MICKELSON ON THE RISE

Phil Mickelson's nerve-jangling defence of the Northern Trust Open title in Los Angeles has lifted him back to third in the world rankings.

Four clear with a round to go and flying when he began with an eagle, Mickelson then had four bogeys to trail Steve Stricker by two with three to play.

But, while Stricker bogeyed the last, he birdied the 16th and 17th to claim his 35th US Tour victory and with it moved up two places in the rankings.

The left-hander is only 2.22 points behind Tiger Woods and could overtake him in the next month - but this is the week when Woods ends his eight-month injury lay-off.

New Zealand amateur Danny Lee, meanwhile, has improved 403 places to 159th after becoming the youngest player and only the second amateur to win a European Tour event.

The 18-year-old US Amateur champion, who will turn professional after the US Masters in April, birdied four of the last six holes to capture the Johnnie Walker Classic by one shot in Perth.

Latest leading positions:

1 Tiger Woods 9.61pts, 2 Sergio Garcia 7.87, 3 Phil Mickelson 7.39, 4 Padraig Harrington 7.39, 5 Vijay Singh 6.13, 6 Henrik Stenson 5.11, 7 Robert Karlsson 5.08, 8 Geoff Ogilvy 5.00, 9 Kenny Perry 4.74, 10 Camilo Villegas 4.71, 11 Anthony Kim 4.45, 12 Lee Westwood 4.40, 13 Steve Stricker 4.23, 14 Ernie Els 4.13, 15 Jim Furyk 3.88, 16 Justin Rose 3.82, 17 Rory McIlroy 3.78, 18 Adam Scott 3.77, 19 Mike Weir 3.72, 20 KJ Choi 3.69

Other leading Europeans:

21 Martin Kaymer, 23 Paul Casey, 24 Miguel Angel Jimenez, 25 Alvaro Quiros, 31 Luke Donald, 34 Ian Poulter, 38 Ross Fisher, 39 Graeme McDowell, 45 Oliver Wilson, 49 Anders Hansen, 53 Soren Hansen, 60 Peter Hanson, 61 Soren Kjeldsen, 71 Carl Pettersson, 74 Darren Clarke, 76 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, 82 Francesco Molinari, 83 Anthony Wall, 85 Gareth Maybin, 87 Fredrik Jacobson, 91 Alexander Noren, 94 Nick Dougherty


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McILROY LEAPS OVER ROSE
RANKINGS RISE FOR McILROY

McILROY BLOCKS THOUGHTS OF FACING TIGER

Rory McIlroy will go into the second round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship later on Thursday trying to block out any thoughts of a potential dream tie with Tiger Woods.

If Northern Ireland's world number 16 defeats American Hunter Mahan at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, world number one Woods could be waiting for him in the third round if he gets past Tim Clark.

The 19-year-old is determined to put that thought on hold just a little while longer, however.

"That's a long way off for the minute," McIlroy said. "But we'll see what happens.

"I don't know how my match is going to go. And all I can do is concentrate on that.

"And then Tiger has to get through his second round match as well. And obviously he seems to be playing pretty well. So we'll see what happens."

Dubai Desert Classic winner McIlroy, who is playing his first tournament as a professional in the United States, made a great start in Arizona with a 2&1 defeat of South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen to set up his date at 7.15pm UK time with US Ryder Cup star Mahan, who beat Mike Weir of Canada one up.

The American is looking forward to the encounter.

"It should be exciting," Mahan said. "I don't know much about him, but I know he's a great player, a young European player, probably going to be a Ryder Cupper very soon, so looking forward to it."

While McIlroy hit the ground running in the Arizona desert, Padraig Harrington ran into trouble as he suffered an upset first-round loss to American Pat Perez.

Harrington, who was trying to finish his four-week stint in America on a high after two missed cuts, will instead head home to Ireland ruing a one-hole defeat he felt turned against him on the front nine.

"I lost it on the fifth hole," Harrington said. "I missed a putt there and made a terrible five there from the middle of the fairway when he was in trouble.

"When I look back everything after that was a bit of a struggle. I made it tough for myself right there. I had a chance at the last but the damage was done on that fifth hole.

"It is tough in match play. I would like to play more golf as I think my game is right there but I didn't give myself the chances today and I was not as sharp as I could have been.

"But that one spot was where it all went away."

Second round draw (prefix number denotes seeding):

1-Tiger Woods (U.S) v 32-Tim Clark (South Africa)

16-Rory McIlroy (Britain) v 48-Hunter Mahan (U.S.)

8-Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) v 40-Shingo Katayama (Japan)

9-Camilo Villegas (Colombia) v 24-Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain)

4-Vijay Singh (Fiji) v 36-Luke Donald (Britain)

13-Ernie Els (South Africa) v 20-Steve Stricker (U.S.)

5-Phil Mickelson (U.S.) v 28-Zach Johnson (U.S.)

12-Lee Westwood (Britain) v 21-Stewart Cink (U.S.)

63-Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) v 31-Ian Poulter (Britain)

50-Boo Weekley (U.S.) v 47-Sean O'Hair (U.S.)

58-Peter Hanson (Sweden) v 39-Stephen Ames (Canada)

55-Mathew Goggin (Australia) v 23-Paul Casey (Britain)

62-Pat Perez (U.S.) v 35-Ross Fisher (Britain)

14-Jim Furyk (U.S.) v 19-Martin Kaymer (Germany)

59-Davis Love III (U.S.) v 27-Justin Leonard (U.S.)

11-Anthony Kim (U.S.) v 43-Oliver Wilson (Britain)


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RIVALS RELISHING WOODS RETURN

Tiger Woods' return to competitive action next week has been warmly welcomed by his rivals on the PGA Tour.

World number one Woods will make his much-anticipated comeback from injury in the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson, Arizona, it was announced on Thursday.

The 33-year-old has been out of competitive action since winning the US Open in June last year after having reconstructive surgery on the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee the following week and rehabilitating a double stress fracture of the tibia in the same leg.

"Frankly, I'm glad he's coming back," Zach Johnson told the Golf Channel .

"We need him back. We want him back. From a competitive standpoint, as a player, I want him back. I want to have the opportunity to play against the best. He knows his body, I'm assuming he's 100 per cent, so that's fantastic."

Johnson, the 2007 Masters champion, underlined he expected Woods to be raring to go.

"If I remember rightly he played pretty well after he had his first baby so if the trend remains he's going to be playing pretty good.

"As a competitor I'm sure he's just anxious to get back and start competing. That's what fuels you and gets the fire going and this is his job, so I'm assuming he wants to get out here and get back to work.

"If I had seven months off I'd be itching to play."

Brandt Snedeker was asked to contemplate the return of Woods at Augusta National in April for the 2009 Masters, the first major of the year. Last year Woods finished runner-up to Trevor Immelman and one place in front of Snedeker.

"It's scary," Snedeker replied. "We're all wondering what he's going to be like. From what I heard he's been working out and playing a lot of golf and hopefully he comes back better than ever.

"I think the game of golf needs him back right now. Hopefully, he can be a little rusty for a little while and we can gang up on him a little bit but I'm sure within six months he'll be back to his old ways and winning."

Snedeker also claimed Woods' presence would not have a negative impact on the mindsets of his rivals.

"It doesn't change anything, just makes it more exciting," he added.

"We all love having him out here. We all love trying to compete against him and beat him and I think it means that much more when he's in the field if you do play well and do actually beat him.

"I know it's kind of hard to set your sights on somebody like him but we need him out here. He draws fans, he draws interest, he does everything right for the game of golf and just like everybody else, we're all fans out here too, the players, and we all love seeing him competing on a golf course."

Stuart Appleby believes Woods had made the right choice in returning to action at the WGC-Accenture Match Play.

"He's back and he's ready and I'd say he's been ready for ages, it was just a matter of timing," the Australian said.

"I'd also say he's looking to get some competition rounds and feel like he's back on the horse and play a bit before he gets to Augusta.

"He's good at match play - his record states that - but I'd say it's more about the competition and what happens in his own mind and the way he plays the game.

"He just wants to get back on it. He's ready. He'll be as strong as ever and there won't be any breaking-in period for him."


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WOODS’ RETURN ‘IS GREAT FOR GOLF’

WELCOME BACK TIGER

He comes back, he wins. Of course he does - nobody should have been surprised.

Tiger Woods is special. He wins majors with one good leg, so beating the world's 64th best golfer with two is precisely what we should all have expected.

Even opponent Brendan Jones was expecting it.

Even after eight months out of action.

Even though Woods himself claimed he was not sure what would happen in his first competitive test for so long.

What did happen was that he had a comfortable victory - comfortable not only in the three and two margin of it, but also and more importantly comfortable in terms of his reconstructed left knee.

Yes he was starting to look a little weary by the end, even taking his shoes off during a long wait on the 15th tee. But, like so often in his career, he had done what he needed to do by then.

A birdie-eagle start instantly dispelled any fears that he might not be the same golfer as before the surgery.

With all eyes on him there was the familiar twirl of his club on the opening tee as his ball not just found the fairway, but the section of the fairway to give him the best angle to the flag.

There was the familiar fist-pump when his four-iron approach to the long second ran up to within four feet of the cup.

It was the same old Woods and even if the following five holes saw three bogeys a bit of rust appeared the only problem. Nothing physical, nothing mechanical.

With another eagle on the 13th and birdies at the eighth and 15th (a hole he lost actually) he would have needed two closing pars for a four under par 68.

In match play it is all about holes won rather than shots taken, but in this case it is pertinent to record that only three of the other 31 winners on the day scored better than Woods - Zach Johnson was seven under and both Lee Westwood and Tim Clark five under.

It was Clark next up for Woods in today's second round and on paper a bigger test lay ahead.

But that is exactly how he would want it. Because, much though he would like to retain this title, the most important thing about the week is discovering how his body and game react under endurance and under pressure so that he can work on it in the build-up to April's Masters.

With a successful opening day under his belt now the big concern is actually not so much for Woods any more, but for the sport.

There is the recession to worry about first and foremost, but there is also the fact that nothing brings out the fans and the sponsors like fierce competition and does Woods really have it?

Gone already this week are Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington, second and fourth in the rankings, and Phil Mickelson, back to third in the world after his win last Sunday, looked shaky again in losing a four-hole lead before squeezing through against Angel Cabrera.

Harrington, winner of the two majors played in Woods' absence, has now made an early exit from his last three tournaments. He badly needs rounds under his belt before tackling Augusta.

Garcia, meanwhile, has blown the chance to take the world No 1 spot on Sunday week - and, for all we know with Woods back on the scene, he might never get as close again.

At the moment it remains fascinating to see what Woods can achieve at the start of his comeback.

But he is likely to play only a limited schedule as he eases himself back in. Most tournaments will still have to do without him and to attract sponsorship money in the current financial climate when Woods is not part of the entertainment on offer will not be easy.

Those who do have him, though, must be thrilled that he still looks capable of wondrous things.

We are still in the Woods era. It did not end at Torrey Pines last June.


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STENSON REVEALS STANFORD INVESTMENT

Swedish golf star Henrik Stenson has revealed that "a big part" of his savings are invested in the Stanford Financial Group currently under investigation for an alleged US$9billion fraud.

Currently in Arizona for the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, the world number six told American magazine Golfweek that he signed a three-year business deal with Stanford last summer and at the same time transferred funds into a bank account.

"Not all my money, but I have quite a big part of my own savings and investments with them," he said.

"I don't know anything more than I read in the papers, so it's obviously not a happy situation for a whole lot of people.

"It's a very unfortunate situation. I'm a victim as is everybody else in that big thing, so we just have to see how bad it is.

"Everybody has got to sit tight and see what comes out of it, but it's obviously hard to be too positive about it at the moment."

Vijay Singh and Camilo Villegas are two more of the world's top 10 players with ties to Stanford and Singh was still wearing the company's logos in Tucson this week.

Stanford is also a 'platinum level' sponsor of the Tiger Woods Foundation, which funds the world number one's California learning centre and stages the PGA Tour's AT&T National event.

Another event in Memphis has Stanford as its title sponsor, while the concluding tournament of the women's tour is the Stanford Financial Tour Championship.

Tim Finchem, PGA Tour commissioner, said: "The situation of Stanford is volatile - I don't know where that's going to come out.

"It would not be appropriate for me to speculate on what their issues are and what actions are being taken and what that means. We're just in a monitoring situation right now."


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TIGER BATTLES TO WINNING RETURN

Tiger Woods impressed in his much-anticipated comeback from an eight-month injury lay-off to overcome a front-nine wobble and win his opening match at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship today.

Woods, playing Australian Brendan Jones in the first round of the 64-man event at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, was playing for the first time since last June when he won the US Open before needing reconstructive knee surgery and recorded a 3&2 win.

"I felt good," Woods said. "I got off to a quick start and that helps. I got off some good shots early, had some loose irons there in the middle part of the round but got back and thought I had a good day, except for those couple of loose irons."

Woods, the defending champion, said he had felt no adverse reaction from his rehabilitated left knee.

"It felt good," he said. "I felt for sure it would be a little bit more stiff than it was.

"I'm sure it will be a little bit stiff later but ice and elevate and I'll be good to go tomorrow."

The world number one had started in determined fashion and to a huge roar from the packed stands around the first tee box as he played a three-wood down the 460-yard par-four opening hole on the way to a birdie.

He was quickly two up after Jones conceded the second but then tailed off as both players made bogeys at the third and fifth.

Woods bogeyed the par-four seventh as Jones parred but was quickly back in control with a birdie at the eighth and he forged ahead by winning the 12th and 13th holes.

There was a brief rally from Jones, who eagled the par-four 15th but Woods completed his win at the 16th.

Woods said it had felt like he had not been away from the fairways.

"I said to Stevie (Williams, his caddie), 'it feels like we haven't been gone'. It was business as usual," he added.

"I thought I'd be a little more nervous than that but when it comes right down to it it's about placement so I just kind of went back to all the basics."

Northern Ireland teenager Rory McIlroy defeated South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen 2&1 in his first outing as a professional in the United States.

The Dubai Desert Classic winner now faces US Ryder Cup star Hunter Mahan in the second round with Woods a potential opponent in round three.

Padraig Harrington, the Open and US PGA champion, was an early casualty as the top seed in his bracket, going out to American Pat Perez.

Harrington had trailed by two with three to play before sending in an 18-foot putt at the par-three 16th to win the hole.

But the gap was too great to overcome as Perez won one up.

Oliver Wilson set up a second-round meeting with Ryder Cup foe Anthony Kim with an upset victory on a great day for the English contingent.

Wilson delivered a 3&1 defeat to Korea's KJ Choi, a player 25 places ahead of him in the world rankings, while Kim was the first player into the next round when he mopped up a resounding victory over Chinese Taipei's Lin Wen-tang, 7&5.

Starting the good day for the English was Lee Westwood, who moved into the second round with a bogey-free, five-birdie 2&1 win over Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng in the opening match of the first round.

Westwood now meets last year's beaten finalist Stewart Cink, who needed 19 holes to defeat Richard Sterne of South Africa.

Mickelson survived a late rally from Angel Cabrera to beat the Argentine on the 19th hole and set up a meeting with Zach Johnson, who defeated Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell 3&1, while Luke Donald beat Ben Curtis on the 19th hole.

Paul Casey defeated Aaron Baddeley of Australia one up to progress to a match with another Aussie, Matt Goggin, who scored an upset one-up win over Kenny Perry.

Ian Poulter won 4&3 over Jeev Milka Singh but Sergio Garcia lost the last three holes to go down to Charl Schwartzel.

Justin Rose, whose wife Kate gave birth to baby Leo on Saturday, was beaten one up by American Boo Weekley but Ross Fisher made it six out of seven wins for the English when he beat Robert Allenby of Australia one up.


PAST WINNERS COME GOOD
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McILROY READY TO THRIVE IN DESERT

Rory McIlroy is confident he has the game to thrive in the United States as he heads into his professional debut on American soil this week.

The 19-year-old from Northern Ireland shot to number 16 in the Official World Golf Rankings following his maiden professional victory in the European Tour's Dubai Desert Classic at the beginning of this month and he takes his first steps Stateside on Wednesday at the World Golf Championships Accenture Match Play Championship at the new Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Dove Mountain near Tucson, Arizona.

McIlroy, who faces South Africa's world number 49 Louis Oosthuizen in Wednesday's first round, believes that not only will his extensive matchplay experience as an amateur and Walker Cup player be a great boost to his chances in the desert this week, but also that his type of game can reap rewards in America.

"I think the style of golf over here suits my game," McIlroy said. "I hit it quite high. And I'm able to get the ball to stop pretty quickly. I'm pretty long off the tee.

"I've had two good looks at the golf course now and that's nice. It's interesting. The greens are still pretty tricky.

"It probably takes a little bit of time to get used to. But the course is in great shape and it looks like it's going to be a good week."

The competition format is familiar for McIlroy.

"All the amateur golf I played growing up was matchplay, playing for Ireland in the European Championships and the Home Internationals," he added.

"Most of our amateur events in Britain are matchplay events as well, so it's a format that we have grown up with. And I think that my game suits match play because I make quite a lot of birdies and," he joked, "I'll be able to throw in the odd double bogey here and there.

"It's head to head and it gets the juices flowing. So I'm looking forward to it this week."

Sweden's Henrik Stenson is another of the record 47 European Tour members in action at the Ritz-Carlton this week and he has an envious matchplay record of his own.

The 32-year-old won this event in 2007 when it was played at another Dove Mountain course, The Gallery. Having beaten Australia's Geoff Ogilvy 2&1 in that final he embarked on another good run in 2008 only to run into Tiger Woods in the semi-finals.

That contest, also at The Gallery, went to the last hole with Woods going on to a third victory in the tournament by hammering fellow American Stewart Cink. Yet the Swede has proved his mettle for match play.

"It seems to bring out the best in my game and from myself," said Stenson, who faces 2006 finalist Davis Love III in his opening-round match. "It is fun to come back to a tournament where I have played well in the past and in a format I have done well in so I hope this will be another one in the making."


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LEE: I WANT TO BE THE NEXT TIGER

New Zealand amateur Danny Lee served notice to the golfing world of his outstanding talent at the Johnnie Walker Classic on Sunday, before boldly stating his ambitious goal of outstripping the achievements of Tiger Woods.

Lee made history with his one-stroke victory at The Vines Resort and Country Club, becoming the youngest ever winner of a European Tour event at 18 years and 213 days, eclipsing the record of South African Dale Hayes at the 1971 Spanish Open.

The teenager birdied the 18th to finish on 17 under, one shot ahead of England's Ross McGowan, Japan's Hiroyuki Fujita and Chile's Felipe Aguilar.

In doing so, he also became only the second amateur to win on the European Tour, but soon made it clear he was aiming for even loftier golfing targets.

Asked what he wanted to become known as, the precocious Lee said: "The next Tiger Woods maybe.

"I can't compare to him because he's one of the greatest players in the world and he's the number one-ranked player in the world.

"All I want to do is just break what he's done. Obviously I can't win three US Amateurs in a row but I'll try to break his records on the PGA Tour.

"I always looked up to Tiger Woods when I was really young. He's still my idol."

Born in South Korea, Lee moved to New Zealand with his family at the age of eight, developing the golfing abilities which helped him to become the youngest winner of the US Amateur title last August.

It earned him a score of invitations to professional events in Asia and Australia, including the one which brought him to Perth, where he showed the poise of a veteran to come from behind with four birdies in the final six holes.

But while he showed nerves of steel to take the title, Lee appeared far more nervous when facing the media afterwards.

"My English is not 100 per cent and I get really nervous when I'm doing the media stuff. It doesn't mean I hate it, because I like it," said the youngster.

"It still feels like I'm in dreamland. Hopefully no-one wakes me up.

"I was dreaming about winning but my goal was to make the cut after two rounds and to try to get into the top 20 or top 10. I played extremely well the last few days and here I am.

"Winning a European Tour event, it's pretty amazing what I've done."

A bright future now beckons for Lee, who will be able to take up membership on the European Tour and join the Race to Dubai within 14 days of turning professional.

That is likely to happen after he appears at the US Masters in April, although he has a busy schedule between now and then.

"I'm planning on playing in the Moonah Classic next week and two events in New Zealand before going to the States and playing in the Arnold Palmer Invitational (Bay Hill) and the Georgia Cup (a 36-hole showdown between the US and British Amateur champions), the Masters and then turn pro," he added.


BOMBS AWAY FOR LEE

BOMBS AWAY FOR LEE

Trying to make a joke about having a bomb in his bag has taught amateur golf sensation Danny Lee to be more careful about what he says.

But the European Tour's youngest ever winner is still confident enough in his own ability and potential to state openly that his aim is to break Tiger Woods' records.

The airport incident came in Auckland last October as the 18-year-old New Zealander was leaving for the world amateur team championship.

Lee was taken away for questioning and presumably a lecture for what New Zealand Golf chief executive Bill MacGowan called an "inappropriate, silly, throwaway comment" before being allowed to travel.

He was then accused of not trying as he closed that event with a round of 84, but what a difference four months makes. At the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth this weekend Lee birdied four of the last six holes for an historic one-stroke victory.

