Golf

Clarke's Open chances are fading

2008-06-30T15:29:00.000+01:00

Darren Clarke and Rory McIlroy hope to play at Royal Birkdale
Darren Clarke's hopes of getting into the Open at Royal Birkdale look bleak after a four-over-par 74 in the opening round of Monday's 36-hole qualifier.
"That is my worst-ever score here and it would appear I will be going fishing in three weeks' time," said Clarke.
The Ryder Cup hero's only remaining chances of making it are to finish in the top five either in the European Open or the Scottish Open.
Rory McIlroy is still in with a shout after having a one-under first round.
Paul McGinley was struggling at three over midway through his first round, while earlier Jose Maria Olazabal managed a one-over-par 71.
England's Simon Wakefield and Scot Alastair Forsyth led the way with five-under-par 65s.

Birkdale 'will provide Open test'

2008-04-29T19:53:00.000+01:00

R&A chief Peter Dawson says Royal Birkdale is a challenge
Sixteen of Royal Birkdale's 18 holes have been altered for the 2008 Open, say organisers the Royal & Ancient.
Most of the modifications are focused on tightening the course which will be playing at 7,173 yards in July.
That is only 155 yards longer than when the links at Southport, near Liverpool, last hosted the Championship in 1998, when American Mark O'Meara triumphed.
The course is short compared to some, but R&A chief executive Peter Dawson said: "Believe me, it is long enough."
Since O'Meara's victory, 20 bunkers - 16 fairway and four greenside - have been added.
Significant mounding has also been carried out to seven greens which will demand more varied and imaginative recovery shots.

The ninth fairway has been moved 25 yards to the left while the par-five 17th has a new green 25 yards further back and raised above the fairway.
The aim of the latter is to create a more challenging approach shot, particularly for those attempting to reach the putting surface in two.
Dawson said: "I don't think that this is a golf course you could accuse of being short, or one that intends to take the driver out of the player's hands. Far from it."
The Open, with extensive live coverage on BBC television, radio and online, starts on 17 July.

Beem shares lead after late surge

2007-09-02T10:01:00.001+01:00

Beem finished his round strongly to move into contentionSECOND ROUND LEADERBOARD:(US unless stated)-9 A Baddeley (Aus), R Beem, M Weir (Can)-8 P Mickelson, S O'Hair, B Wetterich, R MooreSelected others:-6 T Woods-4 S Garcia (Spa), L Donald (Eng)-3 B Davis (Eng)+3 I Poulter (Eng)+5 J Rose (Eng)
Mike Weir, Aaron Baddeley and Rich Beem moved into a share of the lead at the halfway mark of the Deutsche Bank Championship in Massachusetts.
Weir went two strokes clear before bogeying his last two holes for a 68 while Beem birdied his last four holes to move into contention.
Both Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods moved up the leaderboard with seven-under pars 64s.
Mickelson is one off the lead with Woods two shots further back.
Mickelson twice chipped in, for birdie on 15 and then for eagle at the par-five 18th, while defending champion Woods covered his last eight holes in six under.
Overnight leader Camilo Villegas of Colombia shot a 72 to be among a group of five players on seven under.
"It was a lot of fun," said Mickelson. "This is what we were kind of hoping for in the first round but you can't get it going all the time.
"It was actually a little more challenging today with the cooler air and the breeze but the greens were so perfect you felt you could make lots of putts.
"We just didn't get it going yesterday but I just sensed that everybody was going to come out ready.
We all needed a good round to get back into the tournament, and that's what we ended up doing."
Woods added: "It was nice to get the putter rolling and I caught fire on the back nine. The whole idea was for me to get something around three or four under par today. Now I'm back in the tournament."

Monty misses cut at Scottish Open

2007-07-13T21:52:00.001+01:00

Montgomerie finished a miserable second round at lunchtimeSECOND ROUND LEADERBOARD:GB & Ire unless stated-10 G Havret (Fra), JM Lara (Spa) -9 P Mickelson (USA) -8 S Khan, A Romero (Arg), B Weekley (USA) Selected others: -7 E Els (SA) -6 M Foster, S Garcia (Spa), I Poulter
Colin Montgomerie will go to the Open Championship on the back of a missed cut for the first time after crashing out of the Scottish Open.
Five days after victory at the European Open ended 19 months without a victory, Montgomerie hit a second-round 74 to finish on 143 along with Retief Goosen.
Gregory Havret of France and Spain's Jose Manuel Lara held the lead
Phil Mickelson was one stroke off the lead after a 68, with Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia hovering in the shadows.
Havret, one of the early starters, blitzed his way to a seven-under 64 for a 10-under total of 132 in perfect conditions.
Lara shrugged aside the heavy rain later in the day to shoot 65.
Els (66) was among four players on seven-under 135, with Garcia (65) among another group on 136.
Montgomerie finished at lunchtime, but it was 1900 BST before his exit from the event was confirmed.
He had resumed on two under par, only four off the lead, and was three under after seven holes before bogeys on the short 17th, first, third and fifth.
"I hit 27 out of 28 fairways but I just didn't putt well at all," he said.

England's Nick Dougherty carded a superb two-under 68 at Oakmont to claim the first-round lead at the US Open.

