Cockerill next to last...Fox, Olesen share first round lead....leaderboard

 DP World Tour  Betfred British Masters..Leaderboard

Ryan Fox finished his opening round with a flourish to sit alongside Thorbjørn Olesen at the top of the leaderboard after the first day of the 2022 Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett

Morning starter Olesen set the early clubhouse target at six under par after carding six birdies and no bogeys in his 66 at The Belfry.

It had looked as though no-one would catch the Dane at the summit until Fox reeled off three closing birdies to sign for a 66 which included seven birdies and one bogey.

Fox's round contained some exceptional shots but he saved the best for last, holing from 35 feet on the 18th green for an unlikely birdie.

German Hurly Long, China's Wu Ashun and Scot Richie Ramsay were one shot behind the co-leaders on five under, with Rasmus Højgaard, who was a winner at this venue in 2020 in the ISPS HANDA UK Championship, among those another stroke further back.

New Zealand's Fox picked up shots at the first and third holes before carding his only bogey of the day on the sixth.

He turned in 34 courtesy of another birdie at the ninth, and drained a monster birdie putt on the 12th green to jump to three under.

The 35-year-old then caught fire as his round neared its conclusion, holing from four feet for birdie at the 16th and getting another from a similar distance on the next hole.

Fox gave himself work to do on the last after sending his second shot to 35 feet, but he coolly slotted in his lengthy putt to earn a share of the lead.

"I feel like if you drive it well around here you get quite a lot of opportunities," said Fox. "You can hit a lot of wedges in and there's probably four or five holes you've really got to play nice and safe - make your par.

"Six definitely, eight and nine can sneak up on you a little bit, 12 is hard and obviously 18 is a really strong hole, so if you can get through those holes without any damage you can kind of attack the rest of the golf course, and I managed to do that pretty well.

Olesen opened his round with a birdie at the tenth before making further gains at the 13th and 15th to turn in 33 blows.

After getting back-to-back birdies at the third and fourth to jump to five under, the 32-year-old rolled in his birdie putt from 13 feet at the tricky eighth before getting up and down for a par at the ninth to keep his card clean.

Olesen won the most recent of his five DP World Tour titles in 2018 - the year he represented Europe in the Ryder Cup - and he is aiming to return to the winner's circle this year.

He said: "Obviously a good start with birdie on ten, my first hole. 

"I thought I played really well, thought I've had some good rounds this year and just haven't finished it off. 

"It was really nice to get that up-and-down on the last and have that momentum and not make a bogey today. I was really pleased with that

What is wrong with Aaron Cockerill ?? after opening with 80 in tough conditions last week at Catalunya and a resulting M/C he came to this week after 2 previous top 10's

Today another 40/41 round with 6 bogey's and 2 doubles for 81, 154th in second last place sees him on his way home after Friday..

He is way better than this so what's up  Just a blip on DP World Tour life.. or what?? He's already 15 shots off the lead.

Bryan Angus

The Thursday TEE TIMES announced Wells Fargo Championship...7 Canadians

 PGA Tour: Wells Fargo Championship TEE TIMES

The Thursday tee times have been announced minutes ago including the seven Canadians at this years version of the Wells Fargo Championship on TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm

7.34 Nick Taylor, Branden Grace, Dylan Frittelli 1st tee

7.45 Corey Connors, Marc Leishman, Abraham Ancer 10th tee

9.02am Adam Svensson, Brett Drewitt, Turk Pettit 10th tee

12.32pm Roger Sloan, Beau Hossler, Scott Gutschewski 1st tee

1.49pm Mac Hughes, Peter Uihlein, Cameron Young 1st tee

Drew Nesbitt

2.00pm Drew Nesbitt, Dylan Wu, David Skinns 1st tee

2.11pm Michael Gligic, Bo Hoag, Gregory Odom Jr, 1st tee

Feature Group of past champions:

7.34 Rory McIlroy, Francesco Molinari, Sebb Simpson 10th tee

Bryan Angus

Aaron Cockerill at the Betfred British Masters.. Blandy plays his 500th,,,,, TEE TIMES

 DP World Tour: Betfred British Masters Tee Times

Richard Bland will make his 500th DP World Tour appearance when he defends his Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett at The Belfry this week.

The 49-year-old will become the 44th player in European Tour group history to reach the milestone of 500 appearances when he tees it up on the Brabazon Course on Thursday.

Bland won his first professional title at the 2001 Challenge Tour Grand Final, when he secured his first of four graduations from the European Challenge Tour – the most recent of which came in the 2019 season after losing his playing privileges the year prior.

