with Bryan Angus

Thanks for joining me today. I look forward to your comments . They are always welcome here on FairwaysPlus. Bryan Angus bryanangus4@gmail.com



Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Luke Donald turns to well known Rugby guru.

AP LONDON — The man who turned Jonny Wilkinson into the best kicker in world rugby could prove to be a key factor in Luke Donald's quest to end his major drought this summer.

Donald woke up Monday as the world's top-ranked player having overtaken Rory McIlroy after his four-stroke win at the BMW PGA Championship on Sunday. The Englishman credits his calm at Wentworth this weekend to the work he's doing with Dave Alred, a performance coach and sports psychologist.

“It's helped me to really be aware of my posture and how I outwardly project that feeling of positiveness,” Donald said. “It helps me send that message to whoever I'm playing with.”

Justin Rose was Donald's playing partner on the final day and started two shots behind his Ryder Cup colleague. With Donald bogeying the 4th and Rose making birdie there, the players were quickly tied at 10 under, but Donald had the mental strength to pull away again and cruise to the victory, achieving the first successful title defense of his career.
Rose said Donald's consistency off the tee and clutch putting proved to be the difference on an extremely difficult West Course.

He's certainly always on at me again about keeping the shoulders back and not getting down on myself, staying positive not just mentally but physically and through my body position,” Donald said of Alred. “So I think I've done a lot better job of it since I've been working with Dave. He's always reminding me. It helps to feel very confident on the greens, too. It's always been a strength of mine, especially in the last four or five years.”

Alred's best work has been in rugby, as a kicking coach for England's national team and the British and Irish Lions. He also has had an input in players' mental preparation, which helped turn Wilkinson into a kicking machine who sparked England's success at the start of the century, including the winning goal at the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

As far as Donald, Alred's next step is guiding him over the winning line at a major. Donald has two third-place finishes at Grand Slam events, but still holds the tag of being one of the best current players never to have won a major.

“Well I certainly think I have the ability. It's putting four rounds together like I did here,” Donald said.
I think there could be 20, 25 guys who would say that when they are on their game any given week, they are going to be tough to beat. I feel like I'm part of that group.”

Returning to the top of the rankings for the third time in 10 weeks will give him extra confidence heading into the U.S. Open in San Francisco on June 14-17 and then the British Open in July and the U.S. PGA Championship in August.
Rose climbed to No. 6 after finishing tied for second with Paul Lawrie at 11 under, matching his highest ever position in the rankings. Lawrie climbed from 40th to 29th.

With three Ryder Cup hopefuls topping the leaderboard on Sunday, Donald believes Europe is in a good position to defend the trophy in Medinah near Chicago in September.
I think it's shaping up nicely, our team,” he said. “The U.S. guys are playing well, too. I think it's going to be a tough battle.”


Tiger wins for the 5th time at Memorial...Live scoring, stories, all tours ..All Canadians..

PGA TOUR - MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
COURSE: Muirfield Village Golf Club (7,352 yards, par 72).

CANADIANS: David Hearn T25 70,75,70 76 +3 Mike Weir MC 83 81

Winner  Tiger Woods

NOTES: Tiger Woods, with rounds of 70,69,73,67 -9 has just won the Memorial for the 5th time. Tiger has excelled at Jacks, Torrey Pines, Augusta and Bay Hill and today his chip in at 16 will make headlines on Sportsdesks across the world. Spencer Levin who chipped in twice on his way to a -3 69, -8 total on Saturday slipped to +3 75, -5 today. Rory Sabbatini 69,69,71,72 -7 was 2nd along with Argentine Anders Romero -5 67 -7 total. Woods has a record five victories in the event, winning in 1999-2001 and 2009, now in 2012. ...Rickie Fowler, Tiger's partner blew up to a +12 84 is  -5 71 71,69, 84 ).


for live scoring, tee times click..  http://www.pgatour.com/r/leaderboard/?navid=nav:live_scoring_leaderboard
saturday tee times click here        http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/r023/tee-times.html


LPGA TOUR - SHOPRITE LPGA CLASSIC
COURSE: Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Club, Bay Course (6,155 yards, par 71) New Jersey..

CANADIANS: Lorie Kane T29 73,69,72 E Maude-Aimee Leblanc T29  68,75,71 E Rebecca Lee-Bentham MC, Samantha Richdale MC , Alena Sharp T60 75,71 Jessica Shepley MC , Stephanie Sherlock MC , Isabelle Beisiegel (alternate), Kirby Dreher (alternate)

Winner
NOTES:  STACEY LEWIS SHOT 71 FOR A -12 TOTAL FOUR SHOTS BETTER THAN AUSSIE CATHERINE HULL.

for live scoring and tee times click   http://www.lpgascoring.com/public/Leaderboard.aspx





CHAMPIONS TOUR - PRINCIPAL CHARITY CLASSIC
COURSE: Glen Oaks Country Club (6,879 yards, par 71).

CANADIANS: Jim Rutledge T29 69,74,68 -2, Rod Spittle T21 68,70,71 -4

Winner Jay Haas

NOTESJay Haas 66 -16 has just won by 5 shots over Kirk Triplett 62 -11 and Larry Mize 69.-11.

for live scoring and tee times click..  http://www.pgatour.com/s/leaderboard/



EUROPEAN TOUR - WALES OPEN
COURSE: Celtic Manor Resort, The Twenty Ten Course (7,378 yards, par 71).
CANADIANS: No Canadians entered

Winner  Thongchai Jaidee
NOTES: Two of Wales golfing hero's, Brian Hugget and Dai Rees are barely 5'6" in height, and he may be from thousands of miles away on the other side of the world in Thailand, but Thongchai Jaidee 72, played today like they did so often to win the Wales Open by a shot at -6 over four golfers including Dutchman Joost Luiten 72 and Thomas Bjorn 68, at a wet and windy Celtic Manor Resort.
England's Ross Fisher 73 dropped into a T6 at -4. It was the diminutive Jaidee's first win outside Asia, his 5th on the European Tour.


for live scoring and tee times click...  http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2012/tournamentid=2012036/leaderboard/index.html?showLeaderboard=Y






EUROPEAN SENIOR TOUR - BENAHAVIS SENIOR MASTERS
COURSE: La Quinta Golf and Country Club, Benahavis, Spain (6,449 yards, par 71)
CANADiANS: Rick Gibson T23 67,74 68,  -4, Dave Wettlaufer T64, 78,71 73 +9, Bill Hardwick (alternate), Ken Tarling (alternate)

Winner  Gary Wolstenholme

NOTES :  Gary Wolstenholme claimed his second European Senior Tour victory in the space of three weeks after a five under par final round of 66 was enough to see off the challenge of Mark James and Mark Mouland in a thrilling finale at the Benahavis Senior Masters.
The 2011 Senior Tour Rookie of the Year emerged from the pack midway through a roller coaster day at La Quinta Golf and Country Club, thanks to five birdies in the space of six holes either side of the turn.
The lead was exchanged back and forth between five different players and Wolstenholme was at one point four shots behind his playing partner and former Ryder Cup Captain James.
He staged a stunning comeback, however, and finished on 13 under par to lift the third Senior Tour title of his career, coming just two weeks after emerging victorious at the season-opening Mallorca Open Senior

for live scoring click here..  http://www.europeantour.com/seniortour/season=2012/tournamentid=2012844/leaderboard/index.html





EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR - FRED OLSEN CHALLENGE DE ESPANA
COURSE: Tecina Golf Course, Canary Islands (6,937 yards, par 71)
CANADIANS: Andrew Parr MC 73 68

NOTES ..Spaniard Eduardo de la Riva claimed a memorable home victory in the Fred Olsen Challenge de EspaƱa, firing a flawless closing round 65 at Tecina Golf in La Gomera.

