EUROPEAN TOUR SCOREBOARD
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
273 Lee Westwood 68 70 70 65.278 Ian Poulter 67 71 70 70
279 Mark Foster 71 66 69 73.
281 Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 67 73 68 73, Zane Scotland (Gbr) 69 73 70 69, Sam Walker 71 67 75 68, Michael Campbell (Nzl) 73 69 69 70, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 75 66 67 73, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 71 69 70 71, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 66 72 74 69
282 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 68 72 69 73, Benn Barham 70 75 67 70, Nick Dougherty 72 68 75 67, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 70 73 65 74
283 Stephen Dodd 68 79 69 67, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 65 79 67 72, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 74 71 67 71, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 66 76 69 72
284 Colin Montgomerie 70 70 70 74, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 71 70 71 72
285 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 71 75 70 69, James Kingston (Rsa) 71 74 68 72, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 72 73 72 68, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 70 72 73 70
286 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 69 68 74 75, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 69 75 70 72, David Lynn 72 70 71 73
287 Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 63 75 70 79, Phillip Archer 68 72 73 74, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 69 75 71 72, Paul McGinley 70 75 72 70, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 65 77 71 74
288 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 72 71 73 72, Andrew Marshall 73 72 69 74, Phillip Price 71 72 72 73, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 70 74 73 71
289 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 74 72 71 72, Oliver Wilson 70 74 75 70, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 72 73 71 73, Bradley Dredge 71 70 72 76, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 70 72 72 75
290 Anthony Wall 73 74 72 71, Rory McIlroy 69 78 70 73, Marc Warren 70 74 70 76, Simon Wakefield 71 76 69 74
291 Peter Hanson (Swe) 69 75 73 74, Juan Parron (Spa) 75 72 72 72, Damien McGrane 78 69 69 75, David Park 72 74 69 76, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 70 74 74 73, Kenneth Ferrie 69 74 76 72, Simon Khan 67 74 79 71
292 Taichi Teshima (Jpn) 70 74 73 75, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 69 78 70 75, Johan Edfors (Swe) 71 75 72 74, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 73 72 73 74
293 Marcel Siem (Ger) 69 76 73 75, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 72 73 77 71
294 Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 67 76 75 76, Gregory Havret (Fra) 73 74 77 70
295 Garry Houston 70 76 76 73, Marcus Higley 74 73 76 72
297 Stephen Gallacher 69 75 79 74, Christopher Hanell (Swe) 73 74 72 78, Steven O'Hara 74 73 75 75
299 Andrew Tampion (Aus) 70 75 76 78
302 Carl Suneson (Spa) 73 73 76 80
304 Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 71 76 79 78

YOUNG SCOTS TRAILING TO ENGLAND

England were leading Scotland 3-2 after the morning foursomes in today's Under-16 boys' international match, hosted by Prestwick St Nicholas Golf Club.
Full results on this website later this evening.

ERIC RAMSAY TIES FOR THIRD PLACE BEHIND
WESTERBERG IN KAZAKHSTAN OPEN

From Michael Gibbons
Challenge Tour Press Officer

Sweden's Leif Westerberg completed the “greatest day of my career” to win the richest European Challenge Tour event in history at the Kazakhstan Open and, as a result, secure his place on The 2008 European Tour.
Westerberg stood firm during a final round filled with drama and intensity to make a vital par 4 at the Nurtau Golf Club’s testing 18th hole to post a level par 72 for a nine under winning total of 279 and a one stroke victory over playing partner Ross McGowan from England.
By picking up a cheque for €52,800, Westerberg made a huge leap at the business end of the Challenge Tour Rankings, moving to third place with season’s earnings of €96,138 to guarantee his place among the top 20 players who will be handed a European Tour card at the season- ending Apulia San Domenico Grand Final in four weeks.
Playing alongside McGowan and Carnoustie's Eric Ramsay – who would finish the week in a tie for third place alongside Welshman Jamie Donaldson to earn 21,450 Euros each – Westerberg held his nerve under the most intense scrutiny.
One behind McGowan at the start of the final round, the 33 year old Swede took the lead by turning in one under 35 to McGowan’s 37.
McGowan then suffered a horrible double bogey 7 on the par-5 13th as Westerberg birdied to establish a four-shot lead, but there was more drama to unfold as Westerberg dropped a shot on the 14th and McGowan continued to fight back with a birdie on the 16t to cut the Swede’s lead to two strokes.
Both players negotiated the treacherous par-5f 17th nervously, with Westerberg pulling his second shot into the trees on the left, and McGowan finding the greenside bunker with his third shot.
Westerberg had no option but to hack out of the trees, and his failure to get up and down, coupled with McGowan’s brilliant recovery as he chipped in for par, meant that the lead was cut to one coming down the 18th.
Both players hit fine drives under pressure, with Westerberg standing firm to knock his approach onto the green, some 20 feet short of the flag. McGowan drew a great second shit pin high, 12 feet left of the cup, but after Westerberg tapped in for par the Englishman could not hole his birdie chance, leaving the Swede to celebrate a momentous victory.
“This is the greatest achievement of my career, without a doubt,” said Westerberg. “When my ball went into the bushes on 17 I was having all sorts of disastrous thoughts in my mind.
“I was very nervous coming through it all, but it was the same on the 18th and I managed to hold it together there and play a really solid approach, which was good enough to win.
“I am just so happy to have this tournament. With the prize money on offer here, the Kazakhstan Open is the tournament that I think every Challenge Tour player wants to win most, so I am delighted to have come through.
“It means so much to me to have secured my European Tour card for next year. Now I have the chance to go on from here and maybe even win the Rankings if I can keep playing well. That’s the new goal.”
Aberdeen's Richie Ramsay came with a last-round charge, a five-under-par 67, to share fifth place on 282, only three shots behind the winner. Richie, who failed to get past the recent Stage 1 of the European Tour Qualifying School process, earned his biggest pro pay check yet - 12,375 Euros, giving him a running total of 16,840 Euros and 75th position on the current Challenge Tour rankings.

FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72). 7,338yd
279 Leif Westerberg Swe 64 71 72 72.
280 Ross McGowan Eng 68 71 67 74.
281 Eric Ramsay Sco 70 68 70 73, Jamie Donaldson Wal 70 71 71 69.
282 Alvaro Salto Esp 71 73 69 69; Raphaël Eyraud Fra 69 70 71 72; Richie Ramsay Sco 74 69 72 67; Richard Treis Ger 68 71 71 72.
283 Fabrizio Zanotti Par 68 74 73 68; Andrew Butterfield Eng 70 72 70 71; Peter Whiteford Sco 67 71 75 70.
284 Jan-Are Larsen Nor 73 69 73 69; Tim Dykes Wal 69 71 72 72; Joost Luiten Ned 75 70 70 69.
285 Chris Gane Eng 72 68 70 75; Magnus Persson Swe 74 71 69 71; Iain Pyman Eng 72 71 74 68; Scott Henderson Sco 73 69 73 70; Fredrik Widmark Swe 68 73 71 73; Pontus Ericsson Swe 68 69 75 73.
286 Magnus A Carlsson Swe 71 71 74 70; Martin Wiegele Aut 72 73 68 73 ; Klas Eriksson Swe 77 68 70 71; Gareth Paddison Nzl 71 73 73 69; Jeppe Huldahl Den 74 71 72 69;
287 Carlos Del Moral Esp 75 68 73 71; George Murray Sco 74 69 71 73; Paul Dwyer Eng 67 74 73 73;
288 Phil Worthington Eng 76 69 72 71; Mikko Korhonen Fin 76 69 74 69; Robert Coles Eng 72 72 70 74; John E Morgan Eng 73 67 74 74; Gareth Wright Wal 70 72 71 75; Hernan Rey Arg 68 68 75 77.
289 Roope Kakko Fin 68 76 73 72; Alvaro Velasco Esp 71 72 76 70; Fredrik Ohlsson Swe 74 71 71 73; Carlos Cardeza Arg 72 67 80 70; Mikael Lundberg Swe 72 71 72 74; Sébastien Delagrange Fra 75 70 72 72.
290 Pablo Del Grosso Arg 71 69 77 73; Paul Waring Eng 79 65 69 77; Michael Lorenzo-Vera Fra 70 70 75 75.
291 Stuart Manley Wal 72 72 75 72; Kieran Staunton Eng 72 73 75 71; John Mellor Eng 74 70 73 74; Benoit Teilleria Fra 72 69 77 73; Nicolas Vanhootegem Bel 74 71 71 75.
292 Stuart Davis Eng 73 69 79 71; Pablo Larrazabal Esp 72 72 73 75.
293 André Bossert Sui 74 71 74 74; Philip Golding Eng 70 74 77 72; Martin Maritz Rsa 73 71 78 71.
294 Juan Abbate Arg 73 71 75 75.
296 Gustavo Acosta Arg 72 72 74 78; Jamie Little Eng 71 71 77 77.
298 Anthony Snobeck Fra 70 72 76 80.
299 Adam Gee Eng 76 69 77 77; Felipe Aguilar Chi 70 75 76 78;
300 Inder Van Weerelt Ned 71 74 83 72;
302 Matthew Richardson Eng 75 70 79 78;

The Nairn Golf Club captain Harry Sinclair with the winning host club team. Robin Wilson image (c).

HOST CLUB NAIRN TAN

TAIN BY 14 HOLES IN

NORTHERN COUNTIES

CUP FINAL
By ROBIN WILSON
Nairn Golf Club, the host club, won the Northern Counties Cup for a 10th time on Saturday, their first on home turf since 1928, when, against a strong west wind, they tanned Tain in the final by 14 holes.
Neil Hampton and partner Robert Smith, already double winners with Nairn in 1998 and 2004, were again the backbone of the team. In their four games played they were unbeaten and amassed a total of 30 holes up..
In the final, Hampton and Smith won five of the first seven holes and they increased their lead to seven with par figures at the eighth and ninth holes against Tain's Alan Everett and James Macleod. Tain's only relief came with a birdie at the first inward hole but they immediately went back to seven behind after taking two shots in the rough behind the 11th green. Thereafter it was easy street for Hampton and Smith who finished 12 holes up.
Nairn's second string, Steven MacDonald and Alex Scott, took a while longer to get on top of the Tain's Billy Ferries and Ross Macleod who, after five holes, were two in front. Tain found trouble from the tee at the seventh and MacDonald and Scott won this and the next four holes, the 11th with a birdie 2, to forge three ahead. The Nairn pair eventually won by two holes.Hampton and Smith's six-hole win in the morning semi-final against a plucky Orkney - the Islanders' first ever appearance in the last four - carried Nairn through to the final after Orkney's Stuart Rendall and Andrew Bonner left an impression with a three-hole win over MacDonald and Scott. TAIN WILL BE 2008 HOSTS
Tain arrived in only their second ever final by way of beating Murcar Links in the less windy morning semi final conditions. Both the Tain couples were under par, beating the Murcar Links pairings of Terry Mathieson and Billy Main by four holes in the top tie and Anthony Bews and Ian Galbraith by three holes in the second-string game.
The result over Murcar Links should strengthen Tain's desire for a first ever title win when the Northern Counties Cup competition is played over their home course next year.
Saturday's results:
SEMI-FNALS
Tain 1 beat Murcar Links by seven holes (J Macleod, A Everett 4, T Mathieson, B Main 0; B Ferries, R Macleod 3, A Bews, I Galbraith 0).
Nairn 1 beat Orkney 1 by three holes (N D Hampton, R Smith 6, M Fleet, A MacGinn 0; S. Rendall, A Bonner 3, S MacDonald, A Scott 0).
FINAL
Nairn 1 beat Tain 1 by 14 holes (Hampton, Smith 12, Everett, J Macleod 0; MacDonald, Scott 2, Ferries, R. Macleod 0).

***Robin Wilson images (c) above:
The Nairn Club captain Harry Sinclair proudly looks over his winning team, Robert Smith (with cup), and behind, Neil Hampton, Steven MacDonald and Alex Scott.
Lower picture:
Runners-up Tain: back, Alan Everett (left) and James Macleod; kneeling, Ross Macleod and Billy Ferries.

GB&I FEEL THE HEAT IN GEORGIA: UNITED
STATES LEAD 9-7 WITH SINGLES TO PLAY

FROM THE PGA WEBSITE

Derby duo Paul Wesselingh and James Whatley fought bravely on the second day of the 23rd PGA Cup but it was not enough to prevent GB&I slipping to a 9-7 deficit against USA at The Oconee Course in Georgia.
USA edged a thrilling morning of foursomes to level the scores at 6-6 by lunch. And the home team extended their supremacy in the afternoon four-balls, winning three matches to GB&I's one to take a two-point lead going into the final day.
In the foursomes, Wesselingh (Kedleston Golf Club) and James Whatley (East Midlands Golf Club) halved their match against the formidable pairing of Mike Small and Ryan Benzel after Wesselingh, competing in his fifth PGA Cup, holed a four-foot putt to win the final hole.
Wesselingh said: "I wasn't too nervous on that final putt. James gave me a few tips on the way round because I'd been missing a few short putts because the greens are so quick.
"James thought I was moving a bit too much and I was fine after that.
"It was a real tough match - any match in foursomes is tough. And to get a result like that was fantastic."
Andrew Barnett and Duncan Muscroft slipped to a 3 and 2 defeat to Chip Sullivan and Chris Starkjohann.
Michael Nesbit and Craig Goodfellow fell to an agonising loss against Ron Philo Jr. and Tim Thelen after Newcastle-based Nesbit had left his putt just short of the 18th to miss a golden opportunity to win the hole and halve the match.
But there was something for GB&I to celebrate in the morning session and it came courtesy of Jon Bevan and George Ryall who played a stunning final hole to secure a two-hole win over Alan Schulte and Don Yrene.
They were five up with just six holes left to play, but a spirited fightback from the Americans took the match to the final hole.
A 20ft putt from Ryall ensured they won the hole and posted the first win of the day for GB&I.
The Americans stretched their lead in the afternoon, though, with the sweltering heat taking its toll on the GB&I team.
Wesselingh and Whatley slipped to a two-hole defeat by Thelen and 57-year-old Butch Sheehan, and Wesselingh admits the conditions knocked him out of his stride.
"I must admit that the heat did get to me out there. It was overpowering," he said. "Even the Americans were asking if it was fit to carry on, but I suppose everyone's got to play in it."
John Dwyer and Danny Taylor (Swingers, Lichfield), who sat out the morning foursomes, were defeated by the in-form Small and Schulte 2 and 1, while Andrew Barnett and Craig Goodfellow lost by the same scoreline to the pairing of Starkjohann and Sullivan.
The one bright spot for GB&I in the afternoon was the 2 and 1 victory for Muscroft and Ryall against Philo Jr. and Lee Rinker.
It gave the GB&I side a timely fillip at the end of the gruelling day and ensures they go into the final day within touching distance of their opponents.
"This was a big point," said GB&I captain Gary Alliss.
"If we had lost all four that would have been disappointing but the fact we've got the final point of the day in a way makes it feel better.
"Paul Wesselingh said to me immediately after that that was the point that keeps us in it for tomorrow.
"My boys played really well but the US team were just fantastic today. Hats off to them.
"It was hard today but it was always going to be hard. The US were going to come out fighting, temperatures were nearly touching 90 degrees and it was hard but I'm proud of the way they performed."

Pairings for final set of singles on Sunday:
Local times
9.30 Tim Thelen vs Jon Bevan.
9.40 Don Yrene vs John Dwyer
9.50 Ryan Benzel vs Paul Wesselingh
10.00 Mike Small vs Danny Taylor.
10.10 Chip Sullivan vs James Whatley
10.20 Ron Philo Jnr vs Michael Nesbit
10.30 Butch Sheenan vsGeorge Ryall
10.40 Lee Rinker vs Andrew Barnett
10.50 Alan Shulte vs Craig Goodfellow
11.00 Chris Starkjohann vs Duncan Muscroft

PGA CUP SCOREBOARD

SATURDAY MORNING FOURSOMES

USA 2 1/2, GB&I 1 1/2

Overall: USA 6, GB&I 6

United States names first
Mike Small & Ryan Benzel halved with Paul Wesselingh & James Whatley.

Alan Schulte & Don Yrene lost to Jon Bevan & George Ryall 2 holes.

Chip Sullivan & Chris Starkjohann bt Andrew Barnett & Duncan Muscroft 3 and 2.

Ron Philo Jnr & Tim Thelen bt Craig Goodfellow & Michael Nesbit 1 hole.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON FOUR-BALLS

United States 3, GB&I 1

Overall: United States 9, GB&I 7.

Butch Sheenan & Tim Thelen bt Paul Wesselingh & James Whatley 2 holes.
Mike Small & Alan Schulte bt John Dwyer & Danny Taylor 2 and 1.

Chris Starkjohann & Chip Sullivan bt Andrew Barnett & Craig Goodfellow 2 and 1.

Ron Philo Jnr & Lee Rinker lost to Duncan Muscroft & George Ryall 2 and 1.

GREAT SCOTT! JAMIESON MAKES THE CUT
IN SOUTH CAROLINA

Just when it looked as if Scott Jamieson was going to miss the cut for only the second time this season on the NGA Hooters Tour, the Glasgow man produced a scintillating second round of six-under-par 66 - a nine-shot improvement - for a 36-hole tally of three-under-par 141 in the rain-delayed Charleston Miracle League Open tournament at Wescott Plantation, Summerville in South Carolina.
Edinburgh exile David Kirkpatrick failed to make the cut by one shot with 74 and 71 for 145.
Chip Deason from Birmingham, Alabama leads the chase for the $33,000 first prize with 68 and 66 for 10-under-par 134.
Jamieson has hauled himself up to a share of 22nd place.

NAIRN BEAT TAIN IN NORTHERN COUNTIES CUP FINAL

Nairn 1 beat Tain 1 by 14 holes in the final of the Northern Counties Cup tournament at Nairn.
Nairn's first pair finished 12 holes up and the second string two holes up.
In the semi-finals, Nairn beat Orkney by three hoels and Tain beat Murcar Links by seven holes.
FULL REPORT AND PICTURE BY ROBIN WILSON TOMORROW

EUROPEAN TOUR SCOREBOARD
QUINN DIRECT BRITISH MASTERS
The Belfry, Sutton Coldfield
THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
206 Mark Foster 71 66 69
208 Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 70 73 65, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 75 66 67, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 67 73 68, Ian Poulter 67 71 70, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 63 75 70, Lee Westwood 68 70 70
209 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 68 72 69
210 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 71 69 70, Colin Montgomerie 70 70 70.
211 Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 65 79 67, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 66 76 69, Michael Campbell (Nzl) 73 69 69, Robert-Jan Derksen (Ned) 69 68 74.
212 Benn Barham 70 75 67, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 74 71 67, Zane Scotland 69 73 70, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 71 70 71, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 66 72 74.
213 James Kingston (Rsa) 71 74 68, David Lynn 72 70 71, David Lynn 72 70 71, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 65 77 71, Bradley Dredge 71 70 72, Phillip Archer 68 72 73, Sam Walker 71 67 75.
214 Andrew Marshall 73 72 69, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 69 75 70, Marc Warren 70 74 70, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 70 72 72
215 David Park 72 74 69, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 69 75 71, Phillip Price 71 72 72, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 70 72 73
216 Simon Wakefield 71 76 69, Damien McGrane 78 69 69, Stephen Dodd 68 79 69, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 71 75 70, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 72 73 71, Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 72 71 73
217 Rory McIlroy 69 78 70, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 69 78 70, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 74 72 71, Paul McGinley 70 75 72, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 72 73 72, Thongchai Jaidee (Thai) 70 74 73, Taichi Teshima (Jpn) 70 74 73, Peter Hanson (Swe) 69 75 73.
218 Johan Edfors (Swe) 71 75 72, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 73 72 73, Marcel Siem (Ger) 69 76 73, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 70 74 74, Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 67 76 75
219 Juan Parron (Spa) 75 72 72, Anthony Wall 73 74 72, Christopher Hanell (Swe) 73 74 72, Oliver Wilson 70 74 75, Kenneth Ferrie 69 74 76.
220 Simon Khan 67 74 79.
221 Andrew Tampion (Aus) 70 75 76.
222 Steven O'Hara 74 73 75, Garry Houston 70 76 76, Carl Suneson (Spa) 73 73 76, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 72 73 77.
223 Marcus Higley 74 73 76, Stephen Gallacher 69 75 79.
224 Gregory Havret (Fra) 73 74 77.
226 Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 71 76 79.

SORRY, KEIR! INJURED ON OPENING

DAY AND DID NOT PLAY AGAINST

EITHER WALES OR ENGLAND

Scottishgolfview.com owes an apology to Carnoustie's Keir McNicoll for crediting him with two defeats in the second-day match against Wales in the home internationals at Co Louth earlier this week.

The fact is that Keir DID NOT PLAY either against Wales or against England on the final day because of a injury received in the first-day singles match against Ireland.

Scottishgolfview.com accepted the results displayed by the Irish Golf Union but as Keir points out in the following E-mail, they got it wrong!

Sorry, Keir.

=======================================================

E-MAIL FROM KEIR McNICOLL

Just a little email to defend myself and my home internationals' record earlier this week!
I only played two matches, both against Ireland on the first day because I damaged my hand/wrist on the final hole of the singles, and couldn't play any more matches.

The (Irish Golf Union) website said I played against Wales on Thursday but that's because George (Crawford) had to put a (Scotland) team in on Wednesday evening and he was hoping I would be fit for the morning but unfortunately I wasn't. I had to be replaced by Kevin (McAlpine) in the foursomes and John (Gallagher) in the singles against Wales.

CHILLAS ENDS THREE-YEAR WAIT FOR THIRD
WIN ON EUROPEAN SENIORS TOUR
By SCOTT CROCKETT
Senior Press Officer
European Tour
Aberdonian John Chillas ended a three-year wait for his third European Seniors Tour title when he beat England’s Glenn Ralph at the fourth hole of a sudden-death play-off to win the Scandinavian Senior Open.
The 56 year old Scot holed a 30ft putt for a birdie 2 to stay in the play-off at the third extra hole before a par 3 at the fourth extra hole – the 197yd first at Royal Copenhagen Golf Club – was enough to take the title as Ralph missed the green and could not get up and down from the bunker.
Both players ended the regulation 54 holes on eight under par 205 after Chillas – one shot off the lead overnight – carded a final round 68 while Ralph – searching for his first European Seniors Tour title – stormed through the field with a final round 65.
“I am absolutely delighted to have won as it was beginning to seem a while since my last success in 2004,” said Chillas. “It is good to know that I can still come up with the goods when it really matters.
“However, I think there were two winners today as Glenn was every bit a winner too. It is never nice to come off second best in a play-off, especially when you are trying to win your first tournament, but I was just lucky that things came down on my side.”
American Doug Johnson took third on 207, 2005 champion Bill Longmuir of Scotland was fourth on 208 while current European Tour No. 1 Carl Mason of England, who shared second place with Chillas overnight, slipped back with a final round 72 to share fifth with Italy’s Giuseppe Cali.

FINAL TOTALS
Par 213 (3 x 71)
205 J Chillas (Sco) 70 67 68, G Ralph (Eng) 72 68 65 (Chillas won at the fourth play-off hole)
207 D Johnson (USA) 69 69 69.
208 B Longmuir (Sco) 76 67 65.
209 G Cali (Ita) 70 73 66; C Mason (Eng) 68 69 72.
210 L Carbonetti (Arg) 70 70 70, R Drummond (Sco) 72 68 70, N Job (Eng) 73 69 68, J Quiros (Esp) 70 69 71.
211 B Lincoln (RSA) 71 66 74, S Owen (NZ) 73 68 70, M Poxon (Eng) 73 69 69, B Smit (RSA) 69 71 71.
212 E Darcy (Ire) 72 70 70, P Dugeny (Fra) 70 66 76, D Good (Aus) 71 71 70, P Oakley (US) 77 66 69, DJ Russell (Eng) 71 70 70.
213 S Martin (Sco) 70 73 70.
214 M Gray (Sco) 75 69 70, M Miller (Sco) 73 69 72, T Rastall (Eng) 69 73 72.
215 J Rhodes (Eng) 74 71 70, J Van Wagenen (US) 71 70 74.
216 M Pinero (Esp) 74 71 71, J Rivero (Esp) 72 72 72, G Watine (Fra) 74 73 69.
217 T Allen (Eng) 76 72 69, J Heggarty (NIr) 72 70 75, A Sowa (Arg) 77 67 73.
218 G J Brand (Eng) 73 72 73, N Ratcliffe (Aus) 75 71 72, K Spurgeon (Eng) 75 72 71.
219 J Bruner (USA) 74 70 75, B Malley (US) 73 74 72, D Merriman (Aus) 76 73 70, I Mosey (Eng) 70 75 74.
220 D Cambridge (Jam) 78 71 71, B Cameron (Eng) 74, 74, 72
222 A Garrido (Esp) 79 70 73, J Lapsley (NZ) 74 76 72.
223 A Johnsson (Swe) 77 71 75, B Lendzion (US) 78 71 74, E Rodriguez (Esp) 71 76 76.
227 T Charnley (Eng) 73 78 76, B Hardwick (Can) 75 80 72.
231 V Garcia (Esp) 77 79 75.

ERIC RAMSAY NEEDS ONE MORE VERY

GOOD ROUND TO MAKE PRO

BREAKTHROUGH IN KAZAKHSTAN

From Michael Gibbons.

Challenge Tour Press Officer

Carnoustie’s Eric Ramsay set up the biggest day of his professional career after a third round of two under par 70 took him into third place going into the final day of the Kazakhstan Open.
The 28 year old, a past winner of the Australian open amateur championship, is just two shots behind leader Ross McGowan of England on eight under par at the €330,000 European Challenge Tour event and now stands on the verge of a maiden professional victory that would secure him a place on The European Tour.
The Scot, pictured right, is currently 105th on the Challenge Tour Rankings, but with the winner in Kazakhstan picking up the largest first prize in the tour’s history of €52,800, he can barge his way into the coveted top 20 to win a place on The European Tour.
“I’m playing well and haven’t had a bogey for the last two rounds so hopefully I can take that into the final round and do well,” said Ramsay. “It would obviously be huge for me to win this event but I am trying not to think too much about that just now.”
While Ramsay moved up the leaderboard, Kirkcaldy’s Peter Whiteford endured a disappointing third round of three over 75 to fall back to three under for the tournament. George Murray is the next best Scot in the field on two under after a 71, while Scott Henderson and Richie Ramsay lie on one under after respective scores of 73 and 72.

England’s Ross McGowan, attempting to win his third Challenge Tour event of the season, fired a fine, five-under-par third round of 67 to move into the lead.

Victory for McGowan would make the 28 year old the first player to win instant and automatic promotion to the European Tour by winning three tournaments in the same season as well as propel him to the top of the Challenge Tour Rankings (depending on current No. 1 Felipe Aguilar’s finish in Kazakhstan) with just five events remaining on the 2007 Schedule.
McGowan is fully aware of his situation, but he will have to produce a similar performance to that of his third round to hold off the challenge of second placed Leif Westerberg, who is one behind McGowan on nine under par, with Eric Ramsay in third place on eight under.
“You try not to think about winning, but I have to say that my thoughts did turn to that when I was about halfway through the round today and saw that I was at the top of the leaderboard,” said McGowan.
“Obviously it would amazing to win for the third time. It would cap a great season for me and would be a great achievement. But I still have to do it tomorrow. I’ll have to play well again and hope that no-one gets on a really good run but that’s not something I can have any control over. I just have to look after myself and hope it’s good enough.”
McGowan has already began preparing to join The European Tour. He recently changed his putting grip from the claw grip to a left hand below right grip after consulting putting coach Paul Hurrian.
“I just thought that this was a good time to make changes like that,” said McGowan. “I am pretty sure that I will be on The European Tour next season so I have a bit of time to get used to the new grip.
“It feels a bit strange at the moment and I have had a couple of three putts this week but I think that’s more down to me than the grip!”
THIRD-ROUND TOTALS

Par 216 (3 x 72)
206 Ross McGowan (Eng) 68 71 67.
207 Leif Westerberg (Swe) 64 71 72.
208 Eric Ramsay (Sco) 70 68 70.
210 Richard Treis (Ger) 68 71 71, Raphaël Eyraud (Fra) 69 70 71, Chris Gane (Eng) 72 68 70.
211 Hernan Rey (Arg) 68 68 75.
212 Andrew Butterfield (Eng) 70 72 70, Jamie Donaldson (Wal) 70 71 71, Fredrik Widmark (Swe) 68 73 71, Tim Dykes (Wal) 69 71 72, Pontus Ericsson (Swe) 68 69 75.
213 Paul Waring (Eng) 79 65 69, Gareth Wright (Wal) 70 72 71, Alvaro Salto (Esp) 71 73 69, Martin Wiegele (Aut) 72 73 68, Peter Whiteford (Sco) 67 71 75.
214 Paul Dwyer (Eng) 67 74 73, Robert Coles (Eng) 72 72 70, John E Morgan (Eng) 73 67 74, Magnus Persson (Swe) 74 71 69, George Murray (Sco) 74 69 71.
215 Richie Ramsay (Sco) 74 69 72, Jan-Are Larsen (Nor) 73 69 73, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 68 74 73, Scott Henderson (Sco) 73 69 73, Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 72 71 72 ;Joost Luiten (Ned) 75 70 70, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 77 68 70, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 70 70 75.
216 Nicolas Vanhootegem (Bel) 74 71 71, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 71 71 74, Carlos Del Moral (Esp) 75 68 73, Fredrik Ohlsson (Swe) 74 71 71.
217 Sébastien Delagrange (Fra) 75 70 72, Pablo Del Grosso (Arg) 71 69 77, Iain Pyman (Eng) 72 71 74, Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 74 71 72, Pablo Larrazabal (Esp) 72 72 73, Gareth Paddison (Nzl) 71 73 73, John Mellor (Eng) 74 70 73,Phil Worthington (Eng) 76 69 72, Roope Kakko (Fin) 68 76 73.
218 Gustavo Acosta (Arg) 72 72 74, Anthony Snobeck (Fra) 70 72 76, Benoit Teilleria (Fra) 72 69 77.
219 Carlos Cardeza (Arg) 72 67 80, Juan Abbate (Arg) 73 71 75, Alvaro Velasco (Esp) 71 72 76, Jamie Little (Eng) 71 71 77, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 76 69 74, Stuart Manley (Wal) 72 72 75, André Bossert (Sui) 74 71 74.
220 Kieran Staunton (Eng) 72 73 75.
221 Philip Golding (Eng) 70 74 77, Stuart Davis (Eng) 73 69 79, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 70 75 76.
222 Adam Gee (Eng) 76 69 77, Martin Maritz (Rsa) 73 71 78.
224 Matthew Richardson (Eng) 75 70 79.
228 Inder Van Weerelt (Ned) 71 74 83.

US PGA TOUR SCOREBOARD
Turning Stone Resort Championship
Atunyote Golf Club, New York
Par 144 (2 x 72)
131 Steve Flesch 66 65
132 Brendon De Jonge 66 66, Jeff Gove 65 67
133 Charles Warren 68 65
134 Charley Hoffman 69 65, Chris Stroud 69 65, Matt Hendrix 67 67
135 Jeff Overton 70 65, Eric Axley 69 66, Jeff Maggert 71 64, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 66 69, Bill Haas 69 66, Craig Bowden 70 65, Briny Baird 69 66, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 69 66
136 Robert Gamez 68 68, Bart Bryant 68 68, Joey Sindelar 68 68, John Senden (Aus) 66 70, Tag Ridings 67 69, Craig Lile (Rsa) 69 67, Michael Allen 69 67, John Rollins 67 69, DJ Brigman 69 67, Johnson Wagner 69 67
137 Charlie Wi (Kor) 69 68, Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 73 64, Chad Campbell 65 72, Vaughn Taylor 71 66, Robert Allenby (Aus) 67 70, Joe Ogilvie 70 67, Mark Hensby (Aus) 68 69, John Mallinger 67 70, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 70 67
138 Billy Andrade 70 68, Kirk Triplett 70 68, Nathan Green (Aus) 70 68, Kyle Reifers 69 69, Corey Pavin 70 68, Parker McLachlin 70 68, Tommy Armour III 70 68
139 Jerry Kelly 68 71, Tim Herron 69 70, David Branshaw 68 71, Cliff Kresge 69 70, Fred Funk 70 69, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 71 68, Alex Cejka (Ger) 71 68, J.B. Holmes 72 67, Justin Leonard 68 71, Sean O'Hair 71 68, Tim Petrovic 69 70, Shaun Micheel 69 70, Bubba Dickerson 69 70
140 Robert Garrigus 73 67, Jeff Quinney 69 71, Todd Hamilton 70 70, Daisuke Maruyama (Jpn) 71 69, Chris Tidland 69 71, Bob Estes 70 70, Kent Jones 70 70, Brian Davis (Eng) 69 71, Andrew Buckle (Aus) 69 71, Steve Lowery 68 72, Nick Flanagan (Aus) 72 68, Cameron Beckman 69 71, Scott Gutschewski 72 68, Ryan Armour 70 70, Jay Williamson 70 70, Rocco Mediate 70 70
MISSED THE CUT
141 Michael Bradley 70 71, Tom Johnson 72 69, Michael Sim (Aus) 71 70, Anders Hansen (Den) 73 68, Matt Kuchar 70 71, Jeff Brehaut 73 68, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 72 69, Greg Owen (Eng) 72 69, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 73 68, Tom Gillis 68 73, Jason Schultz 69 72, Spike McRoy 69 72
142 Brian Gay 71 71, Michael Putnam 68 74, Jason Dufner 73 69, Eric Manning 69 73, Tom Pernice Jnr. 73 69, Bob Tway 71 71, Peter Lonard (Aus) 69 73, Steve Marino 72 70, Joe Durant 69 73, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 71 71, John Cook 68 74, Tripp Isenhour 72 70, Bob Heintz 73 69
143 John Merrick 72 71, Ted Purdy 72 71, Harrison Frazar 75 68, Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa) 71 72, Steve Wheatcroft 71 72, Jim Rutledge (Can) 72 71, George McNeill 72 71, Craig Barlow 74 69, Glen Day 73 70, Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 73 70, Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 70 73, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 71 72, Rich Barcelo 70 73
144 Marco Dawson 72 72, Neal Lancaster 75 69, Darron Stiles 71 73, Bob May 74 70, Jerry Smith 74 70, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 74 70, Craig Kanada 75 69, Bryce Molder 71 73, Jason Gore 73 71, Ryan Moore 71 73, Frank Lickliter II 70 74
145 Mike Hulbert 72 73, Gavin Coles (Aus) 73 72, Steve Allan (Aus) 76 69, Kevin Na (Kor) 73 72, Ryan Palmer 74 71, Dicky Pride 74 71, Olin Browne 75 70, Thomas Levet (Fra) 72 73
146 Michael Boyd 73 73, Paul Gow (Aus) 70 76, Gabriel Hjertstedt (Swe) 73 73
147 Lee Janzen 73 74, Greg Kraft 76 71
148 Kevin null Stadler 73 75, Duffy Waldorf 77 71, Notah Begay III 73 75, Chris Couch 74 74
151 Tom Byrum 74 77
152 Charles Meola 79 73, Douglas Labelle 73 79
Withdrawn Bill Glasson

GB&I ONE POINT AHEAD AFTER DAY ONE
PGA CUP MATCH AGAINS USA IN GEORGIA

Great Britain & Ireland's quest to climb the Everest of PGA Cup golf and claim a first win on US soil is still very much alive in Georgia after they edged the first day's play by 4½-3½.
Gary Alliss's team split the honours after the morning four-balls but got their noses in front at the Oconee Course with a 2½-1½ scoreline in the afternoon foursomes.
The much touted bulldog spirit was in plentiful supply with good pals Michael Nesbit and Craig Goodfellow playing a 'get out of jail' card to rescue a vital half after winning the final two holes against Don Yrene and Ryan Benzel.
It was a hammer blow especially given the events on the last hole which had seen Goodfellow pull his tee shot and leave Nesbit dangerously close to the water and in all kinds of trouble.
Goodfellow made amends however with a difficult pitch out of rough to 10ft and Nesbit holed out after the Americans could only make bogey.
"We knew it was a big game and said on 17 that if we could get a half point it could make a massive difference in the overall complexion of the game," said Nesbit.
Their broad smiles grew even wider minutes later when a brilliant chip from George Ryall ensured a 1UP victory for he and partner Jon Bevan over Lee Rinker and Chris Starkjohann.
"That was the best fun I've had on a golf course for a long time, I absolutely loved it," said Ryall.
He certainly loved it when he drained a memorable 40ft putt for a two on the par three 15th immediately after Starkjohann had chipped in from off the green.
"It's a massive lift to the guys to go in front and it's not going to do anyone any harm," added Ryall of the day's work. "I think we've got a pretty strong team and we're confident we can compete."
Bevan was equally in his element. "The matches have been good, the Americans are fantastic players and nice guys with it too so I'm having a ball," he said.
The other point scorers in the afternoon session were five time PGA Cup veteran Paul Wesselingh and Andrew Barnett who moved effortlessly to a 2&1 win over Tim Thelen and Butch Sheehan."We play well together, we've got similar types of game and we played some great shots," said Wesselingh.
"The most important thing is that after the first day we're still in there and haven't played ourselves out of it.
"I always feel that in the foursomes and fourballs we should be doing our best stuff while America normally come through in the singles."
Mike Small and Alan Schulte served a timely reminder of the talent lurking in the American ranks by uncorking some vintage golf to dispatch John Dwyer and Duncan Muscroft 5&4 but it failed to take the gloss off a superb GB&I display and Alliss admitted he was 'absolutely delighted' with the performance.
"I'm thrilled to have our noses in front but there is a huge way to go and we've got to try and deliver more of the same tomorrow," he said.
"There was some incredible golf today from both sides. The way James Whatley played in his first appearance was awesome while the way George and Andrew came out in the afternoon after sitting out the fourballs showed just how much they wanted it."
The morning fourballs were nip and tuck all the way with Bevan and Muscroft clinching a half point on the last against Rinker and Thelen.
"With a partner like that who never misses you can't fail," said Muscroft.
Earlier Goodfellow and Nesbit blitzed opponents Chip Sullivan and Ron Philo Junior 6&5, galloping to seven under through 13 to earn an early lunch.
Nesbit hailed Goodfellow's stunning second shot out of trees on the par five 1st as the catalyst for their birdie spree.
"Craig played a great shot on the first which set us on our way," said Nesbit. "I don't know whether it stunned them a bit but it was the kick-start we needed to get us going."
America's Ryan Benzel and Don Yrene defeated John Dwyer and Danny Taylor 5&3 but the two Ws - Wesselingh and Whatley - went to the wire against Small and Schulte to finish all square.
Whatley was happy with a half and pleased with how he coped with the occasion.
"I was nervous on the first tee but that's why you play golf," he said. "I thrive on it and I feel like I channel those nerves in the right direction. "I've been nervous before and probably dealt with it in the wrong way. I'm only 24 but I think I've got a lot of experience of playing matches like that and I think I know how to deal with it now."

FRIDAY AFTERNOON FOURSOMES RESULTS

(United States names first)

USA 1 1/2, GB&I 2 1/2

Don Yrene & Ryan Benzel halved with Michael Nesbit & Craig Goodfellow

Tim Thelen & Butch Sheenan lost to Paul Wesselingh & Andrew Barnett 2 and 1.

Lee Rinker & Chris Starkjohann lost to Jon Bevan & George Ryall 1 hole.

Mike Small & Alan Schulte bt John Dwyer & Duncan Muscroft 5 and 4.

FRIDAY TOTAL POINTS:
United States 3 1/2, Great Britain & Ireland 4 1/2.

Saturday morning sees foursomes again:

8.00 (local time) Mike Small & Ryan Benzel vs Paul Wesselingh & James Whatley
8.15 Alan Schulte & Don Yrene vs Jon Bevan & George Ryall
8.30 Chip Sullivan & Chris Starkjohann vs Andrew Barnett & Duncan Muscroft
8.45 Ron Philo Jnr & Tim Thelen vs Craig Goodfellow & Michael Nesbit

HONOURS EVEN AT END OF FIRST SESSION
IN PGA CUP MATCH IN UNITED STATES

An exciting morning of PGA Cup four-balls ended all square after ice cool Jon Bevan kept his nerve to halve the final match on Oconee Course's difficult par-4 18th.
The Wessex Golf Centre pro sank a four footer to claim a half for Great Britain & Ireland against the powerful US combo of Tim Thelen and Lee Rinker.
"What a player, he never misses," said his partner Duncan Muscroft. "With a partner like that you can't fail. We were never up but what a couple of great players Tim Thelen and Lee Rinker are - I haven't seen the others but would think they are probably the toughest players on their team.
"We were two down after eight but I birdied nine, 10 and 11 and we got it back to square but they threw a bomb at us on 15 when they holed a monster putt but we got out of jail on 16."
Earlier a rampant display by close friends Craig Goodfellow and Michael Nesbit, who were the third pairing out, enabled GB&I to post the first blue numbers on the scoreboard. The North-east of England duo blitzed opponents Chip Sullivan and Ron Philo Junior 6 and 5, galloping to seven under par through 13 to earn an early lunch.
Nesbit hailed Goodfellow's stunning second shot out of trees on the par-5 first hole as the catalyst for their birdie spree.
"I didn't think it would be that comfortable but we're all playing well and Craig played a great shot on the first which set us on our way," said Nesbit.
"I don't know whether it stunned them a bit but it was the kick-start we needed to get us going.
"We just backed each other up and in fourballs that is the key. There were a lot of holes where we were both putting for birdie so it's given us real confidence.
"I think the fact we know each other helped. Of course there's some nerves, but you get the odd joke in which helps.
"We've played a lot of four-ball golf together, just knocking it around with the lads. And it helps because the more relaxed and comfortable you are the more likely you are to play better."
America's first point arrived shortly after when the second match out saw Ryan Benzel and Don Yrene defeat John Dwyer and Danny Taylor. The Americans pulled clear with birdies on nine, 10, 12, 13, 14 and 15 to wrap a 5 and 3 win.
It was nip and tuck all the way in the first match between the two Ws - Paul Wesselingh and James Whatley - and Mike Small and Alan Schulte.
Small drew first blood with a birdie on the first but the Derbyshire pair hit straight back with rookie Whatley nailing consecutive birdies. At one stage they were two up after seven but were pegged back on the back nine, eventually ending all square after bogeying the par four 16th.
Wesselingh hailed his 24-year-old partner's performance.
"We had a couple of chances and I missed a couple of putts in the middle of the game, but we played fantastic," he said.
"I was quite nervous on the first couple of holes, but James played absolutely fantastic. He had such a good start. He's handled himself really well."
Whatley reveled in the unique atmosphere of match-play despite a few nerves."It would have been nice to get a full point but we'll take a half," he said.
"I was nervous on the first tee but that's why you play golf. I thrive on it and I feel like I channel those nerves in the right direction.
"I've been nervous before and probably dealt with it in the wrong way. I'm only 24 but I think I've got a lot of experience of playing matches like that and I think I know how to deal with it now."
GB&I captain Gary Alliss was delighted with the way his pairings gelled."It was incredibly exciting, everybody played very well and again the hard part was telling two players they've got to sit out the foursomes," he said.
"The spirit, commitment and partnerships they displayed was as I expected and except for a few grayer hairs and nerves it was great experience."
The afternoon foursome pairings are (US names first):

Don Yrene & Ryan Benzel vs Michael Nesbit and Craig Goodfellow

Tim Thelen & Butch Sheehan vs Paul Wesselingh & Andrew Barnett

Lee Rinker & Chris Starkjohann vs Jon Bevan & George Ryall

Mike Small & Alan Schulte vs John Dwyer & Duncan Muscroft


MORNING FOUR-BALL RESULTS

UNITED STATES 2, GB & IRELAND 2
US pairings first

Mike Small & Alan Schulte halved with Paul Wesselingh & James Whatley.

Ryan Benzel & Don Yrene bt John Dwyer & Danny Taylor 5 and 3.

Chip Sullivan & Ron Philo Jnr lost to Craig Goodfellow & Michael Nesbitt 6 and 5.

Tim Thelen & Lee Rinker halved with Jon Bevan & Duncan Muscroft.

JAMIESON LOOKS LIKE MISSING THE CUT
IN RAIN-HIT HOOTERS' TOUR EVENT

Scott Jamieson from Glasgow looks like missing only his second cut on the NGA Hooters Tour in the United States after a first-round 75 (three over par) in the rain-delayed Charleston Miracle League Open at the Westcott Plantation Golf Club in Summerville, South Carolina.
Jamieson had four birdies in halves of 35 and 40 over the 7,227yd, par-72 course but a double bogey at the 12th and single bogeys at the 13th and 17th knocked him back into a share of 115th place.
Only the leading 60 and ties will survive after the second round.
David Kirkpatrick from Edinburgh, now resident at Lakeland, Florida, is likely to be eliminated too if he cannot make up ground after a first-round 74 which had a double bogey 6 at the first hole, birdies at the second and fourth but biobeys at the 17th and 18th in halves of 36 and 38. He is sharing 106th place.
American Casey Crain, one of the few to have completed two rounds, is leading on five-under-par 139 with a 74 and a 65.

EDMOND IN NORTH-EAST TEAM AS THEY GO
FOR PLACE IN SGU FINALS AT POWFOOT

Royal Aberdeen's Mark Halliday is unavailable for the North-east District's Scottish area golf team championship tie against Fife at Cruden Bay on Sunday. His place is taken by Jaffray Cup match-play winner Barrie Edmond (Bon Accord).
This is the only change in the six-man team who won a weather-hit tie 2-1 away to Clackmannanshire on August 5.
If North-east beat Fife they will be one of the four qualifiers for the semi-finals at Powfoot on October 6.

SIX SCOTS MAKE IT THROUGH TO STAGE
2 IN SPAIN BUT LOFTUS, URQUHART
MISS OUT AT ST ANNES OLD LINKS

Jason McCreadie, Craig Lee, Edward Thomson, Graeme Brown, Elliot Saltman and Jack Doherty were the Scots among the 36 players with totals of 287 or better who advanced today from the European Tour Qualifying School Stage 1 event at St Annes Old Links to Stage 2 at one of several venues in Spain next month.
McCreadie, Lee, Thomson, Brown and Doherty needed only to avoid a last round disaster to miss out but for Saltman it represented a tremendous surge up over the safety line on the last nine. Elliot shot a five-under-par 67 to qualify in joint 17th place on 286.
Spare a thought for Scottish professional champion Mark Loftus (Cowglen) who found his form too late - a 65 in the last round - for 288, which meant he failed by just one shot to board the plane for Spain.
Northern Open champion Murray Urquhart (Inverness) finished eight shots outside the safety line with a 75 for 295.
In his weekly column for the "Press and Journal" this week, Urquhart speculated that he might have to look for a job outwith golf if he did not make it even to the 2008 Challenge Tour (you have to make it to the Final Q School to have that as a fall-back position).
QUALIFIERS AT ST ANNES OLD LINKS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
275 D Horsey (Eng) 68 68 71 68.
278 J McCreadie (Sco) 68 70 70 70.
280 C Lee (Sco) 69 70 71 70.
282 R Davies (Wal) 67 72 74 69.
283 N Lemke (Swe) 68 74 75 66, M Ramsdale (Eng) 70 70 74 69, C Sands (Eng) 74 72 71 66.
Other Scots qualifiers for Stage 2 in Spain:
285 E Thomson 69 73 72 71 (jt 13th).
286 G Brown 70 74 70 72, E Saltman 69 73 77 67 (jt 17th).
287 J Doherty 68 72 74 73 (jt 27th).
MISSED CUT-OFF
288 M Loftus (Sco) 77 76 70 65 (jt 37th).
295 M Urquhart (Sco) 75 75 70 75 (jt 73rd).

JOHN CHILLAS SHARING SECOND

PLACE IN SCANDINAVIAN

SENIOR OPEN

By SCOTT CROCKETT
Chief Press Officer, European Tour

French football pride might have suffered a dent recently after their 1-0 defeat by Scotland, but their golfing aspirations were in rude health in Denmark as Philippe Dugeny grabbed the lead going into the final round of the Scandinavian Senior Open.
The 55 year old, who has still to taste success on the European Seniors Tour, carded a fine second 66 at the Royal Copenhagen Golf Club for a six under par total of 136 and a one shot lead over Aberdonian John Chillas, pictured right, South Africa’s Bobby Lincoln and England's Carl Mason, the tournament favourite and current No. 1 on the Order of Merit.
Dugeny, who finished in a tie for second place behind Mason two weeks ago in the PGA Seniors Championship at the Stoke By Nayland Golf Club in Suffolk, continued to tap into a rich vein of form in Denmark in a second round thankfully not troubled by the rain showers which blighted the first day’s play.
To the turn in three under par 32, the Frenchman dropped a shot at the second hole, his 11th of the day, when he drove into the thick rough, but recovered well with birdies at the fourth, fifth and eighth holes to be home in 34.
“Two things have been the key for me this week,” said Dugeny. “I have driven the ball well, which you have to do here to keep out of the rough, and I have putted well too. I had 31 putts on the first day but only 29 today – that is very good.
“I played well a couple of weeks ago and I have carried that on here. It is all about gaining confidence in yourself and in your game. When I joined the (Seniors) Tour I was nervous but I have got over that now and I am looking forward to the chance of going out and trying to win for the first time.”
Joint second placed Chillas, who added a 67 to his opening 70 for a five under par total of 137, could have led on his own had the curse of the Copenhagen course’s 500 yard fourth hole not plagued the two time European Seniors Tour winner over the first two days.
The 56 year old Scot suffered a triple bogey 8 on the hole during Thursday’s first round after losing a ball in the deep rough and had hoped to make amends in Friday’s second round but, after finding the green in three, proceeded to three putt for a bogey 6!
“Some players play a course and immediately don’t like this hole or that because it doesn’t suit their eye but I’ve never been like that,” said Chillas. “I don’t know what’s happened with the fourth here but it’s obviously decided it doesn’t like me! But, you can’t change history and I’ll just try and go out and do better there tomorrow.”
Alongside Chillas, first round leader Mason, who is aiming for his fifth victory of the season, had a quiet second round, the only departures from par in his 69 being birdies at the eighth, 11th and 15th and a bogey 5 at the seventh, while Lincoln also only dropped one shot and had six birdies in his second round 66.
The tournament was played in a pro-am format over the first two days, with the professionals being partnered by three amateurs each, but the professionals will go it alone for Saturday’s third and final round.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 142 (2 x 71)
136 P Dugeny (Fra) 70 66.
137 J Chillas (Sco) 70 67, B Lincoln (RSA) 71 66, C Mason (Eng) 68 69.
138 D Johnson (US) 69 69.
139 J Quiros (Esp) 70 69.
140 L Carbonetti (Arg) 70 70, R Drummond (Sco) 72 68, G Ralph (Eng) 72 68, B Smit (RSA) 69 71.
141 S Owen (Nzl) 73 68, D J Russell (Eng) 71 70, J Van Wagenen (US) 71 70.
142 E Darcy (Ire) 72 70, D Good (Aus) 71 71, J Heggarty (Nir) 72 70, N Job (Eng) 73 69, M Miller (Sco) 73 69, M Poxon (Eng) 73 69, T Rastall (Eng) 69 73.
143 G Cali (Ita) 70 73, B Longmuir (Sco) 76 67, S Martin (Sco) 70 73, P Oakley (US) 77 66,
144 J Bruner (US) 74 70, M Gray (Sco) 75 69, J Rivero (Esp) 72 72, A Sowa (Arg) 77 67.
145 G J Brand (Eng) 74 71, I Mosey (Eng) 70 75, M Pinero (Esp) 74 71, J Rhodes (Eng) 74 71,
146 N Ratcliffe (Aus) 75 71.
147 B Malley (US) 73 74, E Rodriguez (Esp) 71 76, K Spurgeon (Eng) 75 72, G Watine (Fra) 74 73.
148 T Allen (Eng) 76 72, B Cameron (Eng) 74 74, A Johnsson (Swe) 77 71.
149 D Cambridge (Jam) 78 71, A Garrido (Esp) 79 70, B Lendzion 78 71, D Merriman (Aus) 76 73.
150 J Lapsley (NZ) 74 76.
151 T Charnley (Eng) 73 79.
155 B Hardwick (USA) 75 80.
156 V Garcia (Esp) 77 79.

ENGLAND BEAT SCOTLAND 9-6 TO
TAKE THE HOME INTERNATIONALS

Scotland’s two-year reign as men’s home amateur international champions is over. They lost the title decider against England 9-6 at Co Louth Golf Club, Ireland today.
And Ireland pipped the Scots for second place by beating Wales 10-5. That gave them a 24-21 "For and Against" compared with Scotland's 21 1/2-23 1/2, both teams having finished with one win, one draw and one defeat on their record.
The Scots never recovered on the final day from winning only one of the morning foursomes from England – James Byrne and Kevin McAlpine beating Walker Cup man Daniel Willett (who lost all six ties over the three days) and Matthew Baldwin by two holes.
Trailing by 3 ½-1 ½ going into the singles, Scotland did well in the top singles ties.
Scott Hendry, Wallace Booth and Glen Campbell wiped out the morning deficit with victories but that was the high point of the day for Scotland.
Byrne, Callum Macaulay, Paul O’Hara, John Gallagher and McAlpine all lost their singles ties. Gavin Dear was the only Scottish victor from games 4 to 10. Jonathan King got a halved match.
The MVP of the tournament was Irish champion Shane Lowry with 5 1/2pt out of six. He was closely followed by England’s Ben Evans and Dale Whitnell who had 5pt each.
Scotland’s top men were Wallace Booth and Scott Henry on the 4pt mark, followed by James Byrne on 3 ½.
Scottish champion John Gallagher did not have a good series. He won only once in five outings. Keir McNicoll injured a hand/wrist in the closing stages of the first day singles against Ireland and was unable to play against either Ireland or England.
Ireland beat Wales 10-5 in the other closing match.

Friday details:

WALES 5, IRELAND 10

Foursomes (2-3)
N Edwards & R Enoch lost to S Lowry & S Ward 3 and 2.
A Runcie & J Shufflebotham bt P Murray & J Lyons 3 and 2.
C Evans & R Thomas lost to P Cutler & C Curley 4 and 3.
L Matthews & J Howie bt N Kearney & C McNamara 3 and 2.
B Westgate & Z Gould lost to C Doran & N O’Briain.

Singles (3-7)
Edwards lost to Lowry 4 and 3.
Enoch bt Murray 5 and 4.
Matthews halved with Cutler.
Evans bt Kearney 5 and 4.
R Thmas lost to Ward 4 and 3.
Gould lost to O’Briain 5 and 4.
Westgate lost to McNamara 1 hole.
L Thomas lost to Curley 3 and 2.
Runcie lost to Doran 1 hole.
Howie halved with Lyons.

SCOTLAND 6, ENGLAND 9
Foursomes (1 ½-3 ½)
S Henry & J Gallagher lost to B Evans & M Cryer 3 and 2.
W Booth & J King lost to B Parkere & G Wolstenholme 1 hole.
J Byrne & K McAlpine bt D Willett & M Baldwin 2 holes.
C Macaulay & G Dear halved with C Wood & S Hutsby.
G Campbell & P O’Hara lost to G Boyd & D Whitnell.