He confirmed up an immediate return to the top tier after finishing third on the Road to Mallorca Rankings and he continued the consistent approach which served him well on the Challenge Tour onto the DP World Tour, missing just five cuts from 21 appearances in 2020.

Then, after 477 appearances without a DP World Tour victory, that elusive triumph arrived at the 2021 Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett at The Belfry.

The Englishman became the oldest first-time winner in DP World Tour history, then aged 48 years and 101 days, when he claimed his maiden title with a play-off victory over Guido Migliozzi at the four-time Ryder Cup venue in what was his 478th appearance.

That victory started a memorable year for Bland, who was given the honour of striking the opening tee shot at The 149th Open at Royal St George’s and then went on to finish the 2021 season a career-high 11th on the Race to Dubai Rankings. His victory at The Belfry helped him to secure only his second appearance at the U.S. Open Championship, 12 years after his first, via the European Qualifying Series.

He came close to his first Rolex Series title at the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic in January 2022 and despite losing out in a play-off to Norway’s Viktor Hovland, Bland moved inside the top 64 on the Official World Golf Ranking to book his spot in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.

The Englishman almost secured a fairytale maiden appearance at the Masters Tournament but eventually bowed out at the last-16 stage in Texas, finishing in a tie for ninth place, before breaking into the world’s top 50 for the first time the following week, courtesy of a T29 result at the Valero Texas Open on the PGA TOUR.

Keith Pelley, DP World Tour Chief Executive, said: “Today is a special day where we have a special presentation for Richard Bland. Last year was one of the biggest stories in golf worldwide. After 20 years and on his 478th attempt, it was a great display of perseverance when he won the Betfred British Masters for his first victory.

“One year on, you’re back celebrating your 500th event on the DP World Tour and we couldn’t be more excited for you for last year and this year, and I would say you certainly captured the imagination of golf fans worldwide last year.

“Congratulations on making your 500th appearance this week – we have a special salver here that commemorates your incredible achievement. There are only 44 players in the history of the DP World Tour that have played 500 events, so congratulations, Richard.”

Richard Bland, Betfred British Masters defending champion and set to make his 500th appearance this week, said: “It's very special. It's a dream come true. It’s something I had worked on for 20 years and I knew it was getting closer to 500 and so I looked at the schedule, when it would come out, and I kind of knew it would be very close to this week.

“I tweaked my schedule around a little bit and didn’t play here or there to make it this week. So I thought, I’ll make it that even more special and it’s something I'm very, very proud of.”

Last week at Catalunya in Spain, Canada's Aaron Cockerill was paired with Bland in the first two rounds and despite missing the cut, he is in the field this week teeing off with Haotong Li and Bradley Dredge from Wales at 12.40pm local off the 1st tee. 

7 Canadians in this week's Wells Fargo Championship...

 PGA Tour: Wells Fargo Championship

Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte NC is near the top of the PGA Tour pros must play courses. Currently home to the Wells Fargo Championship since 2003, it has a long history starting with the Kemper Open back in 1969, then the Senior Tour's PaineWebber in 1983 and the PGA Championship in 2017.

This year it's hosting the Presidents Cup, so the Wells Fargo has been moved to the Washington DC are at the TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm, home of the PGA Tour Quicken Loans in 2017, 2018 when Frankie Molinari began the year of his life with an 8 shot -21 win.

Canadians: Yesterday Drew Nesbitt shot a 64 in a Monday qualifier at Cattail CC in Glenwood, Maryland to make the field along with Corey Connors, Mac Hughes, Adam Svensson, Michael Gligic, Roger Sloan and Nick Taylor.

Rory McIlroy is back as the defending champion on this par 70 course with just 2 par 5's. It's reknown as a ball strikers course, so Corey Connors with 4 top 12's in his 6 starts this year and now ranked 31st in the world is among the betting favourites.

WEATHER: with temperatures in the mid 70's there are TStorms in the forecast for Wednesday and Friday at 60%. There is no significant wind.

Bryan Angus

This week, Betfred British Masters at the Belfry steeped in history...Cockerill in the field

DP World Tour: Betfred British Masters Entry List

Ryder Cup legends Thomas Bjørn and Lee Westwood will return to the scene of one of their most famous Ryder Cup victories when they tee it up alongside three of Europe’s biggest rising stars in this week's Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett at The Belfry.

The duo were members of Sam Torrance’s side which famously won back the 2002 Ryder Cup on a 15½ - 12½ scoreline and started Europe’s undefeated streak on home soil, a record which was continued under Bjørn’s captaincy at Le Golf National four years ago.

