -3 Hideto Tanihara JPN 72 67 71
8= 211 -2 Adam Scott AUS 75 68 68
8= 211 -2 Kiradech Aphibarnrat THA 71 70 70
8= 211 -2 Stuart Manley WAL 67 72 72
8= 211 -2 Ricardo Santos POR 69 69 73
12= 212 -1 Bernd Wiesberger AUT 71 72 69
12= 212 -1 Ryo Ishikawa JPN 71 71 70
12= 212 -1 David Hearn CAN 70 71 71
12= 212 -1 K.J. Choi KOR 67 74 71
12= 212 -1 Oscar Fraustro MEX 74 67 71
17= 213 Par Miguel Angel Jimenez ESP 73 69 71
17= 213 Par Danny Willett ENG 69 73 71
17= 213 Par Gregory Bourdy FRA 72 69 72
17= 213 Par Martin Laird SCO 67 72 74
21= 214 1 Marcel Siem GER 71 74 69
21= 214 1 Maximilian Kieffer GER 73 71 70
21= 214 1 Roope Kakko FIN 72 72 70
21= 214 1 Brad Fritsch CAN 71 73 70
21= 214 1 Alexandre Rocha BRA 72 72 70
21= 214 1 Adilson da Silva BRA 72 71 71
27= 215 2 Branden Grace RSA 73 70 72
27= 215 2 Anirban Lahiri IND 72 70 73
29= 216 3 Brendon De Jonge ZIM 74 72 70
29= 216 3 Nicolas Colsaerts BEL 70 76 70
29= 216 3 Angelo Que PHI 74 72 70
29= 216 3 Peter Hanson SWE 72 71 73
33= 217 4 Tim Sluiter NED 76 72 69
33= 217 4 Mark Tullo CHI 74 72 71
33= 217 4 Chris Wood ENG 75 70 72
33= 217 4 Stephen Gallacher SCO 74 71 72
33= 217 4 Victor Dubuisson FRA 73 71 73
33= 217 4 Prayad Marksaeng THA 72 72 73
33= 217 4 Jose-Filipe Lima POR 71 73 73
33= 217 4 Vijay Singh FIJ 73 69 75
41= 218 5 Shane Lowry IRL 75 72 71
41= 218 5 George Coetzee RSA 74 71 73
41= 218 5 Tony Lascuna PHI 70 71 77
44= 219 6 Robert-Jan Derksen NED 74 75 70
44= 219 6 Michael Hendry NZL 75 73 71
44= 219 6 Fabian Gomez ARG 72 75 72
44= 219 6 Mikko Korhonen FIN 70 75 74
44= 219 6 Thorbjorn Olesen DEN 71 72 76
49= 220 7 Tim Wilkinson NZL 79 71 70
49= 220 7 Rafael Cabrera Bello ESP 75 75 70
51= 221 8 Sang-Moon Bae KOR 74 74 73
51= 221 8 Felipe Aguilar CHI 75 72 74
51= 221 8 Espen Kofstad NOR 72 75 74
51= 221 8 A-Shun Wu CHN 77 69 75
55= 222 9 Emiliano Grillo ARG 77 71 74
55= 222 9 Jonas Blixt SWE 76 72 74
57 224 11 Liang Wen-chong CHN 75 76 73
58 225 12 Siddikur Rahman BAN 73 75 77
59 226 13 Matteo Manassero ITA 76 74 76
60 235 22 Gaganjeet Bhullar IND 82 77 76









       

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS


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