Singles (4 ½- 5 ½)
Henry bt Evans 1 hole,
Booth bt Cryer 2 holes.
Campbell bt Willett 2 and 1.
Byrne lost to Wolstenholme 2 and 1.
Macaulay lost to Parker 2 and 1.
King halved with Ford.
O’Hara lost to Wood 1 hole.
Dear bt Hutsby 4 and 3.
Gallagher lost to Boyd 5 and 4.
McAlpine lost to Whitnell 4 and 3.

FINAL PLACINGS

1 England 2 1/2pt, 2 Ireland 1 1/2pt (24-21), 3 Scotland 1 1/2pt (21 1/2-23 1/2), 4 Wales 1/2pt.

TELL-TALE RECORDS

SCOTLAND

Booth LW WW LW - 4pt out of 6.
Henry LW WW LW - 4pt out of 6
Byrne DW LW WL- 3 1/2pt out of 6.
Dear XW DL DW - 3pt out of 5.
Campbell LW WL LW - 3pt out of 6.
Macaulay WL DW DL - 3pt out of 6
McAlpine WL LD WL - 2 1/2pt out of 6.
O'Hara LW WL LL- 2pt out of 6.
King LX WL LD - 1 1/2pt out of 5.
Gallagher LL WL LL - 1pt out of 6.
McNicoll DL XX XX- 1/2pt out of 2.

ENGLAND

Evans WW WW WL - 5pt out of 6.
Whitnell LW WW WW - 5pt out of 6.
Wolstenholme DL WW WW - 4 1/2pt out of 6.
Boyd LW WL WW - 4pt out of 6.
Cryer WL WW WL - 4pt out of 6.
Parker DL WD WW - 4pt out of 6.
Wood LW LW DW - 3 1/2pt out of 6.
Ford XW LL XD - 1 1/2pt out of 5.
Hutsby LW LL DL - 1 1/2pt out of 6.
Baldwin LX XX LX - 0pt out of 2.
Willett LL LL LL - 0pt out of 6.

IRELAND

Lowry DW WW WW - 5 1/2pt out of 6.
O'Briain WX LW WW - 4pt out of 5.
Ward DL WD WW - 4pt out of 6.
Curley WW LL WW - 4pt out of 6.
Murray WL WW LL - 3pt out of 6.
McNamara WW LL LW - 3pt out of 6.
Lyons WL WL LD - 2 1/2pt out of 6.
Cutler LW LL WD - 2 1/2pt out of 6.
O'Hanlon WL LL WW - 1pt out of 4.
Kearney LL LW LL - 1pt out of 6.
Doran XL XX WW - 2pt out of 3.

WALES

Evans WW LW LW - 4pt out of 6.
Matthews WW LL WD - 3 1/2pt out of 6
Enoch LL WW LW - 3pt out of 6.
Howie WL LD WD - 3pt out of 6.
Runcie DW LL WL - 2 1/2pt out of 6.
Gould WL DW LL - 2 1/2pt out of 6.
Edwards XX WW LL - 2pt out of 4.
R Thomas WW LL LL - 2pt out of 6.
Westgate WL DL LL - 1 1/2pt out of 6.
Shufflebotham LL XL WX- 1pt out of 4.
L Thomas DL LX XL - 1/2pt out of 4.

X indicates not played in that session.

NICOLL BREAKS CRUDEN BAY

RECORD WITH SEVEN-

UNDER-PAR 63

Callum Nicoll (Prestwick) shaved a shot off the Cruden Bay professional course record with a great round of seven-under-par 63 despite the windy conditions for the £6,000 VSA Tartan pro-am today (Friday).
Nicoll, pictured right, won the £1,000 top prize by five strokes with a bogey-free round which included an eagle 2 at the third and birdies at the second, sixth, eighth, 12th and 18th in halves of 31 and 32.
His figures over one of Scotland's classic links courses were:
OUT: 4 3 2 3 4 4 4 3 4 - 31.
IN: 4 3 3 5 4 3 3 4 3 - 32.
Colin Brooks set the original pro record mark of 64 some years ago, since when there have been changes to the course. Gordon Law (Uphall) set the "new" mark of 64 in winning the Northern Open at Cruden Bay in 2003.
Nicoll spreadeagled the field with Colin Gillies (Kingsfield) a distant runner-up on 68, one ahead of Fraser Mann (Musselburgh).
Callum also led the BIS Salamis trio of amateurs, Kenny Bennett (handicap 4), Doug Shiel (18) and Keith Beattie (8), to victory in the team event with a net score of 13-under-par 57.
LEADING PROFESSIONALS
Par 70
63 C Nicoll (Prestwick).
68 C Gillies (Kingsfield).
69 F Mann (Musselburgh).
70 M King (Kingsfield).
72 A Lockhart (Ladybank), R Arnott (Bishopbriggs), P McKechnie (Braid Hills), C Kelly (Cawder), G Hutcheon (Peterculter).
73 C Waddell (Braid Hills), L Mann (Carnoustie), P Wardell (Whitekirk).

EUROPEAN TOUR SCOREBOARD
Quinn Direct British Masters
The Belfry, Sutton Coldfield, England
Par 144 (2 x 72)
137 Mark Foster 71 66, Robert-Jan Derksen (Ned) 69 68
138 Lee Westwood 68 70, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 63 75, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 66 72, Ian Poulter 67 71, Sam Walker 71 67
140 Colin Montgomerie 70 70, Nick Dougherty 72 68, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 68 72, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 67 73, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 71 69, Phillip Archer 68 72
141 Simon Khan 67 74, Bradley Dredge 71 70, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 71 70, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 75 66
142 Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 70 72, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 65 77, Zane Scotland 69 73, David Lynn 72 70, Michael Campbell (Nzl) 73 69, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 66 76, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 70 72
143 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 72 71, Kenneth Ferrie 69 74, Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 67 76, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 70 73, Phillip Price 71 72
144 Peter Hanson (Swe) 69 75, Taichi Teshima (Jpn) 70 74, Marc Warren 70 74, Thongchai Jaidee (Thai) 70 74, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 65 79, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 70 74, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 69 75, Oliver Wilson 70 74, Stephen Gallacher 69 75, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 69 75
145 Andrew Marshall 73 72, Marcel Siem (Ger) 69 76, Marftin Kaymer (Ger) 72 73, James Kingston (Rsa) 71 74, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 72 73, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 74 71, Paul McGinley 70 75, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 72 73, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 73 72, Andrew Tampion (Aus) 70 75, Benn Barham 70 75
146 Carl Suneson (Spa) 73 73, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 71 75, David Park 72 74, Garry Houston 70 76, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 74 72, Johan Edfors (Swe) 71 75
147 Marcus Higley 74 73, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 69 78, Christopher Hanell (Swe) 73 74, Stephen Dodd 68 79, Gregory Havret (Fra) 73 74, Damien McGrane 78 69, Anthony Wall 73 74, Rory McIlroy 69 78, Simon Wakefield 71 76, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 71 76, Juan Parron (Spa) 75 72, Steven O'Hara 74 73
MISSED THE CUT
148 Kyron Sullivan 73 75, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 71 77, Richard Bland 75 73, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 74 74, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 69 79, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 71 77, Graeme Storm 77 71, Graeme McDowell 72 76, James Hepworth 74 74, Alexander Noren (Swe) 74 74, Robert Rock 73 75
149 Santiago Luna (Spa) 73 76, Ross Fisher 70 79, Christian Nilsson (Swe) 70 79, Ariel Canete (Arg) 76 73, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 74 75, Simon Dyson 77 72, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 73 76, David Griffiths 74 75
150 Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 71 79, Anton Haig (Rsa) 76 74, Peter Baker 74 76, David Howell 72 78, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 76 74, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 76 74
151 Mattias Eliasson (Swe) 75 76, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 79 72, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 76 75, Christian Cevaer (Fra) 74 77, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 78 73, Sion Bebb 75 76, Cesar Monasterio (Arg) 77 74, Tom Whitehouse 75 76
152 Matthew Millar (Aus) 73 79, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 77 75, Paul Broadhurst 76 76, Miles Tunnicliff 74 78, Barry Lane 74 78, Gary Orr 76 76, Darren Clarke 74 78, Gary Lockerbie 76 76, Peter Gustafsson (Swe) 76 76, Hugo Santos (Por) 76 76
153 Mark Pilkington 72 81, Johan Axgren (Swe) 76 77, Simon Hurd 80 73, Paul Lawrie 77 76, Sam Little 74 79, Joakim Backstrom (Swe) 78 75
154 Sven Struver (Ger) 77 77, David Carter 73 81, Lloyd Saltman 75 79, James Heath 76 78, Terry Price (Aus) 76 78
155 Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 78 77, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 79 76, Alastair Forsyth 72 83, Lee Slattery 79 76
156 Ian Garbutt 77 79, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 74 82, Damien Mooney 77 79, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 75 81
157 Philip Walton 77 80, David Frost (Rsa) 74 83
158 Oliver Fisher 72 86, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 78 80
159 Richard Finch 82 77
163 Edward Rush 77 86
Disqualified Sandy Lyle
Retired Scott Drummond, Andrew Coltart, Gary Murphy
Withdrew Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe), Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra), Mardan Mamat (Sing)

ORKNEY SURPRISE PACKET OF THIS YEAR'S
NORTHERN COUNTIES CUP AT NAIRN

Orkney, one of the eight clubs who were originators of the Northern Counties Cup golf tournament 107 years ago, are hot on the trail of their first-ever success in the men's double foursomes knock-out trophy.
Martin Fleet, Mark McGinn, Stuart Rendall and Andrew Bonner are proving the surprise packet of this weeks' tournament at Nairn Golf Club.
They reached Saturday morning's semi-finals - in which they will play the host club's No 1 team - by beating a strong-going Deeside team by five holes.
Fleet and McGinn finished three up on Andrew Campbell and Alastair Fiddes, while Rendall and Bonner were two holes to the good against Simon Cruickshank and John Robertson.
Nairn swept past Fraserburgh in the round of the last eight, beationg them by nine holes. Robert Smith and Neil Hampton finished four holes up on Kris Nicol and John Mitchell, Alex Scott and Steve Macdonald beat Malcolm Tait and Graham Smtih by five holes.
Murcar Links and Tain 1 will meet in the first semi-final.
Murcar Links survived a topsy-turvy quarter-final against Peterhead. Murcar Links' top pairing of Terry Mathieson and Billy Main went down by four holes but their second string of Anthony Bews and Ian Galbraith more than made up the difference with a seven-hole winning margin.

RESULTS

THIRD ROUND
Loch Ness bt Royal Dornoch by one hole (S Macpherson, A Murdoch 0, D Chaolmers, J Gunn 6; D Joel, J Treasurer 7, B Nicholson, C Mailley 0).
Tain 1 bt Inverness 1 by two holes (J Macleod, A Everett 2, J Forbes, E Forbes 0; B Ferries, R Macleod 0, B J Thomson, R MacDonald 0).
Peterhead bt Duff House Royal 1 by eight holes (P McLean, C Forman 4, C Farquhar, R Forgan 0; I Forman, R Cross 4, D Morrison, A Milne 0).
Murcar Links bt Moray 2 by one hole (T Mathieson, B Main 0, I Geddes, P Macpherson 2; A Bews, I Galbraith 3, B Harris, J Martin 0).
Deeside bt Nairn 2 by three holes (A Campbell, A J Fiddes 0, D Macintosh, S Tomisson 1; S Cruickshank, J Robertson 4, P Saggers, P Tomisson 0).
Orkney 1 bt Inchmarlo by six holes (M Fleet, M McGinn 4, T Spencer, D Cowe 0; S Rendall, A Bonner 2, G Craig, C Robb 0).
Nairn 1 bt Nigg Bay by one hole (R Smith, N D Hampton 4, I Welch, R Neilson 0; A Scott, S Macdonald 0, G Grimmer, L O’Conner 3).
Fraserburgh bt Cruden Bay 1 by three holes (K Nicol, J Mitchell 4, M Buchan, M Christie 0; M Tait, G Smith 0, L Phillips, R Cooper 1).

QUARTER-FINALS

Tain 1 bt Loch Ness by six holes (J Macleod, Everett 1, Joel, Treasurer 0; Ferries, R Macleod 5, Macpherson, Murdoch 0).

Murcar Links bt Peterhead by three holes (Mathieson, Main 0, McLean, Forman 4; Bews, Galbraith 7, Forman, Cross 0).

Orkney bt Deeside by five holes (Fl;eet, McGinn 3, Campbell, Fiddes 0; Rendall, Bonner 2, Cruickshank, Robertson 0).

Nairn 1 bt Fraserburgh by nine holes (Smith, Hampton 4, Nicol, Mitchell 0; Scott, Macdonald 5, Tait, Smith 0).

SATURDAY MORNING SEMI-FINALS
9.0 Tain 1 v Murcar Links.
9.15 Orkney v Nairn 1.

FINAL at 2pm.

ERIC RAMSAY AND PETER WHITEFORD MOVE
UP TO CHALLENGE IN KAZAKHSTAN OPEN

From Michael Gibbons
Press Officer, European Challenge Tour

Carnoustie’s Eric Ramsay and Peter Whiteford of Kirkcaldy moved within striking distance of a potentially life-changing victory at the European Challenge Tour’s Kazakhstan Open today.
The Scots duo are tied for fourth place on six under par 136 after respective second rounds of 68 and 71 at the Nurtau Golf Club, just four strokes off the lead held by Sweden’s Leif Westerberg with 36 holes to play.
Ramsay and Whiteford are chasing the richest first prize in Challenge Tour history of €52,800 in Kazakhstan, a prize that would take them to within touching distance of a place on The 2008 European Tour.
Currently 105th and 83rd on the Rankings, victory in Kazakhstan would propel both men well inside the coveted top 20 that are awarded with European Tour cards at the end of the season in just four weeks.
Ramsay and Whiteford will be joined at the weekend by countrymen Scott Henderson (two under), George Murray (one under) and Richie Ramsay (one under), while Euan Little, Jamie McLeary and Raymond Russell missed out on the one over par halfway cut.

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
135 L Westerberg 64 71.
136 R Hernan 68 68.
137 P Ericsson 68 69.
138 E Ramsay 70 68, P Whiteford 67 71.
Other scores:
139 R McGowan 68 71.]
140 T Dykes 69 71, C Gane 72 69, J E Morgan 73 67.
141 J Donaldson 70 71, P Dwyer 67 74.
142 S Henderson 73 69, G Wright 70 72 (jt 48th).
143 G Murray 74 69, R Ramsay 74 69 (jt 66th).
144 P Waring 79 65.
MISSED THE CUT (145 in; 146 out)
147 E Little 71 76, J McLeary 73 74.
148 G Maybin 75 73.
152 R Russell 76 76.
155 A McArthur 76 79.

R&A PRESS RELEASE

THE R&A TO DISCONTINUE BRITISH
MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

The R&A has elected to discontinue the British Mid-Amateur Championship and remove it from its championship calendar. The British Mid-Amateur, first played in 1995, restricts entry to male amateur golfers aged 25 and over. Despite various reviews of the championship over recent years, small fields for the event and a subsequent lack of quality in depth, mean that the event is no longer viable.
Commenting on the decision The R&A’s Director of Championships, David Hill, said: "The British Mid-Amateur has produced some notable champions beginning with Gary Wolstenholme in 1995 but it has struggled to establish itself as a sufficiently distinctive event in the British men's amateur golfing calendar.”
Matthew Cryer will be the final player to have his name engraved on the Mid Amateur trophy, having won earlier this year at Alwoodley Golf Club. A place in history awaits the Englishman as the trophy is destined for the British Golf Museum in one year’s time.

COMMENT BY THE EDITOR, COLIN FARQUHARSON

Mid-amateur tournament golf has struggled to find an identity for itself in the British Isles because - and this is my opinion - it was imported as a concept from the United States and our powers-that-be accepted the American minimum age of 25 without questioning it.
Mid-amateur golf should be for those 35 years old or over and up to the age of 55 from which age a man is eligible to play in senior golf (50 for ladies).
The European Golf Association got it right when they started a European men's mid-amateur championship and made 35 the minimum age.

Let us know your view. E-mail it to colin@scottishgolfview.com

MONTY WELCOMES £4,000 FINES FOR
SLOW PLAY BY LOCKERBIE, ROCHA

from THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE

Colin Montgomerie welcomed the two £4,000 fines for slow play handed out to two players in the Quinn Direct British Masters at The Belfry on Thursday - and called for much more action to be taken.
England's Gary Lockerbie and Brazilian Alexandre Rocha were playing in the first group of the day and were put on the clock by European Tour chief referee John Paramor.
Montgomerie was among the afternoon starters and took almost four hours 50 minutes to complete a two under par 70, which left him seven behind Swedish leader Martin Erlandsson, and he said: "It's a problem every week. Four hours should be the limit to play a round in a three-ball - fine everybody that takes over that."
Rocha was the first to fall foul of the regulations, taking 89 seconds over his second shot to the second hole (his 11th) when he was allowed only 55. Then Lockerbie took 12 seconds too long over his second shot to the fourth hole.
REPEATING OFFENDERS
The normal fine would be £2,000, but the two had already had more than 10 "bad times" during the season and so the punishment was doubled.
It still did not approach the Tour record. England's Simon Khan was fined £8,000 during the Irish Open two years ago.
Montgomerie was among the afternoon starters and took almost 4hr 50min to complete a two under par 70, which left him seven behind Swedish leader Martin Erlandsson.
He added: "We're given too long to play the course. I was brought up on a three-hour game of golf and the pace of play out here is too slow."
Rookie pro Lloyd Saltman had the misfortune to be in the same threesome as Lockerbie and Rocha.

SANDY DISQUALIFIES HIMSELF FOR WRONG
SCORE IN BRITISH MASTERS

Sandy Lyle disqualified himself from the Quinn Direct British Masters at The Belfry today.
Before teeing off again in the second round, Lyle went to tournament officials and told them he had signed for a wrong score on the opening day.
The 49-year-old former Open and US Masters champion had signed for a four-under-par 68, good enough for a share of 10th place, but then realised overnight it was one shot more.
His marker had put him down for a par 4 on the 11th hole when, in fact, Lyle had bogeyed it.
Lyle, who has not finished in Europe's top 100 since 2002, stands 198th on the Order of Merit this season.

EUROPEAN TOUR SCOREBOARD
QUINN DIRECT BRITISH MASTERS
The De Vere Belfry, England.
Par 72
63 Martin Erlandsson (Swe)
65 Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), Richard Sterne (Rsa)
66 Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra)
67 Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe), Henrik Nystrom (Swe), Ian Poulter, Simon Khan
68 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Stephen Dodd, Phillip Archer, Sandy Lyle, Lee Westwood
69 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Zane Scotland, Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Marcel Siem (Ger), Jean Van de Velde (Fra), Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Kenneth Ferrie, Peter Hanson (Swe), Rory McIlroy, Stephen Gallacher, Ignacio Garrido (Spa)
70 Christian Nilsson (Swe), Andrew Tampion (Aus), Garry Houston, Ross Fisher, Colin Montgomerie, Benn Barham, Oliver Wilson, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Marc Warren, Taichi Teshima (Jpn), Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Paul McGinley, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind), Marcus Fraser (Aus)
71 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Patrik Sjoland (Swe), James Kingston (Rsa), Phillip Price, Peter Hedblom (Swe), Darren Fichardt (Rsa), Johan Edfors (Swe), Simon Wakefield, Robert Karlsson (Swe), Sam Walker, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Emanuele Canonica (Ita), Mark Foster, Bradley Dredge
72 Graeme McDowell, David Howell, Nick Dougherty, David Park, Martin Kaymer (Ger), Carlos Rodiles (Spa), David Lynn, Oliver Fisher, Daniel Vancsik (Arg), Mark Pilkington, Alastair Forsyth, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa)
73 David Carter, Michael Campbell (Nzl), Christopher Hanell (Swe), Kyron Sullivan, Rafael Echenique (Arg), Anthony Wall, Carl Suneson (Spa), Robert Rock, Matthew Millar (Aus), Andrew Marshall, Santiago Luna (Spa), Gregory Havret (Fra), Peter O'Malley (Aus)
74 David Griffiths, Pelle Edberg (Swe), David Frost (Rsa), Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Steven O'Hara, Alexander Noren (Swe), Miles Tunnicliff, Sam Little, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Christian Cevaer (Fra), Peter Baker, Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Darren Clarke, Andrew McLardy (Rsa), Marcus Higley, James Hepworth, Barry Lane
75 Richard Bland, Juan Parron (Spa), Mattias Eliasson (Swe), Sion Bebb, Andrew Coltart, Steven Jeppesen (Swe), Scott Drummond, Lloyd Saltman, Niclas Fasth (Swe), Tom Whitehouse
76 Anton Haig (Rsa), Gary Orr, Peter Gustafsson (Swe), Johan Axgren (Swe), Hugo Santos (Por), Paul Broadhurst, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por), Gary Lockerbie, Gary Murphy, James Heath, Alejandro Canizares (Spa), Terry Price (Aus), Ariel Canete (Arg), Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa)
77 Simon Dyson, Graeme Storm, Damian Mooney, Sven Struver (Ger), Philip Walton, Paul Lawrie, Thomas Bjorn (Den), Cesar Monasterio (Arg), Ian Garbutt, Edward Rush
78 Alexandre Rocha (Bra), Joakim Backstrom (Swe), Damien McGrane, Alessandro Tadini (Ita), Shiv Kapur (Ind), Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe)
79 Lee Slattery, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Jose Manuel Lara (Spa)
80 Simon Hurd
82 Richard Finch, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra), Mardan Mamat (Sin)

SCOTS HELP CLAYTON

STATE UNIVERSITY
WIN TEAM TITLE

IN GEORGIA

Neil McBride from Glasgow, a third-year student at Clayton State University, Atlanta, finished joint 10th in the Orchard Fall Invitational college golf tournament over one round at The Orchard Golf & Country Club, Clarkesville, Georgia this week.
Neil had a round of five-over-par 77 over the 6,686yd course.
Freshman student Kevin Duncan from Ellon, pictured right, had an 82 to gain a share of 18th place.
One of their American team-mates, Will Wilcox, was the individual winner with a three-under-par 69.
Clayton State (298) won the team event by 11 shots from Reinhard College with Piedmont College (322) third.

McCREADIE AND LEE SET TO LEAD
SCOTTISH QUALIFIERS FOR SPAIN

Tartan Tour pros Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle) and Craig Lee (All Swing Golf Centre, Stirling) are set to advance to the first Spanish stage of the European Tour Qualifying School.
They are on 208 and 210 respectively - Walker Cup man David Horsey leads on 207 - with one round to go at St Anne's Old Links.
The top 32 and ties after Friday's round will qualify for Stage 2.
Jack Doherty, based in South Wales, Montrose's Graeme Brown and Edward Thomson (Largs) are also well placed.
But Elliot Saltman is lying joint 45th on 219, Murray Urquhart (Inverness) joint 55th on 220 and Mark Loftus, the Scottish pro champion from Cowglen, joint 74th on 223.
THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
+Leading 32 and ties to qualify after fourth round.
207 D Horsey 68 68 71
208 J McCreadie 68 70 70
210 C Lee 69 70 71
212 J Senior 69 70 73
213 R Davies 67 72 74, A Murray 67 72 74
214 J Wilkinson 71 73 70, J Doherty 68 72 74, M Searle 70 72 72, G Brown 70 74 70, M Ramsdale 70 70 74, R Bean 72 71 71, J Wells 73 70 71, E Thomson 69 73 72, L Clarke 73 77 64
Other Scots totals:
219 E Saltman 69 73 77 (jt 45th).
220 M Urquhart 75 75 70 (jt 55th).
223 M Loftus 77 76 70 (jt 74th).
224 C Kelly 74 74 76 (jt 81st).
226 C Campbell 70 75 81 (jt 91st).
229 L Vannet 77 79 73 (jt 104th).
230 S Duncan 80 77 73 (jt 107th).
231 B Mason 78 76 77 (jt 109th0.

MASON CONTINUES TO SHINE IN DENMARK

Carl Mason continued to tap into an extraordinarily rich vein of form when he moved into the lead after the first round of the Scandinavian Senior Open today.
The 54 year old Englishman is currently top of the European Seniors Tour Order of Merit after a fine season which has already yielded four wins – three of those coming in the last four weeks in the Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open, the European Senior Masters and the PGA Seniors Championship.
And he gave himself the perfect opportunity for win number five of 2007 with an opening three under par 68 at the rain-soaked Royal Copenhagen Golf Club in Denmark to take a one shot lead over American Doug Johnson, Spain’s Juan Quiros, fellow Englishman Tim Rastall and Bertus Smit of South Africa.
“I am fortunate that my game is right in the groove just now,” said Mason, who topped the Seniors Tour Order of Merit in both 2003 and 2004 before yielding that position to Scotland’s Sam Torrance in the past two seasons.
“I am playing with a lot of confidence and every time I go out on the course I believe I will shoot under par. Therefore, if I get a chance, more often than not because of the way I am feeling, I take it.
“Momentum is a wonderful feeling to have in golf and I certainly have that at the moment – it is just a pity I didn’t have such a feeling about my game 15 years ago when I was a regular on The European Tour.
“But it is better late than never and I’m loving my golf at the moment – really enjoying the game. The European Seniors Tour is a great place to play, we have a lot of great tournaments, and I am lucky that I can be a part of that and have some success.”
FIRST-ROUND LEADERS
Par 71
68 C Mason (Eng)
69 D Johnson (USA), T Rastall (Eng), B Smit (RSA)
70 G Cali (Ita), L Carbonetti (Arg), J Chillas (Sco), P Dugeny (Fra), S Martin (Sco), I Mosey (Eng), J Quiros (Esp)
71 D Good (Aus), B Lincoln (RSA), E Rodriguez (Esp), DJ Russell (Eng), J Van Wagenen (USA)
72 E Darcy (Ire), R Drummond (Sco), J Heggary (Nir), G Ralph (Eng), J Rivero (Esp)
73 G J Brand (Eng), T Charnley (Eng), N Job (Eng), B Malley (USA), M Miller (Sco), S Owen (Nzl), M Poxon (Eng)

SCOTLAND v ENGLAND FOR HOME
INTERNATIONALS TITLE

It's Scotland v England for the title at Co Louth Golf Club, Ireland on Friday.
Scotland, seeking to win the home internationals championship for a third year in a row, produced another stirring performance to edge an 8-7 victory over Wales.
England also moved up to the 1 1/2pt mark by beating Ireland 8 1/2-6 1/2.
The Scots took the foursomes 3 1/2-1 1/2 from Wales who closed the gap by winning three of the top afternoon singles.
But victories from Scott Henry - hitting form at the best time of the season as far as Scotland are concerned, James Byrne, Callum Macaulay and Wallace Booth boosted Scotland to the 7 1/2pt mark with one match still to finish.
It looked as if Scotland might have to settle for a draw for the second day in a row as Kevin McAlpine was one down on the 18th tee to Jamie Howie. However, the Alyth man, holder of the Scottish open amateur stroke-play title, won the last hole to get the precious half-point for Scotland to win 8-7.
Scotland beat England in the play-off for third place at the European men's amateur team championship at Western Gailes a couple of months ago.

Thursday's results:

SCOTLAND 8, WALES 7
Foursomes (3 1/2-1 1/2)
Kevin McAlpine & James Byrne lost to Nigel Edwards & Rhys Enoch.
Glenn Campbell & Paul O'Hara bt Craig Evans & Ryan Thomas 1 hole.
Scott Henry & John Gallagher bt Llewellyn Matthews & Jamie Howie 2 and 1.
Callum Macaulay and Gavin Dear halved with Ben Westgate & Zac Gould.
Jonathan King & Wallace Booth bt Luke Thomas & Adam Runcie 3 and 2.

Singles (4 1/2-5 1/2)
Gallagher lost to Evans 1 hole.
Henry bt Matthews 1 hole.
Campbell lost to Edwards 3 and 1.
O'Hara lost to Gould 2 holes.
Byrne bt Thomas 1 hole.
King lost to Westgate 1 hole.
Macaulay bt Runcie 2 and 1.
Dear lost to Enoch 3 and 2.
Booth bt J Shufflebotham 7 and 6.
McAlpine halved with Howie.

ENGLAND 8 1/2, IRELAND 6 1/2
Foursomes (3-2)
Daniel Willett & Charlie Ford lost to Shane Lowry & Simon Ward 3 and 2.
Matthew Cryer & Ben Evans bt Paul Cutler & Niall Kearney 4 and 3.
Gary Wolstenholme & Ben Parker bt Paul O'Hanlon & Cian Curley 6 and 4.
Chris Wood & Sam Hutsby lost to Pat Murray & Joe Lyons 3 and 2.
Dale Whitenll & Gary Boyd bt Cian McNamara & Neil O'Briain 5 and 4.

Singles (5 1/2-4 1/2)
Willett lost to Lowry 2 and 1.
Evans bt Cutler 2 and 1.
Cryuer bt Curley 2 and 1.
Ford lost Murray 3 and 1.
Wolstenholme bt Lyons 3 and 1.
Parker halved with Ward.
Hutsby lost to Kearney 3 and 1.
Wood bt O'Hanlon 2 and 1.
Boyd lost to O'Briain.
Whitnell bt McNamara 2 and 1.

HOW THEY STAND

Scotland P2 W1 D1 L0 15 1/2-14 1/2 Pts 1 1/2
England P 2 W1 D1 L0 16-14 Pts 1 1/2
Wales P2 W0 D1 L1 14 1/2-15 1/2 Pts 1/2
Ireland P2 W0 D1 L1 14-16 Pts 1/2

Final matches
SCOTLAND v ENGLAND
IRELAND v WALES

DONALD MCKAY WINS MIDLAND ALLIANCE
WITH 65 AT PITLOCHRY

Wellsgreen professional Donald McKay made it two wins in two weeks with a four-under-par 65 at the Midland Golfers' Alliance meeting at Pitlochry Golf Club this week.
Donald had five birdies in all on his way to the scratch prize.
There was a three-way tie at the top of the net leaderboard. Rob Ford, a three-handicap Scotscraig player, also followed up a win at the last meeting with a net 66, which was matched by six-handicapper Fraser McKay (Drumoig) and Ron Bell who plays off three at Pitlochry.
LEADING SCRATCH
65 D McKay (Wellsgreen) p.
66 E Walker (Burntisland) ap.
67 A Lockhart (Ladybank) ap.
68 P Brookes (Pitreavie) p.
69 L Sutherland (Ballumbie Castle) p, M Brown (Monifieth), R Ford (Scotscraig).
70 M Niven (Alloa), R Stewart (Tulliallan).
71 R Bell (Pitlochry), K Rattray (Ladybank).
LEADING HANDICAP
66 R Ford (Scotscraig) (3), F McKay (Drumoig) (6), R Bell (Pitlochry) (3).
67 M Niven (Alloa) (3), H Cowbrough (Muckhart) (5).
68 R Stewart (Tulliallan) (2).
69 D Cameron (Pitlochry) (3), D Skinner (Downfield) (14), K Rattray (Ladybank) (2), M Brown (Monifieth) (scr).
70 I Wilson (Craigiehill) (5), D Vickery (Craigiehill) (8), N McLeod (Monifieth) (5), D Redford (Murrayshall) (6), J Cree junior (Thornton) (11).
Qualifiers for the Midland Golfer’s Alliance Championship in April at Crail
E Walker (Burntisland)
P Brookes (Pitrievie)
L Sutherland (Ballumbie Castle)
M Brown (Monifieth)
R Ford (Scotscraig)
Next Week's Meeting:
Thursday, September 27 at Alyth GC (8.30-12.30)

FORTROSE AND ROSEMARKIE CRASH OUT OF
NORTHERN COUNTIES CUP ON FIRST DAY

Defending champions Fortrose & Rosemarkie were soundly thrashed by 17 holes at the hands of Royal Dornoch in this year’s Northern Counties Cup tournament which began at Nairn Golf Club today.
And to complete a black day for the Black Isle club, their second string, lost by six holes to Duff House Royal 1.
Inverness 1 and Nairn 1, rated the pre-tournament joint favourites, both cleared their hurdles and will figure in Friday’s third-round ties

Today's results:

FIRST ROUND
Orkney 2 bt McDonald Ellon by four holes (S M Fotheringhame, S S Fotheringhame 4, J Godward, M Garvie 0; G Flett, G Bell 0, R Wells, J O’Brien 0).
Brora bt Duff House Royal 2 by one hole (G Grant, R Cameron 2, M Jenkins, D Wilson 0; M Murray, C Stewart 0, P Gordon, C Miller 1).
Turriff bt Muir of Ord 1 by two holes (R Webster, C Ironside 0, B Weatherall, A Begg 0; J Williamson, J Robertson 2, I Cameron, G Wells 0).
Murcar Links bt Cruden Bay 2 by one hole (T Mathieson, B Main 2, S Robertson, S Buchan 0; A Bews, I Galbraith 0, R Willox, K Martin 1).
Nairn 2 bt Elgin by seven holes (D Macintosh, S Tomisson 2, D Ramsay, D Edwards 0; P Saggers, P Tomisson 5, A Baillie, P Ramsay 0).
Orkney 1 bt Royal Aberdeen 1 by three holes (M Fleet, M McGinn 4, A Reid, E Laird 0; S Rendall, A Bonner 0, D Macandrew, M Black 1).
Nairn Dunbar 1 bt Muir of Ord 2 by five holes (M Isaacs, L McDonald 3, M MacGruer, S Cameron 0; R Elder, K Donnelly 2, J Mackay, G McIntosh 0).
Fraserburgh bt Banchory at 23rd (K Nicol, J Mitchell 3, D Brand, S Strachan 0; M Tait, G Smith 0, M Gordon, R Gray 0).

SECOND ROUND

Royal Dornoch bt Fortrose & Rosemarkie 1 by 17 holes (B Nicholson, C Mailley 8, N Macdonald, L Reid 0; D Chalmers, J Gunn 9, A Brown, B Main 0).

Tain 1 bt Strathpeffer by four holes (J Macleod, A Everett 2, R Stewart, M Sloggie 0; B Ferries, R Macleod 2, G Gordon, M MacNab 0).

Duff House Royal 1 bt Fortrose & Rosemarkie 2 by six holes (C Farquhar, R Forgan 1, J Bellshaw, M Ross 0; D Morrison, A Milne 5, S McKenzie, J Hearmon 0).

Moray 2 bt Royal Aberdeen 2 by seven holes (I Geddes, D Macpherson 1, D D Purdie, M Wilson 0; B Harris, J Martin 6, W Park, S Slappery 0).

Deeside bt Nairn Dunbar by eight holes (A Campbell, A J Fiddes 8, D Bunker, T Dingwell 0; S Cruickshank, J Robertson 0, B Ford, C Macdonald 0).

Inchmarlo bt Moray 1 by two holes (T Spencer, D Cowe 6, S Little, J Edwards 0; G Craig, C Robb 0, M L Macleman, K Thomson 4).

Nairn 2 bt Forres 1 by three holes (D MacIntosh, S Tomisson 2, S R MacLennan, B Fotheringham 0; P Saggers, P Tomisson 1, G Hislop, R McKerron 0).

Orkney 1 bt Newmachar by four holes (M Fleet, M McGinn 3, J Wilson, J Duff 0; S Rendall, A Bonner 1, K Riley, C Simpson 0).

Nigg Bay bt Nairn Dunbar 1 by four holes (I Welch, R Nielson 5, M Isaacs, L MacDonald 0; G Grimmer, L O’Conner 0, R Elder, K Donnelly 1).

Inverness 1 bt Brora by seven holes (J Forbes, E Forbes 0, G Grant, R Cameron 1; B J Thomson, R MacDonald 8, M Murray, C Stewart 0).

Peterhead by Turriff by seven holes (P McLean, C Forman 5, R Webster, C Ironside 0; I Forman, R Cross 2, J Williamson, J Robertson 0).

Murcar Links bt Inverness 2 at 19th (T Mathieson, B Main 0, D Sanderson, R Mackay 2; A Bews, I Galbraith 2, A Cameron, B Fraser 0).

Nairn 1 bt Tain 2 by 11 holes (R Smith, N Hampton 8, P Renwick, R MacKenzie 0; A Scott, S MacDonald 3, J Cameron, J Innes 0).

Cruden Bay 1 bt Forres 2 by one hole (A Robertson, C MacKay 2, M Buchan, M Christie 0; C Duncan, R MacLeod 0, L Phillips, R Cooper 3).

Loch Ness bt Orkney 2 by four holes (D Joel, J Treasurer 5, S M Fotheringham, S S Fotheringham 0; S MacPherson, A Murdoch 0, G Flett, G Bell 1).

Fraserburgh bt Thurso by six holes (K Nicol, J Mitchell 0, D McKay, D Thorburn 3; M Tait, G Smith 9, A Swanson, J Sangster 0).

European Challenge Tour

PETER WHITEFORD (67) LYING SECOND
AT KAZAKHSTAN OPEN

From MICHAEL GIBBONS
European Challenge Tour Press Officer

Fifer Peter Whiteford fired a five under par 67 to move into second place at the European Challenge Tour’s richest tournament of the year, the €330,000 Kazakhstan Open.
With the winner at the Nurtau Golf Club taking home €52,800, the Kazakhstan Open is the Challenge Tour’s major tournament of the year, the event that, given the choice, every player wants to win before any other full Challenge Tour event.
Whiteford, currently 83rd on the Rankings, can propel himself into the top 10 with victory in Kazakhstan and put himself in a fantastic position to win a place on The European Tour by finishing inside the end of season top 20.
Seven birdies and two dropped shots represented a great start for the Kirkcaldy professional, who trails leader Leif Westerberg of Sweden by three strokes going into the second round.
“I’m delighted with that,” said Whiteford. “This is a big big week for us with the amount of prize money on offer and I need a fair bit of money to try and get my card, so it was important to get off to a good start and I managed to do that today.”
Of the seven other Scots in the field, Eric Ramsay fared best with a two under par 70. Euan Little and Jamie McLeary finished the day on one under, with Scott Henderson one over. George Murray joined Richie Ramsay on two over, with the injured Andrew McArthur alongside Raymond Russell on four over.
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72
64 Leif Westerberg (Swe).
67 Paul Dwyer (Eng), Peter Whiteford (Sco).
68 Fredrik Widmark (Swe), Fabrizio Zanotti (Par), Ross McGowan (Eng), Roope Kakko (Fin), Hernan Rey (Arg), Richard McEvoy (Eng), Pontus Ericsson (Swe), Richard Treis (Ger).
69 Matthew King (Eng), Raphaël Eyraud (Fra), Tim Dykes (Wal).
70 Anthony Snobeck (Fra), Jamie Donaldson (Wal), Philip Golding (Eng), Eric Ramsay (Sco), Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), James Kamte (RSA), Michael Hoey (NIr), Gareth Wright (Wal), Andrew Butterfield (Eng), Felipe Aguilar (Chi).
71 Alvaro Vela (Esp), Inder Van (Ned) ; Pablo Del Grosso (ARG); Alvaro Salto (Esp), Euan Little (Sco), Magnus A Carlsson (Swe), Jamie Little (Eng), Gareth Paddison (NZ).
72 Colm Moriarty (Ire), Benoit Teilleria (Fra), Tobias Dier (Ger), Martin Wiegele (Aut), Robert Coles (Eng), Iain Pyman (Eng), Marco Cr (Esp), Carlos Cardeza (Arg), Mikael Lundberg (Swe), Chris Gane (Eng), Ben Mason (Eng), Pablo Larrazabal (Esp), Kieran Staunton (Eng), Gustavo Acosta (Arg), Stuart Manley (Wal).
73 Lee S James (Eng), Mark Tullo (Chi), Van Phillips (Eng), Scott Henderson (Sco), Martin Maritz (RSA), Jerome Theunis (Bel), Robert Dinwiddie (Eng), John E Morgan (Eng), Edoardo Molinari (Ita), Ally Mellor (Eng), Rafael Gomez (Arg), Peter Fowler (Aus), Tae Jin Kim (Kor), Jamie McLeary (Sco), Stuart Davis (Eng), Juan Abbate (Arg), Wilhelm Schauman (Swe), Jan-Are Larsen (Nor).
74 Kevin Harper (Eng), Nicolas Vanhootegem (Bel), John Mellor (Eng), Daniel De Leon (Mex), Johan Sköld (Swe), Richie Ramsay (Sco), François Delamontagne (Fra), Toni Karjalainen (Fin), Fredrik Ohlsson (Swe), Benjamin Miarka (Ger), Magnus Persson (Swe), Jeppe Huldahl (Den), Julien Xanthopoul (Fra), George Murray (Sco), Julio Zapata (Arg), André Bossert (Swi).
75 Matthew Richardson (Eng), Gareth Maybin (NIr), Adrien Mörk (Fra), Michiel Bothma (RSA), Mickael Dieu (Fra), Carlos Del Moral (Esp), Antti Ahokas (Fin), Gary Clark (Eng), Sébastien Delagrange (Fra), Emilio Dominguez (Arg), Rodolfo Gonzalez (Arg), Liam Bond (Wal), Christophe Brazillier (Fra), Joost Luiten (Ned), Kariem Baraka (Ger), Niki Zitny (Aut), Phil Worthingto (Eng).
76 Raymond Russell (Sco), Paolo Terreni (Ita), Lasse Jensen (Den), Jean- Billot (Fra), Andrew McArthur (Sco), Mikko Korhonen (Fin), Peter Kaensche (Nor), Adam Gee (Eng), Tim Milford (Eng), Julien Foret (Fra).
77 Christian Reimbold (Ger), Michael McGeady (Ire), Yong-Suk Kim (Kor), Klas Eriksson (Swe), Shaun P Webster (Eng), Anders Hansen (Den), Stephen Browne (Ire).
78 Manuel Quiros (Esp), Shim-Jay Dong (Kor), Luis Claverie (Esp), François Calmels (Fra), Miguel Rodriguez (Arg).
79 Cédric Menut (Fra), Julien Van Hauwe (Fra), Paul Waring (Eng), Jong Hyuk Kim (Kor), Gustavo Rojas (Arg).

ANGUS BOYS' GOLF TEAM TO PLAY NORTH-EAST

Angus team to play the North-east in an Under-14s boys' golf representative match at Peterculter Golf Club, near Aberdeen on Sunday, September 30 is:

Grant Bowman (Monifieth), Ross Munro (Monifieth), Ian Douglas (Monifieth), John Miller (Monifieth), Callum McKay (Monifieth), Ally Bremner (Edzell).

FIFE STUDENT jt 52nd IN SOUTH CAROLINA

Michael Main (Thornton), beaten finalist in the 2006 Scottish boys' match-play championship, finished joint 52nd in a field of 80 players for the Raines Development Group Intercollegiate golf tournament at the Country Club of South Carolina, Florence this week.
Main, a first-year student at Jacksonville University, Florida, had one very good round - a two-under-par 70 - on the second day over the tough, 7,101yd course. He scored 81 in the first round and 82 in the third and final round for a total of 17-over-par 233.
Zimbabwe-born Michael McGrady (Troy University) won by three strokes with scores of 71, 69 and 72 for four-under-par 212.
Jacksonville (907) finished seventh in the team event behind winners Furman (877).

GRANT CARNIE SECOND IN NORTH

CAROLINA TOURNAMENT

Aberdeenshire exile Grant Carnie, a second-year student at Brevard College, North Carolina finished second with scores of 70 and 73 for a one-under-par total of 143 in the Montreat Fall Invitational college golf tournament at Crooked Creek Golf Club, Hendersonville in North Carolina this week.
Carnie, pictured right, from Ellon and a member at Newburgh-on-Ythan Golf Club, finished two shots behind the winner.
Team-mate Myles Johnston from West Lothian came sixth with 76 and 73 for 149.
Brevard College tied with North Greenville University for first place in the team event with a total of 594.

RUSSELL KNOX LEADS US PGA

TOUR QUALIFYING SCHOOL

ELIMINATOR IN TEXAS

Florida-based Russell Knox from Inverness leads the field of 74 at the halfway stage of a US PGA Tour Qualifying School preliminary eliminator at Cypresswood Golf Club, Spring in Texas.
Scotland youth international Knox, pictured right, who turned professional earlier this summer in the States after four years as a golf scholarship student at Jacksonville University, Florida, has had rounds of 66 and 65 for a 36-hole tally of 13-under-par 131. He is seven under par for the four par-5 holes on the course and leads by two shots from American Cole Isban (66-67).
The leading 37 players and ties at the end of 72 holes will go forward to the next stage of the US PGA Tour qualifying process.

LUKE DONALD AND JUSTIN ROSE COMING
OVER FOR DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP

England’s leading tour professionals, Luke Donald and Justin Rose, are the latest to confirm they are to play in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and St Andrews from October 4-7.
Donald has never won a European Tour event in the UK, and Rose has not won in this country for five years.
Uniquely the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship has been won by a player from the United Kingdom or Ireland every year since its inception, so Donald and Rose will be hoping this is the moment their luck will change.
They head a strong line-up of the world’s top 25 players which includes South Africa’s popular World No 4 Ernie Els, Paul Casey, Niclas Fasth, Trevor Immelman, plus Open champion Padraig Harrington, who will be bidding to win an unprecedented third Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Also in the field will be Colin Montgomerie, winner in 2005, along with favourites Jose Maria Olazabal, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Michael Campbell, the 2005 US Open champion, Steve Elkington, winner of the 1995 US PGA championship and six-time major championship winner and current Ryder Cup captain, Nick Faldo.
With a prize fund of US$5 million, it incorporates two separate competitions - an individual professional tournament for the world's leading golfers and a team event in which they are paired with some of the most celebrated amateur golfers.
Among the amateurs who played last year were Marcus Allen, the celebrated US NFL running back, Sir Ian Botham, Sir Bobby Charlton, legendary footballer Johan Cruyff, Morné du Plessis, actor Hugh Grant, Ruud Gullit, Dennis Hopper, Ronan Keating, world champion skier Franz Klammer, actor and TV star Kyle MacLachlan, actor Bill Murray, Sir Steve Redgrave, Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres and Steve Waugh.
Entrance to the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship will be FREE at all three courses on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. A ticket price of £15 (concessionary £10) will be charged for the final day’s play over the Old Course on Sunday, October 7.
Entry for under 16s and students is free. Tickets are available through the ticket hotline on 0870 010 9021 or at the entrance gates.
There is free parking for spectators and a free shuttle bus service will be in operation between the courses on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

SCOTLAND NAME TEAM FOR UNDER-16s
MATCH AT PRESTWICK ON SUNDAY

Scotland have named the following team for Sunday's Under-16 boys' international match against England at Prestwick Golf Club, Ayrshire.

Colin Baird (Bothwell Castle), Tom Blennerhassett (Dalmahoy), David Law (Hazlehead), Andrew McLachlan (Bonnyton), Paul McPhee (King James VI), Ian Redford (King James VI), Chris Robb (Inchmarlo), William Russell (The Duke's), Paul Shields (Kirkhill), Daniel Young (Craigiehill).
Non-travelling reserves: Graeme Reid (Newbattle), Stuart Boyle (Harburn).

England team is:

Jonathan Bell (Royal Blackheath).
Tom Berry (Wentworth).
Adam Carson (Long Ashton).
Billy Downing (Truro).
Tommy Fleetwood (Formby Hall).
Tom Lewis (Mid Herts).
Chris Lloyd (The Kendleshire).
Adam Myers (Northants County).
Eddie Pepperell (Drayton Park).
Max Smith (Newbury Racecourse).

Non-travelling reserve:
Harry Whittle (Woburn) -

IT'S THE BIG DRAW AT

COUNTY LOUTH!

Scots hit back to hold Irish,

England do likewise v Welsh

in home internationals

It's shaping like the closest men's home internationals series ever. On the opening day at County Louth, Ireland, Scotland, bidding to win the title for a third year in a row, drew with European champions Ireland 7 1/2-7 1/2 and the England v Wales match came to the very same conclusion.
Considering it was a Scotland line-up without Lloyd Saltman and Richie Ramsay - both now in the pro ranks after stellar amateur careers - it has to be rated a good performance by the Scots who included new caps Callum Macaulay and Gavin Dear, not to mention young James Byrne (pictured right) who flew in from Arizona to make his debut at this level of competition although he did play in the European team championship.
Ireland won the foursomes 3 1/2-1 1/2 and must have felt pretty confident of maintaining that 2pt advantage through the singles - but they didn't.
Glenn Campbell, James Byrne, Paul O'Hara, Scott Hendry, Gavin Dear and Wallace Booth all played like heroes to give Scotland a 6-4 afternoon success.
Wales lacked the services of Walker Cup man Noel Edwards who was laid low by a stomach bug and, of course, team-mate Rhys Davies who is now a professional but they still managed to hold the mighty England.

In fact, it was really a case of England managing to hold Wales because the Welshmen took the foursomes 3 1/2-1 1/2 and were ahead overall until England won the last three singles.

FIRST DAY RESULTS

SCOTLAND 7 1/2, IRELAND 7 1/2
Foursomes ( 1 1/2-3 1/2)
Keir McNicoll & James Byrne halved with Shane Lowry & Simon Ward.
Kevin McAlpine & Callum Macaulay bt Paul Cutler & Niall Kearney 1 hole.
Paul O'Hara & Glenn Campbell lost to Paul O'Hanlon & Cian Curley 3 and 2.
Jonathan King & Wallace Booth lost to Pat Murray & Joe Lyons 1 hole.
John Gallagher & Scott Henry lost to Cian McNamara & Neil O'Briain 2 and 1.
Singles (6-4)
McNicoll lost to Lowry 1 hole.
McAlpine lost to Cutler 7 and 6.
Campbell bt Ward 2 and 1.
Byrne bt Kearney 2 and 1.
O'Hara bt Murray 1 hole.
Macaulay lost to Curley 2 and 1.
Henry bt Connor Doran 1 hole.
Gavin Dear bt Lyons 2 and 1.
Booth bt O'Hanlon 3 and 2.
Gallagher lost to McNamara 4 and 3.

ENGLAND 7 1/2, WALES 7 1/2
Foursomes (1 1/2-3 1/2)
Daniel Willett & Gary Boyd lost to Craig Evans & Ryan Thomas 4 and 3.
Matthew Cryer & Ben Evans bt J Shufflebotham & Rhys Enoch 4 and 3.
Gary Wolstenholme & Ben Parker halved with Luke Thomas & Adam Runcie.
Chris Wood & Sam Hutsby lost to Llewellyn Matthews & Jamie Howe 4 and 3.
Matthew Baldwin & Dale Whitnell lost to Zac Gould & Ben Westgate 4 and 3.
Singles (6-4)
Willett lost to Evans 1 hole.
Boyd bt L Thomas 2 and 1.
Cryer lost to Matthews 1 hole.

Evans bt Gould 4 and 3.
Charlie Ford bt Enoch 2 holes.
Wolstenholme lost to Ryan Thomas 2 and 1.
Parker lost to Runcie 3 and 2.
Hutsby bt Westgate 6 and 4.
Wood bt Howe 3 and 2.
Whitnell bt Shufflebotham 1 hole.

European Tour Qualifying School Stage 1

McCREADIE AND LEE IN THE HALFWAY
PICTURE AT ST ANNES OLD LINKS

Tartan Tour regulars Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle) and Craig Lee (All Swing Golf Centre) are bang in contention at the halfway stage of the European Tour Qualifying School Stage 1 event at St Annes Old Links, Lancashire.
The leading 32 and ties at the end of 72 holes will go forward to Stage 2 in Spain from which the qualifiers will go to the Final Q School at San Roque on the southern end of the Costa del Sol.
HALFWAY SCOREBOARD AT ST ANNES
OLD LINKS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
136 D Horsey (Eng) 68 68.
138 J McCreadie (Sco) 68 70.
139 R Davies (Wal) 67 72, C Lee (Sco) 69 70, A Murray (Ire) 67 72, J Senior (Eng) 69 70.
Other Scottish scores:
140 J Doherty 68 72 (jt 7th).
142 E Saltman 69 73, E Thomson 69 73 (jt 14th).
144 G Brown 70 74 (jt 26th).
145 C Campbell 70 75, P Drake (am) 71 74 (jt 35th).
148 C Kelly 74 74 (jt 64th).
150 M Urquhart 75 75 (jt 74th).
153 M Loftus 77 76 (jt 95th).
154 B Mason 78 76 (jt 99th).
156 L Vannet 77 79 (jt 109th).
157 S Duncan 80 77 (jt 111th).

THREE SHARE HONOURS ON 67 IN JACK STEVEN
TESTIMONIAL PRO-AM AT KILLERMONT

Glasgow Golf Club's long-serving club professional Jack Steven retires at the end of the year after 37 years' sterling service.
It was rather appropriate that today's Jack Steven Testimonial pro-am over the Killermont course was won, jointly, by John Greaves who will succeed Jack at the Glasgow club.
Greaves, Nick Walton (Billingham) and Mark King (Kingsfield) tied for individual honours on three-under-par 67.
They finished one stroke ahead of David Scott (Douglas Park) and Jim McKinnon (Irvine).
Robert Collinson (Bearsden Golf Range) led three youngsters - Sandy Watson (handicap 18), Chris McManus (3) and Alastair Thomson (5) to victory in the team event with a net two-ball score of 19-under-par 121.
They won by two strokes the amateur trio piloted by former Walker Cup player Lorne Kelly (Dream Team USA) - Bobby Burns (7), John MacMillan (13) and Allan Herron (16).
LEADING PROFESSIONALS
Par 70
67 J Greaves (Glasgow), N Walton (Billingham), M King (Kingsfield).
68 D Scott (Douglas Park), J McKinnon (Irvine).
69 G Fox (West Kilbride), R Farrell (Cardross), G McFarlane (Clober), L Kelly (Dream Team USA), A J Webster (Edzell), K Stables (Elgin), P Kerr (Hayston).

GARY ESSON BEATS NE
ALLIANCE FIELD OF 96
AT KEMNAY WITH
ONE-UNDER-PAR 70

Portlethen +2 amateur Gary Esson, pictured right, bogeyed two of the last three holes but still beat a field of 96 at today’s North-east Alliance competition at Kemnay Golf Club.
Esson’s 70 was the only round under the par of 71 and he was annoyed that his late slips cost him an even better score. An eagle 3 at the 502yd 15th was the highlight of his halves of 35 (one under par) and 35 (level par).
Esson also had birdies at the fourth, eighth and 11th. and bogeys at the third, 10th, 16th and 18th.
He won by a single shot from Tartan Tour professional Graeme McInnes (Murcar Links) and two amateurs, Stewart Finnie (Caledonian) and home club player Craig Carnegie.
Andrew Campbell (Deeside), who tied for fifth place with Mackenzie Club professional Colin Nelson on 72, had the best inward half of the day - 32.

