Friday, March 7, 2014

Watson drops into tie with DeLaet and Hoffman at Travelers Championship

Graham DeLaet at the Travelers Championship
Getty Images
Graham DeLaet shares the Travelers Championship in part because of four straight birdies to begin his back nine.
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By 
Neill Ostrout
Associated Press

Series: PGA Tour
CROMWELL, Conn. -- Bubba Watson made three bogeys in his last six holes to help create a three-way tie after three rounds at the Travelers Championship on Saturday. 
Watson, Graham DeLaet, who tied for the low round of the day with a 65, and Charley Hoffman are all at 10 under par heading into Sunday's final round at the TPC of River Highlands. Watson shot an even-par 70. 
Justin Rose, less than a week after his U.S. Open victory, sits at 7 under par and in a tie for seventh place after a second straight 68. 
Watson made three birdies on his opening nine holes and was ahead by four shots after the third. But bogeys on Nos. 13, 15 and 17 brought the 2011 Masters champion back to the field. 
Watson, who won the 2010 Travelers, is trying to become the seventh player to win this event at least twice. Arnold Palmer and Phil Mickelson have also done it. 
After shooting a 61 in the opening round, Hoffman struggled and shot 73 on Friday. But he bounced back with a 66 in a round that included five birdies. 
Hoffman, who has won twice previously on the PGA Tour, was leading the Travelers last year when he hit his tee shot on the par-4 17th into the water. He finished in a tie for second. He said he doesn't expect a similar result this year. 
"Obviously, if I get on 17 tee, I'd be lying to say I'm not going to think about that tee shot," Hoffman said. "But I'm a much more mature, better player than I was a year ago and don't feel uncomfortable on that tee shot." 
DeLaet is playing this week in New England but many of his thoughts are about his native Canada. The heavy rain and flooding in Alberta forced the PGA Tour Canada to cancel its event this week. 
DeLaet, the 2009 Canadian Tour player of the year, has pledged to donate $1,000 for every birdie he makes this weekend and $2,500 for every eagle to help the relief effort. 
"It's a pretty small part, what we're doing, but anything helps," DeLaet said. "There's a lot of help from everyone all across Canada." 
DeLaet first made it to 10 under after beginning his back nine with four straight birdies. A bogey at the difficult par-3 16th put a slight damper on his round, but DeLaet finished strong by delicately rolling in a downhill putt from the fringe on the 18th hole to get into the clubhouse at 10 under. 
"I did play well pretty much all day. I had a lot of good birdie chances on the front nine, just couldn't really seem to find the hole," DeLaet said. "Julien (Trudeau), my caddie, just told me to stay patient." 

Friday, December 27, 2013

Chris Epperson leads Web.com Q-school

Chris Epperson leads Web.com Q-school

AP - Sports
LA QUINTA, Calif. (AP) -- Chris Epperson shot a 9-under 63 on Friday on PGA West's Nicklaus Tournament Course to take a four-stroke lead after the second round of the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament.
The 31-year-old Epperson, from Hilton Head Island, S.C., had a 16-under 128 total.
The players are competing for positions in the Web.com Tour's priority ranking used to form tournament fields, with the medalist (or co-medalists) guaranteed fully exempt status. Every player who is at PGA West is guaranteed a spot on the Web.com Tour next season. The six-round tournament will end Tuesday.
''We've still got a lot of golf left,'' Epperson said. ''I'm not going to get ahead of myself. ... Everything seems to be clicking. My tempo is nice. I really didn't have any expectations. The goal was to get a card. I'm trying to approach it as any other tournament. My coach and I have been working on our process - 'Get your yardage, get your club, focus on your target and just hit it.'''
Steve Saunders and Nathan Tyler were tied for second. Saunders had a 65, and Tyler shot 66 - both on the Nicklaus course. First-round leader Justin Shin of Canada followed his opening 64 on the Nicklaus course with a 74 on the Stadium layout to drop into a tie for 25th at 6 under.

