11/29/2013

Irish Trio Make Dunhill Cut

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Kevin Phelan, Damien McGrane and Gareth Maybin made the cut at the Alfred Dunhill Championship  at Leopard Creek on Friday, with Peter Lawrie, Michael Hoey and Simon Thornton out of the weekend mix.

The European Tour Rookie, Phelan, signed for a second round 74 to share 49th place with a number of others, including McGrane who went around in two strokes less on Friday. 

Maybin was also amongst the 49th place ties after a round of 75.

Charl Schwartzel and Morten Ørum Madsen are set to go head-to-head again this weekend at the Alfred Dunhill Championship.

Madsen claimed his maiden European Tour title at last week’s season-opening South African Open Championship, playing alongside former Masters Tournament champion Schwartzel in the final group on Sunday.

And the pair will tee off last at Leopard Creek Country Club on Saturday after both reached eight under par.

Schwartzel claimed this title for a second time by a whopping 12 shots last year, and despite sharing the lead the 29 year old was not entirely satisfied with a second straight 68.

“Last year was quite a high standard, but I must say the course is playing more difficult,” said Schwartzel after his bogey-free round.

“Towards the end I hit the ball a little bit better, but in the beginning I wasn’t very comfortable with the whole thing.

“You just adapt a little bit and hit slightly different lines. They’re not necessarily going to give you birdies, but they also keep the bogeys off the card. If I can feel a bit more comfortable then I’ll hit more aggressive lines then I might make a few more birdies.


“It’s just one of those courses where the targets I look at are all in the right places,” he said, “and also, I’ve got comfortable on these greens.”

Overnight leader Madsen had a rollercoaster round, the Dane taking a double-bogey seven on the 13th but bouncing back with three birdies in the next five holes and an eagle at the par five second from 15 feet.

However, he then dropped shots at the next two holes and double-bogeyed the fifth before birdies at the sixth and eighth completed a 71 to lie eight under par.

“I’ve got a bunch of confidence right now,” he said. “I really believe that I’m going to hit good shots on pretty much every shot. I’ve heard it’s tough to come out the week after you’ve won and play well. I felt pretty good building up to this week and I just wanted to go out there and put some solid shots together.

“I wasn’t expecting to go out and shoot 65 today. I knew I was playing well, so I wanted to put a decent round together. I won last week and I’m over the moon happy, so everything that happens this week is icing on the cake. I’m just trying to enjoy the ride.”

Two players who made plenty of birdies were former Ryder Cup pair Ross Fisher and Søren Hansen, who share third on seven under par. 

England’s Fisher carded a joint best-of-the-day seven under par 65 in the morning session, while Dane Hansen’s identical score came in the afternoon.


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Irish Struggle at Leopard Creek


Kevin Phelan made a strong to a new professional career securing a score the right side of the projected cut in his opening round of two-under-par 70 at the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa. On Friday he is sailing closer to the edge and remains level overall after eleven playing holes and +2 for the day. 

Former Walker Cup player Phelan made birdies on the second and fifth holes of his first round, but had back-to-back bogeys on the sixth and seventh. Another bogey on the 11th put him one over for his round, but Phelan stormed home with birdies on the 13th, 16th and final hole to lie in share of 15th position in the clubhouse.

Gareth Maybin is one shot ahead on three under after he carded a 69 that included five birdies and a double-bogey at the 11th. 

Four days after winning his maiden European Tour title in the South African Open, Madsen carded a seven-under-par 65 at Leopard Creek to finish one ahead of local favourite Allan Versfeld and Portugal’s Ricardo Santos.

Madsen carded eight birdies and one bogey as he continued his remarkable start to only his second full season on Tour, having finished 81st in last season’s Race to Dubai.

Versfeld returned a flawless 66 thanks to an eagle and four birdies, while Santos did likewise and finished in style with his eagle coming on the par-five 18th.

Defending champion Charl Schwartzel was two shots further back on four under alongside England’s Richard Finch, Scotland’s David Drysdale and France’s Victor Riu.

Schwartzel was five under for his first six holes and annoyed at not capitalising on such a blistering start, declined to speak to reporters afterwards. The former Masters champion triumphed by 12 shots last year, just a week after winning the Thailand Open by 11 strokes.

“Today it seemed easy but it definitely wasn’t, it was pretty tough out there and the course was playing long with the wind,” said leader Madsen after his round.

“I played really solidly, I gave myself a lot of looks at birdie and a lot of shorter ones which was nice.

“I wasn’t expecting to shoot 65 today, I knew I was playing well but I won last week so everything that happens this week or next week is going to be icing on the cake. I am just trying to enjoy the ride.”

Damien McGrane suffered a costly finish to his round, a triple-bogey seven on the ninth, his final hole, meaning he had to settle for a level-par 72.

Peter Lawrie also carded a 72.

Michael Hoey signed for a 76 and Simon Thornton a 79.


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McIlroy Fires 65 in Sydney

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Rory McIlroy started a fight back at the Emirates Australian Open as the weather took a turn for the worst and the golf heated up at Royal Sydney Golf Club.

Starting the day seven shots off leader Adam Scott, Rory McIlroy opened with a birdie to set the tone for his day.

“When you see someone like that at the top of the leaderboard already with a low score, it's tough not to think about it,” said McIlroy of Scott.

“It's tough not to sort of press the issue and try and make birdies to catch up with them right away but golf tournaments are long, they're four days, 72 holes and there's a lot of time to chip away at those leads.”

McIlroy fired a 7-under par 65 to tie Scott’s lead with the Masters champion playing in the afternoon field.

“I feel like I'm playing well. I'm hitting the ball well off the tee and giving myself plenty of chances. It was good to see a few more putts go in today,” added McIlroy.

“As I've said for the last few weeks, the game is feeling much better and I'm much more comfortable with it.”

Also firing a 7-under 65 to jump up the leaderboard was Leigh McKechnie who after the morning field of the second round was tied sixth on 6-under the card.

Richard Green enjoyed his round at Royal Sydney which was highlighted by a hole in one on the par-3 6th hole.

“That shot on the par 3 sixth today was a flush golf shot. It's nice to build a bit of confidence from hitting good shots again,” said Green who achieved the feat using an 8-iron.

“I love coming to Royal Sydney. It's my favourite course up here. I've done well here before. It fits my game, how far I hit the golf ball at least.”

Green followed up his ace with two consecutive birdies to finish at 6-under 66 in the second round and move up the leaderboard to be outright third on 9-under the card.

“It was a very nice day. I've been struggling a little bit of late with my game and changed a few things, changed my clubs, changed my driver; just about everything this week and it's just started to show some good signs again,” added Green.

“I haven't hit shots like I have the last two days for a long time, probably about three years.”

Amateur Ryan Ruffles had an impressive 5-under 67 to counteract his 5-over the card first round. While still early in the second round he looks to have done enough to have secured him a start on the weekend.

It was a tough day on course for defending champion Peter Senior. With two double bogeys, a further five bogeys and no birdies Senior finished the day 9-over the card and 11-over for the 2013 Emirates Australian Open.

Adam Scott though continued his command of the Australian summer of golf taking a two shot lead over McIlroy into the third round of the Emirates Australian Open.

Playing in challenging weather condition, Scott followed up his course record first round with a 2-under 70 at Royal Sydney.

“It was a tough afternoon. There was plenty of good stuff in there but I made a few mistakes in the tricky conditions,” said Scott.

“It was going to be a day where you just have to hang on. It was at times really difficult and I think I held it together pretty well.”

The dream run continues for the PGA Tour of Australasia with Adam Scott and Rory McIlory paired together for the third round.


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