The Honda Classic, Luke Guthrie Leads by One.

Luke Guthrie / Getty Images

The Honda Classic second round was dominated by Luke Guthrie, shooting -7 under par, 63 to lead by one shot on the              PGA National Champion Course at Palm Beach. His tournament total of -9 under par is just one shot ahead of Michael Thompson, alone in second spot, who had a -5 under par second round of 65.

Luke said he had no idea about Rory’s situation;

” I had no clue, I was just kind of going about my business out there.”

Tied in third place at -7 under par are Boo Weekley and Graham DeLaet, Boo with a second round of -3 under par 67, and Graham with a  -2 under par round of 70.

There are six players tied in fifth place at -6 under par, they are; Lee Westwood, Geoff Ogilvy, Doug LaBelle 111, Justin Rose, Sean O’Hair and Chucky Three-Sticks.

Rory McIlroy was forced to withdraw due to pain in his wisdom tooth, there are some conflicting stories around about why he actually quit, he was -7 over par through eight holes of his second round at the time. The pain in the tooth statement came form Rory’s management company, make what you want with that. With Tiger Woods just making the cut on the number it represents another poor start to a tournament for the stars of Nike. It was Rory’s third missed cut in a row. Tiger felt he just did not hit the ball very well today;

” Well, I didn’t hit it anywhere near as good as I did Thursday, I didn’t have it today. I had it going early and then I would lose it.”

 

Overnight leader Camilo Villegas  shot a second round -7 over par, 77 a mighty difference of 13 strokes from his opening round of 64,  to miss the cut by a shot.

Other notables missing the cut were, Major winners Louis Oosthuizen and David Duval, followed by Mike Weir, Henrik Stenson and Paul Casey.

BMW Masters, China, Peter Hanson Wins

Peter Hanson/Getty Images

Ryder Cup player Peter Hanson won the BMW Masters at  Lake Malaren Golf Club in Shanghai, China, shooting a last round of -5 under par 67, to lift the title with a tournament total of -21 under par. He held at bay another Ryder Cup player, World number one, Rory McIlroy who also had a last round of -5 under par 67, and was beaten by just one shot.

Members of the 2012 European Ryder Cup Team filled the first four places with Luke Donald finishing alone in third place after his final round of -6 under par 66, and he must be ruing his customary slow start to a tournament. Best round of the day came from another Ryder Cupper, Ian Poulter, who fired in a final round -7 under par 65, to end up in fourth spot on his own. Ireland’s Shane Lowry finished in fifth place alone on -15 under par.

It was nice to see a return to form from England’s Paul Casey, who finished the tournament at -14 under par, he was tied for sixth place along with, Justin Rose, Louis Oosthuizen, Noren Alexander and the man from Zimbabwe, George Coetzee.

Jamie Donaldson, who led the tournament after his amazing first round 62, finished tied in sixteenth place, his first round was followed by rounds of 74, 72 and a 69.  A really sad end to a brilliant start to the tournament.

European Tour, Down Under, ISPS Handa Perth International

The European Tour has gone down under, to be precise the event is the ISPS Handa Perth International, being contested at the Lake Karrinyup Country Club.

Alejandro Cañizares/getty images

Alejandro Cañizares of Spain shares the first round lead at the ISPS HANDA Perth International with Michael Hendry from New Zealand. Both players had opening rounds of -7 under par, 65 on the Lake Karrinyup Country Club course.

Alejandro said he needs a good finish here to propel himself up the board in the Race to Dubai;

“I’m 70th at the moment so this is either my last or my second to last tournament of the year. I need a good finish, if I win it will fix a lot of things. I’m not sure what finish I need because there are still some big tournaments going on at the moment. Singapore is a big tournament and BMW and HSBC, some guys behind me are playing that, so you never know. I’m just going to try to play my best. It was a good round, I hit the ball really well and made some putts, so I’m really happy. I was pretty steady the whole round and gave myself plenty of chances. I think I only missed two greens in the whole round. The year has been a little slow since March. I started pretty well, a couple top tens, a top five in México in the US PGA Tour event, and then finished second in the Spanish Open. Since then, it’s been very slow.  I haven’t played good enough to be in contention, and every week I was falling down the rankings. So I came here from Portugal, I didn’t play very good last week. I hit the ball terribly, but I came here and I felt great. Maybe the 24 hours travelling helped, I feel good with my swing and hopefully the week keeps going like this.”

