Irish Golf News

Nathan Holman with the

He didn’t double the last for the third day in a row but a bogey-bogey finish still cost him a couple of thousand euro as he brought a momentous 2015 to a close in the Australian PGA.

Not that that the 23-year old from Greystones will losing too much sleep over it on the flight home after an incredible year of achievement.

He closed it with a four over 76 to finish tied for 44th behind maiden winner Nathan Holman on 10 over par, banking his first cheque of the 2016 season, €4,380, to move to 64th in the Race to Dubai ahead of a possible return to action at some stage during the Desert Swing, ranking (or invitations) permitting.

In total, Dunne won €98,972 in prize money from all starts since he turned professional, starting with his first cheque for €550 for finishing tied fifth at the First Stage of the Qualifying School at Golfclub Schloss Ebreichsdorf in Austria in late September.

"Dear Paul-Please stop making doubles on the last! Sincerely-your bank account!"

— Paul Dunne (@dunners11) December 5, 2015

From his fifth place finish in the NCAAs to his Open Championship brilliance, his quarterfinal run in the US Amateur (he lost to the eventual winner Bryson DeChambeau) and that Walker Cup victory at Royal Lytham and St Annes, it’s been a year to remember for Dunne.

Had it ended in July, or after the Walker Cup, he could have been more than pleased. But it was impressive to see how he hit the ground running as a professional with top 25 finishes in the Alfred Dunhill Links and the British Masters while at the same time, plotting his way through all three stages of Q-School.

The future is clearly bright for the Co Wicklow man, and the same could be said for Australian Holman, who secured a career-changing victory by defeating South African Dylan Frittelli and American Harold Varner III at the first extra hole of a sudden-death play-off.

Not only did Holman lift the prestigious Joe Kirkwood Cup, he secured full playing rights on the European Tour as well as entry into the 2016 Open Championship.

Holman double bogeyed his first hole of the day, then recovered with three birdies before almost throwing his chance of victory away with back-to-back bogeys on the 17th and 18th of the RACV Royal Pines Resort to card a final round 73 and fall back to level par for the tournament.

He had posted the clubhouse lead, but with Varner III and Frittelli still on the course, it looked like Holman could have given up the victory. 

But neither Varner nor Frittelli, who had started the day as joint leaders in the final match, could find a finishing birdie, leaving the door open for Holman to charge to glory with a par at the first extra hole in front of an ecstatic home crowd on Australia’s Gold Coast.

Holman’s first professional win secured him 225,000 Race to Dubai points to move him to second place in the early Race, one spot behind South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel after two events of the 2016 season.

As well as becoming a full Member of The European Tour and guaranteeing entry to some of the biggest tournaments on the global stage, Holman’s victory helped him win the Australian PGA’s Order of Merit for 2015, and with it a place in The 2016 Open at Royal Troon as well as entry to World Golf Championship events in the USA and China.

Nathan Holman “It’s crazy. Walking off that 18th hole when I hit that shot onto the green, it kind of started to feel like the legs were a little bit shaky, kind of probably thinking into the future a little bit and I tried to snap out of that. Obviously had a little bit of help there with the two guys making bogey in the play-off, but to win the event, it’s an amazing feeling.“To be a full Member of The European Tour is huge. I didn’t realise what was on the line really, which is probably a good thing to be honest. I did think I’d get to those events in the future but didn’t think it was going to be this quickly. For a young Australian guy to be able to go and play those events, play British Opens, it’s stuff you dream of playing golf when you’re a kid, to get into those events, just to play them. It’s going to be an amazing feeling and to do it off the back of a victory I think is probably going to be better. I’ve deserved it, so I can go there knowing that I’ve done something really good to be here.”Dylan Frittelli “I fought hard today, made a couple mistakes early but really showed my metal and finished strongly on the back 9 with a 1 under. I’m very proud of the way I played. I struggled a little bit on the greens this week so I certainly was amazing off the tee and into the greens, something I’ll take out of this and certainly this experience in the play-off is something I’ll use in the future.”Harold Varner III“That’s just the way it goes sometimes. I’ll be all right. I’m going to go have a great Christmas and get back to it. Just got to keep working and good things will happen. I’m playing well obviously so just got to keep working at it. My time will come eventually. I know I’ll be back in Australia - hopefully I won’t have to get an invitation go come back this time but I will be back for sure.”Fourth Round Scores

288 N Holman (Aus) 77 68 70 73, D Frittelli (RSA) 70 72 71 75, H Varner Iii (USA) 74 73 66 75 

289 Z Lombard (RSA) 67 75 71 76 

290 C Smith (Aus) 78 69 70 73 

291 D Papadatos (Aus) 75 71 71 74, M Millar (Aus) 72 70 74 75, R Green (Aus) 73 74 70 74 

292 J Zunic (Aus) 73 72 75 72, N Bertasio (Ita) 75 72 72 73, M Griffin (Aus) 76 72 71 73, R Bourke (Aus) 74 76 68 74, M Goggin (Aus) 76 73 72 71, P Lonard (Aus) 76 72 73 71, D Lingmerth (Swe) 73 68 75 76, A Brown (Aus) 73 71 75 73, A Stephens (Aus) 71 76 75 70 

293 D Nisbet (Aus) 75 75 67 76, M Wright (Aus) 76 70 71 76, S Manley (Wal) 77 69 76 71 

294 A Price (Aus) 75 74 72 73, J Lyle (Aus) 77 73 72 72, C Nel (RSA) 78 71 75 70, A Pike (Aus) 72 73 76 73, J Geary (Nzl) 77 73 70 74, M Foster (Eng) 69 73 77 75, B Virto Astudillo (Esp) 72 77 72 73 

295 P Martin Benavides (Esp) 75 67 77 76, T Sinnott (Aus) 71 72 75 77, J Scrivener (Aus) 72 71 79 73, R Fox (Nzl) 74 70 78 73, A Hall (Aus) 70 73 77 75, T Lewis (Eng) 72 71 77 75, M McCardle (Aus) 74 74 72 75 

296 D Klein (Ger) 77 71 76 72, A Summers (Aus) 80 70 73 73, N Green (Aus) 76 74 73 73 

297 P Uihlein (USA) 75 67 79 76, S Fernandez (Esp) 74 72 79 72, E Van Rooyen (RSA) 76 71 75 75, B Eccles (Aus) 74 72 78 73, C Parry (Aus) 77 71 76 73, N Cullen (Aus) 72 74 73 78 

298 J Hook (Aus) 76 74 77 71, Paul Dunne (Irl) 72 75 75 76, R Gibson (Aus) 79 64 79 76, J Younger (Aus) 75 73 74 76 

299 M Fraser (Aus) 76 73 74 76, D McKenzie (Aus) 74 76 77 72, J Senden (Aus) 73 77 76 73, P Cooke (Aus) 79 71 75 74, R Van Der Spuy (RSA) 76 73 75 75 

300 B Wharton (Aus) 76 70 78 76, J Nitties (Aus) 76 72 78 74, L Canter (Eng) 79 70 73 78, T Mordt (RSA) 79 71 76 74, B Rankin (Aus) 76 73 77 74, N Basic (Aus) 74 73 77 76 

301 D Lloyd (RSA) 78 72 75 76, D Fox (Aus) 75 74 76 76 

302 H Park (Kor) 80 67 79 76 

303 B Åkesson (Swe) 74 74 75 80, J Wilson (Aus) 73 73 71 86, B Rumford (Aus) 74 72 75 82 

304 H Bateman (Nzl) 76 74 75 79, N Ravano (Ita) 73 76 82 73, J Ritchie (RSA) 76 72 80 76, D Lawson (Aus) 75 70 79 80 

305 A Curlewis (RSA) 76 72 77 80 

306 D Van Den Heever (RSA) 76 74 80 76 

309 C Hale (Aus) 78 72 82 77.

Stephanie Meadow receiving the Heather Farr Award just over a fortnight ago

Missing the cut in the Final Stage of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament will make 2016 far more challenging than Stephanie Meadow had hoped.

But having endured an emotionally difficult year following the loss of her father Robert to cancer in May, she'll also put her season and her week in Daytona Beach firmly in perspective.

A three over 75 in the fourth round at LPGA International in Florida left her on six over and three strokes outside the top 70 and ties who go on to battle for 20 full cards in Sunday's fifth and final round.

Scores

Quite understandably, the Jordanstown native has struggled since her father's passing, but she wasn't chosen by her peers as the recipient of this year's Heather Farr Perseverance Award on a whim.

Despite having failed to make a cut since her Dad Robert died, Meadow still had high hopes that her game would come around in time for Q-School having seen positive signs with her new coach..

She had conditional LPGA Tour status having lost out in a playoff for the final spot at Q-School last year. But a two over 74 in round three left her a shot outside the top 70 and ties who would make the cut after four rounds.

In the fourth round on the Jones Course, she bogeyed the second but birdied the fourth only to double bogey the seventh and turn in two over 38.

She birdied the 10th to get back to within one of the cut mark, but bogeys at the 12th and 17th ended her hopes.

China's Simin Feng(69) leads by five strokes on 15 under from Korea's Julie Yang and American Cydney Clanton with the leading 20 players on five under or better.

Meadow's only trophy this year was awarded to her by her peers and presented at the recent Rolex awards. 

Given it's significance, it's the greatest vote of confidence in her eventual return to top form and the level of play that saw her finish third on her professional debut in the 2014 US Open at Pinehurst No 2

The Heather Farr Heather Farr Perseverance Award is presented to the LPGA player who, through her hard work and dedication and love of the game of golf has demonstrated determination and perseverance on the road to fulfilling her goals.

Marc Leishman. Picture: Getty Images

Marc Leishman charged to the top of the leaderboard in the third round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge with a six under par 66.

But the Australian will have the imposing figure of Henrik Stenson breathing down his neck on the final day as Shane Lowry brings his year to an end looking for a sub-70 round and a backdoor, top 10 finish.

The Offaly man has made 13 birdies in three rounds but he’s also made 12 bogeys, including three more in Saturday’s two under 70, which finally moved him into the red on one under.

Tied for 23rd, Lowry is 13 shots behind Leishman but just four outside the Top 10 heading into Sunday’s final round at the Gary Player Golf and Country Club in Sun City.

Leader Leishman, who lost in a play-off for The Open Championship this year, birdied the last two holes for a 14 under par total and a one shot lead over world No 7 Stenson (70), who led for most of the day until two bogeys in the last three holes undid his earlier progress.

American Robert Streb also shot a 72 to lie fourth on nine under, two clear of Austrian Bernd Wiesberger and South African Branden Grace.