Leading scratch
Par 71
70 G Esson (Portlethen).
71 G McInnes (Murcar Links), S Finnie (Caledonian), C Carnegie (Kemnay).
72 A Campbell (Deeside), C Nelson (Mackenzie Club).
73 P Lovie (Inchmarlo), C Stephen (Meldrum House), G Bruce (Westhill).
74 M Barnard (Inchmarlo), R Fitzpatrick (Inchmarlo).
75 A K Pirie (Hazlehead), S Scott (Auchmill).
76 S Davidson (Banchory), D Garrett (Huntly).
77 I Bratton (Newburgh), W S Urquhart (Murcar Links), G H Patgerson 9northern), D McDowell (Aberdeen City Council).
78 R Grant (Caledonian), D Nelson (Aboyne)
79 J Dalgarno (Hazlehead), S Pert (Huntly), D Randall (Banchory), C Alexander (Murcar Links), M Lawrie (Kemnay), D Clark (Duff House Royal).
80 J Moonie (Turriff), A Nelson (Banchory), N Reid (Deeside), A Doig (Caledonian).
81 K Smith (Aboyne),P Morrison (Oldmeldrum), L Roger (Royal Aberdeen), M Lees (Pine Lodge), D Read (Banchory), A Styles (Caledonian).
82 N Hardie (Kintore), R L Nicoll (Murcar Links), H McNaughton (Cruden Bay), S Chalmers (Banchory), I Thomson (Peterculter), B Shaw (Banchory), S Garden (Hazlehead).
83 P Farnan (Royal Aberdeen), I Strachan (Royal Aberdeen), H Roulston (Stonehaven).

Leading handicap
Class 1 – C Carnegie (Kemnay) (3) 68; S Finnie (Caledonian) (1), D Nelson (Aboyne) (8) 70; S Scott (Auchmill) (4), G Esson (Portlethen) (+1) 71; A Campbell (Deeside) (scr), J Dalgarno (Hazlehead) (6) 72; R Grant (Caledoian) (5), A K Pirie (2), A Nelson (Banchory) (7) 73; N Hardie (Kintore) (8), K Smith (Aboyne) (7), L Roger (Royal Aberdeen) (7), B Shaw (Banchory) (8), C Alexander (Murcar Links) (5), M Lawrie (Kemnay) (5) 74.
Class 2 – I Strachan (Royal Aberdeen) (12), J Penny (Huntly) (13), S Garden (Hazlehead) (11) 72; H McNaughton (Cruden Bay) (10) 72; D Randall (Banchory) (15), D Moir (Murcar Links) (13), M Ord (Royal Aberdeen) (12), D Barr (Murcar Links) (10), B Bavidge (Murcar Links) (9) 74.

Next Wednesday's competition is at McDonald Ellon Golf Club

PAR OF THE COURSE FOR KEMNAY GOLF CLUB
OUT:4-5-3-4-4-3-4-5-4--36. IN: 3-5-4-4-3-5-4-4-3-- 35

GARY ESSON 70
OUT: 4-5-4-3-4-3-4-4-4--35. IN: 4-4-4-4-3-3-5-4-4--35

GRAEME McINNES 71
3OUT: 4-7-3-4-4-3-3-4-4--36. IN: 4-5-3-4-3-5-4-4-3--35

CRAIG CARNEGIE 71
OUT: 4-5-3-3-5-3-5-4-4--37. IN: 4-5-3-4-3-5-3-4-3--34

STEWART FINNIE 71
OUT: 4-5-3-4-4-3-5-4-4--36. IN: 3-5-4-4-3-5-4-4-3--35

ANDREW CAMPBELL 72
OUT: 4-6-3-5-4-5-5-4-4--40. IN: 2-4-4-3-3-5-4-4-3--32

COLIN NELSON 72
OUT: 4-5-2-5-6-4-4-5-4--39. IN: 3-3-4-4-3-4-4-5-3--33

PATRICK LOVIE 73
OUT: 6-5-3-3-4-4-5-4-3--37. IN: 4-4-4-4-2-6-4-5-3--36

CRAIG STEPHEN 73
OUT: 5-6-3-4-5-2-4-4-4--37. IN: 3-5-7-4-3-4-3-4-3--36

GEORGE BRUCE 73
OUT: 3-5-4-6-4-4-5-4-3--38. IN: 3-4-4-4-3-4-4-5-4--35

RHYS DAVIES SHARES TOUR SCHOOL STAGE
1 LEAD AT ST ANNES OLD LINKS

Edinburgh-born Walker Cup player Rhys Davies, now a professional, shared the lead on five-under-par 67 with Ireland's Alan Murray at the end of the first round of the European Tour Qualifying School Stage 1 eliminator over 72 holes at St Annes Old Links.
Only the leading 32 and ties after four rounds will go forward to Stage 2 at Spanish venues.
South Wales-based Jack Doherty, a regular on the PGA EuroPro Tour and Tartan Tour stalwart Jason McCreadie did best of the Scots. They are sharing third place on the 68 mark.
Craig Lee, Elliot Saltman and Edward Thomson are joint 11th on 69.
FIRST-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72
67 R Davies (Wal), A Murray (Ire).
68 B Akstrup (Den), J Doherty (Sco), J McCreadie (Sco) (jt 3rd).
69 C Lee (Sco), E Saltman (Sco), E Thomson (Sco) (jt 11th).
70 C Campbell (Sco), G Brown (Sco) (jt 18th).
71 P Drake (Sco) (am) (jt 27th).
74 C Kelly (Sco) (jt 62nd).
75 M Urquhart (Sco) (jt 79th).
77 M Loftus (Sco), L Vannet (Sco) (jt 100th).
80 S Duncan (Sco) (jt 115th).

PAUL MAKES TOP 20 IN FLORIDA COLLEGE TOURNAMENT

East Renfrewshire Golf Club member Paul McGhee, a 19-year-old third-year student at Johnston & Wales University, Miami, finished joint 18th in a big field for the 47th annual Platinum Coast college golf tournament at Rockledge Country Club, Florida.
Paul had rounds of 73 and 75 for a total of 148 - 10 shots behind the winner Erik Downs with 71 and 67.

CELTIC PRO TOUR PRESS RELEASE

CONSTABLE PAINTS THE PERFECT PICTURE

Cardiff’s Adam Constable led from start to finish, to win the East Wales Classic at Cottrell Park this week.
This was the seventh event of the Dragon Tour, Wales’ first professional golf tour, and now part of the Celtic Pro Tour, also involving events in Scotland and Ireland.
In excellent conditions, Constable shot a five under par 67 on day one, to lead by two strokes from Matthew Prior (Machynys Peninsula), Lewis James (ISM/Southerndown) and local assistant professional Barrie Jones who all shot rounds of three under par 69.
On the second day, Constable stretched his lead over his closest challengers, by returning another five under par round of 67, to finish on –10, a two-round total of 134 with nearest challenger, James finishing three shots further back on -7 after a second round 68, leaving him on 137.
Constable secured his first Celtic Pro event title, a cheque for £1,000, a Sunderland of Scotland waterproof suit, a Powerbug trolley and 100 Order of Merit points.
James is in a rich vein of form on the Tour, having also finished in the runners up position in the Swansea Bay Open at Clyne last month. He picked up £500 and 90 points.
The consistent Prior collected £250, following two solid rounds of 69, which left him in outright third place, on a total of 138, earning him 80 points.
The joint best round of the tournament, was 67 on day two by Wenvoe Castle’s, Nick James, who won the voucher for the leading amateur, and fourth place overall on -5 and a two round total of 139.
In fourth place in the professional event was James Morgan (Celtic Manor) on -2, who won £150, with Scot Paul Doherty (vale-hotel.com) making his debut on the Tour, in fifth place in the pro field on -1, winning £100. On the same score was English amateur Kevin Goude (Tydd St Giles)
The next Celtic Pro Tour event, the South East Wales Open takes place at St Mary’s Hotel & Resort, next Monday 24th and Tuesday 25th September.
Golfers are advised that this event was due to take place at two separate venues over the two days, St Mary’s Hotel and St Mellons, but will now take place entirely at the Pencoed course.
Another date for an extra event at St Mellons is being sought for later in the year. For more information on entry and payments, visit the website at www.celticpro.com, or contact tour director, Rhydian Thomas on 07861 686568. Entries must be received by 6pm on Saturday 22nd September.
“As the Tour enters the final stages of the season, it’s great to see players who have come through the Tour doing so well on bigger stages,” said tour director Rhydian Thomas.
He was commenting on last year’s Order of Merit winner, Alex Smith (Pyle and Kenfig), and fellow Celtic Pro Tour members Ryan Thomas (amateur, Aberdare) and Challenge Tour player James Williams (Pontypridd) having qualified for stage 2 of the European Tour Qualifying School after making it through stage 1 at The Oxfordshire club last week.
Smith was outstanding in posting a four round total of -20 to finish runner up, while Thomas and Williams finished on -4. Recent Celtic Pro Tour participant Paul Doherty, also qualified on -9.
The four now move on to Stage 2 in Spain next month, and will be joined by Irish golfer Gary Cullen, who qualified in third place at Chart Hills on -8. Cullen was the winner of the Celtic Pro Tour’s Wicklow Open in July.

STEPHEN CLARK JOINT 11TH IN KANSAS

Stephen Clark from Glasgow, a fourth-year student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, tied for 11th place in a field of 91 players for the Kansas men's invitational college golf tournament at Alvamar Golf Club, Lawrence in Kansas this week.
Clark, pictured right, had rounds of 77, 70 and 75 over the par-72, 7,092yd course for a total of six-over-par 222.
He finished seven shots behind the two-stroke winner, Jordan Irwin (Houston University) with 74, 70 and 71 for 215.

BANCHORY BOY MAKES

TOP 10 IN TEXAS

Scott Larkin from Banchory, a third-year student at the College of Charleston, South Carolina, finished joint eighth in a field of 60 for the Texas Cup college golf tournament at Texas Golf Club, Austin yesterday (Tuesday).
Larkin, pictured right, who is 6ft 2in tall, had rounds of 71 and 74 for a three-over-par total of 145 over a long course (7,389yd) with a tough par of 71.
Ken Looper (New Orleans University) won with scores of 71 and 68 for 139. Runner-up was Bobby Hudson (Texas) with 73 and 69 for 142.
New Orleans beat UT-Arlington in a play-off for the team title after they had both finished on 582 - nine shots ahead of third-placed Texas.

College of Charleston (598) finished third in a field of 11 teams.

CIARIAN THIRD AT DELAWARE COUNTRY CLUB

Ciarian McAleavey from Banbridge, Northern Ireland - a student at Toledo University - finished joint third in the Earl Yestingsmeir Invitational college tournament at Delaware Country Club's par-70, 6,438yd course.
McAleavey scored 69, 68 and 71 for two-under-par 208, two shots behind winner Grant Leaver (Austin Peay State) with 68, 68 and 70.
The Irishman could have won but for a double-bogey 6 at the second and a bogey at the 18th.
Toledo (842) won the team event from Eastern Kentucky (846) with Detroit (848) third.

RORY McILROY TURNS PRO AT 18
- AND EXPECTS TO WIN SOON!

Walker Cup teenager Rory McIlroy, the 18-year-old star prospect from Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland announced today that he has turned professional.
As well as winning the Irish and European individual amateur titles McIlroy was leading amateur in the Open at Carnoustie in July.
McIlroy already negotiated the first stage of the European Tour qualifying school last week but ten more rounds have still to be played if he is to earn his card for next season.
He can avoid the rest of the school if he earns around 200,000 Euros through his invitations into not only this week's British Masters, but also the Dunhill Links championship in two weeks' time and possibly three more events after that.
McIlroy, with a string of sponsors behind him already, simply oozes confidence.
He prefers to recall the impact Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia had straightaway - both won within two months of turning pro — and commented today after nine holes practising with mentor Darren Clarke: "I am not putting too much pressure on myself, but I would love to go out this week and play well.
"I think people have expectations of me and I have expectations of myself, so I hopefully I can play well and live up to the expectations. That's the way I'm looking at it. I'm hitting it well and I think this course suits me.
"It's nice to be mentioned in the same breath as Sergio and Tiger and if I can make a start like they did I will be very happy. I'm just going to try my hardest and hopefully the results will follow."
McIlroy's backers include a Dubai-based hotel and hospitality management company, investment and construction firms, the Lough Erne club in Fermanagh and golf company Titleist.
Lloyd Saltman, McIlroy's Walker Cup team-mate, also plays his first European Tour event as a professional this week.

HUGH HUNTER'S CLACKMANNANSHIRE NEWS

TOP OF THE SCOTS:
That's Callum Macaulay

It's now official! Tulliallan’s Callum Macaulay has been confirmed as the No. 1 amateur golfer in Scotland for 2007 by winning the Scottish Golf Union’s Order of Merit.
He finished the season with 740 points, an emphatic 99 points ahead of his nearest rival, Wallace Booth (Comrie), and 155 points ahead of Lloyd Saltman who has recently turned professional.
And it doesn’t stop there because in the race for the title of Scottish Golfer of the Year, Callum is in the lead. This is based on the Royal and Ancient Golf Club’s World Amateur Golf rankings and in the last week (due to his Newlands Trophy win at Lanark), Callum has leapfrogged over a couple of top golfers into the top spot in Scotland.
His world amateur ranking now stands at 45 (up eight places from last week). At the same time, Dollar’s Scott Borrowman has recorded a massive jump of 128 places in his world ranking to 451st!
The "Scottish Golfer of the Year" title is decided by the rankings as at October 31, so anyone wanting to overtake Callum will have to scour the world for point scoring events in the next five weeks … an impossible task.
Callum is now in Ireland representing Scotland in this week's men's home internationals, and hoping for continuing good form. With your golf correspondent also in Ireland, a comprehensive report on his progress is assured.
AREA TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
The final section qualifying ties for the 2007 semi-finals and final will be played this weekend, the Wee County take on Argyll and Bute over the Rothesay course. With the County’s hopes drowned in the deluge at Braehead last month, the match is a bit academic, but will be a useful guide to future form.
Clackmannan will be represented by:
Ross Benvie, Mike Rust (both Braehead), Jamie Aitken (Alloa), Darren Hulston (Dollar) and Mark Crichton (Tulliallan).
FRANK THOMSON TROPHY 2007
Continuing his good form from the previous weekend when he was undefeated, John McPherson (Braehead) led the Clackmannan boys to second place with a 30pt total, one ahead of County Junior Champion Lawrence Allan (Alva).
This annual event, contested by teams of five representing Fife, Perth & Kinross and Clackmannan, was held at Gleneagles on Sunday. Normally played over the Queen’s course, a last minute shift (due to heavy rain) was made to the PGA Centenary course.
This was greeted with great enthusiasm by the young golfers and the improving afternoon weather conditions made it even more enjoyable. It was a tough test and even although the boys played off the front tees, they were faced with the same sort of shot that the professionals had on many holes.
The event was played under handicap Stableford with the best four scores counting
Details:
1 Fife 107pt
2 Clackmannan 103pt (John McPherson 30, Lawrence Allan 29, Michael Barrett 20 Gary Chalmers 24, Tom Hogarth 19)
3 Perth & Kinross 93pt.
Top scores of the day came from John McPherson (Braehead) and Jack Thorburn (Forrester Park) with 30 points each.
MIDLAND DISTRICT TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Tulliallan’s John Maxwell and Dollar’s Darren Hulston carded the top Wee County scores in the Midlands team event last Sunday, but the team finished considerably behind the winning Perth & Kinross team.
This event dates back many years and is contested by the four Midland counties - Angus, Clackmannan, Fife and Perth & Kinross.
The 2007 event was played over the 6,400yd Ferntower course of Crieff Golf Club. Heavy rain and a subsequent delay caused the event to be curtailed to the higher inward nine holes on the course.
As a result, all eight scores were made counting. Perth and Kinross as the holders of the trophy retained it comfortably, and in addition, one of their players returned the best individual score with a one under par 33.
Details (Par 34)
1 Perth & Kinross 291, 2 Fife 301, 3 Clackmannan 319 (R Benvie 39, D Hulston 37, J Aitken 40, C O’Connor 41 P Dempsey 42, M Crichton 41, J Maxwell 37, J Gullen 42), 4 Angus 322.
Best individual - Stuart McKendrick (Dunkeld and Birnam) 3
BELHAVEN BEST SCOTTISH CLUB HANDICAP CHAMPIONSHIP
The challenge of the Braehead duo, Steve Anderson and Jim Duncan, for the 2007 title fizzled out over the long Cardrona course near Peebles. The best they could manage was a four over par 76, leaving them in 43rd place, nine shots behind the winners, the Harrison club from Edinburgh, who returned a five-under-par score of 67.

STRONG NORTH-EAST TEAMS FOR NORTHERN
COUNTIES CUP AT NAIRN THIS WEEK

By ROBIN WILSON

There has not been a North-east winner of the Northern Counties Cup at the Nairn Golf Club since 1994 but with the added attraction playing the world class Nairn links that over the past decade has hosted many international events, none greater than the Walker Cup in 1999 and to look forward to the Curtis Cup in 2012, the North-east club teams starting out in quest of the Northern Counties Cup at Nairn today are at their strongest.
Peterhead, the 1994 winners at Nairn, are already into the second round having received a first round bye and their bid for another Nairn success is in the hands of club captain, Ian Forman, his son Christopher, Philip McLean and Robert Cross.
North of Scotland 72 hole champion Michael Buchan (a +3 player) leads a powerful Cruden Bay team that includes a second +3 player, Laurie Philips, scratch man Ross Cooper and Mark Christie (1). Their opening game is against the Forres second team.
Stroke play club champion Donald McAndrew heads the Royal Aberdeen first team of Alan Reith, Ewan Laird and Mike Black and they should take care of Orkney in the first round but then one of the North East challengers will make an early exit in round two when the winners of the Orkney Royal Aberdeen tie meet Newmachar who have received a bye into round 2.
Inverness and hosts Nairn have been installed as favourites to keep the cup won last year by Fortrose & Rosemarkie in the North.
Inverness, the winners when the competition last visited Nairn in 2001, have two of that winning team present again, Ryan MacDonald and Bruce Thomson. Club Secretary and former Scottish Internationalist Ewan Forbes makes his Inverness debut along with John Forbes.
In their nine previous victories Nairn's favourite venue has been Royal Dornoch where they won on three occasions including their last two of 1998 and 2004. neil hampton and Robert Smith were present in both years Steven Macdonald in 2004. All three now joined by former professional Alex Scott now get the opportunity of taking Nairn's wins into double figures beginning with a secnd round tie against Tain 2.
Cup-holders Fortrose and Rosemarkie play Royal Dornoch, the competition's most successful club with 21 wins behind them through the past 100 years and hoping to find some inspiration to end a lean spell at a venue where they enjoyed their last success in 1988.
The full draw is –
Round 1
Orkney 2 v Ellon.
Duff House Royal 2 v Brora.
Turriff v Muir of Ord 1.
Murcar Links v Cruden Bay 2.
Nairn 2 v Elgin.
Orkney 1 v Royal Aberdeen 1.
Nairn Dunbar 1 Muir of Ord 2.
Fraserburgh v Banchory.
Round 2
Fortrose & Rosemarkie 1 v Royal Dornoch.
Loch Ness v Orkney 2 or Ellon.
Tain 1 v Strathpeffer Spa.
Inverness 1 v Duff House Royal 2 or Brora.
Duff House Royal 1 v Fortrose & Rosemarkie 2.
Peterhead v Turriff or Muir of Ord 1.
Royal Aberdeen 2 v Moray 2.
Inverness 2 v Murcar or Cruden Bay 2.
Deeside v Nairn Dunbar 2.
Forres 1 v Nairn 2 or Elgin.
Inchmarlo v Moray 1.
Newmachar v Orkney 1 or Royal Aberdeen 1.
Nairn 1 v Tain 2.
Nigg Bay v Nairn Dunbar 1 or Muir of Ord 2.
Forres 2 v Cruden Bay 1.
Thurso v Fraserburgh or Banchory.

EUROPEAN TOUR PRESS RELEASE

MARC WARREN ONE OF WILD-CARD

PICKS FOR SEVE TROPHY

MATCH NEXT WEEK

Europe’s 2008 Ryder Cup captain Nick Faldo will have the chance to study the team match-play credentials of several up and coming European golfers when he captains Great Britain & Ireland against Continental Europe in the fifth edition of The Seve Trophy at The Heritage Golf & Spa Resort at Killenard, Co. Laois next week (September 27 to 30).
There will be 10 newcomers to The Seve Trophy competing across the two teams, including Nick Faldo’s picks of Englishman Simon Dyson and Scotland’s Marc Warren (pictured right) and Seve’s selection of the exciting Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño. The other wild-card player in Seve’s team is Thomas Björn, making his fifth appearance in the event.
Also making their Seve Trophy debuts will be Ryder Cup hopefuls Graeme Storm, Phillip Archer and Oliver Wilson from England, plus Finland’s Mikko Ilonen, Denmark’s Søren Hansen, Frenchman Grégory Havret and Austria’s Markus Brier. The debutants have nine Tour titles between them this season.
Commenting on his two wildcard selections, Nick Faldo said:

“Captaining the Great Britain and Ireland team offers me a great opportunity to see some of the young players who have been performing well on tour this season in action at a match play event. This was the most important factor for me when making my wild card selections; with that in mind, these were two obvious choices for me.
“In Marc Warren, I’m bringing a player to the team that has come through a sudden-death play-off to claim each of his four professional wins, proving that he has a cool head under pressure. He has also partnered Monty with great success in the World Cup.

"In Simon Dyson, we have a player that has proved that he can perform under the spotlight following a gritty performance at this year’s US PGA Championship. On the whole, I’m delighted with the players that I will be working with next week and wish Seve and his team the very best of luck for the tournament.”
Seve explained his thinking behind his choices of Björn and Fernandez-Castaño.

“I’m delighted to have someone of Thomas’ experience in the team and we know what a great competitor he is in this format. Gonzalo is one of the most exciting young players on the Tour and I believe he will play a good role in the team. I hope this year we will redress the score in the Seve Trophy series.”
The Seve Trophy 2007 teams are as follows:

Great Britain & Ireland- Continental Europe

Colin Montgomerie (Sco) - Robert Karlsson (Swe)
Justin Rose (Eng) - Miguel Angel Jiménez (Spa)
Paul Casey (Eng) - Raphaël Jacquelin (Fra)
Bradley Dredge (Wal) - Mikko Ilonen (Fin)
Graeme Storm (Eng) - Søren Hansen (Den)
Oliver Wilson (Eng) - Grégory Havret (Fra)
Nick Dougherty (Eng) - Markus Brier (Aus)
Phillip Archer (Eng) - Peter Hanson (Swe)
Simon Dyson (Eng) - Thomas Björn (Den)
Marc Warren (Sco) - Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño (Sp)

They will compete in four-balls, foursomes, greensomes and singles matches over the four days and play for prize money of €2m, with the winners sharing a €1.25m purse.
The Seve Trophy was last staged in Ireland at Druids Glen in 2002. Other events have been held at England’s Sunningdale in 2000, El Saler in Valencia, Spain in 2003 and The Wynyard in North-east England in 2005. The current score between the teams stands at 3-1 to Great Britain & Ireland.
The 5-star HERITAGE GOLF & SPA RESORT, with its 7,319 yard, par 72 parkland course an hour from Dublin is staging the Seve Trophy contest in this year and again in 2009. The course was co-designed by Seve and Jeff Howes. It features 98 bunkers and its five lakes and a stream bring water into play on 10 holes. It was selected by Golf World in June 2005 as one of the best new courses in Great Britain & Ireland and staged the AIB Irish Seniors Open in 2005. The resort also boasts a 125-bedroom hotel and luxury health spa, plus
the Seve Natural Golf School, with its own dedicated practice course.

Tickets to see Europe’s top golfers battle it out are now on sale from Ticketmaster on 0818 719392 or at www.ticketmaster.ie .

Final Group matches in SGU area team championship

ARGYLL & BUTE, CLACKMANNANSHIRE
NAME TEAMS FOR ROTHESAY TIE

Argyll & Bute have named an experienced side for their last Group B tie, against Clackmannanshire at Rothesay Golf Club, in the Scottish men's area team championship fixture on Sunday.
Requiring a big win and a favour from Fife , who travel tp play North-east at Cruden Bay, the Argyll & Bute team is:

Graham Bolton
Ross Currie.
George Reynolds.
Chris Timms.
Gordon Tyre
Greg Watson.

Clackmannan's team is:

Ross Benvie (Braehead)
Mike Rust (Braehead)
Jamie Aitken (Alloa).
Darren Hulston (Dollar).
Mark Crichton(Tulliallan).

The full programme for Sunday is:

GROUP A
Ayrshire v Renfrewshire at Kilmarnock Barassie.
South v Lanarkshire at Southerness.
GROUP B
Argyll & Bute v Clackmannanshire at Rothesay.
North-east v Fife at Cruden Bay.
GROUP C
Lothians v Stirlingshire at Longniddry.
North v Glasgow at Moray (Lossiemouth).
GROUP D
Borders v Angus at Hawick.
Dumbartonshire v Perth & Kinross at Hayston

++If any of the other districts wants to "reveal" their line-up for Sunday, the information should be E-mailed without delay to colin@scottishgolfview.com

HOWITT MAKES DEBUT ON US COLLEGE CIRCUIT

Neil Howitt from Nairn, a freshman student at Davis & Elkins College in West Virginia, scored 75 and 84 on his debut on the American college golf ciruit this week.
Neil's 36-hole total of 159 over a 7,085yd, par-72 course at Clarion Oaks Golf Club, Pennsylvania in the Hal Hansen Invitational earned him a share of 32nd place in a field of 108 players.
Another Davis & Elkins College recruit from Britain, Thomas Parry from Goole, finished joint 56th on 162 with scores of 78 and 84.
Corey Gast (Millersville) was the individual winner with 73 and 74 for 147.
Davis & Elkins College (653) finished 16th of the 20 teams, 50 shots behind winners Clarion University, playing over their home course. Clarion won by 13 shots.

SCOTS UNDER-16 BOYS COME

FROM BEHIND TO BEAT

NORTH OF ENGLAND 8-7

Scotland overcame a one-point foursomes deficit to beat North of England 8-7 in an Under-16 boys' international match at Northumberland Golf Club, Newcastle on Sunday.

Scotland's deficit had widened during the afternoon singles when the North of England led 7-3 with five matches to finish.

Wins by Colin Baird, Tom Blennerhasset and William Russell helped to turn the tide.

In the end all the pressure fell on the young shoulders of Chris Robb (Inchmarlo) and Daniel Young.

Robb, pictured right, and Jamie McDonald were all square after 16 holes. At the 17th, Robb holed an 8ft birdie putt to go one up and a half at the last was enough for victory to make it a 7-7 tie overall.

Young, in the last tie to finish, came back from two down at the 10th to win five of the next seven holes for a 2 and 1 trophy-clinching victory.

MONTY AND WARREN: NOW IT'S OFFICIAL
THEY WILL BE SCOTLAND'S CUP PAIR

It's been confirmed today that Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren - who were only a play-off away from winning the World Cup of Golf last year, are to be Scotland's pairing again in this year's tournament in China.
Ian Poulter and Justin Rose will reprsented England.
Rose was second with Paul Casey as a partner behind South Africa in the 2004 World Cup at Kiawah Island. Poulter's previous appearance was in 2001 in Japan.
Wales' 2005 winners on the Algarve , Stephen Dodd and Bradley Dredge, are reunited in a bid to regain the trophy.
Ireland will have to qualify after Open champion Padraig Harrington opted out of the event and the next highest-ranked players - Graeme McDowell, Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley - are all outside the world's top 100.
So far, 18 countries are in the draw, with 10 more teams to follow.
The $5m tournament takes place at the Mission Hills Club, in Shenzhen, from 22-25 November.
South Africa's two-time US Open champion Reteif Goosen and Canada's 2003 Masters winner Mike Weir, will announce their partners in due course.
Spain will be represented by Mission Hills course designer Jose Maria Olazabal, who has already selected his close friend, Miguel Angel Jimenez.
The host nation will be represented by veteran Zhang Liang-wei, the first Chinese golfer to win on the European Tour, and Liang Wen-chong, the most recent player from China to win in Europe.
Arron Oberholser and Sean O'Hair take up the United States challenge.
The World Cup will be held in China every year until 2018 but has lost its six-year association with the World Golf Championships.
THE NOVEMBER PAIRINGS
Argentina: Andres Romero & Ricardo Gonzalez.
Australia: Nick O'Hern & A N Other.
Austria: Markus Brier & A N Other.
Canada: Mike Weir & A N Other.
China: Liang Wen-chong & Zhang Lian-wei.
Denmark: Anders Hansen & Soren Hansen.
England: Justin Rose & Ian Poulter.
France: Raphael Jacquelin & Gregory Havret.
Finland: Mikko Ilonen & Pasi Purhonen.
Germany: Martin Kaymer & Alex Cejka.
India: Jyoti Randhawa & Gaurev Ghei.
Japan: Hideto Tanihara & A N Other.
Scotland: Colin Montgomerie & Marc Warren.
South Africa: Retief Goosen & A N Other.
Spain: Jose Maria Olazábal & Miguel Angel Jimenez.
Sweden: Robert Karlsson & Peter Hanson.
United States: Arron Oberholser & Sean O'Hair.
Wales: Stephen Dodd & Bradley Dredge.

PRESS RELEASE

QUALIFIERS CONFIRMED FOR THE 2007 SEVE TROPHY TEAMS
Captains’ picks to be announced tomorrow morning

The 16 qualifiers for places in the teams to represent Great Britain & Ireland and Continental Europe in next week’s Seve Trophy at The Heritage Golf & Spa Resort in Killenard, Co. Laois were confirmed today as follows:

Great Britain & Ireland Continental Europe

Colin Montgomerie (Sco) Robert Karlsson (Swe)
Justin Rose (Eng) Miguel Angel Jiménez (Sp)
Paul Casey (Eng) Raphaël Jacquelin (Fra)
Bradley Dredge (Wal) Mikko Ilonen (Fin)
Graeme Storm (Eng) Søren Hansen (Den)
Oliver Wilson (Eng) Grégory Havret (Fra)
Nick Dougherty (Eng) Markus Brier (Aus)
Phillip Archer (Eng) Peter Hanson (Swe)

The first four players in each team qualified from the World rankings and the other four from their standing in the European Order of Merit. The final line up of the 10-man teams will be announced at 11:00 tomorrow (18 September) by the respective captains Nick Faldo and Seve Ballesteros.

It means first time appearances in the event for England’s Graeme Storm, Oliver Wilson and Phillip Archer in the Great Britain & Ireland team and Finland’s Mikko Ilonen, Denmark’s Søren Hansen, Frenchman Grégory Havret and Austria’s Markus Brier in the Continental Europe team.

Confirmation of the qualifiers for the fifth edition of the event comes after the withdrawal of Open champion Padraig Harrington due to fatigue and injury, plus the earlier withdrawal of world ranked players Sergio Garcia, Luke Donald and Henrik Stenson.
Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter also declined to take part.

The Seve Trophy will be played over four days on The Heritage championship course, a course that Seve Ballesteros co-designed, between 27-30 September.

GLASGOW YOUTHS OPEN: THREE IN A ROW
SUCCESS FOR NORTHUMBERLAND LADS

Northumberland continued their dominance of the Glasgow Youths Open championship at Ralston Golf Club at the weekend, winning the team event by six shots and providing the winner of the individual event.
It was the third year in a row that Northumberland players had won the team event.

SCOREBOARD

TEAM EVENT
278 Northumberland: 138 Philip Ridden (City of Newcastle) 68 70; 143 Nick Madison (City of Newcastle) 70 73; 144 D Shevill (Prudhoe) 74 70.
284 Renfrewshire: 142 Michael Campbell (Erskine) 70 72; Calum Morrison (Kilmacolm) 68 74; Chris Conroy (Paisley) 78 NR.
286 Glasgow: Chris Loughlin (Cawder) 69 73; 144 Matthew Dargie 75 69; 152 Mark Bookless (Sandyhills) 77 74.
INDIVIDUAL EVENT
138 P Ridden (City of Newcastle) 68 70.
139 D Henderson (Kilmacolm) 69 70.
141 B Sloan (Cathkin Braes) 70 71.
142 M Campbell (Paisley) 70 72, C Loughlin (Cawder) 69 73

PRESS RELEASE

DUNDONALD LINKS TO BE SCOTTISH HOME
FOR EUROPEAN TOUR QUALIFYING SCHOOL

Next year the European Tour Qualifying School will be heading north of the border for the first time in its history, as Dundonald Links on the stunning Ayrshire coastline has been confirmed by the European Tour as the first ever Scottish golf course to host Pre-Qualifying Stage 1.
Dundonald Links, situated near the legendary golfing town of Troon, is a classic and challenging links style golf course, designed by revered architect Kyle Phillips and owned by Loch Lomond Golf Club. Measuring 7,300 yards from the championship tees, the course meanders its way effortlessly through the surrounding dunes and is already regarded by many as one of the best new courses in the world.
The European Tour Qualifying School has a long history of producing some of the finest talents in the game. Comprising two initial pre-qualifying stages, held at a number of venues throughout Europe, followed by a rigorous six-round Final Qualifying, competitors are thoroughly tested on all aspects of the game that are required to make it onto The European Tour.
“We are extremely proud that Dundonald Links has been selected as the inaugural Scottish venue for European Tour Qualifying School,” commented John Caven, Director of Operations for Dundonald Links. The course has already hosted final qualifying for the Senior British Open Championship and in the near future will be the venue for the 2008 Scottish Mid-Amateur. It is also the regular home of the Duke of York Young Champions Trophy, which attracts many of the leading juniors from around Europe.
“I firmly believe that Dundonald will showcase golf in Scotland to the very highest order and present a true test of golf to all the competitors looking to make their way on to the European Tour.”
“I think it is only fitting that a country with such a storied history and passion for the game of golf as Scotland has will be hosting the European Tour Qualifying School from next year,” said Mike Stewart, Senior Tournament Director & Qualifying School Director of The European Tour.
“In Dundonald Links I believe we have chosen a course that represents the very best in Scottish Links golf.”

A FEW DOLLARS MORE FOR SCOTT JAMIESON

Glasgow's Scott Jamieson finished joint 37th in the latest event on the NGA Hooters Tour - the Kandy Waters Classic at Goshen Plantation Golf Club, Augusta in Georgia.
Jamieson had rounds of 68, 76, 71 and 72 for a one-under-par total of 287 to earn $1,289, boosting his earnings on the satellite tour to $20,844 from 10 events. He has missed the cut in only one.
Edinburgh exile David Kirpatrick, a long-time resident of Lakeland, Florida, finished joint 51st on 291 with scores of 70, 73, 78 and 70 for a $1,055 cheque.
Former Scottish youths champion Joel Hendry from Elgin missed the cut by a stroke with 74 and 72 for 146.
American Casey Wittenberg from Memphis won the $33,566 top prize with 69, 69, 70 and 67 for a 13-under-par total of 275 over the 7,143yd course.

WOODS WRAPS UP FEDEX

CUP WITH VICTORY BY

EIGHT STROKES

FROM THE A O L GOLF NEWS SERVICE

Tiger Woods chalked up another notable first in his career when he became the first FedEx Cup winner on the US PGA Tour.

Tiger shot the lowest 72-hole total of his career to blow away the field and clinch the Tour Championship by eight strokes on Sunday.
Woods led throughout the final round, shooting a four-under-par 66 in pleasant conditions at East Lake in the final event of the new FedEx Cup play-off series. He carded a 23-under-par 257 overall, two strokes better than his previous best total of 21-under at the 2000 NEC Invitational.
He said: "It's been just a phenomenal week. I really played well today and hit a bunch of good shots. I got on a good birdie run in the middle of the round and put it away."
Woods also smashed the Tour Championship record low score at the same time as securing his fourth victory in his past five starts and clinching the FedEx Cup title. He posted his 61st win on the US PGA Tour, remaining fifth on the all-time list but just one victory behind Arnold Palmer.
Woods started the final round with a three-shot advantage over Mark Calcavecchia and was a little shaky early on with a bogey at the par-three second followed by a three-metre par save at the next.
However, he soon found his swing, picking up three birdies in four holes starting at the sixth to go four shots clear at the turn. The back nine was pretty much a lap of honour as Woods added three more birdies before bogeying the 17th.
He shattered the Tour Championship record by six strokes and not only collected 10 million US dollars (£4,986,000) for winning the FedEx Cup, but also received 1.26 million dollars (£628,000) for winning the tournament.
Woods decided after a mediocre performance at the Open in July to modify his swing, and spent the following week at home working on the changes.
He added: "It's interesting how people questioned whether I should try and improve my game or not, and here we are. My driving has gotten better. I feel I'm able to work the ball better both ways and land the ball the number I want to land it on."
Calcavecchia, who tied for second with fellow American Zach Johnson, said of Woods: "When he bombs it down there in the fairway, his distance control is so good with his short irons, and putting he's the best ever, period."

LEADING FINAL TOTALS

Par 280 (4 x 70)

257 Tiger Woods 64 63 64 66
265 Mark Calcavecchia 65 66 63 71, Zach Johnson 71 66 60 68
266 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 68 64 64 70
269 Hunter Mahan 65 68 65 71, Scott Verplank 66 68 67 68
270 Vijay Singh (Fij) 68 68 65 69, Tim Clark (Rsa) 62 69 70 69
271 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 68 68 67 68, Camilo Villegas (Col) 67 68 70 66
273 Justin Rose (Eng) 69 71 66 67, Jim Furyk 71 69 67 66, Robert Allenby (Aus) 68 71 68 66, Woody Austin 65 65 69 74, Stewart Cink 67 66 71 69, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 63 70 67 73
274 Steve Stricker 69 67 71 67, Slocum Heath 71 64 69 70, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 68 70 62 74
275 Phil Mickelson 68 66 70 71
276 KJ Choi (Kor) 67 65 75 69, Boo Weekley 70 67 68 71
277 Jonathan Byrd 71 70 65 71
278 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 69 70 68 71
279 John Rollins 64 69 73 73
280 Adam Scott (Aus) 65 66 71 78, Ernie Els (Rsa) 69 69 73 69
282 Brett Wetterich 68 69 70 75, Brandt Snedeker 71 72 68 71, Charles Howell III 68 71 69 74

Hugh Hunter reports from Gleneagles and Crieff

FIFE WIN FRANK THOMSON

BOYS' TROPHY

AT GLENEAGLES

Fife won the Frank Thomson Trophy boys' team golf tournament today over the PGA Centenary course at Gleneagles after the usual venue for this annual contest, the Queen's Course, was ruled too wet for play.
The boys played off the front tees but they were faced with the same sort of shot that the professionals had on many holes in the recent Johnnie Walker Championship European Tour event.
The event was played under handicap Stableford with the best four scores counting.

Hugh Hunter's image of the winning Fife boys' team is reproduced above. Left to right: Lawrence Allan (Alva), Gary Chalmers, Tom Hogarth (both Dollar), Michael Barrett, John McPherson (both Braehead)
POINTS TOTALS
107 Fife (Jack Thorburn 30 Neil Beattie 29, Ewan Scott 24, Callum Spence 24, James Penman 23).
103 Clackmannan (John McPherson 30, Lawrence Allan 29, Gary Chalmers 24, Michael Barrett 20, Tom Hogarth 19).
93 Perth & Kinross (Connor Neil 28, Greig Stewart 24, Jamie Arthur 23, Euan Carter 18, Jamie Burrows 17).
Top individual scorers were John McPherson (Braehead) and Jack Thorburn (Forrester Park), with 30 points each.

PERTH & KINROSS RETAIN MIDLAND DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP

The Midland District team golf championship over Crieff Golf Club's Ferntower course today was curtailed to nine holes because of heavy rain.
Perthshire retained the title comfortably. One of their players, Stuart McKendrick (Dunkeld & Birnam) had the best individual score of 33.
Team results
Par 34
291 Perth & Kinross (S McKendrick 33, P Scott 34, M Davidson 36, S Graham 36, T McLevy 37, E Lindsay 38, D Simpson 38, S Hume 39).
301 Fife (B Souter 35, G Sharp 36, S Meiklejohn 36, E Malcolm 37, J Farmer 37, D Mitchell 38, J White 39, S Michie 43).
319 Clackmannan (D Hulston 37, J Maxwell 37, R Benvie 39, J Aitken 40, C O’Connor 41, M Crichton 41, J Gullen 42, P Dempsey 42).
322 Angus ( J Watt 35, S Smith 37, S Strachan 37, P Teviotdale 37, A Grant 42, S Mann 44, D Elder 46.

NORTH BOYS’ DOUBLE WHAMMY

IN PLATFORM 2 EVENT

AT LETHAM GRANGE

North boys scored a double whammy in the Platform 2 junior 36-hole tournament over the Letham Grange No 2 course, the Glens, today when they provided the first and second in the individual event and also won the team trophy.
The first round was played in non-stop rain which delayed the pace of play so much that at the end of the day the tail-enders in the field of 36 finished in darkness.
Chris Gaitens (Fortrose & Rosemarkie), pictured right, won with very good scores of 67 and 69 for level par aggregate of 136.
He had three shots to spare over North team-mate Ian Allan (Hopeman) who had rounds of 71 and 68.
North-east filled the third and fourth spots through Tom Spencer (Inchmarlo) and Sam Strachan (Inverallochy). Tom, after a first-round 74, whistled round the second circuit in the day’s lowest score of 66 for 140.
Strachan was only one shot behind with 74 and 67 for 141. Sam’s second round gained him fourth place on a card countback.
North District were team champions with a total of 1453 (10 scores to count in each round form 12 players). North-east were runners-up with 1464 and Angus were third with 1528.

Letham Grange Glens course.
Par 136 (2 x 68). CSS 68 68.
136 C Gaitens (Fortrose & Rosemarkie) 67 69.
139 I Allan (Hopeman) 71 68.
140 T Spencer (Inchmarlo) 74 66.
141 S Strachan (Inverallochy) 74 67.

Team competition

1453 North District (C Gaitens 136, I Allan 139, A Begg 142, L Reid 143, R Elder 143, J Treasurer 146, D Ramsay 151, K Godsman 151, R Asher 153, S Connell 155, P Ramsay 160, M Ross 167).

1464 North-east District (T Spencer 140, S Strachan 141, C Trahan 143, M Campbell 145, S Griffiths 145, R Bain 146, E Barrack 148, O Coull 149, F Clarke 153, M Stainton 154, K Watson 163).

1528 Angus County (M Reid 141, J McColl 145, A Simpson 146, C Cook 149, M McNally 149, D Lawrence 154, S Nicoll 155, R Munro 156, R Mitchell 165, A Cargill 170.

Best performance of the day (apart from the winner ) came from 12-year-old Connor Cook, a nine-handicaper, who scored a gross 77 in the morning and was the best Angus player in the afternoon round with a 72.

+LOG ON TO OUR SISTER WEBSITE, www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk, to see the leading scores in the Platform 2 girls' tournament.

EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR
OKI Mahou Challenge de Espana, Club Campo de Layos, Spain
Par 288 (4 x 72)
271 F Aguilar (Chi) 71 63 70 67, T Dier (Ger) 69 64 68 70 (Aguilar won play-off at first extra hole).
272 F Calmels (Fra) 67 67 72 66
274 A Ahokas (Fin) 65 72 63 73
275 R Dinwiddie (Eng) 67 70 67 71, F Delamontagne (Fra) 67 70 68 70
276 G Maybin (NIrl) 68 70 68 70, S Browne (Irl) 69 69 68 71
278 H Rey (Arg) 69 66 72 71
279 F Zanotti (Par) 70 72 70 67, A Salto (Spa) 72 71 66 70
280 P Baker (Eng) 69 72 69 70, C De Corral (Spa) 71 72 72 65, R Gonzalez (Spa) 70 73 68 69
281 S Luna (Spa) 71 71 72 67, R Coles (Eng) 70 70 67 74, B Willman (Eng) 68 70 75 68, D Seron (Spa) 68 70 72 71, J Abbate (Arg) 69 71 73 68
282 D Wardrop (Eng) 70 71 72 69, F Widmark (Swe) 69 71 78 64, C Del Moral (Spa) 67 70 75 70, M Hoey (NIrl) 71 71 73 67
283 R Russell (Sco) 72 68 73 70, P Whiteford (Sco) 72 68 70 73, F Valera (Spa) 73 69 72 69, J Zapata (Arg) 63 73 74 72
284 S Fernandez (Arg) 73 72 66 73, J McLeary (Sco) 69 71 74 70, C Brazillier (Fra) 68 76 75 65, J Donaldson (Wal) 72 73 67 72, C Quevedo (Spa) 67 70 73 74, B Teilleria (Fra) 71 69 69 75, C Balmaseda (Spa) 68 71 73 72
285 M Ruiz (Par) 69 72 71 73, J Colomo (Spa) 68 72 71 74, C Moriarty (Irl) 66 74 74 71, A Gee (Eng) 69 75 68 73, D Borrego (Spa) 75 68 69 73, S Henderson (Sco) 73 70 72 70, G Rojas (Arg) 72 70 71 72
286 S P Webster (Eng) 72 73 76 75, J San-Felix (Spa) 70 72 73 71, A Garcia-Heredia (Spa) 69 71 75 71, I Keenan (Eng) 66 71 70 79
287 M Rodriguez (Arg) 72 73 71 71, A Butterfield (Eng) 69 76 72 70
288 MA Martin (Spa) 72 69 74 73, P Linhart (Spa) 69 68 80 71, JC Zafra (Spa) 71 72 72 73, J Huddahl (Den) 71 71 74 72, S Delagrange (Fra) 72 69 69 78
289 J Del Moral (Spa) 72 71 79 67
290 V Blazquez (Spa) 71 73 70 76
291 A Bossert (Swi) 74 69 72 76, P Worthington (Eng) 71 72 74 74, T Milford (Eng) 69 75 75 72
292 G Paddison (Nzl) 72 73 73 74, D De Leon (Mex) 74 69 73 76
293 R De Sousa (Swi) 70 72 78 73
294 J Benedetti (Col) 70 68 77 79
295 J Theunis (Bel) 70 73 77 75
296 D Westermark (Swe) 74 71 76 75
297 P Fearweather (Spa) 74 70 75 78

SCOT LOSES ASIAN TOUR PLAY-OFF
MIDEA CHINA CLASSIC
Royal Orchid International Golf Club, Guangzhou, China.
Par 284 (4 x 71)
263 Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 65 63 68 67, Simon Yates (Sco) 68 64 62 69, Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 68 62 64 69 Wiratch won sudden-death play-off at fourth hole).
266 Scott Barr (Aus) 68 66 66 66
268 Hur In-hoi (Kor) 68 64 69 67, Mars Pucay (Phi) 66 67 66 69
269 Michael Wright (Aus) 67 66 69 67, Edward Michaels (USA) 65 64 71 69
270 Lin Wen-tang (Tpe) 68 67 66 69, Brad Iles (Nzl) 66 71 63 70
271 Lu Wen-teh (Tpe) 71 67 67 66, Jin Park (USA) 66 67 69 69
272 Liang Wen-chong (Chn) 67 70 65 70
273 Atthaphon Prathummanee (Tha) 67 69 68 69, Jerome Delariarte (Phi) 69 69 64 71, S.S.P. Chowrasia (Ind) 65 67 68 73
274 Stephen Scahill (Nzl) 68 70 68 68, Zhang Lian-wei (Chn) 70 67 69 68, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 72 68 65 69, Choengchai Panpumpo (Tha) 66 66 70 72
275 Richard Moir (Aus) 72 69 68 66, Taichiro Kiyota (Jpn) 69 70 68 68, Rahil Gangjee (Ind) 66 68 71 70
276Lee Sung (Kor) 64 72 72 68, Lin Keng-chi (Tpe) 66 68 72 70, S. Sivachandran (Mas) 69 66 70 71, David Freeman (Hkg) 68 64 70 74, Troy Kennedy (Aus) 69 67 66 74
277 Kim Hye-dong (Kor) 71 68 69 69, Anthony Kang (USA) 70 66 69 72, Wu Kang-chun (Chn) 68 65 70 74
278 Sung Mao-chang (Tpe) 69 70 72 67, Adam Blyth (Aus) 70 69 70 69, Adam Groom (Aus) 72 67 69 70, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 73 67 68 70, Somkiat Srisanga (Tha) 69 71 68 70, Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa) 67 68 70 73
279 Jarrod Moseley (Aus) 70 69 70 70, Guido Van Der Valk (Nld) 70 70 69 70, Keith Horne (Rsa) 72 68 68 71, Neven Basic (Aus) 69 65 71 74, Park Jun-won (Kor) 69 66 70 74
280 YE Xiong-hui (Chn) 72 68 70 70, Gary Rusnak (USA) 67 69 72 72
281 Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 72 69 71 69
281 Wang Ter-chang (Tpe) 69 72 70 70, Unho Park (Aus) 71 70 70 70, Simon Nash (Aus) 73 68 69 71, Pornsakon Tipsanit (Tha) 70 71 69 71, Mahal Pearce (Nzl) 66 68 74 73
282 Olle Nordberg (Swe) 71 70 72 69, Ross Bain (Sco) 70 69 71 72
283 Adam Le Vesconte (Aus) 71 69 72 71, Hong Jian-yao (a)(Chn) 70 68 72 73, Gary Simpson (Aus) 68 69 72 74
284 Lu Wei-lan (Tpe) 71 68 73 72, Lu Wei-chih (Tpe) 69 70 73 72, Tony Carolan (Aus) 70 68 73 73, Ben Leong (Mas) 68 67 76 73, Liao Gui-ming (Chn) 72 68 69 75
285 Iain Steel (Mas) 69 72 74 70, Gurbaaz Mann (Ind) 73 65 76 71, Mike Cunning (USA) 71 70 72 72, Rashid Ismail (Mas) 70 69 72 74, David Bransdon (Aus) 68 70 70 77, Airil Rizman (Mas) 68 73 67 77
286 Chang Tse-peng (Tpe) 72 69 73 72, Kong Wei-hai (Chn) 68 72 70 76
287 Ronnachai Jamnong (Tha) 70 71 72 74, Mitchell Brown (Aus) 68 73 71 75, Ted Oh (Kor) 69 70 71 77, Scott Hend (Aus) 71 67 68 81, Bryan Saltus (USA) 67 69 74 78
290 Barry Hume (Sco) 72 69 77 72
293 Leigh Mckechnie (Aus) 69 72 77 75
296 Lin Chien-bing (Tpe) 67 71 77 81

Scots Forsyth and Lawrie finish in top 10 in Germany

EUROPEAN TOUR SCOREBOARD
MERCEDES-BENZ CHAMPIONSHIP
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
271 Soren Hansen (Den) 65 68 71 67
275 Phillip Archer 71 70 66 68, Alastair Forsyth 76 67 62 70
276 Bradley Dredge 68 71 70 67, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 71 67 66 72
277 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 73 67 72 65, Lee Westwood 61 73 72 71, Simon Khan 67 70 69 71
278 Paul Lawrie 68 70 71 69, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 67 73 68 70
279 Graeme McDowell 69 72 69 69, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 67 71 69 72
280 Johan Edfors (Swe) 70 71 72 67, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 70 71 70 69, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 68 70 72 70
281 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 72 70 72 67, Fredrik Andersson (Swe) 69 70 73 69, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 67 73 72 69, Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe) 74 69 69 69, John Bickerton 71 69 71 70
282 Yong-eun Yang (Kor) 70 73 72 67, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 71 72 71 68, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 72 71 69 70, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 68 70 72 72, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 70 69 70 73, Richard Green (Aus) 73 67 66 76
283 John Daly (USA) 67 71 76 69, Ian Poulter 72 70 71 70, Peter Hanson (Swe) 69 74 70 70, Alex Cejka (Ger) 70 73 68 72, Bernhard Langer (Ger) 69 68 70 76
284 Markus Brier (Aut) 74 69 72 69, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 70 72 71 71, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 70 69 73 72, Ross Fisher 74 70 68 72, Nick Dougherty 66 75 69 74
285 Marcel Siem (Ger) 71 73 70 71, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 70 72 70 73, Carl Suneson (Spa) 69 72 70 74, Simon Dyson 66 71 73 75
286 Andres Romero (Arg) 68 71 76 71, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 72 68 75 71, Simon Wakefield 70 70 74 72, Pablo Martin (Spa) 70 69 72 75, Marc Warren 71 69 70 76
287 Peter Hedblom (Swe) 74 73 73 67, Mark Foster 76 70 71 70, Paul McGinley 70 79 67 71, Anders Hansen (Den) 72 72 70 73, Colin Montgomerie 69 69 73 76
288 Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 76 73 73 66
289 Sven Struver (Ger) 71 72 76 70, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 73 67 75 74
290 Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 73 70 75 72, Stephen Dodd 73 71 72 74, Scott Drummond 72 72 71 75
291 Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 74 71 74 72, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 70 76 72 73, Ariel Canete (Arg) 71 70 76 74, Robert-Jan Derksen (Ned0 68 74 73 76
292 Oliver Wilson 70 76 72 74, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 77 67 73 75
293 Gregory Havret (Fra) 73 79 71 70, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 74 73 73 73
294 Michael Campbell (Nzl) 77 73 72 72, Kenneth Ferrie 69 73 78 74, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 77 71 71 75
295 Anton Haig (Rsa) 70 76 77 72, Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 73 75 72 75, Graeme Storm 71 78 70 76, Phillip Price 70 71 76 78
296 Mardan Mamat (Sin) 70 76 73 77, David Howell 73 71 73 79
297 Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 76 69 76 76, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 75 73 72 77
298 Darren Clarke 69 75 77 77
299 Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 72 76 77 74
303 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 73 77 74 79

LOCH NESS WIN DRAMATIC FINISH AGAINST
INVERNESS'S TWO OTHER CLUBS

The annual match between the three golf clubs in Inverness had another dramatic finish at Loch Ness where the home team held onto the trophy.
The format of the competition is for each club to supply a 10-man team and each player plays a stableford round along with one player from the other two clubs. The result of each game is decided by the stablford score and if a player beats both his opponents he receives 3 points, a win and a loss gets 2 points and no wins in the game is still rewarded with 1 point.
Loch Ness came out of the traps quickly and took the first three games, with Stewart McCallum of the host club making 41 points from his handicap of eight.
Torvean rallied, however, and the next four games saw them secure top points in each one. Jamie Gordon from Loch Ness stopped the rot and got them back into the match and with Inverness' Dougie Alcock gaining their only win of the day it came down to the last match with Torvean leading Loch Ness by 2 points.
Loch Ness needed a win and Torvean to finish last to tie the match and take the trophy on a count back with any other result giving Torvean the cup.
Stephen Moss from Loch Ness turned out to be the hero but only by the slimmest of margins. As the scores were being tallied for the final three-ball Moss had tied with Alan Coutts from Inverness on 30 Stableford points with Torvean's Donnie Cumming scoring 28 and taking the the solitary point for last in the group.
A card play-off was required to separate Moss and Coutts but both scored 11 points for the back 9 and so it was down to the score over the last 6 holes. Moss managed 9 to Coutts' 8 and thus the victory and the trophy were taken by Loch Ness.
With the scores for each game being relayed over the big screen even the excitement of the Soilheim Cup was pushed into the shadows.
Host captain Tom Smith thanked all players for a thrilling match and hoped that the spirit and camaraderie shown between all players would continue in the follow years' matches.