Michael, who usually plays on the OneAsia Tour, said he just repeated the round of 65 he had in the Pro-Am yesterday;

“I actually shot 65 in the Pro-Am yesterday as well. I think around here, if you can hit your drives in the right place, you can give yourself lots of opportunities to hit it close with wedges. I hit my driver pretty well and wedged it well and putted it well. All in all, just a really solid round of golf. If you’re going to play good golf, you’re going to have a lot of opportunities around this golf course. Luckily enough, I capitalized on them today.”

Emiliano Grillo, a 20-year-old Qualifying School graduate, from Argentina is alone in third place after his opening round of -6 under par, 66. Emiliano said he was pleased with his days work;

“ I hit a lot of fairways out there, that’s very important on this golf course and a lot of greens and then the ones that I missed, I got up and down, so it was a good round overall. There are not many tournaments left, so I’m trying to make as much ground as I can this week. It was very nice to get my card through Q School last year. It’s been a great year so far and I’m enjoying it.”

Paul Casey and English compatriot Andrew Johnston, both had rounds of -5 under par, 67, to be just two shots off the lead.

 

 

Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, 2nd Round

Branden Grace/getty images

Branden Grace cemented his place at the top of the leaderboard in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland on Friday with a 2nd round score of -5 under par 67, on the St Andrews Old Course. Branden now has a total tournament score of -17 under par, 5 shots clear of the two players tied in second place on -12 under par. Branden suffered his first bogey, on the fourth hole at the home of Golf, but then bounced back with six birdies on the day;

” As soon as I made the birdie at the fifth I settled down and got things going and the form of yesterday kicked in. The putts kept going in and I made three 25 footers which was nice.I think the way I’m playing and hitting the ball I’m looking forward to playing Carnoustie. The putter is going and I’m looking forward to it.”

The two players who are five shots back are Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen and Sweden’s wonderfully dressed Joel Sjoholm, his plus fours outfit is totally in keeping with Scotland and Links courses.

Joel Sjoholm/getty images

Joel played himself into contention on day two of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship with a second round -5 under par 67 on the Old Course at St Andrews. Joel said he loved the course at St Andrews;

“It was a pleasure, this was the first time I have played 18 holes at St Andrews, so it’s been an absolutely fantastic adventure for me.
It has been a really good day.  Now I honestly understand why everybody’s talking so much about it, and I don’t know the history, so you cannot quiz me on that, but I guess that on a course like this a lot of things can happen. I can see myself that today I’ve been a little bit lucky, I’m hitting drives, they might be in the bunker or all these bushes everywhere and we find them and some guys might just stripe it in the fairway.  This course is absolutely amazing.”

Thorbjorn, an equally strikingly dressed golfer, usually in very bright dazzling colors, remained near the top of the leaderboard for second day with his round of -3 under par 69 on the challenging Carnoustie Championship Course. Thorbjorn was happy with his good play over the two days. He spoke about the good friendship his has with Joel and how that rivalry inspired him on his last hole of the day, to go for a birdie and tie Joel for second spot;

“It’s been good the last two days, definitely, I hit a lot of solid drives and good irons too.  I actually thought I left a few out there today,         it could have been a few more but three under is still a good score at Carnoustie. I was standing on the last three holes and I thought, ‘I need to make a birdie just to tie him, It was quite funny. We have a really good friendship and I think that’s good for our games also.”

Paul Casey had some fun with a stray dog on the course at Kingsbarns;

Paul Casey/getty images

Paul said of his encounter with the dog;

” The wee dog was roaming around this morning on the first tee when we teed off 10, so we got to the 12th fairway, the dog is running around, and to be honest it just looked like it was a little bit lost. So I went over and made friends with it on the back of the 12th green and next thing I know, the thing runs over and picks up my ball.  I had about 30 feet for eagle.  I was trying to get him to put it in the hole, but then he ran off with it up the hill toward the 13th tee. There was a moment when panic set in when I was wondering if I would have to play it where I found it!”

Another aside to a splendid day was from American Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, with 22 medals. Michael can add to his tally of records with his first record of his  new career sport of golf. He has entered the record books for making the longest putt ever televised, with a 159 foot putt at the 6th hole on the Kingsbarns course in this tournament.

14-year-old from China gets into US Open

       

                         Andy Zhang Photos by Matt Ginella

Paul Casey has withdrawn from the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, this opens the door for Andy Zhang, a 14-year-old from China to be what officials believe to be the youngest player in championship history.

Andy Zhang lost in a playoff at a sectional qualifier in Florida. He was the second alternate when the week began at Olympic Club. Brandt Snedeker also withdrew Monday, and Paul Casey pulled out because of a recurring shoulder injury, a legacy from his silly snowboarding incident.

Tadd Fujikawa, an American Japanese born in Honolulu Hawaii, had been the youngest in the modern era. He was 15 when he qualified for the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot.

