North-east District order of merit winners Alexander and Clark

North-east District Association president Willie Donald with Alexander Wiseman (Fraserburgh), left, winner of the boys' order of merit in 2009, and (right) Clark Brechin (Portlethen), winner of the men's order of merit, at tonight's North-east District annual dinner at The Marcliffe Hotel, Aberdeen. Image by Cal Carson Golf Agency. Click to enlarge.
Scottish men's and boys' champion David Law (Hazlehead) was due to be presented with an award by the district in recognition of his historic double but he was unable to attend because of injuries sustained when he was set upon by two thugs in the early hours of Thursday morning just off Aberdeen's Union Street.
NORTH-EAST MEN'S ORDER OF MERIT
LEADING TOTALS
350 Clark Brechin (Portlethen).
315 Anthony Bews (Murcar Links).
310 Bryan Innes (Murcar Links).
300 Kris Nicol (Fraserburgh).
245 Andrew Campbell (Deeside).
200 Glen Taylor (Hazlehead).
180 Philip McLean (Peterhead).
165 Mark Halliday (Royal Aberdeen).
130 Chris Gilbert (Cruden Bay).
125 Kevin Duncan (McDonald Ellon).

NORTH-EAST BOYS' ORDER OF MERIT
LEADING TOTALS
492.5 Andrew Wiseman (Fraserburgh).
450 D Thompsett (Aboyne).
382.5 J Presly (Banchory).
355 K Zeynalov (Portlethen).
300 G Munro (Fraserburgh, F Clarke (Westhill), B Murray (Portlethen).
230 Ryan Bain (Strathlene).
220 A Carrell (Peterculter).
200 C Campbell (Inchmarlo).

THE STORY THAT WILL MAKE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER HEADLINES

News agency speculation over cause of Tiger

Woods' accident involves wife Elin

FROM THE AGE.COM.AU WEBSITE
By JOHN ELDER
Two days after a lurid story broke about Tiger Woods having an affair with a New York nightclub hostess, the golfing superstar was found by police lying on his back outside his Florida mansion, incoherent and bleeding - with his distressed wife standing over him with a golf club in her hands.
Woods' car was also in bad shape: it had apparently hit a fire hydrant before crashing into a tree in a neighbour's yard at 2.25am (local time) on Friday .
Elin Nordegren reportedly told police her husband had crashed after pulling out of the circular driveway, and she had been in the house when she heard the accident.
She said she had used the golf club to smash the back window to help get her husband out of the car.
Windermere police chief Daniel Saylor said the front windows of the Cadillac SUV were not broken and ''the door was probably locked''.
Mr Saylor said: ''She supposedly got him out and laid him on the ground. He was in and out of consciousness when my guys got there.''
Mr Saylor said Highway Patrol officers found Ms Nordegren ''frantic, upset'' and that Woods ''was mumbling but didn't say anything coherent''.
He said Woods had cuts to his upper and lower lips, and blood in his mouth. He was given first aid by police until an ambulance arrived, then treated at a local hospital and released in ''good condition''.
Some news agencies are speculating that Ms Nordegren had been arguing with her husband over the reported affair with New York hostess Rachel Uchitel, who was in Melbourne while Woods competed in the Australian Masters.
Ms Uchitel has denied an affair.
Celebrity news website TMZ claims that Woods told ''a non-law-enforcement type'' that Ms Nordegren scratched his face during an argument over the affair and that when he fled the mansion she followed him with the golf club. The report claims that as Woods drove off, his wife struck the vehicle and he became distracted and crashed.

Stephen Gallacher top Scot after Day 1 of

European Tour Final Qualifying School

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Julien Guerrier stormed into a four-shot lead at European Tour Qualifying School – Final Stage, carding a record ten under par 60 on the Tour Course, the shorter of the two courses being used at PGA Catalunya Resort in Spain.
The Frenchman has already earned his playing rights for the 2010 Race to Dubai after finishing 16th in the Challenge Tour Rankings this season, but is playing this week for the chance of gaining a better category and has every chance after shooting the lowest round in European Tour Qualifying School history.
The absence of the intense pressure some of the other 155 players are under this week allowed Guerrier to shoot 11 birdies, and he has a significant lead over a group of five players at six under – Australian Tony Carolan, South African Keith Horne, Englishman James Ruth, Dane Lasse Jensen and Swede Jarmo Sandelin.
Thirty cards plus ties are up for grabs, with 156 hopefuls playing four rounds – two each over the Tour Course and the Stadium Course - before the field is whittled down to 70 players plus ties to play two more rounds over the Stadium Course on Wednesday and Thursday.
Guerrier was delighted to have made such a strong start, but was mindful that there is still a lot of golf to be played before he can start celebrating.
He had halves of 30 for his 10-under-par 60, birdieing the third, fourth, sixth, seventh, ninth, 10th, 12th, 13th, short 14th, short 16th and 17th. He bogeyed the short 11th.
“It was a fantastic round,” he said. “I just made one mistake on the 11th, which was my second hole, where I had three putts for a bogey. At the beginning I didn’t play very well but I putted well, and then it all started to come together. My long game was very good and my putting was good.
“But it’s very, very long, like a marathon so it’s a good start but the tournament doesn’t really begin until the third round so we’ll see.”
He added: “The condition of the course was very good. The greens were excellent and the front nine was in very good condition even after a lot of players had played it in the morning. I really enjoyed it.”
Asked if he is feeling any pressure, knowing whatever his performance at Qualifying School – Final Stage, he is still guaranteed to play on The European Tour next season, Guerrier replied: “It’s just a bonus this week. I have some pressure – pressure to win or make the top ten, which would be good for me because it would mean I could play maybe two or three more tournaments next season which may be important.”
The par 72 Stadium Course proved a tougher task in round one, with only three of the top 13 players on the combined leaderboard playing it in the first round - Jarmdo Sandelin carding a six under par 66 and Charlie Ford and James Kamte shooting rounds of 67.
Carolan, who tied for 36th at the UBS Hong Kong Open two weeks ago, opened his account on the Tour Course with an eagle at the par five tenth on his way to a six under par 64.
“I’m struggling a bit as I’ve got flu,” he admitted. “But I had one of those rounds where every putt could’ve gone in. Some did and the ones that didn’t just lipped out, so every putt I hit I felt it was going in. I was five under at the turn so I had a great first nine – the back nine on the Tour Course – so my score could have been even better.”
Ruth also finished six under, defying a niggling injury which has bothered him for months. “I’ve been suffering from tendinitis which has come and gone throughout the season and it’s affected me mentally as much as physically,” he said. “I felt it earlier in the week but the physios here did a great job with me this morning and I felt a lot more confident today.”
Alexandre Kaleka of France, who won the Challenge Tour’s ALLIANZ EurOpen de Lyon six days after turning professional, started with a four under par 66 on the Tour Course, which was blighted by two bogeys in his last three holes.
SCOTSWATCH: Stephen Gallacher's situation is a bit like that of Julien Guerrier in that he is guaranteed a certain amount of outings on the 2010 European Tour because of a medical exemption - he missed the last few months of the season due to illness. He shot a 68 over the tougher, par-72 Stadium course, where Scott Drummond had a 69 but Andrew Oldcorn, Jamie McLeary and Eric Ramsay had to settle for matching par.
George Murray had a 73 here and Glasgow-born Alan McLean a 76 which leaves him with the proverbial mountain to climb, even to make the first cut to 70 players and ties after four rounds.
Steven O'Hara did best of the Scots on the par-70 Tour course, shooting a 68, two ahead of Callum Macaulay who also played on the European Tour in the season just ended. Andrew Coltart had a 71 at this venue were Greig Hutcheon had a disappointing 73. Three over par after one round of the Final School does not augur well for the Banchory club's tour pro's prospects of advancing.

LEADING FIRST-ROUND SCORES
STADIUM COURSE
Par 72 (7172yd)
66 Jarmo Sandelin (Swe).
67 Charlie Ford (Eng), James Kamte (SAf).
68 Jamie Elson (Eng), Stephen Gallacher (Sco), Simon Khan (Eng), Alessandra Tadini (Ita), Philip Archer (Eng), George Coetzee (SAf), Alex Kaleka (Fra).
69 Hans Peter Bacher (Aut), Mark F Haastrup (Den), Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), Scott Drummond (Sco), Benjamin Hebert (Fra), Gary Murphy (Ire).
Selected scores:
72 Andrew Oldcorn (Sco), Jamie McLeary (Sco), Eric Ramsay (Sco).
73 George Murray (Sco).
76 Alan McLean (Sco).

TOUR COURSE
Par 70 (6577yd)
60 Julien Guerrier (Fra).
64 Keith Horne (SAf), James Ruth (Eng), Tony Carolan (Aus), Lasse Jensen (Den).
65 Colm Moriarty (Ire), Miles Tunnicliffe (Eng), Clodomiro Carranza (Arg), Lee Slattery (Eng), Martin Wiegele (Aut).
66 Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe), Roope Kaakko (Fin), Stuart Manley (Wal), Nicolas Meitinger (Ger), Edouard Dubois (Fra), Klas Eriksson (Swe), Andrea Maestroni (Ita).
67 Jonathan Caldwell (NIr), Darren Fichardt (SAf), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Wes Hefferman (Can), Pedro Linhart (Spa), Andrew Marshall (Eng), Thorbjorn Olesen (Den), Iain Pyman (Eng), Anthony Snobeck (Fra), Simon Thornton (Ire).
Selected scores:
68 Steven O'Hara (Sco).
70 Callum Macaulay (Sco).
71 Andrew Coltart (Sco).
73 Greig Hutcheon (Sco).

One of the worst weeks in Tiger's charmed life

FROM THE CBS SPORTS.COM WEBSITE
By Steve Elling
CBSSports.com Senior Writer
ORLANDO, Florida -- It all started last weekend, when Tiger Woods heard a sound that had never before wafted past his ears. A hearty chorus of boos.
Woods was inducted into the Stanford University Hall of Fame last weekend and was embraced by a lusty round of verbal abuse from California (University) fans at half-time of the annual Big Game. Woods seemed momentarily taken aback, then regained his composure.
The catcalls and pratfalls only got worse from there.
In a 24-hour span that landed Woods on the front of the gossip and metro sections for all the wrong reasons, he was accused of cheating on his wife in a front-page tabloid headline, then crashed his car into a tree a few yards from his Isleworth mansion early Friday morning at 2:25 a.m.
If that's what Thanksgiving is like, give him 364 days of playing alongside Phil Mickelson anytime.
Details from Woods' camp were few, other than to clarify that early reports that he was seriously injured were exaggerated. Woods hit a fire hydrant before he caromed into the tree, suffered facial lacerations, was treated at an Ocoee hospital and released. However, given that the National Enquirer newspaper story had hit newsstands hours earlier, it didn't take long for folks to wonder if the crash and story were somehow linked.
After all, we're not talking about his tee shots here. Far as anybody knows, Woods has always driven it straight and avoided the trees when his hands gripped the wheel of an Escalade. As of a couple of years ago, when I researched his motor-vehicle particulars along with those of several other prominent Orlando-area pros, his driving record was practically impeccable.
The semi-long arm of the law will be knocking on the front door of Tiger Woods’ home on Saturday, sometime after 3 p.m.
Yeah, we know what you are thinking.
One of the most skilled sports figures of the past half-century drove his car into a tree at 2 a.m., hours after the Enquirer story?
It will be interesting to see how -- or if -- Woods reacts in the next few days. Three years ago, he quickly lambasted an Irish tabloid report that claimed his wife, Elin, had posed nude during her modeling past. Without prompting and while preparing to play in the Ryder Cup, Woods vehemently denied the story and later received a $183,250 settlement and an apology from the paper.
Nary a peep yet on the Enquirer story. Granted, so-called reputable news-gathering organisations do not react to tabloid fodder as a rule, and the story hit the stands over Thanksgiving weekend, when half the world was at the dinner table, so maybe it's simply a timing issue.
There was no clarification from Woods about the accident account, either. Like where he was headed, what he was doing in a car at that hour on a holiday and how he managed not to miss a fire hydrant that had presumably been in the same spot the entire 10 years he has lived in that abode:
"Tiger Woods was in a minor car accident outside his home last night. He was admitted, treated and released today in good condition. We appreciate very much everyone's thoughts and well wishes," a statement posted on his website said.
That was the extent of it. It was later reported that Elin had used a golf club to shatter the rear window of his Cadillac in order to help extricate him after he hit the tree a few feet from his driveway. The Escalade's speed at impact was apparently low, since airbags did not deploy. He was bleeding from the mouth and semi-conscious when officers arrived, reports said.
Once the Florida Highway Patrol released the news at mid-day Friday that Woods had been treated at a hospital, the story exploded and the Orlando gossip grapevine did what it does best regarding Woods of late -- it began to bear bitter fruit. Sprinkle some supposition over a dollop of innuendo, and viola, you have a full-fledged cell phone talkfest.
So it's been a rough few weeks for the painfully private Woods, whose personal life and relationships have never exactly been an open book. It's not every six-day period that the No. 1 sports figure on the globe gets jeered, lands on the front page of a supermarket tabloid alongside Oprah, Martha Stewart and Katie and Tom Cruise, then takes a steering wheel in the teeth after he tried to run over a tree.
Maybe the abrasions he suffered Friday morning were as much from embarrassment. It's possible that's all the Thanksgiving episodes were -- careless, clumsy, explainable stuff that will have everybody laughing soon enough.
After all, Woods is set to play next week at the Chevron World Challenge in suburban Los Angeles, an event that he hosts and benefits his charity.
Over the course of the day, the terms relating to the accident, which first described his condition as "serious," were soon downgraded to minor. Maybe once Woods clears the air, the same will be said of one of the worst weeks of his life.

Asian Tour Qualifying School entry deadline extended

The 2010 Asian Tour Qualifying School, presented by Sports Authority of Thailand, will extend its application deadline to Tuesday, December 15 due to overwhelming response.
Three venues will host the First Stage, with Watermill Golf and Gardens in Bangkok staging a leg from December 16 to 19, 2009 followed by Majestic Creek Golf Resort and Kaeng Krachan Country Club and Resort in Hua Hin from January 6 to 9, 2010.
The all-important Final Stage, where the top-40 finishers and ties will earn their Asian Tour card, will be held at Palm Hills Golf Resort and Country Club and Springfield Village Golf & Spa in Hua Hin from January 13 to 16, 2010.
The Entry Form for the Qualifying School is now available on www.asiantour.com

Stage set for exciting Sunday finish in China

Ireland still lead but only by one from

title-holders Sweden and Italy

REPORT FROM CHINA BY MICHAEL GIBBONS
Deputy Chief Press Officer, European Tour
Ireland, Sweden and Italy are set for a final round battle royale at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup on Sunday after the third-round four-balls left the three nations as the clear favourites to take the title the title
The Molinari brothers Edoardo and Francesco carded the joint-lowest round of the third day with South Korea over the Olazábal Course, posting a brilliant 61 to move to 24 under par and into a share of second place with defending champions Sweden, who, thanks to the efforts of Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson, compiled a fine 62 to lie just one shot behind Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy.
Team Ireland’s third round effort of eight under par 64 was good enough for them to retain the lead for the third round.
The three contenders are all looking forward to what is shaping up to be a hugely exciting final round.
“It seems to be a three-horse race obviously, one team on 26 under and two teams on 25,” said McDowell. “So barring any disaster in the foursomes, I can't see any other team outside the top three winning.”
McIlroy added: “I think if everything was to go to plan and we were to win tomorrow, it would definitely be the biggest highlight of my golfing career so far. You know, it's very special to win an event, but to win it with a partner and to win it with a friend would make it even more special.”
Sweden are naturally confident of putting together a final round charge after their unforgettable charge to victory last year with a final round 63 in the foursomes.
“It was a great atmosphere playing in the last match with Ireland today,” said Karlsson. “We can draw on the memories of last year’s 63 but we have to go out there and get some birdies on the board early and get going from there because Ireland and Italy are very strong teams.”
Stenson is hoping that he and Karlsson can make a fast start in order to get their noses in front of the final grouping of Ireland and Italy.
He said: “It was great to play with the Irish boys today – it was almost like match play out there and I think both teams played well. But tomorrow is a different day and I am glad that we are not in the final group – we have a chance to steal a march on the guys behind us and that’s what we will be trying to do.”
The Molinaris enjoyed their best round of the week and will seek to win the Omega Mission Hills World Cup for the first time in the country’s history, their best finish being second in 1998 with the team of Massimo Florioli and Costantino Rocca.
“It's been a really good week, but today was probably the best day,” said Francesco. “We both played really consistent, good golf. It's been really good and we are in good position for tomorrow. We just try to keep playing like this and see what happens tomorrow.”
Edoardo added: “We played very well today. He was probably a little bit better than I was today. Both of us we managed to make a lot of birdies and hole the putts in the right moments. It was definitely a good score out there today because the pins were quite difficult, and even the other teams are not shooting as low as the first round, so I think 61 today is a great score.”
SCOTSWATCH: At last David Drysdale and Alastair Forsyth produced the kind of low-scoring round we expected from them. They combined for a better-ball third-round score of eight-under-par 64, which matched the effort by Ireland's pace-making pair, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy, and was five shots better than anything they had achieved earlier in the week.
The Scots are on 10-under-par 206 - the same mark as the United States, and ahead of countries of the calibre of Spain and France.

THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 216 (3x72)
Round 1: better-ball. Round 2: foursomes. Round 3: better-ball.
190 IRELAND (Graeme McDOWELL and Rory McILROY) 58-68-64.
191 ITALY (Edoardo MOLINARI and Francesco MOLINARI) 64-66-61, SWEDEN (Robert KARLSSON and Henrik STENSON) 64-65-62
197 SOUTH AFRICA (Rory SABBATINI and Richard STERNE) 65-70-62, JAPAN (Hiroyuki FUJITA and Ryuji IMADA) 62-71-64
198 ENGLAND (Ian POULTER and Ross FISHER) 66-69-63, WALES (Stephen DODD and Jamie DONALDSON) 66-68-64
199 VENEZUELA (Alfredo ADRIAN and Jhonattan VEGAS) 67-67-65
200 SOUTH KOREA (Charlie WI and YANG Yong-eun) 64-75-61, AUSTRALIA (Stuart APPLEBY and Robert ALLENBY) 68-70-62, ARGENTINA (Tano GOYA and Rafael ECHENIQUE) 61-75-64, INDIA (Jyoti RANDHAWA and Jeev Milkha SINGH) 67-68-65
201 CHILE (Hugo LEON and Martin URETA) 69-67-65
202 DENMARK (Soren KJELDSEN and Soren HANSEN) 66-70-66, SINGAPORE (LAM Chih Bing and Mardan MAMAT) 66-70-66
203 CANADA (Graham DELAET and Stuart ANDERSON) 64-74-65, GERMANY (Alex CEJKA and Martin KAYMER) 66-71-66
204 PHILIPPINES (Mars PUCAY and Angelo QUE) 68-72-64, THAILAND (Prayad MARKSAENG and Thongchai JAIDEE) 67-70-67, CHINA (ZHANG Lian-wei and LIANG Wen-chong) 65-71-68
205 NEW ZEALAND (Danny LEE and David SMAIL) 67-68-70
206 SCOTLAND (David DRYSDALE and Alastair FORSYTH) 69-73-64, UNITED STATES (Nick WATNEY and John MERRICK) 67-72-67
207 FRANCE (Christian CEVAER and Thomas LEVET) 67-73-67, SPAIN (Gonzalo FERNANDEZ-CASTANO and Sergio GARCIA) 69-71-67
208 PAKISTAN (Muhammad MUNIR and Muhammad SHABBIR) 69-75-64, CHINESE TAIPEI (LIN Wen-tang and LU Wei-chih) 67-74-67
211 BRAZIL (Rafael BARCELLOS and Ronaldo FRANCISCO) 68-75-68

So what's the matter with Tiger

Woods these days? He's behaving

like a petulant, spoiled child

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By MARK REASON
What's eating Tiger Woods? For the past few months he has been flouncing around tournaments like a spoiled child.
Now he has left his house in the early hours of the morning and had a stand up row with a fire hydrant and a tree. We knew Tiger's driving was wayward these days, but he usually manages to at least stay on the property.
There are now bound to be questions about Tiger's private life. Tiger's entourage has maintained a stiff upper lip, but if all is well at home, where was Woods off to in the early hours of Friday morning? That's the question that Tiger will now have to answer.
It seemed a little late to be practising his ball striking, even if Tiger is due to host his own tournament, the Chevron World Challenge, early next week. Well, if Woods wanted publicity for his event, he's certainly got it now. It's going to be a media circus down there in California.
At most press conferences these days Tiger's agent Mark Steinberg sits at the back and makes the signal when he thinks his client has had enough. But even Steinberg might struggle to turn the taps off next week. The world wants to know just what is going on in Tiger's life right now and they are expecting some answers.
The recent prang is just another in a long series of destructive incidents over the past few months. At the Open Championship in July Woods failed to acknowledge his fans when he turned up on the Sunday. The cap went down and Woods looked straight ahead. It was tunnel vision without even a glimpse of headlights. Woods was looking out from a dark place.
At the Turnberry press conference he was almost rude to several journalists. The media accept this as their lot, but seasoned Tiger watchers were taken aback by just how curt some of his answers were. They veered from the smart ass to the dismissive.
The following month at the Bridgestone Invitational Woods was put on the clock for slow play. He subsequently slated the official responsible and many felt that Woods should have been fined. When Tiger escaped sanction he hung out to dry a journalist with whom he has been friendly for years. We began to wonder what was going on with Woods. Maybe he was still grumpy after coming back from reconstructive knee surgery or maybe there was something more.
At the USPGA Championship the following week Tiger took the lead going into the final round of a major for the 15th time and lost for the first time in his career. Mr Invincible had just been beaten. Why was he suddenly vulnerable?
The greatest sign of a golfer's strength of mind lies in his putting. In the major years Tiger has been the greatest putter the world has ever seen. But suddenly he had started missing. He was no longer making the crucial putts that used to break his opponents. Was it just age or was there another reason for the frailty?
Tiger's behaviour on the final day of that US PGA Championship appalled many an old pro. He showed a lack of proper respect for his playing partner Y.E. Yang. On one occasion Tiger left the green when Yang still had to make a vital putt.
The five time Open champion Peter Thomson wanted to go on the record after that incident. He told Telegraph Sport: "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."
Earlier this month Tiger travelled down to Thomson's own back yard to play in the Australian Masters at Melbourne. His behaviour had not improved. On the Saturday Tiger threw his driver into the crowd in a fit of temper and then retrieved it with glassy disdain.
So just what is eating Tiger? As Thomson said, where has the smile gone? Tiger should have everything in the world going for him. He has a beautiful wife, two young children, a £1.5 million mansion and a world of talent and charisma. But right now, it just doesn't seem to be quite enough.

+Any comments on the topic raised in the above article? Send them to Colin@scottishgolfview.com

James Nitties loses New South Wales

Open lead to a 64 by Jason Norris

FROM THE PGA OF AUSTRALIA WEBSITE
A vintage Jason Norris has overcome extreme weather conditions - very hot and very windy - to take the outright lead at the 2009 NSW Open following a third round seven-under 64.
The 2007 champion produced the round of the tournament to hold a one stroke-lead from Novocastrian James Nitties heading into Sunday'sfinal round.
His performance puts him at eight-under par after rounds of 70, 71 and 64.
It seems Norris could be back to his career-best form, two years after suffering horrific facial injuries from a freak accident during the 2007 Australian PGA Championship.
A book given to Norris by a friend’s mother has been the tonic to his resurgence.
“Following facial surgery I wasn’t able to fly home so I was stayed there as part of my recovery. The book is called ‘The Secret’ and it’s such a positive book, everyone should read it.”
Two top ten finishes in New Zealand earlier this year have built further on the 38 year-olds confidence.
“After flirting with death a three foot putt doesn’t seem important.”Norris also attributed the Pro-Am Teams Challenge to having a relaxed attitude in today’s difficult conditions.
“The Pro-Am is a good concept if you are going well you can enjoy it and if you aren’t going so well you can focus on the four ball.”
Defending champion Aaron Townsend, playing alongside Norris moved into contention following a three-under, 68 and begin the final day four strokes back.
Overnight leader James Nitties kept his cool as expected high temperatures and strong winds got up in the afternoon.
“It was brutal out there today,” Nitties explained after his round.
“I survived with a two-over, 73 and am really looking forward to tomorrow’s final round.”
Out in the first group having just survived the halfway cut, rookie Nick Cullen went from 51st to 7th following a third round six-under, 65.
The 25 year-old from The Grange, South Australia produced five birdies in a row from 13th to the 17th.
Queensland’s Shaun Harmer may have been out of contention, but his eagle on the 16th was a highlight after he holed out from 110 meters.
LEADING THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Par 213 (3x71)
All players from Australia
205 Jason Norris 70 71 64.
206 James Nitties 65 68 73.
208 Rohan Blizard 71 70 67.
209 Aaron Townsend 70 71 68.
210 Aaron Pike 68 70 72, Heath Read 65 74 71.
211 Nicholas Cullen 70 76 65, Nathan Green 64 76 71, Grant Maoorhead 67 74 70.
212 Michael Bell (am) 70 73 69, Troy Kennedy 72 71 69, Brad Lamb 73 72 67, Leigh McKechnie 70 72 70, Graeme Stockley 72 72 68, Andre Stolz 70 74 68.
205 Jason Norr

Title-holders Sweden cut Ireland's lead to two

strokes halfway through Saturday round

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Defending champions Sweden trimmed Ireland’s advantage to two strokes at the midway point of Saturday`s third round four-balls at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup.
Holding a three stroke overnight lead following Friday`s alternate shot foursomes, Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell reached the turn in four under par to progress to 22 under overall at Mission Hills Golf Club in China
But with Robert Karlsson inspiring Sweden to five under for the day at the turn, he and partner Henrik Stenson are firmly in the hunt.
Karlsson’s putter was proving a key tool in Sweden’s arsenal as the former European number one drained a 30 foot birdie putt which broke three times from off the green at six before adding his fourth gain in five holes at the seventh.
World Number Seven Stenson finally made his first contribution of the day at the ninth to leave the defending champions a shot clear of Italy.
Brothers Francesco and Edoardo Molinari also played the front nine of the undulating Olazabal Course in five under to progress to 19 under par.
Ireland, who posted a brilliant 14 under par in Thursday’s opening round fourballs, started brightly with two birdies over the first three holes.
But they had to wait until the seventh to add a third following McIlory’s deft chip to less than a foot from the greenside bunker before McDowell picked up his second shot of the day at the ninth.
Australia and Korea set the clubhouse mark at 16-under-par although it appears they will still be well off the pace by the end of the third day ahead of the final round alternate shot foursomes on Sunday.
US PGA Championship winner Y E Yang blazed six birdies on the front nine before partner Charlie Wi took over on the trip home with four of the five gains on the back nine as Korea posted a 11-under-par 61.
“We played with Ireland on Thursday and they are playing really well,” said the US PGA Tour regular Wi.
“Rory and Graeme are hitting it so nice and they are making the putts when they need to.
“It depends how they finish up today, if we are two, three, four, five shots back, we might have a chance, but other than that, it will be really tough to catch them.
“YE shot 30 on the front nine by himself and then I was able to contribute on the back nine. He played really beautifully but to shoot 61 you both have to contribute and I think that we are very lucky to make the putts at the right time. We didn’t birdie the same hole, we picked up a birdie on the hole the other one didn’t.
“If we were told we would have a 61 before we teed off we would have been very pleased and hopefully we will be able to improve on what we did.”
Australian duo Stuart Appleby and Robert Allenby also did not drop a shot in their ten under 62.

Tiger Woods' wife rescued him from car crash

by smashing window with golf club

By NICK ALLEN
Tiger Woods’ wife rescued him from the wreckage of a late night car crash by smashing a golf club through the window, police said.
Elin Nordegren, 29, dragged her husband to safety after he hit a fire hydrant outside their £1.5 million Florida mansion and then veered into a tree on a neighbour’s property at 2.25am local time on Friday.
Police arrived minutes later and found Woods, 33, lying in the street drifting in an out of consciousness as his wife hovered over him.
He had cuts on his lips and blood in his mouth and officers carried out first aid, said local police chief Daniel Saylor.
Woods was then taken to hospital in an ambulance but was later released.
Mrs Nordegren told police she was inside the couple’s house in a gated community in Orlando, Florida when she heard the accident and ran outside.
She grabbed a golf club and smashed the rear window of the black Cadillac Escalade to get to her husband.
Woods was on his own in the car and no other vehicles were involved. It was unclear where he had been intending to go at that early hour.
The Florida Highway Patrol said alcohol did not play a part in the crash but it was still under investigation and charges could be pending. They were trying to piece together how Woods, the world’s number one golfer, had managed to hit the fire hydrant and tree, which were on either sides of the road.
Airbags in the car did not deploy which suggests that it was travelling at less than 33mph.
The golfer’s agent, Mark Steinberg, said last night that Woods was “fine”.
A joint statement issued by Woods’ office and the hospital said: “Tiger Woods was in a minor car accident outside his home last night. He was admitted, treated and released today in good condition.”
The accident happened on a day when unsubstantiated rumours about the golfer’s private life were circulating on the internet.
Woods lives in a suburb of Orlando with his wife and their daughter, Sam Alexis, two, and son Charlie Axel, nine months.
His wife is a Swedish former model who was working as an au pair when the couple met at the 2001 Open.
They married in October 2004 at the Sandy Lane resort in Barbados in a ceremony that reportedly cost more than £1 million.
Their home is set on an Arnold Palmer-designed golf course and a chain of small lakes. The neighbourhood, which is fortified with high brick walls and has its own security force, is home to CEOs and other sports stars.

Dubai meltdown bad news for European Tour

FROM THE GOLFWEEK WEBSITE
By Alistair Tait
Lines of poetry have been buzzing in my head since I was in Dubai last week. The buzz got louder yesterday with the announcement that the Dubai government can’t afford to pay a $4 billion Nakheel bond, which is due Dec. 14. The Dubai government wants another six months to repay the debt.
Luckily, all I have is a buzz in my cranium. European Tour chief executive George O’Grady must have a major headache right now.
Like me, O’Grady has just returned from Dubai, where he presided over the highly successful inaugural Race to Dubai. Europe’s top man said he was “extremely confident” that the European Tour would be back in the Emirate next year for the second installment of the Tour’s end-of-season championship.
Two things. One, he would say that, wouldn’t he? Two, I think he was extremely confident in the way a swan looks extremely confident while gliding across a pond. Like the swan, O’Grady was no doubt paddling furiously last week to make sure the Dubai government lives up to its five-year European Tour commitment.
If O’Grady was paddling hard last week, then he probably feels as if he’s drowning this week after reading the financial news coming out of Dubai.
How must investors worried about a return on their money feel about 58 professional golfers getting a share of $15 million when the Dubai government can’t find money to pay off its debts? Not good is the obvious answer.
The good news for those 58 players is that the Tour received the Race to Dubai money a few weeks before the Dubai World Championship. At least some people are getting money out of Dubai.
O’Grady’s task hasn’t been made easier by the revolving door at Dubai World, the government-backed parent company of property giant Nakheel, which also is shedding jobs at an alarming rate. O’Grady must be feeling a sense of déjà vu, given that original sponsor Leisurecorp went through the same process of getting rid of most of its work staff.
The setting for last week’s Race to Dubai must also worry O’Grady. The whole reason for holding the Race to Dubai on the Greg Norman-designed Earth course was to sell luxury villas. Leisurecorp insists that the villas have been sold, but if they have, then there doesn’t seem to be much money left to finish them.
It’s hard to get information out of Dubai, but my hunch is that investors may have put down payments on the villas but most are probably willing to lose the down payment rather than throw more money at a property in a part of the world that has bottomed out.
For example, my sources tell me that only 30 golf memberships have been sold at Jumeirah Estates.
Perhaps the biggest worry for O’Grady is the assurance he was given earlier this year that the Dubai government would honor its contract with the Euro Tour. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, gave a public pledge to the financial center earlier his month that his government would honor Dubai World’s debts.
The financial world took him at his word only for him to backtrack this week.
Nakheel’s $4 billion debt is nothing compared to the estimated $80 billion the Dubai government owes in loans. In the grand scheme of things, $15 million might be chicken feed compared to the above numbers, but it’s huge to the European Tour.
At this point in time it would be a brave gambler who would bet on the Tour returning to Dubai next year.
Dubai appears to be in meltdown, which doesn’t surprise me.
I’ve been going to Dubai nearly every year since 1990. I’ve never understood the attraction of the place, never fathomed why the sheikhs thought it could become a major financial center, or why companies would want to establish bases there. After the way things have gone the last two years, it seems more people have jumped on my bandwagon.
And those lines of poetry? They come from Percy Bysshe Shelley’s ‘Ozymandias.’
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Will the European Tour suffer despair in Dubai? Has the City of Gold lost its lustre? Will those giant, garish skyscrapers and needless, giant palm islands fall into decay?
These are just a few of the questions concerning Dubai. O’Grady and the European Tour have a few more of their own.

Tiger Woods hurt in car crash but released

from hospital with face lacerations.

Earlier reports that Tiger Woods had been "seriously injured" in a car crash near his Florida home at 2.30am (local time) seemed to have been exaggerated.
He did crash his car but he was later released from hospital with facial lacerations, according to later news.
The "Orlando Sentinel," newspaper, quoting the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), said Woods' 2009 Cadillac sport utility vehicle struck a fire hydrant and a tree in a neighbour's garden in Florida's Isleworth community, near Orlando shortly after pulling out of his driveway.
It is understood the crash was not alcohol-related.
Woods (33) was transported to a hospital in Ocoee but reports suggest the car's airbags were not deployed, indicating the vehicle was not travelling more than 33mph.
The incident is believed to have taken place around 2.30am local time.
A spokesman added that the incident was still under investigation and charges were pending.
Woods recently returned to America after winning the Australian Masters in Melbourne by two shots.
The 14-time major winner is scheduled to host his own tournament, the Chevron World Challenge, next week in California.
Officials close to accident investigation told the "Orlando Sentinel" that Woods received facial lacerations. He was treated at Health Central early this morning and released.
"It seems like a very strange accident that occurred," Windermere Mayor Gary Bruhn told CNN. "Basically it was facial lacerations, and as I'm understanding it, nothing that serious."

Portlethen Alliance rearranged for Wednesday, December 9: Tee times for Buckpool (December 2) & Portlethen listed below North-east Golfers' Alliance secretary Ron Menzies has arranged an additional competition, to be held at Portlethen Golf Club, on Wednesday, December 9. Next Wednesday's fixture at Buckpool Golf Club was scheduled to be the last before the winter break but, because the Portlethen competition was called off this week due to high winds, not because the course was too wet, there was no reason why it could not be rearranged for a week on Wednesday. Ron Menzies writes: Some of the members who were not entered to play this week at the abandoned Portlethen meeting last Wednesday had already booked times for Buckpool next week and I have given them, together with those players who previously had to miss a game, priority provisional times for the rearranged Portlethen fixture, which are displayed below. If these provisional times have not been confirmed by end of play on Teusday, December 1, they will be made available to those playing at Buckpool who wish to book a time for Portlethen on December 9. BUCKPOOL Wednesday, December 2 +If any of the members below are unable to play at this meeting, they are asked to phone Ron Menzies at 01224 7680033 so that their tee time can be taken by someone else 8.16 A Campbell (Deeside), W Main (Murcar Links), I Taylor (Stonehaven). 8.23 B Brooks (Meldrum House), G Gordon (unatt), G Mitchell (Braemar). 8.30 G Mackie (Caledonian), G Meade (Peterculter), R Moir (Caledonian). 8.37 B Harper (Newburgh), G J Mitchell (Braemar), S Sharp (Newburgh). 8.44 C Carnegie (Kemnay), C Champion (Banchory), S Cooper (Banchory). 8.51 R Alison (Deeside), C Cassie (Nigg Bay), M Rendall (Stonehaven). 8.58 J M Hamilton (Murcar Links), L Roger (Royal Aberdeen), H Roulston (Stonehaven). 9.05 M Brown (Craibstone), R Brown (Craibstone), S Davidson (Northern). 9.12 J Borthwick (Craibstone), S Kennedy (Craibstone), P Morrison (Oldmeldrum). 9.19 L Fowler (Royal Aberdeen), A K Pirie (Hazlehead), I Bratton (Newburgh). 9.26 J Duncan (Newburgh), P McIntosh (Bon Accord), J B D Smith (Cruden Bay). 9.33 N Chisholm (Kemnay), J Dalgarno (Hazlehead), C Nelson (MacKenzie Club). 9.40 B Lumsden (Northern), R Lumsden (Northern), N Stewart (Northern). 9.41 (Tee 11): G Kelly (Peterculter), H McNaughton (Cruden Bay), B Shaw (Banchory). 9.47 J Forrest (Northern), G Homer (Lumphanan), D Wilson (Duff House Royal). 9.48 (Tee 11) R Hyland (Craibstone), B Nicolson (Auchmill), J Thomas (Craibstone). 9.54 R Bruce (Aboyne), J Forbes (Aboyne), C Sinclair (Aboyne). 9.55 (Tee 11) R Lamb (Newmachar), M Merchant (Newmachar). 10.01 J Penny (Huntly), S Pert (Huntly). 10.08 R Fitzpatrick (Inchmarlo), P Lovie (P1 Incorporate), G Taylor (Hazlehead). 10.15 I Grant (Huntly), J Jessiman (Oldmeldrum), A Petrie (Oldmeldrum). 10.22 D Lawrie (Inchmarlo), M K Smith (Turriff), I Strachan (Royal Aberdeen). 10.29 F G Gray (Newmachar), G H Paterson (Northern), J Scott (Peterculter). 10.36 G Dunn (Turriff), K Minty (Turriff). 10.43 M Booth (Kemnay), S Finnie (Caledonian), D McKay (Caledonian). 10.50 J Findlay (Fraserburgh), D Leighton (Northern), N Parker (Murcar Links). 10.57 G Leslie (Hazlehead), P McLean (Peterhead), K Nicol (Fraserburgh). 11.04 A Bews (Murcar Links), M Forster (Cruden Bay), K Nelson (Murcar Links). 11.11 K Duncan (McDonald Ellon), A Dunton (McDonald Ellon), C Law (Hazlehead). 11.18 D Clark (Duff House Royal), W Forbes (Murcar Links), M Jenkins (Duff house Royal). 11.25 T Collie (Kemnay), S Elrick (Kemnay), M Lawrie (Kemnay). 11.32 F Bisset (Banchory), S Larkin (Banchory), A Lindsay (Banchory). 11.39 S Higgins (Royal Aberdeen), M Ord Royal Aberdeen), M F R Rogers (Kemnay). 11.46 D Bisset (Banchory), J Murray (Banchory), D Randall (Banchory). 11.53 G Allan (Newmachar), S Mackie (Kemnay), J Nicolson (Auchmill). 12.00 K Beveridge (Aboyne), C Graham (Newmachar), D Nelson (Aboyne). PORTLETHEN Wednesday, December 9 +The times below are provisional and have to be confirmed by phoning Ron Menzies at 01224 780033 by Tuesday, December 1 at the latest. If not confirmed, they will be made available to competitors playing at Buckpool, who wish to reserve a time for Portlethen. 8.16 J Penny (Huntly), S Pert (Huntly). 8.30 G Mackie (Caledonian), R Moir (Caledonian), G Meade (Peterculter). 8.37 D Wood (Newburgh). 8.58 P Anderson (Deeside). 9.05 R Fitzpatrick (Inchmarlo), P Lovie (P1 Incorporate). 9.26 P McIntosh (Bon Accord). 9.40 D Townsley (Peterculter). 9.54 R Bruce (Aboyne), J Forbes (Aboyne), C Sinclair (Aboyne). 10.01 H McNaughton (Cruden Bay), R Lamb (Newmachar), M Merchant (Newmachar). 10.08 J Wilson (Deeside), I D Smith (Hazlehead), D MacKay (Newmachar). 10.15 K Nicol (Fraserburgh), G Leslie (Hazlehead), P McLean Peterhead). 10.22 C Brindley (Banchory), S Chalmers (Banchory), C Stewart (Kippie Lodge). 10.29 B Shaw (Banchory), G Kelly (Peterculter), G Dunn (Turriff). 10.36 M Forster (Cruden Bay), K Minty (Turriff). 10.50 N Parker (Murcar Links), D Leighton (Northern). 10.57 D Law (Hazlehead). 11.04 C Alexander (Murcar Links), A Innes (Murcar Links), W S Urquhart (Murcar Links). 11.11 R McDonald (Inchmarlo), K Duncan (McDonald Ellon), A Dunton (McDonald Ellon). 11.39 R Pirie (Caledonian), P Cormack (Inchmarlo).