Marc Leishman“It was a good day. I got the speed of the greens a lot better today. I’d been missing a lot of putts low all week from hitting them a bit soft, so I fixed that today and managed to hole some putts. It was a great way to finish. I saw Henrik was getting away a little bit so I had to try to do something to make it interesting for tomorrow. I’ve been in this position a few times in big events so it’s great to draw on that experience. I’ve come up short a couple of times but I’ve won tournaments before and I’m looking forward to having a chance tomorrow.”Henrik Stenson“I was feeling better when I started but playing in 38 degrees certainly takes it out of you, so after the first ten, 11 holes I was really struggling. I tried to make up some ground, which I did, but I gave it back in the last three holes. All in all I didn’t play very well today and the short game and the putter kept the score together and that’s why I’m still at the races tomorrow. I made a lot of good par saves and played a lot of goof bunker shots. The whole front nine was kind of adventurous. The winds were swirling round so much it makes Amen Corner at Augusta look like a standstill. This was as tricky as it gets. You get three different wind directions in 30 seconds. I’ll be resting up tonight and hopefully I can play a bit better tomorrow and see what it brings us.”Jaco Van Zyl“I don’t feel like I’m out of it by any means. But to win an event, you kind of need a couple of lucky breaks and things need to turn around for me. I’ve got to make them turn around. It’s a combination of will, determination and what the golfing gods throw at you on the day.“I’m just fighting the swing a little bit. It’s just not quite on song. And it’s 36 degrees out there, it’s week six in a row for me, so all of those things do start adding up at the end pf the year and the last thing you want to do is be out there fighting your swing and fighting the golf course.”Round 3 scores:

202 M Leishman (Aus) 68 68 66, 

203 H Stenson (Swe) 66 67 70, 

206 J Van Zyl (RSA) 66 68 72, 

207 R Streb (USA) 69 66 72, 

209 B Grace (RSA) 68 74 67, B Wiesberger (Aut) 70 71 68, 

210 L Oosthuizen (RSA) 70 72 68, 

211 T Jaidee (Tha) 70 72 69, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 70 68 73, C Wood (Eng) 70 71 70, 

212 D Willett (Eng) 67 75 70, V Dubuisson (Fra) 71 73 68, C Schwartzel (RSA) 71 74 67, A Sullivan (Eng) 71 71 70, 

213 R Fisher (Eng) 69 71 73, S Piercy (USA) 73 68 72, R Knox (Sco) 69 76 68, B An (Kor) 72 70 71, 

214 T Aiken (RSA) 73 69 72, M Fitzpatrick (Eng) 69 77 68, K Bradley (USA) 72 69 73, E Grillo (Arg) 72 69 73, 

215 S Lowry (Irl) 74 71 70, 

216 T Fleetwood (Eng) 71 72 73, 

217 M Jimenez (Esp) 70 72 75, 

218 M Kaymer (Ger) 75 71 72, 

219 W Simpson (USA) 75 72 72, 

225 L Westwood (Eng) 72 81 72, 

232 S Bowditch (Aus) 77 78 77, S Kjeldsen (Den) 74 81 77

Sweden's David Lingmerth. Picture: Getty Images

Paul Dunne endured a rollercoaster final 10 holes to slip to 33rd ahead of his final round of a monumental season in the Australian PGA Championship.

The 23-year old Greystones native signed for a second successive three over 75 at the RACV Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast, falling five places to six over par, nine strokes behind South Africa pair Dylan Frittelli (71) and Zander Lombard (71), and American Harold Varner III

Playing alongside Italian Nino Bertasio, Dunne opened made seven pars and a bogey at the sixth in his first eight holes before things got interesting.

While he birdied the ninth, 10th and the par five 12th and 14th, he bogeyed the 11th and the 14th and doubled the 13th and the 18th.

The 18th has cost Dunne two of his four double bogeys this week but he will be pleased, despite the errors, that he is eighth for putting.

As for overnight leader David Lingmerth, his bid to make the perfect start to his 2016 Ryder Cup qualifying campaign suffered a blow.

The Swede began the third round with a one shot lead over the chasing pack, but a disappointing three over 75 saw him fall back into the chasing pack, three shots behind joint leaders Frittelli, Lombard and Varner III.

Varner produced a best of the day 66 to surge through the field to the top of the leaderboard, while the South African duo bot posted rounds of one under 71 to move into a share of the lead.

Nathan Holman’s 70 saw the Australian lead the home challenge into the final round, while his compatriot Matt Millar joined Lingmerth on level par with 18 holes to play at the AUS$1.75 million co-sanctioned event between the Australian PGA and The European Tour.

Lingmerth joined The European Tour at the start of this week in a bid to make a first appearance at the 2016 Ryder Cup in America next year, and is still in with a chance of making a victorious start to his bid to join Darren Clarke’s European team next year.

Harold Varner III“I need to play well tomorrow. I have another opportunity. I was playing pretty well the first two days, just a few mistakes and didn’t hole many putts, but I am just looking forward to the opportunity tomorrow. I can’t get too wild tonight, so I’m going to calm down. The game plan will be to do what I did today because obviously that was pretty good. Nothing crazy, just do the same thing I’ve been doing the last year I guess, just trying to get better. Tomorrow I’m going to get better.”Dylan Frittelli“It was a good round and I was happy with the way I finished. One under par’s always good in tough conditions like this. The front nine was consistent golf, hit a lot of greens, left myself a lot of putts and back nine was slightly different, had a bit of a speed wobble there coming in with a bogey on 16 and then birdie on 17, but I was really happy with the way I played.”Zander Lombard”I played really well today, kept it in the right spots again and just stuck it out, had a few good up and downs and chipping in on 16 was just the highlight of the day. There’s definitely some nerves on the first tee but as soon as I get into the game and start to go through my processes, just get back into the zone and play my golf I am ok. Tomorrow is going to be tough but it would be a dream come true to win and I’m going to play my best tomorrow for it.”Round Three Scores

213 Z Lombard (RSA) 67 75 71, H Varner Iii (USA) 74 73 66, D Frittelli (RSA) 70 72 71, 

215 N Holman (Aus) 77 68 70,

216 M Millar (Aus) 72 70 74, D Lingmerth (Swe) 73 68 75,

217 M Wright (Aus) 76 70 71, J Wilson (Aus) 73 73 71, R Green (Aus) 73 74 70, D Nisbet (Aus) 75 75 67, D Papadatos (Aus) 75 71 71, C Smith (Aus) 78 69 70,

218 T Sinnott (Aus) 71 72 75, R Bourke (Aus) 74 76 68,

219 M Foster (Eng) 69 73 77, N Cullen (Aus) 72 74 73, M Griffin (Aus) 76 72 71, A Brown (Aus) 73 71 75, P Martin Benavides (Esp) 75 67 77, N Bertasio (Ita) 75 72 72,

220 A Hall (Aus) 70 73 77, J Zunic (Aus) 73 72 75, J Geary (Nzl) 77 73 70, M McCardle (Aus) 74 74 72, T Lewis (Eng) 72 71 77,

221 P Lonard (Aus) 76 72 73, P Uihlein (USA) 75 67 79, B Rumford (Aus) 74 72 75, M Goggin (Aus) 76 73 72, A Price (Aus) 75 74 72, A Pike (Aus) 72 73 76, B Virto Astudillo (Esp) 72 77 72,

222 L Canter (Eng) 79 70 73, J Younger (Aus) 75 73 74, E Van Rooyen (RSA) 76 71 75, A Stephens (Aus) 71 76 75, R Fox (Nzl) 74 70 78, Paul Dunne (Irl) 72 75 75, S Manley (Wal) 77 69 76, R Gibson (Aus) 79 64 79, J Scrivener (Aus) 72 71 79, J Lyle (Aus) 77 73 72,

223 B Åkesson (Swe) 74 74 75, N Green (Aus) 76 74 73, M Fraser (Aus) 76 73 74, A Summers (Aus) 80 70 73,

224 D Klein (Ger) 77 71 76, N Basic (Aus) 74 73 77, B Wharton (Aus) 76 70 78, D Lawson (Aus) 75 70 79, B Eccles (Aus) 74 72 78, R Van Der Spuy (RSA) 76 73 75, C Nel (RSA) 78 71 75, C Parry (Aus) 77 71 76,

225 A Curlewis (RSA) 76 72 77, S Fernandez (Esp) 74 72 79, D Fox (Aus) 75 74 76, P Cooke (Aus) 79 71 75, H Bateman (Nzl) 76 74 75, D Lloyd (RSA) 78 72 75,

226 B Rankin (Aus) 76 73 77, J Senden (Aus) 73 77 76, H Park (Kor) 80 67 79, T Mordt (RSA) 79 71 76, J Nitties (Aus) 76 72 78,

227 D McKenzie (Aus) 74 76 77, J Hook (Aus) 76 74 77,

228 J Ritchie (RSA) 76 72 80,

230 D Van Den Heever (RSA) 76 74 80,

231 N Ravano (Ita) 73 76 82,

232 C Hale (Aus) 78 72 82.

The par-3 fourrh a The Bluffs Ho Tram Strip

Niall Kearney made the cut but fell victim to the spectacular Greg Norman designed The Bluffs Ho Tram Strip course in round three of the US$1.5 million Ho Tram Open.

The Dubliner had to retun to course created by the "Great White Shark" at 6.30am to complete his weather-delayed second round. 

But while he completed a one over 72 to make the two over par cut with ease in tied 48th on level par, a three over 74 in round three was not what the Royal Dublin man had in mind.

A triple bogey six at the terrifying, 172-yard, par-three fourth did most of the damage though he also had two three-putts and mixed four birdies with four bogeys.

Kearney is tied 58th on threee over while at the top of the leaderboard, Chinese Taipei’s Lin Wen-tang overcame an early wobble to post a three-under-par 68 for two-shot lead over Spaniard Sergio Garcia and  South Africa’s Shaun Norris.

Lin, 41, made a bogey and double bogey in his opening four holes before fighting back with six birdies for a three-day total of 13-under-par 200 total in the inaugural Asian Tour tournament.

Ho Tram, Vietnam 5 December 2015 - Lin Wen-tang of Chinese Taipei in action during round three of the Ho Tram Open. The US$1.5 million event is played at The Bluffs Ho Tram Strip from December 3 to 6. Photo by Khalid Redza/ Asiantour

World number 12 Garcia endured a topsy-turvy day as well en route to a 68 which kept him in the chase for a first title of the year alongside Norris, who charged into contention with a 65 in Vietnam’s richest sporting event, dubbed Asia’s Grandest Stage.

Thai veteran star Thaworn Wiratchant, bidding for a record 19th Asian Tour victory, carded a 68 to lie three back alongside a resurgent Indian Himmat Rai, who also carded a 68. American Paul Peterson (68) will start the final round four shots back of the leader.

Six-time winner Lin said he was nervous playing alongside Garcia in the final group before recovering his composure with some fantastic iron play.

“I played with the star players, so I felt a bit scared. My caddy told me to calm down and I recovered nicely,” he said.

