Omega Dubai Desert Classic, Gallacher leads

Stephen Gallacher / Getty Images

Stephen Gallacher has a three shot lead at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic after the conclusion of the third round at the Emirates Golf Club. His round of -10 under par 62 included a  40 yard bunker shot on the last hole, that went in for an Eagle, and in doing so broke a 12 year-old record at this tournament set by Tiger Woods, for the lowest three round total. Stephen who is a  nephew of former Ryder Cup Captain Bernard Gallacher, has won only once in more than 400 European Tour events and that was nine years ago on home soil at St Andrews.

Stephen recalled the moment the bunker shot holed out;

“The moment I hit it it was either stiff or in, I’m excited and looking forward to tomorrow. I’m pretty familiar with his course, I come out here on holiday with the family. I struggled last week in Qatar and my driver cracked, but with the new one I’m hitting more fairways and I’ve putted really good.”

Richard Sterne who led by one stroke after the first two rounds, he opened this tournament with a 62, might have expected a 66 to keep him out in front, but he had to be content with second place at -18 under par.

Thorbjorn Olesen, from Denmark, is in third position, he is at -16 under par for the tournament, but at five shots back of the leader has a huge task if he wants to lift the trophy.

The title will belong to one of these three players, everyone else is too far back to make a serious challenge. Would be nice to see Stephen Gallacher claim his second European Tour title.

Euro Tour, WGC-HSBC Champions in China. Awesome Oosthuizen shoots 63

Louis Oosthuizen/ getty images

Louis Oosthuizen shot an amazing second round of -9 under par 63 at the WGC-HSBC Champions in Mission Hills, China, taking him to -16 under par for the tournament and five shots clear of the field.

Louis won the 2010 Open Championship from five shots clear after two rounds on the Old Course at St Andrews, and now a course record 63 in the second round here at Mission Hills saw the South African establish another commanding halfway lead. Louis thinks this contest is far from over though;

” Scoreboard-wise, it’s probably the same as St Andrews. Looking at the leaderboard, there’s so many great players up there. Like I said, it’s far from over. It was probably the same at The Open. With this tournament I’m in a great position to win it, but it’s not even crossed my mind at the moment. There’s still a lot of golf to be played, and I need to put myself in a great position going down the back nine on Sunday. I played the par fives really well, and I think I was six under on them today, “I played the par fives really well, and I think I was six under on them today, the rest was down to putting really well. I gave myself a lot of opportunities for birdie, and hitting fairways, hitting greens, and if you make the putts, you shoot a low number. The par fives, I think I can reach all of them, which makes it easy, if you’re hitting it well just get yourself around the green. I really didn’t make a lot of eagle putts, I just was really close to the green, which led to getting up-and-down and I hit really good chips on a few today for some tap ins for birdie. You get those days where if you hit it well, you leave yourself in a decent spot for a chip-and-putt for a birdie on the par fives.”

There are two players tied in second spot, five shots off the pace, they are Adam Scott, a first round leader, and Ernie Els, a countryman of Louis. Ernie matched Louis on the day with his -9 under par round, and said he was just happy to be able to play golf this week after a tennis related injury last week that forced him out of the PGA Grand Slam in Bermuda. In a strange twist to that tale, his replacement in that tournament was Padraig Harrington, who actually won the title. Ernie thought his 63 today was a bonus;

“I obviously had a good start and all of that, but I wish I can always play like that. I’m just glad to be here, after going down on the tennis court two weeks ago, to stand here and shoot 63 is quite a bonus.”

In joint fourth spot are Ireland’s Shane Lowry, who is bidding for a second win in three starts and a place in the Official World Golf Ranking’s top 50 for the first time, and American Ryder Cup player Jason Dufner, but they are six strokes behind. Shane said he was happy with his days play;

” I didn’t birdie two easy par fives and made a bad bogey on the sixth, but other than that I played lovely all day and gave myself a lot of chances. What’s not to enjoy? I’m playing a World Golf Championship and I’m up there in the top five going into the weekend.”

The way Mission Hills is playing, calm and easy, I don’t see anyone else catching up to these players over the weekend, the tournament is definitely Louis Oosthuizen’s to lose.

 

Alfred Dunhill Links Champion 2012, Branden Grace

 

Branden Grace, holding the Trophy, standing on the Swilcan Burn Bridge. A Dream come True/getty

Branden Grace won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews on Sunday, with a final round score of -2 under par 70 on the Old Course, and a two shot lead over Thorbjorn Olesen from Denmark. Thorbjorn had been closest to Branden all week and put up a really good effort to try and win the tournament himself with a -4 under par 68 last round. Branden’s comment;

” It feels awesome. I’ve really dreamt of this moment my whole life, I had goosebumps thinking this morning about Louis and the possibility of holding a trophy here myself. It was a tough day, but the putter started working and that’s all I needed to do.”

This is Branden’s  fourth victory of the 2012 European Tour season, and he is  the first player since Martin Kaymer in 2010 to win four times in the same season. He graduated from the 2011 European Tour Qualifying School, and is the first graduate to win four times the year after graduation. He is also The first South African to win the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Another South African George Coetzee shot the round of the day with a marvelous -10 under par 62 on the Old Course at St Andrews, a wonderful round of golf, which propelled George into the tie for fifth place at -15 under par for the tournament.