2007-06-15T09:42:00.001+01:00

The 25-year-old relied on a masterful short game to pass the typically stern examination posed by the USGA.
The Liverpudlian is one shot ahead of Angel Cabrera, the only other man under par, and two clear of Bubba Watson and Spanish veteran Jose Maria Olazabal.
Justin Rose, another Englishman, is in a 16-strong group on one over with 2006 winner Geoff Ogilvy and Tiger Woods.
Interview: England's Nick Dougherty
Nick Dougherty's golf tips: In the bunker
Other players to sign for one-over 71s on Thursday include world number seven Vijay Singh, 2003 Open champion Ben Curtis, Anders Hansen, the winner of last month's BMW Championship, and Spanish 21-year-old Pablo Martin.
It's still frightfully tough out there but the morning players definitely got the better half of it
Nick DoughertyDougherty, the European Tour's rookie of the year in 2002, was understandably delighted with his superb start, particularly as he has only made one cut in his five previous appearances in majors.
"I didn't play all that well from tee to green but my short game was red-hot, as it has been lately, and I putted solidly," he said.
Indeed he did. He only used his putter 11 times on the back nine.
But the former Walker Cup star, a protege of six-time major winner Nick Faldo, admitted he was fortunate to be among the early starters as rain on Wednesday night had softened the fearsome Pittsburgh course's defences.
"The course is playing as good as it could be for us," he said. "It's playing somewhat easier because you can stop the ball by the hole.
"It's still frightfully tough out there but the morning players definitely got the better half of it, especially if we don't get any more rain this week."
Cabrera was also more than satisfied with his efforts.
"It was a very good round," the powerful Argentine said. "It's always tough to shoot par in the US Open."
The key to my round was 16, 17 and 18 - I could have lost three shots there but was able to keep it where it is
Tiger WoodsBoth men will be not be getting ahead of themselves just yet, though, as Woods and a host of other big names are within striking distance on a course that is only going to get tougher.
The world number one's display was another textbook demonstration of how to post a score whilst not firing on all cylinders. The 31-year-old American's driving was average at best but his touch around the greens and iron will kept his round on track.
Trying to add a third US Open to his 12 major titles, an increasingly wayward Woods dropped three shots in five holes from the 8th and was two over with four to play.
But he closed with an eight-footer for par at 16, a birdie at 17 and then another solid par on the last after finding the rough with his drive.
"That was a nice way to end the round," Woods said. "The key to my round was 16, 17 and 18. I could have lost three shots there but was able to keep it where it is."
606: DEBATE
Give your thoughts on the opening round
Ogilvy, who was playing with Woods, had only nine pars in an erratic start to his defence of the title he won in such dramatic fashion at Winged Foot last year.
Like Woods, the 30-year-old Australian struggled from the tee but his approach work was first-rate.
Another highly-fancied player to spend considerable amounts of time in Oakmont's punitive rough was Phil Mickelson, one of the players who faltered at the last 12 months ago to hand Ogilvy the title.
But the popular American had an excuse here as his recently injured left wrist troubled him throughout. A lesser player would have got nowhere near the four-over 74 he managed, and some would have simply quit.

Rose was compiling a great round until a few late mistakesMickelson's fighting display was far more impressive than Colin Montgomerie's, the other player with a Winged Foot hangover.
The 43-year-old Scot finished bogey, double bogey for a six-over 76, the same score as Masters champion Zach Johnson, world number four Adam Scott and two-time US Open winner Retief Goosen.
Ernie Els, another double US Open champion from South Africa, will be more happy with his 73, although he might have been hoping for better on his return to the course where he won his first major in 1994.
On the other hand, Sergio Garcia and Henrik Stenson, still chasing their first majors, will be bitterly disappointed with their 79s.
Elsewhere, there was better news for the European contingent, and at one stage the 107th US Open appeared to be becoming the English Open. With only an hour or so to play, Rose seemed set to join Dougherty in the lead and Ian Poulter was also going well with a couple to play.
Rose then lost three shots in his last five holes and Poulter doubled the 288-yard par-three 8th, his 17th. That left Rose three behind Dougherty, and Poulter four back on two over with Lee Westwood.
But with an Englishman in the lead and six other Europeans in the top 20, the chances of a first European major winner since 1999 (and a first European US Open champion since 1970) are greater now than they were on Wednesday.
Not that anybody should go rushing to the bookmakers just yet. The more sensible money will be placed on Oakmont winning this one.

Rose & Broadhurst share PGA lead

2007-05-25T14:09:00.000+01:00

Rose has been out of action since the MastersFIRST ROUND LEADERBOARDGB & Ire unless stated-6 P Broadhurst, J Rose-5 M Fraser (Aus), S Kapur (Ind), S Khan, F Molinari (Ita)-4 A Canizares (Spa), E Els (SA), M Ilonen (Fin), J Randhawa (Ind), R Sterne (SA), Y Yang (Kor)
English pair Paul Broadhurst and Justin Rose shared the lead on day one of the PGA Championship at Wentworth after shooting six-under-par 66s.
Rose was making his first appearance in England for three years and marked the occasion with eight birdies, including five in the first eight holes.
England's Simon Khan was one of four players another shot back, while Ernie Els stayed in contention at four under.
Els, who designed the course, hit eight birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey.

