North of Scotland open amateur stroke-play championship

Kevin McAlpine leads by two from

Philip McLean at Lossiemouth

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Kevin McAlpine (Alyth), former winner of both the Scottish men's amateur match-play AND stroke-play championships, is bang in contention for his first victory since his serious knee operation during the winter.
Kevin, pictured right, shot rounds of 69 and 68 for an aggregate of 137 - the combined CSS was 146 (2x73) - to lead the North of Scotland open amateur stroke-play championship for the David Blair Trophy by two shots over the Moray Golf Club Old Course today.
Kevin, who won the David Blair Trophy at Nairn Dunbar in 2006, has a two-shot lead over his nearest challenger, Philip McLean, the Peterhead 22-year-old who won the Leven Gold Medal two weeks ago and last Sunday lost out to Kris Nicol (Fraserburgh) in a play-off for the North-east District Open.
Philip had rounds of 71 and 68 today for 139.
Last year's Scottish boys' stroke-play champion Mark Bookless (Sandyhills) is lying third at the halfway stage on 140 with rounds of 71 and 69.
Lowest round of the day was a 67 by Graham Robertson (Silverknowes) in the second round.
Graham, who had a 75 in his first round, is sharing fourth place on 142 with Dean Yeats (Nigg Bay), a former Scottish boys' championship beaten finalist, Kevin Matheson (Royal Dornoch) and Gordon Yates (Hilton Park).
Defending champion Kris Nicol had a disappointing second-round 77 after a first-round 72 and, 12 shots off the pace on 149, he has a mountain to climb over Sunday's final 36 holes. Fraser Fotheringham (Nairn), whom Nicol beat in a play-off for the North of Scotland title at Nairn 12 months ago, is on 143 after scores of 73 and 70.
Richard Graham (Hayston) was first-round pacemaker with a 68 but dropped out of the lead with an 81 for 149.
QUALIFIERS
+43 players with totals of 150 qualified to play Sunday's
final 36 holes
Par 142 (2x710 CSS 73 73
137 Kevin McAlpine (Alyth) 69 68.
139 Philip McLean (Peterhead) 71 68.
140 Mark Bookless (Sandyhills) 71 69.
142 Graham Robertson (Silverknowes) 75 67, Dean Yeats (Nigg Bay) 74 68, Kevin Matheson (Royal Dornoch) 72 70, Gordon Yates (Hilton Park) 69 73.
143 Fraser Fotheringham (Nairn) 73 70, Danny Edwards (Elgin) 72 71, Michael Main (Thornton) 72 71, Chris Robb (Inchmarlo) 71 72.
144 Michael Daily (Erskine) 70 74.
145 Alex Main (Thornton) 74 71, Bobby Rushford (Grangemouth) 74 71, Calum Stewart (Brora) 72 73, Scott Little (Moray) 71 74, Daniel Somerville (St Andrews) 70 75.
146 Ross Bell (Downfield) 75 71, Peter Spearman-Burn (NZ) 75 71, Graham Murray (Cullen) 75 71.
147 Malcolm MacLeman (Moray) 77 70, Christopher Forman (Peterhead) 76 71, Scott Borrowman (Dollar) 75 72, Gregor Stewart (Murcar Links) 73 74.
148 Mark Hillson (Craigielaw) 76 72, Robert Sheils (Moray) 74 74, Alexander Culverwell (Dunbar) 74 74, Michael Watson (Elgin) 73 75.
149 Robert McKerron (Forres) 75 74, Adam Dunton (McDonald Ellon) 75 74, Gary Thmson (Moray) 75 74, Sam Binning (Ranfurly Castle) 75 74, Kevin Thomson (Moray) 74 75, Lyle McAlpine (Invergrdon) 74 75, Craig Watson (East Renfrewshire) 74 75, Kris Nicol (Fraserburgh) 72 77, Richard Graham (Hayston) 68 81.
150 Darren Gould (Ladybank) 79 71, Allan Cameron (Inverness) 76 74, Ewan Forbes (Inverness) 75 75, Ian Angus (Duff House Royal) 75 75, Mike MacDonald (Fortrose & Rosemarkie) 74 76, John Duff (Newmachar) 73 77.
MISSED THE CUT
151 Steven Robertson (Sandyhills) 78 73, Colin Thomson (East Renfrewshire) 77 74, Ryan Bain (Strathlene) 75 76.
152 Euan Polson (Inverness) 82 70, Nick Robson (Meldrum House) 79 73, Jeff Wright (Forres) 79 73, Simon Lockhart (Bathgate) 78 74, John Mitchell (Fraserburgh) 77 75, John Forbes (Inverness) 77 75, Ben Sloan (Cathkin Braes) 77 75, John Godward (McDonald Ellon) 77 75.
153 Chris Gaitens (Fortrose & Rosemarkie) 81 72, Grant Minnes (Hayston) 78 75, Derek Ramsay (Elgin) 78 75.
154 Ian Redford (Silverknowes) 81 73, Justin Duff (Fraserburgh) 79 75, Gordon Stevenson (Whitecraigs) 70 84.
155 Stewart McCulloch (McDonald Ellon) 82 75, Michael Buchan (Cruden Bay)78 77, Barry McDermott (Leven GS) 75 80.
156 Conor O'Neil (Glasgow) 82 74, George Finlay (Ballumbie Castle) 79 77, Kevin Thomas-Duncan (McDonald Ellon) 77 79.
157 Neil McWilliam (Garmouth & Kingston) 83 74, Billy Main (Murcar Links) 78 769.
158 Andrew Hepburn (Fraserburgh) 78 80.
161 Steven Younger (Hirsel) 82 79. 162 Torquil McInroy (North Berwick) 81 81.
163 Jordan Findlay (Fraserburgh) 81 82, Michael Gray (Lanark) 80 83.
NRs Paul Betty (Hayston) 77 NR, Mathew Clark (Kilmacolm) 78 NR.

Tartan Tour Scoreboard
DRUMPELLIER PRO-AM
Drumpellier Golf Club
FINAL PRO SCORES
Par 71
64 Ian Taylor (Drumpellier) £1,469.86.
65 Lindsay Mann (Carnoustie), Steven Taylor (Bothwell Castle) £1,028.52 each.
67 Mark King (Kingsfield), Stephen Gray (Hayston) £595.16 each.
68 Hamish Kemp (Bishopbriggs), Fraser Mann (Musselburgh), David Orr (East Renfrewshire). Jason McCreadie (Buichanan Castle) £356.43 each.
69 Lee Harper (Archerfield Links), Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs) £234.98 each.
70 Ross Neill (Drumpellier), Alan Lockhart (Ladybank), Edward Thomson (Senit Associates), Graeme Lornie (Paul Lawrie Foundation), Craig Ronald (Carluke), Jonathan Lomas (unatt) £168.99 each.
71 Craig Matheson (Falkirk Tryst), Euan Cameron (Hamilton), Paul Wardell (Whitekirk), Andrew Oldcorn (Kings Acre), Scott Henderson (Kings Links) £85.37 each.
72 Mark Kerr (Marriott Dalmahoy), Greig Hutcheon (Banchory) £59.14 each.
73 Fraser McLaughlan (Bothwell Castle), Callum Nicoll (Prestwick), Andrew Marshall (Houston GR) £59.14 each.
74 Mark Loftus (Cowglen), Chris Kelly (Cawder), Gordon Law (Uphall) £59.14 each.
75 Stewart Savage (Dalmuir), Ian Graham (Crow Wood), Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills), Christopher Tierney (Airdrie), Christopher Russell (RAW Golf Course Design), Scott Morrison (Acushnet Europe Ltd) £59.14 each.
76 Craig Lee (unatt) £59.14.
77 Kennethy Monaghan (Bothwell Castle) £59.14.
79 Anthony Mackrell (Playsport Golf) £59.14.
NRs Paul Brookes (Pitreavie), Scott Catlin (Greenburn) £29.57 each.
WINNING TEAM
56 (15 under par) Mark Loftus (Cowglen) & Malcolm McLean Team: Malcolm McLean (handicap 9), Robert Crawford (4), Ron Hill (14)..

Graham Burroughs and Robert Hubbard win

play-off climax to PGA Super 60s' event

FROM THE PROFESSIONAL GOLFERS ASSOCIATION WEBSITE
Long-serving Boyce Hill (near Southend) professional Graham Burroughs capped his 35th year at the Essex club by claiming the PGA Super 60s title with the assistance of amateur partner Robert Hubbard.
A year after finishing second, Burroughs made a step up the top of the podium - but only after two extra holes of a sudden death play-off against former Teignmouth professional Peter Ward and his partner Ian Turner after both pairs tied at 11-under-par at Worcestershire's famed Blackwell Golf Club.
Ward ensured their would be the need for a play-off after sinking a tricky four-four putt at the last to card a second round six-under-par 64, one shot shy off the best of the week 63 by Burroughs and Hubbard, who began the day two shots behind the leaders.
After regrouping, both professionals parred the first play-hole, the par four first, before Burroughs claimed victory at the par three second, tapping in for par after his birdie effort lipped out having landed his tee shot just five feet from the pin.
It capped an impressive day for Burroughs and Hubbard, both former school friends, and went part way towards the disappointment of being second 12 months earlier.
"Nothing can really make up for last year but it really is such a nice thing to win," said Burroughs.
"Robert played well and it was a shame for the others to lose, but I am very pleased to have won.
"We dovetailed really well, I had a few birdies and Robert used his shots well. The last hole was the one that saved our bacon as I hit my second shot in the bunker but got it up and down, which helped.
"It was then an anxious wait and we were hoping there wouldn't be a play-off then Peter sunk his putt to draw level, so it was a very nice when we eventually won."
It was a unique experience for 61-year-old Hubbard, who savoured his two day in the heat of battle with the professionals.
"Graham played great and held it together making that par to win, which was great and I just feel elated," he said.
"Playing with the pros at this level you see how they play and so when you do something nice and come in when you can, it's fantastic.
"I've thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience as I've never been involved in anything like this before."
As for the vanquished Ward, who added a 64 to the opening day 65 with Turner, he attempted to take the positives out of the play-off defeat.
"I'm disappointed but I went round in 66 and played really good to be in my first play-off for a good few years," he said.
"I had a feeling when I was the 18th the putt would get us in the play-off and it was good to see it go in.
"Despite losing, this has been a good week. I haven't played an awful lot as I've been in France for the past five years so I really enjoyed the competition. This was the first opportunity I've had to play in it as I was in France last year when I became eligible."
Royal Guernsey's Norman Wood and amateur Steve Wild compiled a second round 65 to claim third place at seven-under-par 133, with 2007 champions Iain Clark and partner Colin Day fourth at five-under-par.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 140 (2x70)
129 Graham Burroughs (Boyce Hill) & amateur Robert Hubbard 66 63 (£1,250 to pro).
129 (btn at 2nd hole of play-off) Peter Ward (unatt) & amateur Ian Turner 65 64 (£1,000 to pro).
133 Norman D Wood (Royal Guernsey) & amateur Steve Wild 68 65 (£800 to pro).
135 Iain Clark (unatt) & amateur Colin Day 66 69 (£650 t0 pro).

St Andrews brings best out of Bob Cameron: leader

in Cleveland/Srixon Scottish Senior Open

By STEVE TODD, European Seniors Tour Press Officer
Bob Cameron is targeting more success in the Home of Golf when he takes a one-stroke lead into the final round of the Cleveland Golf/Srixon Scottish Senior Open after a flawless 68 over the Torrance course at Fairmont St Andrews.
The Englishman won the PGA Club Professionals Championship over The Duke’s Course at St Andrews in 2000 and he is praying the golfing gods are on his side again as he attempts to win a third European Senior Tour title – his first since his two victories in France and Italy in 2004.
Cameron posted four birdies and no bogeys to finish on seven under par 137, one shot clear of fellow overnight leader Luis Carbonetti of Argentina and Englishman Glenn Ralph, who signed for the low round of the day 67.
“I’ve always wanted to win in the UK and this would be an appropriate one to win as I won the Club Pros Championship over the Duke’s Course at St Andrews,” said the 56 year old Cameron . “Maybe there’s an omen there.
“I feel proud to be leading a tournament like this. It has been a while since I won and you get to the stage where you do wonder whether you can compete anymore but you look at Tom Watson in The Open approaching 60 and think if he can do it the rest of us can.
“It was a shaky finish – I had a couple of up and downs on the last couple of holes – but I’m in a position of confidence for tomorrow. I’m not doing anything spectacular but just keeping the ball in play. There are plenty of guys breathing down my neck though.
“I’ve been getting in contention a lot since my wins but it is the classic thing of getting the job done. It’s easier said than done though.
“Tomorrow is another chance though. Anytime you are out in the last group you’ve got a chance. Something else in the 60s might be good enough, especially with how the weather is looking.”
While Cameron’s groundwork came in the first ten holes of his round, compatriot Ralph came to life on the back nine to play himself into contention for his maiden Senior Tour title, with his best finish coming in the 2007 Scandinavian Senior Open just before a broken ankle ruled him out of action for 14 months.
“It all clicked into place after I made the turn,” he said. “I played well before that but didn’t get rewarded – I was just plodding along with pars then birdied ten, 11 and 12 and holed a lot of putts on the way back.
“I’m hitting the ball well but it depends on the weather. On a day like today again you’d need a 68 or 69 and I feel capable of that. I’m feeling confident and want that win. I’ve played well this year – I’ve come back stronger after the injury.”
Carl Mason , the all time leading Senior Tour money winner, is two strokes off the pace following a 68 which included five birdies on the front nine. He is tied in fourth place with Scotland’s Ross Drummond, the 2007 runner up, who signed for a steady round of 70.
Former Ryder Cup Ian Woosnam is six shots off the pace – the same margin he overturned in the final round of the Irish Seniors Open in association with Fáilte Ireland and AIB Bank in June – following a level par 72.
Sam Torrance, who designed the Fairmont St Andrews course which re-opened recently after being revamped, recovered from a back injury which caused him agony during the first round but was disappointed with his six over par 78 which leaves him well off the pace on nine over par.
“I saw a physio yesterday and it was extraordinary – within 10 minutes I could touch my toes. It was like I never had a problem,” said the 2002 Ryder Cup Captain. “So there’s no excuses for today! I didn’t play well and putted terribly. I had four three putts on the front nine.
“I birdied the first and thought ‘oh we’re off’ then three putted the second and progressively got worse. I was disappointed –I didn’t play well enough.”
SCROLL DOWN TO READ ALL THE SCORES

Hedblom's 196 54-hole total in KLM Open

is lowest of season on European Tour

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Sweden's Peter Hedblom achieved the lowest 54-hole total - 196 (14 under par over a par-70 track) - of the European Tour season today and will take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the KLM Open in the Netherlands.
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Joint halfway leader with defending champion Darren Clarke, the 39-year-old, without a single top-20 finish all year, added a superb six-under-par 64 to his two opening 66s.
That was too hot for Clarke to handle and even though a 67 was no disaster, the Ulsterman dropped to third place - one behind Dubliner Peter Lawrie.
Hedblom has won only two of more than 350 Tour events in his career and after missing his last three halfway cuts took himself off to a near-deserted island in his home country to forget about the game for a while.
It seems to have done the trick. Needing to climb 40 places from his current 155th position on the money list to keep his card, he now has a first prize of nearly £260,000 and a two-year exemption in his sights.
THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Par 210 (3x70)
196 Peter Hedblom (Swe) 66 66 64 198 Peter Lawrie 65 68 65
199 Darren Clarke 65 67 67
200 Jamie Donaldson 66 68 66, Kenneth Ferrie 66 67 67, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 69 65 66, Sam Little 70 67 63
201 Marcus Higley 71 63 67, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 68 67 66, Markus Brier (Aut) 67 69 65, Barry Lane 68 68 65
202 Damien McGrane 67 67 68, Alexander Noren (Swe) 72 66 64, Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 67 66 69, Simon Dyson 67 67 68, Bradley Dredge 66 67 69
203 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 70 66 67, Richie Ramsay 69 68 66, Paul Lawrie 66 68 69, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 72 63 68, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 74 64 65, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 69 69 65
204 Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 67 67 70, Garry Houston 67 70 67, Gareth Maybin 67 68 69, David Lynn 68 68 68, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 70 64 70, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 69 68 67, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 66 69 69, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 66 67 71, Paul McGinley 64 70 70
205 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 71 67 67, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 68 71 66, Shane Lowry 66 68 71, Sion Bebb 71 67 67, Richard Green (Aus) 69 67 69
206 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 70 66 70, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 68 71 67, Andrew Coltart 68 69 69, Phillip Price 66 72 68, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 67 68 71
207 Chris Wood 71 68 68, David Horsey 73 66 68, Mark Brown (Nzl) 68 71 68, Simon Khan 68 71 68
208 Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 70 68 70, Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 70 69 69, Gary Orr 64 73 71, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 71 68 69, Benn Barham 71 68 69, Simon Wakefield 69 68 71, Ross McGowan 70 67 71
209 David Drysdale 72 65 72, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 70 67 72, Guido Van Der Valk (Ned) 71 67 71, Miles Tunnicliff 70 69 70
210 Ulrich Van Den Berg (Rsa) 69 68 73, Callum Macaulay 66 73 71, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 65 71 74, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 70 67 73, Mark Foster 69 68 73, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 69 70 71
211 Rafael Echenique (Arg) 69 69 73
212 Michael Jonzon (Swe) 69 69 74, Graeme Storm 71 67 74
214 Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 69 69 76
216 Phillip Archer 74 64 78
219 David Dixon 72 66 81

Cleveland Golf/Srixon Scottish Senior Open Scoreboard
FAIRMONT ST ANDREWS, TORRANCE COURSE
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72)
137 B Cameron (Eng) 69 68
138 L Carbonetti (Arg) 69 69, G Ralph (Eng) 71 67
139 C Mason (Eng) 71 68, R Drummond (Sco) 69 70
140 R Chapman (Eng) 71 69, G Brand Jnr (Sco) 71 69, D Johnson (USA) 71 69, P Senior (Aus) 70 70
141 T Johnstone (Zim) 71 70
143 I Woosnam (Wal) 71 72, S Owen (Nzl) 73 70
144 P Mitchell (Eng) 73 71, A Murray (Eng) 72 72, T Giedeon (Ger) 73 71, D Durnian (Eng) 72 72
145 B Longmuir (Sco) 72 73, G Cali (Ita) 74 71,
146 B McColl (Sco) 74 72, S Bennett (Eng) 74 72, B Lincoln (RSA) 74 72, J Rivero (Esp) 73 73, G Ryall (Eng) 71 75, S Ginn (Aus) 76 70,
147 M Miller (Sco) 77 70, N Ratcliffe (Aus) 73 74, B Charles (Nzl) 76 71, G Brand (Eng) 75 72, E Rodriguez (Esp) 73 74, M Harwood (Aus) 74 73, H Carbonetti (Arg) 73 74, D Merriman (Aus) 73 74,
148 D Smyth (Irl) 72 76, C Williams (RSA) 74 74, A Franco (Par) 73 75, G Towne (USA) 73 75, D Hospital (Esp) 75 73, I Mosey (Eng) 77 71,
149 D Cambridge (Jam) 77 72, B Boyd (USA) 71 78, E Darcy (Irl) 74 75, P Allan (Eng) 72 77,
150 J Bland (RSA) 76 74, G Encina (Chi) 76 74, P Oakley (USA) 73 77, T Gale (Aus) 74 76, M Farry (Fra) 76 74, N Job (Eng) 74 76,
151 J Hall (Eng) 76 75,
152 M Cunning (USA) 75 77, A Barrera (Arg) 75 77, M Clayton (Aus) 77 75, J Chillas (Sco) 74 78, J Bruner (USA) 77 75, M Williams (Zim) 76 76,
153 S Torrance (Sco) 75 78, E Polland (Nir) 81 72, K Spurgeon (Eng) 81 72, M Piñero (Esp) 75 78,
154 G Hopkins (USA) 78 76, B Smit (RSA) 73 81, A Garrido (Esp) 77 77, D Russell (Eng) 80 74,
155 V Garcia (Esp) 80 75, D O'Sullivan (Irl) 78 77, J Heggarty (Nir) 74 81,
156 D Good (Aus) 80 76,
157 J Rhodes (Eng) 78 79,
158 M Bembridge (Eng) 81 77,
159 A Fernandez (Chi) 77 82,
160 J Hawkes (RSA) 79 81,
170 R Hopkins (USA) 86 84,

Image of Victor Dubuisson with the trophy and Ross Kellett on the right is from the championship website.

Dubuisson pips Kellett for the title

after two-stroke swing at the 17th

FROM THE EUROPEAN MEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE
Frenchman Victor Dubuisson, 19, started the final round at Chantilly three strokes behind the leading Scottish pair of James Byrne and Ross Kellett.
But, with a final round of five-under-par 66 for a seven-under-par total of 277, Dubuisson won the tournament, two years after another Frenchman, Benjamin Hebert, was the winner in Germany. France's young Clement Sordet finished joint third with the same total (280) as the Englishman Billy Hemstock.

