9/13/2013

Murphy Revives QS Hopes

Mark Murphy shot a superb three-under-par 69 to propel himself into contention for a place in the second stage of European Tour qualifying at the Roxburghe in Scotland.

The Kerryman shares 14th place with a 54-hole aggregate of 217, one-over-par, and with only the top 17 and ties progressing to the second round in Spain next month, Murphy will need to shoot another solid round today if he is to make the grade.

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Murphy's third-round score of 69 was seven strokes better than his opening-day 76, with the 33-year-old bagging four birdies along the way.

The Island's Paul Rawluk is also right in the mix as he too sits tied 14th after a level-par 72.

Rawluk had an eventful round, carding an eagle at the long par-five seventh hole where he knocked in a monster of a putt, as well as two birdies and four bogeys.

Cork's Peter O'Keeffe's chances of progressing were dealt a huge blow after he dropped from eighth to tied 29th after a disastrous 78.

Ballinasloe's Mark Staunton and Killarney's Daniel Sugrue shot rounds of 74 and 71 respectively, and are tied 47th and 51st place.

Sweden's Philip Eriksson and England's Jamie Moul share the lead on seven-under.


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9/12/2013

McGrane Flies High at KLM

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Damien McGrane is in command at the KLM Open at Kennemer Golf Club in Zandvoort.

He shares the lead with England's David Howell, Spain's Pablo Larrazabal and Paraguay's Fabrizio Zanotti. He shot an opening round of 65

Nicolas Colsaerts suffered a rollercoaster opening round as he returned to action following a four-week break in the KLM Open at Kennemer Golf Club in Zandvoort.

Belgian Colsaerts was hoping the combination of time off and a 'home' tournament in Holland could kickstart his bid for a second Ryder Cup appearance following his debut in last year's 'Miracle at Medinah'.

The 30-year-old was born in Brusselsbut has been playing in the KLM Open - also known as the Dutch Open - since he was a teenager and the course is just two and a half hours' drive from his home in Rixensart.

However, after recovering from three bogeys in his first seven holes to get back to level par, Colsaerts ran up a triple-bogey seven on his final hole to card a disappointing 73 and lie eight shots off the clubhouse lead shared by Ireland's Damien McGrane, England's David Howell, Spain's Pablo Larrazabal and Paraguay's Fabrizio Zanotti.

Starting from the 10th, Colsaerts bogeyed his opening hole and also dropped shots at the 14th and 16th to be out in 37 on the par-70 composite layout, but bounced back with birdies at the third, fourth and sixth.

All the good work was undone on the ninth however, where he was forced to hack out onto the fairway after a wayward drive and then took a penalty drop when his approach to the green found an unplayable lie in heavy rough.

At the other end of the leaderboard, McGrane had covered the front nine in 33 and reached six under thanks to an eagle on the par-five 12th and birdie on the 15th, but bogeyed the 17th when he three-putted from just short of the green.

In contrast former world number six Howell was inches away from winning aBMW for a hole-in-one on the 17th, the tap-in birdie his fifth of the day in a flawless 65.

Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley carded a two-under-par 68 to finish alongside Irish Open winner Paul Casey, while home favourite Joost Luiten was a shot behind after a 69 and BMW PGA Championship winner Matteo Manassero carded a 70.


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Clarke Rejoins PGA Tour

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Darren Clarke is set to rejoin the PGA Tour for next season.

Clarke will make use of a five-year exemption for winning the 2011 British Open and will be committed to playing a minimum of 15 PGA Tour events.

The restructured season starts in a month's time and will be split over two calendar years ending with the Tour Championship each September.

Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano of Spain and Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark also will join based on having enough money or FedExCup points equal to the top 125. 

Meanwhile, former Masters champion Mike Weir, Stephen Ames, Fred Funk and Mark Calcavecchia are using their one-time exemption from being in the top 50 in career money. 

Robert Allenby and Scott Verplank are using one-time exemptions from the top 25 in career money. 

