Richie Ramsay wins his first Professional event.

Three years after becoming the first Scot to win the US Amateur Championship in 108 years, Richie Ramsay now has his first European Tour title.

The 25 year old from Aberdeen won the South African Open Championship at Pearl Valley Golf Estates, coming from five behind with a best of the day 65 and then beating Indian Shiv Kapur with a birdie on the first play-off hole.

"There's no greater feeling than winning and I'm just a flood of emotions - I'm holding back the tears," said Ramsay after receiving the second oldest trophy in golf.

The pair tied on the 13 under par mark of 275 but the former Walker Cup player grabbed the first prize - and a European Tour exemption that runs until the end of 2011 - when he was on the green in two at the 601 yard 18th and two putted.

"Things just went for me," he added. "But I am a lot more positive now - I go out believing and thinking I can win."

Ramsay did not drop a shot all day, going to the turn in 33 and then grabbing more birdies on the tenth, 12th, 15th and 17th.

Denmark's Anders Hansen, Swede Fredrik Andersson Hed and Italian Edoardo Molinari all could have joined the play-off with a closing eagle but failed.

Hansen's birdie left him third, while the other two parred to be joint fourth - and that was good enough for Molinari to climb into the world's top 50 just in time to join his brother Francesco in the Masters Tournament at Augusta in April.

Overnight leader Pablo Martin, winner of last week's Alfred Dunhill Championship, dropped to sixth with a 73.

Ramsay went into the event ranked 240th in the world and the victory will take him just inside the top 120.

Damien McGrane was the best of the Irish finishing in joint 21st on 5 under par with a closing 71.Michael Hoey who had three 70s in a row fell back into a tie for 35th with a closing 76.He was joined on 2 under par by Gareth Maybin who closed with a 71.
Gary Murphy finished in a share of 43rd on -1 after a closing par of 72.

Shane Lowry who opened with a 78 nearly made the cut with a 10 shot improvment to a 68.His +2 finish was one shot too many to make the weekend.

Pablo Martin wins 1st European Tour event of 2010.

Spaniard Pablo Martin created more European Tour history by winning the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa.

Two years after becoming the first amateur to win on The European Tour, the 23 year old is now the only one to capture titles both as an amateur and a professional.

Martin, ranked 488th in the world at the start of the tournament, was in the depths of despair about his game after missing the first seven cuts of this year. He now ends 2009 on a real high after beating home hope and former winner Charl Schwartzel by a single stroke in a tense finish.

It was only on the final day of last season that Martin made sure of keeping his European Tour card, but he is now exempt until the end of 2012 - and €158,500 richer.

The Malaga golfer had had only one top ten finish since his triumph at the Estoril Open de Portugal, but with a closing three under par 69 he held off the charging Schwartzel to win with a 17 under total.

"It's an unbelievable feeling," he said. "I am so happy and there was so much emotion today."

Gareth Maybin made a great start to the season when he finished joint 4th on 12 under par.It could have been 2 shots better as he took a 7 at the par 5,18th after finding water with his 3rd shot.He collected a cheque for 38,825 Euros.

Damien McGrane could only manage a closing round of level par 72 to finish in joint 8th on -11 and pick up 21,933 Euros.

Shane Lowry who is looking forward to his first full year as a Professional played well to finish in 17th on 7 under with a closing 69.He won 11,712 Eiros to kick start his year.

Michael Hoey had his usual up and down week and finished in 44th on -1 after a final round of 74 to win 5,300 Euros.

Gary Murphy looking for a quick start to the new season after a visit to the qualifying school missed the cut by 6 shots with scores of 72/77 +5.

Message from Tiger on his web site.

I am deeply aware of the disappointment and hurt that my infidelity has caused to so many people, most of all my wife and children. I want to say again to everyone that I am profoundly sorry and that I ask forgiveness. It may not be possible to repair the damage I've done, but I want to do my best to try.

I would like to ask everyone, including my fans, the good people at my foundation, business partners, the PGA Tour, and my fellow competitors, for their understanding. What's most important now is that my family has the time, privacy, and safe haven we will need for personal healing.

After much soul searching, I have decided to take an indefinite break from professional golf. I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father, and person.

Again, I ask for privacy for my family and I am especially grateful for all those who have offered compassion and concern during this difficult period.

Murphy & Thornton will play on the European Tour in 2010.

Simon Khan stumbled with a final round 74 at the 6 round qualifing school in Spain,but still finished top of the class on 20 under par.He was one clear from rising superstar Sam Hutsby who had a closing 69 to finish 19 under par.In 3rd place was Stephan Gallagher who bogied the last for a 69 and an 18 under par total.

Gary Murphy who was unlucky not to have retained his playing rights and found himself back at tour school took the 16th card with a closing 68 for an 11 under par total.

It will be a big move for Newcastle's Simon Thornton.Simon has played most of his golf on the Irish PGA circuit and from now on he will be teeing up with the likes of McIlroy and Harrington after a closing 71 got him in on the cut mark of 10 under par.

New Professional Niall Kearney will have a full year on the Challenge tour and will get some invites to the main tour after he was in a share of 46th place on 7 under par.
31 players gained their full card with scores between 20 and 10 under par.

1ST SIMON KHAN 68 63 67 66 70 74 408 -20.
2ND SAM HUTSKY 69 72 65 68 66 69 409 -19.
3RD STEPHEN GALLAGHER 68 72 68 66 67 69 410 -18.
IRISH RESULTS
-------------
16TH GARY MURPHY 69 67 70 74 69 68 417 -11.
26TH SIMON THORNTON 67 75 65 68 66 69 418 -10.
46TH NIALL KEARNEY 72 68 68 69 74 70 421 -7.

Simon Thornton in line for full tour card.

Simon Thornton is in line for one of the 30 European tour cards that will be given out tomorrow at the end of 6 rounds at the PGA CATALUNYA COMPLEX in Spain.Simon was in great form as he had made 6 birdies and no bogies after 13 holes.He had a minor set back with a double bogey at the par 3,14th followed by a bogey at the 15th.He held his nerve brilliantly to birdie 2 of the last 3 holes for a super 5 under par 67.He holds a share of 25th on 9 under par,which will be around the figure required to gain one of those precious cards for 2010.

The leader is still Simon Khan who added a 70 to hold a 6 shot lead from Walker cup player Sam Hutsby.Khan is 22 under and Hutsby is 16 under.

Gary Murphy got a terrible start with a double and single bogey at the 10th & 11th holes.He used all his experience to crawl his way back to finish on 3 under par 69 for his round and is still in a good position for tomorrow.His 7 under par total gives him a share of 34th.

Niall Kearney who has been performing great all week,had a set back today.His round of 74 was made up with 16 pars and 2 bogies.His total of 5 under par leaves him in 50th position and he will need to go low tomorrow if he is to climb into the top 30.

Niall Kearney is top Irish performer at Tour School.

The first 72 holes have been completed at the European Tour qualifying school at the PGA CATALUNYA complex in Spain.

156 started out playing 36 holes on the STADIUM COURSE and 36 holes on the TOUR COURSE with the top 70 plus ties going through to the final 36 holes and at the end of that only the top 30 and ties will gain a full card for 2010.

Leading the way is SIMON KHAN who had a 6 under par 66 around the tough Stadium course to sit on 20 under par.He has a 3 shot lead over Alejandro Canizares who had a 65 on the same course for a 17 under par total.

The top Irishman is new Professional Niall Kearney.He showed his great potential with a super 69 around the Stadium course to sit in joint 24th place on 7 under par.
Gary Murphy keeps his hopes alive of regaining his card after a 74 leaves him in a share of 49th alongside Simon Thornton who's 69 on the Stadium course will guarantee him at least a full Challenge tour card for next year.

There was no such good news for the other 3 Irish.Johnny Caldwell hit a ball out of bounds at the final hole.He took a triple bogey 8 and finished on level par after a final round of 72 on the Tour course.A par 5 would have got him through to the final 2 rounds.Colm Moriarty who started with a 65 on the tour course could only manage to finish in 113th place on 2 over par.His downfall was the Stadium course where he took a 77 and a 76.
John Kelly was 9 over par starting his round and finally found his game with a 3 under par 67.He finished in 134th place on 6 over par.

Gary Murphy still in contention at tour school.

Gary Murphy had a level par round of 70 in the 3rd round of the tour school and is now in a share of 22nd place on 6 under par total.Charlie Ford and Simon Khan both shot 67 and lead on 14 under.Jamie Elson is 3rd on -13 after a 66 and Alezandro Canizares had a sparkling 61 on the tour course to jump into 4th on -10.

New Professional Niall Kearney is in good shape after his 68 on the tour course to leave himself only 1 shot away from the top 30 on -4.

Johnny Caldwell had a brilliant 4 under par 68 on the difficult Stadium course to get back into the top 70 who will make the 72 hole cut off on 2 under par and he is joined by Colm Moriarty who had a 68 on the tour course.

Simon Thornton is still in with a good chance as he is on -1 after a 69 on the tour course,but John Kelly will need to shoot the lights out tomorrow if he is to survive.He had a good 73 around the Stadium course but is well away on +9 for the 54 holes played.

TOUR SCHOOL: TOP 30 TO GAIN FULL CARD FOR 2010.TOP 70 AND TIES WILL QUALIFY FOR FINAL 36 HOLES.

22ND GARY MURPHY 70 TOUR COURSE -6.
39TH NIALL KEARNEY 68 TOUR COURSE -4.
61ST JOHNNY CALDWELL 68 STADIUM COURSE -2.
61ST COLM MORIARTY 68 TOUR COURSE -2.
74TH SIMON THORNTON 69 TOUR COURSE -1.
146TH JOHN KELLY 73 STADIUM COURSE +9.

Irish fall back at Tour School Day 2.

Gary Murphy who was unlucky to lose his tour card last year might be picking up a new one for 2010 as he is lying in joint 7th place after the 2nd round of tour school at the PGA CATALUNYA complex in Spain.
Gary made a good start yesterday around the more difficult Stadium course with a 3 under par 69,he followed up today with another 3 under par 67 around the tour course to sit on 6 under par and 5 shots behind two English men in Simon Khan and Charlie Ford who are 11 under par.
New Professional Niall Kearney playing the same way around as Murphy added a 2 under par 68 and is in joint 35th place on 2 under par 140.

The other 4 Irish who played the tour course yesterday all fell back over the Stadium course today.Colm Moriarty who was 5 under par yesterday is back to level par after a 77 and Simon Thornton has gone from 3 under back to par as well after a 75.They are in joint 65th.
Johnny Caldwell who was also 3 under is now 2 over par after a 77 and is down in 96th place.John Kelly who made a great comeback in stage 2 to qualify will need the same again as he took a 78 and is down in 149th spot on +8

Molinari brothers win World cup for Italy.

The Molinari brothers held their nerve to win the World Cup for Italy by beating Ireland and the holders Sweden by a single shot after 72 holes of fourball/foursomes around the Mission Hills course in China.

It has been a great year for the Molinari boys with younger brother Francesco finishing 14th in the Race to Dubai and Edoardo winning 3 times to earn a record amount on the Challenge tour.

At one stage they were 4 shots behind Ireland but with the help of some great putts by Francesco on the back nine and a few careless bogies by the Irish boys the Italian's found themselves in front by one playing the last.

A bad 2nd shot by Edoardo into a bunker was followed by a world class recovery by Francesco leaving a 2 foot putt for victory after a final round of 68 left them on 29 under par.

It was a first World cup win for Italy and was well deserved as they were up against the two favorite teams in Ireland and holders Sweden and managed to not only compete with them but beat them on the last day as Sweden had a 69 while Ireland had a 70.

OMEGA MISSION HILLS WORLD CUP
-----------------------------
WINNERS ITALY 64 66 61 68 -29.
2ND IRELAND 58 68 64 70,SWEDEN 64 65 62 69 -28.
4TH ENGLAND 66 69 63 64 -26.
5TH JAPAN 62 71 64 69 -22.
6TH AUSTRAILIA 68 70 62 67 -21.
7TH GERMANY 66 71 66 65,KOREA 64 75 61 68,SOUTH AFRICA 65 70 62 71,USA 67 72 67 62,WALES 66 68 64 70 -20.

The latest on the Tiger Saga !

TMZ has the most recent details on the Tiger Woods “accident” melodrama. They claim Tiger did not suffer facial lacerations from his car crash:

We’re told he said his wife, [Elin Nordegren], had confronted him about reports that he was seeing another woman. The argument got heated and, according to our source, she scratched his face up. We’re told it was then Woods beat a hasty retreat for his SUV — but according to our source, Woods says his wife followed behind with a golf club. As Tiger drove away, she struck the vehicle several times with the club.