De la Riva finished one stroke clear of Englishman Simon Wakefield with a winning total of 19 under par to claim his maiden Challenge Tour victory at the €160,000 event, while the total of 265 (-19) is the lowest winning score so far this season.

Beginning the day three shots behind overnight leader, Argentina’s Daniel Vancsik, de la Riva got his final round off to the perfect start with a 40 foot putt for three at the first before capitalising on both of the front nine’s par fives with further birdies at the third and seventh

for live scoring click here..  
http://www.europeantour.com/challengetour/season=2012/tournamentid=2012738/leaderboard/index.html?showLeaderboard=Y




NATIONWIDE TOUR - REX HOSPITAL OPEN
COURSE: TPC Wakefield Plantation (7,257 yards, par 71).
CANADIANS: Stuart Anderson T33 68 71,70,70 -5, Brad Fritsch MC Adam Hadwin T141 71 78 MC,  Ryan Yip 60th 68,72,79 72 +7 Jon Mills T125 75 70 MC, Chris Ross MC Richard Scott (alternate), Bryan DeCorso (alternate)

NOTES .. James Hahn has just beat Scott Parcel on the 2nd hole of a playoff..Both are Yanks..

for live scoring and tee times click..  http://www.pgatour.com/h/leaderboard/





SYMETRA TOUR - MY MARSH GOLF CLASSIC
COURSE: The Hawthorns Golf and Country Club, Fishers, Ind.
CANADIANS: Izzy Beisiegel T21 74,75 73 +6  Angela Buzminski T34 74,78 72 +8 Sara Maude Juneau T21 72,75 74 +5  Sue Kim MC  Lisa Meldrum T14 72,72 76 +4 Danielle Mills MC, Ashley Sholer MC
 Melissa Mabanta MC

The winner is American Sara Brown 75 67 69 -5
for live scoring click here  http://symetrascoring.com/2012/FishersPairings.asp







NCAA - DIVISION 1 GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
COURSE: Riviera Country Club, Los Angeles
CANADIANS: Eugene Wong (Oregon) T13 72 74 69, Charlie Hughes (Washington) T54 72 73 76, Corey Conners (Kent State) T4 68 75 69, Mackenzie Hughes (Kent State) T50 76 72 72, Taylor Pendrith (Kent State) T89 75 74 76, Albin Choi (NC State) T37 71 77 70, Eric Banks (Florida) T114 76 74 78

Thomas Pieters, Illinois 69 68 71 won the individual title and Alabama +7,won the team title by 2 shots over UCLA.

for live scoring click here  http://www.ncaa.com/content/di-mens-golf-team-leaderboard




eGOLF PROFESSIONAL TOUR - HGM HOTELS CLASSIC
COURSE: Rock Barn Golf and Spa, Robert Trent Jones Jr. Course and Tom Jackson Course, Conover, N.C.
CANADIANS: Chris Baryla MC 74 73, Cam Burke T29 71 69 71 73 -4, Matt Hill T14 -8 71 67 68,74  Zack Schnurr MC 73 70

Winner  Matt Harmon
NOTES   Matt Harmon of Grand Rapids, MI  won on the second hole of a sudden death playoff after he hit a masterful bunker shot on the par-5 18th that took one bounce, spun right, and found the bottom of the hole for a dramatic winning eagle and his first career eGolf Tour title.

The HGM Hotels Classic at Rock Barn was the 11th of 24 events on the 2012 eGolf Professional Tour schedule, and was contested this week on the Robert Trent Jones Jr. Course at Rock Barn Club & Spa in Conover, NC.

Needing to convert the birdie for his second win in three weeks, Drew Weaver stared in disbelief as the putt missed on the right side of the hole. With a final-round 70 posted for a 14-under total, Weaver and Harmon headed back to the tee of the 18th for the first playoff hole.

for live scoring click here  http://tarheel.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/tarheel12/event/tarheel127/contest/1/leaderboard.htm



Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmblesand at www.isr1050.com




DeLaet to miss Memorial this week...Price named captain

The Canadian contingent for this week's Memorial Tournament has been reduced by one after Graham DeLaet was forced to withdraw Tuesday with back pain.

"Tweaked my back on the weekend and won't be ready to go for Thurs.," tweeted DeLaet, who added he was "really bummed" about the decision.

"Good news is its not a re-injury. MRI showed no disc issues. Just need a few more days rest."

DeLaet underwent back surgery in 2011 for a painful bulging disc. He attempted to return but was forced to the sidelines after just two starts due to stiffness and discomfort. He returned at the start of 2012 and is playing this year under a major medical exemption, meaning he needs to earn $657,694 in 26 starts to keep his Tour status. So far in 15 starts, he's earned close to $527,000 with his biggest payday being a tie for fourth at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
DeLaet's only other appearance at the Memorial came in 2010 when he missed the cut after shooting rounds of 75 and 71.

That leaves David Hearn and Mike Weir as our Canucks at Jack's event..

More news today from Muirfield..

Fred Couples returns for a third stint as U.S. captain for the Presidents Cup, with a different captain trying to beat him.

Nick Price, a three-time major champion from Zimbabwe, has been selected to lead the International team in 2013. Greg Norman was the International team captain the last two times.

Couples joins Jack Nicklaus as the only captains to serve in three matches. The Americans have won the Presidents Cup both times with Couples as the captain, including last year at Royal Melbourne. Price played five times in the Presidents Cup, the most of any captain on either team. His last appearance was in 2003 in South Africa, which ended in a tie.
The Presidents Cup will be played Oct. 3-6 at Muirfield Village.


Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at www.isr1050.com

Manassero makes, Monty misses US Open

LONDON - Swede Alex Noren and Briton Marc Warren booked their tickets for next month’s U.S. Open after finishing top of 36-hole qualifying at Walton Heath on Monday.

Former Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie failed in his bid after making a 900-mile overnight trip to Scotland and back to fetch a putter. He left Wentworth at 2 pm (local) on Sunday after a closing 81 in the PGA Championship on the outskirts of London. He arrived home at around 8 pm and, after sharing dinner with his family, jumped back in his car to make the journey to the south of England.

"Who in their right mind would do that? But yes, I did," Montgomerie was quoted as saying by the Press Association.
Spain’s Jose Maria Olazabal, who has taken over as Ryder Cup skipper from Montgomerie for this year’s match in Illinois, also missed out at Walton Heath.

Noren and Warren led the way on nine-under-par 135 and were joined by nine other qualifiers.
Italian Matteo Manassero, British duo Lee Slattery and Matthew Baldwin, Ireland’s Peter Lawrie, French pair Raphael Jacquelin and Gregory Bourdy, Finn Mikko Ilonen, South African George Coetzee and Dane Soren Kjeldsen also went through.

The U.S. Open will be held at the Olympic Club in San Francisco from June 14-17.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Roger Chapman hits the jackpot, Zack Johnson nearly blows the Colonial

Tiger Woods always marks his ball with a quarter heads up,... except when he moves it out of the line of a playing partner when he marks it tails up.  Why ???... To remind him to move the coin back.

Zack Johnson might want to begin that habit.

In that matchplay type of round he had going with Jason Dufner in yesterday's final round, it almost cost him the championship. The tournament had really been decided on the 15th when Dufner took a triple bogey after driving into a fairway bunker, then hitting his approach left of the flag, spinning into the water.

That gave Johnson a 3 shot lead which he held onto the 18th green. He had a 5 footer for par left, moved it out of Dufner's line, Dufner made his par, then Johnson made his, hugged his caddy, pumped his fist... then someone said hold on a minute..you didn't return the ball... 2 shot penalty....giving him a 72 and a one shot win over Dufner who struggled to a 74 of his own...

So Johnson picks up his 8th win, his second at the Colonial where apart from Dufner, he was the pick of we so called experts.. Horses for courses and all that..

David Hearn closed with 70 and a -2 total good for T13..


CHAMPIONS TOUR.