NEW ONLINE INFORMATIONAL CLUB DATABASE

LAUNCHED AHEAD OF GROOVE RULE CHANGES

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE R&A

In advance of changes in the Rules of Golf relating to Grooves, which are effective from January 1, 2010, The R&A has developed an online club database. Produced in conjunction with the USGA, the Informational Club Database is a searchable database of all irons and wedges, as well as hybrids and fairway woods with lofts of 25° or higher, which were in production prior to January 1, 2010 and which have been submitted to, and evaluated by, either The R&A or the USGA.
“The purpose of the database is to assist golfers and Rules Officials in determining the status of their existing clubs, when evaluated against the current Rules of Golf and the new groove and punch mark specifications,” said David Rickman, The R&A’s Director of Rules and Equipment Standards.
“It is important to remember that the new specifications do not apply to any clubs manufactured prior to 1 January 2010 and those clubs will continue to conform to the Rules of Golf for the vast majority of golfers until at least 2024.

"However, the new specifications will be applied at the highest level of professional golf next year, via a Condition of Competition, and it is important that we provide as much information as we can to players competing at that level and to those who administer these professional events.”
Users of the database can input the details of their club in a simple ‘search’ facility and compare their club to the search results, which will include full details of the clubhead markings. This will help the user to ensure that the correct club has been identified.
There are models of clubs which are not included in the database because they have not been submitted for evaluation or they have not yet been evaluated against the 2010 specifications. The database is, therefore, not a fully comprehensive list of clubs and should only be used as a reference tool.
The database and full details of the new groove specifications and their phased introduction can be accessed in the Rules section on www.randa.org.

WORLD CUP DAY TWO: Scots now third from last

Ireland keep three-stroke lead but

title-holders Sweden move up

REPORT BY MICHAEL GIBBONS of the European Tour Press Office
Ireland continued their bid for glory at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup by maintaining their three shot lead at the top of the leaderboard after a four under par 68 in the second round foursomes.
Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy took Team Ireland to 18 under par at the halfway stage at Mission Hills, China with Sweden their nearest challengers after Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson’s brilliant 65 in golf’s most difficult format took the defending champions to 15 under.
Italy occupy third place, one stroke behind Sweden after the Molinari brothers’ second round 66, with Japan in fourth spot on 11 under.
Team China, again supported by impressive crowds at Mission Hills recorded a one under 71 to move to eight under for the tournament, and a five-way tie for 11th place, while England, India, New Zealand and South Africa will all need something special over the closing rounds from nine under par to catch the Irish.
It was impossible not to cast the mind back 12 months as the Swedish duo once again combined magnificently over the Olazábal Course to evoke memories of their magnificent final round 63 in the same format that propelled them to World Cup glory.
Karlsson and Stenson were delighted with their seven under par second round that puts them firmly in contention to defend their crown.
Sweden’s bogey-free 65 was the lowest round of the second day of the Omega Mission Hills World Cup, but Ireland remain the team to catch in Saturday's better-ball round, with both McDowell and McIlroy hoping for a repeat of their superb first round 58.
“We are looking forward to getting back to the four-balls tomorrow,” said McDowell. “We are both playing really well and will be playing aggressively in the third round, looking for loads of birdies and eagles and trying to break 60 again.”
McIlroy added: “We are still leading, which is great. We started out the day with a three shot lead and we still have a three shot lead so it was a good day. You know, foursomes is a little trickier than the four-ball. You have to rely on your partner to sort of get you out of trouble.
“I think we probably would have taken 68 on the first tee this morning. We had a go today to get a bit lower than that but we played very solidly. Apart from the couple of mistakes on the back nine, we could have got a really good score in there. But I think in the end we showed really good character to come back with two birdies on 16 and 17 after the double on 15. So it was a good day.”
Players Championship winner Stenson was effusive in his praise for his partner, commenting: “I definitely put him under pressure a few times on the back nine. I left him a couple of nice three, four and five footers for par.
“Robert did great and I think the way the course played, we had a different thought when we started the tournament last year on Thursday that I was going to hit on the odd holes, but then we spoke and came up with me hitting on the even ones instead.
“I think the way the golf course plays it fits our game perfect. Robert drives the ball really nice and I've been hitting some good iron shots, and today we made some putts, as well. We just need to keep on playing as well as we have the first two days for the next two days, and we'll have a chance.”
SCOTSWATCH: Alastair Forsyth and David Drysdale failed to make any significant improvement in Scotland's fortunes in the second-round foursomes, a format of play they must be more used to than the majority of the field.
They could manage only a one-over-par 73 to be third from the bottom of the table on 142 - which means they have dropped 16 shots behind McIlroy and McDowell over only 36 holes.

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Mission Hills GC, Olazabal Course, Shenzhen, China
Par 144 (2x72)
First round better-ball. Second round foursomes.
126 IRELAND (Rory McIlroy & Graeme McDowell) 58 68
129 SWEDEN (Henrik Stenson & Robert Karlsson) 64 65
130 ITALY (Edoardo Molinari & Francesco Molinari) 64 66
133 JAPAN (Ryuji Imada & Hiroyuki Fujita) 62 71
134 WALES (Stephen Dodd & Jamie Donaldson) 66 68, VENEZUELA (Jhonattan Vegas & Alfredo Adrian) 67 67
135 SOUTH AFRICA (Rory Sabbatini & Richard Sterne) 65 70, INDIA (Jeev Milkha Singh & Jyoti Randhawa) 67 68, NEW ZEALAND (David Smail & Danny Lee) 67 68, ENGLAND (Ian Poulter & Ross Fisher) 66 69.
136 CHINA (Liang Wen-Chong & Zhang Lian-Wei) 65 71, SINGAPORE (Lam Chih-bing & Mardan Mamat) 66 70, DENMARK (Soren Hansen & Soren Kjeldsen) 66 70, CHILE (Martin Ureta & Hugo Leon) 69 67, ARGENTINA (Tano Goya & Rafa Echenique) 61 75
137 GERMANY (Alex Cejka & Martin Kaymer) 66 71, THAILAND (Thongchai Jaidee & Prayad Marksaeng) 67 70
138 AUSTRALIA (Robert Allenby & Stuart Appleby) 68 70, CANADA (Graham Delaet & Stuart Anderson) 64 74
139 UNITED STATES (Nick Watney & John Merrick) 67 72, SOUTH KOREA (Charlie Wi & Yong-eun Yang) 64 75
140 SPAIN (Sergio Garcia & Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano) 69 71,PHILIPPINES (Angelo Que & Mars Pucay) 68 72, FRANCE (Thomas Levet & Christian Cevaer) 67 73
141 TAIPEI (Lin Wen-Tang & Lu Wei-Chih) 67 74
142 SCOTLAND (David Drysdale & Alastair Forsyth) 69 73
143 BRAZIL (Rafael Barcellos & Ronaldo Frane) 68 75
144 PAKISTAN (Muhammad Munir & Muhammad Shabbi) 69 75

....................................................James Nitties, leader by four strokes

Nitties enjoys the hot seat in NSW Open

New South Welshman James Nitties has overcome hot temperatures and strong winds to take a four-stroke lead at the halfway mark of the 2009 NSW Open at The Vintage, Hunter Valley.
The 27 year-old fired a second round 68 to go with his first round 65 to be at nine-under 133.
In stark contrast from yesterday morning’s calm conditions today’s weather made scoring difficult for most.
“The breeze got up early so I just tried to hang in there knowing it was going to be a tough day at the office.” said Nitties.
“I got lucky on 8 and made a good putt for par before making birdie on my final hole (9) so that was a nice way to finish.”
The tournament leader had plenty of praise for the field and was delighted to be playing in front of friends and family.
“Its a nice position to be in with the field that has assembled here this week.” Nitties said.
“Along with Nathan there is POM (Peter O’Malley), Tim Wilkinson, Aaron Townsend and a number of local guys in great form. This is ideal preparation for next week’s Australian Open.”
Nitties will look to claim his first Australasian Tour title on home soil having been in contention at the Australian Masters at Kingston Heath, finishing fifth behind Tiger Woods.
Having secured his US PGA Tour card for the 2010 season, the youthful Novocastrian has a humble, mature outlook and has come a long way in the last year and will be hard to run down on the weekend.
Another player in contention is 26 year-old Craig Scott who sits in second position at five-under 137 after rounds of 67 and 70.
The Victorian is nicely placed heading into the weekend despite some up and down form over his morning round.
With a fresh approach to the game, Scott was appreciative of the work he has been able to achieve after recently changing coaches.
“My new coach Glenn Joyner has given me the right messages to get the improvement in my game at the right time.”
After a recent Top-10 in the Australian Masters, Scott is confident he is ready to take that next step in his career.
Overnight leader Nathan Green had a disappointing day dropping back to two-under.
The 2009 NSW Open once again features the Team Challenge Pro-Am over the final two days of the Championship. Players who make the weekend cut are paired with amateurs to compete, using the four-ball, best-ball Stableford scoring format.

HALFWAY LEADERS

Par 142 (2x71)

All players from Australia

133 James Nitties 65 68.

137 Craig Scott 67 70.

138 Aaron Pike 68 70.

139 Andrew Bonhomme 68 71, Doug Holloway 65 74, Mark Purser 66 73.

140 Nathan Green 64 76, Gary Simpson 71 69.

141 Rohan Blizard 71 70, Steve Jones 67 74, Grant Moorhead 676 74, Jason Norris 70 71, Aaron Townsend 70 71.

'New man' Stephen Gallacher goes to

Tour School after four-month lay-off

FROM THE SCOTSMAN WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
Stephen Gallacher will return to competitive golf this weekend feeling like a new man after using a four-month lay-off due to illness to refocus and figure out what has been holding him back since he landed one of the top titles in European golf.
The 35-year-old, who now lives in Linlithgow after being brought up in Bathgate, has suffered a horrible year, having tried to soldier on after being hit by a debilitating viral infection before admitting defeat following the Barclays Scottish Open in the middle of July.
He didn't pick up a golf club for six weeks after that, taking the chance during his enforced break to get an operation on his hand to clear up a problem that had plagued him for the past two years, but is now set to resume his career.
Despite being given a medical exemption by the European Tour that will guarantee him ten starts on the 2010 circuit, Gallacher, pictured above, has decided to join the other hopefuls at the final stage of the Qualifying School, which gets underway at PGA Golf de Cataluyna near Girona and Barcelona on Saturday.
The six-round test is a tough way to start back, especially for someone who was so lacking in energy earlier in the year that he couldn't even play a practice round before events, but Gallacher is excited about his return and is confident he can get his game back to the level it was when he won the Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews in 2004.
"It's been a nightmare year, really, but, at the same time, good things have come out of it," he reflected. "I've been able to have a summer holiday for the first time in 20 years and do the sort of things I've maybe taken for granted in the past – watching my wee boy play football and taking the kids swimming, for example.
"Four months is the longest I've ever one without touching a golf club in anger, so to speak, and, having been able to reflect on things, it's given me back my hunger and passion for the game. Over the last couple of years, I've not been doing as well as I want to do. I've had time to reflect on that, work out where I was going wrong and what I need to do.
"I actually think it is going to be the making of me. I've been practising harder than I ever have, putting in double sessions on the range at Kingsfield (just outside Linlithgow), and I am swinging the club as well as I have ever done."
After beating Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell to make the big breakthrough in the professional ranks, Gallacher, one of Scotland's most decorated amateurs, was expected to kick on and be pushing for a Ryder Cup place.
Why that hasn't happened is one of the things he's thought long and hard about over the past few months and, having made changes to his swing as well as doing some bio-mechanics and a bit of gym work, too, Gallacher is hoping his career can start to head in an upward direction again before too long.
"I've been doing a lot of reminiscing and trying to see what boxes I ticked at certain times in my career and figure of what I need to do for that to happen again," he said. "I've been very inconsistent over the past couple of years, playing well one day but badly the next.
"I stripped it back down to the mechanics of my golf swing. I looked at how to try and get a swing that can repeat itself more. It seems to be working as I was fighting with a pull hook for a while but am now hitting shots a lot straighter."
During his lay-off, the former Walker Cup player has been in regular contact with Jamie Spence, the former player who is now the European Tour's player relations' director, and David Garland, the circuit's director of operations.
"Both of them have been fantastic," he said. "I first spoke to them at Loch Lomond and I now know that I played that week for the wrong reasons. I was struggling even to practise then but I didn't want to let my friends and family down by not playing in one of the biggest events of the year in Scotland.
"I spoke to them again during the Dunhill Links Championship and, as well as confirming that I will get ten starts in 2010 – I need to make £200,000 in those to secure my card – they said that, if I was fit enough, the best option would be to go to the Tour School.
"If I can get a Tour card in Spain, I'll have an advantage on all the other guys who graduate from there as I'll also have the 10 guaranteed starts. I'll definitely get into the Dunhill Links and will have a good chance of getting Loch Lomond (Barclays Scottish Open] and Gleneagles (Johnnie Walker Championship] as well, so there's 13 starts straight away. I just want to get back playing."
Gallacher was last at the Tour School in 1996 – the year after he turned pro – and, like then, he'll have his good friend Aiden O'Reilly caddying for him.

Eyes down in Spain for six rounds that

will take 30 & ties to European Tour

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
One hundred and fifty six hopefuls will be whittled down to just 30 and ties at PGA Golf de Catalunya in Girona, near Barcelona as the European Tour Qualifying School – Final Stage returns to Spain for what promises to be another fascinating – and nail-biting – week.
In all 913 players entered the 2009 Qualifying School, all with the same aim: to reach the promised land of the European Tour. Many have fallen by the wayside either at the First or Second Stages, which were played at various venues across Europe earlier in the season.
Only 186 of the 715 players who competed at the First Stage survived the cull, whilst just 77 were still standing after last week’s Second Stage.
Those 77 will now join the 79 exempt players at the Final Stage, where a minimum of 30 golden tickets for The 2010 Race to Dubai are up for grabs.
The gold rush starts this Saturday, and after four rounds – two each at the Stadium and Tour courses – that number will again be cut to 70 and ties, who will play a further two rounds over the Stadium course to determine the final 30.
Those hoping to emerge triumphant include England’s Philip Archer, who as recently as 2007 finished inside the top 30 on The European Tour money list.
A raft of European Tour champions are also in the field, including big-hitting Italian Emanuele Canonica, Ryder Cup player Joakim Haegmann of Sweden and veteran Spaniard Santiago Luna.
Luna’s compatriot Jesus Maria Arruti will be making a record 15th visit to the Final Stage, whilst others with previous experience of the unique demands of a trip to the Final include Brazilian Alexandre Rocha, who was the joint winner in 2006.
That same year England’s Oliver Fisher also earned his card through the Qualifying School and managed to keep it quite comfortably for the next two seasons, finishing 51st on the money list in 2008.
But a subsequent season of struggle this year has consigned him to a return to the Final Stage along with Scotland’s former Ryder Cup player Andrew Coltart, who like Fisher also finished just outside the top 120 players in The Race to Dubai, all of whom kept their cards.
Players at the other end of the experience spectrum include Germany’s Stephan Gross junior, winner of the 2008 European Amateur Championship, and England’s Sam Hutsby, the 2009 Amateur Championship finalist.
Hutsby, who turned professional after competing in this year’s Walker Cup, will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of his close friend and compatriot Chris Wood, the winner of the 2009 Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award. Wood enjoyed an exceptional season on The European Tour after graduating from the Qualifying School last year, as did Scotland’s David Drysdale and England’s Danny Willet, both of whom also recently qualified for the season-ending Dubai World Championship presented by: DP World.
Other Qualifying School graduates who thrived on the top tier last season include Sweden’s Oskar Henningsson, who won the Final Stage in 2008, and Northern Ireland’s Michael Hoey.
Both men entered the European Tour winner’s enclosure for the first time this year, with Henningsson capturing the Moravia Silesia Open presented by ALO Diamonds title, and Hoey holding off Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño in a play-off to win the Estoril Open de Portugal.
Other notable names in this year’s field include France’s Michael Lorenzo-Vera and Dutchman Joost Luiten, both of whom graduated onto the European Tour in 2008 after exceptional seasons on the Challenge Tour in 2007, with Lorenzo-Vera topping the final Rankings.
His fellow Frenchman Julien Guerrier is also heading to Girona, along with the man he beat to the 2006 Amateur Championship title, England’s Adam Gee.
The Stadium course at PGA Golf de Catalunya, which was co-designed by European Tour champions Neil Coles of England and Spain’s Angel Gallardo, opened in 1999 and hosted this year’s Open de España.
A European Golf Design course, it is notable for its tree-lined fairways, elevated tees and spectacular views of the Pyrenees mountain range. Enjoying the scenery will be the last thing on the minds of the competitors.

Fairways Target Golf Leagues Week 7 report

By NEIL HAMPTON

MONDAY LEAGUE SUMMARY
In the first games after the split on Monday night the form book was well in evidence as no upsets were to be found. League leaders BM Trucks had their full team on display and safely got past the dangerous Orion four but still required their second highest score of the season.
This result now means that while Orion can still reach the play-offs their shot at the league title has gone. But the title is going to be a close-run affair as the Loch Ness Juniors beat the Parahandies in a one-sided game and leapfrogged them into second place, just two points behind BM Trucks. With the Juniors facing up to the Trucks next week in the penultimate league match, the run-in could be very exciting.
At the other end of the table, Three Men and a Caddy have grabbed the wooden spoon with two games still to play. Their loss to the Sainties, coupled with the Neverwillbees having the bye, means that "Three Men" are now five points behind with just two games left. A baptism of fire in their first target golf season but for them the only way is up!
Week 7 results:
Loch Ness Juniors 82 – 36 Parahandies.
The Neverwillbees 65 – 42 The Sainties.
BM Trucks 72 – 56 Orion.
Three Men and a Caddy (Bye) 30.

TUESDAY LEAGUE REPORT
The Tuesday table has got a familiar look at the top, and at the bottom! League leaders Fairways poor form continued and they suffered their second consecutive defeat – a result which sees them fall off the top of the table.
The No 1 spot is now occupied by the Luckless Leadbetters who saw off King Kenyon’s Klan in what was a potential banana skin for the Leadbetters, given the Klan’s recent form.
It was the Muirton Marvels who beat Fairways and they, along with the Klan are just one point behind Fairways, who themselves are now two points adrift of the Leadbetters.
With just two games left and Fairways taking on the Klan nest week the Leadbetters could tie up the league with a game to spare. At the bottom there was also some movement as Fairhurst scored their first points of the season (and revenge over the Mad Drivers), and with their better shots scored record, have leapfrogged the Coastguards who now occupy the bottom spot after losing to the Senior Moments.

Week 7 results:
King Kenyon’s Klan 41 – 55 Luckless Leadbetters.
Fairhurst Fore 29 – 26 Mad Drivers.
Muirton Marvels 36 – 18 Fairways.
Senior Moments 36 – 23 Coastguards.