US PGA TOUR SCOREBOARD
TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 210 (3 x 70)
191 Tiger Woods 64 63 64
194 Mark Calcavecchia 65 66 63
196 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 68 64 64
197 Zach Johnson 71 66 60
198 Hunter Mahan 65 68 65
199 Woody Austin 65 65 69
200 Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 68 70 62, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 63 70 67
201 Vijay Singh (Fij) 68 68 65, Tim Clark (Rsa) 62 69 70, Scott Verplank 66 68 67
202 Adam Scott (Aus) 65 66 71
203 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 68 68 67, Slocum Heath 71 64 68
204 Phil Mickelson 68 66 70, Stewart Cink 67 66 71
205 Boo Weekley 70 67 68, Camilo Villegas (Col) 67 68 70
206 John Rollins 64 69 73, Justin Rose (Eng) 69 71 66, Jonathan Byrd 71 70 65
207 Steve Stricker 69 67 71, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 69 70 68, Robert Allenby (Aus) 68 71 68, Jim Furyk 71 69 67, KJ Choi (Kor) 67 65 75, Brett Wetterich 68 69 70
208 Charles Howell III 68 71 69
211 Ernie Els (Rsa) 69 69 73, Brandt Snedeker 71 72 68

JAMIESON HAS A NINE ON HIS CARD AND DROPS
FROM THIRD TO 52ND ON HOOTERS TOUR

Glasgow's Scott Jamieson had a nightmare 9 at the par-4 third hole as a second-round of four-over-par 76 knocked him down from joint third overnight to tied 52nd after two rounds in the NGA Hooters Tour event, the Kandy Waters Memorial Classic at Goshen Plantation Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia - where Jamieson spent four years as a student at Augusta State University.
Edinburgh exile David Kirkpatrick, now based at Lakeland, Florida, also made the cut with 70 and 73 for 143.
But former Scottish youths champion Joel Hendry from Elgin missed out with 72 and 74 for 146.
American Ryan Blaum leads on 134 with scores of 69 and 65.

ENOCH MAKES PROMISING DEBUT BUT
JORDAN FINDLAY HAD A SIX-OVER 78

Welsh international Rhys Enoch made a promising debut for East Tennessee State University in the weather-delayed Carpet Capital Collegiate college tournament at The Farm Club, Rocky Face in Georgia.
New recruit Enoch had a first-round 73, one over par for the 7,012yd course.
Jordan Findlay, starting his third year at East Tennessee State, did not do so well - a 78. But that was three better than Irish team-mate Seamus Power.
Although Gareth Shaw had a 70 and Cian McNamnara a 72, East Tennessee State are certainly going to miss Walker Cup player Rhys Davies, who turned pro a few days ago. Rhys won 10 tournaments during his four years at the university.

FIRST ROUND SCORES INCLUDE
65 Chesson Hadley (Georgia Tech).
70 Joel Sjoholm (Georgia State), Gareth Shaw (East Tennessee State).
71 Rhys Enoch (East Tennessee State).
72 Cian McNamara (East Tennessee State).
73 Charles Ford (Tennessee) (from Leicester).
76 Tom Sherreard (Georgia State) (from Maidstone).
77 Chris Paisley (Tennessee) (from Newcastle).
78 Jordan Findlay (East Tennessee State).
81 Seamus Power (East Tennessee State).

Alastair Forsyth lying third in Germany after 10-under 62

EUROPEAN TOUR SCOREBOARD
MERCEDES-BENZ CHAMPIONSHIP
THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
204 Thomas Bjorn (Den) 71 67 66, Soren Hansen (Den) 65 68 71
205 Alastair Forsyth 76 67 62
206 Richard Green (Aus) 73 67 66, Simon Khan 67 70 69, Lee Westwood 61 73 72
207 Phillip Archer 71 70 66, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 67 71 69, Bernhard Langer (Ger) 69 68 70
208 Richard Sterne (Rsa) 67 73 68
209 Bradley Dredge 68 71 70, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 70 69 70, Paul Lawrie 68 70 71
210 Graeme McDowell 69 72 69, Nick Dougherty 66 75 69, Marc Warren 71 69 70, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 68 70 72, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 68 70 72, Simon Dyson 66 71 73
211 Alex Cejka (Ger) 70 73 68, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 70 71 70, Carl Suneson (Spa) 69 72 70, John Bickerton 71 69 71, Pablo Martin (Spa) 70 69 72, Colin Montgomerie 69 69 73
212 Ross Fisher 74 70 68, Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe) 74 69 69, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 72 71 69, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 70 72 70, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 73 67 72, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 67 73 72, Fredrik Andersson (Swe) 69 70 73, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 70 69 73
213 Peter Hanson (Swe) 69 74 70, Ian Poulter 72 70 71, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 70 72 71, Johan Edfors (Swe) 70 71 72
214 Anders Hansen (Den) 72 72 70, Marcel Siem (Ger) 71 73 70, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 71 72 71, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 72 70 72, Simon Wakefield 70 70 74, John Daly (USA) 67 71 76
215 Scott Drummond 72 72 71, Yong-eun Yang (Kor) 70 73 72, Markus Brier (Aut) 74 69 72, Robert-Jan Derksen (Ned) 68 74 73, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 72 68 75, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 73 67 75, Andres Romero (Arg) 68 71 76
216 Paul McGinley 70 79 67, Stephen Dodd 73 71 72
217 Mark Foster 76 70 71, David Howell 73 71 73, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 77 67 73, Phillip Price 70 71 76, Ariel Canete (Arg) 71 70 76
218 Peter O'Malley (Aus) 70 76 72, Oliver Wilson 70 76 72, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 73 70 75
219 Graeme Storm 71 78 70, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 77 71 71, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 70 76 73, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 74 71 74, Sven Struver (Ger) 71 72 76
220 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 73 75 72, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 75 73 72, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 74 73 73, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 74 73 73, Kenneth Ferrie 69 73 78
221 Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 76 69 76, Darren Clarke 69 75 77
222 Michael Campbell (Nzl) 77 73 72, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 76 73 73 223 Gregory Havret (Fra) 73 79 71, Anton Haig (Rsa) 70 76 77
224 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 73 77 74
225 Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 72 76 77

DOAK WINS £1,172 PRIZE AT MACHRIHANISH

Chris Doak won the £1,172 top prize in Saturday's Machrihanish Golf Club pro-am with a two-under-par round of 68. It was the unattached Doak's seventh one-round win of the season on the Tartan Tour circuit, following successes at Portpatrick, Douglas Park, Edzell, Troon Welbeck, Turriff, and Inverness.
Former Northern Open champion Doak had birdies at the fifth, sixth, 10th, 13th and 18th with bogeys at the third, 11th and 16th in halves of 34.
Joint runners-up on 69 were Dean Robertson (Mearns Castle) and Stephen Gray (Hayston).
Mark King led a host club trio of Matt MacAulay (handicap 3), Stuart Buchanan (18) and Robert Wallace (16) to victory with a 13-under-par net score of 57 in the team event.
LEADING PROFESSIONALS
Par 70
68 C Doak (unatt).
69 D Robertson (Mearns Castle), S Gray (Hayston).
70 M King (Kingsfield GR), E Cameron (Hamilton), P McKechnie (Braid Hills), C Kelly (Cawder).
71 A Forrow (Whitecraigs), O Leslie (Prestonfield), F Mann (Musselburgh).

EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR REPORT
AND THIRD-ROUND SCORES

Germany’s Tobias Dier shares the lead in the European Challenge Tour OKI Mahou Challenge de España with Finland’s Antii Ahokas on 15 under par 201 at the Golf Campo de Layos in Toledo.
Overnight leader Dier, currently 87th in the Challenge Tour Rankings, needs to win to help his efforts to retain his playing privileges for 2008 on the circuit – and he used that incentive to shoot a third round four under par 68.
The 2002 winner of the Dutch Open on the European Tour said: “I have been playing better than my results have been showing, but this week it’s clicking. I’m making putts, not making mistakes and not three-putting, which makes a big difference.
“Of course, I need to win to keep my card. I know this. But I am feeling that this week can be my week. I will just keep on doing what I’ve been doing.”
Ahokas, in fifth place at the start of play, fired a super eight under par 64 to advance his bid for an inaugural victory in his first season as a Challenge Tour professional. The 22 year old had nine birdies but bogeyed the last hole for his only blemish.
He said: “I am very happy to shoot my lowest score on the Challenge Tour. It felt great and I am right in contention. To win would be a dream come true but we have 18 holes left and a lot of good players are in the hunt.”
One of those is England’s Robert Dinwiddie, who is tied third with Challenge Tour Rankings leader, Chile’s Felipe Aguilar, on 12 under par 204. The pair are three shots further back, after firing respective third rounds of 67 and 70.
Should Dinwiddie catch Ahokas and Dier, he will register his third win of 2007 and earn automatic promotion to the European Tour.
THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72).
201 A Ahokas (Fin) 65 72 64, T Dias (Ger) 69 64 68
204 R Dinwiddie (Eng) 67 70 67, F Aguilar (Chl) 71 63 70
205 F Delamontagne (Fra) 67 70 68
206 F Calmels (Fra) 67 67 72, G Maybin (Eng) 68 70 68, S Browne (Irl) 69 69 68
207 H Rey (Arg) 69 66 72, R Coles (Eng) 70 70 67, I Keenan (Eng) 66 71 70
209 B Teilleria (Fra) 71 69 69, A Salto (Esp) 72 71 66
210 P Baker (Eng) 69 72 69, S Delagrange (Fra) 72 69 69, C Quevedo (Esp) 67 70 73, D Seron (Esp) 68 70 72, P Whiteford (Sco) 72 68 70
Other Scots' scores:
213 R Russell 72 68 73 (jt 30th).
214 J McLeary 69 71 74 (jt 35th).
215 S Henderson 73 70 72 (jt 40th).

SCOT YATES SHARES THE LEAD WITH ONE
ROUND TO GO IN MIDEA CHINA CLASSIC

Scot Simon Yates and Thai young gun Chinarat Phadungsil eagled the final 18th hole for a two-stroke lead at the Midea China Classic on Saturday.
Yates, 37, blasted a stunning nine-under-par 62 that included two eagles as he equalled the course record set by Chinarat who fired a 64 in the third round earlier today. The duo were tied at the top of the pack on 19-under-par 194 total at the Royal Orchid International Golf Club.
Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand, who is ranked 19th on the Asian Tour’s UBS Order of Merit, carded a 68 in lone third spot while Filipino Mars Pucay continued his aggressive approach with a 66 in fourth position for a 199 total.
Thai-based Yates was eight under after 11 holes, having eagled the 10th. He was struggling off the tee today and dropped shots on the 12th and 13th holes but bounced back with a birdie on the 14th hole. He closed in with style holing a 25ftt eagle putt on the 543yd 18th hole.
"It was my day today. I was very lucky throughout the round and I hope for the same on Sunday,” said the Glasgow-born Yates who has been riding on solid form this season thanks to a new swing technique taught by Simon Hurd’s coach Stewart Morgan early this year.
“I was driving it solid off the tee in the first two rounds but today, it was going all over the place. I think my bad habits started creeping in. But my eagles at the par four 10th and 18th holes were lucky. With the luck, I hope to get back to my new ways and finish off at the top,” he added.
Chinarat, who won his maiden Asian Tour title as an amateur in Thailand two years ago, shared a similar sentiment when he enjoyed a lucky break on the 18th hole.
“It was a great finish to my round but I was really lucky on the final 18th hole. My shot off the tee landed in the rough and I was 230 yards from the pin. A five wood got me out of trouble when the ball then hit the road, struck the curb and bounced back onto the green. I holed it from 10 feet. Great end to a lucky round,” said Chinarat, who won the 2006 Crowne Plaza Open.
“I will be nervous and a little bit tired heading into the final round but I’m excited to play with Simon. In Johor, we were playing together and we had a lot of fun on course as he is a really friendly guy so I hope to have a relaxed time with him when we compete against each other on the final day,” admitted Chinarat, who fired an eagle, six birdies against a lone bogey today.
LEADING THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
194 Simon Yates (Sco) 68-64-62, Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 68-62-64
196 Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 65-63-68
199 Mars Pucay (Phi) 66-67-66
200 Brad Iles (NZ) 66-71-63, Scott Barr (Aus) 68-66-66, S.S.P. Chowrasia (Ind) 65-67-68, Edward Michaels (US) 65-64-71
201 Lin Wen-tang (TPE) 68-67-66, Hur In-hoi (KOR) 68-64-69
202 Jerome Delariarte (PHI) 69-69-64, Liang Wen-chong (CHN) 67-70-65, Troy Kennedy (Aus) 69-67-66, Michael Wright (AUS) 67-66-69, Jin Park (USA) 66-67-69
David Freeman (HKG) 68-64-70, Choengchai Punpumpo (THA) 66-66-70
203 - Wu Kang-chun (CHN) 68-65-70
204 - Atthaphon Prathummanee (THA) 67-69-68
205 - Chapchai Nirat (THA) 72-68-65, Lu Wen-teh (TPE) 71-67-67, Anthony Kang (USA) 70-66-69, S. Sivachandran (MAS) 69-66-70, Park Jun-won (KOR) 69-66-70, Hendrik Buhrmann (RSA) 67-68-70, Rahil Gangjee (IND) 66-68-71, Neven Basic (AUS) 69-65-71

DUNOON STUDENT TRAILS AT ALBUQUERQUE

Chris Carson from Dunoon, a student at Sam Houston State University, Texas, is lying joint 42nd in a field of 90 after two rounds of the 54-hole Willliam H Tucker college tournament over the University of New Mexico golf course at Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Chris has had two rounds of 75 for a 36-hole tally of 150 over a par-72 course of 7,272yd.
Jesse Barnsley (Pepperdine) leads by seven shots with scores of 66 and 67 for 133.

EDINBURGH PAIR WIN BELHAVEN BEST SCOTTISH
CLUB HANDICAP CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

The Belhaven Best Scottish Club Handicap Championship Final was won by Macdonald Cardrona, near Peebles today by the Harrison Golf Club pairing of Iain Ashley and Graham Patterson. The club is based at Braid Hills No 1 and No 2 courses, Edinburgh.
Iain and Graham had a five-under-par score of 67.
LEADING SCORES
67 Harrison (Iain Ashley, Graham Patterson).
68 Elgin (David Hector, Kevin Prosser), Elmwood (David MacRitchie, Roger Honeyman).
69 Lochgelly (George Stewart, Paul Ratcliffe), Ballumbie Castle (Alan Edwards, Andy Bosak).
70 Murcar Links (David Leighton, Charles McKen), Aberfoyle (Kelly McGrow, Gary Marshall), Hayston (Bill Scott, Derek Surgeon), Glasgow Victoria (Jim Robertson, Steven Querns), Kinross (Brian Herd, Howard Thomas).
71 Douglas Water (Dave Cowan, Mark McLeod), Wigtownshire County (Adam Chung, Alan McCulloch), Inverallochy (Ian Anderson, Kenny Slessor), Strathaven (Billy Wallace, Mark Duguid).
72 Deeside (Alistair Hunter, Ron Alison), Musselburgh (Stuart Bertram, Robert Brown), Ayr Seafield (John Brown, David Taylor), Tam O'Shanter (Brian O'Neil, Billy Thomson), Hirsel (Robert Chalmers, Stephen Lynch), Stirling (Brendan Watts, Michael MacFarlane).
73 Nairn Dunbar (Michael Howitt, George Anderson), St Michaels (Scott Berwick, Gordon MacFadyen), Canmore (Derek Fotheringham, Andrew Watson), Langholm (Gary Porteous, Sean Turner), Burntisland (Alistair McLeod, James Hayton), Clydebank & District (John Gibbons, Gerry Reilly), Pumpherston (Brian Orr, Ian Adamson), Forrester Park (Colin McCreadie, Raymond Murray), Newcastleton (Peter Irving, Barry Patterson).
74 Linn Park (Tommy Dunn, Ross Dunn), Lochgilphead (William Ross, David Ross), Clydeview & Cleddans (John Anderson, Danny Joyce), Esporta Dougalston (Stuart MacKay, Paul Russell), Brora (Ken Lorimer, Tony Gill).
75 Drumoig (Sean Anderson, Fraser Mackay), Milngavie (Phil Ward, Vincent Lee), Edzell (Hamish McLaughlan, Graham Forbes), Leven Golfing Society (David Walker, Scott Taylor), Tarbat (Barry Nimmons, Jimmy Nimmons), Bearsden (Iain MacMillan, James Conlon).
76 Polmont (Craig Heeps, Tom Quin), Whitekirk (Ian Hazell, Ronnie McLean), Braehead (Steve Duncan, Jim Anderson), Binny (Gordon Bruce, Gordon MacDonald).
77 Thornton (Jim Gay, Robert Skene), Durness (Alasdair McCowan, John MacKenzie), Knightswood (Paul McCaffrey, Robert Wilson), Pines (Robbie MacBeth, John MacBeth).
78 Hawick (David Clark, Paul Robson), Crichton (William Herd, Lee Sterritt), Baberton (Gordon Stuart, Alastair Nicol).
79 Ballater (Stewart Reid, Angus Davidson), Buckpool (Dylan Lawson, Anthony Grange), Ranfurly Castle (Andrew Girvan, James Ross).
80 RAF Leuchars (John Crawford, Bob Baker).
81 Crosshouse (Barry Cairns, Eddie Woods).
84 St Fillans (Malcolm Baillie, Mos Pugh).
86 Dunbar (Paul Harper, Colin Davidson).
Disqualified: Fereneze (Eddie McCaffrey, John Gilchrist), Dalmuir (Gary Fraser, Alan Houston).

WOODS (out in 28) GOES THREE CLEAR
WITH A 63 IN US TOUR EVENT

Tiger Woods took control of the US PGA Tour Championship with a second-round 63 - which could have been a 61 but for two bogeys on the inward half - for a 36-hole tally of 13-under-par 127 at East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta today.
Woods had an eagle and five birdies in reducing the front nine to 28 shots (seven under par). He even holed a bunker shot at the fifth.
The US PGA Tour record for nine holes is 26, set by Corey Pavin.

HALFWAY TOTALS
Par 140 (2 x 70)
127 Tiger Woods 64 63.
130 Woody Austin 65 65.
131 Adam Scott (Aus) 65 66, Mark Calcavecchia 65 66, Tim Clark (Rsa) 62 69.
132 K J Choi (Kor) 67 65, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 68 64.
133 Hunter Mahan 65 68, John Rollins 64 69, Stewart Cink 67 66, Padraig Harrington (Ire) 63 70.
134 Phil Mickelson 68 66, Scott Verplank 66 68.
135 Slocum Heath 71 64, Camilo Villegas (Col) 67 68.
136 Steve Stricker 69 67, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 68 68, Vijay Singh (Fij) 68 68.
137 Zach Johnson 71 66, Boo Weekley 70 67, Brett Wetterich 68 69.
138 Ernie Els (Rsa) 69 69, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 68 70.
139 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 69 70, Robert Allenby (Aus) 68 71, Charles Howell III 68 71.
140 Jim Furyk 71 69, Justin Rose (Eng) 69 71.
141 Jonathan Byrd 71 70.
143 Brandt Snedeker 71 72.

SCOTT SHARES THIRD PLACE IN

WEATHER-HIT HOOTERS'

TOUR EVENT AT AUGUSTA

Scott Jamieson didn't let the long wait put him off - he completed a first-round, four-under-par 68 to be joint third with seven other players in the weather-hit NGA Hooters Tour event, the Kandy Waters Memorial Classic at Goshen Plantation Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia.

The first day's play was suspended on Thursday round about 2.30pm and Scott was one of the players who was called in from the course and didn't get to go out again until early Friday morning local time.

Scott, pictured right, who spent four years in the Augusta neighbourhood as a golf scholarship student at Augusta State University, had birdies at the fourth, sixth, 11th, 13th and 18th. He had one bogey, at the 12th.

David Kirkpatrick, originally from Edinburgh and a former Scotland amateur cap who has lived at Lakeland, Florida for the past decade, finished the first round in joint 23rd place on 70.

Elgin exile Joel Hendry was back in a share of 96th place in a field of 168 after a 74.

Usually par or one under par is the cut-off point after 36 holes so Joel needs to shoot a 70 or less in the second round.

Augusta local Scott Brown leads with a 66 by one shot from Justin Walters.

LATEST NEWS: The bad weather was still hanging around Augusta, Georgia on Friday and the second round has still to be completed.

AMERICANS LEAD BY ONE POINT IN SOLHEIM CUP

FOR NEWS OF THE FIRST DAY RESULTS IN THE SOLHEIM CUP (United States lead by one point), LOG ON TO OUR SISTER WEBSITE, www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk

EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR SCOREBOARD
OKI Mahou Challenge de Espana
Golf Camp de Layos
SECOND ROUND UNCOMPLETED
133 T Dier (Ger) 69 64
134 F Calmels (Fra) 67 67, F Aguilar (Chl) 71 63
135 H Ray (Arg) 69 66
137 I Keenan (Eng) 66 71, C Quevedo (Esp) 67 70, J Apata (Arg) 64 73, F Delamontagne (Fra) 67 70, P Linhart (Esp) 69 68, R Dinwiddie (Eng) 67 70, C Del Moral (Esp) 67 70.
Scots' scores:
140 R Russell 72 68, P Whiteford 72 68, J McLeary 69 71 (jt 20th).
143 S Henderson 73 70 (jt 42nd).
MISSED THE CUT (146 and worse)
146 E Ramsay 71 75.
147 G Murray 72 75.
150 A McArthur 77 73.

ALEX SALMOND ON WINNING TEAM AT INSCH

Alex Salmond took time off his First Minister duties today to show that as an 18-handicap golfer he can be a winner too!
Alex was playing in the Tartan Tour's Acergy Young Professionals' pro-am at Insch Golf Club.He was a member of the "Clariant" team, which also included two 14-handicappers, Raymond Stirton and Dave Glasgow and had David Pocock (Pine Lodge Golf Centre) as its pro, who won the pro-am team event with a two-ball net score of 17-under-par 121.
The leading young professional was Scott Grieve (Kings Acre) who won the £750 top prize with a one-over-par 70 in very windy conditions.
LEADING PROFESSIONALS
Par 69.
70 S Grieve (Kings Acre).
71 F McLaughlan (Bothwell Castle).
72 J McGhee (Turnhouse), E Hogarth (Peebles), J Cliff (Murrayfield), G Hardy (unatt), K Glen (Royal Musselburgh).
73 D Pocock (Pine Lodge), M Lacey (Gleneagles Hotel).
TEAM WINNERS
121 D Pocock (Pine Lodge) & Clariant team: Alex Salmond (handicap 18), Raymond Stirton (14),m Dave Glasgow (14).

EUROPEAN TOUR SCOREBOARD
MERCEDES-BENZ CHAMPIONSHIP
Gut Larchenhof, Cologne
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
133 Soren Hansen (Den) 65 68
134 Lee Westwood 61 73
137 Bernhard Langer (Ger) 69 68, Simon Dyson 66 71
138 John Daly (USA) 67 71, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 68 70, Colin Montgomerie 69 69, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 67 71, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 68 70, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 71 67, Paul Lawrie 68 70
139 Andres Romero (Arg) 68 71, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 70 69, Pablo Martin (Spa) 70 69, Bradley Dredge 68 71, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 69 70, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 70 69
140 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 73 67, Marc Warren 71 69, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 73 67, Richard Green (Aus) 73 67, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 67 73, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 72 68, John Bickerton 71 69, Simon Wakefield 70 70, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 67 73
141 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 70 71, Carl Suneson (Spa) 69 72, Phillip Archer 71 70, Phillip Price 70 71, Nick Dougherty 66 75, Ariel Canete (Arg) 71 70, Johan Edfors (Swe) 70 71
142 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 68 74, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 72 70, Ian Poulter 72 70, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 70 72
143 Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 71 72, Alex Cejka (Ger) 70 73, Peter Hanson (Swe) 69 74, Yong-eun Yang (Kor) 70 73, Sven Struver (Ger) 71 72, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 72 71, Markus Brier (Aut) 74 69, Alastair Forsyth 76 67, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 73 70
144 Anders Hansen (Den) 72 72, Ross Fisher 74 70, Stephen Dodd 73 71, David Howell 73 71, Marcel Siem (Ger) 71 73, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 77 67, Darren Clarke 69 75
145 Jean Van de velde (Fra) 76 69, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 74 71
146 Oliver Wilson 70 76, Mark Foster 76 70, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 70 76
147 Angel Cabrera (Arg) 74 73, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 74 73
148 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 73 75, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 77 71, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 75 73, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 72 76
149 Paul McGinley 70 79, Graeme Storm 71 78
150 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 73 77, Michael Campbell (Nzl) 77 73
152 Gregory Havret (Fra) 73 79

European Tour Qualifying School Stage 1

McNicoll, Saltman, Paul Doherty,
Fox qualify for Stage 2 - but
Richie Ramsay misses out
by three strokes

Tongo Charamba of Zimbabwe led the qualifiers from The Oxfordshire where Walker Cup players Rory McIlroy and Lloyd Saltman also successfully progressed through The European Tour Qualifying School First Stage (Section A).
Charamba shot a final round of 70, two under par, for a 21 under par total of 267 to finish one shot ahead of Welshman Alex Smith. The English pair of Matthew Morris and Paul Waring were a distant six strokes back but were comfortable qualifiers in sharing third place.
The leading Scot in sixth place was Keir McNicoll, pictured right, from Carnoustie. Keir has not relinquished his amateur status - yet.
Inevitably focus was on the Walker Cup players who were so narrowly beaten by the United States at Royal County Down last Sunday. Two of the three in action made it through with Lloyd Saltman from Craigielaw finishing in joint seventh place following a final round of 71 for a ten under par total of 278 and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy joint 13th after a final round of 71 for an eight under par total of 280.
Saltman collected the first cheque of his professional career - for £100.
The third of the Walker Cup trio Llewellyn Matthews missed out by two strokes after a final round of 70. A total of 32 players qualified for the Second Stage on four under par 284.
The Scots who made it alongwith Saltman were Keir McNicoll, PGA EuroPr0 Tour player Paul Doherty and Graham Fox.
The Scots who did not make it include last year's US amateur champion Richie Ramsay who has been campaigning quite successfully on the Challenge Tour but failed by three shots with a total of 287.
Instead of his dream of playing on the European Tour next year, the Aberdonian looks headed for the "Third Division" of the PGA EuroPro Tour.
McALPINE MISSES OUT
Scottish open amateur stroke play champion Kevin McAlpine (Alyth) missed out by one shot with 285. Kevin has retained his amateur status just in case this happened.
At Fleesensee Golf and Country Club in Germany, Dane’s Knud Stoorgaard and Kasper Linnet Jorgensen finished a joint winners on 15 under par after rounds of 71 and 72 respectively to secure safe passage through to the Second Stage. A total of 28 players successfully negotiated the first hurdle by finishing on two under par 286.
Only one Scot made progress to Stage 2 from the eliminator at Chart Hills Golf Club, Kent. He was Grantown-on-Spey's Duncan Stewart who sagged a bit with a final round of 73 but qualified in joint seventh place on 282.
A total of 31 players went through from Chart Hills with totals of 287 or better.
Scottish failures were Paul McKechnie (288), Graham Gordon (291) and Graeme Lornie (292).

THE OXFORDSHIRE FINAL SCOREBOARD
Par 288 (4 x 72)
267 Tongo Charamga (Zim) 67 67 73 70 (£1,500).
268 Alex Smith (Wal) 65 68 66 69 (£1,000).
274 Matthew Morris (Eng) 65 68 68 73, Paul Waring (Eng) 70 70 64 70 (£600 each).
276 Gary Boyd (Eng) (am) 70 67 65 74.
277 Keir McNicoll (Sco) (am) 71 73 64 69.
278 Lloyd Saltman (Sco) 72 69 66 71, J S Mason (Eng0 71 70 71 66, Carl Duke (Eng) 69 65 72 72 (£100 each).
Other qualifiers for Stage 2 included:
279 Paul Doherty (Sco) 71 67 72 69 (jt 10th).
280 Rory McIlroy (NIr) (am) 70 67 71 72 (jt 13th).
284 Graham Fox (Sco) 67 69 73 75 (jt 24th).
+A total of 32 players with totals of 284 or better qualified for Stage 2.
Scottish non-qualifiers:
285 David Patrick 69 73 69 74, Kevin McAlpine (am) 69 73 69 74.
286 Callum Nicoll 77 75 67 67.
287 Richie Ramsay 74 71 71 71.
290 S G Mackie 70 75 73 72.

CHART HILLS SCOREBOARD
Par 288 (4 x 72)
276 Matt Ford (Eng) 69 70 70 67 (£1,500).
277 Shaun Norris (SAf) 73 70 69 65 (£1,000).
280 Gary Cullen (Ire) 72 72 66 70 (£700).
281 D Brooks (Eng) 69 74 69 70, C Devlin (NIr) 71 70 69 71, T Haylock (Eng) 70 66 71 74.
Scottish qualifier:
282 Duncan Stewart 70 68 71 73 (jt 7th).
+A total of 31 players qualified for Stage 2 with totals of 287 or better.
Scots who did not qualify:
288 Paul McKechnie 74 74 69 71.
291 Graham Gordon 76 68 72 75.
292 Graeme Lornie 72 73 71 76.

JOEL HENDRY STRUGGLING ON HOOTERS
TOUR EVENT IN AUGUSTA, GEORGIA

They seem to be getting as much bad weather in the States as we are in Scotland. On the NGA Hooters' Tour, at tke Kandy Waters Memorial Classic at Goshen Plantation Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, Scott Jamieson from Glasgow was unable to complete his opening round on Thursday when play was suspended at 2.20pm local time because of "inclement weather."
Jamieson possibly knows the course well, having spent four years as a student at Augusta State University, Georgia.
Former Scotland amateur international David Kirkpatrick, based at Lakeland, Florida for many years, did get round in two-under-par 70 to be joint 12th.
Elgin exile Joel Hendry needs a good second round to make up for a "poor" score of two-over-74 (on satellite tours in America, you simply have to score under par to survive). Joel had halves of 38 and 36 over a longish course of some 7,143yd with a par of 72.
Local American Scott Brown led with a six-under-par 66, by one shot from Justin Walters.

DUNCAN STEWART JOINT FOURTH AT CHART
HILLS WITH ROUND FOUR TO PLAY

Grantown on Spey's Duncan Stewart managed to secure a later birdie when he and the other Chart Hills players who had not completed their third rounds went out earlier this morning to do so - before a short break and then going out again for the decision fourth and final round.
Duncan finished with a 71 today and is lying joint fourth on 209.
News is not so good concerning the other Scots at this venue in the first stage of the European Tour School Qualifying process.
Aberdonians Graham Gordon and Graeme Lornie (Aspire Golf Centre) are tied for 34th place on 216 while Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills) is joint 38th on 217.
Only the top 27 and ties at the end of today will go forward to the next stage in Spain.

LEADING THIRD-ROUND TOTALS FROM CHART HILLS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
207 Thomas Haylock (Eng) 70 66 71.
209 Michael McGeady (Ire) 69 71 68, Andy Smith (Eng) 71 67 70.
209 Duncan Stewart (Sco) 70 68 71, Matt Ford (Eng) 69 70 70, Ole Karlsson(Swe) 69 72 68.
Other Scots' scores:
216 Graham Gordon 76 69 72, Graeme Lornie 72 73 71 (jt 34th).
217 Paul McKechnie 74 74 69.

US PGA TOUR SCOREBOARD
THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
East Lake GC, Atlanta
Par 70.
62 Tim Clark (Rsa)
63 Padraig Harrington (Irl)
64 John Rollins
67 Stewart Cink, Camilo Villegas (Col)
68 Robert Allenby (Aus), Brett Wetterich
70 Boo Weekley
71 Slocum Heath, Jonathan Byrd.
+Play suspended due to thunderstorm; 20 players to complete first rounds on Friday morning.

EUROPEAN TOUR SCOREBOARD
MERCEDES-BENZ CHAMPIONSHIP
Gut Larchenhof GC, Cologne, Germany.
Par 72
61 Lee Westwood.
65 Soren Hansen (Den).
66 Nick Dougherty, Simon Dyson.
67 John Daly (US), Niclas Fasth (Swe), Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa), Richard Sterne (Rsa), Simon Khan.
68 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Paul Lawrie, Andres Romero (Arg), Bradley Dredge.
69 Bernhard Langer (Ger), Peter Hanson (Swe), Carl Suneson (Spa), Graeme McDowell, Colin Montgomerie, Darren Clarke, Kenneth Ferrie, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe).
70 Oliver Wilson, Martin Kaymer (Ger), Pelle Edberg (Swe), Simon Wakefield, Johan Edfors (Swe), Robert Karlsson (Swe), Yong-eun Yang (Kor), Alejandro Canizares (Spa), Pablo Martin (Spa), Anton Haig (Rsa), Phillip Price, Alex Cejka (Ger), Mardan Mamat (Sin), Andrew McLardy (Rsa), Paul McGinley, Peter O'Malley (Aus).
71 Marcel Siem (Ger), John Bickerton, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Graeme Storm, Marc Warren, Sven Struver (Ger), Thomas Bjorn (Den), Phillip Archer, Ariel Canete (Arg).
72 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Anders Hansen (Den), Retief Goosen (Rsa), Ian Poulter, Scott Drummond, Emanuele Canonica (Ita), Jose Manuel Lara (Spa).
73 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Soren Kjeldsen (Den), David Howell, Daniel Vancsik (Arg), Stephen Dodd, Richard Green (Aus), Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra), Gregory Havret (Fra)
74 Ross Fisher, Markus Brier (Aut), Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe), Angel Cabrera (Arg), Peter Hedblom (Swe), Jyoti Randhawa (Ind)
75 Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa)
76 Alastair Forsyth, Jean Van de velde (Fra), Mark Foster, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra).
77 Michael Campbell (Nzl), Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg).

LLOYD SALTMAN CLICKETY-CLICKS TO MOVE
UP TO 8TH PLACE IN TOUR SCHOOL STAGE 1

We cannot give you the third-round totals from Chart Hills (see explanation below) at the end of Day 3 of the European Tour Qualifying School Stage 1 (Section A) process but here's a progress report from the event at The Oxfordshire where the leading 29 players and ties after Friday's fourth round will go forward to Stage 2 in Spain.
Lloyd Saltman played his best round for a few weeks - a six-under-par 66 - to shoot up to eighth place behind Zimbabwean Tongo Charamba who had a brilliant 63 today.
Saltman had a running total of nine-under-par 207 compared with Charamba's 19-under-par 197.
Lloyd's Walker Cup team-mate, Rory McIlroy from Holywood, near Belfast is in joint ninth place on 208 alongside Carnoustie's Keir McNicoll who has not yet relinquished his amateur status.

At Chart Hills six players have still to complete their third rounds after play was suspended through darkness following an earlier fog suspension. Of the finishers, Michael McGeady of Ireland and England’s Andy Smith are tied for the lead at eight under par 208 after rounds of 68 and 70 respectively. The top 27 and ties will qualify for Stage Two.
Why the European Tour cannot display on their usually spot-on website all the completed 54-hole totals at Chart Hills is baffling.

Scores:
THE OXFORDSHIRE
29 & ties after Friday's fourth round
to progress to Stage 2 in Spain
LEADING THIRD-ROUND AGGREGATES
Par 216 (3 x 72)
197 Tongo Charamba (Zim) 67 67 63.
199 Alex Smith (Wal) 65 68 66.
201 M Morris (Eng) 65 68 68.
202 G Boyd (Eng) (am) 70 67 65.
Other scores:
207 L Saltman (Sco) 72 69 66 (8th).
208 R McIlroy (NIr) (am) 70 67 71, K McNicoll (Carnoustie) (am) 71 73 64 (jt 9th).
209 G Fox (Sco) 67 69 73 (jt 15th).
210 P Doherty (Sco) 71 67 72 (jt 18th).
211 D Patrick (Sco) 69 73 69 (jt 21st).
213 K McAlpine (Sco) (am) 76 67 70 (jt 30th).
216 R Ramsay (Sco) 74 71 71 (jt 48th).
218 S G Mackie (Sco) 70 75 73 (jt 60th).
219 C Nicoll (Sco) 77 75 67 (jt 64th).

DINWIDDIE HANDILY PLACE BEHIND LEADER
AHOKAS IN SPANISH CHALLENGE

England’s Robert Dinwiddie, chasing a third Challenge Tour victory of the season to earn instant promotion to the European Tour, lies two shots behind clubhouse leader Antti Ahokas of Finland in the OKI Mahou Challenge de España.
Dinwiddie posted an opening five under par 67 at Campo de Layos in Spain to trail leader Ahokas after the first round was disrupted for two hours by a storm.
“It would be great to win the third one,” said Dinwiddie, winner of back-to-back titles last month with victories in the Scottish Challenge presented by Bank of Scotland Corporate and the Rolex Trophy.
“I just have to keep playing like this and see what happens. It’s a great start and we’ll see tomorrow. I played quite well all the way around and I putted very well. I changed my putter a couple of months ago, and it made the difference. I was playing well but not putting well, and now I am, so it gets the pressure out and I’m enjoying it a lot more.”
Ahokas picked up nine birdies and an eagle in his round and remained at the head of the field after the first round despite also throwing in a triple bogey and a bogey.
Spain’s Carlos Quevedo is also in the clubhouse at five under par 67 while Frenchman Francois Calmes on six under par and Spaniard Javier Colomo and Argentina’s Julio Zapata on five under par will complete their first rounds early Friday morning after darkness brought an end to the day’s play.
Ahokas said: “It was a weird round, I started with two easy birdies on the tenth and 12th, and then I don’t know what happened on 13th hole. I hit a bad drive and with the third shot I plugged it in bunker, got really upset and made a triple bogey. I’m glad I was able to get everything back together.”
Ahokas regrouped with birdies on the 14th and 16th before eagling the 17th, hitting an eight iron approach to three metres and holing the putt.
Another five birdies on the front nine took him to eight under par before he dropped a shot on the final hole.
LEADING CLUBHOUSE SCORES
65 A Ahokas (Fin)
67 C Quevedo (Esp), R Dinwiddie (Eng)
68 B Willman (Eng), D Seron (Esp), C Balmaseda (Esp), C Brazillier (Fra)
69 J Abbate (Arg), H Rey (Arg), F Widmark (Swe), P Baker (Eng), J McLeary (Sco)
70 J Theunis (Ger), A Velasco (Esp), F Zanotti (Ita), E De La Riva (Esp).
Other completed rounds:
72 P Whiteford (Sco).
73 S Henderson (Sco).
Uncompleted rounds include:
Eric Ramsay (Sco) one under par after 15 holes.
A McArthur (Sco) level par after 12 holes.
Robert Russell (Sco) three over par after nine holes.

WOODS WILL MISS US PGA GRAND SLAM
OF GOLF IN BERMUDA NEXT MONTH

The organisers of the US PGA Grand Slam of Golf have been dealt a blow with the announcement by Tiger Woods that he will not playin the tournament at the Mid Ocean Club in Bermuda in October.
Woods said last week that The Presidents Cup match-play team tournament at Royal Montreal in two weeks will be his last event until he hosts the Target World Challenge in December.
Tigeer says the break will allow him to spend time with his family including daughter Sam Alexis, who was born the day after the US Open in June.
"I am sorry that I will not be able to spend some time with my friends at The PGA of America and experience the beauty of Bermuda this year at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf," Woods said. "It's been a long year. And, given some new, personal obligations, it is very important that I take some extended time off and spend it with my family."
Jim Furyk, winner of the 2003 US Open, will replace Woods and take on Masters Champion Zach Johnson, Argentinian US Open Champion Angel Cabrera and British Open Champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland.
"While we are disappointed that the world's number one player will not be able to join us this year in Bermuda, we certainly understand and respect his decision to be with his family," PGA of America president Brian Whitcomb said.
"Tiger has a long and successful history with the PGA Grand Slam of Golf and as a seven-time winner of this event, we are confident that we will see his participation in the future."

DONALD DOES NOT WANT TO PLAY FOR
GB&I IN SEVE TROPHY IN IRELAND

Luke Donald has withdrawn from the Britain and Ireland side to defend the Seve Trophy against Continental Europe at The Heritage in Ireland in two weeks.
Donald qualified along with Justin Rose, Padraig Harrington and Paul Casey as the four highest-placed players on this week's world rankings, but the Ryder Cup star, having already declined to play for England in the World Cup in China in November, has turned down the chance.
Ian Poulter is next in line, but he is unavailable because he is getting married. That means Colin Montgomerie comes in and does not need one of the four places up for grabs off the European Order of Merit after this week's Mercedes-Benz Championship in Germany.
Graeme Storm, Bradley Dredge, Oliver Wilson and Lee Westwood are in position to qualify that way, although Westwood has already said he plans to take the week off and that would bring in Nick Dougherty before captain Nick Faldo adds two wild cards.

PRESS RELEASE

BOAT OF GARTEN IS THE BEST HIDDEN GEM
IN SCOTLAND - SAY BUNKERED READERS

Readers of Scotland’s No.1 golf magazine BUNKERED have chosen Boat of Garten as the best ‘hidden gem’ in the ‘Home of Golf’.

The Highlands club came out on top in the magazine’s ‘Secret 18’ competition which was launched earlier this year in conjunction with VisitScotland, the national tourist board.

The purpose of the competition was to bring some much deserved attention to some of the lesser known – but no less magnificent – Scottish golf courses. It followed a previous competition run by bunkered in 2004 to reveal readers’ ‘Top 20’ Scottish golf courses.

On that occasion, the list comprised the country’s ‘big guns’ such as St Andrews, Loch Lomond and Muirfield, with ‘hidden gems’ notable by their absence.
Hence, the decision was taken to redress the balance and give these unheralded courses their share of the limelight.

Readers were asked to pick their 18 favourite ‘hidden gems’ with the winner being the course receiving most votes.

Over 5,000 people submitted their nominations resulting in The Boat of Garten taking the top spot, narrowly pipping Open Championship qualifying course Ladybank. The Fife course was second ahead of another Open qualifying venue, Downfield.

Other courses to make the list included the likes of Lundin Links, Gleneagles Queen’s Course and two from St Andrews, the New and Dukes Courses.

The editor of bunkered, Martin Dempster, hailed the competition as a massive success, not only for The Boat of Garten, but also for golf in Scotland.

“This competition was intended to give some of Scotland’s lesser known courses their place in the spotlight,” said Dempster, “and it most certainly delivered. The Boat of Garten is a worthy winner and our warmest congratulations go out to the club and all of its members.

“However, it is not the only winner in this competition – Scottish golf is, too. The strength of this list clearly demonstrates the strength and variety of the courses we have here in the ‘Home of Golf’ and that is something that every Scot should be proud of.

“And, once again, bunkered readers have come to the fore, answered our call and proved that they are the most knowledgeable and informed followers of sport in this proud sporting nation.”

Sam Torrance Former Ryder Cup captain and Golf Ambassador for VisitScotland said, “Golfing in Scotland is simply wonderful. There are so many great hidden gems with one of my own favourites being Longniddry. Sam was at a golf event at The Carrick at Cameron House, one of the courses to make the Secret 18. He commented: “The Carrick is absolutely beautiful. A great layout, in the finest setting on the planet.”

Mark McCardie, Golf Product Manager for VisitScotland added: “We all know that Scotland has got strength in depth when it comes to great courses, but these results really highlight the exceptional quality and quantity of golf courses Scotland has to offer. What gives it added credibility is that the courses were chosen by the Scottish golfers themselves – the people who know best!”

All of the courses that made up the overall ‘Secret 18’ will receive commemorative plaques from BUNKERED to acknowledge their place in the list.

Meanwhile, lucky reader Lee Strachan can look forward to a fourball at all 18 of the courses as a prize for his list most closely matching the final, overall list.

Scotland’s ‘Secret 18’ in full:

1 Boat of Garten.
2 Ladybank.
3 Downfield.
4 Gleneagles Queen’s Course.
5 Dunbar.
6 The Roxburghe.
7 Lundin Links.
8 Crail Balcomie Links.
9 Duke's Course.
10 Glasgow Gailes.
11 Moray Old Course.
12 Murcar Links.
13 Scotscraig.
14 St Andrews New Course.
15 Letham Grange Old Course.
16 Turnberry Kintyre Course.
17 The Carrick at Cameron House.
18 Royal Aberdeen.

Full details of bunkered’s ‘Secret 18’ competition can be found in the latest issue – on sale now!

GRANT CARNIE IS TOP SCOT IN

KIAWAH ISLAND INVITATIONAL

TOURNAMENT

Grant Carnie from Ellon, Aberdeenshire finished the highest-placed Scot in a competitive field for the Kiawah Island Invitational college golf tournament at Cougar Point Golf Club, South Carolina.
Carnie, pictured right, a student at Brevard College near the Blue Ridge Mountains in western North Carolina, tied for 49th place with rounds of 79 and 77 for 156.
Glasgow's Neil McBride (Clayton State University, Atlanta) was joint 52nd place with 77 and 80 for 157.
Myles Johnston (Brevard College) from Bo'ness and Daniel Sommerville (Clayton State University) from St Andrews tied for 57th place on 158. Myles scored 74 and 84, Daniel 75 and 83.
Craig Galloway (Brevard College) from West Lothian finished 77th on 171 with 84 and 87.
Chris Wolfe (Armstrong Athletic State University) won the individual event by four shots with 65 and 68 for 133.
Oklahoma Christian (576) won the team event from Armstrong Atlantic State (579) with Clayton State (610) 11th and Brevard (647) 16th.

CELTIC PRO TOUR PRESS RELEASE

Celtic Pro Tour announces Tour Championship prize

The Celtic Pro Tour, the new development tour which has grown from last year’s Dragon Tour, has announced the prize money for its 2007 Tour Championship, which is just over a month away.
The winner of the 54-hole event, over three days from Wednesday 17th to Friday 19th October at the Marriott St Pierre, Chepstow will pocket £2,500, while the leading amateur will win a voucher worth £250.
“It is important that for our first ever Tour Championship, we offer a significant sum to the winner, we pay out further down the field and stage the event on a quality course,” said Rhydian Thomas, Celtic Pro Tour’s chief executive. “The Marriott St Pierre has a great tradition, is well situated and fits in perfectly with our strategy.”
The prize fund will be paid to the top 25% of the field, with the field limited to 60 players:
Entry to the Tour Championship costs:
£149 for professionals (who are members),
£175 for professionals (who are non-members) who have already played standard events on the tour and;
£199 for professionals who have not played an event this season and are non members.
Amateur entry is £99.
Sponsorship packages for the Tour Championship are now available, including title sponsorship for the event, involving branding at the course, accommodation and golf at the Marriott St Pierre, and a professionally-presented TV package on DVD.
Other sponsorship available at the Tour Championship includes individual hole sponsorship from £750.
The next event on the Tour is the East Wales Classic at Cottrell Park next Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th September. Standard entry for professionals is £99, and £55 for amateurs. The winner will pocket £1,000, with the top 25% in the field being paid. Deadline for entries is 6pm on Saturday 15th September.
Entry and sponsorship information is available from Rhydian Thomas on 07861 686568 or by email at info@celticpro.co.uk
Players can also pay online at the website at www.celticpro.com or by cheque, payable to Celtic Golf Tours Ltd, to the Celtic Pro Tour office at 15, Druids Close, Treorchy, RCT, South Wales, CF42 6LJ.
The Celtic Pro Tour comprises three satellite tours – the expanded Dragon Tour which covers Wales, and the new Thistle Tour and Shamrock Tour in Scotland and Ireland respectively, each with their own events.

ROYAL MUSSELBURGH PRO-AM CANCELLED

The PGA Scottish Region has announced that the Royal Musselburgh Golf Club on Sunday, September 30 has been cancelled.
"This is due to circumstances outwith our control," said the PGA statement.

EUROPEAN TOUR QUALIFYING SCHOOL
FIRST STAGE ROUND-UP

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE

A stunning nine under par 63 at Fleesensee Golf and Country Club in Germany lifted Denmark’s Kasper Linnet Jorgensen four strokes clear of the field at the halfway stage of The European Tour Qualifying School First Stage (Section A)
Jorgensen, who finished joint eighth in the Russian Open Golf Championship in August, moved clear of compatriot Knud Storgaard and Germany’s Bernd Ritthammer, who share second place on nine under par 135 following rounds of 68 and 67 respectively. The top 26 players after four rounds will progress to the Qualifying School Second Stage.
At The Oxfordshire in England, three players who narrowly lost to the Americans in the Walker Cup on Sunday at Royal Co. Down, are in action vying for a finish in the top 27 which will ensure safe passage through to the Second Stage.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy is faring the best of the three as he lies in joint ninth place after a round of 67 took him to 137 and four shots off the lead held by England’s Matthew Morris and Welshman Alex Smith. Scotland's Lloyd Saltman is on the cusp in a share of 27th place after adding a 69 to his opening 72 to lie on 141, three under par, but Llewellyn Matthews of Wales has it all to do to climb from his halfway position of joint 80th after a second round 73 following his opening 77.
There was also some excitement for 24 year old Gregg Blainey, an English amateur from Bearwood Lakes, Wokingham, who had a hole-in-one at the second, holing out from 152 yards with a nine iorn on his way to an outward nine of 30 and a round of 67 which left him in the group in joint ninth place.
Chart Hills Golf Club sees England’s Thomas Haylock leading the way after a second round 66 took him to 136, eight under par and one ahead of American Isaac Weintraub, who shot a 68. The top 27 players will progress to the Second Stage.
LEADING SCORES AFTER TWO ROUNDS
THE OXFORDSHIRE
+Leading 27 after four rounds to qualify for next stage.
Par 144 (2 x 72)
133 M Marles (Eng) 65 68, A Smith (Wal) 65 68.
134 T Charamba (Zim) 67 67, C Duke 9Eng) 69 65.
136 R Carter (US) 69 67, G Fox (Sco) 67 69, B Grace (SAf) 69 67, D Wood (Eng) 66 70.
Other scores:
137 R McIlroy (NIr) (am) 70 67 (jt 9th).
138 P Doherty (Sco) 71 67 (jt 16th).
141 L Saltman (Sco) 72 69 (jt 27th).
142 D Patrick (Sco) 69 73 (jt 33rd).
143 K McAlpine (Sco) (am) 76 67 (jt 38th).
144 K McNicoll (Sco) (am) 71 73 (jt 46th).
145 S G Mackie (Sco) 70 75, R Ramsay (Sco) 74 71 (jt 51st).
152 C Nicoll (Sco) 77 75 (jt 86th of 107 players).

CHART HILLS
+Leading 27 to qualify for next stage after 72 holes.
Par 144 (2 x 72)
136 T Haylock (Eng) 70 66.
137 I Weintraub (US) 69 68.
138 A Smith (Eng) 71 67, D Stewart (Sco) 70 68.
Other Scots' scores:
144 G Gordon 76 68 (jt 29th).
145 G Lornie 72 73 (jt 35th).
148 P McKechnie 74 74 (jt 59th).
156 J Taylor 76 80 (94th of 104 players).

Midland Alliance

DONALD BURNS IT UP AT FORFAR

Wellsgreen professional Donald McKay won this week's Midland Alliance at Forfar Golf Club. He had an eagle and five birdies on his way a fine, four-under-par score of 65.
Best net score of the day was a 67 by Rob Ford (Scotscraig), playing off three.
LEADING SCRATCH
65 D McKay (Wellsgreen) p.
66 L Vannet (Carnoustie Links) p.
67 A Lockhart (Ladybank) ap.
68 L Sutherland (Ballumbie Castle) p, L Mann (Carnoustie Links) p.
69 M Rae (Aylth) a, H Wong (Burntisland) ap), A J Webster (Edzell) p.
70 B Mason (Drumoig) p, P Brookes (Pitreavie) p, R Ford (Scotscraig).
LEADING HANDICAP
67 R Ford (Scotscraig) (3).
68 J Leddy (Bathgate) (9), H A Gray (St Andrews) (10).
69 J Cree senior (Carnoustie) (13), P Rhynd (Grange) (7), R Redparth (Scotscraig) (5), T Scanlan (St Andrews) (5).
70 K. Rattray (Ladybank) (2), J S Miller (Blairgowrie) (6).
71 A Saunders (Monifieth, 8)
D Skinner Downfield, 14)
G Chrighton (Scotscraig, 5)
F McKay (Drumoig, 6)


Qualifiers for the Midland Golfer’s Alliance Championship in April at Crail

D. McKay (P, Wellsgreen)
L. Vannet (P, Carnoustie Links)
A. Lockhart (AP, Ladybank)

Next week's meetings

Tuesday 18th September
Dunfermline (Mixed)
9.30 – 12.30

Thursday 20th September
Pitlochry
8.30 – 12.30

MIDLANDS DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP
By HUGH HUNTER
On Sunday, at Crieff golf course, is the Midlands district team championship, a stroke-play event for the elite golfers from Perth & Kinross, Fife, Clackmannan and Angus.
Each area is represented by eight golfers, and Wee County selectors have picked Ian Ross, Craig O’Connor, Phil Dempsey Jamie Aitken (all Alloa), Mark Crichton, John Maxwell ( both Tulliallan), Ross Benvie (Braehead) and Dollar record holder Darren Hulston.
Selectors will be using the results to finalise the Clackmannan County team for the last match in the Area team championship series to be held at Rothesay against Argyll & Bute on September 23.

PRESS RELEASE

WORLD HICKORY OPEN ATTRACTS ROOKIE PRO
LLOYD SALTMAN OVER HOME COURSE

After playing in his second Walker Cup and a new sponsorship from the assurance giant Aegon, Lloyd Saltman will be aiming to wrestle the coveted World Hickory Open quaich from his 19-year-old brother Zack who put together an impressive 67 to win this prestigious tournament last year.
The event will be played over the Saltmans' home course, East Lothian’s Craigielaw links at the end of the month (September 27th and 28th).
However, with a much increased list of professionals from last year likely to tee off in the World Hickory Open with a £17,500 prize fund, the challenge should be a tough one. The St Andrews Open 2005 silver medallist, Lloyd will be playing against brothers Elliot and Zack.
Elliot turned professional earlier this year, also with support from Aegon. Last week he scored his first win as a rookie pro - the 54-hole Ethos Group Classic on the PGA EuroPro Tour.
Other Scottish professionals in the field will include Dean Robertson (past winner of the Italian Open) as well as Mark King, Alan Lockhart, Jackie Montgomery and David Patrick.
The tournament should be even tougher to win than last year when former Ryder Cup captain, Bernard Gallacher gave the Hickory Open a considerable promotional fillip when he participated.

Tournament organiser, Lionel Freedman, states that the Pro-Am on Thursday 27th September is almost fully subscribed with just under 40 teams and is proving to be extremely popular. With over forty pros signed up some weeks in advance of the tournament, he anticipates a field of over 70 for the World Hickory Open on Friday 28th September. What is doubly exciting he says, is that we have teams from America, Sweden, France as well as the home nations taking part

There is one change this year to the format – instead of five pre-1935 hickory clubs, six are now permitted. However it would still be a considerable achievement to better Zack Saltman’s extraordinary score of 67 in last year’s tournament.