We’re told Woods became “distracted,” thought the vehicle was stopped, and looked to see what had happened. At that point the SUV hit the fire hydrant and then hit a tree.

All of which supports lots of people’s gut reaction.

Meanwhile, Tiger’s alleged mistress, Rachel Uchitel, a well known NYC “party girl,” is on her “I didn’t bang Tiger Woods” media campaign. Because she’s a private person and doesn’t appreciate the accusations that she’s a homewrecker.

Now we anxiously await to hear the there’s-nothing-to-see-here-please-disperse version from Team Tiger, so everyone can continue to blissfully believe that Tiger’s only shortcoming is flinging golf clubs — not women

Irish boys make a solid start to tour school.

Colm Moriarty who had a very ordinary season on the Challenge tour made a great start to the 6 round qualifying school with a 5 under par 65 around the TOUR COURSE at the PGA CATALUNYA complex in SPAIN.

He finds himself 5 shots behind the leader,Julien Gurrier who had a brilliant round of 10 under par 60.There is 5 players on 6 under including Jarmo Sandelin who had the best score of 66 around the STADIUM PAR 72 COURSE.

Gary Murphy had a great finish around the Stadium course when he eagled the par 5 12th and a further birdie left him around in 3 under par 69 and a share of 29th, alongside Simon Thornton and Johnny Caldwell who were both on the Tour course.

Niall Kearney who turned Professional just before the final qualifying had 3 birdies and 3 bogies around the Stadium course for a level par round of 72.

John Kelly was pretty upset with his last 4 holes.He was level par after 14 holes,before going double bogey,bogey and bogey before recovering to birdie the last for a 2 over par 72 and is way down in 119th place.

156 golfers are in action for 72 holes(36 on the Tour course and 36 on the Stadium course.)There will be a cut made after that with the lucky ones that get through will play a further 36 holes and the top 30 and ties will get a tour card for 2010.

IRISH SCORES
------------
TOUR COURSE
JT 7TH COLM MORIARTY 65 -5.
JT 29TH JOHNNY CALDWELL,SIMON THORNTON 67 -3.
119TH JOHN KELLY 72 +2.

STADIUM COURSE.

JT 29TH GARY MURPHY 69 -3.
JT 82ND NIALL KEARNEY 72 PAR.

Irelands Lead cut back to 1,with 1 round to go !

Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell returned a 8 under par round of 64 in the 3rd round of the OMEGA MISSION HILLS WORLD CUP but their lead was cut by 2 shots after a 61 by Italy and a 62 by the holders Sweden.

Irelands 26 under par total gives them a 1 shot advantage for the final round of foursomes tomorrow.They will be playing in the company of brothers Francesco and Edoardo Molinari of Italy,while the holders Sweden will be hoping to post a score in the group ahead and put some pressure on the Irish boys.

It looks like a 3 horse race as the 4th place teams of Japan and South Africa are 7 shots behind Ireland.

WORLD CUP LEADERBOARD ROUND 3.
--------------------------------
1ST IRELAND 58 68 64 -26.
2ND ITALY 64 66 61,SWEDEN 64 65 62 -25.
4TH JAPAN 62 71 64,SOUTH AFRICA 65 70 62 -19.
6TH ENGLAND 66 69 63,WALES 66 68 64 -18.
8TH VENEZUELA 67 67 65 -17.
9TH AUSTRAILIA 68 70 62,ARGENTINA 61 75 64,INDIA 67 68 65,KOREA 64 75 61 -16.

Could this be the start of the end for TIGER !

The news broke yesterday that Tiger Woods was having an affair with a New York 34 year old called RACHEL UCHITEL.The next day he crashes his car leaving home at 2.25 am as reported by CNN.

Could it be a case of "no smoke without fire"

Shortly after Tiger pulled out of his driveway of his Isleworth, Florida, home at 2:25 AM Friday morning, he hit a fire hydrant. Then, he drove the car, a 2009 Cadillac Escalade, into a tree on his neighbor’s residence.

He was traveling at under 33 mph because no airbags were deployed, the Florida Highway Patrol said. The police report notes it was NOT alcohol related.

Little information has been released. But it’s reported he sustained facial lacerations and his injuries are serious. According to CNN, the actual status of his condition is currently unknown.

Could there be a more inopportune time for Tiger to get into a car accident than 2:30 in the morning in front of his own house?

*Update (3:04PM): Darren Rovell tweeted: Tiger Woods’ agent on condition: “He is fine.”

**Update (3:21PM): According to CNN, Tiger has been released from the hospital. Has he gone home? No one knows

Ireland still 3 clear at halfway stage in World Cup.

Ireland took 10 shots more in the foursomes 2nd round of the OMEGA MISSION HILLS WORLD CUP in CHINA but still hold a 3 shot lead heading into the weekend from holders SWEDEN.

McIlroy and McDowell could have opened up a 6 shot lead as they took a bogey 6 at the 11th and a double bogey 7 at the 15th.They hit back to birdie the 16th & 17th for a 68 that leaves them 18 under par after their amazing opening round of 58.

Keeping a close eye on them will be the holders ROBERT KARLSSON & HENRIK STENSON for SWEDEN who haven't dropped a shot to par over the first 36 holes.Their rounds of 64 &65 leave them 2nd 1 shot clear of ITALY 64 & 66 who have the MOLINARI brothers playing.

Argentina who opened with a 61 fell back into a share of 11th after a poor 75 to leave them on -8.

WORLD CUP LEADERBOARD AFTER 36 HOLES.
-------------------------------------
1ST:IRELAND 58/68 -18.
2ND:SWEDEN 64/65 -15.
3RD:ITALY 64/66 -14.
4TH:JAPAN 62/71 -11.
5TH:VENEZUALA 67/67,WALES 66/68 -10.
7TH:ENGLAND 66/68,INDIA 67/68,NEW ZEALAND 67/68,SOUTH AFRICA 65/70 -9.

What a start for Ireland in the World Cup.

Rory McIlroy put the Race to Dubai behind him to help his partner Graeme McDowell to take the lead after the first round of the OMEGA MISSION HILLS WORLD CUP with a fantastic round of 14 under par 58 and a 3 shot lead over Argentina.

McIlroy & McDowell made 12 birdies,1 eagle and 5 pars as they combined to perfection during the round played in a fourball format(Best score to count at each hole.)

LEADERBOARD.ROUND 1 FOURBALLS

1ST IRELAND 58 -14.
2ND ARGENTINA 61 -11.
3RD JAPAN 62 -10.
4TH (HOLDERS) SWEDEN,CANADA,ITALY,KOREA 64 -8
8TH SOUTH AFRICA,CHINA 65 -7.
10TH DENMARK,ENGLAND,GERMANY,SINGAPORE,WALES 66 -6.

McIlroy straight back into action after Dubai.

Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy are ready to bring the Omega Mission Hills World Cup back to Ireland for the third time in the country’s history.

The duo have arrived at the Olazábal Course at the Mission Hills Golf Club with one thing on their minds – to bring home the magnificent World Cup trophy.

Not only are McDowell and McIlroy among the best players in the field this week, they also have one of the strongest friendships off the course of the 28 nations competing.

“It would mean a lot to win this tournament and that’s what we are here to try and do,” said McDowell. “The World Cup is one of the special tournaments in golf. We play a lot of individual golf, but getting a chance to play with a partner and representing your country and some of the great champions that have won this tournament, it would be a special feeling.

“Rory has said this before and I agree with him: we have a great chance to experience being in the hunt coming down the stretch with a partner and a friend, and sharing that experience will be pretty cool. There are a lot of great teams playing this week, and it would certainly mean a lot to us to take that trophy back to Ireland.

McIlroy echoed McDowell’s comments, and also dismissed any notion that he would lack motivation at this week’s event after just missing out on The Race to Dubai title to Lee Westwood at the Dubai World Championship presented by: DP World.

“It will be very easy for me to stay motivated,” said the 20 year old. “I want to play the best I can for my partner. I don’t want to let him down. We are playing for our country which is a huge honour, and I don’t think there would be any reason why I wouldn’t be motivated.

“This is a new challenge for me. Graeme has played here before, and I’m really looking forward to it. It’s my first taste of the World Cup, and I don’t think there should be any reason why I shouldn’t be motivated. I’m going to go out there and give it my best shot, and it would be a great title to win.”

List of Teams for World Championship.
----------------------------------
Argentina Rafa Echenique & Tano Goya
Australia Robert Allenby & Stuart Appleby
Brazil Rafael Barcellos & Ronaldo Francisco
Canada Stuart Anderson Graham Deleat
Chile Hugo Leon & Martin Ureta
China Liang Wen-chong & Zhang Lian-wei
Chinese Taipei Lin Wen-tang & Lu Wei-Chih
Denmark Søren Hansen & Søren Kjeldsen
England Ross Fisher & Ian Poulter
France Christian Cévaër & Thomas Levet
Germany Alex Cejka & Martin Kaymer
India Jyoti Randhawa & Jeev Milkha Singh
Ireland Graeme McDowell & Rory McIlroy
Italy Edoardo Molinari & Francesco Molinari
Japan Hiroyuki Fujita & Ryuji Imada
Korea Charlie Wi & Y.E. Yang
New Zealand Danny Lee & David Smail
Pakistan Muhammad Munir & Muhammad Shabbir
Philippines Mars Pucay & Angelo Que
Scotland David Drysdale & Alastair Forsyth
Singapore Lam Chih Bing & Mardan Mamat
South Africa Rory Sabbatini & Richard Sterne
Spain Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño & Sergio Garcia
Sweden Robert Karlsson & Henrik Stenson
Thailand Thongchai Jaidee & Prayad Marksaeng
Venzuela Alfredo Adrian & Jhonattan Vegas
USA John Merrick & Nick Watney
Wales Stephen Dodd & Jamie Donaldson

5 Irish through to final qualifying school.

5 out of the 12 Irish competiting at the 2nd stage of qualifying made it through to the final stage that takes place next week.
Brilliant last rounds of 67 and 66 by amateur Niall Kearney saw him finish in joint second place on 12 under par at Costa Ballena,2 shots behind Swedens Fredrik Ohlsson.At the same venue John Kelly shot 68 and 69 to finish in joint 11th on 8 under par and one shot inside the cut of point.

At Sherry golf Simon Thornton easily made it through in joint 8th position after a final round of 72 left him on 4 under par.Colm Moriarty also made it through by 1 shot when he shot a closing round of 72 to finish on -3.
David Higgins put in a final round of 68 but it was too late to make the cut.He finished on +1 and was 3 shots too many.Michael McGeady was 6 shots away on +4 and Eddie Barr never got to grips with the course and finished 6 over par.Eddie has to make the long trip back to Queensland,Austrailia where he is based.

At Hacienda Del Alamo Johnny Caldwell came through with 2 shots to spare when he closed with a 69 for a 7 under par total.Mervyn Owens is on his way home as he finished 8 shots outside the -5 cut of point on +3.

At Arcos Gardens,Spains Santiago Luna won with a 12 under par total.The cut came at 2 under par.There was no Irish qualifiers as the best of the 3 was Michael Collins who was on +1.Cian McNamara was 6 over par and Gareth Shaw was another shot worse on +7.

20 year old Rory McIlroy World No 10.

20 year old Rory McIlroy has made gaint leaps over the last 2 years since turning Professional.He chased Lee Westwood (16 years his senior) all the way in the Race to Dubai,coming up short to fantastic golf by Lee.His 3rd place finish in the tournament left him order of merit runner up and a jump into No10 in the World Rankings.Sergio Garcia was also 20 when he reached the top 10 and it's worth noting that Tiger Woods was 21 before he made the top 10.

Rory was able to bank 3,610,020 Euros this year and he can now look forward to joining the PGA American tour next year as world No10.Padraig Harrington finished in 15th place in the order of merit but is ahead of Rory in the World rankings.He has finished the year in 6th place.

Gareth Maybin came through the qualifying school last year and after some great golf finished the year in 53rd place with 625,876 Euros and 124th in the World.

Name...................Race to Dubai..............World Ranking.

PADRAIG HARRINGTON........15th....1,468,232.............. 6TH.
RORY MCILROY..............2ND....3,610,020...............10TH.
GRAEME MCDOWELL..........33RD.... 848,571................51ST.
PETER LAWRIE.............43RD.....682,097...............157TH.
GARETH MAYBIN............53RD.....625,876...............124TH.
DAMIEN MCGRANE...........60TH.....563,128...............180TH.
DARREN CLARKE............61ST.....534,733...............106TH.
MICHAEL HOEY.............93RD.....341,327...............249TH.
PAUL MCGINLEY...........104TH.....302,433...............206TH.
GARY MURPHY.............124TH.....234,844...............428TH.
SHANE LOWRY.............153RD.....144,843...............135TH.
MICHAEL MCGEADY.........242ND......23,475...............622ND.
JOHNNY CALDWELL.........243RD......22,637..............1,132ND.