HOW THEY STAND
Monday League
1 BM Trucks 14pt
2 Loch Ness Juniors 12pt
3 Parahandies 11pt
4 Orion 8pt
5 The Sainties 8pt
6 Neverwillbees 8pt
7 Three Men and a Caddy 3pt

Tuesday League
1 Luckless Leadbetters 13pt
2 Fairways 11pt
3 Muirton Marvels 10pt
4 King Kenyon's Klan 10pt
5 Senior Moments 8pt
6 Mad Drivers 8pt
7 Fairhurst Fore 2pt
8 Coastguards 2pt

Midland Alliance date and venue switch next week

The Midland Golfers' Alliance's Dennis Redford (Powakaddy) team competition on Tuesday, December 1 has been moved from Murrayshall Golf Course to Thursday, December 3 at Muckhart Golf Club. Tee reserved from 9am to 12 noon.

WORLD CUP FIREWORKS... but not from Scotland

Irish eyes are smiling as McDowell and McIlroy

return a better-ball score of 14-under-par 58

By MICHAEL GIBBONS, Deputy chief European Tour Press Officer
Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy fully justified their pre-tournament favourite status on the opening day of the Omega Mission Hills World Cup with a sensational better-ball score of 14 under par 58 over the Olazábal Course at Mission Hills Golf Club in China.
That remarkable effort, including an eagle and 12 birdies, saw Team Ireland soar into a three-stroke lead over Argentina, with Japan a further stroke back on ten under par in third position.
Italy, Canada, Korea and defending champions Sweden share fourth place after opening scores of eight under 64, while host nation China produced a seven under 65 to share eighth place with South Africa.
But day one of the 55th World Cup belonged to Ireland, who made a near-perfect start to their bid to be crowned World Champions.
“I think 58 is the best score I've ever had,” smiled McIlroy, with McDowell in instant agreement.
McIlroy continued: “We got off to a great start today and we birdied the holes that we knew we had to on the front nine. We had a chance of two birdies most holes and most of the time we took one of them. It was great team play today, and we never really put each other under pressure. I think that showed in the way the scores went.”
McDowell was quick to point out that Ireland will not get carried away with their sensational start, with Friday’s alternate-shot foursome format bringing a totally different challenge.
“Today is a good start but that's all it is and we are very aware of that. Obviously foursomes is a tougher format and we have to get our strategy right.”
The Argentinean duo of Rafa Echenique and Tano Goya were delighted with their opening round of 61 that saw them occupy second place.
“I feel very confident today playing with Rafa,” said Goya. “He putted really good at the end of the round and we were pretty solid today. The times he was in trouble, I was there and the times I was in trouble, he was there. That's the good thing about the fourball – but it's important for one to make a really good hole. I think tomorrow is a different spirit in foursomes. It will be my first time playing with Rafa in foursomes so I'm going to enjoy it as much as I can.”
The Molinari brothers continued their fine form, to move Italy into third place behind Japan.
“I think he probably played better than me today,” admitted Francesco. “He holed more putts but it's a long tournament and we both need to be at our best to try and compete. But it's the first time that we are in a good position after the first round, so it's a nice change compared to the last couple of years.
“Playing with your brother is definitely an advantage because obviously we know each other really well, and we know each other's game really well. So we know what to expect and we know the strength and weaknesses of each other. Maybe even, you know, with your brother, you have much more confidence than with anybody else, so it makes it a bit easier.”
SCOTSWATCH: It was not a good start by the Scotland pair. David Drysdale, making his debut in the event, and Alastair Forsyth, flying the World Cup flag for Scotland for the fifth time, will start the second day in joint-25th place alongside Chile, Pakistan and, most surprisingly of all, the talented Spanish pair, Sergio Garcia and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño.
The Scots reached the turn in two-under-par 34, before picking up birdies at the 10th and 11th to move to four under the card. That could have been the platform for a "decent" better-ball score ... but it wasn't.
Drysdale and Forsyth covered the last six holes in one over par, dreadful scoring for better-ball golf at this level. They were not able to get a single birdie down the home straight and the best they could do at the last was a better-ball bogey at the last.

FIRST-ROUND SCOREBOARD (better ball)

Par 72

58 Ireland (Graeme McDowell & Rory McIlroy).

61 Argentina (Tanyo Goya & Rafael Echenique).

62 Japan (Hiroyuki Fujita & Ryuji Imada).

64 Canada (Graham Delaet & Stuart Anderson), Italy (Edoardo & Francesco Molinari), South Korea (Charlie Wi & Yang Yong-eun), Sweden (Robert Karlsson & Henrik Stenson)

65 China (Zhang Lian-wei & Liang Wen-chong), South Africa (Rory Sabbatini & Richard Sterne).

66 Denmark (Soren Kjeldsen & Soren Hansen), England (Ian Poulter & Ross Fisher), Germany (Alex Cejka & Martin Kaymer), Singapore (Lam Chi Bing & Mardan Mamat), Wales (Stephen Dodd & Jamie Donaldson).

67 Chinese Taipei (Lin Wen-tang & Lu Wei-chih), France (Christian Cevaer & Thomas Levet), India (Kupto Randjawa & Jeev Milkha Singh), New Zealand (Danny Lee & David Smail), Thailand, United States (Nick Watney & John Merrick), Venezuela (Alfredo Adrian & Jhonattan Vegas)

68 Australia (Stuart Appleby & Robert Allenby), Brazil (Rafael Barcellos & Ronaldo Francisco), Philippines (Mars Pucay & Angelo Que).

69 Pakistan (Muhammad Munir & Muhammad Shabbir), Spain (Gonzala Fernandez-Castano), Scotland (David Drysdale & Alastair Forsyth), Chile (Hugh Leon & Martin Ureta).

Fred Couples makes senior debut

in Hawaii skins event

FROM THE ESPN.COM WEBSITE
By Bob Harig
Fred Couples, who turned 50 in October, will make his US Champions (Seniors) Tour debut at the Wendy's Champions Skins Game in Hawaii in mid-January.
Couples, pictured, will partner Nick Price in the alternate-shot format event that will be played at Royal Kaanapali Golf Course.
Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Gary Player are also competing in the Jan. 16-17 tournament, which is in its 23rd year. This will be the fifth with a foursomes (alternate-shot) team format.
The teams will play nine holes each day, with the event televised by ESPN on February 27-28.
Ben Crenshaw and Fuzzy Zoeller will return to defend their 2009 title. Nicklaus and Watson will be teammates for the fifth straight year. Player's teammate will be Loren Roberts.
The $770,000 purse has $30,000 distributed for each of the first six holes, $40,000 for each of the next six, $50,000 for holes 13 through 17 and $100,000 for the 18th hole. Prize money is carried over if no team wins a hole outright.
Couples, who captained the US Presidents Cup team to victory last month, won 15 times in his US PGA Tour career, including the 1992 Masters.

ROSS RISES 24 PLACES BUT

BYRNE IS STILL TOP SCOT

Ross Kellett's very good performance in qualifying for the match-play as the No 4 seed and then going all the way to the final before losing in the Argentina men's open amateur golf championship has seen him rise 24 places in the R&A's latest World Amateur Golf Rankings.
The Colville Park player is now No 41 but Banchory's James Byrne, who lost earlier in the Argentina event, is still the leading Scot in the rankings in 39th place. The Arizona State University student has gone down three places.
Incidentally, Romain Wattell, the French amateur champion who was 12 under par in beating Kellett by 7 and 5 in Sunday's 36-hole final, has shot up 66 places to No 38 in the revised ratings. Another Frenchman, Victor Dubuisson, is still No 1 although he failed to survive Stage 2 of the European Tour Qualifying School at the weekend. Amateur scores in professional events do not count.
Scots in the top 500 of the WAGR are:
39 James Byrne (-3).
41 Ross Kellett (+24).
172 Mark Hillson (no change).
174 Glenn Campbell (no change).
210 Michael Stewart (+6).
236 James White (-1).
263 David Law (-13).
342 Philip McLean (no change).
389 Steven McEwan (-1).

THE GREAT DEBATE CONTINUES

E-mail from Steven Carmichael
(former Scotland amateur international)

Cameron Barrie is over-simplifying

the argument ...

Hi Colin,
Great debate as always on the site.
Could you perhaps explain to Mr Barrie the CSS system and how that alters handicaps. Someone shooting -3 to par every round would probably not play off +3 as an amateur but more like +5.
When only low handicappers play in tournaments the CSS invariably rises, giving a slightly skewed handicap when viewed to scores under par.
The SGU used to run a score average table over the year (don't know if they still do) and that was always interesting reading. The courses are also, by and large, tougher and longer for professional events and this makes it easy to criticise scores.
I think Mr Barrie over-simplifies the argument. With the economic benefit to the country of golf in having successful golfers, we should encourage and support our talented players as much as we can on the proviso that they give something back when they are successful.
This could be money or time, whatever is deemed appropriate. However, I agree with part of his point. In my eyes there has to be an element of "pain" financially on the side of the player. The rewards are so great that the chasing of such a dream should not be without risk. The age-old risk/reward thing.
I also think some of the guys now get things a bit easy, myself included when I was playing, and the expectation level rises to an unrealistic level. Sorry to use him as an example again as I am sure there are many more out there, but Chris Kelly is a good example.
He is fast becoming a "battle-hardened" player who is clearly better than some of the guys getting financial help but unless I'm mistaken or out of date he gets no help at all other than what he earns playing or can secure from sponsors.
Is it right that a guy like that gets left to fend for himself while younger guys get support when they don't have as much chance of success at this point in time as he does?
I'm all for supporting youth but support them because they are good enough, not simply because they are young.
Also, didn't a guy called Steve Govenlock start something like the Team Scotland idea years ago? I can't quite recall the details but it does ring a bell.
Steven Carmichael
Image above by Cal Carson Golf Agency about five years ago before Steven retired prematurely from tournament golf.

E-mail from Steven Robertson:

It's too easy to state our amateurs are simply not good enough

Colin,
I would like to reply to the E-mail received from Cameron Barrie as part of the ongoing discussion on Martin Dempster's article, published in "The Scotsman" and reproduced on Scottishgolfview.com
My answer to Cameron Barrie's question: Why do amateurs with "plus" handicaps shoot level 4s when they compete in professional tournaments?
Consider that professional courses can be anywhere from 7,100-7,300yds whereas amateur courses (in Scotland at least) tend to be 6,700yds at the most. An extra 400yd, a reasonable par-4 on a tougher lay-out - several shots right away. An average 10-handicapper would shoot in the mid-90s from the Carnoustie or Royal Troon back tees.
It's too easy to state that amateurs are simply not good enough. I am 31, a +1 handicapper and in full time employment, and have been lucky to have played tournament golf with "top class amateurs" past and present, Young, Forsyth, Watson, Kelly, O'Hara, McNicol, Booth, Dear, Jamieson, Macauley, McEwan, McLean, etc and I can tell you from experience that top- class is exactly what these guys are!
Playing to that level requires maximum dedication and supreme talent. Working full time while maintaining that standard is impossible.
Scottish Golf has come under a lot of undue criticism lately. Andy Murray (whilst a pro) benefited from funding by the LTA and he is No 4 tennis player in the world. Chris Hoy is No 1 track cyclist in the world and has benefited from lottery funding over the years.
How many other world-class individual sportsmen does Scotland have?
Football and rugby have youth teams or apprenticeships where players are provided with training facilities and financial backing even if they don't play for the first team. In golf, perform or you don't get paid!
Scottish golfers, with the help of the SGU, have been punching above their weight for years! The only way of producing top-class professionals nowadays is to continue backing elite players with an infrastructure and finance whether they are top amateurs or fledgling pros.
Let's hope we find a system to facilitate this instead of bashing those who are trying their best.
Steven Robertson

E-mail from Brian Young:

If Tiger Woods had a handicap, he would probably be rated at +10!

Cameron,
You clearly are missing something, a basic understanding of the standard scratch system (SSS).
The SSS of a course gives the suggested score that a scratch player should be able to shoot on a reasonable day when the course is set up to a reasonable degree of difficulty. For example the St Andrews Old course has a SSS of 73 off the medal tees but this rises to 76 from the championship tees, which means a +4 player shooting four rounds of 72 would in effect be playing to his handicap.
For his handicap to remain the same over a four-round tournament he could, of course, shoot 69 (cut 0.3), 76, 75, 74 (up 0.3 over the last 3 rounds). So a +4 player could shoot six over par over the four rounds and his handicap does not change.
In professional events, courses are generally set up to a very tough standard with super tight pins, slick greens and deeper rough which would increase the competition scratrch score (CSS) if it was an amateur event.
For example on the last day of the Open the championship committee find some outrageously difficult pin placements and the pros can still make a mockery of them.
If you were to take a tour pro with an average score of level par his handicap would probably come out about +7 to +8 if calculated over a season. Tiger would probably come out with a handicap of +10.
If this sounds bizzare, a very good amateur receiving five strokes off Tiger would probably make for a very interesting game.
As most golfers know, it is possible to play 20 rounds a year and maintain your handicap with three or four good ones, 10 around the buffer and some very bad scores. It is no different for a +4 player.
As a scratch player myself I can see the massive difference between scratch and +3 or +4. The gap from there to tour pro is even bigger.
Brian Young

+++If you feel you have something new to contribute to the debate, you can E-mail your views to Colin@scottishgolfview.com

Defending champions Sweden

think field is stronger this year

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE EUROPEAN TOUR
Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson return to the Omega Mission Hills World Cup knowing they will have to raise their games against a 2009 field bursting with quality.
The Swedish duo, who produced one of the greatest foursome displays in the tournaments illustrious history last year with a stunning nine under par 63 that saw them charge to victory, are back at the Mission Hills Golf Club hoping to become the first country to retain the World Cup since Tiger Woods and Mark O’Meara defended the title for the USA nine years ago.
But with several of the world’s best players arriving at the magnificent Olazábal Course at Mission Hills, Team Sweden know they are in for a great battle to emerge victorious on Sunday night.
“I think the tournament this year has a stronger field than ever before so it will be tough to defend,” said Karlsson, who returned to top form last week after his four-month summer injury lay-off at the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan where he took second place to Edoardo Molinari after a sudden-death play-off.
“It shows that the tournament is getting better, and it shows that they have done a good job at the Mission Hills Club and at OMEGA to get better players to come here. It’s all positive and we are looking forward to the Challenge.”
Stenson agreed with Karlsson, but couldn’t help a cheeky reply to the Chinese Media when asked who he felt were Sweden’s biggest rivals for the title. “I can’t see past Sweden,” said Stenson before turning more serious.
“It’s a stronger field for sure. It feels like you could find the winners among ten, 12, 14 teams, something like that, most likely, and I guess there’s a few more teams involved than before, and some other countries are also stronger than they have been before.
“So it’s going to take some great play to win. Scoring has been quite low in the past and maybe the golf course plays a bit different this year since we play it a bit softer and a little bit longer, and also the greens can be a little bit tricky with all the grain. So yeah, we just have to wait and see what the scoring is like. It’s going to be low no matter what.”
One of Sweden's expected challengers is Spain, led by world No 8 Sergio Garcio and his partner, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano.
The Spanish duo will rely on their friendship and their experiences of playing alongside each other as amateurs as they bid to win the World Cup for Spain for the first time in 25 years.
“We don’t have any records playing professionally in the World Cup, but we’ve played a lot of amateur golf together and, well, it’s good to play with a friend,” said Fernandez-Castaño. “So I think it’s going to be fun – I’m really looking forward to it. I’m really glad that Sergio picked me to be here, and I think that we combine very well together. As soon as he called me to be his partner I didn’t hesitate for a second.”
Garcia, an Omega Ambassador, knows there is pressure on the Spaniards to perform, but feels the greatest pressure will come from the players themselves.
“It’s not about the amount of good teams that you have. There’s always going to be good players playing no matter what. So I think that the ultimate pressure is about trying to win the tournament itself and that’s where you try your hardest,” said Garcia.
“Like I said before, there’s a lot of good teams out there. But we also have a good team. We should be very proud of that and if we manage to use our talent, the talent we have, and the capabilities that we have, I think that we should be contenders to the title.”

ROYAL CINQUE PORTS & PRINCE’S TO HOST

2013 AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE R&A

Royal Cinque Ports and Prince’s golf clubs have been chosen to stage the 2013 Amateur Championship. The Kent links courses will share the initial stroke-play qualifying stage before Royal Cinque Ports hosts the match-play rounds.
Royal Cinque Ports has hosted the Amateur Championship on two occasions: first in 1923 when England’s Roger Wethered defeated Scotland’s Robert Harris, and then again in 1982 when Martin Thompson beat Andrew Stubbs in an all-English final.

Deal has also staged two Open Championships. J H Taylor lifted the Claret Jug there in 1909, and Scot, George Duncan, did the same in 1920.
Like its neighbour, Prince’s Golf Club can also claim Open Championship pedigree. It was there that Gene Sarazen won the fifth of his seven Major Championships in 1932. The sand-iron, which he introduced to the game of golf during the Championship, is still on display in the clubhouse. Prince’s hosted the Amateur Championship with Royal St Georges in 2006, when Frenchman Julien Guerrier beat England’s Adam Gee to win the title.
Both clubs will be used as Local Final Qualifying venues in advance of the 2011 Open Championship at nearby Royal St George’s.
The 118th Amateur Championship will take place on 17 – 22 June 2013.

Oldcorn bidding for European Tour card - although

he might not use it after his 50th birthday!

FROM THE EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
Andrew Oldcorn has defended his decision to try and win a European Tour card for next season – even though he admits he might not use it once he becomes eligible for the Seniors' circuit.
The former PGA champion is in the field for the final stage of the Tour School which starts this weekend, having decided to make the trip to Girona near Barcelona, Spain despite the fact his wife thinks he's "bonkers" for doing so.
Oldcorn, who finished 318th on this season's European Tour money-list, has his sights firmly set on European Seniors Tour, for which he'll become eligible when he turns 50 on March 31 next year.
But the Kings Acre-based pro insists he has nothing to lose by taking up his exempt spot at PGA Golf de Catalunya, where the prized cards on next season's main Tour will be up for grabs over a marathon six rounds.
"I know that some people might be critical if I earned a card but didn't use it but I have no qualms about taking up my spot, having earned my right to be there over the past 25 years," said Oldcorn.
"My wife thinks I am bonkers but, having taken some time to think about it, I feel I've got nothing to lose either way. I'd be sitting at home twiddling my thumbs looking out at the rain so I'm looking at this as an opportunity to go play in a tournament with money at stake.
"I'm not going to be under the same amount of pressure that the rest of the guys will be and, while I know it is a bit of a long shot due to the fact I've not played a lot of tournament golf recently, you just never know."
Oldcorn, who paid his first visit to the Tour School just after he turned professional in 1983, didn't have to go back until 2006 and, even then, that was down to an illness.
"There were two Tour Schools back-to-back when I started out with 30 cards up for grabs at each of them," he added. "There was no case of being all-exempt then either and you had pre-qualifying for events on the Monday.
"Alan Murdoch (the head pro at Kings Acre and his coach] is coming out to caddie for me and I know the courses from last year. I actually found one of them a bit too long for me but it had been wet in the build-up to last year's event. I've been watching the weather and the fact it's not rained there for the last few weeks should be to my benefit."
Joining Oldcorn in Girona are Bathgate's Stephen Gallacher, who is making his return after a lengthy injury lay-off in the event, and Edinburgh-based former Ryder Cup player Andrew Coltart.
TWELVE SCOTS IN EURO TOUR Q SCHOOL FIELD AT GIRONA
Andrew Coltart
Scott Drummond
Stephen Gallacher
Greig Hutcheon
Callum Macaulay
Andrew McArthur
Alan McLean
Jamie McLeary
George Murray
Steven O'Hara,
Andrew Oldcorn
Eric Ramsay
There will be a total field of 156 facing up the six-round test, at the end of which the leading 30 and ties will earn Category 11b membership of the European Tour.