“After that I didn’t hit a single bogey and on the 17th hole, I had a 25-foot birdie. I was like ‘wow, I’m so lucky’. After being three over, I said, let’s do this. No time to be scared anymore.

“Sergio hits the ball so long and he is such a nice guy. Every time I make a birdie, he will tell me ‘good birdie Lin’. I haven’t won in two years but my wife told me not to think ahead. I just want to enjoy the final round tomorrow. If the win comes then good, if not, I’ll try again next time.”

Ryder Cup star Garcia, who returned early in the morning to complete his weather-disrupted second round in 68, dropped a double bogey on six after finding bushes with his drive and then dropped a closing bogey with an errant drive. But six birdies on the card ensured he remained within striking reach.

“I was bruised by one bad drive. On six, I hit it exactly where I wanted but the wind was coming in from the right and I hit a cut and the ball didn’t move. 

"The one on 18 wasn’t a good drive. Overall I felt like I played quite well other than those two holes. 

“Made some good putts on the back nine, missed some short ones for birdies too but I guess even with those hiccups, I still have a chance,” said the 35-year-old, who holds 22 Tour wins around the world.

As for the course, the links-style layout located two hours southeast of Ho Chi Minh City has been hailed by many of the world’s leading authorities on golf since opening in October 2014.

In January, GOLF Magazine named it one of the world’s best new courses. In July, the Australian Financial Review called it “as pretty a course as you’ll find on the entire Asian continent. Last month it was named the World’s Best New Course at the World Golf Awards ceremony in Portugal.

Scores after round 3 of the Ho Tram Open being played at the par 71, 6,797 Yards The Bluffs Ho Tram Strip course (am – denotes amateur):

200 – LIN Wen-tang (TPE) 65-67-68

202 – Shaun NORRIS (RSA) 66-71-65, Sergio GARCIA (ESP) 66-68-68

203 – Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA) 64-71-68, Himmat RAI (IND) 66-69-68

204 – Paul PETERSON (USA) 66-70-68

206 – Geoff OGILVY (AUS) 69-70-67, Charlie WI (KOR) 62-72-72

207 – Sunghoon KANG (KOR) 72-68-67, Thomas BJORN (DEN) 69-70-68, KOH Deng Shan (SIN) 67-71-69, Terry PILKADARIS (AUS) 71-67-69, Nicholas FUNG (MAS) 65-70-72, Chawalit PLAPHOL (THA) 68-67-72.

Stephanie Meadow

She rallied after a poor start but Jordanstown’s Stephanie Meadow now has no room for error after carding a two over 74 in round three at the Final Stage of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament at Daytona Beach in Florida.

The former Curtis Cup and University of Alamaba player is now tied for 78th on three over — five strokes outside the top 20 who get full cards after Sunday’s fifth round and one stroke outside the top 70 and ties who make the cut following Saturday’s fourth round.

Making the cut is clearly key and Meadow will be happy to return to the Jones Course, where she shot a two under 70 on Thursday.

On Friday she took on the tougher Hills Coure at LPGA International and found herself behind the eight ball with bogeys at the fourth, fifth and seventh putting her three over early.

She birdied the 10th, bogeyed the 11th but birdied the par-three 15th to undo some of the damage but may now need to shoot another sub par round on Saturday to make the cut. She will certainly need to finish in the red to move to within striking distance of the top 20 (no ties) who win full cards. 

At the top to the leaderboard, China’s Simin Feng leads for the third day running, carding an eagle at the 18th on the Jones Course for a 69 and a two stroke lead over American Cydney Clanton in 12 under par.

Scores Web | PDF

Fourth round tee times

Henrik Stenson. Picture: Getty Images

Shane Lowry made five birdies in a one under 71 and is just four shots outside the Top 10 in the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City.

The Offaly man, 28, is tied 22nd on one over par and 12 strokes behind Henrik Stenson, who produced a brilliant back nine for a five under par 67 to take the halfway lead despite still feeling the effects of a virus.

Yet despite that, he's just one good round away from a raft of useful world ranking points in his final event of 2015.

As for Stenson, the Swede spent three days in bed in the build-up to the tournament, but defied fatigue and temperatures of 35 degrees at the Gary Player Golf and Country Club to set the pace with an 11 under par total, one clear of home favourite Jaco Van Zyl, who signed for a 68.

Stenson, who won the tournament here in 2008, admitted he benefitted from the two-hour break in play due to afternoon thunderstorms, which came shortly after he had run up three consecutive bogeys from the sixth hole. He bounced back with five birdies in seven holes on the back nine, two of which came from long putts.

American Robert Strebb is another stroke back in third place thanks to a 66, while Australian Marc Leishman was fourth on eight under par.

Henrik Stenson “I’m surprised given that on Wednesday afternoon I didn’t think I would be able to tee it up. I thought I was done and dusted, so to be leading after two days it’s a turnaround to say the least. I’m getting over the virus, but I was more fatigued this morning than I was yesterday just because of playing yesterday. It takes a lot out of you playing in 35 to 40 degrees when you’re not physically well.“I was not on a good run before the break. I didn’t do too much wrong but managed to string three bogeys in a row, so at that time it was probably good to have a break, and it really cooled down afterwards for the back nine. I got the putter going – that was hot at least – and made a couple of nice birdie putts. All in all a very good back nine turned an average round into a good one.”Jaco Van Zyl“This tournament is one my dream events to play, and if I do really well here, it’s a means and a way to get into my other dream event, which is the Masters. So I’m very well aware of what’s going on around me here. It felt a little like a duel between me and Henrik. I looked at the leaderboard and I think we were two or three clear of the rest of the field. It’s always good fun, especially if you’re in the same group. You can kind of keep an eye on each other. There’s good reason why he’s number seven in the world, looking at the putts he made coming in. I missed quite a few fairways today which made it a little bit tricky, especially after the rain delay, but overall it was not too bad.”Round 2 scores

133 H Stenson (Swe) 66 67, 

134 J Van Zyl (RSA) 66 68, 

135 R Streb (USA) 69 66, 

136 M Leishman (Aus) 68 68, 

138 K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 70 68, 

140 R Fisher (Eng) 69 71, 

141 S Piercy (USA) 73 68, B Wiesberger (Aut) 70 71, K Bradley (USA) 72 69, E Grillo (Arg) 72 69, C Wood (Eng) 70 71, 

142 T Aiken (RSA) 73 69, T Jaidee (Tha) 70 72, L Oosthuizen (RSA) 70 72, A Sullivan (Eng) 71 71, B An (Kor) 72 70, M Jimenez (Esp) 70 72, D Willett (Eng) 67 75, B Grace (RSA) 68 74, 

143 T Fleetwood (Eng) 71 72, 

144 V Dubuisson (Fra) 71 73, 

145 Shane Lowry (Irl) 74 71, R Knox (Sco) 69 76, C Schwartzel (RSA) 71 74, 

146 M Fitzpatrick (Eng) 69 77, M Kaymer (Ger) 75 71, 

147 W Simpson (USA) 75 72, 

153 L Westwood (Eng) 72 81, 

155 S Bowditch (Aus) 77 78, S Kjeldsen (Den) 74 81

David Lingmerth. Picture: Getty Images

Greystones' rookie Paul Dunne produced a disappointing finish to see his hopes of a maiden professional win dented badly in the Australian PGA Championship.

The Co Wicklow native bogeyed the second but birdied the eighth and ninth to go out in one-under par and keep the leaders in his sights. But he played the back nine in four over 40, following a bogey at the 11th with a bogey, double bogey finish.

After missing 10 greens in regulation, it all added up to a three over 75 for the 23-year old, who is tied for 28th on three over and six strokes behind leader David Lingmerth.

The Swede holds a one-shot lead at the halfway stage as he made an impressive start to life as an Affiliate Member of the European Tour.

Lingmerth’s win at Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament in June has helped him leap over 100 paces in the Official World Golf Ranking in 2015, and he became an Affiliate Member of The European Tour for 2016 in a bid to make Darren Clarke’s Ryder Cup team.

The 28 year old’s chances of a perfect start to his qualification bid were strengthened as a four under par 68 gave him a one shot lead on three under at RACV Royal Pines Resort.

Not that Lingmerth is the only player with a chance to become the first European to win the event since David Howell in 1998, with England’s Mark Foster and Spain’s Pablo Martin Benavides part of a seven-strong group tied for second on two under.

American Peter Uihlein is also part of a strong European Tour challenge in the week the 110 year old event makes its first appearance on The Race to Dubai International Schedule.

South Africa’s overnight leader Zander Lombard, his compatriot Dylan Frittelli, and Australia’s Matthew Millar complete the group one behind Lingmerth, with England’s Tom Lewis and Australia’s Jason Scrivener among those a shot further back in a tie for eighth.

Mount Juliet’s Kevin Phelan added a 75 to his opening 78 to miss the cut by three strokes on six over.

David Lingmerth “I know that I’ve won on the PGA Tour so of course that gives me some confidence going into the weekend but at the same time there are so many good players on every tour around the world who can all shoot 7, 8 under, both rounds out there over the weekend, so you never know how it’s going to turn out. I’m really going to have to play very well to win but I do feel like I should have a good shot. I had a great summer really and this fall hasn’t been as good as I would have liked it to, but I feel like my game, throughout the whole fall it’s been pretty close, just not great.”Pablo Martin“I’m so happy. This game is so much fun when it goes the right way so I am really pleased. I played a really good round and am happy with the score. Yesterday also was a good round but it was kind of tricky to make the putts. The greens are very slick with the bermuda. You can tell they’re still a little bit young but it’s all good. It’s a great return to form for me. I mean it’s been a very solid year. By far I’m playing the best golf in all my life, much better than I ever have as as a professional.”Mark Foster“I was surprised at the pin positions, with the scoring yesterday, there’s some really tough pins out there but it’s a big championship, so it is fair enough. The Australian PGA, it’s a big title, so it’s their prerogative and it looks like it’s going to be like that all week. Eeverybody here wants to win, but I’ll hit you with a cliche here, we’ve only played two rounds. Obviously this calendar year I’ve not been in contention match but this might be the start of a new season hopefully. I’ve been very flat for a long time. Obviously I’m not a jumping through hoops kind of person but it was nice to have a bit of adrenalin going, see your name on a board, it was good and I’m long enough in the tooth to know what to do at the weekend that is for sure.”Peter Uihlein“Today was much more efficient. I hit 17 greens so it was better. It’s tough when the rain comes and goes and then it’s as windy as can be and then it kind of lays down. The weather has been a shocker! Last week at the Aussie Open was windy as can be too but that’s all part of the fun. I had a good end to the year and played well in Dubai, China, Turkey and Hong Kong so I am just trying to build on that and have a good weekend.”Round Two Scores