In my opinion the guy whose win meant the most to, over the weekend was Roger Chapman. The money that Luke Donald, Zack Johnson or Jason Dufner made won't change their lives a jot, but at 53, with one professional win in over 30 years, and that one a minor European Tour event in Brazil, he really hit the jackpot. The millions he will make in endorsements, and appearances and his new exempt status, will make up for the 15 or so runner up spots he accrued in what he called a B minus European Tour career. He even packed that in for a few years to become a Tour rules official.

It's the stuff dreams are made of, here's a bit of the story from pgatour.com

After taking a nine-stroke lead early in the final round of the Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid, Roger Chapman needed only to play out the remaining holes and savor the greatest moment of his professional life.

That's when he began to think about his mentor, George Will, who died two years ago after doing so much to help Chapman's career.

"Your mind just starts to wander a bit," Chapman said. "I was thinking of George all the way around -- what he would be thinking."
By that point, Chapman didn't need to focus totally on his round. After making three bogeys in the final five holes, he held on to win comfortably by two shots Sunday, wrapping up a phenomenal performance in which he held at least a share of the lead at the end of each day. The Englishman had never won on the Champions Tour, but he took control of the major championship during the final two rounds.

Chapman led by five after 54 holes and was never really threatened on the last day at Harbor Shores. He closed with a 1-over 72 -- his worst score of the tournament -- to finish at 13 under par. John Cook was second after a 69, and Hale Irwin was another stroke back after a 68.

Kenny Perry shot 31 31 62 to set a new course and PGA Championship record.

Rod Spittle T56 after a closing 74 +7 total.

final scoreboard http://www.pga.com/seniorpga/2012/scoring/index.cfm

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Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at www.isr1050.com

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Donald wins in style, returns to World #1

Luke Donald started this week receiving the highest honour the European Tour could bestow upon him, and ended with a very classy defence of his PGA Championship and a return to the #1 spot in the world, for the 4th time..

Back at Wentworth, where he seems so comfortable, days after receiving a lifetime membership from Commissioner George O'Grady, Donald shot -4 68 to beat Scotsman Paul Lawrie 66 and England's Justin Rose 70 both at -11 by 4 shots.

Donald was at his best today, wonderfully square, balanced and accurate with his irons, wedges and putter, constantly repetitive with his classic swing and this week his driver was co-operating, he was the Luke that had such a remarkable 2011 season, and remember it was his win here over Lee Westwood that really was the catalyst to winning the Player of The Year awards on both sides of the pond. Last year it went down to the last shot, this year it was a coronation from the 15th hole in..

He now heads for the US Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco (June 14) in search of his first major, as one of the pre tourney favourites. He will make a stop next week at Jack's Memorial tournament along with Rory, Rickie, Tiger, Phil amongst a stellar field.


clik here for final leaderboard
http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2012/tournamentid=2012034/leaderboard/index.html?showLeaderboard=Y


Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at www.isr1050.com

Friday, May 25, 2012

Dufner leads the Colonial, Donald at Wentworth, Matt Hill T3 in Charlotte


PGA Tour
Jason Dufner 65 64 66 is at -15. Zach Johnson 64 67 65 is at -14.. They are in a 2 man race for the Colonial title, 7 shots clear of the field. Johnson is the course specialist with his last  15 rounds under 70, including the win in 2010, and Jason Dufner going for his 3rd win in the last 4 weeks.  His ball control right now is simply the best no matter where he is playing, so must be a favourite heading into the US Open at the Olympic Club in mid June, and remember this is the same guy who prior to his win at the Zurich at the end of April was winless in his previous 163 PGA TOUR starts.

He won the Nelson last week of course and the only player to win both PGA Tour events in the Dallas-Fort Worth market in the same year was Hogan in 1946.

The cut fell at +3, Graham DeLaet on that number at 72, 72 +4 just missed it and David Hearn  at 71, 72 shot 65 on Saturday to move up into a T16 at -2


click here for live scoring.....http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/r021/


EUROPEAN Tour
England's James Morrison shot a -8 64 to take a 4 shot lead at -12 at the BMW PGA at Wentworth. It was a completly different story on Saturday, he was 17 shots worse at 81 to drop out of contention.

Defending champion Luke Donald 69,has moved into a 2 shot lead at -11 over Justin Rose who also shot 69, -9. Luke, beat Lee Westwood in an epic battle last year on his way to his historic season.

Ernie Els, asked to re design the course in 2010, and winner of 7 World Match Play's on it, was furious at the European Tour and the groundskeeper at Wentworth for not watering the West course enough, especially the greens, some of which he called "unplayable".. It's always the same around here, I beg them to put more water on the course, especially with this east wind blowing all night, and for some reason the groundskeeper and the European our officials disagree with me" Ernie, 70, was T4 at -5.

UPDATE ****
European Tour Chief Executive George O’Grady said: “Ernie Els asked to see me this morning and apologised for his intemperate language following the conclusion of his round yesterday. He stated that he had already apologised to all the individuals concerned and offered a substantial donation to The European Tour Benevolent Trust, which I accepted. The European Tour now consider this matter closed


live scoring click here http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2012/tournamentid=2012034/leaderboard/index.html


NOTE
live scoreboard  http://tarheel.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/tarheel12/event/tarheel124/contest/1/leaderboard.htm
Matt Hill shot 72 to T3 at -11 at the River Hills Classic on the eGolf Professional Tour in Charlotte NC. He was 4 shots behind the winner Chris Kamin. Cam Burke shot 75 and at +3 ,T54.


Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at www.isr1050.com

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Lawrie, Drysdale lead affter round 1 at Wentworth

David Drysdale made the most of some good fortune on the 18th to join Peter Lawrie in a share of the first-round lead at the BMW PGA Championship. Drysdale could not believe his luck as his second shot to the final hole went into the water and bounced out again.

"You could hit 1,000 balls and never have it happen again," said the 37 year old, who went on to birdie the par five for a six under par round of 66.
"I don't know what it hit - maybe a fish. It was a massive break. I don't think I can say what I would have thought if I had taken six or seven there
Ireland’s Lawrie produced a magnificent bogey-free 66 to start The European Tour’s flagship event at Wentworth Club, picking up five shots in his first six holes.

Drysdale had seven birdies and a solitary bogey as the pair edged one ahead of World Number Ten Justin Rose, big-hitting Spaniard Alvaro Quiros, Wales’ Jamie Donaldson and Swedish pair Niclas Fasth and Richard S Johnson.

No fewer than 13 players were tied on four under, amongst them World Number Two and defending champion Luke Donald, Ryder Cup star Francesco Molinari and Ernie Els – a seven times winner at the venue and the man charged with remodelling the course in recent years.

Lee Westwood -2 70 as is Charl Schwartzel and the 2 Americans in the field, Ben Curtis and Shaun Micheel.

Rory McIlroy, Matteo Manessero, Graeme McDowell and Martin Kaymer all had their problems , opening with +2 74's.

for live scoring in round 2 click here
http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2012/tournamentid=2012034/leaderboard/index.html?showLeaderboard=Y


Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at www.isr1050.com

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth is the pick of a great weekend of golf.

While the Champions Tour has it's first Major of the year, and there are some delightful storylines at the Crowne Plaza including Jason Dufner and Rickie Fowler in spectacular form, the best of the bunch this weekend is the BMW PGA Championship at historic Wentworth, with the world's top 3 and a exceptionally strong supporting cast taking centre stage.




PGA TOUR: Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial
COURSE:  Colonial Country Club (par 70)
CANADIANS: Graham DeLaet, David Hearn
for tee times and live leaderboard click here http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/r021/

NOTES: While David Toms is the defending champion, and Jason Dufner and Rickie Fowler are red hot Zack Johnson has shot in the 60s in 12 straight rounds at the Colonial, a stretch that includes a 2010 victory sandwiched between two other top-10 finishes in the past three years.