Chris Wood named Sir Henry Cotton

European Tour Rookie of the Year

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE EUROPEAN TOUR
England’s Chris Wood has capped a tremendous debut season on The European Tour by being named the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year for 2009.
Bristol-born Wood, 22 tomorrow, who at 6ft 5in (196cms) stands alongside Swede Robert Karlsson as the tallest golfer on Tour, also enjoyed the highest finish of a talented group of contenders for the award in the inaugural Race to Dubai.
By taking 44th place with earnings of €679,559, Wood secured the title ahead of Northern Ireland’s Gareth Maybin, who was 53rd in The Race to Dubai, England’s Danny Willett (58th) Sweden’s Oskar Henningsson, who was 68th and also claimed his maiden Tour title in the Czech Republic and another Englishman, David Horsey, who ended his first season in 76th place.
However it was Wood’s remarkable performance in The 138th Open Championship which effectively sealed the Award, which is judged by The R&A, the Association of Golf Writers and The European Tour.
A year after finishing tied fifth at Royal Birkdale as an amateur, Wood went even better at Turnberry in July, missing out on a play-off by only one shot as he finished alongside eventual Race to Dubai champion, Lee Westwood, in third place.
That mature performance was one of five top ten finishes for Wood during his rookie season, while his liking for events with the word ‘Open’ saw him tie for fifth in The European Open and tie for sixth in the South African Open. He was also top scorer in the Vivendi Trophy with Seve Ballesteros, claiming 4 ½ points out of a possible five.
Wood, who has climbed to 71st in the Official World Golf Ranking, is the 21st English golfer to win the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award since its inception in 1960, when his fellow countryman Tommy Goodwin became the inaugural winner.
He succeeds Pablo Larrazabal of Spain, who follows in a long and illustrious list of players who have graduated to great things after winning rookie honours, namely Tony Jacklin, Bernard Gallacher, Sam Torrance, Sir Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, José Maria Olazábal, Colin Montgomerie and Sergio Garcia.
Wood admitted: “It is brilliant to win this award. Looking at the list of names who have won this title makes me appreciate that I am in good company, alongside people like Sir Nick Faldo, who is probably the greatest English golfer to play the game. It’s great to see my name on the same list as Sir Nick and some of the more recent winners like Paul Casey, Nick Dougherty and Ian Poulter.
“I’ve had my eyes on winning the rookie crown all season, because it’s something you only ever get one chance to win. Fortunately I’ve been lucky enough to do it thanks to some good results like The Open and some pretty consistent finishes.”
Wood added: “I feel I’ve been able to step into the professional ranks quite easily. The experiences of Birkdale and Turnberry have helped and also getting my card at the Tour School at PGA Golf de Catalunya. Now I am closing in on the top 50 in the world and that must be a big goal in 2010. It opens a lot of doors to the Majors and the other top events where the best players are playing.
“Look at Martin Kaymer. He was Rookie of the Year two years ago and has just finished third in The Race to Dubai and must be a contender for the next Ryder Cup. That’s where I want to see myself in a few years time.”

North-east Alliance blown off at Portlethen Today's North-east Golfers' Alliance competition at Portlethen was abandoned due to high winds which made play impossible. A start was made but it soon became clear that the balls would not remain stationary on the greens. The next scheduled meeting is at Buckpool Golf Club next Wednesday. We are hoping to display the starting times on this website if secretary Ron Menzies can arrange it.

Kellett eyes Eisenhower Trophy defence

in Buenos Aires next autumn

FROM THE SCOTSMAN WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
Ross Kellett, who finished runner-up in the Argentina open amateur championship last weekend, has set his sights on returning to the Buenos Aires Golf Club towards the end of next year as part of the Scotland side that will be defending the Eisenhower Trophy.
Wallace Booth, Gavin Dear and Callum Macaulay, the trio who secured that piece of silverware when Scotland were crowned as world amateur champions in Australia last year, are all now in the professional ranks.
As a member of the side that added the European title at Conwy earlier this year, Kellett, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, who has followed the O'Hara brothers, Steven and Paul, off the conveyor belt at Colville Park in Motherwell, was already on the list of contenders for the vacant spots and has now jumped to the head of the queue on the back of an excellent performance in South America.
"It will obviously help that I have done so well on a course that the Eisenhower Trophy will be played on," said the 21-year-old, who beat the highly-rated young German player, Philip Westermann, in the semi-final and had no reason to feel disheartened after losing by 7 and 5 in the 36-hole final given that his opponent, French champion Romain Wattel, was 12-under-par for the holes played.
"However, there's a lot of golf to be played between now and then, so I will knuckle down and get on with my game and, hopefully, that will be good enough to make the team. Kellett also finished runner-up in the European Individual Championship earlier in the year, having also secured the same spot in the New South Wales Amateur Championship.
*The full article above appears in The Scotsman newspaper.

So where are Tiger & Phil when their country needs them?

US field an embarrassingly weak team for World Cup

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
By Rick Lipsey
Just weeks ago, when golf became an Olympic sport for 2016, we heard a parade of top American golfers (including Tiger) saying how much they want to represent their country.
Those patriotic words ring pretty hollow, though, in light of what can be described only as an embarrassingly weak American. team at this week's World Cup at the Mission Hills Resort in China - Nick Watney (31st in the world) and John Merrick (139).
Nice guys, but is this the best America could do for golf's annual Olympic-like extravaganza? Merrick has never even won a Tour event, while Watney has a grand total of two victories.
Heck, Denmark, a nation with fewer people than New York City, has a team that on paper is more than twice as good as the Yanks: the Danes (Soren Hansen and Soren Kjeldsen) are a combined 77th in the World Ranking compared to the U.S.'s 170th.
The dismal U.S. World Cup showing is especially galling, because just two weeks ago some of the best Americans — Tiger and Phil among them — trekked to China to play in the HSBC Champions. That tournament, however, offered juicy appearance fees and a $7 million purse.

E-mail from "Cameron Barrie"

In reply to Martin Dempster's most recent article (published in The Scotsman and reproduced on www.scottishgolfview.com):

With regard to top-class amateurs turning pro, please can someone explain to me (a single- figure handicap golfer) how certain "top-class amateurs" with handicaps of +3, 4, 5, or event +6 can only average score 72 (level 4s old money) when they compete in professional tournaments?
Either simply they are not good enough - or the amateur handicap system is incorrect. Or what part of this picture am I not seeing?
Also a comment was left that a certain hopeful had to "work" as well as try to play golf! Good for him, maybe that’s what's required!
Better lessons to be learned from this tough school.
Come on, face it. You turn pro and you either make it or fail it!
Not always a reason, fair or otherwise. It’s called survival, a lesson ultimately we all learn.
Some are even lucky enough to be funded on this journey of Mediocrity.
So never mind looking to other options to justify why failure happens. Lack of funding or coaching is not why failure happens. Face facts. Simply not good enough is the real reason.
So stop making excuses. Stick in. Hopefully you may make it. If not, tough!
You could be like most of us: working in a job that we need to do!

Comments can be E-mailed to Colin@scottishgolfview.com

Tartan Tour Scoreboard
Winter Series at Bogside
Par 71
66 Tom Eckford (Ranfurly Castle) & Gordon Stewart (Cawder) £175.
66 Billy Marchbank (Crieff) & Alan White (Lanark) £175.

68 Fraser Mann (Musselburgh) & Paul Wardell (Whitekirk) £125.

69 Ken Stevely (3Dgolf.com & Iain Pender (Aberfoyle) £90.
69 Alan E Reid (West Lothian) & Ross Ewen (West Lothian) £90.
69 Gordon Niven (St Andrews) & Alan Purdie (Kingbarns Golf Links) £90.

70 James McKinnon (Irvine) & Duncan Williamson (Kirkhill) £67.50.
70 Stewart Savage (Dalmuir) & Paul Gallacher (Dalmuir) £67.50.

Midland Alliance

Alan Lockhart wins with 68 at Balbirnie Park

By LEE SUTHERLAND, Ballumbie Castle GC professional
This week the Midland Golfers' Alliance held their meeting at Balbirnie Park in Fife. The weather had an effect on the turn-out but a few braved the rain to return some fine scores. Leading the way in the scratch was Ladybank assistant pro Alan Lockhart with a superb, three-under-par 68.
Best handicap score returned was a 72 off 12 by David Black (Dunfermline).
LEADING SCRATCH
68 A Lockhart (Ladybank) ap.
69 S Pardoe (Scottish GC) p, B Mason (Callaway Golf) p.
72 S O'Donnell (Balbirnie Park) ap, C Donnelly (Balbirnie Park) p.
77 G McLean (Monifieth) ap.
80 D Mitchell (Panmure).
81 E Rae (Arbroath).
82 D Spaven (Pitlochry).
LEADING HANDICAP
72 D Black (Dunfermline) (12).
73 D Spaven (Pitlochry) (9).
75 D Mitchell (Panmure) (5).
78 E Rae (Arbroath) (3).

Qualifiers for the JTC Interiors Express Championship in April at Montrose Links
D Mitchell (Panmure)
E Rae (Arbroath).

Next week's meeting: Tuesday, December 1
Murrayshall GC, near Perth
Sponsored by D. Redford (Powakaddy)
Tee reserved from: 8.30 - 12.15

European Senior Tour returns to Brunei

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY EUROPEAN TOUR
The Aberdeen Brunei Senior Masters presented by The Stapleford Forum returns to the European Senior Tour schedule for the second consecutive year in 2010 following the success of the historic inaugural event.
Brunei’s Empire Hotel and Country Club will again host the event from March 5-7, which will be the second tournament on the 2010 Senior Tour schedule following the curtain raiser in Mauritius in December.
American Mike Cunning will defend the title he won in 2009 when the Senior Tour made history by travelling the furthest east it had been in its 17 year existence.
Cunning held off an impressive field which included Ryder Cup-winning captains Sam Torrance and Bernard Gallacher, as well as double Major Championship winner Sandy Lyle.
Lyle and Torrance finished tied sixth and the latter’s prize money was to prove vital at the end of the season as he ended the campaign just €3,380 ahead of Ian Woosnam to win the Order of Merit.
The 2010 event will again be promoted by WSM Sponsorship, which stage four tournaments on the 2009 Senior Tour schedule, including the inaugural Aberdeen Brunei Senior Masters presented by The Stapleford Forum.
Martin Gilbert, Chief Executive of Aberdeen Asset Management, said: “After the tremendous feedback we received following last year's event, we very much wanted to stage the event for a second year. Asia continues to be central to our business development and the 2010 event will underscore our long-standing commitment to the region, and to golf.”
Andy Stubbs, Managing Director of the European Senior Tour, said: “We are delighted to be returning to the magnificent Empire Hotel and Country Club for the second edition of the Aberdeen Brunei Senior Masters presented by The Stapleford Forum.
“Last year’s inaugural event proved to be a huge success, with superb hospitality and great performance from Mike Cunning to win his maiden title.”
The Jack Nicklaus-designed course at The Empire Hotel and Country Club is built upon a stunning cliff top location and has hosted the Asian Tour’s Brunei Open since 2006.

Edinburgh & East of Scotland Alliance postponed

Tomorrow's Edinburgh & East Scotland Alliance fixture at Dalmahoy has been postponed due to heavy rain flooding the course.
It has been re-scheduled for next Wednesday, December 2
.

US PGA Tour signs eight-year deal with Sky Sports

The United States PGA Tour has reached a new eight-year deal with Sky Sports to broadcast its tournaments live and in high definition in the United Kingdom – making it one of the longest international broadcast agreements ever awarded by the American Tour.
Sky Sports will televise the Tour’s regular-season events and the Play-offs for the FedExCup. It also has exclusive rights in the U.K. to televise The Presidents Cup in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017.
“It is fascinating to be able to follow players from the U S Tour alongside our European coverage, particularly in a Ryder Cup year,” said Barney Francis, managing director of Sky Sports. “And it’s a great time to be back covering the U.S. Tour, too, with Rory McIlroy committing himself to events from the U.S. calendar.”
In a statement, Tim Leisure, US PGA Tour senior vice president of international television, said: “The PGA Tour is extremely pleased once again to be associated with Sky Sports, the leading sports network in the United Kingdom.”

'Team Scotland' could bring end to talent loss

FROM THE SCOTSMAN WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
So, I'm not the only one who feels passionate about what happens in Scottish golf. Following my comments here last week about us producing golfers with genuine talent only for them to fall way short of their true potential, a whole host of people have wanted to have their say on the matter.
One pointed out that I had not offered any solutions and asked: Have you any?As I said in last week's column, the people we need to talk to to try and come up with solutions are those who, for whatever reason, failed to climb as high up the ladder as they really should have.For what it's worth, though, I do have some thoughts, but before airing them I think it is only right that I set a few things straight.
Before anyone gets the wrong end of the stick, the fact talent is going to waste is not a criticism of the Scottish Golf Union. Over the years, that organisation has done an excellent job in unearthing young talent and long may that continue.
In my opinion, the SGU's role is to help develop the talent then take that player to the stage where he feels he is ready to join the professional ranks.
Unfortunately, what we are seeing more and more is players making that leap when they are clearly not ready nor good enough to even be contemplating such a step.Listen, it's a big, bad world out there at the top level in professional golf and only those with either a special talent or a special work ethic have got a chance, just a chance, of sharing that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
The fact just about every top amateur these days decides to turn professional is simply ludicrous. Whatever happened to the true amateur, the guy who worked during the week and played his golf at the weekend?
As much as we all want to see Scottish players doing well in the professional game, it would be nice to see someone bucking the current trend and deciding against that move into the paid ranks, getting themselves a job and being content to keep pulling on a dark blue jersey for a number of years.
What about those who are good enough? If it's not the job of the SGU to be taking the lead or even been involved in the crossover, who should be taking on that role?
Personally, I'd like to see a 'Team Scotland' formed and I believe this is something similar to a well-thought out project that Iain Stoddart, David Drysdale's manager, has been working away on behind the scenes over the last few years.
How I'd like to see that work is that a group of talented players – and we are not just talking here about the top amateurs in the country as there are some young assistants out there with equal talent – are identified and they receive the proper support, not just financial I hasten to add, that can give them the best possible chance to make the transition from top-level amateur to the European Tour.
I'd also like to see a manager of that team being appointed and, for me, a person like Dean Robertson or Adam Hunter would fit the bill perfectly. Here are guys who played golf at the top level in Scotland, won on the European Tour and, these days, are very knowledgeable about the golf swing and just about every other aspect of the game.
In short, they're someone who's been there and done it. Either could pass on valuable advice to wannabe Tour players and help them fulfil the potential that has seen them picked out to be part of 'Team Scotland' in the first place.
I'm not saying they should be their coach. Not at all. The people who have helped these players to emerge as potential stars are the ones who should continue working with them at such an important phase in their career.
Where does the money for such a project come from? The government would have to provide some input and, given that we are talking here about professional golfers, I'd like to think the PGA would also want to be involved. Some money from the private sector would be helpful, too.
As a feeder for 'Team Scotland', perhaps an academy could be set up for young PGA professionals where they came under the tutelage of someone else who's played at the highest level, an excellent suggestion made to me by the pro at my golf club.
That's the thing. There are people out there with some great ideas and, for the good of Scottish golf, something needs to be done to try and change things so that, a few years down the line, the amount of talent going to waste is decreasing all the time.
Another thing I'd like to see are more of our players, particularly the rookie professionals, playing on a home-based circuit as they cut their teeth in the paid game. It didn't do Paul Lawrie or David Drysdale any harm and, in the case of the former in particular, he learned to become a winner by playing in Scotland.
Let's make sure that whatever decisions are made going forward are the right ones.

WESTWOOD WON LEVEN GOLD MEDAL
Sixteem years ago a young Englishman turned up in Fife and rubber-stamped his potential by winning the Leven Gold Medal, the world's oldest amateur stroke-play event.
That same year Lee John Westwood also finished second in the European Amateur Championship at Dalmahoy, losing in a play-off to the Dane, Morten Backhausen.
Having witnessed both of those performances, it's been a delight to watch Westwood go on and establish himself as one of the world's top players and, personally, I was delighted he pipped Rory McIlroy in the marathon that was the 'Race to Dubai'.
Not that I have anything against young Rory, of course. His emergence over the past couple of seasons has given European golf a timely shot in the arm and it's surely a matter of how many times he'll be the No1 in the future, not if.
For the moment, though, that crown belongs to Westwood and rightly so. His performance in winning the inaugural Dubai World Championship was truly exceptional and now a major is firmly in his sights.
Tom Watson may have been the man most people wanted to win at Turnberry in July but, really, it was Westwood whose name should have been inscribed on that Claret Jug – and he knows it. He's bounced back courageously, though, and has been helped in a big way, no doubt, by Andrew Chandler, his excellent manager, and just as much by Laurae, his delightful Scottish wife.

Murray, Hutcheon and McLean only three

Scots to progress from Stage 2 to Final Q

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Only three Scots from the 22 who started Stage 2 of the European Tour School qualifying process at four Spanish venues last Friday have earned places in the Final Q School over six rounds at PGA Golf de Catalunya, nr Girona, still in Spain from Saturday to next Thursday (December 3).
Former Scottish amateur champion George Murray, pictured right by Cal Carson Golf Agency, from Anstruther and Banchory tour pro Greig Hutcheon made it through at Arcos Gardens - where former European Tour Rookie of the Year Scott Henderson (Kings Links) earned 10th alternate place, i.e. he needs 10 of the qualifiers to withdraw for one reason or another before Saturday, a highly unlikely proposition.
The third Scots qualifier was Glasgow-born Alan McLean who has spent most of his pro golf life in South Africa. Alan qualified at Sherry Golf Sherry.
So disappointment for such high-profile Scottish amateur names as Walker Cup man Wallace Booth from Comrie, Scotland international Keir McNicoll from Carnoustie, former Scottish amateur double champion Kevin McAlpine from Alyth, Walker Cup first reserve Paul O'Hara (Colville Park) who was the SGU Order of Merit this year.
Other leading amateurs, not Scots, who failed include Victor Dubuisson, the Frenchman who is No 1 in the R&A World Amateur Golf Rankings, and Walker Cup youngster Stiggy Hodgson (Sunningdale).
To all of these, it is perhaps worth recalling that future Major winner and Ryder Cup captain Ian Woosnam succeeded only on his SEVENTH attempt at the European Tour School.

SUMMARY FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE

Seventy-five happy golfers emerged through the Second Qualifying Stage to take their places at this week’s Final Stage, most notably England’s Philip Archer, American Ryan Blaum, European Tour champion Santiago Luna of Spain and Sweden’s Fredrik Ohlsson.

That quartet all finished top of the pile at their respective courses, all of which are located in southern Spain: Sherry Golf Jerez, Hacienda Del Alamo, Arcos Gardens and Costa Ballena Ocean Golf Club.

Archer, who finished in the top 30 of The European Tour Order of Merit two years ago, led the 18 qualifiers from Sherry Golf Jerez, finishing two shots clear of second placed Manuel Quiros of Spain on 15 under par.

Frenchman Anthony Snobeck and Denmark’s Lasse Jensen took the last two available places, having prevailed in a four man play-off. Over at Arcos Gardens veteran Spaniard Luna led the way on 12 under par, two shots clear of Indonesia’s Rory Hie – who shot a stunning round of 64 – with South African Michiel Bothma a further two strokes back in third place.

Scotland’s Greig Hutcheon and Austrian Hans Peter Bacher took the 18th and 19th spots, having seen off all comers in a five man play-off.

There was no need for a play-off at Hacienda Del Alamao, where American Blaum kept up his fine form to prevail by five shots from 2008 European Amateur Champion Stephan Gross junior of Germany.

Brazilian Alexandre Rocha, the joint winner of the Qualifying School in 2006, also made it through to the final showdown in Girona, whilst England’s Michael Lowe took the 17th and final spot.An eight man play-off was needed to determine the final two places at Costa Ballena Ocean Golf Club, where Swede Ohlsson came out on top on 14 under par.

British Amateur Championship finalist and Walker Cup player Sam Hutsby of England also came through in tied 11th place, whilst the final two places were taken by Italian Marco Soffietti and Norway’s Marius Thorp, who needed extra holes to see off the other six hopefuls.

All 75 players will now take their places at the six round Final Stage, which starts this Saturday at PGA Golf de Catalunya in Girona, Spain.

