Sunday 31 October 2010

Graeme McDowell wins the Irish battle at Valderrama.

US Open Champion, Graeme McDowell held off the challenge of fellow countrymen, Gareth Maybin and Damien McGrane to claim a 2 shot victory at the Andalucia Valderrama Masters in Sotogrande, Spain.

On a day when strong winds made low scoring extremely difficult, McDowell went round in 74 to finish on three under par, two ahead of Maybin, McGrane and Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen.

It was a great battle all the way between the 3 Irish players, but it was the experience of US Open champion McDowell who keep his cool over the tough closing stretch for a fantastic victory. It has been a wonderful year for the Rathmore man as he earlier won the Wales Open, US Open, clinched the winning point in the Ryder Cup and now a place amongst the Worlds Top 10. McDowell collected the €500,000 first prize that brings his earnings to €2,638,866 this year with a lot of big money events yet to come.

Shane Lowry improved his order of merit position when he collected €37,300 for a share of 18th place on 6 over par. Darren Clarke closed with a 75 to share 26th place on 8 over par and win €27,600.

Michael Hoey took home €21,300 with a 10 over par score that shared 35th and Peter Lawrie found the going difficult over the weekend. He finished in 47th place on 13 over par and won €14,700.

Paul McGinley struggled over the opening rounds missing the +5 cut by 3 shots after scores of 74/75.

Monday 25 October 2010

Italian teenage sensation Matteo Manassero wins in Valencia.

17 year old Matteo Manassero broke a few records when he won the Castello Masters around the Club de Campo del Mediterraneo course in Valencia, Spain.

Matteo shot 68,66,67,67 ( -16 ) to become the youngest ever winner on the European Tour at the tender age of 17 years and 188 days. The previous holder New Zealand's Danny lee was more than a year older than Matteo at 18 years and 213 days. Matteo is now also the youngest ever full member of the European Tour, beating the legend Seve Ballesteros record by 12 days. He was granted full membership of the tour with earnings of €641,197 from 6 starts and now finds himself in 43rd place on the Race to Dubai league table.

Manassero afterwards admitted he had not expected his first win to come so soon. He was full of praise for his caddy, Ryan McGuigan from Coleraine.

It was another good week for Dubliner Peter Lawrie. A superb second round of 64 helped Lawrie to a share of 3rd place when he finished on 11 under par. Gareth Maybin got his game back on track after a few missed cuts. Maybin finished in a share of 19th place on 7 under par.

Damien McGrane started with a 5 over par 76. He then shot a 65 to easily make the cut and went on to finish in a share of 30th place on 5 under par. Paul McGinley was 51st on 1 under par. Shane Lowry took 76 in the 3rd round but still finished in 66th place on 3 over par but Michael Hoey had a poor finish, taking a 78 in the final round to finish in 72nd place on 6 over par.

Simon Thornton took 75 in round one and even though he recovered with a 70 in the 2nd round he missed the +1 cut by 2 shots.

Korea win ladies Amateur world team championship.

The Korean Ladies team broke the scoring record in the World Amateur team championship in Buenos Aires in Argentina. With the top 2 scores to count from 3, they started slowly with a one under par score that left them 7 shots behind the USA team.

The second day Korea moved into the lead when Ji-Hee Kim shot a course record 63 and Jung-Eun Han had a 65. There 15 under par total moved them to 16 under and a one shot lead from the Americans.

The third day Hyun-Soo Kim was the star for Korea when she hit a 66, and with the other two scoring 68s they opened up an unbeatable 13 shot lead from the US.

The final round saw 17 year old Jung-Eun Han shot a 69 which gave her the individual prize with a 13 under par total of 275. Hyun-Soo Kim had a 70 to give Korea the record winning score of 30 under par 546, beating the US team by a record 17 shots.

Ireland sent their strongest possible team, but could only manage to finish in 11th place. 15 year old Leona Maguire scored 72, 70, 77, and 69. Her twin Lisa scored 73, 73, 70 and 74 while Danielle McVeigh never got to grips with the course, shot 72, 76, 79, 79.

Monday 18 October 2010

Surprise win for left hander Green in Portugal.

Richard Green came from seven shots back to win the Portugal Masters with a brilliant closing 7 under par round of 65 over the Oceanico Victoria course in the Algarve. The Australian left-hander, thought he had blown his chances with bogies at the 16th and 18th to set a clubhouse target of 18 under par.

It looked for much of the afternoon that Green was going to be beaten to the title by Spain's Pablo Martin, who had a 7 shot advantage over Green starting the last round. Martin filtered away shot's, finding water on two occassions and finished up signing for a 75 that left him down in a share of 6th with Peter Lawrie on -15.

Ryder Cup player, Francesco Molinari returned his second 62 of the week to share 2nd place on 16 under par with Gonzalo Frez-Castano, Robert Karlsson and Joost Luiten.

Peter Lawrie had a great week, scoring 68,68,68,69 for a share of 6th place on 15 under par. He collected a cheque for €90,000. Damien McGrane was steady with rounds of 67,72,68,72 to collect €17,100 for 41st place. Michael Hoey won €13,800 for a share of 48th place on 8 under par. Paul McGinley and Shane Lowry took home €10,500 for a share of 54th on 6 under par.