Garcia inches close to ending title drought in Thailand

Garcia inches close to ending title drought in Thailand

Reuters 
Sergio Garcia of Spain watches his tee shot on the fourth hole during the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship golf tournament in Norton
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Sergio Garcia of Spain watches his tee shot on the fourth hole during the final round of the Deutsche …
(Reuters) - Spaniard Sergio Garcia carded a second successive seven-under-par 65 at the Thailand Golf Championship on Saturday and will go into Sunday's final round with a four-shot lead and a golden opportunity to end his title drought this year.
Garcia, who was tied for the lead at the halfway stage with Englishman Justin Rose, took his three-day total to 18-under in the $1 million Asian Tour event at the Amata Spring Country Club.
World number three Swede Henrik Stenson matched Garcia's 65 and shared the second place alongside India'sAnirban Lahiri who carded a 67.
Rose bogeyed his final hole for a two-under-par 70 to sit at fourth spot, five strokes behind the leader.
"It was great obviously to be able to go out there and shoot 65 again," Garcia told reporters after sinking eight birdies, including two on the final holes, against a lone bogey.
"I played nicely and felt pretty comfortable. I was able to hit some really nice shots and then was able to roll two or three really good putts in and it was nice to be able to finish birdie, birdie on this difficult finishing stretch."
The Ryder Cup hero was aware of the low-scoring conditions and a possible challenge from Stenson, who became the first man to win the U.S. Tour's lucrative FedExCup series and finish top of the European money list in 2013.
"Not only Henrik... there are probably five or six guys who can shoot a really good number. It's going to be exciting tomorrow," said Garcia, who had his girlfriend Katharina Boehm caddying for him.
"I want to try to be as aggressive as possible. I want to still try to make as many birdies as I can and if I manage to do that, then I'm going to put it quite difficult to the rest.
"I think if I start getting a little defensive, then I can give them a good opportunity of catching me."
A bogey-free third round has rejuvenated Stenson, who was preparing a final charge.
"That was a good day," Stenson, 37, said. "It was definitely the best I played this week. Made some good birdies and some really good saves to keep the momentum going. Those were crucial.
"Even though I'm tired and worn out, as soon as you see your name on the leaderboard, all of a sudden that tiredness goes away and you're looking forward to be there and hopefully have a chance to win.
"I know Sergio is desperate to get his hands on a trophy but I'll try to challenge him."
(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)

