Clarke Decides on Celtic Manor

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Darren Clarke is among the late entries for the ISPS Handa Wales Open at Celtic Manor next week. 

Clarke, who won his first Major Championship at Royal St George’s in 2011, tees up in Wales alongside a host of other Ryder Cup stars including Miguel Angel Jiménez, Francesco Molinari, Ross Fisher and José Maria Olazabal. 

The popular Northern Irishman was a vice-captain to Colin Montgomerie in Europe’s thrilling Ryder Cup victory at Celtic Manor in 2010 after making five appearances in the contest as a player. The first man after Tiger Woods to win two World Golf Championship events, Clarke has claimed 14 European Tour titles in all, and was also a vice-captain to José María Olazábal in The 2012 Ryder Cup.

Other European Tour champions entered for the ISPS Handa Wales Open from August 29-September 1 include Denmark’s Thomas Björn and Thorbjørn Olesen, Spanish quartet Alvaro Quiros, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño, Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Pablo Larrazábal, Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher and Englishmen Chris Wood, David Howell and Simon Dyson. 

Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee defends the ISPS Handa Wales Open title he won in testing conditions last year to claim his first victory on European soil. Also part of a truly international field are Finland’s Mikko Ilonen, Australian Brett Rumford, Austrian Bernd Weisberger, Frenchman Raphaël Jacquelin, Dutchman Joost Luiten, American Peter Uihlein and South Africa’s Darren Fichardt. 

The tournament marks the start of the points race for qualification for The 2014 Ryder Cup at The Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland, and European Captain Paul McGinley, himself a former champion at Celtic Manor, will be keeping a close eye on all the hopefuls teeing off their campaigns. 

Celtic Manor Resort Chief Executive Dylan Matthews said: “It’s always a real pleasure to welcome back so many star players of The European Tour. 

“The ISPS Handa Wales Open has grown into one of the premier events on The European Tour International Schedule and is also a highlight of the Welsh sporting summer. 

“This tournament is a fantastic opportunity for golf fans to see some of the world’s best players up close and enjoy a great value family day out.” 

With a prize fund of £1.8m, the ISPS Handa Wales Open is now in its 14th consecutive year at Celtic Manor.

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Gleneagle Eye for McGinley

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Paul McGinley will be keeping a close eye on both the course and the players who perform well on it this week, as the European Tour visits Gleneagles for the last time before next year's Ryder Cup.

European captain McGinley will play in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles this week, with his two opening rounds alongside Shane Lowry and Danny Willett - who will both be keen to make an impression.

McGinley has an unenviable task in some ways as he tries to follow the amazing events of both Celtic Manor and Medinah and retain Europe's stranglehold on the tournament.

Part of the process for McGinley is studying how to set the course up, as home captain, and also on how certain players play on the track, so it will be a big week for him in Scotland as he will have plenty of information to collect.

McGinley will play the PGA Centenary course himself this week, but will also have a close eye on who performs well on the lay-out as he picks up clues for his possible wild card selections - plenty of whom may just have a quite word with the skipper.

Course form

"I'll be more impressed with how they (players) play than what they say," said McGinley. "But of course I'll be watching.

"I'm a great believer in horses for course and I'm a great believer in history around a gold course and it's no coincidence that some guys play well on a certain golf course and better than others.

"Of course I'll be watching everybody that plays well, like I will have done in terms of who has played well here over the last nine or ten years that we've played here when it comes to making the three picks next year."

McGinley has taken a good few decent looks at the course, but playing it will give him a better appreciation of how he would like it to be set-up ahead of the Ryder Cup.

"I think it's a good learning curve for me to have another round around here," he added.

"The course is improving all the time - the sub air system is in now in the greens so they are starting to get a little bit firmer than they were in the past, so it's a great chance for me to get an idea of course set-up."

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Harrington Joins Grand Slam

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Masters Champion Adam Scott, U.S. Open Champion Justin Rose, PGA Champion Jason Dufner and defending PGA Grand Slam of Golf Champion Padraig Harrington form the elite foursome who will compete in the 31st PGA Grand Slam of Golf, Oct. 14-16, at Port Royal Golf Course in Bermuda.

Scott, Rose and Dufner will make their first appearance in the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, while Harrington is making is fourth visit to the Island. Harrington won last year's event and finished runner-up in 2007 and '08.

Harrington, whose one-stroke triumph in 2012 made him just the second European-born winner in event history, replaces Open Champion Phil Mickelson, who will be unable to compete due to an end-of-season scheduling conflict.

The defending champion of the PGA Grand Slam of Golf receives the initial invitation if a current major champion is unable to compete; then the Major Champions Points list -- which charts the performance throughout the year of active major champions -- is used to complete the field.

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2014 Ryder Cup Charity

The McGinley Foundation, a registered charity launched today by European Ryder Cup Captain Paul McGinley, has been announced as the fourth and final Official Charity of The 2014 Ryder Cup.

The Foundation joins the three Scottish charities announced earlier this year – Friends of St Margaret’s Hospital in Auchterarder, Perth and Kinross Disability Sport, and Scotland’s family charity Quarriers – all of whose fundraising opportunities will benefit from the direct association with one of the world’s most watched sporting occasions.

Speaking at The Gleneagles Hotel, where he will lead Europe’s defence of The Ryder Cup against the United States next September, McGinley said: “I am delighted to officially launch The McGinley Foundation today and there is no more fitting place to be able to do so than here at Gleneagles.

“We are very fortunate, as professional golfers, to enjoy wonderful lives and, therefore, it is vitally important to have the opportunity to give something back to people, in a wide range of circumstances, less fortunate than ourselves.