Andy has booked a practice round tee time with Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson for seven Tuesday morning, and was already thinking of what was to come, and just  minutes after attaching his official player badge to the brim of his cap, Andy said;

“I do get nervous, actually. I will be with all these players I watch on TV, walking right next to them. It will be great. I will just try to enjoy it as much as possible. I want to play well, but just to play on a major championship course is great.”

Ballantine’s Championship, Blackstone GC Seoul South Korea

Bernd Wiesberger (Getty Images)

The Ballantine’s Championship from Blackstone GC, in Seoul South Korea was all change at the top in the second round.

Clubhouse leader is Bernd Wiesberger who carded a brilliant bogey free -7  under par 65 in the second round for a tournament total    of  -7 under par. He said in interview;

“Today I couldn’t really do anything wrong really. It felt like everything was going in the right direction. I’m just trying to hit a lot of greens and try and hit on the right spots, which is important here. It’s a tricky golf course when you hit into the wrong places.”

In second spot is Australian Marcus Fraser, who won this title on Jeju Island in 2010, he shot  a five under par 67 to move to six under at the halfway stage of the tournament. The two-time European Tour winner commented on the better golfing conditions today;

“Obviously yesterday was very windy, pretty tricky for everybody. And then today was completely different. We basically had no wind for most of the day and then it kicked up a little bit over the last maybe five, six holes. But overall, I’m very happy and very pleased with the way it’s going at the moment.”

He then joked about why he always plays well at the Ballantine’s Championship;

 “It’s obviously just the alcohol, I can’t really survive without it. It’s obviously one of our premiere events now on The European Tour, and Ballantine’s have been such a great sponsor and product. We have a great venue this year, same course as last year, and I think the brand, Ballantine’s, suits very well with the exclusive club, and it’s just a great week and somewhere I love coming back.”

Ryder Cup star Miguel Angel Jiménez, England’s Anthony Wall and Chile’s Felipe Aguilar were all in the clubhouse on four under.

Yesterdays first round leaders all fell away today, including Paul Casey who could only manage a par round of 72 in the second round and is now five shots off the pace. Ian Poulter enjoyed a good round of -5 under par, and is also -2 for the tournament. Adam Scott the highest ranked player in the field struggled to make the cut, shooting a +3 over par 75, to actually make the cut with a total of +2 for the tournament.

Victor Dubuisson leads Ballantines Championship in Seoul

Victor Dubuisson (Getty Images

Victor Dubuisson leads the Ballantine’s Championship at Blackstone G.C. Seoul in South Korea. Play was suspended due to darkness and will resume tomorrow morning. None of the players still waiting to conclude their rounds can affect the top of the leaderboard standings. Victor had a good first round of -4 under par 68 and leads by two shots from Richie Ramsay, Mark Foster, Paul Casey, Jamie Donaldson and Ji-ho Jung.  All of these chasers had rounds of -2 under par for 70.

Victor was certainly very happy with his opening round, and looking for his first Europen Tour win;

“Very pleased with playing four under today.  My putting was really, really good today and I think it’s the only way to achieve good scoring in these conditions.  On the third hole the wind was from the left, and so on the fourth tee I thought the wind was going to be sort of left to right, but the wind was turning all the time.  The wind just turned right to left and it went into the water. So I was not really upset after this double bogey because I didn’t hit a bad shot.  I did my best to get back my concentration, and I made two birdies, good putts on five and six, and that was the good turn today.”

Only Victor and  England’s Paul Casey played in the more blustery afternoon conditions, of those at the top pf the board. Jamie Donaldson, Mark Foster, Jung Ji-ho and Richie Ramsay all took advantage of more benign morning conditions to move into contention.

Paul Casey knows he has the ability to contend here in Korea, in his quest to return to form after his snowboarding accident;

“I know if I play the golf I’m capable of, I’ve got a very good chance to win. The way I played today, I need to keep that form going, because there’s a long way to go.”

Jamie Donaldson rued bogeying the easiest hole on the course;

“I played nicely. It is tricky. I made a lot of good up and downs but overall a pretty tough day.  You’ve just got to put it in position off the tees and see where it falls. One of the easiest holes was 18, and I bogeyed. You have to play well and put it in position.”

Richie Ramsay said it was a tough day, even though he played in the quieter part of the day;

“I putted beautifully. The greens are really, really nice. It still is tricky because you get gusts of wind.  When I made a mistake, I got up and down and I managed to convert a few opportunities. All in all it was a good day, but it was really getting tough out there. There’s lots of positives from it, and I drove the ball well. But ultimately, I putted nicely, which is great to see and long may it continue.”