.
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EUROPEAN TOUR: BMW PGA Championship
COURSE:  Wentworth GC, West course (par 72)
CANADIANS: No Canadians entered in this event
teetimes and live leaderboard click here http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2012/tournamentid=2012034/leaderboard/index.html

NOTES:  It will be tough to follow last year's finale with Luke and Lee battling it out for the championship and the world's #1 ranking with Luke prevailing and going on to have a year he will never emulate, however, this flagship event at historic Wentworth has the world's top players, and top celebrities in attendance and despite the fact the Champions Tour is a major, this is the event of the weekend..




CHAMPIONS TOUR The Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid
COURSE  Benton Harbor, Mich., at Harbor Shores .(par 72)
CANADIANS; Rod Spittle, Jim Rutledge
for teetimes and a live leaderboard click here http://www.pga.com/seniorpga/2012/scoring/tee_times.cfm

NOTES  The field will be playing this new Jack Nicklaus designed course without defending champion Tom Watson who has had the WD with a pinched nerve. That leaves Tom Lehman (2010) and Michael Allen (2009) the most recent Senior PGA Championship winners. They will be joined by two-time champion Jay Haas (2006, 2008) and four-time winner Hale Irwin (1996, 1997, 1998, 2004). Watch out for Fred Funk, at 80% the straightest driver on both tours, and Freddie Couples who leads this tour along with Michael Allen in scoring.




2012 Ryder Cup
for latest standings click here http://www.rydercup.com/2012/usa/index.cfm




---
LPGA TOUR: OFF
COURSE: ).
TELEVISION:
CANADIANS: Lorie Kane, Rebecca Lee-Bentham, Alena Sharp, Stephanie Sherlock, Maude Aimee-LeBlanc
NOTES:
---

NATIONWIDE TOUR: OFF
COURSE
TELEVISION:
CANADIANS: Stuart Anderson, Chris Baryla, Bryan DeCorso, Brad Fritsch, Adam Hadwin, James Love, Jon Mills, Nick Taylor, Ryan Yip
---

CN CANADIAN WOMEN'S TOUR: . OFF
NOTES.
---

NGA PRO GOLF TOUR: OFF
COURSE:
CANADIANS: Yohann Benson, Marc-Etienne Bussieres, Sebastian Szirmak,





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eGOLF PROFESSIONAL TOUR: River Hills Classic
May 23 - May 26, 2012, Charlotte NC
COURSE:. River Hills Country Club, The Palisades CC
CANADIANS: Cam Burke T56 70 69 74 -1, Matt Hill T2 68 65 -12, Zach Schnurr MC, Christopher Ross T60 71 69 75 +1, David Morland MC
Tee Times click here  http://tarheel.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/tarheel12/event/tarheel124/pairings.htm?r=76028b5f-acc1-45fb-abd6-9d4628b8070a






NCAA Div 1 Womens Golf Championship
Vanderbilt Legends Club
Live scoring click here http://www.ncaa.com/content/womens-di-golf-player-leaderboard





Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at www.isr1050.com

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Stephen Ames qualifies for the Open Championship

Stephen Ames has shot 69 61, 130 on the par 70 Queens Course at Gleneagles just outside Dallas to qualify for this year's Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes. There were 8 spots available. Ames last played the Open in 2009 where he missed the cut. He has had 2 top 10's in 11 starts, his best T5 in 1997.

David Hearn, Adam Hadwin, Dustin Risdon and Roger Sloan also played but couldn't make the top eight

Leading the way was PGA Tour rookie Harris English, who shot a course best and International Final Qualifying-America record 60, then shot a 63 in his afternoon round. Other qualifiers were England's Greg Owen, who shot 66-61,127...American Justin Hicks (67-63-130) and Argentina's Andres Romero (67-63-130)..American James Driscoll (66-65-131) and Bob Estes (66-65.131), and Sweden's Daniel Chopra (64-67,131).

By the way, I think it is down right wrong for courses to take the name of a famous course in the UK and use it as their own. Gleneagles is a magnificent hotel/resort in the hills of Perthshire, Scotland and the Kings and Queens courses are of legendary status, all the world's greats have played and stayed there, it is currently the host of the European Tour's Johnnie Walker Championship.

So what right do these guys down in Dallas have to steal that name and use it as their own ?? It is for no other reason than to sell memberships or greens fees and of course to give validity to their facility.

Similarly there are courses called St Andrews in North America, hell Jack even named his own course Muirfield and while I am at it quit calling your track a links course unless it is situated on a stretch of land, usually flat and sandy, that links the sea to the mainland. Pebble Beach Golf Links is arguably America's greatest public  course, but is not a links course. It is a course on the California mainland, situated partially along the Pacific Ocean, but the land does not link that ocean to the mainland, like Muirfield, Royal Lytham, etal do.

There, now I feel better as I turn my attention to one of the world's great parkland courses, the West at Wentworth for this week's biggie, the BMW PGA Championship.


Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at www.isr1050.com

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Colsaerts beats GMac at the Volvo, ...Dufner wins the Nelson..final scoreboards


click here for official world ranking..http://www.officialworldgolfranking.com/rankings/default.sps?region=world

EUROPEAN Tour
Volvo World Match Play Championship
Finca Cortesin
Andalucia
Spain

Sunday Semi Finals

Paul Lawrie vs 20th hole Nicolas Colsaerts
Graeme McDowell 2 holes vs Rafael Cabrera-Bello


FINAL Match

Graeme McDowell vs final hole.Nicolas Colsaerts

Sunday..1pm update.. Nicolas Colsaerts is dormie 2 against GMac who does not have his A game today and is being badly outdriven by the big hitting Belgium.

A half or a win at 17 for Colsaerts and it is over. 17 is a par 3. Colsaerts is just over the back but with a flat lie and GMac is just past pin high, 20 feet. Colsaerts putts 4' past, Gmac misses left..poor putt, conceded 3.. Colsaerts misses 4 footer to lose the hole...

Off to 18 up...

Colsaerts must be 80 yards ahead after the 2 drives in the fairway...He hits his second just short of the green off to the left, again flat lie in thin rough.. GMac lays up then hit's his wedge over the green, well over and has to chip back. Colsaerts chips up to 15 feet in 3 and has 2 putts to win after GMac's chip lands 6 feet short...

Nicolas Colsaerts is your Volvo World Match Play winner !!!






Since they changed the Match Play format a couple of years ago here is a reminder of how it works..

The field of 24 players will be drawn into eight groups of three.

Group matches will be played on Thursday and Friday. The top two players in each group will progress to the knock-out stages consisting of the last 16 and quarter-finals, played on Saturday and semi-finals and final, played on Sunday.

All matches will be contested over 18 holes of match play.

In the round-robin group stages of the tournament, the three players in each group will play each other once. Players will be awarded two points for a win and no points for a loss. If a match is tied after 18 holes each player shall receive one point. If, after all matches have been played, two or more players are tied on points the following criteria will be used to determine the order:

i) Where two players are tied within a group (in any position within the group) then their specific head to head match result will be used to identify which player is placed higher

ii) If two or more players are still tied then those players will compete in a hole-by-hole play-off.

iii) If all three players win one match in their respective group then all three players shall play-off.


click here for final scoring, standings 
http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2012/tournamentid=2012030/teetimes/index.html


RESULTS Saturday round of 16 matches..

