NEWS FROM LPGA TOUR

McIlroy's blistering finish leaves him only

one shot off the lead in Switzerland

Rory McIlroy produced a blistering finish to day two of the Omega European Masters to sit one shot off the lead heading into the weekend at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club.

Malaysia’s Gavin Green posted a round of 64 from the very first group of the day to set the target at 11 under par, and while nobody could catch him, McIlroy whipped the crowds in Crans Montana into a frenzy as he picked up five shots in his last five holes in a second-round 63.

The Northern Irishman came within a whisker of claiming his maiden European Tour victory at this event in 2008, and in his three appearances in the Swiss mountains has never finished lower than seventh. The World Number Two looked right at home from the moment he teed off eight shots behind Green in round two.

The 2017 Race to Dubai winner Tommy Fleetwood is also in the group at ten under par alongside McIlroy, Wade Ormsby of Australia, Austrian Matthias Schwab and Argentina's Andres Romero - whose round of 61 was the lowest of the week so far.

Italian Lorenzo Gagli and Hideto Tanihara of Japan are two shots further back at eight under par, a shot clear of 55-year-old 2010 champion Miguel Ángel Jiménez, his fellow Spaniard Adri Arnaus and another Italian in Renato Paratore.

Player quotes

Gavin Green:
“It was just a little bit of misjudgement on the first, and then things got hot. I played well, hit a lot of greens, made some putts. Just kept the ball rolling. I'm just trying to enjoy it and play as well as I can. That's all I can ask for. 

“The atmosphere and views are amazing. In Malaysia we don't have anything like this. I've been here a couple of times now and the views never get old. 

“The altitude is similar to where I went to university in New Mexico, Albuquerque, where it's a few thousand feet too. I'm pretty used to how altitude works. It's just when it's cold it gets a little tricky. But adjustments made and it's been really fun.”

Rory McIlroy:
“Going out this afternoon eight shots off the lead, you know there are scores out there but you don't want to push too hard. Getting myself much closer to the lead going into the weekend was nice.

“I felt like I swung it a bit better today than yesterday. I hit the driver better, definitely hit better iron shots. The confidence that gives you throughout the round to take on that pin on 16 for example. If I hadn't hit the shots I hit previously, I might have gone a bit left of it.

“I'm excited to give myself another chance to win. Would have been easy for me to take my foot off the gas after last week, but I really wanted to come here and play well. Hopefully two more good days of golf left in me, give myself a chance to win this tournament, which I've had a great chance to win before. I would love to add this title to the list.”

Tommy Fleetwood:
“I've worked on the putting green the last couple of days on my stroke, so it's just nice to see some roll in. I feel like we've read them well and not given anything away on the greens, which is a massive key to scoring. Hopefully I can keep that up for a couple of days.

“Out here you are playing against 156 of the best players in Europe. Every week there will be ten, 20 guys at least playing really well. To make the cut these days you've got to play really well. And then there's the guys who are playing really, really well. 72 holes is a long time to keep concentration.

“When you tap in on the first on Thursday morning it's equally as important as when you finish on Sunday. It's just nice to keep putting myself in positions and hopefully I'll start winning more. Maybe that will start this week.”

Matthias Schwab:
“Bogey free after two rounds is great. Other than that, I played really well yesterday and I played solid today, not as good - my irons and my long game wasn't as sharp - but still I didn't make too many mistakes and I'm happy with where I'm at.

“I worked out a schedule for the last ten or 11 events which fit me and my game. I was trying to include enough rest time as well. It worked well in Prague, last week I had a nice week at home, and I guess it's working well again this week.

“I've watched Rory on TV growing up, so it's awesome that he's up there. But in the end it doesn't really matter who's around me or who's in the lead, I'll just try to do my best to play good golf.”

Round two scoreboard
par 140 (2x70)
129 G Green (Malaysia) 65 64 

130 A Romero (Arg) 69 61, W Ormsby (Australia) 66 64, R McIlroy (NIr) 67 63, M Schwab (Austria) 63 67, T Fleetwood (Eng) 65 65

132 L Gagli (Ita) 64 68, H Tanihara (Jpn) 66 66

133 M Jiménez (Spn) 67 66, R Paratore (Ita) 67 66, A Arnaus (Spn) 66 67 

134 S Soderberg (Swe) 64 70, E Van Rooyen (SAf) 65 69, M Korhonen (Finland) 64 70, C Bezuidenhout (SAf) 67 67, J Morrison (Eng) 67 67, S Garcia (Spn) 66 68, L Bjerregaard (Den) 66 68, T Pieters (Belgium) 67 67