141 D Lingmerth (Swe) 73 68, 

142 P Martin Benavides (Esp) 75 67, M Millar (Aus) 72 70, D Frittelli (RSA) 70 72, Z Lombard (RSA) 67 75, M Foster (Eng) 69 73, P Uihlein (USA) 75 67, 

143 R Gibson (Aus) 79 64, T Sinnott (Aus) 71 72, J Scrivener (Aus) 72 71, T Lewis (Eng) 72 71, A Hall (Aus) 70 73, 

144 R Fox (Nzl) 74 70, A Brown (Aus) 73 71, 

145 J Zunic (Aus) 73 72, N Holman (Aus) 77 68, D Lawson (Aus) 75 70, A Pike (Aus) 72 73, 

146 M Wright (Aus) 76 70, J Wilson (Aus) 73 73, B Rumford (Aus) 74 72, N Cullen (Aus) 72 74, S Manley (Wal) 77 69, B Eccles (Aus) 74 72, B Wharton (Aus) 76 70, D Papadatos (Aus) 75 71, S Fernandez (Esp) 74 72, 

147 Paul Dunne (Irl) 72 75, R Green (Aus) 73 74, N Bertasio (Ita) 75 72, N Basic (Aus) 74 73, H Park (Kor) 80 67, E Van Rooyen (RSA) 76 71, C Smith (Aus) 78 69, H Varner Iii (USA) 74 73, A Stephens (Aus) 71 76, 

148 J Younger (Aus) 75 73, A Curlewis (RSA) 76 72, B Åkesson (Swe) 74 74, D Klein (Ger) 77 71, P Lonard (Aus) 76 72, J Ritchie (RSA) 76 72, C Parry (Aus) 77 71, J Nitties (Aus) 76 72, M Griffin (Aus) 76 72, M McCardle (Aus) 74 74, 

149 A Price (Aus) 75 74, R Van Der Spuy (RSA) 76 73, B Virto Astudillo (Esp) 72 77, N Ravano (Ita) 73 76, B Rankin (Aus) 76 73, C Nel (RSA) 78 71, M Fraser (Aus) 76 73, D Fox (Aus) 75 74, L Canter (Eng) 79 70, M Goggin (Aus) 76 73, 

150 T Mordt (RSA) 79 71, C Hale (Aus) 78 72, J Hook (Aus) 76 74, J Senden (Aus) 73 77, D Lloyd (RSA) 78 72, P Cooke (Aus) 79 71, N Green (Aus) 76 74, A Summers (Aus) 80 70, J Lyle (Aus) 77 73, R Bourke (Aus) 74 76, J Geary (Nzl) 77 73, D Van Den Heever (RSA) 76 74, D McKenzie (Aus) 74 76, D Nisbet (Aus) 75 75, H Bateman (Nzl) 76 74, 

151 M Brown (Nzl) 76 75, L Jensen (Den) 77 74, M Sim (Aus) 78 73, B Jones (Aus) 77 74, M Long (Nzl) 78 73, M Baldwin (Eng) 79 72, S Leaney (Aus) 82 69, B Shilton (Nzl) 76 75, J Fahrbring (Swe) 77 74, S Allan (Aus) 77 74, D Bransdon (Aus) 77 74, A Martin (Aus) 76 75, J Kruyswijk (RSA) 72 79, S Lee (Kor) 76 75, G Chalmers (Aus) 76 75, W Ormsby (Aus) 74 77, C Hanson (Eng) 80 71, 

152 Y Liu (Chn) 76 76, V Sexton-Finck (Aus) 77 75, G King (Eng) 76 76, S Arnold (Aus) 78 74, J Walters (RSA) 76 76, P Edberg (Swe) 77 75, R Enoch (Wal) 77 75, L McKechnie (Aus) 76 76, O Bekker (RSA) 75 77, T Cooper (Aus) 79 73, R Carter (USA) 80 72, C Ford (Eng) 78 74, 

153 S Strange (Aus) 74 79, S Jamieson (Sco) 79 74, C Wood (Aus) 74 79, S Surry (Eng) 76 77, X Li (Chn) 76 77, T Van Der Walt (RSA) 76 77, K Phelan (Irl) 78 75, 

154 J Norris (Aus) 78 76, J Blaauw (RSA) 79 75, J McLeod (Aus) 81 73, A Houston (Aus) 76 78, P Senior (Aus) 77 77, E Molinari (Ita) 77 77, N O'Hern (Aus) 81 73, A Evans (Aus) 78 76, A Blyth (Aus) 79 75, 

155 N Gillespie (Nzl) 82 73, R Allenby (Aus) 76 79, O Goss (Aus) 80 75, R Pampling (Aus) 78 77, D Valente (Aus) 81 74, 

156 E Stedman (Aus) 77 79, P Hayden (Aus) 83 73, R Cairns (Zim) 78 78, T Wood (Aus) 77 79, T Moore (RSA) 80 76, L Tighe (Aus) 80 76, M Moore (Aus) 79 77, 

157 S Kim (Kor) 82 75, M Docking (Aus) 80 77, P Shields (Sco) 82 75, S Dartnall (Aus) 75 82, L Herbert (Aus) 77 80, 

158 R Ruffels (am) (Aus) 79 79, 

159 B Snedeker (USA) 84 75, J Choi (Kor) 82 77, A Murdaca (Aus) 76 83, S Ferreira (Por) 82 77, 

160 D Popovic (Aus) 83 77, G Fairfax (Aus) 78 82, T Bond (Aus) 76 84, G Paddison (Nzl) 82 78, F Bergamaschi (Ita) 81 79, 

161 R Lynch (Aus) 79 82, J Zhang (Chn) 82 79, K Mueck (Aus) 79 82, 

162 C Wright (Aus) 78 84, L Nemecz (Aut) 81 81, 

164 A Horne (Swz) 83 81, 

165 R Haller (Aus) 87 78, A Wilkin (Aus) 86 79, 

166 L Boezaart (RSA) 88 78, 

168 P O'Malley (Aus) 80 88, 

172 M Mandhu (Zim) 84 88, 

** J Lagergren (Swe) 84 WD, A Gaugert (USA) 89 RT.

Royal County Down

The selections will infuriate many but it's that time of the year again and the “Golf Digest Volvo Top 100 Ranked Golf Courses in Ireland" for 2016 is out. It will not leave you indifferent.

There is little change at the upper end of the scale with Royal County Down, Portmarnock, Royal Portrush and Lahinch occupying the top four places and the rest of the big guns remaining unchanged or moving no more than a place or two.

No doubt Co Louth will feel they deserve a place in the Top 10 and it would certainly be among my favourites. But with some many great courses to choose from, numbering the best ones from 1 to 100 is a thankless task, no doubt. Thankfully, I have nothing to do with the process and like every other reader, I wonder why this favourite or that hasn't been given a mention or why others appear to rise higher with each passing year.

Suffice to say that it's a good thing that clubs like  historic North West in Co Donegal is included this year and that St Margaret's in Co Dublin is making a comeback. 

With so many clubs working hard to improve their facilities, I'd predict major changes in the rankings over the coming years. At least, I'd like to see them.

Whatever you may think about the merit of some of the placings, debate is healthy. 

For what it's worth, here's Golf Digest Ireland's take on their list and how it was compiled:

Golf Digest Ireland have developed and refined the rankings process in recent years to be a very detailed and forensic undertaking.The thorough nature of the rankings process can be gleaned from the fact that at the beginning of each year Golf Digest Ireland write to every Irish golf club across the island of Ireland, with an 18-hole course and ask if any upgrade work has been undertaken over the previous 12 months or if they felt their previous position in the previous Golf Digest Volvo rankings was not justified.
Golf Digest Ireland then collates all of the replies into a list, combined with the “Golf Digest Volvo Top 100 Ranked Golf Courses in Ireland” from the previous year.Also included are the leading 30 Irish golf clubs, which did not make the previous year’s rankings so that they can be scheduled for detailed consideration and review.
 
Pádraig O’hUiginn, the former Secretary-General of the Department of An Taoiseach from 1982-1993, Chairman of Fáilte Ireland and the man who played an important part in securing the 2006 Ryder Cup for Ireland has continued in the role as Chairman of the Senior Panel for the “2016 Golf Digest Volvo Top 10 Ranked Golf Courses in Ireland”.Voting Senior Panelists 2016

• Linton Walsh. Editor of Golf Digest Ireland,
• Christy O’Connor Jnr. Irish golfing legend, Ryder Cup player and golf course designer,
• John Kelly. St. Margaret’s GC PGA Professional and Director of Golf,
• Phil Collins. Galgorm Castle GC, PGA Professional,
• Alan McDonnell., Head Greenkeeper at Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort,
• Mark Magowan. PGA Professional and former professional tour caddie,
• David O’Donovan. Secretary Manager, County Sligo Golf Club,
• Veronica MacGreevy. Irish amateur golfer and member of Royal County Down Golf Club,
• Lynn McCool. Former Ladies European Tour player, PGA professional at Lough Erne Resort.
• Kyra Donworth. Golf Tour Operator and international amateur golfer,
• Sean Coyne. Irish amateur International and Director at Killarney Golf & Fishing Club
• Rory Fitzgerald. Irish amateur golfer and Golf Digest Readers Panel Representative.

This year over 2,427 golfers applied to the Golf Digest Readers’ Panel and Golf Digest Ireland selected 80 GUI and ILGU registered golfers of all handicaps and from across the island of Ireland to join the Golf Digest Ireland Readers Panel and submit their findings.The selected 80 Readers Panel participants attended a 2016 Golf Digest Ireland Readers Panel briefing earlier this year in March where they were trained in the process ahead. The 2016 Readers Panel then went on to visit, play and assess multiple Irish golf courses.The Readers Panel generated over 1,496 reports and Readers Panel ranking scores on Irish golf clubs across the country, which accounted for 25% per cent of the final vote.The 2016 Readers Panel findings, reports and scores were analysed and discussed in detail providing valuable insight from the first-hand experience of Irish male and female golfers from all over the country.
 
