Rumford rumbles Qatar field to take halfway lead

Australian Brett Rumford fired a second round six-under par at Doha Golf Club to take the halfway lead at the Qatar Masters. Rumord leads by one from Wales’ Bradley Dredge with Oliver Wilson a further shot back in a tie for third place. Rumford, who carded six birdies in his opening ten holes finished with a 66 for a nine-under par total.

Wilson’s former boss, Lee Westwood is slowly getting to grips with new irons and carded a second round of 69 – Wilson once caddied for Westwood at a tournament. Wilson himself netted two late birdies in his bogey-free round of 70 and joined Westwood for a share of third place.

Dredge, who enjoyed the best of the conditions might feel a little aggrieved he didn’t take full advantage but still carded a three-under 69; two of his birdies came in the final three holes.

Robert Karlsson made the most progress of the second round with a two-under par 70 to take him to six-under par for the tournament and into a tie with Sweden’s Niclas Fasth, with Peter Hanson and dual-winner Charl Schwartzel a further shot behind.

Sergio Garcia and Paul Casey lie poised to strike just behind the leaders at four-under par but Henrik Stenson faces an uphill struggle if he is to challenge for the event, finishing at level-par after a round of 69.

One player who won’t be involved over the weekend is Abu Dhabi runner-up Ian Poulter who carded a level-par second round to miss the cut by one stroke.

Piercy heads the field at Torrey Pines

American golfer Scott Piercy heads the field after the first day’s play of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Piercy is playing only his second year as a Tour pro.

With the tournament being played over both the North and South courses, Piercy fired an opening round of 64 – 8-under-par over the North Course, which included seven birdies on the front nine.

With most of the top 15 players on the leaderboard having played the North Course – only Australia’s Robert Allenby broke the streak – it’s clear that the North Course played the easier of the two. And most of the events big names started their tournaments over the tougher South Course, including Phil Mickelson who opened with a two-under par 70.

Allenby - one of the most in-form players in the game at the moment, made two huge par saves late in his round to card a bogey-free 67 over the tougher South course, and like many of the event’s big-guns will tackle the easier North course for their second round.

Phil Mickelson played a cautious first round, but with the North Course to come will be hopeful of making up ground on the leaders over the easier course. Mickelson is bidding to win at Torrey Pines for the first time since 2001.

Also playing the South course were three-times Major winner Ernie Els of South Africa, who also carded a 70 while defending champion Nick Watney of the United States opened with a 71.

Our pick for the title, Ryan Moore opened his challenge on the North course and carded a 70.

To contrast the two courses’ relative difficulty, the scoring average on the 7,698-yard South Course was 72.769 on Thursday, more than 2.5 shots tougher than on the 6,986-yard North layout.

Wilson, Dredge share first round lead in Qatar

England’s Oliver Wilson shares the lead after the first round of the Qatar Masters at Doha Golf Club. The Englishman carded a five-under-par round of 67 in blustery conditions to share the tournament lead with Wales’ Bradley Dredge who carded five birdies in his closing seven holes.

Wilson is still seeking his maiden tournament win, despite finishing runner up nine times in his career and played in the 2008 Ryder Cup match. But he did his chances of breaking his duck no harm with a round that included six birdies in his first thirteen holes.

Countryman Lee Westwood – the current European number one – carded birdies on each of the three par-fives on the course and lies one shot off the lead in a four-way share of second spot. Also in the group are Germany’s Marcel Seim, and Swedes Robert Karlsson and Alex Noren.

Karlsson held the early clubhouse lead after carding an early 68 in a round in which only 24 players broke par out of the 126 who started.

Brian Rumford of Australia sits alone on three-under-par while several players share two-under-par including Sergio Garcia, Peter Hanson, Charl Schwartzel, Richie Ramsay and Ross Fisher among others.

South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen endured a roller-coaster round, having reached five-under par on his outward nine before coming back with four bogeys and a double bogey to finish on level par.

Abu Dhabi runner up Ian Poulter struggled to a frustrating round of 75 while Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie finished with a 76. Poulter’s Abu Dhabi conquerer Martin Kaymer struggled to a 74 while Henrik Stenson – YourGolfTravel’s pick for the tournament – recovered from three-over par after eight holes to get back to level par, before slipping back to three-over par again.

Wychwood Park Supplier Weekends

De Vere Venues Wychwood Park has teamed up with Your Golf Travel to launch is supplier days for 2010, offering customers staying on golf breaks, discounts & promotions from a selection of the most sought after retailers in the golf industry.
Read more

Mickelson takes advantage of grooves loophole

Phil Mickelson, amongst others, has taken advantage of a legal loophole surrounding the USGA’s new regulation that bans square grooves on irons and instead insists on ‘V’ grooves. ‘Lefty’ has got round the regulations by putting an old Ping-Eye 2 lob wedge in his bag.

Eagle-eyed golfers and equipment experts will no doubt be aware that the Ping-Eye 2 strictly doesn’t adhere to the USGA regulations as it has square grooves. However, the Ping-Eye 2 doesn’t fall within the guidelines as Ping have a longstanding lawsuit against the USGA which was settled 20 years ago and states that any Ping-Eye 2 made prior to 1st April, 1990 is allowed.

Mickelson isn’t alone in using the Ping-Eye 2 wedge. John Daly, who collects Ping-Eye 2s in recent months used one in Honolulu earlier in the season, as did Dean Wilson. Brad Adamonis and Hunter Mahan also have played Ping-Eye 2 wedges in recent tournaments.

Mickelson had several wedges from when he played Ping clubs at Arizona State as a freshman. He and he had Callaway – his current club manufacturer - bend from a 60-degree to a 64-degree club.

Some pros, have however, criticised Mickelson and other players who have adopted Ping-Eye 2 wedges as violating the spirit of the rule and gaining an unfair advantage. Mickelson has defended himself by claiming he has submitted groove designs that are legal according to USGA specifications but have been declined for play.

Mickelson has discussed the issue with the PGA and USGA, so, while they might not meet USGA guidelines the Ping-Eye 2 is indeed a legal club and fair game for him – and others- to use, providing they can find them, as Ping are unable to reproduce the pre-1990 design.

Next Page »