Irish under pressure heading into the final round at tour school.

There will be a lot of pressure on 6 of the 12 Irish competing in the 2nd stage of the European tour qualifying school in the south of Spain tomorrow.
At Arcos Gardens Michael Collins has played himself back into contention after a best of the day 68 leaves him only 2 shots outside the qualifying mark on level par.

At Costa Ballena amateur Niall Kearney shot a 67 to move to 6 under par.John Kelly had a 68 to sit on 5 under par.The cut of point after the 3rd round is 7 under so they have both given themselves a chance tomorrow.

At Sherry Golf Simon Thornton had a 71 to share 8th spot on 4 under par.Colm Moriarty slipped back with a 74 to sit on the cut mark of 3 under par heading into the final round.

At Hacienda Del Alamo Johnny Caldwell is on the cut mark of 4 under par after a 3rd round of 71.

Arcos Gardens...Par 72...19 qualify...Leader Michael Bothma & Santiano Luna -10.

Irish scores....26th..Michael Collins 68 Par. 51st Gareth Shaw 75 +5.Cian McNamara 75 +7.

Costa Ballena..Par 72..18 qualify...Leader Alvaro Velasco -13.

21st.Niall Kearney 67 -6.27th John Kelly 68 -5.

Sherry Golf..Par 72..18 qualify..leader Philip Archer -11.

8th Simon Thornton 71 -4. 12th Colm Moriarty 74 -3. 35th Michael McGeady 72 +3.50th David Higgins 73 +5. 53rd Eddie Barr 75 +6.

Haciendo Del Alamo..Par 72..19 qualify..Leader Ryan Blaum -16.

15th Johnny Caldwell 71 -4. 45th Mervyn Owens 71 +1.

Westwood champion of Europe for a 2nd time.

Lee Westwood became the Race to Dubai champion in fantastic fashion when he closed with a course record 64 around the Earth course to win 830,675 Euros as Dubai world champion and a 1 Million bonus as European No 1.
Lying second to 20 year old Rory McIlroy coming into the event,Westwood who was champion back in 2000 said,i want to concentrate on winning this tournament and everything else will look after itself.He was right,he shot scores of 66,69,66 and 64 to finish on 23 under par and win by 6 clear shots from Ross McGowan and 8 shots from Rory McIlroy.

Westwood gave nobody a chance when he shot 5 birdies on the front nine and another 3 coming back.McGowan made a charge on the back nine with 5 birdies in a row from the 12th to the 16th but even that didn't rattle Westwood.
Rory couldn't manage a birdie over the first 8 holes,but went on a great run with 6 birdies over the next 9 holes and even though he dropped a shot at the 18th his 67 allowed him to finish in 3rd and 1 shot ahead of Padraig Harrington and Geoff Ogilvy.

Moriarty best of the Irish at Q School.

Colm Moriarty is the best of the 12 Irish competing at the 2nd stage of qualifying around 4 different courses in the south of Spain.

Moriarty shot a second round of 70 to sit in joint 7th position at the Sherry golf venue on 5 under par.Simon Thornton is on the cut mark of 3 under par after a second round of 73.

The only other Irishman on the cut mark is Johnny Caldwell.He shot a 2nd round 73 to finish in a tie for 16th on 3 under par at Hacienda Del Aloma.

Arcos Gardens..Par 72. 19 qualify........Leader.Michael Bothma 68/65 -11.

Irish scores....Gareth Shaw 70/76 +2(40th),Michael Collins 75/73,Cian McNamara 74/74 +4(52nd)

Costa Ballena..Par72....18 qualify.......Leader.J.Ruth,E Dubois 66/67 -11.

Irish scores..Niall Kearney70/73 -1(47th)
John Kelly 72/71 -1(47th)

Sherry Golf...Par 72..18 qualify...Leader.Eduardo De La Riva 68/68 -8.

Irish scores..Colm Moriarty 69/70 -5(7th),Simon Thornton 68/73 -3(13th),Eddie Barr 74/73,Michael McGeady 71/76 (+3)(43rd) and David Higgins 72/76 +4(53rd)

Hacienda Del Alamo..Par 72...19 qualify...Leader Ryan Blaum 68/65 -11.

Irish scores...Johnny Caldwell 69/72 -3(16th), Meryvn Owens 71/75 +2(51st)

Westwood in pole position for order of merit title.

Lee Westwood is playing the best golf of his life as he heads into the final round of the Race to Dubai title.With a brilliant third round of 66 he finished on 15 under par for a 2 shot lead over Ross McGowan who matched him shot for shot for a 66 to sit on 13 under par.

Current No1,20 year old Rory McIlroy was up with Westwood until the last 3 holes.He made 3 bogies for a 69 to join fellow countryman Padraig Harrington 69 and Alexandre Noren 67 in joint 3rd on 10 under par and 5 behind the leader.

It is going to be hard to catch Westwood,but McIlroy will be looking for help from McGowan,Harrington,Noren,Garcia and Geoff Ogilvy,to make sure that he wins the order of merit for 2009 and becomes the youngest winner since Seve Ballesteros won back in 1976.Westwood on the other hand will be looking to capture his second title.He last won back in 2000,stopping Colin Montgomery from making it 8 titles in a row.

Mixed fortunes for Irish at 2nd stage of Tour School.

There was mixed fortunes for the 12 Irish at the second stage of the European tour qualifying school in Cadiz,Spain.
While McIlroy,Harrington and 4 other Irish are playing in the mega rich finals of the race to Dubai,the 12 hopefuls at tour school are fighting for their lives and a job for next year.
The best is Simon Thornton who is in joint 6th spot at Sherry golf after a 4 under par 68.At the same venue,Eddie Barr who made the long trip from Austrailia is down in 57th place on 74+2 with only 18 to qualify.
Gareth Shaw is 12th at Arcos Gardens after a 2 under par 70,while amateur Niall Kearney had a 2 under par 70 at Costa Ballena club de golf and finds himself down in 25th place with only 18 to qualify.
At Hacienda del alamo,Johnny Caldwell is 7th after an opening 69 -3.

ARCOS GARDENS....LEADING SCORE......OLIVER WHITELEY 65 -7...19 TO QUALIFY.

IRISH SCORES.......GARETH SHAW 12TH 70 -2....CIAN MCNAMARA 52ND 74 +2..MICHAEL COLLINS 59TH 75 +3.

COSTA BALLENA CLUB DE GOLF....JESUS MARIA ARRUTI +2 OTHERS 65-7..18 QUALIFY.

NIALL KEARNEY 25TH 70 -2, JOHN KELLY 44TH 72 PAR.

SHERRY GOLF..........PAULO PINTA 64 -8 18 QUALIFY.

SIMON THORNTON 6TH 68 -4,COLM MORIARTY 13TH 69 -3,MICHAEL MCGEADY 29TH 71 -1,DAVID HIGGINS 43RD 72 PAR,EDDIE BARR 57TH 74 +2.

HACIENDA DEL ALAMO.........STEPHAN GROSS 64 -8 19 QUALIFY.

JOHNNY CALDWELL 7TH 69 -3,MERVYN OWENS 21ST 71 -1.

Bourdy wins Hong Kong/McIlroy leads Race to Dubai.

Frenchman Gregory Bourdy held his nerve as Rory McIlroy came roaring up behind him to win the UBS HONG KONG OPEN by 2 shots.Bourdy had a final round of 67 to finish on 19 under par with 20 year old McIlroy starting the day 5 shots behind, dropped a shot with a 3 putt at the 17th but still managed a 64 for 2nd place.

Bourdy won the 279,288 Euros that lifted him from 87th to 47th place in the race to Dubai.The top 60 will tee up next week at the Earth course around the Jumeirah Golf estates for an end of season festival "Race to Dubai"

20 year old McIlroy is back on top after his 2nd place finish earned him 186,190 Euros and allowed him to leapfrog Lee Westwood by 128,173 Euros.If Rory can hold off the challenge next week from Westwood,Kaymer and Ross Fisher he will be the youngest winner since Seve Ballesteros won as a 19 year old in the mid 70s.

Peter Lawrie had a good week,finishing in a share of 7th place and won 50,272 Euros.Darren Clarke thought he needed a top 15 finish this week to make the top 60.He played really well to finish in a tie for 11th that earned him 26,165 Euros but unfortunately it only took him to 61st place,one place outside the cut off.
Graeme McDowell didn't finish as well as he started.He took 70 in the last round for a share of 18th place on 9 under par and earned 20,486 Euros.

Tiger wins down under/Murphy has to get ready for tour school.

World No1 Tiger Woods won in Austrailia for the first time when he claimed the JBWier MASTERS in MELBOURNE by 2 shots from local Greg Chambers.
Woods game was in sharp contrast to the previous day when he struggled to produce a level par round of 72.Today he had his game under control and cruised to a victory with a 68 that gave him a 14 under par total.He can now add the 173,117 Euros to the $3 Million he got for playing.

The other side of the game had Irelands Gary Murphy trying to keep his tour card for next year.He needed a top 15 finish or at least 20,000 Euros.His last round of 74 left him tied for 36th and only earned him 4,520 Euros.
Murphy will have to get ready for tour school as he missed out by 16,000 Euros as he finished 124th on the table with the top 120 keeping their card.

Rory McIlroy well ahead of Westwood in Hong Kong.

20 year old Rory McIlroy looks like he will be in top spot heading into the final tournament of the year in Dubai to confirm the 2009 champion of Europe.He shot a 65 in the 3rd round of the UBS HONG KONG OPEN to sit in 3rd place on 11 under par and a 6 shot lead over the current No1 Lee Westwood who had a 3rd round of 69.Only 50,000 Euros behind Westwood,McIlroy will take the No1 position going into next weeks final play off's if the gap remains the same tomorrow night.

French man Gregory Bourdy had a 7 birdie round of 63 to take a 2 shot lead over Robert Jan Derksen who had a 65.Bourdy(87th) and Derksen(78th) are outside the top 60 who qualify for the Race to Dubai next week,but that could all change if they hold on to their positions tomorrow evening.Bourdy is 16 under par and Derksen is -14.

Peter Lawrie is in joint 4th place after a 66 left him on 10 under par and level with Miguel Angel Jiminez who shot a 63 and the holder Wan-Tang Lin 67 who beat McIlroy in a play off last year and Francesco Molinari 66.
Graeme McDowell is in for a high finish as he is on 9 under par after a 66,and Darren Clarke is still in with a chance of reaching the top 15 or 20,000 Euros as he shot another 67 to finish on 7 under.

Tiger had a bad day and still leads in Austrailia.

It was hard work watching Tiger Woods playing the 3rd round of the JBWeir MASTERS in MELBOURNE,AUSTRAILIA but at the end of the day he managed a level par round of 72 to stay on top of the leaderboard with locals Greg Chalmers and James Nitties.
Both Chalmers and Nitties were on top of their game to shoot 69,and with Tiger all over the place,they managed to join him on top of the leaderboard on 10 under par heading into tomorrows final round.

Ireland's Gary Murphy who needs at least a top 15 finish this week to keep his tour card,still has a fighting chance as he shot a one under par 71 to share 28th spot on 1 under par.Murphy will need to improve by at least 4 shots to survive.

Tiger leads in Austrailia,Murphy still in with a fighting chance.

It is no surprise that the World No1 Tiger Woods has opened up a 3 shot lead at the halfway stage of the JBWeir MASTERS in AUSTRAILIA.
Tiger added a 68 to his opening 66 for a 10 under par total and he has a 3 shot lead over Greg Chambers 68/69,Jason Dufner 70/67 and James Nitties 66/71.

Gary Murphy needs a top 15 finish to save his tour card for next year,and to save a visit to tour school at the end of November.He is putting up a great fight.He opened with a 71-1 and after 13 holes had gone out to +2 and in danger of missing the cut.
He showed great courage to birdie the 14th and 15th to finish on level par and a share of 34th place.

Gary will be able to have a good shot over the weekend,and everyone in Ireland will be behind him.

McIlroy 2 ahead of Westwood after 36 holes.

The race to Dubai is hotting up,as Rory McIlroy has a 2 shot lead over Lee Westwood at the half way stage of the UBS HONG KONG OPEN.
McIlroy is only 50,000 Euros behind Westwood and would dearly love to take the No1 spot going into the final tournament next week.He is 2 shots ahead after a second round of 68 to sit in joint 11th place on 6 under par,while Westwood could only manage a level par 70 to sit back in 35th place.