Trio lead rain-hit Italian Open

2007-05-04T22:16:00.000+01:00

Torrential rain ruined day two at Milan's Tolcinasco courseSECOND ROUND LEADERBOARDGB and Irl unless stated-10 J Backstrom (Swe) (18 holes), M Brier (Aut) (26), A Quiros (Spa) (28)-8 G F-Castano (Spa), F Molinari (Ita) (27)Selected others:Level P McGinley (18)+5 Paul Lawrie (18)
Joakim Backstrom, Markus Brier and Alvaro Quiros shared the lead at the Italian Open after a second day that was decimated by rain.
Almost nine hours were lost as the course became waterlogged.
Brier made up one stroke in eight holes to join Backstrom on 10 under, while Quiros gained three shots in 10 holes.
Play began on time but a torrential downpour followed and the 50 minutes of action was declared void as preferred lies were needed to start again.
The Tolcinasco course was deemed fit for a resumption only if placing was allowed on the saturated fairways.
And because there had been 50 minutes' play without placing at the start of the day, that meant telling the 35 who had teed off earlier to start again.
European Tour chief referee Andy McFee admitted that he wished he had gone for placing at the start of the day.
"It crossed my mind but I have kind of been brought up in the school that people don't want to use preferred lies if they don't have to," he said.
"In hindsight we should have put it on right away. It's one of those where you are not going to please everybody. It will benefit some.
"I was at the Players Championship (in Florida) two years ago where it was done, so it's not without precedent."
The second round will be completed on Saturday morning and the third round will not begin before 1600 BST.

Monty maintains Shanghai momentum

2007-04-20T21:20:00.000+01:00

Montgomerie, whose ranking has slid to 31, has made a solid startSECOND ROUND LEADERBOARD(GB&Ire unless stated)-9 R Jacquelin (Fra)-6 S Lee (Kor)-5 S Kjeldsen (Den), M Jimenez (Spa), J Backstrom (Swe), S Hend (Aus), C MontgomerieSelected others:-4 S Dyson-3 K Sullivan-2 E Els (SA), D Griffiths, S Wakefield-1 P Casey+1 R Goosen (SA)
Colin Montgomerie's hopes of a first European Tour win since December 2005 remained on track at the Asian Open on Friday thanks to a second-round 70.
The Scot mixed two birdies with two bogeys on the front nine and then eagled 15 to improve to five under.
He is now in a five-way tie for third, one adrift of Korean Sung-man Lee and four behind leader Raphael Jacquelin.
But the day's big mover was Welshman Kyron Sullivan, who fired a six-under 66 to reach three under for the event.
It could have been even better for the 30-year-old European Tour rookie, who opened with a 75 on Thursday, as he double-bogeyed the last when an unlikely eagle would have seen him equal Ernie Els' course record of 62.
I just needed a couple more putts to go in and it would have been a really good day
Paul Casey"On the last I got a flyer with an eight iron, duffed my chip and three-putted. It was a shame," said Sullivan.
Montgomerie - who shares third with Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen, Spanish veteran Miguel Angel Jimenez, Joakim Backstrom of Sweden and Australian Scott Hend - was happy with his position after 36 holes at the Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club.
"It's all to play for at the weekend," the eight-time European Order of Merit winner said.
"The eagle on the 15th helped. I'm in touch and moved up from sixth to third, so that's good."
On shot behind Montgomerie is England's Simon Dyson, who carded a second straight 70. The 29-year-old Yorkshireman has a great record at the course - second, fifth and 14th in the last three years - and is well placed for the weekend.

Sullivan posted an eagle, six birdies and that final double-bogeyPaul Casey, another 29-year-old Englishman, improved his first-round showing of 72 by one shot to move to one under par but was still frustrated by his display.
"I just needed a couple more putts to go in and it would have been a really good day, simple as that," the world number 12 said.
"I gave myself a lot of chances, but it's a difficult golf course and I'm going to try and take the positives out of it."
Els, who won this event the year he set the course record in 2005, also encountered problems on the greens. The South African, who finished at two under, said: "I'm just not making any putts out there.
"My pace on the greens has been out for some reason. It's a little frustrating. I'm playing okay, just not scoring."
David Griffiths is level with Els after the 26-year-old bagged five birdies in a round of 69, with Simon Wakefield, another young English talent, on the same total after a second-round 70 to go with his opening 72.
World number eight Retief Goosen made the cut by a shot after finishing one over par, but John Daly will not feature at the weekend.
The American carded 76 to go with his first-round score of 79 to finish 11 over par.
"I had nowhere to hit the golf ball," Daly said.
"The fairways were too narrow for me. Anything over 260 yards, you don't have a chance."

Vancsik edges into Madeira lead

2007-03-23T21:37:00.001Z

Vancsik is chasing his first European Tour victory
SECOND ROUND LEADERBOARD:-10 D Vancsik (Arg)-9 C Cevaer (Fra)-8 L Santiago (Spa)-7 D Frost (SA)-6 N Begay (US), A Noren (Swe), M Vibe-Hastrup (Den)
Daniel Vancsik leads Christian Cevaer by one shot at the halfway stage of the Madeira Island Open.
The Argentine, who did not manage one top-10 finish in his first full season on the circuit last year, reached 10 under par by hitting a 66.
France's Cevaer was heading for a 64 until closing with a bogey five.
First-round leader Ricardo Santos fell back into the pack, while ex-Ryder Cup star Peter Baker could add only a 72 to his first-day 67.
In third place on eight under after a 67 is 44-year-old Spaniard Santiago Luna, playing the 520th event of his Tour career and his first of this year.
Experienced South African David Frost, like Baker playing on a sponsor's invitation, shot 65 and is just three back.
One further adrift is American Notah Begay, who came through Europe's qualifying school in November after losing his card in the States.
Former Open champion Paul Lawrie missed the cut on four over, but defending champion Jean Van de Velde improved eight shots on his opening 75 to make it through.

