Scotland v England line-up in final

MORNING FOURSOMES
08:40
Gavin Dear & Glenn Campbell v Dale Whitnell & Charlie Ford.
08:50
Wallace Booth & Michael Stewart v Matt Haines & Tommy Fleetwood.

AFTERNOON SINGLES
14:00
Gavin Dear v Matt Haines
14:08
Wallace Booth v Sam Hutsby
14:16
Michael Stewart v Dale Whitnell
14:24
Ross Kellett v Tommy Fleetwood
14:32
Paul O'Hara v Luke Goddard
Team captains
Scott Knowles (Scotland)
Colin Edwards (England)

Now, isn't that disappointing?

Tiger never plays golf for fun

Tiger Woods, the host of the $6million tournament, moved to the top of the leaderboard midway through the second round of the AT&T National with a four-under 66 at Bethesda, Maryland.

Woods, who made three birdies during a four-hole stretch, was at 10-under 130, one shot ahead of Rod Pampling, who had a 64.
Anthony Kim, the first-round leader at eight-under par, teed off in the afternoon.
During his post-round Press Conference, Tiger let it be known that he has no interest in playing golf on holiday.
"I don't play golf on my vacations," Woods told reporters. "I get away from it when I'm at home."
The winner of 14 majors said golf does not hold any interest for him in his spare time.
"I'd never, ever have a golfing vacation because it's not interesting for me to go out there and do that," said the married father of two.
Editor's note: Isn't that disappointing news. To the best player in the world, golf is his job, not a sport to enjoy.

So you want to play a shot like Tiger Woods? Try this ....

Tiger Woods first tried the shot in competition during the third round at the Memorial, choking up (going down) on the grip of his driver about 2 inches, and he pulled it off to perfection. He used it again on the eighth hole in the first round of the AT&T National.

Woods said he began working on the shot a few months ago, and the idea is to give him a range that is a little less than a full driver, and a little more than a full three-wood.The eighth hole played 341 yards on Thursday, a slightly elevated green that makes it nearly impossible to drive, but Woods wanted to take the bunkers out of play.

“A full driver I felt would get me too far down there, and a three-wood couldn’t take the bunkers out of play,” he said. “So it’s nice to have a little bit of a 'tweener.' I drop (my grip) down (the shaft) and hit just this little softy cut out there. It’s a lot further than my three-wood, but it’s nowhere near a full driver, and I can keep that in play.”

Editor's note: So, give that a try on the practice ground before you use it in the next medal competition. Of course, many years before Tiger was born, a certain John Panton was playing all sorts of improvised shots, including going down the shaft by more than two inches, to get under the wind that always blew when the Northern Open was played over links courses in April.

Sundridge Park - only seven miles from

centre of London - to get major revamp

Sundridge Park Golf Club, just seven miles from the centre of London, has two 18-hole courses which will begin a phased renovation this autumn under the auspices of Swan Golf Designs.
The practice has recently completed the blueprints for the management of the landscape and bunker strategy on both the East and West courses, following a detailed appraisal of both laouts, and is being retained by the club as golf course architects throughout the implementation of the improvements.
Bob Walden, Sundridge Park Golf Club’s general manager, said: “We wanted to look to the future and make sure we were keeping pace with the modern game and its equipment.
“Also, like most clubs, we have criticism of bunkers from our members and we wanted to address those from a completely independent point of view.”
Sundridge has a unique setting: the venue proudly claims to be the nearest 36-hole golf club to a major metropolitan city, just seven miles from the centre of London, and is set in the grounds of the Sundridge Park Estate, designed by Humphrey Repton, considered by many to be the last great English landscape designer of the 18th century and natural successor to Capability Brown.
The courses also boast an impressive design pedigree: the West Course was laid out by Willie Park under the supervision of James Braid while Sir Guy Campbell and Major CK Hutchinson – whose work as a team has been regularly recognised, including courses ranked in the UK ’s top 100 – created the East Course.
Swan Golf Designs was selected for the work bcause the club felt the company had the right qualities to follow in such prestigious footsteps.
For more information visit www.swangolfdesigns.com.

FRENCH OPEN REPORT

Harrington misses fifth cut in a row

... and he blames his putting

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Padraig Harrington's nightmare run of missed cuts went to five in Paris today - just as many as Tiger Woods has failed to make in his ENTIRE 13-year professional career.
With his Open hat-trick bid less than two weeks away, Harrington's fate was effectively sealed when he drove out of bounds and ran up a triple-bogey 8 at the 14th hole of his second round in the French Open Alstom at Le Golf National.
The Dubliner, who finished with a 75 for five over par, freely conceded on Wednesday that he was running out of time to get his game in good enough shape to triumph again at Turnberry.
Now he has only next week's Irish PGA championship to find a bit of competitive confidence before heading to the Ayrshire links.
Harrington, who last played four rounds of an event at the Players Championship in Florida in early May, left a tournament which at the halfway stage sees Argentina's Rafa Echenique - last week's albatross man in Munich - take over at the top from German Martin Kaymer.
It was more his putting than his 8 which troubled the three-time major winner.
"I was never comfortable on the greens all week," said Harrington, who felt his three-putt bogey at the 13th to drop to two over was the crucial mistake. "I'm hoping that's all it was. I just struggled - just putted terribly and didn't get any confidence. That's reflected in the score.
"It showed up the weakness in my putting. I've been happy with it and still am physically, but it certainly got on top of me this week and that's where the focus will be.
"You don't just click, but I have another week. The last six months the focus has been on my swing and definitely now I will be firmly focused on my previous strength - a good, sharp short game.
"I'm not worried about how hard they set up Turnberry. I will be more worried about how I am - but I can manage any challenge."
One Irishman who was celebrating making the cut was Shane Lowry who won the Irish Open in his last outing as an amateur - and had missed every cut in his fledgling pro career. Withrounds of 69 and 72 for 141 he had two shots to spare.
Marc Warren seems to be blowing hot and cold these days. This, it appears, is a hot week and he is the leading Scot on 140 (68-72). Alastair Forsyth and Paul Lawrie (141) made the cut with ease.
A pack of Scots just made it through by the skin of their teeth on 143 - Colin Montgomerie (69-74), Gary Orr (73-70) and David Drysdale who plummeted from a top-10 placing with an opening 67 to a share of 62nd place with a 76 which included an inward half of 41 (double bogey 6s at the 12th and 18th).
Three Scots were on the wrong side of the Great Divide - Richie Ramsay taking one shot too many in 71 and 73 for 144; Scott Drumond on 148 (72-76) and Stephen Gallacher drifting into the wilderness with 74 and 79 for 153.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 142 (2x71) 7,299yd
132 Rafael Echenique (Arg) 65 67
134 Steve Webster 69 65, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 68 66, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 62 72
135 Peter Hanson (Swe) 65 70, Richard Green (Aus) 68 67
136 Paul Waring 66 70, Lee Westwood 68 68
137 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 67 70, Scott Strange (Aus) 65 72, Seve Benson 70 67
138 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 67 71, Kenneth Ferrie 70 68
139 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 72 67, Soren Hansen (Den) 68 71, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 67 72, Danny Willett 68 71
140 Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 69 71, Gareth Maybin 69 71, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 65 75, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 67 73, Robert Rock 70 70, Marc Warren 68 72, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 67 73, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 70 70, Jamie Donaldson 69 71, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 74 66, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 69 71, Thomas Levet (Fra) 67 73, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 70 70
141 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 70 71, Hennie Otto (Rsa) 74 67, Anders Hansen (Den) 69 72, James Kingston (Rsa) 71 70, Oliver Wilson 72 69, Graeme Storm 69 72, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 67 74, Shane Lowry 69 72, Paul Lawrie 67 74, Ian Poulter 72 69, Alastair Forsyth 72 69, Barry Lane 70 71, Ross McGowan 69 72
142 Damien McGrane 70 72, Benn Barham 68 74, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 67 75, John Bickerton 65 77, Paul Nilbrink (Swe) 73 69, Peter Lawrie 71 71, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 70 72, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 70 72, Sam Little 67 75, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 70 72, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 68 74, Nick Dougherty 66 76, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 69 73, Darren Clarke 73 69, Paul Broadhurst 73 69, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 72 70, Phillip Archer 69 73, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 70 72
143 Gary Orr 73 70, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 73 70, Steven O'Hara 71 72, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 68 75, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 74 69, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 71 72, Pablo Martin (Spa) 71 72, Colin Montgomerie 69 74, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 75 68, David Horsey 72 71, David Lynn 69 74, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 72 71, Gary Lockerbie 68 75, David Drysdale 67 76, Miguel Angel Martin (Spa) 72 71, Mark Foster 69 74, Philip Golding 71 72
MISSED THE CUT
144 Richie Ramsay 71 73, Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 69 75, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 72 72, Simon Wakefield 70 74, Simon Khan 71 73, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 71 73, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 71 73, Markus Brier (Aut) 73 71, Michael Hoey 71 73, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 73 71, Bradley Dredge 73 71
145 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 68 77, Stephen Dodd 70 75, Alexander Noren (Swe) 68 77, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 71 74, Tano Goya (Arg) 72 73, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 75 70, Eduardo Romero (Arg) 75 70
146 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 71 75, Brett Rumford (Aus) 70 76, Federico Cabrera (Arg) 70 76, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 73 73, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 70 76, Simon Dyson 73 73, Oliver Fisher 71 75
147 Graeme McDowell 72 75, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 70 77, Daniel Brooks 74 73, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 72 75, David Dixon 74 73, Richard Finch 72 75, Raul Quiros (Spa) 72 75, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 74 73, Paul McGinley 72 75, Padraig Harrington 72 75
148 Marco Ruiz (Par) 71 77, Lee Slattery 73 75, Phillip Price 74 74, Scott Drummond 72 76, Miles Tunnicliff 71 77
149 Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 74 75, Taco Remkes (Ned) 70 79, Scott Arnold (Hkg) 71 78
150 Julien Guerrier (Fra) 75 75, Rhys Davies 77 73, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 76 74
151 Anton Haig (Rsa) 77 74, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 80 71, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 75 76, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 74 77, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 75 76, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 71 80, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 77 74
152 Mark Brown (Nzl) 79 73, Anthony Snobeck (Fra) 72 80, Cedric Menut (Fra) 69 83, Gregory Havret (Fra) 77 75
153 Stephen Gallacher 74 79, Nicolas Joakimides (Fra) 79 74, Marcus Higley 81 72, Damien Perrier (Fra) 75 78, Robert Dinwiddie 74 79
154 Anthony Kang (USA) 78 76, Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 76 78, Gary Murphy 74 80, Michael Campbell (Nzl) 75 79, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 72 82
155 Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 77 78, Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe) 76 79
156 Malcolm MacKenzie 74 82, David Frost (Rsa) 76 80
157 Alex Larrazabal (Spa) 78 79
162 Pelle Edberg (Swe) 78 84
WD: Benoit Teilleria (Fra), Marcel Siem (Ger), Anthony Wall
DQ: David Howell

Lloyd Saltman misses another cut

Parry has stars in his eyes as he

leads Credit Suisse Challenge

By RODDY WILLIAMS, European Challenge Tour Press Officer
Yorkshireman John Parry, a team-mate of Rory McIlroy and David Horsey in the Walker Cup two years ago, moved into halfway lead in the Credit Suisse Challenge in Switzerland with a six under par 67.
Seven birdies and only one dropped shot at Wylihof Golf Club, Luterbach, took Parry to ten under par 136 and one clear of Sweden’s Bjorn Pettersson.
The 22-year-old, Harrogate-born Parry, pictured above by courtesy of Tom Ward Photography, is embarking on his first season on the Challenge Tour from where he hopes to follow his erstwhile team-mates on to the European Tour. Four of the 2007 Walker Cup team – Jonathan Caldwell, Horsey, McIlroy and Danny Willett – have made it on to the European Tour, with McIlory also making his winning breakthrough, and Parry hopes it won’t be long before is joins them.
Parry played with Horsey at Royal County Down against the United States and will have taken inspiration from his partner’s success in finishing the Challenge Tour's No 1 last year.
Currently 32nd in the Challenge Tour Rankings, Parry needs to climb into the top 20 by the end of the season to earn a place on the European Tour and is laying some solid foundations to his fledgling professional career.
The par-5s proved the key to his low second round as he birdied all five on another sweltering day in Switzerland. His round was all the more impressive in that he didn’t get a practice round after only finding out on Tuesday he was in the field.

“I just played nice and steady and took advantage of the par-5s,” he said. “I was able to either get on the greens or close enough for a chip and putt. It was good solid golf.”
Pettersson picked up five birdies without dropping a shot to lie one off the pace on nine under par, with Frenchman Julien Quesne a further shot adrift after a round of 69. American Nathan Smith, Australian Tony Carolan and Spain’s Carl Suneson lie on seven under par.

Anstruther's George Murray climbed 17 places into the top ten at the halfway stage as he trails Parry by four strokes.
Murray, the 2004 Scottish amateur champion, picked up six birdies with two dropped shots for a round of 69 and 36 hole total of 140.
That left the 26 year old Fifer in a share of seventh place going into the weekend as he looks to chase down Parry’s lead.

SECOND ROUND TOTALS
Par 146 (2x73)

66 players made the cut at 145 (-1)
136 J Parry (Eng) 69 67
137 B Pettersson (Swe) 69 68
138 J Quesne (Fra) 69 69
139 C Suneson (Esp) 69 70, T Carolan (Aus) 70 69, N Smith (USA) 71 68
140 R Santos (Por) 72 68, R Steiner (Aut) 70 70, G Murray (Sco) 71 69, A Gee (Eng) 73 67
141 S Jeppesen (Swe) 71 70, N Meitinger (Ger) 69 72, S Davis (Eng) 67 74, P Baker (Eng) 70 71, E Molinari (Ita) 72 69, J Colomo (Esp) 70 71, P Relecom (Bel) 71 70, J Morgan (Eng) 72 69
142 M Tullo (Chi) 73 69, F Praegant (Aut) 74 68, D Denison (Eng) 72 70, J Grillon (Fra) 72 70, N Sulzer (Sui) 70 72, A Marshall (Eng) 72 70
143 J Larsen (Nor) 74 69, J Billot (Fra) 71 72, T Cruz (Por) 68 75, A Butterfield (Eng) 73 70, G Houston (Wal) 71 72, N Maestroni (Ita) 69 74, M Wiegele (Aut) 72 71, L Kennedy (Eng) 71 72, L James (Eng) 68 75, K Sullivan (Wal) 71 72, J Sjöholm (Swe) 73 70, J Campillo (Esp) 74 69, N Lemke (Swe) 73 70, L Bond (Wal) 71 72, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 71 72, M Villegas (Col) 72 71, A Hansen (Den) 72 71, C Russo (Fra) 69 74, S Robinson (Eng) 67 76
144 F Colombo (Ita) 71 73, J Bjerhag (Swe) 72 72, J McLeary (Sco) 71 73, M Zions (Aus) 69 75, J Granberg (Fin) 73 71, A Mellor (Eng) 72 72, G Shaw (Nir) 74 70
145 D Wardrop (Eng) 71 74, C Moriarty (Irl) 74 71, F Fritsch (Ger) 71 74, T Whitehouse (Eng) 71 74, M Laskey (Wal) 73 72, P Purhonen (Fin) 73 72, P Kaensche (Nor) 73 72, J Clément (Sui) 73 72, C Brazillier (Fra) 75 70, R Karlberg (Swe) 75 70, S Saavedra (Arg) 75 70, C Günther (Ger) 74 71, G Woodman (Eng) 69 76, P Del Grosso (Arg) 74 71, F Calmels (Fra) 72 73, G Paddison (Nzl) 74 71

MISSED THE CUT
146 M Mills (Eng) 71 75, O Floren (Swe) 73 73, M Cort (Eng) 74 72, P Karantzias (Gre) 74 72, V Riu (Fra) 73 73, J Ruth (Eng) 73 73, L Gagli (Ita) 72 74, A Zanini (Ita) 74 72, A Grenier (Fra) 74 72, A McArthur (Sco) 72 74, P Bocian (Swe) 74 72, B Mason (Eng) 72 74, J Little (Eng) 73 73, A Bossert (Sui) 72 74, M McGeady (Irl) 74 72, J Heath (Eng) 71 75,
147 A Bernadet (Fra) 72 75, R Russell (Sco) 73 74, C Gane (Eng) 73 74, A Haindl (RSA) 74 73, I Pyman (Eng) 75 72, A Wagner (Arg) 76 71, L Westerberg (Swe) 72 75, A Högberg (Swe) 76 71, G Gresse (Bel) 78 69, S Juul (Den) 74 73, L Brovold (Nor) 74 73,
148 R Hie (Ina) 75 73, M Delpodio (Ita) 74 74, N Fox (Irl) 72 76, R Furrer (Sui) 77 71, D Ulrich (Sui) 79 69, A Roberts (Eng) 74 74, S Manley (Wal) 78 70, R Kilpatrick (Nir) 69 79, M Reale (Ita) 74 74, O Suhr (Den) 74 74, O David (Fra) 77 71, S Walker (Eng) 75 73, A Mörk (Fra) 73 75, Å Nilsson (Swe) 75 73,
149 L Saltman (Sco) 76 73, P Niederdrenk (Ger) 72 77, M Jurgensen (Den) 73 76, K Jorgensen (Den) 76 73, T Weiss (Sui) 70 79, R De Sousa (Sui) 74 75, J Boerdonk (Ned) 75 74, S Luna (Esp) 76 73, S Rojas (am) (Sui) 78 71,
150 P Gustafsson (Swe) 70 80, D Marmion (Eng) 76 74, M Rominger (Sui) 72 78, J Dusson (Fra) 76 74,
151 A Murray (Irl) 76 75, A Ahokas (Fin) 76 75, J Parron (Esp) 78 73, F Svanberg (Sui) 70 81, K Webber (Aus) 78 73, B Evans (Eng) 80 71, G Molteni (Ita) 75 76, R Wiederkehr (Sui) 75 76, S Henry (Sco) 76 75, N D'Incau (am) (Sui) 75 76,
152 T Dykes (Wal) 68 84, A Chopard (Sui) 77 75, D Froreich (Ger) 80 72, E Ramsay (Sco) 75 77, S Reale (Ita) 72 80,
153 T Schuster (Ger) 78 75, A Rocha (Bra) 78 75, M Kramer (Ger) 78 75,
154 J Schmid (Sui) 78 76, B Miarka (Ger) 78 76, J Wahlqvist (Swe) 80 74, K Benz (am) (Sui) 78 76, V Honauer (am) (Sui) 76 78,
155 C Achermann (Sui) 76 79,
156 A Bruschi (Ita) 79 77,
157 S Grant (Irl) 83 74, F Li Puma (Sui) 77 80, J Johnson (Eng) 73 84,
158 T Ferreira (RSA) 80 78,
159 J Zapata (Arg) 80 79,
164 A Joudar (Mar) 79 85,
165 T Benslimane (Mar) 80 85, M Chatelain (Sui) 83 82,
WD Z Scotland (Eng) 77 -.

Great Scots! Through to Euro final

.... and England make it at 20th

Scotland cut high-flying Italy down to size at Conwy, North Wales today to follow up their last autumn world championship success in Australia by reaching Saturday's final of the European men's amateur team championship. Their opponents will be England who got through on the back of Luke Goddard's 20th hole win in the final singles against top seeds Norway.

It will be Scotland's first appearance in the European final since 2001 when they beat Ireland.

There was a lot expectation and pressure on the Scots coming into this championship and they have lived "dangerously," qualifying 6th of eighth for the championship flight, thanks to a brilliant second round by Comrie's Wallace Booth.

But, the closer they have got to the final, the better the Scots have played and there was a lot to like in their 4 1/2-2 1/2 trimming of Italy today.After the foursomes were shared 1-1, wins by Gavin Dear (Murrayshall), Wallace Booth and Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck) wrapped up the Scots' place in the final.

Dear was two up with four to play in the lead-off singles tie against Joon Kim but lost the 15th and 17th and came through a test of nerve for a one-hole win that set the ball rolling for Scotland.

Wallace Booth coasted home by 4 and 2, leaving Scotland needing one more point to clinch overall victory. They got it from young Michael Stewart, the US college boy from Troon.
Stewart and Nino Bertasio were even steven after the turn and kept exchanging holes. Bertasop squared the match at the 14th before Stewart got his nose in front again at the 16th and clinched victory for himself and the Scots as whole by also winning the 17th.

Ross Kellett (Colville Park) was held to a square match by Andrea Pavan while Paul O'Hara, beaten 6 and 4, could hardly have been expecting the Italians to field their British amateur champion, Matteo Manassero, in the fifth and last singles slot against him - a blunder by the Italians as they needed a point from Matteo at the head of the batting order where it counted, not at No 5 where it was inconsequential.
SGU National Coach Ian Rae had every reason to be delighted with the team’s performance.
He said: “I am delighted with their win here this afternoon. We really have excelled in the match- play phase and have played better and better each day which has really been the key to our success.
“Getting into the top eight was our first objective but once it comes to match play it is man pitted against each man and we have thrived in that competitive environment. The boys have also adapted well. There was a lot of rain this morning and as a result the course is playing much longer than it has and they have taken the change in playing conditions in their stride.
"The team is in a buoyant mood and are really looking forward to tomorrow.”
England came back from 0-2 down after the foursomes to edge ahead in the singles against Norway with victories by their top three men in the batting order - Matt Haines, Sam Hutsby and Tommy Fleetwood.
But Norway clawed their way back to 3-3 overall whne Anders Kristiansen beat Dale Whitnell by two holes.
It all boiled down to the last singles which went into extra holes when Espen Kofstad and Luke Goddard came off the 18th green all square. Goddard prevailed at the 20th.
SEMI-FINALS DETAILS
SCOTLAND 4 1/2, ITALY 2 1/2
Foursomes (1-1)
Gavin Dear & Glenn Campbell lost to Niccolo Quintarelli & Nino Bertasio 3 and 2.
Wallace Booth & Michael Stewart bt Matteo Manassero & Andrea Pavan 4 and 2.
Singles (3 1/2-1 1/1).
Dear bt Joon Kim 1 hole.
Booth bt Quintarelli 4 and 3.
Stewart bt Bertasio 2 and 1.
Ross Kellett halved with Andrea Pavan.
P O'Hara lost to Matteo Manassero 6 and 4

NORWAY 3, ENGLAND 4
Foursomes (2-0)
Anders Kristiansen & Joakim Mikkelsen bt Dale Whitnell & Charlie Ford 3 and 1.
Espen Kotstad & Elias Bertheussen bt Tommy Fleetwood & Matt Haines 2 and l.
Singles
Haines bt Knut Borsheim 4 and 2.
Sam Hutsby bt Joakim Mikkelsen 2 and 1.
Fleetwood bt Arie Friestad 2 and 1.
Anders Kristiansen bt Dale Whitnell 2 holes.
Espen Kofstad lost to Luke Goddard at 20th.

Olazabal bound for Barassie in bid to

qualify for Open championship

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY R&A
Jose Maria Olazabal is expected to line up in the field at Kilmarnock Barassie next Monday as he attempts to qualify for the 138th Open Championship along with 287 golfers hopeful of playing their way into one of the 12 Turnberry berths available at Local Final Qualifying.

Competitors will play 18 holes on both Monday and Tuesday to determine who will win a place in this year’s Open Championship - with the four places available at each of the three west coast venues: Glasgow Gailes Links, Kilmarnock (Barassie) and Western Gailes
Olazabal will undoubtedly command attention as he attempts to ensure a 22nd Open appearance. The two-time Masters winner has played in the last two Championships at Turnberry, finishing tied 38th in 1994 and tied 16th in 1986 meaning that, should he qualify, he will have the advantage of being one of the more experienced players over the Ailsa Course.
In addition, Barassie will host two former Ryder Cup competitors, Sweden’s Per-Ulrik Johansson and Phillip Price of Wales. Johansson, the first Swede to play in the biennial team event on two occasions — he was on the winning side in both 1995 and 1997 –, has played in nine Open Championships, though his last appearance was at St Andrews in 2000.
Price won the Ryder Cup with Europe in 2002 after beating Phil Mickelson in the final day singles. The Welshman has a best Open result of tied 10th at Royal St George’s in 2003 and, like Johansson, has also competed in nine previous Opens. Both would relish the chance to make it ten at Turnberry this July.
The 45-year-old Ronan Rafferty, who was a serious contender at Turnberry in 1994 having posted a 66 in the second round followed by a 65 in the third, will mount his challenge at Glasgow Gailes. Joining him in the field is 2009 Amateur runner-up, Sam Hutsby, who will be aiming to reach his first Open Championship after coming so close to earning an exemption last month.
Also competing are the winners of the last two Amateur Championships to have been held at Turnberry. Warren Bladon, winner in 1996, will tee-off at Barassie having comfortably progressed through last month’s Regional Qualifying. And Reinier Saxton, the 2008 winner, is scheduled to make his first attempt to reach a Major Championship as a professional, having only relinquished his amateur status a fortnight ago.
Local Final Qualifying takes place on Monday 6 and Tuesday 7 July. Live scores and full reports will appear on Opengolf.com throughout the event.
The Open Championship will be held at Turnberry from July 16 to 19.

.