Kellett, the long-time leader or joint leader, finished second, beaten by a shot, with a closing round of 70 for 278.
The final word was written on the last two holes of the last day - birdie for Victor Dubuisson, bogey for Ross Kellett, par for both on the last hole.
"I will wait a little before turning pro, to enjoy playing the Open Championship on the Old Course, St Andrews next summer," said Dubuisson.
"I came here with a great motivation : a win to play the Open, a top five finish to get directly in the PQ2 (European Tour School Qualifying.
"I am so happy to have won the European amateur title before turning pro !"
The final race for gold started on the first holes, Ross Kellett making a very good start with birdie on the second, while James Byrne made a bogey on hole 4. James never succeeded in making a comeback.
Playing just behind them, Victor Dubuisson birdied the fifth and sixth. After nine holes, Victor Dubuisson,with a bag of four birdies, had joined Kellett in the lead at six-under-par.From this point, it was a two-horse race for the title between Kellett and Dubuisson.
With a birdie on the ninth, Ross Kellett regained his leadership at seven-under-par.
No more birdies for Victor Dubuisson on the following four, one more for Ross Kellett on the 12th, to see him go two strokes clear at eight under par
A bogey on the 14th put the Scot back to seven under par, one ahead of Dubuisson with another Frenchaman, Clement Sordet another stroke behind in third place, followed by two Englishmen.
Bogeys at the 17th for Kellett and 16-year-old Sordet
Then came the decisive two-shot swing in Dubuisson's favour at the 17th where he had a birdie and Kellet a bogey. .
Dubuisson came into the tournament as No 6 in the European rankings and No 14 in the R&A WAGR.

Hemstock, who finished with a 69, and Sordet, a 68, finished joint third on 280.

James Byrne was placed joint seventh on 273 with British amateur champion Matteo Manassero from (Italy). Byrne finished with a 75, Manassero a 68.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71)
277 V Dubuisson (France) 65 75 71 66.
278 R Kellett (Scotland) 67 66 75 70.
280 B Hemstock (England ) 72 69 70 69, C Sordet (Franc) 69 70 73 68.
281 M Nixon (England) 73 69 68 71.

282 A Runcie (Wales) 67 71 74 70.

283 M Manassero (Italy) 71 72 72 68, J Byrne (Scotland) 69 69 70 75.

284 J Abbott (England) 71 69 74 70, C Paisley (England) 69 74 71 70.

Selected scores:

288 Wallace Booth (Scotland) 76 71 67 74 (jt 25th).

291 Glenn Campbell (Scotland) 72 74 72 73.

294 Paul O'Hara (Scotland) 74 72 74 74.

England fancy their chance of toppling

Scotland in next week's internationals

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY ENGLISH GOLF UNION
England will seek to regain the Raymond Trophy when the Home Internationals get underway at Hillside Golf Club, Southport, next week (Wednesday to Friday, August 26 to 28).
But with seven Walker Cup players in their line-up, they will be targeted by the three other nations. In fact, all ten Walker Cup men who will face the amateurs of the United States at Merion next month, will be in action at Hillside when Ireland will defend the trophy they won at Muirfield last year.
England include four new caps - Stiggy Hodgson (Sunningdale, Surrey), Matthew Nixon (Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire), Chris Paisley (Stocksfield, Northumberland) and James Robinson (Southport & Ainsdale, Lancashire) – in an otherwise experienced side containing seven of the side that finished third last year.
Overall, the England record this year is spectacular. Having beaten Spain and Australia and won the European Nations Cup, the only slight blemish came in the final of the European men’s team Championships at Conwy in Wales when they lost to Scotland.
So England captain Colin Edwards will be looking to extend that record. “We have had a really good year with our teams and some great individual performances. But winning back the title won’t be easy,” he said. “I’m really excited about the week. We have four new faces and to have seven Walker Cup players in our side is unbelievable. “That means the expectations are higher than before so meeting us will be everyone’s big game. We play Scotland on the first day and having lost to them in the European final adds that extra edge. But this time there are ten players in action rather than six.”
Scotland come to Hillside as World and European Champions and their team contains two Walker Cup players in Gavin Dear and Wallace Booth, while Niall Kearney, winner of the Brabazon Trophy at Moortown in May, is in the Irish line-up.
Admission is free to the event. For those unable to attend, scoring, championship commentary and news updates are available on the Home Internationals website, www.homeinternationals.org.
Teams:
ENGLAND
Jamie Abbott (Fynn Valley) Tommy Fleetwood (Formby Hall) Luke Goddard (Hendon) Matt Haines (Rochester & Cobham) Stiggy Hodgson (Sunningdale) Sam Hutsby (Liphook) Farren Keenan (Sunningdale) Matthew Nixon (Ashton-under-Lyne) Chris Paisley (Stocksfield) James Robinson (Southport & Ainsdale) Dale Whitnell (Five Lakes)
IRELAND
Robert Cannon (Laytown & Bettystown) Cian Curley (Newlands) Paul Cutler (Portstewart) Connor Doran (Banbridge) Alan Dunbar (Rathmore) Niall Kearney (Royal Dublin) Dara Lernihan (Castle) Pat Murray (Limerick) Kelan McDonagh (Athlone) Paul O’Kane (Moyola Park) Simon Ward (Co Louth)
SCOTLAND
Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie) Steven McEwan (Caprington) Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck) Ross Kellett (Colville Park) Gavin Dear (Murrayshall) Keir McNicoll (Carnoustie) James Byrne (Banchory) Paul O’Hara (Colville Park) David Law (Hazlehead) Wallace Booth (Comrie) James White (Lundin).
WALES
Nigel Edwards (Whitchurch) Rhys Enoch (Truro) Oliver Farr (Ludlow) James Frazer (Pennard) Richard Hooper (Neath) Alistair Jones (Radyr) Rhys Pugh (Vale of Glamorgan) Adam Runcie (Abergele) Luke Thomas (Vale of Glamorgan) Joe Vickery (Newport) Ben Westgate (Trevose) -

England field two new caps in Under-16

match against Spain at Heswall

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY ENGLISH GOLF UNION
England will field two new caps – Oliver Carr (Heswall, Cheshire) and Max Orrin (North Foreland, Kent) in their four-strong team to face Spain in the annual Under 16 international at Heswall on August 25.
The two other members of the team will be Sebastian Crookall-Nixon (Workington, Cumbria) and Harry Casey (Enfield, Middlesex).
Carr, 16, a former Cheshire junior champion, played in the winning Nations Cup team in the McGregor Trophy at Radcliffe-on-Trent and represented the English Golf Union in the recent Harder German Junior Masters, finishing tied 14th.
Orrin, 15, from Kent, was prominent in the McGregor Trophy, being joint leader at halfway and finishing just a shot out of the five-man play-off. He has shown consistent results this year including victory in the South of England boys' championship, runner-up in the Douglas Johns Trophy, fifth in the Kent Youths and sixth place in the English Under-16 Schools Championship. Crookall-Nixon, 15, has been English Under-16 Champion for the past two years, retaining the title in the five-man playoff at Radcliffe-on-Trent and was a member of the winning Nations Cup team. He made his international debut in last year’s Under 16 match against Spain and also played against Scotland and Ireland.
He also earned his first boys cap in this month’s boys' home internationals at Hankley Common, winning three of his five matches. Casey, 16, won his first Under 16 cap against Spain last year, is the current Middlesex Under 16 Champion and a former winner of the Douglas Johns Trophy. He also represented the EGU in the Harder German Junior Masters and was a member of the Nations Cup team that finished joint runners-up in the McGregor Trophy.

US NATIONWIDE TOUR REPORT

Michael Sim sharing lead at

halfway in Christmas in

October Classic

A double bogey at the 17th cost Paul Claxton the outright lead after two rounds of the US Nationwide Tour's Christmas in October Classic at Overland Park, Kansas. But the 41 year old from Georgia is still a happy man to be figuring in a triple trie with Aberdeen-born Australian Michael Sim (second-round 67), pictured above, and Tom Gillis (68) from Michigan at 10-under-par 132 at the Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate.
Steve Wheatcroft (67) is one behind and Joe Daley (66) two shots off the pace.
Claxton, a veteran of 306 career starts on the Nationwide Tour, remained upbeat late in the day despite his 5 at the par-3 eighth hole.
"I hit a bad shot and then I hit a poor bunker shot that didn't get out of the bunker," he said. "When you play golf long enough, stuff like that happens. I'm going to try and put it behind me and think about the good things that happened."
Five birdies on his outward half had got Claxton to 13 under, three better than Sim, who posted his score early in the day. Two bogeys and a lone birdie, coupled with the double, brought Claxton back to the pack. The biggest issue of the day was the wind, which kicked up and remained steady around 20 mph.
"There are no trees and there's nothing to block out there," said Claxton. "It's hammering on you all day. It seemed like a lot of crosswinds today. You're always in between clubs. It's hard to really dial it in because you're guessing a lot and we don't like to guess."
Aberdonian Sim, the Nationwide Tour's leading money-winner this season, needs only one more win to gain automatic and immediate promotion to the US Tour, instead of waiting for the end-of-season move back among the "big boys."
Michael birdied four of his first six holes Friday morning to reach double digits but could do no better than even par the rest of the way, finishing off his day with a bogey on the final hole. It's the second straight day that the 24-year-old stumbled on his closing hole.
"I hit a good drive and a good second shot and the wind just didn't bring it back," said Sim of the 442-yard ninth hole. "I missed it on the wrong side of the flag."
That's about the only thing Sim has done wrong of late. The former No. 1-ranked amateur in the world has won twice and has been a dominant force this year. He tied for 51st at last week's PGA Championship and is only two good days away from win No. 3 and a place among the elite.
"I've been in this position before and I know what it feels like so I'm just going to get it out of back of my mind and just play golf the last two rounds," said Sim, who shared the 54-hole lead at the Cox Classic in Omaha four weeks ago. "I got too distracted in Omaha and thought about it too much. I'm in a position now where I can do it but I've got to try and keep the distractions to a minimum."
A total of 68 players made the 36-hole cut, which came at 1-under 141.
Amateur Harry Higgs, who should be starting his senior year at nearby Blue Valley North High School this week, won't be around for the weekend after rounds of 69-84.
The 17-year-old got into trouble on his fourth hole of the day, the par-4 13th where he took a quadruple-bogey 8. Higgs could not find his tee shot in the heavy weeds and accepted a ride back to the tee to hit another shot.
The lost ball cost him two strokes and he incurred another two-stroke penalty for the cart ride. Higgs, who has already committed to playing golf for Southern Methodist University from August 2010, also had four double bogeys Friday and only one birdie.

Peter Thomson takes Tiger


Woods to task for attitude

FROM THE TELEGRAPH.CO.UK WEBSITE
By MARK REASON
The great Australian golfer Peter Thomson, winner of five Open Championships from 1954-1965, turns 80 today and has lost none of his old pepper.
The 'Melbourne Tiger' tweaked the tail of the modern day Tiger and a couple of other big beasts when he talked to the Telegraph Sport from his Melbourne offices this week.
Thomson, pictured right, is a quite remarkable man. He still plays three rounds of golf a week off a handicap of five and works in the offices of his course design company, Thomson Perrett & Lobb, for five days out of seven. He has impeccable manners and he demands the same standards of others.
Tiger Woods has not been measuring up lately. Thomson said:
"Woods is the major professional in his sport. No one else is so intense and leaves so little to chance. He'll win most of the events he plays in until he gets sick of it.
"He will probably win five Opens in his career before he stops, but he's up against an increasing number of young people who are matching him. He will find it harder and harder.
"I will add one other thing. I wish he'd smile more. He injures his image by being morose and petulant. There is also very little consideration for the fellow he is playing with. He could show more humility."
Woods very rarely bothers with what people say about him, but when as significant a figure as Thomson feels the need to say something, Tiger may take heed. Earl Woods might have pulled Tiger up in the past for some of his behaviour this year, but there are now too many sycophants around him.
The last round of the US PGA championship mattered more than usual because Thomson did so much to foster Asian golf. In 1960 Thomson played some exhibition matches in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. He was so impressed by the local fervour that he encouraged a number of Asian countries to set up their own Opens and persuaded some of the top players to take part
He said of Y E Yang's victory: "I was thrilled to see him win and full marks for the strength of character and steely nerve. We do now expect a rush in Asian golf, like my dream all those years ago.
"China will now come into the picture; there is a boom in course-building and there are 600 currently planned over there. We have six on the ground and six in the pipeline. The outcome of it all will be 100 top Chinese golfers."
Thomson acknowledged that golf's bid for inclusion in the Olympics would further boost golf's funding by the Asian countries, but described it as "a doubtful motive". He regards the Open as "golf's Olympics".
Thomson is a man of the world. The first truly global golfer, he stood for the Australian parliament and still writes for various magazines and newspapers. He will celebrate the day at home with his four children and 11 grandchildren.
Paying tribute to Thomson, Jack Nicklaus said: "I crawled on my hands and knees up the back of one tee (at the 1957 US Open) to watch Peter Thomson and Roberto De Vicenzo tee off. At that age, when you watched the swings of great players, you could not help but go out the next day or so and emulate them. I know I did."
Peter Alliss said: "I first saw him (Thomson) on June 16, 1951, playing in the Penfold Festival of Britain tournament. I can't believe Peter is 80. He always played with a jaunty spirit, which I found most attractive. I don't think the Americans ever really admitted what a great player he was.
"I particularly was delighted when he went over as a Senior, setting all sorts of records, winning nine events in a season and then casually washing his hands of it, saying, 'Well, that's it, you can see I can play a bit!' I don't think he ever bothered to return, which I thought was typical of Peter Thomson.
Always his own man, Thomson is puzzled by the modern obsession with swing coaches. He said: "Golf's a game of scoring. An hour spent playing six holes is 100 times more valuable than 50 practice balls.
"To get to the top you have to be totally self-reliant. If you need to ring someone up on the phone and say: '⃜I can't hit my wedges', you won't solve the problem.
"It's absurd that the world's greatest golfer is taking lessons. A pro should puzzle it out for himself. The young players need to find another system."
Thomson may just have solved Britain's absence of majors. Throw out the coaches and start thinking for yourselves, lads.
Happy birthday, Mr Thomson. Four-score years of talking sense and getting on with stuff. Must be an Aussie.

European Tour Scoreboard
KLM OPEN
LATEST THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
200 Sam Little 70 67 63 201 Markus Brier (Aut) 67 69 65
202 Alexander Noren (Swe) 72 66 64
203 Richie Ramsay 69 68 66, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 74 64 65, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 69 69 65
204 Garry Houston 67 70 67, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 69 68 67, David Lynn 68 68 68
205 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 71 67 67, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 68 71 66, Sion Bebb 71 67 67
206 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 68 71 67, Andrew Coltart 68 69 69, Phillip Price 66 72 68
207 Chris Wood 71 68 68, David Horsey 73 66 68, Mark Brown (Nzl) 68 71 68, Simon Khan 68 71 68
208 Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 70 68 70, Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 70 69 69, Gary Orr 64 73 71, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 71 68 69, Benn Barham 71 68 69, Simon Wakefield 69 68 71, Ross McGowan 70 67 71
209 David Drysdale 72 65 72, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 70 67 72, Guido Van Der Valk (Ned) 71 67 71, Miles Tunnicliff 70 69 70
210 Ulrich Van Den Berg (Rsa) 69 68 73, Callum Macaulay 66 73 71, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 65 71 74, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 70 67 73, Mark Foster 69 68 73, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 69 70 71
211 Rafael Echenique (Arg) 69 69 73
212 Michael Jonzon (Swe) 69 69 74, Graeme Storm 71 67 74
214 Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 69 69 76
216 Phillip Archer 74 64 78
219 David Dixon 72 66 81

Reinier Saxton signs up with IMG

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY IMG
Reinier Saxton has signed with the global sports management company, IMG.
Reinier, 21 years old, turned professional in June following a glittering amateur career which included becoming only the second Dutch player in 113 years to win the coveted 2008 British Amateur Championship title and this year, underlined his star potential by winning the 2009 Spanish Men’s Amateur Golf Championship as well as making the cut in the Memorial tournament on the US PGA Tour out performing many of the world’s best players.
Guy Kinnings, IMG’s Director of Golf, whose team represents the world's best golfers in cluding Tiger Woods, Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Retief Goosen, Colin Montgomerie and Michelle Wie, said; “Reinier has had an excellent amateur career and is a very exciting prospect. We are delighted that he has selected IMG to manage him around the world and look forward to being part of his team as embarks on this exciting stage of his career.”
Reinier, whose father is one of the founders of the successful Dutch golf company, Made in Scotland, explained, “I am thrilled to have turned professional and am really looking forward to the years ahead. Of course, this week I am especially excited about playing in the KLM Open and I am very grateful for the special invite I have been given to play in my national Open. I selected IMG as my management company because I want to be able to concentrate on my golf while they look after my affairs off the course.
"Their stable of players includes many of my golfing idols and I am looking forward to benefiting from all their experience in golf around the world.”

PGA EuroPro Tour Report

Four Scots finish in top 10

at Formby Hall Classic

By ANTHONY LEAVER
Tom Haylock has moved into second spot in the 2009 PGA EuroPro Tour Order of Merit after securing his second title of the year in the Formby Hall Classic at Formby Hall Golf Resort & Spa in Liverpool.
Haylock (Ground Construction Ltd) began the day five shots off the lead at one under par but set about climbing the Leaderboard with seven birdies in his final round – five in six holes from the ninth – and clinched the title by one stroke from James Freeman at five under despite a double bogey at 17.
“I wasn’t really thinking about it at the start of the day,” said Haylock, who climbs from tenth in the Order of Merit to sit one place behind money list leader Scott Jamieson. “I knew it was going to be windy throughout but I can’t say I was looking for anything other than one or two under and top ten really.”
The Hertfordshire man was one under for the day after the eighth hole when his remarkable birdie run began, although his six at the par-four 17th almost prevented him from adding this title to his first of the year claimed at Stoke by Nayland at the beginning of July.
“I just started holing putts at the start of the back nine,” said the 22 year-old. “I looked at the scoreboard at 15 and knew I was on top and if I could pick one more up in the last few holes I’d be in great shape. Then came the double bogey at 17 and the last is a tough hole too so I thought ‘here we go’, but thankfully in the end it was enough.”
With the end of the Tour drawing closer, the £10,000 first prize at Formby Hall was much coveted in the chase for a top five spot and a Challenge Tour card, something that the champion is very aware of.
“I’m in a great position of course but there’s still work to be done. The Tour Championship is worth £20,000 to whoever wins so that’s two tournaments effectively, but a top five place is in my hands now,” said Haylock, a 33/1 shot for the tournament with official bookmakers Sky Bet.
Freeman (Worksop) carded a three under round of 69 to take second spot after opening rounds of 73 and 70, but ultimately he will regret a bogey at the last which prevented a play-off with Haylock – and he wasn’t the only player who came close to winning on a topsy-turvy final day.
Jack Doherty (North Gailes) returns home to Scotland regretting the last four holes of his round, where two double bogeys and a bogey undid his earlier good work. Doherty roared out of the traps with five birdies and an eagle in his first seven holes to move to seven under for the tournament, and was eight under after another birdie at 14. But those five dropped shots from that point saw him card 70 and meant he had ended in a four-way tie for third, and drops one place to fourth in the money list.
Doherty’s burst put overnight leader Tim Dykes (Wrexham GC) under real pressure when he went out in the last pairing with Elliot Saltman (Aegon) – Dykes was six under going into the final round with Saltman one stroke behind him, but both men endured frustrating days.
Dykes was level at the turn before picking up a birdie at the tenth but a double bogey on the next hole followed by bogeys at 13, 15 and 16 ended his chances of victory, the Welshman carding a final round 75 to finish three under.
Ricky Lee (Tyneside GC) is another man whose strong claims for victory were ruined by the tough final holes, eventually joining Dykes and Doherty in third place despite moving into a commanding position through the front nine. Lee went through the turn at five under for the day – seven under for the tournament – but failed to register another birdie and bogeyed the 12th hole before a miserable run of three bogeys in the last three holes left him with a final round of 71. South African Michiel Bothma also returned a 71 to end on three under for the tournament.
Saltman was the 2/1 favourite overnight with Sky Bet despite being one stroke behind, but he gave himself too much to do after starting with bogeys on the first two holes. The Scotsman moved to one under after the tenth but matched Dykes’ double bogey at 11 and followed that with a bogey at 12 and another double at 15 to card a final round of 75 after setting the course record with a opening round of 65 – finishing two under for the tournament and dropping one place to fifth on the Order of Merit.
Paul Dwyer (Clitheroe) began the day at two over par, but a fine round of 68 saw him join Saltman at two under along with Neil Walker (Rotherham GC), Mark Kerr (Golf Fit Ltd/Bathgate GC) and Scott Henry (Cardross GC).
The PGA EuroPro Tour moves to Five Lakes Hotel, Golf, Country Club & Spa for the Brooks Brothers 2009 Classic in Essex, beginning Wednesday August 26.
To view the full Leaderboard from the tournament, click here: http://europro.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/europro9/event/europro98/contest/1/leaderboard.htm
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
1 Tom Haylock 70, 73, 68 211 -5 £10,000
2 James Freeman 73, 70, 69 212 -4 £5,000
=3 Jack Doherty 72, 71, 70 213 -3 £1,700
=3 Michiel Bothma 72, 70, 71 213 -3 £1,700
=3 Ricky Lee 70, 72, 71 213 -3 £1,700
=3 Tim Dykes 67, 71, 75 213 -3 £1,700
=7 Paul Dwyer 72, 74, 68 214 -2 £860
=7 Neil Walker 70, 74, 70 214 -2 £860
=7 Mark Kerr 69, 74, 71 214 -2 £860
=7 Scott Henry 69, 72, 73 214 -2 £860
=7 Elliot Saltman 65, 74, 75 214 -2 £860

Other Scots' scores:

12 Lloyd Saltman 75, 68, 72 215 -1 £700
=16 Scott Jamieson 72, 72, 73 217 +1 £446.25
=20 Lee Harper 73, 69, 76 218 +2 £355
=39 John Gallagher 74, 73, 75 222 +6 £250
47 Andrew Oldcorn 68, 78, 79 225 +9 £215
50 Shaun McAllister 70, 74, 85 229 +13 £200

Bryant leads from Funk in US

Senior Tour major event

Defending champion Fred Funk trails leader Brad Bryant by one stroke after 36 holes of the JeldWen Tradition seniors pro tournament at Crosswater Golf Club, Sunriver in Oregon.
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Related Links
Leaderboard: Scores
Round 3 tee times
See Bryant's card
Video: Jones birdies the 18th
Round 2 notebook
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Bryant's even-par 72 gave him a 10-under 134 aggregate in the fourth of five majors on the United Stated Champions Tour this year.
Funk shot 67 to reach 9-under through two rounds, while Loren Roberts, John Cook and Larry Mize were in a group another shot back entering the third round.
Bryant built a big lead with a first-round 62 that matched the tournament record
Bryant's two-birdie, two-bogey second round was just enough to hold the lead entering the weekend. His best finish this year was fourth at the Dick's Sporting Goods Open in June.
He has four overall Tour victories, his last at the Senior U.S. Open in 2007.
Funk was coming off a victory at the U.S. Senior Open, where he became the first player in a USGA championship to finish 20-under-par. A week earlier, he lost in a three-way playoff at the Senior British Open.
Funk has finished in the top-10 in the previous three Champions Tour majors this season and leads the Charles Schwab Cup points standings.
Roberts won the Tradition in 2005 and has won twice on the Tour this year, including the Senior British Open. The eight-time winner on the PGA TOUR recovered after a double-bogey on the par-4 eighth hole to shoot 71 on Friday.
"It's an attitude thing, it's a confidence thing," Roberts said. "If you have confidence in your game, you can get over it."
Tom Watson wasn't so lucky. After two bogeys and a double bogey on the front nine, he fell off the leaderboard and finished with a 74 to put him 3-under entering the weekend.
He nonetheless had one of the biggest galleries on the 7,533-yard course built in the shadow of Mount Bachelor. Watson has said this week that he's encountered many well-wishers in the past month, after losing in a play-off to Stewart Cink at the Open at Turnberry.
Watson won the Tradition in 2003.
Cook, who has struggled on the Champions Tour since winning last year's AT&T Championship, shot a 67, as did Mize, who just joined the Tour last year.
"No bogeys for me, and that's always a good thing," Cook said.