Hume on form but stars struggle

2007-03-10T08:05:00.000Z

Hume followed his 65 on Thursday with a 69 on Friday
R2 LEADERBOARD:GB & Ire unless stated-11 J Randhawa (Ind) -10 B Hume -9 I Steel (Mas), G Lockerbie -8 P Lawrie, WC Liang (Chi)-7 M Fraser (Aus)
Scotland's Barry Hume is just one shot off the lead at the Singapore Masters after shooting a second-round 69 at the Laguna Country Club on Friday.
But Ryder Cup stars David Howell, Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood all failed to make the cut.
Hume is at 10 under, with India's Jyoti Randhawa clear at the top of the leaderboard after battling to a round of 68 in difficult conditions.
Howell said: "I just haven't got going - I've lost the plot at the moment."
Clarke, who has won 11 European titles but none since 2003, slumped to a three-over-par 147 to miss the cut by five shots.
He said: "If I knew what I was doing wrong, I would have put it right."
The 31-year-old Howell, who won three times last season, has had a poor start to his year.
He said: "I'm playing terribly at the moment and it is very frustrating.
"No excuses, I'm just playing badly. I'm just not hitting the ball straight. The short game is great but the long game isn't.
"I always look forward to the Masters but I want to be going in with better form than this."
Glaswegian Hume, 25, shot a second successive 65 but would have done even better had he avoided a double bogey at the par-three 17th.
"It is always disappointing to double bogey the 17th but my golf overall has been good so I am not too worried about that," said the Scot, who has played on the Asian Tour for the past two years.
"The goal was to make the cut. There are a lot of players here who are going to miss out so I am happy with that but I have probably done better so far than I thought I would."

Monty backs plans to change rules

2007-03-01T08:39:00.000Z

Montgomerie backs plans for radical rule changesColin Montgomerie has backed plans to change regulations for golf clubs that will make it harder for players to get out of the rough.
The Royal and Ancient's proposals aim to make driving accuracy more important in golf.
Montgomerie told Five Live it is time tournaments were not decided by the quality of the players' equipment.
"You have difficult shots that are easier to pull off. Anything that makes it tougher are a plus for the game."

The Scot added: "Now with extra technology and people hitting the ball an awful long way we've found that, statistically, accuracy doesn't matter the same as length.
"This is what they're obviously trying to get back to.
"They want the benefit of the shot to be how accurate it is rather than how far it actually goes. All credit to them for acknowledging that statistic. Let's hope it works."
However, the sport's record Major winner Jack Nicklaus is not convinced the plans go far enough.
The 67 year old believes the distance the ball travels is the sport's problem.
"If you change the ball you could bring about 17,000 golf courses, that are basically obsolete to the professional, back into play for a possible event," he said.

Clarke & Casey set for WGC scrap

2007-02-12T22:55:00.001Z

Clarke beat Tiger Woods to win the WGC Match Play in 2000Darren Clarke is likely to face Ryder Cup team-mate Paul Casey in the first round of the WGC Match Play Championship in Arizona next week.
Clarke is the only European to lift the title, having beaten Tiger Woods in 2000, while Casey won last year's £1m Wentworth World Match Play.
The top-64 event, based on rankings, puts Clarke against Sergio Garcia.
But American Arron Oberholser is expected to withdraw with a bad back, meaning Clarke would play Casey.
Oberholser pulling out would also mean Lee Westwood switching from a duel with European number one Padraig Harrington to a meeting with defending champion Geoff Ogilvy.
Harrington would take on American Ryder Cup player Zach Johnson instead.
Four all-European clashes are on the cards for next Wednesday's opening day - Casey against Clarke, Colin Montgomerie against Swede Johan Edfors, Garcia against Thomas Bjorn and Henrik Stenson against Miguel Angel Jimenez.
Welshman Bradley Dredge is set to play either Phil Mickelson or Ernie Els depending on Oberholser's fitness.
Top seed Woods will start against either Brett Quigley or JJ Henry - and could come up against David Howell in the third round and Luke Donald in the quarter-finals.
If the seedings work out, the semi-finals would be Woods v Mickelson and Jim Furyk v Adam Scott.
But the matches, played over 18 holes with a 36-hole final , have a history of throwing up surprises.
Twice winner Woods has lost in the past to Jeff Maggert, Clarke, Peter O'Malley, Nick O'Hern and Chad Campbell.
The WGC Match Play takes place at the Gallery Golf Club, Tucson, Arizona from 21-25 February.
Provisional draw (seeded positions in brackets):(1) Tiger Woods v (64) Brett Quigley or JJ Henry(32) Tim Clark v (33) Robert Allenby(16) Nick O'Hern v (49) Lucas Glover or Ben Crane(17) David Howell v (48) Rory Sabbatini or Lucas Glover(8) Luke Donald v (57) Miguel Angel Jimenez or John Rollins(25) Shingo Katayama v (40) Aaron Baddeley(9) Henrik Stenson v (56) Zach Johnson or MA Jimenez(24) KJ Choi v (41) Carl Pettersson(4) Phil Mickelson v (61) Bradley Dredge or Richard Green(29) Michael Campbell v (36) Justin Rose(13) Sergio Garcia v (52) Darren Clarke or Thomas Bjorn(20) Stuart Appleby v (45) Charles Howell(5) Ernie Els v (60) Charl Schwartzel or Bradley Dredge(28) Ian Poulter v (37) Bart Bryant(12) Trevor Immelman v (53) Thomas Bjorn or Steve Stricker(21) Chris DiMarco v (44) Brett Wetterich(2) Jim Furyk v (63) Shaun Micheel or Brett Quigley(31) Angel Cabrera v (34) Chad Campbell(15) Davis Love v (50) Ben Crane or Mike Weir(18) David Toms v (47) Arron Oberholser or Rory Sabbatini(7) Vijay Singh v (58) John Rollins or Scott Verplank(26) Robert Karlsson v (39) Stephen Ames(10) Padraig Harrington v (55) Lee Westwood or Zach Johnson(23) Stewart Cink v (42) Jeev Milkha Singh(3) Adam Scott v (62) Richard Green or Shaun Micheel(30) Yang Yong-eun v (35) Rod Pampling(14) Paul Casey v (51) Mike Weir or Darren Clarke(19) Colin Montgomerie v (46) Johan Edfors(6) Retief Goosen v (59) Scott Verplank or Charl Schwartzel(27) Joe Durant v (38) Niclas Fasth(11) Geoff Ogilvy v (54) Steve Stricker or Lee Westwood(22) Jose Maria Olazabal v (43) Paul Goydos