The 36 hole cut came at 4 under par. Gareth Maybin can count himself unlucky when he hit 68/73 to miss out by one shot on 3 under par. Darren Clarke 72/71 was 1 under and Simon Thornton who only got a last minute call up when Danny Willett pulled out shot 72/74 to miss out by 6 shots.

Sunday 17 October 2010

Higgins is crowned 1st "Race To Mount Juliet" Champion.

37 year old Waterville professional David Higgins was crowned the 1st Lexus " Race To Mount Juliet " Champion in association with Ping and Failte Ireland, after he returned a fantastic 7 under par 65 around the magnificent Mount Juliet championship course.

Higgins held the No1 position on the Irish PGA order of merit since he won the Quinn Insurance Pro - Am at Slieve Russell back in June with a 12 under par scoreline of 132. With further wins at Monkstown & Wexford, along with 4 runner up prizes kept him in pole position, until David Mortimer won the Irish PGA Championship at Seapoint.

The following week, David got back to No1 when he shared the winning score at Fota Island with Damien Mooney. The stage was set for a great battle at Mount Juliet with the top 30 from the Irish PGA order of merit lined up for an 18 hole shoot - out.

The final three ball was made up with the top 3 from the order of merit, David Higgins, David Mortimer and Damien Mooney. With so much at stake, all three got off to a slow nervous start. Higgins lost a shot at the 4th to go one over par, but settled down with birdies at the 7th and 8th to turn on one under par. Mooney was level par and Mortimer was one over par.

Higgins showed his quality over the back nine. He birdied the long 10th, short 11th and par 4, 12th. After finding the bunker at the short 14th, he ended all hopes of anybody catching him when he holed the bunker shot and then followed up with further birdies at the 15th & 17th for a brilliant round of 65 ( -7 ).Damien Mooney was runner up with a 3 under par 69 to move into 2nd place on the order of merit ahead of Irish Champion David Mortimer who had a poor round of 78.

The win was worth €4,000, plus as No1 on the order of merit Higgins picked up a €10,000 bonus. He is guaranteed a place in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and a place in next years Irish Open. Along with Damien Mooney and David Mortimer, Higgins will play in next months Srixron British & Irish PGA play - offs at Little Aston. The winner can expect at least a further 4 more invites to main European Tour tournaments.

The top 8 from the Irish PGA order of merit will play in next years Irish Open. They are David Higgins, Damien Mooney, David Mortimer, John Kelly, Darren McWilliams, Barrie Trainor, Michael Collins and Eamon Brady.

Michael McCumisky, secretary of the Irish PGA said " The race to Mount Juliet has been running since April and has been a great success. All credit goes to the sponsors, Lexus, Mount Juliet, Ping and Failte Ireland." He introduced the Irish PGA Captain, Eamonn Logue. Eamonn said " On behalf of all the Professionals I would like to thank Kevin O'Reilly from Lexus, Colin Donovan, General manager of the Mount Juliet estate, Brian O'Regan from Ping and Failte Ireland. The race to Mount Juliet generated a great interest for the Professionals all year and can only get bigger and better."

Final Race To Mount Juliet Results.

1 David Higgins ( Waterville ) 65 ( -7 ) €4,000.00 + ( €10,000. ) Bonus money.
2 Damian Mooney ( Unattached ) 69 ( -3 ) €2,800.00 + ( €2,500. ) Bonus money.
3 Ted Higgins ( foreireland.com ) 71 €1,666.66
Brendan McDermott ( Castlecomer ) 71 €1,666.66
Peter Martin ( Riverside Golf Academy ) 71 €1,666.66
Jimmy Bolger ( Kilkenny ) 71 €1,666.66
Robert Giles ( Greenore ) 71 €1,666.66
Glen Robinson ( St Helen's Bay ) 71 €1,666.66
9 Brendan McGovern ( Headfort ) 72 €1,012.50
Philip Walton ( foreireland.com ) 72 €1,012.50
Michael Collins ( foreireland.com ) 72 €1,012.50
Darren McWilliams ( Unattached ) 72 €1,012.50
13 David Hughes ( Massereene ) 73 €608.00
John P. Dolan ( Dunfanaghy ) 73 €608.00
David Ryan ( Cahir Park ) 73 €608.00
Mark Staunton ( foreireland.com ) 73 €608.00
Eamonn Brady ( Clontarf ) 73 €608.00
18 Peter Jones ( Coollattin ) 74 €510.00
Donald Gleeson ( Old Conna ) 74 €510.00
John Dwyer ( Ashbourne ) 74 €510.00
Mark O'Sullivan ( Ashbourne ) 74 €510.00
Michael McDermott ( Pure Golf Leopardstown ) 74 €510.00
23 Cian McNamara ( Limerick Golf Club ) 75 €475.00
Barrie Trainor ( Team Ireland Golf ) 75 €475.00
25 Seamus McMonagle ( Edmondstown ) 76 €450.00
John Dignam ( Slade Valley ) 76 €450.00
John Kelly ( St.Margaret's Golf ) 76 €450.00
28 David Mortimer ( foreireland.com ) 78 €430.00 + ( €5,000 ) Bonus Money.
29 Connor Mallon ( Narin & Portnoo ) RTD €415.00
Neil Manchip ( GUI National Academy ) RTD €415.00

Tuesday 12 October 2010

(Golf news) Disappointment for Des Smyth in France.