US PGA Tour Scoreboard
WYNDHAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Sedgefield Country Club, Greensboro, North Carolina
SECOND ROUND SCORES (incomplete)
Round 2 was not completed on Friday evening because of darkness. Play was scheduled to resume at 7.45am local time Saturday.
Par 140 (2x70)
129 Chris Riley 66 63
131 Bill Haas 62 69, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 67 64, Chez Reavie 64 67
132 Kevin Stadler 69 63, Marc Leishman (Aus) 67 65, Boo Weekley 65 67, Johnson Wagner 66 66, Fred Couples 66 66
133 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 69 64, John Senden (Aus) 69 64, Kevin Streelman 65 68, Alex Cejka (Ger) 67 66, Michael Allen 68 65, J J Henry 69 64, Justin Rose (Eng) 65 68, Ken Duke 66 67, Glen Day 69 64, Brandt Snedeker 64 69
134 Patrick Sheehan 67 67, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 69 65, Joe Ogilvie 67 67, Lucas Glover 66 68, Rich Beem 67 67, Fernando Mechereffe 69 65, Matt Weibring 68 66
135 Brian Davis (Eng) 70 65, Scott McCarron 66 69, Tim Herron 68 67, Robert Garrigus 68 67, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 69 66, Matt Bettencourt 69 66, Mark Wilson 70 65, Charles Howell III 68 67, Steve Marino 67 68, Martin Laird (Sco) 67 68, Bo Van Pelt 66 69, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 70 65
136 Kent Jones 68 68, Kris Blanks 74 62, Darron Stiles 70 66, Kevin Sutherland 71 65, Matthew Jones (Aus) 67 69, Brad Faxon 68 68, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 67 69, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 68 68, Bryce Molder 68 68, Rocco Mediate 67 69, Jonathan Byrd 66 70
137 Vaughn Taylor 67 70, Jeff Quinney 70 67, Steve Lowery 69 68, David Toms 69 68, Cliff Kresge 68 69, Jeff Klauk 69 68, Justin Thomas 65 72, Jimmy Walker 70 67, Corey Pavin 69 68, Jay Williamson 67 70, D.J. Trahan 67 70
138 Charley Hoffman 68 70, Billy Mayfair 69 69, Davis Love III 71 67, J.P. Hayes 70 68, Todd Hamilton 67 71, Harrison Frazar 71 67, James Driscoll 70 68, Greg Owen (Eng) 68 70, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 68 70, Brett Quigley 69 69, David Mathis 70 68, Bob Heintz 70 68, Troy Matteson 68 70, Tommy Gainey 72 66
139 Michael Bradley 71 68, Charles Warren 67 72, Chris Stroud 72 67, Kirk Triplett 69 70, Parker McLachlin 68 71, Heath Slocum 73 66, Ricky Barnes 70 69, Joe Durant 69 70, Ryan Blaum 67 72, Troy Kelly 69 70, Tyler Aldridge 71 68
140 Peter Tomasulo 72 68, Chris DiMarco 69 71, Lee Janzen 69 71, Ted Purdy 71 69, Bubba Watson 71 69, Scott Piercy 73 67, Peter Lonard (Aus) 68 72, Steve Elkington (Aus) 65 75, Brian Vranesh 70 70, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 73 67
141 Adam Scott (Aus) 66 75, Jason Dufner 68 73, Tag Ridings 68 73, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 72 69, James Nitties (Aus) 73 68, Will MacKenzie 70 71, K J Choi (Kor) 67 74, Roland Thatcher 73 68
142 Brendon De Jonge 71 71, Derek Fathauer 69 73, Brendon Todd 69 73, Marc Turnesa 70 72, Rick Price 73 69, Brian Bateman 71 71
143 Billy Andrade 73 70, Spencer Levin 70 73, Webb Simpson 72 71, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 71 72
144 George McNeill 74 70, Mark Calcavecchia 70 74, David Robinson 71 73, David Duval 74 70
145 Nicholas Thompson 74 71
146 Simon Mcgreal 75 71, Frank Lickliter II 73 73
147 Steve Allan (Aus) 72 75
148 Jason Gore 78 70
149 Eric Axley 75 74
WD: James Oh 69, Dean Wilson 71, Steve Flesch 72, Jonathan Kaye 75

SCOTS IN FRONT: Ross Kellett (left) and James Byrne (images by Cal Carson Golf Agency).

Byrne and Kellett lead European field

into last round at Chantilly

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

These are heady days for Scottish amateur golf - Arizona State University student James Byrne from Banchory and Motherwell's Ross Kellett of Colville Park Golf Club share the lead with one round to go in the European men's amateur individual championship at Chantilly Golf Club, France.

They are on the five-under-par 208 mark.

Byrne made up five shots on Kellett with a third-round 70 after earlier rounds of 69 and 69. Kellett had set a cracking pace with scores of 67 and 66 but went off the boil with a third-round 75. However, Ross is still sharing the pole position ahead of the pack of challengers, led by Germany's Max Keiffer on 209 with Matthew Nixon, the Lancashire lad who won the British boys championship at Royal Aberdeen two or three years ago, in fourth place on 210.

To qualify for the final round, players has to shoot seven over par 220 or better. Sixty players did but there were some surprise big names among those who didn't, notably Walker Cup Scot Gavin Dear from Scone nor England star Luke Goddard.

Murrayshall man Dear was well over the limit mark with deteriorating rounds of 73, 77 and 80 for 230. Michael Stewart from Troon Welbeck will also be an absentee from Saturday's action. He scored 77, 75 and 81 for 233.

Steven McEwan (Caprington) was another "failure) on 227 with scores of 75, 75 and 77. Carnoustie's Keir McNicoll missed out by an agonising one shot with scores of 73, 76 and 72 for 221.

Backing up Byrne and Kellett in the last hurrah are Wallace Booth (Comrie) who shot one of the best third rounds, a 67, after opening with 76 and 71. Wallace is on 214. Paul O'Hara (Colville Park) made the cut with nothing to spare - 74, 72 and 74 for 220.

Former Scottish match-play champion Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie) is also still in there pitching after rounds of 72, 74 and 72 for 218 and a share of 41st place.

SCOREBOARD

Par 216 (3x72)

208 James Byrne (Banchory) 69 69 70, Ross Kellett (Colville Park) 67 66 75.

209 Max Kieffer 67 74 68.

210 Matthew Nixon (England) 73 69 68.

211 Tapio Pulkkanen 71 72 68, Billy Hemstock (England) 72 69 70, Victor Dubuisson 65 71 71.

212 Clement Sordet 69 70 73, Adam Runcie (Wales) 67 71 74.

213 Olivier Serres 72 75 66, Andreas Hartoe 71 72 70, Mayel Oueldes Cheikh 72 69 72.

214 Wallace Booth (Comrie) 76 71 67, Alan Dunbar (Ireland) 67 78 69, Pontus Widegren 69 74 71, Chris Paisley (England) 69 74 71, Lucas Bjerregaard 72 70 72, Jamie Abbott (England) 71 69 74, Espen Kofstadt 66 73 75.

215 Farren Keenan (England) 72 72 71, Benedict Staben 75 69 71, Matteo Manassero 71 72 72, Mathieu Decottignes-Lafon 70 73 72, Ignacio Elvira 69 74 72, Sebastien Gros 71 71 73, Lukas Nemecz 72 70 73.

Selected scores:

216 Sam Hutsby (England) 70 72 75, Oliver Farr (Wales) 70 72 74 (jt 27th).

217 Alex Christie (England) 69 74 74 (jt 32nd).

218 Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie) 72 74 72 (jt 41st).

220 Jonathan Gidney (England) 75 72 73, Andrew Cooley (England) 76 70 74, Paul O'Hara (Colville Park) 74 72 74, Sam Matton (England) 74 72 74 (jt 50th).

MISSED THE CUT (220 or better)

221 Keir McNicoll (Carnoustie) 73 76 72, Steven Brown (England) 77 72 72, Darren Wright (England) 70 75 76.

222 Rhys Enoch (Wales) 74 78 70, Dale Whitnell (England) 74 74 74.

223 James Robinson (England) 73 73 77, Matt Haines (England) 71 74 78.

224 Luke Goddard (England) 74 75 75.

227 Steven McEwan (Caprington) 75 75 77.

230 Gavin Dear (Murrayshall) 73 77 80.

233 Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck) 77 75 81.

Torrance defies fierce back pain to stay

in touch at Scottish Senior Open

FROM THE SCOTSMAN WEBSITE
By JIM BLACK
Sam Torrance defied the odds in the first round of the Cleveland/Srixon Scottish Senior Open at the Fairmont St Andrews to shoot 75 despite being forced to play through the pain barrier for close on five hours.
Torrance confessed he had been on the point of withdrawing from the £225,000 tournament due to a crippling lower back injury, and later claimed he had experienced the worst pain of his life on a golf course in 40 years as a professional.
"I hit every drive one-handed and I was screaming every time I hit the ball," said Torrance. "It was a nightmare. That is the sorest I have ever felt on a golf course and I wouldn't have finished anywhere else."
But the 55-year-old former Ryder Cup-winning captain refused to succumb to his condition after being forced to take three pain-killing tablets prior to the first round on the course he helped redesign as part of a £17million revamp of the Fife resort.
Torrance simply gritted his teeth and carried on.
"I have had six physiotherapy treatments since I arrived here and while these will help in the long run, they don't do so immediately because you feel the reaction to the treatment," he said.
"I was very close to pulling out, but because it's here and it's the Scottish Open I did my best to try and get round."
Torrance said that he does not know how he sustained the mystery injury after revealing: "My lower back started stiffening up a couple of days ago and has got progressively worse. But I am not finished yet. If I can get the problem fixed by the morning, a 65 tomorrow would put me right back in it, but I have to be able to play to do that."
Ross Drummond of Paisley is joint leader following a three-under-par 69. He then insisted that it is high time he experienced the joy of winning after a clutch of second place finishes; two on the European Tour and three on the Seniors circuit.
The halfway leader in the recent US Senior Open said: "I have been knocking on the door for a while and it's time I opened it and walked in. This would be an ideal place to finally make the breakthrough at the Home of Golf."
Drummond birdied three of the last five holes to share the lead with Englishman Bob Cameron and Argentine Luis Carbonetti.
Cameron got off to a poor start when he hit a wayward drive and promptly dropped a shot, but he quickly rallied to birdie the third before claiming three more at nine, 13 and 14.
The 56-year-old from Plymouth, who is seeking his first victory for five years, said: "I have played quite well in the wind this season and came back strongly after my disappointing start."
Ian Woosnam, who appears to have overcome his foot problems after investing in a new pair of golf shoes, settled for a highly respectable 71 to claim a share of fifth place on the same mark as Fife-born former Ryder Cup player Gordon Brand Jnr, one shot behind Senior Tour debutant, the appropriately named Peter Senior of Australia.
Woosnam currently sits second in the order of merit behind Mark McNulty, whose absence from the event means that the little Welshman can overhaul him, provided to keeps the injured Torrance at bay.
Anglo-Scot Bill Longmuir, Scottish Senior Open champion in 2004, carded 72, while three-time Senior Tour winner John Chillas of Aberdeen had a 74.
*The full article above appears in The Scotsman newspaper today.

FIRST ROUND SCORES

Par 72

69 L Carbonetti (Arg) , R Drummond (Sco) , B Cameron (Eng) ,
70 P Senior (Aus) ,
71 C Mason (Eng) , G Ryall (Eng) , I Woosnam (Wal) , T Johnstone (Zim) , G Brand Jnr (Sco) , R Chapman (Eng) , B Boyd (USA) , D Johnson (USA) , G Ralph (Eng) ,
72 A Murray (Eng) , D Durnian (Eng) , D Smyth (Irl) , P Allan (Eng) , B Longmuir (Sco) ,
73 E Rodriguez (Esp) , B Smit (RSA) , D Merriman (Aus) , P Mitchell (Eng) , H Carbonetti (Arg) , A Franco (Par) , J Rivero (Esp) , G Towne (USA) , P Oakley (USA) , S Owen (Nzl) , N Ratcliffe (Aus) , T Giedeon (Ger) ,
74 C Williams (RSA) , B McColl (Sco) , M Harwood (Aus) , S Bennett (Eng) , E Darcy (Irl) , G Cali (Ita) , N Job (Eng) , B Lincoln (RSA) , T Gale (Aus) , J Heggarty (Nir) , J Chillas (Sco) ,
75 G Brand (Eng) , M Cunning (USA) , D Hospital (Esp) , A Barrera (Arg) , M Piñero (Esp) , S Torrance (Sco) ,
76 G Encina (Chi) , J Hall (Eng) , M Williams (Zim) , J Bland (RSA) , S Ginn (Aus) , M Farry (Fra) , B Charles (Nzl) ,
77 A Fernandez (Chi) , J Bruner (USA) , D Cambridge (Jam) , I Mosey (Eng) , A Garrido (Esp) , M Miller (Sco) , M Clayton (Aus) ,
78 J Rhodes (Eng) , D O'Sullivan (Irl) , G Hopkins (USA) ,
79 J Hawkes (RSA) ,
80 D Russell (Eng) , D Good (Aus) , V Garcia (Esp) ,
81 M Bembridge (Eng) , K Spurgeon (Eng) , E Polland (Nir) ,
86 R Hopkins (USA) ,

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Darren Clarke has given himself the chance to go 'Double Dutch' this weekend after a second-round 67 gave him a share of the halfway lead at the KLM Open.
He shares that honour with Swede Peter Hedblom who has not even had a top-20 finish this season but joined Clarke on eight under par with his second successive 66.
"It's one of my favourite venues. It sets up well for me and it's always nice to come back to a place where you've done well," said Clarke, who has not had a single top-10 finish since his victory 12 months ago.
The leading duo are a stroke ahead of England's Kenneth Ferrie, Welshman Bradley Dredge, Dubliner Peter Lawrie, Swede Oskar Henningsson and Australian Wade Ormsby.
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Click on the links below for more golf news
Europe fall behind
Three share lead in Greensboro
Kamii closes on Tomida
Singapore date for European Tour
=============================
A new course record of 63 was set by England's Marcus Higley - it was his lowest round on Tour by three - as he moved to six under and the score was then matched by Spain's Alejandro Canizares as he improved from two over to five under.
First round leaders Paul McGinley and Gary Orr both slipped back. McGinley had a 70 to remain six under and Orr's 73 put him five behind.
Two big names are already out with Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal both missing the halfway cut - Montgomerie for the third event in a row.
Ryder Cup captain Montgomerie improved nine strokes on his opening 76, but at three over crashed out by four.
Olazabal, battling rheumatic pains again, finished two over after a 72 and said: "I can't put in the hours (of practice) that this game needs to be sharp.
"I didn't play well and my putting stroke is not there either."
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 140 (2x70)
132 Peter Hedblom (Swe) 66 66, Darren Clarke 65 67
133 Wade Ormsby (Aus) 66 67, Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 67 66, Peter Lawrie 65 68, Kenneth Ferrie 66 67, Bradley Dredge 66 67
134 Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 67 67, Damien McGrane 67 67, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 69 65, Simon Dyson 67 67, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 70 64, Marcus Higley 71 63, Paul Lawrie 66 68, Shane Lowry 66 68, Jamie Donaldson 66 68, Paul McGinley 64 70
135 Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 68 67, Gareth Maybin 67 68, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 72 63, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 66 69, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 67 68
136 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 70 66, Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 70 66, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 65 71, Markus Brier (Aut) 67 69, Richard Green (Aus) 69 67, David Lynn 68 68, Barry Lane 68 68
137 Ulrich Van Den Berg (Rsa) 69 68, Gary Orr 64 73, Richie Ramsay 69 68, Garry Houston 67 70, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 70 67, Andrew Coltart 68 69, Simon Wakefield 69 68, David Drysdale 72 65, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 69 68, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 70 67, Mark Foster 69 68, Sam Little 70 67, Ross McGowan 70 67
138 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 71 67, Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 69 69, Sion Bebb 71 67, Phillip Price 66 72, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 69 69, Graeme Storm 71 67, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 70 68, Alexander Noren (Swe) 72 66, David Dixon 72 66, Phillip Archer 74 64, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 74 64, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 69 69, Guido Van Der Valk (Ned) 71 67, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 69 69
139 Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 70 69, Chris Wood 71 68, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 68 71, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 71 68, Benn Barham 71 68, David Horsey 73 66, Mark Brown (Nzl) 68 71, Simon Khan 68 71, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 68 71, Callum Macaulay 66 73, Miles Tunnicliff 70 69, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 69 70
MISSED THE CUT
140 Jonathan Caldwell 71 69, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 70 70, James Kingston (Rsa) 69 71, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 70 70, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 71 69, Mark Mouland 71 69, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 68 72, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 70 70
141 Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 70 71, Ake Nilsson (Rsa) 72 69, Joost Luiten (Ned) 71 70, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 71 70, Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha) 71 70, Wil Besseling (Ned) 73 68, Iain Pyman 71 70, Matthew Millar (Aus) 65 76, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 71 70, Alan McLean 69 72, David Howell 72 69, Marc Cayeux (Zim) 70 71, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 68 73, Richard Kind (Ned) 71 70, Rolf Muntz (Ned) 71 70, Tim Sluiter (Ned) 73 68, Thomas Levet (Fra) 73 68
142 Richard Bland 69 73, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 73 69, Stuart Davis 69 73, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 69 73, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 74 68, Tadd Fujikawa (USA) 71 71, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 70 72, Sam Walker 74 68, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 72 70, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 74 68
143 Robert Dinwiddie 74 69, Colin Montgomerie 76 67, Scott Arnold (Aus) 71 72, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 75 68, Scott Drummond 72 71, Stuart Manley 70 73, Alfredo Garcia-Heredia (Spa) 76 67, Steven O'Hara 75 68, Robert Rock 69 74, Mark Reynolds (Ned) 72 71, Inder Van Weerelt (Ned) 71 72, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 76 67, Michael Curtain (Aus) 73 70, Chris Doak 69 74
144 Sven Maurits (Ned) 74 70, Roope Kakko (Fin) 71 73, Zane Scotland 69 75, John Mellor 70 74, Branden Grace (Rsa) 74 70, Danny Willett 70 74, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 71 73, Gary Lockerbie 72 72, Sven Struver (Ger) 72 72, Pablo Martin (Spa) 72 72
145 Brett Rumford (Aus) 73 72, Jules De vries (Ned) 73 72, Floris De Vries (Ned) 71 74, Lee Slattery 71 74, Ronald Stokman (Ned) 77 68
146 Jurien Van der vaart (Ned) 70 76, Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 71 75, Gary Murphy 76 70, Marc Warren 72 74, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 74 72, Reinier Saxton (Ned) 76 70, Santiago Luna (Spa) 72 74
147 Christian Nilsson (Swe) 74 73, Taco Remkes (Ned) 73 74, Ruben Wechgelaer (Ned) 72 75
148 Michael Hoey 79 69
149 John E Morgan 76 73, Scott Barr (Aus) 78 71, Seve Benson 77 72
150 Willem Vork (Ned) 78 72, Marcel Siem (Ger) 78 72, Thomas Detry (Bel) 80 70, Oliver Fisher 78 72
151 Stephen Dodd 78 73
152 Alastair Forsyth 79 73, Anthony Snobeck (Fra) 76 76
153 Marco Ruiz (Par) 80 73
155 Jan-Willem Van Hoof (Ned) 78 77
WD: John Bickerton 69

DEESIDE PRO-AM REPORT, SCORES

Mark is King of the Castle at Deeside despite late bogeys in five-under 65 Kingsfield's Mark King won the top prize of £1,172 in today's Saltire Energy pro-am at Deeside Golf Club despite bogeying the last two holes. King finished with a five-under-par 65 after birdieing the second, third, fourth, sixth and eighth in a superb outward half of five-under-par 31. He improved to seventh under par with further birdies at the 13th and 14th but that was the end of his fireworks. He parred 16th and 17th before dropping shorts at the last two holes in an inward 34. Preferred lies were in operation so the round was not considered for course record status off the gold tees. Runner-up only a shot behind was Greig Hutcheon, now playing out of Banchory. His 66 earned him £937.39. Third was the University of Stirling professional Gordon Niven with a 67 for which he received £474.67. Aberdeen-born Greig Hutcheon, no stranger to the Bieldside course from his days as an amateur – he was a Scotland boys and youths cap, also piloted a Deeside club trio of Alan Ross (16), Gordon Smth (13) and Roy Roxburgh (12) to victory in the team event with a net score of 17-under-par 123. Leading pro scores Par 70 65 Mark King (Kingsfield) £1,172. 66 Greig Hutcheon (Banchory) £937.39. 67 Gordon Niven (Stirling Univ) £703.22. 68 Stephen Gray (Hayston), Craig Lee (unatt) £474.67 each. 69 Scott Henderson (Kings Links), Christopher Russell (RAW Golf Course Design), Graeme Lornie (Paul Lawrie Foundation), Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs Golf Range), Ross Cameron (McDonald Ellon), Alan Lockhart (Ladybank) £251.98 each. 70 Callum Nicoll (Prestwick), Craig Matheson (Falkirk Tryst), Greg McBain (Royal Dorncoh) £152.36 each. 71 Steven Taylor (Bothwell Castle), Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle), David Orr (East Renfrewshire) £117.20 each. 72 Mark Finlayson (Edzell), Gregor Abel (Alloa), Colin Gillies (Playsport Golf), Mark Loftus (Cowglen), Jonathan Lomas (unatt), Lindsay Mann (Carnoustie) £65.21 each. 73 Edward Thomson (Senit Associates), Ross Harrower (Boat of Garten), Stephen Duncan (Cathcart Castle) £48.39 each. 74 Sean O'Donnell (Balbirnie Park) £48.39. 75 Colin Nelson (Mackenzie's Golf Shop), Craig Ronald (Carluke) £48.39 each. 76 Nicholas Reid (unatt) £48.39. 78 Iain Donaldson (Meldrum House), Stewart Davidson (Banchory), Lee Vannet (Carnoustie Golf Links) £48.l39 each. 79 Garry Harvey (Kinross Golf), John Ruth (Sandyhills) £48.39 each. 80 Steven Chalmers (Banchory), Anthony Mackrell (Playsport Golf) £48.39 each. 81 Start Pardoe (Scottish Golf Centre) £48.39. NRs Paul Brookes (Pitreavie), James Mooney (Kingscliff Golf Solutions) £48.39 each.