Goosen takes slender lead in Doha

2007-01-25T20:49:00.000Z

Goosen wants to build on his fine start
FIRST ROUND LEADERBOARD(GB&I unless stated):-7 R Goosen (SA)-6 M A Jiminez (Arg), N O'Hern (Aus)-5 S Kapur (Ind)-4 E Michaels (US), R Green (Aus), N Dougherty, H Stenson (Swe)
Retief Goosen fired a seven-under-par 65 to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the Qatar Masters.
The South African carded eight birdies and one bogey to overtake Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain and Australia's Nick O'Hern at the top of the leaderboard.
Fello South African Ernie Els shot a steady 69, Spain's Sergio Garcia a 70 and England's Lee Westwood a 71.
Darren Clarke, in his first strokeplay event for two months, failed to make a single birdie in his three-over 75.
Jimenez set the early pace by carding a six-under-par 66, but Goosen's almost flawless round later in the morning took him to seven-under 65.
The two-time US Open champion, 37, said: "It's always great getting off to a good start.
"Last week (in the Abu Dhabi Championship) I did too and then didn't really do much after that, so hopefully this week I can keep going."
O'Hern made a steady start before he carded three successive birdies from the seventh.
He then enjoyed a good run coming home, continuing his faultless round whilst adding another birdie and an eagle on the 18th.
India's Shiv Kapur is on five under after he too improved on an slow start to card five birdies coming home and complete an impressive round.
Defending champion Henrik Stenson is one shot behind after recovering from two bogeys on his first and second holes.
He is tied with American Edward Michaels , Nick Dougherty and Australian Richard Green.
South African Ernie Els, looking to and become the first player to win the tournament twice, carded a three-under-par 69.
Last week's Abu Dhabi winner Paul Casey made an indifferent start, carding a par 72, while Ireland's Paul McGinley finished at one under.

McLardy storms into Joburg lead

2007-01-11T18:28:00.000Z

McLardy struggled to hit fairways on his opening nine
R1 LEADERBOARD
(SA unless stated):
-9 A McLardy
-8 W Abery, M Murless
-7 M Cayeux (Zim), C Gane (Eng), L Oosthuizen, D Park (Wal), B Pieters
Selected other:
-5 A Forsyth (Sco)

Andrew McLardy fired a course-record 63 to take a one-shot lead after the opening round of the Joburg Open at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Club.

The South African carded three birdies and one bogey on the front nine but came home in 29, with the help of eagles at the 15th and the last.

Warren Abery and Mark Murless are a stroke behind after 64s.

Welshman David Park and England's Chris Gane are in a group of five players on seven under.

McLardy, whose parents hail from Helensborough in Scotland, excelled on the club's West course - the first time it has hosted a tournament.

The highlight of his round came at the 15th when his tee shot landed behind an oak tree and he produced a snap-hook that rolled to within three feet of the hole.

"I had a horrible front nine. I think I hit one fairway, the first," said the 32-year-old.

"I scrambled everything and got away with it. I just changed my rhythm on the back nine and things went better.

"I just played badly, I scrambled. I was trying to hit it too hard. I was trying to hit it as far past David Frost as I could, but it didn't work."

I was ready to resign - Woosnam

2006-12-21T19:12:00.000Z

Woosnam's wildcard picks incensed the left-out Bjorn
Ian Woosnam has revealed he was on the verge of quitting as European Ryder Cup skipper after Thomas Bjorn criticised his wildcard picks and captaincy style.
The 48-year-old Welshman upset Bjorn by opting for Lee Westwood instead of him.