Golf Digest Ireland would like to extend our thanks and gratitude to everyone who took part in the “Golf Digest Volvo Top 100 Ranked Golf Courses in Ireland 2016” rankings from the Senior Panel to the Readers Panel and to all the Irish golf courses, who extended their hospitality
to Golf Digest Ireland to visit and play their golf courses.2016 GOLF DIGEST VOLVO TOP 100 RANKED GOLF COURSES IN IRELAND2016 Rank. (Last year)

1. (1) Royal County Down
2. (2) Portmarnock Golf Club (Old)
3. (3) Royal Portrush Golf Club
4. (4) Lahinch Golf Club
5. (5) Waterville Golf Links
6. (6) Ballybunion Golf Club (The Old Course)
7. (7) Tralee Golf Club
8. (8) The European Club
9. (9) Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort
10. (11) County Sligo Golf Club
11. (12) Ballyliffin Golf Club (Glashedy)
12. (10) County Louth Golf Club (Baltray)
13. (13) The Island Golf Club
14. (14) Old Head Golf Links
15. (15) Enniscrone Golf Club
16. (18) Portstewart Golf Club (Strand Course)
17. (16) Belmullet Golf Club (Carne Golf Links)
18. ((17) Ballyliffin Golf Club (Old Links)
19. (19) Mount Juliet Golf Club
20. (21) The K Club (Palmer Course)
21. (20) Donegal Golf Club (Murvagh Links)
22. (23) Portsalon Golf Club
23. (22) Killeen Castle Golf Club
24. (28) Trump International Golf Links, Doonbeg
25. (26) Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links
26. (25) Rosapenna Hotel & Golf Resort (Sandy Hills)
27. (31) Lough Erne Resort, Faldo Course
28. (24) Dooks Golf Club
29. (27) The Royal Dublin Golf Club
30. (30) Fota Island Hotel & Golf Resort (Deerpark)
31. (29) Carlow Golf Club
32. (33) Narin And Portnoo Golf Club
33. (34) Druids Glen Hotel & Golf Resort
34. (32) Carton House Hotel & Golf Resort (Montgomerie Course)
35. (37) Concra Wood Golf Club
36. (36) Rosapenna Hotel & Golf Resort (Old Tom Morris Course)
37. (40) Killarney Golf & Fishing Club (Killeen Course)
38. (39) Slieve Russell Hotel & Country Club
39. (35) Cork Golf Club
40. (38) Connemara Golf Links
41. (41) Castlerock Golf Club
42. (42) Headfort Golf Club (New)
43. (43) Palmerstown Stud
44. (45) Carton House Hotel & Golf Resort (O’Meara Course)
45. (47) Malone Golf Club
46. (46) Seapoint Golf Club
47. (49) The K Club (Smurfit Course)
48. (50) Belvoir Park Golf Club
49. (53) Dun Laoghaire Golf Club
50. (48) Royal Portrush Golf Club (Valley Course)
51. (55) Tramore Golf Club
52. (51) Bunclody Golf Club
53. (44) The Heritage Golf Club
54. (56) Ballybunion Golf Club (Cashen Course)
55. (52) Portumna Golf Club
56. (54) Luttrellstown Castle Golf Club
57. (59) Arklow Golf Links
58. (57) Hermitage Golf Club
59. (60) Royal Belfast Golf Club
60. (61) Clandeboye Golf Club
61. (58) Powerscourt Golf Club (West Course)
62. (63) Dromoland Castle Golf Club
63. (62) Castletroy Golf Club (New)
64. (65) Mount Wolseley Hotel & Golf Resort
65. (70) Strandhill Golf Club
66. (66) Powerscourt Golf Club (East Course)
67. (67) Tullamore Golfm Club
68. (72) Galgorm Castle Golf Club
69. (79) Galway Bay Golf Resort
70. (64) Farnham Estate Hotel & Golf Resort
71. (68) Westport Golf Club
72. (69) Rosslare Golf Club
73. (71) Esker Hills Golf Club
74. (73) Glasson Country House Hotel & Golf Club
75. (75) Dingle Golf Links (Ceann Sibheal)
76. (78) Shannon Golf Club
77. (81) Ballinrobe Golf Club
78. (74) Druids Glen Hotel & Golf Resort (Druids Heath)
79. (77) Castlemartyr Hotel & Golf Resort
80. (83) Knightsbrook Hotel & Golf Resort
81. (84) Tulfarris Hotel & Golf Resort
82. (80) Laytown & Bettystown Golf Club
83. (82) Mullingar Golf Club
84. (85) Dundalk Golf Club
85. (86) Grange Golf Club
86. (88) Castle Golf Club
87. (90) St. Anne’s Golf Links
88. (87) Galway Golf Club
89. (89) Ardglass Golf Links
90. (91) Blainroe Golf Club
91. (New) St. Margaret’s Golf Club
92. (94) New Forest Golf Club
93. (95) Killarney Golf & Fishing Club (Mahony’s Point)
94. (96) Woodenbridge Golf Club
95. (92) Headfort (Old Course)
96. (93) Balbriggan Golf Club
97. (97) Moyola Park Golf Club
98. (New) Moyvalley Hotel & Golf Resort
99. (New) North West Golf Club
100. (100) Macreddin Golf Club

2016 GOLF DIGEST VOLVO TOP 30 LINKS GOLF COURSES IN IRELAND 

1. (1) Royal County Down
2. (2) Portmarnock Golf Club
3. (3) Royal Portrush Golf Club
4. (4) Lahinch Golf Club
5. (5) Waterville Golf Links
6. (6) Ballybunion Golf Club (Old Course)
7. (7) Tralee Golf Club
8. (8) The European Club
9. (10) County Sligo Golf Club
10. (11) Ballyliffin Golf Club (Glashedy Course)
11. (9) County Louth Golf Club (Baltray)
12. (12) The Island Golf Club
13. (13) Enniscrone Golf Club
14. (16) Portstewart Golf Club (Strand Course)
15. (14) Belmullet Golf Club (Carne Golf Links)
16. (15) Ballyliffin Golf Club (Old Links)
17. (17) Donegal Golf Club (Murvagh Links)
18. (18) Portsalon Golf Club
19. (23) Trump International Golf Links Doonbeg
20. (21) Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links
21. (20) Rosapenna Hotel & Golf Resort (Sandy Hills)
22. (19) Dooks Golf Club
23. (22) The Royal Dublin Golf Club
24. (23) Narin And Portnoo Golf Club
25. (25) Rosapenna Hotel & Golf Resort (Old Tom Morris)
26. (26) Connemara Golf Links
27. (27) Castlerock Golf Club
28. (28) Seapoint Golf Club
29. (29) Royal Portrush Golf Club (Valley Course)
30. (30) Ballybunion Golf Club (Cashen Course)

2016 GOLF DIGEST VOLVO TOP 30 PARKLAND GOLF COURSES IN IRELAND

1. (1) Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort
2. (2) Old Head Golf Links
3. (3) Mount Juliet Golf Club
4. (4) The K Club (Palmer Course)
5. (5) Killeen Castle Golf Club
6. (8) Lough Erne Resort – Faldo Course
7. (7) Fota Island Hotel & Golf Resort (Deerpark)
8. (6) Carlow Golf Club
9. (10) Druids Glen Hotel & Golf Resort
10. (9) Carton House (Montgomerie Course)
11. (12) Concra Wood Golf Club
12. (14) Killarney Golf & Fishing Club (Killeen Course)
13. (13) Slieve Russell Hotel & Country Club
14. (11) Cork Golf Club
15. (15) Headfort Golf Club (New)
16. (16) Palmerstown Stud
17. (18) Carton House (O’Meara Course)
18. (19) Malone Golf Club
19. (20) The K Club (Smurfit Course)
20. (21) Belvoir Park Golf Club
21. (24) Dun Laoghaire Golf Club
22. (26) Tramore Golf Club
23. (22) Bunclody Golf Club
24. (17) The Heritage Golf Club
25. (23) Portumna Golf Club
26. (25) Luttrellstown Castle Golf Club
27. (27) Hermitage Golf Club
28. (29) Royal Belfast Golf Club
29. (30) Clandeboye Golf Club
30. (28) Powerscourt Golf Club (West Course)

2016 GOLF DIGEST VOLVO HONOURABLE MENTIONS

• Gowran Park Golf Club
• CastleKnock Golf Club
• Dunfanaghy Golf Club
• Athlone Golf Club
• Dundrum House Golf Club
• Kilkeel Golf Club
• Hilton Templepatrick Golf Club
• Roe Park Resort
• Naas Golf Club
• Newlands Golf Club
• Lee Valley Golf Club
• Ring of Kerry Golf Club
• Limerick Golf Club
• Roganstown Golf & Country Club
• Royal Curragh Golf Club
• Kirkstown Castle Golf Club
• Corballis Golf Club
• Skellig Bay Golf Club
• Bantry Bay Golf Club
• Royal Tara Golf Club
• Glen Of the Downs Golf Club
• Dunmurry Springs Golf Club
• Lucan Golf Club
• Birr Golf Club

Ho Tram, Vietnam 4 December 2015 - Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland in action during day two of the Ho Tram Open. Photo by Khalid Redza/ Asiantour

Darren Clarke and Niall Turner will miss the cut but Irish champion Niall Kearney is teetering on the brink in the weather-delayed US$1.5 million Ho Tram Open in Vietnam.

The Royal Dublin player is one of 58 players who must return to The Bluffs Ho Tram Strip course to complete his second round early on Saturday morning, sitting right on the one-over par projected cut mark with eight holes to play.

Lin Wen-tang of Chinese Taipei fired a four-under-par 67 in gusty conditions to grab the second round clubhouse lead in the richest full-field Asian Tour event, two hours southeast of Ho Chi Minh City.

Scores

A six-time Asian Tour winner, Lin overcame a wind-swept day at The Bluffs Ho Tram Strip by shooting six birdies against two bogeys for a two-day aggregate of 10-under-par 132

American David Lipsky, the reigning Order of Merit champion, was two shots back in second place after negotiating 11 holes in two under before play was suspended at 5.35pm due to darkness.

Strong gusts in the afternoon, which reached up to 25mph and moved golf balls on the greens, forced officials to suspend play for two hours. 

Fifty eight players will now return on Saturday at 6.30am to complete their remaining holes, including two-time Irish PGA champion Kearney, who opened with a one under 70.

Ranked 130th in the Order of Merit with prize money of $8,103 from seven starts, Kearney was disqualified on his last start in the Resorts World Manila Masters two weeks ago when he signed for a wrong score at the 10th hole in the final round. 

While he shot 70, he signed for 69 and lost out on some vital prize money. But he has a chance to make amends this week after making a good mid-round comeback.

After starting with a birdie at the par-five 10th, he bogeyed the 12th and 15th, ran up a seven at the par-five 16th and bogeyed the 17th to slip to three over for the tournament. 

But a birdie at the 18th, followed by another at the first, saw him climb inside the cut line before the hooter sounded.

Turner finish on seven over after following a disappointing 81 with a 68 but European Ryder Cup skipper Clarke was two shots futher back on nine over after rounds of 73 and 78.

World number 12 Sergio Garcia, who was two under through 12 holes, lies three shot behind Lin alongside Thai veteran star Thaworn Wiratchant.

“Who said there is no wind in the morning?” laughed the 42-year-old Lin, who hasn’t won in two years. “The wind was definitely blowing stronger than yesterday afternoon.

“For five holes, there was no wind. But it started to pick up after that. It was crazy windy but I birdied two holes (on six and eight) to close my round, so that was good. I had some putts which I struck well but the wind blew my ball off track.”

Lipsky brilliantly turned in 31 but despite starting for home with back to back bogeys, the American remained confident of staying in the hunt for a third Asian Tour victory.