The event is sponsored by East Lothian Council with subsidiary sponsorships and teams from the following:-

B.N. Paribas, Dunedin Independent, Whigam’s Wine Bars, Leith Links, Lyon & Turnbull, Malmaison, Hamilton & Inches, Oriental Minerals, Royal Burgess Golfing Society, Georgian Antiques, Bell Security, Your Golf Holidays, Concept, Ducks at Kilspindie House Hotel, Alex Kirkwood & Son, Winton House and Craigielaw Golf Club.

Further information from Lionel Freedman on 0131 665 4861 or the Tournament Office on 0131 319 1477 or www.worldhickoryopen.com

PRESS RELEASE

RHYS DAVIES SIGNS WITH IMG

Rhys Davies announced today that he has both turned professional and signed with the global sports management company, IMG.
Rhys, who won both his singles matches at last weekend’s Walker Cup match for GB And Ireland, turns professional after an extremely successful amateur career which saw him head to the States, having won the 2003 British Boys Amateur Championship, to hone his game at East Tennessee State University on a golf scholarship.
Edinburgh-born Rhys’ 50 tournament collegiate career included 10 wins, 20 top three and 30 top ten finishes. He played 149 rounds 89 of which were par or better with 48 rounds in the 60’s. His lowest round was 63. In his second year he beat Tiger Woods’ sophomore stroke average record, and in 2005-6 (his junior year) his stroke average was the best in the States.
Rhys, who qualified for the US Open this year, hopes to get his professional career off to a flying start when he heads to first stage European Tour Qualifying School at St Annes Old Links Golf Club in Lancashire next week
ENJOYED EVERY MINUTE
Rhys enthused, “I am really looking forward to getting out there next week. I have enjoyed every minute of my amateur career and I think between the competitions I have played here and the experience of playing four years of college golf, I have really prepared myself well for the Tour. I am delighted to be joining IMG as I think they will provide me with all the support and opportunities I need to allow me to focus on my golf.”
Brendan Taylor, Vice President IMG Golf, whose clients include Nick Dougherty, Oliver Fisher and Paul Lawrie, will be Rhys’ manager, added, “Rhys has delivered consistently throughout his career so far and we are confident that he has a fantastic professional career ahead of him. Rhys was nicknamed ‘The Package’ at ETSU after his coach Fred Warren said “Rhys is not just a world-class player, but he’s a team player and a good leader,” and I think that sums him up rather well.”
AMATEUR RECORD
2004 - Thirteen top ten finishes, four top three and one win:
2nd Southern Conference Championships ( Tennessee)
3rd Franklin Street Partners Invitational (North Carolina)
3rd Coca-Cola Tournament of Champions (Tennessee)
1st Carpet Capital Collegiate, (Georgia)
2005 - Six wins, eleven top three finishes:
1st Seminole Intercollegiate (Florida)
1st Coastal Carolina Invitational (Myrtle Beach SC)
1st Southern Conference Championships (Charlotte NC)
1st UK Derby Invitational (Lexington Ky)
2nd NCAA East Regional Championships (Nashville Tenn)
T1st Shoal Creek Intercollegiate (Birmingham Al)
1st Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate ( Jonesborough Tn)
2006 - Three Wins, Twelve Top Ten finishes :
2nd Coastal Carolina Invitational (Myrtle Beach SC)
T3rd NCAA West Regional Championships (Tucson Ariz)) T
T1st European Youth Team Championships, Individual Strokeplay
2nd Welsh Amateur Championships (Pyle and Kenfig)
1st Scratch Player Championship (Minnesota)
1st Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate (Jonesborough, Tenn)
2007 - Three Wins, Five Top Ten finishes:
T3rd Puerto Rico Collegiate Classic
1st Seminole Intercollegiate (Florida)
1st Coastal Carolina Invitational (Myrtle Beach SC)
T3rd Atlantic Sun Conference Championships (Orlando)
1st US Open Qualifying (Rockville Ma)

Teams include:

First Team All American 2005, 2006, 2007;
Welsh Boys 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003;
Great Britain & Ireland Boys 2002, 2003;
Welsh Youth 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006;
Welsh Men 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007;
Walker Cup 2005, 2007;
St Andrews Trophy 2006;
Eisenhower Trophy 2004, 2006;
Palmer Cup 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007;

GREIG HUTCHEON TOPS THE £30,000 MARK
WITH VICTORY IN CARNEGIE INVITATIONAL

Peterculter's Greig Hutcheon boosted his earnings for the season on the Tartan Tour to a personal high of over £30,000 by winning the Carnegie Invitational 36-hole pro-am at Skibo Castle today.
Hutcheon had rounds of 66 and 69 for a seven-under-par total of 135 which won him the £5,500 top prize by three shots from Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle) and Chris Kelly (Cawder).
Hutcheon was already a clear leader of the PGA Scottish Region money table with £25,000+ going into this lucrative two-rounder.
Host club professional David Thomson does not play regularly on the Tartan Tour these days. Perhaps he should. He matched Greig Hutcheon's opening round of 66 in today's second round and earned £1,900 for joint sixth place on 141.

FINAL TOTALS
Par 142 (2 x 71)
135 Greig Hutcheon (Peterculter) 66 69 (£5,500).
138 Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle), Chris Kelly (Cawder) 67 71 (£3,650 each).
139 Mark Loftus (Cowglen) 69 70 (£2,250).
140 Dean Robertson (Mearns Castle) 72 68 (£2,100).
141 David Thomson (Carnegie Club) 75 66, Chris Doak (unatt) 70 71, Sam Cairns (Westerwood) 70 71 (£1,900 each).
142 Craig Lee (All Golf Swing Centre) 65 77 (£1,700).
144 Murray Urquhart (Inverness) 72 72, Jim McKinnon (Irvine) 71 73 (£1,550).
145 Colin Gillies (Kingsfield) 75 70 (£1,400).
146 Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs GR) 73 73 (£1,300).
147 Gordon Law (Uphall) 73 74, Craig Ronald (Carluke) 72 75 (£1,150 each).
1561 Chris Campbell (Carnegie Club) 77 74 (£1,050).
155 Jody Rostock (Carnegie Club) 80 75 (£1,030).

DAVID McDOWELL WINS N E ALLIANCE
OPENER WITH A 62 AT BRAEMAR

Aberdeen City Council golf development officer David McDowell must have feared the worst when he started the new North-east Golfers’ Alliance season with a double-bogey 6 and was three over par after three holes at Braemar Golf Club today (Wednesday).
But the former King’s Links Golf Centre director of golf staged such a remarkable recovery that he finished up heading a field of 83 with a three-under-par 62.
McDowell, out in three-over-par 35, caught fire with an inward half of six-under-par 27 which is a North-east Alliance record low score for nine holes.
He had an eagle 2 at the 277yd 11th and birdies at the short 13th, 15th, 16th and short 18th.
Runner-up was Adrian Style, a +1 Caledonian player with a 63 (32-31).

Leading scratch scores
Par 65
62 D McDowell (Aberdeen City Council).
63 A Styles (Caledonian).
64 G Esson (Portlethen), M Barnard (Inchmarlo), G McInnes (Murcar Links).
65 G Bruce (Westhill).
66 A Campbell (Deeside), R Fitzpatrick (Inchmarlo).
67 D Garrett (Huntly), A McInnes (Murcar Links).
68 I Bratton (Newburgh), J Nicolson (Auchmill), F Bisset (Banchory), G Paterson (Northern), C Carnegie (Kemnay), D Clark (Duff House Royal).
69 G Mitchell (Braemar), A K Pirie (Hazlehead) , C Stephen (Meldrum House).
70 J Hardie (Ballater), S Finnie (Caledonian), G Forbes (Murcar Links).
71 P Cornfield (Auchmill), S Chalmers (Banchory).
72 N Hardie (Kintore), R Grant (Caledonian), S Davidson (Banchory), F Barclay (Kintore), D Nelson (Aboyne), D Barr (Murcar Links).
73 J Dalgarno (Hazlehead), S Lawrie (Portlethen), D Read (Banchory), H Roulston (Stonehaven), C Alexander (Murcar Links), M Jenkins (Duff House Royal).
Leading handicap:
Class 1 – A McInnes (Murcar Links) (5) 62; F Barclay (Kintore) (8), N Hardie (Kintore) (8), J Nicolson (Auchmill) (4), F Bisset (Banchory) (4), A Styles (Caledonian) (+1) 64; G Esson (Portlethen) (+1), J Nicholson (Auchmill) (3), C Carnegie (Kemnay) (3) 65.
Class 2 – G Mitchell (Braemar) (9), P Cornfield (Auchmill) (11) 60; D Barr (Murcar Links) (10) 62; S Lawrie (Portlethen) (8), J Wilson (Deeside) (14), I Strachan (Royal Aberdeen) (11) 64; C Buchanan (Hazlehead) (8) 66.
Next Wednesday's competition is at Kemnay.

BEST SCORECARDS OF THE DAY

Par 65 (4,935yd)

OUT: 4-4-3-4-3-3-3-4-4-32.
IN: 4-4-4-3-4-4-4-3-3-33

DAVID McDOWELL 62
OUT: 6-4-4-4-3-3-3-4-4-35
IN: 4-2-4-2-4-3-3-3--2-27

ADRIAN STYLES 63
OUT: 3-5-5-4-3-3-3-3-3-32
IN: 3-5-4-3-3-5-2-3--3-31

GARY ESSON 64
OUT: 4-4-3-4-4-3-4-3-3-32.
IN: 4-4-4-4-3-3-4-3-3-32

MARK BARNARD 64
OUT: 3-4-3-4-3-3-3-4-3-30
IN: 5-4-4-4-4-4-3-3-3-34

GRAEME McINNES 64
OUT: 4-4-3-4-3-2-3-4-3-30
IN: 5-4-4-3-3-6-3-3-3-34

NORMAL SERVICE RESUMED WEDNESDAY EVENING

The Editor is making the long drive from Aberdeen to Ayrshire to dine with HRH Prince Andrew (and quite a few other guests) at Irvine on Tuesday night at the end of the first day of The Duke of York Young Champions' Trophy over the Dundonald links.
Normal service will be resumed on Scottishgolfview.com on Wednesday evening.

DOAK SCORES FIFTH PRO-AM WIN OF SEASON
IN SSPCA EVENT AT INVERNESS

Chris Doak scored his fifth pro-am win of the season at Inverness Golf Club today in the SSPCA pro-am.
Chris had a two-under-par round of 67 in very windy weather to collect the £904.30 first prize by one shot from Graeme McInnes (Murcar Links) and Steven Gray (Hayston) each of whom earned £632.
Doak's previous wins this season were:
May 26 - Portpatrick.
June 10 - Monkland Masters.
June 21 - Douglas Park.
June 24 - Edzell.

LEADING SCORES
Par 69
67 Chris Doak (unatt) £904.
68 Graeme McInnes (Murcar Links), Steven Gray (Hayston) £632.79 each.
69 Murray Urquhart (Inverness), Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs GR), Colin Gillies (Kingsfield GR) £334.52 each.
70 Alan Lockhart (Ladybankl), Chris Kelly (Cawder) £216.99 each.
71 Mark Loftus (Cowglen), Gary McFarlane (Clober) £162.74 each.
72 Mark King (Kingsfield GR), Mel Douglas (Inverness), Jim McKinnon (Irvine) £162.58.
73 Alistair P Thomson (Inverness) £108.49.

SCHOOLS INTERNATIONALS' DETAILS

Scotland beat England in the schoolboys international at Westerwood, Cumbernauld today for the first time since 1990.
But Scotland lost to England in the schoolgirls international at the same venue.
Hugh Hunter reports on both matches on www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk

WELSHMAN RICHARD JOHNSON

RUNNER-UP ON NATIONWIDE TOUR

US-based Welshman Richard Johnson picked up a $54,000 cheque for finishing second in the US Nationwide Tour event, the Utah Energy Solutions champion at Willow Creek Country Club, on Sunday.

Richard, a one-time graduate of Augusta State University, comes from Cardiff and turned pro in the States in the mid-1990s.

He had rounds of 67, 64, 67 and 68 for 18-under-par 266, finishing two shots behind the $90,000 first prize winner,American Franklin Langham with 63, 67, 66 and 68 for 20-under 264.

Keith Nolan from Ireland finished joint 50th on 277 while Martin Laird had one of his poorer weekends on the Nationwide Tour. Martin had double bogeys at the short seventh and the par-4 ninth in a closing 72.

Martin finished joint 63rd on 281 and earned $1,412.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS

264 Franklin Langham (US) 63 67 66 68 ($90,000).

266 Richard Johnson (Wal) 67 64 67 68 ($54,000).

Other totals:

277 Keith Nolan (Ire) 68 68 68 73 (jt 50th) ($1,700).

281 Martin Laird (Sco) 68 69 72 72 (jt 63rd) ($1,412)

TIGER WOODS SCORES 60th WIN ON US

PGA TOUR

Tiger Woods scored his 60th win on the US PGA Tour when he led the way home in the BMW Championship today.

Tiger had a final round of 63 for 22-under-par 262, winning by two shots from Aussie Aaron Baddeley with Steve Stricker third on 266.

Australia had two players in the top four with Adam Scott finishing on 270, one shot ahead of Justin Rose who tied for fifth place with South African Tim Clark.

Ian Poulter finished joint 10th on 275.

Statistics: Tiger Woods averaged 311.6 yards with his drives ... hit 79.2 % of the greens in regulation and averaged 1.614 putts per green.

LEADING TOTALS

262 Tiger Woods (US) 67 67 65 63.

264 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 68 65 65 66.

266 Steve Stricker (US) 68 66 64 68.

270 Adam Scott (Aus) 69 69 67 75.

271 Justin Rose (Eng) 65 69 69 68, Tim Clark (SAf) 68 69 67 67.

Other total:

275 Ian Poulter (Eng) 68 72 69 66 (jt 10th).

WALKER CUP INDIVIDUAL POINTS TABLES

So who did best and who under-performed for both sides in the Walker Cup match?
Here's the tell-table of individual performances:

GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND

HORSEY 3pt out of 4 (W-W-L-W).

DAVIES 2pt out of 4 (L-W-L-W).

CALDWELL 1 1/2pt out of 3 (D-NP-L-W).

McILROY 1 1/2pt out of 4 (D-L-L-W).

MOUL 1 1/2pt out of 4 (D-W-L-L).

PARRY 1pt out of 2 (W-NP-L-NP)

SALTMAN 1pt out of 3 (L-L-NP-W).

EDWARDS 1pt out of 3 (NP-W-L-L).

WILLETT 1pt out of 4 (D-L-L-D).

MATTHEWS 0 pt out of 1 (NP-L-NP-NP).

(NP indicates "not played")

UNITED STATES

LOVEMARK 3pt out of 3 (NP-W-W-W).

HORSCHELL 3pt out of 4 (W-W-W-L).

FOWLER 3pt out of 4 (W-W-W-L).

KNOST 3pt out of 4 (D-W-W-D).

MOORE 2 1/2pt out of 3 (D-NP-W-W).

JOHNSON 1 1/2pt out of 3 (D-L-W-NP).

KIRK 1pt out of 2 (NP-L-W-NP)

KUEHNE 1pt out of 3 (L-NP-W-L)

STANLEY 0pt out of 3 (L-L-NP-L).

SIMPSON 1/2pt out of 3 (D-L-NP-L).

Hugh Hunter's Clackmannan news

SUPERCHARGED MACAULAY

The Indian Summer of Wee County golf heated up considerably at the weekend. Callum Macaulay (Tulliallan) and Scott Borrowman (Dollar) finished 1-2 in the final Scottish Golf Union Order of Merit event for the Newlands Trophy held at Lanark.
It was an all-Macaulay show, however—leading after two rounds on a two under par 138 from Scott and Perthshire’s Wallace Booth, Callum switched his golf to "boost" for the third round, leaving his fellow competitors struggling in his wake. Out in a four-under-par 32 and back in three-under 31 gave another course record of 63 ( to add to his Braehead and Tulliallan records) and a seven-shot lead.
He relaxed a bit in the fourth round with a four over 74 but the outstanding third round had given him plenty of leeway and in the end, no-one could match his brilliance. Once again, Callum proved he can lead from the front, and his fine form must be giving him confidence for the upcoming Home Internationals in Ireland.
When the final Order of Merit statistics are produced in the next week, it’s pretty certain that Callum will be the No 1 Amateur Golfer in Scotland, a credit to himself, his family and hopefully an inspiration to other Wee County golfers.
Dollar’s Scott Borrowman, the 2007 Scottish Youths Champion, after a great performance in University golf (see below), returned four consistent rounds to finish four shots behind Callum, and giving him considerable hope for future events.

FINAL LEADING RESULTS NEWLANDS TROPHY
1 Callum Macaulay 275 (68, 70, 63, 74)
2 Scott Borrowman 279 (69, 71, 68, 71)

SCOTT’S UNI SUCCESS

In the recent university equivalent of the Men's Home Internationals, at Fairmont St Andrews (formerly St Andrews Bay), Scott Borrowman, Stirling University student, representing Scotland was in rampant form with five wins out of a possible six.
Three of them were by huge margins of 7 and 6. Partnered by Perthshire’s Gavin Dear, Scott won all three of his foursomes matches, and then followed up by winning two out of three singles matches, losing only to England’s Richard Raye by one hole.
Scott’s wins helped the Scottish team lift the title; they beat Wales 8-4; Northern Ireland 11-1; and England 8-4.

COUNTY BOYS MISS OUT AT BRAEHEAD
In the Gary Harvey quadrangular event held at Braehead, a narrow win against Angus on the final afternoon ensured a third place finish and avoiding the wooden spoon. The boys fought well, but the strength of the Fife and Perth & Kinross teams proved impossible to overcome on the day. Top player and playing at number one from the County was home player John McPherson, with an undefeated performance of two wins and one half out of the three matches. He was closely followed by Club Champion 12 year old Lawrence Allan from Alva with two wins out of three.
Match results:

CLACKMANNAN 3, PERTH & KINROSS 5
1. John McPherson (Braehead) beat David Harrison 3/2
2. Scott Clark (Braehead) beat Mark Bell 3/2
3. Grant Dowie (Alloa) lost to Roddy Forgie 5/4
4. Steven McPherson (Dollar) lost to Robbie Murray 7/6
5. Gary Chalmers (Dollar) lost to Scott Barbour 2/1
6. Lawrence Allan (Alva) beat Euan McLeod 3/2
7. Andre Scotland lost to Mark Crozier 1 hole
8. Andrew Borek (Braehead) lost to Craig Menzies 1 hole

CLACKMANNAN 1, FIFE 6 with one halved
McPherson beat J Anderson 4/2 ; Scotland lost to G Wilson 5/4; Allan lost to B Jamieson 2/1; Clark halved with I Finlay; Dowie lost to Spence 1 hole; Tom Hogarth (Dollar) lost to J Thorburn 3/1; Chalmers lost to N Beattie 4/3; S Macpherson lost to J Penman 3/2

CLACKMANNAN 4, ANGUS 3 with one halved
McPherson halved with M Reid; Scotland beat R Storrier 5/4; Allan beat Thomson 4/2; Clark lost to J McCall 2/1 ; Dowie beat M McNally 5/4; Hogarth beat Cargill 1 hole; Chalmers lost to Mitchell 2/1 S McPherson lost to S Nicol 2/1

FRANK THOMSON TROPHY
The County Under 14 Boys will be trying to do better than the Gary Harvey team when they journey to the Queen's course at Gleneagles for a triangular golf match involving Clackmannan, Perth & Kinross, and Fife.
Each area is represented by five boys playing one round under Stableford conditions. The winning team is decided by the best four scores. Selected for the County are John McPherson (Braehead), Tom Hogarth (Dollar) Gary Chalmers (Dollar) Lawrence Allan (Alva) and Michael Barrett (Braehead).

JAMIESON'S STORMING FINISH EARNS HIM
FISTFUL OF DOLLARS IN SOUTH CAROLINA

Glasgow's Scott Jamieson celebrated his return to the NGA Hooters Tour in America by finishing joint 11th and earning $3,553 in the Michelob Ultra Classic at River Hills G&CC, Little River in South Carolina today.
Jamieson just survived the halfway cut with opening rounds of 72 and 74 but a third round 72 followed by a closing five-under-par 67 which he eagled the second, bogeyed the third, and birdied the seventh, ninth,11th and 17th to climb the leaderboard with a three-under-par total of 285.
Scott's first three rounds each included a double-bogey 6
Jamieson came back to Scotland during the satellite tour's mid-summer hiatus and played in some Challenge Tour events.
He has now won $19,554 in nine Hooters Tour events, having missed the cut in only one.
This was Scott's second-biggest cash prize.
Another Scot, Elgin exile Joel Hendry finished joint 26th on 288 with scores of 72, 70, 73 and 73 to earn $1,772.
Andrew Medley from Athens, Georgia won the top prize of $34,238 by one stroke with scores of 68, 72, 66 and 73 for nine-under-par 279.
LEADING SCORES
Par 288 (4 x 72)
279 Andrew Medley 68 72 66 73 ($34,238).
280 Casey Wittenberg 73 73 66 68, Emmett Turner 69 71 66 74, Luke Hart 71 68 70 71 ($12,560 each).
Other scores:
285 Scott Jamieson (Sco) 72 74 72 67 (jt 11th) ($3,553).
288 Joel Hendry (Sco) 72 70 73 73 (jt 26th) ($1,772).

Aussie scores first win after Switzerland play-off

EUROPEAN TOUR SCOREBOARD
OMEGA EUROPEAN MASTERS
Crans-sur-Sierre, Switzerland
Par 284 (4 x 71)
268 Brett Rumford (Aus) 68 66 66 68 (won sudden-death play-off at first extra hole), Phillip Archer 69 66 68 65
269 Bradley Dredge 66 66 68 69
270 Sion Bebb 71 68 63 68
272 Oliver Wilson 65 66 70 71
273 Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 70 67 65 71, Lee Westwood 71 67 65 70
274 Anthony Wall 69 68 68 69, Miles Tunnicliff 71 65 70 68, Eduardo Romero (Arg) 68 69 72 65
275 Graeme McDowell 73 69 67 66
276 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 69 69 69 69
277 Juan Parron (Spa) 72 71 68 66, Richard McEvoy 71 70 71 65
278 Richard Bland 73 68 67 70, Joakim Backstrom (Swe) 71 68 69 70, David Frost (Rsa) 72 70 68 68
279 Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 68 75 70 66, Steven O'Hara 74 70 70 65
280 Tino Schuster (Ger) 71 65 74 70, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 69 70 71 70, Graeme Storm 69 69 71 71, Johan Edfors (Swe) 73 70 69 68, Manuel Quiros (Spa) 74 70 70 66
281 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 71 70 72 68, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 72 69 68 72, Andrew Marshall 74 68 72 67, Marcel Siem (Ger) 71 70 70 70, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 77 67 70 67, Ariel Canete (Arg) 72 69 68 72
282 David Carter 73 69 70 70, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 74 68 72 68, Mattias Eliasson (Swe) 72 69 67 74, Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 74 69 68 71, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 71 73 69 69, Edward Rush 72 72 64 74
283 Zane Scotland (Gb) 69 69 71 74, Garry Houston 72 70 73 68, Kyron Sullivan 73 69 69 72, Simon Wakefield 74 69 73 67, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 71 70 73 69, Paul Casey 71 68 72 72, Carl Suneson (Spa) 74 70 69 70, Richard Finch 70 72 64 77, Tom Whitehouse 73 71 68 71, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 73 70 68 72, Barry Lane 78 65 70 70
284 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 76 68 69 71, Julien Clement (Swi) 74 70 72 68, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 69 75 66 74, Pablo Martin (Spa) 71 73 71 69
285 Pierre Relecom (Bel) 70 74 71 70, Oscar null Floren (Swe) 69 67 76 73, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 68 71 74 72
286 Jamie Spence 70 71 72 73
287 Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 75 69 69 74, Jonathan Lomas 74 70 74 69, Ian Garbutt 70 72 72 73
288 Steve Alker (Nzl) 75 66 74 73, Lee Slattery 72 72 75 69, Sven Struver (Ger) 74 68 73 73
289 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 74 70 70 75, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 70 72 72 75, Andrew Coltart 70 72 72 75, Terry Price (Aus) 75 68 74 72
290 Shiv Kapur (Ind) 72 72 76 70, Alexander Noren (Swe) 72 71 76 71, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 74 69 71 76
291 Sam Little 78 66 73 74
292 Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 71 71 75 75
293 Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 75 69 68 81
295 Alessandro Napoleoni (Ita) 71 69 78 77

BAD LIGHT CALLS TIME ON TRIPLE
DEAD-HEAT FINISH AT D AND G

New Scottish professional champion Mark Loftus (Cowglen) made up a shot on overnight leaders Bob Arnott (Bishopbriggs) and Steven Gray (Hayston) for the trio to finish in a tie for victory in the Tartan Tour’s Kerr Investments Classic 36-hole pro-am at Dumfries & Galloway Golf Club today.
By the time play had ended it was too dark to start a three-man play-off so the first, second and third cash prizes were divided, giving Loftus, Arnott and Gray each a cheque for £1,723 – not back for a weekend’s work.
Loftus was the first of the trio to finish. He birdied the 18th for a 65 to post a clubhouse target of nine-under-par 131. A bogey at the 16th in halves of 33 and 32 would come back to haunt him in the final analysis.
Bob Arnott was next up and he birdied the 11th, 15th and 18th for an inward 31 and a 66 to match Loftus’s 131 total.
That put the pressure on Steven Gray, the last man to finish. Having birdied the 13th to get to nine-under-par for the tournament, Steven could not get a single birdie putt to drop as he parred the last five holes for a 66 and 131.
It was also a photo-finish in the pro-am team event with Jason McCreadie and the Re Max Property Centre trio of Alan Miller (handicap 18), Andrew Goodwin (6) and Martin Thomson (6) winning on the better last round (128 to 129) after their 36-hole net total of 249 (two scores to count) was matched by Gerrard Duncan (Westin Turnberry) and the Dumfries & Galloway Golf Club team of Keith Miller (7), James Johnstone (9) and Stan Leslie (18).


LEADING PROFESSIONALS
Par 140 (2 x 70)
131 M Loftus (Cowglen) 66 65, R Arnott (Bishopbriggs GR) 65 66, S Gray (Hayston) 65 66 (£1,723 each).
134 C Gillies (Kingsfield GR) 70 64, S Cairns (Westerwood) 68 66 (£890 each).
136 K Hutton (Downfield) 71 65, P McKechnie (Braid Hills) 70 66 (£605 each)
137 G Hutcheon (Peterculter) 69 68, E Thomson (Largs) 68 69, D Robertson (Mearns Castle) 68 69, S Taylor (Bothwell Castle) 67 70, E Cameron (Hamilton) 67 70 (£377 each)
138 C Doak (unatt) 72 66, M Urquhart (Inverness) 69 69 (£272 each).
139 C Lee (All Golf Swing Centre) 73 66, D Orr (East Renfrewshire) 72 67, J McCreadie (Buchanan Castle) 70 69, F Mann (Musselburgh) 70 69, D Park (Wishaw) 69 70 (£200 each).
140 G Law (Uphall) 70 70, M King (Kingsfield GR) 69 71, C Ronald (Carluke) 67 73 (£131 each).
141 C Kelly (Cawder) 76 65, J McKinnon (Irvine) 72 69, A Forrow (Whitecraigs) 71 70, A Crerar (King James VI) 70 71, P Wardell (Whitekirk) 70 71, J McGhee (Turnhouse) 70 71, K Glen (Royal Musselburgh) 68 73 (£99 each).
142 F McLaughlan (Bothwell Castle) 767 64, L Mann (Carnoustie) 73 69, R Cameron (McDonald Ellon) 71 71, S Syme (Dumfries & Co) 71 71, G Duncan (Westin Turnberry) 70 72, G McFarlane (Clober) 68 74, G McInnes (Murcar Links) 67 75 (£13 each).
144 G Cook (Prestonfield) 73 71, S Morrison (Glenbervie) 72 72, E Davie (Dunblane New) 72 72, A Lockhart (Ladybank) 71 73.
145 C Gordon (Edinburgh) GC) 73 72.
146 A Gorman (Cluny Clays) 73 73, R Valentine (Craigielaw) 72 74, B Mason (Drumoig DR) 71 75.
147 L Vannet (Carnoustie GL) 71 76.
148 T Buchanan (Duddingston) 73 75.
151 S Lamb (Broomieknowe) 79 72, N Huguet (Musselburgh) 76 75, J Stevenson (Braehead) 72 79.
158 S Gillespie (Burntisland) 78 80.

UPDATED ORDER OF MERIT POINTS TOTALS
1 G Hutcheon 953.75, 2 P McKechnie 841.88, 3 M Loftus 829.17, 4 D Orr 805; 5 R Arnott 796.05, 6 C Lee 738.75, 7 S Gray 696.05, 8 S Cairns 689.25, 9 C Doak 648.33, 10 C Kelly 617.58, 11 M Urquhart 601.21.

United States retain Walker Cup in thrilling finish

GB&I GO DOWN BY ONE POINT AFTER GREAT
COMEBACK IN FINAL SINGLES

Great Britain & Ireland narrowly lost one of the best Walker Cup matches of recent times by 12 1/2-11 1/2 over the Royal County Down links in Northern Ireland today.
United States advanced the first-day scoreline of 6-6 to 10-6 by making a clean sweep of the four foursomes - and that, in the final analysis, was to prove the deciding session of play.
Skipper Colin Dalgleish's men made a great effort to make up the 4pt leeway in the final session of eight singles but came up only an agonising point short of levelling the scoreline.
Lloyd Saltman, the only Scot in the GB&I team, was dropped from the second-day foursomes after losing in both sessions of Saturday play but he responded with a winning performance in the Sunday singles.
Great Britain & Ireland's dramatic fight-back in the final series of singles matches came to an end when America's Jonathan Moore fired a superb long-iron into the par-5 18th and holed from less than four feet for an eagle and a one-hole win over Nigel Edwards to give the United States the extra point they needed for outright victory.
The classic links of Royal County Down resounded with the cheers of 10,000 spectators as GB&I battled almost impossible odds in the final singles.
GB&I's Sunday afternoon target was to collect six and a half points from the eight at stake. They came so close with victories for Rory McIlroy, Rhys Davies, Lloyd Saltman, Jonathan Caldwell and David Horsey and a fighting half from Daniel Willett.
Buddy Marucci, the USA captain, said: "These are just great matches. It's wonderful golf. It's so great for the game. It was a great performance from the GB&I team. I just feel so fortunate to have won on foreign soil. I have to give alot of credit to our guys."
GB&I team captain Colin Dalgleish said: "I'm gutted for the team. I said to them whatever happened today I would be proud of them. This morning cost us big time. To lose the foursomes 4-0 was an absolute killer. The US played very well this morning so credit to them. Coming back from four points down is a tough shout but we made a very good run at it and we just ended up losing by a point. The US team were great and we congratulate them whole-heartedly."
In the end, amateur golf was the real winner. There is still a big place for the unpaid game even in this world of Tiger Woods & Co.
SUNDAY SINGLES RESULTS
McIlroy bt Horschel 4 and 2.
Davies bt Fowler 3 and 2.
Willett halved with Knost.
Saltman bt Kuehne 2 and 1.
Caldwell bt Stanley 2 holes.
Edwards lost to Moore 1 hole.]
Moul lost to Lovemark 4 and 3.
Horsey bt Simpson 1 hole.
GB&I 5 1/2, UNITED STATES 2 1/2
Overall: GB&I 11 1/2, UNITED STATES 12 1/2

SUPER-MAC WINS NEWLANDS TROPHY AND THE
SCOTTISH GOLF UNION ORDER OF MERIT TITLE

Tulliallan’s Callum Macaulay virtually wrapped up victory in the Newland Trophy 72-hole tournament and the Scottish Golf Union Order of Merit title with a brilliant third round of 63 at Lanark today (Sunday).
That seven-under-par score was one shot inside the record for the Blue Course, set by local member Chris Orr in last year’s Newlands Trophy.
It also put the 23-year-old Macaulay seven shots clear of the field and eight shots ahead of Wallace Booth (Comrie) his only serious challenger in the SGU Order Merit table prior to this, the last 72-hole counting event of the season.
Macaulay, who had made all the running, could afford to take his foot off the pedal in the final round – and he did, returning a four-over-par 74, after earlier rounds of 68, 70 and 63 for a five-under-par final total of 275.,
His memorable blemish-free third-round scorecard included an eagle 3 at the eighth and birdies at the second, fifth, 10th, 14th and 16th in halves of 32 (four under par) and 31 (three under par).
It was Macaulay’s third 72-hole win on the SGU domestic circuit. He won last year’s West of Scotland Open before completing his fourth and final year of a golf scholarship at the University of Mississippi.
Last weekend he won the South-east District Open at West Linton, beating Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie) in a play-off for the title, a victory which propelled him to the top of the SGU Order of Merit points totals, ahead of Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw) who was not going to add to his final total because of Walker Cup duty.
It underlines Callum's progress as a competitor that he finished eighth in the Order of Merit last year and had still to gain a first full cap for Scotland. This he will achieve in the forthcoming home internationals at County Louth.
Macaulay is not among the Tartan Army heading south for the European Tour Qualifying School Stage 1 events over the next two weeks. He is going to play another year on the amateur circuit.
Scottish youths champion Scott Borrowman (Dollar) gave Clackmannan County a notable 1-2 at Lanark. Borrowman had scores of 69, 71, 68 and 71 for a total of 279, four shots behind the easing up Macaulay.
Craigielaw’s Mark Hillson slipped past the faltering Wallace Booth to fill third place on 280 with scores of 75, 67, 69 and 69.
Booth took fourth place on 282 with 70, 70, 69 and 73.

FINAL TOTALS
Par 280 (4 x 70)
275 C Macaulay (Tulliallan) 68 70 63 74.
279 S Borrowman (Dollar) 69 71 68 71.
280 M Hillson (Craigielaw) 75 67 69 69.
282 W Booth (Comrie) 70 70 69 73.
283 C Watson (East Renfrewshire) 77 67 69 70.
286 S Henderson (Hamilton) 74 68 72 72.
287 R McKenzie (Easter Moffat) 78 71 69 69.
288 A Howard (Murrayshall) 74 71 74 69.
289 G Tough (Letham Grange) 77 72 69 71, J White (Lundin) 71 70 73 75.
290 P McLean (Peterhead) 75 74 74 67, B Souter (Leven GS) 74 74 73 69, S McEwan (Caprington) 72 75 72 71.
291 S McGrenaghan (Cochrane Castle) 77 72 72 70, G Paterson (Alloa) 71 73 73 75, S Stewart-Cation (Balbirnie Park) 74 70 71 76.
292 G Dear (Murrayshall) 79 71 71 71, J Paterson (Hayston) 71 73 72 76.
294 M McLeod (Lanark) 72 75 75 72 A Dick (Shotts) 72 70 70 82.
295 R Kellett (Colville Park) 73 72 76 74.
296 E Polson (Inverness) 73 74 75 74, S Rennie (Airdrie) 71 76 74 75.
297 M Gray (Lanark) 75 75 75 72, S Hume (Murrayshall) 75 75 73 74.
298 G McCulloch (Wishaw) 73 77 76 72.
299 J Shanks (Irvine) 76 73 75 75.
300 T Spencer (Inchmarlo) 75 74 77 74, C Gray (West Kilbride) 74 74 74 68.
301 J Johnston (Wishaw) 77 69 80 75, D Henderson (Hamilton) 75 69 75 83.
302 A Main (Thornton) 79 72 74 77, S Lockhart (Bathgate) 73 75 76 78.
305 C Lawton (Stirling) 73 76 81 75.
306 J Lockie (Tantallon) 80 70 78 78.
307 M Isaacs (Nairn Dunbar) 73 77 79 78, S McGarvey (Glencorse) 77 70 80 80.
310 D Murray (Newbattle) 72 77 79 82.
NRs J Hempstock (Dumfries & Galloway) 74 76 NR 73, M Dargie (Cawder) 78 72 NR 77.
MISSED THE CUT
152 A Wallace (Glenbervie) 79 73, D Renwick (Worthing) 72 80, F Campbell (Clober) 77 76, B Campbell (Malone) 79 73, S Bordon (US) 76 76,.
153 G Stevenson (Whitecraigs) 76 77.
154 P Ferrier (Baberton) 74 80, C Colraine (Windyhill) 75 79, M Russo (Drumpellier) 78 76, C HGaugh (Cathkin Braes) 77 77.
155 J Lamb (Lanark) 79 76, S Clazey (Lanark) 79 76, R Craig (Merchants of Edinburgh) 77 78.
156 E Malcolm (Dunfermline) 75 81.
157 M Pennycott (Whiting Bay) 75 82, P Dempsey (Alloa) 79 78..
158 J Hendrick (Pollock) 79 79.
159 O Lavelle (Elderslie) 78 81.
160 I McMillan (Glenearn) 81 79.
161 T McInroy (North Berwick) 83 78.
162 A Rogers (Monifieth) 82 80.
164 G Reid (Edinburgh Thistle0 84 80.
163 O Morton (Glenearn) 83 80.
165 L Ramsay (City of Edinburgh) 84 81.

Gavin Wilson, team captain, accepts the Gary Harvey Trophy from Rab Docherty, Braehead Golf Club captain, on behalf of the winning Fife boys' team (image copyright of Hugh Hunter).

FIFE BOYS RETAIN GARY HARVEY TROPHY
By HUGH HUNTER
Fife boys' team retained the Gary Harvey Trophy in the annual inter-area Under-18s quadrangular contest at Braehead Golf Club over the weekend.
Fife completed a hat-trick of wins against the other teams by beating Perth & Kinross 5-3 in the title decider today .
Fife finished with three wins out of three. Perth & Kinross were runners-up with one win and one draw. Clackmannan were third with one win and Angus fourth with one halved match.
The trophy was originally donated in honour of Gary Harvey's British boys' championship success in 1972.
Results:
SATURDAY
PERTH & KINROSS 5, CLACKMANNAN 3
Daniel Harrison (Crieff) lost to John Macpherson (Braehead ) 3 and 2.Mark Bell (King James VI) lost to Scott Clark (Braehead) 3 and 2.Roddy Forgie (Muckhart) beat Grant Dowie (Alloa) 5 and 4.Robbie Murray (Crieff) beat Steven Macpherson (Dollar) 7 and 6.Scott Barbour (Milnathort) beat Gary Chalmers (Dollar) 2 and 1.Euan Macleod (Craigie Hill) lost to Lawrence Allan (Alva) 3 and 2.Mark Crozier (Murrayshall) beat Andre Scotland (Alloa) 1 hole.Craig Menzies (Auchterarder) beat Andrew Borek (Braehead) 1 hole.

FIFE 5, ANGUS 3
Josh Anderson (Glenrothes) beat Matthew Reid (Downfield) 2 and 1.Gavin Wilson (Ladybank) beat Ross Storrier (Downfield) 3 and 2.Ben Jamieson (St Andrews) beat Mark Thomson (Grange) 2 and 1.Iain Finlay (St Andrews) halved with Jordan McColl (Arbroath).Callum Spence (Kirkcaldy) halved with Michael McNally (Monifieth).Jack Thorburn (Forrester Park) beat Alex Cargill (Arbroath) 5 and 3.Neil Beattie (St Andrews) lost to Reece Mitchell (Downfield) 2 and 1.Jamie Penman (Thornton) lost to Scott Nicol (Carnoustie) 1 hole.

SUNDAY
FIFE 6 1/2, CLACKMANNAN 1 1/2
Anderson lost to J McPherson 4 and 2, Wilson bt Scotland 5 and 4, Jamieson bt Allan 2 and 1, Finlay halved with Clark, Spence bt Dowie 1 hole, Thorburn bt Tom Hogarth (Dollar) 3 and 1, Beattie bt Chalmers 4 and 3, Penman bt Steven McPherson 3 and 2.
ANGUS 4, PERTH & KINROSS 4
Reid lost to Murray 2 and 1, Storrier lost to Forgie 1 hole, Thomson lost to Harrison 4 and 2, McCall bt McLeod 3 and 1, McNally bt Crozier 3 aqnd 2, Cargill bt Menzies 1 hole, Mitchell bt Barbour 1 hole, Nicol lost to bell 1 hole.
CLACKMANNAN 4 1/2, ANGUS 3 1/2
J McPherson halved with Reid, Scotland bt Storrier 5 and 4, Allaqn bt Thomson 4 and 2, Clark lost to McCall 2 and 1, Dowie bt McNally 5 and 4, Hogarth bt Cargill 1 hole, Chalmers lost to Mitchell 2 and 1, S McPherson lost to Nicol 2 and 1.
FIFE 5, PERTH & KINROSS 3
Wilson bt Murray 4 and 3, Anderson lost to Forgie 3 and 2, Finlay lost to Harrison 2 holes, Jamieson bt McLeod 1 hole, Thorburn lost to Crozier 1 hole, Spence bt Menzies 4 and 3, Penman bt Barbour 2 and 1, Beattie bt Bell 4 and 3.
FINAL PLACINGS
1 Fife three wins, 2 Perth & Kinross one win, one draw, one loss, 3 Clackmannan, one win, two losses, 4 Angus, one draw, two losses.

PGA Over-50s Championship at Stoke-by-Nayland

IT'S THAT MAN MASON AGAIN! CARL MAKES IT
18 WINS ON SENIORS TOUR IN FOUR YEARS

By Graeme Hamlett
Press Officer, European Seniors Tour

Carl Mason shot a final round of 67 to win the PGA Seniors Championship at the Stoke-by-Nayland Club by six shots to secure his 18th European Seniors Tour win in just over four years competing on the circuit.
The 54 year old Englishman, who began with a four-shot lead after three previous rounds of 67, fired one more five under par score to finish on 20 under par 268. He said: “I have to admit that was special. I am very pleased with that level of consistency. It’s not easy to lead for all four days – but I felt great out there. It feels wonderful to win the PGA Championship for the second time in my career.”
It was Mason’s fourth win of 2007. France’s Philippe Dugeny fired a new course record, a nine under par 63, to finish on 14 under par 274 and in second spot, alongside Italy’s Costantino Rocca, who closed with a four under par 68.
Prestwick's Ross Drummond, in fifth place at the start of play, shot a one over par 73 to finish on eight under par 280, which Bill Longmuir also ended on after he shot a 71.
Aberdeen’s John Chillas carded a four under par 68 for a six under par 282 total.
Outgoing champion Sam Torrance, winner in 2005 and 2006, also closed with a 68, his best score of the tournament after previous scores of 70-74-74, to finish on two under par 286.
“I played beautifully today and it’s a nice way to end the week,” he said. “My second round really put me out of contention, which was a shame as I was hoping to make it three wins in a row, but there we go. I’m off to Hong Kong this week and then I’ll be back to Scotland to defend the Scottish Seniors Open at Dalmahoy at the end of the month, which I’m looking forward to.”

FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
268 C Mason (Eng) 67 67 67 67
274 P Dugeny (Fra) 75 68 68 63, C Rocca (Ita) 69 66 71 68
276 B Heuchan (Can) 67 67 72 70
277 N Job (Eng) 70 69 72 66, J Bland (RSA) 70 66 69 72
278 L Carbonetti (Arg) 69 66 73 70, J Quiros (Esp) 69 72 68 69, P Teravainen (USA) 68 74 66 70
279 G Watine (Fra) 72 70 71 66, J Lapsley (Nzl) 71 68 70 70, J Rivero (Esp) 72 69 71 67, G Encina (Chl) 74 68 66 71
280 R Drummond (Sco) 69 67 71 73, B Longmuir (Sco) 71 69 69 71
281 G Cali (Ita) 69 73 69 70, H Carbonetti (Arg) 75 69 70 67, GJ Brand (Eng) 71 71 70 69
282 J Chillas (Sco) 72 68 74 68
284 T Gale (Aus) 71 69 72 72, G Ralph (Eng) 72 70 73 69, S Owen (Nzl) 73 71 67 73, D Watson (Zim) 70 70 75 69
285 J Mashego (RSA) 72 71 70 72, T Johnstone (Zim) 71 72 71 71, A Sowa (Arg) 72 72 71 70
286 S Torrance (Sco) 70 74 74 68, D Merriman (Aus) 71 70 75 70, B Cameron (Eng) 68 71 70 77, I Mosey (Eng) 76 68 72 70, J Bruner (USA) 72 74 70 70, B Larratt (Eng) 72 71 70 73
287 M Bembridge (Eng) 71 69 73 74, M Poxon (Eng) 74 70 70 73, A Fernandez (Chl) 75 71 71 70, J Benda (USA) 70 69 69 79, J Rhodes (Eng) 68 70 74 75
288 D J Russell (Eng) 69 70 75 74, R Masters (Eng) 73 69 74 72, E Rodriguez (Esp) 73 71 74 70, J Heggarty (NIr) 71 73 70 74
289 M Miller (Sco) 71 71 76 71, J P Sallat (Fra) 72 72 74 71
290 B Smit (RSA) 75 70 73 72
291 G Townhill (Eng) 76 70 75 70
292 JL Gallardo (Esp) 69 72 72 79, T Allen (Eng) 72 70 73 77, RA Green (Eng) 76 69 75 72, T Dill (USA) 74 70 73 75, D Creamer (Eng) 71 75 73 73, D Johnson (USA) 70 76 72 74
293 B Lendzion (USA) 72 74 71 76, T Gideon (Ger) 73 72 72 76
294 D Stirling (Eng) 73 72 73 76, M Williams (Zim) 69 76 76 73
295 D Good (Aus) 71 72 79 73
296 M Gray (Sco) 75 71 76 74
297 T Price (Wal) 71 73 76 77
298 B Malley (USA) 74 72 75 77, J V Wagenen (USA) 74 71 77 76, M Morbey (Eng) 73 71 80 74
302 J Hall (Eng) 70 75 75 82
304 H Woodrome (USA) 71 75 78 80
Withdrew: Noel Ratcliffe (Aus) 72 74 77 -.

TOP SCOT McLEARY FINISHES IN 23rd PLACE
IN CHALLENGE TOUR SWEDISH EVENT

From Michael Gibbons
Press Officer, European Challenge Tour

Jamie McLeary from Scotlandwell, Kinross was the highest placed Scot at the Challenge Tour’s Telia Challenge Waxholm, taking 23rd place after a final round of level par 72 saw him finish the week on five under par.
That was good enough to help the 28 year old move up one place on the Challenge Tour Rankings, to 33rd place with six events of the season remaining.
Raymond Russell and Peter Whiteford, meanwhile, finished the week on level par after respective fourth round scores of 72 and 74.
England’s Iain Pyman took the title – his second Challenge Tour win in the space of seven days.

FINAL TOTALS
Par 292 (4 x 73). 7,318yd.
274 Iain Pyman Eng 68 70 70 66.
276 Robert Coles Eng 69 71 69 67.
277 Benjamin Miarka Ger 70 70 72 65.
278 Ross McGowan Eng 72 71 68 67; Jamie Donaldson Wal 67 69 73 69.
280 Gustav Adell Swe 72 68 72 68; Oskar Bergman Swe 67 73 71 69; Michael Lorenzo-Vera Fra 77 67 71 65; John E Morgan Eng 65 78 68 69.
282 Richard Treis Ger 72 71 71 68; Kariem Baraka Ger 66 71 73 72.
283 Julien Foret Fra 73 70 71 69; Johan Sköld Swe 69 69 77 68.
284 Magnus A Carlsson Swe 73 70 75 66; Magnus Persson Swe 69 73 73 69; Per Barth Swe 69 72 73 70; Paul Waring Eng 74 71 70 69; Gary Clark Eng 70 72 70 72; Nicolas Vanhootegem Bel 68 73 71 72;
285 Sebastian Fernandez Arg 74 71 70 70; Peter Kaensche Nor 72 70 73 70; Stuart Manley Wal 73 64 76 72;
286 Daniel Lindgren Swe 72 72 72 70; Michael Jonzon Swe 67 75 72 72; Jamie McLeary (Sco) 71 70 73 72; Roope Kakko Fin 70 73 71 72; Jamie Little Eng 73 72 71 70;
287 Mikko Korhonen Fin 71 73 70 73; Robin Swane Ned 73 66 75 73; Leif Westerberg Swe 72 71 73 71; Björn Pettersson Swe 69 72 78 68; Fredrik Orest Swe 68 74 74 71; Pehr Magnebrant Swe 71 71 73 73;
288 Jonas Pettersson Swe 74 70 73 71; Chris Gane Eng 70 75 69 74; Anders Schmidt Hansen Den 75 67 75 71;
289 Bernd Wiesberger Aut 73 70 76 70; Jean Hugo Rsa 72 69 75 73; Kevin Harper Eng 72 71 73 73; Linus Pettersson Swe 72 72 73 72; Wilhelm Schauman Swe 71 73 74 71 ; Mikael Lundberg Swe 67 73 73 76; Andreas Högberg Swe 71 72 74 72; Liam Bond Wal 72 71 71 75;
290 Julien Guerrier Fra 70 73 75 72; Julio Zapata Arg 72 72 75 71;
291 Ally Mellor Eng 71 68 80 72; Alessio Bruschi Ita 74 71 77 69; Raymond Russell (Sco) 70 73 76 72; Peter Whiteford (Sco) 75 68 74 74; Fabrizio Zanotti Par 71 74 77 69; Mathias Ferry Swe 73 72 73 73;
292 Andreas Andersson Swe 69 75 73 75; Jan-Are Larsen Nor 68 76 77 71; Morten Hedegaard Den 71 73 79 69;
293 Jonas Karlson Swe 70 71 77 75;
294 Kieran Staunton Eng 73 69 80 72; Paul Nilbrink Nor 70 73 80 71;
295 Van Phillips Eng 72 73 76 74; Stefan Nilsson Swe 73 71 75 76;
297 Lars Johansson Swe 70 75 78 74; Erik Algulin Swe 73 72 73 79; Robert Eriksson Swe 71 72 80 74;
298 Kalle Edberg Swe 73 72 74 79;
301 Matthew King Eng 71 72 81 77;
Withdrew: Johan Wahlqvist Swe 70 74 75 -, Robert Dinwiddie Eng 72 72 74 -.

MACAULAY BREAKS LANARK RECORD WITH
63 TO LEAD BY SEVEN AFTER ROUND 3

Tulliallan's Callum Macaulay put a lock on the 2007 Newlands Trophy and SGU Order of Merit title with a seven-under-par course record round of 63 in the third round of the Lanark Golf Club 72-hole event today.
Callum's earlier rounds were 68 and 70, giving him a 54-hole tally of nine-under-par 201.
He leads by SEVEN strokes from Scottish youths champion Scott Borrowman (Dollar) who had a 68 and by eight from the third-placed Wallace Booth (Comrie) who had a 69 for 209.
Wallace was SGU Order of Merit leader Macaulay's only serious rival going into the tournament.
Macaulay jumped into the No 1 position last week when he beat Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie) in a play-off for the South-east District title.

THIRD-ROUND LEADING TOTALS
Par 210 (3 x 70).
201 C Macaulay 68 70 63.
208 S Borrowman 69 71 68.
209 W Booth 70 70 69.
211 M Hillson 75 67 69.
212 A Dick 72 70 70.
213 C Watson 77 67 69.
214 S Henderson 74 69 72, J White 71 70 73.
215 S Stewart-CAti8on 74 70 71.
216 J Paterson 71 73 72, G Paterson 71 72 73.
218 R McKenzie 78 71 69, G Tough 77 72 69, D Henderson 75 68 75.
219 S McEwan 72 75 72, A Howard 74 71 74.
221 G Dear 79 71 71, S McGrenaghan 77 72 72, B Souter 74 74 73, S Rennie 71 76 74, R Kellett 73 72 76.
222 C Gray 74 74 74, E Polson 73 74 75, M McLeod 72 775 75.
223 S Hume 75 75 73, P McLean 75 74 74.

UNITED STATES MAKE FOURSOMES CLEAN
SWEEP TO LEAD 10-6 IN WALKER CUP

Great Britain & Ireland dug themselves out of a first-day hole to start the Walker Cup's second day on level terms at 6-6. Now they have to do it again on Sunday.
The United States have put themselves firmly in the driving seat by making a 4-0 clean sweep of the Sunday foursomes to lead 10-6 with the final eight singles to play.
Skipper Colin Dalgleish did not field Lloyd Saltman in the morning session. Saltman was a loser both in the Saturday foursomes and Saturday singles.
Northern Ireland local hero Rory McIlroy is not doing much better than Saltman - and they were going to be the mainstays of the GB&I effort.
Paired up with Irishman Jonathan Caldwell in the opening Sunday foursome, McIlroy was on the losing side again. They went down 2 and 1 to Billy Horschel and Rickie Fowler.

SUNDAY FOURSOMES
J Caldwell & R McIlroy lost to B Horschel & R Fowler 2 and 1.
R Davies & N Edwards lost to C Knost & D Johnson 1 hole.
J Moul & D Willett lost to T Kuehne & J Moore 4 and 2.
D Horsey & J Parry lost to C Kirk & J Lovemark 1 hole.
GB&I 0, UNITED STATES 4
Overall scoreline: GB&I 6, UNITED STATES 10

SUNDAY SINGLES
R McIlory v B Horschel.
R Davies v R Fowler.
D Willett v C Knost.
L Saltman v T Kuehne.
J Caldwell v K Stanley.
N Edwards v J Moore.
J Moul v J Lovemark.
D Horsey v W Simpson.

CANADIAN PAUL WINS MACALLAN NORTH

DISTRICT SENIORS CHAMPIONSHIP

By ROBIN WILSON

Canadian born Paul York (58) has become the second Royal Dornoch member to win the Macallan North District Senior championship. At Golspie, he beat Elgin's Bryce Milne in a three- hole play-off after they tied on 73.
It was one of the strongest winds to sweep the Golspie course all summer and the earlier starters got the worst of it, no scores in the seventies and the only scratch golfer in the field, holder Hugh Clunas (Nairn Dundar) struggled to an 80.
It was no surprise that it was ruled a non counting day for handicapping but as the wind eased in mid afternoon Milne a lynch pin in North teams through three decades of the sixties, seventies and eighties got to grips with the conditions and posted a 73, from an outward half of 39 into the wind followed by a level par inward 34. Milne went three ahead of Peter Saggers (The Nairn) 38,38 and David Bunker (Nairn Dunbar) 40,36 who earlier showed that the wind was easing with sub eighty returns.
Milne was on the point of celebrating when told there would be a play off after a surprise equalling card of 73 came in from York. Although Canadian, York spent most of his life in America before retiring to Dornoch four and a half years ago.

The seven handicapper was a late entry and in one of the last groups to playhad only one bogey at the 8th hole in his outward half of 36 and dropped three more coming home at the 15th, 16th and 18th for his four over par 73.
York did not even have his clubs in his car boot when told he was in a two hole play off and after both players bogeyed Golspie's two opening holes, 5,4, they continued to the third tee in a sudden death situation. Both split the third fairway from the tee but with their second shots, York was bunkered and Milne well short of the pin. York came out of the sand to 15 feet and holed out in four to win, Milne leaving his first putt short and missing the next.
Results. CSS Non Counting and reductions only.