There was disappointment for Des Smyth at the Cannes Mougins Masters in France when he went from an opening 7 under par 65 and leading by 2 shots to finish down in 16th place after closing rounds of 74 and 78. Smyth, who won the Travis Perkins Senior Masters at Woburn last month, lost his game over the closing two rounds.

Local man Mark Farry was an easy winner on 9 under par after a 2nd round of 65, beat Gordon Brand Jun to the winning prize of €38,287 by 2 shots.

Dennis O'Sullian +4, Eddie Polland +9 and Jimmy Heggarty +13 were the other Irish contenders.
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39 year old Irishman Padraig Harrington has ended a two-year title drought by winning the Iskandar Johor Open in Malaysia.

Harrington, who went into the final round with a comfortable five-stroke lead, after opening rounds of 64, 67 and 68. He hit a closing three-under-par 69 to cruise to a three-shot win from Korean Noh Seung-yul on 20 under par.

The three-time Major winner was never threatened during the final round at the Horizon Hills Golf and Country Club to secure his first victory since winning the US PGA Championship in 2008 and collect $198,125.

"Two years is a long time, especially when you're reminded most weeks you play. It's nice and very important for me to win. It's somewhat a monkey off your back," Harrington said.

Showing no ill effects of a neck injury which almost forced him out of the third round, the Irishman tightened his grip with three straight birdies from the second hole on a day when conditions were ideal for low scoring.
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Andreas Harto captured his second Challenge Tour title in thrilling fashion in only his fourth appearance at the Roma Golf Open 2010.

In so doing the 22 year old from Copenhagen, who only turned professional last month after winning the ECCO Tour Championship as an amateur, became the fastest player in history to capture two Challenge Tour titles.
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47 year old, Rocco Mediate won the Fry's.com Open on the PGA Tour with scores of 64,65,67 and 73 for a 15 under par total of 269. It was Mediate's first win for 8 years and he led from start to finish.

Mediate managed an eagle in each of the 4 rounds and never had to use his putter. Round 1, he had a hole in one at the 3rd hole. In round 2 he holed his 2nd shot from 160 yards at the 4th hole. A 110 yard shot went into the hole at the 15th hole for an eagle 3 at the par 5 in round 3 and in the last round when Bo Van Pelt and Alex Prugh were in the clubhouse on -14, Rocco holed from 116 yards at the 17th to win by one shot on 15 under par.
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Banbridge Professional, Richard Kilpatrick has been playing on the Alps tour based in Switzerland this year. He is lying in 17th place on their order of merit with €12,799. His best finish so far has been a 5th place in the Atlas Pro - Tour Magador tournament where he finished 7 under par.
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There was a popular winner of the PGA Grand slam of golf at Port Royal golf club in Bermuda. Ernie Els came from 3 shots behind David Toms with 5 holes to play to win by a single shot. Els who scored 70/69 in windy conditions collected the $600,000 first prize on 5 under par. Toms 69/71 was second on 4 under par. Graeme McDowell 72/73 and Martin Kaymer 74/71 tied for 3rd place on 1 over par.
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Defending champion, Scotlands Martin Laird, Austrailian, Cameron Percy and Jonathan Byrd tied on 21 under par in the Justin Timberlake tournament around the TPC Summerlin course in Las Vegas. After 3 play off holes the trio couldn't be seperated and as it was getting dark, they decided to play one more hole. Laird & Percy both hit water at the 204 yard 17th hole. All Byrd needed to do was hit the green. He went one better and hit a 6 iron that finished in the hole for a winning ace, that gave him his first win since the John Deere Classic in 2007.
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Rory McIlroy played his first ever event on the Challenge Tour, when he accepted an invite to play in the JW Marriot, Egyptian Open around the Mirage City golf club. Rory took time to get used to the course, opening with a 71 and a 74 to make the cut on one over par. He found his swing over the weekend and recovered with 69/68 to share 12th place on 6 under par. Fellow Irishman Colm Moriarty finished one shot behind Rory on 5 under par. The tournament was won by Mark Tullo from Chile who shot a final round 66 to win on 13 under par. Rory became the 1st person to ever hit golf balls around the famous Pyramids.
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Waterville Professional, Mark Murphy closed with a 4 under par 68 to skip through the 1st stage of qualifing for the USPGA Tour at Lantana Golf Club in Texas. Murphy shared 8th place on 7 under par after 4 steady rounds of 71, 72, 70, 68. He will be joined at stage 2 by Chris Devlin from Ballymena.

Seamus Power from West Waterford was unlucky when he failed to make stage 2. Power took 73 in the final round to miss out by only 1 shot on 3 under par. Niall Kearney from Muskerry returned a 66 in his final round, but unfortunately still missed the cut by 4 shots on level par.