“The wind was ridiculous. This is probably the strongest wind conditions that we play in all year on the Asian Tour,” said Lipsky. “I chipped in twice (for birdies on two and four) so my good start involved a little bit of luck. If you hit good shots, you get rewarded.”

Stephanie Meadow

Stephanie Meadow took a giant step towards getting into the battle for an LPGA Tour card when she posted a gutsy second round 70 in the Final Stage of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament at Daytona Beach in Florida.

The Jordanstown talent was languishing 119th in the 157-strong field after an opening, three over 75 on the Hills Cours at LPGA International.

With just 20 cards on offer after five rounds and with only the top 70 and ties qualifying for the fifth day after 72 holes, the former University of Alabama star needed a low round to take some pressure off her shoulders.

And she got it too with what was only her third sub-par round from her last 23 following the tragic passing of her father Robert from cancer in May.

Scores

Starting on the 10th tee at the Jones Course, Meadow birdied the 13th and 14th, bogeyed the 15th but birdied the par-five 18th to get back to one over for the tournament.

She then dropped another shot on the par-three third but finished in style with a birdie four at the ninth for her 70.

She’s now tied for 58th on one over, just inside the top 70 who will make the cut after four rounds.

The top 20 finishers (no ties) following Sunday's fifth and final round will earn category 12 membership while players who finish 21 through 45 plus ties will earn membership through category 17.

In layman’s terms, the top 20 finishers will have “full” LPGA membership while those that finish 21-45 will have “conditional” status.

China’s Simin Feng and Korea’s Julie Yang, who like Meadown missed out in a playoff for a full card last year, share the lead on 9-under par, 135. 

Feng carded a three-under 69 on the Hills Course while Yang posted a two-under 70 on the Jones Course. 

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint but I’m happy with how I’ve played so far,” said Yang, who finished T21 last year. “My only bogey of the day came on the last hole so it was a good day.”

She added: “I have the experience from last year and I know what to expect. Last year was a tough year with conditional status and I feel like my game is ready to go back to the LPGA.”

For more Q-School stories, click here.

Dun Laoghaire Golf Club

World No 1 Leona Maguire says her goals for 2016 are to play in the Olympic Games in Brazil and the Curtis Cup at Dun Laoghaire.

Her presence in Rio appears almost certain and bar a move into the professional ranks before the June 10-12 Curtis Cup matches with the USA, her presence at the Ballyman Road venue looks all but guaranteed.

Whatever happens next year, the Slieve Russell star and Royal County Down's Olivia Mehaffey are among the eight top players from Great Britain and Ireland who have accepted an invitation to take part in a Curtis Cup familiarisation session at Dun Laoghaire from December 18-19 next.

Can't wait to lead the way for Great Britain and Ireland tomorrow with Leona, first out at 8am #irishgals

A disconsolate Shane Lowry in Sun City

Henrik Stenson shrugged off three days in bed to lead the Nedbank Golf Challenge as Shane Lowry avoided feeling a little worse about his day by holing out for bogey from just off the 18th green.

It’s been a trying end to the year for Lowry, who has otherwise had a stellar season, winning the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and finishing fifth in the Race to Dubai en route to his current ranking of 21st in the world.

With a massive US$6.5m prize fund and a raft of world ranking poiints at stake, Lowry is hoping to finish the year on a high.

Shane Lowry laments his first bunker shot at the 18th

But he did well in the end to shoot a two over 74, holing a 15 footer for bogey on the last after leaving a bunker shot in the sand at the end of a trying day at the Gary Player Golf & Country Club in Sun City.

One under after four holes, Lowry bogeyed the fifth, eighth, ninth and 10th to slip to three over but after getting shots back at the 11th and 16th, he found a poor lie in greenside sand at the 18th and failed to get out at the first attempt.

Clearly exasperated, the 28-year old is tied for 26th in the 30-man field, eight shots behind Swedish world No 7 Stenson, whose preparation consisted of three days in bed with a virus.

Despite that, he still managed to share the first round lead with South African Jaco Van Zyl after opening with a six under par 66.

Stenson, who won the event in 2008 before it became part of the European Tour International Schedule, played the front nine in five under, added another birdie on the tenth and then battled his way home in level par as fatigue crept in.

Van Zyl, who was runner-up in the Turkish Airlines Open last month, mathced him with a six-birdie round while Englishman Danny Willett made a strong start to his title defence with a five under par 67.

Another South African, Branden Grace, is a shot further back on four under alongside Australian Marc Leishman, who is making his debut in the event.

Co-leader Henrik Stenson. Picture: Getty Images

Henrik Stenson“I’ve been in bed with the flu for three days, and after I had to pull out of the pro-am on Tuesday I probably had a five per cent chance of playing. I felt quite a bit better this morning and the doctor didn’t see any reason why I couldn’t play. I’m delighted with the score, but the last few holes I completely ran out of energy. From the 14th onwards my legs were like jelly and it was a real struggle. I missed a couple of chances coming in, but I would’ve taken one under par standing on the first tee, so I’m very happy.”Jaco Van Zyl“It’s a great honour and privilege to be here. I watch two events on TV each year – the Masters and this, so waking up this morning instead of making sure the beers and the biltong were ready I had to make sure my shoes were polished and my clubs were clean and go to work. On the first tee I could feel my heart beating in my throat. It didn’t slow down for the first three holes, but I managed to pick up a couple of quick birdies early on which settled the nerves a bit. I hit ten out of 14 fairways and a couple I missed weren’t in trouble, just in the first cut. There were a couple of short irons into par fours that I would’ve liked to get a bit closer, but the main thing is the 27 putts. It really is a thrill to be here. As a South African, it’s phenomenal to be part of this.”Danny Willett"I played really well in the pro-am on Tuesday and played another seven holes in practice yesterday on my own trying to get a feel for the golf course again, and everything is in good shape. Because it’s at the same golf course, people expect you to play well again, but everyone knows how fickle this game can be. The course does set up well for me, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to shoot 67 every time you play it. Henrik played brilliantly. He didn’t miss many shots. I think he got very tired towards the end there but he played tremendous golf. Looking at that, you’ve got to think that if you can stay close to him over the next few days you’ll be doing well. Not too close though, he can keep his virus away!”Round 1 scores

66 H Stenson (Swe), J Van Zyl (RSA), 

67 D Willett (Eng), 

68 B Grace (RSA), M Leishman (Aus), 

69 M Fitzpatrick (Eng), R Knox (Sco), R Fisher (Eng), R Streb (USA), 

70 B Wiesberger (Aut), M Jimenez (Esp), K Aphibarnrat (Tha), C Wood (Eng), L Oosthuizen (RSA), T Jaidee (Tha), 

71 T Fleetwood (Eng), V Dubuisson (Fra), A Sullivan (Eng), C Schwartzel (RSA), 

72 K Bradley (USA), L Westwood (Eng), E Grillo (Arg), B An (Kor), 

73 T Aiken (RSA), S Piercy (USA), 

74 S Kjeldsen (Den), S Lowry (Irl), 

75 M Kaymer (Ger), W Simpson (USA), 

77 S Bowditch (Aus).

Paul Dunne in contention while Snedeker shoots an opening nine 45. Latest #AusPGA scores: https://t.co/c8gqNglNM8 pic.twitter.com/BPjbbFcm08

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 2, 2015

Jet-lagged Paul Dunne didn’t sleep a wink overnight but remained alert and defied strong swirling winds to soar into contention for the Australian PGA.

The 23-year old Greystones native carded a level par 72 to share seventh place after the opening round, despite taking double bogey six at his second hole, as Kevin Phelan ended the day tied 97th after a 78.

Having started on the back nine, rookie professional Dunne birdied four his next seven holes to turn in two under 34 at RACV Royal Pines Resort on Queensland's breezy Gold Coast.

While he dropped shots coming home at the first and seventh, his 10th and 16th holes, the world No 671 was more than pleased to match par in just his fifth start in a regular tour event on a day when just six players shot in the red.

“Obviously I grew up playing lots of wind golf on the Irish amateur circuit,” Dunne said, who ended the day five shots behind South Africa’s Zander Lombard, who posted a magnificent, bogey free, five under 67. 

"I think Irish people are just more used to it. I think they just don’t lose the plot as much. Everyone makes mistakes, it’s just a matter of trying to make pars. 

"If you make some birdies, the birdies will come. That’s great, it’s a bonus but it’s just kind of putting it in spots to give yourself the easiest chance of a par.”

As for his jetlag following his trip to Australia from last week’s Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa, where both he and Kevin Phelan missed the cut, he’s looking forward to a good night’s sleep tonight.

Little bit breezy on the #GoldCoast this morning!!! #AusPGA #pumping #theflagsdontlie pic.twitter.com/xCqrsBUhqK

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 3, 2015

“I’m really happy with the start,” he said.  “I didn’t even get a second of sleep last night.  I think I slept in too much yesterday, I slept about 14 hours yesterday and then it was just a long night.  

"I was in bed at 11 and I was awake till 4.30 when my alarm went off, so I’m looking forward to a bit of rest.”

Lombard carded what the European Tour described as “a quite unbelievable bogey-free 67” to lead by two strokes from England’s Mark Foster after round one.

Lombard’s countryman Dylan Frittelli lies joint third alongside leading Australian Ashley Hall on two under, while the only two other players in the field of 156 to get under par were the Aussie pair of Todd Sinnott and Adam Stephens.

Foster almost pulled out of the event after a disappointing weekend at last week’s Alfred Dunhill Championship, but has now put himself firmly in contention to produce a memorable week some 10,000 miles from his home.

England’s Tom Lewis and Dunne, who both have the claim to fame of leading recent Open Championships whilst still playing in the amateur ranks, are among the chasing pack on level par.

Lewis should have been one shot better off, but after his ball moved on the 18th green when he was about to address his putt, the 24 year old called a one shot penalty on himself for the avoidance of doubt to finish the day on level par.

Sweden’s David Lingmerth, winner of Jack Nickalus’s Memorial Tournament earlier this year, carded a one over par 71 but American Brandt Snedeker – the highest rank player in the field – had a day to forget as he slumped to a 12 over par 84.

Mark Foster. Picture: Getty Images

Zander Lombard

“I played really well, hit the ball solidly and always helps things when you strike it well. It definitely got tricky out there, some of the greens with the wind to read them and get the pace right was tough, but I think I managed well.  But it’s still early days.  See how the rest of the week goes. I was fortunate to travel a bit earlier and had some time to get over the jetlag.  I got a nice rhythm on Wednesday on the range and kept it going today. The Gold Coast is a lot like home for me – similar weather so I’m enjoying it at the moment.”