Shiskine Golf Club’s seven volunteer coaches, Willie Kelso, Joe Faulkner, Gordon Stewart, Jacqui Rankin, David Henderson, Liz Kerr and Jenni Turnbull with PGA Pro Alan Martin (centre) who led the Level 1 training course). Image by courtesy of Rob Eyton-Jones.

Shiskine Golf Club making huge strides in

developing junior golf in Arran community

NEWS RELEASE BY ROB EYTON-JONES
Arran’s Shiskine Golf and Tennis Club, which last month received major investment from sportscotland to help transform its facilities, is making huge strides in developing junior golf in the community through the national junior programme, clubgolf.
clubgolf is the partnership between the Scottish Golf Union (SGU), the Scottish Ladies' Golfing Association (SLGA), the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA), the Golf Foundation and sportscotland launched in 2003 following Scotland’s successful bid to host the 2014 Ryder Cup.
Shiskine golfers had become aware the average age of its member was heading towards the late 50s. They realised that the numbers of children playing golf on the island was shrinking and they admitted more could be done to offer local youngsters a structured coaching programme.
Through the forward thinking efforts of its members, in combination with clubgolf, improvements to its clubhouse and the adoption of a clubgolf programme (Shiskine is the first clubgolf centre on Arran) will have a double impact on local juniors.
“Our club is very much involved with the community,” said the Club’s clubgolf co-ordinator, Gordon Stewart.
“We have had a good relationship with the two local primary schools and have offered their children coaching in an amateur but enthusiastic way.
“But when we looked at the whole junior structure we realised we hadn’t got a proper training programme in place.
“Then, when we found out about clubgolf and proper structured coaching we decided to invest in training to push it forwards.”
To address its challenges the Club has been working closely with Ann Lang, clubgolf’s Regional Manager for South West Scotland.
This May it made a significant step by sending seven of its members on clubgolf’s two day Level 1 coaching course, held at the local high school. All seven became qualified coaches. Having since re- approached the local primary schools, the Club has attracted over 30 children to its clubgolf coaching which is supervised by its pro, Dougie Bell.
“We run the coaching on Monday evenings, take the children out for between one and two hours and we rotate the volunteers,” said Mr Stewart. “It’s working very well and the kids love it.”
Junior developments at Shiskine are having a knock on effect locally. Impressed by its results nearby Whiting Bay GC has made contact with Ann Lang to improve its own junior coaching.
Meanwhile, work on Shiskine’s new purpose-built clubhouse is due to start soon. When complete it will provide full disabled access, improved changing rooms and showers plus a room for bowling and tennis club members. In addition, a new restaurant and function suite will be available all year round creating a fantastic facility for use by the whole community.
“It’s very obvious to us that juniors are very keen but there were no facilities for them, no junior room or TV, so we are quite excited about providing that facility,” added Mr Stewart.
With the local driving range providing the practice facility to keep the coaching going through the autumn and winter, and other plans to hold junior tournaments, local children have everything they will ever need to keep them involved and developing in the game.
Rob Eyton-Jones
e: rob@eyton-jones.co.uk
Official clubgolf website: http://www.clubgolfscotland.com/

2009 Fife Order of Merit for the Mackay Bowl

POSITIONS AFTER 12 EVENTS

1 James White (Lundin) 480pt.
2 Greg Paterson (St Andrews New) 380pt.
3 DannySommerville (St Andrews) 220pt.
4 Colin Loveday (Scotscraig) 170pt.
5 Alex Main (Thornton) 140pt.
6 Scott Crichton (Aberdour) 125pt.
6 Alistair Hain (Ladybank) 125pt.
6 Geoff Marshall (Kirkcaldy) 125pt.
6 Colin Martin (Balbirnie Park) 125pt.
6 Lee Stewart (Canmore) 125pt.
+The next counting events are the Fife stroke-play championship at Canmore on Sunday, July 5 and the Cameron Corbett Rosebowl at Haggs Castle on Saturday-Sunday (July 4-5).

Dollar golf course (from the club's website). The club was formed in 1906.

Dollar Golf Club fights to survive

... and they ask for your support

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY DOLLAR GOLF CLUB
Increased costs and reduced members numbers are a problem for many Scottish golf clubs but it is the smaller clubs which are likely to suffer most as the credit crunch continues to bite.
Dollar Golf Cub in Central Scotland now faces a survival struggle as a small membership struggles to meet the cost of running an 18-hole hillside village club – of which there are very many in Scotland.
But the club members have rallied round and started a “Drive to Survive” campaign which will involve a members’ levy, member donations and many other fund-raising activities.
The club hopes to raise £50,000 from assorted sources to enable it to stay open whilst plans are prepared probably to sell the clubhouse whilst creating a modest changing facility somewhere on the course to allow the club to continue in operation.
Club Captain Jerry Cant says “There are complex legal issues involved since we only own the clubhouse and rent the course but given a little time we feel we can work out a future on a lower cost base.
"It would be tragic if golf were to stop in Dollar after 120 years and our membership are determined and united in our bid to stop that happening. We hope the wider sporting community will support our efforts to keep this beautiful course open for generations to come”. Jerry continues:
“We are holding a ‘Drive to Survive’ fun-day on August 4, 2009, when we are putting on a fantastic exhibition of golf with four of Scotland’s top amateurs playing three rounds in a day. There are some brilliant prizes in the offing, and we hope to drum up a lot of support from the golfing community”.
Donations to the Drive to Survive fund can be made online at http://www.dollargolfclub.com/ (follow the ‘Funding 2009’ link), via cheque (made payable to Dollar Golf Club & sent to Dollar Golf Club, Drive to Survive, Brewlands House, Dollar, Clackmannanshire, Scotland FK14 7EA), by BACS to Clydesdale Bank, Dollar, sort code 82-62-08 account number 00215176 or in cash.
All contributors to the Drive to Survive fund will be welcome to play a free round on the course at Dollar - the views are stunning, the greens are great and the club’s welcome to you will be heartfelt.

*For more information please contact John McMillan on 01259 742400 or email fundraising@dollargolfclub.com

Scone man 15th in this week's R&A WAGR

Gavin Dear closing in on world

top 10 ranking target

This week’s R&A World Amateur Golf Rankings show that Murrayshall’s Gavin Dear has risen to his highest position yet – 15th – and that Mark Hillson (Craigielaw) and Banchory’s James Byrne have surged up the rankings by 77 and 44 places respectively over a one-week span.
After he had won the Craigmillar Park Open in April, the 24-year-old Dear from the Perth village of Scone said that his target was to make the top 10 of the R&A WAGR for the simple reason that it would exempt him from playing in the early stages of the European Tour Qualifying School process.
Dear. pictured above by Cal Carson Golf Agency, is quite emphatic that he will turn professional in September, hopefully after playing for GB&I in the Walker Cup match that month at Merion Golf Club, USA.
“I’m nearly in my mid-20s. I can’t delay any longer in turning pro after this amateur season,” says Gavin.
Byrne, winner of back-to-back SGU Order of Merit events – the Tennant Cup and the East of Scotland Open, has gone up from 204 to 160 in the world rankings.
Hillson, the only Scot to make the last eight of the British amateur championship, has surged 77 places to No 178.
Byrne and Hillson have now risen in the Scottish rankings to third and fourth place behind Gavin Dear and Comrie’s Wallace Booth, displacing two men who are in the Scotland line-up at the European amateur team championship this week, Paul O’Hara (Colville Park) and Michael Stewart.
O’Hara is currently in 192nd position and Stewart is 240th.
There are 15 Scots in the top 500 of the R&A WAGR. You can argue both ways on that statistic. That’s a fairly good achievement for a country with a population of only five million.
The other side of the coin is that Scotland is the Home of Golf and we probably have more male amateur golfers percentage wise than a lot of bigger countries – and we should have twice as many in the top 500.
You pays your money …
The world’s top 15 amateurs, as calculated by R&A staffer David Moir who is so heavily involved in working out the weekly rankings, based on tournament returns from all over the world, that he had to cancel a guest appearance at the Scottish golf writers’ championship prizegiving meal at Fairmont St Andrews late Tuesday afternoon, are:
1 Nick Taylor ( Canada ) 1300.00.
2 Morgan Hoffman ( US ) 1243.08.
3 Matt Haill ( Canada ) 1235.19.
4 Sam Hutsby ( England ) 1147.89 (+3 from last week).
5 Matteo Manassero ( Italy ) 1146.15 (+3).
6 Nicol Van Wyk ( South Africa ) 1144.00 (+3).
7 Rickie Fowler (US) 1138.67 (+3).
8 Mike Van Sickle ( US ) 1116.39 (-2).
9 Stephan Gross ( Germany ) 1104.29 (-4).
10 Cameron Tringale (US) 1087.72 (+2).
11 Erik Flores (US) 1087.14 (+2).
12 Victor Dubuisson (France) 1056.86 (+4).
13 Matt Jaeger ( Australia ) 1051.25 (+1).
14 Brian Harman (US) 1051.02 (+1).
15 Gavin Dear ( Scotland ) 1047.37 (+2).

Other Scottish player rankings:
91 Wallace Booth (Comrie) 865.38 (+5).
105 Ross Kellett ( Colville Park ) 847.62 (-13).
160 James Byrne (Banchory) 791.94 (+44).
178 Mark Hillson (Craigielaw) 776.79 (+77).
192 Paul O’Hara ( Colville Park ) 769.23 (-2).
240 Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck) 736.21 (-4).
249 Steven McEwan (Caprington) 731.65 (-4).
284 Scott Borrowman (Dollar) 706.25 (-4).
285 Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie) 706.25 (-10).
340 James White (Lundin) 674.60 (+8).
386 Philip McLean (Peterhead) 648.10 (+17).
421 Keir McNicoll (Carnoustie) 625.33 (+35).
423 Greg Paterson ( St Andrews New) 624.66 (+6).
426 Gordon Yates ( Hilton Park ) 622.50 (-1).

PGA EUROPRO TOUR REPORT

Scott Jamieson wins £1,650 for

third place at Stoke by Nayland

By ANTHONY LEAVER
Tom Haylock romped to victory in The Stoke by Nayland Championship 2009, shooting a final round 65 to win by eight strokes at 16 under.
Haylock (Ground Construction Ltd) began the day tied for the lead at nine under and followed a solid level opening three holes with birdies at four, six and eight to move to 12 under. He showed no signs of nerves on the back nine either; with four more birdies seeing him shoot 65 for a comprehensive victory.
The 45/1 pre-tournament shot with Sky Bet dropped just two shots in the three rounds, both on the front nine on the opening day, and his round matches Antonio Sobrinho’s eight shot win in 2003 as the biggest margin of victory in the Tour’s history, and takes Haylock into fourth spot on the Order of Merit.
Chris Gaunt endured a topsy-turvy round that eventually saw him rather fall into second place. The Australian parred just four holes in his final round and a bogey at the last saw him finish on level par for the day, eight under for the tournament.
It appeared that had ruined Gaunt’s chances of sole possession of runners-up spot, but James Ruebotham (Welwyn Garden City GC) – who began the day tied for the lead with Haylock – never got of the traps and found himself at eight under for the tournament at the last, where he dropped a shot to finish in a five-way tie for third.
Jamie Moul (Stoke by Nayland) shot a two under 70 to join Ruebotham in third, along with Glasgow's Scott Jamieson (pictured above), Matthew Ford (Marriot Tudor Park) and Nicky Harris (Whitefield GC) who won at Stoke by Nayland last year and follows his runners-up finish at Bovey Castle with a third place in Suffolk.
Steve Surry (Cumberwell Park) was one stroke behind overnight after a blistering nine under 63 in his second round, but it was a frustrating day for the 27 year-old, who was level until dropping a shot at the eighth and a double bogey at 13 prevented him from finishing higher than tied eighth, along with Mark Kerr (Golf Fit Ltd/Bathgate GC) and Elliot Saltman (Aegon) who carded a final round of 68. Both Scots earned £850.
Kerr is hoping his strong showing will earn him a spot in the Scottish Challenge later in the month.
While unable to secure his first win in the professional ranks – a closing round of 74 left him in a tie for eighth in the EuroPro Tour event – Kerr reckoned that he could take a lot of positives from his overall performance in Suffolk.
"Unfortunately, I dropped shots at the last two holes where pars would have seen me finish in the top three but it has still been a good week on the whole for me," he said.
"It was great to be in the mix again and my finish should earn me a spot in the Challenge Tour event at Spey Valley as a top-five Scot on the EuroPro Tour Order of Merit."
Kerr finished alongside Elliot Saltman on six-under, the Archerfield Links player having stormed up the leaderboard with a closing 68, the highlight of which was an eagle-3 at the The next event on the PGA EuroPro tour is the Motocaddy Masters at The Players Club in Bristol, beginning on July 14.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
1 Tom Haylock 68-67-65-200/ £10,000
2 Chris Gaunt 71-65-72-208/ £5,000
=3 Jamie Moul 71-68-70-209/ £1,560
=3 Scott Jamieson 70-69-70-209/ £1,560
=3 Matthew Ford 68-70-71-209/ £1,560
=3 Nick Harris 68-70-71-209/ £1,560
=3 James Ruebotham 71-64-74-209/ £1,560

WHERE THE OTHER SCOTS FINISHED:
=8 Mark Kerr 68-68-74-210/ £850.00
=8 Elliot Saltman 70-72-68-210/ £850.00
=15 Paul Doherty 69-72-72-213/£500.00
=15 Lorne Kelly 68-70-75-213/£500.00
=26 Jack Doherty 71-71-74-216/ £308.75
=34 Lee Harper 69-74-74-217/ £272.50
=38 Scott Herald 73-71-74-218/ £242.50
=38 John Gallagher 72-70-76-220/£242.50
50 Duncan Stewart 75-70-77-222/ £200.00
=55 Barry Hume 73-69-82-224/ £172.50

European Challenge Tour Scoreboard
CREDIT SUISSE CHALLENGE
Wylihof Golf Club, Luterbach, Switzerland
FIRST ROUND
Par 73
67 S Davis (Eng), S Robinson (Eng)
68 L James (Eng), T Cruz (Por), T Dykes (Wal) ,
69 R Kilpatrick (Nir) , N Meitinger (Ger) , J Quesne (Fra) , N Maestroni (Ita) , C Suneson (Esp) , B Pettersson (Swe) , G Woodman (Eng) , M Zions (Aus) , J Parry (Eng) , C Russo (Fra) ,
70 P Baker (Eng) , N Sulzer (Sui) , F Svanberg (Sui) , J Colomo (Esp) , P Gustafsson (Swe) , R Steiner (Aut) , T Carolan (Aus) , T Weiss (Sui) ,
71 M Mills (Eng) , S Jeppesen (Swe) , G Houston (Wal) , J Billot (Fra) , G Murray (Sco) , J Garcia Pinto (Esp) , J McLeary (Sco) , P Relecom (Bel) , F Colombo (Ita) , F Fritsch (Ger) , T Whitehouse (Eng) , D Wardrop (Eng) , N Smith (USA) , L Bond (Wal) , J Heath (Eng) , K Sullivan (Wal) , L Kennedy (Eng) ,
72 J Grillon (Fra) , F Calmels (Fra) , M Rominger (Sui) , D Denison (Eng) , A McArthur (Sco) , R Santos (Por) , J Bjerhag (Swe) , S Reale (Ita) , J Morgan (Eng) , N Fox (Irl) , P Niederdrenk (Ger) , A Bossert (Sui) , A Hansen (Den) , M Wiegele (Aut) , B Mason (Eng) , L Gagli (Ita) , A Marshall (Eng) , M Villegas (Col) , L Westerberg (Swe) , A Mellor (Eng) , A Bernadet (Fra) , E Molinari (Ita) ,
73 J Granberg (Fin) , A Mörk (Fra) , P Purhonen (Fin) , J Clément (Sui) , N Lemke (Swe) , J Ruth (Eng) , J Johnson (Eng) , V Riu (Fra) , O Floren (Swe) , M Jurgensen (Den) , M Tullo (Chi) , A Butterfield (Eng) , P Kaensche (Nor) , J Sjöholm (Swe) , A Gee (Eng) , M Laskey (Wal) , C Gane (Eng) , J Little (Eng) , R Russell (Sco) ,
74 G Shaw (Nir) , A Haindl (RSA) , J Campillo (Esp) , M Reale (Ita) , P Bocian (Swe) , P Karantzias (Gre) , G Paddison (Nzl) , A Zanini (Ita) , O Suhr (Den) , R De Sousa (Sui) , J Larsen (Nor) , L Brovold (Nor) , C Günther (Ger) , M McGeady (Irl) , M Delpodio (Ita) , A Roberts (Eng) , P Del Grosso (Arg) , M Cort (Eng) , S Juul (Den) , A Grenier (Fra) , F Praegant (Aut) , C Moriarty (Irl) ,
75 R Hie (Ina) , R Wiederkehr (Sui) , R Karlberg (Swe) , G Molteni (Ita) , J Boerdonk (Ned) , E Ramsay (Sco) , S Saavedra (Arg) , I Pyman (Eng) , Å Nilsson (Swe) , S Walker (Eng) , C Brazillier (Fra) , N D'Incau (am) (Sui) ,
76 K Jorgensen (Den) , A Ahokas (Fin) , A Wagner (Arg) , J Dusson (Fra) , A Murray (Irl) , S Luna (Esp) , D Marmion (Eng) , L Saltman (Sco) , C Achermann (Sui) , S Henry (Sco) , A Högberg (Swe) , V Honauer (am) (Sui) ,
77 O David (Fra) , R Furrer (Sui) , A Chopard (Sui) , F Li Puma (Sui) , Z Scotland (Eng) ,
78 J Schmid (Sui) , B Miarka (Ger) , A Rocha (Bra) , S Manley (Wal) , T Schuster (Ger) , J Parron (Esp) , K Webber (Aus) , G Gresse (Bel) , M Kramer (Ger) , S Rojas (am) (Sui) , K Benz (am) (Sui)
79 D Ulrich (Sui) , A Bruschi (Ita) , A Joudar (Mar)
80 J Wahlqvist (Swe) , T Ferreira (RSA) , J Burnier (Sui) , D Froreich (Ger) , J Zapata (Arg) , B Evans (Eng) , T Benslimane (Mar)
81 R Harris (Eng)
83 S Grant (Irl) , M Chatelain (Sui)

Kim defies doctor's orders, shoots 62

FROM THE ESPN.COM WEBSITE
By JASON SOBEL
BETHESDA, Maryland As late afternoon was slowly morphing into dusk on Tuesday, one lone figure remained on the near side of the Congressional Country Club driving range, beating balls into the sky, then following his shots -- more often than not -- by slamming his club into the ground in frustration.
Exactly one year after claiming the AT&T National for his second career PGA Tour title, Anthony Kim appeared miles away from returning to his previous form, the result of myriad injuries that left the precocious 24-year-old without a top-10 finish in his past dozen appearances. The latest ailment was a left thumb issue that had multiple doctors requesting he take 4-6 weeks away from the game. The kid, known as AK, wouldn't oblige.
Anthony Kim carded a 29 on the front nine at Congressional Country Club on Thursday. He could have gone even lower but missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the ninth hole.
"I can't help myself. I've got to come out here," he said on Thursday. "This has been a dream of mine to play on the PGA Tour, and I wasn't going to sit. ... I'm out here to get better. There's something that I can get better at every time I step out onto the golf course. ... I'm sure those doctors are a lot smarter than I am. But ... athletes and pros play through pain and play through injuries. There was no doubt in my mind I was going to come out here, learn something along the way and keep grinding away."
And so he continued doing just that, producing a row of divots that would make Vijay Singh proud in an effort to regain his swing and live up to his pervading confidence level. The old Anthony Kim, a self-described "lazy" golfer who would often simply roll a few putts prior to heading to the tee box at the first hole, likely would have been long gone. But the new, improved version kept working on slight mechanics that could refine his overall performance.
Two days later, the endeavour paid off, as Kim fired a blistering opening-round 8-under 62 to set the scoring record on this venerable venue.
Mission accomplished. Or maybe not. Perhaps just as impressive as his uncommonly low score on a course that has hosted three major championships (two U.S. Opens and one PGA) was the fact that, after the round, Kim hardly seemed satisfied with his game.
"Just because I shot 62 doesn't take away that bitter taste in my mouth when I'm not contending for tournaments, and that's what everyone out here works for," said Kim, who shot 67-67-69-65 in winning last year's edition of the event. "It's awful when you come out here and finish 20th and 30th and 50th. I mean, I've been lucky to finish 50th a couple times this year. I'm finally getting to that point where I feel like I'm going to be able to win every time I tee it up. It's not going to take anything crazy. It's just going to take solid golf."
Even so, there may be little room for improvement from his most recent performance. This week, Kim is employing a new stiff-shafted driver that allows him to play a left-to-right fade, which mirrors his strategy off the tee from last year as opposed to the draw he has used throughout this season.
On Thursday, he found the fairway on 10 of 14 occasions and missed only a single green in regulation en route to an eight-birdie, zero-bogey total.
For a young player hailed as the next big challenger to Tiger Woods' throne, it should be noted that some 30 minutes before the tournament host even stepped foot on the tee box, "AK" was already leaving the No. 9 green -- his final hole of the day -- with the same displeasure he displayed during that range session on Tuesday. A missed 8-foot birdie putt prevented him from going even lower -- something one of his playing partners knows Kim can do on any given day.
"He's got a lot of confidence," said Jim Furyk, who shot a sublime 66, four shots away from being low man in his own threesome. "Obviously, when he gets it going, he keeps it going. What impresses me the most? He just has no fear."
No fear. That's a perfect way to describe a guy who defies doctor's orders in favour of not only playing tournaments, but practising to the fullest extent as well. It's also the mark of a player who isn't afraid to go low and isn't afraid to admit that he can fare even better.
"I haven't solved it completely," Kim maintained. "I'm going to go have some lunch and go work on it. I'm not working on it for this week, I'm working on it for the rest of the year. And I'm building right now for the rest of the year, and it would be great to knock one off and play four great rounds. But my goals are to win major golf tournaments and be prepared to play in those.
"Right now, I'm going about it the right way. I'm starting to focus on my course management because I know at majors that's what's important. This is a major-championship type of golf course, obviously, because in two years we'll be here for the [U.S.] Open. I just know that if I'm working on the right things, it's going to pay off, whether it's tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday or next week."
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 70
62 Anthony Kim
64 D.A. Points, Tiger Woods, Bryce Molder
65 Steve Elkington (Aus)
66 Daniel Chopra (Swe), Jim Furyk, Stuart Appleby (Aus)
67 Rodney Pampling (Aus), Michael Allen, Justin Rose (Eng), Boo Weekley, Y.E. Yang (Kor)
68 Danny Lee (Nzl), Michael Letzig, Bart Bryant, Tim Petrovic, Cameron Beckman, Brandt Snedeker
69 Jeff Overton, Steve Flesch, Jeff Quinney, Lucas Glover, Joe Ogilvie, Davis Love III, Harrison Frazar, Tom Pernice Jnr., Hunter Mahan, Kevin Stadler, Sean O'Hair, Dean Wilson, Ryan Palmer, Bo Van Pelt, Ryuji Imada (Jpn), Troy Matteson, Ryan Moore
70 Nick Watney, Bill Lunde, Robert Garrigus, Matt Bettencourt, James Driscoll, John Mallinger, Chez Reavie, Vijay Singh (Fij), Marc Leishman (Aus), Martin Laird (Sco), Brian Davis (Eng), Pat Perez, Chris DiMarco, Cliff Kresge, Mark Wilson, Kevin Streelman, Peter Lonard (Aus), Ricky Barnes, George McNeill, Notah Begay III, Rocco Mediate
71 Charley Hoffman, John Senden (Aus), Matt Hill, James Nitties (Aus), Nick O'Hern (Aus), Parker McLachlin, Fred Funk, Kevin Na, Jeff Klauk, Nathan Green (Aus), Mike Weir (Can), David Mathis, Marc Turnesa, Nicholas Thompson
72 Chris Riley, Aron Price (Aus), Paul Azinger, Charles Howell III, Jason Bohn, Brad Adamonis, Scott McCarron, Jason Dufner, Eric Axley, Fred Couples, Aaron Baddeley (Aus), Richard S Johnson (Swe), Jeff Maggert, Mathew Goggin (Aus), Robert Allenby (Aus), Rich Beem, Corey Pavin, Olin Browne, Johnson Wagner
73 Charles Warren, Tim Herron, Ted Purdy, Todd Hamilton, Scott Piercy, Alex Cejka (Ger), Charlie Wi (Kor), Steve Marino, Bob Estes, Paul Goydos
74 Brendon De Jonge, Chris Stroud, Billy Mayfair, Lee Janzen, Steve Lowery, Billy Horschel, Webb Simpson
75 Vaughn Taylor, Bill Haas, Paul Casey (Eng), Greg Kraft, Greg Owen (Eng)
76 J J Henry, John Merrick, Jason Day (Aus), Jason Gore
77 Brett Quigley, K J Choi (Kor)
78 Will MacKenzie
WD: Bubba Watson

FRENCH OPEN REPORT

It ain't half hot .. Martin Kaymer

blisters way to lead with a 62

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Blistering heat and a blistered foot served only to bring out the best in young German star Martin Kaymer, pictured on right, in Paris today.
The 24-year-old began the French Open Alstom with a course record-equalling 62 to lead by three strokes at Le Golf National - 10 better than Padraig Harrington, who now has a fight on his hands to avoid a fifth successive missed cut just two weeks before his bid for an Open hat-trick at Turnberry.
So bad was Kaymer's right foot that as well as being seen by a doctor he had a hole cut in his golf shoe to allow him to play Wednesday's pro-am.
With the help of his three partners he won that by four shots with an amazing 16 under par best-ball of 55, but to be only seven worse than that on his own underlined what a massive talent he is.
Kaymer's round actually began with a bogey, but after five birdies in the next nine holes he chipped in for eagle at the long third and finished with three more birdies for an inward 30.
Harrington was paired with Ian Poulter, runner-up to him at Royal Birkdale last summer and to Swede Henrik Stenson in May's Players Championship in Florida, but they both finished down the field on one over.
Poulter, in Europe for the first time this year, went in the water twice for a triple bogey 7 on the 18th, his ninth, and had angry words with a photographer walking off the tee there.
Dougherty followed up his weekend win with a 66 and Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie, without a top-10 finish since he was runner-up in this event last year, returned a 69, but major winners Jose Maria Olazabal, Angel Cabrera and John Daly all fared worse than Harrington.
Daly was already eight over when he quit with a bad back on the 17th, Olazabal had a 74 and the 75 of current Masters champion Cabrera meant he even finished five behind his 20-year-old son Federico. The youngster was even on the leaderboard early in the day at three under, but then matched Poulter's 7 on the last.
Miguel Angel Jimenez, whose 500th European Tour event began with a hook into the water, hit back for a 67 and fellow Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal, the defending champion, matched that with five birdies in the last six holes - after a triple bogey 8 on the ninth.

FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 71
62 Martin Kaymer (Ger)
65 Peter Hanson (Swe), Scott Strange (Aus), Rafael Echenique (Arg), John Bickerton, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha)
66 Paul Waring, Nick Dougherty
67 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Francesco Molinari (Ita), Jean Van de Velde (Fra), Pablo Larrazabal (Spa), Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), David Drysdale, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Paul Lawrie, Alejandro Canizares (Spa), Sam Little, Thomas Levet (Fra)
68 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Soren Hansen (Den), Benn Barham, Danny Willett, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Gary Lockerbie, Alexander Noren (Swe), Marc Warren, Richard Green (Aus), Marcus Fraser (Aus), Lee Westwood
69 Alvaro Velasco (Spa), Anders Hansen (Den), Graeme Storm, Shane Lowry, Steve Webster, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe), Colin Montgomerie, Gareth Maybin, David Lynn, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind), Jamie Donaldson, Phillip Archer, Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Mark Foster, Cedric Menut (Fra), Ross McGowan
70 Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Damien McGrane, Federico Cabrera (Arg), Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Kenneth Ferrie, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Simon Wakefield, Robert Rock, Alessandro Tadini (Ita), Stephen Dodd, Thomas Bjorn (Den), Chapchai Nirat (Tha), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa), Seve Benson, Brett Rumford (Aus), Taco Remkes (Ned), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Richard Sterne (Rsa), Barry Lane
71 James Kingston (Rsa), Peter Lawrie, Steven O'Hara, Oliver Fisher, Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Niclas Fasth (Swe), Michael Jonzon (Swe), Pablo Martin (Spa), Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa), Miles Tunnicliff, Michael Hoey, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Richie Ramsay, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), Scott Arnold (Hkg), Simon Khan, Marco Ruiz (Par), Philip Golding
72 Oliver Wilson, Anthony Snobeck (Fra), Raul Quiros (Spa), Alastair Forsyth, Wade Ormsby (Aus), Shiv Kapur (Ind), Graeme McDowell, David Horsey, Scott Drummond, Andrew McLardy (Rsa), Alvaro Quiros (Spa), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Daniel Vancsik (Arg), Miguel Angel Martin (Spa), Richard Finch, Ian Poulter, Tano Goya (Arg), Paul McGinley, Padraig Harrington
73 Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), Gary Orr, Peter Hedblom (Swe), Paul Nilbrink (Swe), Darren Clarke, Simon Dyson, Paul Broadhurst, Anthony Wall, Lee Slattery, Markus Brier (Aut), Peter O'Malley (Aus), Bradley Dredge
74 Hennie Otto (Rsa), Daniel Brooks, David Howell, Robert Dinwiddie, Phillip Price, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Jose-Filipe Lima (Por), Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa), Gary Murphy, Stephen Gallacher, David Dixon, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra), Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Malcolm MacKenzie
75 Michael Campbell (Nzl), Damien Perrier (Fra), Francois Delamontagne (Fra), Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Angel Cabrera (Arg), Julien Guerrier (Fra), Fabrizio Zanotti (Par), Eduardo Romero (Arg)
76 Mikael Lundberg (Swe), Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe), David Frost (Rsa), Jyoti Randhawa (Ind)
77 Anton Haig (Rsa), Jeppe Huldahl (Den), Rhys Davies, Emanuele Canonica (Ita), Gregory Havret (Fra)
78 Anthony Kang (USA), Benoit Teilleria (Fra), Pelle Edberg (Swe), Alex Larrazabal (Spa)
79 Nicolas Joakimides (Fra), Mark Brown (Nzl)
80 Martin Erlandsson (Swe)
81 Marcus Higley, Marcel Siem (Ger)
RTD: John Daly (USA)

Top 20 finish by two Scots in

McGregor Trophy Under-16s

Liam Johnston (Dumfries & Co) finished a creditable joint 12th in a big field for the English Golf Union's McGregor Trophy Under-16s open amateur stroke-play championship at Radcliffe on Trent Golf Club today Thursday.
Johnston had four steady rounds of 70, 72, 72 and 70 for a total of 284.
The only othe Scot to survive the halfway cut, Grant Forrest (Craigielaw) also made a top-20 finish with scores of 74, 74, 71 and 71 to share 16th place on 286.
There was a five-way play-off between those who finished on 279 - two English lads, a Welshman, a Spaniard and a Belgian.
The winner was the defending champion Seb Crookall-Nixon from Workington) who beat Rhys Pughj (Vale of Glamogan), Nick Newbold (Kedleston Park), Adria Arnhaus (Spain) and Bertrand Mommaerts (Belgium).

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 280 (4x70)
279 Seb Crookall-Nixon (Workington) 66 72 73 69, Rhys Pugh (Vale of Glamorgan) 69 71 72 67, Adria Arnhaus (Spain) 69 69 66 75, Bertrand Mommaert (Belgium) 67 70 73 69, Nick Newbold (Kedleston Park) 68 70 73 68.
280 Max Orrin (North Foreland) 70 67 72 71.
282 Callum Shinkwin (Porters Park) 69 75 68 70, David Boote (Walton Heath) 70 68 67 74, Liam Harper (Lydd) 67 71 74 70.
283 Sam Edwards (Bigbury) 71 72 69 71, Curtis Griffiths (Wentworth) 70 68 73 73.
284 Liam Johnston (Dumfries & Co) 70 72 72 70, Harry Casey (Enfield) 71 71 72 70, Joe Richards (Frilford Heath) 68 763 72 71, Patrick Kelly (Woodhall Spa) 71 69 70 74.
286 Grant Forrest (Craigielaw) 70 74 71 71, Oliver Carr (Heswall) 69 72 72 73.

Crookall-Nixon wins five-way play-off to retain title

REPORT FROM ENGLISH GOLF UNION WEBSITE
Seb Crookall-Nixon retained the English Boys Under 16 Stroke Play Championship for the McGregor Trophy after a dramatic five-way playoff at Radcliffe-on-Trent. The quintet, Adria Arnaus from Spain, Crookall-Nixon from Cumbria, Bertrand Mommaerts from Belgium, Nick Newbold from Kedleston Park and Welshman Rhys Pugh tied on 279, one under par, after a dramatic afternoon in the sunshine when, at one stage, the title looked to be safely in Arnaus’ grasp.
Arnaus and Newbold bogeyed the first playoff hole and were eliminated and Mommaerts followed at the second extra hole, the 18th, with another five. The conclusion came on the second visit to the first where a par four was sufficient for Crookall-Nixon to edge past Pugh, who took five.
“This is a dream come true,” said the lad from Cumbria. “Even when I was seven behind I still felt I could win. I had a game plan and I stuck to it when people were hitting drivers and I was hitting irons off the tee.
“Having won before I knew I could do it again and to be only the second player to retain the title is like making history.”
Apart from Arnaus, all had chances to win in regulation but missed birdie putts on the 18th green. Arnaus, who almost went out of bounds with his approach to 18, had to get up-and-down to make the play-off.
Arnaus, 15 from Barcelona, will look back on the day and wonder how the title managed to escape from his grasp. A morning 66 put him four shots clear and he was still in control at the turn. But he started the back nine bogey-double bogey-bogey to lose that lead and with others making headway it was all to play for.
Pugh returned 67 to set the target which was systematically matched by the other four. Then came that sensational conclusion that was befitting of the Radcliffe-on-Trent club in its centenary year.

GREENBURN PAIR

CATLIN, FERGUSON

WIN TURKEY TRIP

A bricklayer's labourer laid the foundations for Greenburn Golf Club, Fauldhouse professional Scott Catlin (pictured right) to secure an instant return to the grand final of Europe's largest pro-am at Antalya on the Turkish Riviera coastline on the Mediterranean.
Amateur Nicky Ferguson, who has a 13 handicap, cemented the duo's participation in the Virgin Atlantic PGA National Pro-Am Championship showpiece, with a flawless round that included four net birdies in their nine-under-par 61 at Lanark Golf Club today (Thursday).
Catlin, who received a cheque for £500, weighed in too, crucially with an eagle at the par four 17th - when he drove the green - to secure them a two-shot winning margin over former finalist Gordon Law and partner Mark Proudfoot of Uphall. Law's consolation award was £350.
The victory, just a week before Catlin's 35th birthday, gives him an opportunity to improve on last year's sixth place finish he achieved with Michael Carrigan - a friend of Ferguson's - over the PGA Sultan Course at Antalya Golf Club.
"The aim was get back their this year," said Catlin, who is the first of last year's 16 grand finalists to book a return.
"I'd not played with Nicky before today and he was pretty solid. We tried to play together last week but we got the tee times mixed up, so it was a case of just seeing how we went today.
"Nicky played really well, he knew what we were playing for as he's a good pal of Mike, who I played with last year. He'd told so much about it, so he knew what was at stake.
"Nicky got three birdies on the front nine and I got going on the back nine getting three birdies plus the eagle at 17, with Nicky getting another birdie.
"I knew when we reached the turn at three under we'd need to up our game and get to at least eight-under, which we more than managed."
Qualification is an amazing feat for Ferguson, who only joined the West Lothian club this year after five years of playing park golf.
"I'm really looking forward to the experience," said the 28-year-old from Cleland.
"I only joined the club this year so to qualify after just a few months of being at the club is fantastic.
"I was really please with the way I played today after getting off the first tee. I played pretty solidly, getting birdies and nett pars. I had a few putts to save par and not having any bogey was a real bonus."
This year's final, which carries a professional prize fund of £30,000, is being staged in Antalya, Turkey from December 6-10 and features 16 teams from across Great Britain and Ireland, who will enjoy an all expenses stay at the Sirene Beach & Hotel Resort.
It is the 25th staging of the tournament and the first year it has been sponsored by Virgin Atlantic, the UK's long haul specialists.

Prize-winning pros at Lanark today:
Par 70
69 Scott Catlin (Greenburn) £500.
63 Gordon Law (Uphall) £350.
64 Ian Taylor (Drumpellier), Andrew Fullen (Largs), Paul Wytrazek (Burntisland), James Stevenson (Braehead) £125 each.

SIR BOB AT CRUDEN BAY

Sir Bob Charles, Cruden Bay Golf Club captain Dr Jim Morrison and Robbie Stewart, the Cruden Bay Golf Club head professional (image by Cal Carson Golf Agency).

Sir Bob Charles lining up a putt on Cruden Bay's 18th green ... after (right) playing his approach shot. Below (left to right) Cruden Bay professional Robbie Stewart, Jim Hardie, John Crammond and Sir Bob (images by Cal Carson Golf Agency). You can enlarge the images by clicking on them.

Sir Bob Charles takes 77

shots to navigate

uncharted Cruden

Bay - but 'I love

the course'

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Sir Bob Charles' "Tour of Discovery" of Scotland links courses continued in sweltering heat today at Cruden Bay but, by his own admission, the 73-year-old left-handed winner of the 1963 Open

at Royal Lytham did not play as well as he did at Montrose on Tuesday when the tall New Zealander beat his age by two strokes.

"I'm sorry to say I had a 77, out in 42, back in 35. The inward half, one over par, wasn't so bad but I really would like to come back and play some of the holes that tripped me up on the outward half," he said.

"But what a great natural Scottish links course. This was what golf was all about years ago, hard baked fairways, the ball runs for miles but you have to control the bounce, master the pitch and run shot and so on. I didn't play well on the outward half but I still love links golf and a course like Cruden Bay." Sir Bob said this wasn't a kind of "Frank Sinature fairwell golf tour" ... "Anything but," he said, "More like a Tour of Discovery. There are too many links courses to play on just one trip to Scotland. I'm coming back for more." Sir Bob and his partner, Cruden Bay club pro Robbie Stewart had a square match with two low-handicap Aberdeen amateurs, Jim Hardie and John Crammond. Hardie is the Aberdeen businessman who spends the Scottish winters in New Zealand (where it is summer of course) and plays regularly with Sir Bob on courses near Christchurch. "Sir Bob E-mailed me a few months ago, saying that he wanted to play a few of the Scottish links he had heard so much about but never got round to playing them, could I fix him up with tee times and partners? " said Hardie. "Which I did. He played North Berwick in a thick haar on Tuesday, and here at Cruden Bay today in glorious sunshine. Then he's going north to play Lossiemouth, Nairn, Brora and Tain." It's quite a punishing schedule for a 73-year-old – but Sir Bob is almost certainly the same weight as he was at the peak of his golfing ability. In these days of "rip it and grip it," Sir Bob remains a joy to watch … if any male golfer can be elegant then Sir Bob is an elegant left-hander. "Sir Bob is different class on and off the golf course," said Jim Hardie.

The Great Escape: Scots do a 'Houdini' to beat

Swedes from 0-2 down

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Well, I said at lunchtime that if Scotland could wriggle off the hook of a 2-0 foursomes deficit to beat Sweden, even the late great Harry Houdini would have been proud of such an escape. And the Scots did just that with a magnificent afternoon performance in the singles to win four out of five and finish up with a 4-3 scoreline in their favour at the end of the day.

Now for second seeds Italy in Friday's semi-finals!

Scoreboard:

SCOTLAND 4, SWEDEN 3
Foursomes (0-2):
Wallace Booth & Michael Stewart lost to Pontus Gad & Pontus Widegren 3 and 1.
Gavin Dear & Glenn Campbell lost to Jesper Kennegard & Henrik Norlander 4 and 3.
Singles (4-1):
Dear bt Robin Wingardh 2 and 1.
Booth bt David Lingmerth 1 hole.
Stewart lost to Kennegard 1 hole.
Ross Kellett bt Widegren 1 hole.
Paul O'Hara bt Norlander 4 and 3.

FROM THE WELSH GOLF UNION'S CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE:
Scotland bounced back from a 2-0 deficit against Sweden after the morning foursomes to grab a place in the semi-finals against Italy.
Despite the disappointments of the morning, the Scots were full of confidence in the afternoon with Wallace Booth turning his match around to win it by one hole.
To watch video interview with Ross Kellett click here
With Gavin Dear and Paul O’Hara also winning their singles, that meant everything came down to Ross Kellett (pictured above by Cal Carson Golf Agency) who managed to close out his victory on the 18th.
“The mood is pretty upbeat with a good win today, it was pretty special,” said Kellett.
“We knew we were playing well, our coach reminded us of a few times we had done it in the past and we knew we had to win matches – a halved match would not do us any good.
“Mine was tight and when I got the shout coming down the last that it was all riding on my match then things changed again, but obviously it was not just me – it was down to all the guys, even though I did hole the winning putt.
“We are feeling better because of the way we won, maybe one each in the morning it would have been anybody’s game, but the way we won it definitely gives us more inspiration and happiness for tomorrow.”
Scotland came into the event as world champions, after winning Eisenhower Trophy in Australia at the end of last year.
“The guys did great out in Adelaide and it is good for the team that we have two guys who did win that because we can learn from them,” said Kellett.
“We thrive on what we did, it gives us inspiration to add a European Championships to that.
“In any round now it will be a tough game - the Italians are playing well with good scores in the strokeplay and great success last week with Matteo winning the British Amateur, but if we are on our golf then we can cause an upset.”
Other results in the Championship Flight

Norway (No 1 seeds) bt Finland (No 8 seeds) 5-2.

Foursomes: Norway 2, Finland 0.

Singles: Norway 3, Finland 2.

England (No 4 seeds) bt France (No 5 seeds) 4 1/2-2 1/2

Foursomes: England 2, France 0.

Singles; England 2 1/2, France 2 1/2.

Italy (No 2 seeds) bt Germany (No 7 seeds) 5 1/2- 1 1/2

Foursomes: Italy 2, Germany 0.

Singles: Italy 3 1/2, Germany 1 1/2

FRIDAY SEMI-FINALS

Norway v England

Scotland v Italy

Aberdeen Off the Tee Trophy boys' inter-club results:

Aberdeen City Section
Nigg Bay bt. Caledonian by 5 holes
Northern bt. Deeside by 1 hole
Hazlehead bt. Auchmill by 5 holes
Westhill lost to Portlethen by 2 holes.

West Section
Newmachar bt Kemnay by 11 holes
Alford bt Craibstone by 4 holes

North Section
Inverallochy bt Cruden Bay by 6 holes
Newburgh bt Royal Aberdeen by 5 holes.
Peterhead bt Murcar Links by 5 holes.

New Torrance Course opens to public

at Fairmont St Andrews on July 13

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY FAIRMONT ST ANDREWS
The Fairmont St Andrews, a five-star cliff-top resort at St Andrews, the Home of Golf, announced this week it will open the exiting new Torrance Course to the public for play from Monday, July 13 onwards.
The new improvements on the Torrance Course were conducted under the direction of golf course architect Gary Stephenson. With eight holes re-designed, new tee boxes and revetted bunkers throughout, the course is set to become one of Scotland's most dramatic new courses.
It has already been named an Open qualifying venue for the 2010 Open championship (when the Old Course is the Open venue) and the popular course is set to go from strength to strength when some of the legends of golf play the Torrance course next month at the Cleveland/Srixon Scottish Senior Open.
"We are simply delighted with the progress of the Torrance Course," said Charles Head, general manager of Fairmont St Andrews. "Already being selected as the host site for two of Scotland's more prestigious events, is very telling as to the quality of experience the Torrance Course will offer our guests when it opens."
The most striking changes to the Torrance Course are the re-routing of eight holes, four from the Kittocks Course and four from the Torrance Course and the new Scottish links-style revetted bunkers.
Now, with the changes complete, the course has gained its own remarkable identity.
From the tee shot on the first hole to the final putt on the 18th green, the Torrance Course offers a truly unforgettable round of golf, complete with stunning, panoramic views of the Fairmont St Andrews hotel, the town of St Andrews and the Eden Estuary.
"The golf course is a must-play for those making their golfing pilgrimage to St Andrews. It's without a doubt among the best if you ask me and that's not easy to do in this country, " said Sam Torrance, the original course architect for The Torrance.
"The new sightlines on some of the holes have created a uniqueness and playability unmatched by any other course in the area. If I may say so, I think the new Torrance course is simply brilliant!"
The hotel has just recently completed a £17 million refurbishment project that includes the opening of the new Kittocks Course, a stunning coastal golf course with spectacular views over the Eden Estuary and sands of St Andrews.
Other upgrades recently undertaken by the resort include refurbished rooms, a new Rock and Spindle sports bar with large LCD televisions and a pool table, and a sensational brand new signature Spa, featuring Kerstin Florian products (usually found in Oscar night goodie bags").
The Fairmont St Andrews sits on 520 acres of stunning open coastline overlooking the North Sea and the historic town of St Andrews.

Harrington looking for a confidence

boost in run-up to the Open

FROM THE IRISHTIMES.COM WEBSITE
Padraig Harrington admits he is in a race against time to have his game in good enough shape to win a third successive Open title at Turnberry later this month.
“If I’m going to play well in the Open it’s got to start now – I’m running out of time,” said Harrington on the eve of the French Open at Le Golf National on the outskirts of Paris.
The Dubliner has missed his last four halfway cuts – and five of the last six – during a nightmare run after deciding to make swing changes despite his back-to-back major wins last season.
But he added: “I’m always optimistic and I still believe I am going to be ready. But, then again, I thought I would be ready for the US Open.”
That was Harrington’s last tournament and he had two rounds of 76 at Bethpage Black to crash out by eight shots. He finished joint 137th of the 156 players.
Because of his triumphs at Carnoustie, Birkdale and Oakland Hills, Harrington still finds himself joint second favourite – behind Tiger Woods, of course – for Turnberry. But it is a demonstration of where he is at right now that he is only joint-fourth favourite for this week behind Ryder Cup team-mates Ian Poulter, runner-up to him last July, Lee Westwood and Soren Hansen.
Without a top-10 finish since January, Harrington ranks an incredible 195th out of 212 in driving accuracy on the European Tour this season.
“I’m still trying to find the magic stick that goes straight and long,” he commented. “Aren’t we all?”
Harrington has been experimenting with different drivers and gives no guarantee that the one he settles on for the opening round in France is the one he will stick with.
Three days were spent with coach Bob Torrance last week, but the work was only to bed in the changes as much as possible.
“At the US Open my backswing had totally gone off. We were not trying to change that, but I was focusing so much on my downswing. Last week we were doing a lot of covering of old stuff, putting things back in position.
“For my preparations to be spot-on I should not be tinkering with my swing. I am well capable of winning when I have not prepared properly, but it reduces the chances.”
Harrington also defends his Irish PGA title at The European Club next week before heading to Scotland and of the two tournaments he states: “It’s more important that I play well (in terms of ball-striking) rather than perform well (in terms of his results).
“I do need these two weeks to show myself some form. Having not performed very well I need a certain level of confidence going into the Open and it’s important I show signs of having control over the ball. I’d like to score well too, but other things can affect that. I don’t need the results, but I do need to play well.”
Long term, however, the 37-year-old is excited about the prospects of adding to his three majors. “I’ve never been more enthusiastic or more positive about my game going forward.
“It’s still not bedded in and I will not be going to the first tee here with it automatic, but I’m thrilled with what I see when it’s good. I’m always trying to improve and sometimes there are short-term sacrifices for long-term gains.”
Poulter, on the other hand, feels he has everything in place for his attempt to go one better than last year. Except for one thing, that is. Having based himself in Florida for the first half of the year he returned to the heat of Britain last week wishing he had had air-conditioning installed in his home.
This is his first tournament in Europe since the Volvo Masters almost eight months ago. He has not won in that time, but did have another notable second place behind Henrik Stenson at the Players Championship in May and has risen to 16th in the world.
That is only five places behind the sliding Harrington. This time last year there were 28 spots between them.

"Hard times" for Tiger and Phil? We don't think so ...

Average earnings for leading athletes - not just runners but golfers, tennis players, basketball players et al - in the United States have dropped for the first time in six years, according to Sports Illustrated magazine.
In a list of the 50 top-earning American athletes -- based on salary, winnings, endorsements and appearance fees -- the average take-home pay was down by $1.5 million to $23.6 million per athlete.
However, the drop was primarily affected by the leading two names in the standings, golfers Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, Sports Illustrated reported this week.
Both Americans failed to match their on-course income in 2008 from the previous season, especially world number one Woods who was sidelined for eight months while recovering from reconstructive knee surgery.
Woods earned $5.775 million on last year's US PGA Tour, compared to $10.867 million in 2007.
Second-ranked Mickelson had a less substantial drop-off, winning three times on the 2007 PGA Tour for earnings of $5.819 million before triumphing twice and taking in $5.188 million last year.
Of course, the Sports Illustrated article does not touch on Woods' income from Nike and other sponsors and also the multi-million dollar appearance fees he enjoys when he plays outwith the United States.
Multiply his US PGA Tour earnings by four or five and you get a true idea of what Tiger is making annually.
Next best on the Sports Illustrated list of top sportings earners was Cleveland Cavaliers basketball player LeBron James with New York Yankees baseball player Alex Rodriguez in fourth place.
Editor's Note: Never heard of them? Well, they're laughing all the way to the bank!

Wallace Booth gets that "one good round" he's been waiting for ... and it clinches place in top eight for Scotland at Conwy (image by Cal Carson Golf Agency).

Ireland fail to qualify for championship flight

but Wallace Booth pulls Scotland through

Big shock of the European men's amateur team championship so far at Conway, North Wales is the failure of Ireland - bidding to win the title three years in a row - to qualify for the championship flight.

They finished 11th and that means they cannot now win the title. They will be competing in Flight B.

But Scotland can win the championship. They qualified in sixth place and play Sweden in their opening match. Sweden are the third seeds behind Norway and Italy.