135 D Drysdale (Sco) 65 70, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 63 72, B Dredge (Wales) 66 69, H Porteous (SAf) 70 65, S Crocker (USA) 68 67, D Fichardt (SAf) 66 69, S Jamieson (Sco) 70 65, W Nienaber (SAf) 72 63, A Björk (Swe) 67 68

136 E Pepperell (Eng) 70 66, M Schmitt (Ger) 68 68, N Bertasio (Ita) 66 70, L Slattery (Eng) 66 70, R Sabbatini (Svk) 71 65, D Horsey (Eng) 69 67, S Brazel (Australia) 67 69 

137 G Forrest (Sco) 69 68, L Herbert (Australia) 70 67, Y Miyazato (Jpn) 67 70, J Singh Brar (Eng) 69 68, J Van Zyl (SAf) 70 67, O Wilson (Eng) 68 69, A Quiros (Spn) 67 70, J Luiten (Netherlands) 69 68, K Samooja (Finland) 66 71, G Migliozzi (Ita) 65 72, A Chesters (Eng) 70 67, S Horsfield (Eng) 68 69

138 L Johnston (Sco) 69 69, Z Lombard (SAf) 71 67, C Wood (Eng) 67 71, M Fitzpatrick (Eng) 69 69, T Merritt (USA) 67 71, C Sordet (Fra) 68 70, R Fisher (Eng) 68 70, A Pavan (Ita) 70 68, A Johnston (Eng) 69 69, V Dubuisson (Fra) 69 69

139 D Lawson (Australia) 69 70, S Manley (Wales) 70 69, N Cullen (Australia) 70 69, L Westwood (Eng) 67 72, J Donaldson (Wales) 65 74, R Karlsson (Swe) 68 71, P Figueiredo (Portugal) 68 71, R Sterne (SAf) 69 70, J Hansen (Denmark) 73 66, M Kinhult (Swe) 67 72, J Dantorp (Swe) 69 70, R Langasque (Fra) 72 67, R Ramsay (Sco) 70 69, E De La Riva (Spn) 68 71, D Howell (Eng) 69 70, C Paisley (Eng) 70 69, D Gavins (Eng) 72 67, T Detry (Belgium) 68 71, G Manzoni (Ita) (am) 70 69

 140 L Donald (Eng) 67 73, B Hebert (Fra) 73 67, A Noren (Swe) 69 71, A Sullivan (Eng) 74 66, L De Jager (SAf) 69 71, A Wu (China) 71 69, M Pavon (Fra) 68 72, P Langfors (Swe) 68 72, H Leon (Chile) 72 68, R McEvoy (Eng) 71 69, D Willett (Eng) 69 71, T Bjørn (Denmark) 75 65, A Rai (Eng) 69 71, R Macintyre (Sco) 72 68, B Wiesberger (Austria) 71 69

141 J Scrivener (Australia) 67 74, T Pulkkanen (Finland) 74 67, O Fisher (Eng) 70 71, V Perez (Fra) 69 72, P Larrazábal (Spn) 68 73, R Wattel (Fra) 70 71, B Rusch (Switz) 73 68, J McLeod (Australia) 70 71, R De Sousa (Switz) 70 71, E Molinari (Ita) 68 73, A Levy (Fra) 71 70, K Kitayama (USA) 69 72

142 N Lemke (Swe) 73 69, M Kawamura (Jpn) 75 67, S Kjeldsen (Denmark) 71 71, S Chawrasia (India) 70 72, J Girrbach (Switz) 71 71, B Evans (Eng) 70 72, M Eggenberger (Switz) 70 72, B Ritthammer (Ger) 70 72, J Campillo (Spn) 72 70, J Wang (S Korea) 66 76, M Lee (Australia) 71 71, R Kleu (Switz) (am) 72 70

143 R Fox (NZ) 68 75, D Burmester (SAf) 69 74, J Walters (SAf) 71 72, S Kim (USA) 69 74, G Fernandez-Castaño (Spn) 70 73, F Zanotti (Paraguay) 73 70, K Koivu (Finland) 75 68, K Reitan (Norway) 70 73, J Smith (Eng) 72 71, A Otaegui (Spn) 69 74, E Lopez-Chacarra (Spn) 69 74
 
144 R Jacquelin (Fra) 71 73, P Harrington (Ire71 73, S Gallacher (Sco) 71 73, N Elvira (Spn) 75 69, J Kruyswijk (SAf) 76 68, G Bhullar (India) 72 72