BY GEORGE! RODAKS WINS NORTH SENIORS OPEN Moffat's George Rodaks scored his first win of the season on the domestic over-55s' with a come-from-behind swoop to land the North of Scotland Seniors Open championship at Nairn Dunbar Golf Club today. Rodaks had trailed Ian Brotherston (Dumfries & County), first-round leader with a 72 but when Brotherston slipped to a 78 for 150, George won the day with rounds of 75 and 74 for 149. Joint second with Brotherston on 150 were Iain Stewart (The Curragh) (78-72) and Brian Smith (Kilmacolm) (78-72). FINAL TOTALS CSS 74 75 149 George Rodaks (Moffat) 75 74. 150 Iain Stewart (The Curragh) 78 72, Brian Smith (Kilmacolm) 78 72, Ian Brotherston (Dumfries & Co) 72 78. 151 Bob Stewart (Tulliallan) 76 75, Michael Jenkins (Duff House Royal) 74 77, Hugh Clunas (Nairn Dunbar) 74 77. 152 Derek Murphy (Kinross) 77 75. 153 Jim Watt (Letham Grange) 78 75. 154 Jalil Aman (Grangemouth) 80 74, Brian Methven (Royal Aberdeen) 78 76, Alistair Fiddes (Deeside) 73 81. 155 John Broadfoot (Turnberry) 78 77, Colin Christy (Kilmacolm) 78 77, Keith Bruce (Edzell) 77 78, Donald McCart (Sherwood Forest) 75 80.

Peter becomes a Senior at last!

By STEVE TODD, European Tour Press Officer
Peter Senior will live up to his surname when he joins the European Senior Tour ranks this week, becoming the third Australian former European Tour winner to join the over 50s circuit so far this season.
Senior, who turned 50 on July 21, makes his debut in the Cleveland Golf/Srixon Scottish Senior Open at Fairmont St Andrews, where he will join compatriot and fellow rookie Mike Harwood in the field.
Harwood finished third in his second event in the DGM Barbados Open and Senior will be looking for a similarly explosive start to his own Senior Tour career, 30 years after making his European Tour debut in 1979.
“I’ve been waiting for about six or seven years to get started on the Senior Tour so I’m really looking forward to it,” said Senior. “I decided to spend a bit of time with the family and see the kids go through school and I was Chairman of the Australian PGA for the last 12 months. The Senior Tour has now given me the opportunity to go back and out and do what I love again.
“I’ve been playing quite a bit in Australia and I still really enjoy it. I’ve had some good results so I feel competitive. I still practise a lot and enjoy the game. It will be great to see a lot of my old friends such as Peter Mitchell, Glenn Ralph, Stephen Bennett who I knew from the main Tour.”
With countryman Peter Fowler also a recent inductee to the Senior Tour, the rookie trio will bolster an already strong Australian presence on the Senior Tour which includes champions Terry Gale, Stewart Ginn, David Good and Noel Ratcliffe, as well as Dave Merriman, who was runner up in the Ryder Cup Wales Seniors Open.
“There’s a good group of us on the Senior Tour now and it will be great to catch up with them all,” he said. “The Aussies are always a close community and the Senior Tour is a chance for us all to get together again.
“I’d like to do as well as Mike(Harwood) did in his first few events. I’ve not been a rookie for 30 years so it will be nice! I think you have a good chance of winning in your first few years so hopefully I can do that but it will just be nice to compete again.
“The standard on the Senior Tour is really high – you just have to look at Ian Woosnam and Sam Torrance and what Tom Watson did last month.
“I’ve played a lot of golf around the St Andrews area and it is a great place to make my debut on the Senior Tour. I’m just going to take everything as it comes – I’m not setting myself any targets.”
Senior won four times on The European Tour, his first title coming in the 1986 PLM Open before subsequent triumphs in the 1987 Johnnie Walker Monte Carlo Open and the 1990 European Open, with his last victory in the 1992 Benson and Hedges International Open.
He showed he can still compete at the highest level when he finished tied 11th in the Sportsbet Australian Masters last November and tied 14th in the Johnnie Walker Classic in February.
Coincidentally his Senior Tour bow will be at the Torrance course redesigned by former Ryder Cup Captain Torrance, whom the Australian claims helped saved his career.
Senior had been plagued by putting problems until Torrance converted him to the broom handle putter, since when he has been a consistent performer on the greens.

-

Surrey win English boys' county title

for third year in a row

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ENGLISH GOLF UNION
Surrey are English boys county champions again. They collected their third successive title when they beat Gloucestershire 5-3 with one match halved on an extremely windy afternoon at Whittington Heath.
Their victory completed a clean sweep of the other three regional county champions and leaves them at the pinnacle of boys’ golf. Their captain Terry Casey was naturally delighted at seeing his side completed their mission of a title hat-trick.
“This is an unbelievable feeling to have won again,” he said. “It’s a fantastic effort but this is such a good bunch of lads but I seem to say that every year. It’s all about team work. Josh White is such a great captain and I cannot believe how we come up with such an unbelievable bunch of kids each year.”
So what is the secret of Surrey’s success? “We don’t even know if there is a secret,” he added. “It’s about a lot of hard work by a team of people which starts with the committee and we have the best coach which creates a good foundation so the kids just want to play. Of course, winning becomes a habit and we have five of this team who will be available next year. I thought this would be our lean year but I was wrong.”
Gloucester captain Mark Powell said: “We got extremely close and I’m proud of my team. This is the furthest Gloucester have got in the championship and I felt we had a good chance of beating Surrey. We halved the singles when we played them in a friendly in March without our two England boys. But it wasn’t to be.”
After edging the morning foursomes 2-1, Surrey needed a fast start in the singles and they got it from Ben Taylor, who beat Sam Payne 6 and 5, plus an exemplary display from Curtis Griffiths in defeating Laurie Potter 3 and 2.
England boy cap Chris Lloyd lost the opening hole to the promising left-hander Greg Payne but struck back with five 3s in the next six holes to race four-up on his way to a 5 and 4 win. But Surrey were not to be denied and although Tyler Hogarty gained another point for Gloucester, Surrey were seen home with a half from Matthew Chapman against boy cap Adam Carson while skipper Josh White rounded it all off with a two hole victory over Sam Sullivan.
In the contest for third place, Lancashire beat Worcestershire 6-3 after taking two of the foursomes to leave the Midland Champions with the wooden spoon. After lunch, Lancashire came out with all guns blazing, taking the top two singles through Jack Brooks, 4 and 2 over Chris Nugent, and by 6 and 4 by Anthony Stirling against Rob Aldred.
Stirling was particularly impressive, the Formby lad claiming seven birdies and 21 putts in the 14 holes played. That put Lancashire within sight of victory and they cantered home with further wins from Mark Duncalf and James Bolton. All match scores, championship commentary and news updates are available on the Championships Section of the EGU website, www.englishgolfunion.org

US Seniors Tour report

Brad Bryant equals tournament record

with 10-under-par 62 at Crosswater

Brad Bryant equalled the tournament low record mark with a 10-under 62 in the first round of the JELD-WEN Tradition at Crosswater Golf Club.
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Related Links
Leaderboard: Scores
See Bryant's 62
Power Rankings
Round 1 notebook
Video: Jacobsen birdies 15th
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Bryant had 11 birdies and one bogey for a three-shot lead in the fourth of five majors this year on the US Champions (Seniors) Tour.
Bryant's best finish this year was fourth at the Dick's Sporting Goods Open in June. He has four overall Tour victories, his last at the Senior U.S. Open in 2007.
Loren Roberts shot a 65, while Tom Watson and Tom Lehman each had 67s as temperatures hovered in the upper 90s on the scenic 7,533yd course in the shadow of Mount Bachelor.
Defending champion Fred Funk was in a group at 4-under.
Tour money leader Bernhard Langer shot a 71.
Even Bryant was stunned by his low round, which matched Watson's low second round in 2003 when the tournament was played in Aloha, Oregon, west of Portland.
Bryant's personal best round was 63.
"Just played really great," he said. "Definitely one of my top five ball-striking rounds in my life."
Bryant has one win on the US PGA Tour, at the Walt Disney World-Oldsmobile Classic in 1995.
"Ten under?" Roberts mused. "I just can't believe how good that is."
Roberts, who has won twice on the Tour this year, had five birdies and an eagle on the par-4, 410-yard 10th hole. Roberts won the Tradition in 2005.
Watson, who won the Tradition in 2003, fell to Stewart Cink in a dramatic play-off at the Open a month ago.
"It was a pretty benign day," Watson said. "Not a lot of wind to deal with. The flags were accessible."
However, the altitude and heat did play a role when it came to distance: "That ball can get out there, it can go," he said.
Greg Norman withdrew shortly before the first round because of back spasms. It would have been the Shark's first appearance in the event, and sixth start on the Tour this year.
Funk was coming off a victory at the U.S. Senior Open, where he became the first player in a U.S. Golf Association championship to finish at 20-under par. A week earlier, he lost in a three-way playoff at the Senior British Open.
He has finished in the top 10 in the previous three Champions Tour majors this season and leads the Charles Schwab Cup points standings.
"That's my goal this year, to win the Charles Schwab Cup. I really want it," Funk said.
Funk shot a final-round 3-under 69 in the Tradition last year for a three-shot victory over Mike Goodes and his first win in a major on the Tour.
This year, his first round featured four birdies.

Bad light stops play in US PGA Tour event

Poor light prematurely curtailed play at the Wyndham Championship with half the US PGA Tour field still to complete their first round.
Rain then fading light meant the other half of the field will return to the Sedgefield Country Club to complete their 18 holes this morning ahead of the second round.
Americans Chez Reavie, Brandt Snedeker and Ryan Moore share the clubhouse lead on 64.

NATIONWIDE TOUR REPORT

Michael Sim bogeys the last for

a six-under-par 65 in Kansas

Paul Claxton, a 41-year old from Georgia, decided to go back to an old putter that helped him time after time in the past. The results have been immediate. Claxton needed only 25 putts to shoot an 8-under-par 63 and grab the first-day lead in the inaugural Nationwide Tour's Christmas in October Classic at Overland Park, Kansas.
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Related Links
Leaderboard: Scores
Scorecard: Claxton
Nationwide Tour Weekly
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Claxton's putting efforts resulted in 10 birdies and put him one up on Tom Gillis, winner of the Nationwide Tour Players Cup and the No. 4 money winner in 2009.
Hunter Haas, leading money-winner Aberdeen-born Michael Sim, Garrett Osborn and Canadian Chris Baryla are two shots back at the Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate.
Heavy rains this week have dumped approximately five inches of rain on the par-71 lay-out, forcing officials to allow lift, clean and place conditions for round one.
"I've been switching putters and that's just not good," said Claxton who changed things up two weeks ago and immediately tied for sixth at the Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open. "We make it harder than it is. You'd think after all these years I would figure that out."
After missing nine cuts in his first ten starts and 13 of his first 16, the Vidalia resident called upon an "old faithful" to bail him out of a prolonged slump. He added another top-25 finish last week in Springfield, Mo., at the Price Cutter Charity Championship.
"I went through a bunch of other putters that didn't work," he said. "When you're making putts, you don't know why and when you're missing them, you don't know why either. They're just going in and I'm trying to enjoy that part of it."
Claxton enjoyed a career-best score, topping his previous mark of 64, which he'd done three times, most recently at the 2007 Fort Smith Classic.
While Claxton is enjoying the day, nobody seems to be having more fun than the 41-year old Gillis, who hasn't missed a cut in his eight starts this season and has already locked up a spot on the US PGA Tour next year. Gillis has a win, a second and tie for third in his last four starts.
Despite that, the Michigan native finds himself having trouble staying focused. Gillis has played all over the world and had two previous shots at the PGA Tour after successfully surviving the qualifying tournament.
"I've probably never been as relaxed on the golf course as I am now," he said. "I've never been in this situation before. At times I feel flat starting the day out. It's been very difficult to keep my mind on the task at hand and what I'm trying to accomplish here. The previous times I didn't have six months to prepare. I had about three or four weeks."
Gillis' recent success has helped him push his season earnings to $270,796, which is more than enough make sure he's one of "The 25" Tour graduates in October.
"I've seen guys go through this," he said. "I've never lived it and I always wondered why they struggled after they get to a certain amount. Now, I could see why that could happen. You just start thinking about where you want to go next and you just get flat. I feel good though, but a seven-under score will do that for you."
Michael Sim, who needs one more win this season to make an automatic leap over to the US PGA Tour ahead of next season, was 7-under after a birdie at No. 17 but his 5-iron on the final hole found a greenside bunker and he missed his par attempt from six feet, settling for a 6-under 65.
Sim is coming off a T51 finish at last week's US PGA Championship in Minnesota. The 24-year old Aberdonian also tied for 18th in the U.S. Open at Bethpage in New York, his only other US PGA Tour outing this year.

McGinley and Orr share lead in

KLM Open with six-under 64s

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Ireland's Paul McGinley and Scot Gary Orr took advantage of calm early conditions to share the first round lead at the KLM Open in the Netherlands.
Both fired six under par 64s to be one ahead of a group which includes defending champion Darren Clarke, McGinley's fellow Dubliner Peter Lawrie, Australian Matthew Millar and Spain's Jorge Campillo.
McGinley, captain of the Britain and Ireland side in next month's Vivendi Trophy, has high hopes of re-igniting his career.
The 42 year old has fallen outside the top 200 in the World Rankings and is 130th on The Race to Dubai.
"The season's been flat," said McGinley, runner-up to Clarke on the same course 12 months ago. "I've not played well enough - no excuses.
“I think the reason I enjoy playing in Holland is because the courses suit me. You’ve got to work the ball, and your course management really comes into play.”
His day promised to be even better when he stood seven under and three clear after 12 holes, having already made five birdies and a 20 foot eagle putt.
But the 2005 Volvo Masters champion - that was his last victory - bogeyed the short eighth, his 17th, and Orr caught him by also playing the back nine in 30.
The Helensburgh golfer, now 42 as well, has to go back to 2000 for his last success and has not had things easy since then.
Orr lost his European Tour card five years ago, then suffered recurring back problems and had to fight for his future again at the start of last season.
Finishing joint second in The European Open in May brought him back to the fore and at 129th in the world he is now Scotland's highest-ranked player.
“I’ve not played for about four weeks,” revealed Orr. “So it’s been quite a long lay-off, but I’d played a long stretch of tournaments leading up to that, so I probably needed a break. I didn’t touch a club for a couple of weeks, then worked on a few areas which I felt needed addressing, such as my posture and balance.
“I feel I’m getting back into the groove now, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.”
Clarke grabbed seven birdies and felt he would have been out in front but for "a couple of stupid schoolboy errors".
The first plugged in a bunker and the second led to him taking a penalty drop away from a bush.
Lawrie came back from an opening bogey for a matching 65, while double Masters Tournament champion Jose Maria Olazábal, suffering from more rheumatic pains, was two under with one to go, but double bogeyed the 418 yard ninth just like Colin Montgomerie did - and just like Welshman Bradley Dredge did after reaching six under.
Play was suspended for an hour late in the day because of a storm and on the resumption Scot Callum Macaulay came in with a 66 to be only two behind. Another Scot on the four-under-par mark was the 1999 Open champion, Paul Lawrie.
Robert-Jan Derksen gave the home fans something to cheer when he produced a hole-in-one at the par three 11th, finding the cup with his seven iron tee shot on the way to a level par 70.
FIRST-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 70
64 Gary Orr, Paul McGinley
65 Jorge Campillo (Spa), Matthew Millar (Aus), Darren Clarke, Peter Lawrie
66 Phillip Price, Kenneth Ferrie, Peter Hedblom (Swe), Callum Macaulay, Shane Lowry, Paul Lawrie, Jamie Donaldson, Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Wade Ormsby (Aus), Bradley Dredge
67 Carlos Del Moral (Spa), Garry Houston, Damien McGrane, Gareth Maybin, Klas Eriksson (Swe), Simon Dyson, Markus Brier (Aut), Oskar Henningsson (Swe)
68 Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), Andrew Coltart, David Lynn, Mark Brown (Nzl), Simon Khan, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Alexandre Rocha (Bra), Alessandro Tadini (Ita), Barry Lane
69 James Kingston (Rsa), Rafael Echenique (Arg), John Bickerton, Simon Wakefield, Robert Rock, Niclas Fasth (Swe), Michael Jonzon (Swe), Marcus Fraser (Aus), Richard Bland, Richie Ramsay, Stuart Davis, Ulrich Van Den Berg (Rsa), Jeppe Huldahl (Den), Zane Scotland, Alan McLean, Francois Delamontagne (Fra), Terry Pilkadaris (Aus), Richard Green (Aus), Mark Foster, Chris Doak, Peter O'Malley (Aus)
70 Mikael Lundberg (Swe), Joakim Haeggman (Swe), Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), John Mellor, Martin Erlandsson (Swe), Danny Willett, Jurien Van der vaart (Ned), Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa), Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor), Miles Tunnicliff, Sam Little, Christian Cevaer (Fra), Magnus A Carlsson (Swe), Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), Stuart Manley, Marc Cayeux (Zim), Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), Emanuele Canonica (Ita), Ross McGowan, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe)
71 Jonathan Caldwell, Alvaro Velasco (Spa), Floris De Vries (Ned), Joost Luiten (Ned), Benn Barham, Sion Bebb, Stephen Leaney (Aus), Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha), Graeme Storm, Tadd Fujikawa (USA), Iain Pyman, Chapchai Nirat (Tha), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Roope Kakko (Fin), Chris Wood, Shiv Kapur (Ind), Scott Arnold (Aus), Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Lee Slattery, Richard Kind (Ned), Rolf Muntz (Ned), Marcus Higley, Inder Van Weerelt (Ned), Guido Van Der Valk (Ned), Mark Mouland
72 Ake Nilsson (Rsa), David Howell, Scott Drummond, Ruben Wechgelaer (Ned), Gary Lockerbie, David Drysdale, Sven Struver (Ger), Alexander Noren (Swe), Marc Warren, David Dixon, Mark Reynolds (Ned), Alejandro Canizares (Spa), Santiago Luna (Spa), Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa), Pablo Martin (Spa)
73 Patrik Sjoland (Swe), Jules De vries (Ned), David Horsey, Wil Besseling (Ned), Brett Rumford (Aus), Taco Remkes (Ned), Tim Sluiter (Ned), Michael Curtain (Aus), Thomas Levet (Fra)
74 Sven Maurits (Ned), Christian Nilsson (Swe), Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Robert Dinwiddie, Branden Grace (Rsa), Pablo Larrazabal (Spa), Sam Walker, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par), Phillip Archer, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut)
75 Pelle Edberg (Swe), Steven O'Hara
76 John E Morgan, Gary Murphy, Colin Montgomerie, Alfredo Garcia-Heredia (Spa), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Reinier Saxton (Ned), Anthony Snobeck (Fra)
77 Ronald Stokman (Ned), Seve Benson
78 Jan-Willem Van Hoof (Ned), Scott Barr (Aus), Stephen Dodd, Willem Vork (Ned), Marcel Siem (Ger), Oliver Fisher
79 Alastair Forsyth, Michael Hoey
80 Marco Ruiz (Par), Thomas Detry (Bel)