The tournament has a 4 man tie for the lead.Gregory Bourdy 64/67,Robert Jan Derksen 63/68,Wen-Chang Liang 66/65 and Charl Schwartzel65/66 are all on 9 under par.

Graeme McDowell is in good shape after rounds of 67/68 to share 20th place on -5.
Peter Lawrie is level with McIlroy in 11th place after scores of 66/68.Darren Clarke who needs to win at least 20,000 Euros this week to get into the top 60 for next week,has given himself a fighting chance with a second round of 67 for 35th place on 4 under par.

Michael Hoey 73/68 +1 and Shane Lowry 72/78 +10 have the weekend off after missing the cut which came at 2 under par.

Gary Murphy lonely trip to Austrailia.

Gary Murphy is the only Irishman playing in the JBWeir MASTERS in Austrailia this week.Murphy had to make the lonely journey to give himself the final chance of keeping his tour card for 2010.
Gary is in 127th place and with the top 119 keeping their card,he needs at least 14,000 Euros or a top 15 finish this week.He has made a resonable start,with 2 birdies in the last 4 holes to sit in a share of 23rd place on -1,71.

Tiger Woods getting a reported $3 Million for playing is given value for money.He sits in a share of the lead with S.African Branden Grace and local James Nittes.
All three had great opening rounds of 6 under par 66s.

McIlroy & Westwood open with 66s in Hong Kong.

38 year old Udorn Duangdecha from Thailand who has never won a professional tournament and has no World ranking leads the HONG KONG OPEN after a brilliant opening round of 8 under par 62.Netherlands Robert Jan Derksen led for most of the day with a 63,before Udorn surprised everyone with his 62.

The real fight is between Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood to see who can lead the order of merit going into next weeks Race to Dubai.Westwood leads by 50,000 Euros. They are keeping a close eye on each other this week and are locked together in 16th place on -4 66s after round one.

Graeme McDowell is in joint 29th after a round of -3,67.Darren Clarke who needs to make at least 20,000 Euros this week if he is to make the top 60 for Dubai next week,is on the predicted cut mark of -1,69.

Shane Lowry is down in 110th with a +2,72 and Michael Hoey is another shot behind in 118th place after a +3,73.

Mickleson wins his 2nd World golf championship this year.

The long awaited duel between the World's top 2 golfers fizzled out very quickly when Tiger hit water at the 3rd hole and took a double bogey during the final round of the WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP,HSBC sponsered event in SHANGHIA,CHINA.
Mickleson went on to claim his 2nd World event this year as he had already won the CA CHAMPIONSHIP back in March.
World No2 Mickleson hit a final round of 69 to finish on 17 under par and won by one shot from Ernie Els who found water at the last for his only bogey of the round.It was unfortunate for Els as he was 10 under par for his round,but had to settle for a 63.
Ryan Moore was 3rd after another solid week.He was 15 under par after a closing 68 to knock Rory McIlroy into 4th place on 14 under after he matched Els course record score of 63.Rory collected 211,988 Euros and has jumped back into 2nd on the Race to Dubai table and only 50,000 Euros behind Westwood,with only one tournament to go before the Dubai final.
Padraig Harrington wasn't in great form all week,but he recovered with a final round of 67 to finish in 25th and collect 41,276 Euros.
Shane Lowry got a great start to his week with a 66,but had to settle for a share of 28th place with a closing round of 72.His 5 under total won him 39,032 Euros and moves him up to 154th in the Race to Dubai table with earnings since his Irish Open win of 144,843 Euros.

Good week for Kilpatrick in Egypt..

Golf is a funny old game.Ask Richard Kilpatrick from Banbridge.He played in 5 events on the Challenge tour this year and won 1,200 Euros.He also played in 9 Europro events and could only manage a total of 505 Euros,but this week with an invite to play in the Egyptian Open he played great golf to finish on 3 under par and took 11th place on his own and won $3,900.It was more then double what he won all year.

Gareth Shaw also recovered well after taking 74 in the first round.He finished on 1 under for the 4 rounds and finished in a share of 16th place.

Englands Steven Tiley was the run away winner.He shot a closing round of 68 to win by 4 shots on 13 under par.
Ryder cup captain Colm Montgomery finished 5th on 6 under par and 7 seven behind Tiley.

Tiger on the prowl in China,Lowry fading.

World No1 Tiger Woods shot his second 67 in a row in the HSBC CHAMPIONS EVENT in SHANGHAI to share the halfway lead with Nick Watney 70 on 10 under par.Tiger was able to manage his scores despite a lot of attention from loads of amateur photographers.
The tournament is getting very exciting as world No2 Phil Mickleson is into joint 3rd place and only one shot behind after a 66 left him 9 under par and level with Ryan Moore 69 and Alvaro Quiros 66.

Shane Lowry who's brilliant first round of 66 left him in 2nd place dropped down to 14th after a second round of 74.He was 4 over after 8 holes before recovering with a 2 under run over the last 10 holes to start the weekend on 4 under par.

Rory McIlroy improved with a second round of 68.He was level par after 12 holes before making 4 birdies over the last 6 holes.His 3 under par total leaves him in 23rd.
Padraig Harrington added a 69 to his opening 74 to sit well back in 37th place on 1 under par.

Lowry one ahead of Tiger in Shanghai.

American Nick Watney has set the pace in the HSBC CHAMPIONS EVENT in SHANGHAI when he had a 7 birdie,1 eagle and 1 bogey round of 8 under par 64.He opened up a 2 shot gap from Martin Kaymer,Ryan Moore and Irelands Shane Lowry.

Lowry has improved greatly from he turned Professional after winning the Irish Open as an amateur back in May.He is 164th in the Race to Dubai with 105,811 Euros earned in the 5 months he has been a Pro.He can quite easily compete with the best players and is not afraid to go low.
He can look back with pride as he finished one shot clear of Tiger who had a 67.

It wasn't a great day for Rory McIlroy who was one over par 73.He took a double bogey at the 1st,his 10th and couldn't recover.Padraig Harrington was 2 under after 9 holes.He had a bad run of 4 bogies on the front nine to finish well back in 57th place on 74 +2.

Kilpatrick and Shaw in Egypt with Monty.

Richard Kilpatrick who has had a miserable time this year on the Europro tour,made the long journey to Egypt to play in the Egyptian Open and got off to a great start when he returned a 2 under par 70 to sit in 16th place and 5 shots behind Carl Suneson who had a sparkling 65.

It wasn't such a great start for Gareth Shaw. Like Kilpatrick he has had a terrible year on the Challenge tour and things haven't improved as he opened his account with a 2 over par 74 and is down in 48th place,9 shots off the pace.

Ryder cup captain,Colm Montgomery is a welcome guest to this part of the world and he trilled the large crowd with a 3 under par 69.

Bad year for the Irish on the mini tours.

The Challenge and Europro tours have finished for the year.The top 20 on the Challenge tour progress onto the main European tour for 2010 and on the Europro tour the top 5 move up to the Challenge tour for 2010.

It is a real struggle for these players to make ends meet and especially if you are travelling from Ireland all the time it becomes an expensive business.On the Challenge tour the 20th player earned 58,920 Euros.The best of the Irish was Simon Thornton who finished in 51st place and earned 24,738 Euros.To earn this Simon had to play in 12 events,which covered most of Europe.Winning on average of 2,000 per event Simon wouldn't be making a lot of money when you take away his travel,food and accommodation.Colm Moriarty(52nd)won the same ammount playing in 18 tournaments.

On the Europro tour the 5th placed player earned only 20,407 Euros to gain entry onto the Challenge tour next year.Brian McElhinney was the top Irish in 22nd place.He made £5,708 from 13 starts.At an average of £439 winnings per event Brian would have lost at least £250 per tournament.Barrie Trainor playing on the Europro tour for the first year made a good start.He made the cut in 8 from the 10 outings and finished 33rd on the merit table with £3,731.

CHALLENGE TOUR (IRISH)
-----------------------
51ST: SIMON THORNTON (12 EVENTS) 24,738 EUROS.
52ND: COLM MORIARTY (18 " ) 24,155 "
105TH: GARETH SHAW (14 ") 10,030 "
111TH: JOHNNY CALDWELL (8 ") 8,837 "
164TH: MICHAEL MCGEADY (16 ") 2,470 "
169TH: ALAN MURRAY ( 8 ") 2,174 "
184TH: NOEL FOX (13 ") 1,702 "
185TH:PETER O KEEFFE (7 ") 1,656 "
194TH:RICHARD KILPATRICK ( 5 " ) 1,200 "
204TH:NIALL TURNER (2 " ) 605 "

EUROPRO TOUR
----------------------
22ND BRIAN MCELHINNEY (13 EVENTS) £5,708.
33RD BARRIE TRAINOR (10 " ) £3,731.
34TH PAUL O HANLON (10 " ) £3,664.
40TH MICHAEL COLLINS (7 " ) £3,365.
50TH TIM RICE (12 " ) £2,885.
59TH BRENDAN MCCARROLL (13 " ) £2,064.
67TH MARK STAUNTON (8 " ) £1,454.
73RD STEPHAN GRANT (7 " ) £1,165.
87TH MARK CAMPBELL (8 " ) £755.
102ND RICHARD KILPATRICK ( 9 " )£505.
103RD CIAN MCNAMARA (6 " ) £500.
104TH JUSTIN KEHOE (10 " ) £495.
106TH PAUL MCDONALD (5 " ) £442.
108TH DANIEL SUGRUE (7 " ) £425.
119TH JONATHAN MALLON (10 " )£352.
123RD SHANE FRANKLIN ( 6 " ) £280.
132ND MICHAEL LAVELLE ( 10 ") £202.

Ross Fisher wins World Matchplay.

Ross Fisher takes a giant step in World golf when he moved up to 17th in the World rankings and 4th in the Race to Dubai after a great display of golf to win the Volvo World Matchplay in Malaga.
Fisher was in great form all weekend and had to play 126 holes to lift the trophy and a winning cheque for 750,000 Euros.
In the group stage he beat Camilo Villegas by 2 holes and Jeev Milkha Singh by 1 hole.He lost by 2 holes to Lee Westwood but was the top point scorer in the group.

In the semi final he had to go to the 39th hole to beat Masters champion Angel Cabrera with a fantastic 3 wood into the final green.

The final against Anthony Kim came down to a putting competition,such was the standard of golf.Fisher holed some great putts and ran out a 4/3 winner when he was 10 under par after the 33 holes played.24 year old Kim went home with a cheque for 450,000 Euros.
Robert Allenby had a hole in one in the 3rd/4th place play off against Cabrera and went on to win with an eagle at the 19th.

Ian Poulter wins rain delayed Singapore Open.

It was a long day for Ian Poulter as he had to complete 36 holes before he won the SINGAPORE OPEN by 1 shot on 10 under par.Poulter was 12 under par after 36 holes and had opened up a 5 shot lead.
He got a bad start to the 3rd round and was overtaken a number of times,but he held his nerve to win a cheque for 554,127 Euros closing with 2 rounds of 72s.

Graeme McDowell who was leading for a while dropped 3 late shots for a closing 74 that left him in 5th place on -7 and a cheque for 119,027 Euros.
Peter Lawrie also had a 74 in his last round to finish on -2 and a share of 24th place earned him 32,582 Euros. Padraig Harrington didn't get the win he was looking for.He was on par for the tournament and was well down in 38th place for 21,611 Euros. Darren Clarke finished with a 75 for a +6 total.He finished in 57th place and got a cheque for 9,808 Euros.

The 36 hole cut came at +1 which left Paul McGinley 73/71 and Gary Murphy 73/71 on 1 shot too many.Shane Lowry 74/71 and Damien McGrane 73/72 on +3 also had the weekend off as did Michael Hoey 77/69 +4.

Peter Whiteford win final challenge tour event !

Scotland's Peter Whiteford won the APULIA SAN DOMENICO GRAND FINAL event in ITALY and with it a cheque for 51,500 Euros and a 5th place finish in the Challenge tour order of merit which gives him a full European tour card for next year.His 72 hole total of 5 under par and a birdie at the first play off hole beat Aussie,Andrew Tampion.
It was still a good day for Tampion who picked up a cheque for 34,200 Euros which allowed him to jump from 39th place into 15th which will also give him a card for next year.
Andrew McArthur's finish of 2 under and joint 4th means he will also make the main tour next year as he finished in 17th place.With the top 20 gaining cards next year you have to feel sorry for Peter Gustafsson who was 21st and Christoph Gunther 22nd.They were knocked out of the top 20 by Tampion and McArthur.