Vijay Singh and Davis Love III will be exempt as life members – both have at least 20 PGA Tour wins in their careers.
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9/11/2013

Tiger and Rory on Mission

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Tiger Woods will take on Rory McIlroy in an 18-hole match-play exhibition in China next month.

The event will be held at Mission Hills' Blackstone Course on October 28 in Haikou, China.

In the first iteration of a McIlroy-Woods match in China last October, the Northern Irishman bested Tiger by a shot with a 67. They were No. 1 and No. 2 in the world at the time. Woods also received a reported $2 million appearance fee, while McIlroy earned $1 million. Details for this year were not released.

The rest of Woods' 2013 schedule includes playing this week's BMW Championship and next week's Tour Championship on the PGA Tour, then taking a week off before playing for the U.S. team in the Presidents Cup Oct. 3-6.

He's also slated to tee it up at the Turkish Airlines Open from Nov. 7-10 on the European Tour as well as the event he hosts, the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge, Dec. 5-8 in Thousand Oaks, California.

As for McIlroy, he's also playing this week outside Chicago and will play next week at East Lake if he gets inside the top 30 on the FedEx Cup points list. After that, he's expected to play in the WGC-HSBC Champions, which is an official PGA Tour event this year, from Oct. 31-Nov. 3 and then alongside Woods in Turkey.

McIlroy, who is currently 53rd in the European Tour's Race to Dubai standings, also plans to play in that tour's season-ending event, the DP World Tour Championship, if he can remain inside the top 60 in the standings.


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Harrington Makes KLM Return

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Padraig Harrington will try to find the "intensity" which has been missing from his game all season as he competes in the KLM Open for the first time in more than a decade.

The Dubliner has recorded just two top-10 finishes on the European Tour this season - in January and March - and failed to finish in the top 125 on the US Tour to qualify for the lucrative FedEx Cup play-offs.

The three-time major winner has therefore turned his attention back to Europe and after finishing 41st in Switzerland last week, where he failed to build on a second-round 65, the 42-year-old is hoping to challenge for a first victory on a major worldwide tour since his 2008 US PGA triumph.

"Obviously I missed out on the FedEx Cup events and at this time of the year you are looking to play golf and try to find some good form," Harrington told European Tour Radio at Kennemer Golf and Country Club in Zandvoort. "It's nice to come to two really nice events this week and last week and being not far from home it really does feel nice.

"Everyone will feel comfortable on this course but certainly it will play into my strengths and I am definitely looking forward to a competitive week.

"It's very linksy tee to green and it's quite windy and cold as well. The golf course will play well in this weather; if it was a big parkland course it would be miserable, but every shot can be hit in the wind out here. No matter how windy it gets this course will play well.

"There's been nothing wrong with my game all year expect when I go on the course with a card in my hand. I play quite well Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and I don't seem to have the intensity on the tournament days.

"It's there, it's just figuring how to best get it out of me. That's part of the game at the moment, trying to figure out the right attitude and the right level of intensity to get the best out of my game.

"Whenever I've played my best golf in the past, I've generally felt quite fearful about the state of my game. I tended to get quite tense and focused and as a result I played much better, but because there's no fear at the moment, I'm not bringing much of a spark out onto the course.

"It's just something I'm going to have to manage to figure out, but I'm definitely working at it; I never stop working at this game."

Holland's Joost Luiten will carry the majority of home hopes as he looks to build on a superb season which saw him win the Lyoness Open in Austria and record five other top-10 finishes to lie 23rd on the Race to Dubai.

"I haven't played Zandvoort for three years but I like it and have good memories here," Luiten said. "I was second in 2007 so if I take my form to the course in know I can do well.

"It's a great old-fashioned golf course and is going to be in great condition. Hopefully the weather is going to help us a bit but the golf course itself is brilliant.

"It plays linksy but you can still fly it into the greens. You have to play for position a lot of the time, it's not driver everywhere, you have to be smart and hit the fairways. If you miss the fairways you are going to be in trouble."




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