Day 2 : Hero Dubai Desert Classic ... Cam Young leads, Cockerill surges T7...results/ TEE TIMES

 DP World Tour : Hero Dubai Desert Classic Leaderboard Tee Times

Cameron Young will take a three-shot lead into the weekend at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic after firing a stunning 64 on day two at Emirates Golf Club.

The World Number 25 is making his debut at this event but has made himself right at home, carding 14 birdies and an eagle over the first two rounds to get to -13 

That includes a remarkable run of scoring after being level par after his first 12 holes of the week, picking up 14 shots in his next 22 to fly up the leaderboard.

Pole Adrian Meronk 66 -10 and England's Andy Sullivan 67 -10 were the nearest challengers with Danish twins Nicolai 69 and Rasmus Højgaard 70 and Scotland's Richie Ramsay 68 at -7

edit ** Canada's Aaron Cockerill began his round on the 1st tee with back to back birdies then bogey's at the 4th and 6th out in even par 35. However after few near misses on Thursday he caught fire at the turn with 4 birdies and a 75 foot eagle putt at the 13th back in 32. He surges up 21 places and sits T7 71 67 -6 his best start of this 2024 season.

Saturday : 1218 1st Aaron Cockerill, Louis de Jager

Young has two runner-up finishes on the DP World Tour at the 2022 Open Championship and 2023 WGC - Dell Technologies Match Play to go with four more on the PGA TOUR but has yet to add to his two Korn Ferry Tour victories from 2021.

A Rolex Series triumph would be a spectacular way to return to the winner's circle and the 26-year-old believes the putter was key to getting him in pole position.

"I putted fantastic," he said. "I made a couple of long ones yesterday and then made a few more today that had no right going in.

"I hit a bunch of good putts but just one of those days where you kind of have a couple of 30-footers and you look up and they are going right in the middle, which doesn't happen all that often to have a bunch of them in one round.

"I'm doing a really good job of staying out of my own way. I kind of realised it was going well early but the back nine, at the same time, it feels like you should do that to some extent, especially in the morning with not much wind.

"I feel like the back nine, I just played really solidly, and then made a putt on one, made a putt on four and all of a sudden that was eight (under) or something.

"Just one of those days that they kept kind of going in and I didn't make too many mistakes."

Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald made the sixth hole-in-one of the season and second of his DP World career when he holed an eight iron from 183 yards on the fourth in his 71.

Notables : Rory McIlroy T24 71 70 -3. Tommy Fleetwood T15 69 70 -5, Tyrrell Hatton T37 74 68 -2. The cut fell at E.

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)

Bright start for Aaron Cockerill at Hero Dubai Desert Classic... full scoreboard, TEE TIMES

 DP World Tour : Hero Dubai Desert Classic Leaderboard

With day 1 of the 35th version of the Dubai Desert Classic this year sponsored by Hero at the Emirates CC, Canada's lone representative on the DP World Tour Aaron Cockerill has made a bright start with an opening round -1 71 T27.

In his first start of 2024 the Winnipeg area native has flown from -27*c dead of winter, to 27*c and the beautiful sunshine in the desert around Dubai, that's enough to make all of us happy, even without playing golf !

He began on the par 5 10th with a birdie 4, added another on the 16th surrounded by bogey at 15 and a double at 17 after a wild drive into the bushes resulting in a penalty stroke, then a 3 putt for 6, but out in +1 38

Making the turn at the first he was all pars then a run of birdies at #5, 6 and 7,  just missing a 6 footer for birdie at #8. The 9th is a 488yds par 4 over water. From the rough he hit his second safely over the water, but well over the green, took a free drop, 3rd to the fringe, 2 putted for bogey 5. back in -2 33.

The leaders are at -5, Haotong Li, Andy Sullivan , Cam Young and Rasmus Hojgaard all with 67's

Friday TEE TIMES Tee Times

810 1st  Aaron Cockerill, Berndt Wiesberger, Paul Waring

Bryan Angus 

Canadian Alan McLean at Legends Tour Q School....Friday TEE TIMES

 Legends Tour : Q School Final Stage  TEE TIMES

Seventy-two players will battle for five Legends Tour cards in four pressure-packed rounds at Gloria Golf Club, Belek, Turkey.
 
There’s all to play for in Turkey as a mix of amateurs, seasoned professionals and former Legends Tour winners fight for a spot on the seniors circuit for the coming season. There will be joy and heartbreak this week – and drama is guaranteed at a tense event that is all or nothing for many of the players teeing it up.

Twenty-three nationalities are represented in a truly international field, with three-time Legends Tour winner David Shacklady, eight-time Asian Tour winner Jyoti Randhawa and experienced DP World Tour players like Gary Murphy, Alessandro Tadini and Andrew Marshall amongst the favourites.