Wallace Booth was the man who lifted the Scots up by their bootlaces with a great round of 66 to be the top Scot in the stroke-play stage with a six-under-par total of 138.

The Comrie man has been frustratingly on the edge of producing a good score for weeks - way back to the Scottish stroke-play at Murcar Links where he told us that he felt he needed and would get one good score that would put his season on the rails.

Well, Wallace could not have got his "one good score" in a better place than Conwy where the whole Scotland team benefited from it.

QUALIFIERS FOR CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT

690 (-30) NORWAY.
693 (-27) ITALY.

697 (-23) SWEDEN.

700 (-20) ENGLAND.

707 (-13) FRANCE.

716 (-4) SCOTLAND.

716 (-4) GERMANY.

718 (-2) FINLAND

Match-play draw

1 Norway v 8 Finland.

4 England v 5 France.

6 Scotland v Sweden 3.

7 Germany v Italy 2.

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

134 (-10) Pontus Widegren (Ger) 67 67.

134 (-10) Matteo Manassero (Italy) 66 68.

135 (-9) Andrea Pavan (Italy) 67 68.

136 (-8) Matt Haines (England) 67 69.

SCOTLAND SCORES

138 (-6) Wallace Booth 72 66 (jt 9th).

143 (-1) Michael Stewart 70 73 (jt 34th).

144 (level) Gavin Dear 69 75 (jt 41st).

146 (+2) Michael Campbell 73 73 (jt 50th).

146 (+2) Paul O'Hara 72 74 (jt 50th).

148 (+4) Ross Kellett 72 76 (jt 71st).

FLIGHT B

10 Wales, 11 Ireland, 12 Denmark, 13 Belgium, 14 Portugal, 15 Iceland, 16 Spain.

FLIGHT C

17 Austria, 18 Czech Republic, 19 Green, 20 Turkey.

Mark Kerr poised for last-day charge

Stage set for exciting finish to PGA

EuroPro Tour event in Suffolk

The final day of The Stoke by Nayland Championship 2009 promises to be an exciting one – with Tom Haylock and James Ruebotham tied for the lead after a fine day of scoring at the PGA EuroPro Tour event in Suffolk.
Ruebotham (Welwyn Garden City GC) fired the second best round of the day – an eight under 64 – to share the lead, starting with three birdies and an eagle in his first five holes and picking up three more shots in a faultless round.
Since dropping a shot on the eighth in his opening round, Haylock (Ground Construction Ltd) has avoided any blemishes – ending his opening round four under par and shooting a 67 in his second round to progress to nine under.
Surry (Cumberwell Park) fired out of the blocks, birdying the first five holes in order to blank out his opening round 73. A sixth birdie at the eighth was followed by a dropped shot at the ninth to see him go out at four under for the tournament.
But the 27 year-old was not finished there and continued his charge up the leaderboard with four birdies on his back nine to shoot a fantastic nine under round-of-the-day 63.
Australian Chris Gaunt joins Surry at eight under after a fine round of his own. A 71 on the opening day meant he began the second round at one under, but he soon made inroads into catching the leaders with five birdies on the front nine and two on the back contributing to a 65. Scot Mark Kerr (Saffron Walden) was in the penultimate trio to finish and made it a chasing pack of three one stroke behind the leaders with his second 68 of the tournament.
Gaunt and Surry could’ve been joined by overnight co-leader Kieran Staunton (Woodcote Park) who moved to eight under from beginning the day at five under but a bogey at 18 means he is two shots behind along with Jeremy Kavanagh (Stoke Park) carded a 67 to move to seven under.
Matthew Ford (Marriott Tudor Park), Lorne Kelly (Pro Dream USA) and Nicky Harris (Whitefield GC) – who won here in 2008 – all posted rounds of 70 to follow opening rounds of 68 to move to six under.
Craig Housden (Channels) shared the overnight lead with Staunton but a treble bogey at the tenth means he is eight shots off the lead at one under.
Fifty-seven players made the cut at one over and the final round will begin at 8am, with the leading duo of Haylock and Ruebotham teeing off at 12.30pm. Live scoring is available on the final round by visiting http://www.europrotour.com/ and clicking on the Score Updates link on the homepage.
HOW THE SCOTS FARED
Par 144 (2x72)
136 Mark Kerr 68 68
138 Lorne Kelly 68 70
139 Steve Jamieson 70 69
141 Paul Doherty 69 72
142 Jack Doherty 71 71
142 John Gallagher 72 70
142 Barry Hume 73, 69
142 Elliot Saltman 70 72
143 Lee Harper 69 74
Scott Herald 73 71
Duncan Stewart 75, 70 +1
MISSED THE CUT
146 Steven Mackie 73 73
149 Chris Kelly 75 74.
151 Graham Brown 74 77
154 Shaun McAllister 80 74.
159 Zack Saltman 80 79.
160 Eric Walker 79 81.

ONLY TWO SCOTS LEFT IN MCGREGOR TROPHY

Only two Scots out of an entry of seven survived the halfway cut in the McGregor Trophy Under-16 boys’ open amateur stroke-play championship at Radcliffe on Trent Golf Club today
Liam Johnston (Dumfries & Co) had rounds of 70 and 72 for two-over-par 142 while Grant Forrest (Craigielaw) made the cut with one shot to spare with rounds of 70 and 74 for 144.
Scots who shot over the 145 mark were Neil Beattie (St Andrews) with 75 and 72 for 147, Daniel Flannery (Peebles) with 73 and 75 for 148; Calum Stewart (Brora), 76 and 73 for 149, Jack McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie) 79 and 71 for 150, and Ewan Scott (St Andrews) with 78 and 76 for 154.
Max Orrin from Kent and Belgium’s Bertrand Mommaerts share the halfway lead on three-under-par 137, Orrin with 70 and 67, Mommaerts with 67 and 70.
LEADERBOARD
Par 140 (2x70)
137 Max Orrin
(Kent) 70 67, Bertrand Mommaerts (Belgium) 67 70.
138 Curtis Griffiths (Wentworth)70 68, David Lloyd (Romanby) 70 68, Adria Arnaus (Spain) 69 69, Nick Newbold (Kedleston Park) 68 70, Liam Harper (Lydd) 67 71, Seb Crookall-Nixon (Workington) 66 72.
Scots scores:
142 Liam Johnston (Dumfries & Co) 70 72.
144 Grant Forrest (Craigielaw) 70 74.
MISSED THE CUT (145 or better required).
147 Neil Beattie (St Andrews) 75 72.
148 Daniel Flannery (Peebles) 73 74.
149 Calum Stewart (Brora) 76 73.
150 Jack McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie) 79 71.
154 Ewan Scott (St Andrews) 78 76.

Sir Bob Charles (73) beats his age

at Montrose - and wins the money

Former Open champion Sir Bob Charles beat his age of 73 - not for the first time - with a par-matching round of 71 over the Montrose Medal links today.
Sir Bob and Montrose professional Jason Boyd beat Alan Crowe, chairman of the Montrose Links Trust and a 15-handicap golfer, and Aberdeen businessman Jim Hardie, who plays off four, by one hole after being two down with four to play.
"Sir Bob hit a four-iron to within 2 1/2ft of the stick for a birdie 4 at the long 15th. Then he hit a five-wood to within 3ft for a birdie 2 at the 16th before finishing 4 4. He's still a terrific golfer," said Jim Hardie who has fixed up the itinerary of Scottish links courses that Sir Bob had always wanted to play but never got around to on his visits to Scotland.
Tomorrow, Sir Bob, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, will play Cruden Bay with a tee-off time at approximately 12 noon.
There was a fair-sized gallery at Montrose to watch the four-ball featuring the left-handed New Zealander who won the 1963 Open at Royal Lytham after a 36-hole play-off with American Phil Rodgers..
His journey of discovery started at North Berwick on Tuesday but the sea fog all along the East Coast ruined the day as a spectacle.
"Sir Bob thought Montrose was a very good links indeed. Well, worth the visit," said Hardie.

Crichton Golf Club, Dumfries, represented by captain Brian Oakes and secretary Lee Sterrit ... at the top of the leaderboard.

Crichton Turn Up the Heat to Win

Belhaven Qualifier

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY SCOTTISH GOLF UNION
Club captain Brian Oakes and secretary Lee Sterritt scorched to a four-shot victory in the South Regional Final of the Belhaven Best Captains & Secretaries Championship amid searing temperatures at Broomieknowe.
The Dumfries pairing recorded a championship record-equalling nine-under par 61 on the Midlothian course, which included an amazing run of seven consecutive 3s in the four-ball better-ball format, in a round that began with a birdie 2 for captain Oakes.
“We only played together for the first time last night at Crichton and actually lost, so it was a real surprise to come out here today and shoot such a low score. I’ve played in this event for three years but this is the first time I’ve qualified for the Final, which I’m really looking forward to.” said secretary Sterritt, a 5-handicapper.
“It’s great to reach the Belhaven final.” said a delighted Oakes. “As you’d expect with a nine-under par round, we holed a few putts and dovetailed really well. Lee didn’t tell me how well we were scoring, otherwise I might have got more nervous towards the end!” he admitted.Neil Hampton led Loch Ness to their third Belhaven final partnering club captain John Fraser to an excellent five-under par 65, edging out Duns for the runner-up spot by virtue of a superb onward half of 30. The Borders pairing of Allan Anderson and Ian Learmonth were also five-under par but had to settle for third place and a place in the September final.
On a day of very low scoring in red-hot temperatures, Braids United, Langholm and Liberton all posted four-under par 66s to book their final spots, whilst Portobello and Carnwath clinched the final two places on the 67 mark, pipping host club Broomieknowe and Dumfries & Galloway on the countback.
The 2009 Belhaven Best Captains & Secretaries Final takes place on Tuesday 22 September at Glenbervie, part of the SGU’s 10-year sponsorship anniversary with Belhaven.

Edinburgh banker makes telling

move to win trip to Turkey

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE PGA
An Edinburgh banker cashed in the round of his life to win a place in Europe's biggest pro-am.
David Kidd, a member of Prestonfield - the closest golf club to Edinburgh's city centre - teamed up with head professional Gavin Cook to top the Virgin Atlantic PGA National Pro-Am Championship regional final at Crieff.
The pair combined to impressive effect to shoot a 10-under-par 61 to win by two shots from a trio of clubs - Ian Bratton and Liam McLeod (Newburgh), Martin Piggott and Brian Gribbon (Loch Ness) and Campbell Elliott and Graham Pascal (Haggs Castle).
Kidd, who began the year as a 20 handicapper but has come down to 15 after winning a couple of medals, was in red-hot form, firing an impressive one over scratch over the opening nine holes to move them to seven-under-par.
Tartan Tour regular Cook then stepped in to sink decisive birdies on the last two holes to clinch victory. Awaiting the duo is a 36-hole grand final at Turkey's Antalya Golf Club where they will take on 15 other finalists from across Great Britain and Ireland over the PGA Sultan Course.They will also enjoy an all expenses stay at the Sirene Beach & Hotel Resort.
"It's the biggest thing I've ever achieved in golf. I've only been playing seriously four or five years," said Kidd, aged 48 who is a senior change analyst with the Royal Bank of Scotland.
"I played last night and had a mare but today turned up and played as well as I've ever played. I can't believe that we're going to be heading to Turkey in December to play in the grand final.
"I've already told a few friends - I can't repeat what they said but 'jammy' cropped up a few times."
Cook, who has been head pro at Prestonfield for nearly five years, admitted he felt they were on to a winner as they reached the turn in 30 strokes but wasn't letting on to his partner.
"Out in 30 is pretty good going by any stretch but I didn't want to say too much to David because I thought nine or 10 under might be close to winning it so I didn't want to pile the pressure on," he said.
"We faltered a bit on 11 and 12 but managed a birdie, birdie finish. David was just fantastic, to play the front nine in one over scratch is pretty impressive."

World Hickory Festival developments

NEWS RELEASE
Just three months away from the 2009 World Hickory Festival, there is news of some exciting developments in the shape of a totally new tournament to be played over the historic Old Musselburgh Links in East Lothian, the first time this famous course will have hosted a professional tournament since Harry Vardon took home the honours in 1906.
The venerable Links has, of course, hosted one of the most popular tournaments on the schedule. Previous winners include Willie Park Jr, James Braid & J H Taylor.
The new tournament has been created to help promote the ‘Old Links’, recognised officially as the world’s oldest course. It will be sponsored by the Scottish Homecoming and the East Lothian Council. And like the World Hickory Open, this event will be run under the auspices of the Scottish PGA Tartan Tour.
World Hickory’s Chairman Lionel Freedman also says he is delighted to announce that the racecourse complex that surrounds the course will host the event. Players and visitors are most welcome, he adds.
The format is an 18 hole medal for professionals and amateurs to be played on Sunday 20th September. Twenty professionals and twenty amateurs from this tournament will qualify for a match between Scotland and the Rest of the World on the following day, Monday 21st September. This will be played on a ‘Ryder Cup’ format. In parallel, non-qualifiers will have a consolation tournament on Gullane No. 3.
Following this, Tuesday 22nd September will feature an 18 hole medal round over Craigielaw Golf Course.
However, the principal event of the week is the World Hickory Open, to be played this year on Gullane No. 2. But as demand has proved so fierce, the format for this year has changed to a 36 hole tournament. An 18 hole pro-am will be played on the first day on 24th September. While professionals will carry their score forward to the second round on Friday 25th September. Amateurs will play a separate World Hickory medal on this day.
The Musselburgh Hickory International has a prize fund of £10,000 and the World Hickory Open prize fund has been increased to £12,500, with prizes for the pro-am and second day amateurs.
A Gala Buffet will take place at Musselburgh on Sunday 20th September and a Gala Dinner will be held in the Gullane clubhouse on Thursday 24th September.

Full details of all tournaments can be found on the website: http://www.worldhickoryopen.com/

THE R&A ANNOUNCE PRIZE MONEY FOR

THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 2009

The R&A has announced that prize money will be held at the same level as last year for this year’s Open Championship at Turnberry. The total prize fund will be £4.2 million in 2009, with the Champion receiving £750,000.

The breakdown of Prize Money for The Open Championship 2009 is as follows:

1 £750,000; 2 £450,000; 3 £290,000; 4 £220,000; 5 £180,000; 6 £157,000; 7 £134,000; 8 £112,000; 9 £100,000; 10 £88,000.
11 £79,000; 12 £73,000; 13 £67,000; 14 £62,000; 15 £57,000; 16 £52,500; 17 £50,000; 18 £48,000; 19 £46,000; 20 £44,000.
21 £42,000; 22 £40,000; 23 £38,000; 24 £36,250; 25 £34,750; 26 £33,250; 27 £31,500; 28 £30,250; 29 £29,250; 30 £28,250.
40 £18,250; 50 £12,250; 60 £10,500; 70 £9,500; 80 £3,200; 90 £2,650; 100 £2,650.

Every man who plays in the Open championship proper will receive a minimumpayment of £2,100 from the R&A.

down to the man who finishes 156th - £1,200.

Scotland lying seventh in European

team championsip qualifying

Scotland were lying seventh at the end of the first stroke play qualifying round of the European men's amateur team championship at Conwy, North Wales.
Ireland, bidding for a title hat-trick, were well outside the leading eight teams.
Gavin Dear (Murrayshall) had the best Scottish score of 69, closely followed by young Michael
344 England.Stewart (Troon Welbeck) with a 70.

FIRST-ROUND TEAM TOTALS

347 Norway, Italy.
348 Sweden.
351 France.
354 Wales.
355 Scotland.
358 Denmark, Germany.
364 Netherlands, Finland.
370 Iceland.
372 Belgium, Ireland.
373 Portugal.
376 Spain.
377 Austria.
391 Czech Republic.
397 Greece.
410 Turkey.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL
66 Matteo Manassero (Italy).
SCOTS' SCORES
69 Gavin Dear.
70 Michael Stewart.
72 Ross Kellett, Paul O'Hara, Wallace Booth.
73 Glenn Campbell.

Scots' scores in Euro ProTour event
at Stoke by Nayland

Lorne Kelly 68 -4
Mark Kerr 68 -4
Lee Harper 69 -3
Steve Jamieson 70 -2
John Gallagher 72 Lvl
Barry Hume 73 +1
Steven Mackie 73 +1
Graham Brown 74 +2
Duncan Stewart 75 +3
Chris Kelly 75 +3
Eric Walker 79 +7
Shaun McAllister 80 +8

Hamish Grey with his double handful of trophies after the Scottish golf writers' championship. Another image by courtesy of Peter Kelly can be seen on our sister website, http://www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk/

SGU chief Hamish beats writers with

double whammy over 'new' Torrance

Scottish Golf Union chief executive Hamish Grey emerged from the sea mists of St Andrews with the best Stableford points score of 40 off a handicap of 17 at today’s (Tuesday) Scottish golf writers’ championship over the revamped Fairmont St Andrews’ Torrance Course which will reopen on July 13 for public play.
“I think the secret of my success was the fog which made it difficult for the good players to see where they were going at most of the holes,” said modest Hamish who travels through from his Edinburgh home to work at the SGU HQ at The Duke's Course, St Andrews
“I hadn’t played for about a month so I was surprised how well I scored but, funnily enough, the 40pt total did not include a single gross birdie."
Grey’s halves of 25 and 15pt pipped St Andrews Links Trust chief executive Alan McGregor, 39 (21-18)pt off 14, for the Bunkered Trophy which goes to the leading guest player.
The New Zealand born SGU supremo also won the Belhaven Trophy for the highest points total overall, including the golf writers competing for the Alex M Fox Trophy which was won by Malcolm Campbell from Fife with 35pt (19-16) off six of a handicap.
Susan Simpson, the Ladies Golf Union Head of Operations at St Andrews, pipped Gullane’s Gillian Kirkwood, the LGU vice-chairman, for the “leading lady” award.
Both finished with 30pt, Susan off a handicap of four and Gullane-based Gillian off 10. Susan had the tie-breaking better points inward half – 15 to Gillian’s 13.
Troon-based Shona Malcolm, chief executive of both the LGU and the Scottish Ladies Golfing Association, finished third with 23pt off 11.
A total of 36 players, including Andy Stubbs of the European Seniors Tour, took part. Andy was there to promote the Cleveland Srixon Scottish Seniors Open, also to be played over the new Torrance course, in August.
Among the best gross scores were a par-matching 72 by former Walker Cup player Ian Hutcheon (Monifieth), who has a +2 rating, a 73 by another high-ranking senior Scottish player, Callander scratch man Gordon MacDonald and a 75 by Ross Duncan of the SGU.

Fairmont St Andrews very generously provided the leading awards as follows:

Malcolm Campbell (leading golf writer) and Hamish Grey (leading guest) both receive free two-night stays at Fairmont St Andrews with free golf over the Torrance at Kittocks courses.

Susan Simpson (leading lady) receives a free two-night stay at Fairmont St Andrews with luxury spa treatment. Runner-up Gillian Kirkwood receives a luxury 60min spa treatment session at Fairmont St Andrews and a SGU prize voucher.
Leading Stableford points totals
ALEX M FOX TROPHY
35 Malcolm Campbell (6) 19-16.
33 Mike Aitken (15) 19-14, Dave Edwards (16) 19-14.
30 Martin Dempster (10) 13-17.
28 Paul Forsyth (13) 14-14, Robert Martin (15) 15-13.
27 Douglas Lowe (12) 18-9, Scott Peddie (11) 19-8.
25 Ronnie Cully (18) 9-16.
20 Bryce Ritchie (7) 12-8.
17 Michael McEwan (24) 13-4.
BUNKERED GUESTS TROPHY
40 Hamish Grey (17) 25-15.
39 Alan McGregor (14) 21-18.
38 Ross Duncan (6) 21-17.
35 Lionel Freedman (23) 17-18, David Kirkwood (8) 18-17, Gordon MacDonald (scr) 19-16.
34 Ian Hutcheon (+2) 17-17, Robbie Clyde (11) 17-17.
33 Graham Webster (10) 20-13.
32 Mike Woodcock (14) 17-15.
LADIES’ SECTION
30 Susan Simpson (4) 15-15 (better inward half), Gillian Kirkwood (10) 17-13.
23 Shona Malcolm (11) 11-12.
TEAM SWEEPSTAKE
97 Malcolm Campbell 35, Lionel Freedman 35, Scott Peddie 27.
96 Gordon MacDonald 35, Paul Grant 31, Neil Ballingall 30.
93 Dave Edwards 33, Gary Slatter 30, Gillian Kirkwood 30.

92 David Kirkwood 35, John Kerr 28, Roger Wolfe 29.
91 Ross Duncan 38, Robert Martin 28, Ron Cully 25; Mike Aitken 33, Billy Sim 31, Douglas Lowe 27.
90 Mike Woodcock 32, Andy Stubbs 30, Paul Forsyth 28.
89 Alan McGregor 39, Peter Kelly 29, Jim White 21.
87 Hamish Grey 40, Ian Hutcheon 34, Jim Black 13.
85 Robbie Clyde 34, Roger McStravick (28), Shona Malcolm 23.
80 Susan Simpson 30, Martin Dempster 30, Bryce Ritchie 20.
79 Graham Webster 33, Grant Stewart 29, Michael McEwan 17.

IRELAND BID FOR EUROPEAN TITLE HAT-TRICK

Ireland will begin an attempt on Tuesday morning to become the first country for almost four decades to win three consecutive European men's amateur team championships. Not since England completed a hat-trick of triumphs in Portugal in 1973 has it been achieved - and Ireland know that a stern challenge awaits them this week at Conwy in North Wales. They have a new captain in Kevin Flanagan and three members of their six-strong line up are new to European competition. Niall Kearney and Paul Cutler both played in the winning team in Turin last summer. Simon Ward was in the side two years ago but missed out in Italy but is recalled this time. St Andrews Links Trophy winner Alan Dunbar, Dara Lernihan and Cian Curley make their European bows. Some 20 nations in all are competing with both the winner and runner-up in the Amateur Championship – Matteo Manassero of Italy and England's Sam Hutsby – both in action.

SCOTLAND'S TEAM AT EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Ready for the off! Scotland's team and officials at the European men's amateur team championships which start in Wales on Tuesday. Image by courtesy of Tom Ward. Double click to enlarge the image.

James Byrne non-selection explained

From Hamish Grey Chief Executive Scottish Golf Union Colin, I was just reading your comments from the weekend and feel if read without understanding the process of selection and when teams have to be announced by, then your comments are both unfair and unhelpful. For the record, the European Men's Team was selected after the Links Trophy. It was announced the following week once everyone was confirmed as fit and available. The rules of the competition require teams to be named within a certain time and this means we cannot wait until after the Amateur Championship to select the team. This and a run of form such as James' is enjoying currently are therefore always possibilities! The selection may take account of world rankings but that remains only one element considered. Form throughout the year to the time of selection, suitability to the course the event is on etc etc are considered as you would expect. James did not play regularly in the US this year and had little tournament play or form here prior to the team being selected. Finally, should James keep up this form then Walker Cup is a definite possibility. You only need to look at the example of Danny Willett last time round to see what can happen. I hope this helps put in context this situation. Hamish Grey

Late entries accepted for Northpix Seniors Open

LOCH NESS GOLF CLUB Late entries will be accepted on 01463 713334 for the Northpix Seniors Open to be played on Loch Ness Golf Course on Sunday, July 5.. Competitors will tee of in threes at 7-minute intervals and are from the host club unless otherwise stated. Abbreviations: A, Alnmouth; BH, Bamburgh; C, Crow Wood; EK, East Kilbride; G, Glen; H, Hawick; I, Inverness; M, Morpeth; N, Newtonmore; P, Prestonfield; T, Torvean.   11.0. D. McConnachie, D. O'Connor, Partner; W. Greig , C. Slater (BH), Partner; D. Cowan, B. Kennedy (M), K. Milner (T); J. Rutherford (A), P. Mulvey (EK), I. Matheson. 11.28 F. Milne, L. Skuodas (N), A. Findlay (T); J. Wilson (C), D. Fraser, D. Wilson; R. Cowan, C. MacDonald (I), J. Douglas (M). 12.0 N. Craig, R. Maxwell (T), A. Tough; J. Dow, L. MacLean (P), R. Johnstone (P); P. Reid, D. Campbell, R. Fraser (I). 1.0 J. Robertson (H), J. Lennartson (G).

Northern Golf Club boys who won the Stirton Trophy team award. Image by courtesy of Derek Johnstone.

Caley's Matthew Beattie wins

Hands Across the Sea boys'

championship with a 66

DEREK JOHNSTONE REPORTS
Matthew Beattie is the new Hands Across the Sea champion. The 17 year old Caledonian member shot a two under par 66, at the Kings Links on Sunday, to win by two strokes from the Northern’s Cameron Johnstone.
Five-handicapper, Matthew had four birdies - at the sixth, seventh, ninth and 17th. But on the debit side dropped shots at the first and 15th.
Cameron, like Matthew was two under at the turn, but was unable to keep the momentum going and back-to-back bogies at ten and eleven meant he had to be satisfied with the runners-up slot. In third place on 70 were Banchory’s William McPherson and Jack Presley.
The Northern enhanced their already impressive collection of Links Championship trophies when they won both the Stirton and Crombie team trophies.
+Picture of Matthew Beattie above with the trophy by courtesy of Derek Johnstone.