QUALIFIERS FROM THE FOUR SPANISH VENUES

ARCOS GARDENS
Par 288 (4x72)
276 Santiago Luna (Spa) 66 69 71 70 (£1,500).
278 Rory Nie (Ina) 69 75 70 64 (£1,000).
280 Michiel Bothma (SAF) 68 65 73 74 (£700).
281 Victor Almstrom (Swe) 70 70 70 71, Nicolas Meitinger (Ger) 69 71 72 69 (£400 each).
282 Matthew Bliss (Can) 70 68 74 70, George Murray (Sco) 70 71 72 69, Tony Carolan (Aus) 69 73 74 78, Wil Besseling (Net) 68 70 71 73.
283 Oliver Whiteley (Eng) 65 72 72 74, Thomas Feyrsinger (Aut) 70 73 72 68, Julio Zapata (Arg) 72 71 71 69.
284 Graham Povey (Eng) 71 66 75 72, Liam Bond (Wal) 72 75 70 67.
285 Jamie Moul (Eng) 67 71 74 73, Lloyd Kennedy (Eng) 70 69 72 74, Joakim Rask (Swe) 73 75 68 69.
286 Greig Hutcheon (Sco) 72 69 71 74, Hans Peter Bacher (Aut) 70 75 73 69.

NON-QUALIFIERS
286 Raimo Sjoberg (Swe) 68 75 72 71 (2nd alternate), Oliver Bekker (SAF) 72 71 71 72 (6th alternate), Scott Henderson (Sco) 72 71 71 71 (10th alternate).
287 Sven Struver (Ger) 74 72 70 71.
288 John Mellor (Eng) 71 73 70 74, Tyrone Ferreira (SAf) 74 71 73 71, Johan Wahlqvist (Swe) 71 77 72 69, Michael Collins (Ire) 75 73 69 73, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 70 72 71 76.
Selected non-qualifiers:
290 Jack Doherty (Sco) 72 75 72 71 (jt 29th).
292 Keir McNicoll (Sco) 76 76 71 69 (jt 44th).
293 Paul Doherty (Sco) 72 74 75 72 (jt 47th).
294 Joel A Hendry (Sco) 70 75 78 71 (jt 49th).
295 Gareth Shaw (NIr) 70 76 75 74 (jt 54th).

COSTA BALLENA

Par 288 (4x72)

274 Fredrik Ohlsson (Swe) 71 69 65 69 (£1,500).

276 Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 69 66 68 73, Paul Eales (Eng0 67 69 71 69 (£850 each), Niall Kearney (Ire) (am) 70 73 67 68.

277 Steven Tiley (Eng) 72 66 68 71 (£500).

278 James McLean (Aus) 71 68 67 72, Floris De Vries (Net) 69 70 68 70 (£150 each).

279 Luis Claverie (Spa) 71 70 71 67, Mark F Haastrup (Den) 68 70 68 73, Louis Moolman (SAf) 68 68 70 73.

280 Sam Hutsby (Eng) 71 68 71 70, Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa) 65 70 72 73, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 71 70 67 72, Edouard Dubois (Fra) 66 67 72 75, James Ruth (Eng) 66 67 72 75, Guillaume Watremez (Bel) 70 70 67 73, John Kelly (Ire) 72 71 68 6.

281 Marius Thorp (Nor) 68 70 69 74, Marco Soffietti (Ita) 72 67 70 72.

NON-QUALIFIERS

281 Garry Houston (Wal) 71 67 780 73 (4th alternate), Jaakko Makitalo (Fin) 72 66 74 69 (8th alternate), Jurgen Maurer (Aut) 69 70 71 71 (13th alternate), Jamie Abbott (Eng) (am) 69 69 70 73, Johan Skold (Swe) 70 72 73 66, Ben Mason (Eng) 69 70 70 72.

282 Dennis Kupper (Ger) 65 72 74 71, Anders Sjostrand (Swe) 73 69 70 70, Thomas Haylock (Eng) 73 69 70 70, Chris Kelly (Sco) 69 69 70 74.

Selected non-qualifiers:

284 Craig Lee (Sco) 71 72 73 68, Matt Haines (Eng) (am) 69 68 72 75 (jt 33rd).

290 Jason McCreadie (Sco) 73 77 68 72, Stiggy Hodgson (Eng) (am) 73 71 73 73 (jt 55th).

HACIENDA DEL ALAMO

Par 288 (4x72)

268 Ryan Blaum (US) 68 65 67 68 (£1,500).

273 Stephan Gross jun (Ger) 64 73 65 71 (£1,000).

275 Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 72 65 70 68 (£700).

277 Ghislain Rosier (Fra) 71 70 68 67, Clodomiro Carranza (Arg) 71 69 68 68 (£400 each).

278 Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 70 72 68 68, Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha) 70 70 69 69, Charlie Ford (Eng) 68 72 69 69 Federico Colombo (Ita) 72 69 68 68.

279 Christophe Brazillier (Fra) 72 71 68 67, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 71 69 76 63.

281 Mattias Eliasson (Swe) 71 69 68 72, Jonathan Caldwell (NIr) 69 72 71 69, Benjamim Hebert (Fra) 74 67 70 70, James Kamte (SAf) 72 71 69 69.

282 West Hefferman (Can) 69 72 73 68, Michael Lowe (Eng) 74 71 67 70.

283 Andrea Maestroni (Ita) 9 73 70 71, George Coetzee (SAf) 72 68 71 72.

NON-QUALIFIERS

284 Sandro Piaget (Mo) 74 71 70 69 (7th alternate), Paul Nilbrink (Nor) 71 69 71 73, Graeme A Clark (Eng) 71 73 72 68 (11th alternate), Chris Paisley (Eng) (am) 69 69 74 72 (3rd alternate).

285 Carlos Balmaseda (Spa) 73 71 69 72, Zane Scotland (Eng) 73 67 74 71, Inder Van Weerelt (Net) 74 70 71 70, Juan Abbate (Arg) 76 73 70 66, Marcus Palm (Swe) 75 69 67 74.

Selected non-qualifiers:

286 Lee Corfield (Eng) 75 69 70 72, Luke Goddard (Eng) 70 72 75 69, David Griffiths (Eng) 71 72 71 72, Dale Whitnell (Eng) 70 73 73 70 (jt 29th).

288 Paul O'Hara (Sco) 74 70 74 70, Jonathan Lomas (Eng) 74 71 72 71 (jt 38th).

292 Stephen Gray (Sco) 75 73 73 71 (jt 58th).

294 Mark Hillson (Sco) (am) 79 69 73 73 (jt 62nd).

298 Lee Harper (Sco) 72 78 73 73 (jt 66th).

SHERRY GOLF JEREZ

Par 288 (4x72)

273 Philip Archer (Eng) 68 69 68 68 (£1,500).

275 Manuel Quiros (Spa) 69 69 70 67 (£1,000).

276 Tim Stewart (Aus) 68 72 72 64 (£700).

280 Thomas Norret (Den) 69 69 72 70, Jamie Elson (Eng) 72 73 65 70 (£400 each).

282 Eduardo De La Riva (Spa) 68 68 75 71.

283 Jason Knutzon (US) 67 71 75 70.

284 Iain Pyman (Eng) 69 70 74 71, Simon Thornton (Ire) 658 73 71 72, Paul Dwyer (Eng) 70 71 76 67, Alan McLean (Sco) 69 71 71 73, Paul Pinto (Arg) 64 75 74 71, Ally Mellor (Eng) 68 73 73 70.

285 Marco Ruiza (Par) 70 75 71 69, Julien Clement (Swi) 75 67 69 74, Colm Moriarty (Ire) 69 70 74 72.

286 Anthony Snobeck (Fra) 71 70 71 74, Lasse Jensen (Den) 70 73 71 72.

NON-QUALIFIERS

286 Johan Axgren (Swe) 66 75 72 73 (1st alternate), Martin Rominger (Swi) 67 76 70 73 (5th alternate).

287 Ricardo Santos (Por) 74 71 71 71 (9th alternate), Elliot Saltman (Sco) 73 69 71 74, Max Glauert (Ger) 71 70 71 75, Sebastian Saavedra (Arg) 71 73 73 70, Russell Surber (US) 70 74 71 72, Ricard Santos (Por) 74 71 71 71, Magnus Persson (Swe) 72 75 72 68.

Selected non-qualifiers:

289 Kevin McAlpine (Sco) 72 74 73 70, Victor Dubuisson (Fra) (am) 68 76 74 71 (jt 28th).

292 Mark Kerr (Sco) 72 73 72 75 (jt 38th).

293 Wallace Booth (Sco) 71 77 72 73 (jt 41st).

296 Scott Jamieson (Sco) 71 71 73 81 (jt 53rd).

Withdrew: Chris Doak (Sco) 72 78 76 wd.

Six Europeans in World top 10 for first time

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Six Europeans occupy places in the World’s Top Ten for first time in the history of the Official World Golf Rankings, with Race to Dubai winner Lee Westwood leading the line at a career high of World No 4 and Rory McIlroy becoming only the second 20 year old to make the World’s Top Ten.
Westwood’s victory in the Dubai World Championship presented by: DP World moved the Englishman up a place in the latest World Ranking to fourth, matching his previous highest position achieved the last time he was European Number One in 2000.
His six-stroke victory over fellow Englishman Ross McGowan on the Greg Norman-designed Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates took him past the injured Paul Casey, who drops to World No 5.
Ireland’s Padraig Harrington and Swede Henrik Stenson remain sixth and seventh in the World respectively, while Spain’s Sergio Garcia’s joint seventh place in Dubai took him up to eighth.
Until yesterday, Garcia was the only 20 year old to have ever achieved a place in the World’s Top Ten but there is now another member of that exclusive club as Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, third in the Dubai World Championship and beaten into second in The Race to Dubai, had the consolation of moving from 13th to tenth in the World Ranking. Tiger Woods was 21 when he first entered the World’s Top Ten in 1997.
McGowan, second in Dubai, moved up 46 places to 70th on the World Ranking.
Further European success was achieved in Japan at the Dunlop Phoenix where 2009 Challenge Tour Rankings runaway winner Edoardo Molinari of Italy defeated 2008 European No 1 Robert Karlsson of Sweden in a play-off after the pair tied on 13 under par 271, six shots ahead of their nearest challengers.
Molinari jumped 24 places to World No 63, a remarkable feat for a player who plied his trade on the Challenge Tour throughout 2009, having started the year in 653rd place, while Karlsson moved up three places to World Number 25.
OFFICIAL WORLD PRO RANKINGS TOP 20
1 Tiger Woods (US).
2 Phil Mickelson (US).
3 Steve Stricker (US).
4 Lee Westwood (Eng).
5 Paul Casey (Eng).
6 Padraig Harrington (Ire).
7 Henrik Stenson (Swe).
8 Sergio Garcia (Spa).
9 Kenny Perry (US).
10 Rory McIlroy (NIr)
11 Jim Furyk (US).
12 Martin Kaymer (Ger).
13 Ian Poulter (Eng).
14 Geoff Ogilvy (Aus).
15 Sean O'Hair (US).
16 Stewart Cink (US).
17 Ernie Els (SAf).
18 Lucas Glover (US).
19 Retief Goosen (SAf).
20 Ross Fisher (Eng).

Gregory Havret, 10 years a pro, joins the I M G Stable

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY I M G
Frenchman, Gregory Havret, announced today that he has signed with the global sports management company, IMG.
Gregory, 32 years old, turned professional back in 1999 following an impressive amateur career that saw him win the French amateur championship three years in a row from 1997 to 1999. He finished 60th on the Order of Merit in 2001, with a maiden European Tour victory at the Italian Open at Is Molas in Sardinia.
Havret won the biggest title of his career when he defeated then World No 3 Phil Mickelson in a play-off for the 2007 Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond, a victory that helped him break into the top 20 of the Order of Merit for the first time. He became the second Frenchman to win the title after Thomas Levet in 2004.
In August 2008, Havret continued his love affair with Scotland, winning the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, his third victory on the European Tour. This year, Havret has had mixed fortunes but again put in a fine performance at the Johnnie Walker Championship in which he tied for third place.
Guy Kinnings, Managing Director of Golf at IMG, whose team represents the world’s best golfers including Tiger Woods, Retief Goosen, Colin Montgomerie, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Paul Casey, and Michelle Wie, said “Gregory is undoubtedly one of the most successful golfers to emerge from France, as well as being a great player he also has a great personality and charisma. We are delighted that he has selected IMG to represent him around the world and look forward to being part of his team.”
Gregory Havret will join a stack of top French golfers currently represented by IMG including Raphaël Jacquelin, Thomas Levet, Jeff Lucquin and François Delamontagne. Gregory will be managed by Michael Jones, vice-president IMG Golf.

GLENMUIR NAMED AS LEAD

VENDOR AT 2010 RYDER CUP

NEWS RELEASE FROM EUROPEAN TOUR
Glenmuir will extend their association with The Ryder Cup in 2010 following an agreement between the Scottish clothing specialists and Ryder Cup Europe LLP to make Glenmuir the Lead Vendor at The Celtic Manor Resort, City of Newport, Wales, from October 1-3.
As well as being a Preferred Supplier to The 2010 European Ryder Cup Team, Glenmuir’s Lead Vendor status will make them the dominant presence in The Ryder Cup Merchandising Pavilion at Celtic Manor.
Beginning in 1987, Glenmuir’s partnership with The Ryder Cup is one of the longest-running in the world of high-profile professional sport and is perfect endorsement of Glenmuir’s products and their endurance to perform at the highest levels of the game.
Colin Mee, Managing Director of Glenmuir, said: “Becoming the Lead Vendor at The Ryder Cup positions Glenmuir at the heart of one of the world’s greatest sporting occasions. The Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor next October will be a true spectacle of golf and we are delighted to be continuing and expanding our support of this iconic event.
“We are a very proud supplier to The European Ryder Cup Team and this is a great opportunity for golf fans from around the globe to experience the style and quality for which Glenmuir has become famous.”
Richard Hills, Europe’s Ryder Cup Director, said: “We are delighted to further strengthen our partnership with Glenmuir, whose expertise and high levels of excellence are a perfect fit for The European Ryder Cup Team. Spectators at Celtic Manor will now have a great opportunity to sample that excellence for themselves, with Glenmuir having the major presence in the Merchandising Pavilion at Celtic Manor.”

+Glenmuir have helped to sponsor the Hacienda del Alamo Women's February Golf Festival since it started in 2008. The Lanark company are continuing their support of the festival next February. Entry forms for the 2010 Festival are available by clicking on the appropriate wording at the top of the left hand column on the Home Page of http://www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk/
+Although primarily the Festival's events are for girls, ladies and senior ladies, boys/men can play as partners in the curtain-raising pairs event on Saturday, February 13.

English Golf Union release dates, venues for 2010

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ENGLISH GOLF UNION
The English men's amateur championship will head to one of its most northerly outposts when it is played at Silloth-on-Solway in London Olympics year, 2012.
Also in the 2012 fixtures just released, Walton Heath will be the venue for the Brabazon Trophy while the Men’s County Finals will be staged at Beau Desert.
Silloth-on-Solway in Cumbria proved a testing venue for the Logan Trophy (Mid-Amateur Championship) in July when the host club’s John Longcake proved a worthy winner. This wasn’t the English Golf Union’s (EGU) first visit to the club. The Men’s County Finals were staged there in 1995 when Lancashire triumphed while in 2002 it hosted the annual England v Scotland Under 16 match.
While Silloth will be the main venue, Seascale, venue for the northern region qualifying this year and of the County Finals in 1971, will be the other course hosting the qualifying rounds.
Walton Heath will host the Brabazon Trophy in June, the only previous occasion the popular Surrey club has staged the English Open Stroke Play Championship was in 1968 when (Sir) Michael Bonallack triumphed in a tournament reduced to 54 holes after the second round was abandoned.
However, the EGU has made regular visits to this superb 36-hole venue, the English Amateur being staged there on four occasions, the most recent in 2002 when Yorkshire’s Richard Finch was champion.
The 2012 domestic season will start with the international against France at Royal Mid Surrey on 12th – 13th May, followed, two days later, by the southern qualifying round for the Brabazon Trophy at the same venue. The northern qualifier will take place a week later at Worksop.
The English Seniors will venture into East Anglia for only the second time in its history when the Championship is played over the Suffolk courses of Aldeburgh and Thorpeness from 6th – 8th June, while the Seniors County Finals, the last event of the season, visit Heworth in Gateshead, Co Durham, in early October. The Mid Amateur Championship for the Logan Trophy visits a regular venue for EGU events when it is played over the West Course at Saunton in Devon in early July.
As far as the 2012 junior championships are concerned, the Under 16s for the McGregor Trophy head west to Saunton on 17th – 19th July, the Under 18s for the Carris Trophy to Royal Cinque Ports on the Kent coast, while the Under 14s for the Reid Trophy visit Blackwell, near Bromsgrove, in Worcestershire on 7th – 9th August.
The one-day English Schools will also be staged in the Midlands, at Kenilworth in Warwickshire, on 11th July, while the Cotswold Hills in Gloucestershire will be the scene of the Boys' County Finals on 28th – 30th August. Among other venues, the Champion Club will be played at Stoneham, near Southampton, on 15th and 16th September, while the Junior Champion Club returns to its original venue of Woodhall Spa on 25th and 26th August. The County Finals visit Staffordshire for the sixth time, the five previous occasions having been at Little Aston, the most recent in 2000 when Surrey were winners.
But in 2012 Beau Desert, near Cannock, will play host, having been the venue for the Carris Trophy in 2002. As usual, the Gold Medal and County Champions Tournament will be fought out at Woodhall Spa in August and September respectively.
The 2012 English Golf Union fixture list is:
MAY
12-13: England v France-Royal Mid Surrey.
15: Brabazon Trophy Southern Qualifying-Royal Mid Surrey.
22: Brabazon: Trophy Northern Qualifying-Worksop.
JUNE
6-8: English Seniors Championship-Aldeburgh and Thorpeness.
27-30: Brabazon Trophy-Walton Heath.
JULY
6-8: Logan Trophy (Mid-Amateur Championship)-Saunton West.
11: English Schools Championship-Kenilworth.
17-19: McGregor Trophy (Under 16 Championship)-Trevose.
24-26: Carris Trophy (Under 18 Championship)-Royal Cinque Ports.
30-Aug 4: English Amateur Championship-Silloth-on-Solway and Seascale
AUGUST
7-9: Reid Trophy (Under 14 Championship)-Blackwell.
18-19: EGU Gold Medal-Woodhall Spa.
25-26: Junior Champion Club-Woodhall Spa.
28-30: Boys' County Finals-Cotswold Hills.
SEPTEMBER
15-16: Champion Club-Stoneham.
22-23: County Champions' Tournament-Woodhall Spa.
28-30: County Finals-Beau Desert.
OCTOBER
9-11: Seniors' County Finals-Heworth (Co Durham).

Mental mistake after Dubai's first round hurt McIlroy,

says Westwood - 'but he will learn from that'

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (PA Sports): Lee Westwood believes Rory McIlroy blundered badly in the final week of their European money list battle.
The mistake was not in any of the shots the 20-year-old played, but what he said after they had gone head-to-head in the first round at the deciding Dubai World Championship.
McIlroy stated publicly that he was glad the two of them were not paired in the second round because then he could concentrate on his own game more.
"It was obviously a massive feather in my cap," said Westwood, who had outscored his rival by two on the day and went on to win by six to regain the Order of Merit crown he last held in 2000.
"There's nothing worse to say than that if you're Rory -- and he will learn from that -- and there's nothing better for me than a competitor to say they are glad they are not playing with me.
"I read it in the press. I wouldn't have said it, but I've been on Tour 16 years and he's been on Tour three," he explained. "Sometimes what you say off the golf course and the mind games you play are as important as the pressure you can put on people on the course."
Westwood produced a stunning 23-under-par display, including a final bogey-free, course record round of eight-under-par 64 to take the $1.25 million tournament first prize and $1.5 million money list bonus, a European Tour record $2.7 million for one week's work.
He had promised to reveal some secrets of his performance if he won, but smiled and stated: "The secret was that there was no secret. It was making everybody else think I had a secret when I didn't really.
"The big turnaround in confidence came from Billy (his caddie Billy Foster) at the beach party on Tuesday," explained Westwood. "He'd probably just had enough Heineken to tell me what he really thought. He said I'd been paying too much attention to the other people around me.
"He said 'You've been out here 16 years, that's longer than all three of them put together (McIlroy, Martin Kaymer and Ross Fisher were the only players left in the race to be No. 1) and you've won 30 times, which is more than them put together'.
"It's a terrible word to use because I hate it, but he said 'You've got to bully them'. That's why I've been confident all week."