“The McGinley Foundation allows me to do that through my status as Ryder Cup Captain and I would like to thank Ryder Cup Director Richard Hills and all his staff at Ryder Cup Europe for giving me this opportunity. It is a tremendous honour and a fantastic way to start my Foundation’s charitable work.”

The Irishman also announced four specific charitable causes close to his heart, both on a personal and professional level, which will benefit from the exclusive support of The McGinley Foundation during its term as an Official Charity. These are Amber, CLIC Sargent, The Society of St Vincent de Paul and the Tour Players Foundation.

“These four causes are very important to me for a number of reasons and I am delighted to be able to support them and the vital work they do,” said McGinley.

“I have been aware of the work that Amber does for around 15 years now, and having seen the amazing difference they make to the lives of disadvantaged young people via their residential homes, I wanted to help them in any way I could.

“The same goes for CLIC Sargent who my wife, Ally, and I think it is such a great charity. Indeed Ally is on their Fund Raising Board and we have personal experience of friends who have benefitted the charity and its work. When you see the support they give to children, and the families of those children suffering from cancer, is truly uplifting.

“The Society of St Vincent de Paul, an Irish social injustice charity, is also very well known to me and my family back home in Ireland. They have a group of extremely dedicated volunteers and I look forward to working with them, helping in any way I can to drive this particular charity’s work across the country.

“Finally, as most people are aware, the Tour Players Foundation is the charitable arm of The European Tour that represents its Members via charitable giving. They do a superb job right across the year – a lot of it unrecognised – so I felt it was important for me to acknowledge the good work it does on behalf of the players, 12 of whom, of course, will make up my team right here in a little over a year’s time.”

European Ryder Cup Director Richard Hills said: “Everyone at Ryder Cup Europe is delighted that the McGinley Foundation has completed the set of Official Charities for The 2014 Ryder Cup. We have a strong tradition of working with the host nation and captain and this announcement continues the proud charitable legacy that The Ryder Cup presents.

“Indeed, next month on Sky Sports we will be airing a specially commissioned documentary entitled ‘The Ryder Cup – Beyond The Ropes’ which outlines the comprehensive programme of good work initiated by our charitable endeavours over the years – and it is something that the current captain and team, as well as the captains and teams to come, will continue.”

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Padraig Misses Wyndham Cut

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Padraig Harrington missed the cut at The Wyndham Championship after a second round 74 left him at 7 over at Sedgefield Country Club.

Patrick Reed leads, a PGA TOUR rookie, shot a 6-under 64 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead with an 11-under 129 total. Players are trying to improve their positions in the final event before the FedExCup Playoffs begin next week.

"I don't mind her having all the attention," Reed said. "Less attention for me, which means I can just focus more on my game."

Reed had six birdies in a bogey-free round that was a stroke shy of matching his best of the year.

John Huh had the best round of the day -- a 62 -- to move to 10 under. John Deere winner Jordan Spieth was 9 under after a 66. Spieth also is a PGA TOUR rookie, and Huh is in his second year.

Charlie Wi, Bob Estes, Rory Sabbatini, Brian Harman, Jim Herman and first-round co-leader Ross Fisher were 7 under.

Wi had a 65, Estes, Harman, Herman and Sabbatini shot 66, and Fisher had a 69.

Organizers moved up the third-round tee times Saturday to try to dodge a threat of rain, with players going off in threesomes at the first and 10th tees.

Reed, the 23-year-old former college player at Georgia and Augusta State, had top-10 finishes in his last two tournaments. He could have built an even bigger lead in this one, but missed a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-3 seventh.

He closed his round with birdies on the eighth and ninth holes, sinking a 10-foot putt to applause from the gallery and walking off the green with his arm around Justine's shoulder.

She began caddying for him last summer before a Monday qualifying tournament in Houston. During a humid, 100-degree day in Texas, she had no trouble lugging around a bag full of rain gear, he said.

"I told her to read putts for me that day, and she just has a knack for reading greens extremely well," Reed said. "It's basically like my coach being out there with me. She knows just as much about the golf swing. She knows why I hit it left or right or anything like that, so I mean, if ever I get out of whack, she can fix me immediately."

Reed certainly has a history on Donald Ross-designed courses in North Carolina. He reached the semifinals of the 2008 U.S. Amateur on Ross' No. 2 course at Pinehurst, and the first cut he made on the TOUR came at this Sedgefield Country Club course two years ago after receiving a sponsor's exemption.

"That's why I love this event," Reed said.

Huh, a 23-year-old who was the youngest player on TOUR to win last year, came on strong late with birdies on his final three holes, including an 11-foot birdie putt on the ninth that closed his best round of the year.

Did he see this coming?

"Not 62. It was more like, maybe, 64," he said, laughing. "I drove the ball great since (the) Masters, actually. It's been a long time, but I was able to put everything together and I'm really pleased with it."

A breakout rookie year on TOUR continued for the 20-year-old Spieth, who was 19 last month when he became the youngest winner in eight decades with his victory in the John Deere Classic.

He had a boom-or-bust day at Sedgefield with seven birdies and three bogeys. After starting on the back nine, he birdied four of his final six holes and heard chants of "Spiethy" from the gallery.

"I wish they had said `Spieth' instead of `Spiethy,' but you can't pick your nickname," Spieth said, laughing. "It's great. It's kind of weird, kind of new to have people kind of cheering for me. ... All it does is help carry momentum, positive momentum, and hopefully, I'll have a lot of people be yelling at my back tomorrow."

The field is littered with players trying to either hold on to their FedExCup Playoffs position or force their way into The Barclays in New Jersey next week. The top 125 on the points list qualify for the postseason.

Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey, who arrived at No. 137, moved to 3 under after his 69. Fisher, at No. 162, kept himself in position to challenge for a playoff spot, and so did Herman, No. 149.

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