LEADING SCORES
CSS 67
66 M Beattie (Caledonian).
68 C Johnstone (Northern).70 W McPherson (Banchory), J Presley (Banchory).
73 B McPherson (Northern), D Irvine (Newmachar), P Stewart (Northern).
74 L Cheyne (Newmachar), S Bonnar (Nigg Bay)75 G Joss (Royal Aberdeen).

PRIZE WINNERS
18 HOLE COMPETITION
SCRATCH
1st M Beattie (Caledonian) 66.2nd W McPherson (Banchory) 70 bih.3rd J Presley (Banchory) 70.
HANDICAP
(scr-14)
1st C Johnstone (10) (Northern) 58.2nd P Stewart (12) (Northern) 62.3rd L Cheyne (10)(Newmachar) 64 bih.
(15-28)
1st C Murphy (21) (Northern) 58.2nd D Baxter (12) (Caledonian) 59.3rd M Rimmer (10) (Caledonian) 61.
STIRTON TROPHY
214 Northern (C Johnstone 68, B McPherson 73, P Stewart 73, S Stewart 81)

SIX-HOLE COMPETITION
SCRATCH
1st Gr Morrison (Northern) 50.2nd C Somers (Bon Accord) 53.3rd C Moore (Royal Aberdeen) 59.
HANDICAP
1st R Gray (Caledonian) 36 bih.2nd T Flaherty (Banchory) 36.3rd J Seedhouse (Royal Aberdeen) 39 bih.
CROMBIE TROPHY
175 Northern (Gr Morrison 50, Gl Morrison 62, A Stewart 63, C Angelo 71)
180 Caledonian (R Gray 54, L Carnegie 60, C Johnston

US Nationwide Tour Scoreboard
Nationwide Tour Players Cup
Pete Dye GC, Bridgeport, West Virginia, United States
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
273 Tom Gillis 71 66 66 70
276 Cameron Percy 70 69 69 68, Roger Tambellini 69 70 69 68
277 Jonas Blixt 69 72 67 69
278 Christopher Baryla 72 66 68 72, Ron Whitaker 67 71 68 72
279 Craig Barlow 71 65 71 72, Jeff Gove 69 67 68 75, Michael Putnam 72 69 70 68, Kyle Reifers 70 70 64 75
280 Bob May 69 69 71 71
281 Todd Demsey 72 69 69 71
282 Blake Adams 72 68 71 71, Won Joon Lee 73 68 64 77, Brian Stuard 67 71 71 73, Josh Teater 69 70 71 72, Jhonattan Vegas 72 69 65 76
283 Michael Arnaud 71 70 67 75, Fabian Gomez 69 69 72 73, Seung Su Han 71 68 66 78, David Peoples 69 65 72 77
284 Jon Mills 69 70 69 76, Garrett Osborn 70 72 70 72, Adam Short 71 71 75 67
285 Chris M. Anderson 69 72 73 71, Scott Brown 74 69 71 71, Jay Delsing 70 70 73 72, Chris Kirk 72 70 69 74, Jim Rutledge 70 73 71 71, Sal Spallone 75 68 71 71, Andrew Svoboda 70 69 71 75, Chris Tidland 74 69 68 74, Esteban Toledo 69 71 71 74
286 David Branshaw 72 68 72 74, Dustin Bray 72 69 73 72, JJ Killeen 72 69 73 72, Martin Piller 72 69 72 73, Alistair Presnell 71 71 69 75, Phil Tataurangi 72 71 71 72
287 Henrik Bjornstad 70 70 74 73, Andrew Buckle 72 70 71 74, Scott Gardiner 69 74 68 76, David McKenzie 70 71 72 74, Brian Smock 74 69 69 75, Grant Waite 70 71 72 74
288 Oskar Bergman 70 73 68 77, Marco Dawson 70 72 70 76, Stuart Deane 70 72 70 76, Brent Delahoussaye 70 72 73 73, Jason Enloe 70 71 72 75, Rob Grube 73 69 69 77, Tjaart Van Der Walt 69 72 71 76
289 Jim Herman 69 72 74 74, Jin Park 69 73 71 76, Vance Veazey 71 71 70 77
290 Bradley Iles 65 76 71 78, John Kimbell 69 69 78 74, Geoffrey Sisk 71 71 68 80, Brendan Steele 68 74 70 78
291 Robert Damron 70 72 72 77, Drew Laning 72 70 73 76
292 Ryan Armour 70 66 78 78, Andrew Johnson 68 73 75 76, Jason Schultz 71 72 78 71, Steve Wheatcroft 67 76 73 76
293 Patrick Nagle 71 72 76 74, Michael Walton 70 72 76 75
294 Matthew Every 70 73 72 79, Tom Scherrer 68 73 75 78
295 Brad Fritsch 66 74 74 81
299 Ryan Hietala 75 68 75 81

TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP REPORT

Kenny Perry's 22-under-par total

earns him 14th US Tour victory

Kenny Perry managed to survive late charges by David Toms and Paul Goydos with a superb all-round display to win the US PGA Tour's Travelers Championship by three strokes at Cromwell, Connecticut on Sunday.
The 48-year-old American, who began the last day a shot off the pace, fired a flawless seven-under-par 63 at the rain-softened TPC River Highlands to chalk up his 14th US PGA Tour title.
Perry, who needed only 25 putts, birdied four of the last nine holes on a sun-drenched afternoon to set a tournament record total of 22-under 258.
"It's hard to talk right now," an emotional Perry said in a greenside interview after parring the last and raising both arms in celebration before removing his cap.
"This is as good a win as I've ever had, the way I finished today. To shoot 22-under par and break the all-time record of all the great champions' names that are on this trophy, it's unbelievable.
"I knew there was so many guys right there in contention who could catch me ... I knew I had to keep making birdies. I wasn't going to play defensive golf," Perry added, after winning his second title this year.
Toms birdied two of the last four holes for a 65 to finish in a tie for second with 54-hole leader Goydos, who closed with a 67.
American Hunter Mahan, the 2007 champion, signed off with a 64 to share fourth place at 17-under with compatriots Ben Curtis (65) and Ryan Moore (64).
A stroke behind the pacesetting Goydos overnight, Perry took control with three birdies in the first eight holes.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 280 (4x70)
258 Kenny Perry 61 68 66 63
261 Paul Goydos 63 68 63 67, David Toms 65 65 66 65
263 Hunter Mahan 66 70 63 64, Ben Curtis 68 64 66 65, Ryan Moore 66 65 68 64
264 Casey Wittenberg 67 65 65 67, Tag Ridings 64 69 65 66
265 Bo Van Pelt 66 68 64 67, Scott Verplank 67 68 68 62
266 Anthony Kim 66 66 67 67, John Merrick 65 67 65 69, Lucas Glover 65 71 65 65
267 Michael Allen 68 65 67 67, Boo Weekley 64 71 67 65, Bubba Watson 66 68 70 63, D.J. Trahan 66 68 68 65
268 Zach Johnson 67 68 66 67
269 Robert Garrigus 66 69 68 66, Kyle Stanley 66 67 70 66, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 64 71 68 66, Bryce Molder 67 66 67 69
270 Michael Letzig 70 66 65 69, Chris Riley 67 67 66 70, J J Henry 66 70 68 66
271 Will MacKenzie 68 68 66 69, Chris Stroud 71 65 68 67, Kris Blanks 68 66 70 67, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 65 69 70 67, Brian Gay 66 68 70 67, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 68 68 67 68, Johnson Wagner 66 68 70 67, Webb Simpson 67 69 70 65
272 Spencer Levin 64 69 67 72, Brendon De Jonge 70 66 70 66, Matt Bettencourt 67 67 69 69, James Driscoll 68 69 68 67, Peter Lonard (Aus) 67 70 66 69, Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 67 67 66 72, Nathan Green (Aus) 69 67 68 68, Justin Leonard 69 66 68 69, Jason Bohn 67 70 67 68
273 Aaron Watkins 65 67 70 71, Scott McCarron 70 67 70 66, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 67 69 71 66, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 70 67 70 66
274 Bill Lunde 67 68 70 69, Colt Knost 66 66 69 73, Mark Brooks 67 68 71 68, Brandt Snedeker 67 67 69 71
275 Charles Warren 63 72 69 71, Patrick Sheehan 67 70 67 71, Kevin Streelman 68 66 68 73, Charlie Wi (Kor) 66 68 71 70, Vijay Singh (Fij) 66 70 70 69, Joe Durant 67 68 68 72, Jay Williamson 67 68 70 70, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 65 71 70 69
276 D.A. Points 65 72 69 70, Ricky Barnes 65 70 72 69, Aron Price (Aus) 67 68 70 71, Chad Campbell 67 69 69 71
277 Luke List 66 69 70 72, Tim Petrovic 68 69 71 69, Rich Beem 68 67 72 70, Gary Woodland 69 67 72 69, Bob Heintz 68 67 68 74
279 Chez Reavie 66 67 73 73, Jason Gore 68 68 73 70
280 Jerry Kelly 65 70 73 72, Marc Leishman (Aus) 71 66 72 71
282 Vaughn Taylor 69 68 72 73

Ian Poulter a top-class twitterer

FROM THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER WEBSITE

By JAMES CORRIGAN

Ian Poulter was at Wimbledon yesterday, watching Andy Murray while tapping furiously into his mobile phone. But these were not the ignorant actions of a bored corporate guest, a self-obsessed sportsman even, staying in touch with his wonderful life via text.

Here was a diligent twitterer, keeping his 130,000 followers up to date with events on Centre Court.
Poulter is just the latest high-profile sportsman to sign up to the social networking service. But already, just two weeks into the pursuit he calls "my newest addiction", he is adjudged to be one of the most accomplished of the superstar micro-bloggers.
At the recent US Open, Poulter did not play well enough to crack the top 10, but he did tweet well enough to make it into the top five of the "Sports Twitter Rankings."

CNBC, the American news network, issues monthly ratings for this burgeoning genre, and they highly rated Poulter's offerings from a soaking Bethpage, which, they said, set him in a different class from other twittering golfers such as John Daly and Michelle Wie.

+Perhaps Poulter is a frustrated sportswriter?

US CHAMPIONS' TOUR REPORT

Lonnie Nielsen's day at Rochester

Lonnie Nielsen shot a 63, nine-under-par, today to overtake second-round leader Fred Funk with a flourish on the front side and hold on to win the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open by three shots from Funk and Ronnie Black.
Nielsen, who will turn 56 on Monday, finished at 21-under 195, a record in the three-year history of the event. After going 6 under over the first four holes to move quickly into the lead, Nielsen made birdie at No. 12 to break a tie with Funk and followed with birdies at Nos. 16 and 18 to win for only the second time on the Champions Tour.
He won the 2007 Commerce Bank Championship, and his best finish this year was a tie for third at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am in April.
It was the fourth straight finish of seventh or better for Funk (69).
If Nielsen had any doubt it was his day, he had to be reassured when his tee shot at 18 hit a tree along the right side and ricocheted back onto the fairway. It led to his 24th birdie of the tournament - he also had an eagle - and finished his second straight round without a bogey.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72). 6974yd En-Joie golf course, Endicott, New York State.
1. Lonnie Nielsen $247,500 66-66-63--195
2. Fred Funk $132,000 64-65-69--198
2. Ronnie Black &132,000 69-63-66--198
4. Brad Bryant $99,000 68-68-65--201
5. Dan Forsman $68,200 70-68-65--203
5. John Morse $68,200 69-67-67--203
5. Jay Haas $68,200 66-68-69--203
8. Mike Hulbert $49,500 67-68-69--204
8. Gary Hallberg $49,500 67-66-71--204
10. Larry Mize $36,630 68-69-68--205
10. Tom Kite $36,630 67-70-68--205
10. Joey Sindelar $36,630 68-69-68--205
10. Nick Price $36,630 70-66-69--205
10. Mike Goodes $36,630 70-65-70--205
REST OF THE FINAL TOTALS
206 D A Weibring 67 69 70, Tom Jenkins 68 69 69, Gary Trivisonno 71 67 68, Jim Thorpe 70 71 65, Scott Hoch 70 67 69, Mark McNulty (Irl) 70 69 67, Eduardo Romero (Arg) 69 63 74
207 Andy Bean 67 68 72, Jeff Sluman 68 67 72
208 Russ Cochran 71 71 66, Bruce Vaughan 72 68 68, Chip Beck 73 68 67, Scott Simpson 70 68 70, David Orgin 69 68 71, Don Pooley 69 71 68, Hal Sutton 68 72 68
209 Clarence Rose 72 71 66, Jeff Roth 66 70 73
210 R.W. Eaks 69 69 72, Dana Quigley 69 69 72, Wayne Levi 72 69 69
211 Fulton Allem (Rsa) 72 68 71, Tom Wargo 71 70 70, Mark Wiebe 69 74 68, Keith Fergus 72 70 69, Jay Don Blake 70 73 68, Vicente Fernandez (Arg) 71 69 71, Hale Irwin 71 69 71, Tim Simpson 69 74 68
212 David Edwards 69 70 73, Tom Purtzer 69 74 69, Joe Ozaki (Jpn) 69 69 74, Bobby Wadkins 71 72 69
213 Phil Blackmar 71 69 73, Tom McKnight 70 73 70
214 Robert L Thompson 73 74 67, Mike San Filippo 73 66 75, Gene Jones 71 71 72, Fuzzy Zoeller 73 71 70, David Eger 77 65 72, Lanny Wadkins 72 70 72
215 Peter Jacobsen 71 71 73, Allen Doyle 71 74 70, Morris Hatalsky 73 68 74, Steve Thomas 70 74 71
216 Mike McCullough 74 71 71, Mike Reid 73 70 73, John Harris 69 72 75, Javier Sanchez 74 74 68, Isao Aoki (Jpn) 73 70 73
218 James Mason 72 74 72, Jay Sigel 72 74 72, Tim Conley 71 77 70, Dave Stockton 75 74 69
219 Bruce Fleisher 74 71 74
220 Bob Gilder 73 74 73
221 Blaine McCallister 73 72 76
222 Jim Albus 75 73 74, Wayne Grady (Aus) 73 79 70
229 Jim Dent 72 78 79
230 Denis Watson (Zim) 74 78 78
234 Rick Reynolds 77 80 77
WD: Craig Stadler

Carl Mason wins PGA Seniors Championship

for third time - and closes on Tommy Horton

From Steve Todd, European Senior Tour Press Officer
Carl Mason completed a hat-trick of De Vere Collection PGA Seniors Championship titles after easing to a three-stroke victory at De Vere Slaley Hall today.
Englishman Mason fired a three under par under par final round 69 to capture his 21st European Senior Tour title and close the gap on Tommy Horton’s record of 23 career victories on the over-50s circuit.
The all-time leading Senior Tour money winner, who also won the championship in 2004 and 2007, continued his sequence of winning in each of the seven seasons he has been on the Senior Tour since joining in 2003.
After extending his three-shot overnight lead with two birdies in his opening four holes, Mason had a double bogey after finding the water off on the fifth hole but that proved to be a minor blip as he carded five more birdies.
A double bogey on the last eroded the margin of victory his nine under par total of 279 was enough to hold off Paraguay’s Angel Franco and South African Christopher Williams, who tied for second, and give Mason a belated birthday present, after he celebrated turning 56 on Thursday.
“It was a sweet victory – they all have been,” he said. “I was very pleased with the way I played – I played great.
“I hit two bad shots all day and took double bogeys on them but apart from that I was steady as a rock. I had that winning mode.
“I like that feeling again. It was good. That’s my third PGA Seniors Championship which is nice. It’s a good event to win, a four-round event.
“I putted a lot better this week and my game gets better when I do that, I’m convinced of that.”
“I knew I was playing well so when I knocked it into the water on the fifth I wasn’t that bothered as I knew I was hitting the ball well. I was pleased with the way I kept going.”
Mason, who has won the Senior Tour Order of Merit three times, has now set his sights on landing another John Jacobs Trophy after moving from 31st to sixth in the money list, courtesy of the €47,115 first prize.
“I know what I’m like, I need a confidence boost , so once I get that I normally go on a good run and hopefully I will do. It’s nice to get a win again. The Order of Merit is another target to go at. I want to go out and play good golf and do what I know I can do and if I do that I’ll go close.
“It would also be nice to get to Tommy’s record of 23 wins. I’ve come this far so it would nice to get the record.”
Franco closed with a round of 68 to finish runner up for the fourth time on the Senior Tour while Williams, who secured a conditional card at Qualifying School last November, rounded off a fine Senior Tour debut with a 69 for a share of second place on six under par.
Fellow rookie Roger Chapman finished tied sixth after a fine 68 to record his fourth top ten placing in six appearances, while Ian Woosnam was tied tenth after closing with a round of 70 to extend his lead at the top of the Order of Merit.
Play had started four hours late following a fog delay at the Northumberland resort.
There were two Scots in the leading seven finishers - Gordon Brand junior who closed with a 70 for a share of fourth place on 283 with Nick Job, and Stirling's John Chillas who had a 71 for 285 and a share of sixth place with Roger Chapman.
Also in the top 10 was lofty Ross Drummond with a 70 for 288.

European Seniors Tour Scoreboard
The De Vere Collection PGA Seniors Championship
Slaley Hall, North-east England.
FINAL TOTALS
279 C Mason (Eng) 73 70 67 69,
282 C Williams (RSA) 72 70 71 69, A Franco (Par) 69 72 73 68,
283 G Brand Jnr (Sco) 69 73 71 70, N Job (Eng) 76 71 68 68,
285 R Chapman (Eng) 74 71 72 68, J Chillas (Sco) 74 69 71 71,
286 J Heggarty (Nir) 74 69 72 71,
287 J Bruner (USA) 75 73 70 69,
288 G Ryall (Eng) 74 74 71 69, B Cameron (Eng) 71 73 72 72, R Drummond (Sco) 76 71 71 70, I Woosnam (Wal) 73 75 71 69, M Cunning (USA) 73 72 71 72, K Spurgeon (Eng) 70 73 74 71, S Ebihara (Jpn) 75 71 74 68,
289 B Lincoln (RSA) 71 73 74 71, M Williams (Zim) 74 72 73 70, H Carbonetti (Arg) 75 76 69 69, J Quiros (Esp) 71 78 70 70,
290 E Rodriguez (Esp) 73 73 71 73, K Hanefeld (USA) 75 76 69 70, D Smyth (Irl) 73 75 75 67, B Boyd (USA) 73 70 74 73,
291 G Brand (Eng) 81 70 72 68, K Tomori (Jpn) 76 73 71 71,
292 G Towne (USA) 71 75 74 72, T Giedeon (Ger) 71 75 73 73, P Mitchell (Eng) 74 75 71 72, M Harwood (Aus) 74 73 73 72,
293 J Benda (USA) 69 77 73 74, D Russell (Eng) 72 74 74 73, D Merriman (Aus) 77 71 71 74, G Ralph (Eng) 77 74 70 72, G Harvey (Sco) 75 75 71 72,
294 E Darcy (Irl) 74 77 69 74, C Rocca (Ita) 73 74 73 74,
295 A Fernandez (Chi) 75 70 78 72, G Cali (Ita) 71 75 75 74, I Palmer (RSA) 75 73 74 73,
296 J Rhodes (Eng) 76 73 74 73,
297 P Harrison (Eng) 75 75 72 75, A Barrera (Arg) 73 74 78 72,
298 B Charles (Nzl) 73 76 75 74, M Poxon (Eng) 78 73 76 71, D Good (Aus) 75 75 77 71,
299 J Hawkes (RSA) 69 78 79 73, A Murray (Eng) 76 75 74 74, D Cambridge (Jam) 77 72 74 76, S Martin (Sco) 78 73 75 73,
300 D Johnson (USA) 75 77 74 74, A J Webster (Sco) 76 73 76 75,
301 P Oakley (USA) 74 75 74 78, T Allen (Eng) 74 74 73 80,
302 T Planchin (Fra) 75 73 78 76, G Marsh (Aus) 79 73 71 79,
304 V Garcia (Esp) 72 79 79 74,
305 T Rastall (Eng) 71 81 76 77, T Johnstone (Zim) 74 77 77 77,
306 M White (Sco) 74 77 78 77,
310 T Charnley (Eng) 73 79 81 77, A Hemsley (Sco) 74 78 80 78,
311 P Hanna (Nir) 77 75 78 81,
313 T Rouse (Eng) 78 74 80 81,

Scott Pinckney, James Byrne and Steven McEwan at the conclusion of the SolarSport East of Scotland Open championship at Lundin Golf Club.

It's that man Byrne again! East of

Scotland Open champ by 8 shots

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
There’s simply no stopping James Byrne at the moment! The 20-year-old Banchory man, who plays on the American college circuit for Arizona State University, followed up his seven-stroke Tennant Cup win the previous weekend by winning the SolarSport East of Scotland Open amateur championship by eight shots with a professional-class total of 22-under-par 262.
That’s a record low for the Lundin links tournament, made up of rounds of 65, 63, 67 and 67 over the par-71 course which has been used as an Open qualifying test.
Byrne’s eight-stroke winning margin is probably also a record, although that will require more checking.
Since he returned from Arizona for the summer holidays, Byrne has finished joint fourth in the Scottish open amateur stroke-play, made the last 16 of the British amateur championship, won the Tennant Cup over 72 holes by seven shots by equalling the course record twice, finished second in the Open Regional Qualifying at Musselburgh – and now comes another great performance in an SGU Order of Merit event.
After three rounds at Lundin, the former Scottish boys’ stroke-play champion had a lead of ELEVEN shots but this was cut by three shots by American Scott Pinckney, an Arizona State University team-mate, whom James persuaded to come back to Scotland with him to play links golf.
Pinckney, who shaded Byrne into second place in the Open Regional Qualifying at Musselburgh at the beginning of last week, finished second at Lundin links, thanks to two great Sunday rounds of 64 and 63 (matching Byrne’s second-round as the lowest of the weekend) and a final total of 14-under-par 270.
Steven McEwan (Caprington), last year’s SGU Order of Merit winner, also put together two fine Former Scottish amateur match-play and stroke-play champion Kevin McAlpine (Alyth) did well to secure a top-1o finish in his first competitive outing since a knee cruciate operation last February. He was lying second after a second-round 65 and had another good round of 68 on Sunday morning but he must have tired in another "double-duty" day with a fourth-round 72.

FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71) CSS 73 71 70 70
262 James Byrne (Banchory) 65 63 67 67
270 Scott Pinckney (Arizona State Univ) 73 70 64 63.
273 Steven McEwan (Caprington) 72 69 66 66.
274 Ross Crowe (Westerhope) 71 69 66 68.
276 Mohammed Arie Irawan (Malaysia) 71 70 67 68, David Law (Hazlehead) 71 69 71 65.
277 Philip McLean (Peterhead) 71 71 67 68, James White (Lundin) 71 69 69 68.
278 Kevin McAlpine (Alyth) 73 65 68 72, Keir McNicoll (Carnoustie) 74 69 68 67..
280 Brett Drewett (Australia) 70 72 69 69.
281 Mark Hillson (Craigielaw) 76 68 67 70, Mark Bookless (Sandyhills) 73 67 69 72, Lewis Kirton (Newmachar) 76 65 69 71.
282 Henry Smart (Banstead Downs) 73 70 69 70.
283 Grant McNab (Lundin) 73 70 69 71, Michael Williams (Australia) 70 73 72 68
284 Gordon Yates (Hilton Park) 72 72 70 70, Fraser McKenna (Balmore) 76 69 66 73, Nick Barr (Craigie Hill) 77 67 71 69.
285 Barry McDermott (Leven GS) 73 72 68 72, Paul Ferrier (Baberton) 72 70 76 67.
286 Ross Bell (Downfield) 72 73 70 71, Chris Harkins (Ayr Belleisle) 71 70 72 73, Bryden Macpherson (Australia) 72 68 74 72.
287 Nick Robson (Meldrum House) 76 71 68 72, Michael Daily (Erskine) 75 72 68 72, Alex Main (Thornton) 70 71 70 71, Colin Thomson (East Renfrewshire) 71 73 72 71.
288 James Hamilton (NZ) 70 74 72 72. Cameron Gray (West Kilbride) 74 71 75 68, Martin Brown (Monifieth) 76 69 72 71.
289 Bobby Rushford (Grangemouth) 74 71 70 74, Michael Main (Thornton) 71 74 71 73, Craig Watson (East Renfrewshire) 69 73 73 74, Daniel Sommerville (St Andrews) 71 70 75 73.
290 James Hendrick (Pollok) 75 72 71 72.
293 Scott Borrowman (Dollar) 72 74 73 74, Francisco Pintor Smith (Spain) 76 69 75 73.
295 Raphael Becker (Brazil) 73 74 73 75.

GLENEAGLES SCOTTISH PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

Just champion! That's how David Orr is feeling after his Gleneagles triumph. Image by courtesy of Andy Forman. Double click the image to enlarge it.