Sam may not be able to play it again

in Senior open over his course


FROM THE SCOTSMAN GOLF WEBSITE
By Alan Pattullo
While Tom Watson might have helped create the notion that golfers of a certain age can go on for ever, Sam Torrance has been given a painful reminder of the challenge of playing at a high standard when in one's fifties.
At the Senior Open at Sunningdale, Torrance paid tribute to Watson by telling him how his achievements at the previous week's Open in Turnberry had made him feel proud to be a golfer again. But the flip-side of the great sport's capacity to reward experience is its ability to cut down a veteran's hopes of defying the advancing years.
Torrance turns 56 on Monday, and had yearned to spend the day celebrating a second Scottish Senior Open title win. However, a painful lower back spasm has put his appearance at Fairmont St Andrews today in jeopardy.
Since the course hosting the tournament bears his name, this is an especially regrettable prospect. Torrance has already decided not to return to the area next month to feature in the Dunhill Links championship.
Even given Watson's heroics, he believes that demanding competition might be a step too far for him now. Much more alluring is a Cleveland golf/Srixon Scottish Senior Open on a course where he can boast such special insight.
The Torrance course was originally opened in 2001, but has recently had eight of its holes re-designed, with the Scot's blessing. Bunkers have been revetted and a new aerated water system put in place.
But Torrance could be denied the chance to take advantage of his inside knowledge after being struck down by a frustrating back complaint. Having been re-located to golf's heartland of Fife after three years at Dalmahoy, the tournament would suffer a grave blow should Torrance have to pull-out.
However, the former Ryder Cup captain gave every indication he would do everything in his power to make his 10.40am appointment on the first tee this morning, in the company of Peter Senior and fellow Scot Bill Longmuir, a champion five years ago. Ian Woosnam, who tees off at 10.20am with John Bland and defending champion Peter Mitchell, is another big draw.
"The day before I came up the lower right-hand side of my back was a bit stiff," Torrance explained. "At my age, you have these things to contend with virtually every day. But it has got worse. I got up yesterday morning and it was not good at all. Hopefully by tomorrow it will be fine, but at the moment it is not looking good."
Torrance only managed six holes of the pro-am tournament yesterday, before walking off to seek more treatment. It is clear he is desperate to feature. "It's huge for me," he said of a tournament in which he triumphed in 2006. Another win here would take him top of the Order of Merit table, following a first win of the season – and 11th Senior title in total – at the DGM Barbados Open in March.
"In life you have to accept these things," Torrance said. "They come up and slap you in the face when you least expect it. I came up here in great form. I didn't hit a ball last week. Instead I just totally relaxed, and stayed at home. I wanted to get ready to come up here and win this, so it (the back spasm] is a pain in the backside.
"I love St Andrews, it's one of my favourite places in the world," he added.
Torrance's absence would be a blow at a time when golf's golden oldie brigade have been provided with such credibility.
While the hand-wringing continues about the shortage of characters in the current era, recent performances from the likes of Watson and Greg Norman, who led last year's Open at Birkdale with nine holes to go, have shown that the old stars of the game can still be competitive, and not just when pitted against their own age-group.
Torrance had just finished his stint as commentator for the BBC when Watson – and the millions cheering him on around the world – endured the agony of seeing the Open title slip from his grasp at Turnberry.
"I was listening to it in the car driving home," recalled Torrance. "I felt for him. I sent him a wee message. He's a great man. He made me proud to be a golfer. In fact, that's what I told him when I saw him the week after at the Senior Open. He is a very intelligent man, and very streetwise as well. It's a great combination. Of course he can handle it (the disappointment].
"I thought Watson's performance was just extraordinary," he continued. "It has to be up with the best sporting performances of all time in my book. If he had won it then obviously it would have been the greatest sporting performance of all time. But even though he didn't win it, I still think to be 59 years of age and be tied for the Open is right up there.
"It's a shot in the arm (for us] alright. It certainly shows us what we are capable of. I have looked after myself. My body is in good shape – well, until today, that is."

Kellett leads from Byrne at halfway

in European individual championship

Motherwell's Ross Kellett and James Byrne from Banchory are playing very well in the European men's individual amateur team championship at Chantilly.
SCOREBOARD
Par 144 (2x72)
133 Ross Kellett 67 66.
138 James Byrne 69 69, Adam Runcie 67 71.
139 Clement Sordet 69 70, Espen Kofstad 66 73.
Selected scores:
146 Paul O'Hara 74 72.
147 Wallace Booth 76 71
149 Keir McNicoll 73 76.,
150 Steven MNcEwan 75 75, Gavin Dear 73 77.

Tartan Tour pro-am results
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19
SOUTHERNESS GC PRO-AM
Leading pro scores
Par 69
71 Steven Taylor (Bothwell Castle) £1,155.63.
72 David Orr (East Renfrewshire) £924.09.
73 Mark Loftus (Cowglen), Andrew Marshall (Houston GR),Craig Lee (unatt) £543.03 each.
74 Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills), Christopher Russell (RAW Golf Course Design), Jason McCreadie (Buchaanan Castle) £300.40 each.
75 Craig Ronald (Carluke), Samuel Cairns (Colville Park), Christopher Robinson (Dumfries & Galloway), Stephen Gray (Hayston), Iain Colquhoun (Dundonald Links) £180.24 each.
76 Chris McCalman (unatt), Jonathan Lomas (unatt), Scott Henderson (Kings Links) £92.43 each.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 20
VSA TARTAN PRO-AM
Inchmarlo Golf Centre, Banchory
Leading pro scores
Par 70
66 Alan Lockhart (Ladybank), Stephen Gray (Hayston) £818.55 each.
67 Graeme Lornie (Paul Lawrie Foundation), Craig Lee (unatt), Ross Cameron (McDonald Ellon) £427.46 each.
68 Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills), Christopher Russell (RAW Golf Course Design), Jonathan Lomas (unatt). £236.47 each.
70 Greig Hutcheon (Banchory), Craig Ronald (Carluke), Edward Thomson (Senit Associates), Lindsay Mann (Carnoustie) £147.75 each.
71 Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle), Greg McBain (Royal Dornoch) £113.78 each.
Inchmarlo Golf Centre, Banchory

Scott McGreneghan is congratulated by Ranfurly Castle GC club captain Douglas Martin.

Scott McGreneghan wins Renfrewshire match-play title

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY RENFREWSHIRE GOLF UNION

By Don Bremner

donbremner@ranfurly9.freeserve.co.uk
Despite almost incessant rain, the Renfrewshire Golf Union county match-play sem-finals and finals were played this week at Ranfurly Castle Golf Club with the course remaining playable throughout thanks to the efforts of the green staff.
Last year’s champion, Michael Campbell of Renfrew came up against an in-form Matthew Clark from Kilmacolm in the first semi-final. Both players had chances to take a strong lead but, in the end, it went all the way with Matthew fighting his way to the final at the 19th hole.
In the second semi final, it was a Cochrane Castle battle between members Scott McGreneghan and David Lawson. Scott seemed to cope better with the conditions and had a relatively easy victory.
In the final, the early holes were won by Scott when Matthew’s putter lost its magic and, by the turn, he had built up a commanding lead as officials cleared the greens of water. Matthew tried to stage a comeback when he reduced the lead to three at the tenth but a lost ball at the next hole sealed his fate and Scott held his nerve, playing great golf in dreadful conditions, to end the match at the 16th.
Scott is only 22 and was beaten finalist last year. With the County team still to be selected for the forthcoming key match against Clackmannanshire at Erskine, he must surely have drawn the attention of the selectors.

PGA EuroPro Tour event at Formby Hall, Lancashire

Dykes is no stonewall certainty to hold

off Elliot Saltman over final round

By ANTHONY LEAVER
Tim Dykes holds a one-shot advantage over Elliot Saltman at six under par ahead of Friday’s final round of the Formby Hall Classic at the Formby Hall Golf Resort & Spa near Liverpool, the tenth event on the 2009 PGA EuroPro Tour.
Challenge Tour regular Dykes (Wrexham GC) was five under par going into the second round and went out in the final three-ball of the day. Initially it looked the 29 year-old would not capitalise on Saltman’s off day, starting on the back nine and moving to six under after his first hole but recording four bogeys and just one further birdie to drop to three under par at the turn. Birdies at the second and third holes saw him restore parity and he edged one stroke clear of Saltman with a birdie at the last to shoot 71.
Saltman (Aegon) was seven under par going into the second round after setting a new course record in Wednesday’s opening round, but he got off to a tough start early in the morning on the back nine with a bogey at the tenth – his first. A second bogey at the 15th saw him go out two over for the day and that soon became three over with a third bogey at the first hole.
The 27 year-old remained three over until the seventh where he recorded his only birdie of the day and finished with a 74 to drop to five under for the tournament – still in good shape to improve on his fourth place standing on the Order of Merit.
Adam Frayne (St Mellion) is two shots off the lead after recording his second round of 70. Frayne traded three birdies for three bogeys in his first 13 holes starting on the back nine, but an eagle at the par-four fifth means he is nicely poised at four under par.
Daniel Wardrop (Didsbury GC) recorded the round of the day to move into contention on the final day at three under. Beginning the day at two over par, Wardrop was back to level by the fifth hole and moved to three under at the 12th.
The Manchester man dropped his only shot of the day at 15 but a birdie at the last saw him record a fine five under par 67. Wardrop is joined in fourth spot by Scott Henry (Cardross GC) who recorded four birdies and four bogeys in a level par round to remain three under after an opening round of 69.
Lee Harper (Archerfield Links) and Michiel Bothma (South Africa) carded rounds of 69 and 70 respectively to move to two under for the tournament, joining Ricky Lee (Tyneside GC) in sixth place after he recorded a level par second round.
Elliot has been joined in Liverpool by younger brothers Lloyd and Zack (both Aegon) and Lloyd blitzed the front nine with an eagle and three birdies after going through the back nine first at one over to card a four under par round of 68 and move to one under – one of ten players five shots off the lead. Zack was left to rue a double bogey at the first as he missed the cut by one shot at four over par.
Order of Merit leader Scott Jamieson recorded another level par round, but second place man in the money list Daniel Brooks (Mill Hill) will not be in action in the final round after missing the cut. Third placed Jack Doherty (North Gailes) is one under par, while fifth placed Graeme Clark (Doncaster GC) also misses out.
Fifty players will tee off in tomorrow’s final round of the Formby Hall Classic at the Formby Hall Golf Resort & Spa in Liverpool, which begins at 8am. Dykes and Saltman begin at 12.10pm.
Live scoring of what promises to be an exciting conclusion to the tournament is available at http://www.europrotour.com/ via the Score Updates link on the homepage, where you can view the full Leaderboard.
SCOTS ON SCOREBOARD
Elliot Saltman 65, 74 -5
Scott Henry 69, 72 -3
Lee Harper 73, 69 -2
Mark Kerr 69, 74 -1
Jack Doherty 72, 71 -1
Lloyd Saltman 75, 68 -1
Scott Jamieson 72, 72 Lvl
Shaun McAllister 70, 74 Lvl
Andrew Oldcorn 68, 78 +2
John Gallagher 74, 73 +3
Lorne Kelly 73, 75 +4
Zack Saltman 75, 73 +4
Steven Mackie 78, 71 +5
Duncan Stewart 77, 73 +6
Chris Kelly 75, 76 +7
Christopher Campbell 77, 77 +10
Barry Hume 81, 74 +11
Steven Hume 81, 74 +11
Paul Doherty 78, 78 +12
Graham Brown 78, 79 +13
Scott Herald 78, 80 +14
Stuart Burns 82, 80 +18

GB&I TEAM OF NINE ANNOUNCED FOR
JACQUES LEGLISE
TROPHY MATCH

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE R&A
The Great Britain and Ireland team to contest the 2009 Jacques Leglise Trophy match has been announced. The nine players to face the Continent of Europe at Ganton Golf Club near Scarborough, England, are as follows:
Paul Dunne – Captain (Greystones, Ireland)
Jonathan Bell (Royal Blackheath, England)
Adam Carson (Long Ashton, England)
Sebastian Crookall-Nixon (Workington, England)
Tom Lewis (Welwyn Garden City, England)
Chris Lloyd (The Kendleshire, England)
Eddie Pepperell (Drayton Park, England)
Paul Shields (Kirkhill, Scotland) (pictured)
Max Smith (Newbury Racecourse, England)
======
Peter McEvoy – Boys Chairman of Selectors

Attention will undoubtedly focus on Tom Lewis, the 18-year-old from Welwyn Garden City who won last week’s Boys Amateur Championship at Royal St George’s Golf Club. Lewis defeated his GB&I team-mate Eddie Pepperell in the final of the Championship just over a week after winning five points out of a possible six for England at the Boys Home Internationals.
On the opposing side will be the two previous winners of the Boys Amateur Championship, Pedro Figueiredo (2008) and Emilio Cuartero (2007), as well as Maximilian Röhrig, who lost in the semi-final to Lewis at Sandwich.
“We have selected a very strong team for what will be a closely-fought match,” said Boys Chairman of Selectors, Peter McEvoy. “The profile of Boys golf could not be higher at the moment with the likes of 16-year-old Matteo Manassero and 17-year-old Ryo Ishikawa excelling on the world stage. The standard of play is so high now that it is not surprising that 18-year-olds are finding success at full professional level.”
The Jacques Leglise Trophy will be held on Friday 28 and Saturday 29 August. Scores and reports will appear on RandA.org throughout the days of competition.
Continent of Europe Team
Maximilian Röhrig (Germany); Emilio Cuartero (Spain); Kasper Sorensen (Denmark); Toni Hakula (Finland); Robin Kind (Netherlands); Moritz Lampert (Germany); Pedro Figueiredo (Portugal); Lucas Bjerregaard (Denmark); Romain Wattel (France).
Non-playing Captain – Andreas Pallauf (Austria)

TRAVELLING MAN BROTHERSTON LEADS

SENIORS AT NAIRN DUNBAR

Dumfries man Ian Brotherston made the long trip north to Nairn well worthwhile by continuing his recent run of good form to lead the North of Scotland Seniors Open after the first round at Nairn Dunbar Golf Club.
Dumfries & County Golf club member Brotherston shot a par-matching 72 - two under the CSS - to lead by one shot from Aberdeen's Alistair Fiddes (Deeside) and by two from Monifieth's Ian Hutcheon, Michael Jenkins (Duff House Royal), David J Miller (Kilmarnock Barassie) and Hugh Clunas (Nairn Dunbar).
First round leaders
Par 72 CSS 74
72 Ian Brotherston (Dumfries & Co).
73 Alistair Fiddes (Deeside).
74 Michael Jenkins (Duff House Royal), I C Hutcheon (Monifieth), David J Miller (Kilmarnock Barassie), Hugh Clunas (Nairn Dunbar).
75 George Rodaks (Moffat), Donald McCart (Sherwood Forest), Aiden Grounds (Falkirk Tryst).
76 Graham Somers (Bon Accord), Bob Stewart (Tulliallan), Tony McIntyre (Lundin).

McGinley and Orr share lead in KLM Open

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Paul McGinley began the KLM Open in The Netherlands exactly as he finished it last year - with a six under par 64.
Runner-up to Darren Clarke on the same Kennemer course 12 months ago, McGinley this time shared the early lead with Scotland’s Gary Orr.
It could have been even better for the 42 year old Dubliner, though. He was seven under after only 12 holes and three clear of the field.
Without a win since the 2005 Volvo Masters, McGinley turned in a four under 30 after four successive birdies from the 12th, eagled the 570 yard second and birdied the next before dropping his only stroke of the day at the short eighth.
"The game is moving very much into a power game, so it's refreshing to play an old-fashioned type of course," said McGinley.
"My season's been flat. I've not played well enough - no excuses - and I need to do better."
Orr, also 42, is seeking his first victory for nine years and a five iron to four feet for eagle on the 12th was the highlight of his bogey free round.
Clarke, without a top ten since his victory, was in joint third place after a 65 comprising seven birdies and two bogeys.
"I played nicely apart from a couple of stupid schoolboy errors," said the 41 year old Ryder Cup star. "I was plugged in a bunker on the 17th and then went in a bush on the seventh (a reachable par five) and had to take a penalty drop."
Alongside him were another Irishman, Peter Lawrie, Australians Wade Ormsby and Matthew Millar and also Spain's Jorge Campillo.
Double Masters Tournament champion Jose Maria Olazábal, playing with Clarke, was two under with one to play, but carved his final drive into the trees and double bogeyed.
Welsh World Cup winner Bradley Dredge did exactly the same after standing on the tee six under.
Chris Wood, third in The Open Championship last month, and Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomerie were among the later starters. Wood, at 58th in the World Rankings the highest ranked player in the field, opened with back-to-back birdies, but Montgomerie bogeyed the short third.

Prince Andrew gets his handicap down to four

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By Ben Leach
Prince Andrew's new handicap of four means he qualifies to take up the sport full time and become a member of the Professional Golfers' Association.
Then the Duke of York could earn a living teaching at a club, or could even enter the Open and compete against other professionals such as Tiger Woods.
Ben Blackburn, 25, a PGA pro, said: "This is a tremendous achievement for any golfer and takes a huge amount of time and effort.
"You can't become that good unless you are totally committed and get out playing as regularly as possible."
The Prince, 49, who is fourth in line to the throne, took up the game shortly after becoming an officer in the Navy in 1979. But it was only after he left in July 2001 and he started to work as a full-time Royal that his golf really took off.
Despite 628 official engagements last year, the Queen's second son still played enough golf to bring his handicap down from an estimated six or eight to four.
The Prince is also a former captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, and has played at some of the finest courses in the world, including top courses in Barbados, Massachusetts, Thailand and New Zealand.
But his passion for golf has not been without considerable controversy over the expense to the British taxpayer. A decade ago, the Labour MP Tony Banks described Andrew as a "useless, overweight parasite" for hiring a private jet to attend the Open Championship in Scotland.
In 2001, he spent £10,000 using the Queen's flight to watch the closing stages of the same tournament at Lytham St Annes, while in 2004, he snubbed the D-Day anniversary celebrations in France, in order to attend a golfing dinner at St Andrews
In 2005 he spent £32,000 using the RAF to fly him to St Andrews in Fife. A spokesman for Prince Andrew told The Sun: "He is a proud supporter of the sport of golf in the United Kingdom."

Scotland lagging behind Germany in

some aspects of golf, says Alan Hogg

FROM THE EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
Twenty years after leaving Edinburgh, where he was born and bred, Alan Hogg is loving life as a golf club manager in Germany, a country he believes is leaving Scotland lagging behind in some aspects of the game.
After being introduced to golf by his father, Thomas, at the age of six, Hogg played at Torphin Hill and Baberton – he was a member there when he won the Lothians Boys' Championship – before starting his PGA training at Deer Park, where he worked under David Matthew.
He moved to Haggs Castle in Glasgow and then Alloa before a chance encounter led to a life-changing experience for a man whose best friend is Colin Brooks, the former Scottish Amateur champion from Glencorse and now one of the country's leading coaches
"I was up playing at St Andrews and got chatting to Walter Woods (the course superintendent there at the time] and he told me that Prince Maximilian of Bavaria was looking for a golf teacher," recalled Hogg.
"Two weeks later, at the age of 23, I was off to a club located to the south of Munich to become the club professional and, during my time there, I was proud to see the facilities get better and better."
After playing on the Challenge Tour for three years – he also teed up in a few European Tour events – Hogg decided to take a degree in business, a career move that helped secure his current position as director of the Golf and Vital Park in Bad Waldsee, which is in the south-west of Germany almost on the Swiss border.
"I've been here for five years now and we have a complex that includes 27 holes as well as a 40-bedroom hotel," he said. "I'm the director of the whole facility."
Hogg has been followed into golf by his two sons, Jake, 14, and Joshua, 12, the former coming over to Scotland to compete in the recent Scottish Boys' Stroke Play Championship at Ladybank with his dad accompanying him.
Hogg said of his offspring: "He's off plus one and, with the German Championship coming up soon, it was good for him to gain a bit of experience playing in different conditions than he's used to. He played in all four rounds, which was good, and I also got the chance to meet up with both Colin Brooks and Eric Grandison, another of my best friends."
During the time he's been in Germany, Hogg has seen the number of people playing golf treble from 180,000 to over 500,000, although that figure still only represents less than one per cent of the population.
"It's an elite sport in Germany for the very rich," he commented.
For a long number of years, Bernhard Langer carried the flag for German golf virtually on his own but the mantle has now been taken up by Martin Kaymer, the new Barclays Scottish Open champion and a strong candidate for next year's European Ryder Cup team.
As things stand, it's unlikely Colin Montgomerie will have a fellow Scot in his side at Celtic Manor and, even from afar, Hogg admits the state of the professional game in the "Home of Golf" doesn't exactly look too healthy.
"I don't think there's any doubt that the coaching has changed in Scotland over the past 20 years but I don't think the fitness and diet side of things has changed enough," he noted.
"Even back in 1989 there were clear signs of how the Swedes, for example, were changing the face of the game from that perspective. I remember being at the Tour School in 1989 with the likes of Willie Milne, Gary Collinson, Jim White and Colin Brooks and we just stood there when a group of Swedes including Jesper Parnevik, Per-Ulrik Johansson and Joakim Haeggman appeared with bottles of water under their arms and bananas hanging out their golf bags.
"These days, I think Scotland are lagging behind a country like Germany when it comes to practice facilities. Every course in Germany has a practice ground with a ball machine on the range and golfers can hit balls for hours on end.
"In Germany, they also provide excellent junior training. Indeed, it's club policy to provide coaching from the age of six and, at some places, they provide that five days per week free of charge."