Ballyliffen's Thomas Kearney finished 10 shots away from the cut on +6, while Fergal Rafferty from Dungannon was another 2 shots behind Kearney on +8.
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Ireland made a fighting comeback to finish in 6th position at the World Amateur Team Championships in Argentina. The tournament was reduced to 54 holes because of the inclement weather, which made the Buenos Aires golf course very difficult.

Ireland were at the back of the field after day one. Paul Cutler ( Portstewart ) had a 74 while Alan Dunbar ( Reathmore ) and Kevin Phelan ( University of North Florida ) both hit 76s. Ireland moved up to 22nd after round two when Cutler & Dunbar both returned 73s. The Irish boys reserved their best golf to last. Cutler hit a very impressive 71 and along with Phelan ( 72 ) they returned the joint best score of the day with the US team. Their 143 total helped them to move into 6th place, 16 shots behind the winners, France.

Paul Cutler 74, 73, 71 was 11th in the individual table on +3, 9 shots behind the winner Joachim Hansen ( Denmark ) on 6 under par. Kevin Phelan 76, 75, 72 was 24th on 8 over par and Alan Dunbar 76, 73, 79 was 57th on 13 over par.
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Rebecca Coakley ( Carlow ) was only one shot away from recording her first win on the Ladies European Tour. Playing in the China Ladies Open, Coakley returned scores of 69,70 and 73 that left her 1 shot short of a 5 way play-off.

South African, Lee-Anne Pace made it back to back wins when she came from 6 shots behind to beat Hannah Jun, Julieta Granada and Christel Boeljon in a 2 hole play-off.

Rebecca Coakley shared 5th place with Becky Brewerton & Dewi-Claire Schreefel. She collected a cheque for €7,160 and has now moved up to 34th on the order of merit.
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Tiger Woods dropped down in Bangkok to play a one day skins game on his way to Melbourne for the defence of the JBWere Masters. He came a poor last when he only managed to win one skin that was worth $6,600. Camillo Villegas won 5 skins but they were worth $109,800 while Paul Casey won 9 and his total was $92,400. Thongahai Jaidee won 3 skins and collected $90,000.
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53 year old Bernhard langer won the US champions tour seniors order of merit for the 3rd year in a row after a brilliant season that saw him win 2 major titles. He won the British seniors and the US seniors. His reward for winning the order of merit was a $1 Million annuity.
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Irish PGA Champion, David Mortimer was the top Irish Professional in the GB&I Srixon play-offs at Little Aston golf club. Mortimer had rounds of 70, 72 ( -2 ) but only finished in 7th. The winner was Aberdeen Professional 37 year old Greig Hutcheon who holed a 15 foot putt in a play-off to beat Richard O'Hanlon, ( Cornwall ) and James Harris ( Kent ) after they all finished on 7 under par.

Irish Race to Mount Juliet order of merit winner David Higgins was 9th on i under par after rounds of 71, 72 and Belfast man Damien Mooney was 19th after rounds of 74, 74.
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39 year old Stuart Appleby came from 7 shots behind to win the JB Were Masters in Melbourne, Austrailia. Left hander, Adam Bland took 73 in the final round as Appleby hit a 6 under par round of 65 to pass him and win by one shot on 10 under par.

Daniel Guant who started the year on the Europro Tour took 3rd place on 8 under par, beating the defending champion Tiger Woods by a shot. Woods was struggling with his game until the last 4 holes of the final round. He finished eagle, birdie, par, eagle to claim 4th place.
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Italy’s Matteo Manassero has been named The Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year for 2010 following a record-breaking start to his professional career highlighted by him becoming the youngest player to win in the history of The European Tour.

Manassero launched his professional career in the BMW Italian Open at the beginning of May and in 14 starts since then has won the Castello Masters at the age of 17 years and 188 days; earned €890,401 to finish in 31st place in The 2010 Race to Dubai; and played 54 rounds for which he was 73 under par with only seven scores over 72.

(2nd) Pro - Am win No5 for Damien Mooney.

Belfast man Damien Mooney added the Irish PGA Westmanstown Pro - Am to the other four he won this year and has moved up to 3rd on the Race to Dubai league table.

Mooney had a slow start to the season. He didn't win his first one until the Nairn & Portnoo Pro - Am at the end of June. Further wins quickly followed at Balbriggan, Curragh, Fota Island and now Westmanstown.

To win, Mooney needed a 2 under par round of 69 to beat Darren McWilliams by a single shot. Order of merit leader David Higgins was in the frame again, sharing 3rd place on level par with Peter Martin, John Dwyer, Ian Kerr and Brendan McDermott.

It was a good tournament for David Hughes from Massereene golf club in Antrim. Not only did Hughes bring home the winning team with 86 points, he also shot a 72 for a share of 8th place that earned him enough points to jump from 32nd place on the Race to Mount Juliet table into the final ( 30th ) spot to book his place in the grand final.

Westmanstown Pro - Am results.