David stages an Orr-some finish to win

by three shots from faltering Craig Lee


FROM THE PGA WEBSITE
David Orr produced a grandstand finish at Gleneagles to win the the title and a cheque for £8,800 in the £55,000 Scottish PGA Championship today.
The 35-year-old East Renfrewshire pro closed with a five-under-par 67 over the PGA Centenary course for a 10-under aggregate of 278 to ease to a three-shot victory over long-time leader Craig Lee.
Orr, runner-up in the national championship in 2002 and with three other top-five finishes in the event in recent years, had slipped four shots off the pace when Lee holed his second shot at the first for an eagle but the chamionship unravelled on the inward half as the destination of the crown changed dramatically.
As Lee dropped shots at the 11th and 13th and stumbled to a double-bogey at the 15th in a 71 for 281, Orr reeled off four birdies over his last five holes to power to the front and capture the £8,800 first prize.
"I knew I was playing well and even when I was behind I just stayed patient and the chances arrived for me," said Orr who won three pro-ams in the space of eight days between June 9 and 17.
"I've been close to winning this title before and it's nice to finally do it."
Lee, who has now finished runner-up three times in the national championship, was left to rue his three-over back nine as his hopes of becoming only the fifth player to win both the Northern Open and the Scottish PGA in the same season were dashed.
Colin Gillies, the Tartan Tour's all-time leading money winner, celebrated his 25th year as a professional by grabbing third place on 282 after a 71 while former PGA champion Andrew Oldcorn shared fourth with Mark Kerr of Edinburgh and Musselburgh's Fraser Mann on 284
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
278 David Orr (East Renfrewshire) 69 73 69 67 (£8,800).
281 Craig Lee (unatt) 68 71 71 71 (£6,700).
282 Colin Gillies (Perry Golf) 72 71 68 71 (£5,100).
284 Andrew Oldcorn (Kings Acre) 71 70 74 69, Mark Kerr (unatt) 72 72 70 70, Fraser Mann (Musselburgh) 74 72 68 70 (£2,783 each).
285 Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs GR) 71 71 72 71 (£1,550).
287 Craig Matheson (Falkirk Tryst) 73 69 73 72 (£1,300).
288 Stephen Gray (Hayston) 71 76 73 68 (£1,160).
289 Alan Lockhart (Ladybank) 73 72 73 71, James McGhee (Turnhouse) 72 72 72 73, Nonathan Lomas (unatt) 68 70 76 75, Mark King (Kingsfield) 68 72 72 77 (£956 each).
290 Callum Nicoll (Prestwick) 72 72 75 71, Lindsay Mann (Carnoustie) 68 73 76 73, Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills) 75 69 73 73, Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle) 69 74 72 75 (£751 each).
291 Tom Buchanan (Duddingston) 70 77 72 72, Scott Henderson (Kings Links) 73 74 75 69, Mark Loftus (Cowglen) 77 72 72 (£613 each).
292 Ross Cameron (McDonald Ellon) 69 76 75 72, Edward Thomson (Senit Associates) 72 72 74 74, Lee Harper (Archerfield Links) 71 74 76 71 (£550 each).
293 James McKinnon (Irvine) 74 70 75 74, Scott Herald (Mearns Castle) 69 77 72 75, Ian Taylor (Drumpellier) 76 70 76 71, Gordon Law (Uphall) 76 67 77 73 (£480 each).
294 Hamish Kemp (Bishopbriggs GR) 74 72 71 77, Jonny Sharp (The Carrick at Cameron House) 69 75 77 73 (£420 each).
295 Christopher Robinson (Dumfries & Galloway) 76 74 72 73 (£390).
296 Steven Duncan (Balbirnie Park) 76 74 71 75 (£380).
297 Ewan Cameron (Hamilton) 75 75 70 77 (£370).
298 Mark Finlayson (Edzell) 78 71 75 74, Kenny Walker (Castle Park) 71 73 77 (£355 each).
299 Graham Fox (East Kilbride) 75 75 77 72, David Patrick (Elie) 75 74 77 73, Neil Fenwick (Dunbar) 75 74 76 74, Stephen Craig (Paragon) 74 73 75 77 (£337 each).
300 Gareth Wright (Swanston Golf) 73 77 76 74 (£325).
301 David Park (Wishaw) 75 73 76 77, Samuel Cairns (Colville Park) 74 71 76 80 (£319 each).
302 Peter Mitchell (Hermitage) 71 77 83 71 (£315).
304 Ronan Rafferty (unatt) 75 75 76 78, Neil Murray (Cruden Bay) 78 73 72 81 (£310 each).
305 Craig Ronald (Carluke) 76 75 76 78 (£306).
306 Alan E Reid (West Lothian) 77 74 81 74, Stephen Lamb (Broomieknowe) 74 74 77 81 (£302 each).
307 Alastair Love (Charleton) 79 72 77 79 (£299).
308 Mark Bruce (Gullane) 75 73 76 84 (£297).
309 Ken Campbell (Machrihanish) 76 75 80 78 (£296).
310 Paul Wytrazek (Burntisland) 75 75 81 79 (£295).
311 Terry Burgoyne (Gotastroms) 72 78 81 80, Andrew Gibson (North Gailes) 75 75 76 85 (£294 each).
312 David Fleming (Prestwick) 76 75 84 77 (£294).
314 Stuart Morrison (Tain) 77 74 80 83 (£293).
315 Nigel Scott-Smith (Palacerigg) 77 74 81 83 (£293).
319 Gordon Niven (Stirling Univ) 71 74 85 89 (£292)

Nick Dougherty keeps his cool to

win BMW International Open

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
England's Nick Dougherty, who this time last year had little desire to play golf, finally returned to winning ways in Munich - and with it earned a place in next month's Open.
But what a scare the 27-year-old from Liverpool, so devastated by the sudden death of his mother straight after his US Masters debut 14 months ago, was given before he made the BMW International Open his third European Tour victory.
Four clear and seemingly coasting, the gap was suddenly cut to one when Argentina's Rafa Echenique sank a 243yd three-iron approach shot on the last for an albatross. Having eagled the 11th, Echenique equalled the Tour record with his back nine of 27 - he actually played the last 10 holes in an amazing 10 under - but Dougherty kept his composure.
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European Tour's official website
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Three closing pars gave him a superb 64 for a 22 under par total and after raising a hand to the skies he said: "The strength that my Mum had lives on in me. I want to say thank you to all the people who have helped me through some tough times. I have a great team around me and it's great to be back where I feel I belong."
The win earned him nearly £283,000 and he qualifies for Turnberry off a mini-Order of Merit which has been running since the Italian Open at the start of last month.
On the moment when he saw what Echenique had done Dougherty added: "I thought 'Oh my goodness'. The 18th has been an absolute brute for me this week and I'm delighted to get the job done."
Long-time leader Retief Goosen finished third, but 51-year-old Bernhard Langer, hoping to become the oldest winner in Tour history in front of his home fans and only one behind after an opening birdie, fell back to ninth.
Echenique commented: "I've never had an albatross before and I had a great sensation. This is a dream for me - it's unbelievable."
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
266 Nick Dougherty 69 65 68 64
267 Rafael Echenique (Arg) 68 69 68 62
270 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 64 68 67 71
271 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 69 70 66 66, David Drysdale 70 64 68 69, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 69 67 70 65, Graeme Storm 70 70 64 67
272 Shiv Kapur (Ind) 71 66 70 65
273 Bernhard Langer (Ger) 68 68 65 72, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 68 65 70 70, James Kingston (Rsa) 67 69 67 70, Richard Green (Aus) 71 68 68 66, Danny Willett 67 68 71 67, Thomas Levet (Fra) 68 67 70 68
274 Rory McIlroy 71 67 69 67
275 Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 73 68 66 68, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 67 73 72 63, David Lynn 67 70 71 67
276 Peter Lawrie 69 68 70 69, Bradley Dredge 72 69 66 69
277 Anders Hansen (Den) 69 69 69 70, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 71 69 66 71, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 69 70 70 68, Paul Broadhurst 69 70 65 73, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 69 66 74 68
278 Gary Orr 70 70 67 71, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 67 70 70 71
279 Andrew Coltart 67 71 71 70, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 70 69 69 71
280 Chris Wood 71 69 71 69, Scott Strange (Aus) 70 68 70 72, John Bickerton 70 70 70 70, Oliver Fisher 68 69 71 72, Johan Edfors (Swe) 71 69 70 70
281 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 69 71 71 70, Marco Ruiz (Par) 73 67 68 73, Stephen Dodd 68 69 72 72, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 72 69 68 72, Markus Brier (Aut) 69 71 70 71, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 69 69 69 74, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 72 68 71 70, Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha) 69 69 73 70, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 68 72 72 69
282 Max Kramer (Aut) 71 69 73 69, Steven O'Hara 71 70 70 71
283 Anthony Wall 74 66 70 73, Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 70 71 76 66, Hennie Otto (Rsa) 72 69 73 69, Phillip Price 67 72 69 75, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 67 74 73 69
284 Gary Lockerbie 72 68 69 75, Lee Slattery 70 70 72 72, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 68 71 71 74, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 67 71 71 75, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 70 71 69 74, Luke Donald 70 68 73 73, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 70 70 72 72
285 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 70 70 69 76, Richard Finch 66 71 73 75, Gareth Maybin 71 68 74 72, Kenneth Ferrie 69 72 73 71
286 Gary Murphy 71 70 72 73, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 69 71 74 72, Seve Benson 70 71 70 75
287 Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 72 67 76 72
289 Colin Montgomerie 70 71 72 76, Phillip Archer 69 72 74 74, Scott Drummond 71 69 73 76
292 Michael Hoey 70 71 71 80
293 Barry Lane 68 73 78 74
297 Michael Jonzon (Swe) 70 71 78 78

Andrew Butterfield's maiden win on Challenge Tour

Lloyd Saltman may have turned corner

- thanks to Sky Sports' Mark Roe

By PAUL SYMES, EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR PRESS OFFICER

Closing rounds of 67 pushed playing partners Andrew McArthur and George Murray into the top ten of this weekend's European Challenge Tour event, "The Princess," which was won by England’s Andrew Butterfield.
Both Scots started the final day on five under par at Båstad GK in Båstad, Sweden, and finished it in a tie for eighth place on nine under par, four shots behind the winner.
It was comfortably Murray’s best performance of the season, as it was for his fellow Scot Lloyd Saltman, who finished one shot back in a tie for 12th place on eight under par after closing with a round of 68.
Saltman, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, had made just one cut all season prior to this week, but the work he has done with Sky Sports analyst Mark Roe now finally appears to be paying dividends.
Peter Whiteford, the fourth and final Scot to make the cut, closed with a round of 68 to finish on one under par.
After 13 years of trying, England’s Andrew Butterfield finally captured his maiden Challenge Tour title on a nerve-jangling final day.
Butterfield has finished runner-up three times in a Challenge Tour career which began back in 1996, but a 13 under par aggregate total was just enough to hold off late charges by his compatriot Richard McEvoy and Spaniard Carlos Rodiles.
For much of the day, Butterfield looked like frittering away the six-stroke lead he had held overnight.
Indeed, after a double bogey at the 13th hole was followed by birdies at the 14th for his three closest rivals, the 36 year old briefly relinquished the lead for the first time since smashing the course record on the opening day.
But Butterfield hit back with a birdie at the 16th hole, and when Germany’s Christophe Günther – who had climbed to 13 under par – ran up successive bogeys, the Englishman knew a par at the last would hand him the title.
As he had done all day, however, Butterfield made life difficult for himself by missing the green. But a precise chip and a nerveless par putt from eight feet secured the €48,000 winner’s cheque, which propelled him to the top of the Rankings and virtually guaranteed him a European Tour card for next season.
Butterfield said: “I can’t really describe how it finally feels to win. It’s a relief more than anything else, because I was probably never going to get a better chance of winning after being six shots clear going into the last day. But after my double bogey at the 13th, I thought I might’ve blown it.

"All I could do was just keep doing what I’d been doing for the first three days, and throughout my career – give it my best shot. I started making some putts, and in the end I just hung on. The putt on the last felt like 20 feet rather than eight, but it went in and I got the job down.
“This dramatically changes my season, because I’ve now won over €80,000, so a card of some sort is already guaranteed for next year. That means I can relax a bit more now and enjoy the season, because there’s a bit less pressure on me. The next step is obviously to win again – although I don’t want to get greedy!

"It’s taken a long time for my first win, but hopefully I won’t have to wait as long again to get the next one on the board.”
Rodiles and McEvoy finished in a tie for second place on 12 under par after both men closed with rounds of 66, whilst Günther was a further shot back in fourth place after a 68.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS

Par 284 (4x71)

271 Andrew Butterfield (England) 62 69 67 73 (48,000 Euros).

272 Richard McEvoy (England) 70 67 69 66, Carlos Rodiles (Spain) 66 69 71 66 (27,000 Euros each).

273 Christoph Gunther (Germany) 67 69 69 68 (18,000 Euros).

Selected scores

275 Andrew McArthur (Scotland) 68 71 69 67, George Murray (Scotland) 71 68 69 67 (jt 8th)(7,050 Euros each).

276 Lloyd Saltman (Scotland) 69 70 69 68 (jt 12th) (5,550 Euros).

283 Peter Whiteford (Scotland) 71 70 74 68 (jt 41st) (1,560 Euros).

James Byrne leads by ELEVEN in East

of Scotland Open at Lundin Links

Banchory's James Byrne, winner of last weekend's Tennant Cup by seven strokes, is doing even better in this weekend's SGU 72-hole Order of Merit event, the SolarSport East of Scotland Open amateur championship at Lundin Links.
The 20-year-old Arizona State University player, who is NOT in the Scotland squad for the upcoming European men's amateur team championship, leads by ELEVEN strokes after 54 holes.
He has scored scored 65, 63 and 67 for a professional-class 54-hole tally of 18-under-par 195.

LEADERBOARD AFTER THREE ROUNDS
Par 213 (3x71) CSS 73 71 70
195 James Byrne (Banchory) 65 63 67.
206 Ross Crowe (Westerhope) 71 69 66, Kevin McAlpine (Alyth) 73 65 68.
207 Scott Pinckney (Arizona State Univ) 73 70 64, Steven McEwan (Caprington) 72 69 66.
208 Mohammed Arie Irawan (Malaysia) 71 70 67.
209 Mark Bookless (Sandyhills) 73 67 69, James White (Lundin) 71 69 69, Philip McLean (Peterhead) 71 71 67.
210 Lewis Kirton (Newmachar) 76 65 69.
211 Mark Hillson (Craigielaw) 76 68 67, Keir McNicoll (Carnoustie) 74 69 68, Alex Main (Thornton) 70 71 70, David Law (Hazlehead) 71 69 71, Fraser McKenna (Balmore) 76 69 66, Brett Drewitt (Australia) 70 72 69.
212 Grant McNab (Lundin) 73 70 69, Hendry Smart (Banstead Downs) 73 70 69.
213 Barry McDermott (Leven GS) 73 72 68, Chris Harkins (Ayr Belleisle) 71 70 72.
214 Bryden MacPherson (Australia) 72 68 74, Nick Barr (Craigie Hill) 77 67 71, Gordon Yates (Hilton Park) 72 72 70.
215 Ross Bell (Downfield) 72 73 70, Nick Robson (Meldrum House) 76 71 68, Craig Watson (East Renfrewshire) 69 73 73, Bobby Rushford (Grangemouth) 74 71 70, Michael Williams (Australia) 70 73 72.
216 Michael Daily (Erskine) 75 72 69, Colin Thomson (East Renrewshire) 71 73 72, Daniel Sommerville (St Andrews) 71 70 75, James Hamilton (NZ) 70 74 72.
217 Martin Brown (Monifieth) 76 69 72.
218 James Hendrick (Pollok) 75 72 71, Michael Main (Thornton) 71 74 73, Paul Ferrier (Baberton) 72 70 76.
219 Scott Borrowman (Dollar) 72 74 73.
220 Cameron Gray (West Kilbride) 74 71 75, Francisco Pinter Smith (Spain) 76 69 75, Raphael Becker (Brazil) 73 74 73.

US PGA TOUR REPORT

Paul Goydos' five birdies on back nine

put him one shot ahead of Kenny Perry

Paul Goydos staged a grandstand finish to this third round, birdieing five holes on the back nine, to jump into a one-shot lead from Kenny Perry with one round to go in the US PGA Tour's Travelers Championship at Cromwell, Connecticutt.
Goydos' 28-foot putt from off the green on the 16th highlighted a third-round 63, sharing with Hunter Mahan the honour of the best round of the third day.
"I had a circus putt on 16," Goydos said. "Again, it was turning lemons into lemonade. Those are the things that are the difference between maybe shooting 68 today and 63."
Leaderboard
1. Goydos -16
2. Perry -15
3. Toms -14
T4. Merrick -13
T4. Wittenberg -13
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Double click for
• Complete scores
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Perry, who led after each of the first two rounds, had a seemingly comfortable three-stroke lead after birdies on 11 and 12. But he dropped a stroke on the 14th and Goydos took advantage, making four straight birdies starting on the par-5 13th.
After a rain delay of just over an hour, both golfers parred in. Perry missed a 5-foot birdie try on 18 that would have given him a share of the lead minutes after Goydos misread the break on a 10-footer.
"When it gets dark I don't see very well, I never have played well late in the day and I complain every time," Perry said. "I can't see the lines when it gets dark and that's just the way it was."
David Toms shot a 66 and was in third place at 14-under par. Toms didn't make his first bogey of the tournament until Saturday on the par-4 10th hole, when he missed a 5-foot par putt. It was his only bogey of the round and broke a streak of 45 straight holes at par or better.
John Merrick held the lead several times during the round after making birdie on five of his first seven holes. But a double-bogey on 12 led to a three-stroke swing and put Perry back on top. Merrick finished with a 65, and was tied with Casey Wittenberg, three strokes behind the leaders at 13-under.
Wittenberg chipped in from 51 feet on the 16th hole and made five birdies on the back nine.
"I got in a groove there," he said.
Bo Van Pelt's 23-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th capped a round of 64 that left him at 12-under for the tournament and in a three-way tie for sixth place with Tag Ridings and Ben Curtis.
"I've got to hit some fairways Sunday to go low enough to scare anybody," Van Pelt said. "There are going to be some low scores Sunday. You better have your ears pinned back and go get some birdies."
Mahan, who seems to always play well in Cromwell, shot a 63 to move into contention. Mahan got his only Tour win here in 2007 and finished tied for second in 2006 and 2008. On Saturday, he birdied five consecutive holes to get to 11 under.
"I wish I could find more courses that suit me like this one," Mahan said. "I just like it. It suits my eye. It's a fun course. You can make a lot of birdies, and I just have a lot of confidence when I play here."
U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover was seven strokes behind after his second 65 in three days.
Some of the field had a very long day. They had to finish the second round early Saturday morning, before starting round three.
Jason Bohn made the most of it, knocking in a 127-yard approach on his final hole of the round for an eagle that moved him to 3-under par, and allowed him to make the cut. He shot 67 in the third round is 6-under par going into Sunday.

US Champions' Tour Scoreboard
DICK'S SPORTING GOODS OPEN
En-joie golf course, Endicott, New York State.
SECOND ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
129 F Funk 64 65.
132 R Black 69 63, E Romero 69 63, L Nielsen 66 66.
133 G Halberg 67 66.
134 J Haas 66 68.
135 M Goodes 70 65, J Sluman 68 67, A Bean 67 68, M Hulbert 67 68.
136 N Price 70 66, J Morse 69 67, B Bryant 68 68, J Roth 66 70, D A Weibring 67 69.

US Nationwide Tour Scoreboard
NATIONWIDE PLAYERS CUP
Pete Dye GC, Bridgeport, West Virginia
THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
203 T Gillis 71 66 66.
204 K Reifers 70 70 64, J Gove 69 67 68.
205 Won Joon Lee 73 68 64, Seun-a Han 71 68 66.
Selected score:
206 D Peoples 69 65 72.

Classy Butterfield six shots clear and

heading for first Challenge Tour win

From Paul Symes, European Challenge Tour Press Officer
Andrew Butterfield is within sight of his maiden Challenge Tour title after opening up a six- stroke lead on day three of The Princess tournament in Sweden.
Another sumptuous display of stroke-play – Butterfield carded four birdies and not a single bogey in his round of 67 – moved the Englishman to 15 under par, with Finland’s Antti Ahokas his nearest challenger on nine under par.
The 36 year old, who recently became a father for the first time, has three runner-up finishes to his name – at the Russian Open and Challenge de France in 2005, and the Dutch Challenge in 1997.
But having seen most of his rivals falter over the final holes at Båstad GK in Båstad, Sweden, Butterfield believes he may never have a better chance of banishing his bridesmaid tag and collecting the €48,000 first prize.
He said: “It’s a big week, and it’s going to be a big day tomorrow. Obviously I’ll be doing my utmost to win. I’ve been playing well all season, and I’ve taken my game up another level here this week. I’ve been chipping and putting better than I’ve ever done, and that obviously breeds confidence. If I can hold it together tomorrow, I’ll have a great chance.
“There were a fair few people out following us today, and hopefully there will be a few more tomorrow. It’s always nice to play in front of a crowd, and hopefully I can put on a show for them. I’m really looking forward to it.
"I’ll probably be a little bit nervous, but that’s why we play the game, for days like these. I’d certainly rather be going out in the last group at mid-day than the first one at 6.30am!”
Butterfield will be joined in the final group by Ahokas, who signed for a round of 69 which had at one point threatened to explode into life.
Five birdies in his opening 12 holes had temporarily moved Ahokas to within one shot of Butterfield’s lead, but two dropped shots in his closing five holes saw the Finn drop back to nine under par.
Germany’s Christoph Günther, who won in Austria earlier this season, is in third place on eight under par after signing for a round of 69.
Earlier in the day, Gunther’s compatriot Dennis Kupper and his playing partner Richard McEvoy both recorded their first aces in tournament play, just two holes apart.
Kupper’s came at the tenth hole, before McEvoy repeated the feat at the 12th to earn his own bottle of champagne.
THIRD ROUND
Par 216 (3x72)
198 A Butterfield (Eng) 62 69 67
204 A Ahokas (Fin) 68 68 68
205 C Günther (Ger) 67 69 69
206 C Rodiles (Esp) 66 69 71, S Bebb (Wal) 65 71 70, R McEvoy (Eng) 70 67 69, R Steiner (Aut) 67 69 70, S Thornton (Irl) 72 66 68, J Lima (Por) 68 67 71, F Andersson Hed (Swe) 65 67 74, J Dantorp (Swe) 71 68 67
207 T Carolan (Aus) 66 72 69, N Meitinger (Ger) 70 70 67, D Küpper (Ger) 68 70 69
208 G Murray (Sco) 71 68 69, C Moriarty (Irl) 72 67 69, L Saltman (Sco) 69 70 69, R Coles (Eng) 66 70 72, A McArthur (Sco) 68 71 69
209 Z Scotland (Eng) 67 68 74, J Granberg (Fin) 71 67 71, L James (Eng) 70 71 68, J Guerrier (Fra) 69 71 69, M Rominger (Sui) 69 72 68
210 G Houston (Wal) 69 70 71, L Bond (Wal) 66 71 73, U Van Den Berg (RSA) 66 70 74, M Jurgensen (Den) 73 69 68, J Abbate (Arg) 68 72 70
211 R Santos (Por) 73 69 69, C Suneson (Esp) 68 74 69, B Evans (Eng) 69 72 70, A Sjöstrand (Swe) 67 73 71, P Kaensche (Nor) 70 72 69, M Wiegele (Aut) 69 73 69, M Laskey (Wal) 72 69 70
212 J Colomo (Esp) 70 72 70, J Morrison (Eng) 70 70 72, P Baker (Eng) 73 68 71, R Muntz (Ned) 72 70 70, P Gustafsson (Swe) 69 72 71
213 E Molinari (Ita) 71 71 71, A Hansen (Den) 73 69 71, T Whitehouse (Eng) 69 70 74, F Calmels (Fra) 69 73 71, S Tiley (Eng) 71 69 73, M Cort (Eng) 70 71 72, A Marshall (Eng) 71 69 73, S Surry (Eng) 68 74 71,
214 A Tampion (Aus) 69 71 74, O Suhr (Den) 67 72 75, A Högberg (Swe) 70 71 73, P Barth (Swe) 66 75 73, C Carranza (Arg) 69 73 72, S Walker (Eng) 72 68 74
215 J Grillon (Fra) 70 71 74, N Colsaerts (Bel) 72 69 74, P Whiteford (Sco) 71 70 74
216 P Bocian (Swe) 69 73 74, N Lemke (Swe) 68 74 74
217 V Riu (Fra) 73 69 75, A Rocha (Bra) 71 69 77, L Brovold (Nor) 71 70 76
219 R Hie (Ina) 69 71 79
Disqualified - J Clément (Sui) 69 73 disq

PGA SENIORS CHAMPIONSHIP

Putting holds the key for Carl Mason

as he goes three clear of the field

From Steve Todd, European Senior Tour Press Officer
Carl Mason, pictured right, will take a three-shot lead into the final round of The De Vere Collection PGA Seniors Championship after a scintillating five under par 67 at De Vere Slaley Hall today.
The all-time leading European Senior Tour money-winner gave a masterclass on the greens to move to six under par 210 for the championship, with former Ryder Cup player Gordon Brand Junior and South African Christopher Williams his closest competitors on three under par.
After a suspension in play of 4hr 40min, caused by heavy fog in Northumberland, Mason quickly found his stride, draining a 15ft eagle putt on the 12th hole – his third of the day. He then added five more birdies and despite two bogeys, including dropping a shot on his last hole, the Englishman is in pole position to capture his 21st European Senior Tour title.
“I putted beautifully,” said Mason, who celebrated his 56th birthday on Thursday. “My eagle on the 12th , my third hole, got me going. From then on I putted beautifully. Obviously I played pretty well too.
“I putted well the first couple of rounds too – yesterday I felt my putting stroke was better. I firmly believe that’s the difference every week. If you start putting well, it’s amazing how much better you play. It’s a funny thing.
“I’ve not been putting well recently, for me. I know I’m a good putter and I’ve been going round in 34 or 35 putts and you can’t do well like that. As soon as you start rolling a few in you start feeling better and you play better.
“Everything in your game gets better as you’re not thinking about the putts. When I get in that mode I putt quickly and see the lines. The less you try, the better you get and, for me, that works.”
Mason is chasing his second PGA Seniors Championship following his victory at The Stoke by Nayland club in 2007, the year he won his third and last Senior Tour Order of Merit.
He is also looking to continue his remarkable run of winning in each of season since he joined the over-50s circuit in 2003 and close the gap on Tommy Horton’s record of 23 Senior Tour titles.
“I don’t mind being out in the front,” said Mason. “I’ve been able to take care of it most of the time and hopefully it will be the same tomorrow. I’ve very pleased with the way I am playing and I’m very pleased with the way I am putting, which is the main thing. “
Brand junior, who is looking to go one better than 2008 when he finished runner up to namesake Gordon J Brand after an epic six-hole play-off, finished with a double bogey on the eighth hole and a bogey on the ninth to sign for a one under par 71.
Williams also carded a 71 to continue his fine Senior Tour debut, having secured an conditional card at Qualifying School last November.