Edoardo Molinari will make a welcome return to top level golf next year as he had a record year winning twice and amassing a record total of 242,980 Euros.

McElhinney joint 3rd in Europro tour championship.

It was a good end to the season for Brian McElhinney who shot a final pound of 69 to finish on level par and in joint 3rd place in the season ending Tour Championship at Slaley Hall near Newcastle.
The run away winner was Simon Lilly who shot a record score of 65,including 8 birdies and a bogey at the 18th to collect a cheque for £15,000 which allowed him to jump from 21st in the order of merit to 5th.With the top 5 gaining a Challenge tour card for 2010 it turned out to be a double celebration for Lilly.
It was also a good result for Steve Surry.He finished 2nd on 1 under par after a closing round of 70.The £7,500 helped him to jump from 9th into 4th place and also collect a Challenge tour card for next year along with Lilly,No1 Scott Jamieson,No2 Tom Haylock and No3 Daniel Brooks.

McElhinney's finish earned him £2,650 and left him the top Irish for the year in 22nd spot.Barrie Trainor recovered from a terrible start in round one when he was 6 over par after 9 holes.He covered the last 45 holes in 2 under par for a share of 10th place and £700 in prize money.Tim Rice had 3 rounds of 75 to finish in 26th place on +9 and claim £320.Michael Collins 79 finished in 47th place on +16 and won £215 and Brendan McCarroll will want to forget the tour championship.He had a final round of 80 to finish in 55th spot on +24 and earned £175.

McElhinney top Irish at Slaley Hall.

Brian McElhinney is the top Irishman after a second round of level par leaves him 4 shots behind the 3 leaders on 3 over par in the Europro tour championship at Slaley Hall.

Overnight leader Chris Hanson took 73 shots but is still in the lead with Simon Lilly 70 and Paul Doherty 72 on 1 under par.They are the only players under par.They have opened up a 2 shot lead from Colin Roope 72 and Steve Surry 71 +1.

With the top 5 on the order of merit moving onto the Challenge tour,any of the 5 Irish in action would need to win the winners prize of 15,000 Euros on offer to have a chance.The closest contender is Brian McElhinney who lost a shot at the final hole for a level par round of 72 to sit 4 shots back. Barrie Trainor had a steady round of 73 to finish on +5 and 6 shots behind.Tim Rice had his second 75 in a row for a +6 total.
Michael Collins who took 78 in the first round got himself back into contention when he was 3 under for 15 holes.Unfortunately he took a 9 at the par 4 7th hole,his 16th and went on to finish on 9 over par after a 75.Brendan McCarroll can't get to grips with the course and took a 79 to finish with a +16 total.

Europro golfers blown away at Slaley Hall tour championship.

The top 60 golfers on the Europro tour have come together to play the season ending tour championship.The 54 hole event is being played at Slaley Hall in Northumberland.

The golfers had a tough task as they had to contend with gale force winds and rain as well as bumpy greens.

There was only 4 players to finish under par in the first round.Chris Hanson(28th)is the early leader after a 2 under par round of 70.Paul Doherty(4th),Recent winner Sandeep Grewel(11th) and Llewellyn Matthews(50th) are close behind on 1 under par,70.
No1 player Scott Jamieson is down in 23rd place on 76 +4.

Tim Rice(48th) and Brian McElhinney(36th) are the best of the Irish on 75 +3.Despite a run of 7 bogies in 8 holes,Barrie Trainor(37th)recovered for a round of 76 +4.Michael Collins(34th) struggled to a 78 +6 and Brendan McCarroll(60)found the going difficult and ended with a 9 over par 81.

One week makes a big difference to Michael Jonson.

Going into this weeks CASTELLO MASTERS in SPAIN,Swedens Michael Jonson was 158th in the Race to Dubai,he was getting ready for the second stage of pre qualifying as he was outside the top 115,and depressed with his golf.
Tonight he is 65th on the list,has 333,330 Euros in his bank account and his future is secured on the European Tour to at least the end of 2011.He played his best golf for 12 years to see of the challenge of players like defending champion Sergio Garcia & Martin Kaymer.
Jonson played fantastic golf all week and finished off with an 18 foot putt for birdie that beat Kaymer and fellow Swede Christian Nilisson by one shot.Rounds of 63,67,68,67 for a 20 under par total was good enough for a fairytail week.Martin Kaymer who was playing his first event since breaking toe's in a karting accident in August jumps Rory McIlroy into 2nd place on the Race to Dubai table behind Lee Westwood.
It was a good week for Darren Clarke who closed with a final round of 65 to finish in joint 8th on -14.His prize of 42,900 Euros leaves him inside the all important top 60 in 59th place.
Gary Murphy has slipped down to 123rd after finishing in 64th place on -4.Paul McGinley was unlucky to miss the halfway cut by 1 shot after finishing on level par.

Bad finish knocks Thornton out of final event.

Simon Thornton made 2 bogies in the last 3 holes to knock himself out of the final event on the Challenge tour next week.With only the top 45 playing in the season end tour championship,Thornton finished in 51st place after finishing in 6th place in the ITALIAN FEDERATION CUP on 13 under par.
It means there will be no Irish in the final tour championship,which means there will be no Irish joining the European tour from the Challenge tour this year.

Edoardo Molinari holed a 30 foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to win his 3rd event this year and an automatic move onto the main tour as a 3 time winner.He has amassed a record total of 231,880 Euros this year.

Johnny Caldwell had another good week.He finished in 15th position on 9 under par.Colm Moriarty finished on 5 under par and a share of 31st place,while Michael McGeady continues his bad year.He made the cut but finished on +4 and in 42nd place.

Thornton in good shape in Italy !

Simon Thornton from Royal County Down golf club is in good shape at the half way stage of the ITALIAN FEDERATION CUP in ITALY.He lies one shot behind the leader Edoardo Molinari after hitting rounds of 65 and 69.
Molinari is already the winner of the order of merit,but for Simon he could qualify for next weeks final event,the TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP which is also played in Italy if he finishes in the top 5.
He shares second place with Nicolas Colsaerts and Rhys Davies on 10 under par and only one shot behind Molinari.

Johnny Caldwell is also performing well with scores of 69/70 for a share of 14th place on -5.
Colm Moriarty 69/71 and Michael McGeady 71/69 share 18th place on -4.

Westwood wins Portugal Masters on 23 under par.

Lee Westwood won for the first time in over 2 years,when he came from behind to win the Portugal Masters around the Victoria course at Vilamoura,with a very impressive total of 23 under par.This was made up with scores of 66,67,66,66 to beat the long time leader Francesco Molinari by 2 shots.
It was a great weekend for Westwood who won 500,000 Euros and jumped Rory McIlroy to lead the"Race to Dubai" by 200,000 Euros.It also lifted him into 5th position in the World rankings behind Tiger,Mickleson,Stricker and Casey.
He last won the Order of merit in 2000 and was 4th in the World,before deciding to change his swing which saw him slump down outside the top 250.Thankfully he went back to his old game and has made the long journey back to the top.

Padraig Harrington playing in Europe for the first time since the FedEx cup playoff's in the USA finished in 3rd place after rounds of 69,62,71 and 67 left him on 19 under par.The cheque for 187,800 Euros lift's him into 6th place in the World and 15th in the Race to Dubai.
Gareth Maybin and Peter Lawrie were in joint 5th place on -15 going into the last round,but slipped up badly with Maybin taking a 74 and Lawrie 76.

It took 4 under par to make the half way cut,and of the 69 guys who made it through to the final 36 holes only Shaun Micheel from the USA was over par at the finish.He finished on 1 over par on this 7,229 yard lay out.

Irish Results.
---------------
3rd PADRAIG HARRINGTON -19 187,800 EUROS (15TH RACE TO DUBAI)
26TH GARETH MAYBIN -13 28,950 "(47TH R.T.D)
26TH PAUL MCGINLEY -13 28,950 "(100TH )
30TH RORY MCILROY -12 24,128 "(2ND)
30TH SHANE LOWRY -12 24,126 "(162ND)
37TH PETER LAWRIE -11 20,400 "(49TH)
41ST DARREN CLARKE -10 18,000 "(64TH)
DAMIEN MCGRANE -9 14,400 "(53RD)
------------------------------
MISSED CUT.

GARY MURPHY -3 (119TH R.T.D)
GRAEME MCDOWELL +1 (37TH)

Can McIlroy win the Race To Dubai ?

We are at that time of the year when there is only a few tournaments to go to decide the future for a lot of Professional golfers.
Can i win the European order of merit?Can i make enough money to keep my card for 2010 ?Can i make the top 60 to qualify for the Race To Dubai ?Can i make the top 50 in the World to qualify for most majors ?
With Rory McIlroy having won 2,008,567 Euros this year in Europe and sitting at No22 in the World rankings,you have to look at the likes of his Walker cup team mate Johnny Caldwell.He has only made 22,637 Euros on the European Tour and will be heading back to the qualifying school in November.

RACE TO DUBAI........IRISH RESULTS.

1ST:RORY MCILROY (20 EVENTS) EUROS 2,008,567.
21ST:PADRAIG HARRINGTON(12) " 868,662.
37TH:GRAEME MCDOWELL(19) " 668,972.
47TH:PETER LAWRIE (25) " 551,429.
48TH: GARETH MAYBIN (27) " 549,577.
50TH: DAMIEN MCGRANE (29) " 531,782.
---------------------------------------------
66TH:DARREN CLARKE (20) " 437,859.
82ND:MICHAEL HOEY (24) " 341,327.
107TH:PAUL MCGINLEY (23) " 273,483.
120TH: GARY MURPHY (30) " 225,924.
181TH:SHANE LOWRY (15) " 81,682.
247TH:MICHAEL MCGEADY (6) " 23,475.
248TH:JOHNNY CALDWELL (14) " 22,637.
341ST:DAVID HIGGINS (1) " 2,744.

WORLD ORDER OF MERIT.

7TH PADRAIG HARRINGTON.
18TH RORY MCILROY.
52ND GRAEME MCDOWELL.
103RD DARREN CLARKE.
122ND GARETH MAYBIN.
160TH DAMIEN MCGRANE.
173TH PETER LAWRIE.
191ST SHANE LOWRY.
198TH PAUL MCGINLEY.
216TH MICHAEL HOEY.

John Parry wins on Challenge tour in France.

2007 Walker cup player,John Parry can look forward to joining his old team mates,including Rory McIlroy on the European tour next year after winning the ALLIANZ OPEN GRAND TOULOUSE event with a final round of 63 left him on 21 under par and a 2 shot victory from Jose-filipe Lima.
It was a first victory for Parry and the 24,000 Euros he won lifted him into 12th place on the order of merit.

Johnny Caldwell came down from the main tour to gain some confidence before tour school and it worked.He finished in a tie for 17th when he closed with rounds of 66 and 68 for a -15 total.
Simon Thornton was down in 52nd place with a closing 71 left him on -8.

Ross McGowan wins Madrid Masters.

Englands,Ross McGowan won his maiden victory on the European tour when he was crowned the MADRID MASTERS champion after a closing round of 71 gave him a 25 under par total after his fantastic 3rd round of 60 -12.
The 250,000 Euros cheque lifts Ross up 21 places to 24th in the race to Dubai table.
It was also a great tournament for Finland's Mikko Ilonen who was struggling to keep his card in 159th place.He can now relax as his second place finish on 22 under par,lifted him up to 102nd on the table.

Gareth Maybin moved up from 55th to 48th in the order of merit after a closing round of 64 won him a cheque for 63,700 Euros on -18.Gary Murphy jumps from 145th to 120th when he was tied with Maybin on -18.Another good week should see him inside the top 115 and keep his card for 2010.
Damien McGrane was 17th on -15 after another good week.He won 19,050 Euros and is now safely inside the top 60 in 49th place.
Peter Lawrie won 7,500 Euros for 43rd place on -10,Shane Lowry who made a brilliant 63 in the second round couldn't improve.He finished on -9 and won 4,912 Euros and Michael Hoey was 3rd from the last on -4 to win 2,495 Euros.

Garcia on top/Lowry chasing in Madrid.

Local favorite,Sergio Garcia added a 67 to his opening 64 to sit on top of the leaderboard at the halfway stage of the MADRID MASTERS on 13 under par.
The course lends itself to low scoring,and it was the case this week with the cut coming at 4 under par.
The leading Irishman is Gary Murphy who is trying hard to hang on to his tour card for 2010,and he could survive from his 145th position,into the top 115 if he keeps playing to this high standard that see's him only 1 shot behind Garcia on -12 after rounds of 67/65.
Shane Lowry has taken 5 months to show the kind of golf that won him the Irish Open as an amateur back in mid May at Baltray.Then he shot a second round of 62,this week he had his lowest Professional score of 63-9 to put himself in position for his first Pro title.He starts the weekend only 3 shots behind Garcia on 10 under par.
There was 7 Irish in the field,and the only one to miss the cut was Darren Clarke on 1 over par.He was 5 under over the front 9 of his first round,but his game went downhill after that.