1 Damian Mooney ( Unattached ) 69 -2.
2 Darren McWilliams ( Unattached ) 70.
3 Peter Martin ( Riverside Golf Academy ) 71.
David Higgins ( Waterville ) 71.
John Dwyer ( Ashbourne ) 71.
Ian Kerr ( Bunclody ) 71.
Brendan McDermott ( Castlecomer ) 71.
8 Seamus McMonagle ( Edmondstown ) 72.
John Kelly ( St.Margaret's ) 72.
David Hughes ( Massereene ) 72.
Glen Robinson ( St Helen's Bay ) 72.
12 Donal Gleeson ( Old Conna ) 73.
Mark Staunton ( foreireland.com ) 73.
Brendan McGovern ( Headfort ) 73.
Gerry Burke ( Curragh ) 73.
Jimmy Bolger ( Kilkenny ) 73.

(1st)Kaymer wins Alfred Dunhill Championship.

25 year old German, Martin Kaymer is in the habit of winning these day's. After claiming his first Major at the USPGA, he followed up with a run away win at the KLM Dutch Open and now he claimed a hat trick with a three shot win at the Alfred Dunhill Championship. Kaymer became the first player to win three times in a row on The European Tour since Tiger Woods in 2006.

Kaymer started with a 68 on the Kingsbarn course, followed up with a 69 on a difficult day at St.Andrews and added a 68 at Carnoustie. In bitterly cold and windy conditions at St Andrews the 25 year old German added a closing 66 that included a 40 foot putt for birdie from off the back of the 17th green, and after landing on the tarmac road on the 18th, he hit a wedge to 15 feet and holed the putt for another birdie.

Danny Willett was runner up with a final round of 67 for a 14 under par return, beating the long time leader and his 2007 Walker Cup team mate John Perry by a single shot.

All 12 Irish took part with only 4 making the level par cut after 3 rounds. Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell both finished on 6 under par, claiming a share of 17th place. Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy finished in 53rd place on 2 over par.

Gareth Maybin hit a 69 around St.Andrews but missed the cut by a single shot as did Darren Clarke who slipped up with a 74 at Carnoustie. Damien McGrane was 3 under par playing Carnoustie but took 78 to miss out by 3 shots along with Peter Lawrie and Paul McGinley.

Gary Murphy and Michael Hoey were 6 over par and Simon Thornton had a bad tournament finishing 7 over par.

Wednesday 6 October 2010

Final push for a place in the "Race to Mount Juliet."

With only a couple of tournaments to go before the final Lexus "Race to Mount Juliet" in association with Ping, play-offs between PGA Professionals, there is a scramble to make it into the top 30.

David Higgins who has led from early in the season was overtaken at the top by new Irish PGA Champion, David Mortimer, but that only lasted a week. Higgins hit straight back with a 5 under par total of 138 to share 1st place with Damien Mooney in the Fota Island Pro-Am and jump straight back into pole position.

The top 30 on the order of merit will qualify for the Mount Juliet event which will carry a €30,000 purse.To add more interest there is another €17,500 which will go to the top 3 on the final table.The winner will get €10,000,runner up €5,000 and 3rd will take home a bonus of €2,500.

The winner will gain an invite to the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in 2011.

The top 3 qualify for the Srixon Play offs which offer the winner a couple of invites to the main tour.

The top 8 qualify for the 2011 Irish Open.

Holding 30th and final position at the moment is Wayne O'Callaghan ( Wayneocallaghangolf.com ). He is only 16 points ahead of John Dolan ( Dunfanaghy ) and 59 points ahead of David Hughes ( Massereene ). It will be all to play for in the remaining tournaments.

THE LEXUS RACE TO MOUNT JULIET AFTER THE FOTA ISLAND PRO-AM.
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1 David Higgins ( Waterville ) 35,979 Points.
2 David Mortimer ( foreireland.com ) 35,208
3 Damian Mooney ( Unattached ) 29,924
4 John Kelly ( St.Margaret's ) 29,321
5 Darren McWilliams ( Unattached ) 26,697
6 Barrie Trainor ( Team Ireland Golf ) 25,858
7 Eamonn Brady ( Clontarf ) 20,873
8 Mark Staunton ( foreireland.com ) 20,375
9 Michael Collins ( foreireland.com ) 20,131
10 Glen Robinson ( St Helen's Bay ) 18,673
11 Robert Giles ( Greenore ) 15,340
12 Philip Walton ( foreireland.com ) 14,676
13 David Ryan ( Cahir Park ) 14,669
14 Michael McDermott ( Pure Golf Leopardstown ) 13,250
15 Jimmy Bolger ( Kilkenny ) 13,150
16 Mark O'Sullivan ( Ashbourne ) 12,969
17 Peter Martin ( Riverside ) 12,408
18 Garry Cullen ( Beaverstown ) 12,274
19 Neil Manchip ( GUI National Academy ) 11,727
20 Brendan McDermott ( Castlecomer ) 11,635
21 Simon Thornton ( Team Ireland Golf ) 11,580
22 Ted Higgins ( foreireland.com ) 11,517
23 Connor Mallon ( Narin & Portnoo ) 10,658
24 John Dwyer ( Ashbourne ) 10,442
25 Brendan McGovern ( Headfort ) 9,963
26 Donal Gleeson ( Old Conna ) 9,477
27 John Dignam ( Slade Valley ) 8,810
28 Peter Jones ( Coollattin ) 8,790
29 Cian McNamara ( Limerick ) 8,412
30 Wayne O'Callaghan ( Wayne O'Callaghan Golf.com ) 8,249
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31 John P. Dolan ( Dunfanaghy ) 8,233
32 David Hughes ( Massereene ) 8,190
33 Seamus McMonagle ( Edmondstown ) 7,854
34 Leslie Walker ( Dundalk ) 7,339
35 Patrick Geraghty ( Unattached ) 6,986

Monday 4 October 2010

RYDER CUP COMES BACK TO EUROPE.