+The full article above contains 735 words and appears in today's Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.

Surrey v Gloucestershire for English

boys' county championship crown

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY ENGLISH GOLF UNION
Surrey remain on course for a third successive English Boys County Championship but they were given a tough battle by Worcestershire before claiming a 5-4 win. In the other match, Gloucestershire beat Lancashire 5.5 – 3.5 to keep their hopes alive.
That means Surrey meet Gloucestershire in a winner-takes-all contest. Both have two victories but Gloucestershire are half a game point ahead.
Having found themselves trailing 1-2 after the morning foursomes, Surrey regrouped at lunch and came out fighting to claim two singles wins through Greg Payne and Curtis Griffiths.
Left-hander Payne opened with an eagle-three against Worcester’s Craig Richardson and was 3-up through five holes. He was pulled back to one hole after eight but Payne took the ninth and tenth to restore his 3-up lead. Payne also won the short 13th with a par and wrapped up his victory with a conceded birdie on the 15th for a 5 and 3 triumph.
Griffiths made an equally explosive start against Matthew Tweddell, racing 3-up after four and 5-up after seven holes. At that stage the Surrey was only one under par and he was still 5-up at the turn. He gave two holes back but was conceded the 12th and went on to claim a 4 and 2 win.
Meanwhile, in the top single, Ben Taylor for Surrey and Chris Nugent were locked in a tight battle with birdies being swapped over the front nine. The turn was reached all square but a Nugent birdie at the short 13th proved decisive as he went on to win on the 18th green.
Rob Aldred edged Worcestershire ahead again by beating Gareth Blease, seeing his first action of the week, 2 and 1. Both players were in form, proving a string of birdies and the contest was still level with four to play. But Aldred won the 16th and 17th, albeit not with birdies, to secure a 2 and 1 win.
That left Surrey needing the two remaining singles for overall victory and they got them thanks to Matthew Chapman and Josh White.
Chapman was involved in a close tussle with Rumayne Stevens until the 14th when he pulled away, winning that hole with a par and the 17th with a birdie for a 3 and 1 win.
White was an approximate four under par through 13 holes to be 4-up against Tom Warbrick only for the Worcester lad to take the 15th and 16th with pars before White closed the door with a half in fours on 17 and a 2 and 1 score.
Lancashire edged the foursomes 2-1 but Gloucestershire fought back to win four of the six singles with one halved.
The south west champions were led off by Chris Lloyd, who battled back from 2-down against Mark Duncalf to win 4 and 3. Duncalf was 2-up after four holes but the match was all square at the turn before Lloyd stepped on the gas to win four of the next five holes and claim the point.
Lloyd’s England colleague Adam Carson (picture © Tom Ward) then romped to a 5 and 3 win over Paul Kinnear to see Gloucester ahead but Sean Towndrow kept Lancashire in the hunt with a 3 and 2 win over Laurie Potter.
The other three matches all went to the 18th green with Gloucestershire getting the better of the battles.
After Sam Sullivan and Jack Brooks had halved 15 successive holes from the fourth for the first halved match of the week, the other two contests saw Gloucestershire home.
Tyler Hogarty was dormie two against James Bolton but was taken to the 18th before securing his win, while Sam Morgan was 3-up against Michael Howard with four to play only to see the latter win the 15th and 16th with pars. They halved the 17th in sixes after both had chances to win the hole, Morgan taking four putts and Howard three. However, a half in fours at the last saw Morgan home.
Admission is free to the event. For those unable to attend, scoring, championship commentary and news updates are available on the Championships Section of the EGU website, www.englishgolfunion.org

Inaugural Asian Men's Amateur Championship

gets backing from big-name brands

Big name brands IBM, KFC, Rolex and Zurich Financial Services Group have agreed to become sponsors of the Asian Men's Amateur Championship.
The inaugural championship, which will take place at Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen, China, from October 29 to November 1, 2009 is a joint initiative to grow the game by the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation, the Masters Tournament and The R&A.
An invitation to play in the 2010 Masters Tournament awaits the winner, while both the winner and the runner-up will gain a place in International Final Qualifying for The Open Championship being played next year at St Andrews.
“Valuable partners are integral in fulfilling our mission and ensuring the event’s success,” said Tommy Lee, Chairman of the APGC, the governing body of the Asian Amateur Championship.
“Our goal is to create golfing heroes throughout Asia that will, in turn, inspire others to take up this great game. IBM, KFC, Rolex and Zurich share this vision and will help make it possible for our objective to be achieved.”
The 120-player field will be comprised of the top male amateurs in the region representing 34 countries. Play will consist of 72 holes of stroke play on Mission Hills Golf Club’s World Cup Course with a cut coming after 36 holes.
For more information on the Asian Amateur Championship, please visit www.asianamateurchampionship.com.

Monty wants a Ryder Cup team

that fears nobody

FROM THE SCOTSMAN SPORTS WEBSITE
By Mark Garrod
COLIN Montgomerie wants a Ryder Cup team that is totally fearless – and does not mind how young they are.
Qualifying for next year's match in Wales starts in two weeks and Montgomerie's confidence has just been given a huge boost. Europe's captain, now in the Netherlands for the KLM Open, had predicted that "four or five" possible members of his side would finish in the top 10 at the US PGA Championship on Sunday.
As it was Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy shared third place, Martin Kaymer, Henrik Stenson and Soren Kjeldsen were joint sixth and Padraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell and Francesco Molinari tied for 10th.
"I think that's our best ever performance in an American major and that should help us to go on and have more major champions," said the former European No1.
McIlroy is 20 and new 'Race to Dubai' leader Kaymer is 24, while Montgomerie has also been impressed by 26-year-old Spaniard Alvaro Quiros, now firmly established as the biggest hitter on either the European or US tours.
Asked if he could turn back the clock and start his career all over again the 46-year-old commented: "No – they are better than me. The potential is there to emulate the top five we had (Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam won 16 majors between them).
"I was never in that league. I had doubts they don't seem to have. There is no fear."I remember in 1999 that Sergio Garcia (19 at the time) was fearless going into the Ryder Cup and if McIlroy, Kaymer and Quiros make the team I envisage the same thing.
"I want a team that not in any way, shape or form has any fear of the Americans."
Montgomerie looks forward to seeing how they react to the pressure of playing for cup points, but this week has his focus firmly on his own career.
With no members of the world's top 50 at Kennemer the KLM Open is a real chance to end his recent barren spell of no top-10 finishes in 14 months. Darren Clarke, another without a top-10 finish this season, is the defending champion.

Ross Kellett (67) joint third in

European amateur

championship in France


Colville Park's Ross Kellett was the top Scot in the first round of the European men's individual amateur championship at Chantilly, France.
Ross, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, had a four-under-par round of 67 to be lying joint third, two shots behind pacemaker Victor Dubuisson (France) and one off second-placed Espen Kofstad (Norway).
SCOREBOARD
Par 71
65 Victor Dubuisson (France).
66 Espen Kofstad (Norway).
67 Ross Kellett (Scotland), Alan Dunbar (Ireland), Max Kieffer (Germany), Adam Runcie (Wales).
Other Scottish scores:
69 James Byrne.
72 Glenn Campbell.
73 Gavin Dear, Keir McNicoll.
74 Paul O'Hara.
75 Steven McEwan.
76 Wallace Booth.
77 Michael Stewart.




















To read all the scores, log on to the championship website:


http://www.ffgolfpro.net/ieac2009/results/stroke.php

Elliot Saltman in record form at Formby Hall

By ANTHONY LEAVER
Elliot Saltman set a new course record at the Formby Hall Classic near Liverpool with a 65 in the opening round at the Formby Hall Golf Resort & Spa to lead by two shots at seven under in the tenth event on the 2009 PGA EuroPro Tour.
Saltman (Aegon) entered the event in fourth spot in the Order of Merit with three events to play, and laid the foundations to take over at the summit with a brilliant front nine – an eagle at the third followed by three birdies to go out at five under.
Birdies at the tenth and 13th moved him to seven under and although he dropped a shot at 17, he notched his sixth birdie of the day at the last to finish at seven under par, a new course record since the venue’s lay-out was changed.
Saltman is joined in Liverpool by younger brothers Lloyd and Zack (both Aegon) who both finished the day at three over par (75).
Challenge Tour regular Tim Dykes (Wrexham GC) holds second spot at five under, reaching the 15th at four under where he dropped his only shot of the day – but a strong finish with birdies on the last two holes saw him card an opening round 67.
Andrew Oldcorn (Kings Acre) sits in third spot after a four under round of 68, with the Scot five under through 12 with an eagle at the third before bogeys at 13 and 15 put the skids on his progress – a fourth birdie at 16 steadied the ship for the 49 year-old.
With the top five on the Order of Merit gaining Challenge Tour cards, James Busby (The Shropshire) couldn’t have timed his opening round of 69 any better. Busby sits in sixth spot on the money list and picked up three birdies without dropping a shot to finish three under for the day and is joined in fourth spot by Scott Henry (Cardross GC), James Hepworth (Ilkley GC) and Mark Kerr (Golf Fit Ltd/Bathgate GC).
A calamitous finish by George Woolgar (Capitalservices.com) ruined his earlier good work to leave him six shots off the lead at one under. Woolgar was three under to the par-three 13th but moved to five under there with a hole in one – but he went on to bogey the last four holes of his round to record a 71.
Order of Merit leader Scott Jamieson is level after the opening round along with Jack Doherty (North Gailes) who is third in the money list. Daniel Brooks (Mill Hill) is in second spot on the list but has plenty of work to do if he is to keep the pressure on Jamieson after carding a six over 78 in Liverpool. Graeme Clark (Doncaster GC) holds fifth spot in the money list but failed to make an impression in the North West, finishing with a 75.
The second round of the Formby Hall Classic from the Formby Hall Golf Resort & Spa begins at 7.30am on Thursday morning, with live scoring available at http://www.europrotour.com/ via the Score Updates link, where you can also find the full Leaderboard from the opening round.
HOW THE SCOTS SCORED
Par 72
LEADER Elliot Saltman 65 -7 (course record)
Andrew Oldcorn 68 -4
Scott Henry 69 -3
Mark Kerr 69 -3
Shaun McAllister 70 -2
Jack Doherty 72 Lvl
Scott Jamieson 72 Lvl
Lee Harper 73 +1
Lorne Kelly 73 +1
John Gallagher 74 +2
Chris Kelly 75 +3
Lloyd Saltman 75 +3
Zack Saltman 75 +3
Christopher Campbell 77 +5
Duncan Stewart 77 +5
Graham Brown 78 +6
Paul Doherty 78 +6
Scott Herald 78 +6
Steven Mackie 78 +6
Barry Hume 81 +9
Steven Hume 81 +9
Stuart Burns 82 +10

Carnoustie cut-price offer for over-50s

NEWS RLEASE
Carnoustie has recently been announced as the venue for both the 2010 Senior Open Championship presented by MasterCard and the 2011 Ricoh Women’s British Open and to celebrate this double accolade the Carnoustie Golf Links Management Committee is offering women and men over 50 a special 4 for 2 tee time deal on its Championship course on specified dates this September and October.
Under the terms of the deal, four women, four males over 50, or a combination of both, can purchase a tee time for just £260 – a 50% saving on the normal price.
The offer is available from September 1st to October 31st subject to availability.
“We are delighted to have been selected as the venue for both the 2010 Senior Open Championship and the 2011 Ricoh Women’s Open Championship and look forward to welcoming the world’s leading Senior and Women golfers over the next couple of years,” said Graeme Duncan, General Manager of the Carnoustie Golf Links Management Committee.
“It’s a great honour to be asked to stage two such prestigious Championships and to celebrate we thought it would be appropriate to offer women and seniors this unique one-off deal.
“The deal is open to four men over 50, four women of any age, or any combination of both. All you have to do is to call our Reservations team on 01241 802270 to select an available tee time. Unfortunately, for administrative reasons, this offer is not available to golfers purchasing a tee time on line at www.carnoustiegolflinks.co.uk.”
The announcement that the 2010 Senior Open Championship and the 2011 Ricoh Women’s British Open will be played at Carnoustie means its Championship course will join Turnberry and Royal Lytham & St Annes as the only three British courses to have hosted not just the Open Championship, but its Senior and Women’s equivalent as well.
The 2010 Senior Open Championship presented by MasterCard will be staged at Carnoustie for the first time on July 22-25, 2010. It becomes the ninth different venue to be used for the Championship, including five other Open venues, Turnberry, Royal Lytham & St Annes, Royal Portrush, Muirfield and Royal Troon. The other courses to be used were Royal Aberdeen, Royal County Down and Sunningdale where this year’s Championship was won by American, Loren Roberts, after a play-off against compatriot, Fred Funk, and Ireland ’s Mark McNulty. The field also included Greg Norman, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, Sam Torrance, Sir Nick Faldo and the legendary American, Tom Watson, who just seven days before came close to winning his sixth Open Championship at the age of 59.
The 2011 Ricoh Women’s British Open is scheduled to be played at Carnoustie in July 2011 and marks the first time the Championship has been held in Scotland since World No. 1, Lorena Ochoa, won the 2007 title over the Old Course, St Andrews . On that occasion, the Championship delivered over £7.5 million to the Scottish economy and received over 356 hours of global broadcast coverage to almost 400 million households.
This year’s event, held earlier this month at Royal Lytham & St Annes, was won by Scotland’s Catriona Matthew, who was only making her second tournament appearance after giving birth to her second daughter, Sophie, a mere 11 weeks before.
Carnoustie hosted its seventh Open Championship back in 2007, when Ireland ’s Padraig amHarrington won the first of his two back-to-back victories after a play-off with Spain ’s Sergio Garcia. The other previous Open champions at Carnoustie were Tommy Armour (1931), Henry Cotton (1937), Ben Hogan (1953), Gary Player (1968), Tom Watson (1975) and Paul Lawrie (1999).

To take advantage of this offer please contact our Reservations team on 01241 802270

O'HARA NOW SECOND BEST SCOT IN WAGR

Kris Nicol's win at Peterhead

lifts him 39 places in R&A

World Amateur Rankings

Fraserburgh Golf Club greenkeeper Kris Nicol's victory in the North-east District Open at Peterhead on Sunday has lifted him 39 places in the new list of R&A World Amateur Golf Rankings. Nicol, 25, who beat home-course player Philip McLean in a play-off, is now 775th. McLean has gone up 18 places to No 352. Nicol will be defending the North of Scotland open amateur stroke-play championship at Lossiemouth this coming weekend when McLean will also be in the field. Banchory's James Byrne, who did not defend his title in the North-east District Open, has fallen back from second best Scot behind Murrayshall's Gavin Dear - still 12th - to fourth with Walker Cup reserve Paul O'Hara, ranked 85, now the second leading Scot, ahead of Ross Kellett (91st) and Byrne (93rd). Walker Cup team selection Wallace Booth is the fifth best Scot in 157th position. Scots in updated R&A World Amateur Golf Rankings (with movement from last week in brackets): 12 Gavin Dear (Murrayshall) (0). 85 Paul O'Hara (Colville Park) (+1). 91 Ross Kellett (Colville Park) (+4). 93 James Byrne (Banchory) (-10). 157 Wallace Booth (Comrie) (-7). 179 Mark Hillson (Craigielaw) (-9). 190 Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck (-6). 265 James White (Lundin) (+11). 274 Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie) (-4). 352 Philip McLean (Peterhead) (+18). 354 David Law (Hazlehead) (+21). 367 Steven McEwan (Caprington) (-3). 377 Scott Borrowman (Dollar) (+17). 379 Keir McNicoll (Carnoustie) (+2). Other Scots: 502 Fraser McKenna (Balmore) (+2). 508 Greg Paterson (St Andrews New) (-1). 579 Peter Latimer (St Andrews) (-1)_. 625 James Ross (Royal Burgess) (+65). 628 Gordon Yates (Hilton Park) (-7). 656 Paul Ferrier (Baberton) (-2). 696 Bobby Rushford (Grangemouth) (+7). 775 Kris Nicol (Fraserburgh) (+39). 792 Craig Watson (East Renfrewshire) (-8). +Kris Nicol is pictured above with his North-east District Open championship trophies. In answer to some readers' queries about why he is holding two trophies - one if the championship trophy, the other is the award for being the leading player from the North-east District. The R&A WAGR leaders are: 1 Nick Taylor (Canada). 2 Morgan Hoffman (US). 3 Matt Hill (Canada). 4 Matteo Manassero (Italy). 5 Rickie Fowler (US). 6 Sam Hutsby (England). 7 Nicol Van Wyk (South Africa). 8 Luke Goddard (England).

Saltmans make it a family affair at Formby Hall

By ANTHONY LEAVER
After becoming the first brothers to play in The Open Championship for 26 years at Turnberry in July, Lloyd and Elliot Saltman will play with younger brother Zack on the PGA EuroPro Tour at Formby Hall, between Southport and Liverpool, this week.
The three brothers will tee off together for the first time on the Tour on Wednesday August 19 – with Challenge Tour regular Lloyd – middle brother of the three – playing his first event on the Tour this year. The 23 year-old won the Silver Medal at the 2005 Open Championship and has played in over a dozen Challenge Tour events this year.
Elliot will be hoping the presence of both siblings can spur him onto cement his position in the top five. The 27 year-old sits in fourth spot in the Order of Merit with three events to go, and strong finishes – or indeed a victory – should secure a coveted top five spot and a Challenge Tour card, and in an interview with The Scotsman, he showed he is fully aware of all the benefits of staying among the leading quintet.
“I’m in a good position (in the Order of Merit) just now and certainly feel I’m playing well enough to stay in the top five between now and the end of the season,” said Elliot. “The players in those positions at the end of August also get to skip the first stage of Tour School – and that would be massive.”
Zack turned pro in January and was instantly signed up by Aegon who represent all three players. He missed out on joining his older brothers at the Open Championship by one stroke but he caddied for Elliot at Turnberry and the talented 20 year-old has gained valuable experience from his eight appearances on the EuroPro Tour so far this season.
The PGA EuroPro tour’s official bookmakers Sky Bet make Elliot 20/1 to win in Liverpool, with Lloyd 40/1 and Zack 400/1, with local man Ian Keenan (Royal Liverpool) 35/1 for victory. Keenan took the runners-up spot at The Virgin Atlantic 25th Anniversary Classic at Marriot Tudor Park early in August and is 11th in the money list.
Betting prices: http://www.skybet.com/skybet?action=GoEvEv&id=11907974

Scotsman article: http://sport.scotsman.com/sport/Golf-Elliot--back-in.5562751.jp

Scott Grieve (left) and James McGhee who combined well for a competition-winning round of 65 at Old Musselburgh today (Picture by courtesy of Sandy Young of Getty Images).

Turnhouse pair lead qualifiers for PGA

Four-ball final at Forest Pines

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY PGA

Turnhouse Golf Club head professional Scott Grieve celebrated a debut victory with assistant James McGhee in the SkyCaddie PGA Four-ball Championship supported by Sunderland – by putting a shift in back at the club.

Just hours after the pair had led home the field at Musselburgh with a flawless seven-under-par 64, Grieve was back in charge of affairs, having only being elevated to the top job back in March.

But while he came to the aid of the club members, Grieve was able to do so in satisfaction after securing a place in the 54-hole £30,000 final at Lincolnshire’s Forest Pines in October.

“It’s the first time I’ve played in it and I’m pretty sure it is for James too and when I entered I thought it would just be a bit of fun and a opportunity to play with my assistant in a quality event,” said Grieve, who teed off at 7.40am and expected to close the pro shop doors at 7pm.

“Now we’re off to the final and looking forward to giving it a go when we get down there and hopefully playing as well as we did today. We don’t play very much, I’ve not long been made head professional and so I’m busy at the club while James tries to fit in playing with his coaching and his studies.

“But James played very well at Musselburgh, while I came in with a few birdies on the back nine. Importantly we kept the bogeys off the card and when one us was out of the hole the other always came up with a par or birdie.”

The duo were coasting to the final reaching the turn in four-under-par before completing their majestic round with three more on the home stretch.

A total of four teams qualified from Scotland with Keith Lobban (Keith Lobban Golf) and Garry Harvey (Kinross) a shot further back in second place. Third place went to Inchmarlo duo Ryan Fitzpatrick and Andrew Locke, who shot five-under-par.

A play-off was needed for the final spot with travelling companions and Tartan Tour high-fliers Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs Golf Range) and Mark King (Kingsfield) denying Sean O’Donnell (Balbirnie Park) and Michael Rae (Alyth) at the fifth extra hole after they were locked at four-under-par.

QUALIFIERS

Par 71

64 Scott Grieve & James McGhee (Turnhouse)

65 Garry Harvey (Kinross Golf) & Keith Lobban (Keith Lobban Golf).

66 Andrew Locke & Ryan Fitzpatrick (Inchmarlo).

67 (after play-off) Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs Golf Range) & Mark King (Kingsfield)

DID NOT QUALIFY
67 (after play-off) Sean O'Donnell (Balbirnie Park) & Michael Rae (Alyth).

*Full results from the event at Musselburgh can be found under ‘Schedule, Scores and Results’ at http://www.pga.info/PGAFourballChampionship.aspx

Gullane's winning team (left to right): Duncan McLean, Greg Houlston, Rory Grey and Peter Legget.