MACALLAN TROPHY

Leading scratch

73 P York (Royal Dornoch) 36-37, B C Milne (Elgin) 39-34 (York won play-off).

76 P Saggers (The Nairn) 38-38, D Bunker (Nairn Dunbar) 40-36.
Age Groups

55-59. Scratch: P.Saggers (The Nairn) 76. Handicap; G. Knapp (Muir of Ord) (13) 71. J. Herman (Fortrose & Rosemarkie) (7) 75. P. Bannerman (Strathpeffer Spa) (6) 76.
60-64. Scratch: J. S. MacPherson (Moray) 80. Handicap; A. More (Forres) (8) 73. A. Souttar (Moray) (12), R. J. Wilson (Brora) (50 76.
65-69. Scratch: C. Stewart (Moray) 81. Handicap; M. Anderson (Tain) (13) 71. D. Terron (Moray) (15) 72. N. Gordon (Tain) (8) 74.
70+. Scratch: R. Bluck (Royal Dornoch) 84. Handicap; S. Kay (Royal Dornoch) (15) 76. D. Cameron (Inverness) (10) 77. G McAnn (Moray) (15) 80.

WILL HAVE PICTURE OF PRIZE WINNING LINE-UP ON DISPLAY LATER

Picture line up; left to right - James MacPherson (Moray), Peter Saggers (The Nairn), Paul York (Royal Dornoch), Martin Robertson (President North District) and Roly Bluck (Royal Dornoch)

WELSHMAN JOHNSON LYING SECOND IN
US NATIONWIDE TOUR EVENT

Mention the US Nationwide Tour to a follower of Scottishgolfview.com and the name "Martin Laird," immediately springs to mind.
But there is at least one other Brit playing on America's No 2 male pro tour - and he is doing very nicely, thank you, this weekend.
He's Richard Johnson, a 35-year-old from Cardiff who graduated from Augusta State University and turned pro in 1995.
Richard is lying second with one round to go in the current Nationwide Tour event, the Utah Energy Solutions championship.
Johnson has shot 67, 64 and 67 for 15-under-par 198 and is two behind American Franklin Langham with 63, 67 and 66 for 196.
Johnson is currrently 26th on the Nationwide Tour money table with earnings this season of $142,043. If he could win this one, he would certainly qualify - alongwith Martin Laird - for automatic promotion to the US PGA Tour next season.
Laird is not doing so well, relatively speaking, in the current event, even though he is four under par after 54 holes. On the Nationwide Tour, if you go over par, then you tumble down the scoreboard immediately.
That's what happened to Martin with rounds of 68, 69 and 72 over the par-71 course. On 209, Martin is in joint 60th place because of that one-over-par third round.
Laird, a Nationwide winner this season, is in 11th place on the money table with earnings of $192,496.
Irishman Keith Nolan, another long-time resident of the United States since his college days, is also a Nationwide Tour regular. In this weekend's tournament, Keith has scored three 68s for nine-under-204 ... and is "only" lying joint 31st.
LEADERBOARD
Par 213 (3 x 71)
196 Franklin Langham (US) 63 67 66.
198 Richard Johnson (Wal) 67 64 67.
199 Jeremy Anderson (US) 67 66 66, Craig Lile (SAf) 63 68 68.
Other scores:
204 Keith Nolan (Ire) 68 68 68 (jt 31st).
209 Martin Laird (Sco) 68 69 72 (jt 60th).

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US PGA TOUR SCOREBOARD
BMW CHAMPIONSHIP
Cog Hill G&CC
Par 213 (3 x 71)
198 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 68 65 65, Steve Stricker 68 66 64
199 Tiger Woods 67 67 65
203 Justin Rose (Eng) 65 69 69
204 Jonathan Byrd 64 69 71, Tim Clark (Rsa) 68 69 67
205 Pat Perez 66 69 70, Nathan Green (Aus) 67 71 67, Adam Scott (Aus) 69 69 67, Camilo Villegas (Col) 65 69 71
206 Jim Furyk 70 69 67, Brandt Snedeker 70 71 65
207 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 68 70 69, Stewart Cink 66 73 68, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 68 68 71, Ryan Moore 69 70 68
208 Billy Mayfair 72 69 67, Lucas Glover 70 71 67, Charles Howell III 68 73 67, Hunter Mahan 69 68 71, Kenny Perry 71 71 66, Ernie Els (Rsa) 73 67 68, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 67 70 71, Bo Van Pelt 69 71 68, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 71 68 69, Rocco Mediate 70 70 68, Stephen Ames (Can) 71 68 69
209 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 69 72 68, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 70 70 69, KJ Choi (Kor) 68 70 71, Jose Coceres (Arg) 70 69 70, Ian Poulter (Eng) 68 72 69, Bubba Watson 71 69 69, Scott Verplank 69 70 70
210 Charley Hoffman 68 70 72, Vaughn Taylor 73 68 69, David Toms 72 70 68
211 Rodney Pampling (Aus) 73 72 66, Woody Austin 67 73 71, Ken Duke 67 73 71, Brett Wetterich 68 72 71, Heath Slocum 71 68 72, John Mallinger 74 68 69, Troy Matteson 66 77 68
212 Steve Marino 73 70 69, Robert Allenby (Aus) 75 68 69, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 72 69 71, Kevin Sutherland 70 73 69
213 Zach Johnson 72 71 70, Mark Wilson 76 69 68
214 Jerry Kelly 74 72 68, John Rollins 69 71 74, Anthony Kim 74 70 70, Luke Donald (Eng) 76 70 68, Brian Bateman 70 72 72, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 75 71 68
215 Jeff Quinney 72 73 70
217 Nick Watney 72 73 72, Sean O'Hair 74 72 71, John Senden (Aus) 71 75 71, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 70 73 74
219 Boo Weekley 75 72 72, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 78 73 68
220 Vijay Singh (Fij) 74 69 77
223 Mark Calcavecchia 77 71 75

Final SGU Order of Merit counting tournament

MACAULAY LEADS NEWLANDS

TROPHY FIELD BY TWO

STROKES AT LANARK

Scottish Golf Union Order of Merit leader Callum Macaulay (Tulliallan) holds a two-stroke lead from his closest rival in the points table, Wallace Booth (Comrie), at the halfway stage of the final counting 72-hole open of the season, the Newlands Trophy tournament at Lanark Golf Club.
Macaulay, pictured right, who beat Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie) in a play-off to win the South-east District Open at West Linton last weekend, had rounds of 68 and 70 for a 36-hole tally of two-under-par 138.
Booth shares second place with Scottish youth champion Scott Borrowman (Dollar) on 140. Booth has had a pair of 70s, Borrowman a 69 and a 71.
Former Scottish boys’ match-play champion James White (Lundin), now a student at Stirling University) is in fourth place on his own on 141.
Teenager James Byrne (Banchory) won the 72-hole event last year with an aggregate of nine-under-par 271, his first SGU Order of Merit tournament win. It will be interesting to see how close to that total the 2007 winner gets.
A total of 40 players with aggregates of 151 or better qualified for Sunday's final two rounds.
Probably the biggest "name" among the non-qualifiers was this year's Scottish boys' match-play champion Paul Ferrier of the Baberton club. He had rounds of 74 and 80 for 154, to miss out by three shots.

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS

Par 140 (2 x 70)
138 C Macaulay (Tulliallan) 68 70.
140 W Booth (Comrie) 70 70, S Borrowman (Dollar) 69 71.
141 J White (Lundin) 71 70.
142 S Henderson (Hamilton) 74 68, M Hillson (Craigielaw) 75 67, A Dick (Shotts) 72 70.
143 G Paterson (St Andrews New) 71 72, D Henderson (Hamilton) 75 68.
144 J Paterson (Hayston) 71 73, S Stewart-Cation (Balbirnie Park) 74 70, C Watson (East Renfrewshire) 77 67.
145 A Howard (Murrayshall) 74 71, R Kellett (Colville Park) 73 72..
146 J Johnston (Lanark) 77 69.
147 M McLeod (Lanark) 72 75, S Rennie (Airdrie) 71 76, S McGarvey (Glencorse) 77 70, S McEwan (Caprington) 72 75, E Polson (Inverness) 73 74.
148 S Lockhart (Bathgate) 73 75, B Souter (Leven GS) 74 74, C Gray (West Kilbride) 74 74.
149 G Tough (Letham Grange) 77 72, C Lawton (Stirling) 73 76, S McGrenaghan (Cochrane Castle) 77 72, P McLean Peterhead) 75 74, J Shanks (Irvine) 76 73, T Spencer (Inchmarlo) 75 74, D Murray (Newbattle) 72 77, R McKenzie (Easter Moffat) 78 71.
150 J Hempstock (Dumfries & Galloway) 74 76, S Hume (Murrayshall) 75 75, G Dear (Murrayshall) 79 71, M Dargie (Cawder) 78 72, G McCulloch (Lanark) 73 77, J Lockie (Tantallon) 80 70, M Gray (Lanark) 75 75, M Isaacs (Nairn Dunbar) 73 77,
151 A Main (Thornton) 79 72.
MISSED THE CUT
152 A Wallace (Glenbervie) 79 73, D Renwick (Worthing) 72 80, F Campbell (Clober) 77 76, B Campbell (Malone) 79 73, S Bordon (US) 76 76.
153 G Stevenson (Whitecraigs) 76 77.
154 P Ferrier (Baberton) 74 80, C Colraine (Windyhill) 75 79, M Russo (Drumpellier) 78 76, C Haugh (Cathkin Braes) 77 77.
155 J Lamb (Lanark) 79 76, S Clazey (Lanark) 79 76, R Craig (Merchants of Edinburgh) 77 78.
156 E Malcolm (Dunfermline) 75 81.
157 M Pennycott (Whiting Bay) 75 82, P Dempsey (Alloa) 79 78..
158 J Hendrick (Pollock) 79 79.
159 O Lavelle (Elderslie) 78 81.
160 I McMillan (Glenearn) 81 79.
161 T McInroy (North Berwick) 83 78.
162 A Rogers (Monifieth) 82 80.
163 O Morton (Glenearn) 83 80.

164 G Reid (Edinburgh Thistle) 84 80.
165 L Ramsay (City of Edinburgh) 84 81.

SCOTS CHASING DOLLARS ON HOOTERS' TOUR

Joel Hendry from Elgin and Glasgow's Scott Jamieson were lying joint 23rd and 46th respectively after three rounds of the NGA Hooters' Tour event, the Michelob Ultra Classic, at River Hills Golf & Country Club course (6,928yd, par 72), Little River, South Carolina.
Hendry has had rounds of 72, 70 and 73 for one-under-par 215. Joel had birdies at the first, third, seventh, ninth and 11th but a double bogey 6 at the fourth.
Jamieson made the halfway cut with one shot to spare and has scored 72, 74 and 72 for 218. Scott has had a double-bogey 6 in each of his rounds so far - at the 14th in the first round, the fifth in the second round and the 16th in round three. He has also had 14 birdies.
Americans Emmet Turner and Andrew Medley lead the field by three strokes at 10-under-par 206. Turner has shot 69-71-66, Medley 68-72-66.

Perth & Kinross (lower picture) and Fife (upper picture) boys' teams at Brahead. Hugh Hunter (c) images.

PERTH & KINROSS TIED WITH FIFE FOR LEAD
IN GARY HARVEY TROPHY BOYS' EVENT

By HUGH HUNTER

Perth & Kinross and Fife are tied for the lead for the lead at the halfway stage of the Gary Harvey Trophy boys' quadrangular golf match at Brahead Golf Club, Clackmannanshire.
The trophy was originally donated in honour of Gary Harvey's British boys' championship success in 1972.
Results:
PERTH & KINROSS 5, CLACKMANNAN 3
Daniel Harrison (Crieff) lost to John Macpherson (Braehead ) 3 and 2.
Mark Bell (King James VI) lost to Scott Clark (Braehead) 3 and 2.
Roddy Forgie (Muckhart) beat Grant Dowie (Alloa) 5 and 4.
Robbie Murray (Crieff) beat Steven Macpherson (Dollar) 7 and 6.
Scott Barbour (Milnathort) beat Gary Chalmers (Dollar) 2 and 1.
Euan Macleod (Craigie Hill) lost to Lawrence Allan (Alva) 3 and 2.
Mark Crozier (Murrayshall) beat Andre Scotland (Alloa) 1 hole.
Craig Menzies (Auchterarder) beat Andrew Borek (Braehead) 1 hole.

FIFE 5, ANGUS 3
Josh Anderson (Glenrothes) beat Matthew Reid (Downfield) 2 and 1.
Gavin Wilson (Ladybank) beat Ross Storrier (Downfield) 3 and 2.
Ben Jamieson (St Andrews) beat Mark Thomson (Grange) 2 and 1.
Iain Finlay (St Andrews) halved with Jordan McColl (Arbroath).
Callum Spence (Kirkcaldy) halved with Michael McNally (Monifieth).
Jack Thorburn (Forrester Park) beat Alex Cargill (Arbroath) 5 and 3.
Neil Beattie (St Andrews) lost to Reece Mitchell (Downfield) 2 and 1.
Jamie Penman (Thornton) lost to Scott Nicol (Carnoustie) 1 hole.

DRUMMOND LYING FIFTH BUT CARL MASON
LEADS BY FOUR SHOTS IN PGA SENIORS

Ross Drummond from Prestwick goes into the final round of the PGA Seniors championship in fifth place after a third-round 71 for 207. But it is unlikely that he will catch the front-running Carl Mason who has strung together three impeccable rounds of 67 for a 15-under-par tally of 201.
He leads by four shots from South African John Bland.
LEADING THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Stoke by Nayland GC, Suffolk.
Par 216 (3 x 72)
201 C Mason (Eng) 67 67 67.
205 J Bland (SAf) 70 66 69.
206 B Heuchan (Can) 67 67 72, C Rocca (Ita) 69 66 71.
207 R Drummond (Sco) 69 67 71.
208 J Benda (US) 70 69, L Carbonetti (Arg) 69 66 73, G Encina 74 68 66, P Teravainen (US) 68 74 66.
Other Scots scores:
209 B Longmuir 71 69 69 (jt 10th).
214 J Chillas 72 68 74 (jt 27th).
218 M Miller 71 71 76, S Torrance 70 74 74 (jt 45th).
222 M Gray 75 71 76 (jt 59th).

OLLY FIGHTS STIFF NECK TO STAY IN TOUCH
AT OMEGA EUROPEAN MASTERS

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS WEBSITE

England's Oliver Wilson remains in contention for a first tour victory in the Omega European Masters despite almost pulling out before the start of today's fog-delayed third round.
Wilson held a one-shot lead at the halfway stage in Crans-sur-Sierre, Switzerland but woke with a stiff neck and required an hour of physio treatment before starting play.
The former Walker Cup star was unable to swing the club properly but struggled to a 70 to finish the day on 12 under par 201, one shot behind defending champion Bradley Dredge and Australian Brett Rumford.
"I was really excited about today, I had a chance to build a lead and separate myself from the field but the injury really deflated me," the 26-year-old said.
"I could not hit my irons properly and hit some horrendous shots because I just couldn't get through the ball. Even when it didn't hurt I knew it was there and you can't commit to the shot.
"It got a little better later in the day but I was walking round very rigid all day. The physios worked on it for an hour but I still don't have full movement."
Wilson, who has had several chances to claim his maiden European Tour title - losing a play-off to Paul Casey in the Volvo China Open in November 2005 and another in the Johnnie Walker Classic in Thailand in March - added: "I'm actually quite pleased to still be in with a chance.
"I could have shot one or two over and been out of it."
Dredge won by eight shots here last year and threatened to go clear of the field once more when he eagled the opening hole for the second day in succession.
But the 2005 World Cup winner dropped shots at the fifth and ninth and ran up a double-bogey 6 on the 12th after driving into trees and, despite birdies on the 14th and 15th, was unable to shake off Rumford.
EUROPEAN TOUR SCOREBOARD
OMEGA EUROPEAN MASTERS
Crans-sur-Sierre GC, Switzerland
Par 213 (3 x 71)
200 Brett Rumford (Aus) 68 66 66, Bradley Dredge 66 66 68
201 Oliver Wilson 65 66 70
202 Sion Bebb 71 68 63, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 70 67 65
203 Phillip Archer 69 66 68, Lee Westwood 71 67 65
205 Anthony Wall 69 68 68
206 Richard Finch 70 72 64, Miles Tunnicliff 71 65 70
207 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 69 69 69
208 Joakim Backstrom (Swe) 71 68 69, Richard Bland 73 68 67, Mattias Eliasson (Swe) 72 69 67, Edward Rush 72 72 64
209 Zane Scotland (Gb) 69 69 71, Graeme McDowell 73 69 67, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 72 69 68, Ariel Canete (Arg) 72 69 68, Eduardo Romero (Arg) 68 69 72, Graeme Storm 69 69 71
210 Tino Schuster (Ger) 71 65 74, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 69 70 71, David Frost (Rsa) 72 70 68, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 69 75 66
211 Paul Casey 71 68 72, Juan Parron (Spa) 72 71 68, Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 74 69 68, Marcel Siem (Ger) 71 70 70, Kyron Sullivan 73 69 69, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 73 70 68
212 David Carter 73 69 70, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 75 69 68, Richard McEvoy 71 70 71, Tom Whitehouse 73 71 68, Oscar null Floren (Swe) 69 67 76, Johan Edfors (Swe) 73 70 69
213 Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 68 75 70, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 76 68 69, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 71 73 69, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 75 69 69, Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 71 70 72, Carl Suneson (Spa) 74 70 69, Jamie Spence 70 71 72, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 68 71 74, Barry Lane 78 65 70
214 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 74 68 72, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 74 70 70, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 70 72 72, Andrew Coltart 70 72 72, Steven O'Hara 74 70 70, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 71 70 73, Andrew Marshall 74 68 72, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 77 67 70, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 74 69 71, Ian Garbutt 70 72 72, Manuel Quiros (Spa) 74 70 70
215 Steve Alker (Nzl) 75 66 74, Garry Houston 72 70 73, Sven Struver (Ger) 74 68 73, Pierre Relecom (Bel) 70 74 71, Pablo Martin (Spa) 71 73 71
216 Julien Clement (Swi) 74 70 72, Simon Wakefield 74 69 73
217 Terry Price (Aus) 75 68 74, Sam Little 78 66 73, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 71 71 75
218 Alessandro Napoleoni (Ita) 71 69 78, Jonathan Lomas 74 70 74
219 Lee Slattery 72 72 75, Alexander Noren (Swe) 72 71 76
220 Shiv Kapur (Ind) 72 72 76

JAMIE McLEARY LEADING SCOT IN CHALLENGE
TOUR EVENT IN SWEDEN

From Michael Gibbons
Press Officer, European Challenge Tour

A level par 73 left Jamie McLeary in need of a low scoring final round if he is to secure his first Challenge Tour victory at the Telia Challenge Waxholm.
McLeary, who is five under for the tournament at the Waxholm Golf club in Stockholm, trails English leader Iain Pyman by six shots going into the last 18 holes.
Peter Whiteford is three behind McLeary after a third round of one over 74, while Raymond Russell carded a disappointing 73 to fall back to level par.

THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Par 219 (3 x 71)
208 Iain Pyman (Eng) 68 70 70.
209 Jamie Donaldson (Wal) 67 69 73, Robert Coles (Eng) 69 71 69.
210 Kariem Baraka (Ger) 66 71 73.
211 Ross McGowan (Eng) 72 71 68, Oskar Bergman (Swe) 67 73 71, John E Morgan (Eng) 65 78 68.
212 Nicolas Vanhootegem (Bel) 68 73 71; Benjamin Miarka (Ger) 70 70 72; Gary Clark (Eng) 70 72 70; Gustav Adell (Swe) 72 68 72.
213 Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 67 73 73; Stuart Manley (Wal) 73 64 76;
214 Per Barth (Swe) 69 72 73; Michael Jonzon (Swe) 67 75 72; Liam Bond (Wal) 72 71 71; Roope Kakko (Fin) 70 73 71; Chris Gane (Eng) 70 75 69; Julien Foret (Fra) 73 70 71; Robin Swane (Ned) 73 66 75, Jamie McLeary (Sco) 71 70 73, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 71 73 70; Richard Treis (Ger) 72 71 71;
215 Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 77 67 71; Sebastian Fernandez (Arg) 74 71 70; Johan Sköld (Swe) 69 69 77; Paul Waring (Eng) 74 71 70; Peter Kaensche (Nor) 72 70 73; Pehr Magnebrant (Swe) 71 71 73; Magnus Persson (Swe) 69 73 73;
216 Jean Hugo (Rsa) 72 69 75; Daniel Lindgren (Swe) 72 72 72; Kevin Harper (Eng) 72 71 73; Leif Westerberg (Swe) 72 71 73; Fredrik Orest (Swe) 68 74 74; Jamie Little (Eng) 73 72 71;
217 Andreas Andersson (Swe) 69 75 73 ;Linus Pettersson (Swe) 72 72 73, Peter Whiteford (Sco) 75 68 74, Andreas Högberg (Swe) 71 72 74; Anders Schmidt Hansen (Den) 75 67 75 ;Jonas Pettersson (Swe) 74 70 73.
218 Wilhelm Schauman (Swe) 71 73 74; Erik Algulin (Swe) 73 72 73; Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 73 70 75; Mathias Ferry (Swe) 73 72 73; Jonas Karlson (Swe) 70 71 77; Julien Guerrier (Fra) 70 73 75; Robert Dinwiddie (Eng) 72 72 74.
219 Raymond Russell (Sco) 70 73 76; Julio Zapata (Arg) 72 72 75; Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 73 70 76; Johan Wahlqvist (Swe) 70 74 75; Björn Pettersson (Swe) 69 72 78; Stefan Nilsson (Swe) 73 71 75; Kalle Edberg (Swe) 73 72 74; Ally Mellor (Eng) 71 68 80.
221 Jan-Are Larsen (Nor) 68 76 77; Van Phillips (Eng) 72 73 76.
222 Alessio Bruschi (Ita) 74 71 77; Kieran Staunton (Eng) 73 69 80; Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 71 74 77.
223 Lars Johansson (Swe) 70 75 78; Morten Hedegaard (Den) 71 73 79; Paul Nilbrink (Nor) 70 73 80; Robert Eriksson (Swe) 71 72 80.
224 Matthew King (Eng) 71 72 81.

Kerr Investments' 36-hole Classic

GRAY AND ARNOTT SHARE LEAD ON
65 AT DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY

Hayston's Steven Gray and Robert Arnott (Bishoipbriggs Golf Range) shared the lead on five-under-par 65 at the halfway stage of the Kerr Investments' Classic over 36 holes at Dumfries & Galloway Golf Club.
Gray had four birdies in a row from the fifth to the eighth in an outward four-under-par 32 before he sandwiched his solitary bogey at the 12th between birdies at the 11th and 18th in an inward 33.
Late finisher Arnott had a blemish-free card with birdfies at the first, fifth, sixth, 16th and 18 in halves of 33 and 32.
New Scottish professional champion Mark Loftus snuggled up behind them overnight on 66, thanks to covering the last seven holes in five under par with birdies at the 12th, 13th, 15th, 17th and 18th.

FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 70
65 S Gray (Hayston), R Arnott (Bishopbriggs GR).
66 M Loftus (Cowglen).
67 G McInnes (Murcar Links), E Cameron (Hamilton), S Taylor (Bothwell Castle), C Ronald (Carluke)..
68 S Cairns (Westerwood), K Glen (Royal Musselburgh), D Robertson (Mearns Castle), E Thomson (Largs), G McFarlane (Clober)..
69 D Park (Wishaw), M King (Kingsfield GR), G Hutcheon (Peterculter), M Urquhart (Inverness).
70 J McGhee (Turnhouse), P Wardell (Whitekirk), F Mann (Musselburgh, J McCreadie (Buchanan Castle), G Duncan (Westin Turnberry), G Law (Uphall), P McKechnie (Braid Hills), A Crerar (King James VI), C Gillies (Kingsfield GR).
71 S Syme (Dumfries & Co), R Cameron (McDonald Ellon), A Forrow (Whitecraigs), B Mason (Drumoig DR), L Vannet (Carnoustie GL), K Hutton (Downfield), A Lockhart (Ladybank).
72 E Davie (Dunblane New), J Stevenson (Braehead), S Morrison (Glenbervie), J McKinnon (Irvine), C Doak (unatt), R Valentine (Craigielaw), D Orr (East Renfrewshire).
73 G Cook (Prfestonfield), A Gorman (Clyny Clays), C Gordon (Edinburgh G C), T Buchanan (Duddinston), C Lee (All Golf Swing Centre), L Mann (Carnoustie).
76 C Kelly (Cawder), N Huguet (Musselburgh).
77 F McLaughlan (Bothwell Castle).
78 S Gillespie (Burntisland).
79 S Lamb (Broomieknowe).

Double defeat for Lloyd Saltman at Royal Co Down

GB&I TAIL WAGS TO MAKE IT A 6-6
DRAW AT END OF FIRST DAY

Those pundits who predicted an easy home win for Great Britian & Ireland - ignoring the fact that the United States team had far more world-ranked top 10 amateurs in their ranks - were having to eat their words by the end of the first day of the Walker Cup match at Royal County Down Golf Club, Newcastle in Northern Ireland.
After rallying to share the morning foursomes 2-2, Colin Dalgleish's men took a mauling in the singles - Ireland's pin-up boy Rory McIlroy lost by one hole to Billy Horschel in the top match.
Lloyd Saltman's Scotland's pride and joy was well beaten 5 and 4 in the second singles by Ricky Fowler.
Edinburgh-born Welshman Rhys Davies stopped the landslide with a 5 and 4 win over Dustin Johnson but then the United went 6-3 ahead with wins by Knost and Jamie Lovemark over Daniel Willett and Llewellyn Matthews respectively.
Then the Great Britain & Ireland tail wagged to save the day. The home team won the last three ties to square the match at 6-6 going into the second and last day.
Noel Edwards, three up after 11 holes on Kyle Stanley, was pulled back to all square in the closing stages but the Welshman kept calm under pressure to triumph by one hole
Jamie Moul, one down with three to play against Chris Kirk, won two of them to finish one hole up. A great win against the odds.
David Horsey was one up after 12 holes on Wes Simpson and stayed that way to the finish. A gritty performance just when skipper Dalgleish needed it.

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS WEBSITE:

David Horsey had an extra reason for feeling joy and relief about bringing Britain and Ireland back on level terms at the end of the first day in the Walker Cup.
Horsey beat American Webb Simpson on the final green after losing the seventh hole on a breach of the rules.
With three games left the United States led 6-3, but Horsey's win when Simpson ran up a double bogey 7 followed winning birdies by Welshman Nigel Edwards and England's Jamie Moul.
Home captain Colin Dalgleigh commented of the three late points: "I think they're very likely to be very significant. It's geed everybody up and hopefully the momentum is on our side.
"We got off to a bad start in the morning and afternoon, but those last three games were absolutely crucial and to be 6-6 is absolutely great."
Rory McIlroy and Lloyd Saltman, the two highest profile members of the Britain and Ireland team, won only half a point between them, 18-year-old McIlroy three-putting from 25 feet to lose his singles on the final green.
"It would have been nice if they had won, but they didn't and we've got through today without them winning," said Dalgleigh.
"We always knew we had 10 great players. Rory wouldn't have felt very good if we had been a few points behind, but he's now feeling better about it."


SINGLES
GB&I names first
McIlroy lost to Horschel 1 hole.
Saltman lost to Fowler 5 and 4.
Davies bt Johnson 5 and 4.
Willett lost to Knost 2 holes.
L Matthews lost to J Lovemark 5 and 4.
N Edwards bt Stanley 1 hole.
Moul bt C Kirk 1 hole.
Horsey bt Simpson 1 hole.

GB&I 4, UNITED STATES 4

END OF FIRST DAY: GB&I 6, UNITED STATES 6

Scroll down to see the foursomes details

HARPER BEATS MANN IN LOCAL FINAL
TO CRAW'S NEST TASSIE

Kristofer Harper beat twice former champion Scott Mann by one hole in an all-Carnoustie 18-hole final to the week-long Craw's Nest Tassie tournament today over the Carnoustie championship links.
Results:
Semi-finals - K Harper (Carnoustie) bt K Dyckman (Haninge) 4 and 3, S Mann (Carnoustie Caledonia) bt J Engstrom (Haninge)3 and 1.
Final - Harper bt Mann 1 hole.

CELTIC PRO TOUR EVENT CANCELLED

Next week's Celtic Pro Tour event at Montrose Links, over 36 holes on Tuesday and Wednesday, has been cancelled because of lack of numbers.

Latest score: GB&I 2pt, United States 2pt

BRITAIN & IRELAND RALLY TO SHARE
MORNING WALKER CUP HONOURS

Great Britain & Ireland fought back from losing the opening foursomes to end the morning session on level terms at 2-2 against the United States on the first day of the 2007 Walker Cup
match at Royal County Down Golf Club, Newcastle in Northern Ireland.
The strong home pairing of Lloyd Saltman and Rhys Davies were beaten 4 and 3 by Americans Billy Horschel and Rickie Fowler in the first tie off the tee.
The second tie was halved between the all-Ireland pairing of Rory McIlroy and Jonathan Caldwell against Colt Knost and Dustin Johnson of the US.
England's John Parry and David Horsey put a point on the board for GB&I by beating Trip Kuehne and Kyle Stanley 2 and 1.
Another all-England pairing, Jamie Moul and Daniel Willett were one up on Webb Simpson and Jonathan Moore in the closing stages of the fourth and final tie but the match finished all square.
Results:
DAY ONE FOURSOMES
(GB&I names first)
Lloyd Saltman & Rhys Davies lost to Billy Horschel & Rickie Fowler 4 and 3.
Rory McIlory & Jonathan Caldwell halved with Colt KNost & Dustin Johnson.
John Parry & David Horsey bt Trip Kuehne & Kyle Stanley 2 and 1.
Jamie Moul & Daniel Willett halved with Webb Simpson & Jonathan Moore.
Great Britain & Ireland 2, United States 2.

DAY ONE SINGLES
1 McIlroy v Horschel.
2 Saltman v Fowler.
3 Davies v Johnson.
4 Willett v Knost.
5 Llewellyn Matthews v Jamie Lovemark.
6 Nigel Edwards v Stanley.
7 Moul v Chris Kirk.
8 Horsey v Simpson





In the two remaining foursomes ties in progress, GB&I are leading up in both.

JAMIESON SCRAPES THROUGH TO WEEKEND
PLAY IN HOOTERS TOUR EVENT


Joel Hendry and Scott Jamieson beat the cut after two rounds of the Hooters Tour event, the Michelob Ultra Classic, at River Hills G&CC, Little River in South Carolina with contrasting degrees of comfort.
Twice former Scottish youths champion Hendry from Elgin (some time ago) shot 72 and 70 for two-under-par 142 to start the third round in ashare of 18th place.
Jamieson, who had a successful first half of the season on the Hooters Tour before coming back to Europe during the circuit's mid-summer break, shot 72 and 74 for 146, which was the deadline mark for the qualifiers.
Jamieson started his second round brilliantly, birdieing the first four holes. Then he underwent a remarkable transformation of fortunes - a double bogey 6 at the fifth followed by bogeys at the sixth, seventh, eighh, 10th and 11th. A birdie 2 at the short 12th got him out of the rut be he slipped down again with a bogey 4 at the short 15th before getting a vital birdie 3 at the 16th ... vital because if he had parred the hole, then he would have missed the cut.
Two Americans share the lead on six-under-par 138 - Mark Blakefield (68-70) and Matthew Anderson (70-68).

LAIRD SCORES UNDER PAR - AND LOSES
GROUND IN NATIONWIDE TOUR EVENT

Martin Laird from Glasgow survived the halfway cut in the latest US Nationwide Tour event, the quaintly-named Utah Energy Solutions Championship with a five-under-par 36-hole tally of 137. His scores so far are 68 and 69 and he is lying seven strokes off the pace being set by American Franklin Langholm with 63 and 67 for 12-under-par 130.
Underling the high standard of play on America's No 2 men's pro circuit, Laird started the second day in joint 30th place .... shot a two-under-par round ... and DROPPED BACK to joint 38th place!
Welshman Richard Johnson is one of four players sharing second place on 131. Richard's scores have been 67 and 64.
Irishman Keith Nolan also made it through among those with tallies of four-under-par 138 or better. Keith has scored a pair of 68s for a share of 27th place on 136.
LEADING SCORES
Par 142 (2 x 71)
130 Franklin Langholm (US) 63 67.
131 Edward Loar (US) 65 66, Garrett Wills (US) 67 64, Richard Johnson (Wal) 67 64, CraigLile (SAf) 63 68.
Other qualifiers:
136 Keith Nolan (Ire) 68 68 (jt 27th).
137 Martin Laird (Sco) 68 69 (jt 38th).

US PGA SCOREBOARD
BMW CHAMPIONSHIP
Cog Hill G&CC
Par 142 (2 x 71)
133 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 68 65, Jonathan Byrd 64 69.
134 Steve Stricker 68 66, Tiger Woods 67 67, Justin Rose (Eng) 65 69, Camilo Villegas (Col) 65 69.
135 Pat Perez 66 69.
136 Stuart Appleby (Aus) 68 68
137 Hunter Mahan 69 68, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 67 70, Tim Clark (Rsa) 68 69
138 Charley Hoffman 68 70, Nathan Green (Aus) 67 71, Adam Scott (Aus) 69 69, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 68 70, KJ Choi (Kor) 68 70
139 Stewart Cink 66 73, Heath Slocum 71 68, Jim Furyk 70 69, Jose Coceres (Arg) 70 69, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 71 68, Scott Verplank 69 70, Ryan Moore 69 70, Stephen Ames (Can) 71 68
140 Woody Austin 67 73, Bubba Watson 71 69, John Rollins 69 71, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 70 70, Ernie Els (Rsa) 73 67, Bo Van Pelt 69 71, Ian Poulter (Eng) 68 72, Ken Duke 67 73, Brett Wetterich 68 72, Rocco Mediate 70 70
141 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 69 72, Vaughn Taylor 73 68, Lucas Glover 70 71, Billy Mayfair 72 69, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 72 69, Brandt Snedeker 70 71, Charles Howell III 68 73
142 Kenny Perry 71 71, David Toms 72 70, John Mallinger 74 68, Brian Bateman 70 72
143 Vijay Singh (Fij) 74 69, Steve Marino 73 70, Robert Allenby (Aus) 75 68, Zach Johnson 72 71, Kevin Sutherland 70 73, Troy Matteson 66 77, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 70 73
144 Anthony Kim 74 70
145 Nick Watney 72 73, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 73 72, Jeff Quinney 72 73, Mark Wilson 76 69
146 Jerry Kelly 74 72, Sean O'Hair 74 72, John Senden (Aus) 71 75, Luke Donald (Eng) 76 70, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 75 71
147 Boo Weekley 75 72
148 Mark Calcavecchia 77 71
151 Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 78 73

LLOYD SALTMAN AND RHYS DAVIES LEAD OFF
FOR GB&I IN WALKER CUP


FROM THE R&A WEBSITE

Lloyd Saltman and Rhys Davies will lead off for Great Britain & Ireland in the first foursomes match of the 2007 Walker Cup against The United States as the home team attempts to regain the trophy after a narrow defeat in Chicago two years ago. In the top match they will play Billy Horshel and Rickie Fowler.
GB&I captain Colin Dalgleish resisted the temptation to throw his Irish pair in at the head of the field, keeping Rory McIlroy, winner of the Silver Medal in this year's Open Championship, and Jonathan Caldwell back for the second match.
But he has been second-guessed by US captain Buddy Marucci who held Colt Knost, winner of the US Amateur and Public Links Championships this season, and Dustin Johnson, for the second spot to set up a formidable match.
Third out for the home side are John Parry, winner of the 2007 Spanish Amateur, and David Horsey to face America's only experienced Walker Cup player, Trip Kuehne, and Kyle Stanley.
The anchor match in the foursomes is between Jamie Moul, leader of the World Amateur Golf Ranking for many weeks earlier in the season, and Daniel Willett, the English amateur title holder and American college circuit player as a Jacksonville State University student. They face Webb Simpson and Jonathan Moore.
Both captains have taken the chance to give every member of the 10-man teams an outing on the first day, including those omitted from the foursomes in the afternoon singles.
Davies, former Boys champion who played in this year's US Open, faces Johnson, a two-time winner on the US amateur circuit this season. Then comes Willett against Knost before Llewellyn Matthews, winner of the St Andrews Links Trophy plays Jamie Lovemark, the 2007 NCAA champion.
Nigel Edwards, a veteran of three previous Walker Cup encounters who holed the winning putt at Ganton in 2003, comes fresh from his morning rest to face Stanley, winner of the 2006 Southern Amateur.
Moul lines up against Chris Kirk, recepient of the Ben Hogan award as top college golfer of 2007 and the bottom of the draw places Horsey, fourth in this year's Brabazon, against Simpson, a semi-foinalist in the 2006 US Amateur.
A limited number of tickets will be available for spectators who turn up at Royal County Down on each day of the Walker Cup match.
Crowds have been limited to 10,000 each day and David Hill, Director of Championships for The R&A said: “There are still roughly 1,000 tickets left for each day and we will be allowing these spectators to pay at the gates.” Parking is free-of-charge and a daily admission ticket costs £25

Craw's Nest Tassie results from Carnoustie

THIRD ROUND
Kevin Dyckman (Haninge) bt Andrew Taylor (Blackburn) 2 and 1.
Derek Louden (North Taymouth) bt Peter Dobson (Leyland) 3 and 1.
Kristofer Harper (Carnoustie) bt Martin Willey (Hornsea) 2 and 1.
Garry Duncan (Carnoustie) bt Adam Whalley (Dunscar) 1 hole.
Jimmy Engstrom (Haninge) bt Andrew Webster (Blundells Hill) 2 and 1.
Neil Self (Stand) bt Per Levin(Bro Balsta) 4 and 3.
Andrew Runciman (Bolton) bt David Marsh (Chorley) 4 and 3.
Scott Mann (Carnoustie Caledonia) bt Mark Stones (Boyce Hill) 3 and 1.

QUARTER-FINALS
Dyckman bt Louden 6 and 4.
Harper bt Duncan 1 hole.
Engstrom bt Self 2 holes.
Mann bt Runciman 7 and 6.

SATURDAY MORNING SEMI-FINALS

Dyckman v Harper.

Engstrom v Mann.

Dyckman v Louden.
Harper v Duncan.
Engstrom v Self.
Runciman v Mann.

+Marc Warren - a winner last weekend in the Johnnie Walker Classic - failed to beat the cut in this week's European Tour event in Switzerland. A classic case, you might say, of Sic Transit Gloria.

EUROPEAN TOUR SCOREBOARD
OMEGA EUROPEAN MASTERS
Crans-sur-Sierre, Switzerland
Par 142 (2 x 71)
LATEST SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
131 Oliver Wilson 65 66
132 Bradley Dredge 66 66
134 Brett Rumford (Aus) 68 66
135 Phillip Archer 69 66
136 Miles Tunnicliff 71 65, Oscar Floren (Swe) 69 67, Tino Schuster (Ger) 71 65
137 Eduardo Romero (Arg) 68 69, Anthony Wall 69 68, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 70 67.
138 Zane Scotland 69 69, Lee Westwood 71 67, Graeme Storm 69 69, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 69 69
139 Paul Casey 71 68, Joakim Backstrom (Swe) 71 68, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 68 71, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 69 70, Sion Bebb 71 68.
140 Alessandro Napoleoni (Ita) 71 69
141 Richard Bland 73 68, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 72 69, Steve Alker (Nzl) 75 66, Richard McEvoy 71 70, Mattias Eliasson (Swe) 72 69, Ariel Canete (Arg) 72 69, Jamie Spence 70 71, Alex Rocha (Bra) 71 70, Daniel Vanczik (Arg) 71 70, Marcel Siem (Ger) 71 70.
142 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 74 68, David Carter 73 69, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 70 72, Garry Houston 72 70, Graeme McDowell 73 69, Andrew Coltart 70 72, Kyron Sullivan 73 69, David Frost (Rsa) 72 70, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 71 71, Sven Struver (Ger) 74 68, Richard Finch 70 72, Andrew Marshall 74 68, Ian Garbutt 70 72
143 Juan Parron (Spa) 72 71, Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 74 69, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 68 75, Johan Edfors (Swe) 73 70, Simon Wakefield 74 69, Alexander Noren (Swe) 72 71, Terry Price (Aus) 75 68, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 74 69, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 73 70, Barry Lane 78 65
144 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 74 70, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 76 68, Pierre Relecom (Bel) 70 74, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 71 73, Steven O'Hara 74 70, Lee Slattery 72 72, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 75 69, Julien Clement (Swi) 74 70, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 77 67, Pablo Martin (Spa) 71 73, Sam Little 78 66, Manuel Quiros (Spa) 74 70, Edward Rush 72 72, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 72 72, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 69 75, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 75 69, Carl Suneson (Spa) 74 70, Tom Whitehouse 73 71, Jonathan Lomas 74 70
MISSED THE CUT
145 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 72 73, Christian Nilsson (Swe) 74 71, Gareth Davies 74 71, Darren Clarke 75 70, Peter Lawrie 74 71, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 74 71, Marcus Higley 74 71, Yong-eun Yang (Kor) 71 74, Santiago Luna (Spa) 75 70
146 Michael Campbell (Nzl) 71 75, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 73 73, Benn Barham 72 74, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 75 71, Matthew Millar (Aus) 75 71, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 74 72, Jean Van de velde (Fra) 73 73, James Hepworth 75 71, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 74 72
147 David Griffiths 73 74, Soren Hansen (Den) 75 72, Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice) 75 72, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 73 74, Oliver Fisher 73 74, Marc Warren 73 74, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 79 68, Niklas Lemke (Swe) 80 67, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 70 77, Marius Thorp (Nor) 75 72, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 75 72, Gary Lockerbie 73 74, David Drysdale 74 73, Lee S James 77 70, Andres Romero (Arg) 70 77, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 78 69
148 Shaun P Webster 79 69, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 75 73, David Howell 75 73, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 75 73, Marcus Knight (Swi) 77 71, Andrew Raitt 75 73, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 72 76, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 76 72, Markus Brier (Aut) 77 71
149 Robert Rock 75 74, James Kingston (Rsa) 77 72, Scott Drummond 78 71, David Park 75 74, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 77 72, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 77 72
150 Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 74 76, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 77 73, Andre Bossert (Swi) 77 73, Sam Walker 76 74, Adrien Mork (Fra) 78 72, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 79 71, Taichi Teshima (Jpn) 78 72, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 76 74
151 Mark Pilkington 74 77, James Heath 77 74, Manuel Pinero (Spa) 77 74
152 Tadd Fujikawa (USA) 77 75, Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa) 78 74, Andrew Tampion (Aus) 81 71, Damien McGrane 77 75, Robert Wiederkehr (Swi) 79 73, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 77 75, Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 79 73, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 75 77
153 Ken Benz (Swi) 81 72, Matthew Zions (Aus) 79 74, Marco Scopetta (Swi) 75 78, Johan Axgren (Swe) 76 77
154 Cesar Monasterio (Arg) 73 81
155 Peter Gustafsson (Swe) 79 76, Jose Manuel Carriles (Spa) 76 79, Francois Calmels (Fra) 76 79
156 Tino Weiss (Swi) 78 78, Luis Claverie (Spa) 81 75, Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe) 79 77
157 Marc Dobias (Swi) 78 79
161 Nicolas Nanche (Fra) 83 7872

McLEARY, WHITEFORD, RUSSELL IN WEEKEND
HUNT FOR STOCKHOLM PRIZE

By MICHAEL GIBBONS
Press Officer, European Challenge Tour

Jamie McLeary from Kinross and Fifer Peter Whiteford joined Raymond Russell in the weekend hunt for the Challenge Tour’s Teila Challenge Waxholm in Stockholm today.
The Scottish trio will have to produce a low scoring weekend at the Waxholm Golf Club to take the title, but they can take heart from their performances over the first two rounds.
While Russell was the lowest scoring Scot on three under par after day one, Whiteford produced the best second round performance of the three, a fine five under par 68 moving the Scot to three under for the tournament and level with Russell, who carded a level par 73.
McLeary is the closest of the Scots to leader Jamie Donaldson of Wales after a second round 70 took him to five under – five off the ten under lead held by Donaldson.
SCOREBOARD
Par 146 (2 x 73) 7,318yd
136 Jamie Donaldson (Wal) 67 69.
137 Kariem Baraka (Ger) 66 71, Stuart Manley (Wal) 73 64.
138 Johan Sköld (Swe) 69 69, Iain Pyman (Eng) 68 70.
139 Robin Swane (Ned) 73 66, Ally Mellor (Eng) 71 68.
140 Robert Coles (Eng) 69 71, Benjamin Miarka (Ger) 70 70, Oskar Bergman (Swe) 67 73, Gustav Adell (Swe) 72 68, Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 67 73.
141 Jamie McLeary (Sco) 71 70, Björn Pettersson (Swe) 69 72, Jean Hugo (Rsa) 72 69; Per Barth (Swe) 69 72, Nicolas Vanhootegem (Bel) 68 73; Jonas Karlson (Swe) 70 71;
142 Magnus Persson (Swe) 69 73, Peter Kaensche (Nor) 72 70; Michael Jonzon (Swe) 67 75; Anders Schmidt Hansen (Den) 75 67, Kieran Staunton (Eng) 73 69; Gary Clark (Eng) 70 72; Pehr Magnebrant (Swe) 71 71; Fredrik Orest (Swe) 68 74.
143 Liam Bond (Wal) 72 71, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 70 73 ; Paul Nilbrink (Nor) 70 73; Andreas Högberg (Swe) 71 72; Raymond Russell (Sco) 70 73; Richard Treis (Ger) 72 71, Peter Whiteford (Sco) 75 68, Roope Kakko (Fin) 70 73; Leif Westerberg (Swe) 72 71 ;Robert Eriksson (Swe) 71 72; Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 73 70; Julien Foret (Fra) 73 70; John E Morgan (Eng) 65 78; Kevin Harper (Eng) 72 71 ;Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 73 70; Ross Mcgowan (Eng) 72 71; Matthew King (Eng) 71 72.
144 Andreas Andersson (Swe) 69 75; Johan Wahlqvist (Swe) 70 74; Linus Pettersson (Swe) 72 72; Morten Hedegaard (Den) 71 73; Robert Dinwiddie (Eng) 72 72; Jonas Pettersson (Swe) 74 70; Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 71 73; Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 77 67; Stefan Nilsson (Swe) 73 71; Wilhelm Schauman (Swe) 71 73; Julio Zapata (Arg) 72 72; Daniel Lindgren (Swe) 72 72; Jan-Are Larsen (Nor) 68 76.
145 Mathias Ferry (Swe) 73 72; Kalle Edberg (Swe) 73 72; Van Phillips (Eng) 72 73; Paul Waring (Eng) 74 71; Lars Johansson (Swe) 70 75; Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 71 74 ; Chris Gane (Eng) 70 75; Sebastian Fernandez (Arg) 74 71; Jamie Little (Eng) 73 72; Alessio Bruschi (Ita) 74 71; Erik Algulin (Swe) 73 72.
146 Niki Zitny (Aut) 73 73; Panu Kylliäinen (Fin) 72 74; Tim Dykes (Wal) 75 71; Eric Ramsay (Sco) 72 74; ; Klas Hallgren (Swe) 77 69; Johan Rydheim (Swe) 72 74; Antti Ahokas (Fin) 74 72; Mark Tullo (Chi) 69 77; Andreas Ljunggren (Swe) 71 75; Petter Bocian (Swe) 73 73; Markus Larsson (Am) (Swe) 73 73.
147 Fredrik Ohlsson (Swe) 75 72; Kasper Linnet Jorgensen (Den) 74 73; Ake Nilsson (Swe) 70 77; Janne Martikainen (Fin) 73 74; Joakim Rask (Swe) 73 74; Colm Moriarty (Irl) 75 72, Anthony Snobeck (Fra) 74 73; Fredrik Bredin (Swe) 76 71; Soren Juul (Den) 72 75;
148 Ben Willman (Eng) 72 76; Henrik Allenbrant (Swe) 73 75; Fredrik Hammarberg (Swe) 75 73; Michael Mcgeady (Irl) 76 72; Pontus Widegren (Am) (Swe) 74 74.
149 David Gustafsson (Swe) 74 75; Janne Mommo (Fin) 73 76; Fredrik B Andersson (Swe) 76 73; Jean-Nicolas Billot (Fra) 71 78; Gareth Wright (Wal) 78 71; Tony Edlund (Swe) 72 77; Thomas Feyrsinger (Aut) 72 77; Mårten Olander (Swe) 75 74; Matthew Bliss (Can) 76 73
Fredrik Widmark (Swe) 76 73; Alejandro Villavicencio (Gtm) 79 70; Peter Baker (Eng) 73 76; Niklas Bruzelius (Swe) 75 74; Andrew Butterfield (Eng) 73 76.
150 Martin Wiegele (Aut) 73 77; Christian Eriksson (Swe) 72 78; Anders Sjöstrand (Swe) 74 76; Stephen Browne (Irl) 77 73; Jens Carlsson (Swe) 73 77; James Morrison (Eng) 75 75; Robin Askstrand (Am) (Swe) 74 76.
151 Cédric Menut (Fra) 75 76; Christoffer Lange (Den) 74 77; Carl Johan Oberg (Swe) 77 74; Christophe Brazillier (Fra) 73 78; Julien Van Hauwe (Fra) 74 77; Benny Ahlenback (Swe) 73 78;
152 Pontus Ericsson (Swe) 76 76; Niclas Gyllengahm (Swe) 73 79; Niklas Abrahamsson (Swe) 78 74; Toni Karjalainen (Fin) 77 75; Ben Mason (Eng) 75 77; Gustavo Rojas (Arg) 76 76; Paul Dwyer (Eng) 77 75.
153 Hernan Rey (Arg) 79 74, Rafael Gomez (Arg) 79 74, Tim Milford (Eng) 76 77;
154 Lasse Jensen (Den) 73 81; Johan Bjerhag (Swe) 76 78; Gareth Paddison (Nzl) 76 78, Fredrik Söderström (Swe) 73 81; Victor Flatau (Swe) (am) 80 74.
156 Joakim Renström (Swe) 76 80; Daniel De Leon (Mex) 76 80, Michael Hoey (Nir) 77 79, David Jonsson (Swe) 78 78.
158 Tim Melen (Swe) 79 79; Johan Palmdahl (Swe) 81 77.
159 Klas Eriksson (Swe) 75 84; Jimmy Löfberg (Swe) 80 79.
161 Daniel Sandberg (Swe) 80 81.
Retired: Gabriel Canizares (Esp) 78.

ROOKIE ELLIOT SALTMAN WINS £10,000
PLAY-OFF ON PGA EUROPRO TOUR

It looks like being a great weekend for the Saltman brothers from Craigielaw. Lloyd makes his amateur swansong in the Walker Cup match at Royal County Down and Elliot the elder scored his first win in his rookie pro season at Stonebridge Golf Club today.
Saltman, pictured right, picked up the £10,000 first prize in the PGA EuroPro Tour event, the 54-hole Ethos Group Classic, by beating England's Matthew Ford in a play-off after they had tied on 10-under-par 197. Saltman and Ford both shot 65 in the third round to finish two shots ahead of the field. Elliot's earlier rounds were 68 and 64.
The win boosts Elliot Saltman to seventh place on the PGA EuroPro Tour Order of Merit with winnins of £13,012. The next best Scot in the table is Jack Doherty in 27th place with £5,580.
Doherty and Andrew Oldcorn finished joint seventh today on 201 and each received £860.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
197 E Saltman (Sco) 68 64 65; M Ford (Eng) 67 65 65 (Saltman, £10,000, bt Ford, £5,000, in sudden-death play-off).
199 S Cowie (Eng) 66 67 66, A Frayne (Eng) 69 62 68 (£2,100 each).
200 L Gauthier (Eng) 69 67 64, N Walker (Eng) 65 67 68 (£1,300 each).
Other Scots scores:
201 J Doherty 70 66 65, A Oldcorn 69 66 66 (£860 each).
208 A Hay 72 66 70 (£230).

ends

TAYLOR TOP YOUNG PRO AT INCHMARLO

Steven Taylor from Bothwell Castle won the £450 top prize in the Petrofac Young Professionals' pro-am at Inchmarlo Golf Club today.
Taylor had a two-under-par round of 69 to win by one stroke from Jamie Anton of Noah's Ark, Perth.
Anton won the Stableford team event with amateurs Ryan Hampshire (handicap 8) and Johnston Lee (12). They had 101pt.
LEADING PROFESSIONALS
Par 71
69 S Taylor (Bothwell Castle).
70 J Anton (Noah's Ark).
71 S Grieve (Kings Acre), K Monaghan (Bothwell Castle), C Dempster (Inchmarlo).
73 J McGhee (Turnhouse).
75 M Barnard (unatt), G Lornie (Aspire), B Wllace (unatt), A MacKenzie (Liberton).

TARTAN ARMY HEADING FOR EURO TOUR
QUALIFYING STAGE ONE

A total of 29 Scots will be taking part in the First Stage 72-hole events of the European Tour Qualifying School process over the next two weeks.
They are:

SEPTEMBER 11 to 14
Chart Hills, Kent - G Gordon, G Lornie, P McKechnie, D Stewart (am), J Taylor.
The Oxfordshire - P Doherty, G Fox, K McAlpine (am), K McNicoll (am), S Mackie, C Nicoll, D Patrick, R Ramsay, L Saltman (am), L Vannet,

SEPTEMBER 18 to 21
Circolo Golf Bogogno, Italy - L Harper.
Golf de Moliets, France - A Hay.
St Annes Old Links - G Brown, C Campbell, J Doherty, S G Duncan, C Kelly, C Lee, M Loftus, J McCreadie, B Mason, E Saltman, E Thomson, M Urquhart,

Stage 2 of the Qualifying School will be held at four Spanish venues from November 7 to 10. The Final Qualifying School is staged at San Roque on the southern tip of the Costa del Sol from November 15 to 20.

MARC WARREN NAMED EUROPEAN TOUR
GOLFER OF MONTH FOR AUGUST

Glasgow's Marc Warren, winner of the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, has been named as the European Tour Golfer of the Month for August, emerging as the choice of the selection panel after a memorable four weeks’ golf on the European Tour International Schedule.
Warren, the 2006 Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year, carded a final round 69 for a 12 under par total of 280 before birdieing the second play-off hole on the PGA Centenary Course – the venue for the 2014 Ryder Cup – to beat England’s Simon Wakefield and secure the host nation’s first victory in the tournament’s nine-year history.
The victory, celebrated by the large gallery which included many of Warren’s family and friends, was the 26 year old’s second on the European Tour following his maiden success in the Scandinavian Masters at Barsebäck Golf and Country Club in August 2006.
“Any victory is special, but to win an hour away from home, in my home country, with so many people I knew watching me do it was exceptional,” said Warren. “I have had so many text messages and emails over the past couple of weeks but to receive the accolades from my fellow professionals on the range probably means the most. This award just caps what was a wonderful week.”