Sergio Garcia 4&3  vs Tom Lewis
Graeme McDowell 3&2 vs Peter Finch
Paul Lawrie 5&4 vs Thomas Bjorn
Retief Goosen 3&2 vs Robert Rock
Brent Snedeker 3&2 vs Camilo Villegas
Justin Rose vs 4&3 Nicolas Colsaerts
Ian Poulter vs 4&3 Alvaro Quiros
Rafael Cabrera- Bello 1up vs Robert Karlsson

Saturday Quarter - Final Matches

Sergio Garcia vs 19th hole Graeme McDowell
Paul Lawrie 6&5 vs Retief Goosen
Brent Snedeker vs 4&3 Nicolas Colsaerts
Alvaro Quiros vs  3&1Cabrera-Bello



ENG
USA DEN
SWE SCO
ESP ESP
NIR SWE
RSABEL
ENG ENG
GER ESP



PGA Tour
HP Byron Nelson Championship
Thursday May 17 – Sunday May 20, 2012
Here are the other scores  Mike Weir MC 75,83 Stephen Ames MC 74,74 1, Matt McQuillan MC 74,73




Nationwide Tour
BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation
Thornblade Club (host course) · Greer, South Carolina
There were 11 Canadians in this annual big Celebrity Pro Am played over 3 courses down in  South Carolina, here are their scores, only Brad Fritsch T1 -12 67,68,69  Bryan DeCorso T53 -4 70,70,71  made the cut. 

The following missed the 54 hole cut..Adam Hadwin  69,80,72 221   Mitch Gillis 69,71,78 218  Ryan Yip  70,80,77 227     Nick Taylor  72,72,70 214  Chris Baryla  71,76,67 214  Jon Mills 72,77,73 221  James Love  72,72,73 217   Richard Scott  73,71,73 217  Stuart Anderson  82,68,73 222



Australian Nick Flanagan wins the BMW in a playoff..
Australia's Nick Flanagan, 67, tapped in a short par putt on the third playoff hole to defeat countryman Cameron Percy,66, and win the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation for the second time.

Flanagan and Percy tied at 15-under 271. The two Aussies were forced into the Tour's first playoff of the year when fortunes turned for each on the final hole of regulation. Percy was leading at 16-under but missed a 10-foot par putt to fall back to 15 under and open the door for Flanagan, who was making only his second start of 2012 campaign.
Flanagan, down by one in the group immediately behind, hooked his second shot at the uphill, 491-yard 18th. The ball hit a television cameraman and caromed back onto the green, nearly clipping the cup before settling 15 feet from the hole. He made the putt to force the playoff.

Brad Fritsch who shared the lead going into the final round, shot 70, -13 shared fifth place, two shots back.
Bryan DeCorso finished at 70 70 71 69, T41 at 280

This event features 168 professionals and celebrities in a better-ball format hosted by the Thornblade Club and Greenville Country Club/Chanticleer Course in Greenville, S.C. and the Carolina Country Club in nearby Spartanburg.


live scoreboard click here http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/h037/
celebrity leaderboard click here  http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/h037/alt-2.html
tee times click here  http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/h037/tee-times.html




Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at www.isr1050.com



Friday, May 11, 2012

14 Canucks earn status at Canadian Tour Q School

Here is a full report from Scott Pritchard Dir.Communications Canadian Tour, on Q school qualifying.


ANDREW ROQUE TOP OF THE CLASS IN CALIFORNIA
 - Top Canadian Cory Renfrew Finishes in Third Spot -

2012 Canadian Tour Qualifying School May 8 - 11, 2012
The Country Club at Soboba Springs (SS) - Par 72
Oak Valley Golf Club (OV) - Par 72
Cards - 30 Exempt / 30 plus ties Non Exempt

Weather
Soboba Springs 33 C - Winds 11 km/h
Oak Valley 33 C - Winds 11 km/h

Third Round Leaderboard (bold denotes Canadian)
Andrew Roque, Monterey Park, CA 76-66-73-67 (-8) SS
Kevin Tucker, Scottsdale, AZ 69-69-77-67 (-6) SS
Cory Renfrew, Victoria, BC 72-73-70-68 (-5) SSBrandon Harkins, Scottsdale, AZ 71-68-74-71 (-4) SS
Nicholas Ellis, East Wenatchee, WA 70-75-74-66 (-3) SS
Micah Burke, Los Angles, CA 78-70-68-69 (-3) SS
Tyler Aldridge, Nampa, ID 73-69-73-70 (-3) SS
Nate McCoy (A), Des Moines, IA 73-70-70-72 (-3) SS
AJ Shiffert, Visalia, CA 73-67-74-72 (-2) SS
Stephen Bidne, Surprise, AZ 72-77-69-71 (+1)
Matt Jager, Australia 78-72-67-72 (+1)

(May 11, 2012 - Beaumont, CA) -  A total of 67 players earned status on the Canadian Tour today after  the final round of the Canadian Tour's 2012 Q-School played at Oak  Valley Golf Club and The Country Club at Soboba Springs. 30 players  received exempt status after a four-man playoff decided the final  three exempt cards. 37 other players received non-exempt status which  will likely see them gain entrance into a number of Canadian Tour events  for the 2012 season.
Earning medalist honours was Andrew Roque of  Monterey Park, CA. Roque shot a final round 5-under 67 highlighted by  an eagle on the final hole to clinch the victory  after a self proclaimed stress free final round.

"I was pretty  tired today believe it or not and I think that coupled with the heat  calmed my nerves," joked the 2011 SCIAC Player of the Year. Roque,  who has never been to Canada before, is looking forward to playing  north of the border and hopes to one day join the long list of Canadian  Tour graduates who have gone on to the PGA TOUR.
"I want to do well  out there and today was the first step in that process," said Roque who  made two eagles and one birdie in the final round. "The history of the  Canadian Tour and the names of the guys that have played it is something  that has me extremely motivated to play," added Roque who left college  early before turning professional in September of 2011.

The top Canadian  finisher was Cory Renfrew of Victoria, BC. Renfrew shot a final round  4-under 68 and finished in third spot alone. The UBC graduate who turned  professional in September of 2011 is looking forward to starting the  season in his home town on his home course at Times Colonist Island  Savings Open played at Uplands Golf Club.
"This was a good week for me  and I'm now focused on getting prepared to play at Uplands," confessed  Renfrew. "I've always had my sights on joining the Canadian Tour but the  bigger picture is to get the PGA TOUR and this is definitely a step in  the right direction," added Renfrew, who turned pro in the fall of 2011.

A  total of 14 Canadian's earned status on the Canadian Tour including  Renfrew, Steven Lecuyer of Edmonton, Adrian Cord of Toronto and 2011  Canadian Tour member Scott Loewen of Winnipeg who all earned exempt  status.
Peter Campbell of Baddeck, NS who started the day in a tie  for 10th slipped on day three and found himself in the four-man playoff for the  final exempt card. A double bogey on the first playoff hole saw Campbell  move into the first non-exempt position which will likely see him get  into most Canadian Tour events
18-year-old Wilson Bateman of  Edmonton, Tyler Mancini of Winnipeg, Brett Cairns of Courtland, ON,  Oliver Tubb, of Vancouver, BC, Mark Hoffman of Thornhill, ON, Mitch  Evanecz of Victoria, BC, Billy Houle of Joliette, QC, Parker Lilly (a) of  Victoria, BC and Dan Bowling (a) of Mooretown, ON rounded out the  Canadian's who clinched non-exempt cards.

Tubb started the day in  a exempt position but a final round 80 saw the native of Sterling, ON  on the outside looking in. The former Canadian Tour member will now look  to get off to a good start on the Canadian Tour in hopes of earning  better status as the season progresses. Tyler Mancini and Gerrard Lanser  were the only other players inside the top 30 at the beginning of the  day to slip outside.

Roger Furrer of Switzerland, a 2011 Canadian  Tour member, was the only player to start the day on the outside  looking in that managed to earn an exempt card. Furrer posted a final  round 1-over 73 to sneak into the playoff. After Campbell's double  bogey, Furrer only needed a bogey which he posted en route to clinching  his card.

The biggest mover of the day was Kevin McAlpine of  Dundee, Scotland. McAlpine started the day tied for 92nd place but a final  round 3-under 69 moved the Scot into the final non-exempt position.  Kota Kagasaki the 15 year old from Australia who once faced Tiger Woods  in a nine hole exhibition match posted a final round 1-under 71 moving  him from a tie for 82nd into a tie for 60th. Also making a big move  today was Jack Paton of Hillsborough, CA who began the day in a tie for 77th and final round  1-under 71 moved him into a tie for 56th.