145 J Suri (USA) 72 73, N Colsaerts (Belgium) 73 72, M Wallace (Eng) 71 74, R Gouveia (Portugal) 70 75, N Gerhardsen (Switz) (am) 72 73

147 B Stone (SAf) 71 76, A Cañizares (Spn) 73 74, G Molteni (Ita) 71 76, A Karlsson (Swe) 75 72, P Dunne (Ireland) 73 74, J Lagergren (Swe) 75 72, S Brown (Eng) 76 71

148 H Park (S Korea76 72, F Bergamaschi (Ita) 73 75, D Law (Sco) 71 77, B Rumford (Australia) 74 74

149 M Southgate (Eng) 73 76, T Immelman (SAf) 78 71, G Moynihan (Ireland) 73 76
 
150 D Borda (Spn) 72 78
 
151 L Schuepbach (Switz) (am) 75 76
 
152 S Hend (Australia) 75 77

158 A Noseda (Switz) (am) 83 75 

 ** M Warren (Sco) DQ

Ayrshire, Perth and Kinross first-day winners at Women's County Finals at Peebles

Ayrshire, 7-2 winners against Fife, and Perth and Kinross, who beat Dumfriesshire 5-4, lead the Scottish women's county finals table after Day 1 at Peebles.
Ayrshire took the foursomes 2-1 against Fife and romped to a 5-1 victory in the singles.
The P and K versus Dumfrieshire meeting was a much closer contest with P and K edging the foursomes 2-1 before the afternoon singles honours were shared 3-3.

DETAILS

AYRSHIRE 7, FIFE 2

Foursomes
L Duncan and L Gibson lost to E Moffat and G Paton 3 and 2.
R Foster and R Purdom bt L McKinlay and B Clark 1 hole.
C Jaffrey and P Patrick bt J Mackie and H Braidwood 3 and 1.

Singles (5-1)
Duncan bt Moffat 1 hole.
Gibson bt Paton 3 and 2.
J Linklatr lost to S Jackson 7 and 5.
A Thompson bt Braidwood 1 hole.
Foster bt Mackie 4 and 3.
Jaffrey bt McKinlay 3 and 2.

PERTH and KINROSS 5, DUMFRIESSHIRE 4
Foursomes (2-1)
J Saxton and S Crolla bt G Batty and K Malcolm 2 and 1.
M Ashley and K Alexander lost to D MacDonald and M Fraser 2 and 1.
L Walker and L Campbell bt F Allison and L Jack 2 and 1.

Singles (3-3)
Saxton bt Batty 6 and 4
Ashley lost to Fraser 5 and 4
I Moncrieff lost to MacDonald 1 hole
Campbell bt Malcolm 1 hole
Alexander bt Jack 6 and 5
Walker lost to Allison 5 and 3