Westwood racked up three points in front of his home fans 20 years ago at the Warwickshire venue, forming a strong partnership with Sergio Garcia. Five years later, the former World Number One claimed his maiden British Masters title at The Belfry with a five-stroke victory on the Brabazon Course, designed by the great Peter Alyss and Dave Allen.

He went on to host the tournament at Close House in 2017 and 2020, becoming the first player to do so on two occasions – an honour which Willett will match this year after he took on the role for the first time in 2021.

Bjørn, who claimed a crucial point in the Sunday Singles in 2002 by beating Stewart Cink 2&1, is also a former winner of the British Masters, securing his eighth of 15 victories on Tour in 2005 when it was held at Forest of Arden.

The two DP World Tour legends join Betfred British Masters host Danny Willett and defending champion Richard Bland in the field, as well as three of the DP World Tour’s most promising rising stars. Bland  will be playing in his 500th European Tour event. After 478 attempts he won his 1st title here last year at 48 years young.

Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre will hope to keep up his run of strong performances at the British Masters, following on from a runner-up finish in 2019 and a tied eighth result at last year’s tournament.

History-making twins Nicolai and Rasmus Højgaard, who are aiming to follow in Bjørn’s footsteps as Danish representatives at the Ryder Cup, will also tee it up at The Belfry in May, with Rasmus returning to the venue where he won his second DP World Tour title – the ISPS Handa UK Championship. The victory was the second win in his 2019 rookie season.

The pair became the first brothers to win back-to-back events as Rasmus won the Omega European Masters the week before Nicolai earned a maiden DP World Tour title at the DS Automobiles Italian Open. Nicolai returned to the winner’s circle earlier this year at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship presented by Phoenix Capital. The Højgaard twins have won five times in 110 starts between them.

Despite last week's missed cut in Spain, Canadian Aaron Cockerill's fine run of form has him listed as in, on the entry list. 

WEATHER: There is a lot of light rain today and Wednesday for Sutton Coldfield, also on Friday, along with what's described as a gentle breeze and cool temperatures for this first event back in the UK. However Thursday, Saturday and Sunday all look dry with some sunshine.

Arnaus tops DP World Tour Sunday in Spain...final results

 DP World Tour: 2022 Catalunya Championship

Adri Arnaus defeated Oliver Bekker in a six-hole play-off to win his first DP World Tour title in stunning fashion at the 2022 Catalunya Championship.

The home favourite started the day seven shots off the lead and did not look a likely winner when he turned in 34, with Bekker and Laurie Canter doing battle at the top of the leaderboard at PGA Catalunya Golf and Wellness.

But he came home in 31 with the help of an eagle on the 12th to set the target at 11 under and was left to watch Bekker, who still had a one-shot lead as Arnaus was signing his card, finish his round.

A three-putt from the South African on the 16th made it a tie as he signed for a 72 and Arnaus was heading to a third DP World Tour play-off in seven months after defeats at the 2021 Acciona Open de España presented by Madrid and March's MyGolfLife Open hosted by Pecanwood.

The five trips back up the last produced reasonably stress-free pars all-round but when they moved to the 17th for the sixth extra hole, Bekker missed the green and could not get up and down, allowing Arnaus to take the title with a par after putting his approach to six feet.

Canter finished two shots out of the play-off alongside fellow Englishman Richard McEvoy and Pole Adrian Meronk, with South African Hennie du Plessis and Italy's Edoardo Molinari at eight under.

Bryan Angus

The Sunday story, Leblanc, Weir, Gligic.. live scoreboards

 LPGA: Palos Verdes Championship leaderboard here.

Maude Aimee Leblanc will begin play today at the Palos Verdes Championship T12 69 68 72 -4 which is just 4 shots off the lead held by Aussie Hannah Green 67 66 72 -8.

The jam packed leaderboard has 18 players within 4 shots including Lydia Ko. Lexi Thompson and Inbee Park.

PGA Tour Champions: Insperity Invitational leaderboard here 

Mike Weir has been trying to defend his title this week in Houston at the Insperity Invitational and as he begins play today he is T17 71 69 -4 140. 

That is 8 shots off the lead held by Steve Stricker 67 65, and Steven Alker 67 65 132.

Stephen Ames is T23 71 70 -3.

PGA Tour: Mexico Open at Vivanta leaderboard here.

Michael Gligic begins play today at the Mexico Open as the lone Canadian T35 67 70 71 -5. 

That is 10 shots behind the favourite, world #2 Jon Rahm 64 66 68 -15 who is 2 shots clear of Kurt Kitayama and Cameron Champ both at -13.  

Bryan Angus