So, having taken Woods' place last August as the youngest winner of the US Amateur title, he has now done something Woods failed to do - win a Tour event before he is even a professional.

And what Lee wants from the rest of his career is to keep on eclipsing the 14-time major champion.

Asked what he wanted to become known as, the Korean-born player replied: "The next Tiger Woods maybe.

"I can't compare to Tiger because he's the No 1 ranked player in the world. All I want to do is just break what he's done. I'll try to break his record on the PGA Tour."

Lee, up from 562nd to 159th in the world in one leap, will turn professional after The Masters in April.

His US Amateur victory earned him a place at Augusta and the tradition is that he will partner defending champion Trevor Immelman in the first two rounds.

Incredibly, he is just one of three teenagers in the field. Northern Ireland's Dubai Desert Classic winner Rory McIlroy, 19, qualified off the world rankings, while 17-year-old Japanese star Ryo Ishikawa received a special invitation.

Lee's Classic win has earned him two-year exemptions onto the European, Asian and Australasian circuits and although he was not allowed to accept the first prize of over Ј210,000, sponsorship offers will presumably make him quickly forget that.

They may not, however, be as big as the ones he says were put to him last autumn.

"After I won the US Amateur all the sponsors are telling me big money, big, big money, maybe just over 100 million (NZ) dollars," he claimed. That is Ј35million.

Instead he kept his promise to play in the world team championship, but that went horribly wrong from the moment he arrived at the airport and he said afterwards: "Sometimes I just think I made a stupid decision, I should have just turned pro and played in the PGA (Tour) events.

"Even if I had played bad it would've been worth it.

"I learnt a lot. Nobody knew what was going on, not even New Zealand Golf. I know I've done a couple of bad things. At the time I didn't know they were taking that (his comment about a bomb) serious."

They were and it is a safe bet he will not do anything like that again.

As a golfer, though, it is also a safe bet that in the years to come he will do what he did in Perth over and over again.

But out-stripping Woods? Do not put your house on that yet.


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DERKSEN STARS AS NORMAN SHOOTS 75

Robert-Jan Derksen of Holland fired the best round of his European Tour career, an eight-under-par 64, to take a one-stroke lead after the opening round of the Johnnie Walker Classic on Thursday.

The 35-year-old made eight birdies in his bogey-free round at The Vines Resort and Country Club to edge a shot ahead of Mardan Mamat of Singapore and Tony Carolan of Australia.

The English pair of Lee Westwood and John Bickerton and Ireland's Damien McGrane carded six-under 66s to create a three-way tie for fourth while Colin Montgomerie shot a 67 to finish the day tied for seventh with six other players including Ireland's Peter Lawrie, New Zealand amateur leader Danny Lee and American Anthony Kang, winner of last week's Maybank Malaysian Open.

World number 11 Anthony Kim was a further shot back on 68, while Colombia's Camilo Villegas eagled his final hole for a 72 and Greg Norman posted a three-over 75.

Derksen managed only one birdie on his first seven holes but the Dutchman reeled off four consecutive birdies from the eighth to 11th to move to five under.

He missed a three-foot birdie putt on the 14th but made up for that by holing a 25-footer at the next at the beginning of a run of three birdies in the final four holes which put him on top of the leaderboard.

Having missed the cut in Malaysia last week, Derksen was pleased with his strong opening round.

"It's a good start and it's always nice to have, it's as simple as that, but there's a lot of golf to be played," said the Dutchman, who has not won a tournament on the European Tour since the 2005 Madeira Island Open.

"It's a very difficult course. There are a lot of easy holes and I made three par-fives in two today, but if you're slightly off, you can make some big numbers.

"The wind is a factor so it's still a long way to go."

Mardan birdied three of his last four holes as he finished just a shot behind Derksen on seven under and later paid credit to his caddie, Drew Dubberlin.

"I called him this week because he has lived here before and knows this course better than I do," said the 41-year-old Singaporean.

"He knows where to put the ball, the pin positions and how to read the lines. There's less of a job for me on the golf course and I can just focus on thing the golf ball.

"I'm a little stubborn but I do listen to his advice."

Westwood put himself into contention with a strong finish to his round.

The world number 12 struggled initially but came back to birdie four of his last seven holes to put himself into contention.

"I started off hitting a couple of poor shots, a couple of pulls and got away with one but I corrected the fault," said the 35-year-old, who claimed that he was rolling his club a bit too much on the upswing early on.

"That's what I've been good at doing the last couple of years - correcting things pretty quickly and I started hitting good shots after that and I played well for the last 12 holes."

With regular caddie Jason Hempleman unavailable, Montgomerie is using Thomas Bjorn's caddie, Matt Harbour, in Perth this week and he was pleased with the result as he fired six birdies in his opening 67.

"My caddie, Matt, was super today. Nice lad and Thomas isn't here this week so I was able to 'borrow' Matt," the Scot enthused.

"My own caddie, Jason, is on paternity leave as his wife just had a baby and it's a shame this is so far away. If it had been in England, he'd probably have attended but Australia is a long way to come."

Collated first-round scores in the European Tour Johnnie Walker Classic, Vines Resort GC, Perth, Australia

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

64 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned)

65 Tony Carolan (Aus), Mardan Mamat (Sin)

66 Damien McGrane, John Bickerton, Lee Westwood

67 Anthony Kang (USA), Danny Lee (Nzl), Clint Rice (Aus), Colin Montgomerie, Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Peter Lawrie, Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn)

68 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Seung-yul Noh (Kor), Chris Gaunt (Aus), Benn Barham, Andrew Tschudin (Aus), Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Scott Hend (Aus), Alexander Noren (Swe), Adam Blyth (Aus), Scott Laycock (Aus), Richie Ramsay, Gareth Maybin, Phillip Price, Simon Khan, Taichiro Kiyota (Jpn), Anthony Kim (USA), David McKenzie (Aus), Ian Poulter, Hyung-sung Kim (Kor)

69 Michael Sim (Aus), Anton Haig (Rsa), Richie Gallichan (Aus), Tim Wood (Aus), Chih-bing Lam (Sin), Stuart Bouvier (Aus), Gary Lockerbie, Craig Scott (Aus), Richard Finch, Andre Stolz (Aus), Sam Little

70 David Smail (Nzl), Pelle Edberg (Swe), Stephen Leaney (Aus), Johan Edfors (Swe), Simon Wakefield, Anthony Wall, Niclas Fasth (Swe), Markus Brier (Aut), Marcus Fraser (Aus), Darren Beck (Aus), David Howell, Wayne Perske (Aus), Andrew Dodt (Aus), Terry Pilkadaris (Aus), Mark Brown (USA), Peter Senior (Aus), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Seve Benson, Marcus Both (Aus), Sang-moon Bae (Kor), Iain Steel (Mal), Ross McGowan

71 Bryan Saltus (USA), Robert Dinwiddie, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Magnus A Carlsson (Swe), Won Joon Lee (Aus), Robert Rock, Tristan Lambert (Aus), Scott Barr (Aus), Marc Warren, Artemio-hiromasa Murakami (Phi), Craig Parry (Aus), Michael Jonzon (Swe), Alastair Forsyth, Wade Ormsby (Aus), Miles Tunnicliff, Brad Kennedy (Aus), Ashley Hall (Aus), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), Cameron Percy (Aus), Paul Casey, Brett Rumford (Aus), Stephen Dartnell (Aus), Rick Kulacz (Aus), Mark Foster, Paul Sheehan (Aus)

72 Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Andrew Coltart, Anthony Summers (Aus), Marcel Siem (Ger), Ben Leong (Mal), Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Scott Drummond, Brad Lamb (Aus), Jason Knutzon (USA), Adam Crawford (Aus), Oliver Fisher, Kane Webber (USA), Alistair Presnell (Aus), Camilo Villegas (Col), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra)

73 Simon Griffiths, David Frost (Rsa), Peter Hedblom (Swe), Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Graeme Storm, Jason Scrivener (Aus), Matthew Millar (Aus), Pablo Martin (Spa), Matthew Griffin (Aus), Steve Webster, Nick Dougherty, Michael McGrath (Aus), Gary Murphy, Taco Remkes (Ned), James Kamte (Rsa), Gavin Flint (Aus), Peter O'Malley (Aus)

74 Chris Downes (Aus), Ryan Haller (Aus), Scott Strange (Aus), Jarrod Moseley (Aus), Tae hee Lee (Kor), Michael Long (Nzl), Phillip Archer, Ryan Hammond (Aus), Wen-chong Liang (Chn), Richard Green (Aus), Gregory Bourdy (Fra)

75 David Gleeson (Aus), Jamie Donaldson, Greg Norman (Aus), Heath Reed (Aus), Paul Broadhurst, Josh Geary (Nzl)

76 Adam Bland (Aus), Angelo Que (Phi), Steven Bowditch (Aus)

77 Aaron Townsend (Aus), Jason King (Aus), Ewan Porter (Aus), Anthony Brown (Aus), Rhys Davies, Chris Rodgers, Peter Fowler (Aus), Steve Jones (USA)

78 Shiv Kapur (Ind), Peter Wilson (Aus), Michael Moore (Aus)

80 Terry Price (Aus)

DQ: Mitchell Brown (Aus)


DERKSEN AND KANG LEAD THE WAY
Former Texas Tech Red Raiders receiver Michael Crabtree sidelined at combine with stress fracture in foot

WOODS' RETURN 'IS GREAT FOR GOLF'

Anthony Kim expressed delight after learning that world number one Tiger Woods will make his long-awaited return at next week's World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson, Arizona.

Woods has not played a competitive event since winning the US Open last June after undergoing reconstructive surgery on the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and rehabilitating a double stress fracture of the tibia in the same leg.

Kim, who is playing in Australia this week at the Johnnie Walker Classic, is very much looking forward to seeing Woods in action once again.

"It's great for golf. I'm sure ticket sales will go right up," said the world number 11 at The Vines Resort and Country Club.

"It's great. You always want to play against the best and he's proven that over and over for I don't know how many years.

"But it's going to be great having him back. He's a friend of mine, so I'll be glad to see him and I'm sure his golf game will be top notch. We'll see if I have the chance to play against him next week."

World number 23 Paul Casey echoed Kim's thoughts.

"It's good to see Tiger back. I think we need him. Certainly with the financial world as it is right now, it keeps the sponsors happy, which is a very important factor," the Englishman said.

"He wouldn't be back if he wasn't fit and well and that could be quite ominous because he'll be raring to go and I think that he's going to be stronger and fitter and he's going to be better than he was before the break - no pun intended.

"It looks like we'll see all of the top 64 turning up in Tucson which is amazing - I'm not sure if it's the first time ever.

"It means that there will be an incredibly strong field and as we know the Matchplay is a difficult one to predict so I've got to get my game in shape."


BABY BOY FOR WOODS
JONES READY FOR WOODS DUEL
Tomlin’s update: Big Ben ‘fine;’ Hines ‘great’

DERKSEN AND KANG LEAD THE WAY

Ireland's Damien McGrane made four birdies on his final seven holes to join American Anthony Kang at the top of the leaderboard after the second round of the Johnnie Walker Classic.

The 37-year-old from Meath followed his opening 66 with a four-under-par 68 to draw level on 10 under with Kang, who carded his second consecutive 67 at The Vines Resort and Country Club.

Spain's Ignacio Garrido, Japan's Hiroyuki Fujita and New Zealand amateur Danny Lee all carded 68s to finish the day tied for third place on nine under in the Ј1.25 million event which is sanctioned by the European, Asian and Australasian Tours.

First-round leader Robert Jan-Derksen was tied for the lead with Kang for much of the afternoon but a run of three consecutive bogeys saw him finish with a level-par 72 that dropped him into a tie for sixth with eight other players on eight under including world number 11 Anthony Kim (68) and John Bickerton (70).

Graeme Storm and South Africa's David Frost shot the day's best rounds of 64 to join Colin Montgomerie and Ian Poulter in an 13-way tie on seven under.

Lee Westwood recovered from a quadruple-bogey nine on the third to card a 73 that put him on five under along with Paul Casey, who shot a 68.

But world number nine Camilo Villegas, of Colombia, and Australian legend Greg Norman will not be around for the weekend after failing to make the cut of three under par. Villegas shot a 71 to finish on one under while Norman's 72 saw him finish on two over.

McGrane was handily placed at six under after the opening round and improved to eight under before suffering consecutive bogeys on the ninth and 10th.

But the Irishman reeled off three straight birdies from the 12th to 14th to move back into contention and holed his sixth birdie of the day at the final hole to grab a share of top spot with Kang.

"I played better off the tee today and hit more fairways, which was helpful," said McGrane, who recorded his maiden European Tour win at last year's Volvo China Open.

"I'm putting quite nicely again today. I made some mistakes in the middle of the round but I played solid overall and bounced back well from those mistakes at the ninth and 10th to shoot four under.

"After a bit of a shake in the middle it was nice to bounce back with three birdies in a row and I could have birdied a lot more holes."

Kang, the winner of last week's Maybank Malaysian Open, moved into contention for his second consecutive win with a five-under 67 earlier in the day.

The 36-year-old began the morning three strokes behind Derksen but enjoyed an excellent start, rolling in a 25-footer for birdie on his opening hole, the 10th, and holing three straight birdies from the 13th to 15th.

He made another on the 17th to go out in 31 and after making the turn, found a fairway bunker on the third but picked up his sixth birdie of the round by blasting to within two feet of the pin.

A bogey on the 17th was the only blemish of the round but it did little to wipe the smile of the Korean-American's face.

"The formula for shooting a good score in golf basically is driving it in the fairway and putting it on the greens and holing a lot of putts. I've been doing that the last three rounds in Malaysia and the first two rounds over here," said Kang.

"If that continues onwards, it's just a matter of whether the putts drop in or not but I'm just basically having the time of my life right now.

"I'm not making too many mistakes and I'm holing a lot of putts so it feels great to be on the golf course right now.

"I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't think about winning two in a row but we've got a pretty stellar field and world-class players over here. For me to do that is statistically against the odds and pretty improbably.

"However, this is a sports competition and that's why we play."

After failing to mount a challenge in Malaysia last week, Kang's namesake Kim is happy to be back in contention once again.

"It's been a good couple of days but I'm still making some careless mistakes," said the 23-year-old.

"I think I'm just starting to knock the rust off my game so I'm happy to have a shot going into the weekend and hopefully my game will keep improving.

"I have not even been playing at home so it's been just rust from not practising and not playing because I've had a couple of injuries to deal with. Now that I'm finally over that, I can start practising at full speed again."

Collated second round scores and totals in the European Tour Johnnie Walker Classic, Vines Resort GC, Perth, Australia

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

134 Anthony Kang (USA) 67 67, Damien McGrane 66 68

135 Danny Lee (Nzl) 67 68, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 67 68, Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn) 67 68

136 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 64 72, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 70 66, John Bickerton 66 70, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 70 66, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 65 71, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 68 68, Anthony Kim (USA) 68 68, Andre Stolz (Aus) 69 67, Adam Blyth (Aus) 68 68

137 Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 72 65, Chris Gaunt (Aus) 68 69, Colin Montgomerie 67 70, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 70 67, Peter Lawrie 67 70, Peter Senior (Aus) 70 67, David Frost (Rsa) 73 64, Seve Benson 70 67, Graeme Storm 73 64, Tony Carolan (Aus) 65 72, Alexander Noren (Swe) 68 69, Ian Poulter 68 69, Ross McGowan 70 67

138 Michael Sim (Aus) 69 69, David Howell 70 68, Gareth Maybin 68 70, Phillip Price 68 70, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 70 68, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 71 67, Gary Lockerbie 69 69, Taichiro Kiyota (Jpn) 68 70, Clint Rice (Aus) 67 71, Markus Brier (Aut) 70 68

139 Scott Laycock (Aus) 68 71, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 68 71, Nick Dougherty 73 66, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 73 66, Paul Casey 71 68, Richard Finch 69 70, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 70 69, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 71 68, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 71 68, Hyung-sung Kim (Kor) 68 71, Lee Westwood 66 73

140 Anthony Wall 70 70, Scott Hend (Aus) 68 72, Darren Beck (Aus) 70 70, Benn Barham 68 72, Sang-moon Bae (Kor) 70 70, Alistair Presnell (Aus) 72 68, Craig Parry (Aus) 71 69, James Kamte (Rsa) 73 67

141 Anton Haig (Rsa) 69 72, Richie Ramsay 68 73, David Smail (Nzl) 70 71, Robert Dinwiddie 71 70, Marcel Siem (Ger) 72 69, Andrew Coltart 72 69, Tim Wood (Aus) 69 72, Simon Khan 68 73, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 71 70, Won Joon Lee (Aus) 71 70, Brett Rumford (Aus) 71 70, David McKenzie (Aus) 68 73, Michael Long (Nzl) 74 67, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 70 71, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 73 68

Missed the cut:

142 Bryan Saltus (USA) 71 71, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 71 71, Seung-yul Noh (Kor) 68 74, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 70 72, Michael McGrath (Aus) 73 69, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 73 69, Jason Knutzon (USA) 72 70, Adam Crawford (Aus) 72 70, Johan Edfors (Swe) 70 72, Stuart Bouvier (Aus) 69 73, Robert Rock 71 71, Stephen Dartnell (Aus) 71 71, Sam Little 69 73

143 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 71 72, Richie Gallichan (Aus) 69 74, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 72 71, Andrew Tschudin (Aus) 68 75, Simon Wakefield 70 73, Brad Lamb (Aus) 72 71, Tristan Lambert (Aus) 71 72, Tae hee Lee (Kor) 74 69, Artemio-hiromasa Murakami (Phi) 71 72, Angelo Que (Phi) 76 67, Camilo Villegas (Col) 72 71, Miles Tunnicliff 71 72, Ashley Hall (Aus) 71 72

144 Scott Drummond 72 72, Wayne Perske (Aus) 70 74, Ben Leong (Mal) 72 72, Mark Brown (USA) 70 74, Cameron Percy (Aus) 71 73, Oliver Fisher 72 72, Jarrod Moseley (Aus) 74 70, Gary Murphy 73 71, Scott Barr (Aus) 71 73, Taco Remkes (Ned) 73 71, Iain Steel (Mal) 70 74, Richard Green (Aus) 74 70, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 74 70, Pablo Martin (Spa) 73 71, Mark Foster 71 73

145 Chih-bing Lam (Sin) 69 76, Jason Scrivener (Aus) 73 72, Adam Bland (Aus) 76 69, Craig Scott (Aus) 69 76, Jamie Donaldson 75 70, Phillip Archer 74 71, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 74 71, Ryan Hammond (Aus) 74 71, Paul Sheehan (Aus) 71 74, Matthew Griffin (Aus) 73 72

146 Aaron Townsend (Aus) 77 69, Scott Strange (Aus) 74 72, Anthony Summers (Aus) 72 74, Ryan Haller (Aus) 74 72, Greg Norman (Aus) 75 71, Kane Webber (USA) 72 74, Josh Geary (Nzl) 75 71, Rick Kulacz (Aus) 71 75, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 71 75, Peter Wilson (Aus) 78 68

147 Marcus Both (Aus) 70 77, David Gleeson (Aus) 75 72, Matthew Millar (Aus) 73 74, Alastair Forsyth 71 76, Anthony Brown (Aus) 77 70, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 72 75, Rhys Davies 77 70

148 Marc Warren 71 77, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 78 70, Terry Price (Aus) 80 68, Gavin Flint (Aus) 73 75, Simon Griffiths 73 75

149 Steven Bowditch (Aus) 76 73

150 Steve Webster 73 77, Peter Fowler (Aus) 77 73

151 Jason King (Aus) 77 74, Heath Reed (Aus) 75 76

152 Chris Rodgers 77 75

153 Chris Downes (Aus) 74 79, Steve Jones (USA) 77 76

156 Ewan Porter (Aus) 77 79, Paul Broadhurst 75 81

160 Michael Moore (Aus) 78 82


Redskins interested in retaining free agent Hall
KING KANG ENDS DROUGHT
KIM’S ROYAL APPOINTMENT

McCARRON OUT IN FRONT

Phil Mickelson failed to build on an impressive start at the Northern Trust Open to leave fellow American Scott McCarron three shots ahead of him after two rounds of the event at Riviera Country Club.

It's been an unimpressive start to the year for Mickelson, who has missed one cut and finished 42nd and 55th in his other two events, but the world's fifth-ranked player looked to be on his way to turning things around after an eight-under-par 63 gave him the lead after the first round.

Mickelson's momentum continued early in the second round when he sank a 28-footer on the first hole for an eagle that moved him to 10-under.

However, Mickelson immediately gave that shot back with a bogey at the par-four second hole. The rest of the round was also uneven as Mickelson had three more bogeys and a birdie to sign for a one-over 72.

At seven-under 135 through 36 holes, Mickelson is three shots behind leader McCarron, who also has struggled this year.

McCarron, who underwent elbow surgery in 2006 and missed the entire following season, shot a three-under 68, moving to 10-under 132 overall.