DAY 2 PROGRAMME (Saturday)
Dumfriesshire v Fife
Ayrshire v P and K

DAY 3 PROGRAMME (Sunday)
P and K v Fife
Ayrshire v Dumfriesshire

Gary glitters with a six-under 66 in first round of Sinclair Seniors Invitational Gary Evans will take a one-stroke lead into the second round of The Sinclair Invitational after posting a sublime six-under-par round of 66 on day one at Hanbury Manor Marriott Hotel and Country Club. The Englishman was two under par at the turn and closed with three birdies in his final four holes to go one better than the trio of Stephen Dodd, Bob May and Phillip Price who share second place. Evans, playing in his maiden Staysure Tour season, earned his second top ten finish of the season last time out at the Scottish Senior Open and after admitting he has struggled with his short game recently, he was pleased with how he fared around the greens during his opening round. “I played really nicely today. I drove the ball well and I hit a lot of good second shots," he said. "I read the pace of the greens well – I didn’t hole a lot of putts but when I had the chances, I made a few of them. The last week or so, I’ve been a bit frustrated with things. My short game, particularly my pitching, hasn’t been good all year and I’ve been working really hard on trying to figure that out. “I hit a lovely pitch into 18 which historically this year I’ve been shocking with. I had 75 yards, downwind, upper tier green and to get that right was really rewarding. “I’ve been playing nicely for most of the year and the short game was the bit that has really been a struggle. If I can keep relaxed and just keep trying to execute as best I can, I feel very comfortable.” Since teeing it up as a Staysure Tour member for the first time at the Jordan Mixed Open presented by Ayla in April, Evans’s highest finish has been a tied third at the Farmfoods European Legends Links Championship hosted by Ian Woosnam. The Englishman’s scores do not necessarily reflect how well he has played in his debut season and he believes that is testament to the quality of player teeing it up on the over-50s circuit. “I’ve got to say I’ve been really impressed with the scoring out here,” he said. “A lot of weeks I’ve felt like I’ve played quite well and quite nicely but then I look up and I’m still quite a long way back. “There is still a lot of talent out here and the guys really can play. It’s hard when you’ve been out of the game for quite a long time because you don’t really have any expectations, but they still really know how to shoot some numbers.” Prior to 2019, the 50-year-old’s last full season was on the European Tour in 2006 and after holding down a job for the last 13 years, he is overjoyed to be competing once more. “Life on the Staysure Seniors' Tour is brilliant. I actually didn’t realise how much I would enjoy it,” he said. “A year ago, I wasn’t even thinking too much about playing golf because I’ve been working in the real world for the past 12 or 13 years. “It’s been an absolute joy to come out and play well with friends, compete, and be the master of your own destiny a little bit. It’s been a while since I’ve done that. It’s great.” One shot behind Dodd, May and Price are three 2018 winners—Magnus P Atlevi, David Shacklady and Paul Streeter, while a shot further back on three under are Scottish duo Paul Lawrie and Andrew Oldcorn, along with Austria’s Markus Brier and defending champion Peter Fowler. The second round will get under way at 9.30am local time, with Evans playing at 10.00am. Scores after round one: 66 G Evans (Eng) 67 S Dodd (Wales), B May (USA), P Price (Wales) 68 M Atlevi (Swe), D Shacklady (Eng), P Streeter (Eng) 69 M Brier (Austria), P Fowler (Australia), P Lawrie (Sco), A Oldcorn (Sco) 70 R Gomez (Arg), J Kingston (SAf), M Molina (Arg), J Sandelin (Swe), P Walton (Ire) 71 R Chapman (Eng), T Thelen (USA), P Wesselingh (Eng), G Wolstenholme (Eng) 72 A Bossert (Switz), J M Carriles (Spn), M Farry (Fra), J Haeggman (Swe), M James (Eng), T Levet (Fra), S Little (Eng), M McNulty (Ire), C Williams (SAf) 73 P Baker (Eng), Gary Emerson (Eng), P Golding (Eng), B Lane (Eng), S Luna (Spn), M MacKenzie (Eng), M Mouland (Wales), J Remesy (Fra), S Tinning (Denmark) 74 J Coceres (Arg), D Gilford (Eng), N Job (Eng), J Lomas (Eng), D Olsen (USA), D Smyth (Ire) 75 P Eales (Eng), MA Martin (Esp), G Orr (Sco) 76 G Marks (Eng), C Mason (Eng), A Sherborne (Eng) 77 R Drummond (Sco), S Richardson (Eng), I Woosnam (Wales) 78 C Dennis (USA)

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

SCOTLAND TEAM FOR MEN'S HOME

INTERNATIONALS IN IRELAND


Scotland team for the Men's Home Internationals at Lahinch, Ireland from September 11 to 13 is:
George Burns (Williamwood)
Kieron Cantley (Liberton)
Matt Clark (Kilmacolm) capt.
Stuart Easton (Irvine)
Darren Howie (Peebles)
Lewis Irvine (Kirkhill)
Ryan Lumsden (Royal Wimbledon)
Connor McKinney (Joondalup, Australia)
Euan McIntosh (Turnhouse)
Eric McIntosh (Bruntsfield Links)
James Wilson (Balmore)

 

2019 Scottish Senior International teams announced.

The Scottish teams for the upcoming European Senior Championships and Home Internationals have been announced by Ian Brotherston (Playing Captain).

European Championships (3^rd-7^th September, Denmark)

Ian Brotherston (Dumfries & County)   (Playing Captain and winner of Presidents Trophy)

Graham Bell (Downfield)                        (Scottish Golf Seniors Open Strokeplay Champion)

Ronnie Clark (Erskine)                          

(Order of merit winner and winner of South of Scotland Open)

Stewart Henderson (Hamilton)              

(2^nd OOM & SSGS Match-play Champion)

Paul Moultrie (Royal Troon)                

(3^rd OOM & winner of Spring Meeting and Central Scotland Open)                                                 

Robert Smith (Nairn)                             

(4^th OOM and lost play-off for Scottish Golf Seniors Open)

The team have been generously sponsored and supported by Granfit, One stop, Ellmol, Stewart and Shields and NCS office systems.

