Showing posts with label Scott Hend. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scott Hend. Show all posts

7/28/2016

McIlroy Unable to Match Walker Pace

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Rory McIlroy lies nine shots off the clubhouse lead after carding a four-over 74 in the first round of the US PGA Championship at Baltusrol.

The Northern Irishman started the final major of 2016 at the 10th hole and had three bogeys in his opening seven holes and no birdies during his round.

Jimmy Walker set the early pace with a five-under 65, while defending champion Jason Day shot 70.

Masters champion Danny Willett is among the late starters in New Jersey.

The Englishman is playing, in line with PGA tradition, with the two other major winners of this year, American Dustin Johnson, who won the US Open, and Open champion Henrik Stenson of Sweden.

McIlroy, the world number four, said before his opening round that the Baltusrol layout gave him a good chance of securing a third US PGA Championship, after winning the title in 2012 and 2014.

Playing alongside Australian Day and American Phil Mickelson, who pushed Stenson close at The Open earlier this month, McIlroy missed two birdie putts in his first two holes.

A duffed chip and miss from six feet led to his first bogey on the 13th and he dropped shots on the 14th and 16th after hitting his ball into greenside bunkers on both holes.

McIlroy missed a five-foot chance for birdie on the par-five 17th and a wild drive on the 18th, the only other par-five hole on the course, led to a par.

Day, who had only one practice round after catching a bug off his son and then spending Tuesday night in hospital after his wife suffered an allergic reaction, had three birdies and a bogey in his two-under round.

Mickelson, who briefly joined McIlroy at four over, battled back to one over with three birdies in five holes.


7/26/2016

Harrington Happy About Rio


Padraig Harrington is thrilled to be going and dreams of gold.

“I’m really looking forward to Rio. My whole family are going,” the 44-year-old Irishman said after a long session on the practice putting green on a sizzling hot and stormy Baltusrol, where the PGA Championship begins on Thursday.

“We’re busy getting our tickets organized for the second week that we’re there. It’s a big deal for us.”

Harrington, winner of the 2008 PGA Championship and two British Open titles (2007, 2008), accepted the honor of playing for Ireland after the withdrawals of four-times major champion Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell citing concerns over the Zika virus.

Later Shane Lowery also withdrew over Zika worries, opening the door for 297th-ranked Seamus Power to join Harrington in the 60-man Rio field as golf returns to the Olympic programme after an absence of 112 years.

World number one Jason Day of Australia, the defending PGA champion, and Americans Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth, ranked second and third, respectively, also bowed out from Rio consideration due to health concerns.

The mosquito-borne Zika virus, which the World Health Organization says is spreading rapidly in the Americas, can cause crippling defects in babies and has been linked to the neurological disorder Guillain-Barre in adults.

“I’m going down there to try and win. No doubt about it, I believe I can win,” said Harrington, who has slipped to 150th in the world rankings.

Harrington, like others who played at the Open at Royal Troon, are returning for the season’s final major with just one tournament week in between them in a tour season condensed to make room for the Olympic tournament.

Some players, including world number eight Adam Scott of Australia and South Africa’s world number 15 Louis Oosthuizen, said they opted out of the Rio Games for scheduling reasons.

Harrington said he had planned to play two majors and the Olympics this summer. “I wanted to do my preparation for all three and if I played well in one of those three would have a good chance of winning,” he said.

“It didn’t happen at the (British) Open. I’ve won three majors and I’m happy to take either,” he said about this week’s PGA or next month’s Summer Olympics.

“I could understand if you haven’t won a major, making that more of a priority. But I think an Olympic gold would add a lot to my career.”

2/21/2015

Things Go Better for Lawrie

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Peter Lawrie continued his steady start to the Hero Indian Open as he carded a one under par 70 in his second round at Delhi Golf Club.

As in his opening round, Dubliner Lawrie started day two by picking up a shot on the first, before making par on the next 10 holes and a birdie on the 14th.

However a dropped shot on the 14th followed by a birdie miss on the 18th, that left him at three under for the tournament and tied for ninth place.