After missing the cut last week at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and not finishing better than 34th in his previous three events, McCarron finds himself two strokes ahead of three golfers as he seeks his first win since claiming the BellSouth Classic in 2001.

Steve Stricker (66), Tommy Armour III (67) both are two shots off the lead.

Joining Mickelson at seven-under are Englishman Luke Donald (69), Rory Sabbatini (67), Pat Perez (66), KJ Choi (69) and Geoff Ogilvy (67).

"Obviously, I've got to get things turned around," Mickelson said.

"This is the first time I'm in contention heading into the weekend and I'm excited about it."

Collated second round scores & totals in the USPGA Tour Northern Trust Open, Riviera CC, Pacific Palisades, California, United States of America

(USA unless stated, par 71):

132 Scott McCarron 64 68

134 Steve Stricker 68 66, Tommy Armour III 67 67

135 Phil Mickelson 63 72, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 68 67, Pat Perez 69 66, KJ Choi (Kor) 66 69, Luke Donald (Eng) 66 69, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 68 67

136 Dustin Johnson 66 70, Kevin Na 67 69, Bill Lunde 69 67, Andres Romero (Arg) 66 70

137 Kirk Triplett 67 70, John Merrick 66 71, Ben Curtis 68 69, Fred Couples 67 70, Bob Estes 72 65, Robert Allenby (Aus) 70 67, Jim Furyk 66 71, Rich Beem 68 69, Marc Turnesa 69 68, Briny Baird 67 70

138 Brian Davis (Eng) 69 69, Woody Austin 68 70, Matt Kuchar 70 68, John Mallinger 70 68, Kenny Perry 70 68, Hunter Mahan 69 69, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 70 68, Dean Wilson 66 72, Ernie Els (Rsa) 71 67, Rocco Mediate 70 68

139 Nick Watney 71 68, Soren Hansen (Den) 70 69, Kevin Sutherland 72 67, David Duval 70 69, Charles Howell III 72 67, Jeff Klauk 67 72, Bo Van Pelt 68 71, Jimmy Walker 69 70, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 71 68, Jason Gore 69 70, Jason Bohn 73 66, Brendon De Jonge 69 70, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 69 70, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 68 71, Mark Calcavecchia 70 69, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 68 71, Ryan Moore 68 71, D.J. Trahan 67 72

140 Jerry Kelly 72 68, Brad Adamonis 70 70, Charley Hoffman 68 72, Chris DiMarco 68 72, Jeff Quinney 69 71, Joe Ogilvie 70 70, Bubba Watson 69 71, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 72 68, J.B. Holmes 73 67, Chad Campbell 72 68, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 73 67, Ben Crane 72 68, Brandt Jobe 68 72, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 67 73, Tim Clark (Rsa) 68 72

141 Michael Letzig 70 71, Bart Bryant 74 67, Graeme McDowell (NIrl) 70 71, Charlie Wi (Kor) 70 71, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 71 70, Mike Weir (Can) 70 71, Cameron Beckman 70 71, Scott Verplank 71 70, Stephen Ames (Can) 71 70

Missed the cut:

142 Vaughn Taylor 70 72, Zach Johnson 73 69, Steve Flesch 73 69, Todd Hamilton 67 75, Steve Elkington (Aus) 68 74, Steve Marino 73 69, Steve Pate 71 71, George McNeill 71 71, Bill Haas 69 73, Johnson Wagner 70 72, Troy Matteson 71 71, Brandt Snedeker 67 75

143 Paul Azinger 67 76, John Senden (Aus) 71 72, Billy Mayfair 76 67, Peter Lonard (Aus) 70 73, Chez Reavie 69 74, Michael Allen 69 74, Jeff Maggert 71 72, J J Henry 74 69, Vijay Singh (Fij) 72 71, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 71 72, Nicholas Thompson 71 72

144 Vincent Johnson 70 74, Chris Stroud 71 73, Tom Pernice Jnr. 72 72, Cliff Kresge 72 72, Alex Cejka (Ger) 75 69, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl) 71 73, Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn) 73 71, Will MacKenzie 69 75, John Rollins 70 74, Justin Leonard 70 74, Tim Petrovic 75 69, Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 70 74, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 72 72

145 Ryan Palmer 74 71, Oliver Wilson (Eng) 69 76, Lucas Glover 73 72, Eric Axley 72 73, Ken Duke 73 72, Steve Lowery 71 74, Jonathan Byrd 70 75

146 Jin Park (Kor) 73 73, Ricky Barnes 73 73, Mark Brooks 73 73, Brian Gay 70 76, Matt Bettencourt 76 70, Brian Bateman 69 77

147 Nathan Green (Aus) 73 74, Kevin Chappell 75 72, James Nitties (Aus) 76 71, Parker McLachlin 75 72, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 71 76, Mark Wilson 72 75

148 Heath Slocum 72 76, Kevin Streelman 75 73

149 David Morland IV (Can) 75 74, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 70 79, David Berganio Jnr. 72 77, Bryce Molder 72 77, Harrison Frazar 73 76

150 Jeff Overton 75 75, Martin Laird (Sco) 72 78

151 Tim Herron 73 78, Jim Gormley 79 72, Corey Pavin 73 78

153 Tom Lehman 76 77

154 Brad Faxon 77 77


GOOSEN STORMS INTO LEAD
QB of the future? Buccaneers re-sign McCown
JOHNSON TAKES PEBBLE BEACH LEAD

WOODS COMEBACK CONFIRMED

World number one Tiger Woods will make his long-awaited comeback from injury in next week's World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson.

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem revealed on Thursday evening the 33-year-old had committed to play in the event in Arizona.

Woods has been out of competitive action since winning the US Open in June last year after having reconstructive surgery on the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee the following week.

On his own website Woods said: "I'm now ready to play again. "Elin and our new son Charlie are doing great. I've enjoyed my time at home with the family and appreciate everyone's support and kind wishes."

Woods' victory at the US Open last June was his 10th victory in his last 13 tournaments - and in the other three he was second twice and fifth in the other.

He has held on to the world number one spot throughout his lengthy lay-off, although Sergio Garcia has cut his lead to just over two points and could have gone top in the next two weeks if Woods had not returned.

Among those 10 victories was the Match Play and, assuming there are no withdrawals, he will begin his defence against Australian Brendan Jones, 64th in the world.

Woods described his victory at Torrey Pines as "probably the greatest tournament I've ever had."

He had to play more holes than he ever has for his 14 major victories - 91 in all - but he was referring, of course, to the fact that he not only needed knee reconstruction surgery, but also had a double stress fracture in his left leg.

Woods' caddie Steve Williams had said on New Zealand television earlier this week that the American was "probably 95 per cent of the way there".

He added: "He was waiting for the birth of his second child, which just came last week so he's ready to go. He just needs a little bit more walking. He hasn't been able to walk too well.

"He definitely wants to play a couple of tournaments before Augusta (The Masters in April) . He's just got a couple of little issues but when he tees it up that will be a sign to say 'I'm ready to go', because he won't play unless he's 100 per cent.

"He's had to modify his swing a little bit to accommodate his knee, but the guy always finds a way. I'm a little nervous myself to see how he's going to come back.

"Nine months out of the game after a major operation is a long time but he's a hell of a competitor and one of the best we've ever seen in this game, so I would suspect he'll carry right on.

"I know just over the last couple of years the tour has probably taken a toll a little bit on Tiger. He's a person that's different to everybody, he's unique and he's out there in his own league if you like, and I think that's taken a toll a little bit.

"So for him to get a break from it, mentally that will refresh him and that's a big thing. We already know he's the best mentally-tough player who's ever played the game so that in itself is a big factor."


JONES READY FOR WOODS DUEL
Big Ben led Super Bowl victory with broken ribs
BABY BOY FOR WOODS

JONES READY FOR WOODS DUEL

Australian golfer Brendan Jones flew from Sydney to Arizona on Friday to keep his appointment with Tiger Woods next Wednesday.

And it might not be only Woods who has to shake off some rust when the pair meet in the first round of the Accenture World Match Play Championship.

While the world number one has not played since undergoing knee reconstruction surgery straight after his amazing US Open victory last June, world number 64 Jones' last event was the Australian Open over two months ago.

It has not been an injury that kept him out of action, but a planned break from the game before the new Japan Tour season starts in April.

"I don't have a great deal on the agenda," said Jones just before Christmas.

But suddenly he finds that he does - Woods' return to action is one of the biggest stories in sport at the moment and their match next week will be followed shot-by-shot on television.

Jones has the chance to be a giant-killer in front of a worldwide audience, most of whom will never have seen him hit a golf ball, but he is simply relieved to be in the field.

The 33-year-old - one thing he does share with Woods - finished last year 53rd in the rankings and after dropping 11 spots took the last place in the Match Play on Monday by one-hundredth of a point from compatriot Richard Green.

The cancellation of the final round in the AT&T Classic at Pebble Beach also helped his cause because several players were robbed of the chance to overtake him.

"It's been touch-and-go and it's great to have made it," he said.

"I enjoyed the chance to play last year and even though I was beaten in the first round (he lost two and one to Adam Scott) it was a tremendous event and I am now looking forward to getting back.

"I am keen to play that's for sure and I don't mind who I have to play."

The former Australian amateur champion, eight times a winner in Japan and third with Green in November's World Cup, has been working hard on his game at Royal Canberra since discovering he was a definite starter.

Woods, who waited until Thursday before declaring "I'm now ready to play again", is the defending champion, but he has a bad record against Australians in the event.

Peter O'Malley caused a first-round shock in 2002 and Nick O'Hern knocked him out in 2005 and 2007.

It is no surprise to find Woods' fellow players welcoming the news he is returning because they know how important he is to the sport's well-being, especially at a time of global financial crisis.

Anthony Kim, competing this week at the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth, commented: "It's great for golf. I'm sure ticket sales will go right up.

"He's a friend of mine, so I'll be glad to see him and I'm sure his golf game will be top-notch. We'll see if I have the chance to play against him next week."

England's Paul Casey added: "I think we need him. It keeps the sponsors happy, which is a very important factor.

"He wouldn't be back if he wasn't fit and well and that could be quite ominous because he'll be raring to go and I think that he's going to be stronger and fitter and he's going to be better than he was before."

Former Masters champion Zach Johnson said: "We need him back. We want him back.

"From a competitive standpoint, as a player, I want to have the opportunity to play against the best. He knows his body, I'm assuming he's 100 per cent, so that's fantastic."


Patriots place franchise tag on QB Cassel
McILROY MAY FACE WOODS
WOODS COMEBACK CONFIRMED

RORY McILROY WINS RACE TO DUBAI AWARD

Rory McIlroy's spectacular climb into the world's top 20 has been recognised with the Northern Irishman being named the first winner of The Race to Dubai European Tour Golfer of the Month award.

The 19-year-old was the unanimous choice of the panel after grabbing a one-stroke victory at the Dubai Desert Classic, his first Tour success.

McIlroy is currently second behind Spain's Sergio Garcia on the money list and said: "It was a huge thrill to win my first European Tour title against such a high quality field and in the place where The Race to Dubai will be decided in 10 months' time.

"Obviously, I'd love to be back at the end of the season competing for the Dubai World Championship and the number one spot. The win has given me a lot of confidence and I'll be looking to use that to continue to improve for the rest of the year."


TIGER TAG DOESN’T FAZE McILROY
Fired coach Gruden ready for next opportunity

WOODS RETURN IS WELCOME

It won't be long now and thank goodness for that. Tiger Woods will soon be strutting his stuff again.

When Padraig Harrington was winning The Open and the US PGA, both in thrilling fashion, golf seemed to be doing fine in the absence of its greatest player.

But since the Ryder Cup in September the sport has been on the backburner, coming to the boil only occasionally - on the course most notably with 19-year-old Rory McIlroy and off it with Colin Montgomerie's surprise fast-track elevation to the Ryder Cup captaincy.

The US Tour has been running non-stop as usual since the first full week of January, but with all due respect to winners Geoff Ogilvy, Zach Johnson, Pat Perez, Kenny Perry, Nick Watney and Dustin Johnson it has all been rather low-key.

And with the world financial crisis what it is and both sponsors and potential sponsors looking at their balance sheets, low-key is no good.

Golf does not come cheap. The smallest winner's cheque in America so far this season was the Ј644,000 s handed to Perez at the Bob Hope Classic (no longer the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in a sign of the times) and more than Ј24million has already been pocketed by the players.

No wonder John Rollins was not to be found crying at missing out on victory a week ago. "I still made US dollars 574,000 (Ј402,000) - life isn't too bad," he said.

The European Tour is all very pleased with itself, of course, having launched its new "Race to Dubai" culminating in November with the world's richest event, where one putt could be worth almost Ј2.5million.

"Despite the turbulence affecting the world's financial markets the security of the Tour's strong partnership with (Dubai-based) Leisurecorp and Jumeriah Golf Estates has given us great confidence going forward," said chief executive George O'Grady.

"Dubai provides the underpinning and solidity for the Tour on a global stage."

But they still need the game to capture the public's imagination - and nobody does that better than Woods.

Last June was the last time he was seen in action and what a sight it was.

Despite a stress fracture in his left leg and a knee in such a bad state that he underwent anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction immediately afterwards Woods not only managed to play through the US Open, but managed to win it - after a 19-hole play-off with Rocco Mediate.

The world number one's 14th major title was his greatest yet and with Roger Federer overshadowed by Rafael Nadal in the past year Woods' decade-long dominance is unlike any other in the whole of sport.

With the length of his lay-off it is easy to forget just how much he towers over all his rivals.

In his last 13 tournaments Woods has won 10, been second twice and

was fifth in the other.

The aggregate of his winning margins in those 10 victories? Nine were stroke play and he won those by a cumulative 45 shots, while in last February's World Match Play in Arizona he won the final eight and seven against Stewart Cink.

That is what everybody has been missing - and what companies are still forking out millions to be associated with.

When American magazine "Golf Digest" came up with their annual list of golf's biggest earners for 2008 Woods' total - on and off the course - was put at just over Ј82million.

And this in a year when he played only seven tournaments and did not hit a shot after June 16.

Closest to the 33-year-old American were Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh with Ј30.8million and Ј30.1 million respectively.

Next, just to underline the fortunes available in business way beyond a playing career, were 79-year-old Arnold Palmer and 54-year-old Greg Norman with Ј21million and Ј18million.

Checking back over previous lists the magazine made Woods' career

total less than 115 million dollars short of a billion.

His contracts for this season - regardless of whether he returned to action and not forgetting that General Motors terminated a nine-year deal estimated at 50 million a year early - brought the landmark figure to his doorstep.

Corporate spending is inevitably being hit hard in the current climate, but Woods' agent Mark Steinberg said: "You'll just have to be more creative in how you structure deals.

"There still needs to be advertising, there still needs to be marketing. In an economy like this it's even more important to get your brand out there."

For sports fans, having Woods "out there" competing again is something that cannot come quickly enough.


BABY BOY FOR WOODS
Panthers owner Richardson has heart transplant
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McILROY MAY FACE WOODS

Europe's newest star Rory McIlroy could face Tiger Woods in the third round of next week's Accenture World Match Play in Arizona - if, that is, the world number one decides he is ready to return to action.

Woods has not played since last June, when he won his 14th major at the US Open and then immediately underwent knee reconstruction surgery.

But he is known to be practising hard and everyone in the sport is waiting to see a change on the next scheduled event section of his website. It currently reads "to be announced."

The 64-man Match Play starts on Wednesday week, but a decision from the defending champion is expected by the end of this week.

If there are no withdrawals Woods would open against Australian Brendan Jones and Dubai Desert Classic champion McIlroy against South African Louis Oosthuizen, who finished second in both Abu Dhabi and Qatar.

The only all-European clash would be between Swedes Robert Karlsson and Peter Hanson, while Open and US PGA champion Padraig Harrington's first opponent would be American Pat Perez.

Provisional draw (seeded positions in brackets):

(1) Tiger Woods v (64) Brendan Jones; (32) Tim Clark v (33) Retief Goosen; (16) Rory McIlroy v (49) Louis Oosthuizen; (17) Mike Weir v (48) Hunter Mahan; (8) Geoff Ogilvy v (57) Kevin Sutherland; (25) Trevor Immelman v (40) Shingo Katayama; (9) Camilo Villegas v (56) Rod Pampling; (24) Miguel Angel Jimenez v (41) Rory Sabbatini

(4) Vijay Singh v (61) Soren Kjeldsen; (29) Ben Curtis v (36) Luke Donald; (13) Ernie Els v (52) Soren Hansen; (20) Steve Stricker v (45) Dustin Johnson; (5) Phil Mickelson v (60) Angel Cabrera; (28) Zach Johnson v (37) Graeme McDowell; (12) Lee Westwood v (53) Prayad Marksaeng; (21) Stewart Cink v (44) Richard Sterne

(2) Sergio Garcia v (63) Charl Schwartzel; (31) Ian Poulter v (34) Jeev Milkha Singh; (15) Justin Rose v (50) Boo Weekley; (18) Adam Scott v (47) Sean O'Hair; (7) Robert Karlsson v (58) Peter Hanson; (26) Alvaro Quiros v (39) Stephen Ames; (10) Kenny Perry v (55) Matthew Goggin; (23) Paul Casey v (42) Aaron Baddeley

(3) Padraig Harrington v (62) Pat Perez; (30) Robert Allenby v (35) Ross Fisher; (14) Jim Furyk v (51) Anders Hansen; (19) Martin Kaymer v (46) Stuart Appleby; (6) Henrik Stenson v (59) Davis Love; (27) Justin Leonard v (38) Andres Romero; (11) Anthony Kim v (54) Lin Wen-tang; (22) KJ Choi v (43) Oliver Wilson


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TIGER TAG DOESN’T FAZE McILROY

SHARK NOT OUT TO MAKE UP THE NUMBERS

He may have turned 54 just eight days ago but the competitive fires still continue to burn strongly for Greg Norman.

Age and the business interests of the Great White Shark may have greatly curtailed his playing schedule over the last few years, but the winner of more than 80 international titles still has the ability to take on the world's best - as he proved so emphatically at Royal Birkdale last year.

Norman may ultimately not have won the Open Championship for a third time but his third place finish sent out a clear message that age is not a barrier to success in the sport.

"I would say that the events last year really made a lot of people sit up, especially the people over 50 years old," said the former world number one.

"I've probably got more recognition and accolades from people just saying thank you for doing something for the 50-year-olds.

"It really rejuvenates a lot of people.

"It also shows to the younger generation that if you're 22 or 23, never give up on your dreams. You can still give yourself opportunities if you stay strong in yourself and if you want to believe in yourself."

Norman is at the Vines Resort and Country Club in Perth this week to play in the Johnnie Walker Classic.

It is first tournament in Australia since 2006 but the veteran is by no means taking his homecoming lightly.

"I think the guys who have been around long enough know me well enough today that if I come and playgolf tournament, I'm not just going to come and play. I'm going to try to give it my best shot," he added.

"Sometimes you miss the cut and sometimes you do very well, but it's okay as long as you know you're giving it 100%, which I'll do this week."

While Norman is preparing to play at The Masters in April, he insists his focus this week is squarely on the Johnnie Walker Classic.

"I always stay focused in what's happening right now. If I start thinking about what's going to happen in five weeks from now or six weeks, then I'm not preparing myself," he added.

"You have to know that at the time you were doing the best you could under the circumstances to give yourself a chance of winning.

"When it's over and done with, you look back on it and you can reflect and say, 'Geez, I'm sad I didn't win that golf tournament', whether it's the British Open or another golf tournament.

"Last year's British Open was no different. There were opportunities there that I really needed to capitalise on and I didn't for whatever reason.

"It was a good performance and on a scale of one to 10, I give it 8.5. I came away from the golf course satisfied but at the same time disappointed that I didn't win the golf tournament."


Panthers owner Richardson has heart transplant
BABY BOY FOR WOODS

KING KANG ENDS DROUGHT

Anthony Kang of the United States revelled in the biggest win of his career on Sunday after rolling home a short birdie on the final hole to claim a one-stroke victory at the Maybank Malaysian Open.

The 36-year-old began the final round two shots behind overnight leader Adam Blyth of Australia but his closing five-under-par 67 at Saujana Golf and Country Club's Palm Course saw him emerge from a tightly-bunched field to win the US dollars 2million event, which is co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours.

"It feels wonderful," said the American, who finished with a 17-under-par 271 total.

"I've been playing in Malaysia since 1996 or 1997 so to finally win this event, I'm speechless. This feels like where I started to play golf so to win this tournament is just beyond beautiful."

With his late birdie, Kang avoided a possible five-way play-off with the English duo of David Horsey (64) and Miles Tunnicliff (68), Jyoti Randhawa of India (66) and Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng (68), who finished tied for second on 16 under.

Northern Ireland's Gareth Maybin had nine birdies but bogeyed his final hole for a six-under 66 as he finished alone in sixth on 15 under.

Anthony Kim of the United States, the highest-ranked player in the field, finished in a tie for 33rd on seven under after closing with a five-under-par 67.

Kang moved up the leaderboard early on with three birdies on the front nine and was two shots in front of the field on 17 under after further birdies on the 11th and 13th.