The Dane launched a withering attack on Woosnam but later apologised and was fined £10,000 for the outburst.

In an interview with the Independent, Woosnam, however, said the row was the "lowest point" of his career and he was "prepared to resign" over it.

Woosnam was furious about Bjorn's reaction to being left out but was deeply concerned that his feelings were shared by others in the European team.

Some of what (Bjorn) said about me was actionable and I did consider suing

Ian Woosnam
As well as criticising Woosnam's decision to choose Westwood over him, Bjorn criticised the captain for a "lack of communication" during the qualifying period and poor man-management. He also suggested that others were "uneasy about this man's captaincy".

"That's the bit that worried me most," Woosnam told the newspaper. "Not all the personal stuff, although that obviously hurt, but that members of my team might be uneasy with me."

606 DEBATE: Share your thoughts on Woosnam's reaction

The 1991 Masters champion and former world number one brought the issue up with half of his team on a pre-Ryder Cup reconnaissance trip to the K Club.

Woosnam took the six players that were not either competing in the European Masters or taking a break - Paul Casey, Darren Clarke, Luke Donald, Padraig Harrington, David Howell and Jose Maria Olazabal - to the County Kildare course for a low-key practice and bonding session. The first item on the agenda was Bjorn.

Woosnam says he and Bjorn will never be close again
"I sat them down and said, 'If anyone's got a problem with me being captain and agrees with Thomas in any way, then speak now'," he said.

"Fortunately, there was a silence and to a man they backed me, as did the other boys I spoke to on the phone. That was the vote of confidence I needed.

"I could move on and concentrate on the match. Thomas Bjorn was forgotten then."

Forgotten, perhaps, but not entirely forgiven.

"Some of what he said about me was actionable and I did consider suing. But in the end I didn't want to put a shadow over the competition," Woosnam continued.

"A few weeks later, I did bump into him at the Dunhill (Links Championship at St Andrews).

"He apologised, we shook hands and I said, 'Don't worry, it's all water under the bridge'.

"But when people ask me if I'm OK with him now, I always refer to something he said in his rant against me, 'Things will never be the same between us again'. He's right. They won't be."

Woosnam's wildcard selections were vindicated, of course, when Westwood, and Darren Clarke, made significant contributions to Europe's crushing 18½-9½ victory over the Americans.

The European Tour veteran has since spoken of his desire to qualify for the 2008 team that will travel to Louisville to defend the Ryder Cup and to captain the team again in 2010 when the event comes to Wales for the first time.

England's Raitt shares SAA lead

2006-12-14T22:39:00.000Z

Raitt was a surprise name at the top of the leaderboard
R1 LEADERBOARD
(SA unless stated):
-5 E Els, T Immelman, A Raitt (GB), C Suneson (Spa)
-4 P Sjoland (Swe), D Terblanche, L Westwood (GB)
-3 F Andersson Hed (swe), G Davies (GB), P Edberg (swe), R Goosen, J Kamte, J Kingston, A McLean (GB)

England's Andrew Raitt shared the lead with home favourites Ernie Els and Trevor Immelman after a dramatic first round of the SAA Open in South Africa.

Spain's Carl Suneson also shot a 67 to join the group on five under, while England's Lee Westwood is one shot back with Patrik Sjoland and Des Terblanche.

Defending champion Retief Goosen fell back after taking 11 shots on the 17th.

Els said: "I'll take 67 today because the wind was enough to make this a really tough test."

Raitt is back on tour after a horrendous decade following an accident in 1995, when a dog bit part of the little finger of his left hand off, leading to several operations and an unsuccessful legal battle to try and gain compensation for loss of earnings.

It was tricky out there

Lee Westwood

Els, meanwhile, went into this week hoping to preserve a remarkable record that stretches back to 1991.

The 37-year-old South African has won at least one title every year between 1991 to 2005 but is still searching for his first victory in 2006.

Els, who had started his round at the 10th, played his last five holes in three under with a birdie at the par-four fifth, another one at the tricky par-three sixth, and an eagle three at the long seventh.

Westwood, who returned last week from eight weeks on the sidelines, continued to be troubled by his back injury.

He said: "It was tricky out there.

"I've had ice on it the whole time. It spasms up a lot, and I can't really turn very well at the moment."

But Westwood is not blaming his new fitness regime, which has seen him lose a stone-and-a-half over the past eight weeks.

Goosen was eight under through 16 holes but hit two drives into the bush at 17, losing the first and taking an unplayable lie with the second.

The three-time major winner took a drop under penalty but thought it was an illegal drop, so picked up the ball and dropped again in a different spot.

But in fact the ball was in play after the first drop - so he incurred a two-shot penalty, leading to the horrendous sextuple-bogey.

Slim first-round lead for Stenson

2006-11-30T20:45:00.000Z

Stenson sunk the winning putt in the Ryder Cup
R1 LEADERBOARD:GB/Irl unless stated-5 H Stenson (Swe)-4 J Furyk (US)-3 P Harrington, D Howell Selected others:level S Garcia (Sp), E Els (SA) +3 C Montgomerie
Henrik Stenson carded a flawless five-under-par round of 67 for a one-shot first-round lead at the Nedbank Challenge in Sun City.
Stenson picked up birdies at the second and ninth holes, with three more at the 10th, 14th and 15th, to go one shot clear of Jim Furyk.
Stenson's Ryder Cup team-mates David Howell and Padraig Harrington share third place on three under par.
Colin Montgomerie is last, dropping four shots in the last five holes.