Mark Foster

“It was a great day obviously. I laughed my socks off walking to the 18th green when a spectator said ‘they’ve had it easier this afternoon’, and I was like, I don't know what he was watching but the wind was everywhere.  So I was really pleased with it. At breakfast this morning you could hear the flag poles banging and I looked at the scores so I knew what we were getting. But the one thing the wind did was focus me really well – I played good. Three under feels like seven or eight under.”

Tom Lewis

“It was a bit of a shame on the 18th, my ball moved a tiny bit so technically I feel like I shot one under but I didn’t know whether it was the wind or not. I didn’t touch the ball but I called John Paramor to the scorers hut and after a chat with him I called the one shot penalty because we couldn’t be certain if it was wind that had moved it even though that was pretty obvious. I suppose that’s one of those things that happens to everyone at some point and it just happened to me today.

“I feel happy. I’ve had some time off.  Obviously I’m disappointed with my finish for the year so I’m kind of going to move on and assess my situation, but I put way too much pressure on myself over the last four years and didn’t really enjoy it that much. I thought I might have walked away and did something else for a while but then I thought there’s a lot of things I need to improve and it’s going to be a battle and I just need to get my head down and start fresh.”

Round One Scores:

67 Z Lombard (RSA), 

69 M Foster (Eng), 

70 D Frittelli (RSA), A Hall (Aus), 

71 T Sinnott (Aus), A Stephens (Aus), 

72 M Millar (Aus), J Scrivener (Aus), N Cullen (Aus), A Pike (Aus), T Lewis (Eng), Paul Dunne (Irl), J Kruyswijk (RSA), B Virto Astudillo (Esp), 

73 A Brown (Aus), N Ravano (Ita), J Zunic (Aus), J Senden (Aus), J Wilson (Aus), R Green (Aus), D Lingmerth (Swe), 

74 S Fernandez (Esp), C Wood (Aus), N Basic (Aus), R Bourke (Aus), D McKenzie (Aus), H Varner Iii (USA), B Rumford (Aus), M McCardle (Aus), B Åkesson (Swe), W Ormsby (Aus), S Strange (Aus), B Eccles (Aus),  R Fox (Nzl),  

75 O Bekker (RSA), D Nisbet (Aus), D Lawson (Aus), P Uihlein (USA), D Papadatos (Aus), J Younger (Aus), D Fox (Aus), A Price (Aus), N Bertasio (Ita), S Dartnall (Aus), P Martin Benavides (Esp), 

76 R Allenby (Aus), P Lonard (Aus), M Griffin (Aus), M Fraser (Aus), A Murdaca (Aus), L McKechnie (Aus), J Ritchie (RSA), B Wharton (Aus), M Wright (Aus), G Chalmers (Aus), A Curlewis (RSA), H Bateman (Nzl), T Bond (Aus), A Houston (Aus), S Surry (Eng), G King (Eng), E Van Rooyen (RSA), A Martin (Aus), S Lee (Kor), B Rankin (Aus), M Goggin (Aus), X Li (Chn), J Nitties (Aus), B Shilton (Nzl), M Brown (Nzl), N Green (Aus), R Van Der Spuy (RSA), J Walters (RSA), Y Liu (Chn), J Hook (Aus), T Van Der Walt (RSA), D Van Den Heever (RSA), 

77 D Bransdon (Aus), J Lyle (Aus), T Wood (Aus), D Klein (Ger), S Manley (Wal), S Allan (Aus), J Fahrbring (Swe), N Holman (Aus), L Herbert (Aus), R Enoch (Wal), P Senior (Aus), E Molinari (Ita), C Parry (Aus),  V Sexton-Finck (Aus),  L Jensen (Den),  E Stedman (Aus),  P Edberg (Swe),  J Geary  (Nzl),  B Jones (Aus),        

78 K Phelan (Irl), C Nel (RSA), C Ford (Eng), J Norris (Aus), A Evans (Aus), M Sim (Aus), G Fairfax (Aus), C Hale (Aus), M Long (Nzl), R Cairns (Zim), D Lloyd (RSA), R Pampling (Aus), C Smith (Aus), S Arnold  (Aus),  C Wright (Aus),   

79 J Blaauw (RSA), P Cooke (Aus), L Canter (Eng), R Gibson (Aus), S Jamieson (Sco), A Blyth (Aus), R Lynch (Aus), T Mordt (RSA), T Cooper (Aus), K Mueck (Aus), M Baldwin (Eng), M Moore (Aus), R Ruffels (am) (Aus), 

80 A Summers (Aus), P O'Malley (Aus), L Tighe (Aus), C Hanson (Eng), H Park (Kor), M Docking (Aus), R Carter (USA), T Moore (RSA), O Goss (Aus), 

81 D Valente (Aus), N O'Hern (Aus), F Bergamaschi (Ita), L Nemecz (Aut), J McLeod (Aus), 

82 G Paddison (Nzl), S Leaney (Aus), S Ferreira (Por), J Zhang (Chn), J Choi (Kor), P Shields (Sco), N Gillespie (Nzl), S Kim (Kor), 

83 A Horne (Swz), P Hayden (Aus), D Popovic (Aus), 

84 J Lagergren (Swe), M Mandhu (Zim), B Snedeker (USA), 

86 A Wilkin (Aus), 

87 R Haller (Aus), 

88 L Boezaart (RSA), 

89 A Gaugert (USA).

Bonjour! #jesuisparis

A photo posted by Rory McIlroy (@rorymcilroy) on Dec 2, 2015 at 12:00pm PST

 Sunday paper speculation that Rory McIlroy is about to ask Erica Stoll to marry him may be about to escalate to DEFCON-2 with talk of a romantic, Wednesday night Paris proposal. 

Neither his assistant nor his his publicist have replied to confirm or deny a report from golf blog Golf Central Daily that the world No 3 got down on one knee in Paris last night.

The website cites close friends of McIlroy as confirming that the proposal was accepted. Whatever the truth of the matter, the golfer did follow up his Instagram post about Tiger Woods' fitness with another last night featuring a romantic shot of the Tour Eiffel.

McIlroy proposed to tennis player Caroline Wozniacki on New Year's Eve in 2013, popping the question during the fireworks display in Sydney though they called off the wedding five months later. 

The Sunday Independent speculated last weekend that McIlroy is contemplating marriage:

This weekend friends have told the Sunday Independent that Rory (26) has finally found 'the one'.And there could be an engagement ring on the horizon. A year after this newspaper exclusively revealed that Erica (29) was the new woman in his life, friends say that Rory feels very confident that the blonde beauty is the woman for him. "Don't be surprised if you hear he pops the question, it's going very, very well," a friend said.

No doubt all will soon be revealed, one way or the other.

Have you got a Rory McIlroy at home?

The Little Linksters Association for Junior Golf Development and The Littlest Golfer Inc. have announced details of their Annual Best “Pee Wee” Golf Swing in the World Video Contest.

The popular contest allows parents to upload a video to YouTube of their “Little Linksters” swing where they will be judged by the likes of world No 1s Jordan Spieth and Lydia Ko or PGA Tour star Keegan Bradley.

Videos must be submitted over the following two months, and prizes will be awarded in four age groups ranging from ages 3 to 8.

“We are ecstatic to have both the men’s and women’s #1 golfers in the world joining us this year,” explained PGA Professional Brendon Elliott, founder of Little Linksters, LLC and Little Linksters Association for Junior Golf Development.

“We are very humbled to have had such a recognised and esteemed celebrity panel of judges over the years, including Annika Sorenstam, Hank Haney, Kelly Sheehan, Lexi Thompson, Jim McLean, Win McMurry, Paula Creamer, Nicole Weller, Chuck Evans, Brittany Lincicome, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Keegan Bradley, Mark Bradley, Allen Wronowski, Frank Nobilo and Holly Sonders.

"This year might take the cake in terms of our judges! To have Jordan and Lydia aboard this year is amazing."

Last year’s contest received 200 entries from over 14 countries around the world.

Elliott, who was a US Kids Golf Top 50 Kids Teacher (2010, ‘11 and ’12), a 2013 US Kids Golf Top 50 Master Kids Teacher, a four-time NFPGA Junior Golf Leader award winner (2011-14), as well as a three-time Top 50 Growth of the Game Teacher as named by the Golf Range Association, will lead the judging.

He will be assisted by this year’s celebrity panel of judges, which is arguably one of the best assembled groups the contest has seen in its six years.

Jordan Spieth, guest judge

Parents are encouraged to participate in this contest by uploading a video (no longer than 60 sec) to YouTube of their “Little Linksters” swing.

Once the video is posted to YouTube, parents must share that video link to the Contest Entry Form on the contest page on www.LittleLinksters.com.

The contest entry period began on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015 and closes on Jan. 11, 2016.

Contest registration, complete details and instructions are available at http://littlelinksters.com/best-pee-wee-golfswing-
in-the-world/

Prize packages will be awarded in four age categories: Under 3; 3–4 year olds; 5–6 year olds; and 7–8 year olds. Each prize package is valued at more than $1,000 and includes items from some of the industry’s best children’s golf apparel, equipment and training aid companies:

• The Littlest Golfer gift pack
• U.S. Kids Golf Set of UL Clubs and other accessories
• Cleveland/Srixon gift pack
• Under Armour golf hat
• Birdie Ball 4’ x 14’ Putting Green
• Assorted Golf training aids package
• Golfer’s Footprint
• Almost Golf play anywhere pack
• Athlete Nation online lessons
• Little Linksters™ Membership pack
• Sticks to Sports “Let’s Play Golf” Book & NEW “Match Play” Game
• My Mini Golf gift pack
• Swinggait Swing Trainer
• Star Putter Training Aid
• Tournament Entry for each age group winner to the 2016 Pepsi Little People’s Golf Championship
• Exemption & Tournament Entry for each age group winner to the 2016 FCG World Championship in San Diego
• MORE TO COME!!!!

Winners will be announced at the 2016 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando at the Littlest Golfer Inc. booth.

Augusta National Golf Club

Christy O'Connor Jnr has teamed up with specialist golf travel company Links Golf Ireland to host a once in a lifetime trip to the 2016 Masters Tournament.

There are 40 places available on the week-long tour which not alone includes two days at the Masters but also two rounds of golf at two of South Carolina's finest courses.

Irish interest will undoubtedly be at its highest with Rory McIlroy looking to win and complete the career Grand Slam.

O'Connor Jnr., has had a fantastic golfing career both as a player and more recently as a course designer. As a player both on the regular PGA Tour and on the Seniors Tours both in Europe and the US he has won 17 times in seven different countries.

Included in his victories are back to back wins in the British Seniors Open.  He has represented Ireland in both the World Cup and the Dunhill Cup, and will be forever remembered as a Ryder Cup hero for unbelievable two iron shot at the Belfry which brought him a singles victory and helped Europe retain the Cup in 1989.  

He was the first Irish professional to play in the Masters in 1977 and is very much looking forward to sharing his experience and knowledge with those travelling.