But the Asian Tour regular dropped a stroke on the 15th after putting his approach shot into the pond fronting the green. It was the only blemish on the final 54 holes for Kang, who was 12 strokes off the lead after shooting a two-over 74 in the opening round.

"The last three rounds is probably the best golf I've played so far. I think I made only one bogey which was on the 15th hole today," he said.

"After I hit it into the water there, I dropped it in the drop zone and just told myself to try to just finish it off with a bogey and regardless of what happened I told myself that I was playing great golf and had nothing to put my hand down about.

"Fortunately I hit a good shot in there, made a bogey and was still in the lead."

He parred the next two holes to arrive at the par-five 18th in a tie for the lead with Horsey, Randhawa and Prayad but gave himself a chance to secure the outright win by reaching the green in two.

His eagle putt from nearly 70 feet came up just short but after Prayad missed his birdie putt, the American was able to tap in to secure the victory.

"I've been driving the ball very well on 18 all week so I felt very comfortable on the tee box. I knew that in today's conditions, I could probably get there in two if I hit two super shots in.

"I hit my drive on the fairway a bit more right than I wanted to and it was a little farther than yesterday. My caddie said you've got to go for it, you can't do anything else. I then two-putted for birdie."

Horsey did not appear to be in contention after a bogey on the ninth left him eight strokes off the lead but the 23-year-old made a brilliant charge on the back nine with seven birdies for an eight-under 64 that gave him his best result so far on the European Tour.

"I am pleased. I would have certainly taken that score at the start of the day but then there is a little bit of disappointment not to win having gone so close," said the winner of last year's Challenge Tour.

"I am very pleased with how I have applied myself. I was disappointed with my performance in Dubai (a missed cut) but I came here with no expectations and things started to happen."

Tunnicliff finished strongly with three birdies on his last four holes for a round of 68.

"It was pretty close. I played well and couldn't have done much more about it myself," said the 40-year-old, whose last European Tour win came at the 2004 Diageo Championship at Gleneagles.

Collated final round scores & totals in the European Tour Maybank Malaysian Open, Saujana G & CC, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

271 Anthony Kang (USA) 74 66 64 67

272 Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 69 70 65 68, David Horsey 71 68 69 64, Miles Tunnicliff 71 70 63 68, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 71 69 66 66

273 Gareth Maybin 69 69 69 66

274 Alexander Noren (Swe) 63 71 69 71, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 65 71 67 71, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 70 71 68 65

275 Adam Blyth (Aus) 66 70 66 73

276 Seung-yul Noh (Kor) 62 73 71 70, Danny Chia (Mal) 66 65 74 71, James Kamte (Rsa) 70 72 68 66, Johan Edfors (Swe) 69 71 68 68

277 Nick Dougherty 66 70 72 69

278 Angelo Que (Phi) 73 70 69 66, Simon Dyson 71 66 73 68, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 68 75 69 66, Ross McGowan 70 70 71 67, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 74 69 73 62

279 Shiv Kapur (Ind) 70 69 66 74, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 73 68 70 68, Peter Lawrie 72 68 67 72, Simon Griffiths 70 66 71 72, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 68 74 70 67, Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 67 73 70 69, Phillip Archer 69 69 70 71, Mark Foster 69 71 71 68, Shingo Katayama (Jpn) 69 71 71 68

280 Scott Barr (Aus) 71 67 70 72, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 69 72 69 70, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 72 67 71 70

281 Anthony Kim (USA) 78 65 71 67, Darren Beck (Aus) 71 69 70 71, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 70 69 69 73, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 73 68 69 71

282 Kodai Ichihara (Jpn) 69 73 71 69, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 65 72 74 71, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 70 72 70 70

283 Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 68 73 68 74, Prom Meesawat (Tha) 70 69 73 71, Tony Carolan (Aus) 70 72 74 67, Richard Finch 70 71 71 71

284 Wei Chih Lu (Tha) 72 71 66 75, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 71 71 73 69, Chris Rodgers 74 69 73 68, Jason Knutzon (USA) 70 73 71 70

285 Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa) 70 71 70 74, Mitchell Brown (Aus) 68 72 74 71, Supramaniam Sivachandran (Mal) 72 70 71 72, Marcel Siem (Ger) 70 73 71 71

286 Marciano Pucay (Phi) 69 70 77 70, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 71 72 70 73

287 Wil Besseling (Ned) 74 67 73 73, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 75 67 69 76, Sam Little 74 69 74 70, David Frost (Rsa) 70 70 78 69

288 Shaaban Hussin (Mal) 71 72 75 70, Neven Basic (Aus) 75 68 76 69, David Bransdon (Aus) 72 68 74 74, Gavin Flint (Aus) 72 71 73 72, Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 69 74 78 67

289 Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 70 73 72 74, Oliver Fisher 69 70 74 76, Simon Khan 70 72 72 75

290 Anton Haig (Rsa) 71 70 72 77, Frankie Minoza (Phi) 72 70 72 76, Robert Rock 73 67 78 72

291 Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 69 74 75 73, Kyung-Tae Kim (Kor) 72 71 74 74

292 Scott Hend (Aus) 73 70 74 75, Ross Bain 68 75 72 77

293 Rhys Davies 67 76 77 73

295 David Gleeson (Aus) 72 71 74 78


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IGF LAUNCH OLYMPIC BID

The International Golf Federation have submitted a formal bid to include golf in the 2016 Olympic Games.

Golf is one of seven sports being considered for inclusion, along with baseball, karate, roller sports, rugby sevens, softball and squash.

"We are pleased with the formal bid document and now look forward to working with the programme commission on the preparation of the final report to the IOC Executive Board in advance of our presentation to the board in June," said Ty Votaw, executive director of the IGF Olympic Golf Committee.

"We worked diligently to solicit input from the world's leading players and golf organisations to address and finalise a number of key issues contained in the document, including the recommended format for competition."

The IGF is proposing 72-hole individual strokeplay for both men and women. In the event of a tie, a three-hole play-off would determine the medal winners.

The field would contain 60 players based on world rankings. The top 15 would be eligible to compete, regardless of the number of players from a given country.

Beyond the top 15, players would be eligible based on world ranking, with a maximum of two available players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top 15.

The IOC's final vote on whether to add no more than two sports will take place in October, when the host city - either Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro or Tokyo - will also be determined.


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WIN 72 FOR DAVIES

Laura Davies won her second Australian Women's Open after a dramatic final day at Metropolitan Golf Club in Melbourne on Sunday.

The English veteran, who last won the title in 2004 at Concorde Golf Club, closed her late challenge with a best-of-the-day, five-under-par 68 to edge out Spain's Tania Elosegui by a shot

But she might not have managed it without a spectacular monster putt for eagle at the 13th and a miscalculation on the Spanish player's part.

Elosegui, a third-year professional who has still to win on the Ladies' European Tour, thought that she needed a birdie to win when she stood on the 18th tee.

Had she known that a par would have been enough to do it when she found herself 20 feet shy of the flag she would surely have hit a lag putt close for an easy par and would not have rammed her first putt four feet past the hole and then missed the return to gift Davies her 72nd career title and the Aus$75,000 first prize.

Davies couldn't believe her luck.

"This has made the whole trip absolutely fantastic. I've enjoyed it but golf-wise it was a struggle up until the last putt, which actually missed. Luckily I tapped the other one in. At the time I thought I'd blown it and Tania would win, but I'm pretty happy now," she admitted.

Davies was 11 shots back going into the weekend after sloppy opening rounds of 74 and 76 but she made a tremendous charge up the leaderboard with a six-under 67 on Saturday.

"When I walked off the course on Friday I was very disappointed and I thought I was out of it. On a normal course you would say that was too far back, but on a course like this it wasn't too far. I'm really pleased.

"What makes this such a good win, is because it's such a good course," she added.

England's hottest young prospect Melissa Reid closed with an excellent 69 to finish just two shots off the pace in a tie for third with Koreans Chang-hee Lee (73) and He-young Choi (71).

Carrie Webb, Australia's leading female golfer who led the first round, finished in a two-way tie with last week's LET winner Katherine Hull, who, like Webb and Davies, plays most of her golf on the LPGA Tour.

Final collated scores:

285 Laura Davies (Eng) 74 76 67 68

286 Tania Elosegui (Spa) 69 72 75 70

287 Chang-hee Lee (Kor) 69 70 75 73, Melissa Reid (Eng) 76 72 70 69, He yong Choi (Kor) 72 73 71 71

290 Karrie Webb 66 75 75 74, Katherine Hull 76 74 70 70

291 Nikki Campbell 79 70 73 69, Marianne Skarpnord (Nor) 71 71 76 73, Hye youn Kim (Kor) 70 73 75 73, Lisa Hall (Eng) 74 73 74 70, Clare Queen (Sco) 70 75 72 74

292 Georgina Simpson (Eng) 73 68 77 74, Christel Boeljon (Ned) 74 71 72 75, Diana D'Alessio (USA) 72 76 69 75

293 Anna-Lise Caudal (Fra) 74 75 69 75, Alison Walshe (USA) 77 69 69 78, Sarah Oh (Kor) 74 75 73 71

294 Joanne Mills 74 69 76 75, Susie Mathews 74 71 74 75, Lynn Kenny (Sco) 72 72 75 75, Nikki Garrett 73 75 71 75, Becky Brewerton (Gbr) 75 73 76 70, Rebecca Hudson (Eng) 72 74 71 77, Gwladys Nocera (Fra) 79 73 71 71

295 Beth Allen (USA) 73 69 73 80, Tamie Durdin 78 74 70 73, Johanna Westerberg (Swe) 73 71 75 76, Aram Cho (USA) 75 77 72 71

296 Vicky Hermina Thomas 76 72 74 74, Dana Lacey 74 74 76 72, Stacy lee Bregman (Rsa) 74 77 72 73, Trish Johnson (USA) 75 74 76 71

297 Beatriz Recari (Spa) 70 77 72 78, Il-hee Lee (Kor) 76 71 75 75, Nina Reis (Swe) 76 76 74 71, Lee Justine 73 70 77 77, Kristie Smith 80 74 73 70

298 Emma Bennett (Aut) 72 71 73 82, Rebecca Flood 71 72 75 80, Diana Luna (Ita) 73 78 74 73

299 Melanie Holmes-Smith 75 78 72 74, Rebecca Coakley (Irl) 77 72 76 74, Florentyna Parker (Eng) 74 77 75 73, Danielle Bowers (Eng) 74 72 75 78, Bomi Suh (USA) 74 76 77 72

300 Martina Eberl (Ger) 72 73 74 81, Anna Knutsson (Swe) 74 76 74 76, Julia Boland 77 71 73 79

301 Samantha Head (Eng) 75 75 74 77

302 Kate Combes 76 73 75 78, Katharina Schallenberg (Ger) 74 73 76 79

303 Lydia Hall (Wal) 73 80 74 76, Bree Arthur (Aut) 74 78 75 76, Melodie Bourdy (Fra) 79 73 74 77, Eleanor Pilgrim (Wal) 77 77 75 74

304 Bing Lim (Mal) 75 74 77 78, Emma Zackrisson (Swe) 76 75 76 77, Titiya Plucksataporn (Tha) 81 73 78 72

305 Tamara Beckett 77 71 79 78

306 Polly Travica 78 76 73 79, Da som Lee (Kor) 78 75 78 75

307 Lisa Jean 76 78 75 78, Karen Lunn 76 77 76 78

308 Verity Knight 77 77 77 77, Lotta Maria Wahlin (Swe) 75 79 74 80

309 Elisabeth Esterl (Ger) 78 72 77 82

310 Carmen Alonso (Spa) 75 77 79 79

315 Rosemary Macdonald 80 74 81 80

317 Stephanie Na 80 74 80 83


DAVIES HOPES FOR CHANGE IN FORTUNES
PERRY WINS FBR OPEN

HANSEN QUALIFIES FOR WORLD MATCH PLAY

Denmark's Anders Hansen has leapt into the field for next week's Accenture World Match Play in Arizona after achieving his second victory of the season in South Africa.

Hansen went into the Vodacom Championship 65th on the world rankings and fully aware that only the top 64 claim places in the Match Play, but a closing 65 gave him a four-stroke win.

He could be up into the top 50 as a result, but joint runner-up Charl Schwartzel has to wait to discover if he is Tucson-bound as well. The new world rankings have been delayed 24 hours by the postponement of the final round of the AT&T Classic at Pebble Beach because of high winds.


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WIE SETS CLUBHOUSE TARGET

Michelle Wie's long-awaited debut as a member of the LPGA Tour could be one to remember after she set the clubhouse target for the rest of the field in her native Hawaii on Friday.

The 19-year-old, who has battled back from injury and a complete loss of form to earn a place on the circuit, added a two-under-par 70 to her opening 66 in the SBS Open at Turtle Bay.

Wie was playing in only the second group of the day, so had several hours to wait to see if she would take the lead into Saturday's third and final round.

At eight under par she was one in front of Angela Park and Angela Stanford, who still had four and 17 holes to play respectively.

It is over five years since Wie won a tournament of any description. That was the US Women's Amateur Public Links and her professional career, which has included a number of attempts to complete against the men, sees her down at 236th on the world rankings at present.

This week's field is without number one Lorena Ochoa, but the next four highest-ranked players - Yani Tseng, Paula Creamer, Suzann Pettersen and Ji-yai Shin - are all competing.


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JOHNSON TAKES PEBBLE BEACH LEAD

Dustin Johnson holds a four-shot advantage going into the final round at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am after a five-under-par 67 at Poppy Hills saw him climb to the top of the leaderboard.

Johnson was two strokes off the pace entering the third round but managed to overhaul Retief Goosen, who shot a 74 at Spyglass Hill to relinquish the lead.

Birdies on four of his last nine holes moved Johnson to 15-under, while Canadian Mike Weir signed for a 69 at Spyglass Hill to move into second on 11 under par.

Goosen, a double US Open champion, is third at 10-under as the South African looks for his first PGA Tour title in more than three years.

Currently in just his second full year on the PGA Tour, Johnson is looking for the second victory of his career in an event which is being played at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course and Poppy Hills Golf Club.

Heavy rain and strong winds are expected for the final round, which will be played at the Pebble Beach Golf Links.

Despite the ominous forecast, Johnson has no plans to alter his strategy.

"I'm not going to change my game plan at all," Johnson said.

"Obviously everyone is going to be playing in the same weather, so if it's difficult for me, it's difficult for everyone."

Johnson was thankful his touch around the greens made up for some wayward approach shots.

"I got off to kind of a little bit of a rough start. I hit a few bad shots, but my short game was very good, so I chipped it close and made the putts. So that kept me going a little bit," he said.

"I birdied all the par-fives. Out there you've just got to take advantage of the par-fives and usually you're going to play pretty well."

Goosen was naturally disappointed with his day's efforts.

"It was a terrible round of golf. I played poorly tee to green," he said.

"It was a very disappointing round, I've played myself a little bit out of the tournament now. I'm going to need a very low round to have a chance of catching the leader now. I wasn't very comfortable out there at all today, couldn't hit the ball well and struggled, really."

Weir, meanwhile, is hoping his wealth of experience will give him the edge.

"I have some good memories to draw on. I've played some good rounds at Pebble Beach, and as far as the weather goes, we'll see what we get tomorrow," Weir said.

"This week we've been lucky. Most days they've called for a lot of rain and we've got away with it. So who knows.

"If it's calm at Pebble Beach you can score. If it's windy it's as tough as anything. We'll see what we get."

Collated third round scores & totals in the USPGA Tour AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Pebble Beach GC, Poppy Hills GC, Spyglass Hill GC, Pebble Beach, California, United States of America

(USA unless stated, par 72):

Pebble Beach GC

208 Kevin Chappell 68 72 68

210 Charley Hoffman 66 70 74

211 Tim Herron 72 68 71, Tim Clark (Rsa) 71 71 69

212 Jim Furyk 71 70 71

213 Michael Letzig 69 73 71, Pat Perez 73 71 69, Robert Garrigus 65 71 77, Glen Day 73 70 70, Charles Howell III 72 70 71

214 Phil Mickelson 72 71 71, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 70 73 71

215 Matt Weibring 70 70 75

-------------The following players failed to make the cut-------------------------

216 Tom Scherrer 68 74 74, Kevin Streelman 70 75 71, Webb Simpson 71 74 71, Fred Couples 73 70 73, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 68 73 75, Ken Duke 71 72 73, Brandt Snedeker 71 71 74, Corey Pavin 74 70 72, Jason Gore 75 69 72, Ryan Moore 72 67 77

217 Brian Davis (Eng) 72 71 74, Will MacKenzie 70 69 78, Parker McLachlin 76 73 68, Steve Elkington (Aus) 67 75 75, Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 73 71 73

218 Jeff Maggert 69 72 77, Paul Stankowski 74 71 73, Bo Van Pelt 70 73 75

219 Joe Durant 73 73 73, Kirk Triplett 71 78 70, Scott Sterling 77 72 70, Ryan Palmer 74 73 72, Chris DiMarco 70 74 75, Tim Petrovic 72 72 75, Bryce Molder 76 68 75

220 Chris Riley 75 70 75, Brett Quigley 72 72 76, Marco Dawson 76 70 74

221 Brad Faxon 72 73 76, Kent Jones 72 74 75, Clint Jensen 76 69 76, Kevin Sutherland 74 72 75, Tommy Gainey 71 74 76

222 Gary Woodland 71 72 79

223 Garrett Willis 75 76 72, Steve Allan (Aus) 73 70 80, Nicholas Thompson 73 75 75

224 Patrick Sheehan 77 74 73, Notah Begay III 76 70 78, Skip Kendall 75 73 76

225 Scott McCarron 74 77 74

226 Kyle Thompson 78 71 77, Greg Kraft 74 72 80, Tommy Armour III 76 78 72

227 D.A. Points 73 79 75

228 Dicky Pride 77 77 74

229 Jay Delsing 79 75 75

Poppy Hills GC

201 Dustin Johnson 65 69 67

208 Bill Lunde 67 70 71, D.J. Trahan 67 73 68

209 Mark Brooks 68 69 72, Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 69 73 67

210 Charlie Wi (Kor) 68 69 73, Spencer Levin 71 70 69, Vaughn Taylor 66 75 69, Ted Purdy 68 72 70, Matt Kuchar 71 71 68, Jason Day (Aus) 67 75 68

211 Y. E Yang (Kor) 69 70 72, Michael Allen 67 71 73, Jeff Overton 69 70 72, Jeff Quinney 68 73 70, Davis Love III 69 72 70, Len Mattiace 69 72 70

212 Arjun Atwal (Ind) 68 73 71, Steve Lowery 70 69 73, John Mallinger 72 71 69

213 Charles Warren 74 69 70, Scott Gutschewski 71 72 70, David Mathis 71 75 67, Rich Beem 66 7572, Troy Matteson 73 71 69, Greg Owen (Eng) 68 73 72

214 Brendon De Jonge 69 74 71, Brad Adamonis 71 72 71, KJ Choi (Kor) 69 75 70, Jason Dufner 75 68 71, Chris Smith 70 75 69, David Duval 73 72 69

215 Ricky Barnes 69 75 71, Chris Kirk 73 73 69, Hunter Mahan 72 71 72, Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 72 73 70, Eric Axley 72 72 71, Bob Heintz 71 69 75

-------------The following players failed to make the cut-------------------------

216 Jonathan Kaye 69 73 74, Paul Goydos 68 77 71

217 Leif Olson 75 74 68, Joe Ogilvie 71 74 72, Lee Janzen 71 73 73

218 Kris Blanks 76 72 70, Steve Flesch 72 72 74, Wil Collins 74 74 70

219 David Toms 74 75 70

220 Casey Wittenberg 72 72 76, Tyler Aldridge 70 76 74

221 Craig Barlow 73 70 78, Brian Bateman 71 74 76

222 Michael Thompson 72 75 75, Bobby Clampett 75 76 71

223 Matthew Borchert 72 74 77, Johnson Wagner 73 76 74

224 Aaron Watkins 73 75 76, John Huston 70 76 78

225 Zack Miller 69 79 77, J.P. Hayes 72 76 77

247 Robert Floyd 80 80 87

Spyglass Hill GC

205 Mike Weir (Can) 67 69 69

206 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 68 64 74

207 Bob Estes 68 72 67, Mark Calcavecchia 67 69 71

208 Chris Stroud 69 69 70

209 Kenny Perry 71 70 68, Sean O'Hair 71 68 70

210 Kevin Stadler 71 71 68

211 Nick Watney 75 69 67, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 71 70 70, Derek Fathauer 71 71 69

212 Jeff Klauk 73 72 67, Aron Price (Aus) 68 69 75

213 Peter Tomasulo 71 70 72, Jay Williamson 70 75 68, Mark Wilson 70 73 70, Frank Lickliter II 72 71 70, James Oh (Kor) 73 72 68

214 J.B. Holmes 74 68 72, J J Henry 71 72 71, Marc Leishman (Aus) 72 73 69, Jimmy Walker 71 73 70, Rick Price 70 72 72, Matthew Jones (Aus) 71 71 72

215 Brian Vranesh 68 74 73, Dean Wilson 68 71 76, John Ellis 69 74 72, Todd Fischer 72 69 74, James Driscoll 73 70 72

-------------The following players failed to make the cut-------------------------

216 Omar Uresti 71 72 73, Jonathan Byrd 71 74 71

217 Billy Andrade 74 72 71, Joel Sjoholm (Swe) 70 76 71, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 71 72 74, Darron Stiles 73 72 72, Alex Cejka (Ger) 73 69 75

218 Kevin Na 71 77 70, Dudley Hart 71 72 75, Colt Knost 72 73 73, Todd Hamilton 71 71 76, Tom Lehman 71 74 73, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 74 73 71, Andrew Magee 74 70 74

219 Daniel Chopra (Swe) 75 71 73, Tag Ridings 72 73 74, Tom Pernice Jnr. 72 74 73, Rob Grube 72 72 75

220 Olin Browne 72 75 73, Matt Bettencourt 68 73 79

222 Vijay Singh (Fij) 72 75 75

223 Brent Geiberger 73 75 75, Paul McGinley (Irl) 72 77 74

224 Carlos Franco (Par) 75 79 70, Jason Bohn 75 73 76

225 Brendon Todd 74 73 78

226 Robert Gamez 76 74 76

227 Robert Damron 77 69 81

230 Marc Turnesa 77 75 78

232 Troy Kelly 75 79 78

237 Jason Schmuhl 76 80 81


QB of the future? Buccaneers re-sign McCown
GOOSEN STORMS INTO LEAD

NOH PROBLEM FOR YOUNGSTER

Korean teenager Noh Seung-yul enjoyed a stellar start to the Maybank Malaysian Open, carding a 10-under-par 62 to take a one-stroke lead after the opening round.