SAM TORRANCE CONCEDES HE'S NOT GOING
MAKE IT THREE PGA SENIORS IN A ROW

By GRAEME HAMLETT
Press Officer, European Seniors Tour

Defending champion Sam Torrance admitted his hopes of winning the PGA Senior championship for the third consecutive year are over after a second round of two-over-par 74 left him on even par 144 for the tournament, 10 shots behind the joint 36-hole leaders at The Stoke-by-Nayland Club, England’s Carl Mason and Canadian Bruce Heuchan.
Following his wins in 2005 and 2006, Torrance arrived in Suffolk this week seeking to become the third player, after Ireland’s Christy O’Connor (1981-1982-1983) and England’s Neil Coles (1985-1986-1987), to win the 50 year old title three successive times.
But having started the second day well placed on two under par and, as then, three off the lead, Torrance almost contrived to miss the cut of the leading 60 players and ties after a bad front nine.
A disastrous double bogey at the fourth hole, and more dropped shots at holes seven and eight, sent him out in 40. However, coming home, the 2002 European Ryder Cup Captain birdied the par-5 14th and also the 16th hole to shoot his two over par score and finish on 144.
“It’s annoying that I had that bad front nine, especially when I’m defending and was hoping to make it three in a row, because that score puts me out of contention,” he confessed. “But I played beautifully on the back nine and that’s the sort of golf I’ll be aiming to repeat this weekend.”
He reflected: “I just got off to a bad start and it continued through the front nine. My game’s almost there – it’s just a fraction off – so hopefully it’ll click over the weekend. I don’t think I’ll catch Carl though.”
Ross Drummond, in joint fifth place after a 67 for 136, is the best placed Scottish challenger.
Bill Longmuir had a 69 for 140 and joint 13th place alongside Aberdeen's John Chillas. John had a very good second-round 68.
LEADING QUALIFIERS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
134 B Heuchan (Can) 67 67, C Mason (Eng) 67 67.
135 L Carbonetti (Arg) 69 66, C Rocca (Ita) 69 66.
136 J Bland (SAf) 70 66, R Drummond (Sco) 69 67.
138 J Rhodes (Eng) 68 70.
139 J Benda (US) 70 69, B Cameron (Eng) 68 71, N Job (Eng) 70 69, J Lapsley (Aus) 71 69, D J Russell (Eng) 69 70.
Other Scots' scores:
140 B Longmuir 71 69, J Chillas 72 69 (jt 13th).
142 M Miller 71 71 (jt 22nd).
144 S Torrance 70 74 (jt 36th).
146 M Gray 75 71 (jt 57th).


INWARD HALF KILLS RONNIE'S HOPES AGAIN

Former Kemnay club pro Ronnie McDonald, playing out of Inchmarlo since going full-time as a senior tour player, was one of eight Scots who failed to beat the cut at 146.
Ronnie had a pair of 77s for 154 and finished 108th in a field of 118. Once again Ronnie coped well with the outward half and once again it was the inward nine that floored him. He took 41 shots to come home, including a triple bogey 7 at the 10th and further shots shed at the 11th, 12th and 15th. He had two birdies all day - both at long holes, the fifth and 14th.

Scots who missed the cut:
148 G Harvey 76 72, S Martin 75 73.
149 P Kerr 72 77, C Maltman 77 72.
150 B McColl 75 75.
151 M White 71 80, R Watkins 77 74.
154 R McDonald 77 77.

ends

HENDRY AND JAMESON ON PAR 72 WHEN
BAD LIGHT STOPS HOOTERS TOUR PLAY

Scots Joel Hendry from Elgin and Glasgow's Scott Jamieson were both back in the clubhouse with par-matching scores of 72 when first-round play in the Hooters Tour event, the Michelob Ultra Classic, at River Hills Golf & Country Club at little River, South Carolina was halted at 7.40pm local time because of darkness.
One-third of the field were still out on the course and they will have to complete their first rounds today before the second round can be started.
Jamieson, making his comeback on the satellite circuit after a return home during the Hooters Tour's mid-summer hiatus, had birdies at the fourth, seventh, 11th and 17th but he bogeyed the first and second and had a double-bogey 6 at the 14th in halves of 36.
Hendry also had a double-bogey 6, at the 13th sandwiched between birdies at the first and sixth in halves of 35 and 37.
Four players lead on four-under-68 - all Americans: Alex Hamilton, Mark Blakefield, Andrew Medley and Ted Smith.
The course measures 6,928yd and has a par of 72.

US PGA TOUR SCOREBOARD
BMW CHAMPIONSHIP
Cog Hill G&CC
Par 71
64 Jonathan Byrd
65 Justin Rose (Eng), Camilo Villegas (Col)
66 Pat Perez, Stewart Cink, Troy Matteson
67 Tiger Woods, Nathan Green (Aus), Ken Duke, Ryuji Imada (Jpn), Woody Austin.
68 Steve Stricker, Charley Hoffman, Charles Howell III, Aaron Baddeley (Aus), Sergio Garcia (Spa), KJ Choi (Kor), Ian Poulter (Eng), Brett Wetterich, Tim Clark (Rsa), Stuart Appleby (Aus)
69 Hunter Mahan, John Rollins, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa), Adam Scott (Aus), Bo Van Pelt, Scott Verplank, Ryan Moore
70 Lucas Glover, Kevin Sutherland, Nick O'Hern (Aus), Brian Bateman, Trevor Immelman (Rsa), Jim Furyk, Jose Coceres (Arg), Brandt Snedeker, Rocco Mediate
71 Kenny Perry, John Senden (Aus), Bubba Watson, Heath Slocum, Carl Pettersson (Swe), Stephen Ames (Can)
72 Nick Watney, Zach Johnson, Billy Mayfair, Jeff Quinney, David Toms, Angel Cabrera (Arg)
73 Steve Marino, Rodney Pampling (Aus), Vaughn Taylor, Ernie Els (Rsa)
74 Jerry Kelly, Anthony Kim, Vijay Singh (Fij), Sean O'Hair, John Mallinger
75 Robert Allenby (Aus), Boo Weekley, Henrik Stenson (Swe)
76 Luke Donald (Eng), Mark Wilson
77 Mark Calcavecchia
78 Geoff Ogilvy (Aus)

LEE WINS BATTLE OF FORMER US TOUR PROS
FOR AMERICAN SENIOR AMATEUR TITLE

FROM THE USGA WEBSITE

Andover, Kan. – Stan Lee, 55, of Heber Springs, Ark., became the youngest USGA Senior Amateur winner in history with his 4-and-3 victory over Sam Farlow, 60, of Birmingham, Ala., Thursday at the 2007 championship over the par-71, 6,502-yard Flint Hills National Golf Club.
At 55 years and five days, Lee surpassed the previous record of 55 years, three months and 18 days set by Bill Bosshard in 1991.
“I cannot believe it,” said Lee. “It is a dream come true. I’m still kind of pinching myself to see if this is real or not. What an honour to win a USGA event. I’m just tickled to death.”
In a match-up of former US PGA Tour players, Lee took the early lead after Farlow three-putted the third hole and built the lead to 2 holes when Farlow couldn’t get up and down from a greenside bunker on the par-3 fourth. Lee added to his lead when he made a 15-footer for birdie on the sixth and Farlow couldn’t match from 20 feet.
Farlow cut into the deficit with a 15ft par putt on the seventh hole, but Lee got it right back when he made a 60ft birdie putt on the par-3 eighth.
“I knew when that putt went in that I was going to be hard to beat,” said Lee, who played the US PGA Tour from 1976-80.
Again, Farlow cut the deficit to two holes with a short birdie putt on the ninth hole. But Lee immediately returned his advantage to three holes when he made a 10-footer for birdie on No. 10.
But Farlow wasn’t done. Once again, he cut into Lee’s lead with a birdie at the 11th and had a great chance to get another back at No. 13 but missed a 4ft par putt to win the hole.
Lee got the lead back to three holes at the 14th where Farlow’s tee shot on the par 3 entered the rough in front of the green and he couldn’t get up and down.
One hole later, the match ended when Farlow missed a 3-footer for par and then conceded Lee’s 3-foot birdie putt, giving Lee his first national title.
“I knew I was in good shape and as soon as he missed his par putt, I was able to breathe again,” said Lee. “I was so nervous. What a relief it was when he conceded that putt.”
Thought disappointed by falling just short in the final, Farlow found a silver lining about the week at Flint Hills National.
“I’ll look back on this as a very positive thing,” he said. “Even though my name won’t be on the trophy, I’ll still have good thoughts about this week.”
Story written by Beth Murrison of USGA Media Relations. For questions or comments, contact her at bmurrison@usga.org.

Craw's Nest Tassie results from Carnoustie

SECOND ROUND
K Dyckman (Haninge) bt P Sargent (Haydock Park) 4 and 2.
A Taylor (Blackburn) bt C Auckett (Boyce Hill) 2 and 1.
D Louden (New Taymouth) bt R Hemingway (Heaton Park) at 19th.
P Dobson (Leyland) bt W Bromilow (Chorley) 2 holes.
K Harper (Carnoustie) bt J Robinson (Hornsea) 1 hole.
M Willey (Hornsea) bt J Bengston (St Jorgen) at 19th.
A Whalley (Dunscar) bt B Giblin (Haydock Park) 4 and 3.
CG Duncan (Carnoustie) bt K Sargent (Haydock Park) at 22nd.

J Engstrom (Haninge) bt B Hynd (Pitreavie) 3 and 2.
A Webster (Blundells Hill) bt I Fisher (Leyland) 4 and 3.
N Self (Stand) bt M Elwood (Bush Hill Park) 4 and 3.
P Levin (Bro Baista) bt G Sales (Maylands) 2 holes.
D Marsh (Chorley) bt D Mellon 1 hole.
A Runciman (Bolton) bt J Grigg (Blyth0 6 and 5.
M Stones (Boyce Hill) bt I Kearney (West Lancashire) 3 and 1.
S Mann (Carnoustie Caledonian) bt P Langston (Beau Desert) 5 and 4.

PRESS RELEASE

DONALD TRUMP HIRES DR MARTIN HAWTREE
TO DESIGN BALMEDIE LINKS COURSE

New York, NY: 6th September, 2007.
Donald J. Trump, pictured right, is teaming up with famed British golf course architect Dr Martin Hawtree on plans to create what Mr Trump hopes to be the finest golf course anywhere in the world. With its majestic sand dunes stretching four miles along the sea in Aberdeenshire, Mr. Trump decided that Martin Hawtree was perfect to transform the Great Dunes of Scotland into a world class championship golf course, with construction scheduled to being in January, 2008.
The course will be a Martin Hawtree Signature Design. Hawtree Limited, of Woodstock, England belongs to the longest continuous golf course architectural practice in the world. Hawtree, consulted by the R&A on some of the Open Championship links, is regarded as the leading authority of links golf and because of this coupled with Mr Trump’s passion for building a true world class British links course in North-east Scotland, Hawtree has been appointed as the lead architect on this development. He is world-renowned for his work at Royal Birkdale, Portmarnock, Lahinch and Carnoustie to name but a few.
“Martin Hawtree brings a distinct vision and flair to every course he touches,” Mr. Trump said. “His work is impeccable. He and I share such a passion for links golf and the tradition of the game is evident in the golf courses he designs. This is ideal for Trump International Golf Links, Scotland. This piece of land is so special and my relationship with Scotland is so special, that I wanted to work with the world’s best links course architect to deliver Trump International Golf Links, Scotland”
BALANCE IN COMPOSITION
Hawtree said, “I am intrigued by balance in the composition of a golf hole, trying to ensure that the wider landscape surrounding a hole, in the case of this project towering dunes, is fully balanced by great playing interest within the fairway and green; that the one does not dwarf the other and that the interest is in some way generated by and in complete harmony with the surroundings.”

A third-generation golf course architect, Hawtree has continued a family legacy that began in 1912. The Hawtree list of courses built, reconstructed and/or consulted on totals more than 750, with partnerships and collaborations with historic golfing greats J.H. Taylor and James Braid. The Hawtree history – begun by Frederick George Hawtree, who was joined by his son, Frederick William Hawtree in 1938 -- is revered within the industry for its experience and knowledge that are the heart of a multi-disciplinary practice known throughout the world.
Donald J Trump’s passion for Scotland stems from his pride in his Scottish roots. His mother, Mary MacLeod, grew up on the Isle of Lewis in Stornoway where her first language was Gaelic, before moving to New York City at age 20. His decision to build the Trump International Golf Links, Scotland is the fulfilment of a long-held dream.

SCOTS TO FORE IN FIRST EVENT OF NEW
US COLLEGE SEASON
Graeme Molloy from Glasgow, a second-year student at Grand View College, Des Moines in Iowa, finished second in his first competition of the season on the American college golf circuit., the GVC Viking Classic over the Tournament Club of Iowa's 6,551yd (par 71) course at Polk City.
Graham had rounds of 74 and 71 for 145 to finish one shot behind winner Adam White (St Ambrose University) (73-71).
Adam Lindsay from Banchory, a second-year student at Iowa Wesleyan College, came third with scores of 72 and 74 for 146.
There was a third Scot in the field of 57 - James Foley from Keith, who has just enrolled at Grand View College. James was obviously feeling debut nerves when he had a first-round 91 but he improved by 19 shots to shoot a 72, one of the best second-round scores, to tie for 41st place on 163.
St Ambrose University (584) won the team event from Grand View College (607) with Iowa Wesleyan College (608) third of the nine competing teams.

GORDON AND BROWN SLUMP OUT OF
PGA EUROPRO TOUR EVENT

Aberdeen's Graham Gordon and Graeme Brown from Montrose were the leading Scots with 66s after the first round of this week's PGA EuroPro Tour event at Stonebridge Golf Club in the West Midlands.
Twenty-four hours later they are both out of the tournament, having missed the cut.
Brown shot a 73 for 139 to miss the cut mark by one shot.
Gordon had a 74 for 140.
The only Scots still in the tournament are Elliott Saltman, who had a superb round of 64 to move up to joint second place on 132 - one shot off the pace being set by Adam Frayne (St Mellion) with 69 and 62 for seven-under-par 131, Andrew Oldcorn (135), Jack Doherty (136) and Alasdair Hay (138).
SCOREBOARD
Par 138 (2 x 69)
131 A Frayne (Eng) 69 62.
132 G Cullen(Ire) 65 67, M Ford (Eng) 67 75, N Walker (Eng) 65 67, E Saltman (Sco) 68 64.
Other qualifying scores:
135 A Oldcorn (Sco) 69 66 (jt 13th).
136 J Doherty (Sco) 70 66 (jt 26th).
138 A Hay (Sco) 72 66 (jt 44th).
Scottish non-qualifiers:
139 G Brown 66 73.
140 G Gordon 66 74.
141 C Campbell 70 71, C Nicoll 69 72.
142 P Cormack 68 74.
143 N Mitchell 75 68.
144 L Harper 73 71.
149 D Roger 74 75.
150 I Simpson 77 73.

EUROPEAN TOUR SCOREBOARD
OMEGA EUROPEAN MASTERS
Crans-sur-Sierre, Switzerland.
+Frost delayed the start of play by two hours; 44 players still to complete first round.

FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 71
66 Bradley Dredge
68 Marcus Fraser (Aus), Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Eduardo Romero (Arg)
69 Rafael Echenique (Arg), Graeme Storm, Robert Karlsson (Swe), Carlos Rodiles (Spa), Zane Scotland, Phillip Archer
70 Darren Fichardt (Rsa), Richard Finch, Andres Romero (Arg), Jamie Spence, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa), Pierre Relecom (Bel), Patrik Sjoland (Swe), Ian Garbutt
71 Joakim Backstrom (Swe), Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Pablo Martin (Spa), Tino Schuster (Ger), Alessandro Napoleoni (Ita), Yong-eun Yang (Kor), Alexandre Rocha (Bra), Daniel Vancsik (Arg), Marcel Siem (Ger), Sion Bebb, Lee Westwood, Michael Campbell (Nzl), Paul Casey, Pelle Edberg (Swe)
72 Ariel Canete (Arg), Lee Slattery, David Frost (Rsa), Peter Hedblom (Swe), Christian Cevaer (Fra), Alexander Noren (Swe), Juan Parron (Spa), Alessandro Tadini (Ita), Garry Houston, Shiv Kapur (Ind)
73 David Griffiths, Tom Whitehouse, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), Oliver Fisher , Johan Edfors (Swe), Cesar Monasterio (Arg), Steven Jeppesen (Swe), Richard Bland, Kyron Sullivan, Peter O'Malley (Aus), Marc Warren, Graeme McDowell
74 Mark Pilkington, David Drysdale, Wade Ormsby (Aus), Simon Wakefield, Francesco Molinari (Ita), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Julien Clement (Swi), Steven O'Hara, Carl Suneson (Spa), Gareth Davies, Henrik Nystrom (Swe), Peter Lawrie, Jeev Milka Singh (Ind), Manuel Quiros (Spa)
75 Robert Rock, Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice), Matthew Millar (Aus), David Howell, Darren Clarke, Martin Kaymer (Ger), Jyoti Randhawa (Ind), Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel), Andrew McLardy (Rsa), Marco Scopetta (Swi), Steve Alker (Nzl), Santiago Luna (Spa), Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), Martin Erlandsson (Swe)
76 Sam Walker, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Francois Calmels (Fra), Johan Axgren (Swe), Jose Manuel Carriles (Spa)
77 Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Lee James, Andre Bossert (Swi), Mathias Gronberg (Swe), Manuel Pinero (Spa), Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra), Damien McGrane, Markus Brier (Aut), James Kingston (Rsa)
78 Scott Drummond, Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Peter Gustafsson (Swe), Taichi Teshima (Jpn), Adrien Mork (Fra)
79 Alejandro Canizares (Spa), Matthew Zions (Aus), Alex Cejka (Ger), Niclas Fasth (Swe), Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe)
80 Niklas Lemke (Swe)
81 Ken Benz (Swi), Luis Claverie (Spa)
Retired: Martin Rominger (Swi), Simon Dyson

RAYMOND RUSSELL ON THE COMEBACK TRAIL
ON EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR

From MICHAEL GIBBONS
Press Officer, European Challenge Tour

Former European Tour winner Raymond Russell continued the rehabilitation of his game at the Challenge Tour’s Telia Challenge Waxholm in Sweden today.
The Prestonpans professional, who returned to competitive golf four weeks ago having been out of the game for 12 months due to shoulder injury, fired a three under par 70 at the Waxholm Golf Club in Stockholm.
Five birdies and two bogeys took the 35 year old winner of the 1996 Air France Cannes Open into a share of 18th place after the first round, five shots behind the early pacesetter, Englishman John E Morgan.
Jamie McLeary and Eric Ramsay also made solid starts, carding respective opening rounds of two under 71 and one under 72. Peter Whiteford started the week with a two over 75.

FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 73. 7,318yd
65 John E Morgan (Eng).
66 Kariem Baraka (Ger).
67 Jamie Donaldson (Wal), Mikael Lundberg (Swe), Oskar Bergman (Swe), Michael Jonzon (Swe).
68 Nicolas Vanhootegem (Bel), Jan-Are Larsen (Nor), Iain Pyman (Eng),Fredrik Orest (Swe),
69 Magnus Persson (Swe), Robert Coles (Eng), Per Barth (Swe), Johan Sköld (Swe), Andreas Andersson (Swe), Björn Pettersson (Swe), Mark Tullo (Chi).
70 Lars Johansson (Swe), Raymond Russell (Sco); Ake Nilsson (Swe), Paul Nilbrink (Nor); Chris Gane (Eng), Roope Kakko (Fin), Jonas Karlson (Swe), Benjamin Miarka (Ger), Julien Guerrier (Fra), Gary Clark (Eng), Johan Wahlqvist (Swe).
71 Morten Hedegaard (Den), Jean-Nicolas Billot (Fra), Fabrizio Zanotti (Par); Andreas Högberg (Swe); Wilhelm Schauman (Swe), Matthew King (Eng), Ally Mellor (Eng); Andreas Ljunggren (Swe), Jamie McLeary (Sco), Pehr Magnebrant (Swe); Robert Eriksson (Swe); Mikko Korhonen (Fin).
72 Liam Bond (Wal); 72 Linus Pettersson (Swe); Kevin Harper (Eng); Christian Eriksson (Swe); Jean Hugo (Rsa); Robert Dinwiddie (Eng); Ross McGowan (Eng); Julio Zapata (Arg); Thomas Feyrsinger (Aut); Panu Kylliäinen (Fin); Van Phillips (Eng); Richard Treis (Ger); Ben Willman (Eng), Eric Ramsay (Sco), Soren Juul (Den); Peter Kaensche (Nor); Johan Rydheim (Swe); Daniel Lindgren (Swe); Leif Westerberg (Swe); Tony Edlund (Swe); Gustav Adell (Swe).
73 Janne Martikainen (Fin), Jamie Little (Eng), Martin Wiegele (Aut), Peter Baker (Eng); Joakim Rask (Swe); Niki Zitny (Aut); Benny Ahlenback (Swe); Stefan Nilsson (Swe); Jens Carlsson (Swe); Kieran Staunton (Eng); Robin Swane (Ned); Henrik Allenbrant (Swe); Niclas Gyllengahm (Swe); Mathias Ferry (Swe); Stuart Manley (Wal); Christophe Brazillier (Fra); Lasse Jensen (Den); Fredrik Söderström (Swe); Bernd Wiesberger (Aut), Petter Bocian (Swe); Andrew Butterfield (Eng); Magnus A Carlsson (Swe); Erik Algulin (Swe), Janne Mommo (Fin); Kalle Edberg (Swe), Julien Foret (Fra), Markus Larsson (Swe) (am).
74 Sebastian Fernandez (Arg), Anders Sjöstrand (Swe), Christoffer Lange (Den); Kasper Linnet Jorgensen (Den); Jonas Pettersson (Swe); Paul Waring (Eng); David Gustafsson (Swe); Antti Ahokas (Fin); Anthony Snobeck (Fra); Julien Van Hauwe (Fra); Alessio Bruschi (Ita); Pontus Widegren (Swe) (am), Robin Askstrand (Am) (Swe).
75 Niklas Bruzelius (Swe); Tim Dykes (Wal); Cédric Menut (Fra); Mårten Olander (Swe)
Ben Mason (Eng), Anders Schmidt Hansen (Den); Fredrik Hammarberg (Swe); James Morrison (Eng); Klas Eriksson (Swe), Peter Whiteford (Sco), Colm Moriarty (Irl); Fredrik Ohlsson (Swe).
76 Matthew Bliss (Can), Johan Bjerhag (Swe), Michael McGeady (Irl), Gareth Paddison (Nzl), Tim Milford (Eng), Joakim Renström (Swe), Pontus Ericsson (Swe); Daniel De Leon (Mex), Fredrik Widmark (Swe), Gustavo Rojas (Arg), Fredrik B Andersson (Swe), Fredrik Bredin (Swe).
77 Paul Dwyer (Eng), Klas Hallgren (Swe), Carl Johan Oberg (Swe), Toni Karjalainen (Fin), Michael Hoey (Nir), Stephen Browne (Irl); Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra);
78 David Jonsson (Swe), Gareth Wright (Wal), Niklas Abrahamsson (Swe), Gabriel Canizares (Esp).
79 Alejandro Villavicencio (Gtm), Hernan Rey (Arg), Rafael Gomez (Arg), Tim Melen (Swe).
80 Daniel Sandberg (Swe), Jimmy Löfberg (Swe), Victor Flatau (Am) (Swe).
81 Johan Palmdahl (Swe).

Ronnie McDonald joint 97th at end of first day

'Bad back' Drummond returns

with a 69 in PGA Seniors

Championship opening

round at Stoke by Nayland

By GRAEME HAMLETT

Press Officer, European Seniors Tour

Ross Drummond (pictured right) put aside six weeks of injury-borne frustration by firing a three under par 69 at the PGA Seniors Championship to lie two shots off the lead held by Canada’s Bruce Heuchan and England’s Carl Mason at the Stoke-by-Nayland Club, where defending champion Sam Torrance, seeking a third consecutive title, opened with a battling 70 over the Gainsborough Course (6,737yd, par 72).
Drummond has missed four of the last six tournaments of the European Seniors Tour season owing to a bad back and lower disc damage. “I did it just after at the Open de France Senior de Divonne in July, and have been laid up at home in Prestwick ever since really. It’s been a struggle and I’ve been disappointed to miss so many of the good tournaments we have in the summer, like the Wentworth Senior Masters,” said the 6ft 4in man from Prestwick.
“I came back for the European Senior Masters at Woburn, but wasn’t expecting anything other than to feel my way back into playing, so to shoot a 69 today is very pleasing. I’m still not 100 per cent but hopefully it’s going to get better day by day. If my score does as well, I’ll be very happy.”
Torrance, who is trying to emulate Ireland’s Christy O’Connor and England’s Neil Coles as a triple PGA Seniors Championship winner in consecutive years, got off to a fine start, birdieing two of the first four holes. However, he dropped shots at holes eight, nine and ten, but recovered with consecutive birdies on holes 14 and 15, and added a further one on 17.
Sam said: “It was a battling round but one I’ll take. I’m only three shots back. I struggled a bit around the turn. I pulled my tee-shots on eight and nine into the trees and three-putted ten, but got it back over the closing holes. The course is playing perfect for me – the fairways are firm but the greens are playing lovely and soft, so I’ve no problems with that. It’s if it’s hard and fast all over that it doesn’t suit me.”
Mike Miller shot a one under par 71, John Chillas carded a level par 72, while fellow European Seniors Tour player Bill Longmuir shot 71. Scottish club professionals Bill McColl, Craig Maltman and Roddy Watkins respectively shot 75, 77 and 77.

Aberdonian Ronnie McDonald, who has given up the "comfort zone" of being club professional at Kemnay to see if he can "make it" on the over-50s pro tour, was given an early reminder of what Doug Sanders used to say: "The guys who can beat you when they are 25-35, can still beat you when they are 50-55."

Ronnie had an opening round of five-over-par 77. He did not too badly on the outward journey with birdies at the fifth and ninth and bogeys at the second, sixth and eighth to turn in one-over-par 37.

But the inward journey was birdie-less as he bogeyed the 13th, 15th, 16th and 18th for 40 shots home. McDonald starts the second day in joint 97th place.

A group of three players – America’s Peter Teravainen, England’s Bob Cameron and Jim Rhodes – trail Mason and Heuchan by one shot after each firing 68. Italy’s Costantino Rocca, seeking to add the Senior PGA title to the PGA Championship he won in 1996 at Wentworth Club, is on three under par.

LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES

Par 72

67 B Heuchan (Can), C Mason (Eng).

68 P Teravainen (US), B Cameron (Eng), J Rhodes (Eng).

69 M Williams (Zim), C Rocca (Ita), D J Russell (Eng), R Drummond (Sco), J L Gallardo (Spa), G Cali (Ita), L Carbonetti (Ita), J Quiros (Spa).

70 J Hall (Eng), J Bland (SAf), N Job Eng), D Johnson (US), S Torrance (Sco), D Watson (Zim), J Benda (US), M White (Sco).

Other Scots' scores:

71 M Miller, B Longmuir (jt 21st).

72 P Kerr, J Chillas (jt 36th).

73 G Laing (jt 50th).

74 S Martin (jt 57th).

75 B McColl, M Gray, S Martin (jt 66th).

76 G Harvey (jt 82nd).

77 C Maltman, R Watkins, R McDonald (jt 97th).

Scotland's winning line-up in the men's universities home internationals at Fairmont St Andrews earlier this week. Gordon Yates (Stirling University) holds the trophy.
Switch over to our sister website, www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk, to see all the men's and women's results. Click on this BUSA (c) image to enlargen it.

IN-FORM McCREADIE WINS AGAIN ON
TARTAN TOUR WITH BIRDIE BARRAGE

Jason McCreadie strung together five birdies in a row in scoring his fourth Tartan Tour win of the season in today's Discovery pro-am at Blairgowrie.
Three of the victories have come since August 19 (at Sandyhills), September 1 (Paisley) and now the Rosemount course.
McCreadie won the £862 top prize with a seven-under-par round of 65 which included an inward half of six-under-par 31. He had eight birdies in all - at the eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th, 12th, 14th, 16th and 17th with only one bogey, at the fourth.
Jim McKinnon (Irvine) was runner-up with a 66.
Scottish pro champion Mark Loftus (Cowglen) led the Bonar Yarns & Fabrics Ltd trio of Paul Fraser (handicap 14), Jim Murray (7) and Ian Fraser (15) to victory with a two-ball net score of 127.
LEADING PROFESSIONALS
Par 72
65 J McCreadie (Buchanan Castle).
66 J McKinnon (Irvine).
68 R Arnott (Bishopbriggs), C Kelly (Cawder).
69 A Lockhart (Ladybank), P McKechnie (Braid Hills), G Hutcheon (Peterculter).
70 A Crerar (King James VI), S Cairns (Westerwood), K Hutton (Downfield).

Craw's Nest Tassie results from Carnoustie:

FIRST ROUND

Kevin Dyckman (Haninge) bt Joe Restein (Eastern Bay Creek) 3 and 2.
Philip Sargent (Haydock Park) bt Robert Drage (Hallamshire) 2 and 1.
Andrew Taylor (Blackburn) bt David Bywater (Birstall) 3 and 2.
Chris Auckett (Boyce Hill) bt Warren Laverty (Breightmet) 4 and 3.
Derek Louden (New Taymouth) bt Stephen Brooks (Blyth) 5 and 3.
Rodney Hemingway (Heaton Park) bt Martin Redgrave (Boyce Hill) 7 and 6.
William Bromilow (Chorley) bt Michael Napier (New Taymouth) 4 and 3.
Peter Dobson (Leyland) bt Darren Durose (Breightmet) 6 and 4.
Kristofer Harper (Carnoustie) bt Stuart Crompton (Fishwick Hall) 6 and 5.
James Robinson (Hornsea) bt Robin Cook (Pitreavie) 2 and 1.
Martin Willey (Hornsea) bt Graham Marshall (Birstall) 2 and 1.
Jonas Bengston (St Jorgen) bt Steve Ellis (The Oxfordshire) 5 and 3.
Barry Giblin (Haydock Park) bt Martin Burrows (Kings Norton) 7 and 6.
Adam Whalley (Dunscar) bt Steven Pellow (West Lancashire) 3 and 2.
Ken Sargent (Haydock Park) bt Christopher Dobson (Leyland) 4 and 3.
Garry Duncan (Carnoustie) bt Brian Hunnisett (Trent Park) 5 and 4.
Jimmy Engstrom (Haninge) bt Gary Newman (Boyce Hill) 6 and 4.
Barry Hynd (Pitreavie) bt Neil Chambers (Preston) 5 and 3.
Andrew Webster (Blundells Hill) bt Lasse Mattsson (Haninge) 2 and 1.
Ian Fisher (Leyland) bt James Cox (Denton) 6 and 4.
Mark Ellwood (Bush Hill Park) bt James Farrell (Carnoustie) 3 and 1.
Pat Smith (Finichley) bt Neil Self (Stand) 1 hole.
Per Levin (Bro Balsta) bt Philip Didsbury (Blyth) 8 and 7.
Gary Sales (Maylands) bt Peter Dyckman (Haninge) 2 holes.
Danny Mellon (Carnoustie) bt Barry Piddington (St Cleres) 1 hole.
David Marsh (Chorley) bt Iain Campbell (Crow Wood) 2 and 1.
John Grigg (Blyth) bt Graeme Craig (Pitreavie) 2 holes.
Andrew Runciman (Bolton) bt David Johnson (Ling Dale) 6 and 5.
Mark Stones (Boyce Hill) bt Dan Markidalen (Agesta) at 19th.
Ian Kearney (West Lancashire) bt Robbie Pritchett (Hadleywood) 1 hole.
Jonathan Gilmour (Lochwinnoch) bt Tim Hartnett (St Andrews) 1 hole.
Scott Mann (Carnoustie Caledonia) bt Peter Langston (Beau Desert) 5 and 4.

ALISTAIR CATTO AND ARTHUR

PIERSE BOW OUT IN LAST 8

OF US SENIOR AMATEUR

Scot Alistair Catto and Irishman Arthur Pierse were knocked out of the United States Senior Amateur championship in the quarter-finals at Flint Hills National Golf Club in Andover, Kansas.
Pierse, from Tipperary, won the British senior amateur title at Nairn just a few weeks ago. After beating the No 1 qualifier, Arthur lost by 4 and 3 to Stu Grendahl.
Catto was beaten at the 19th by Frank Ford III.
Catto, from South Hadley, Massachusetts - we don't know where he was born in Scotland, was playing in his first USGA Senior Amateur although he had been a regular in USGA events, such as the 1987, 1990 and 1995 US Amateurs tne the 1990 US Amateur Public Links.
Alistair won the 1991 Massachusetts Public Links, the 2003 Vermont Senior Open and the 2002 Cape Cod Senior Open.
He caddied for 1960 Open winner Ken Nagle in Champions (Seniors) Tour events … has seven holes-in-one, including one at the New England Amateur … has a career-low round of 67, shot to win the 1995 Western Massachusetts Amateur … a 1991 graduate of Amherst College … played on the squash team at Amherst … works in golf/racquet sales for Fran Johnsons Inc. … wife Bonnie (played in the 2007 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur this week) … birth date: Oct. 22, 1951.
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Stu Grendahl bt Arthur Pierse (Ire) 4 and 3.
Stanford Lee bt Logan Jackson at 19th.
Sam Farlow bt Vinny Giles 4 and 3.
Frank Ford III bt Alistair Catto (Sco) at 19th.
SEMI-FINALS
Lee beat Grendahl 4 and 3.
Farlow bt Ford 2 and 1.

ERNIE ELS REVEALS DISCORD BETWEEN
TOP PLAYERS AND US PGA TOUR OFFICIALS

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE

Ernie Els has publicly exposed the growing rift between the world's top players and the US PGA Tour.
Speaking on the eve of the BMW Championship, the third event in the new FedEx Cup play-off series, Els claimed the US tour and the players were growing further apart.
"I just feel in certain ways we've kind of grown apart a little bit, especially the players and the commissioner's office," said the South African. "We've grown apart because of all these big decisions that were made without the real knowledge of the players."
The top players are particularly upset that the 10 million US dollars (£5million) prize for the winner of the series is a deferred annuity that cannot be collected until the player turns 45.
"I don't think Tiger (Woods) knew about it, Phil (Mickelson) didn't know about it, I didn't know about it. We're going to see that money hopefully 20 or 25 years down the line," added Els. "We love what the tour has done for us but we just need to get closer to the big decisions, because then we won't get into problems down the line."
Woods agreed the issue of the deferred 10million US dollars prize had not gone down well with the players.
"It's not the true pay-out. I may not be around to collect it," said the world number one.
"How great would it be - like in the World Series of Poker - at the first tee starting the first day of the Tour Championship, all you see is (10 million cash) stacked up there and that's what we're playing for. That would create a lot of buzz."
If the first year of the play-off series has shown anything, it is that most of the top players are not prepared to play four weeks in a row. Woods skipped the first event, Els the second, while Phil Mickelson, a winner last week but who has also expressed disappointment with commissioner Tim Finchem, and Padraig Harrington are missing this week.
"We all didn't think it was in the best interests of us players to play that much," Woods said. "It's a lot of golf and these are all big events."

ARTHUR PIERSE IS ON THE TRAIL OF
ANOTHER SENIOR AMATEUR MAJOR

Tipperary's British senior amateur champion Arthur Pierse defeated stroke-play medalist (leading qualifier) Steve Bogan at the 19th in their third round match at the USGA Senior Amateur Championship at Flint Hills National Golf Club.
“It was a match no one deserved to lose,” said Pierse, who kept his hopes of winning the British Senior Amateur and USGA Senior Amateur in the same year alive.
“Both players were really tough out there. It was just nice to come out on the right end.”
Results at the par-71, 6,511yd course at Flint National Golf Club in Andover, Kansas.

THIRD ROUND
Arthur Pierse bt Steve Bogan at 19th.
Stu Grendahl bt David Stanfield at 19th.
Logan Jackson bt Greg Reynolds 4 and 3.
Stanford Lee bt James Butler 5 and 4.
Vinny Giles bt Bill Zylstra 3 and 1.
Sam Farlow bt Donald Marsh 6 and 5.
Alistair Catto bt Larry Grant 3 and 2.
Frank Ford III bt Donald Bliss 3 and 1.

GORDON AND BROWN LEADING SCOTS
WITH 66s IN PGA EUROPRO TOUR EVENT

Chris Roake took full advantage of a sponsor’s invite as he recorded a day one round of six-under-par 63 to become the early leader in this week's PGA EuroPr0 Tour event at Stonebridge Golf Club in the West Midlands.
Roake, 28, from The Buckinghamshire, who is playing in his first EuroPro Tour event of the season, fired an eagle on the 14th and birdies on the fourth, seventh, 15th and 18th to lead the chase by two shots for the £10,000 top prize.
Each of the 160 players will also play another round on Thursday with the top 50 plus ties advancing into the last day on Friday.
Every £ earned could prove crucial as the top five players on the Order of Merit at the end of the year will qualify for 2008 Challenge Tour cards.
There is also a further incentive for the other competitors as the leading 50 players after one more event will play in the end of season Tour Championships.
The last of the regular 2007 tournaments is the Ladbrokescasino.com Masters, which takes place at the Selsdon Park Hotel and Golf Club, South Croydon, Surrey, from September 25 to September 27.
LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 69
63 C Roake (Eng).
65 G Bowden (Ire), G Cullen (Ire), N Walker (Eng), M O'Sullivan (Ire), J Elson (Eng).
Scots' scores:
66 G Gordon 32-34, G Brown 30-36 (jt 7th).
68 E Saltman 33-35, P Cormack 33-35 (jt 27th).
69 A Oldcorn 34-35, C Nicoll 33-36 (jt 43rd).
70 C Campbell 35-35, J Doherty 33-37 (jt 59th).
72 A Hay 35-37 (jt 94th).
73 P Doherty 35-38, L Harper 37-36 (jt 113th).
74 D Rodger 37-37 (jt 129th).
75 N Mitchell 38-37 (jt 13th).

CARL MASON, THE MAN WHO

CAME BACK AS A WINNER

FROM TWO YEARS AS

AS A GOLF REFEREE

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE

It is curious how often circumstance at the right time can dictate the paths many people tread in their lives – with certain incidents or events planting little seeds that grow to the extent the initial spark becomes a defining factor behind the rewards that can follow.
Carl Mason is one such man to whom that occurred. Had he not spent two years working for the European Seniors Tour, as a referee, leading up to his 50th birthday, he would not have regained his appetite for golf – and he would not have enjoyed the remarkable period of success he has gone on to achieve upon resuming playing competitively in 2003.
Since joining the Seniors Tour, Mason has shown life begins at 50. He has won a staggering 17 times, including last weekend’s retention of the European Senior Masters at Woburn Golf Club. He now tops the European over-50s tour's all-time career money list earnings with €1,521,836 (£1,033,321) and, with two Order of Merit victories (2003-2004) to his name, leads the way in 2007’s chase to claim a third. Not bad for just under five years’ work.
Yet it very nearly didn’t happen. “When I stopped playing in 1997, after 24 years on (European) Tour, I needed a break. Golf was a pain in the neck. I wasn’t bothered if I never played a tournament again. I really had had enough,” Mason admitted.

REFEREEING RECAPTURED APPETITE
“Then, after about three years, I got the urge to play again, thankfully, and my two years as a referee helped, definitely. I really enjoyed it – it was a great insight into what goes on and I learnt a lot from my time doing it. That’s what gave me the appetite to start playing again. When you sit there watching golf, it gives you the buzz to play again and gets you going.
“I’m glad that I had the six-year break because I needed it when I stopped playing on the main Tour, but I’m very glad I came back. It’s been great, obviously, since then. I wish I’d felt as relaxed and confident as I do now when I played on the main Tour.”
Taking time to reflect on his triumphs, Mason added: “It’s incredible. I never thought when I started I’d win 17 times. Every time you win is special, but I would say the 2003 Senior Open at Turnberry was a key moment in my career. Going up against Tom Watson in a play-off and very nearly winning a Major was great for my confidence. I went on from there.”
He certainly did. The scale of Mason’s senior achievements are put into context by the fact in 24 years on the main Tour, he won five titles worldwide – his biggest win coming with the 1994 Scottish Open at Gleneagles – and earned €1,684,040 overall.
In barely a fraction of his time as a senior, he is close to surpassing that sum. Not that the 54 year old is motivated by money, as his reaction to moving in front of fellow countryman Tommy Horton at the top of the senior career money list reveals.

MONEY NOT THE MOTIVATION
“It was going to happen at some point and it’s an achievement I am proud of, but I’m glad it’s out of the way now, as everyone has been telling me about it and asking about it. I can get on with the rest of the season now and trying to win the Order of Merit. That’s my goal.”
Rather, it is the taste of victory he enjoys most and what continues to motivate – which is why Mason was delighted to become the first player to retain the European Senior Masters.
Ultimately, his success came courtesy of two brilliant birdies on the final hole – in regulation play and in the sudden-death play-off with Italy’s Costantino Rocca.
The first was one of real character, for Mason had wobbled in his title bid on the back nine and dropped three consecutive shots to hand playing partner and rival Rocca a two-shot lead heading down the 18th hole.
However, Mason holed a monster putt from some 35 feet, left-to-right effort across the width of the final green, to finish on six under par 210, and when Rocca failed to get up and down from the front greenside bunker, a play-off ensued on the 18th hole.
Mason’s subsequent four-iron tee-shot left a 121-yard wedge that he hit from the left hand rough to just two feet to set up the tap-in birdie that secured the top prize of €49,713 (£33,750) and his place in the record books.
“I thought my chance had gone when I bogeyed 15, 16 and 17, but my first birdie on the 18th shows you must never give up. Then that wedge in the play-off was naughty. I apologised to ’Tino for that one,” he said.

RARE BAD SHOT OFF THE TOE
“But of course, I was delighted to win again at Woburn, over one of the classic, famous courses, like the Duke’s Course is. As the defending champion, there’s maybe a little more pressure, so I’m even more pleased to have won and retained my title. It was difficult out there because I wasn’t feeling very comfortable on the back nine. I hit a toey hook on 11 and it upset me, because I’ve not hit a bad shot like that for a long time.”
As Mason’s rivals will testify over the majority of the past five years, as his brilliant golf has taken him to new heights.
However, with the grace and humility Carl regularly shows in both victory and defeat, not to mention the manner in which he conducts himself on and off the golf course, Mason is well respected and liked as one of the most popular figures on the Tour. The rapturous round of applause that greeted him at Woburn on Sunday night in the Player’s Lounge when he returned from the prize-giving ceremony proved that.
“The European Seniors Tour is fantastic – and I’m very grateful for all that it’s done for my career,” said Mason. “I think all the players are. It’s strong, competitive, we get to play great golf courses, like Woburn, that are a treat every year to come back and play – and we are getting good support from people coming to watch us. That makes such a difference. It’s just wonderful – and long may it continue.”
Many fans of senior golf will be saying the same about Mason’s success – and European Seniors Tour Managing Director Andy Stubbs paid tribute to the Buxton-born man, saying: “To become the leading senior career money winner is a fantastic achievement in its own right, but to do so in such a short time scale makes it even more special.

SEVENTEEN VICTORIES AS A SENIOR
“Additionally, against the background of Sam Torrance and his two Order of Merit victories in 2005 and 2006, and so many other notable and distinguished players turning 50 in the past few years and recently, Carl’s golf has been outstanding and his 17 wins a superb testament to his ability.
“Such fantastic achievements fill us with great optimism and expectations that the European Seniors Tour will continue to grow in strength and stature, to present all of our Members with unrivalled golfing opportunities and the platform to perform and enjoy another exciting chapter in their careers.”

Press Release

RECORD SURGE FOR OLD COURSE BOOKINGS

More than 1000 tee time applications for play on the Old Course in 2008 were received in 15 minutes on Wednesday morning this week, a record for the world renowned links.
After the advanced reservations process opened at 10am BST, 1100 applications flooded in to the Reservations department of St Andrews Links Trust, the organisation which manages and maintains the Old Course.
The vast majority of the applications were received by email as golfers from around the world sought to secure coveted tee times at the Home of Golf.
In order to give everyone an equal chance, golfers were invited to apply at that specific time. The Reservations department will spend the next few weeks processing the applications on a first come first served basis before sending out confirmations to those who have been successful and informing those who have not.
Alan McGregor, general manager of the Links Trust, said, “Since we changed the advanced reservations process a few years ago to invite everyone to apply at the same time we have become accustomed to surges of applications but to receive more than 1000 applications in the space of 15 minutes is quite remarkable.
“It is testament to the regard in which golfers round the world hold the Old Course that there is such interest in securing a time to play next year. Although there is a high level of demand most of the applications will be successful.”
Yesterday also saw the official opening of the advanced reservations process for the new Castle Course which is due to open next summer. Golfers were given the opportunity to book tee times on the seventh St Andrews Links Trust course from June 28 to October 31 2008.
The widely anticipated opening of the course, which was designed on a spectacular clifftop location to the south east of St Andrews by internationally acclaimed architect David McLay Kidd, led to a steady flow of applications on the day. The Castle Course will form part of the two-course booking policy for advanced reservations on the Old Course along with the New, Jubilee, Eden and Strathtyrum courses.
For more information contact the Reservations department at reservations@standrews.org.uk or on 0044 1334 466666 from overseas or 01334 466666 from the United Kingdom.

GREIG HUTCHEON LEADS TARTAN
TOUR MONEY TABLE AND
ORDER OF MERIT POINTS

Peterculter's Greig Hutcheon leads the Tartan Tour's money list AND Order of Merit points totals as the PGA Scottish Region circuit moves into its final few weeks of the year.
Hutcheon, pictured right, who won the Order of Merit title 12 months ago, has already won £24,589, which tops his money total (£20,299) for the whole of the 2006 domestic season when he finished seventh behind Dean Robertson's £28,751 figure.
Apart from achieving the greater consistency which was one of his targets for 2007, the 34-year-old Hutcheon, born and bred at Crathes, near Banchory, has also played in more Tartan Tour events (36) than he did for the full 2006 season (26).
Current statistics
MONEY TABLE
1 Greig Hutcheon (Peterculter) £24,589.
2 Mark Loftus (Cowglen) £22,005.
3 Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills) £21,529.
4 Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs GR) £19,169.
5 Stephen Gray (Hayston) £18,432.
6 Sam Cairns (Westerwood) £17,879.
7 Dean Robertson (Mearns Castle) £15,835.
8 Craig Lee (All Golf Swing Centre) £15,053.
98 Chris Doak (unatt) £14,622.
10 Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle) £14,6721.
11 David Orr (East Renfrewshire) £14,546.
12 Murray Urquhart (Inverness) £14,537.
13 Chris Kelly (Cawder) £12,739.
14 Mark King (Kingsfield GR) £12,160.
15 David Patrick (Mortonhall) £11,398.
16 Jim McKinnon (Irvine) £11,395.
17 Craig Ronal (Carluke) £11,036.
18 Colin Gillies (Kingsfield GR) £10,905.
19 Gary McFarlane (Clober) £109,003.
20 Alan Lockhart (Ladybank) £9,446.
ORDER OF MERIT POINTS
1 G Hutcheon 853.75.
2 P McKechnie 809.38.
3 D Orr 805.
4 M Loftus 790.
5 R Arnott 751.88.
6 C Lee 738.75.
7 S Gray 656.88.
8 S Cairns 644.25.
9 C Kelly 617.58
10 J McKinnon 592.50.
11 C Doak 589.589.
12 M Urquhart 542.46.
13 D Robertson 487.38.
14 M King 457.17.
15 C Gillies 450.33
16 Callum Nicoll (Prestwick) 440.36.
17 Paul Wardell (Whitekirk) 430.39.
18 C Ronald 428.75.
19 F Mann (Musselburgh) 421.
20 J McCreadie 393.33.

GB&I WALKER CUP TEAM WILL

HAVE TO UPSET US DOMINANCE

OF WORLD RANKINGS

As this weekend's Walker Cup at Royal County Down, Northern Ireland approaches, it is perhaps worth tempering expectation - on this side of the Atlantic - of a home victory by reminding ourselves that Lloyd Saltman, in third place, is the only non-American in the top 10 of the latest R&A World Amateur Golf Rankings.

Colt Knost remains No 1 ahead of fellow American Dustin Johnson.

After Saltman, pictured right, one has to go down to 11th and 12th places to find the next British players, Englishmen Daniel Willett and John Parry.

There are only four Scots in the top 100 - Saltman, James Byrne (51st), Wallace Booth (52nd) and Callum Macaulay 53rd. Callum's South-east District Open play-off victory over Glenn Campbell boosted him 11 places on the table.

TOP TEN

1 Colt Knost (US) 1101.47.

2 Dustin Johnson (US) 1071.83.

3 Lloyd Saltman (Sco) 1055.74.

4 Jamie Lovemark (US) 1051.56.

5 Rickie Fowler (US) 1031.25.

6 Chris Kirk (US) 1026.47.

7 Michael Thompson (US) 1020.29.

8 Kyle Stanley (US) 1000.

9 Billy Horschel (US) 993.94.

10 Alan Wagner (Arg) 992.11.

11 Daniel Willett (Eng) 983.93.

12 John Parry (Eng) 972.34.

Other placings include:

15 David Horsey (Eng) 957.14.

16 Rhys Davies (Wal) 956.14.

19 Jamie Moul (Eng) 907.14.

51 James Byrne (Sco) 811.11.

52 Wallace Booth (Sco) 810.45.

53 Callum Macaulay (Sco) 809.46.

MACAULAY LEADS SGU ORDER OF MERIT
WITH ONLY LANARK EVENT TO GO

The weekend play-off win by Callum Macaulay (Tulliallan) in the South-east District Open has put him in the pole position in the Scottish Golf Union Order of Merit with the last counting event coming up on Saturday and Sunday. Macaulay leads with 615pt from Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw), who is making his amateur swansong in the Walker Cup this weekend, with Wallace Booth (Comrie), Kevin McAlpine (Alyth) and Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie) - the man Macaulay beat in the play-off at West Linton) in third, fourth and fifth places.
The final 72-hole event in the SGU Order of Merit programme is the Newlands Trophy at Lanark Golf Club on Saturday and Sunday.

Leading totals:
1 Callum Macaulay (Tulliallan) 615pt.
2 Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw) 585.
3 Wallace Booth (Comrie) 576.30.
4 Kevin McAlpine (Alyth) 573.
5 Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie) 525.
6 Gavin Dear (Murrayshall) 448.80.
7 Keir McNicoll (Carnoustie) 422.50.
8 Mark Hillson (Craigielaw) 397.50.
9 Craig Watson (East Renrewshire) 360.
10 Duncan Stewart (Grantown on Spey) 345.
11 Paul O'Hara (Colville Park) 342.50.
12 Scott Mann (Carnoustie) 328.30.
13 Ross Kellett (Colville Park) 3109.
14 James Byrne (Banchory) 302.50.
15 Jonathan King (Glasgow) 295.
16 Steven McEwan (Caprington) 280.50.
17 Scott Borrowman (Dollar) 265.80.
18 Brian Soutar (Leven GS) 257.50.
19 John Gallagher (Swanston New) 250.
20 Matthew Clark (Kilmacolm) 248.30.
21 Scott Henry (Cardross) 246.70.
22 Jordan Findlay (Fraserburgh) 232.50.
23 Greg Paterson (St Andres New) 225.
24 Shaun McAllister (Craigielaw) 222.50.
25 Mark Kerr (Craigielaw) 190.
25 Michael Buchan (Cruden Bay) 190.
27 Robert McKnight (Kilmarnock Barassie) 184.20.
28 James White (Lundin) 182.50.
29 Allan Thomson (Ayr Belleisle) 165.
30 Philip McLean (Peterhead) 150.

SCOTT JAMIESON BACK ON HOOTERS
TOUR IN SOUTH CAROLINA THIS WEEK

Scott Jamieson from Glasgow rejoins the NGA Hooters Tour in America this week after coming home for the satellite circuit's mid-summer break and playing in one or two European Challenge Tour events.
Jamieson missed the cut in only one of the eight Hooters Tour events he played in between April and mid-June, earning $16,000 with one top-10 finish and two top-20 finishes.
Scott makes his American comeback in the Michelob Ultra Classic at River Hills Golf & Country Club, Little Riveer in South Carolina.
Also in the field are two other graduates of the American college circuit, twice Scottish youths champion Joel Hendry from Elgin and now a resident of Hilton Head, South Carolina, and David Skinns from Lincoln.

English Golf Union Press Release

England won the inaugural Portugal Nations Cup after a dramatic final day at Vale do Lobo in which they took the title on card count back from Ireland.
The teams finished tied on 420 so the non-scoring cards were taken in account with Ben Parker’s 75 against Niall Kearney’s 77 for the Irish giving England the trophy.
England had gone into the final day in third place, trailing leaders Ireland by five strokes and Sweden by one. But with Ben Evans returning 68 and 69 from Chris Wood, England had the best final day aggregate. Evans had two eagles in his 68, while Wood also eagled the tenth. That left the ball in Ireland’s court and with Shane Lowry signing for 68 and 74 from Simon Ward, they were tied with England.
Lowry, in the final game on the course, had a 14ft eagle putt on the par-5 18th to give Ireland the title but his ball missed on the low side. Earlier, Parker missed a tap-in putt on the 18th that could have proved costly if Kearney had not had such a poor day.
Denmark finished third on 422 thanks to a course record 66 by Kristian Grud, France fourth on 423 while Sweden dropped back to fifth.
Lowry won the individual prize on 205, one ahead of European Amateur champion Benjamin Hebert from France with Wood collecting the bronze medal on 207.
Team Totals:
420 England, Ireland.
422 Denmark.
423 France.
428 Sweden.
432 Belgium.
436 Wales.
439 Finland, Austria.
443 Netherlands.
447 Italy.
454 Iceland.
456 Portugal.
457 Spain.

Individual:
205 S Lowry (Ireland) 70 67 68.
206 B Hebert (France) 70 69 67.
207 C Wood (England) 71 67 69.
210 K Grud (Den)

R&A Press Release

WALKER CUP TICKETS

A limited number of spectators will be able to ‘pay at the gates’ for the Walker Cup which is being played this weekend at Royal County Down (Saturday-Sunday, September 8-9).
In announcing this news, which is bound to be welcomed by golf fans in Ireland, David Hill, Director of Championships for The R&A, said: “We initially intended permitting 8,000 spectators in on each of the two days but in May decided to increase the daily attendance to 10,000.
“There are still roughly 1,000 tickets left for each day and we will be allowing these spectators to pay at the gates.”
Parking remains free-of-charge and a daily ticket costs £25.
Each day’s play consists of four morning foursomes stating at 8.30 a.m. and eight afternoon singles.