Lawrie is seven shots off the lead of SSP Chawrasia, who along with fellow course specialists Siddikur Rahman demonstrated the advantage of local knowledge to set the pace at the halfway stage of the tournament.

Chawrasia has won twice at Delhi Golf Club, including his maiden European Tour title in 2008, and has yet to card a single bogey this week after rounds of 65 and 67.

That gave the 36-year-old a halfway total of 10 under par, one shot ahead of Bangladesh’s Rahman, who won the event in 2013 before it became co-sanctioned and is a collective 115 under for his last 46 rounds at the venue.

Chawrasia said: “I’m playing very well the last two days. I’ve played here many times so I know how to play on this course; this is the first time I’m bogey-free after 36 holes.

“I feel good and aggressive — I will do the same on the last two days. I’m very happy because I saved a lot of pars; it wasn’t easy to keep the bogeys away from my card, I had to make a lot of saves.

“It is tough when the wind changes direction but I know how to handle it here. I played well through the 2014 season and I started well this year as well, so I’m feeling very confident. I’m very excited for the next two days.”

World number 267 Rahman, who has only finished outside the top 10 once in 11 events on the tight, tree-lined course, carded six birdies, one bogey and one double bogey in his 68.

He said: “I was a little bit disappointed with my double bogey because I had a good number of birdies. I really enjoy playing here and I want to keep the same rhythm in the next two rounds. You will definitely have some pressure but I always try my best to avoid it.”

Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren and Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat had shared the overnight lead with Chawrasia and Rahman but could only manage matching rounds of 71 to lie four shots off the pace on six under.

England’s Richard McEvoy birdied four of his last five holes to card a 67 and finish five under alongside American Paul Peterson, who had five birdies and two bogeys in a 68.

A hole-in-one on the fifth, for which he won a motorcycle, helped Prayad Marksaeng return a round of 70 and finish on four under alongside home favourite Anirban Lahiri.

Lahiri was four over par after a quadruple-bogey eight on his 10th hole on Thursday, but battled back to shoot 73 and surged back into contention with a 65 on Friday.

The world number 39, who won the Malaysian Open a fortnight ago, carded nine birdies and three bogeys, while playing partner Miguel Angel Jimenez had to settle for a 71 to remain one under after an erratic round containing six birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey.


10/19/2014

Hong Kong Third for Deise Phelan

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Kevin Phelan hit three birdies in a row from the 16th to the 18th on the final day of the Hong Kong Open to finish on 11 under - two shots behind Hend and Que - to secure third place.

Australian Scott Hend edged Angelo Que in a play-off to clinch his maiden European Tour title with a par on the first extra hole enough to steer the 41-year-old past the Filipino, who missed the green on the 18th and then over-hit his chip.

Que's fourth-round 66 forced the play-off after an intense back-nine battle, which ended with his birdie on the 18th tying things up with Hend at 13 under par.

But the 35-year-old will be left lamenting the fact that his three bogeys on the day - to Hend's two - and a costly second-round 69 ultimately cost him victory.

Aged 41, Hend is the oldest first-time European Tour title winner since Cesar Monasterio, who was 42 when he won the 2006 As St Omer Open.

He was understandably thrilled to secure victory, but he felt bad for Que after his bogey sealed the play-off.

"I felt quite calm, the only thing is that hole at the end you never want to have a go at the pin because you can make a bogey quite easily so I wasn't really sure how to play it," Hend told the European Tour website.

"Unfortunately Angelo made a bogey, I would have rather one of us made a birdie because he's a great guy and it would be nice to earn the win on a positive note. But I'll take the win and I'm ecstatic."

Overnight leader Marcus Fraser's double bogey on the opening hole blew the title race open and he struggled to get back in the mix with back-to-back bogeys on the 14th and 15th holes.

Englishman Mark Foster's double-bogey on the ninth dented his progress and he finished one shot behind Phelan, while Fraser ended up in a four-strong cluster four shots off the pace after a disappointing final round of 72.