Rookie Granada lands Tour victory

2006-11-20T14:47:00.000Z

Granada only dropped four shots over the 72 hole tournament
FINAL LEADERBOARD:-4 J Granada (Par)-2 L Ochoa (Mex)-1 K Webb (Aut)Par I M Chung (Kor)N Gulbis (USA)M H Kim (Kor)A Miyazato (Jpn)+3 P Creamer (USA)
Rookie Julieta Granada held her nerve to win the season-ending ADT Championship by two shots in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday.
Two days after her 20th birthday, the Paraguayan carded a four-under-par 68 to earn the US$1m top prize, the richest ever in LPGA Tour history.
Mexican Lorena Ochoa, who closed to within one shot with two holes to play, ended with a 70 for second place.
Australia's Karrie Webb was third, one shot back on one under par.
The unique $1.5m event featured a starting field of 32 that was trimmed to 16 after Friday and halved again after 54 holes.
In the new play-off format the final eight players faced an 18-hole shoot-out for the bumper prize.
And Granada became the first golfer to make the Tour Championship her first tour title and jumped from 19th to fourth place on the final money list.
This has been one of the most nervous days ever, but now I can look forward to a brilliant off-season
Julieta Granada
"I can't believe I've won $1m in one day," Granada said.
"This is just the perfect way to end a great first year for me on tour."
Ochoa's $100,000 haul was enough to clinch the season money crown with $2.592m dollars because her main rival, Webb, captured only $20,000 for $2.08m.
Japan's Ai Miyazato, South Koreans Il Mi Chung and Mi Hyun Kim, and American Natalie Gulbis finished at level par 72.
American Paula Creamer was last on 75, while Sweden's world number one Annika Sorenstam missed the cut on Saturday.
Granada, whose previous best finish was second at the Wegmans Rochester International in June, is the first player from Paraguay to win an LPGA tournament.
She moved clear with a third birdie of the day at the 10th and three ahead when she made another at the 16th.
But Ochoa, playing with Webb at the back of the field, mounted the pressure and closed the gap to one shot with birdies at the 15th and 16th.
However, a missed green and a bogey at the 17th virtually ended her hopes of a seventh win of a superb season.
Granada added: "I knew Lorena and Karrie were closing the gap and this has been one of the most nervous days ever, but now I can look forward to a brilliant off-season."

Ochoa wins to clinch LPGA honour

2006-11-13T08:41:00.000Z

Mexican star Ochoa won her third tournament in a row
FINAL LEADERBOARD:US unless stated-21 L Ochoa (Mex)-11 P Creamer, J Inkster -7 A Stanford-4 J M Kim (Kor)-3 J Jang (Kor), S Steinhauer, D Delasin
Lorena Ochoa sealed the LPGA Player of the Year prize by winning the Tournament of Champions by 10 shots.
The Mexican, who turns 25 on Wednesday, fired a final-round 65 for a tournament record 21-under total of 267.
It was Ochoa's sixth victory in a superb season that has ended world number one Annika Sorenstam's five-year hold on the tour's best player award.
American duo Paula Creamer and Juli Inkster shared second place, with compatriot Angela Stanford fourth.
Ochoa began the round with a five-stroke lead and pulled away with two streaks of three birdies in a row. She carded eight in total and her only bogey came at the 8th.
It's been a great season and this caps it all off
Lorena OchoaShe arrived in Alabama locked in a three-way battle for player of the year honours with Sorenstam and Australian Karrie Webb, both of whom skipped this event to focus on next week's season-ending Tour Championship.
The $200,000 first prize lifted Ochoa's earnings to over $2.5m.
It is the first time in 10 years that the player of the year accolade has gone to a player other than Sorenstam or Webb.
"It is fantastic to win today and make sure of the player of the year award," said Ochoa, who has now won nine times in four seasons on tour.
"That was the goal at the start of the week. It's been a great season and this caps it all off."
England's Karen Stupples, who needed to finish second to gain a place in next week's Tour Championship in Florida, closed with a disappointing 76 and was joint 11th on one under.
The 33-year-old, who was the only British player in the field, is expecting her first baby in the spring and will now take a break until the summer.

Scott and Durant lead Tour finale

2006-11-04T08:45:00.000Z

Scott has seven top-four finishes in 18 PGA Tour starts
R2 LEADERBOARD:US unless stated-4 A Scott (Aus), J Durant-1 T Immelman (SA), B Quigley, R Goosen (SA)Level L Donald (Eng), Z Johnson, J FurykSelected others:+1 V Singh (Fij)+3 E Els (SA)
Australia's Adam Scott and American Jim Durant shared the halfway lead at four under par in the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta.
Scott fired 67 and Durant shot 68 to edge to a three-stroke lead over Trevor Immelman, Brett Quigley, Stuart Appleby and overnight leader Retief Goosen.
England's Luke Donald carded 67 to climb to level par, one shot ahead of the likes of Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk.
South Africa's Ernie Els added a 72 to his opening 71 for three over.
World number one Tiger Woods and Masters champion Phil Mickelson elected not to play in the event.
Scott, 26, the world number four, is chasing his first victory of the season and was most pleased about his accuracy off the tee at East Lake.
I've got two hard days ahead of me and I've got to push myself
Adam Scott
"One of the most important things around here is getting it in the fairway," said Scott who has produced seven top-four finishes in 18 PGA Tour starts.
"That helps make it a stress-free round and it's going to be very important the next two days.
"This weekend is a good chance for me to get something out of my good play over the year.
"It's probably the best I've ever played over the period of a year but I have nothing to show for it other than a win in Singapore. It's been a little disappointing.
"Still, I've got two hard days ahead of me and I've got to push myself."
Durant, the overnight co-leader, said: "I was trying to stay very patient. That's part of the key to getting around this golf course.
"I was a little tentative starting out. I don't know why but after the birdie at four I got over that."
The 26-year-old Immelman carded 66 for the best score of the day but only five players in the 27-man field were under par for the round.
The Tour Championship brings together the top 30 money winners on the PGA Tour.