Mark Foster also commented on the wind;

“I’ve not seen any scores, but the wind is wicked. It is just all over. It’s not the strength of the wind, it’s funneling, and you just hit it out there and hope it does what you want. Ball flight is everything, really.”

Ji-ho Jung said of his round;

“My iron shots went very well. I had one bogey and three birdies, and the one bogey came from a three putt, so overall I thought the game went very well.”

Highest ranked player in the field, World Number 12 Adam Scott was with the bunch that included Ryder Cup stars Paul McGinley and Ross Fisher, they all finished  in 71 as just 17 players finished under par.

Paul Casey @ Volvo China Open

Paul Casey, a former winner of this title at Shenzen in 2006, hopes a return to China can kick-start his frustrating start to the season. Since he suffered a dislocated shoulder while snowboarding, which kept Paul out of golf  until March, and then in his first four tournaments back he’s missed three cuts. He said of injury forced lay-off;

“Sitting around on the couch has brought the passion back and now I just have to put in a lot of hard work to get back to the required standard. The ball-striking is good, but I just don’t have the consistency yet. The razor sharpness in the putting isn’t there yet, but I have made great strides and the confidence is growing every single day and I really believe I will be in that winner’s circle soon.”

“”Winning is a special thing and I have to say that I like to win tournaments that carry a jacket. Obviously everyone wants the green one, but it is a cool prize to win here and I like playing in China. Shenzen was a great course and great people and I just like coming to this country. I always get a lot of support here and hopefully that can continue this week.”

Guan Tian-lang, 13, youngest ever on European Tour, at China Open

Guan Tian-lang will play his first ever event on the European Tour, competing at  the Volvo China Open at Tianjin Binhai Lake Golf Club, China Open, aged just 13. He is the youngest player there has been on Tour, beating the previous record by countryman Lo Shik-kai, who was 107 days older at the 2003 Hong Kong Open. Guan got into the China Open after finishing fourth in a mid-China qualifying event. He will join the likes of England’s Ian Poulter and Paul Casey who are also in the field.

Guan won the World Junior crown in San Diego last year by a 11 shots after a nine-under-par 63 on the opening day.

The youngest player to ever make a European Tour cut is Jason Hak, who played all 72 holes at the Hong Kong Open as a 14-year-old amateur in 2009. Guan’s ambition is to make the cut this year;

‘My goal now is to be the youngest player ever to make the cut in a European Tour event, and I think if I can shoot level par or better I’ll have a good chance to do that.”

Alistair Polson, operations director of the Volvo China Open thinks Guan has a good chance to make the cut;

“Anyone who has seen Guan play would not rule him out from making the cut, he really is a talented young player. He displays a maturity well beyond his 13 years and doesn’t seem fazed by spectators or the intrusive nature of the media. Being a local player I expect he will receive a lot of media attention next week so I hope he does well and gives the fans something to cheer about.”

Guan Tian-lang (EuropeanTour

Casey & Dougherty, the come back boys.

The Cadillac Championship was Paul Casey’s first tournament after dislocating his right shoulder snowboarding on Christmas Eve. It was most memorable for his hole in one on the par 3 15th. As Paul walked up to the 15th hole, he made a bet with his caddie, Craig Connelly, the portly Scot they call ‘Weeman.’ Paul bet Craig that if he made a hole-in-one on No. 15, he would split the prize, down the middle, with Connelly. Casey had just double bogeyed No. 12 and followed that with a bogey on No. 14, so the expectations were pretty low. They shook hands to seal the bet and Connelly handed Casey an 8-iron. Paul didn’t see the ball go in, but the exuberant celebration of his caddy let him know it was a hole-in-one. Paul said;

“I kinda turned away, thinking I hope that just misses, Craig went bananas. In a moment of disappointment I thought I’d have to give him some money.”

Paul’s disappointment suddenly transferred to Connelly a few seconds later. As Craig jumped around the tee box in glee, thinking he was good for half the value of a luxury car, a rules official came over and told Casey that there was no prize for an ace at No. 15, you’d have to ace No. 13 to win a car. Casey joked;

“I’ve never been so relieved in my life, I’ve never wanted to not make a hole in one when the ball is that good. I’ve never enjoyed not winning a car so much. With the money he’s made, he can buy his own car.”

Paul was satisfied with his performance, after his long self induced lay-off.

The other player returning to golf is Nick Dougherty, playing on the Challenge tour at Pacific Rubiales Colombia Classic. Nick was leading the tournament after three rounds, but faltered on the last round, finishing tied for ninth place. A good result on his first outing on his comeback trail.

Good luck to both boys, and I hope their improvement continues.