The 17-year-old fired an eagle and nine birdies against a lone bogey at Saujana Golf & Country Club's Palm Course to edge ahead of playing partner Alexander Noren of Sweden in the US$2million event, which is co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours.

Former Asian Tour Order of Merit winner Liang Wen-chong of China and France's Jean-Francois Lucquin were tied for third after shooting seven-under 65s while Nick Dougherty finished strongly to join Australia's Adam Blyth and local favourite Danny China in fifth, a further shot back.

Japanese ace Shingo Katayama and two-time Malaysian Open winner Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand are in contention on three under but world number 11 Anthony Kim has much work to do if he hopes to survive the cut after struggling to a six-over 78.

Noh, last year's Asian Tour Rookie of the Year, began his round on the back nine with a poor tee shot at the 10th but recovered to sink his first birdie of the day from 45 feet.

Playing partner Noren set the pace for much of the morning after opening with four consecutive birdies and going out in six under.

But Noh kept in touch with the Swede and overhauled him with an eagle at the par-five seventh and his ninth birdie of the day on the eighth.

The lone blemish on the Korean's round was a bogey on the par-three fifth but the youngster had much to smile about after his magnificent opening effort.

"I didn't make any mistakes today and I putted really well to post a good score," said Noh, who won the Midea China Classic and had three runner-up finishes on his debut season on the Asian Tour.

"I'm happy but you don't win a tournament on the first day.

"The eagle on seven was pretty special but with a 10 under today, every moment was a highlight."

Noren had nine birdies in his bogey-free 63 and Noh admitted the Swede's good play was a motivating factor for himself.

"He played well at the start of the round," said Noh, an admirer of KJ Choi and Australian ace Adam Scott.

"I wasn't thinking of beating him but I just tied to catch him during the round. He pushed me along."

Noren, who has yet to win on the European Tour, was impressed by the teenager.

"He is unbelievable," said the Swede. "Our first hole was the 10th and he hit his tee shot way right and I thought to myself he might be a little bit nervous.

"Next thing I know he knocks it on the green and makes the putt for birdie. Obviously he wasn't too nervous.

"He was just unbelievable. I seemed to be one ahead of him all day but then he birdied four, eagled seven and birdied eight to get one ahead of me."

Having fired a nine-over 81 at Saujana two years ago, Noren was much happier with his opening effort this time around.

"I played here two years ago and found it very tough so either I'm getting better or the course is getting easier," he quipped.

"I had bad memories of this place but I love it now."

Dougherty was one of the few players teeing off in the afternoon to make an impression on the top of the leaderboard after a strong finish to his round.

"It was good and I played really well," said the Englishman. "To finish birdie-par-birdie-eagle always helps as well.

"I hit two great shots into the last and nearly holed my second as well so it was a very pleasing finish.

"I played better than I was scoring on the front nine but it paid me back over the last few holes."

Kim will be looking for a marked improvement in his putting after a poor opening round.

"It was a very bad day at the office," said the American. "My ball striking was as good as it has been for the last couple of months but obviously I putted like I couldn't see, which was unfortunate.

"But we'll get them tomorrow. I haven't hit my driver that well in a long, long time and I am confident that I can go out there tomorrow and shoot quite a few under par if I can get a few putts to fall."

Collated first round scores in the European Tour Maybank Malaysian Open, Saujana G & CC, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

62 Seung-yul Noh (Kor)

63 Alexander Noren (Swe)

65 Wen-chong Liang (Chn), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra)

66 Nick Dougherty, Danny Chia (Mal), Adam Blyth (Aus)

67 Juvic Pagunsan (Phi), Airil Rizman (Mal), Rhys Davies

68 Mikael Lundberg (Swe), Mitchell Brown (Aus), Andrew Coltart, Klas Eriksson (Swe), Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Ross Bain

69 Gareth Maybin, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind), Chawalit Plaphol (Tha), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Johan Edfors (Swe), Oliver Fisher, Marciano Pucay (Phi), Sang-moon Bae (Kor), Kodai Ichihara (Jpn), Prayad Marksaeng (Tha), Phillip Archer, Mark Foster, Shingo Katayama (Jpn)

70 Bryan Saltus (USA), Stephen Leaney (Aus), Simon Griffiths, David Frost (Rsa), Prom Meesawat (Tha), Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa), Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa), Gaurav Ghei (Ind), Shiv Kapur (Ind), Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), Marcel Siem (Ger), Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Simon Khan, Jason Knutzon (USA), Tony Carolan (Aus), Marcus Both (Aus), Richard Finch, James Kamte (Rsa), Ross McGowan

71 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Shaaban Hussin (Mal), Unho Park (Aus), Peter Hedblom (Swe), Simon Dyson, Simon Wakefield, Wen Teh Lu (Tpe), Magnus A Carlsson (Swe), Scott Barr (Aus), Alastair Forsyth, Chapchai Nirat (Tha), Miles Tunnicliff, Joong Kyung Mo (Kor), Ter-Chang Wang (Tpe), Anton Haig (Rsa), Darren Beck (Aus), David Horsey, Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha), Jyoti Randhawa (Ind)

72 Wei Chih Lu (Tha), Frankie Minoza (Phi), Robert Dinwiddie, Sung Lee (Kor), Peter Lawrie, Kyung-Tae Kim (Kor), Alessandro Tadini (Ita), Digvijay Singh (Ind), Marcus Fraser (Aus), Eng seng Lim (Mal), Richard Bland, David Gleeson (Aus), Supramaniam Sivachandran (Mal), Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha), Paul Broadhurst, Keith Horne (Rsa), David Bransdon (Aus), Gavin Flint (Aus)

73 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Damien McGrane, Martin Erlandsson (Swe), Phillip Price, Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Terry Pilkadaris (Aus), Steven O'Hara, Kane Webber (USA), Robert Rock, Scott Hend (Aus), Nicholas Fung (Mal), Taco Remkes (Ned), Wade Ormsby (Aus), Angelo Que (Phi), Guido Van Der Valk (Ned)

74 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), David Howell, Ben Leong (Mal), Chris Rodgers, Chih-bing Lam (Sin), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Graeme Storm, Mardan Mamat (Sin), Seve Benson, Anthony Kang (USA), Wil Besseling (Ned), Periasamy Gunasagaran (Mal), Niclas Fasth (Swe), Ted Oh (Kor), Sam Little, Akhmal Tarmizee (Mal)

75 Jeppe Huldahl (Den), Neven Basic (Aus), Wen-Tang Lin (Tai), Pelle Edberg (Swe), Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn), John Bickerton, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Rashid Ismail (Mal), Michael Jonzon (Swe), Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Pablo Martin (Spa)

76 S Murthy (Mal), Andrew Dodt (Aus), Anis Helmi (Mal), Clay Devers (USA), Gary Lockerbie, Marc Warren, Artemio-hiromasa Murakami (Phi), Rick Kulacz (Aus), Iain Steel (Mal), Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind), Mark Brown (Nzl)

77 Gary Murphy, Antonio Lascuna (Phi), Francois Delamontagne (Fra), Dinesh Chand (Fij), R Nachimuthu (Mal)

78 Chien Tan hau (Mal), Taichiro Kiyota (Jpn), Anthony Kim (USA), Benn Barham, Somkiat Sri-sanga (Tha), Rory Hie (Ina)

79 Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), Richie Ramsay, Scott Strange (Aus)

80 Teck choo Ng (Mal)

81 P Paramaswaran (Mal)

82 Amandeep Johl (Ind)


Redskins interested in retaining free agent Hall
McILROY LEAPS OVER ROSE
RANKINGS RISE FOR McILROY

GOOSEN STORMS INTO LEAD

Retief Goosen shot a superb eight-under-par 64 to surge to the top of the leaderboard after two rounds of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, seizing a two-shot advantage over Dustin Johnson.

An eagle on the first hole provided the perfect start to the round by the South African, who moved to 12-under 132 for the tournament.

First-round co-leader Johnson is alone in second place following a three-under 69.

Starting on the back nine, Johnson also got going quickly with four birdies in his first six holes before a double-bogey at the 17th hole slowed him down.

Robert Garrigus, who shared the first-round lead with Johnson after an opening 66, carded a 71 and is tied with Charley Hoffman, Mike Weir and Mark Calcavecchia in third place on eight-under 136.

Seeking his first career win, Garrigus got off to a bumpy start with back-to-back bogeys on holes five and six but managed to battle back and get under par for his round.

Hoffman had a roller-coaster round that featured an eagle, a double-bogey, two bogeys and four birdies en route to a two-under 70.

Weir shot level par 36 on the front nine before picking up three birdies after the turn to sign for a round of 69.

Defending champion Steve Lowery started his round on the back nine and birdied four of his first five holes to climb to five-under for the tournament.

Last year, Lowery broke an eight-year victory drought and picked up his third PGA Tour title with a birdie on the first play-off hole to outlast Vijay Singh.

2002 US PGA champion Rich Beem birdied the first two holes to climb to eight under before bogeying five of his final 12 holes to finish at three-under through two rounds.

Singh is also in the field this week, making his second start of the season. He struggled Friday with four bogeys and a birdie to fall to three over par.

The winner of this event in 2004, Singh is making his return to the Tour after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in mid-January.

Jim Furyk and Phil Mickelson are at three-under at one-under respectively.

Furyk is coming off a 2008 season in which he led the tour in top-10 finishes with nine. However, he failed to record a victory for the first time since the 2004 season.

Mickelson has had success here, as the Pebble Beach Pro-Am is one of four events he has won three or more times. Mickelson, who won here by five strokes in 2007, has five top-three finishes in 13 appearances.

Three-time major champion and reigning PGA Player of the Year Padraig Harrington sits at three-over after the second round.

Collated second-round scores (USA unless stated, par 72):

Pebble Beach GC

132 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 68 64

136 Mark Calcavecchia 67 69, Mike Weir (Can) 67 69

137 Aron Price (Aus) 68 69

138 Chris Stroud 69 69

139 Sean O'Hair 71 68, Dean Wilson 68 71

140 Bob Estes 68 72

141 Peter Tomasulo 71 70, Kenny Perry 71 70, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 71 70, Todd Fischer 72 69, Matt Bettencourt 68 73

142 Brian Vranesh 68 74, Derek Fathauer 71 71, Kevin Stadler 71 71, J.B. Holmes 74 68, Todd Hamilton 71 71, Rick Price 70 72, Matthew Jones (Aus) 71 71, Alex Cejka (Ger) 73 69

143 Dudley Hart 71 72, J J Henry 71 72, Omar Uresti 71 72, John Ellis 69 74, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 71 72, James Driscoll 73 70, Frank Lickliter II 72 71, Mark Wilson 70 73

144 Nick Watney 75 69, Jimmy Walker 71 73, Rob Grube 72 72, Andrew Magee 74 70

145 Colt Knost 72 73, Tag Ridings 72 73, Darron Stiles 73 72, Tom Lehman 71 74, Jeff Klauk 73 72, Marc Leishman (Aus) 72 73, Jay Williamson 70 75, Jonathan Byrd 71 74, James Oh (Kor) 73 72

146 Billy Andrade 74 72, Joel Sjoholm (Swe) 70 76, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 75 71, Robert Damron 77 69, Tom Pernice Jnr. 72 74

147 Vijay Singh (Fij) 72 75, Brendon Todd 74 73, Olin Browne 72 75, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 74 73

148 Kevin Na 71 77, Brent Geiberger 73 75, Jason Bohn 75 73

149 Paul McGinley (Irl) 72 77

150 Robert Gamez 76 74

152 Marc Turnesa 77 75

154 Troy Kelly 75 79, Carlos Franco (Par) 75 79

156 Jason Schmuhl 76 80

Poppy Hills GC

136 Charley Hoffman 66 70, Robert Garrigus 65 71

139 Will MacKenzie 70 69, Ryan Moore 72 67

140 Tim Herron 72 68, Kevin Chappell 68 72, Matt Weibring 70 70

141 Jeff Maggert 69 72, Jim Furyk 71 70, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 68 73

142 Michael Letzig 69 73, Tom Scherrer 68 74, Brandt Snedeker 71 71, Tim Clark (Rsa) 71 71, Charles Howell III 72 70, Steve Elkington (Aus) 67 75

143 Brian Davis (Eng) 72 71, Gary Woodland 71 72, Steve Allan (Aus) 73 70, Fred Couples 73 70, Phil Mickelson 72 71, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 70 73, Bo Van Pelt 70 73, Ken Duke 71 72, Glen Day 73 70

144 Pat Perez 73 71, Chris DiMarco 70 74, Brett Quigley 72 72, Tim Petrovic 72 72, Bryce Molder 76 68, Corey Pavin 74 70, Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 73 71, Jason Gore 75 69

145 Brad Faxon 72 73, Chris Riley 75 70, Paul Stankowski 74 71, Clint Jensen 76 69, Kevin Streelman 70 75, Webb Simpson 71 74, Tommy Gainey 71 74

146 Kent Jones 72 74, Joe Durant 73 73, Marco Dawson 76 70, Notah Begay III 76 70, Greg Kraft 74 72, Kevin Sutherland 74 72

147 Ryan Palmer 74 73

148 Skip Kendall 75 73, Nicholas Thompson 73 75

149 Kirk Triplett 71 78, Kyle Thompson 78 71, Scott Sterling 77 72, Parker McLachlin 76 73

151 Patrick Sheehan 77 74, Scott McCarron 74 77, Garrett Willis 75 76

152 D.A. Points 73 79

154 Jay Delsing 79 75, Dicky Pride 77 77, Tommy Armour III 76 78

Spyglass Hill GC

134 Dustin Johnson 65 69

137 Charlie Wi (Kor) 68 69, Bill Lunde 67 70, Mark Brooks 68 69

138 Michael Allen 67 71

139 Y. E Yang (Kor) 69 70, Jeff Overton 69 70, Steve Lowery 70 69

140 Ted Purdy 68 72, Bob Heintz 71 69, D.J. Trahan 67 73

141 Spencer Levin 71 70, Vaughn Taylor 66 75, Davis Love III 69 72, Jeff Quinney 68 73, Greg Owen (Eng) 68 73, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 68 73, Len Mattiace 69 72, Rich Beem 66 75

142 Jonathan Kaye 69 73, Matt Kuchar 71 71, Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 69 73, Jason Day (Aus) 67 75

143 Brad Adamonis 71 72, Brendon De Jonge 69 74, Charles Warren 74 69, Jason Dufner 75 68, John Mallinger 72 71, Hunter Mahan 72 71, Craig Barlow 73 70, Scott Gutschewski 71 72

144 Ricky Barnes 69 75, KJ Choi (Kor) 69 75, Casey Wittenberg 72 72, Steve Flesch 72 72, Eric Axley 72 72, Lee Janzen 71 73, Troy Matteson 73 71

145 Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 72 73, Paul Goydos 68 77, Joe Ogilvie 71 74, Chris Smith 70 75, David Duval 73 72, Brian Bateman 71 74

146 Chris Kirk 73 73, John Huston 70 76, David Mathis 71 75, Matthew Borchert 72 74, Tyler Aldridge 70 76

147 Michael Thompson 72 75

148 Aaron Watkins 73 75, Kris Blanks 76 72, Zack Miller 69 79, J.P. Hayes 72 76, Wil Collins 74 74

149 Leif Olson 75 74, David Toms 74 75, Johnson Wagner 73 76

151 Bobby Clampett 75 76

160 Robert Floyd 80 80


Jets’ Favre on retirement: ‘It’s time to leave’
QB of the future? Buccaneers re-sign McCown
TRIO BOOK OPEN PLACE
CHANG-HEE MOVES TO THE TOP

CHANG-HEE MOVES TO THE TOP

South Korea's Lee Chang-Hee holds a two-stroke lead at the halfway point of the 2009 Australian Open at Melbourne's Metropolitan Golf Club.

The 20-year-old backed up her opening round 69 with a 70 today to displace defending champion Karrie Webb from the top of the leaderboard.

At five-under, Webb has a share of second place with England's Georgina Simpson, who hit a 68 - the best round of the day, and Tania Elosegui of Spain who fired a 72.

Katherine Hull finished at plus-four, the same as playing partner Laura Davies who was livid with herself for finishing with three successive bogeys for a 76.

Twelve-year-old Melbourne schoolgirl Oh Su-Hyun, the youngest-ever player to compete in an Australian Women's Open, failed to make the cut.

Much as she did on Thursday, Oh faded over the closing stages of her round to finish with an 81, plus-14 overall.