Other notables to earn  exempt cards were Angel Cabrera Jr. of Argentina the son of two time  Major Championship winner Angel Carbrera. Former PGA TOUR player Boyd  Summerhays of Utah also earned an exempt card while 2010 Australian and New  Zealand Amateur champion Matt Jager of Australia also earned exempt status
.
The Canadian Tour begins its season at the Times Colonist Island Savings Open the week of June 4th, 2012.

click here for 4th round scores
http://www.cantour.com/leagues/cantour_leaderboard4.cfm?clientid=3776&leagueid=11711&seasonnum=2012

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Live scoreboards all tours.. Kuchar and family have a big Mother's day at TPC Sawgrass

This week is dominated by the Players Championship, however I will be covering all the other events here with you and as always will post all the live leader boards for you so you can get easy access to all tours, story lines and Canadian scores on my site.

PGA Tour
THE PLAYERS Championship
TPC Sawgrass · Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
Canadians:  David Hearn T68 +7 69,75, 77 74 Graham DeLaet T70 +8 71,73,76 76
UPDATE Thursday wrap...
" I hit a lot of shots really close today, to within 10 feet, and the putts just rolled in" England's Ian Poulter fired his best round of the year, a -7 65, with 9 one putt greens in a row to tie for the lead with Scotland's Martin Laird, a shot ahead of journeyman Blake Edwards 66 and 2 ahead of Kevin Na and Ben Crane at 67. Eleven players shot 68, and there were 27 players who shot in the 60s, more than half the field broke par.

Poulter says he has just moved into his new Florida home at Lake Nona. It has been 3 years in the making, with a ton of hassles and disruption which has left him little time for practice. " It's just nice to have it over with, to be in, the family is happy and my mind is finally clear to play golf "

Rory McIlroy 72  Luke Donald 72 Lee Westwood 71  Phil Mickelson 71  Tiger Woods 74  Rickie Fowler 72 Ernie Els 74

Angel Cabrera took a 9 at the par 3 17th on his way to 78 then WD, as did Symon Dyson 76, Bill Haas, DA Points and Paul Casey also WD.

UPDATE Friday Wrap..
There are 26 players within 5 shots of the lead as we go into the weekend, and the cut fell at E, the number which both David Hearn 69,75 144 and Graham DeLaet 71 73 144 made, so both Canucks will collect a pay cheque at least this year.

The leaders, all at -8 are Zach Johnson 70 66, Matt Kuchar 68 68 and Kevin Na 67 69. Not surprisingly all 3 are among the straightest drivers on tour which is essential on Sawgrass with it's narrow fairways surrounded by water and it's small undulating greens. Ian Poulter, the overnight co-leader leader had 2 doubles and 2 bogey's along with 2 birdies to slip to T17 at -3 after a 76.

It sets up an intriguing weekend, as my eyes will be on the pack more so than the leaders with the likes of Luke, Lee, Adam Scott, Rickie etc all in the hunt. Even Tiger who made 4 birdies in a row around the turn to get in at 68 -2, along with Phil 71 -2 who hasn't caught fire yet will be in the mix, as will red hot Ben Curtis at -5 just to mention a few, and as we know no lead is safe or insurmountable on this course.

Consider Martin Laird to make my point. He shared the 1st round lead with Poulter and was at -10 standing in the fairway after a perfect drive on the par 5, 16th, but hit his 4-iron into the water on the and made bogey, and he dunked one on No. 17 for double, then made bogey at 18. He lost 4 shots in 3 holes but his 73 still leaves him at -6 along with, and look out for Adam Scott 68 70 -6.

The stats point out that just 6 of 29 second-round leaders have gone on to win the tournament.

Rory shot 76 and missed the cut for the first time in more than a year, though it wasn't unusual at TPC Sawgrass. In three appearances, he has never broken par or made the cut. Sadly for many Ernie and Steve Stricker also MC. Paddy Harrington and Graeme McDowell were other notables who MC.

Rory McIlroy 72, 76 MC  Luke Donald T17 72, 69 -3 Lee Westwood T17 71,70 -3,  Phil Mickelson T30 71,71 -2  Tiger Woods T30 74, 68 -2  Rickie Fowler T17 72, 69 -3 Ernie Els 74, 74 MC Steve Stricker 76 74 MC

UPDATE.. Saturday wrap

The "yips" are a dreaded affliction to any golfer who has ever had to endure them, they usually attack your hands on or around the greens. Bernhard Langer in his prime got them so badly he tried locking the grip of his putter against his forearm, Sam Snead for goodness sake went 'side saddle", I had them so badly while chipping I went to one hand, or just tried to putt everything....The long putter was invented to cure the yips, essentially by taking the hands out of the equation.

Kevin Na, a pro since he was 17, the best junior golfer in the US before that, has the Yips....but on the tee !!

On the greens he is the best putter this week so far, and once he does pull the trigger on the tee, he is driving it beautifully. His 68 on Saturday has him at -12, a one shot lead over Matt Kuchar (69) -11 and they will tee off at 2.45 today in the last pairing.

Remember, Na, who is getting hammered in the social media, was a deliberate player before the yips attacked him, now he is in danger of being assessed penalty strokes if he receives more than 1 bad time warning. On stroke for each additional warning.

Matt Kuchar is as easy going guy as there is, so he of all people should be able to cope with Na's affliction, which one would think can only get worse as the pressure mounts Sunday afternoon. Imagine if he were paired with Rickie Fowler who's 66 has him in third at -9. Rickie is as fast a player as there is.

Charles Barkley tweeted " Kevin Na is my hero.. welcome to my world !!"  The question is, will there come a time today he just can't swing ?? or make a half swing or a stab ... oh the yips are a cruel thing to be sure, especially when the eyes of the world are watching, waiting for them to attack...

UPDATE  ..final wrap

Tim Rosaforte loves to come on air these days with all kinds of minutia about what is going on off the course, this week was about Matt Kuchar and his wife playing tennis against various opponents, staying with his parents in Ponte Verde, before he came out to play golf in the afternoon.

Well Matt, his wife and kids and family already fabulously rich, have just won another $1.6 million on Mother's Day no less, in case their HEAD racquets needed re stringing.

Before I get to Kuchar, what of the nervous Kevin Na, who was the story coming in.

pgatour.com He had a three-shot lead early in the  with a birdie on No. 2, but he fell apart quickly. There were waggles and a few whiffs as part of his painful pre-shot routine, but there were far too many shots in the wrong spot for him to have a chance. He made four bogeys in five holes to close out the front nine in 39, and his hopes ended with a tee shot into the water on the par-3 13th. Fans were booing and heckling at times, some yelling " Hi it " and "Pull the trigger "...
Na closed with a 76 to tie for seventh, five shots behind.

Kuchar won for only the fourth time in his career, and the first time since the 2010 Barclays when Martin Laird three-putted the last hole and lost in a playoff. He closed with 70, stayed out of the water and won by 2 shots at -13 275, over  4 players.

Martin Laird made the strongest run on a cloudy, breezy afternoon, tying for the lead with this third straight birdie on No. 12. Laird nearly went in the water on the 18th, missed a 6-foot par putt for a 67. Rickie Fowler missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th and shot 70. Ben Curtis made a 10-foot birdie on the 18th for a 68, while Zach Johnson shot 68 to join the tie for second

Luke Donald finished alone in sixth after a 66, not quite enough to replace Rory McIlroy at No. 1 in the world.
Tiger Woods shot 40 on his front nine and rallied for a 73, at least finishing THE PLAYERS Championship under par. That was the smallest of consolations. Far more alarming was that he tied for 40th, the first time in his career that he has finished no better than 40th in three straight tournaments.