The heavy rain held play back until the Monday at Celtic Manor in Wales. The 150 strong green staff did a terrific job keeping the course fit for play, but all that was forgotten as Colin Montgomery held the Ryder Cup aloft in front of 30,000 cheering fans at the closing ceremony.

Behind Monty were the magnificent dozen golfers who played fantastic golf to defeat the Americans by a slender margin of 14.5 points - 13.5 points. When each golfer was introduced to the fans, it was Rathmore's Graeme McDowell who got the loudest cheer.

It was Graeme whom Monty selected for the anchor role, and what a brilliant choice it turned out to be. With the game balanced at 13.5 points each it was McDowell who made what Monty described as the best birdie he ever saw under severe pressure at the 16th hole to go dormie two up on Hunter Mahan. A great 4 iron shot at the par 3, 17th and two putts later the crowd went wild.

Following in the famous footsteps of Eamonn Darcy, Christy O'Connor, Philip Walton and Paul McGinley, the 31 year old from Portrush won back the trophy for Europe when everything depended on him.

Graeme had partnered fellow countryman, 21 year old Rory McIlroy in the foursomes and fourball matches. They combined well for a win, a draw and one defeat on the final green to Stewart Cink & Matt Kucher.

McIlroy played some fantastic golf during the week. In the final singles game he got a crucial 1/2 point against Stewart Cink. Rory got a fast start with birdies at the first two holes, only for Cink to birdie the next three to take the lead. After that there was never more than one hole separating the pair.

Padraig Harrington played his part as well. He collected 2 vital wins along with Ross Fisher. They beat Phil Mickleson & Dustin Johnston 3/2 in the foursomes and Jim Furyk & Dustin Johnston 2/1 in the fourballs. Harrington was beaten 3/2 by Zach Johnston in the singles. Johnston made 7 birdies over the 16 holes.

Tiger Woods was in top form in his singles match with Francesco Molinari. Woods was 9 under par when he won on the 15th green.

Quotes from the Ryder Cup.
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Padraig Harrington described the winning feeling as "incredible" and "phenomenal".
"Every Ryder Cup's the same. It's phenomenal. There's nothing like it in golf."

Lee Westwood, "I've never been slapped on the back so often. We are really delighted.
It's been a great team performance against a strong American side."

Ross Fisher added: "This is very sweet. It's a shame there's got to be a losing team and losing side."

Montgomerie: "Graeme McDowell was put there for a very good reason. He's full of confidence and that showed. That birdie on 16 was quite unbelievable."

Montgomery: "I'm very proud. It's a very proud moment for us all here in Europe. They all played to a man magnificently, they all gave 110 per cent and that's all you can ask."

Montgomery: "They (the US) came back extremely well. All credit to them. Tiger showed he was number one in the world. Phil Mickelson did brilliantly."

Asked about his own achievement, Montgomerie said: "I didn't hit a shot so it wasn't much of an achievement, but it's a proud, proud moment."

WORLD RANKINGS.

Lee Westwood is now World No1, knocking Tiger Woods of the position he has held for 281 consecutive weeks and a total of 623 weeks. ( one week short of 12 years. )

Westwood deserves the title as he has been the most consistant golfer in the world over the last two years. He was European No1 last year, winning the first "Race to Dubai" title beating Rory McIlroy.

Phil Mickleson who has been No2 behind Woods for most of that time has now moved down to 4rd, having made way for Germany's Martin Kaymer.

Ireland have 3 players in the top 20. Rory McIlroy is in 9th place, US Open Champion Graeme McDowell has moved into 10th and Padraig Harrington who had slipped down to 23rd is back up to 19th.

While Darren Clarke is starting to climb back up the list into 100th place, Paul McGinley is going the other way. He is now down in 407th place.



1 Lee Westwood.
2 Tiger Woods.
3 Martin Kaymer.
4 Phil Mickelson.
5 Steve Stricker.
6 Jim Furyk.
7 Paul Casey.
8 Luke Donald.
9 RORY MCILROY.
10 GRAEME MCDOWELL.
11 Matt Kuchar.
12 Ernie Els.
13 Dustin Johnson.
14 Ian Poulter.
15 Hunter Mahan.
16 Edoardo Molinari.
17 Retief Goosen.
18 Zach Johnson.
19 PADRAIG HARRINGTON
20 Louis Oosthuizen.


Other Irish.
---------------
100 Darren Clarke.
111 Peter Lawrie.
122 Gareth Maybin.
130 Damien McGrane.
135 Shane Lowry.
320 Michael Hoey.
407 Paul McGinley.
477 Simon Thornton.

Sunday 3 October 2010

EUROPEAN TOUR RACE TO DUBAI RANKING'S.