All elements of what is intended to be the golfing trip of a lifetime have been researched by both O'Connor Jnr. and Links Golf Ireland and this has led to the decision to locate the group in Columbia which is just over an hour from Augusta, and which is also close to some great golf courses.  

• The tour leaves Dublin on Wednesday 6th April, returning on the morning of 12th April.  Included in the trip package are;
• 5 nights in the Marriott Columbia  Downtown  Hotel ( inclusive of breakfast)
• 2 VIP days at the Masters on the Friday, the cut day, and the Sunday when the Champion will be crowned. The VIP package includes access to day long hospitality in Magnolia Manor with fresh cuisine and endless refreshments
• Golf at the Columbia Country Club ( Thursday ) and at The Members Club at Woodcreek ( Saturday)
• Receptions and dinners on three of the evenings
• Souvenir Masters Chair and welcome gift
• All ground transport between Columbia and August
• Full details of the package are available from Garreth Cooke 01 - 883 1940 or Gar@LinksGolf-Ireland.com

Speaking of the trip Christy O'Connor Jnr said that playing at Augusta had been one of the great golfing experiences.

“I have always wanted to re-visit Augusta," he said. "I am delighted that myself and Links Golf are now in a position to offer 40 Irish golfers the opportunity to share that visit with me.

"I think it is fair to say that most golfers would have a visit to Augusta on their wish lists. Tickets are always the problem. To now be in a position to provide tickets in a year when Rory will undoubtedly be hoping to complete his collection of majors is a once in a lifetime opportunity."

Garreth Cooke, managing director of Links Golf Ireland. said that they had worked closely with Christy to ensure that every last detail had been looked at to ensure that this would really be the trip of a lifetime.

”We believe Christy's involvement adds a whole new dimension to what will be a wonderful trip anyway," he said.  "He will provide real insights for those on the trip both at the Masters but also on the two golf days we have organised. It will genuinely be the trip of a lifetime."

 Stephanie Meadow during her breakout 2014 season

Royal Portrush's Stephanie Meadow has work to do to win a full card after opening with a three over par 75 in the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament at Daytona Beach.

The Jordanstown native, who has been battling to find form following the loss of her father Robert in May, made a double bogey seven at the second on the Hills Course at LPGA International and a bogey at the sixth to slip to three over.

She bounced back well with a birdie four at the eighth and a birdie two at the 12th. But a double bogey six at the 17th left her no time to react and at three over, she's tied for 119th in the 157-strong field.

The top 20 finishers (no ties) following Sunday's fifth and final round will earn category 12 membership while players who finish 21 through 45 plus ties will earn membership through category 17.

In layman’s terms, the top 20 finishers will have “full” LPGA membership while those that finish 21-45 will have “conditional” status.

Meadow's first task is to get back to level par and inside the top 70 and ties who make the cut after 72 holes.

Scores — Web | PDF

.@Song_Christine & @per_SiMinFeng co-lead LPGA Q-School @golf_lpgaintl. More from Daytona > https://t.co/sNQH6P3Lx2 pic.twitter.com/CHrciCaHTS

— LPGA (@LPGA) December 3, 2015

As for the leaders, Christine Song shot a seven-under 65 to share the first round lead with China's Simin Feng.

Both scores came from the Jones Course. The best score on the Hills Course was posted by Julie Yang (Seoul, South Korea), who is one shot back at six-under 66.

All set for the last week of the year in Sun City. Dermot looks pretty happy in his new #Kartel gear @Heatonsstores pic.twitter.com/CH0CBWAoBc

— Shane Lowry (@ShaneLowryGolf) December 2, 2015

Shane Lowry can take a giant step towards his Ryder Cup debut if he ends a magnificent season with victory in the $6.5m Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City this week.

Quite apart from the winner's cheque for $1.25m, the world No 21 would win 44 world ranking points, catapulting him into the world's Top 15 and the automatic Ryder Cup qualifying places via the World Points List.

It's been a slightly disappointing month for Lowry, who failed to achieve the fast finish he wanted to the European Tour season that saw him clinch a career-changing victory in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in August 

While he was tied 19th in the Alfred Dunhill Links, runner up in the British Masters at Woburn and eighth in the Turkish Airlines Open, Lowry completed the Final Series in China and Dubai by finishing T68-T56-T48. 

A cold putter was to blame and from 17th in the world he fell to 21st as his rival for an Olympic Games place, Graeme McDowell, closed the gap with a PGA Tour win in Mexico and a third place finish at Sea Island.

Bit of a different zebra crossing here this morning. #onlyinafrica pic.twitter.com/N6p2xU8qnA

— Shane Lowry (@ShaneLowryGolf) December 2, 2015

Making the 2016 European Ryder Cup team is a big goal for Lowry and while he's targeting the world rankings as his route into Darren Clarke's side, the battle for those five places will be red hot as he concentrates on the PGA Tour early in the year. 

Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson and Sergio Garcia will also be seeking those spots while McDowell, now 54th in the world, is also likely to return to the world's Top 50 before long.

It's going to be challenging but Lowry can lay down a marker in South Africa this week in a 30-man event where he finished 11th behind Danny Willett 12 months ago.

The European Tour writes:

Willett intends to use the same aggressive approach that won him last year’s Nedbank Golf Challenge when he defends the title in Sun City this week.The Englishman romped to victory at the Gary Player Country Club 12 months ago, producing a masterclass in driving for weekend rounds of 65-66 and an 18 under par total, four shots clear of compatriot Ross Fisher.That bold performance provided the foundations for a brilliant season, and he ultimately took second place in the Race to Dubai after adding another victory and a further seven top ten finishes en route.Once again, a world-class, 30-man field has assembled to contest the US$6.5million prize fund, including Fisher, who has finished no worse than tied fifth in three appearances, World Number Seven and 2008 champion Henrik Stenson and two-time Major winner and 2012 champion Martin Kaymer.Lee Westwood, who won back-to-back titles here in 2010 and 2011, is also in the field, as are Frenchman Victor Dubuisson, home favourites Branden Grace, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, who captured last week’s Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek, and exciting young talents Byeong Hun An and Matthew Fitzpatrick.

Danny Willett. Picture/Getty Images

Danny Willett
“It was the start of a pretty awesome year. The way I won gave me confidence in my own abilities and my own game, and it took me to a few places I’d not been before, like up there in the Race to Dubai all season and competing in golf tournaments all around the world. It was all set up from the win here. This is my sixth week on the road, but it’s alright. I had a few days off last week, my fitness levels feel pretty good and my back feels okay, so I’m looking forward to a good week.“It’s always good to be in a smaller field with no cut for the first event of the season. It gives you a bit of a head start on the other guys. It’s somewhere we got to know quickly last year and we’re back with good memories on a course that suits me. If you look at the guys who’ve won here in recent years, they are all quite straight hitters and they’ve holed a few putts. Everything sets up for us nicely so I’m looking forward to getting under way.“If you want to win you’ve got to take the golf course on. We’ll have the same strategy as last year and try to do something good again. The course sets up for people who hit it straight. If you can drive the ball well you’re giving yourself 9-irons into greens, which are a lot easier to control than a 6- or 7-iron when you’re hitting into small greens with the wind swirling round. So we’ll be trying to be aggressive off the tee at the right times and take it from there.”Charl Schwartzel“Coming back to the Nedbank as a South African is always very special. It was the first tournament that I came to watch as a junior. My dad brought me too, so it will always have a very special place for me. The win last week for me meant quite a lot because I had to find a way to win on the weekend. It wasn’t good golf like you’d expect, which just shows that there’s a different way of winning. There’s not just one way. That was quite pleasing. The course suits guys who hit draws. I hit fades, so I can’t really be that aggressive. I’ve got to keep the ball in play with a lot of irons, three-woods, and rely on good iron play from the fairway and good putting.”Ross Fisher

“It feels great to be back. I’ve got a lot of fond memories from last year. I pushed Danny as much as I could but he was too good on the day.  Any time you can play in this event you know you’ve had a decent year. This is my fourth time back and looking forward to it. It was a great way to start last season. It was a little bit disappointing in the middle of the year – I was playing well but not getting right results. I managed to have a really nice finish, and hopefully we can start the new season well again this year.”

EAMONN BRADY. PICTURE/GETTY

Leading trio Colm Moriarty, David Higgins and Eamonn Brady will tee it up in next May's BMW PGA at Wentworth.

The places provisionally earmarked for the Top 10 finishers in the PGA Playoffs in Turkey, which were subject to confirmation by the European Tour, have been confirmed. 

Tournament winner Gareth Wright will be joined by Matt Cort (Beedles Lake), Greig Hutcheon (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre), James Ruth (China Fleet), 36-year old former Challenge Tour winner Moriarty (Drive Golf Performance), 43-year old former European Tour player Higgins (Waterville), Graham Fox (Clydeway Golf), 41-year old Brady (Clontarf), Guy Woodman (Longball Inc) and James Ablett (Lee-on-the-Solent) will take on the cream of the European Tour.

That's excellent news for the rank and file professionals, who used to have a far bigger presence in PGA European Tour events, such as Wentworth or the Irish Open.

It is always assumed that the leading finishers from the previous season's PGA Irish Region Order of Merit — six this year at Royal County Down — will automatically play in the Irish Open when in fact they must always wait for confirmation of their Category 7 places by the European Tour at some stage the following season.

At one stage, the Top 10 Irish players got starts at Wentworth with twice that many playing the Irish open. but those days are long gone and even securing an Irish Open spot is now something a battle with the number of spots recently reduced from eight to six.

Former European Tour Chief Executive George O'Grady considered staging a qualifier for the Irish Open in recent years given the numbers of young Irish players looking for a break. 

However, offering new spots would have meant giving up some the European Tour's invitations and the move failed to get off the ground.

Our sources tell us that the idea of a qualifier has not died with the old Chief Executive and is being actively considered for next year's €4m Dubai Duty Free sponsored event at The K Club.

Whether the places offered in any theoretical qualifier would be in addition to the traditional places awarded to the leading players in the PGA Irish Region is unknown

The European Tour has yet to respond to a request for clarification on any intent to stage a qualifier but the PGA Irish Region Secretary, Michael McCumiskey, said he had no knowledge of such a move.

"I know nothing about it," he said. 

Asked if he expected to have six Irish Region PGA professionals in the field at The K Club, he said: "That's a different question.

"The record speaks for itself. The six spots for 2015 were only confirmed at the beginning of 2015. Right now, we don't know what the number is because the European Tour, I think I am right in saying, has not decided.

"We don't know anything about 2016, certainly not regarding your first question [on the qualifier]. With regard to the second question, the number of places has not been indicated by the European Tour for the K Club next May." 

In an ideal world, it would be intersting to see both the leading PGA professionals from the Irish Region and some Monday (or Tuesday) qualifiers, get to rub shoulders with the tour stars.