Home Internationals (Alnmouth Golf Club September 17-19)

As players need to be aged 55 or over for the Home International Team, Stewart Henderson drops out, and after a consistent season Richard Johnston and Derek Paton come in.

Ian Brotherston (Captain)

Graham Bell                     

Ronnie Clark                       

Paul Moultrie                   

Robert Smith

Richard Johnston (Glenbervie)

Derek Paton (Dunnikier Park)                       

Challenge Tour Grand Final bound for Mallorca (November 7-10) Press Release The European Challenge Tour is delighted to announce its season-ending tournament will be held in a new location, with the Challenge Tour Grand Final set to take place at Club de Golf Alcanada, Mallorca, from November 7-10, 2019, as the final stop on the newly- named Road to Mallorca. The Balearic island makes its return to the Challenge Tour International Schedule for the first time since 2003 and will take on greater importance upon its return as the top 45 players on the Road to Mallorca will tee it up with the aim of securing a place on the European Tour the following season. A four-year deal between the Challenge Tour and the Federación Balear de Golf will see the Grand Final move to a different venue on the island each year, beginning in 2019 at the Robert Trent Jones Jr designed Club de Golf Alcanada. The Grand Final will boast a prize fund of €420,000, making it one of the most lucrative events of the season and means it will be all to play for heading into the final event, with the player entering the Grand Final in 45th place still able to earn a top 15 spot with victory to secure their European Tour card.   Ends

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

McKenna and Steven's top-10 finish in PGA four-ball championship

Fraser McKenna (Caldwell) and James Steven (Drumpellier) finished as top Scots in the PGA four-ball championship at Farleigh Golf Club, Surrey.
They had rounds of 64, 63 and 64 for a total of 191 and a T8
finish which earned them £1,200.
Heather MacRae (Heather MacRae Golf) and Craig Lee (Craig Lee Golf Studio) slipped down to a final placing of T15 with a total of 195, made up of rounds of 63, 60 and 72. They earned £775.
Winners with two strokes were England's Jack Winer (Abridge) and James Watts (Kingsway) with scores of 61, 60 and 64 for a total of 185 which earned them £5,500.
Two strokes behind in second place on 187  were another English pair, James Webber (Rayleigh Club) and Matt Bracley (Manston Golf Centre). They had rounds of 59, 65 and 63 which earned thme £3,700.
Three pairs tied for third place on 189, each pair earning £2,813.
They were Michael Campbell (Kettering) and Simon Lilly (De Vere Staverton Estate) (60-61-68), Jonathan Ingram and Timothy Cowley (Royal Ashdown Forest) (63-64-62) and Glen Portell (Old Ford Manor) and Robert Daw (Effingham) (62-62-65).










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PENGE WINS THE PREM GROUP IRISH MASTERS    Marco Penge’s long-awaited search for a victory on the PGA EuroPro Tour has ended clinching The PREM Group Irish Masters title at Tulfarris Hotel and Golf Resort.  Leaderboard Penge (Golf at Goodwood) finished the final day one stroke clear of the field with rounds of 66, 67 and 71 to move to second in the Race To Desert Spring rankings. A maiden victory on the Tour has been close many times already this season for Penge but he finally prevailed in Ireland. He said: “I’m over the moon. A bit emotional and speechless. But yeah, I am buzzing.”  “I played this course last year and I was in a great position to win and I didn’t get it across the line. I hit it pretty good this week. It’s still not quite where I want it. My putting saved me today thank god after missing a two-footer earlier on.” Alasdair Plumb (Host My House) didn’t make life easy for Penge though, with a final round of 67 (-5) to go with his earlier 70 and 68 to give him his first top three finish on the tour in only his fifth event of the season. Clubhouse leader from round one, Adam Chapman (Windermere Golf Club) recovered from a bad day on Thursday to post a final day round of 65 (-7) for the best round of the day to finish third.  Tom Gandy (Rowany Golf Club) had a good final day too to push him well into the top 60 in the Race to Desert Springs rankings with rounds of 70, 70 and 68 to tie for fourth with Nick Watson. Watson of Stoke Rochford Golf Club was one under and eight under overall. The highest placed Irishman was Simon Thornton (Tulfarris Hotel and Golf Resort) on his home course, finishing tied 15th on three-under with Michael Hoey (Galgorm Golf Resort and Spa) and George Woolgar (GFC). TV  Highlights of The PREM Group Irish Masters will air on Sky Sports Golf on 10, September 2019 at 20:00