IRISH SCORES
------------
GARY MURPHY 67/65 -12
SHANE LOWRY 71/63 -10
PETER LAWRIE 69/67 -8
DAMIEN MCGRANE 67/71,MICHAEL HOEY 69/69,GARETH MAYBIN 70/68 -6.

MISSED CUT.DARREN CLARKE 69/76 +1.

Colsaerts shoots a 62 to lead Challenge event in France.

Nicolas Colsaerts(4th in the order of merit) moved into a share of the lead at the halfway stage of the ALLIANZ GOLF OPEN GRAND TOULOUSE.Colsaerts had a fantastic round of 10 under par 62 in this low scoring event to join Matthew Zions(67) and Alan Wagner(64) in the clubhouse on 13 under par.Zions(22th) and Wagner(24th) have a great chance of making the top 20 in the order of merit with a big finish this week.

Simon Thornton who took a 71 in the first round,recovered to make the cut with a brilliant 68 and squeese in on the cut mark of 5 under par.Johnny Caldwell will join Thornton for the weekend also on -5 after a second round of 72,but Michael McGeady was unlucky after he shot a 71 for a -4 total to miss the very low cut by a shot.

Sandeep Grewal beats Saltman in Europro play off.

Sandeep Grewal playing in his 12th Europro event this year finally got a win in the PARTY POKER.COM INTERNATIONAL OPEN when he beat Lioyd Saltman in a play off to lift the £10,000 first prize and a jump up to 11th in the order of merit.

Sandeep had a bit of luck on his side as he was out early enough to miss most of the bad weather.He took full advantage when he got to 7 under after 12 holes.He dropped 2 shots at the 14th,and finished with all pars to reach the play off as Saltman took a 75 to tie.
It was only the 5th time that Sandeep made the 36 hole cut out of 12 outings,with his previous best finish being joint 18th in the Brooke Bros Classic.

Former European star Ronan Rafferty collected a cheque for £800 along with fellow Irishman Michael Collins when they tied for 9th place on +2 after both took 77s.
Stephen Grant had a solid tournament and finished in 12th place on +3 after a closing 74.Brendan McCarroll was 28th after a 75 left him on +5 and Paul oHanlon took 76 for a share of 31st on +6.

Scoring HOT in France for Challenge tour event.

Play was called off during the ALLIANZ GOLF OPEN GRAND TOULOUSE in FRANCE because of thunder and lighting,but it was the golfers who were hot on the course.
Some players had to finish of their rounds this morning and with the first round complete there is a 4 way tie for the lead on 8 under par 64.
There is a total of 36 players between 5 and 8 under par clogging up the leaderboard.

Antti Ahokas,Matthew Zions,Charles Russo and Mark Tullo lead the way on -8.There are 6 players on -7,5 on -6 and 19 on -5,which includes Johnny Caldwell who has been struggling on the main tour this year and is trying to get some confidence before heading for the qualifying school.
Michael McGeady is not having a great year,but he will be in better form after a 3 under par round of 69 and Simon Thornton will have to work hard today to make the cut as he shot a 71 -1.

Manuel Quiros opens Madrid Masters with a 62.

Manuel Quiros sits at(319th)in the Race to Dubai,but he came alive during the first round of the MADRID MASTERS with a spectecular round of 10 under par 62 to take a 2 shot lead over local favorite Sergio Garcia(12th)who had a good putting day for a 64.

Danien McGrane (49th)in the race to Dubai and Gary Murphy (145th) had good scores of -5 67 but find themselves 5 shots off the pace.
Darren Clarke(65th) was 5 under after 9,but had a poor back nine to finish on -3,69 and join Michael Hoey(82nd) and Peter Lawrie(47th).
Gareth Maybin(55th) is on -2 70,while Shane Lowry birdied the last for a -1 round of 71.

Busby still leads/Rafferty stays in touch.

James Busby held on to his first round lead in the PARTYPOKER.COM INTERNATIONAL OPEN at FAIRMONT GOLF CLUB in ST.ANDREWS with a second round of 69 and now has a 1 shot lead on 9 under par.

Ronan Rafferty put in another great performance when he returned a 2 under par 70 to sit in a share of 7th place on 3 under par.Rafferty who hasn't played competitive golf for 10 years has a great love of links golf and he showed it with 4 birdies in 5 holes to come back from 2 over after 9 for a great round of 70.
Michael Collins joined Ronan on 3 under after a second round of level par 72.Stephen Grant fell away after his opening 68,he took 77 blows but made the cut on 1 over par for a share of 23rd.The cut fell at 3 over par and Paul oHanlon 71 and Brendan mcCarroll made it through by one shot on +2.

IRISH SCORES
-----------------
RONAN RAFFERTY 71/70,MICHAEL COLLINS 69/72 -3.
STEPHEN GRANT 68/77 +1.
PAUL O HANLON 75/71,BRENDAN MCCARROLL 72/74 +2.

---------------------------------
MISSED CUT +3.

TIM RICE 77/72 +5.
BRIAN MCELHINNEY 76/74 +6.
BARRIE TRAINOR 76/75 +7.
JONATHAN MALLON 77/75 +8.
MARK STAUNTON 79/78,RICHARD KILPATRICK 79/78 +13.
GER HALL 82/77 +15.

Great finish by Stephen Grant in Europro event.

James Busby shot a 66 to take the first round lead by 2 shots in the PARTYPOKER.COM INTERNATIONAL OPEN at FAIRMONT GOLF COURSE in ST.ANDREWS.Busby was an early starter and he took full advantage with a 6 under par round that will help him to move up from 8th on the order of merit,if his good golf continues over the next 2 rounds.

Michael Collins birdied the 16th and 18th and looked to be the top Irishman on 3 under par 69,but he was over taken when Stephen Grant birdied the last 3 holes for a 4 under par 68,to sit in joint 2nd place with a group of 6 others,including Tom Haylock who is second in the order of merit.He will be looking to go top as the leader,Scott Jamieson isn't playing.

1989 European order of merit winner,Ronan Rafferty made a rare appearance,and he didn't disappoint as he returned a 1 under par 71,that was made up with 17 pars and a birdie at the 14th.Brendan McCarroll put in a solid round of level par 72 and with the cut tomorrow likely to be no more than 2 over par the other 8 Irish will need to improve.

IRISH SCORES.
---------------
STEPHEN GRANT 68 -4.
MICHAEL COLLINS 69 -3.
RONAN RAFFERTY 71 -1.
BRENDAN MCCARROLL 72 PAR.
PAUL O HANLON 75 +3.
BARRIE TRAINOR,BRIAN MCELHINNEY 76 +4.
JONATHAN MALLON,TIM RICE 77 +5.
MARK STAUNTON,RICHARD KILPATRICK 79 +7.
GER HALL 82 +10.

Tiger top of the World and no sign of being moved.

In the latest world rankings Tiger Woods has now been No1 in the World for the last 226 weeks(over 4 years)and has been No1 for a total of 568 weeks(over 10 years).
It was also reported last week that he is the only sports person in the World to have passed the $1 Billion mark.
Phil Mickleson has taken up his usual No2 position after his Tour Championship win.

The top Irishman is triple Major winner Padraig Harrington.His great run in all the Play off's for the FedEx Cup has him in No7 position.
20 year old Rory McIlroy is back into the top 20 after his 2nd place finish in the Dunhill.He is 19th and the only other Irish in the top 50 is Graeme McDowell who is in 49th place.

Dyson wins Dunhill/McIlroy top of the Dubai race.

Simon Dyson birdied 6 of the first 7 holes to build up a 3 hole lead that he kept to win the DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP after a final round of 66 over the St.Andrews links.His 20 under par won him 540,000 Euros and moved him up to 8th in the race to Dubai table and a jump into the top 50 in the World.Dyson had already won the Dutch Open in August and has proved that he can play with the big boys.

Rory McIlroy was dissapointed not to have won the Dunhill,but a joint 2nd finish with Oliver Wilson lifted him above Martin Kaymer and Paul Casey(both injured)into No1 position in the Race to Dubai table as he has now won 2,008,567 Euros this year.He is back into the top 20 in the World rankings in 19th place.It was a good 50th birthday present for his dad Gerry who was inside the ropes as part of the McIlroy Pro Am team.

It was a good tournament for Darren Clarke,he shot a final round of 71 to finish joint 7th with overnight leader Luke Donald on -14. Paul McGinley was joint 9th with a group of 6 other players on -13.Michael Hoey hit 2 balls out of bounds at the par5,14th hole and took a 9.He still finished in 19th place on -11.
Padraig Harrington only made the cut on -4,but he recovered to shoot a round of 66 to join Graeme McDowell in 26th place on -10.Damien McGrane had a solid last round of 69 to share 36th spot on -9.Gareth Maybin had a final round of 71 to finish 51st on -7 and Gary Murphy also had a 71 to finish in 62nd place on -5.

Ireland well represented in Dunhill final round.

Luke Donald came out of the pack to shot a 64-8 round over the Kingsbarns course to lead going into the final round for the DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP which will be played over the St Andrews course tomorrow after Saturdays 3rd round was cancelled because of high winds.
Donald is on -15 and has a 1 shot lead over Rory McIlroy(69)and Simon Dyson(68).McIlroy has a special reason to win tomorrow.It is his Dad Gerry's 50th birthday and they will be playing together as they qualified for the team event.
One shot behind them is 2 Northern Ireland men.Michael Hoey who has had a terrible run since he won in Portugal earlier in the year shot a 70 at St Andrews,while Darren Clarke had a 67 at Kingsbarns to leave them both on 13 under par.
Paul McGinley is looking forward to being in contention once again as he is on 11 under par and only 4 behind.
9 out of 11 Irish playing made the cut with Peter Lawrie(71) and Shane Lowry(76) failed to make the cut.

IRISH SCORES.
RORY MCILROY(69 KB) -14
MICHAEL HOEY(70 SA)-13
DARREN CLARKE (67 KB) -13
PAUL MCGINLEY (69 KB)-11
GRAEME MCDOWELL (68 SA) -9
DAMIEN MCGRANE (68 SA) -6
GARETH MAYBIN (71 SA ) -6
PADRAIG HARRINGTON (72 KB) -4
GARY MURPHY (69 SA ) -4
failed to qualify.
PETER LAWRIE (71 SA) -2
SHANE LOWRY (76 CN)+5.

Lima wins ECCO Tour Championship in Denmark.

Portugal's JOSE-FILIPE LIMA shot a final round of 72 to win the ECCO TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP in DENMARK and in doing so stopped the favorite EDOARDO MOLINARI from gaining his 3rd win with an automatic place on the main European tour.It earned Jose a cheque for 28,800 Euros and a move into 3rd on the merit table.
The tournament was reduced to 54 holes because of rain on the Saturday.The final round was played under difficult conditions that saw all the scores going above par,but it was Lima who handled the pressure with a 72 to pip Molinari by 1 shot after he took a 74.

Irelands only qualifier,Colm Moriarty finished well down in 39th place after a closing 77 left him on +9.

McIlroy joint leader in Dunhill Championship after 36 holes.

20 year old Rory McIlroy covered St.Andrews famous links in 65 shots to share the lead at the halfway mark of the DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP with fellow Ulsterman Michael Hoey who had a fantastic day at Carnoustie when he shot a 66 and local boy Richie Ramsay who had a 66 at St.Andrews.
All 3 are on 11 under par with McIlroy and Ramsay to play the easier Kingsbarns tomorrow while Hoey has to face St.Andrews and with the wind to reach gale force it will be a great test for Hoey.
Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley are in good position on 8 under par.Graeme McDowell and Gareth Maybin -5 and Padraig Harrington is on the cut mark of -4.

Leaderboard.Irish scores.
-------------
Rory McIlroy 68 65,Michael Hoey 67 66 -11.
Darren Clarke 68 68,Paul McGinley 69 67 -8.
Gareth Maybin 66 73,Graeme McDowell 69 70 -5.
Padraig Harrington 70 70 -4.
Damien McGrane 71 71 -2.
Gary Murphy 71 72,Peter Lawrie 73 70 -1.
Shane Lowry 74 71 +1.

Molinari still in pole position in Denmark.