“It’s a stressful week, but I’m actually looking forward to it,” says Shacklady. “I’ve been practicing hard, and it feels like it’s coming together. Finishing in the top five is 100% the goal, anything else doesn’t really matter. It would mean I can play week-in and week-out on the Legends Tour and plan my year a lot better.”

He’s enjoying the weather and excellent facilities at Gloria, as well: “It’s a really good course and a great bonus to have fantastic facilities on-site. You can spend as much time as you want and they’ve got a tremendous short game area, which is going to be quite a big factor this week.”

The field is made up of 72 players, with 41 advancing from a 36-hole First Stage earlier in the week and 31 exempt into Final Stage, which is four rounds. A cut will be made after 54 holes, so only players within eight shots of the final qualifying spot (5^th) will play in the final round. The top five after 72 holes will secure their playing rights for this year on the Legends Tour. A sudden death play-off will take place to determine the final qualifiers if there is a tie around the bubble.

Alan McLean

There was a four-way tie at the top of First Stage, with South Africa’s Gregg Upton, Canada’s Alan McLean and Englishmen Roderick Bastard and Chris Gane leading the qualifiers on -1.

McLean is very happy with that result having had some time off in the build-up: “I’m pleased because I finished Champions Tour Q School on December 10^th and haven’t picked up a club since then until I got here and played a practice round. Expectations weren’t high but I’m pleasantly surprised. I hope playing First Stage gives me an advantage (over the players who are exempt to Final Stage). I hadn’t seen the course before and now I’ve played three more rounds and it’s nice to get some rounds and shots under pressure.”

Q School represents a chance for players who didn’t play professionally earlier in their lives to realize their dreams of playing on Tour. Among them is Mark Wharton, who also advanced from First Stage, and he’s hoping to gain his card at the 10^th and final attempt after narrowly missing out previously. “I’m living the dream,” says Wharton, who turned pro at the age of 49. “I turned pro to give it a shot. Turning pro 10 years ago was a new thing for me, it was like the next chapter to finish my golfing career off, and I’ve loved it. It would be great to be in the mix again this week.”

There are three courses at Gloria GC and Q School will be played on the New Course, which is a par 72 that measures 6,846 yards. It’s a layout that’s designed for drama with water coming into play on nearly half the holes and two par-5s in the final three, including the 497-yard 18^th with water all the way up the left.

A couple of last year’s Q School graduates enjoyed plenty of success on the Legends Tour in 2023. Greig Hutcheon had two runners-up finishes and two other top-10s as he finished 8^th on the MCB Road to Mauritius and narrowly missed out on being the Barry Lane Rookie of the Year, and Keith Horne lost in a play-off at the season-opening Riegler and Parter Legends before adding four more top-10s on his way to 12^th on the Order of Merit. There’s every reason for the top five this week to think they can kick on and have a successful season.

The tournament is played from Friday 19^th- Monday 22^nd January, 2024. Visit www.legendstour.com HERE to see the full list of tee times, keep up to date with the leaderboard and find out more about Legends Tour Q School at Gloria Golf Club, Belek, Turkey.

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)

PGA Tour : TEE TIMES the American Express... 5 Canadians

 PGA Tour : The American Express   Tee Times

Adam Hadwin and Taylor Pendrith find themselves paired together in the opening round of the 2024 American Express in the California desert at La Quinta where for so many years Bob Hope staged his Pro-Am where Arnie Palmer won 5 times with Presidents etal as partners.

• Leaderboard

Three courses La Quinta, Pete Dye Stadium and Nicklaus Tournament course is a wide open resort driven event usually won at -30 or so.

There are no BIG headliners.. rather a collection of  pros from PGA Tour // DP World Tours in a 4 day celebrity Pro-am with after round sponsored parties with the rewards of a PGA TOUR win.

Canadians

1152 10th  Ben Silverman, Jake Knapp

1258 10th  Adam Hadwin , Taylor Pendrith

1310   1st    Nick Taylor, Matt Kuchar

142     1st  Roger Sloan, Scott Gutschewski

1214  1st  Scottie Scheffler , Patrick Cantlay is the feature pairing,,

Bryan Angus 

Adrian Meronk wins 2023 Seve Ballesteros Award

 Adrian Meronk has won the 2023 Seve Ballesteros Award after being voted Player of the Year by his peers on the DP World Tour.

The accolade is one of a number of the 31-year-old’s history-making achievements as he becomes the first player from Poland to receive the honour after a season in which he won three times and finished a career-high fourth on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex.

Meronk earned 38% of the votes cast by his fellow DP World Tour members, with Race to Dubai Champion Rory McIlroy taking second place. Ryder Cup debutant Nicolai Højgaard and Viktor Hovland, who clinched the PGA TOUR’s FedEx Cup, were in joint third place.