Golf-European Tour Nelson Mandela Championship scores

Golf-European Tour Nelson Mandela Championship scores

Reuters 
Dec 14 (Infostrada Sports) - Scores from the European Tour Nelson Mandela Championship at the par-70 course on Saturday in Durban
195 Dawie Van der Walt (South Africa) 67 62 66
197 Jorge Campillo (Spain) 70 59 68
Matthew Baldwin (Britain) 67 62 68
198 Romain Wattel (France) 64 67 67
199 Oliver Bekker (South Africa) 64 66 69
200 Jaco Ahlers (South Africa) 66 68 66
John Hahn (U.S.) 69 66 65
Branden Grace (South Africa) 64 66 70
Adrien Saddier (France) 66 67 67
201 Merrick Bremner (South Africa) 68 66 67
202 Jacques Blaauw (South Africa) 68 64 70
Titch Moore (South Africa) 69 64 69
Jbe Kruger (South Africa) 67 67 68
Daniel Brooks (Britain) 62 64 76
David Higgins (Ireland) 68 64 70
Fredrik Andersson Hed (Sweden) 68 65 69
Joel Sjoeholm (Sweden) 65 70 67
203 Andrew Johnston (Britain) 68 67 68
Julien Guerrier (France) 68 69 66
Estanislao Goya (Argentina) 66 71 66
Jose-Filipe Lima (Portugal) 70 64 69
Oliver Fisher (Britain) 70 66 67
204 Jeppe Huldahl (Denmark) 72 65 67
Jake Roos (South Africa) 68 70 66
Francois Calmels (France) 63 70 71
Alastair Forsyth (Britain) 68 67 69
Scott Jamieson (Britain) 73 65 66
205 Tjaart Van der Walt (South Africa) 67 67 71
Victor Riu (France) 66 70 69
Daniel Gaunt (Australia) 68 70 67
Adilson Da Silva (Brazil) 67 68 70
Anthony Wall (Britain) 71 66 68
Keenan Davidse (South Africa) 67 70 68
Shiv Kapur (India) 71 65 69
206 Brandon Stone (South Africa) 68 69 69
Thomas Aiken (South Africa) 70 69 67
Thomas Pieters (Belgium) 73 66 67
Lee Slattery (Britain) 73 66 67
Jens Dantorp (Sweden) 69 67 70
207 Jens Fahrbring (Sweden) 68 70 69
Charl Coetzee (South Africa) 67 68 72
Robert Rock (Britain) 72 67 68
Phillip Archer (Britain) 67 69 71
Oliver Wilson (Britain) 70 67 70
Bjoern Akesson (Sweden) 69 67 71
Colin Nel (South Africa) 77 59 71
Andrew McArthur (Britain) 66 72 69
Lyle Rowe (South Africa) 71 66 70
Jaco Van Zyl (South Africa) 74 65 68
208 Gary Stal (France) 70 67 71
Damien McGrane (Ireland) 71 68 69
Keith Horne (South Africa) 69 67 72
Soren Hansen (Denmark) 71 67 70
Michael Hoey (Britain) 65 69 74
Darren Fichardt (South Africa) 66 70 72
Matthew Carvell (South Africa) 67 67 74
Bradford Vaughan (South Africa) 67 71 70
209 Carlos Del Moral (Spain) 69 67 73
Pablo Martin (Spain) 70 69 70
Simon Wakefield (Britain) 70 69 70
Matthew Nixon (Britain) 69 69 71
Vaughn Groenewald (South Africa) 68 71 70
Daniel Im (U.S.) 70 68 71
210 Niklas Lemke (Sweden) 73 66 71
An Byeong-Hun (South Korea) 67 69 74
Stuart Manley (Britain) 71 68 71
Chris Hanson (Britain) 72 66 72
Garth Mulroy (South Africa) 69 70 71
211 Alex Haindl (South Africa) 68 71 72
Edouard Dubois (France) 64 71 76
Dean Burmester (South Africa) 70 69 72
212 James Kingston (South Africa) 67 71 74
Christiaan Basson (South Africa) 68 71 73
James Kamte (South Africa) 70 67 75
213 Duncan Stewart (Britain) 68 70 75

Golf-Van der Walt claims emotional win at Nelson Mandela Championshi

Golf-Van der Walt claims emotional win at Nelson Mandela Championship

Reuters 
Dec 14 (Reuters) - An eagle and two birdies in the closing stretch allowed South African Dawie van der Walt to shoot a 66 and secure an emotional two shot victory at the curtailed Nelson Mandela Championship on Saturday.
Van der Walt achieved his win just a day before former South African president Mandela, who died last week aged 95, is laid to rest.
"It's obviously really special, making you a part of history," Van der Walt said.
"Winning The Nelson Mandela at this time, when it's sad for everyone, everyone is mourning and tomorrow's the big day, it means a lot and it's something I can keep close to my heart for ever."
Van der Walt carded four under par 66 on Saturday at the tournament reduced to 54 holes due to bad weather earlier in the week. The event also concluded a day earlier than usual so that it avoided clashing with Mandela's funeral.
Van der Walt finished ahead of Spain's Jorge Campillo and England's Matthew Baldwin, who both carded two under par 68s.
Daniel Brooks relinquished his overnight lead following an abysmal start and struggled to a six over par 76 finish.
Having not dropped a shot in his opening two rounds, Brooks succumbed to four bogies and a double bogie in his front nine on Saturday to slide down the leaderboard.
Saturday's win was a welcome return to form for Van der Walt, who claimed his second win on the European Tour this year following his success at the Tshwane Open.
"I haven't been in that good form, I had an injury and have been struggling, so this is almost overwhelming. It almost felt like I have been at the top of my game and then hit rock bottom this year, so to win the last event of the year will make Christmas a lot more fun," he said. (Reporting by Nick Said in Cape Town; editing by Pritha Sarkar)