So all in all it was an interesting 2012 edition of the Players, Rickie going for 2 in a row and and Kevin with his battle over the yips kept me watching and of course TPC at Sawgrass is compelling with disaster lurking on nearly every hole, it lacked a little star power with Rory, Ernie, Stricker missing the cut and of course Phil and Tiger never a factor.

Still it was fitting on Mother's Day that the smiling family man turned out to be the winner for his wife and mother, wearing a pink hat for the occasion... nice..

Canadians: David Hearn T68 +7 69,75, 77 74 Graham DeLaet T70 +8 71,73,76 76

It's the Byron Nelson this week over here but bigger still is the World Match Play in Spain followed by the BMW PGA at Wentworth.

live scoring click here http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/r011/

EUROPEAN Tour
Madeira Islands Open
Madeira, Portugal
Canadian: Andrew Parr (75) T128

UPDATE Thursday wrap..
Spaniard Alvaro Velasco stormed into the lead in the first round of the Madeira Islands Open, Portugal with a superb -8 64 at Santo da Serra.
The 30 year old, who won the 2010 Challenge Tour Rankings, had nine birdies and a bogey to lead by two from five players, English trio Tommy Fleetwood, Ben Parker and Oliver Wilson, Swedes Magnus A Carlsson and Joakim Lagergren and Denmark’s Morten Orum Madsen all on 66. Half the field for the €675,000 event is made up of Challenge Tour players.


UPDATE Friday wrap..
europeantour.com..Ryder Cup player Oliver Wilson leads a European Tour event for the first time since November 2008 after a sublime seven under par 65 in the second round of the Madeira Islands Open – Portugal.

The Englishman, who lost his European Tour card after finishing 130th in The Race to Dubai last year, showed signs he is rediscovering his best form, having not dropped a shot in two rounds at Santo da Serra to lead by one from Swedish pair Magnus A Carlsson and Joakim Lagergren, who both had two rounds of 66, and England’s Andy Sullivan, who shone with a 64.

Wilson has made eight appearances so far this season – six as a sponsor’s invitation – but has made just €22,084, so he is particularly pleased to be leading the way as he attempts to win a maiden European Tour title. The last time he was in pole position on The European Tour was after 54 holes of the 2008 Hong Kong Open (part of the 2009 International Schedule).

Canuck Andrew Parr opened with a +3 75, fought back with a -4 68 to get to -1 143, but the cut fell at -3 141 so he won't be playing this weekend.



UPDATE.. Saturday wrap

europeantour.com   Spaniard Carlos Del Moral surged to the top of the Madeira Islands Open – Portugal leaderboard with a stunning nine under par 63 in the third round at Santo da Serra.

The 26 year old will take a three shot lead into the final day as he goes in search of his maiden European Tour title, thanks to an exquisite putting display which racked up nine birdies.

Del Moral had just 20 putts in a round which ended with three consecutive birdies – plus two more putts from just off the green – to power ahead of young Swede Joakim Lagergren, who is 14 under, while Mikael Lundberg and Magnus A Carlsson, also of Sweden, Portugal’s Ricardo Santos and Englishman Oliver Wilson are another shot back at 13 under

UPDATE Final wrap

Ricardo Santos fired a stunning nine under par 63 on home soil in the final round of the Madeira Islands Open – Portugal to claim his maiden European Tour title.

The 29 year old delighted the home crowds as he overhauled overnight leader Carlos Del Moral and withstood the challenge of Andreas HartĆø to finish four shots clear on22 under par – a record low total for the event.

Del Moral started the day three shots ahead, but his challenge faltered with a triple bogey seven at the ninth and ultimately signed for a 73 to finish tied fourth, while HartĆø reached the turn in six under par, but could not maintain the momentum. Three bogeys in four holes from the 12th proved costly, and he had to settle for third place, one shot behind Magnus A Carlsson, who finished on 18 under thanks to a 67

JAPAN Golf Tour
PGA Championship
Karasuyamaja CC
Tochigi, Japan

Toru Taniguichi, 65 70, 76 73 -4 led from wire to wire to win the Japan Tour's PGA Championship earlier this morning by one shot at 284.
Live scoring click here
NATIONWIDE Tour
off this week
CHAMPIONS Tour
off for 2 weeks
LPGA Tour
off this week
eGolf Professional Tour
off this week
ASIAN Tour
off until June 14


Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at www.isr1050.com

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

My Players Championship Preview.. Round 1 tee times

Round 1 tee times http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/r011/tee-times.html


Picking a winner for any tournament is a popular pastime for those of us who cover the game, however it is usually a futile one, especially with the parity that exists now that Tiger's reign is over, and especially because the talent pool is world wide.

However rather than closing my eyes and stabbing the page with a pen, or going by their club manufacturer, or grading them by how sharp a dresser they are (where does Rickie rank !!), all of which are probably as accurate as what I am about to do, I will try to apply some common sense

I always look for the following..

*guys in form
*past record at the course
*guys who are getting progressively better
*guys who play well at the big events
*local guys who play the course a lot and can sleep at home
*past winners
*guys whose games should suit the course (eg. bombers vs ball strikers)
*respect for rankings
*guys with bottle when it's all on the line.


Here are 37 of the 144 guys who I think could win, many of them fit into more than 1 of my categories, but like I said this is a fun if not futile excercise..

Guys in Form
Ben Curtis    He's red-hot: Followed win at Valero Texas Open with a T13 and a T5
James Dufner   Zurich Classic winner finished T6 last year at TPC Sawgrass
Rickie Fowler     The monkey's off his back with Wells Fargo win.
Hunter Mahan    This season's only two-timer winner finished T6 here last year
Francesco Molinari   Like Rickie Fowler, he comes off a win (Spanish Open )
Louis Oosthuizen   Two EuroTour wins this year to go with runner-up at Masters
Carl Pettersson  Won last month at Hilton Head; has two T2 finishes this season
DA Points  Coming off a playoff loss at Quail Hollow; making 3rd PLAYERS start
Webb Simpson   Coming off a 4th in Charlotte, recorded his fourth T10
Rory McIlroy   MC in his two previous PLAYERS starts, didn't play 2011
Lee Westwood   Back for first time since 2010 when he was T4; 4 T5 in 2012
Nick Watney  T4 at last year's PLAYERS, 8th in Charlotte
Ernie Els    In 18 starts at THE PLAYERS has 4 T10, T6 in 2008

Past Record at TPC Sawgrass
Ben Crane  between 2008-10, he finished T6, T5 and T4 at PLAYERS
Sergio Garcia   4 top-15 finishes in last 6 PLAYERS starts, won in 2008
Zach Johnson  8of his last 12 rounds at TPC Sawgrass have been under par
Alvaro Quiros   T6 at last year, won twice on European Tour in 2011
Henrik Stenson  Loves TPC Sawgrass: Won here in '09, T10 in '08, T3 in '06

Guys who are getting progressively better
Jason Day  T6 in 2011,posted 1st T10 of year at Wells Fargo
Graham DeLaet  Big-hitting Canuck T4 at Zurich last month
James Driscoll    2 T10's in last four starts,T9 at Wells Fargo
Ken Duke    Veteran already has three top-10s
Robert Garrigus  2  T2 in first 10 starts this year
David Hearn   made 7/13 cuts; final-round averages 4th on TOUR
Kevin Na   in contention a lot with 4 T10s, T3 at 2009 PLAYERS
Ian Poulter  2nd in 2009,  2 T7 finishes in last two TOUR starts
Webb Simpson  4th in Charlotte,4th T10 this year
Heath Slocum strong effort at Quail Hollow; T4 here 2 years ago
Ryan Moore  Has come on strong 3 T10 finishes last 4 starts

Guys who play well at Big Events
Peter Hanson   Shows up at big eventsT3(Masters)T4(Cadillac)T5(Match Play)
Phil Mickelson  3 rounds in 60s in winning here in 2007
Tiger Woods  8th MC of career last week; WD from last 2PLAYERS

Local Guys
Bud Cauley  lives in Jacksonville played course 100 times
Jim Furyk    Local resident has 3 T10s Sawgrass last 8 starts

Past winners
KJ Choi  never finished better than T16 at PLAYERS until winning last year
Adam Scott   Won here in '04, T6 last year

Guys whose game suits TPC Sawgrass
Zach Johnson   8 of last 12 rounds at Sawgrass under par
David Toms   2011 lost playoff to K.J. Choi, T5 in driving accuracy

Respect for Rankings
Luke Donald  9 PLAYERS starts, 2 T10 finishes,T4 last year

Guys with bottle when it's all on the line
I reserved this space where I used to always put Tiger, just in case he finally stops over thinking, has some fun and just starts playing, just like Lee and Arnie have told him to do !!