Mark Brooks wins third Pebble Beach Invitational title

FROM THE PGA.COM WEBSITE
PEBBLE BEACH, California (AP): Mark Brooks won the Callaway Golf Pebble Beach Invitational for a record third time, birdieing three of the last four holes on Sunday for a 5-under 67 and a two-stroke victory from Rickie Fowler and D.A. Points.
The 48-year-old Brooks, the 1996 US PGA Championship winner, had a 12-under 276 total and became the first three-time winner in the tournament's 38-year history. The seven-time winner on the US Tour also won the unofficial money event in 1992 and 2002.
"I believe I had only four bogeys the entire week and two of those were on short putts," said Brooks, who had two bogeys and seven birdies in his last round, including a 16-footer at the 18th.
"I kept the ball on the fairway and that's always been what I do best."
The 20-year-old former Walker Cup player and US college circuit player Fowler closed with a 69, and Points birdied the final two holes en route a 65,the best round of the day at Pebble Beach.
Brooks earned $60,000 from the $300,000 purse.

"I've been coming here for almost 30 years," said Brooks, whose best PGA Tour finish this season was a tie for 10th at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. "I hit a lot of good iron shots and I could have played bogey-free."
Fowler, who had two top-10 finishes in the final month of the PGA Tour season, trailed Brooks by two shots after four holes. The two players exchanged leads until Brooks took the lead for good with a birdie on the 16th.
"He made some putts down the stretch. There wasn't much I could do," Fowler said.
Points made it close at the end.
"I knew I had to be aggressive," said Points. "I was trying for eagle on the final hole. I thought it would get me into a playoff."
Mina Harigae shot a 68 to finish at 6 under. She was the only one of the four women in the field to make the cut.

Don't cry for Kellett - he was beaten by a

blizzard of birdies in Argentina final

Motherwell's Ross Kellett had a tiger by the tail in the 36-hole final of the 114th Argentia men's open amateur championship - and was eventually beaten 7 and 5 by Romain Wattel, the teenage French men's amateur champion, at the Buenos Aires Golf Club.

Kellett, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, the fourth seed, was battered by birdies from start to finish by the talented young Frenchman who finished with a bag of 12 birdies - twice as many as Kellett - for the 31 holes played.

Wattel was the star of the Continent of Europe's Jacques Leglise Trophy match team earlier in the year.

Kellett, who will be 22 in January, had only one birdie to his opponent's seven over the morning 18 holes at the end of which Wattel was six up.

But over the second round, Kellett had five birdies of his own between the 20th and the 26th. That helped him reduce the deficit to five holes with 10 to play.

Earlier Wattel was four holes up after 11, having birdied the first, third, eight and 11th.
Kellett, who had one bogey on the outward journey - at the ninth, turning in one-over 37 to his opponents' three-under 33, had to birdie the long 10th to score his first and only success so far in the final.
Wattel made it three birdies in a row from the 11th to the 13th to increase his lead to six holes.
The short 14th was halved in bogey 4s.
Wattel produced his seventh and last birdie of the morning round to win the long 15th and increase his lead to seven holes.
Kellett was able to win back the 16th with a par when his opponent had his second bogey of the morning.
The last two holes before lunch were halved, leaving Kellett six down with 18 holes to play.
Wattel had gone round in five-under-par 67 with seven birdies and two bogeys.
Kellett had gone round in one-over 73 with one birdie and two bogeys.

Wattel carried on after lunch where he had left off with a hat-trick of birdies from the 19th to 21st but the Scot was able to match them at the 20th and 21st. He had still slipped seven down.

Then Kellett birdied the 23rd and 24th to be "only" five down before he double bogeyed the 25th to go back to six in arreas. The Scot birdied the short 26th in his best spell of the match to be five down, reaching the turn second time round in three-under-par 33 to Wattel's 34.

But that was the end of Kellett's sub-par run while the Frenchman turned his tap on again to birdie the short 29th, finishing off the match with his 12th birdie at the 31st to win the Kenneth R Gordon Davis Cup.

Wattel, ranked No 104 in the world, was nine under par for the 31 holes. Kellett, ranked No 65 in the R&A WAGR, was a creditable two under par for the match - figures that would have been good enough to beat many other opponents.

Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck & East Tennessee State University) caddied for Ross over the first 18 holes. Hazlehead's David Law, the Scottish men's and boys' champion, took over the bag-carrying duties for the second round.

James Byrne (Banchory & Arizona State University), the fourth player sent by the Scottish Golf Union to play in the championship - money well spent? -and SGU national coach Ian Rae watched from close quarters.

During the summer Kellett finished runner-up in the European individual men's amateur championship and then was a member of the winning Scotland squad in the European men's amateur team championship at Conwy, North Wales.

He will be disappointed that he was not able to add the Argentina amateur championship to his CV but to qualify as No 4 seed and go all the way to the final before losing to a magnificent performance from Wattel is still another good advertisement for Scottish amateur golf.

Final (36 holes) - Wattel bt Kellett 7 and 5.

European Tour Qualifying

Clutch of Scots still in with a chance of

making progress from Stage 2 in Spain

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
There’s just one more round left to secure a place at the European Tour Final Qualifying Stage with the lucky 74 players from four courses across Spain progressing through to PGA Golf de Catalunya for the start of the six-round final hurdle.
A total of 304 players set out at the Hacienda Del Alamo, Costa Ballena Club de Golf, Arcos Gardens and Sherry Golf Jerez with one goal in mind – namely to be one of the 74 players bound for Girona.
And with 18 holes on Monday remaining, the goal is still very much alive for so many hopefuls.
Ryan Blaum of America continues to set the pace at Hacienda del Alamo, a third round 67 taking him to 16 under par 200 and two clear of Germany’s Stephan Gross junior.
The four Scots at the Murcia venue in the south-east of Spain have little or no chance of progressing to the Final Q School. Paul O'Hara is joint 52nd with 74-70-74 for 218; Mark Hillson, still an amateur, and Tartan Tour pro Stephen Gray are joint 64th on 221. Hillson's rounds have 79-69-73, Gray's 75-73-73 and Lee Harper is on 223 with scores of 72-78-73.
The leading 19 players after the four rounds of the Second Stage at Hacienda Del Alamo will progress through to the Final Stage, which takes place over six rounds at PGA Golf de Catalunya from November 28 – December 3.
Alvaro Velasco of Spain’s leads the field at Costa Ballena Club de Golf at 13 under par after a round of 68, two ahead of Frenchman Edouard Dubois, Swede Fredrik Ohlsson and England’s James Ruth. The leading 18 players on Monday will progress to the Final Stage.
Tartan Tour man Chris Kelly (Cawder) is handily placed at this venue - The Coast of the Whales - on eight-under 208 with scores of 69-69-70.
The same can't be said for Northern Open champion Craig Lee who played on the European Tour this past season. He has scored 71-72-73 for level par 216 and a share of 54th place.
Former Scottish champion Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle) is sharing 60th position on 218 with 73-77-68.
Two players share the lead at Arcos Gardens, South African Michiel Bothma and former European Tour champion Santiago Luna of Spain. There are 19 spots available from the field of 77.
Good prospects of two, possibly three Scots advancing from this venue. Banchory-attached Greig Hutcheon, pictured above by Cal Carson Golf Agency, is in joint seventh position on 212 with steady scores of 72, 69 and 71.
Former Scottish amateur champion George Murray from Anstruther is joint 12th on 213 with scores of 70, 71 and 72.
Aberdonian Scott Henderson, who played on the European Tour for at least a couple of years, winning the Rookie of the Year performance, is a borderline case on 215 (jt 21st) with scores of 72, 72 and 71. A sub-70 score would do the trick in the final round for Scotty.
The Doherty brothers look to have left themselves with too much ground to make up. Jack is joint 43rd on 219 (72-75-72) and his younger sibling Paul is joint 51st with 72-74-75 for 221.
US-based Elgin exile Joel Hendry is not going to make it from joint 56th place on 223 with ever-worsening scores of 70-75-78.
Carnoustie's Keir McNicoll found something more akin to his "A" game with a third-round 71 at Arcos Gardens but a pair of 76s to start with virtually killed off his hopes. Keir is joint 56th on 223.
At Sherry Golf Jerez, England’s Phillip Archer is on course to reach the finals as he leads the way at 11 under par 205 after a third round of 68 as the top 18 players will move onto the final stage.
Definite chance of a Glasgow-born Scot, Alan McLean, getting through from this venue. Alan has scored 69, 71 and 71 to be sharing fifth place on 211.
Another Glaswegian, Scott Jamieson, is joint 22nd on 215 with scores of 71, 71, 73. If he could break 70 at the last time of asking, that would probably be enough to slide him into the top 18.
Much the same could be said about the prospects of Lothians man Mark Kerr. He is sharing 27th place but has been playing steadily to produce rounds of 72-73-72. Sink a few putts, Mark and you could yet make it.
Incidentally, the R&A's world top-ranked amateur, France's Victor Dubuisson, is 34th at this venue with scores of 68, 76 and 74 for 218.
Former double Scottish amateur champion Kevin McAlpine from Alyth is up against it in joint 35th place on 219 with scores of 72, 74 and 73, while Walker Cup man and world team champion player Wallace Booth from Comrie is unlikely to make it to the big-time at the first attempt. Wallace has scored 71-77-72 for a share of 41st place on 220.
On the same mark is Raymond Russell from Prestonpans who had a cataclysmic third-round 80 after earlier rounds of 69 and 72.
Gourock man Chris Doak, who played on the European Tour this past year, is not going to make it back this time round. He has "gone" with scores of 72, 78 and 76 to be sharing 72nd place on 226.

THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD AT FOUR VENUES

ARCOS GARDENS
Par 216 (3x72). Leading 19 to qualify
206 Michael Bothma (SAf) 68 65 73, Santiago Luna (Spa) 66 69 71.
209 Wil Besseling (Net) 68 70 71, Oliver Whiteley (Eng) 65 72 72.
210 Victor Almstrom (Swe) 70 70 70.
211 Lloyd Kennedy (Eng) 70 69 72.
212 Matthew Bliss (Can) 70 68 74, Greig Hutcheon (Sco) 72 69 71, Nicolas Meitinger (Ger) 69 71 72, Graham Povey (Eng) 71 66 75 (jt 7th)
213 Ian Keenan (Eng) 70 70 73, Mikko Korhonen (Fra) 70 72 71, George Murray (Sco) 70 71 72, James Watts (Eng) (am) 70 75 68 (jt 12th).
214 Oliver Bekker (SAf) 72 71 71, Rory Hie (Ina) 69 75 70, John Mellor (Eng) 71 73 70, Jason Powell (Eng) 71 71 72, Julio Zapata (Arg) 71 71 71 (jt 16th).
Selected scores:
215 Scott Henderson (Sco) 71 72 71, Kyron Sullivan Wal) 70 72 73 (jt 21st).
219 Jack Doherty (Sco) 72 75 72 (jt 43rd).
221 Paul Doherty (Sco) 72 74 75, Gareth Shaw (NIr) 70 76 75 (jt 51st).
223 Joel Hendry (Sco) 70 75 78, Keir McNicoll (Sco) 76 76 71 (jt 56th).

COSTA BALLENA
Par 216 (3x72). Leading 18 to qualify
203 Alvara Velasco (Spa) 69 66 68
205 Edouard Dubois (Fra) 66 67 72, Fredrik Ohlsson (Swe) 71 69 65, James Ruth (Eng) 66 67 72.
206 Mark F Hastrup (Den) 68 70 68, James McLean (Aus) 71 689 67, Louis Moolman (SAf) 68 68 70, Steven Tiley (Eng) 72 68 66.
207 Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa) 65 70 72, Paul Eales (Eng) 67 69 71, Marius Thorp (Nor) 68 70 69, Guillaume Watremez (Bel) 70 70 67.
208 Jamie Abbott (Eng) (am) 69 69 70, Floris De Vries (Net) 69 70 69, Garry Houston (Wal) 71 67 70, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 71 70 67, Chris Kelly (Sco) 69 69 70 (jt 13th).
209 Matt Haines (Eng) (am) 69 68 72, Ben Mason (Eng) 69 70 70, Marco Soffietti (Ita) 72 67 76 (jt 18th).
Selected scores:
210 Sam Hutsby (Eng) 71 68 71, Niall Kearney (Ire) (am) 70 73 67 (jt 21st).
211 John Kelly (Ire) 72 71 68 (jt 23rd).
216 Craig Lee (Sco) 71 72 73 (jt 54th).
218 Jason McCreadie (Sco) 73 77 68 (jt 60th).

HACIENDA DEL ALAMO
Par 216 Leading 19 to qualify
200 Ryan Blaum (US) 68 65 67.
202 Stephan Gross (Ger) 64 73 65.
207 Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 72 65 70.
209 Clodomiro Carranza (Arg) 71 69 69, Federico Colombo (Ita) 72 69 68, Mattias Eiasson (Swe) 71 69 69, Charlie Ford (Eng) 68 72 69, Chinnarat Phadungsil (Thi) 70 70 68.
210 Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 70 72 68, Ghislain (Rosier (Fra) 71 70 69.
211 George Coetzee (SAf) 72 68 72, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 71 69 71.
212 Christope Brazillier (Fra) 72 71 69, Jonathan Caldwell (NIr) 69 72 71, Tim Dykes (Wal) 69 70 73, James Kamte (SAf) 72 71 69, Michael Lowe (Eng) 74 71 67, Andres Maestroni (Ita) 69 73 70, Steen Ottosen (Den) 73 69 70, Chris Paisley (Eng) (am) 69 69 74 (jt 15th).
Selected scores:
218 Paul O'Hara (Sco) 74 70 74 (jt 52nd).
221 Mark Hillson (Sco) (am) 79 69 73, Stephen Gray (Sco) 75 73 73 (jt 64th).
223 Lee Harper (Archerfield Links) 72 78 73.

SHERRY GOLF JEREZ
Par 216 (3x72). Leading 18 to qualify
205 Philip Archer (Eng) 68 69 68.
208 Manuel Quiros (Spa) 69 69 70.
210 Jamie Elson (Eng) 72 73 65, Thomas Norret (Den) 69 69 72.
211 Julien Clement (Swi) 75 67 69, Eduardo De La Riva (Spa) 68 68 75, Alan McLean (Sco) 69 71 71.
212 Max Glavert (Ger) 71 70 71, Anthony Snubeck (Fra) 71 70 71, Tim Stewart (Aus) 68 72 72, Simon Thornton (Ire) 68 73 71.
213 Johan Axgren (Swe) 66 75 72, Jason Knutzon (US) 67 71 75, Colm Moriarty (Ire) 69 70 74, Paulo Pinto (Arg) 64 74 75, Iain Pyman (Eng) 69 70, 74, Martin Rominger (Swi) 67 76 70, Elliot Saltman (Sco) 73 69 72, Nicolas Sulozer (Swi) 70 69 74 (jt 12th).
214 Lasse Jensen (Den) 70 73 71, Ally Mellor (Eng) 68 73 73 (jt 20th).
215 Scott Barr (Aus) 71 72 72, Scott Jamieson (Sco) 71 71 73, Russell Subert (US) 70 74 71 (jt 22nd).
Selected scores:
217 Mark Kerr (Sco) 72 73 72 (jt 27th).
218 Victor Dubuisson (Fra) (am) 68 76 74 (34th).
219 Kevin McAlpine (Sco) 72 74 73 (jt 35th).
220 Wallace Booth (Sco) 71 77 72, Raymond Russell (Sco) 69 71 80 (jt 41st).
226 Chris Doak (Sco) 72 78 76 (jt 72nd).

KNOX SAYS HE'LL KEEP TRYING US TOUR SCHOOL UNTIL HE MAKES IT ONE YEAR Florida-based Inverness exile Russell Knox finished a disappointing joint 47th in a field of 79 starters at the US PGA Tour Qualifying School Stage 2 eliminator at Hombre Golf Club, Panama City Beach, Florida (on Saturday, US time). But the Inverness exile will never give up hope of making it through one year to the US Tour. "I wish I could have played better this week because I know I have the game to play at the highest level. But I will keep trying until I make it through Tour School," said Knox. "I just need to keep practising hard until I get there." A former Scotland youth cap Knox, one of the leading money-winners on the Hooters Tour, did not play anywhere near his potential in returning scores of 70, 74, 72 and 73 for a total of 289. A triple bogey 7 at the 12th in his last round was typical of his form over the past four days. He did birdie the short third, the short seventh, the 14th and the long 17th but dropped shots at the second, 10th and 13th as well as his disaster at the 12th. Knox had high hopes after winning his Stage 1 event. Only the leading 20 and ties went forward to the Final Q School over six rounds at Bear Lakes, West Palm Beach Florida in early December. Ayrshire man Robert McKnight, also now based in Florida, retired after three rounds in the Stage 2 event at Deerwood Golf Club, Kingwood, Texas. He was on 14-over-par 230 after rounds of 73, 80 and 77 with no chance of making the leading 19 and ties who would qualify after four rounds.

Kellett six down after 18 holes in Argentina final

Ross Kellett was on receiving end of a barrage of birdies in the 36-hole final of the 114th Argentina men's open amateur championship at Buenos Aires Golf Club this morning (local time).
At the end of the first round, the Scot found himself six holes down.
LATER NEWS: Kellett five down after 27 holes.
Romain Wattel from France was four holes up after 11, having birdied the first, third, eight and 11th.
Kellett, who had one bogey on the outward journey - at the ninth, turning in one-over 37 to his opponents' three-under 33, had to birdie the long 10th to score his first and only success so far in the final.
Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck & East Tennessee State University) was caddieing for Ross over the first 18 holes. He was due to be relieved by Hazlehead's David Law, the Scottish men's and boys' champion, for the second round.
Wattel made it three birdies in a row from the 11th to the 13th to increase his lead to six holes.
The short 14th was halved in bogey 4s.
Wattel produced his seventh and last birdie of the morning round to win the long 15th and increase his lead to seven holes.
Kellett was able to win back the 16th with a par when his opponent had his second bogey of the morning.
The last two holes before lunch were halved, leaving Kellett six down with 18 holes to play.
Wattel had gone round in five-under-par 67 with seven birdies and two bogeys.
Kellett had gone round in one-over 73 with one birdie and two bogeys.

DUBAI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Lee Westwood signs off in style


with 64 for six-shot win

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Lee Westwood has triumphed at the Dubai World Championship presented by: DP World after a nerveless final round of 64 secured a six-shot victory and with it The Race to Dubai title for 2009.
Westwood, pictured, who led by two shots overnight, fired one of the finest rounds of his career to take the €830,675 first prize at the Greg Norman-designed Earth course that also secured his status as European No 1 for the second time in his career.
The 36 year old, who wins The Race to Dubai having earned €3,240,951 in 26 events this season, becomes the eighth Englishman to have won the Harry Vardon Trophy on two occasions or more and the 18th player overall.
His remarkable final round - bogey free and with birdies at the second, third, fifth, sixth, seventh (out in 31), 10th, 13th and 15th (home in 33) - meant he ended on 23 under par, six shots ahead of Ross McGowan. He had 25 birdies over the 72 holes and only two bogeys.
It makes him just the third golfer in European Tour history to finish European Number One having also won the final event of the season. The last was Colin Montgomerie in 1993.
As well as being his 32nd victory worldwide as a professional and his second victory on The European Tour this season, the win moves Westwood up to No 4 in the Official World Golf Rankings, matching his highest career position. McIlroy is the new No 10, his highest yet.
Westwood’s win also makes him one of five players to have passed the €19million mark in European Tour Official Career Earnings, just the fifth player to achieve this, and is the second time he has landed over €3million in prize money in a single season.
McGowan carded a final round 68, including five straight birdies from the 12th, to hold on to second place on 17 under par after a sustained charge from Rory McIlroy, who fired five birdies on his back nine and six in a nine-hole stretch from the ninth, before bogeying the par-5 18th to sign for a five under par 67 and with it third place on 15 under par.
Geoff Ogilvy finished down in fourth alongside Padraig Harrington on 14 under par while Alexander Noren ended in sixth a shot further behind.