It is getting to an exciting time with only 3 tournaments left to the final " Race to Dubai " tournament at the Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai. The year long build up started back in December last year with the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek in South Africa. 48 tournaments and 27 countries later, the top 60 will play at Jumeirah to see who will be crowned " Dubai World Champion."

The first winner last year, Lee Westwood is in 3rd position behind the USPGA Champion Martin Kaymer. US Open Champion Graeme McDowell is in between them in 2nd place.

Last year's runner up, Rory McIlroy, who played most of his golf in the US this year is in 14th position . Padraig Harrington 18th, Darren Clarke 27th, Damien McGrane 32nd, Peter Lawrie 34th and Gareth Maybin 35th are well inside the top 60, and should be in attendance come the 25 November. Shane Lowry will be looking for a few good week's as he is in 61st place, €15,000 behind James Morrison who holds the 60th and final place at the moment.

Michael Hoey had a steady season so far and is in 92nd place on the table. With the top 125 to retain their cards he is safe for next year.

At the other end of the table there will be a struggle for Paul McGinley ( 121st ) and Simon Thornton ( 136th ) to reach the top 115. Gary Murphy has had a terrible year and will be back at tour school for the second year in a row.

Race to Dubai Order of merit.
---------------------------------------------------
1 Martin Kaymer GER €3,167,447
2 Graeme McDowell NIR €2,638,866
3 Lee Westwood ENG €1,878,307
4 Charl Schwartzel RSA €1,817,803
5 Ernie Els RSA €1,807,313
6 Miguel Angle Jimenez ESP €1,775,001
7 Edoarda Molinari ITA €1,754,398
8 Louis Oosthuizen RSA €1,747,726
9 Ian Poulter ENG €1,478,118
10 Paul Casey ENG €1,438,864
11 Francesco Molinari ITA €1,341,460
12 Alvaro Quiros ESP €1,259,814
13 Ross Fisher ENG €1,253,687
14 Rory McIlroy NIR €1,253,687
15 Rhys Davies WAl €1,170,930
16 Luke Donald ENG €1,143,424
17 Peter Hanson SWE €1,133,281
18 Padraig Harrington IRE €1,053,630
19 Danny Willett ENG €1,022,162
20 Robert Karlsson SWE €1,021,855

Other Irish.
--------------
27 Darren Clark NIR €820,890
32 Damien McGrane IRL €736,583
34 Peter Lawrie IRE €711,805
35 Gareth Maybin NIR €709,640
61 Shane Lowry IRL €492,528
92 Michael Hoey NIR €291,035
121 Paul McGinley IRL €155,610
136 Simon Thornton IRL €116,954
192 Colm Moriarty IRL €43,770
236 Gary Murphy IRL €19,152

CHALLENGE TOUR ORDER OF MERIT.

With only 4 events left to play on the Challenge Tour this year, it doesn't look likely that any of the Irish guys will make the top 20 and gain one of the 20 European Tour cards on offer for 2011.

Colm Moriarty is the leading Irishman way down in 52nd place with €21,824. He is over €24,000 behind Lee Slattery who is in 20th place. Alvaro Velasco from Spain is certain to make it back to the main tour next year as he leads the order of merit with €130,863.

TOP 20 ORDER OF MERIT.
---------------------

1 Alvaro VELASCO ESP €130,863
2 Oscar FLOREN SWE €95,111
3 Thorbjorn OLESEN DEN €95,043
4 Robert DINWIDDIE ENG €89,778
5 Julio ZAPATA ARG €84,471
6 Floris DE VRIES NED €82,291
7 George MURRAY SCO €67,900
8 Bernd WIESBERGER AUT €65,662
9 Mark TULLO CHI €59,348
10 Marius THORP NOR €59,262
11 Matthew ZIONS AUS €59,143
12 Magnus A CARLSSON SWE €56,241
13 Alexandre KALEKA FRA €55,695
14 Daniel GAUNT AUS €53,065
15 Charlie FORD ENG €51,882
16 Scott JAMIESON SCO €51,309
17 Joel SJÖHOLM SWE €50,385
18 Raymond RUSSELL SCO €48,485
19 Carlos DEL MORAL ESP €46,400
20 Lee SLATTERY ENG €46,316

OTHER IRISH.
------------
52 Colm MORIARTY IRL €21,824
105 Jonathan CALDWELL NIR €10,145
121 Michael McGEADY IRL €8,245
147 Gareth SHAW NIR €5,001

MOONEY/HIGGINS TIE AT FOTA ISLAND PRO-AM.

Damien Mooney made a brilliant recovery to tie for the main prize after the 36 hole Fota Island Irish PGA Pro-Am came to a conclusion. Belfast man Mooney had a 4 under par 68 over the Belvelly course in the 1st round to sit in joint 2nd place with Glen Robinson ( St Helens Bay. ) and one shot behind Darren McWilliams.

There was a shot-gun start in round two with Mooney starting at the 8th hole on the difficult Deer Park course. He walked off the 8th green level par after a nightmare 8 at the par 4. Big hitting Mooney put the nightmare behind him to hit 7 birdies and claw his way back to the top of the leaderboard with a 1 under par 70.