Edoardo Molinari held on to the lead after a second round of 69 in the ECCO TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP that left him on 6 under par and with a one shot lead over Portugal's Jose-Filipe Lima and Finlands Roope Kakko who had a top 7 finish in the Irish Open back in May.

The only Irishman to make the cut was Colm Moriarty who hit a level par 72 to go with his opening 76 yesterday.His +4 total made the cut by 2 shots.

Michael McGeady's season isn't getting any better.He was 10 over par after rounds of 75 and 79.
Simon Thornton was 1 worse on +11 after scores of 77 and 78.

Ecco Tour Championship lead for Molinari.

It is no surprise that Challenge tour leader Edoardo Molinari is in front after the first round of the ECCO TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP in DENMARK.
Molinari has 2 wins this year and has already broken the Money total for a season.
He has 188,080 Euros and looks like adding to that with an opening round of 69 -3.

He certainly won't have any competition from the Irish.Michael McGeady is 6 shots behind and down in 37th place on 75 +3,Colm Moriarty is 50th after a 76 +4 and Simon Thornton has a mountain to climb from 64th on 77 +5 if he is going to make the weekend.

Thomas Bjorn leads Dunhill Links Championship.

Thomas Bjorn,captain of the losing Europe team in the Vivardi Trophy last week,maybe should have been playing himself as he heads the field in the DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP after the first round.
The tournament is played over ST.ANDREWS,CARNOUSTIE and KINGSBARN golf courses.Bjorn was at KINGSBARNS and he scorched around in 64 shots -8 which was the best between the 3 courses by 2 shots from N.Irelands Gareth Maybin who shot a 66 on the same course.
At Carnoustie,local Richie Ramsay led the field with a solid round of 67 -5.Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke are in a group on 68 -4.
At St.Andrews Ross McGowan leads the field with a 66 -6,while the only Irish man in action Shane Lowry struggled to return a 74 +2.

Irish Scores
----------------
St Andrews...........Shane Lowry 74 +2.

Carnoustie...........Darren Clarke,Rory McIlroy 68 -4.
Paul McGinley 69 -3.
Padraig Harrington 70 -2.

Kingsbarn..........Gareth Maybin 66 -6.
Michael Hoey 67 -5.
Graeme McDowell 69 -3.
Damien McGrane,Gary Murphy 71 -1.
Peter Lawrie 73 +1.

US Tour V European Tour !

Rory McIlroy is considering a move to join the US Tour next year,and who can blame him.Already a superstar in the World at 20 years of age,even through he has only won one tournament since turning Professional last year.
Compere the money on offer in the US compared to Europe and you can see why it would be tempting.

Tiger has won $10,508.163 from 17 outings,plus the $10Million he won for the FedEx Cup.In Europe Martin Kaymer has won 1,982,055Euros from 16 starts as No1 player.Even taking into account the difference between the Euro and the Dollar Tiger is still over 7Million ahead of Kaymer.

McIlroy has 1,726,927 Euros from 19 outings and is in 3rd place in the Race to Dubai,while Phil Mickleson is 3rd in the US with $5,332,755 from 18 events plus his $3Million bonus from the FedEx.

Padraig Harrington only came good over the last 6 outings in America,yet he is 19th in their Merit table with $2,628,377 from 20 tournaments.19th in Europe is Ernie Els with 847,963 Euros from 13 outings(230,000 of that was earned in the US Majors)

I can only think Rory will make the move sooner rather than later.With his long hitting and his short game improving all the time,he will make a fortune and improve his World ranking quicker.

GOOD LUCK RORY !!!!!!!!

MICKLESON WINS/ TIGER WINS.

Phil Mickleson roared back to his brilliant best with a round of 65-5 to win the TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP at EAST LAKE in ATLANTA with a 9 under par total.He also moved from 14th to 2nd in the FEDEX CUP.
It was a good pay day for Phil as he won the $1.35Million prize money for winning the tour championship and a $3Million bonus from the FedEx Cup.
Tiger was runner up to Phil in the tour championship on 6 under par and won $810,000,but the big bonus was the $10Million for winning the FEDEX CUP.

Padraig Harrington can go home happy as well.He was 2 over par after 6 holes but fought back to shoot a 69 that left him in a tie for 4th with Kenny Perry(74).
He picked up $330,000 and a FedEx bonus of $600,000.

MCILROY & MCDOWELL SHIN IN VIVENDI TROPHY.

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell were the stars of GB&I win over Europe at the weekend.
Another Irish man Paul McGinley did a great job as team captain to warrent a shot at the Ryder Cup captaincy soon.
He fielded what was supposed to be a weak side against a strong European side and came away as 16 1/2 to 11 1/2 winners at SAINT-NOM-LA-BRETECHE golf club in PARIS.

After the first 3 days GB&I were 12 1/2--5 1/2 up going into the 10 singles matches. There was a 1/2 point awarded to the teams when Anthony Wall couldn't play because of injury.
Needing only 2 points McGinley soon had the VIVENDI TROPHY wrapped up when 20 year old McIlroy beat World No5, Henrik Stenson by one hole and McDowell was very impressive when he beat Robert Karlsson by 3/2 for an overall winning total of

GB&I 16 1/2.........Europe 11 1/2.

Kenny Perry leads tour championship,Tiger will collect $10Million

KENNY PERRY takes a 2 shot lead into the last round of the TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP,but it looks like TIGER WOODS will win the $10 Million FEDEX CUP as his closest challenger STEVE STRICKER is 4 shots behind him,despite hitting a brilliant 66.
PERRY got a great start when he birdied the first 4 holes,and got himself into a great position to win the $1.35Million cheque for winning the TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP,but as he is only 9th in the FEDEX rankings unless TIGER has a disaster tomorrow,he can't catch him.
HARRINGTON dropped 2 late shots to finish with a 1 over par 71 and leaves him 5 shots behind PERRY and with 4 players ahead of him,it is unlikely that he can win the FEDEX but it will be another good week for picking up dollars.

FEDEX RANKINGS...........TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP.

8TH..........KENNY PERRY 72/66/64 -8.
1ST..........TIGER WOODS 67/68/69 -6.
7TH..........SEAN O HAIR 66/70/70 -4.
14TH.........PHIL MICKLESON 73/67/66 -4.
6TH.......PADRAIG HARRINGTON 67/69/71 -3.
25TH.......STEVE MARINO 69/71/67 -3.
2ND.......STEVE STRICKER 70/72/67 -2.
22ND.......ERNIE ELS 71/66/71 -2.

Harrington keeps pressure on Tiger after 36 holes.

PADRAIG HARRINGTON is keeping TIGER WOODS in his sights as he is only one shot behind after 36 holes of the TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP at EAST LAKE in ATLANTA.The problem Padraig has,is even if he wins the tournament he has to hope that Tiger doesn't finish second,otherwise Tiger will win the FEDEX CUP and the 10 MILLION DOLLARS that goes with it.
There is still a lot of golf to be played and Tiger is in good form.He is 5 under par after rounds of 67/68 and could have been even better if he had of holed two 6 foot putts coming to the end of his round.
Padraig is like a terrier dog,once he gets a grip he refuses to let go.He is on 4 under par after rounds of 67/69 and is joined by overnight leader SEAN O HAIR who didn't putt as well as in round one for a 70.

FEDEX CUP STANDINGS TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP.

1ST TIGER WOODS 67 68 -5.
6TH PADRAIG HARRINGTON 67 69 -4.
7TH SEAN O HAIR 66 70 -4.
22ND ERNIE ELS 71 66 -3.
9TH KENNY PERRY 72 66 -2.
29TH JERRY KELLY 71 67 -2.

Briallant performance by John Kelly at Q school.

12 Irish played in the first stage of the EUROPEAN TOUR QUALIFYING SCHOOL last week and none qualified.This week 25 started out and 8 came through with flying colours.

The best performance came from JOHN KELLY who hit rounds of 70,68,69,69 over THE OXFORDSHIRE course to finish in joint 3rd place on 12 under par.The winner was American RYAN BLAUM on 17 under par.MICHAEL COLLINS,-7,DAVID HIGGINS -6 and CHRIS DEVLIN -4 all made it through.
At GOLF DE MOLIETS near PARIS,CIAN MCNAMARA made it through in 12th place after a final round of 70 left him on -8.He was an amazing 14 shots behind the winner,Spains CARLOS BALMESEDA on 22 under par.Irish/Austrailian EDDIE BARR also played well to qualify in 15th place on -7 after a closing 73.
At FLEESENSEE GOLF CLUB in GERMANY MERVYN OWENS came home in 13th place on -5 after a closing 71. ALLY MELLOR from ENGLAND won the group on 14 under par.NIALL KEARNEY(AM) nearly slipped up with a closing 74,but got through on the cut mark of -3.
No Irish made it through at CIRCOLO GOLF CLUB in ITALY,but young amateur RUAIDHRI MCGEE put up a good show to finish on +2 after a closing 75.Swiss man MARTIN ROMINGER won the stage on 14 under par.

IRISH SCORES.
----------------
GOLF DE MOLIETS,FRANCE PAR 72. 26 PLAYERS QUALIFIED ON -5.

QUALIFIED.12TH: CIAN MCNAMARA -8.
15TH: EDDIE BARR -7.
MISSED 72 HOLE CUT.
41ST: PAUL O HANLON -1.
MISSED 54 HOLE CUT.
SHANE FRANKLIN +15.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
THE OXFORDSHIRE,ENGLAND PAR 72. 28 PLAYERS QUALIFIED ON -4.

QUALIFIED.3RD: JOHN KELLY -12.
15TH: MICHAEL COLLINS -7.
17TH: DAVID HIGGINS -6.
27TH: CHRIS DEVLIN -4.
MISSED 72 HOLE CUT.
29TH: DAMIEN MOONEY -3.
35TH: PETER O KEEFFE,CIAN CURLEY(AM) -2.
47TH: TIM RICE +2.
MISSED 54 HOLE CUT.
RICHARD KILPATRICK,MARK STAUNTON +5.
DARREN MCWILLIAMS +7.
GREG BOWDEN +14.
GLEN ROBINSON +18.
PAUL MCDONALD RTD.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FLEESENSEE GOLF CLUB,GERMANY PAR72. 31 QUALIFIED ON -3.

QUALIFIED 13TH: MERVYN OWENS -5.
24TH NIALL KEARNEY -3.
MISSED 72 HOLE CUT.
75TH: MARK CAMPBELL +7
MISSED 54 HOLE CUT.
JUSTIN BRINK +12.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CIRCOLA GOLF CLUB,ITALY PAR 72. 30 QUALIFIED ON -2.

MISSED 72 HOLE CUT.
44TH: RUAIDHRI MCGEE +2.
MISSED 54 HOLE CUT.
DAVID RAWLUK +11.

TIGER AND HARRINGTON LOCKED TOGETHER.

SEAN O HAIR holds a 1 shot lead after the first round of the FEDEX CUP at EAST LAKE ATLANTA.oHair got a putting lesson from Tiger and it paid off as he shot a 4 under par round of 66.There is a 3 way tie for second on -3,67 and they include Tiger Woods,Padraig Harrington and OPEN champion Stewart Cink.
Padraig got off to a flyer when he was 4 under par after 7 holes at which stage he was 5 shots clear of Tiger. Padraig was 1 over par for the last 13,while Tiger was 4 under for the same holes.

FEDEX STANDINGS EAST LAKE.
7TH SEAN O HAIR 66 -4.
1ST TIGER WOODS 67 -3
6TH PADRAIG HARRINGTON 67 -3.
26TH STEWART CINK 67 -3.
20TH LUCAS GLOVER 68 -2.
25TH STEVE MARINO 69 -1
15TH RETIEF GOOSEN 69 -1
11TH DUSTIN JOHNSTON 69 -1.

GOOD SCORING BY THE IRISH AT Q SCHOOL.

There was some good scoring by the Irish in the 3rd round of qualifying school.John Kelly is in joint 5th position at THE OXFORDSHIRE on 9 under par after a 69.With the top 27 on -3 or better MICHAEL COLLINS is in joint 6th on -7 and DAVID HIGGINS is on -4.
In FRANCE EDDIE BARR is in joint 8th place on -8 where the cut of point is -3.CIAN MCNAMARA IS IN GOOD SHAPE IN 15TH ON -6.PAUL O HANLON is 2 shots outside the cut mark on -1.
In GERMANY,the cut mark is -1 going into the final round.Walker cup amateur NIALL KEARNEY is in good shape on -5 after a 68 and MERVYN OWENS despite taking a 73 is on -4.
In ITALY amateur RUAIDHRI MCGEE is on the cut mark of -1 after a 71.

IRISH SCORES.
---------------------
GOLF DE MOLIETS,FRANCE PAR 72. TOP 26 TO QUALIFY.