Stirling's John Chillas is having his best tournament for a while. After a slowish start to the tournament with a 74, he has scored as well as anyone with rounds of 69 and 71 for 214, sharing fourth place, four behind leader Mason.
Overnight leader Angel Franco, who also started on the 10th tee, endured a difficult finish to his third round with a bogey on the eighth hole and a double bogey on the ninth for a one over par 73 to trail Mason by four strokes.
Former Ryder Cup Captain Ian Woosnam is nine shots off the pace in a share of 17th place on three over par following a round of 71.
HOW THEY STAND

Par 216 (3x72)
210 C Mason (Eng) 73 70 67
213 G Brand jun (Sco) 69 73 71, C Williams (RSA) 72 70 71
214 J Chillas (Sco) 74 69 71, A Franco (Par) 69 72 73
215 N Job (Eng) 76 71 68, J Heggarty (Nir) 74 69 72
216 M Cunning (USA) 73 72 71, B Cameron (Eng) 71 73 72
217 R Chapman (Eng) 74 71 72, K Spurgeon (Eng) 70 73 74, E Rodriguez (Esp) 73 73 71, B Boyd (USA) 73 70 74
218 R Drummond (Sco) 76 71 71, B Lincoln (RSA) 71 73 74, J Bruner (USA) 75 73 70
219 G Ryall (Eng) 74 74 71, D Merriman (Aus) 77 71 71, J Quiros (Esp) 71 78 70, T Giedeon (Ger) 71 75 73, I Woosnam (Wal) 73 75 71, J Benda (USA) 69 77 73, M Williams (Zim) 74 72 73
220 H Carbonetti (Arg) 75 76 69, G Towne (USA) 71 75 74, S Ebihara (Jpn) 75 71 74, K Tomori (Jpn) 76 73 71, P Mitchell (Eng) 74 75 71, M Harwood (Aus) 74 73 73, K Hanefeld (USA) 75 76 69, D Russell (Eng) 72 74 74, E Darcy (Irl) 74 77 69, C Rocca (Ita) 73 74 73
221 G Ralph (Eng) 77 74 70, G Harvey (Sco) 75 75 71, G Cali (Ita) 71 75 75, T Allen (Eng) 74 74 73
222 I Palmer (RSA) 75 73 74, P Harrison (Eng) 75 75 72,
223 G Marsh (Aus) 79 73 71, A Fernandez (Chi) 75 70 78, P Oakley (USA) 74 75 74, G Brand (Eng) 81 70 72, D Cambridge (Jam) 77 72 74, D Smyth (Irl) 73 75 75, J Rhodes (Eng) 76 73 74,
224 B Charles (Nzl) 73 76 75
225 A J Webster (Sco) 76 73 76, A Barrera (Arg) 73 74 78, A Murray (Eng) 76 75 74
226 T Planchin (Fra) 75 73 78, J Hawkes (RSA) 69 78 79, D Johnson (USA) 75 77 74, S Martin (Sco) 78 73 75
227 D Good (Aus) 75 75 77, M Poxon (Eng) 78 73 76
228 T Rastall (Eng) 71 81 76, T Johnstone (Zim) 74 77 77
229 M White (Sco) 74 77 78
230 P Hanna (Nir) 77 75 78, V Garcia (Esp) 72 79 79
232 A Hemsley (Sco) 74 78 80, T Rouse (Eng) 78 74 80
233 T Charnley (Eng) 73 79 81,

ONE ROUND TO GO AT GLENEAGLES

Lomas fades so it's Lee the

leader into final lap

of Scottish title race

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Northern Open champion Craig Lee will lead the Gleneagles Scottish PGA championship field into Sunday's final round with a one-stroke lead at the Perthshire venue's PGA Centenary Course.
As overnight leader Jonathan Lomas, a former European Tour player who now stays in Ayrshire, faded out of the picture with a third-round 76 , in which he was six over par for 11 holes between the third and the 13th, so Lee stepped into the hot seat to shoot a one-under-par 71 for a 54-hole tally of six-under-par 210.
Lee, 32. pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, a former Scottish boys' stroke-play champion from Stirling and then Scottish assistants champion, can win from behind, he can win from the front so he's going to take an awful lot of dislodging from the pole position over a course which may be, in his opinion, far too short of a Scottish "major," but is still very, very punishing if a player drives into the long grass, and it is very long in places.
Having said that, Craig will know he has two worthy "opponents," Colin Gillies (Perry Golf) and David Orr (East Renfrewshire) on his tail, ready to pounce should he leave the door of opportunity for them.
Gillies, 42, has been round the houses a few times. He has won the Scottish pro title twice when he was at the peak of his powers in the 1990s - at Dalmahoy in 1995 and Newmachar in 1998.
In his years as a pro, Colin had won a grand total of £445,000 at the start of this season, which might not compare with the riches amassed by European Tour campaigners but that total makes Gillies the biggest all-time money-earner on the Tartan Tour.
Colin and Fraser Mann (Musselburgh) shared the honour of having the lowest third-round score of 68. Gillies for 211, Mann for 214 and a share of fifth place.
Orr, 35, has had a terrific run of success in June pro-ams. Has he got what it takes to win over 72 holes? Almost certainly 'yes' is the answer to that one, but Sunday will tell.
A LOOK AT LEADERS' THIRD-ROUND SCORECARDS
CRAIG LEE 71 (36-35)
Birdied 2-3-13-17.
Bogeyed 7-11-14.
COLIN GILLIES 68 (35-33)
Birdied 3-9-11-16-17.
Bogeyed 7.
DAVID ORR 69 (35-34)
Birdied 9-14-16-17-18
Bogeyed 10-11

WHEN TO SEE LEADERS TEE OFF
AT GLENEAGLES ON SUNDAY:

11.12 Craig Matheson & Jason McCreadie.
11.20 Jonathan Lomas & Robert Arnott.
11.28 Mark Kerr & Fraser Mann.
11.36 Mark King & David Orr.
11.44 Colin Gillies & Craig Lee.

SCROLL DOWN FOR ALL THE THIRD-ROUND TOTALS

In-form Byrne leads by

10 strokes at halfway

stage of East Open

James Byrne’s amazing run of form continued at Lundin Links, Fife today when he forged 10 strokes ahead of the field over the first two rounds of the 72-hole SolarSport East of Scotland open amateur championship, a Scottish Golf Union Order of Merit event.
Since the Banchory boy, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, arrived back in Scotland from the end of his second year at Arizona State University, the 20-year-old Arizona State University student has finished joint fourth in the Scottish open amateur stroke play, made the last 16 of the British amateur championship, won the Tennant Trophy last weekend by seven shots, equalling the Killermont course record twice, made it through to the Open Final Qualifying with the second best score at Musselburgh.
The pity of it all is that Master Byrne is not in the Scotland squad of six for the upcoming European mean’s amateur team championship. The team, based on the R&A World Amateur Rankings, was named during the British amateur championship.
Since then Byrne has surged up the rankings to be the fourth best Scot, a position that will improve even more if and when he wins the East of Scotland Open this weekend.
If James were to continue winning tournament after tournament, we could have the unique situation where he failed to make the Scotland team but is selected for the GB&I Walker Cup line-up. Wouldn't that be something?
Byrne went four shots ahead of the field with a first-round, four-under-par 65 at Lundin Golf Club. Starting with an eagle 2 was an omen for things to come. In the afternoon, he trimmed two shots off his morning effort with an eight-under-par 63 for a 36-hole tally of 14-under-par halfway tally of 128, which is unlikely to have been matched in the history of the tournament.
Former Scottish champion, at both match-play and stroke-play, Kevin McAlpine (Alyth) made a praiseworthy first post-operation tournament appearance with scores of 73 and 65 for four-under 138 to be Byrne’s nearest challenger going into Sunday’s final two rounds, albeit with a 10-shot gap between them.
Kevin had that knee cruciate operation that can put any sportsman out for months - even threaten their career - in February and is still coming back to fitness. This is the first time he has played 36 holes in one day since before the op. So another two rounds on Sunday will be a big test, physically, for Master McAlpine. Good luck, Kevin!
A total of 40 players with 36-hole aggregates of 147 or better qualified for Sunday’s final 36 holes.
Among the men who failed to beat the cut was Peter Latimer (St Andrews New) who lost out in a three-way play-off for the title 12 months ago.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 142 (2x71)
128 James Byrne (Banchory) 65 63.
138 Kevin McAlpine (Alyth) 73 65.
140 Bryden Macpherson (Austrealia) 72 68, Ross Crowe (Westerhope) 71 69, James White (Lundin) 71 69, Mark Bookless (Sandyhills) 73 67, David Law (Hazlehead) 71 69.
141 Lewis Kirton (Newmachar) 76 65, Steven McEwan (Caprington) 72 69, Alex Main (Thornton) 70 71, Mohammed Arie Irawan (Malaysia) 71 70, Daniel Sommerville (St Andrews) 71 70, Chris Harkins (Ayr Belleisle) 71 70.
142 Paul Ferrier (Baberton) 72 70, Philip McLean (Peteerhead) 71 71, Craig Watson (East Renfrewshire) 69 73, Brett Drewitt (Australia) 70 72.
143 Grant McNab (Lundin) 73 70, Michael Williams (Australia) 70 73, Keir McNicoll (Carnoustie) 74 69, Scott Pinckney (Arizona State Univ) 73 70, Henry Smart (Banstead Downs) 73 70.
144 James Hamilton (NZ) 70 74, Gordon Yates (Hilton Park) 72 72, Nick Barr (Craigie Hill) 77 67, Colin Thomson (East Renfrewshire) 71 73, Mark Hillson (Craigielaw) 76 68.
145 Barry McDermott (Leven GS) 73 72, Francisco Pinter Smith (Spain) 76 69, Michael Main (Thornton) 781 74, Cameron Gray (West Kilbride) 74 71, Bobby Rushford (Grangemouth) 74 71, Martin Brown (Monifieth) 76 69, Fraser McKenna (Balmore) 76 69, Ross Bell (Downfield) 72 73.
146 Scott Borrowman (Dollar) 72 74.
147 Michael Daily (Erskine) 75 72, James Hendrick (Pollok) 75 72, Raphael Becker (Brazil) 73 74, Nick Robson (Meldrum House) 76 71.
MISSED THE CUT
148 David Simpson (Crieff) 76 72, Steven Meiklejohn (Lundin) 74 74, Paul Gault (Kirkhill) 76 72, Robert Carson (Marriott Dalmahoy) 76 72, Liam McGowan (St Andrews New) 75 73, Jordan Findlay (Fraserburgh) 77 71, Jonathan Brain (US) 80 68.
149 James Ross (Royal Burgess) 76 73, Scott Stewart-Cation (Ladybank) 76 73, Peter Latimer (St Andrews New) 77 72, Craig Stephen (Meldrum House) 78 71, Sam Binning (Ranfurly Castle) 79 70.
150 Sean Riordan (NZ) 76 74, Paul Betty (Hayston) 73 77, Greg Paterson (St Andrews New) 74 76, Dave Thomas (Braintree) 77 73.
151 Adam Dunton (McDonald Ellon) 74 77, Lincoln Tighe (Australia) 80 71, Ryan Clatworthy (South Africa) 78 73, Greg Nicolson (Mortonhall) 80 71.
152 Colin Martin (Balbirnie Park) 78 74.
153 Steven Rennie (Drumpellier) 79 74, Gary Tough (Letham Grange) 75 78, Andrew Wallace (Glenbervie) 78 75, James Mackay (Kilmarnock Barassie) 77 76, Adam Andrews (Ashton in Makerfield) 77 76.
155 Justin Duff (Fraserburgh) 76 79.
156 Tom Gambie (Burhill) 78 78, John Duff (Newmachar) 82 74.
157 Derek Paton (Dunnikier Park) 80 77.
158 Craig Hamilton (NZ) 81 77.
Withdrew: Joe Lockie (Tantallon), Jim White (Leven Th), John Miller (Gullane), Fraser Fotheringham (Nairn), Fraser Campbell (Clober), Kris Nicol (Fraserburgh).

BMW INTERNATIONAL OPEN

Local hero Langer starts final round

only two behind leader Goosen

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE

Bernhard Langer's 16th attempt to become the oldest winner in European Tour history might just be the one when he finally does it.
The 51-year-old German goes into Sunday's final round of the BMW International Open in Munich - not far from where he grew up - in second place, only two behind South African star Retief Goosen.
If he does go on to take the 75th victory of his professional career Langer, pictured above, will look back on the 16th hole of his third round on Saturday as a key moment.
After driving into the trees on the reachable par-4, the double Masters champion, five times a runner-up in this event without ever winning it, chipped far too strongly but then sank a birdie putt of around 70 feet.
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Playing his first event in Europe for over nine months, Langer, now the leading money-winner on the US Champions (Seniors) Tour, had seven birdies in all for a 65 that took him onto the 15-under-par mark of 201.

The age record he is trying to break is that of Ireland's Des Smyth, who was 48 when he captured the 2001 Madeira Islands Open.
This is the one Tour event in his home country that Langer has never won, but only two years ago he was second to Swede Niclas Fasth - and that after starting with a 76 and surviving the halfway cut with nothing to spare.
"This is as close as I could get to winning at home and it would mean a lot," he said. "It would also be very special with my son Stefan on my bag. We have only one more tournament together before he goes off to college.
"I'm at a stage where I just want to enjoy my golf. I don't want to grind any more and I don't have anything to prove - I've been very blessed."
Goosen, who has led since his opening 64 on Thursday, shot 67, but should have been even further in front. He missed a putt of barely a foot on the long sixth and closed with a bogey 6 after finding a bad lie in a fairway bunker.
England's Nick Dougherty went in the water off the 18th tee - it has troubled him all week - and by also taking six fell into a tie for third on 14 under with Scot David Drysdale.
THIRD ROUND TOTALS

Par 216 (3x72)

199 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 64 68 67
201 Bernhard Langer (Ger) 68 68 65
202 David Drysdale 70 64 68, Nick Dougherty 69 65 68
203 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 68 65 70, James Kingston (Rsa) 67 69 67
204 Paul Broadhurst 69 70 65, Graeme Storm 70 70 64
205 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 69 70 66, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 68 69 68, Thomas Levet (Fra) 68 67 70
206 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 69 67 70, Danny Willett 67 68 71, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 71 69 66
207 Gary Orr 70 70 67, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 71 66 70, Anders Hansen (Den) 69 69 69, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 73 68 66, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 67 70 70, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 69 69 69, Peter Lawrie 69 68 70, Rory McIlroy 71 67 69, Richard Green (Aus) 71 68 68, Bradley Dredge 72 69 66
208 Marco Ruiz (Par) 73 67 68, Scott Strange (Aus) 70 68 70, Phillip Price 67 72 69, David Lynn 67 70 71, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 70 69 69, Oliver Fisher 68 69 71
209 Gary Lockerbie 72 68 69, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 70 70 69, Stephen Dodd 68 69 72, Andrew Coltart 67 71 71, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 72 69 68, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 67 71 71, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 69 70 70, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 69 66 74
210 Anthony Wall 74 66 70, Richard Finch 66 71 73, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 68 71 71, Markus Brier (Aut) 69 71 70, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 70 71 69, John Bickerton 70 70 70, Johan Edfors (Swe) 71 69 70
211 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 69 71 71, Chris Wood 71 69 71, Luke Donald 70 68 73, Steven O'Hara 71 70 70, Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha) 69 69 73, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 72 68 71, Seve Benson 70 71 70
212 Lee Slattery 70 70 72, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 67 73 72, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 70 70 72, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 68 72 72, Michael Hoey 70 71 71
213 Gary Murphy 71 70 72, Gareth Maybin 71 68 74, Max Kramer (Aut) 71 69 73, Colin Montgomerie 70 71 72, Scott Drummond 71 69 73
214 Hennie Otto (Rsa) 72 69 73, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 69 71 74, Kenneth Ferrie 69 72 73, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 67 74 73
215 Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 72 67 76, Phillip Archer 69 72 74
217 Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 70 71 76
219 Michael Jonzon (Swe) 70 71 78, Barry Lane 68 73 78

+Apologies to our senior readers from the Editor for not displaying these scores on Friday night. I can only put it down to a "senior moment" of my own - Colin Farquharson

MONIFIETH MAESTRO HUTCHEON

GIVES THEM ALL A START -

AND WINS BY TWO AT HOME

It takes a good man to beat the ‘Monifieth Maestro’ on his home patch – and nobody got within two shots of Ian Hutcheon by the end of the East of Scotland Seniors Open over 36 holes of the Monifieth Links.
Hutcheon, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, gave the others a chance with a mediocre opening round – by his standards – of five over par 76 but he came storming up through the field with a second round of three-under 68 for a total of 144.
Tony McIntyre (Lundin) was runner-up with 75 and 71 for 146.
David J Miller (Kilmarnock Barassie) and David Smith ( Stirling ) shared third place on 147.
The CSS was 75 for the first round and 73 for the second.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 142 (2x71) CSS 75 73.
144 Ian Hutcheon (Monifieth) 76 68.
146 Tony McIntyre (Lundin) 75 71.
147 David J Miller (Kilmarnock Barassie) 74 73, David Smith ( Stirling ) 72 74.
148 Jim Watt (Letham Grange) 74 74, George Paterson (Northern) 74 74.
150 Alex Richie (Bothwell Castle0 78 72, Eric Lindsay (Blairgowrie) 78 72, Robert Thomson ( St Andrews 75 75, Richard T Gray (Cowglen) 73 77.
151 Henry Anderson (Glenbervie) 77 74.
152 Ian Jeen (Milngavie) 78 74.
153 Aiden Grounds ( Falkirk ) 81 72, Sandy Pirie (Hazlehead) 77 76, Sandy Fairweather (Carnoustie Caledonia) 76 77.
154 John Fraser (Royal Burgess) 81 73, Peter Jamieson (Cathkin Braes) 77 77, David Downie (Kirriemuir) 76 78.
155 William Erskine (Kilsyth Lennox) 80 75, Derek Murphy (Kinross) 79 76, Dougal Chalmers (Panmure) 79 76, Bob Stewart (Tulliallan) 79 76, Colin Moir (Worksop) 78 77.
156 Ian Stewart (Curragh) 79 77, George Rodaks (Moffat) 79 77, Jalil Aman (Grangemouth) 77 79, Gordon MacDonald (Callander) 76 80.
157 Stephen Ellis (Heritage GS) 83 74, Marshall Douglas (Thornhill) 80 77, George Blair (Haddington) 79 78, John Johnston (Lanark) 79 78, Michael Jenkins (Duff House Royal) 79 78,
Andrew Laird (Deeside) 78 79, David Imrie (Thornton) 78 79.
158 Derek Sim (Panmure) 79 79, Brian Smith (Kilmacolm) 79 79, Ian Gourlay (Strathaven) 78 80.
159 Ronnie McLellan (Turnberry) 83 76, Jim Kinloch (Cardross) 79 80.
160 Scott Brady (Burntisland) 82 78, Tony Stafford (Gleneagles Dunochil) 82 78, Fred Hutcheon (Monifieth) 81 79, John McDonald (Cowglen) 81 79, Bill Methven (Royal Aberdeen) 80 80, John W Johnston (Royal Aberdeen) 76 84.
161 Drew Wilson (Clober) 85 76, Ron McDonald (Monifieth) 83 78, David A Millar (St Andrews New) 78 82.
162 Alistair Fiddes (Deeside) 86 76, John Russell (Monarch Dunes) 86 76, John Sim (Duff House Royal) 85 77.
163 Richard Goodale (Aberdour) 82 81, Wilson Morton (Dunbar) 80 83, Jim Campbell (Panmure) 78 85.
164 David Leighton (Northern) 82 82, Graham Somers (Bon Accord) 82 82, Jim Emslie (Royal Aberdeen) 78 86.
165 Gordon Thomson (Bearsden) 88 77, Tom Carson (Lockerbie) 85 80, Michael Niven (Alloa) 82 83.
166 Denis Albutt (Royal Dornoch) 87 79, Jim Roy (Grange) 85 81, Lee Bushby (Strathmore) 84 82, Trevor Bennett (Great Barr) 84 82, James Ingram (Boat of Garten) 84 82, Tim Harnett (St Andrews) 82 84, Bert Nicholson (Royal Dornoch) 82 84, Gordon Gray (Newmachar) 81 85.
167 John Broadfoot (Turnberry) 86 81, David Nelson (Aboyne) 83 84, Denis McQuade (Glenbervie) 83 84,
168 Peter Kinloch (Cardross) 87 81, David Gardner (Broomieknowe) 82 86.
169 Alan Nelson (Banchory) 86 83.
170 Charles D Stewart (Moray) 90 80, Steve Hills (Monifieth) 87 83, Brian Highley (Buchanan Castle) 87 83, Richard L Gray (Lanark) 86 84, Fraser Sharp (Boat of Garten) 86 84, Ian Peddie (Tulliallan) 84 86.
171 Ronnie Grant (Caledonian) 88 83, Malcolm Sim (Grange) 87 84, Brian Inglis (Archerfield Links) 86 85, Sandy Quinn (Stirling) 85 86, Lindsay Edmond (Haddington) 85 86.
172 Norman Williamson (Banchory) 87 85, Peter Stickley (Safety Beach) 87 85.
173 Neish Chisholm (Kemnay) 87 86.
174 George Cant (Monifieth) 85 89.
175 Phil Mawhood (Tulliallan) 86 89.
176 James Scott (Peterculter) 89 87, Angus Martin (Southerness) 88 88.
178 Michael Mather (Ballater) 94 84, Neil MacDonald (Glenbervie) 87 91.
179 Tom Gray (Lanark) 94 85.
180 Peter Higgins (St Andrews New) 92 88.
181 Nigel Parker (Murcar Links) 94 87, Alec Ingram (St Andrews New) 92 89, Johnston Mackie (Glenearn) 90 91, Philip Costello (Hirsel) 82 99.
182 Dougie Adams (Dunbar) 93 89.
184 John Harrison (Newmachar) 90 94.
185 Ian Donaldson (Killin) 92 93.
NR Les Fowler (Royal Aberdeen) NR 91.
WD Keith Howie (West Kilbride) 79 WD.


WD Gordon Doig (Southerness) 80 WD.


RET Ian Brotherston (Dumfries & Co) retired injured.

