8/23/2012

More Rules Trouble for Hoey


Michael Hoey has fallen foul of the rules for the second tournament running during his opening round at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles.

Hoey disqualified himself at the USPGA Championship when he realised he should have replaced sand over his ball.

This time he received a two-stroke penalty because, taking relief from ground under repair, he placed his ball instead of dropping it first.

Hoey lies one under after a 71, with Ballyclare's Gareth Maybin two under.

The Belfast player was penalised at the 17th hole when preferred lies were in operation.

"I hope that's it for life," said Hoey after completing his round on Thursday.

"It was not stupidity, I was just getting ahead of myself,"

The former British amateur champion understandably did not want to take too long as he also recently received a £2,000 fine in America for slow play.

"I'm having a nightmare. Lots of money, lots of shots," he added.

Maybin's impressive opening two-under-par 70 included four birdies and two bogeys and he lies two shots behind clubhouse leader Thorbjorn Olesen.

Hoey led the field on three under at one stage during his round, but fell back to finish on one under.

Hoey posted five birdies and two bogeys in his round, plus that double bogey at the par-five 17th.

Dungannon's Darren Clarke, plus Peter Lawrie, Paul McGinley and Simon Thornton are among the later starters.

Ryder Cup hopeful, Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts, ended his opening 18 holes on three under.


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Harrington Blasts 64 at Bethpage


Padraig Harrington is finding the back nine at the Bethpage State Park Black Course to his liking and finished the opening in 64 strokes – undoubtedly giving team Europe Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal a headache. 

Harrington, the 2005 winner of The Barclays, had six birdies in his first eight holes on the back nine as he played the closing 18th hole and signed his card with a 7 under for the tournament. 

Nick Watney, who is also in the club house, is 6 under. 

Pat Perez is currently the clubhouse leader after shooting a 5-under 66. Rookie Gary Christian also is 5 under through his first 11 holes. 

George McNeill and K.J. Choi each shot 4-under 67s. 

Playing partners Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods are also in good shape. Woods is 3 under and McIlroy is 2 under with four holes left to play. 

Phil MIckelson is 3 under with one hole left in his first round. 

Near the bottom of the leaderboard is Graeme McDowell, who is 4 over through 16 holes, and Marc Leishman, who is 6 over through 15 holes. Both players started the FedExCup Playoffs inside the top 30 in points.




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McIlroy to Defend Shanghai Masters


Organisers have confirmed that top-ranked Rory McIlroy will defend his Shanghai Masters title later this year in China.

The $7 million event has been added to this year's European Tour schedule after McIlroy won it last year from a field of 21 players.

This year's tournament, the richest in the history of the European Tour, will be held from Oct. 25-28 and again be staged at the Lake Malaren Golf Club in Shanghai.

McIlroy says "I cannot wait to get back to Shanghai. The fact that I can tee up there again as a reigning major winner means a lot to me."

The field of 78 players will be drawn mostly from the top 100 in the world rankings.

Four players will receive an invitation from organizers while invitees from the Chinese Golf Association and BMW will fill 14 of the positions.


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