Gullane win East Lothian junior stroke-play title

Gullane Juniors have won the East Lothian junior stroke-play team championship at the historic Musselburgh Old course.
Despite poor conditions, the Gullane team produced a splendid six-over-par team total of 210 with scratch scores of 69 from 13-year-old nine-handicapper Duncan McLean, 70 from captain Rory Grey and 71 from Greg Houlston, backed up by a non-counting 73 from Peter Legget, to pip the much-fancied Tantallon team from North Berwick (who had three two-handicappers, including Scottish age group players Fraser Thain and Chris Lowe in their team ) by just one shot.
CSS was 67
Kilspindie won the handicap section with a net score of 200.

+If you want your junior area/club news & images to appear on www.scottishgolfview.com or www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk, all you have to so is to E-mail the information and pictures to Colin@scottishgolfview.com

IT'S WASH-OUT AT SHOTTS – GRAHAM FOX'S SUNDAY 70 WINS HIM £700 By NICK RODGER Graham Fox won the Tartan Tour's Shotts-54-hole Pro-Am for the second year in a row after the final two rounds were abandoned due to rain. The East Kilbride pro had led the way after opening his challenge with a level-par 70 and was declared the winner when flooding of the course forced SPGA officials to call a halt to the event. The prize money awarded on the basis of Sunday's first-round scores. Fox won the top prize of £700 with his opening par-matching round of 70 with Mark Finlayson (Edzell), David Patrick (Elie) and Neil Fenwick (Dunbar) each earning £425 for their 71s. Leading prize-winners: Par 70 70 Graham Fox (East Kilbride) £700. 71 Mark Finlayson (Edzell), David Patrick (Elie), Neil Fenwick (Dunbar) £425 each. 72 Alastair Love (Charleton), Daniel Wood (Eyemouth), Adam Aitken (Dumfries & Co), Greg McBain (Royal Dornoch), Ewan Hogarth (Peebles) £205 each. 73 Gareth Wright (Swanston Golf), Christopher Currie (Caldwell), Peter Mitchell (Hermitage), Steven Duncan (Balbirnie Park), Bobby Wallace (Bearsden), James McGhee (Turnhouse). 74 Christopher Robinson (Dumfries & Galloway), Steven Chalmers (Banchory), Oliver Morton (Gullane) £75 each.

Willie Sharpe's Lanarkshire County News

Three-man club team event at Strathaven

Lanarkshire Golf Association are staging their annual James Brown Memorial Team Trophy at Strathaven on Sunday, August 23.
The format is a three-man team from each club up to a maximum of three teams per club and all three scores count in a one round stroke-play event.
The winning team will represent Lanarkshire in the Scottish final at Prestwick St Nicklaus in September.
Tee off times start at 12 o clock with Strathaven, East Kilbride and Kirkhill teeing off first.
Sixteen different clubs are taking part and Hamilton A team are defending the trophy.

England senior men carry off European

title for first time in Switzerland

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY ENGLISH GOLF UNION
England’s over 55 golfers won the European men’s team championship for the first time when they beat Sweden 3-2 in the final at Golf Club Patriziale in Ascona, Switzerland, after overcoming defending champions Ireland in the semi-finals.
Having never finished better than third in previous years, England qualified third after the stroke play stage then faced Spain in the quarter finals, winning 3-2.
The Irish were up next and having come off second best to them in a string of contests, there was an air of determination about the English team. England won the foursomes through Doug Arnold and Chris Reynolds, but after losing the top two singles, new cap Andrew Stracey at the 19th, and Geoff King 3&2, tipped the balance England’s way.
That saw them through to the final against Sweden, who had put out Scotland and Italy. Again, Arnold and Reynolds saw England ahead in the foursomes 3&2, but with two singles again being lost, it was left to Philip Slater and Geoff King to see England to the title.
Slater, from Cheshire, won his match 3&2, while Essex-based King eased home 2&1 to set off English celebrations.
England will now defend the title when they host the European Seniors Team Championships at Fairhaven Golf Club in Lancashire next August.

Lanarkshire boys first to beat Glasgow boys

Lanarkshire boys beat the previously undefeated Glasgow team in a West of Scotland inter-area boys' league match at Hamilton on Sunday.
Details:
UNDER-18s
Alan Welsh (Torrance House) lost to Calum McLean (Cowglen) 1 hole.
Jordan Gallagher (Crow Wood) bt Steven Gray (Williamwood) 3 and 1.
Scott Costello (Kirkhill) halved with Jamie Thomson (Cawder).
Martin Scott (Hamilton) bt Connor O'Neil (Glasgow) 3 and 2.
UNDER-16s
Eamon Bradley (Mount Ellen) bt Gary Foley (Ralston) 4 and 3.
Ross Gillan (Torrance House) bt Scott Wearing (Bishopbriggs) 2 holes.
James Steven (Kirkhill) bt Steven Machin (Cowglen) 5 and 4.
Craig Forbes (Carnwath) bt Shaun Connor (Ralston) 5 and 3.


Match Result Lanarkshire 6.5 Glasgow 1.5

Play it again, Sam ... at this week's Scottish

Senior Open at Fairmont St Andrews

NEWS RELEASE
Sam Torrance will hope his extensive knowledge of the Fairmont St Andrews course he redesigned will help him continue the strong home tradition in the Cleveland Golf/Srixon Scottish Senior Open this week (Friday-Sunday, August 21-23).
Torrance’s victory in the 2006 Scottish Senior Open at Marriott Dalmahoy Hotel and Country Club was the third time a Scot had won the event, following David Huish in 1998 and Bill Longmuir in 2004.
He came close to becoming only the second player to win the event twice – following Tommy Horton’s victories in 1993 and 1997 – when he finished runner up to Englishman Peter Mitchell last year.
The 2002 Ryder Cup Captain returns to the ‘Home of Golf’, on the Torrance course which bears his signature, in fine form, having finished third in the Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open a fortnight ago and fifth in The Senior Open Championship presented by MasterCard last month.
That run has moved the 2009 DGM Barbados Open winner up to third on the European Senior Tour Order of Merit. Victory at Fairmont St Andrews would see him overhaul leader Mark McNulty and second placed Ian Woosnam.
He said: “It’s always nice to go back to the Home of Golf and I’m looking forward to it. I fancy my chances.”
Torrance heads a strong Scottish challenge which also includes Longmuir and former Ryder Cup player Gordon Brand Jnr, who is chasing his maiden European Senior Tour title, having finished second on his debut in The De Vere Collection PGA Seniors Championship 12 months ago and tied fourth in the same event in June.
Ross Drummond, currently 11th on the European Senior Tour Order of Merit, led the US Senior PGA Championship at the halfway stage in May and will hope to improve on his tied eighth place at last year’s Scottish Senior Open.
Other Scots in the field for the 17th edition of the Scottish Senior Open include John Chillas, winner of two Scottish Professional Championships (1976 and 2001), and Bill McColl.
In addition to Longmuir, defending champion Mitchell and Torrance, Noel Ratcliffe (2000), Denis Durnian (2002), Terry Gale (2003), Nick Job (2005) and José Rivero (2007) will also tee it up in Scotland.
Four time European Tour winner Peter Senior of Australia will make his Senior Tour debut having turned 50 on July 31.
The Cleveland Golf/Srixon Scottish Senior Open is the first professional championship to be staged at Fairmont St Andrews following its £17million revamp.
It will be an Open Qualifying course when The Open Championship returns to the Home of Golf in 2010.
As well as a new host venue, the Scottish Senior Open has a new title sponsor for 2009 with leading golf manufacturer Srixon Sports Europe, which operates both the Cleveland & Srixon brands in the UK and Europe, strengthening its existing association with the European Senior Tour.
Cleveland is already the Official Club of the Senior Tour and Srixon is the Official Ball Supplier to the Senior Tour.
The Cleveland Golf/Srixon Scottish Senior Open rounds off another superb summer of golf in Scotland backed by national events agency EventScotland, which has also included The 138th Open Championship at Turnberry and the Scottish Hydro Challenge at Macdonald Spey Valley Golf Club.

Sorry for the delay in publishing details of the following match which was played earlier in the month - Editor.

North-east v Angus Under-14s match at Stonehaven
Another win for the Paul Lawrie-sponsored North-east boys' teams this year - three out of three so far.
Results (NE names first):
Foursomes (3-0)
Ben Murray (Portlethen) & Liam Minty (Northern) bt Ross Dallas (Kirriemuir) & Harry Clark (Kirriemuir) 2 holes
Grant Joss (Royal Aberdeen) & Ray Gordon (Alford) bt Jamie Ferguson (Kirriemuir) & Sean Gallacher (Caird Park) 5 and 4.
Jack Moir (Newburgh) & Calvin Cheyne (Newburgh) bt Mac Duncan (Monifeith) & Andrew Gibson (Downfield) 7 and 5.
Singles (4-2)
Ben Murray bt Ross Dallas 5 and 4.
Grant Joss lost to Harry Clark 2 holes.
Jack Moir bt Jamie Ferguson 7 and 6.
Ray Gordon bt Sean Gallacher 6 and 5.
Liam Minty bt Mac Duncan 4 and 3.
Calvin Cheyne lost to Andrew Gibson 4 and 3.
Overall result
North-east 7, Angus 2

Simmers Trophy late entries accepted for Cruden Bay

The North-east District of the Scottish Golf Union is accepting late entries for the Simmers Trophy men's foursomes tournament at Cruden Bay Golf Club on Sunday, August 30. It costs £15 to enter a pairing who must be from the same club.
Entries can be phoned to Jim Hunter of the NE District at 0759 0983153

Tartan Tour Scoreboard
SHOTTS 54-HOLE YOUNG PROFESSIONALS' ORDER OF MERIT TOURNAMENT
Shotts Golf Club
FIRST ROUND LEADERS
Par 70
70 Graham Fox (East Kilbride).
71 Mark Finlayston (Edzell), David Patrick (Elie), Neil Fenwick (Dunbar).
72 Alastair Love (Charleton), Daniel Wood (Eyemouth), Adam Aitken (Dumfries & Co), Greg McBain (Royal Dornoch), Ewan Hogarth (Peebles).
73 Gareth Wright (Swanston Golf), Christopher Currie (Caldwell), Peter Mitchell (Hermitage), Steven Duncan (Balbirnie Park), Bobby Wallace (Bearsden), James McGhee (Turnhouse).
74 Christopher Robinson (Dumfries & Galloway), Steven Chalmers (Banchory), Oliver Morton (Gullane).

Tartan Tour Scoreboard
SANDYHILLS PRO-AM
LEADING SCORES
Par 70
68 Adam Hunter (Mearns Castle Golf Academy), Christopher Russell (RAW Golf Course Design), Alan Lockhart Ladybank), Mark King (Kingsfield), Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills).
69 Sean O'Donnell (Balbirnie Park), Craig Ronald (Carluke), Stephen Gray (Hayston), Steven Taylor (Bothwell Castle).
70 Samuel Cairns (Colville Park), Stuart Williamson (Kirkhill), Lindsay Mann (Carnoustie).
71 Jonathan Lomas (unatt), Mark Loftus (Cowglen), Craig Lee (unatt), David Orr (East Renfrewshire), Greig Hutcheon (Banchory), Callum Nicoll (Prestwick), Andrew Marshall (Houston Golf Range), Andrew Oldcorn (Kings Acre).

US NATIONWIDE TOUR REPORT

Bad weather break doesn't bother

Bolli, winner of Price Cutter event

FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Justin Bolli rallied to win by one shot at the US Nationwide Tour's Price Cutter Charity Championship Presented by Dr Pepper over Chad Collins and Derek Lamely. The former University of Georgia Bulldog fired a 6-under-par 66 in the final round to finish at 21 under.
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Related Links
Leaderboard: Scores
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Bolli started the day tied for fourth and three shots behind third-round co-leaders Collins and Dave Schultz. He made up only one shot on the front nine with a one-under-par 35 and was still two back at 16 under. The leaders were treading water with Collins parring the first eight holes and Schultz working his way back from a double-bogey on the third.
Then Bolli made back-to-back birdies on Nos. 11 and 12 and another on No. 15 before play was suspended for nearly 90 minutes due to a passing thunderstorm.
"It's hard to keep your feel," he said about the interruption of play. "It's hard to get back into the flow of the round. I did hit a few putts, but spent most of the time in the clubhouse trying to relax with friends and family before getting out on the course."
But the wait apparently did not bother Bolli today.
He was assessing a 25ft birdie putt on the 16th green when the course was evacuated. He drained it moments after the horns blew to signal the resumption of play. That got him to 20 under and ahead of the pack by a shot.
Three groups in front of him, Lamely finished off the low round of the day with a birdie on No. 18 for a 7-under-par 65 and pulled into a tie for the lead. But Bolli answered with a birdie of his own on the 17th and went into the final hole with a one-shot lead.
After his drive found the center of the fairway on the reachable par 5, the two-time Nationwide Tour champion chose the conservative route after his drive found the center of the fairway.
"I hit it in the water there yesterday and had that in my head," he said. "I knew that if I made par I'd be the leader in the clubhouse and there were only a couple of players behind that could catch me."
After a layup to just inside 100 yards, his third shot landed just past the pin and spun back to 25 feet below the hole. A routine two-putt for par gave him the clubhouse lead he was after.
Garrett Osborn and Collins were the only players left on the course who were within reach, but needed an eagle and double-eagle respectively to match his 21-under par total. Osborn bogeyed and Collins made an eagle to come up one stroke short.
The win for Bolli and accompanying $112,500 paycheck moves him from 16th to seventh on the money list. His new total of $246,900 all but guarantees him a spot in "The 25" players who will earn their US PGA Tour cards at the end of the year.
This would be his third such promotion via the Nationwide Tour. He finished ninth on the money list in his rookie season in 2004 and eighth in 2007, but was unable to earn enough to keep his card the succeeding seasons on TOUR.
"I'm definitely looking forward to getting back to the big tour," he said. "But it doesn't change my mindset for this season -- I need to keep playing events and keep playing well. It's very important how high you finish for your priority and status."
Collins earns his second runner-up finish in as many weeks and for Schultz (tied for fifth), it's his third consecutive top-10.
The Nationwide Tour travels to Overland Park, Mo. (Kansas City) next week for the inaugural Christmas in October Classic from August 17-23.
SCOREBOARD TO COME

McIlroy, Westwood tie for third in US PGA Championship

THE WINNER! Yang Young-Eun, to give him his full name, is a 37-year-old South Korean who was ranked No 110 in the world behind No 1 Tiger Woods, before the US PGA Championship.

Mr Yang beats Tiger Woods down the stretch

to become first Asian male major winner

FROM THE TELEGRAPH.CO.UK WEBSITE
By MARK REASON in Chaska, Minnesota
South Korea's Y E Yang became the first Asian man to win a major - and he did it by beating Tiger Woods down the stretch.
That’s a bit like Manny Pacquiao knocking out Muhammad Ali in the 15th round.
Yang took out the man who had never lost the lead of a major going into the final round and he did it in style.
(Yang finished with a 70 for eight-under-par 280; Woods a 75 for 283 and second place).
Yang’s big punch at the US PGA Championship came when he holed his chip shot for eagle on the 14th hole. Legend has it that his caddie, a Chicago boy who doesn’t have much Korean, says: “Nice shot, Mr Yang.” Y E then replies: “Thank you, Mr Bean,” because he thinks his bagman looks like Rowan Atkinson.
'Nice’ didn’t quite cut it on Sunday.
Tiger stared and then holed his putt for birdie. He wasn’t going away, but then neither was Yang. We have seen him do this sort of thing before. Earlier this year Yang won the Honda Classic from the front. He said then that he needed to shoot two under in the final round to win, and he went out and did it.
After he won in Florida, Yang said the last four holes were longer than his entire career. Imagine how he must have felt over Hazeltine’s closing stretch with Tiger for company. It must have been like living eternity on the razor’s edge.
We wondered on the 17th green if Yang was going to be cut by the razor just when he was so close. He had two putts to take a two-stroke lead up the final hole and his dough-handed first effort came up eight feet short. He missed that, but his rescue club into the final green was a stroke of pure joy. Nice shot, Mr Yang.
Goodness knows what effect his win will have on Asian golf. We have been waiting for this for almost 40 years, ever since Mr Lu nearly won the Open. Surely the International Olympic Committee membership must now endorse golf’s inclusion in the Olympics.
Asia could become the golfing capital of the world if the equipment and ranges are made available to the kids who want to follow Mr Yang.
Over the closing two holes Tiger was dependent on the other man’s mistakes to have a chance and no champion likes to put himself in that position. This was Tiger’s missing major. He made more mistakes in the final round of this one than in the previous 14 wins put together.
All day Tiger was out with his distance control and he couldn’t buy a putt. That is the area of Tiger’s game that no longer walks the centre line of inevitability. This is the first time that he has lost a major from the front and the others may no longer believe that he is invincible.
Great as he is, Woods will be back, but what about the Europeans? Eight of them had top-10 finishes here, the sort of statistic that would have been unthinkable for most of the previous century. But in truth none of them contended over the final nine holes.
Padraig Harrington’s challenge ended amidst a flurry of shots that would not have been out of place in the Sunday hacker’s handicap challenge. A shot behind the leader when he came to the par-3 eighth hole, Harrington walked into what is known as a snowman in golf – a quintuple bogey 8. He finished with a 78 for joint 10th place on level par 288.
Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood were the highest home finishers, their closing rounds of 70 earning a tie for third. Their day will surely come, but Sunday belonged to Mr Yang.
The South Korean finished with a birdie and stepped off the razor’s edge into eternity.
HOW THEY FINISHED
Par 288 (4x72)
280 Y E Yang (Kor) 73 70 67 70
283 Tiger Woods 67 70 71 75
285 Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 71 73 71 70, Lee Westwood (Eng) 70 72 73 70
286 Lucas Glover 71 70 71 74
287 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 70 73 70 74, Ernie Els (Rsa) 75 68 70 74, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 73 70 71 73, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 73 71 68 75
288 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 74 73 69 72, Dustin Johnson 72 73 73 70, Graeme McDowell (NIrl) 70 75 71 72, Zach Johnson 74 73 70 71, John Merrick 72 72 74 70, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 68 73 69 78
289 Hunter Mahan 69 75 74 71, Vijay Singh (Fij) 69 72 75 73, Tim Clark (Rsa) 76 68 71 74
290 Michael Allen 74 71 72 73, Ross Fisher (Eng) 73 68 73 76, Oliver Wilson (Eng) 74 72 72 72, Corey Pavin 73 71 71 75, Ian Poulter (Eng) 72 70 76 72
291 Scott McCarron 75 72 71 73, Brendan Jones (Aus) 71 70 73 77, Ben Curtis 73 72 73 73, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 69 76 69 77, John Rollins 73 73 68 77, Robert Allenby (Aus) 69 75 75 72, K J Choi (Kor) 73 72 73 73, Stephen Ames (Can) 74 71 70 76
292 Jeff Overton 72 74 75 71, Steve Flesch 74 73 69 76, Kevin Sutherland 73 72 74 73, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 70 77 73 72
293 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 75 73 71 74, Soren Hansen (Den) 72 76 74 71, David Toms 69 75 72 77, Boo Weekley 74 74 71 74, Woody Austin 73 73 73 74, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 70 76 73 74, Fred Couples 74 74 73 72
294 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 76 70 72 76, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 71 73 78 72, Kenny Perry 74 70 78 72, Kevin Na 73 75 71 75, Chad Campbell 74 73 73 74, Ben Crane 70 75 72 77, Rich Beem 71 76 75 72, Luke Donald (Eng) 71 77 73 73
295 Anthony Kim 73 74 71 77, Michael Sim (Sco) 73 75 76 71, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 77 71 70 77, Camilo Villegas (Col) 73 73 76 73, Thomas Levet (Fra) 72 75 76 72
296 Charlie Wi (Kor) 72 76 75 73, Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn) 74 74 76 72, Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn) 71 74 73 78, Bob Tway 72 76 74 74
297 Richard Green (Aus) 75 73 74 75, Tom Lehman 72 74 76 75, John Mallinger 73 71 76 77
298 Nathan Green (Aus) 72 75 76 75, J J Henry 72 73 80 73, Jim Furyk 73 75 73 77, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 76 70 76 76
299 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 74 73 74 78, Justin Leonard 73 75 73 78, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 74 70 78 77, David Smail (Nzl) 75 73 75 76, Paul Goydos 70 78 78 73, Stewart Cink 73 73 72 81
300 Phil Mickelson 74 74 76 76
301 Greg Bisconti 75 72 78 76
302 Sean O'Hair 74 73 82 73
303 Grant Sturgeon 73 71 80 79, Chris Wood (Eng) 74 73 77 79, Bob Estes 74 74 77 78
305 Alastair Forsyth (Sco) 73 75 75 82

Play-off drama at Peterhead

Philip McLean (left) and Kris Nicol after their play-off for the North-east District Open championship at Philip's home club, Peterhead, this evening (Image by Cal Carson Golf Agency; click on it to enlarge).