After his terrible start, Mooney was happy to share top spot with Waterville's David Higgins with a 5 under par total. Higgins, who lost the No1 spot on the "Race to Mount Juliet" table to Irish PGA Champion, David Mortimer last week, claimed it back again with a best of the day 67 on the Deer Park course.

Overnight leader, Darren McWilliams finished in 3rd place after a 72 in the 2nd round left him on 4 under par.

John Dignam ( Slade Valley ) brought home the winning team with scores of 92 & 97 points to beat Brendan McDermott's ( Castlecomer ) team by 2 points.

1 David Higgins ( Waterville ) 71 67 -5.
Damian Mooney ( Unattached ) 68 70 -5.
3 Darren McWilliams ( Unattached )67 72 -4.
4 Robert Giles ( Greenore ) 72 68 -3.
Mark Staunton ( foreireland.com )70 70 -3.
6 Padraig Dooley ( Cork )71 70 -2.
7 Marcus Twitchett ( Hilton Templepatrick )73 69 -1.
Mark O'Sullivan ( Ashbourne ) 71 71 -1.
Donal Gleeson ( Old Conna ) 72 70 -1.
Glen Robinson ( St Helen's ) 68 74 -1.
Cian McNamara ( Limerick ) 73 69 -1.
12 John Dwyer ( Ashbourne ) 71 72 Par.
Philip Walton ( foreireland.com ) 75 68 Par.
14 David Mortimer ( foreireland.com ) 73 71 +1.
Wayne O'Callaghan ( Wayne O'Callaghan Golf.com )74 70 +1.
16 Seamus McMonagle ( Edmondstown ) 75 70 +2.
John Dignam ( Slade Valley ) 72 73 +2.
18 Gary Wardlow ( Edenderry Golf Academy ) 76 70 +3.
Peter Martin ( Riverside Golf Academy ) 71 75 +3.
Barrie Trainor ( Team Ireland Golf ) 73 73 +3.
David Ryan ( Cahir Park ) 75 71 +3.
Brendan McDermott ( Castlecomer ) 71 75 +3.
Ted Higgins ( foreireland.com ) 73 73 +3.
Peter Jones ( Coollattin )74 72 +3.

TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP FINISH TO THE EUROPRO TOUR IN CYPRUS.

The top 60 from the order of merit on the Europro Tour made their way to Aphrodite Hills Golf Club in Cyprus for the season ending Tour Championship. James Heath won the biggest event in the 2010 PGA EuroPro Tour season after triumphing in a dramatic three-way play-off.

The win was important to Heath as he moved from 28th in the order of merit up to 4th after collecting the €20,000 ( £17,014. ) and a certain move to the Challenge Tour next year.

Heath, Kevin Harper ( East Devon ) and Lawrence Dodd were all tied on seven-under.

Scotland’s Craig Lee ( Aspire Golf Centre ) made a late surge with a course record 62to finish in tied fourth after being well down the leaderboard on the opening day.

Brendan McCarroll from Derry was the leader going into the final round. McCarroll had opened with rounds of 69 and 63 to sit on 8 under par and lead by 2 shots. A win would have guaranteed Brendan a Challenge Tour spot for next year, but a poor closing round of 75 dropped him into a share of 11th along with Limerick's Tim Rice on 3 under par.

The top Irishman was Lurgan's Gareth Shaw. He started slowly with a one over par 71, then followed up with a pair of 67's to take 7th place on 5 under par.

Other Irish results were, Noel Fox 23rd on level par 210, Neil O'Briain and Michael Collins finished 28th on +1. Brian McElhinney and Paul O'Hanlon were tied 48th on +8 218.

This year the top 7 from the final order of merit go through to the Challenge Tour as the leader Daniel Guant and the 5th place man, Craig Lee are already qualified for next year. Guant won an event last month on the Challenge Tour and Lee has already finished in the top 80 of the Challenge Tour.

The other 5 are Matthew Evans, James Hepworth ( Winner at Galgorm Castle. ),James Heath, Nick McCarthy and Ian Keenan ( Winner at Castle Dargen. ) in Sligo.

The best placed home player was Brendan McCarroll who finished in 25th place with earnings of £7,058 from 14 tournaments.

FINAL EUROPRO ORDER OF MERIT 2010.

1 Daniel S. Gaunt £24,700
2 Matthew Evans £24,123
3 James N. Hepworth £24,020
4 James J. Heath £23,169
5 Craig Lee £19,237
6 Nick McCarthy £16,742
7 Ian Keenan £16,315
8 James Busby £15,747
9 Matt Allen £15,736
10 Paul Maddy £15,195

Irish Results
---------------
25 Brendan McCarroll £7,058
27 Paul O'Hanlon £6,706
32 Gareth Shaw £4,715
33 Tim Rice £4,587
37 Michael Collins £4,087
38 Brian McElhinney £4,003
44 Neil O Briain £2,760
48 Noel Fox £2,476
62 Barrie Trainor £1,718
68 Michael McGeady £1,454
74 David Rawluk £1,325
92 Michael Lavelle £1,023
97 Mark Staunton £831
103 Jonathon Mallon £768
115 Cian McNamara £558
150 Shane Franklin £202
157 Mark Campbell £182