Collated second round scores & totals in the Ladies European Tour Women's Australian Open, Metropolitan Golf Club, Melbourne, Australia

(Par 73):

139 Chang-Hee Lee (Kor) 69 70

141 Georgina Simpson (Eng) 73 68, Karrie Webb (Aus) 66 75, Tania Elosegui (Spa) 69 72

142 Beth Allen (USA) 73 69, Marianne Skarpnord (Nor) 71 71

143 Emma Bennett (Aus) 72 71, Hye Youn Kim (Kor) 70 73, Justine Lee (Aus) 73 70, Joanne Mills (Aus) 74 69, Rebecca Flood (Aus) 71 72

144 Lynn Kenny (Sco) 72 72, Johanna Westerberg (Swe) 73 71

145 Susie Mathews (Aus) 74 71, Martina Eberl (Ger) 72 73, Christel Boeljon (Ned) 74 71, He Yong Choi (Kor) 72 73, Clare Queen (Sco) 70 75

146 Alison Walshe (USA) 77 69, Danielle Bowers (Eng) 74 72, Rebecca Hudson (Eng) 72 74

147 Beatriz Recari (Spa) 70 77, Katharina Schallenberg (Ger) 74 73, II-Hee Lee (Kor) 76 71, Lisa Hall (Eng) 74 73

148 Tamara Beckett (Aus) 77 71, Melissa Reid (Eng) 76 72, Vicky Thomas (Aus) 76 72, Nikki Garrett (Aus) 73 75, Julia Boland (Aus) 77 71, Diana D'Alessio (USA) 72 76, Becky Brewerton (Wal) 75 73, Dana Lacey (Aus) 74 74

149 Nikki Campbell (Aus) 79 70, Sarah Oh (Aus) 74 75, Bing Lim (Mal) 75 74, Kate Combes (Aus) 76 73, Trish Johnson (Eng) 75 74, Anne-Lise Caudal (Fra) 74 75, Rebecca Coakley (Irl) 77 72

150 Anna Knutsson (Swe) 74 76, Laura Davies (Eng) 74 76, Katherine Hull (Aus) 76 74, Elisabeth Esterl (Ger) 78 72, Bo Mi Suh (Kor) 74 76, Samantha Head (Eng) 75 75

151 Diana Luna (Ita) 73 78, Emma Zackrisson (Swe) 76 75, Stacy Lee Bregman (Rsa) 74 77, Florentyna Parker (Eng) 74 77

152 Tamie Durdin (Aus) 78 74, Nina Reis (Swe) 76 76, Melodie Bourdy (Fra) 79 73, Bree Arthur (Aus) 74 78, Gwladys Nocera (Fra) 79 73, Carmen Alonso (Spa) 75 77, Aram Cho (Kor) 75 77

153 Melanie Holmes-Smith (Aus) 75 78, Da Som Lee (Kor) 78 75, Karen Lunn (Aus) 76 77, Lydia Hall (Wal) 73 80

154 Lisa Jean (Aus) 76 78, Kristie Smith (Aus) 80 74, Titiya Plucksataporn (Tha) 81 73, Eleanor Pilgrim (Wal) 77 77, Rosemary MacDonald (Aus) 80 74, Verity Knight (Aus) 77 77, Lotta Wahlin (Swe) 75 79, Polly Travica (Aus) 78 76, Stephanie Na (Aus) 80 74

-------------------------The following players failed to make the cut----------------------------

155 Riko Higashio (Jpn) 80 75, Corinne Furnell (Aus) 81 74, Jin Joo Kim (Kor) 82 73, Lee-Anne Pace (Rsa) 83 72, Smriti Mehra (Ind) 75 80, Bree Turnbull (Aus) 80 75, Marjet van der Graaff (Ned) 79 76, Saki Suzuki (Jpn) 79 76, Jessica Ji (Kor) 80 75, Laurette Maritz (Rsa) 82 73, Mianne Bagger (Den) 77 78, Cecilie Lundgreen (Nor) 77 78

156 Jenni Kuosa (Fin) 79 77, Ji-Na Lim (Kor) 83 73, Julie Tvede (Den) 78 78, Ebony Heard (Aus) 79 77, Sarah King (Aus) 81 75, Jane Kim (Aus) 81 75, Da-Na Kang (Kor) 83 73, Honey Kamata (Jpn) 77 79, Sarah Kemp (Aus) 79 77, Carlie Bridge (Aus) 79 77, Bronwyn Mullins-Lane (Aus) 79 77, Youngmin Chi (Kor) 80 76, Nancy Harvey (Can) 78 78

157 Sunny Park (Aus) 79 78, Stefanie Michl (Aut) 78 79, Rachel Bailey (Aus) 75 82, Bettina Hauert (Ger) 80 77, Hiromi Kamata (Jpn) 79 78, Brandie Burton (USA) 79 78, Bobea Park (Kor) 81 76

158 Wendy Berger (Aus) 80 78, Kiran Matharu (Eng) 79 79, Frances Bondad (Aus) 81 77, Eva Steinberger (Aut) 80 78, Yuki Sakurai (Jpn) 82 76, Jane Suckling (Aus) 80 78, Tamara Hyett (Aus) 78 80, Cherie Byrnes (Aus) 80 78, Kirsty S Taylor (Eng) 84 74, Ellie Na (Kor) 81 77, Clare Choi (Aus) 81 77

159 Maria Verchenova (Rus) 77 82, Elizabeth Bennett (Eng) 76 83, Whitney Hillier (Aus) 77 82, Sophie Walker (Eng) 78 81, Viva Schlasberg (Swe) 77 82, Christine Hallstrom (Swe) 82 77

160 Heidi McCulkin (Aus) 80 80, Su-Hyun Oh (Kor) 79 81, Nicole Montgomery (Aus) 81 79

161 Jade Schaeffer (Fra) 80 81, Christina Beltran (Aus) 80 81, Nhung Thi Tang 82 79, Stacey Keating (Aus) 82 79, Karen Quinn (Aus) 80 81

162 Angela Tatt (Aus) 83 79, Samantha Whittle (Aus) 84 78

163 Torie O'Connor (Aus) 85 78, Stacey Tate (Nzl) 83 80, Elizabeth McKinnon (Nzl) 86 77, Matia Maffiuletti (Ita) 82 81

164 Emma Cabrera-Bello (Spa) 83 81, Angela Tunchon (Aus) 83 81, Ju Young Pak (Kor) 79 85

165 Henrietta Zuel (Eng) 85 80, Joanna Mantle (Aus) 86 79, Marousa Polias (Aus) 82 83

166 Jessica Noh (Kor) 83 83

167 Vikki Tutt (Aus) 86 81, Katy Jarochowicz (Aus) 86 81, Tilly Poulsen (Aus) 90 77, Carmen Hajjar (Aus) 83 84

172 Sarah Nicholson (Nzl) 90 82, Hannah Kim (Kor) 86 86

175 Jo Charlton (Aus) 81 94

177 Kirsty J Fisher (Eng) 90 87

DSQ: Ursula Wikstrom (Fin) 78, Felicity Johnson (Eng) 79


McILROY LEAPS OVER ROSE

KIM'S ROYAL APPOINTMENT

American Ryder Cup star Anthony Kim was taken aback in the pro-am for the Maybank Malaysian Open on Tuesday when he discovered one of his partners was the King of Malaysia.

The 23-year-old said of his day out with His Royal Highness Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin: "It was quite an honour. He was a really funny guy, and it was a blast to go out there and play a round of golf with him."

Kim, the world number 11, is making his second appearance of the season on the European Tour. But at the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai in November, he was disqualified for using a driver he had damaged on a sprinkler head.

"The Race to Dubai is a big motivation for me and is one of the reasons I am here," he said.

"I want to be a global player, and it is important for me to go to different countries and experience new venues."


Sources: Cassel accepts Pats’ franchise tender
HALL HOPING TO BRING MAGIC BACK
Ex-Falcons RB Anderson held on drug charges

WESTWOOD LAUNCHES ACADEMIES

Lee Westwood has launched a series of three-day golf academies around England for boys and girls aged seven to 16 years old.

The Ryder Cup star has helped put together a coaching programme with a competitive element, where winners at each of the nine centres will be able to spend a day with him at Lindrick, close to his Worksop home, on August 31.

In addition to receiving tuition there will be sessions covering nutrition, fitness, psychology, rules and etiquette.

"The game has given me so much and I want to pass on my passion for the game to as many youngsters as I can," said Westwood.

"The beauty of these academies is they will be able to cope with a full range of abilities to make sure everyone improves their golf."

Participating clubs are Addington Court in Surrey (July 21-23), Blue Mountain in Berkshire (July 22-24), Brampton Heath in Northamptonshire (July 20-22), Chesfield Downs in Hertfordshire (July 21-23), Elton Furze in Cambridgeshire (July 20-22), High Legh Park in Cheshire (July 22-24), Morley Hayes in Derbyshire (July 27-29), Rudding Park in Yorkshire (July 20-22) and The Bristol Club (July 27-29).

All the coaches involved will be qualified professionals and will have been on training days to prepare them for the academies.

There will be also be opportunities to gain scholarships to Mill Hill School in north London, which offers structured golf tuition as part of its sports curriculum.

Westwood himself did not take up golf until he was 13 and two years later he was Nottinghamshire junior champion.

Nick Faldo is the only English golfer to have won more European Tour events and Westwood is the country's leading earner on the circuit with more than Ј12million.

The 35-year-old picked up his sixth Ryder Cup cap last September and equalled Arnold Palmer's record of 12 unbeaten games.

More details about the Academy scheme can be found on the website www.leewestwoodgolfacademy.co.uk.


Big Ben led Super Bowl victory with broken ribs
Panthers owner Richardson has heart transplant
WESTWOOD: LAY OFF RORY

TRIO SECURE OPEN BERTHS

New Zealander Josh Geary and Australians Tim Wood and Michael Wright grabbed the three places in the Open on offer at the international qualifier in Melbourne on Tuesday.

The event at Kingston Heath went ahead despite the close promixity of the bushfires which are now feared to have killed more than 200 people.

Geary and Wood tied for first place with four-under-par totals of 140, while Wright's birdie on the penultimate green took him to three under and knocked out Peter Senior and Cameron Percy.

Wright is ranked a lowly 1,056th in the world and has made only one halfway cut in his last six starts, while Geary and Wood are ranked 625th and 839th respectively.

Craig Parry, who led the 1999 Open at Carnoustie with seven holes to play and missed the play-off there by just one shot, missed out by eight shots.

Wood, whose bizarre pre-shot routine has been likened to a wounded seagull said: "I feel like I am going to wake up and say 'Damn, that was a great dream - I qualified for The Open'."

For the Australian Open in December, the 27-year-old adopted a Jonny Wilkinson-type pose; he then dipped his toe to the ground and waved his arms like a conductor.

"You've just got to laugh about it," he said, after finishing 11th there.

"I've just got poor posture. I get into bad habits with my posture. I hate it, but it's working.

"I tried to hit the shots without doing the routine and in the first round I hit two shanks in the front nine. My caddie goes 'You've got to go back to the seagull'."


TRIO BOOK OPEN PLACE
Study: Late ex-NFL player had brain condition
Steelers, Harrison jump into contract talks

McILROY MOP-TOP HERE TO STAY

The US tour may be asking players to watch their overall appearance, but rising star Rory McIlroy has no intention of cutting his hair "until somebody tells me to".

The 19-year-old's curly locks were last trimmed in "July or August" and, given his rise up the rankings from 172nd at the end of August to 15th this week, he is superstitious now about a trip to the barbers.

"I'll lose all my power," McIlroy joked on Wednesday.

His first tournament in America will be the Accenture World Match Play in Arizona in two weeks' time.

Rick George, the PGA Tour's chief of operations, said earlier this month: "We just want the players to be neatly groomed and there are a lot of ways to interpret that.

"It's more of a guide than a policy. There are no parameters, per se."

The European Tour also asks players to "present a neat appearance in both clothing and personal grooming", but length of hair is not mentioned.

The only things specifically listed as unacceptable are jeans, shorts, trousers tucked into socks, shirts worn outside trousers and "collarless, sleeveless shirts of a transparent material/design".

McIlroy has been at home in Holywood near Belfast since his maiden professional victory at the Dubai Desert Classic on February 1, and because of the bad weather is itching to get on his travels again.

"I've not had much chance to hit balls, so I'm definitely looking forward to going back to the sun," he added.

He should see plenty of that in the coming weeks and months. He does not play in Europe until the Irish Open in mid-May.


TIGER TAG DOESN’T FAZE McILROY
Panthers owner Richardson has heart transplant
McILROY ADDS NAME TO HISTORY BOOKS

SEVE 'ON THE RIGHT TRACK'

Seve Ballesteros' recovery from a brain tumour is "on the right track" following a second round of chemotherapy.

The five-time major winner, writing on his personal website, revealed he had "tolerated" the latest round of treatment and is now awaiting the results of medical tests to determine when he should return to hospital for a check-up.

"Despite a slow recovery I am on the right track and my spirit and determination are still unshakeable," the 51-year-old added.

"I wish the weather improves, so I can leave the house and go back to a normal life, which in the end is what I really want."

Ballesteros underwent four operations to remove the tumour following his admission to hospital in October after fainting at Madrid airport.

He returned to his home in Bilbao after being released from Madrid's La Paz hospital on December 9.


McILROY ADDS NAME TO HISTORY BOOKS
Panthers owner Richardson has heart transplant
CASEY BACKS MONTY CAPTAINCY

DAVIES HOPES FOR CHANGE IN FORTUNES

Laura Davies is delighted by the prospect of being awarded life membership of the Australian Tour for her support for the game in Australia - although she has had little else to smile about Down Under in recent weeks.

The 45-year-old has finished back in the pack in the New South Wales Open, the New Zealand Open and last week's Australian Ladies Masters, and is desperate to rise to the occasion in the Women's Australian Open at Metropolitan Golf Club in Melbourne this week.

"I came down here to try and win four tournaments, but so far I've won none out of three and (I'm) struggling, to be honest," said Davies.

"I haven't really had a crack at any of them.

"This is my last chance and I've got to step up to the plate this week or else I'll consider it a disappointing trip."

Davies, a three-time winner in 2008 in Austria, Morocco and at the New South Wales Open believes her form towards the end of last season was as good as ever.

But coming off the month's break leading into Christmas and the New Year her touch has proved difficult to recapture.

"It's just not there at the moment - I'm not holing putts," Davies said.

"Last week I was finished before I started - the seven-over on the first day left me completely out of it.

"The ball striking is nearly there ... but since the start of the year every single round seems to have been in a howling gale and it's been hard to get your tempo."

Davies will welcome the forecast of southerly breezes and unseasonably cool conditions in Melbourne this week.

The four-time major winner and holder of 70 career titles worldwide practised at Metropolitan Golf Club today but not on the course.

Wednesday's pro-am will provide her only first-hand look at the highly-acclaimed par-73 layout that's hosting a leading women's tour event for the first time.


BABY BOY FOR WOODS
Ex-Falcons RB Anderson held on drug charges
McILROY ALREADY EYEING CUP PLACE
Panthers owner Richardson has heart transplant

HULL OF A WIN FOR KATHERINE

Rising Australian star Katherine Hull claimed a five-stroke victory at the ANZ Ladies Masters at Royal Pines in Australia on Sunday.

Hull, who began the final round with a three-stroke lead over compatriot Tamie Durdin, shot a 68 to record a winning total of 16-under-par 272.

The 26-year-old had earlier fired rounds of 69, 67 and 68 to become the third Australian to win the tournament.

"If anyone would have said to me that I would shoot four rounds in the 60s I would have been absolutely ecstatic," said Hull.

"I dreamt about this as a kid. It hasn't quite sunk in yet. There are so many great names on the trophy, and you walk past the framed pictures of the winners and you wish you had your picture up there.

"Now I'm going to be up there - so I'm just 'stoked'. I couldn't have written the story any better this week."

Durdin, who shot a final-round 70, had to settle for a share of second place with So Yeon Ryu - the promising young Korean closing with a 66.

"For me it was a win. I did not crumble. I was disappointed to make bogey up the last," said Durdin.

"Considering how she played, I could not really ask for much more."

Last year's European number one Gwladys Nocera (67) finished in a tie for fourth with Australian Sarah Kemp (68), American Mollie Fankhauser (70) and world number two Yani Tseng (66).


STENSON EYEING HOME WIN
PAST WINNERS COME GOOD
QB of the future? Buccaneers re-sign McCown

BABY BOY FOR WOODS

Tiger Woods and his wife Elin have announced the birth of their second child, a boy named Charlie Axel.

The boy was born on Sunday and is a brother for 19-month-old Sam Alexis.

"Both Charlie and Elin are doing great and we want to thank everyone for their sincere best wishes and kind thoughts," said a "thrilled" Woods on his website.

"Sam is very excited to be a big sister and we feel truly blessed to have such a wonderful family. I also want to thank our doctors, nurses and the hospital staff for their personal and professional care.

"We look forward to introducing Charlie to you at the appropriate time."

The next big news awaited from Woods, of course, is when he will return to golf. He has been out of action since undergoing reconstructive knee surgery following his amazing 14th major victory at the US Open last June.

He has been practising for several weeks now and said last week it was going "full bore".

The Accenture World Match Play in Tucson is in three weeks and Woods is the defending champion, but with the possibility of having to play two rounds a day he may decide to wait until the US Tour comes to Florida, the state where he lives, next month.

"I have no restrictions - it's just a matter of getting my golf endurance up. I don't have my golf stamina back yet," he said on his website.

"I am excited about returning to competition. Early on I didn't miss golf because I enjoyed staying home with Elin and Sam and I knew I wasn't physically able to play.

"The truth is, I would have embarrassed myself. Now I'm getting my feel and practice back. It's just a matter of playing more on the course.

"I'm working hard to get myself back into tournament shape and will return as soon as I'm ready."

If he waits another month he could find he is no longer the world number one. With his points average going down because of his long injury lay-off Sergio Garcia has moved to number two and closed the gap to less than three points. Woods's lead was over 11 points last June.


HARRINGTON CHASES MAJOR MILESTONE
Panthers owner Richardson has heart transplant

McILROY LEAPS OVER ROSE

Things are going so well for Rory McIlroy at the moment that he even moves up in the world when he is not playing.

After climbing into the top 20 for the first time by winning the Dubai Desert Classic eight days ago, the 19-year-old Northern Irishman has this week moved up a further spot to 15th because of the rolling two-year points system used.

McIlroy is now ahead of Justin Rose and has only five other Europeans ahead of him - Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Henrik Stenson, Robert Karlsson and Lee Westwood.

The Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines was won by American Nick Watney. He began last week 184th on the rankings and leaps to 76th.

Latest leading positions:

1 Tiger Woods 10.18
2 Sergio Garcia 7.83
3 Padraig Harrington 6.49
4 Vijay Singh 6.39
5 Phil Mickelson 6.37
6 Henrik Stenson 5.17
7 Robert Karlsson 5.03
8 Geoff Ogilvy 5.00
9 Camilo Villegas 4.85
10 Kenny Perry 4.75
11 Anthony Kim 4.63
12 Lee Westwood 4.45
13 Ernie Els 4.21
14 Jim Furyk 3.99
15 Rory McIlroy 3.83
16 Justin Rose 3.82
17 Adam Scott 3.77
18 Steve Stricker 3.60
19 Martin Kaymer 3.90
20 KJ Choi 3.49.

Other leading Europeans:

22 Paul Casey
23 Miguel Angel Jimenez
25 Alvaro Quiros
31 Ian Poulter
34 Ross Fisher
35 Luke Donald
36 Graeme McDowell
43 Oliver Wilson
48 Soren Hansen
54 Peter Hanson
56 Soren Kjeldsen
65 Anders Hansen
69 Carl Pettersson
73 Darren Clarke
75 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano
79 Francesco Molinari
81 Anthony Wall
84 Fredrik Jacobson
90 Nick Dougherty
93 Gareth Maybin
95 Alexander Noren
98 Peter Hedblom.


RANKINGS RISE FOR McILROY
McILROY ADDS NAME TO HISTORY BOOKS
Big Ben led Super Bowl victory with broken ribs
Study: Late ex-NFL player had brain condition

HARRINGTON HAS FURTHER EYE OP

Padraig Harrington, who returns to action at the Buick Invitational in San Diego on Thursday, has had two non-malignant melanomas removed from around his right eye.

"I had them looked at just before Christmas and had them cut out 10 days ago," said the Open and USPGA champion on the eve of the event.

Harrington, who had similar surgery in 2007, is in America for the next four weeks, but may then skip the CA World Championship at Doral in Miami on March 12-15.

That would enable him to fully recharge his batteries before the final countdown to The US Masters, where he will try to become only the third player in golf history to win three majors in a row.

"I'm unlikely to play Doral," he added. "I'm not fully committed at the moment, but it looks like I'll take a three-week break there and go home and work on things.

"Usually I peak in my third week, so I look to put the majors the third week. I'd love to play all the best tournaments but you've got to schedule these things for what works best to help you peak when you need to."


Tomlin’s update: Big Ben ‘fine;’ Hines ‘great’
POULTER TARGETS MAJOR PRIZE
HARRINGTON CHASES MAJOR MILESTONE

HALL HOPING TO BRING MAGIC BACK

England's Lisa Hall is hoping for more magic for her defence of the ANZ Masters - opening event of the Ladies European Tour season - at Royal Pines in Australia on Thursday.

But the 41-year-old from Stoke-on-Trent has low expectations, not having played a tournament since mid-December.

"This week a year ago was magical almost, how it ended up," said Hall.

"But last year we played the (Australian) Open the week before - and this year I haven't played since Dubai, so I've got no idea."

Taiwan's Yani Tseng and South Korean Jiyai Shin, second and fifth in the world, are the two top-ranked players in the field - while Karrie Webb is going for her seventh victory in the event.


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Bruce Smith among 6 inducted into Pro HOF
STENSON EYEING HOME WIN

HARRINGTON CHASES MAJOR MILESTONE

Padraig Harrington starts a run of four American tournaments in a row on Thursday with the calm disposition that only comes from knowing your last three tour titles were all majors.

Bringing his game to a peak at the Masters in April, when he will try to become just the third player in history to win three different majors in a row, is what it is all about.

To emulate Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods, who at Augusta in 2001 went on to complete the 'Tiger Slam', would be a dream come true for Harrington.

But the reality of the moment is that, in the continued injury absence of Woods, he is inevitably one of the favourites for the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines.

The San Diego course, of course, is where Woods, effectively on one leg, achieved his unforgettable 14th major at last June's US Open.

It is also where he won the last four Buicks, six in all - plus six world junior titles.

Harrington finished 36th last summer and has never previously played this tournament, but his two Opens and especially his Open and US PGA double mean his every move is now followed.

On his first appearance of the year he finished joint fifth in Abu Dhabi three weeks ago. The result was fine, but he felt he had left plenty of room for improvement.

"There's work to be done - a lot of work to be done," said the world number three.

"The score (17 under par) flatters me to be honest.

"There were plenty of mistakes, but you obviously get a good idea how you stand after your winter break and I'm happy with what I saw.

"I'm always anxious before every tournament and I had no idea what my game would be like coming out.

"With two more weeks of practice hopefully I'll be a little bit more comfortable getting into the flow of things."

Harrington kicks off on the easier North Course in the opening round, partnering world number 11 Camilo Villegas and American Marc Turnesa, who considering he is ranked 159th ought to wonder what he has done to deserve such a group.

Phil Mickelson goes straight in at the deep end on the South Course, as does Luke Donald, whose mind is sure to go back to suffering the wrist injury in the US Open which put him out until December.

"I was on the 15th tee on the Sunday and I just felt a pop," he recalls.

"On the positive side I felt like my swing was slipping into some places that I didn't like in 2008 and the injury gave me time to reflect upon what I needed.

"When I was able to start hitting balls (in November) I was able to start building my game up from the ground level, starting with putting and then short chips and working through the bag."