Kris Nicol beats Philip McLean in Battle

of the Buchan Loons for NE title

Fraserburgh’s Kris Nicol, eight strokes clear of the field with one round to go, finally had to win a play-off against another “Buchan loon,” home-course favourite Philip McLean, to chalk up a roller-coaster victory in the North-east District Open golf championship over the Peterhead Golf Club links today.
McLean, 22-year-old winner of last week’s Leven Gold Medal, finished like the proverbial train with a four-under-par 66 for a 72-hole total of seven-under-par 273.
He birdied the sixth, seventh, eighth, 10th, 13th and 15th in halves of 34 and 32 in a round which featured some prodigious driving down wind. Philip drove the green at the 349yd sixth for a two-putt birdie and was only 40yd short of the green at the 409yd third.
Nicol had made it a procession over the first 54 holes .. three shots clear after an opening 65 and five shots ahead at half way after another 65 in the second round. A Sunday morning 69 saw him go eight shots clear with McLean now taking up second place.
But Nicol, the 25-year-old Fraserburgh greenkeeper, suddenly lost his touch in the fourth round – and his lead quickly disappeared as he bogeyed fiveholes in a row from the second.
“I just hit a string of poor iron shots,” said Nicol who reached the turn in 40.
McLean's barrage of birdies enabled the former Scotland youth cap to catch him and, playing ahead of his rival, Philip led by a shot with three to play.
But Nicol summoned up one of the great birdies he had been chalking up so nonchalantly earlier in the tournament to hole a 30ft putt at the 17th.
He had a chance to win the title on the 72nd green but his putt from 20ft stopped on the lip. Nicol had closed with a 74 - an eight-shot turnaround in McLean's favour over 18 holes - to match Philip's clubhouse total of 273.
Home course record-holder McLean was the favourite to win the play-off, having just come off a great round while Nicol had been glad to get back in the clubhouse to clear his thoughts.
But it was McLean who drove into the rough and got a bad lie at the first sudden-death play-off hole. He hacked out and holed a putt to salvage a par 4, leaving Nicol, safely home in two, to hole a shortish birdie putt for his second SGU Order of Merit event victory.
He won last year’s North of Scotland open amateur title, which he will defend this coming weekend at Lossiemouth.
Stirling University student James White (Lundin) finished third on 277 after a very good last round of 66. White, a former Scottish boys' match-play champion, was the only other player apart from Nicol and McLean to finish the 72 holes under par, which says much for Peterhead's testing links, not long by modern standards but, with the help of an almost constant wind, a test for the best, whether amateur or professional.
Best round of the last day was a fourth-round 65 from former Scotland youth champion and past Palmer Cup player Scott Borrowman (Dollar) who finished on 281. If the tournament had only been over 36 holes on Sunday, Borrowman would have won with a splendid 36-hole tally of 133.

But he had saddled himself with two moderate rounds of 74 on the Saturday and had to settle for a final placing of fourth - a shot behind recent Scottish amateur championship semi-finalist Bryan Innes (Murcar Links) who partnered McLean in his final round and returned a 68 himself as the two sparked each other to great effect.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 280 (4x70). 6147yd CSS 71 71 71 71
273 Philip McLean (Peterhead) 71 69 67 66, Kris Nicol (Fraserburgh) 65 65 69 74 (Nicol won sudden-death play-off at first extra hole).
277 James White (Lundin) 72 69 70 66.
280 Bryan Innes (Murcar Links) 71 69 72 68.
281 Scott Borrowman (Dollar) 74 74 68 65.
282 Michael Daily Erksine) 68 67 73 74, Martin Lawrence (Newmachar) 70 69 73 70.
285 Gordon Yates (Hilton Park) 71 71 74 69.
288 Alex Main (Thornton)
71 77 71 69.
289 Kevin Duncan (McDonald Ellon) 71 72 74 72, Barrie Edmond (Bon Accord) 74 69 70 76, Aaron Sweeney (Carnoustie) 69 68 72 80.
290 Andrew Campbell (Deeside) 72 76 71 71, Christopher Forman (Peterhead) 74 71 75 70.
291 James Ross (Royal Burgess) 72 71 73 75.
292 Jordan Findlay (Fraserburgh 74 75 72 71, Colin Thomson (East Renfrewshire) 72 76 73 71, Bobby Rushford (Grangemouth) 73 73 67 79, Steven Smith (Dalmahoy Hotel) 72 71 71 78, Richard Gill (Craigmillar Park) 71 71 73 77, Gavin Greer (Murcar Links) 71 70 79 72..
293 Clark Brechin (Portlethen) 78 75 70 70, Gordon Munro (Fraserburgh) 75 72 75 71, Kyle McClung (Wigtownshire Co) 75 72 71 75, Iain Galbraith (Murcar Links) 74 72 71 76.
296 Scott Larkin (Banchory) 76 69 73 78.
298 Anthony Bews (Murcar Links) 75 75 76 72, Neale Barnes (Deeside) 73 74 76 75, Steven J Buchan (Royal Aberdeen) 78 69 74 77..
299 Billy Main (Murcar Links) 76 76 74 73.
301 John Duff (Newmachar) 73 77 72 79.
303 Alexander Culverwell (Dunbar) 70 82 76 75.
304 Andrew Carrell (Peterculter) 77 76 73 78, David Corkey (Murcar Links) 73 78 74 79, Garry Esson (Caledonian) 73 77 78 76.
308 Daniel Somerville (St Andrews) 80 71 79 78.
309 Ewan McIntosh (McDonald Ellon) 76 73 77 83.
310 Graeme Duncan (Shotts) 76 76 79 79.
Retired: Michael Buchan (Cruden Bay) 69 71 78 -

NORTH-EAST DISTRICT OPEN SCOREBOARD
Peterhead Golf Club
THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 210 (3x70) CSS 71 71 71
199 Kris Nicol (Fraserburgh) 65 65 69.
207 Philip McLean (Peterhead) 71 69 67.
208 Michael Daily (Erskine) 68 67 73.
209 Aaron Sweeney (Carnoustie) 69 68 72.
211 James White (Lundin) 72 69 70.
212 Martin Lawrence (Newmachar) 70 69 73, Bryan Innes (Murcar Links) 71 69 72.
213 Barrie Edmond (Bon Accord) 74 69 70, Bobby RuAMshford (Grangemouth) 73 73 67.
214 Steven Smith (Dalmahoy) 72 71 71. AM
215 Richard Gill (Craigmillar Park) 71 71 73.
216 Gordon Yates (Hilton Park) 71 71 74, James Ross (Royal Burgess) 72 71 73, Scott Borrowman (Dollar) 74 74 68.
217 Kevin Duncan (McDonald Ellon) 71 72 74, Iain Galbraith (Murcar Links) 74 72 71.
218 Michael Buchan (Cruden Bay) 69 71 78, Scott Larkin (Banchory) 76 69 73, Christopher Forman (Peterhead) 74 71 73, Kyle McClung (Wigtownshire Co) 75 72 71.
219 Alex Main (Thornton) 71 77 71.
220 Gavin Greer (Murcar Links) 71 70 79.
221 Steven J Buchan (Royal Aberdeen) 78 69 74, Colin Thomson (East Renfrewshire)7 2 76 73, Jordan Findlay (Fraserburgh) 74 72 75.
222 John Duff (Newmachar) 73 77 72, Gordon Munro (Fraserbrgh) 75 72 75
223 Neale Barnes (Deeside) 73 74 76.
226 Ewan McIntosh (Newmachar) 76 73 77.
228 Garry Esson (Portlethen) 73 77 78.
230 Daniel Sommervillle (St Andrews) 80 71 79.

Birthday boy Quesne claims debut win

By SARAH GWYNN, European Challenge Tour Press Officer
Julien Quesne gave himself the perfect birthday present by winning the Trophée du Golf de Genève for his first European Challenge Tour title in Switzerland today.
The Frenchman, who turned 29 today, shot a stunning six under par 66 in the final round to finish a shot clear of Challenge Tour Rankings leader
Edoardo Molinari, who had a one shot lead at the start of the day but whose 68 ultimately proved insufficient.
The Italian birdied the 14th, 16th and 17th to give Quesne a scare, but needing another birdie at the 18th to force a play-off, he only managed a par.
Englishman Peter Baker, who shot 67 today, shared third place with Julien Guerrier at 17 under, while three players – Gary Boyd, Alan Wagner and James Morrison – were two more shots further back.
Quesne, whose previous best performance on the Challenge Tour was runner-up at last year’s Banque Populaire Moroccan Classic, where he also finished third this season, was one shot off the course record on the first day when he posted a 64 which included nine birdies.
He did not quite match that level in the second two rounds, but a 69 and a 71 kept him in contention and the withdrawal through injury of second round leader Robert Coles three holes into his third round blew the race wide open.
Quesne seized the initiative today to become the fifth consecutive first time winner on the Challenge Tour and said he was glad to finally have a victory to his name.
“I’m so happy,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for this victory since the beginning of the season. I have been playing very well all year but I’ve had to be very patient. I’ve had a few chances before to win before but haven’t done it so this is great for me and on my birthday too which makes it even more special.
“The four straight birdies really got me going. I just made a bogey so I was thinking about my score because I always like to be under par early. At the long par three (seventh) I hit a four iron to within a metre and then at the par five next hole I hit my third shot very close and tapped in.
“At the ninth I made a putt from 15 metres and at the tenth I went very close again with my approach shot. It was nerve-racking knowing Edoardo could force a play-off with a birdie at the last but I also knew it is maybe the hardest hole on the course.”
Quesne was one shot off Molinari’s lead at the start of the final round but said any pressure on him worked in his favour.
He added: “I did feel a little bit of pressure this morning but I like that. For me, pressure is a good thing and often makes me raise my game a little. I will certainly enjoy the celebrations tonight.”
Although Molinari did not end up with the trophy in Switzerland, his runner-up finish cemented his place at the top of the Rankings and capped a good weekend for the family. His brother Francesco made the cut in the US PGA Championshipl
FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x72)
269 J Quesne (Fra) 63 69 71 66
270 E Molinari (Ita) 70 68 64 68
271 P Baker (Eng) 68 67 69 67, J Guerrier (Fra) 71 68 66 66
273 J Morrison (Eng) 67 67 69 70, G Boyd (Eng) 72 66 66 69, A Wagner (Arg) 71 71 65 66
274 N Colsaerts (Bel) 66 71 68 69
275 S Walker (Eng) 72 67 68 68, J Parry (Eng) 68 68 67 72, M Zions (Aus) 66 73 66, 70
276 R Davies (Wal) 71 68 68 69
277 J Clément (Fra) 69 68 66 74, S Bebb (Wal) 66 71 70 70, A McArthur (Sco) 69 73 64 71
279 J-F Lima (Por) 71 70 68 70
282 M Tullo (Chi) 74 68 68 72, A S Hansen (Den) 73 65 70 74, R McEvoy (Eng) 69 70 71 72, Lee James (Eng) 69 69 72 72
283 A Kaleka (Fra) 69 69 72 73

Hugh Hunter's Clackmannan County New

BOB BOUNCES BACK IN EUROPEAN SENIORS
After a disappointing finish to his British Seniors campaign at Prestwick two weeks ago, Tulliallan’s Bob Stewart wasted no time in recovering his golfing form when he travelled to Switzerland to represent Scotland in the European Seniors Team Championship last week.
In the 36 hole qualifying event with five scores counting out of six, Bob returned two good rounds of 75 which helped take the Scottish team into the top flight where they faced Sweden in the first round of the match play section.
The matches are decided with one foursome and four singles and Bob partnered by George Paterson won their game fairly easily, but the players in the singles only won one game which meant that Scotland lost by three matches to two overall and deny them a top four finish. In the second round, things looked bleak for a time against Germany, but Bob and George managed to turn their game round from two down to win at the 19th hole. This proved crucial and the team took the match by 3 games to two.
In the final match, Scotland took on Spain to decide fourth place
Bob was given a singles tie and duly came away with a halved match. However it wasnt good enough as Scotland lost by 3 matches to 1.
Bob came away undefeated in his match play games and must be highly pleased with his performance which should ensure selection for the Senior Home Internationals at the end of the season. Indeed, if he keeps up this sort of performance, then he could be in the Scottish team for a few years to come Well done Bob !!"
2009 EDEN TOURNAMENT
2009 marks the 40th anniversary of the win of Alan Glass (Alloa) in the Eden tournament. Alan made a bit of history in the late 1960’s when he won all three trophies in the event in the space of a few years. Alan still plays and enjoys his golf and now with his retirement status he intends to focus more on his golf and some of the Senior events.
The Eden tournament used to attract a high quality Scottish field with a significant number of golfers and spectators from Clackmannanshire. Nowadays most of the entries come from outwith Scotland and it was left to Graham Rennie (Alloa) to mount the only Clackmannanshire challenge. Five handicapper Graham just missed the scratch event qualifying, but featured in the Eden tankard decided on handicap where he won by 2/1 in the first round, but lost in round two. Nevertheless a good performance to finish in the top 25% of the field.

BELHAVEN BEST SCOTTISH CLUB HANDICAP CHAMPIONSHIP.
The Tulliallan and Dollar teams finished down the field at Prestonfield last Friday, missing a top ten place which would have taken them to the Scottish final. Braehead (Steve Skelton/Martin Kaney) with a level par score finished in 27th position while Dollar (Andrew Ure/Ken Christie) were two shots further back in 43rd position. The event was won by Lochmaben Golf Club with a 7 under par score of 63.

David Wilson beats Jared Williams at

19th in Ayrshire boys' final

FROM THE AYRSHIRE GOLF WEBSITE
David Wilson (Troon Welbeck) captured the 2009 Ayrshire boys' match-play championship at Prestwick Golf Club on Saturday with a victory at the first extra hole over Jared Williams (Kilmacolm/Troon St. Meddans).
In winning the title, Wilson became the youngest winner of the trophy, aged 14 years and 9 months.
In a well-matched final, Jared Williams, who lost out in the Renfrewshire boys' match-play final earlier in the season, took an early lead after David Wilson hit an uncharacteristically poor second to the opening hole while Williams secured a regulation par 4.
The match was square again when Williams found a bunker from the tee at the second and failed to extracate the ball at the first attempt. Wilson, 25 feet away in one, recorded an easy par.
After Wilson was bunkered from the tee at the third, Williams took full advantage, a 3 foot putt for a birdie 4 restoring his lead.
Again the match was squared at the following hole, and again a bunkered tee shot proved decisive with Williams finding the James Braid inspired bunker at the edge of the Pow Burn and requiring to take a drop from casual water within the bunker.
The drop was not ideal, plugging and restricting his stance, and whilst he struggled on the hole, Wilson played a fine approach to 18 feet to set up a winning par 4.
Both players found the green over the Hymalayas at the fifth, and it was Wilson who took the hole and the lead for the first time with a fine 10ft birdie putt.
Having covered almost a third of the round without sharing a hole, the players finally halved the sixth with Wilson executing a superb up and down recovery from the left of the green to match Williams' par 4.
At the seventh both players negotiated the hole in perfect fashion, Wilson finishing 12 feet from the hole in two while Williams, who was consistently longer from the tee, following him in to finish just three feet from the hole. On the notoriously tricky green, however, both players' birdie putts lipped out and the hole was halved in par.
At the eighth hole a lost ball from the tee cost Wilson a double bogey 6, and the match was squared once more.
In one of the telling moments of the match, at the ninth, Wilson got up and down from short of the green, holing a difficult 12ft putt for a par 4 while Williams, who had safely reached the green in two, took three putts from around 35ft to lose the hole and turn for home one down.
Williams had the opportunity to square the match at the 10th but his 6ft putt for par hit the edge of the hole and stayed out, leaving Wilson still one ahead.
The lead lasted only until the 11th where Williams only required two putts from 15ft for a winning par 3 after Wilson had missed the green on the left from the tee.
Williams looked favourite all the way at the par 5 12th as Wilson found two bunker on his way to the putting surface in five shots. Williams,by contrast, was on in three but, similar to the events at the ninth, Wilson holed a good 10 foot putt for a 6 while Williams contrived to take three putts from the left side of the green which allowed his opponent to escape with an unlikely half.
The slip was compounded at the 13th when Williams found 'Willie Campbell's Grave' from the tee and could only play out of the fiendish bunker, leaving him with a long third to the green. Wilson reached the lower apron of the green in two; Williams came up just short of the putting surface in three.
Wilson showed great skill with the putter to leave his long uphill putt from the fringe close enough to the hole for a conceded par 4, and Williams was extremely unfortunate to see his attempt for a half from off the green turn away at the holeside and finish only inches away, giving Wilson a one-hole lead once more.
At the 14th Williams was unfortunate to see his extremely long drive reach the cross bunkers in front of the green and whilst he played out and chipped on to the green to a few feet in three, it was not enough as Wilson holed a decisive 30ft putt for a birdie 3 to take a two-hole lead for the first time in the match.
Buoyed by his run of winning holes, Wilson's approach to the difficult 15th green pulled up just 4ft from the hole while Williams' effort was unlucky to pull up short of the green, leaving him an extremely difficult task to two putt for par.
Williams holed a brave second putt from 5ft for par and was boosted when Wilson's effort for a winning birdie 3 just missed the hole on the left, leaving Williams still two holes behind, with three to play.
Wilson's tee shot at the 16th was in good position on the left whilst Williams, whose driving length meant the green was well in range, was unlucky to see his tee shot catch the edge of the Cardinal Bunker after a kick to the right en route to the green.
A slightly strong approach from Wilson saw his ball run just through the green while Williams played a good chip from a difficult stance on the grass bank within "the Cardinal" to 15 feet beyond the pin.
Wilson's effort from off the green ran past the hole a couple of feet and Williams holed for a birdie 3 to reduce the defecit to one hole.
At the 17th, both players negotiated "The Alps" in two, Wilson just missing the gren on the left with Williams finishing 12 feet from the hole. Wilson's birdie effort ran 4ft past and after Williams' birdie putt also stayd above ground, Wilson missed his par putt, leaving Williams to hole from three feet for a winning par to square the match once again.
At the 18th, Williams cut his tee shot slightly right and found rough whilst Wilson played a perfect shot which came up just five yards short of the green in the centre of the fairway. As Wilson had done earlier in the match, however, it was Williams' turn to show his recovery skills, lofting a delicate chip onto the green which came to rest just 3ft from the hole. Wilson's approach finished just inside Williams' ball and both players holed their putts for birdies, leaving the match all square and going on to extra holes.
The quality of the play from both players in a difficult south west wind was borne out by the statistics, both players going round in 75 strokes, having already negotiated semi final matches earlier in the day.
The first hole at Prestwick has provided many tales of drama and tragedy over the years and this final provided yet another chapter in the tale when Williams teed off first and saw his iron shot drift in the cross wind and drop over the boundary wall into the railway.
Wilson was visibly relieved when his own effort with an iron from the tee safely found the fairway. Wilson looked equally relieved when his approach came up safe, but short of the green, but his opponent was not giving up without a fight and Williams' approach, his fourth shot, finished 18 feet from the hole.
From the front of the green, Wilson putted up to three feet, but despite a good putt, Williams' effort for a 5 remained above ground and prompted a concession of the hole and title to the new champion.
At the conclusion of the match, Prestwick Golf Club secretary Ian Bunch presented vouchers to both finalists and passed over the Ayrshire boys' match-play trophy and commemorative medal into the custody of the 2009 winner, David Wilson


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US PGA CHAMPIONSHIP REPORT

Woods leads by two from Harringon

after Padraig bogeys the last

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Padraig Harrington turned the US PGA Championship into a contest again but a bogey at the last left Tiger Woods with a two-shot lead from the Irishman and South Korea's Y E Yang, heading into Sunday's final round at Hazeltine National.
Woods got his third round under way at seven under par in Minnesota in the knowledge he had not lost the eight major championships he had led at the halfway stage and with a four-shot overnight lead the world number one had threatened to turn the final major of the year into a procession.
Defending champion Harrington had reeled in Woods' lead as the final groups neared the clubhouse, but having been caught, the 14-time major winner was sparked out of a nine-hole run of pars with a birdie at the 14th.
Then Harrington bogeyed the 18th for a third-round, three-under-par 69 and Woods returned to grind mode and parred his way home for a one-under 71, at eight under a stroke ahead of the Irishman and South Korea's Y E Yang, his 67 the low score of the day.
Henrik Stenson of Sweden and US Open champion Lucas Glover will start the final round at four under after rounds of 68 and 71 respectively with Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen and Ernie Els of South Africa at three under, both having shot 70s.
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Related Link (click on it to access the site
USPGA Championship's official website
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"I was just trying to be very patient out there," Woods said.
"The golf coursewas playing a little more difficult and I had the lead so I played conservatively.
"I didn't give myself a lot of looks and the one putt I missed was the three-putt (at the fourth) so other than that it was a really good, solid day."
Harrington was left a little deflated after his closing bogey.
"It was a little disappointing," he said.
"Sometimes when you get off to a shaky start and make a few pars you do feel better for it.
"Then I did start playing well and I holed a few putts and I was feeling good about things. Then at the end I got a flyer out of the rough and it was a disappointing way to finish."
LEADING THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3x62)
2o8 T Woods 67 70 71.
210 Y E Yang 73 70 67, P Harrington 68 73 69.
212 H Stenson 73 71 68, L Glover 71 70 71.
213 E Els 75 68 70, S Kjeldsen 70 73 70.
214 A Quiros 69 76 69, J Rollins 73 73 68, M Kaymer 73 70 71, R Fisher 73 68 73, B Jones 71 70 73.
215 S Ames 74 71 70, R McIlroy 71 73 71, C Pavin 73 71 71, T Clark 76 68 71, L Westwood 70 72 73.
216 S Flesch 74 73 69, F Molinari 74 73 69, G McDowell 70 75 71, D Thoms 69 75 72, VJ Singh 69 72 74.
Selected scores:
218 R Goosen 77 71 70, S Cink 73 73 72, O Wilson 74 72 72, I Poulter 72 70 76.
219 M A Jimenez 75 73 71.
221 L Donald 71 77 72.
223 A Forsyth 73 75 75.
224 M Sim 73 75 76, P Mickelson 74 74 76, C Wood 74 73 77.
MISSED THE CUT (148 or better)
149 S Garcia 71 78, J Rose 73 76.
150 B Davis 76 74.
151 S Webster 76 75.
153 C Montgomerie 75 78.
154 D Clarke 78 76, A Wall 78 76.
155 N Doughterty 80 75.