European Tour Scoreboard
BMW INTERNATIONAL OPEN
Munich, Germany
EARLY THIRD-ROUND SCORES
Par 216 (3x72)
204 Paul Broadhurst 69 70 65, Graeme Storm 70 70 64.
205 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 69 70 66, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 68 69 68
206 Pelle Edberg (Swe) 71 69 66
207 Gary Orr 70 70 67, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 71 66 70, Anders Hansen (Den) 69 69 69, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 73 68 66, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 69 69 69, Rory McIlroy 71 67 69, Richard Green (Aus) 71 68 68, Bradley Dredge 72 69 66
208 Marco Ruiz (Par) 73 67 68, Scott Strange (Aus) 70 68 70, Phillip Price 67 72 69, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 70 69 69
209 Gary Lockerbie 72 68 69, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 70 70 69, Andrew Coltart 67 71 71, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 72 69 68, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 67 71 71, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 69 70 70
210 Anthony Wall 74 66 70, Richard Finch 66 71 73, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 68 71 71, Markus Brier (Aut) 69 71 70, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 70 71 69, John Bickerton 70 70 70, Johan Edfors (Swe) 71 69 70
211 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 69 71 71, Chris Wood 71 69 71, Luke Donald 70 68 73, Steven O'Hara 71 70 70, Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha) 69 69 73, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 72 68 71, Seve Benson 70 71 70
212 Lee Slattery 70 70 72, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 67 73 72, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 70 70 72, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 68 72 72, Michael Hoey 70 71 71
213 Gary Murphy 71 70 72, Gareth Maybin 71 68 74, Max Kramer (Aut) 71 69 73, Colin Montgomerie 70 71 72, Scott Drummond 71 69 73
214 Hennie Otto (Rsa) 72 69 73, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 69 71 74, Kenneth Ferrie 69 72 73, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 67 74 73
215 Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 72 67 76, Phillip Archer 69 72 74
217 Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 70 71 76
219 Michael Jonzon (Swe) 70 71 78, Barry Lane 68 73 78

Tartan Tour Scoreboard
GLENEAGLES SCOTTISH PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
PGA Centenary Course, Gleneagles Hotel
THIRD ROUND
Par 216 (3x72)
210 Craig Lee (unatt) 68 71 71 (35-36).
211 Colin Gillies (Perry Golf) 72 71 68 (35-33), David Orr (East Renfrewshire) 69 73 69 (35-34).
212 Mark King (Kingsfield) 68 72 72 (38-34)
214 Fraser Mann (Musselburgh) 74 72 68, Mark Kerr (Bathgate) 72 72 70, Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs GR) 71 71 72, Jonathan Lomas (unatt) 68 70 76 (39-37)
215 Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle) 69 74 72, Craig Matheson (Falkirk Tryst) 73 69 73, Andrew Oldcorn (Kings Acre) 71 70 74.
216 James McGhee (Turnhouse) 72 72 72.
217 Hamish Kemp (Bishopbriggs GR) 74 72 71, Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills) 75 69 73, Lindsay Mann (Carnoustie) 68 73 76.
218 Scott Herald (Mearns Castle) 69 77 72, Alan Lockhart (Ladybank) 73 72 73, Edward Thomson (Senit Associates) 72 72 74.
219 Tom Buchanan (Duddingston) 70 77 72, James McKinnon (Irvine) 74 70 75, Callum Nicoll (Prestwick) 72 72 75,
220 Euan Cameron (Hamilton) 75 75 70, Stephen Gray (Hayston) 71 76 73, Ross Cameron (McDonald Ellon) 69 76 75, Gordon Law (Uphall) 76 67 77.
221 Mark Loftus (Cowglen) 77 72 72, Lee Harper (Archerfield Links) 71 74 76, Samuel Cairns (Colville Park) 74 71 76, Johnny Sharp (Carrick at Cameron House) 69 75 77, Kenny Waker (Castle Park) 71 73 77.
222 Christopher Robinson (Dumfries & Galloway) 76 74 72, Stephen Craig (Paragon) 74 73 75, Scott Henderson (Kings Links) 73 74 75, Ian Taylor (Drumpellier) 76 70 76.
223 Neil Murray (Cruden Bay) 78 73 72.
224 Mark Finlayson (Edzell) 78 71 75, Mark Bruce (Gullane) 75 73 76, David Park (Wishaw) 75 73 76.
225 Steven Duncan (Balbirnie Park) 76 74 75, Neil Fenwick (Dunbar) 75 74 76, Stephen Lamb (Broomieknowe) 74 74 77.
226 Ronan Rafferty (unatt) 75 75 76, Andrew Gibson (North Gailes) 75 75 76, Gareth Wright (West Linton) 73 77 76, David Patrick (Elie) 75 74 77.
227 Craig Ronald (Carluke) 76 75 76, Graham Fox (East Kilbride) 75 75 77.
228 Alastair Love (Charleton) 79 72 77.
230 Gordon Niven (Stirling Univ) 71 74 85
231 Ken Campbell (Machrihanish) 76 75 80, Stuart Morrison (Tain) 77 74 80, aul Wyutrazek (Burntisland) 75 75 81, Terry Burgoyne (Gotastroms) 72 78 81, Peter Mitchell (Hermitage) 71 77 83
232 Alan E Reid (West Lothian) 77 74 81, Nigel Scott-Smith (Palacerigg) 77 74 81.
235 David Fleming (Prestwick) 76 75 84.

There's no stopping James Byrne: Four

stroke lead with 65 in East Open

Whatever Banchory golf James Byrne is having for breakfast these past two or so weeks, it's working wonders for him.
Last 16 of the British amateur championship .... seven-shot winner (twice equalling the course course) of the Tennant Cup ... second top Open regional qualifier at Musselburgh.
And now, in the first round of this weekend's SGU Order of Merit 72-holer, the Solar East of Scotland Open Championship at Lundin Golf Club's links course, the 20-year-old Arizona State University student has streaked four shots clear of the field with a six-under-par 65 in the first round.
What a pity the Scotland squad for the forthcoming European team championship was selected before Byrne hit his purple patch of form! He is not in the line-up of six, named during the British amateur championship.
Byrne got off to a wonderful start with an eagle 2 at the first, followed byt birdies at the third, sixth, ninth, 14th, 16th and 18th in halves of 32 (four under par) and 33 (two under par).
Bogeys at the eighth and 12th were only minor irritations for Byrne who won the Scottish boys' open stroke-play championship before he went to Arizona State University on a four-year golf scholarship.
Former British amateur champion Craig Watson (East Renfrewshire), beaten in a three-way play-off last year, is lying second on 69 going into the second round.
Tournament director David Moir reports that the weather down Fife way is not so good as it is in Aberdeen, for example - fog-delayed start, followed by rain ... and no sunshine. Well that was the position there around lunchtime.

FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 72
65 James Byrne (Banchory).
69 Craig Watson (East Renfrewshire).
70 Brett Drewitt (Australia), Michael Williams (Austrealia), Alex Main (Thornton),James Hamilton (New Zealand).
71 Michael Main (Thornton), Ross Crowe (Westerhope), James White (Lundin), Mohammed Arie Irawan (Malaysia), Philip McLean (Peterhead), Chris Harkins (Ayr Belleisle), Colin Thomson (East Renfrewshire), David Law (Hazlehead), Daniel Sommerville (St Andrews)..
72 Gordon Yates (HIlton Park), Paul Ferrier (Baberton), Steven McEwan (Caprington), Scott Borrowman (Dollar), Ross Bell (Downfield).
73 Kevin McAlpine (Alyth), Raphael Becker (Brazil), Barry McDermott (Leven GS), Scott Pinckney (Arizona State Univ), Mark Bookless (Sandyhills), Paul Betty (Hayston), Henry Smart (Banstead Downs)..
74 Cameron Gray (West Kilbride), Bobby Rushford (Grangemouth), Greg Paterson (St Andrews New), Adam Dunton (McDonald Ellon), Keir McNicoll (Carnoustie), Steven Meiklejohn (Lundin).
75 James Hendrick (Pollok), Michael Daily (Erskine), Liam McGowan (St Andrews New), Gary Tough (Letham Grange).
76 Martin Brown (Monifieth), Nick Robson (Meldrum House), James Ross (Royal Burgess), Lewis Kirton (Newmachar), Paul Gault (Kirkhill), Robert Carson (Marriott Dalmahoy), David Simpson (Crieff), Scott Stewart-Cation (Ladybank), Francisco Pintor Smith (Spain), Sean Riordan (New Zealand), Justin Duff (Fraserburgh), Mark Hillson (Creaigielaw), Fraser McKenna (Balmore).
77 Peter Latimer (St Andrews New), Adam Andrews (Ashton in Markerfield), Dave Thomas (Braintree), Nick Farr (Craigie Hill), Jamie Mackay (Kilmarnock Barassie), Jordan Findlay (Fraserburgh).
78 Ryan Clatworthy (S Africa), Tom Gambie (Burhill), Colin Martin (Balbirnie Park), Andrew Wallace (Glenbervie), Craig Stephen (Meldrum House).
79 Steven Rennie (Drumpellier), Sam Binning (Ranfurly Castle).
80 Lincoln Tighe (Australia), Derek Paton (Dunnikier Park), Greg Nicolson (Mortonhall), Jonathan Brain (US).
81 Craig Hamilton (New Zealand).
82 John Duff (Newmachar).
86 Kris Nicol (Fraserburgh).
Withdrew - Jim White (Leven Thistle) after 9 holes, Fraser Fotheringham (Nairn) after 9 holes, John Miller (Gullane) 77, Fraser Campbell (Clober) 82.

ends
ends

Phil Mickelson misses Barclays Scottish Open

- and almost certainly the Open too

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Phil Mickelson has, as expected, confirmed that he will not be playing the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond the week after next.
And with his wife Amy starting breast cancer treatment in the coming few days it seems unlikely that the world number two will be at Turnberry for The Open on July 16-19.
Mickelson took time out to be with his family after the shock of the diagnosis in May, but returned two weeks ago and then at last week's US Open finished second for a record fifth time in the event.
He has played in every Open since 1993, but has only once challenged for the title. At Troon five years ago he missed the play-off between Todd Hamilton and Ernie Els by only a single stroke.

Andrew Oldcorn can't

wait for his Senior

Moments to begin

FROM THE EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
After flying the Lothians flag so admirably for 25 years on the circuit, Andrew Oldcorn reckons he's now out of his depth whenever he tees it up on the European Tour.
But the Edinburgh man is determined to keep playing at a decent level as long as he can in order for him to still be competitive when he becomes eligible for the Seniors' Tour next season.
In five events on the main circuit this term, Oldcorn, pictured above, who won the Tour's flagship event, the PGA Championship at Wentworth in 2001, has made the cut just once, breaking 70 on a single occasion in 12 rounds.
"It is pretty obvious that I'm not able to compete at that level any more," he said. "The courses are just too difficult for me and, what's more, I don't enjoy it either.
"The last two years have been hard for me mentally – it is difficult not to let the rot set in as far as that side of the game is concerned. I am so far away from the level I was capable of but I'm just nine months away from where I want to be, namely the Seniors' Tour."
Oldcorn becomes eligible when he turns 50 next March and is hoping he can do well enough in his rookie season to merit a crack at the money-spinning Champions (Seniors) Tour in America.
"It's a pity the entry age for the Seniors wasn't 45 because I would have been ready then," added the Kings Acre professional. But there was no way that I could have just stopped playing competitively at that age and just waited for my 50th birthday to come around.
"For starters, my wife wouldn't have let me sit around doing nothing and, in any case, I couldn't have been like Peter Mitchell, who stopped playing for a while and then picked things up again when he became a Senior.
"My ambition is to have a go at the Champions Tour. If I do well enough in Europe next year, I'd like to have a stab at that the following season by going to the Qualifying School."
In a bid to stop any rot setting in, Oldcorn, who lost his card for the main Tour in 2005, has grabbed every chance he's had this season, playing on the Challenge Tour, EuroPro Tour and the Tartan Tour as well.
"I'm working as hard as ever and it would be nice if I got an invite to the Johnnie Walker Championship and the Dunhill Links Championship later in the year but, those events apart, it's unlikely that I'll play on the European Tour again," he said.
"I'll probably spend the rest of the season on either the Challenge Tour, EuroPro Tour or the Tartan Tour."
Oldcorn was speaking after firing a second-round 70 to put himself in contention at the halfway stage of the £55,000 Gleneagles Scottish Championship, an event at which he finished runner-up – behind Ian Young, now the boss at the Braids Hills Golf Centre – on his debut 25 years ago.
Just three behind leader Jonathan Lomas, Oldcorn said: "I'd love to win this week and, if my approach play can improve in the final two rounds, I might have a chance because I'm driving the ball reasonably well and my putting has also been not too bad."
Uphall's Gordon Law, the winner in 1997, rekindled his hopes of regaining the title by firing a five-under-par 67 – a nine-shot improvement on his opening effort."That could have been 63 or 64 as I missed a few putts inside six feet although, having said that, I also holed a fair few," said the 44-year-old of a round in which he hardly missed a fairway.
Admitting he was still half asleep after teeing off in the first match out at 7.30am, Paul McKechnie started with three straight bogeys to find himself six-over for the tournament and in danger of making an early exit.
But the Braid Hills Golf Centre pro covered the ensuing 15 holes in six-under to card a 69 for 144. He said: "I had a big smile on my face after holing from 45 yards out of a bunker at the third."
Also on 144 were Kenny Walker and Mark Kerr, the former admitting he was off to search for a new putter after taking 38 putts in his second-round 73.
"When you putt as bad as that, you don't want to look at your putter again," said Walker.
Heather MacRae was back in the pro shop at Gullane this morning, having missed the cut on 156, but she's determined to be back on the same stage again one day and, in the meantime, is hoping to have something else to smile about next week.
"I'll be getting my PGA training first-year results and, hopefully, there will be no re-sits," she smiled.

LOTHIANS CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS

Douglas dethrones Davidson after

drama of extra holes at W Linton

FROM THE EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
Grant Douglas held off a spirited fightback from Graham Davidson to send last year's winner spinning out of this season's Lothians Champion of Champions tournament.
In a repeat of a tie at the same stage last year – Davidson won on that occasion – Douglas edged the third-round clash thanks to a birdie-2 at the second extra hole.
Enjoying home advantage at West Linton, Douglas, a 33-year-old who plays off scratch, was three up after ten before Davidson, from Winterfield, battled his way back with a run of three birdies in four holes.
After the 19th was halved in pars, both players were about 25 feet away at the next, Douglas sinking his putt while Davidson almost did likewise, grazing the hole with his effort.
Douglas faces another tough test in the next round against Steven Armstrong. The winner of this event two years ago, Turnhouse star Armstrong eased into the last 16 with a 7 and 6 win over Whitekirk's Weston Main.
Former Scottish international Stephen Easingwood, representing the Bank of Scotland, is also through to the fourth round, where he meets Charlie Simpson, the Bruntsfield Links player who reached the last eight in the recent Scottish mid-amateur championship.
Haddington's Keith Nicholson, bidding for a fifth title triumph in the event, is making ominous progress in the top half of the draw, where he faces a trip to Dundas Parks to take on John Tait in the next round.
In the handicap event, former British Lion Kenny Milne has won two ties at the 19th, the latest against Portobello's Matthew Craigie. Milne, who plays off 14 and is flying the flag for George Heriot's FP, plays his next tie next week before going in for a hernia op, but is confident he'll have recovered in time for the quarter-finals if he's still in the event when that stage comes around.
"It's the first time I've played in the event and I'm enjoying it," said the Duddingston man.
Results:
THIRD ROUND
C Cuthbert (Luffness New) bt S Murray (Ratho Park) at 22nd.
S Gray (RICS) bt S Simpson (Newbattle) at 19th.
J Tait (Dundas Parks) bt A Thomson (Lochcraig) at 22nd.
K Nicholson (Haddington) bt J Lang (Edinburgh Academicals) 5 and 4.
S Deegan (Prestonfield) bt H Fraser (Niddry Castle) 2 and 1.
S Smith (Kingston) bt G Wood (Edinburgh Thistle) 4 and 3.
S Easingwood (Bank of Scotland) wo D Watters (Thorntree) scr.
C Simpson (Bruntsfield Links) bt J Donachie (MCBA) 1 hole.
C Jackson (Gogarburn) bt S Reid (Lothian & Borders Police) 1 hole.
J Yule (Craigmillar Park) bt G Wither (Lothianburn) 2 and 1.
G Douglas (West Linton) bt G Davidson (Winterfield) at 20th.
S Armstrong (Turnhouse) bt W Main (Whitekirk) 7 and 6.
P Heggie (Cramond) bt S McCulloch (Hailes) 1 hole.
D Hall (Buckstone GS) bt F Pollock (Stewarts & Melville FP) 6 and 4.
S Marshall (Baberton) wo J Bala (Register House) scr.
M Foley (Kingsknowe) bt G Henshaw (Caermount) 4 and 3.
HANDICAP MATCH-PLAY
C Easton (Broomieknowe) bt I Taylor (Gogarburn) 3 and 1.
J Gallacher (Bathgate) bt C Vesco (Lochcraig) at 19th.
C Robertson (Craigielaw) bt J Anderson (Corstorphine) 2 and 1.
D Wiszniewski (Craigmillar Park) bt C Ross (West Linton) 6 and 4.
J Gladwin (Bass Rock) bt D Mackie (Edinburgh & Leith Licensed Grocers) 1 hole.
A McDougall (Ravelston) bt J Fitzpatrick (Standard Life) 3 and 2.
N Smith (Haddington) bt M Bremner (Dental & Medical) 2 and 1.
C Mackay (Edinburgh Western) bt R Thomson (Travel Twenty) 4 and 2.
K McGlynn (Mount Vernon) bt J Wilson (Niddry Castle) 4 and 3.
J Bellany (Longniddry) bt G Money (Harburn) 2 and 1.
G Jamieson (Port Seton) bt B Doherty (Prestongrane) 3 and 1.
S Bisset (Winterfield) bt I Gardner (Tantallon) 6 and 5.
M Diduca (Broomieknowe) bt G Harris (Carrickvale) 1 hole.
K Aitken (Cramond) bt E Clark (Pumpherston) 2 and 1.
C Robertson (Observers) bt J Berry (Lothian & Borders Police) at 24th.
K Milne (George Heriots FP) bt M Craigie (Portobello) at 19th.
++The full article above appears in the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.

Drysdale and Laird invited to play in

Barclays Scottish Open

FROM THE HERALD WEBSITE
By Bernie Mcguire in Munich
Two Scots, David Drysdale and the US PGA Tour-based Martin Laird, have been rewarded for their efforts this year with invitations to compete in the Barclays Scottish Open in a fortnight's time.
Organisers of the Loch Lomond event linked up by telephone with PGA European Tour officials to discuss the varying merits of eight players' invitations to the tournament which starts on July 9.
Drysdale, 34, learned of his invitation a few hours after carding an impressive eight-under-par 64 on the second day of the BMW International Open in Munich.
He had an eagle and six birdies to finish the round tied in third place on 10-under with England's Nick Dougherty (65), a stroke adrift of Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen (68) and two behind the South African Retief Goosen (68).
Drysdale's efforts maintained a return to form for the Dunbar man who, after regaining his Tour card at qualifying school last year, finished third in January's Joburg Open and runner-up in the Andalucian Open. Earlier this month, he qualified for his first shot at an Open Championship.
"David is the hottest Scottish golfer on the European Tour at present," said Drysdale's manager, Ian Stoddard. "He's the highest ranked Scot on the Race to Dubai money list and he is among five Scots competing in the following week's Open Championship.
"It's fabulous news for David and it's wonderful that organisers have recognised how hard he has fought to establish himself on the European Tour. Now that he has received an invitation into the Barclays Scottish Open, it means he will have the benefit of tournament play before he makes his Open debut the following week.
"We're thrilled for David and grateful to Loch Lomond organisers that he's been given the opportunity to compete in his own national open."
It will be Drysdale's sixth Scottish Open appearance while Laird will be making his debut as a professional in the country of his birth. The 26-year-old from Glasgow is having a week off from competition on the PGA Tour.
"It will be an honour and a privilege to make my Scottish professional debut at the Barclays Scottish Open," he said. "I have always said it would be a dream come true to make my debut at my national open and then play in my first Open Championship the following week. This will be a wonderful opportunity for me to play in front of many friends and family that have never seen me play professionally."
Andrew Coltart was on the Munich course when the invites were confirmed but after rounds of 67 and 71 he can still play his way into Loch Lomond by finishing top-10 this week in Germany and producing a similar result in next week's French Open.
Gary Orr and Scott Drummond are the next best Scots with 140, one clear of Steve O'Hara and Colin Montgomerie, who is sure to boost his lowly 93rd place in the Race to Dubai after a 71 to add to his opening 69.
He also made it 12 cuts from 15 events this year with a second day that included six birdies but also five bogeys.
"I am making far too many mistakes," said Montgomerie. "They're dropped shots from wedges and sand-wedges, but the birdies are there and it's just a matter of eliminating the mistakes." He added that he had changed every iron in his bag overnight.
+The above article, published in today's Herald, is done so with the permission of the Herald Sports Editor.

US NATIONWIDE TOUR REPORT

It's a Peoples' Game: Soon-to-be senior

David sets pace with 23-putt 65

FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE
David Peoples turns 50 next January and is looking forward to a long and productive career with his peers on the Champions (Seniors)Tour.
For now, the soon-to-be senior is honing his game with a younger crowd on the Nationwide Tour and faring quite well. The veteran showed the youngsters how it's done by firing a 7-under 65 in the second round of the Nationwide Tour Players Cup to take the 36-hole lead at 10-under 134. Craig Barlow (65), Ryan Armour (66) and Jeff Gove (67) share second place at 8-under 136.
===========
Round 2 scores
===========
Tom Gillis (66) is alone in fifth place, three behind the leader.
Veteran Bob May (69), Michigan rookie Brian Stuard (71), John Kimbell (69), Canadian Chris Baryla (66) and Ron Whittaker (71) are next at 6-under 138, four back of Peoples. First-round leader Brad Iles of New Zealand had six bogeys and a double-bogey en route to a 4-over 76. He is at 3 under and tied for 24th.
"If I can compete with these kids then I can compete with (the players on the Champions Tour)," said Peoples, peering to the future. "I'm trying to be as patient as I can but this is a hard game. Sometimes you get it going and sometimes you don't."
Peoples has regained a putting touch that had abandoned him several years ago but now resurfaced after a great deal of effort. He needed only 23 strokes on the greens Friday, giving him 50 for his first two days at the Pete Dye Golf Club.
"That's what I've struggled with in the past," he said. "It was the thing that was holding me back. Before, when I was putting bad, I felt like I was the worst one out there."
Hard work has paid off recently for Peoples, who tied for seventh at the Melwood Prince George's County Open three weeks ago and now holds a 36-hole lead for the first time on any Tour since The Honda Classic in 2003.
"I heard Nick Price say last week that confidence isn't something you wake up with," he said. "I don't feel confident until I see something good happen."
It took Peoples all of two holes Friday to gain some confidence. Rolling in a birdie putt of 40-45 feet will do that, regardless of your age.
"At 40-plus feet, you're not expecting to make those," he said. "You're in three-putt range there. Even when you two-putt from that distance you feel like you did a good job."
He followed up with two immediate birdies that measured less than seven feet. Another birdie from 12 feet came just before the turn. After a bad tee shot resulted in a lone bogey on his 10th hole, Peoples ran off four consecutive birdies.
"It was a great day putting," he said. "I made a lot of good saves in between the birdies."
Gove has been making a lot of everything this year. The Washington native is No. 8 on the money list and has been in contention several times, resulting in four top-10 finishes but no victories. His day would have been a little better if not for a double-bogey at No. 9.
"I made a mess of that hole," he said. "I just reminded myself that I'm playing good and I tried to get back to that."
Gove settled down and made three pars before he sandwiched four birdies around a single bogey in his closing six holes to grab a share of second place heading into the weekend.
Joining him is Barlow, an 11-year PGA TOUR member who has been plagued by wrist and hip injuries over the past two years and is finally feeling healthy.
"I didn't have a great career on the TOUR but I felt like I was getting better every year," he said of his career that has earned him nearly $5 million. "Looking back at it, I tried to play through a couple injuries and those guys are too good to be trying to compete with when you're injured."
Barlow was on the shelf for six months from last September to this February as he healed from a muscle tear in his hip. The recovery has been slow but the results are coming.
Barlow sprinkled eight birdies into his round to get into position for the weekend.
"I haven't putted this good all year. Last week I played just as good and putted awful and missed the cut," he said of a 72-69 effort at the Fort Smith Classic. "I have not been doing the little things right. The bottom line is that I've been trying too hard. I was trying to be perfect. I think I lost a little bit of trust in myself. You just have to believe in yourself. I was free as a bird today. Today was the first day all year I felt free."
Second-round notes:
• Ian Leggatt and Tom Carter were disqualified prior to the start of the second round. They both signed incorrect scorecards for the first round.
• Jim McGovern withdrew during the round due to a hip injury. Garrett Willis withdrew during the round due to a back injury.
• A total of 71 players made the 36-hole cut, which came at 1-under 143.
• Won Joon Lee had two eagles in Round 2 -- both on back-nine par-5s (Nos. 14 and 17).
• Matt Hansen tied a Nationwide Tour record for the most birdies in a row to finish a round. Hansen reeled off six in a row (Nos. 13-18) to close his day and shoot 66. His first-round 8-over 80 kept him from making the cut. Hansen is the fourth player in the Tour's 20-year history to make six straight to finish a round, the last being Jay Don Blake at the 2005 Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open.
• Tom Gillis opened his round with five consecutive birdies.
• Several players had birdie streaks of four in a row: David Peoples (Nos. 2-5); Jeff Gove (Nos. 2-5); Brennan Webb (Nos. 14-17); Tyler Leon (Nos. 17-2); Zoran Zorkic (Nos. 12-15)
• Players, caddies and officials are wearing black ribbons this week in memory of Beth Smith, wife of Chris Smith, and Shirley Kendall, mother of Skip Kendall. Both women were victims of car accidents and passed away last weekend. Smith was killed in a car accident Sunday near the family home in northern Indiana and the couple's two children were also seriously hurt. Players also have the option of replacing their name on their caddie bibs with Chris Smith's name to show further support for his family as they deal with the tragedy. All 141 players in the field donned Smith's nametag to start the round on Friday.