Five years ago Donald lost a play-off to John Daly at the event. That was Daly's last win - he is now 749th in the world and serving a six-month US Tour ban.


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Panthers owner Richardson has heart transplant
POULTER TARGETS MAJOR PRIZE
WESTWOOD: LAY OFF RORY

HARRINGTON FAILS TO MAKE IMPACT

Reigning British Open and PGA champion Padraig Harrington bogeyed two of his first four holes and never got on track after the second round of the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines Golf Course.

Harrington, who is playing in his first tournament of the season after having two non-malignant melanomas removed from near his right eye, carded a 74 to fall 12 shots off the lead held by Camillo Villegas.

Englishman Luke Donald, though, heads a cluster of five players tied for sixth at 139.

Villegas shot a two-under-par 70 to stay atop the leaderboard , the Colombian holding a one-shot lead over the hard-charging John Rollins, whose brilliant eight under 64 was marred by a bogey at the final hole.

A winner of two events last year, including the Tour Championship, Villegas moved to 11-under 133. He shot a blistering nine-under-par 63 in Thursday's first round.

Villegas had extended the lead to six strokes midway through yesterday's round, but Rollins roared into contention with a sensational final nine holes.

Rollins, who started his round on the 10th hole, made up six shots in an eight-hole span on the front side, including a birdie-eagle-birdie spree from numbers four to six.

Bidding for his first title since the 2006 BC Open, Rollins pulled into a tie with Villegas after a birdie at the par-three eighth.

With a chance to grab the outright lead at the par-five ninth, Rollins drove into the rough and hit his third shot into a greenside bunker, forcing him to settle for a bogey and sole possession of second place.

Charley Hoffman also made a late run with birdies on three of the final five holes en route to a six-under 66. He is four shots back and alone in third place at 137.

Paul Goydos (66) and Nick Watney (69) are tied for fourth place at six-under 138. England's Luke Donald (69) heads a cluster of five players at 139.

Aaron Baddeley and Davis Love III, who started the day two shots off the pace, both struggled and fell back in the pack. Baddeley had five bogeys and a double-bogey to fall nine shots off the lead, while Love (77) had six bogeys to drop 10 behind.

Phil Mickelson, who has won this event three times, had a roller-coaster round with four birdies and four bogeys in his even-par 72 to leave him at two-under for the tournament.

Other Europeans include England's Greg Owen who is tied for 50th along with Harrington and Jesper Parnevik of Sweden.

Collated second-round scores (USA unless stated, par 72):

South Course:

137 Charley Hoffman 71 66

138 Paul Goydos 72 66

139 Mathew Goggin (Aus) 69 70, Luke Donald (Eng) 70 69, Bubba Watson 71 68, Jason Gore 70 69

140 Jason Dufner 70 70

141 George McNeill 71 70, Scott Sterling 69 72

142 Phil Mickelson 70 72, Nathan Green (Aus) 70 72, Bill Haas 72 70, Marc Leishman (Aus) 74 68, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 70 72, Ben Curtis 76 66

143 J.B. Holmes 73 70, Tom Pernice Jnr. 75 68, Charles Howell III 72 71

144 Hunter Mahan 74 70, Dean Wilson 71 73, Fred Couples 74 70

145 Dustin Johnson 74 71, Woody Austin 74 71, Ted Purdy 74 71, Kevin Sutherland 77 68, Greg Owen (Eng) 70 75, Parker McLachlin 74 71, Alex Cejka (Ger) 73 72

146 Pat Perez 73 73, Scott McCarron 74 72, John Senden (Aus) 76 70, Gary Woodland 76 70, Lee Janzen 74 72, David Berganio Jnr. 76 70, Matt Bettencourt 74 72, James Nitties (Aus) 79 67, Y. E Yang (Kor) 77 69, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 77 69, Johnson Wagner 76 70, Tommy Gainey 77 69

-------------------- The following players failed to make the cut ----------------

147 Charlie Wi (Kor) 75 72, Corey Pavin 78 69

148 Patrick Sheehan 74 74, Casey Wittenberg 77 71, Todd Hamilton 74 74, Kevin Streelman 74 74, Leif Olson 75 73, Brandt Jobe 78 70, Carlos Franco (Par) 78 70, Bryce Molder 79 69, Troy Matteson 74 74

149 Steve Marino 78 71, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 77 72, Matt Weibring 77 72

150 Scott Gutschewski 78 72, Jimmy Walker 76 74

151 Brendon De Jonge 74 77, Kris Blanks 79 72, Cliff Kresge 78 73

152 Brad Faxon 79 73, Marco Dawson 76 76, Dennis Paulson 78 74, Peter Lonard (Aus) 78 74

153 Jeff Quinney 80 73, Wil Collins 78 75, Rich Beem 78 75, Tom Lehman 75 78, Chez Reavie 76 77, Frank Lickliter II 79 74

154 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 76 78, Paul Stankowski 78 76

157 Billy Andrade 82 75, Brendon Todd 81 76

159 Matthew Borchert 82 77

162 Tim Parun 79 83

WD: Arron Oberholser 73

North Course:

133 Camilo Villegas (Col) 63 70

134 John Rollins 70 64

138 Nick Watney 69 69

139 Harrison Frazar 69 70

141 Kent Jones 70 71, J J Henry 70 71, Chris Stroud 73 68

142 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 71 71, Robert Garrigus 68 74, Bart Bryant 73 69, Lucas Glover 69 73, Ricky Barnes 69 73, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 66 76, D.A. Points 70 72, John Huston 71 71, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 68 74

143 Charles Warren 74 69, Jonathan Kaye 70 73, Davis Love III 66 77, Tag Ridings 71 72, Courtland Lowe 71 72, Matthew Jones (Aus) 70 73, Ben Crane 69 74, Jay Williamson 72 71, Brandt Snedeker 75 68

144 Jeff Klauk 71 73, Aron Price (Aus) 72 72, Tim Petrovic 73 71

145 Gregor Main 70 75, Webb Simpson 72 73, Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 71 74, Rick Price 72 73, Nicholas Thompson 75 70, Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 71 74, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 71 74, Jason Day (Aus) 69 76

146 Brian Bateman 69 77, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 72 74, Jeff Overton 68 78, Colt Knost 73 73, James Driscoll 73 73, Michael Allen 71 75, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 72 74, David Mathis 75 71, Glen Day 72 74

----------------------The following players failed to make the cut --------------

147 Spencer Levin 74 73, Bob Tway 71 76, Peter Tomasulo 73 74, Chris Riley 72 75, Brett Quigley 71 76, Marc Turnesa 71 76, Gregory Casagranda 72 75, Josh Anderson 73 74, Ryan Moore 79 68

148 Aaron Watkins 71 77, Kevin Stadler 71 77, Bill Lunde 74 74, Steve Allan (Aus) 72 76, Briny Baird 70 78

149 Greg Chalmers (Aus) 73 76, John Mallinger 74 75

150 Brad Adamonis 75 75, Kevin Larsen 74 76, Joe Durant 72 78, Brian Vranesh 70 80, John Merrick 74 76, Notah Begay III 75 75, Scott Piercy 75 75

151 Anthony Smith (Aus) 71 80, Darron Stiles 74 77, Troy Kelly 78 73

152 Dudley Hart 73 79, Martin Laird (Sco) 75 77, James Oh (Kor) 74 78

154 Bob Heintz 70 84

155 Tyler Aldridge 74 81

160 Greg Kraft 78 82

WD: Daniel Chopra (Swe) 76, Wes Short Jr 81, Eric Axley 85


Study: Late ex-NFL player had brain condition
HARRINGTON CHASES MAJOR MILESTONE
PERRY WINS FBR OPEN

McILROY ALREADY EYEING CUP PLACE

Rory McIlroy's place on the Ryder Cup team may still be a long way off, but the talented teenager's thrilling win in the Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday will certainly keep him on Colin Montgomerie's radar.

The 19-year-old held his nerve to claim his maiden professional win at Emirates Golf Club, only five days after new Ryder Cup captain Montgomerie picked him out as a candidate for the contest at Celtic Manor.

The qualification process only begins at the European Masters at the start of September, where McIlroy lost a play-off last year, and the Ulsterman will be confident of another solid display at Crans-sur-Sierre.

"The campaign has not started yet. It starts in Switzerland again, a place I like going to, and I just have to keep improving and playing golf and just put myself in a position to win," said the new world number 14.

"If I'm able to do that more weeks than not then I'll obviously have a good chance of getting on the team."

The leaderboard in Dubai will have made pleasant viewing for Montgomerie with Henrik Stenson, Martin Kaymer, Paul Casey and Robert Karlsson making up the remainder of the top six, with Sergio Garcia, Alvaro Quiros and Ross Fisher also inside the top 15.

McIlroy, who had recorded three top-five finishes in his previous five outings, will next undertake a busy schedule in America before he returns to Europe for May's Irish Open at Baltray.

He is set to play at the two upcoming World Golf Championship events in Arizona and Florida as well as the Honda Classic and Houston Open before The Masters and the Verizon Heritage in South Carolina prior to The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

"I think the world is getting so small that a lot of guys manage easily to play a little bit on both Tours and that's what I would like to do, sort of juggle the time in between," he added.

"Obviously we have the Race to Dubai which is huge. I just have to weigh it up and try and find the right balance to play events that you like to play in Europe and then play the ones you like in the States."

McIlroy's win also elevated him to second in the Race to Dubai standings behind world number two Garcia.


McILROY IN CONTROL IN DUBAI
Tomlin’s update: Big Ben ‘fine;’ Hines ‘great’

RANKINGS RISE FOR McILROY

Rory McIlroy, just the sixth teenager to win on the European Tour, now stands 16th in the world.

But the new rankings do not make such happy reading for the 19-year-old's stablemate Ernie Els.

Kenny Perry's play-off victory over Charley Hoffman at the FBR Open in Arizona takes him to ninth and drops Els to 13th, his lowest position since he won his first major title at the 1994 US Open.

McIlroy, who only a week ago said that making it into the game's top 20 was one of his goals for the year, did it in one mighty leap - beating Justin Rose by one shot at the Dubai Desert Classic.

It was nerve-wracking stuff for the Northern Ireland youngster, though. He was six ahead in the final round but bogeyed the 15th, 16th and 17th - and then was bunkered in three on the par-five 18th.

But McIlroy splashed out to three feet - and after Rose had missed his birdie attempt, he made his par to claim the title.

Only by finishing second did Rose stay ahead of McIlroy in the rankings. He climbed back to 15th.

Latest leading positions:

1 Tiger Woods 10.46pts
2 Sergio Garcia 7.96
3 Padraig Harrington 6.56
4 Phil Mickelson 6.51
5 Vijay Singh 6.40
6 Henrik Stenson 5.25
7 Robert Karlsson 5.11
8 Geoff Ogilvy 5.09
9 Kenny Perry 4.81
10 Anthony Kim 4.70
11 Camilo Villegas 4.62
12 Lee Westwood 4.44
13 Ernie Els 4.30
14 Jim Furyk 4.00
15 Justin Rose 3.91
16 Rory McIlroy 3.86
17 Adam Scott 3.85
18 Steve Stricker 3.69
19 Stewart Cink 3.54
20 KJ Choi 3.51

Other leading Europeans:

21 Paul Casey
22 Martin Kaymer
23 Miguel Angel Jimenez
26 Alvaro Quiros
31 Ian Poulter
33 Ross Fisher
35 Graeme McDowell
40 Luke Donald
43 Oliver Wilson
48 Soren Hansen
52 Peter Hanson
56 Soren Kjeldsen
63 Anders Hansen
67 Carl Pettersson
73 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano
75 Darren Clarke
79 Francesco Molinari
80 Fredrik Jacobson
81 Anthony Wall
89 Nick Dougherty
93 Gareth Maybin
95 Alexander Noren
96 Peter Hedblom


McILROY ADDS NAME TO HISTORY BOOKS
WESTWOOD: LAY OFF RORY
Bruce Smith among 6 inducted into Pro HOF
Bucs hire Jagodzinski as offensive coordinator

TIGER TAG DOESN'T FAZE McILROY

Teenage golfing sensation Rory McIlroy has admitted he relishes being hailed as the next Tiger Woods.

The 19-year-old, who returned to Northern Ireland after landing his maiden European tour victory in Dubai, said the comparisons with the American superstar do not faze him.

"It's better people are asking those questions than not asking them," he said.

"As long as people keep saying those things it obviously means I'm doing something right."

McIlroy was back in the familiar surrounds of his hometown club in Holywood, Co Down, as he reflected on his breakthrough win in the desert and his meteoric rise to fame.

Already a millionaire, he scored another 300,000-plus euro cheque for his win in Dubai.

"I haven't splashed out on anything," he said.

"When I first turned pro I bought a house and car but that's pretty much been it - now I just let it (the money) sit there.

"I don't think about it (wealth) really. When I first turned pro it was a bit of a shock. My second ever pay cheque was 220,000 euro and I was like 'Woo'. But now I don't think about it."

"My mum and dad made a lot of sacrifices for me when I was young, when I went to America to play junior tournaments," he said.

"So it was great for them to be there with me in Dubai when I won it.

"Travelling round the world on your own makes you grow up very fast.

"I probably haven't had a normal teenage life but, saying that, a lot of teenagers probably would like to be in my position, so I'm not complaining."

General manager Paul Gray has known McIlroy since he first joined the club.

"Even when he was as young as seven you could tell he was something special," he said.

"His technique and style - even then he looked like a pro."


McILROY ADDS NAME TO HISTORY BOOKS
Fired coach Gruden ready for next opportunity

WESTWOOD: LAY OFF RORY

Lee Westwood wants Rory McIlroy to be given room to have fun rather than have expectations piled on him.

The Northern Ireland teenager moved up to 16th in the world by winning his first European Tour title in Dubai last weekend.

During the event American Mark O'Meara said McIlroy was ahead of Tiger Woods at the same age, but Westwood, the youngster's stablemate, said today: "I don't think we should be comparing him to Tiger or anybody yet.

"He's only 19 and he should be going out and experiencing different adventures and still having fun.

"It's putting too much pressure on him to set goals really high at this stage. It's a problem we seem to have in this country.

"Last week it was 'Andy Murray's going to win the Australian Open'. Last year it was 'England are going to win the World Cup' when we hadn't even qualified for Euro 2008."

This is not to say that Westwood, who today unveiled a series of three-day academies for youngsters, does not believe McIlroy capable of great things. It is just that he wants to downplay it.

Westwood said: "I first played with Rory when he was 14 or 15. He was invited to the British Masters and Darren (Clarke) and I practised with him. You could see how good he was then."

Westwood also partnered the former European amateur champion at the 2007 Dunhill Links Championship. It was only the second event of McIlroy's professional career and he finished third.

"I'm not surprised to see where he is in the world because he's been very consistent," added Westwood. "He could have won three times by now."

McIlroy lost play-offs in Switzerland and Hong Kong before beating a star-packed field on Sunday. His next start is the Accenture world match play in Tucson later this month - and if he was to win that he could go as high as sixth on the rankings.

Woods is a tough act for anybody to follow, though. He did not turn professional until he was 20, but he had been US Amateur champion three times and after winning two of his first five events in 1996 he swept to a record 12-stroke victory at The Masters the following April.

Westwood also complained about media pressure last July - and on that occasion it was on him.

He had just finished third in the US Open, his best-ever finish in a major, but felt there was too much attention on him going into The Open. He finished 67th.

Padraig Harrington won it for a second year running, of course, and then went on to add the US PGA just three weeks later.

"Different people react in different ways," added Westwood, full of admiration for how his Ryder Cup team-mate has seized his opportunities and handled the limelight.

The 35-year-old Worksop golfer is two years younger than Harrington and hopes his big breakthrough might be just around the corner.

Westwood said: "When somebody you've grown up playing with does what he's done he do sit back and think that if he can do it why can't I?"

The idea of the three-day academies around England for boys and girls aged seven to 16 started last year and follows a similar scheme in cricket which Andrew Flintoff, a member of the same management company, has launched.

"It's great to give something back," added Westwood, who did not take up the game himself until he was 13.

"It's easy to get started on the wrong foot and work in faults, so with proper coaching and everything else that will be on offer at these courses hopefully we can help to find another Rory.

"It's amazing to think that some of the kids who will be involved are going to be only three years younger than him."


McILROY ADDS NAME TO HISTORY BOOKS
TIGER TAG DOESN’T FAZE McILROY
Bucs hire Jagodzinski as offensive coordinator

McILROY ADDS NAME TO HISTORY BOOKS

Only four players in European Tour history have won at a younger age than Rory McIlroy, who on Sunday captured the Dubai Desert Classic by a stroke from Justin Rose.

The Northern Ireland teenager is still three months away from his 20th birthday. South African Dale Hayes holds the record at 18 years 290 days, while Seve Ballesteros, Paul Way and Sergio Garcia also broke their ducks sooner than McIlroy.

Europe's newest champion is now into the world's top 20 as a result, but whether it is to 15th or 16th depended on what happened at the FBR Open in America.

Teenagers to win on the European Tour:

18 years 290 days Dale Hayes (1971 Spanish Open)

19 years 121 days Seve Ballesteros (1976 Dutch Open)

19 years 149 days Paul Way (1982 Dutch Open)

19 years 176 days Sergio Garcia (1999 Irish Open)

19 years 191 days Seve Ballesteros (1976 Lancome Trophy)

19 days 267 days Sergio Garcia (1999 German Masters)

19 days 273 days Rory McIlroy (2009 Dubai Desert Classic)

19 days 331 days Aaron Baddeley (2001 Holden International)


Fired coach Gruden ready for next opportunity
McILROY OUT TO BREAK AMERICA

TRIO BOOK OPEN PLACE

Marc Cayeux, Jeremy Kavanagh and Jaco Ahlers all booked themselves a first appearance at a major after finishing in the top three of International Final Qualifying for the Open in Durban.

Cayeux, a dual English and Zimbabwean national, finished the second of two qualification rounds with a two-under-par 68, a combined two-round total of 137 to finish a shot clear of joint overnight leader Kavanagh, also from England, and South African Jaco Ahlers, who carded a superb 65 to complete the top three, all of whom will now play at Turnberry in July.

Brazil's Adilson Da Silva, who was the other first day leader, struggled through his second round at the Royal Durban Country Club with his three-over 73 leaving him tied for seventh on 140, a shot behind Doug McGuigan, Tyrone Ferreira and Christiaan Basson.

Lancaster-born Cayeux was solid through his round and despite two bogeys he managed four birdies, two of which came in the last three holes.

"I feel pretty honoured to be playing in the Open, and at the age of 31 I feel I've done well, so I'm happy," he said.

"I want to play well, soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the experience."

Kavanagh struggled in the second round, failing to match his opening-day 67, but in the end just managed to sneak through with a combined total of 138.

He said: "I feel a bit shocked and the feeling has not sunk in yet, but I've got mixed emotions and don't know whether to laugh or cry. I'm really looking forward to playing in the Open."

Pretoria golfer Ahlers was most impressive in his second round, recording a faultless card that included five birdies as he stormed into a top-three finish.

"I can't wait to go to Turnberry and I don't have a clue what to expect, but I'm excited to play on a British links course," said the 26-year-old.

After the retirement of Brandon Pieters on Tuesday, there were plenty more withdrawals on Wednesday with Jaco van Zyl, Mark Murless and Trevor Fisher Jnr all pulling out.


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MONTY WILL SEEK FERGUSON ADVICE

New Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie has admitted he may follow Sam Torrance's lead by seeking leadership advice from Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

Torrance skippered Europe to victory in the tournament in 2002 after canvassing leading figures from other sports - including fellow Scot Ferguson - and it is an approach Montgomerie plans to consider ahead of next year's match at Celtic Manor.

Speaking to Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme, he said: "I have the greatest respect for the captaincy of Sam Torrance in 2002.

"He rightly learned from another great Scot in Sir Alex Ferguson and I might be doing the same thing myself.

"Why not use the knowledge of others? I want to learn and best I can.

"I want to walk away, regardless of the result, having given exactly 100%."

Montgomerie, 45, has already confirmed he will not consider playing in the match and has now added that his name will not even appear on the Ryder Cup points list.

"I will not be competing in 2010. I am captain of that team, my points of qualification will be nullified, simple as that.

"I will remain on other lists but the Ryder Cup one. I don't want to be in an embarrassing position because of nearly making the team. I won't be in that position because my points simply won't count."


CASEY BACKS MONTY CAPTAINCY
CLARKE: MONTY IDEAL FOR CUP CAPTAINCY

McILROY OUT TO BREAK AMERICA

Look out America - Irish teenage sensation Rory McIlroy is coming your way.

After his thrilling one-stroke victory in the Dubai Desert Classic, McIlroy has climbed to 16th in the world in less than 18 months as a professional.

At the end of August last year, he stood 172nd.

The boy wonder has achieved it without once stepping foot in the United States, but that is about to change dramatically.

McIlroy, just the sixth teenager to win a European Tour event and described as "a superstar in the making" by new Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie, will not be playing on this side of the Atlantic again until the Irish Open in mid-May.