PHIL MICKELSON WINS DEUTSCHE BANK
CHAMPIONSHIP WITH FINAL-ROUND 66

FROM AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE

Phil Mickelson raced out to a fast start and staved off the triumvirate of Tiger Woods, Arron Olberholser and Brett Wetterich by two strokes to win the Deutsche Bank Championship.
Mickelson shot a last round of five-under-par 66 and finished the second event of the inaugural FedEx Cup playoff series tournament at 16-under-par 268 to claim his third victory of the year and a first-place cheque for £624,190.
Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson was the top European tied for ninth with an eight-under-par 276 after shooting a three-under-par 68 on Monday.
He was followed by Sergio Garcia who was tied for 17th with Henrik Stenson in joint 55th while Luke Donald was the top Briton in joint 60th with Brian Davis in joint 72nd.
Mickelson won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and The Players Championship earlier this year.
Facing Woods head-to-head for the first time in 18 months, Mickelson never looked back after birdies at four of the first seven holes.
Mickelson took advantage of ideal playing conditions to card birdies on the second, fourth, fifth and seventh to erase a two-shot advantage by third-round leader Wetterich.
"Now the next step is to try to hopefully go head-to-head in a major," Mickelson said. "We don't get paired very often in majors, and hopefully next year in '08, we'll have a chance to do that."
Woods was four-under on Monday and finished at 14-under for the tournament. He made a late charge by posting birdies on the 14th and 16th but was unable to sink a key 10-foot birdie putt on the 17th while a 33-foot putt for eagle on the 18th fell short, effectively ending his chance at victory.
"Unfortunately, I just didn't make enough putts to really push him," Woods said.

FINAL TOTALS
The TPC of Boston.
Par 284 (4 x 71)
268 Phil Mickelson 70 64 68 66
270 Arron Oberholser 69 66 66 69, Tiger Woods 72 64 67 67, Brett Wetterich 66 68 66 70
273 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 67 66 70 70
274 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 68 67 70 69, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 70 70 67 67
275 Robert Allenby (Aus) 69 69 70 67
276 Steve Stricker 67 69 69 71, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 66 72 70 68, Sean O'Hair 68 66 74 68, Camilo Villegas (Col) 63 72 69 72, Troy Matteson 71 66 69 70
277 Charlie Wi (Kor) 67 72 69 69, Lucas Glover 69 70 66 72, John Mallinger 73 69 67 68
278 Nathan Green (Aus) 72 70 67 69, George McNeill 71 69 70 68, Adam Scott (Aus) 68 72 66 72, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 67 71 68 72, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 69 66 72 71, Cliff Kresge 69 71 67 71
279 Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 67 74 68 70, John Senden (Aus) 67 71 67 74, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 70 69 65 75, Heath Slocum 66 70 72 71, Jonathan Byrd 69 70 70 70, Jason Gore 70 71 64 74, Steve Elkington (Aus) 66 70 70 73
280 Zach Johnson 68 72 68 72, Woody Austin 71 68 70 71, Charles Howell III 69 69 72 70, Mark Wilson 73 68 72 67, Dean Wilson 70 71 71 68, Will MacKenzie 70 72 65 73, Paul Goydos 75 67 71 67, Mike Weir (Can) 65 68 74 73, Bo Van Pelt 68 69 69 74, Rich Beem 67 66 73 74, Briny Baird 71 68 67 74
281 Rodney Pampling (Aus) 74 67 68 72, Bart Bryant 72 67 66 76, Vaughn Taylor 68 73 68 72, Boo Weekley 73 69 66 73, Matt Kuchar 68 72 68 73, Ryan Moore 65 69 77 70
282 Kenny Perry 68 71 73 70, John Rollins 70 69 72 71, Douglas Labelle 73 69 69 71, Brandt Snedeker 71 72 73 66, Brian Bateman 69 72 70 71
283 Joe Ogilvie 70 69 72 72, Tom Pernice Jnr. 75 65 67 76, Rocco Mediate 71 72 66 74
284 Justin Leonard 72 70 75 67, Jim Furyk 68 73 69 74, Craig Kanada 67 68 72 77, Stephen Ames (Can) 68 73 69 74, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 66 73 75 70
285 Chad Campbell 70 70 71 74, Vijay Singh (Fij) 74 66 73 72, Tim Herron 71 72 74 68, Luke Donald (Eng) 72 66 73 74, Tommy Armour III 68 70 72 75
286 Jerry Kelly 71 72 73 70, Jeff Maggert 69 73 70 74, Robert Garrigus 69 72 72 73, Ken Duke 70 72 69 75
287 Kevin Na (Kor) 71 71 69 76
288 Daniel Chopra (Swe) 70 70 74 74, Brian Gay 74 69 72 73
290 Brian Davis (Eng) 68 71 75 76, Charles Warren 69 74 73 74, Mark Calcavecchia 72 70 77 71
292 Steve Flesch 71 72 71 78

Great Britain & Ireland boys' team with the Jacques Leglise Trophy they won by beating the Continent of Europe at Notts Golf Club. James Byrne (Banchory) and Fraser Fotheringham (Nairn) are at the end right of the back row. The other Scot in the team, Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck) is end right of the front row.
Many thanks to James Byrne's dad, Paul, for passing on the image to Scottishgolfview.com. You can enlarge the image by clicking on it.

CARNOUSTIE AMATEUR MCNICOLL LEADS THE
PROS IN MIDLAND ALLIANCE AT THORNTON

Carnoustie's Scotland international player Keir McNicoll won the Midland Golfers' Alliance competition over a windy Thornton Golf Club course in Fife today.
McNicoll, who plays off +4, had a gross round of level par 70 to win the leading scratch prize by two strokes.
Ken Thomson (Alloa), playing off 13, had the best net score of 69.

Leading scratch
70 K McNicoll (Carnoustie).
72 K McGowan (Burntisland) ap, A Moir (Thornton).
73 L Mann (Carnoustie Links) p, R Stewart (Tulliallan),
74 B Mason (Drumoig) p 74.
75 M Niven (Alloa) 75.
76 E Walker (Burntisland) ap, M Pirie (Pitlochry) p, P Brookes (Pitreavie) p, G McLeod (Monifieth) p, A Lockhart (Ladybank) ap, D Cameron (Pitlochry).
Leading handicap
K Thomson (Alloa) (13) 69.
S Aitken (Ladybank) (8) 70.
W Miller (Monifieth) (10), A Moir (Thornton) (1), R Stewart (Tulliallan) (2) 71.
M Niven (Alloa) (3), W Smith (Dunnikier Park) (10), J Brown (Panmure) (12) 72.
J Francey (Glenrothes) (9), J Scally (Burntisland) (5) 73.
K McNicoll (Carnoustie) (+4), D Cameron (Pitlochry) (2), J Cree jun (Thornton) (11), D Roberts (Scotscraig) (9), J Ward (Carnoustie) (8), J Laing (Caird Park) (12) 74.

Qualifiers for championship at Crail:
K McNicoll, K McGowan, A Moir.
Next competition: Forfar on Wednesday, September 12. Tee reserved: 9.30am to 1pm

BIDDING BEGINS FOR AMATEUR PLACE IN ALFRED DUNHILL

LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP

Bidding has opened in an international online auction for a place in this year’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Amateur golfers from all over the world are being offered the chance of a lifetime to play in the same tournament as top professionals and amateurs from the world of sport and entertainment in this year’s web auction.

This year’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship takes place from October 4-7 over the Old Course at St Andrews, the Championship Course at Carnoustie and the highly regarded Kingsbarns Golf Links.

The online auction offers amateur golfers throughout the world a rare opportunity to play in this prestigious tournament. The winning bidder will be treated to the very best of Alfred Dunhill’s world famous hospitality.

The package includes:

*ONE amateur place in the 2007 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

*FIVE nights' accommodation for two at an official tournament hotel (breakfast included), airport transfers from Edinburgh and invitations to the championship's exclusive social events as honoured guests.

The auction runs from September 3 until 12:00 GMT September 21.

Online auctioneers QXL.com are hosting the proceedings.

Bids can be made by visiting www.qxl.co.uk/golf.

Stuart Hawthorne, QXL.com UK Site Marketing Manager, commented:
“www.QXL.com is a trading platform, which enables individuals and sMall businesses to buy and sell all types of products and services online in an easy, efficient and safe environment. It is also a place where members have a good time, place bids and get involved with the site through our forums.”
The auction, which raised £19,550 last year, is in aid of the St Andrews-based Pilgrim Foundation, an organisation committed the restoration of historic monuments and buildings in the Home of Golf.

The Foundation’s patrons include Sir Sean Connery, Colin Montgomerie, Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Arnold Palmer, Sam Torrance, Tony Jacklin and TV commentator Peter Alliss.

Last year’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship was won by Ireland’s Padraig Harrington who is to return to the scene of his triumph when he defends his title this autumn.

Amateurs will once again be sharing centre stage with the professionals. Some of the better known amateurs who have played in the past include Boris Becker, Sir Bobby Charlton, Kenny Dalglish, Michael Douglas, Bill Murray, Nigel Mansell, Dennis Quaid, Sir Steve Redgrave and Tico Torres.

NO CHARGE FIRST THREE DAYS

Entrance to the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship will once again be FREE on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

A ticket price of £15 (concessionary £10) will be charged for the final day’s play over the Old Course on Sunday, October 7.

Under 16s and students are FREE.

Tickets are available through the ticket hotline on 0870 010 9021 or at the entrance gate. There is free parking for spectators, and a free shuttle bus service will be in operation between courses.

Aberdeen Grammar School's winning line-up: Donald Macandrew, Mhairi Johnstone and Nick Macandrew. To enlarge this Cal Carson Golf Agency image (c), click on it.

GRAMMAR SCHOOL WIN PAUL LAWRIE SCHOOLS
TEAM CHALLENGE TROPHY AT PETERCULTER

Aberdeen Grammar School completed a notable golfing double when they won the Paul Lawrie Schools Team Challenge Scratch Trophy at Peterculter Golf Club today.
In a cold, blustery wind, 17-year-old Mhairi Johnstone and the Macandrew brothers, Donald (17) and Nick (16) won with a very gross team score of 226. Donald had a two-over-par 73 against the CSS of 72, Mhairi a 76 and Nick a 77.
In June, Grammar won the Aberdeen schools championship final at Hazlehead. This was the first time, in the fifth year of the competition, that they had won the Paul Lawrie Team Challenge Scratch Trophy.
They had eight shots to spare at the finish from Westhill Academy’s Matthew Smith (77), Steven Smith (78) and Fraser Clarke (79).
Robert Gordon’s College were third on 237 with a 71 from Jack Scott, an 81 from Ali MacDonald and an 85 from Steven Smith.
Scott’s 71 was the lowest round of the day.
Ellon Academy, who had been bidding to complete a hat-trick, finished on 251.
The A T Personnel Schools Team Challenge Handicap Trophy was won by Bridge of Don Academy’s Luke Sanderson, Murray Kinnaird and Matthew Mitchell. They had a net total of 224 which was not as low as Aberdeen Grammar School’s net total of 214 but the rules of the competition debar a school from figuring in both the scratch and handicap prize lists.
Title-holders Dyce Academy (Cameron Murray, Cameron Smith and Scott Keith) finished second with a net total of 225. Monifieth High (Andrew Cowieson, Michael McNally and Rebecca Wilson) finished third on 226.

Totals:
SCRATCH
226 Aberdeen Grammar School (Donald Macandrew 73, Mhairi Johnstone 76, Nick Macandrew 77).
234 Westhill Academy (Matthew Smith 77, Steven Smith 78, Fraser Clarke 79).
237 Robert Gordon’s College (Jack Scott 71, Ali MacDonald 81, Steven Smith 85).
238 Banchory Academy.
240 Monifieth High.
250 Peterhead Academy.
251 Ellon Academy.
255 Meldrum Academy, Oldmachar Academy.
258 Grove Academy.
265 Aboyne Academy, Kemnay academy.
267 The Gordon Schools, Hazlehead Academy..
268 Alford Academy, Cults Academy, Mintlaw Academy.
269 Dyce Academy.
281 Bridge of Don Academy, Kincorth Academy.
326 Torry Academy.
LEADING HANDICAP
224 Bridge of Don Academy: Luke Anderson (14) 70, Murray Kinnaird (17) 74, Matthew Mitchell (26) 80.
225 Dyce Academy: Cameron Murray (17) 71, Cameron Smith (14) 75, Scott Keith (13) 79.
226 Monifieth High: Andrew Cowieson (5) 71, Michael McNally (4) 75, Rebecca Wilson (5) 80.
227 Banchory Academy.
229 Meldrum Academy.
230 The Gordon Schools.
233 Kemnay Academy, Cults Academy.
234 Oldmachar Academy.
235 Peterhead Academy.

+If you switch over to our sister website, www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk, you can see a picture of two of the Bridge of Don Academy boys who won the A T Personnel Team Handicap Trophy.

LATE ENTRIES FOR LOCH NESS SEPTEMBER OPEN

Loch Ness Golf Club are accepting late entries for their September Men's Open tournament, sponsored by MacRae and Dick Honda over the Loch Ness New Course on Saturday (September 8). Phone 01463 713334.

The cup the winners never get to take home

MURCAR LINKS RETAIN

DALSWINTON
TROPHY AT DEESIDE

Murcar Links won the Deeside Golf Club invitation foursomes tournament for the magnificent Dalswinton Trophy for the second year in a row with three of the same four-man line-up from 2006.
Bryan Innes, Billy Main and Anthony Bews repeated last year’s success with the substation of Neil McKinnon for Terry Mathieson.
The windy conditions showed in the final totals. Last year Murcar Links won with a total of 286. This year it was 297 with Innes and Main putting together rounds of 73 and 72 for 145, while Bews and McKinnon had a pair of 76s for 152.
They won by seven shots from hosts Deeside with Newmachar (313) third – which meant it was a repeat of last year’s 1-2-3 placings.
+The ornate Dalswinton Trophy, pictured above, is so valuable that for insurance purposes it never leaves the Deeside clubhouse. The winners are presented with the trophy and then they have to hand it back immediately and it goes back under lock and key for another year.

FINAL TOTALS
297 Murcar Links (B Innes, W Main 73 72, A Bews, N McKinnon 76 76).
304 Deeside (A Campbell, J Robertson 72 73, J G Strachan, T D Rennie 76 83).
313 Newmacahr (K Riley, C Simpson 76 79, J Wilson, J Duff 80 78).
314 Portlethen (C Stephen, S Wallace 77 73,. P Morrison, K Horne 76 88), Caledonian (A Doig, A Styles 79 80, R Rimmer, R Hewitt 75 80).
318 Royal Aberdeen (M Halliday, W Barclay 75 81, C Shaw, A Buchan 82 80).
321 Nigg Bay (I Welsh, G Stewart 81 80, R Forbes, G Grimmer 83 77).
322 Cruden Bay (D King, A Duff 77 81, D Milne, R Willox 79 85).
327 Craibstone (R Porter, A Barry 79 83, R Hardie,S Rennie 81 84).
329 Banchory (F Bisset, R Gray 79 86, R Black, A Ramage 84 80).
330 Hazlehead (P McIntosh, J Kilman 85 83, D Ogston, C Flint 79 83), Auchmill (A Allan, B Nicolson 84 84, J Nicolson, J Barclay 79 83.
335 Bon Accord (A Haining, S Murphy 84 93, S Murray, G Somers 79 79).
348 Peterculter (I Thomson, B Tayulor 90 96, A Diingwall, C Carrell 82 80).

US PGA TOUR SCOREBOARD
DEUTSCHE BANK CHAMPIONSHIP
THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 213 (3 x 71)
200 Brett Wetterich 66 68 66
201 Arron Oberholser 69 66 66
202 Phil Mickelson 70 64 68
203 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 67 66 70, Tiger Woods 72 64 67
204 Camilo Villegas (Col) 63 72 69, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 70 69 65
205 Steve Stricker 67 69 69, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 68 67 70, Bart Bryant 72 67 66, John Senden (Aus) 67 71 67, Lucas Glover 69 70 66, Jason Gore 70 71 64
206 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 67 71 68, Adam Scott (Aus) 68 72 66, Rich Beem 67 66 73, Bo Van Pelt 68 69 69, Troy Matteson 71 66 69, Briny Baird 71 68 67, Steve Elkington (Aus) 66 70 70
207 Will MacKenzie 70 72 65, Mike Weir (Can) 65 68 74, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 69 66 72, Craig Kanada 67 68 72, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 70 70 67, Tom Pernice Jnr. 75 65 67, Cliff Kresge 69 71 67
208 Zach Johnson 68 72 68, Matt Kuchar 68 72 68, Heath Slocum 66 70 72, Charlie Wi (Kor) 67 72 69, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 66 72 70, Robert Allenby (Aus) 69 69 70, Sean O'Hair 68 66 74, Boo Weekley 73 69 66
209 Rodney Pampling (Aus) 74 67 68, Vaughn Taylor 68 73 68, Woody Austin 71 68 70, John Mallinger 73 69 67, Nathan Green (Aus) 72 70 67, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 67 74 68, Rocco Mediate 71 72 66, Jonathan Byrd 69 70 70
210 George McNeill 71 69 70, Jim Furyk 68 73 69, Charles Howell III 69 69 72, Tommy Armour III 68 70 72, Stephen Ames (Can) 68 73 69
211 Joe Ogilvie 70 69 72, Brian Bateman 69 72 70, Kevin Na (Kor) 71 71 69, Chad Campbell 70 70 71, John Rollins 70 69 72, Ken Duke 70 72 69, Luke Donald 72 66 73, Douglas Labelle 73 69 69, Ryan Moore 65 69 77
212 Kenny Perry 68 71 73, Dean Wilson 70 71 71, Jeff Maggert 69 73 70
213 Vijay Singh (Fij) 74 66 73, Robert Garrigus 69 72 72, Paul Goydos 75 67 71, Mark Wilson 73 68 72
214 Brian Davis 68 71 75, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 70 70 74, Steve Flesch 71 72 71, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 66 73 75
215 Brian Gay 74 69 72
216 Charles Warren 69 74 73, Jerry Kelly 71 72 73, Brandt Snedeker 71 72 73, 217 Justin Leonard 72 70 75, Tim Herron 71 72 74
219 Mark Calcavecchia 72 70 77

HUGH HUNTER'S CLACKMANNANSHIRE NEWS

INDIAN SUMMER FOR

COUNTY GOLFERS

Perhaps the recent weather improvement has had an effect on the Wee County elite golfers, because they have certainly turned in a number of good performances. Once again the best result came from Tulliallan’s Callum Macaulay (pictured right with district president Jim Thomson on right) when he took the South East District golf title at West Linton today.

After two rounds, Macaulay tied for the lead with Gavin Dear (Murrayshall) on a three under par score of 135. In the final two rounds, Callum kept a cool head and it was only the 2006 holder Glenn Campbell who forced a play off with a superb round of 64. Callum won the play-off and so added the South East title to the West of Scotland title which he won last year. Another great performance!
Final Results
1 C Macaulay 272 (66,69,70,67)
17= Scott Borrowman (Dollar) 71,77,75,67.

STEWART EQUAL 6TH AT BLAIRGOWRIE

Just before that, Bob Stewart (Tulliallan), playing in the final Seniors Order of Merit event, scored 77 over Blairgowrie Lansdowne to finish in sixth equal position, and also taking the second handicap prize with a net 75.

Best score of the day (70) came from Tony Stafford (Troon St Meddans) who is also an Alloa Golf Club member, and was a County Boy player a good number of years ago.
These performances have resulted in Tony finishing in 12th position (175 points), and Bob in 16th position (165 points) in the 2007 Seniors Order of Merit, and give them some encouragement for the future.

AMATEUR GOLF RANKINGS
Callum Macaulay's performances of course show up in the Amateur Golf Rankings for August. In the European rankings which cover the top 200 amateur European golfers, Callum is ranked 27th (4th Scot) and in the Royal and Ancient World Golf Rankings, Callum has moved up from 68th to 65th. Scott Borrowman is ranked at 675th, up from 682. With a few more events to count, more improvements should be possible
This weekend sees the Walker Cup being played over two days in Northern Ireland at Royal County Down Golf Club. The biennial match between America and Great Britain and Ireland attracts considerable interest from Amateur golfers – especially those who are keen to reach this top elite level of the game.
GARY HARVEY TROPHY.
While the top UK Amateurs are engaged in the Walker Cup, the Clackmannan county juniors are involved in one of their top fixtures for 2007 – the Gary Harvey Trophy at Braehead, which is contested by teams of eight junior golfers representing Clackmannan, Fife, Perth and Kinross, Angus.
The matches tee off on Saturday at 12.00 and on Sunday at 8.30, and the County Golf Union hope that there will be some support for the County Junior team.

County President Sam Kinnaird is upbeat about this year's team.

“Clackmannan County have an exceptionally good group of junior golfers this year. With handicaps between four and six, they should provide strong opposition to the visiting teams," he said.

The pool of nine boys selected are Andre Scotland, Grant Dowie (Alloa), John Macpherson, Scott Clark Andrew Borek (all Braehead), Lawrence Allan (Alva), Steven Macpherson, Tom Hogarth, Gary Chalmers (all Dollar).

HARPER, GLEN WIN £475 EACH AT SHOTTS

Lee Harper (Archerfield Links) and Kenny Glen (Royal Musselburgh) each won £475 after tieing for victory on three-under-par 67 in the North Lanarkshire Council/Pro Guide Young Professionals' pro-am at Shotts Golf Club today (Sunday).
They had a shot to spare of Chris McCalum (unatt).
David Pocock (Pine Lodge) led the amateur trio of Jack Patterson (handicap 18), Steven Alexander (8) and Andy Dennis (10) to victory in the team event with a better-ball net score of 14-under-par 56.
LEADING PROFESSIONALS
Par 70
67 L Harper (Archerfield Links), K Glen (Royal Musselburgh).
68 C McCalman (unatt).
70 S Grieve (Kings Acre), C Matheson (Falkirk Tryst), S Taylor (Bothwell Castle).
71 I Graham (Crow Wood), A MacKenzie (Liberton), M Sweenie (Westin Turnberry).

PYMAN WINS CHALLEGNE TOUR EVENT IN DENMARK

Englishman Iain Pyman, a former European Tour regular, won the 20,800 Euros top prize in the European Challenge Tour event, the Ecco Championship, at Odense Golf Club, Denmark today.
Pyman had rounds of 64, 67, 62 and 67 for a 20-under-par total of 260.
He won by three shots from joint runners-up John Morgan (England) and Magnus A Carlsson (Sweden).
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 280 (4 x 70)
260 I Pyman (Eng) 64 67 62 67 (Euros 20,800).
263 M A Carlsson (Swe) 65 70 60 68, J Morgan (Eng) 64 66 67 66 (E 11,700 each).
265 F Delamontagne (Fra) 65 65 66 69, I Van Weerelt (Net) 65 69 68 73 (E 71,50 each).
Other total:
281 M Urquhart (Sco) 73 66 70 70 (E 455).

CARL MASON SETS EUROPEAN SENIORS TOUR MONEY
RECORD WITH PLAY-OFF WIN OVER ROCCA

By Graeme Hamlett
European Tour Press Officer

England’s Carl Mason retained the European Senior Masters at Woburn Golf Club with a brilliant birdie at the first hole of a sudden-death play-off against Italy’s Costantino Rocca to become the richest golfer in European Seniors Tour history.
After the duo had tied on a 54 hole total of six under par 210, Mason edged his tense final day battle with playing partner and title rival Rocca with his dramatic birdie, secured after a superb 121-yard wedge to two feet on the 18th hole being replayed.
When Rocca’s own 18 feet birdie effort lipped out, Mason calmly tapped in to seal the 17th win of his Seniors Tour career. The top prize of €49,713 (£33,750) took Mason’s career earnings to €1,521,836 (£1,033,321) and he surpassed the previous record holder, fellow countryman Tommy Horton, as the leading European Seniors Tour money winner of all time.
Mason said: “It is an achievement I am proud of, but I’m glad it’s out of the way now, as everyone has been telling me about it and asking about it this week. It was a little bit more pressure on an already demanding week, as the defending champion, so I’m even more delighted to have won and retained my title. It’s always a little more difficult when you’re defending.”
Mason, who shot a final round of one over par 73 to Rocca’s level par 72, needed to hole a monster 35 feet birdie across the full width of the green on the 18th hole to set-up the play-off, having wobbled on the back nine and dropped three shots.
He said: “I really thought my chance had gone when I bogeyed 14, 15 and 16, but my first birdie on 18 proves that you must never give up. I have to admit I was very relieved to see it drop.”
A disappointed Rocca who, with a two shot lead heading down the 18th hole, bogeyed the last after failing to get up and down from the near greenside bunker, reflected on his play-off defeat: “Sometimes you have to say you are unlucky; sometimes you have to say he was a little bit better. Today, I say both.”
England’s Bob Cameron was third after closing with a 68 for a five under par 211 total, while Zimbabwe’s Tony Johnstone shot 69 to finish fourth on three under par 213. Scotland’s Sam Torrance shot a 68 to finish one shot further back on two under par 214 in a tie for fifth place.
FINAL TOTALS
210 C Mason (Eng) 71 66 73; C Rocca (Ita) 69 69 72 – Mason wins with sudden-death birdie on the first hole of play-off.
211 B Cameron (Eng) 73 70 68
213 T Johnstone (Zim) 75 69 69
214 S Torrance (Sco) 75 71 68; S Owen (Nzl) 72 71 71; J Rivero (Spn) 74 68 72; G Encina (Chl) 72 68 74
215 M James (Eng) 76 65 74
216 G Watine (Fra) 73 70 73
217 D Johnson (USA) 75 71 71; P Oakley (USA) 72 70 75
218 M Gray (Sco) 78 72 68; L Carbonetti (Arg) 76 71 71; D O’Sullivan (Irl) 74 71 73; D Good (Aus) 70 74 74; A Fernandez (Chl) 73 69 76
219 J Bland (RSA) 75 75 70; A Sowa (Arg) 70 76 73; M Pinero (Spn) 70 75 74; E Rodriguez (Spn) 71 73 75; S Ginn (Aus) 75 68 76
220 S Martin (Sco) 75 73 72; H Carbonetti (Arg) 75 73 72; T Allen (Eng) 76 72 72; A Murray (Eng) 72 75 73; M Foster (Eng) 71 74 75
221 J Lapsley (Nzl) 74 76 71; GJ Brand (Eng) 73 75 73; N Job (Eng) 76 72 73; J Quiros (Spn) 71 74 76; G Cali (Ita) 71 73 77
222 J Chillas (Sco) 70 78 74; P Teravainen (USA) 75 73 74; B Lincoln (RSA) 75 71 76; P Dugeny (Fra) 71 70 81
223 B Malley (USA) 74 76 73; J Bruner (USA) 77 73 73; M Miller (Sco) 75 74 74; DJ Russell (Eng) 77 72 74; G Ralph (Eng) 78 70 75
224 D Merriman (Aus) 75 74 75; I Mosey (Eng) 73 74 77; N Ratcliffe (Aus) 76 76 73; M Bembridge (Eng) 76 76 73; M Poxon (Eng) 72 77 76; D Cambridge (Jam) 73 76 76; T Gale (Aus) 74 74 77
227 JM Canizares (Spn) 82 71 74; J Benda (USA) 83 69 75; M Ferguson (Aus) 81 69 77; J Heggarty (Nir) 77 72 78; J Rhodes (Eng) 76 72 79
228 D Durnian (Eng) 79 75 74; B Larratt (Eng) 75 78 75; T Horton (Eng) 76 77 75; R Drummond (Sco) 79 72 77; J Mashego (RSA) 76 79 74; B Longmuir (Sco) 74 80 75; T Rastall (Eng) 75 77 77
230 P Leonard (Nir) 79 78 73; B Heuchan (Can) 75 76 79
231 A Garrido (Spn) 77 79 75; K Spurgeon (Eng) 77 78 76
232 I Palmer (RSA) 79 74 79; B Lendzion (USA) 75 76 81
233 B Smit (RSA) 84 76 73; N Coles (Eng) 81 75 77
236 V Garcia (Spn) 81 78 78
239 D Creamer (Eng) 81 76 82
242 T Charnley (Eng) 82 84 76

MURCAR LINKS WIN THEIR OWN JUBILEE SHIELD

Murcar Links, with a team total of 619, won their own Jubilee Shield competition today by a 21-stroke margin from Deeside (640) with Royal Aberdeen (641) third.
Final totals were:
619 Murcar Links.
640 Deeside.
641 Royal Aberdeen.
648 Caledonian.
654 Auchmill.
666 Newmachar.
668 Nigg Bay.
688 Bon Accord.
699 Westhill.
710 Hazlehead.

WARREN WINS PLAY-OFF AT GLENEAGLES

East Kilbride's Marc Warren triumphed on home soil when he beat England's Simon Wakefield in a play-off for the Johnnie Walker Championship over the Gleneagles Hotel Centenary Course today.
Warren, last season's Rookie of the Year, grabbed his second European Tour title in exactly the same fashion as he had his first against Robert Karlsson in the Scandinavian Masters last August.
After making a closing birdie to tie the 26-year-old Scot took the £233,330 first prize on the second hole of sudden death, making a 4ft birdie putt after reaching the green on the par-5 in two.
There were three Scots in all in the top 10 - winner Warren and Steven O'Hara and Colin Montgomerie.

JOHNNIE WALKER CHAMPIONSHIP
Gleneagles Hotel Centenary Course
FINAL TOTALS
Par 292 (4 x 73).

280 Marc Warren 65 73 73 69, Simon Wakefield 68 69 73 70 (Warren won sudden death play-off at second extra hole).
281 Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 71 72 72 66, Soren Hansen (Den) 69 72 72 68
282 Graeme Storm 70 70 73 69, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 73 71 66 72
283 Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 70 71 75 67, Steven O'Hara 71 73 71 68
284 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 76 70 72 66, Oliver Fisher 73 72 72 67, Colin Montgomerie 69 74 71 70, Thomas Levet (Fra) 69 68 76 71, Lee Westwood 74 69 69 72
285 Alan McLean 72 71 74 68, Barry Lane 70 71 75 69, David Lynn 72 68 74 71, James Kingston (Rsa) 70 73 71 71
286 Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa) 74 72 72 68, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 71 69 75 71, Alastair Forsyth 69 71 72 74
287 Mark Foster 74 72 72 69, Santiago Luna (Spa) 73 69 75 70, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 66 75 74 72, Marcus Higley 69 74 72 72, Robert Dinwiddie 72 71 72 72
288 Joost Luiten (Ned) 68 75 77 68, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 68 74 76 70, Sion Bebb 71 72 74 71, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 73 71 73 71, Anthony Wall 73 71 72 72, Ariel Canete (Arg) 73 72 68 75, Phillip Archer 68 71 73 76
289 Brett Rumford (Aus) 72 73 75 69, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 71 75 73 70, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 71 72 75 71, Luis Claverie (Spa) 70 73 73 73, Stephen Gallacher 71 72 70 76
290 Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 75 71 74 70, Jose Manuel Carriles (Spa) 74 70 75 71, Paul Lawrie 69 77 73 71, Garry Houston 73 72 72 73, Miles Yunnicliff 67 74 74 75
291 Phillip Price 68 76 75 72, Dean Robertson 69 75 75 72, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 71 74 74 72, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 72 74 72 73, Mark Pilkington 68 76 73 74, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 71 74 72 74, Mark Loftus 70 74 71 76
292 Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 73 71 75 73, David Griffiths 71 73 75 73, Zane Scotland 68 73 75 76
293 Peter Lawrie 72 74 77 70, Ian Garbutt 70 74 76 73, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 67 74 74 78
294 Richard Finch 71 72 79 72, Darren Clarke 73 71 76 74, Stephen Dodd 72 74 74 74, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 69 75 74 76
295 Greig Hutcheon 69 75 76 75, Matthew Millar (Aus) 77 67 76 75, Paul Casey 71 71 73 80
296 Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 69 76 77 74
299 Peter O'Malley (Aus) 73 71 81 74, Chinarat Phadungsil (Thai) 73 73 77 76, Richard Bland 69 75 78 77
300 James Hepworth 68 75 82 75
304 Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 69 76 81 78
306 Terry Price (Aus) 71 75 80 80

MACAULAY BEATS CAMPBELL IN
S-E DISTRICT OPEN PLAY-OFF
West Linton Golf Club.
FINAL TOTALS .
Par 276 (4 x 69). CSS 71 72 71 70.
271 C Macaulay (Tulliallan) 66 69 70 67, G Campbell (Blairgowrie) 69 69 69 64 (Macaulay won sudden-death play-off with a birdie 3 at the first)
278 G Dear (Murrayshall) 66 69 75 68, P McLean (Peterhead) 70 70 69 69.
279 N Henderson (Glen) 67 70 68 74, S McAllister (Craigielaw) 73 71 68 67.
282 R Caron (Dalmahoy) 70 74 68 70, S McEwan (Caprington) 72 67 73 70, S Henry (Cardross) 69 76 67 70.
283 W Booth (Comrie) 73 75 68 67, J King (Glasgow) 71 70 70 72.
285 B Fotheringham (Forres) 68 76 75 66.
286 S Armstrong (Turnhouse) 79 66 72 69.
287 R Kellett (Colville Park) 72 69 76 70.
288 A Main (Thornton) 72 72 74 70.
289 Z Saltman (Craigielaw) 73 70 74 72.
290 S Walker (West Linton) 72 73 70 75, S Borrowman (Dollar0 71 77 75 67, S McGarvey (Glencorse) 77 71 74 68.
291 S Lockhart (Bathgate) 72 71 72 76, J Lockie (Tantallon) 74 72 72 73.
292 J Brownlie (Craigielaw) 73 74 74 71.
293 K Reilly (Silverknowes) 72 73 80 68.
294 D Stewart (Grantown on Spey) 74 72 73 75.
297 M Hillson (Craigielaw) 75 73 73 76.
298 S Bordon US) 75 72 80 71, B Sloan (Hamilton) 73 75 81 69.
299 D Murray (Newbattle) 72 73 77 77, M Gray (Lanark) 71 75 74 79, S Mann (Carnoustie) 72 75 82 70.
306 M Stein (Craigielaw) 75 69 87 75.

US PGA SCOREBOARD

Deutsche Bank Championship
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 142 (2 x 71)]
133 A Baddeley (Aus) 67 66, R Beem (US) 67 66, M Weir (Can) 65 68.
134 S O'Hair 9US) 68 66, P Mickelson (US) 70 64, B Wetterick (US) 66 68, R Moore (US) 65 69.
Other scores:
136 T Woods (US) 72 64, S Stricker (US) 67 69 (jt 13th).
134 L Donald (Eng) 72 66(jt 19th).
139 B Davis (Eng) 68 71 (jt 26th).
MISSED THE CUT
145 I Poulter (Eng) 73 72.
147 J Rose (Eng) 71 76.

GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND BOYS WIN JACQUES
LEGLISE TROPHY AFTER CONTINENT RALLY

FROM THE R&A WEBSITE

Great Britain & Ireland's seemingly easy path to victory in the final series of matches of the Jacques Leglise Trophy suddenly turned into a fierce battle to stay ahead as the Continent of Europe fought back strongly, taking five of the eight singles matches with one halved.
But they had trailed by five points overnight and by six after the morning foursomes. The gap was too wide and GB&I won by 13 1/2 - 10 1/2.
The boys' team event played at Notts Golf Club finally gave GB&I a deserved victory after three years of European dominance.I
In the opening match of the afternoon James Byrne was beaten 3 and 1 by Floris de Vries, but Andrew Johston steadied the home cause with a two hole margin over Edouard Dubois.
Further down the order the alarm bells were ringing as the European team were moving menacingly ahead.
GB&I team captain Jack Hiluta lost for the first time in the two-day event, a two-hole victim of Maximilian Kieffer.
Lower down the order Sean Einhaus was racing away from Tommy Fleetwood for a 6 and 5 win and Paul Cutler lost 4 and 3 to Nicolaj Aagaard. His fellow Dane, Daniel Lokke wrapped up the final match against Matt Haines by 5 and 4.
But when Scot Michael Stewart fought out a tough match with Matteo Manassero for a vital half, it was the result that ensured GB&I could not be overtaken. Eddie Pepperell was the last to finish and advanced the home score with a one hole victory over Pedro Figueiredo.

DEAR AND MACAULAY SHARE HALFWAY LEAD
IN SOUTH-EAST DISTRICT OPEN AT WEST LINTON

Murrayshall's Gavin Dear and Callum Macaulay were locked in the lead at three-under-par 135 at the halfway stage of the South-west District Open championship at West Linton Golf Club today.
Scottish schoolboys champion Neil Henderon (Glen) is their nearest challenger, two shots behind on 137.
The top 30 and ties with totals of 148 or better qualified for Sunday's final 36 holes.
SCOREBOARD
Par 138 (2 x 69). CSS 69 69.
135 G Dear (Murrayshall) 66 69, C Macaulay (Tulliallan) 66 69.
137 N Henderson (Glen) 67 70.
138 G Campbell (Blairgowrie) 69 69.
139 S McEwan (Caprington) 72 67.
140 P McLean (Peterhead) 70 70.
141 J King (Glasgow0 71 70, R Kellett (Colville Park) 72 69.
143 S Lockhart (Bathgate) 72 71, Z Saltman (Craigielaw) 73 70.
144 B Fotheringham (Forres) 68 76, M Stein (Craigielaw) 75 69, A Main (Thornton) 72 72, S McAllister (Craigielaw) 73 71, R Carson (Dalmahoy) 70 74.
145 D Murray (Newbattle) 72 73, S Walker (West Linton) 72 73, S Armstrong (Turnhouse) 79 66, S Henry (Cardross) 69 76, K Reilly (Silverknowes) 72 73.
146 D Stewart (Grantown on Spey) 74 72, J Lockie (Tantallon) 74 72, M Gray (Lanark) 71 75.
147 S Mann (Carnoustie) 72 75, F Sneddon (Lochgelly) 71 76, J Brownlie (Craigielaw) 73 74, S Bordon (Mouse Valley) 75 72.
148 S McGarvey (Glencorse) 77 71, M Hillson (Craigielaw) 75 73, S Borrowman (Dollar) 71 77, W Booth (Comrie) 73 75, B Sloan (Hamilton) 73 75.
MISSED THE CUT
149 G Douglas (West Linton) 75 74, J Gunn (Royal Dornoch) 75 74, K Mail (West Linton) 73 76, T Caldwell (Silverknowes) 75 74, S Smith (West Linton) 72 77, F McKenna (Balmore) 75 74.
150 D Martin (Longniddry) 73 77.
151 E Polson (Inverness) 70 81, O Lavelle (Elderslie) 74 77, A Howard (Murrayshall) 71 80.
152 K Holdsworth (West Linton) 74 78, J Ross (Royal Burgess) 78 74, G Duncan (Carnoustie) 75 77.
153 T Spencer (Inchmarlo) 76 77, T Cooper (Dalmahoy) 75 78, S Hume (Murrayshall) 72 81.
154 J McGuinness (Whitekirk) 72 82, G Robertson (Silverknowes) 77 77, S Stewart-Cation (Balbirinie Park) 77 77, J Findlay (Fraserburgh) 73 81, J Broadley (Deeside) 75 79.
155 C Robb (Inchmarlo) 78 77, I Munro (Stirling) 81 74.
157 G Hillson (Craigielaw) 78 77, J Russell (US) 76 80, G Richards (Kingsknowe) 74 82.
159 C Lawton (Stirling) 76 83.
160 M Williams (Craigielaw) 78 82, G Page (Balbirnie Park) 87 73, M Cunningham (Longniddry) 80 80, O McCrone (Turnhouse) 77 80.
162 P Ferrier (Baberton) 83 79.
163 J Tremaine (Craigielaw) 78 84.
168 B MacKay (West Linton) 83 85.

European Challenge Tour

IAIN PYMAN'S 63 SETS UP FIRST VICTORY
CHANCE FOR FIVE YEARS

By MICHAEL GIBBONS
Press Officer, European Challenge Tour

An outstanding third round of eight under par 62 allowed Englishman Iain Pyman to establish a two-stroke lead at the ECCO Tour Championship and set up the chance for a first victory in five years.
Pyman’s 62 took him to 17 under par 193 for the European Challenge Tour tournament, giving the 34 year old a two-shot advantage over the rampaging Magnus A Carlsson of Sweden, who fired the best round of the championship at the Odense Golf Club in Denmark, a spectacular ten under par 60 to charge into contention on 195.
Carlsson, who won his first Challenge Tour title at the Challenge of Ireland presented by Glasson last month, began the third round some five shots off the lead in a tie for ninth place, but after a quite stunning front nine of seven under par 29, he was fighting for the lead at the top of the leaderboard.
A further four birdies on the back nine took Carlsson into the lead, and not even a dropped shot on the 17th – his only aberration of the day – could take the gloss off of a stunning performance.
François Delamontagne, tied for the lead alongside Pyman at the conclusion of the rain-delayed second round that was concluded on Saturday morning, will join Pyman and Carlsson in the last match of the final round at Odense after a third round of 66 moved him to 14 under par 196 for the week.
England's John Morgan is in fourth place on197 after a 67.
Sweden’s Björn Pettersson added to the low scoring third round with a fine third round 61 to move to sixth on the leaderboard, but Pyman is the man to catch as he eyes the sixth Challenge Tour victory of his career, the last of which, at the BMW Russian Open, came five years ago.
“I played really well from tee to green. It was quite solid,” said Pyman, a five time winner on the Challenge Tour between 1999 and 2002.
“I hit better shots on the front nine but did not hole many putts. But on the back nine I holed some very good putts so it evened itself out. I really enjoy it here in Denmark. The course is very good and in good shape with thick rough around the greens.”
SCOREBOARD
Par 210 (3 x 70)
193 I Pyman(Eng) 64 67 62.
195 M A Carlsson (Swe) 65 70 60.
196 F Delamontagne (Fra) 65 65 66.
197 J Morgan (Eng) 64 66 67.
Other score:
215 M Urquhart (Sco) 70 69 76.

European Senior Masters

MARK 'JESSE' JAMES SHOOTS A 65 TO GET
INTO CONTENTION AT WOBURN

By Graeme Hamlett
Press Officer, European Seniors Tour

Sharp-shooting Mark James fired a brilliant seven under par round of 65 over the Duke’s Course to roar into contention at the European Senior Masters at Woburn Golf Club, where defending champion Carl Mason leads by one from Costantino Rocca after 36 holes.
Italy’s overnight leader Rocca carded a second consecutive three under par score of 69 to be on a six under par 138 total, while Englishman Mason shot a sparkling six under par 66 to close on a seven under par 137 total. It maintains his hopes of retaining his title and also becoming the top earner in European Seniors Tour history. “I’m feeling confident, and that makes such a difference to your golf,” said Mason.
However, the second day belonged to England’s James. Starting the day four over par after his opening 76, ‘Jesse,’ as he is known, had all guns blazing as he romped round without dropping any strokes, to finish on a three under par 141 total.
James, who has claimed a unique double at Woburn, having won the British Masters in 1990 and European Senior Masters in 2005, once again found the Duke’s Course to his liking.
Out in 31, James recorded birdies at holes one, three, four and six. Coming home, he birdied 12 and 13, before a closing riposte at the 18th when his wedge in set up a 20 foot putt he holed to seal his career best European Seniors Tour round.
The 1999 European Ryder Cup captain said: “That’s more like it. I’ve had a third and fourth place in America, but I’ve been playing a bit iffy, so I’ve been working hard on my game recently, just on a bit of everything. Today was the first time it’s come together and I feel I’ve turned a corner.
“It puts me in contention and it’s nice to have a sniff of a chance, providing Costantino and Carl don’t do something silly and get too far ahead. But I’m very pleased. I’ve never played better here at Woburn than that, and it’s nice to do it at the only European Seniors Tour event I’m playing in for the rest of the season.”
It was not such a good day for the Scots. John Chillas dropped out of the limelight with a 78, eight shots more than his opening round.
Sam Torrance took over a leading Scot with a 71 for 146 but, at nine shots off the pace with one round to go, the best he can hope is a top-five finish.
Bill Longmuir, a winner the other week, has "lost" it again. He had an 80 for 154.

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2 x 72). 6,896yd.
137 C Mason (Eng) 71 66.
138 C Rocca (Ita) 69 69.
140 G Encina (Chl) 72 68.
141 M James (Eng) 76 65, P Dugeny (Fra) 71 70.
142 J Rivero (Spn) 74 68, P Oakley (US) 72 70.
143 S Ginn (Aus) 75 68, G Watine (Fra) 73 70, B Cameron (Eng) 73 70, S Owen (Nzl) 72 71.
144 T Johnstone (Zim) 75 69, E Darcy (Irl) 72 72, G Cali (Ita) 71 73, E Rodriguez (Spn) 71 73, D Good (Aus) 70 74.
145 D O’Sullivan (Irl) 74 71; J Quiros (Spn) 71 74; M Foster (Eng) 71 74; M Pinero (Spn) 70 75
146 B Lincoln (RSA) 75 71; D Johnson (USA) 75 71; S Torrance (Sco) 75 71; A Sowa (Arg) 70 76
147 L Carbonetti (Arg) 76 71; I Mosey (Eng) 73 74; A Murray (Eng) 72 75
148 G Ralph (Eng) 78 70; J Rhodes (Eng) 76 72; T Allen (Eng) 76 72; N Job (Eng) 76 72; H Carbonetti (Arg) 75 73; S Martin (Sco) 75 73; P Teravainen (USA) 75 73; T Gale (Aus) 74 74; GJ Brand (Eng) 73 75; J Chillas (Sco) 70 78
149 D J Russell (Eng) 77 72; J Heggarty (Nir) 77 72; M Miller (Sco) 75 74; D Merriman (Aus) 75 74; J Bland (RSA) 74 75; D Cambridge (Jam) 73 76; M Poxon (Eng) 72 77
150 M Gray (Sco) 78 72; M Ferguson (Aus) 81 69; J Bruner (USA) 77 73; J Lapsley (Nzl) 74 76; B Malley (USA) 74 76
151 R Drummond (Sco) 79 72; B Heuchan (Can) 75 76; B Lendzion (US) 75 76
152 J Benda (USA) 83 69; M Bembridge (Eng) 76 76; N Ratcliffe (Aus) 76 76; T Rastall (Eng) 75 77
153 JM Canizares (Spa) 82 71; I Palmer (RSA) 79 74; T Horton (Eng) 76 77; B Larratt (Eng) 75 78
154 D Durnian (Eng) 79 75; B Longmuir (Sco) 74 80
155 K Spurgeon (Eng) 77 78; J Mashego (RSA) 76 79
156 N Coles (Eng) 81 75; A Garrido (Spa) 77 79
157 D Creamer (USA) 81 76; P Leonard (Nir) 79 78
158 V Garcia (Spa) 80 78
160 B Smit (RSA) 84 76; L Higgins (Irl) 83 77
166 T Charnley (Eng) 82 84

SCOTS HAVE A WINNING CHANCE IF
THEY PRODUCE THEIR SUNDAY BEST

Three Scots in the top 10 - Marc Warren, Alastair Forsyth and Stephen Gallacher - and six in all, including Colin Montgomerie, Steven O'Hara and Mark Loftus, in the top 20 with one round to go in the European Tour's Johnnie Walker Championship over the Gleneagles Hotel's Centenary Course.
What chance a home win by Marc Warren, one shot behind joint leaders Fredrik Andersson Hed (Sweden) and Englishman Simon Wakefield, or even Alastair Forsyth, only two off the pace, if he produces a sub-70 final round?
The rough is so thick in places on the Centenary Course that anything can happen over the final roun

JOHNNIE WALKER CHAMPIONSHIP
Gleneagles Hotel Centenary Course
THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Par 219 (3 x 73)
210 Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 73 71 66, Simon Wakefield 68 69 73
211 Marc Warren 65 73 73
212 Phillip Archer 68 71 73, Alastair Forsyth 69 71 72, Lee Westwood 74 69 69
213 Stephen Gallacher 71 72 70, Soren Hansen (Den) 69 72 72, Ariel Canete (Arg) 73 72 68, Thomas Levet (Fra) 69 68 76, Graeme Storm 70 70 73
214 James Kingston (Rsa) 70 73 71, Colin Montgomerie 69 74 71, David Lynn 72 68 74
215 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 67 74 74, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 71 72 72, Mark Loftus 70 74 71, Robert Dinwiddie 72 71 72, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 66 75 74, Steven O'Hara 71 73 71, Paul Casey 71 71 73, Marcus Higley 69 74 72, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 71 69 75, Miles Tunnicliff 67 74 74
216 Anthony Wall 73 71 72, Zane Scotland 68 73 75, Luis Claverie (Spa) 70 73 73, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 70 71 75, Barry Lane 70 71 75
217 Garry Houston 73 72 72, Alan McLean 72 71 74, Sion Bebb 71 72 74, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 73 71 73, Oliver Fisher 73 72 72, Mark Pilkington 68 76 73, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 71 74 72, Santiago Luna (Spa) 73 69 75
218 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 76 70 72, Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa) 74 72 72, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 68 74 76, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 71 72 75, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 72 74 72, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 69 75 74, Mark Foster 74 72 72
219 David Griffiths 71 73 75, Phillip Price 68 76 75, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 73 71 75, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 71 74 74, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 71 75 73, Paul Lawrie 69 77 73, Dean Robertson 69 75 75, Jose Manuel Carriles (Spa) 74 70 75
220 Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 75 71 74, Joost Luiten (Ned) 68 75 77, Greig Hutcheon 69 75 76, Darren Clarke 73 71 76, Brett Rumford (Aus) 72 73 75, Stephen Dodd 72 74 74, Matthew Millar (Aus) 77 67 76, Ian Garbutt 70 74 76
222 Richard Bland 69 75 78, Richard Finch 71 72 79, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 69 76 77
223 Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 73 73 77, Peter Lawrie 72 74 77
225 James Hepworth 68 75 82, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 73 71 81
226 Terry Price (Aus) 71 75 80, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 69 76 81

£1,099 PRIZE FOR JASON McCREADIE

WITH FIVE-UNDER 66 IN PAISLEY PRO-AM

Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle) bounced back from failing to beat the cut at Gleneagles in the Johnnie Walker Championship by winning the top prize of £1,099 in today's Paisley Golf Club pro-am.
Jason , pictured right, won by single shot from Stephen Gray (Hayston) with a five-under-par round of 66 which was highlighted by an eagle 3 at the 16th. He also had birdies at the second, seventh, 13th, 14th and 18th and bogeys at the third and 17th in hlavesl of 35 (one under par) and 31 (four under par).
Gray led the Paisley Golf Club team of Gary Price (+1), Jim Pollock (18) and Jim Kyle (14) to victory in the team event with a net score of 11-under-par 60 but only after a countback with the Firwood Construction Services team led by Fraser McLaughlan (Bothwell Castle) who also returned a net 60.
Paisley Golf Club were placed first on the better net inward half of 29 to 30.
LEADING PROFESSIONALS
Par 71
66 J McCreadie (Buchanan Castle).
67 S Gray (Hayston).
67 O Leslie (Prestonfield), G Paxton (Ralston).
70 C Kelly (Cawder), G Fox (West Kilbride), F McLaughlan (Bothwell Castle).
71 R Arnott (Bishopbriggs), D Orr (East Renfrewshire), P Wardell (Whitekirk).

US PGA TOUR SCOREBOARD

Deutsche Bank Championship
The TPC of Boston
Par 71
63 Camilo Villegas (Col).
65 Mike Weir (Can), Ryan Moore
66 Fredrik Jacobson (Swe), Brett Wetterich, Heath Slocum, Henrik Stenson (Swe), Steve Elkington (Aus).
67 Aaron Baddeley (Aus), Charlie Wi (Kor), Steve Stricker, Sergio Garcia (Spa), Trevor Immelman (Rsa), John Senden (Aus), Rich Beem, Craig Kanada
68 Brian Davis, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa), Adam Scott (Aus), Zach Johnson, Vaughn Taylor, Kevin Sutherland, Matt Kuchar, Tommy Armour III, Kenny Perry, Sean O'Hair, Jim Furyk, Bo Van Pelt, Stephen Ames (Can)
69 Charles Warren, Arron Oberholser, Robert Garrigus, Lucas Glover, Cliff Kresge, Charles Howell III, Brian Bateman, Jeff Maggert, Robert Allenby (Aus), Ryuji Imada (Jpn), Jonathan Byrd, Tim Clark (Rsa), Stuart Appleby (Aus)
70 Joe Ogilvie, Angel Cabrera (Arg), Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Phil Mickelson,
Will MacKenzie, Dean Wilson, Daniel Chopra (Swe), Steve Marino, Bob Estes, Chad Campbell, John Rollins, Ken Duke, Jason Gore
71 Jeff Quinney, Woody Austin, Stephen Leaney (Aus), Brett Quigley, Justin Rose, Tim Petrovic, Briny Baird, Jerry Kelly, Tim Herron, Steve Flesch, Hunter Mahan, Kevin Na (Kor), George McNeill, Brandt Snedeker, Rocco Mediate, Troy Matteson, D.J. Trahan
72 Tiger Woods, Pat Perez, Bart Bryant, Jeff Overton, Stewart Cink, Ben Curtis, Peter Lonard (Aus), Nathan Green (Aus), J J Henry, Justin Leonard, J.B. Holmes, Mark Calcavecchia, Luke Donald, Carl Pettersson (Swe), Padraig Harrington
73 Charley Hoffman, Chris DiMarco, Billy Mayfair, John Mallinger, Mark Wilson, Anthony Kim, Jose Coceres (Arg), KJ Choi (Kor), Ian Poulter, Boo Weekley, Retief Goosen (Rsa), Douglas Labelle
74 Kevin Stadler, Vijay Singh (Fij), Rodney Pampling (Aus), Brian Gay, Harrison Frazar
75 Nick Watney, Paul Goydos, Davis Love III, David Toms, Tom Pernice Jnr.
76 Fred Funk
77 Shaun Micheel, Ted Purdy
78 Bubba Watson, Nick O'Hern (Aus)
79 J.P. Hayes

GAY BREWER, 1967 MASTERS CHAMPION, DIES AT 75

Gay Brewer, the 1967 Masters champion who won 11 times on the US PGA Tour, died on Friday at his home after a fight with lung cancer. He was 75.
Brewer, who also won once on the US Champions (Seniors) Tour before retiring in 2000, had been battling cancer since October, fiancee Alma Jo McGuire said.
"It was incurable," she said. "It was easier on him and the family that it didn't go any longer than it did."
Brewer won the 1967 Masters for his lone major title a year after he lost an 18-hole play-off to Jack Nicklaus. In 1966, Brewer three-putted the 72nd hole to fall into the play-off with Nicklaus and Tommy Jacobs.
"We are deeply saddened by the loss of Gay Brewer," said Billy Payne, chairman of the Masters and Augusta National Golf Club. "Gay was a wonderful champion and individual and will be dearly missed in April. We express our heartfelt sympathy to his family."
In June, Picadome Golf Course in Lexington, where Brewer learned to play, changed its name to honor him. Brewer played college golf at the University of Kentucky.
"He was just really personable," McGuire said. "I don't know anybody who didn't like him."
Brewer is survived by daughters Kelly Allen and Erin Provence and four grandchildren.
"Gay was great," Tiger Woods said at the Deutsche Bank Championship. "Man, he told more stories and was just incredible to be around."
Jim Thorpe and other Champions Tour players remembered Brewer's unique swing which had its roots in a broken elbow at the age of seven.
"He was a great player in his day," Thorpe said at the Champions Tour event at Pebble Beach. "Some people just can't be replaced and he was one of those guys. He was like the Sam Sneads and the (Ben) Hogans of the world. He was one of those guys who had a little bit of an unorthodox swing and that sort of stuff, but it worked for him."