ANOTHER ANGLE ON THE LAST DAY AT DUBAI

FROM THE GUARDIAN WEBSITE:
Lee Westwood's fellow Englishman Ross McGowan, another from the same stable, took second place worth almost £500,000, but not surprisingly it was Rory McIlroy whose disappointment at just missing out was felt most deeply.
It even boiled over on the the seventh hole when, having seen that Westwood had turned it into a one-man show with a flying start, he smashed a club into an advertising hoarding and had to pull it out.
That will almost certainly lead to a fine - Swede Henrik Stenson had to pay £500 for breaking a tee marker at The Open two years ago - but the 20-year-old from Holywood, Belfast was able to smile about it afterwards.
And he was soon reflecting on what was a superb attempt to become the youngest Tour No 1 since Seve Ballesteros at 19 in 1976.
"Lee deserves it," said McIlroy who is laughing all the way to the bank, metaphorically at least, with a pay-day of nearly £960,000 - £290,230 for third spot and £669,762 from the bonus pool.
"It's an unbelievable amount of money but that's not why I was playing today. I was trying to win," he said.
"I have no complaints. I gave it my best shot and it's been a great season, but Lee is just in a different class.
"Most times coming here leading and then finishing third would be good enough, but even if I'd played well I'm not sure I could have got to 23 under."
In his final round of 67, McIlroy birdied the ninth, 10th, 11th, 13th, 14th and 17th before bogeying the 18th for 32 home.

SCOTSWATCH: David Drysdale will be disappointed at getting nowhere near contention at any stage of the tournament. Only in a last round of 69 - after earlier efforts of 72, 73 and 73 - for one-under-par 287 did the man from Dunbar show the kind of form that got him to Dubai. He earned 27,412 Euros from the rich prize fund.

FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72). 7,657yd.
265 Lee Westwood 66 69 66 64
271 Ross McGowan 71 66 66 68
273 Rory McIlroy 68 69 69 67
274 Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 70 69 68 67, Padraig Harrington 68 69 69 68
275 Alexander Noren (Swe) 70 69 67 69
276 Adam Scott (Aus) 68 73 67 68, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 71 67 69 69
278 Peter Hanson (Swe) 72 71 66 69, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 72 68 69 69, Ian Poulter 71 74 68 65
279 Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 71 66 71 71
280 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 70 72 68 70, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 68 70 70 72, Robert Allenby (Aus) 65 72 73 70
281 Anthony Wall 71 71 70 69, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 69 71 69 72, Oliver Wilson 71 72 70 68, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 68 70 73 70, Camilo Villegas (Col) 66 71 73 71, Bradley Dredge 70 71 68 72
282 Johan Edfors (Swe) 69 70 71 72
283 Jamie Donaldson 73 70 69 71, Scott Strange (Aus) 73 67 73 70, Thomas Levet (Fra) 73 69 68 73, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 71 71 70 71
284 Anders Hansen (Den) 73 69 70 72, Gareth Maybin 71 69 74 70, Graeme Storm 78 66 67 73
285 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 72 68 71 74, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 73 69 71 72, James Kingston (Rsa) 73 73 67 72, Graeme McDowell 76 70 71 68, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 71 71 73 70, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 71 67 75 72, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 70 73 72 70
286 Martin Kaymer (Ger) 71 71 72 72, Luke Donald 73 72 71 70, Simon Dyson 70 73 70 73, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 70 73 74 69, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 70 74 70 72
287 Chris Wood 66 78 68 75, David Drysdale 72 73 73 69, Ross Fisher 73 71 70 73, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 73 72 73 69, Peter Lawrie 71 70 76 70, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 69 75 73 70, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 72 71 74 70
288 Nick Dougherty 69 72 73 74
289 Robert Rock 74 70 69 76, Justin Rose 72 75 73 69, Ernie Els (Rsa) 74 74 70 71
290 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 74 72 74 70
291 Damien McGrane 74 70 76 71, Steve Webster 75 73 73 70, Soren Hansen (Den) 73 73 73 72, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 75 72 73 71
295 Danny Willett 76 70 73 76

HARRY VARDON'S SON PETER (83) PROVIDES

EUROPEAN TOUR LINK WITH THE PAST

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
The connection between the past and present on The European Tour International Schedule was celebrated at the Dubai World Championship with a special presentation to Harry Vardon’s son, Peter.
Harry Vardon is considered by many to have been the forefather of professional tournament golfers and is the figure central to The European Tour identity, being depicted within The Race to Dubai graphics and the Dubai World Championship logo.
The Harry Vardon Trophy, first presented in 1937 in Vardon’s honour, has been awarded each year to the winner of The European Tour Order of Merit.
Vardon is central to the link between the old Order of Merit and the new Race to Dubai with the iconic representation of the six time Open Champion sitting atop both the original Harry Vardon Trophy and the new Race to Dubai trophy, which was presented to winner Lee Westwood.
To commemorate the historic relationship, European Tour Chief Executive George O’Grady presented Peter Vardon, 83, with his own replica of the Harry Vardon Trophy at a special ceremony in the clubhouse at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
“It is wonderful that Peter has travelled to Dubai to be with us this week to see the new magnificent Race to Dubai trophy – with Harry on the top – being presented on Sunday night,” said O’Grady.
Peter said: “I am thoroughly enjoying my trip over to Dubai and this presentation is a marvellous memento of the week. Thank you to the players and everyone at The European Tour for their kindness in making this happen.”

Michael Sim: "The Greatest Player in U S Nationwide Tour History"

FROM THE US PGATOUR.COM WEBSITE
By Stan Awtrey, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
There was only one story on the Nationwide Tour this year: Michael Sim.
The Australian phenom lit it up in 2009 with the most successful individual season in Tour history. Sim, born in Aberdeen, Scotland and raised in Perth, Western Australia from the age of seven, began the season with a low profile. He was coming off a back injury and didn't even rate a full biography page in the Nationwide Tour's media guide. But before the season was over he was no longer a footnote -- he was being called by some the greatest player in Nationwide Tour history.
Sim won three times and earned the instant promotion to the US PGA Tour just as the PGA Tour Play-offs for the FedExCup began. But he returned to the Nationwide Tour to hold down No. 1 on the money list and earn a spot in the 2010 Players Championship.
Sim made the cut in 12 of his 14 Nationwide Tour starts and had nine top-10s, including wins at the Stonebrae Classic, the BMW Charity Pro-Am and the Christmas in October event. He lost in play-off at the Athens Regional Foundation Classic and finished second in the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship.
Sim shattered the single-season Nationwide Tour record for earnings with $644,142, more than $150,000 more than the total posted by Troy Matteson in 2005.
Sim had two goals for the season: to improve his short game and to improve the state of his mental game. He accomplished both. Sim led the Nationwide Tour in scoring (68.81), scrambling and putting and was second in driving accuracy. And with the help of sports psychologist Angela Pampling, wife of US TOUR player Rod Pampling, Sim was able to establish a solid pre-shot routine and hold up under pressure.
Most of the time Sim was applying the pressure, not bending to it. Now Sim gets a second shot at the US PGA Tour, and he is ready to get started.
"You know, I feel like I can win on the regular Tour, and I feel like I can compete out here," Sim said. "I played two major championships this year, and I did reasonably well. And I'm definitely looking forward to next season."

After three Nationwide Tour wins in 2009, what can Michael Sim do on the US PGA Tour in 2010? Watch this space!

Aussie Both ends six years

without win by capturing

Cambodian Open

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ASIAN TOUR
Siem Reap , Cambodia: Australia ’s Marcus Both ended a frustrating six-year title drought on the Asian Tour after securing a nail-biting one-stroke victory over Malaysia ’s Shaaban Hussin at the Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open on Sunday.
The Australian was six off the pace going into the final round but fired a closing five-under-par 67 to secure a winning total of nine-under-par 279 at the US$300,000 Asian Tour tournament.
Shaaban needed a birdie on the 18th hole to force a play-off but could only make par as he signed for a 70 to finish a career-high second at the Phokeethra Country Club. Singapore ’s Mardan Mamat (67), Shiv Kapur of India (70) and Thailand ’s rising star Annop Tangkamolprasert (74) finished a further shot behind on 281.
Overnight leader Craig Smith of Wales failed to maintain his title charge and closed with a disappointing 76 for tied sixth place alongside Will Yanagisawa of the United States and Thailand’s Pariya Junhasavasdikul on 282.
Smith birdied the fifth and 18th but dropped shots like confetti at the other holes - bogeys at the first, ninth, 10th, 12th, 13th and 15th in hlaves of 37 (one over) and 39 (three over).
Both was delighted to return to the winner’s rostrum. “I was not thinking about winning and the only time I looked at the leaderboard was when I was walking up on the 16th hole. I thought I needed to shoot six-under to get close but I guess I’m just fortunate that everything fell my way,” said Both, who took home a cheque of US$47,550.
The lanky Australian started his charge with birdies on the second, sixth and eight holes to make the turn in 33 and continued his hot streak with three consecutive birdies from the 11th hole. A dropped shot on the 14th hole ensured a nervous wait in the clubhouse for Both.
He also dedicated his Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open victory to his mother who celebrated her birthday today. “I was talking to my mother yesterday and she told me that a top-10 would be a good present so I guess this win is the icing on the cake,” said Both.
Shaaban came agonisingly close after challenging for the lead with four birdies en route to a 70 but at the end, he rued a double bogey on the ninth hole after finding water. He needed to birdie the last hole to force extra-time but could only make a par after finding the fairway bunker.
“I am really disappointed with my finish because I really gave it my all. Even though I finished second, deep down inside, I feel that I am a winner. This is my best finish on the Asian Tour and I think if I can continue to push like I did this week, my maiden title will come soon enough,” said Shaaban.
Singaporean veteran Mardan was also in sensational form as he carded a flawless round highlighted by five birdies. He closed with a 12 foot birdie on the 18th hole and was delighted to finish joint third.
“I have been struggling with my putting throughout the year but when I was practising my putting yesterday, I managed to find what was bothering me and I think that’s why I started to sink more putts.
“It has been quite a long time since I saw my name on the leaderboard so it was about time to shoot something good,” said Mardan, who will partner compatriot Lam Chih Bing in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup next week.
Kapur started his round brightly with three birdies on the second, fourth and fifth holes but suffered a double bogey on the seventh hole which derailed his title push. He finished with a 70 which should be enough to secure his Asian Tour card for next season.
“One of the goals that I wanted to accomplish coming into this week was to secure my card and I managed to accomplish that. I didn’t get my win but it was nice to be in contention. Sometimes you just come out short,” said the Indian.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
279 Marcus Both (AUS) 70-69-73-67
280 Shaaban Hussin (MAS) 71-67-72-70
281 Mardan Mamat (SIN) 74-70-70-67, Shiv Kapur (IND) 70-67-74-70, Annop Tangkamolprasert (THA) 68-69-70-74
282 Will Yanagisawa (US) 71-67-75-69, Pariya Junhasavasdikul (THA) 68-70-72-72, Craig Smith (WAL) 69-66-71-76
283 Lam Chih Bing (SIN) 73-72-69-69, Somchai Pongpaew (THA) 71-67-75-70, Bryan Saltus (US) 73-70-69-71, Jbe Kruger (RSA) 72-70-69-72
284 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 70-71-75-68, Anthony Kang (US) 71-75-70-68, Nakul Vichitryuthasastr (THA) 75-67-71-71, Varut Chomchalam (THA) 71-68-72-73
285 Rhys Davies (WAL) 74-71-72-68, Pijit Petchkasem (THA) 72-69-74-70, Vikrant Chopra (IND) 69-71-75-70, Artemio Murakami (PHI) 68-69-76-72
Selected scores:
291 Ross Bain (Scotland) 72 72 73 74 (jt 45th).
292 Chris Roake (England) 69 73 76 74 (jt 50th).

Edoardo Molinari wins Dunlop Phoenix title after play-off

The Italian Molinari brothers' success story rolls on.
Edoardo Molinari, the elder of the siblings, beat Robert Karlsson in a play-off to win the Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Japan today, denying last year's European Tour order of merit winner a first victory since an eye injury wrecked his season.
It was Molinari's third win in his last five tournaments.
Karlsson, who missed more than four months with career-threatening retinal problems and failed to qualify for the Dubai World Championship, led by a stroke halfway through the final round of the $2.5 million tournament in Miyazaki.
Overnight leader Molinari made up the deficit over the back nine, however, to finish on 13-under-par and force a play-off which he won at the second hole to join Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington and Ian Poulter - and David Duval, winner in the early 2000s - on the honours role at the Phoenix Country Club.
Swede Karlsson, 40, will be boosted by his performance in Japan as he heads to Shenzhen, China next week to defend the World Cup of Golf title with compatriot Henrik Stenson.
Former U.S. Amateur champion Molinari, whose five previous professional wins came on the European Challenge Tour, will again team up with his younger brother Francesco to represent Italy at Mission Hills.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71)
271 Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 70 66 69 66 (Edoardo Molinari won at second play-off hole), Robert Karlsson (Swe) 70 68 68 65
277 Hirofumi Miyase 69 72 69 67, Shane Lowry 73 68 69 67
278 Tadahiro Takayama 69 68 71 70, Eddie Lee (Nzl) 75 69 68 66
279 Ryuichi Oda 68 68 72 71, Daisuke Maruyama 71 70 68 70, Steven Conran (Aus) 69 70 71 69, Shigeki Maruyama 72 70 69 68, Kyung-Tae Kim (Kor) 70 69 69 71, Hiroyuki Fujita 71 72 70 66
280 Michio Matsumura 68 73 68 71, Shingo Katayama 68 70 72 70
281 Kaname Yokoo 70 71 75 65, Masaya Tomida 69 70 70 72, Yudai Maeda 70 65 73 73, Yusaku Miyazato 72 69 71 69, Kenichi Kuboya 65 70 71 75
282 Katsumasa Miyamoto 70 69 69 74, David Smail (Nzl) 71 71 70 70
283 Koumei Oda 70 70 74 69, Ryo Ishikawa 71 70 71 71
284 Hidemasa Hoshino 74 72 70 68, Kiyoshi Miyazato 68 71 73 72, Makoto Inoue 70 74 68 72, Norio Shinozaki 70 74 67 73
285 Akio Sadakata 74 72 68 71, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 72 70 72 71, Satoshi Tomiyama 73 71 70 71
286 Toyokazu Fujishima 72 73 72 69, Shinichi Yokota 70 71 73 72, Toshimitsu Izawa 69 73 71 73, Nobuhiro Masuda 74 69 74 69, Toru Taniguchi 74 69 72 71, Vijay Singh (Fij) 71 71 70 74, Dinesh Chand (Fij) 71 74 69 72, Tatsunori Nukaga 73 72 73 68
287 Sang-moon Bae (Kor) 75 70 71 71, Tetsuji Hiratsuka 69 66 76 76, Taichi Teshima 72 68 72 75, Kazuhiro Yamashita 68 72 74 73, Hiroshi Iwata 70 71 72 74
288 S K Ho (Kor) 70 76 73 69, Shintaro Kai 68 71 73 76
289 Frankie Minoza (Phi) 71 74 71 73, Jason Dufner (USA) 75 70 73 71, Yuta Ikeda 74 72 73 70, Satoru Hirota 72 69 73 75, Mamo Osanai 70 68 72 79, Katsunori Kuwabara 72 70 70 77
290 Tetsuya Haraguchi 71 73 71 75, Han Lee (USA) 70 69 73 78, Wayne Perske (Aus) 72 73 75 70
291 Kunihiro Kamii 76 67 74 74, Naoya Takemoto 72 74 71 74, Yuji Igarashi 71 75 75 70
292 Alex Cejka (Ger) 71 72 75 74
293 Sushi Ishigaki 70 74 73 76, Paul Sheehan (Aus) 72 74 74 73
294 Nobuhito Sato 73 73 75 73
298 Masao Nakajima 72 73 78 75
300 Jun Kikuchi 71 73 76 80

Fowler, Brooks share Pebble Beach Invitational lead

FROM THE PGATOUR.COM WEBSITE
PEBBLE BEACH, California -- Rickie Fowler shot a 5-under 67 at Del Monte, and former US PGA Championship winner Mark Brooks had a 69 at Spyglass Hill to share the third-round lead in the Callaway Golf Pebble Beach Invitational on Saturday.
The 48-year-old Brooks, the tournament winner in 1992 and 2002, and Fowler, the 20-year-old former Walker Cup player who had two top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour last month, had 7-under 209 totals.
"I just played pretty solid," said Brooks, who had four birdies and one bogey. "I wasn't really in a lot of trouble."
In addition to his two Pebble Beach Invitational victories, Brooks was second behind LPGA Tour star Juli Inkster in 1990.
"If it's a nice day, guys can go low," Brooks said about the final round at Pebble Beach. "I've played so many rounds here, it's mind-boggling."
Fowler, who earlier this week was invited by Greg Norman to play in the Shark Shootout, had five birdies in his bogey-free round.
"I had never played the course before," Fowler said. "My caddie had walked the course, so I relied on him a lot. It made it a lot easier and I made a couple of good putts, too."
Second-round co-leader Matt Bettencourt shot a 69 at Spyglass Hill, and was tied with Bryce Molder at 6 under. Molder had a 70 at Pebble Beach.
Former U.S. Open winner Scott Simpson, who carded a 68 at Spyglass, and Craig Bowden, who had a 73, also at Spyglass, followed at 4 under. Simpson was the leader among the 11 Champions Tour entrants. A Champions Tour player has never won the event.
Two-time defending champion Tommy Armour III had a 70 at Pebble Beach en route to a 5-over total. He made the cut by two strokes.
Mina Harigae, who will make her debut on the LPGA Tour next season, shot a 70 at Spyglass. At 2 under, she was the lone woman to make the cut.
The top 40 pro scores and ties and the top 10 amateur teams advanced to the final round. The pro winner will earn $60,000 from the $300,000 purse.

SCOT PLAYS FRENCHMAN FOR TITLE

Ross Kellett reaches 36-hole of Argentina championship

Motherwell's Ross Kellett will play Roman Wattel from France in today's 36-hole final of the 114th Argentina men's amateur championship at Buenos Aires Golf Club.
The Colville Park player, who came through the 36-hole stroke-play qualifying test earlier in the week as the No 4 seed, beat Germany's Philipp Westermann, the No 32 qualifier by one hole in the 18-hole semi-final on Saturday afternoon, local time. Kellett led throughout and was two under par at the finish.
In the other semi-final, Wattel, the No 38 qualifier, had to go to the 20th to beat the home hope, Armando Zarlenga (Argentina), the No 58 qualifier.
Kellett was runner-up in this year's European individual amateur championship and helped Scotland to win this year's European amateur team championship at Conwy in North Wales. Ross is one of only two Scots in the top 100 of the R&A World Amateur Rankings (James Byrne is the leading Scot and Kellett is No 65, having been No 56 the previous week.
Wattel went up from No 130 to No 104 in last week's R&A WAGR.
There are four Scots in Argentina with SGU national coach Ian Rae and the 36-hole final will be as much of a team effort as they can make it. Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck & East Tennessee State University) will caddied for Kellett in the morning round. Scottish men's and boys' title-holder David Law (Hazlehead), who lost a classic first-round tie to Stewart, will take over as caddie for the afternoon round.
Kellett celebrates his 22nd birthday on January 9.
Semi-final results (18 holes)
Ross Kellett (Scotland) (No 4 seed) bt Philipp Westermann (Germany) (32nd qualifier) 1 hole.
Romain Wattel (France) (38th qualifier) bt Armando Zarlenga (Argentina) (58th qualifier) at 20th.