Sorenstam keeps Dubai advantage

2006-10-27T16:52:00.000+01:00

Sorenstam has only dropped one shot in her two rounds so far
R2 LEADERBOARD:-11 A Sorenstam (Swe)-6 K Webb (Aus)-5 T Elosgui Mayor (Sp), S Sandolo (It), T Johnson (Eng)
World number one Annika Sorenstam stretched her lead to five shots at the halfway stage of the Dubai Ladies Masters thanks to a second-round 68.
The Swede birdied five of her opening 15 holes before dropping her first shot of the tournament at the eighth - her 17th hole.
Australia's Karrie Webb, ranked third in the world, also shot 68 to move into second place on six under.
England's Trish Johnson is in a three-way tie for third on five under.
Johnson had the best round of the day - a 67 - with a strong back nine of 32 which included three birdies in a row from the turn.
But she is still chasing Sorenstam, who marked the end of her round by going on a camel-riding trip in the desert.
"I'm really pleased to be 11 under at halfway, I played really well, especially getting to the turn in four under," she said.
"On the back nine, I just couldn't really get anything going. But just one bogey in 36 holes is pretty satisfying."
Yorkshire 17-year-old Kiran Matharu followed her opening 68 with a 73 and is still inside the top 10 on three under par.

Faldo winds down playing career

2006-10-05T16:58:00.000+01:00

Faldo will turn 50 in 2007Nick Faldo has taken a major step towards retirement by accepting a job with American television network CBS.
The 49-year-old Briton, who has won six majors, will become the network's lead golf analyst, replacing former US PGA Tour regular Lanny Wadkins.
"I view this as a fabulous opportunity for me, which may come once every 10 years," said Faldo. "But it will seriously curtail my playing career.
"My playing days aren't completely over but my priority now is given to CBS."
Faldo's decision means he will miss next year's Masters, an event he has won three times.
His other three major wins came in The Open.
CBS has signed a six-year contract with the US PGA Tour and will broadcast 21 events from 2007.

Mickelson spurns Hawaii showpiece

2006-09-29T18:21:00.000+01:00

Mickelson endured a tough time at last weekend's Ryder Cup
World number two and Masters champion Phil Mickelson has pulled out of the Grand Slam of Golf in November.
The Hawaii event is designed to bring together the year's four major winners.

But the withdrawal of Mickelson and the fact that Tiger Woods won both the Open and the USPGA means two replacements have been called up.

Based on their results in the majors, American Jim Furyk and Canadian Mike Weir will join Woods and US Open winner Geoff Ogilvy in the four-man field.

Mickelson, who scored only half a point in the United States' Ryder Cup defeat last weekend, is also not playing this week's World Championship at The Grove.

Fellow left-hander Weir, the 2003 Masters winner, was delighted by his call up.

"I'm thrilled about the chance to return to Hawaii and the PGA Grand Slam of Golf," he said.

"It's a chance to compete against the very best players in the world, and I would love to improve on my second place finish last time around."

The 36-hole strokeplay event will take place at the Poipu Bay Golf Course on Kauai island from 21-22 November.

Woods won the title for a record sixth time in 2005, romping to a seven-shot victory over Mickelson after closing with an eight-under-par 64.

Europe take a 5-3 lead into Saturday's Ryder Cup

2006-09-23T08:17:00.000+01:00

Europe take a 5-3 lead into Saturday's Ryder Cup fourballs after winning both Friday sessions 2.5-1.5 against USA.

The glamour grouping features Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood against world number one Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk.

And Spanish duo Sergio Garcia and Jose Maria Olazabal are reunited to face Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco.

Paul Casey and Robert Karlsson start off against Stewart Cink and JJ Henry, while Padraig Harrington and Henrik Stenson make up Europe's final pair.

Dream tie sees Europe shorten

2006-09-21T19:09:00.000+01:00

For the second match running the Ryder Cup will kick off on Friday with the clash everybody wanted to see.

At 8am BST on the first tee of the K Club west of Dublin the first-ever staging of the contest in Ireland will start with Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk against Colin Montgomerie and local hero Padraig Harrington.

Two years ago in Detroit only one of the names was different - Furyk stands in now for Phil Mickelson - and Montgomerie and Padraig Harrington struck a huge blow for Europe when they beat the top two players in the world.

Two days later the Americans suffered their heaviest-ever defeat by 18-9. They have been itching for revenge ever since.

After the first round draw bookies reacted by shortening Europe to around 4-6.