Meronk was presented with the trophy by one of Seve’s sons Javier, who travelled to Dubai ahead of this week’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic, won by his father more than 30 years ago.

The Pole started the 2023 season in stunning fashion, earning his second DP World Tour title at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open, holding off a final day challenge from home favourite – and one of his golfing heroes - Major champion Adam Scott.

His victory in Australia earned him a place inside the Top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking at the end of the 2022 calendar year, enough to secure a maiden appearance at the Masters Tournament and thus become the first player from Poland to compete in all four Major Championships.

Another national open title followed shortly after as he triumphed at the DS Automobiles Italian Open, birdieing the 72nd hole at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club to win the title by one stroke. He then moved to a career-high 45th on the OWGR shortly after his win in Italy.

His next victory of the campaign, and fourth DP World Tour title, came at the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters at Sotogrande, as he secured his position inside the top ten on the season-long rankings, ultimately going on to finish in fourth position and earn dual membership on the PGA TOUR for 2024.

The Player of the Year Award, named after the legendary Seve Ballesteros, incorporates the former Golfer of the Year Award after the two accolades were combined in 2021 to become one single honour voted for by the DP World Tour’s members.

Meronk, said: "It feels amazing. I'm shocked to be honest, I didn't expect that. You got me by surprise but seeing my name next to all of these players, it's unbelievable. I'm very grateful for this award. It means a lot to me that other players appreciate my season last year. It's a great feeling.

"Last year was the best season so far in my career. I'm really happy that other players saw that, as well and give that award. Just thank you for that and I have to keep going.

"I enjoy this week. I love playing here in Dubai. It's probably one of my favourite tournaments of the year. So I'm excited to be here. We have such a great field this week, so I will just enjoy every moment."

"It's actually very nice to be here," added Ballesteros. "I used to come here with my dad many years ago, and to have an award with his name that the players vote for the Player of the Year, we are very grateful and very happy that there's a prize with his name."

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)

McIlroy, Fleetwood headliners, Cockerill debuts, Hero Dubai Desert Classic TEE TIMES

 DP World Tour : Hero Dubai Desert Classic Tee Times

It's the first of the five DP World Tour Rolex Series with a purse of $9,000,000 the second week in the UAE in Dubai this time at the Emirates GC, the Dubai Desert Classic is celebrating it's 35th anniversary.

Last week was a new limited field Invitational pro-am where Tommy Fleetwood, now a Dubai resident with his own golf academy edged Thirston Lawrence and Rory who are all back this week in the first full field event.

Rory the defending champion is looking for a record 4th win at this event. 

Good news for Canadian Aaron Cockerill who was the 5th alternative and has been given a spot in this classy event, he begins 2024 ranked 42nd in the Race to Dubai with owgr 286.

Winnipeg weather -20*c (wc -26) blowing snow .....Dubai weather 27*c, sunny

1230 10th Aaron Cockerill, Paul Waring, Bernd Wiesberger

Imagine Aaron flying out of winters record breaking cold, windy western Canada's grip to the warm opulence of the Emirates GC...a dip in the pool has replaced a skate on the frozen lake !!

Bryan Angus

Murray wins Sony in a playoff.. good week for Canadians... final results/ prize money

 PGA Tour : Sony Open Leaderboard  Results

As usual in playoffs there is triumph and tragedy, this time at the Sony Open Grayson Murray holed a 40 footer on the par 5 18th to beat Ben An who missed from 4 feet and 54 hole leader Keegan Bradley who missed a 17 footer.

Murray's battle with the bottle is being well documented, stints with shrinks and Betty Ford to battle his lack of self esteem after winning early as a 22 year old when he thought he was invincible came to a head when he crashed his motor scooter into on coming traffic at the Mexico Open last April, after 50 stitches in his face, his helmet saved his life. 

He says he has been sober since, and obviously playing like he did as one of America's best juniors before turning pro. his winning score was 69 63 64 67 -17. It's his 2nd win, his first since 2017 worth $1,494,000 and 500 points.

It was a good week for the Canadians.

Nick Taylor T7 69 67 65 65 -14

Taylor Pendrith T10  69 67 66 65 -13

Ben Silverman T18 67 68 64 70 -11

Adam Svensson T30  71 67 64 69 -9

Corey Conners T57  70 68 66 70 -6

Adam Hadwin MC  67 72 -1

This week the seniors take over Hawaii with their Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai where Stephen Ames and Mike Weir are in the field. 

The PGA Tour has flown to La Quinta, California for the old Bob Hope, now called the American Express played on 3 courses La Quinta Country, Pete Dye Stadium course and Nicklaus Tournament course 

Adam Hadwin who shot 59 there in 2017, bogey free, 13 birdies to finish 2nd, usually plays well at this venue. He's joined by Ben Silverman, Nick Taylor, Taylor Pendrith and Roger Sloan. 

Bryan Angus