8TH: EDDIE BARR -8.
15TH: CIAN MCNAMARA -6.
39TH: PAUL O HANLON -1.
MISSED CUT
98TH: BRENDAN MCCARROLL +14.
99TH: SHANE FRANKLIN +15.
-------------------------------------------
THE OXFORDSHIRE,ENGLAND PAR 72. TOP 27 TO QUALIFY.

5TH: JOHN KELLY -9.
9TH: MICHAEL COLLINS -7.
18TH: DAVID HIGGINS -4.
29TH: DAMIEN MOONEY -2.
33RD: PETER OKEEFFE -1.
39TH: CHRIS DEVLIN PAR.
44TH: TIM RICE,CIAN CURLEY(AM) +1.
67TH: RICHARD KILPATRICK,MARK STAUNTON +5.
MISSED CUT.
75TH: DARREN MCWILLIAMS +7.
95TH: GREG BOWDEN +14.
102ND: GLEN ROBINSON +18.
RTD: PAUL MCDONALD RTD.
-----------------------------------------
FLEESENSEE GOLF CLUB.GERMANY PAR 72.TOP 26 TO QUALIFY.

8TH: NIALL KEARNEY(AM) -5.
14TH: MERVYN OWENS -4.
59TH: MARK CAMPBELL +4.
MISSED CUT
95TH: JUSTIN BRINK +12.
--------------------------------
CIRCOLO GOLF CLUB.ITALY PAR 72. TOP 27 TO QUALIFY.

27TH: RUAIDHRI MCGEE -1.
MISSED CUT.
82ND: DAVID RAWLUK +11.

BARR,HIGGINS AND OWENS KEEP THE IRISH FLAG FLYING AT TOUR SCHOOL.

EDDIE BARR from WARRENPOINT now living in AUSTRAILIA added a second round of 70 to his opening 68 to sit in joint 13th place on - 6 after the second round of the qualifying school at GOLF DE MOLIETS in FRANCE.He is 6 shots behind the Spanish pair of CARLOS BALMESEDA 69/63 and RAUL QUIROS 65/67.
JOHN KELLY shot a super 68 to finish in joint 5th place at the OXFORDSHIRE on -6 and 6 shots behind American,RYAN BLAUM who scored a second round of 63.
MERVYN OWENS could only manage a level par 72 at FLEESENSEE GOLF CLUB in GERMANY but he is still in sight of a qualifying spot in 6th place on -5.MARIUS THORP from NORWAY still leads on -11 after a second round of 69.
In Italy MARTIN ROMINGER has the half way lead on -10.Irish amateur RUAIDHRI MCGEE got himself back in to contention with a 2 under par 70 that leaves him in 27th spot on level par 144.

IRISH SCORES.
--------------
--------------
GOLF DE MOLIETS. FRANCE PAR 72.

JOINT 13TH: EDDIE BARR 68.70 -6.
" 18TH: CIAN MCNAMARA 71.68 -5.
" 39TH: PAUL O HANLON 71.72 -1.
" 98TH: BRENDAN MCCARROLL 76.78 +10.
" 103RD: SHANE FRANKLIN 78.77 +11.
--------------------------------------------
THE OXFORDSHIRE. ENGLAND PAR 72.

JOINT 5TH: JOHN KELLY 70.68 -6.
" 7TH: MICHAEL COLLINS 70.69,DAVID HIGGINS 68.71 -5.
" 19TH: PETER O KEEFFE 72.69 -3.
" 24TH: TIM RICE 72.70 -2.
" 31ST: CIAN CURLEY(AM)74.69,CHRIS DEVLIN 73.70,DAMIEN MOONEY 73.70 -1
" 59TH: MARK STAUNTON 73.74 +3.
" 70TH: RICHARD KILPATRICK 75.73,DARREN MCWILLIAMS 78.70 +4.
" 95TH: GREG BOWDEN 73.80 +9.
" 103RD: GLEN ROBINSON 80.77 +13.
" 113RD: PAUL MCDONALD 79.79 +14.
--------------------------------------------------
FLEESENSEE GOLF CLUB. GERMANY PAR 72.

jOINT 6TH: MERVYN OWENS 67.72 -5.
" 29TH: NIALL KEARNEY(AM) 71.72 -1.
" 44TH: MARK CAMPBELL 74.71 +1.
" 78TH: JUSTIN BRINK 78.72 +6.
----------------------------------------------
CIRCOLO GOLF BOGOGNO. ITALY PAR 72.

jOINT 27TH: RUAIDHRI MCGEE 74.70 PAR.
" 87TH: DAVID RAWLUK 77.76 +9.

Mervyn Owens top of the 25 Irish at qualifying school.

MERVYN OWENS made a great start at FLEESENSEE GOLF CLUB in GERMANY in the first round of qualifying school.He fired a 5 under par round of 67 and finds himself 3 shots behind Norway's MARIUS THORP who shot a brilliant 64.
At the OXFORDSHIRE,former tour player DAVID HIGGINS got of to a fine start with a 4 under par 68 and in joint 2nd place behind GAVIN DEER who opened with a 67.
Young amateur RUAIDHRI MC GEE now living in RODA GOLF CLUB in SPAIN shot a 2 over par 74 at CIRCOLO GOLF CLUB in ITALY and finds himself 8 shots behind the leader,amateur JOON KIM.
EDDIE BARR from Warrenpoint now living in Austrailia and leading the Queensland PGA order of merit,leads the Irish challenge at GOLF DE MOLIETS in FRANCE when he hit a 4 under par 68.The leader is DAVID OLIVER with a super round on -8,64.

IRISH SCORES
--------------------
THE OXFORDSHIRE.ENGLAND PAR 72.
DAVID HIGGINS 68.
MICHAEL COLLINS,JOHN KELLY 70.
GREG BOWDEN,PETER O KEEFFE,TIM RICE 72.
DAMIEN MOONEY,CHRIS DEVLIN,MARK STAUNTON 73.
CIAN CURLEY(AM) 74.
RICHARD KILPATRICK 75.
DARREN MC WILLIAMS 78.
PAUL MCDONALD 79.
GLEN ROBINSON 80.
----------------------------------------

GOLF DE MOLIETS FRANCE PAR 72.

EDDIE BARR 68.
CIAN MCNAMARA,PAUL O HANLON 71.
BRENDAN MC CARROLL 76.
SHANE FRANKLIN 78.
---------------------------------------

FLEESENSEE GOLF CLUB GERMANY PAR 72.

MERVYN OWENS 67.
NIALL KEARNEY(AM) 71.
MARK CAMPBELL 74.
JUSTIN BRINK 78.
------------------------------------

CIRCOLO GOLF CLUB ITALY PAR 72.

RUAIDHRI MCGEE(AM) 74.
DAVID RAWLUK 77.

TIGER'S MAJOR WINS....

TIGER WOODS won 6 tournaments this year,but didn't manage to win a Major.He is still on 14 Majors and chasing Jack Nicklaus record of 18 wins.
Looking back over the 14 Majors that Tiger won,i thought it was interesting to see the different people who he came up against and how a lot of them have dissapeared of the scene completely.

MAJOR RECORD FOR TIGER.
------------------------------
1997: MASTERS.......BEAT TOM KITE BY 12 SHOTS.
1999: PGA CHAMPIONSHIP......BEAT SERGIO GARCIA 1 SHOT.
2000: US OPEN.....BEAT ERNIE ELS & M A JIMENEZ 15 SHOTS.
2000: OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP....BEAT THOMAS BJORN & ERNIE ELS 8 SHOTS.
2000: PGA CHAMPIONSHIP.....BEAT BOB MAY PLAY OFF.
2001: MASTERS...... BEAT DAVID DUVAL 2 SHOTS.
2002: MASTERS......BEAT RETIEF GOOSEN 3 SHOTS.
2002: US OPEN......BEAT PHIL MICKLESON 3 SHOTS.
2005: MASTERS.......BEAT CHRIS DE MARCO PLAY OFF.
2005: OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP.....COLM MONTGOMERY 5 SHOTS.
2006: OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP....CHRIS DE MARCO 2 SHOTS.
2006: PGA CHAMPIONSHIP....SHAUN MICHAEL 5 SHOTS.
2007: PGA CHAMPIONSHIP....WOODY AUSTIN 2 SHOTS.
2008: US OPEN......ROCCO MEDIATE PLAY OFF.

Rafael Cabrera-Bella shoots a 60 to win in Austria.

25 year old Rafael Cabrera-Bella will never forget his first win on the European Tour.He started the last round of the AUSTRIAN OPEN 8 shots behind Benn Barham,but what a round he put together.Bella birdied the 3rd,4th,5th,8th,9th,10th,11th,13th,14th,16th and 18th and 7 pars to equal the European tour record low score of 60 shots.
Bella collects the 166,660 Euros first prize with his -20 under par and moves up to 46th in the Race to Dubai.
Benn Barham(175th)finished runner up only one shot behind on -19 and has now moved up to (126th) with a cheque for 111,110 Euros,but it is little consolation as he played great golf all week,but he couldn't have expected Rafael to come out of the pack with a stunning round of 60.
Soren Hansen was 3rd for the 2nd week in a row with a closing 68 to finish on -17.

Damien McGrane(53rd)hit 3 rounds of 67 to go with his opening 71 to finish on -12 and in joint 10th place.He won 17,925 Euros but it only moved him up one spot to(52nd).
Gary Murphy(153rd) moved up 5 places to(148th) with a closing 66 that earned him a share of 14th place and 14,700 Euros.

Molinari breaks Challenge tour money earnings.

Edoardo Molinari started the richest tournament on the Challenge tour in No1 spot and after a fine win in the KAZAKHSTAN OPEN he has broke the record for money earned in one season and it is not over yet.
Molinari won the 64,000 Euros first prize and has now won 188,080 Euros that will see him tee up next year on the main European Tour.

Simon Thornton(68th) moved up to (60th)when he finished in a tie for 21st after a final round 72 earned him 3,760 Euros on -7.
Colm Moriarty(46th) finished in a tie for 36th after a final round of 69 won him 2,600 Euros on -5,but he dropped down to (53rd) on the money list.
Gareth Shaw(100th) moved up 1 place to (99th)when he won 1,160 Euros for finishing 62nd after a closing 74 left him in 62nd spot.

Benn Barham still leads in Austria.

Benn Barham(175th)in the Race to Dubai can reach the top 100 if he continues to play such fine golf over the FONTANA GOLF COURSE near VIENNA.He took a double bogey at the par 3,7th hole to reach the turn in level par with birdies at the 1st and 9th.
A back nine of 4 under par gives him a 3 shot lead going into the final round tomorrow from Soren Hansen(16th)
Barham has only made 82,777 Euros from 22 outings this year and if he can hold on to the lead tomorrow he will collect double that amount(166,660 Euros).

Damien McGrane(53rd) moved up 19 places with another 67 that included an eagle 2 at the par 4,12th.He is in joint 15th place on -8.
Gary Murphy(153rd) went the opposite way.He dropped down 16 spots with a round of 72 to finish in joint 27th on -6.

No1 Molinari leads in Kazakhstan by 3 shots.

Challenge tour No1 Edoardo Molinari takes a 3 shot lead into the last round of the KAZAKHSTAN OPEN after a 3rd round of 66 leaves him on -16 and in line for a 64,000 Euros pay day if he can hold on tomorrow.Peter Gustafsson(51st) is in touch with Molinari after a 67 leaves him on -13.

Simon Thornton(68th) was 1 under with 2 to go,before disaster struck.He lost 3 shots over the last 2 holes for a 74 which dropped him down into a share of 18th on -7.Colm Moriarty(46th) dropped down 15 places to joint 46th after a 73 left him on -3.
Gareth Shaw(100th) also fell 10 spots when he took 76 shots to sit in a share of 61st on +3.

No Irish eyes smiling after Qualifying school.

Only 4 of the 12 Irish who started the qualifying school had a chance to make it to the next stage with a good final round,but it didn't happen.
Barrie Trainor(Ulster PGA Champion)needed a 1 under par round of 71,but starting on the 10th hole he drove into a bush and had to take a penalty drop.It left him with a mountain to climb when he took a double bogey.He finished with a 74 to miss out by 3 shots.After starting the week with a -2 70,Barrie hit a triple and 4 double bogies over the final three rounds that cost him a place in stage 2.
Brian McElhinney finished on +9 after a 74 also at Dundonald links and Michael Lavelle hit a final round of 78 to finish well away on +14.

At Ribagolfe in Portugal,ex footballer Stephen Grant was 4 shots outside the mark when he finished +9 with a final round of 74.