His World Championships debut will be at the Accenture Match Play in Arizona in three weeks' time. Then he travels to Florida and Texas, before heading to Georgia for the big one - his first Masters at Augusta on April 9-12.

Having thought a world top-20 spot was a reasonable target to have for the end of the year, not the first week in February, McIlroy admitted: "I'll have to reassess my goals.

"I've moved up a step. Success only makes you more motivated to try to do better - I realise I've become a very good player and I've got a lot of years to progress still."

Manager Andrew 'Chubby' Chandler has no doubts that the sky is the limit.

"He's golf's new superstar and the most exciting talent the game has seen since Tiger Woods charged on to the scene more than a decade ago," said the former Tour player.

"He showed maturity beyond his years to beat a world-class field and claim his maiden European Tour triumph. It will, I am absolutely convinced, be the first of many - Rory is that good.

"Not that anybody should be surprised. I've been telling people for a long time now that a very special talent was emerging.

"I'll be very surprised if he isn't inside the top 10 before the season gathers many more divots.

"Rory will have learned far more from his one-shot win over Justin Rose than if he had gone ahead and totally eclipsed the field - as it looked like he would for so long.

"That up-and-down from the back trap on the last hole to seal victory was nothing less than magnificent.

"It would have been hard enough in normal circumstances - but given what was at stake and the size of his lead no more than an hour earlier (five shots), it was simply breath-taking.

"It's a very sunny outlook - despite what we are flying back into."

After spraying champagne Lewis Hamilton-style at a party given in his honour by his main Dubai-based sponsors. McIlroy flew home with his proud parents and did indeed discover that not everything will run smoothly from now on.

Their flight from the Middle East managed to land despite all the snow, but the connection to Belfast was cancelled - and they were eventually driven to Birmingham and flew from there.

Before launching his American adventure, McIlroy will perhaps do well to bear in mind as well what happened to some other stars of the game after their first victories.

Two weeks after he became just the fourth teenager to win in Europe, Sergio Garcia came back down to earth with a mighty bump - finishing dead last in The Open at Carnoustie after rounds of 86 and 80.

The week after he had won his first title, Padraig Harrington took 13 on one hole at The Oxfordshire - putting four balls in the lake.

Also four days after he shot a closing 63 to claim the Portuguese Open by 11 strokes, Montgomerie scored 81 at Valderrama.

They have not done too badly since, though, and McIlroy is well on the way to emulating at least some of their deeds.

His victory was his eighth top-10 finish in his last 13 starts. That included two play-off defeats, and he was mightily relieved he did not have to go into a third.

Runner-up Rose, of course, began his pro career with 21 successive missed cuts. It took him almost a year to earn his first cheque on the course.

McIlroy, still three months away from his 20th birthday, is already heading towards his second million.


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McILROY IN CONTROL IN DUBAI
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PERRY WINS FBR OPEN

Kenny Perry survived a scare and outlasted Charley Hoffman at the third hole of the play-off to win the FBR Open.

A three-time PGA Tour winner last season, Perry finished two-under for the day and 14-under for the tournament.

Hoffman shot four-under to also finish 14-under and Kevin Na was unable to sink an eight-foot putt on 18 and settled for a three-under to finish one stroke behind.

The 48-year-old Perry had to settle for a playoff after bogeying the 18th hole. After Perry and Hoffman recorded a bogey and par on the first two playoff holes, Perry was able to emerge victorious and claim his 13th PGA Tour victory.

"To me, this is a place I always felt like I could win," Perry said. "I always felt very comfortable on this golf course, and for whatever reason, I didn't putt well these last two days. But I hit it good enough to do well, and I thought it was going to be a special day."

On the par-four 17th hole, Perry's tee shot went to the right of the green before chipping in a 22-foot birdie.

"The playoff was ugly," Perry said. "We were hitting it everywhere, having to scramble from all over the place. But that was neat for me to make a putt - that's probably the first putt I've ever made to win.

"Those are the putts you think about when you're a kid; you're on the putting green saying, 'This is to win the Masters' or whatever, and I finally made one. It took me a long time to do it."

For his part, Hoffman was unable to answer as his tee shot flew into the bunker. He later chipped to the fringe, but his 34-foot attempt for birdie was off the mark.

"Unfortunately, obviously, (I) didn't get it done," said Hoffman, whose only victory on the PGA Tour came in the 2007 Bob Hope Classic.

"Kenny gave me a few opportunities, I gave him a few opportunities and he happened to close the door. Obviously in the playoff, Kenny and I got in some trouble off the tee on 1. Then I had my chance on 18, then I had my chance on 10 and didn't do it."

For his part, Na didn't lament his final putt which went awry, resulting in his third-place finish.

"I hit a good putt, just misread the green a little bit," he said. "I putted awesome today. I made all the clutch putts I needed to. I'm disappointed, but I'm proud of myself."

Collated final-round scores (USA unless stated, par 71):

270 Kenny Perry 72 63 66 69 (Kenny Perry won at the third play-off hole), Charley Hoffman 66 68 69 67

271 Kevin Na 67 70 66 68

272 David Toms 69 68 67 68, James Nitties (Aus) 65 69 70 68

273 Brian Gay 68 68 67 70, Scott Piercy 69 67 66 71, Matt Kuchar 67 67 70 69, Ryan Moore 69 67 68 69

274 Jeff Maggert 70 68 66 70, Cliff Kresge 68 69 68 69

275 Nick Watney 70 63 72 70, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 72 69 69 65, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 72 65 69 69, Zach Johnson 71 66 68 70, Michael Letzig 70 67 69 69

276 John Senden (Aus) 68 70 72 66, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 70 69 65 72, Parker McLachlin 68 71 69 68, D.J. Trahan 68 74 69 65

277 Brandt Jobe 72 69 69 67, J J Henry 69 71 68 69, Woody Austin 69 72 69 67, Kevin Sutherland 68 71 69 69

278 Brendon De Jonge 71 67 69 71, Jonathan Kaye 68 71 69 70, Sean O'Hair 69 69 69 71, Bubba Watson 68 70 69 71, Luke Donald (Eng) 76 65 68 69, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 71 68 69 70, Jonathan Byrd 72 69 67 70

279 Chad Campbell 70 70 72 67, Chris DiMarco 73 69 70 67, David Berganio Jnr. 66 71 72 70

280 Hunter Mahan 73 67 69 71, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 69 73 66 72, Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 71 69 69 71, Ted Purdy 71 68 65 76, Rocco Mediate 68 70 67 75, Troy Matteson 70 68 69 73, Kevin Streelman 73 69 69 69

281 Kirk Triplett 70 70 70 71, Brett Quigley 69 71 75 66, Lucas Glover 65 72 75 69, Cameron Beckman 68 67 75 71, Briny Baird 67 74 72 68, Bob Tway 71 71 69 70

282 Jeff Klauk 74 66 72 70, Pat Perez 69 73 70 70, Nathan Green (Aus) 73 69 67 73, Steve Flesch 69 72 68 73, Mark Wilson 70 72 71 69

283 Dudley Hart 71 71 70 71, Scott McCarron 70 72 66 75, Vaughn Taylor 69 69 73 72, Steve Elkington (Aus) 70 69 71 73

284 Charlie Wi (Kor) 73 68 71 72

285 Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 72 65 74 74, Rickie Fowler 73 66 72 74

286 John Merrick 72 70 70 74, Jeff Overton 70 72 68 76, Joe Ogilvie 71 70 73 72, Ryan Palmer 73 67 68 78, Gary Woodland 70 71 67 78

287 Webb Simpson 68 67 77 75

288 Dean Wilson 69 73 76 70, Ben Curtis 71 71 74 72

289 Nicholas Thompson 72 68 77 72, Jason Bohn 71 71 74 73

290 Brad Adamonis 68 70 75 77, John Rollins 71 71 74 74


COLIN MONTGOMERIE FACTFILE
McILROY BLOSSOMS IN THE DESERT

McILROY BLOSSOMS IN THE DESERT

Rory McIlroy is aiming to take his game to the next level after claiming a thrilling maiden professional victory at the Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday.

The 19-year-old held his nerve to hole a three-foot putt for par at the last, sealing a final-round two-under-par 70 to finish one shot ahead of Justin Rose, who could have forced a play-off but missed a birdie putt at 18 and had to settle for a 67.

McIlroy's six-shot lead at the start of today had been whittled down to one by the time the Northern Irishman headed up the final fairway, but he kept his composure for the vital putt to secure the win.

Afterwards he was delighted to have risen 15 places to 14th in the world rankings and to second in the Race to Dubai, and he wants to continue his recent run of form in America where he will play four events before April's Masters.

"This win has definitely moved me up a step and I just want to keep getting better and better," said McIlroy.

"Your success only makes you more motivated to do better. I have become a very good player, but I still have a lot of years to progress and I just want to keep improving and hopefully one day I will be able to compete with Tiger (Woods).

"I will have to reassess my goals, but I will just go out every week and try and get myself into contention going into the back nine on Sunday and that's my goal every week."

McIlroy came close to his maiden win last year when he suffered play-off defeats at the European Masters and Hong Kong Open and it appeared to be again slipping through his young hands as five consecutive birdies around the turn were cancelled out by three straight bogeys on the back nine.

He set pulses racing as he overhit his approach to the final green into a back bunker, but he chipped out to three feet - a shot he rates as the best from the sand he has ever played.

And after watching 2007 Order of Merit winner Rose miss a 15-foot putt which would have forced a play-off, McIlroy converted his par to claim the biggest cheque of his career.

"You watch it on TV and you see guys coming down the stretch with a four- or five-shot lead and you think it's easy, but it's not," he added.

"You still have to play the shots and hole the putts. I got myself into a great position in the middle of the back nine, but Justin fought back. But it was nice to hold it together on the last and get a great up and down.

"It's definitely a burden off my shoulders.

"If I hadn't won having a six-shot lead it would have been pretty hard to take and pretty hard to come back from. But I was able to scrape in at the end. It's not about how many but how in the end.

"All these situations I have put myself in is all experience and I am gathering them all in. Obviously all the experiences I have had in the past helped me today and hopefully this experience will help me in the future."

All but three of the top 15 places were taken by Europeans, with Henrik Stenson third and Martin Kaymer, Paul Casey and Robert Karlsson tied for fourth.

Miguel Angel Jimenez finished joint seventh ahead of world number two Sergio Garcia, while new Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie was 13th alongside Alvaro Quiros and Ross Fisher.

Collated final round scores & totals in the European Tour Dubai Desert Classic, Emirates GC, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

269 Rory McIlroy 64 68 67 70

270 Justin Rose 68 66 69 67

271 Henrik Stenson (Swe) 68 65 71 67

272 Paul Casey 68 68 68 68, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 65 71 71 65, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 70 67 68 67

275 Anthony Wall 70 68 68 69, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 72 70 67 66, Scott Strange (Aus) 69 71 66 69, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 68 65 68 74

276 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 70 66 73 67, Richard Green (Aus) 71 63 69 73

277 Ross Fisher 72 69 67 69, Colin Montgomerie 70 70 70 67, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 70 68 75 64

278 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 69 68 72 69, Anders Hansen (Den) 71 71 65 71, Oliver Wilson 71 68 73 66, Bradley Dredge 73 68 71 66

279 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 70 69 70 70, Thomas Levet (Fra) 73 67 66 73

280 Alexander Noren (Swe) 67 71 70 72, Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe) 69 73 70 68

282 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 71 71 72 68, Graeme McDowell 70 72 72 68, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 70 72 72 68, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 69 72 72 69, Peter Hanson (Swe) 71 67 72 72, Gary Murphy 75 68 68 71, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 66 70 73 73, Mark Foster 69 74 66 73

283 Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 69 72 69 73, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 72 68 72 71, Simon Dyson 71 68 73 71, Gregory Havret (Fra) 67 68 72 76

284 Hennie Otto (Rsa) 69 73 69 73, Gary Orr 71 70 71 72 ,Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 70 72 72 70

285 Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 74 69 70 72, Mark Brown (USA) 70 73 73 69, Lee Westwood 70 70 73 72, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 69 70 71 75, Simon Wakefield 73 70 69 73

286 Brett Rumford (Aus) 73 70 72 71, Stephen Dodd 71 69 73 73 ,Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 73 68 73 72

287 Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 71 71 73 72, Richard Finch 71 71 71 74, Alastair Forsyth 71 70 75 71, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 70 71 73 73

288 Matthew Turner 70 72 71 75, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 67 72 76 73, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 70 71 76 71

289 Darren Clarke 74 69 72 74, Graeme Storm 68 70 77 74, Paul Broadhurst 70 70 72 77

290 Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 69 71 77 73, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 74 69 73 74

291 Paul Waring 67 73 77 74

292 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 72 71 76 73, Christian Cevaer (Fra) 73 70 76 73, Gareth Maybin 70 70 77 75, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 72 71 74 75

293 Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 71 72 78 72

294 Lee Slattery 69 74 76 75, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 73 68 77 76

296 Paul Lawrie 68 75 74 79

301 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 70 72 82 77


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WHO WILL BE MONTY’S MEN IN 2010?
McILROY IN CONTROL IN DUBAI

MONTGOMERIE: NO NEED TO PANIC

New Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie has refused to panic amid calls to increase the number of captain's picks that will be at his disposal at Celtic Manor next year.

The 45-year-old five-time winner was appointed in Dubai on Wednesday and although the move is seen as the first step in regaining the initiative following the defeat at Valhalla, Montgomerie refused to confirm any changes to the qualification process.

The United States' move to increase the picks available from two to four was seen as a key factor in the 16.5 -11.5 win which ended Europe's bid for a fourth straight victory as it allowed captain Paul Azinger to pick players in form.

Montgomerie said: "The next full committee meeting will be in Ireland in May and the qualification process of the team will be on the agenda.

"I don't want to get into a stage of panicking because we lost the Ryder Cup, there is no need to panic but that will be on the agenda in May."

Europe's team are currently made up from the leading five players on the Ryder Cup world points list and then the leading five players who are not otherwise qualified from the European points list before the captain then chooses the two remaining places.

But it could lead to a situation where a player earns high rankings points at the beginning of the qualification process, which begins at the European Masters at the start of September, but struggling come October 1 after the process ends at the Johnnie Walker Championships at Gleneagles at the end of August.

Montgomerie has confirmed he will increase the number of vice-captains and assistants at Celtic Manor after predecessor Nick Faldo was criticised after only used Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal in Kentucky.

"It is difficult to judge the backroom team as I wasn't there but my optimum number is more than we had last time," added Montgomerie.

The Scot hinted Thomas Bjorn, who is chairman of the players' committee who appointed Montgomerie, will also have a role in his team at Celtic Manor should the Dane fail to qualify as a player.

Bjorn, 37, was part of the victorious Ryder Cup teams in 1997 and 2002 but is now ranked 213th in the world.

"I do respect him," said Montgomerie. "He did a wonderful job under Bernhard Langer in 2004 as a captain's assistant and I would hope to use Thomas, if he doesn't quality for the team, in any way, shape or form."


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MONTGOMERIE NAMED RYDER CUP CAPTAIN

McILROY IN CONTROL IN DUBAI

Rory McIlroy will look to build on the experience of all his near misses on Sunday as he looks to claim a first professional title at the Dubai Desert Classic after spectacularly taking control of the fog-affected event on Saturday.

The 19-year-old former world amateur number one sits at the top of the third round leaderboard on 15 under par, two clear of former champion Richard Green and in-form South African Louis Oosthuizen.

Both of them and the majority of the field must complete their third rounds in the morning after six hours of play was lost over the first two days.

First round leader McIlroy had earlier snatched the second round lead with an eagle three on the 18th green before ending his day with a second, this time on the 10th to move onto three under in fading light.

The world number 39 has yet to turn the hype, which has seen new Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie pick out McIlroy out as a potential candidate for Celtic Manor next year, into a professional breakthrough after suffering two play-off defeats last year.

But in the form which has seen him record top-five finishes in his last five events, it is surely closer than ever.

"It would be a huge first victory, it's one of the best events on Tour. For this to be my first win, if I could pull it off, it would be absolutely fantastic," said McIlroy.

"But I have just got the 11th tee shot in the morning on my mind and that's all I can do, just think about that and see what happens tomorrow.

"I think I have learnt a lot from those experiences. It will stand me in good stead and hopefully if I keep playing the way I am, I'll definitely be able to go close."

McIlroy rates the third round eagle as the best of the two and rightly so as he plunged a five iron to within two feet for a simple tap-in after earlier holing from 25 feet from the fringes of the 18th green following a cautious approach into the dangerous final green at Emirates Golf Club.

But with playing partner Oosthuizen, the runner-up at the last two events in Abu Dhabi and Qatar, and 1997 winner Green leading the chase, McIlroy is not getting carried away with another mammoth day ahead on Sunday.

But the ambitious Northern Irishman is looking forward to the prospect of another final day battle so soon after November's play-off defeat in Hong Kong.

"Louis made birdie on seven just before me and I knew I had to just grind out the putt and I holed it for par which was nice," he added.

"It was then a great way to finish and puts me into a great position going into tomorrow morning."

Justin Rose, Martin Kaymer, Scott Strange, Thomas Levet and Abu Dhabi winner Paul Casey are also all well placed at 10 under with former champions Robert-Jan Derksen and Dubai-based Henrik Stenson in touching distance at nine under.

Frenchman Levet was able to sign for a third round six under 66 and was only one of 17 out of the 68 who made the cut to complete their third rounds.


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OOSTHUIZEN FIRES ACE

In-form South African Louis Oosthuizen fired a hole-in-one on Saturday during the second round of the delayed Dubai Desert Classic.

Oosthuizen has finished runner-up at the last two events in Abu Dhabi and Qatar and continued his bid for a maiden European Tour title after a second round seven-under-par 65 today left the 26-year-old just a shot adrift of halfway leader Rory McIlroy.

After reaching the turn in level par Oosthuizen picked up five shots in a four holes, helped out by the 168-yard six-iron strike at the par three 11th.

"I saw it all the way. It came running towards the pin and next thing you know, my playing partners turned around and gave me a high-five so I guessed it was in," he said.

"It was a great club at the middle of the flag and it dropped in, it was a nice feeling.

"It's my first one in tournament golf. I liked it from the start and it dropped a metre from the hole and rolled in so it was good.

"I had one when I was 13. I think it was the same distance but the only difference was it was a three-iron. It was a nice shot and I'll never forget that. That was back in South Africa and I won't forget this one either."

Oosthuizen's stroke average for his last 14 round stands at 67.5, which is four lower than his career average.

"All the work I've put in with my coach is starting to come through," he added.

"I'm having a lot more fun on the golf course and that just helps a lot by not putting two much pressure on myself and just enjoying it."

Oosthuizen is a five-time winner in his native South Africa but has yet to win on the European Tour.


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CASEY BACKS MONTY CAPTAINCY

Two-time Ryder Cup winner Paul Casey believes Colin Montgomerie's experience as a victorious Seve Trophy captain will prove ideal preparation for Celtic Manor next year.

Casey, who has appeared in the last three Ryder Cups, won the Seve Trophy under Montgomerie on three straight occasions in 2002, 2003 and 2005 and backed the Scot to succeed Nick Faldo prior to yesterday's announcement in Dubai.

And after the 45-year-old five-time Ryder Cup winner was named to lead Europe in Wales, Casey joined the collective backing for Montgomerie to lead the bid to reclaim the coveted trophy.

"I experienced captain Monty before in the Seve Trophy role, which clearly is not the pressure-packed event of the Ryder Cup, but I think it's given people an indication as to what he would be like and he was excellent. He looked after the players brilliantly and the communication was superb," said Casey after an opening round four-under-par 68 at the Dubai Desert Classic today.

"The passion you see Monty put in in a Ryder Cup, he comes alive. I think you're going to see that in how he approaches his captaincy. I think he's going to be fantastic so I can't wait to see how it develops.

"I want to get back on that team and be part of the team that brings the Cup for not only Europe but also Colin."

Montgomerie made the first of eight Ryder Cup appearances in 1991 under Bernard Gallacher and went on to win in 1995, 1997, 2002, 2004 and 2006 and has never lost any of the eight singles matches he has played.

Four-time Ryder Cup winner Lee Westwood was also part of Montgomerie's victorious Great Britain & Ireland teams at the Seve Trophy in 2002 and 2003.

"His career is remembered for a fantastic Ryder Cup record and never having lost a singles and having been part of the Ryder Cup team for the last 16-18 years," said Westwood after his opening round 70 today in Dubai.

"He's good in the team room. He pulls everybody together. He's very vocal around the table in the team room and will lead like he's done when he's been a player."

Ryder Cup rookie Justin Rose has also experienced victory under Montgomerie at the 2003 Seve Trophy and is confident he can continue his self-proclaimed Ryder Cup "legacy" next year.

"He's had an incredible career and the Ryder Cup has often brought out the best in him," said the former Order of Merit winner after his 68 today.

"I always knew he would be captain at some stage and why not now. He's certainly in with all the players and his face will still be around a lot so I think he will be really effective in terms of a wildcard situation and the form of the players running into it."


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CLARKE: MONTY IDEAL FOR CUP CAPTAINCY