TOMORROW I WILL GIVE YOU MY TOP 5 FROM THIS LIST

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at www.isr1050.com
(Notes and research from pgatour.com)







My memories of this years 5 Hall of Fame inductees

Yesterday's 5 Hall of Fame inductees all have provided me with lasting memories, and may provide a few more yet.
Sandy Lyle, Pater Alliss, Dan Jenkins, Hollis Stacy and Phil Mickelson bring the honour roll to 141, in one of the toughest Halls to get into and poignantly all this on the anniversary of Seve's passing.

I never thought Sandy was Hall of Fame material to be honest, we all thought he was an under achiever but he has become beloved in the UK as he gets older. Many on this side of the pond remember when he won the 1988 Masters with "the shot" from the fairway bunker, a 7 iron, up the hill to within 10 feet for birdie to become the first British winner, but in fact he won 29 tournaments worldwide, including 18 on The European Tour and three other PGA Tour titles.

His victory at the 1985 Open Championship at Royal St. George’s made him the first British winner since Tony Jacklin in 1969, then he became the first international winner of the 1987 PLAYERS Championship, defeating Jeff Sluman in a play-off..

He was a member of five European Ryder Cup teams, including the winning sides in 1985 and 1987, and of course his trademark club was his trusty PING 1 iron, which he could wield, especially into the wind better than anybody of his era.

I never had any doubt about Peter, he is a true English golfing blue blood, following his father Percy into the pro ranks as a 15 year old, had a top class British pro career, but when he stepped into the broadcast booth at the 1961 Open Championship which Arnie won at Royal Birkdale, he really found his niche, ultimately becoming "the voice of golf"

He won 23 tournaments worldwide during the 1950s and ‘60s, including three British PGA Championships. He was selected for every Great Britain Ryder Cup team except one from 1953 to 1969. He has also been associated with the design of more than 50 courses and is a respected author of more than 20 golf books.

Remember the BBC doesn't have commercial breaks and when the Open is on they may broadcast for 12 hours a day. Peter's relaxed story telling style is my favourite to this day, and obviously to most everyone else, as in 2011 he broadcast his 50th Open without missing any.

He doesn't suffer fools lightly, is undoubtedly a bit snobbish, but who are we without faults, today's broadcasters, particularly over here should be forced to spend a weekend locked away with the great man and a few bottles of his favourite Chablis before they are let loose in front of a microphone again, much the same way Peter was with Henry Longhurst before him.

Dan Jenkins is another fabulous story teller, he became a must read for me through Sports Illustrated in the 60's and 70's when Arnie, Jack and Gary Player were winning everything, and Dan was writing about it in such a compelling manner that it held the attention of a teenage kid like me. I couldn't wait for my copy of SI to arrive.

Now his "Jenkins at the Majors, 60 Years of the World's  best Golf's writing from Hogan to Tiger" is simply a treasure to open at any page at any time.

Hollis Stacy was a great junior, she won the US Girls Amateur 3 years in a row back in 1969, so I guess that's when I first heard of her through SI again.   Although her career was defined by her 3 US Women’s Open Championships in 1977, 1978 and 1984, I remember her best for her win in 1983, at the Peter Jackson Classic (later named the du Maurier Classic).  It was Canada's National Championship, then considered a 5th major and she beat JoAnn Carner and Alice Miller at Beaconsfield GC the legendary Stanley Thompson course located in Pointe-Claire, Quebec, west of Montreal.

We were so proud to have all these big names Pat Bradley, Rosie Jones, Patty Sheehan, the gorgeous Jan Stephenson all playing in Canada, that's why I remember Hollis won it.

Finally, I have become more and more of a Mickelson fan as time goes on, it took me a while to realize that he fails on the big stage seemingly so often because he puts himself in a position so often to win, and OK because at those key times he seems to get such a rush of blood to his head, he can't seem to back off, it's like watching a car wreck.

Still, 42 wins and four majors in a career that far from over, and while we've watched him blow major championships like the 2006 US Open, or even the triple bogey 6 at the 4th hole in this year's Masters that can make us forget all those breath taking flop shots, and long clutch putts, not to mention the 6 iron from the pine straw, between the trees to 4 feet on a pin perched right over Rae's creek, the thing is you just never know for sure with Phil, but that's what makes him so exciting, and also what got him into the Hall of Fame..

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at www.isr1050.com






Thursday, May 3, 2012

Rickie wins his first one, beats Rory and D.A in a playoff..live scoring, tee times all tours.

PGA Tour
Wells Fargo Championship
Quail Hollow Club
Charlotte, North Carolina
Canadians Mike Weir MC 7173, Stephen Ames MC 74 73, David Hearn T65   70,72, 76,71 +1

Sunday UPDATE..  The leader after 3 rounds is Webb Simpson at -14 after his 69 on Saturday followed by DA Points 68 and Ryan Moore 69 a shot back at -13, but the story for me is world #2 Rory McIlroy 66 to get to -12 with a real chance to win his 2nd title at Quail Hollow.  Another young gun Rickie Fowler 67 is in a group at -11.

FINAL UPDATE.. " When I walked by his hotel room this morning it was humming " said Sir Nick Faldo referring to Rickie Fowler's electric wardrobe. Wearing his traditional PUMA neon orange pants and shirt, Fowler shot 69 to get to -14 then watched both DA Points 71 and Rory McIlroy 70 miss putts to win on 18, putting them all in a three way playoff.

Fowler hit a big drive, then stuffed a wedge from 133 yards inside 4 feet for a birdie 3 and his first PGA Tour win, as Rory and DA could only make par.

It was a treat to watch a big part of the future of this game in McIlroy and Fowler playing so well. I am glad Rickie won, PUMA will sell another gazillion of his over sized hats, and the confidence he has now received should help take his game to the next level, and don't forget he and Rory will be at each other, in all likely hood, at Medinah this year in the Ryder Cup.

For those who tuned out as soon as you know who missed the cut, it was compelling, exciting golf right until the last putt, on a beautiful but difficult Quail Hollow property, thank goodness they both have 30 years of battles ahead of them, just what the tour needs.


click here for tee times http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/r480/tee-times.html
live scoring click here  http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/r480/


EUROPEAN Tour
Reale Seguros Open de Espana
Real Club de Golf de Sevillla
Seville, Spain

Sunday UPDATE ....Francesco Molinari has just won the Spanish Open by 3 shots, 65 -8 total over Alejandro Canizares, Soren Kjeldsen and Pablo Larrazabal. It was his 3rd Tour win, and extends his European Tour exemption until the end of 2014 and gains him a place in the 2012 WGC – HSBC Champions and 2013 Volvo Golf Champions.
click here for tee times
http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2012/tournamentid=2012026/teetimes/index.html
click here for live scoring
http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2012/tournamentid=2012026/leaderboard/index.html


CHAMPIONS Tour
Insperity Championship presented by UnitedHealthcare
Friday May 4 – Sunday May 6, 2012