I love playing Links golf, which is why I am a member of  Paraparaumu Beach Golf Links in New Zealand. One of these days I will return to the Old Country and play St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, I still have a few good golfing years left in me. If check the picture below, to the right you will see the Tom Morris Golf  Shop. It was opened in 1866, can you just imagine walking in there, soaking in the atmosphere and the history

Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Amazing Grace.

Branden Grace/getty images

Branden Grace unsurprisingly will have a four shot lead when he stands on the first tee for the final round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Branden has been dominant in this tournament since the first round, on Saturday had a -3 under par round at Carnoustie, giving him a tournament total of -20 under par.

Branden referred to the name Carnasty, a name that arose during the 1999 Open when the rough was some of the thickest ever seen and a  then 19-year-old Sergio Garcia finished last on +30 over par;

“I didn’t play particularly well. There were loose shots here and there, but this course mentally does it to you. I kept fighting, got it around and finishing with a birdie is a bonus. Everybody calls it ” Carnasty”  and it showed you still have to hit good shots. I’ve dreamt of picking any trophy up on that bridge on the 18th at St Andrews, so maybe this time tomorrow it happens.”

Another South African, Major winner Ernie Els is full of praise for his countryman Branden;

“He’s good enough to win an Open, he’s that good. I remember winning the 2007 South African Open and he was top amateur, he’s always been a quality player and he’s a world contender now. His game is so suited for links golf,  he hits those low bullet drives and he can really putt.”

The ever-present Thorbjorn Olesen is four shots adrift of the leader after his third round of -4 under par 68 at the Kingsbarns course and has a mountain to climb if he wants to lift this trophy.

The final round on Sunday will be played at St Andrews, the home of golf, and I can not see anyone but Branden Grace achieving his dream and lifting that trophy on the Swilcan Burn Bridge.

 

 

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.

Alfred Dunhill Links Championship

 

 

Branden Grace/getty

The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship was set alight by Branden Grace, who shot a course record breaking -12 under par 60 in his first round at the Kingsbarn Course in Scotland. Branden has become the 15th player in European Tour history to shoot 60, and he now tops the leaderboard in this three course tournament, at -12 under par.

South African Branden was looking for a 59;

“It could have been a 59, I said to my caddy when I hit it stiff on 18 that it could be close to a 59.”

It was a day for low scores in this event, Victor Dubuisson of France shot a course-record -10 under par 62 on the famous Old Course at St. Andrews, it’s one of three venues staging the tournament. Victor holds second place on his own, with Thorbjorn Olsen, also playing St Andrews,  one shot behind him at -9 under par with his 63, and third place alone.

There were also three players who 64 at St Andrews, Alexander Noren, Fredrik Anderson Hed, and Ashley Hall.

Best score from the players on Carnoustie course was Oliver Wilson and Gregory Haveret, who both had a -5 under par round of 67, which was only good enough to tie them for 19th place. They must be hoping St Andrews stays as benign for their rounds so they can make up some of the ground. Out of the top 15 scores on the board, 12 of them came from St Andrews, with Carnoustie being the toughest to play.

Englishman Oliver Wilson was very pleased with his performance;

“I played very solidly and had no bogeys, which is always nice, I holed a 20-footer on the last for par. My confidence just kept going up as I went along. All year, the good has been good and the bad has been really bad, which doesn’t work.  I’ve changed coaches and gone back to Mike Walker, who I worked with when I was playing my best. I’m much happier. It’s just kind of going back to doing what I did before and looking at why I did so well, and just learning what those important parts of the swing are that are imperative for me to play well. It really comes down to the take-away.  If I can get the take-away in the correct position, I play well, and I probably haven’t put as much focus on that over the last year to 18 months as I needed to. I’ve probably got two more events this season after this one, so I really want to get a top ten to get into the Portugal Masters next week. I’m 137th in The Race to Dubai so I need to play well between now and the end of the year.”

Tomorrow should even things up a bit and we will get a clearer view of where everybody is in this three course tournament.

 

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I just loved this story from a guy who was playing St Andrews and some confusion about the name of the bridge. Everyone I know and TV commentators and golfing professionals alike all refer to it as the Swilcan Bridge. But according to a desk clerk at the clubhouse  it was referred to as the ” Stony Bridge, it is actually a stone bridge over the Swilcan Burn.”

Your comments and even official dialogue are welcome.

So the story about the Bridge is from a Canadian travel tourist, and goes as follows;

The first time I played St Andrews I hit my drive on the 18th well to the left. That is the safe drive as up the right side is out of bounds. The left side … well there is no left side as the fairway is shared with #1 and as you now know is very wide. As I was crossing the bridge I saw a fellow coming down #1. In fact I watched him hit my ball to the first green. I approached him and told him what he had done. At first he denied it and then he said “Ah for F’s sake, sorry, I flew all night from Cincinnati. I am dead tired and don’t even know what I am doing out here.” And then he walked away.

So I hit his ball to the 18th green.

                    

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