THE

Nine Aussies will line up in the event but much of the early interest at least will be to see how young American Kyle Stanley handles backing up after his disastrous final hole at Torrey Pines last weekend.

I personally tore a clump of hair out when Stanley squandered his three stroke lead to eventually lose to Brandt Snedeker in a playoff at the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego – so who knows how the 24  year old will be feeling.

Both Stanley and the extremely lucky (but very persistent) Snedeker will be back this week along with a very healthy field that includes the likes of Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples, Webb Simpson, Keegan Bradley, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson and defending champion Mark Wilson.

The Aussie contenders include, Aaron Baddeley, Robert Allenby, Matt Jones, Mathew Goggin, Greg Chalmers, Marc Leishman, Nick O’Hern, Rod Pampling and Jarrod Lyle. There is also young Kiwi tour debutante   Danny Lee to keep an eye out for.

Australian Fox Sports television live coverage begins Friday 8am – 11am.

2012 Waste Management Phoenix Open Live Leaderboard

JASON DAY

Day, currently ranked as World No.10, missed the cut at his debut Middle Eastern golf tournament last week in Abu Dhabi but apparently has been battling some health issues of late.

Day and America’s Hunter Mahan are being promoted at the tournament as the big “international” stars from the US PGA Tour and Westwood has been pushing the 24 year old Australian’s credentials.

World No.3 Westwood is the highest ranked player in what is a quality field and said of Day this week:

“I was asked at the end of last week who will have a big year, and the only one I picked out was Jason Day. Not because he was the only one who will have a big year, but I think he’s a talented player and people probably look over him. He gets overlooked quite a bit, and obviously by saying that I put the curse on him and he missed the cut!”

The 7,388-yard Doha course is widely considered the toughest Middle East challenge on The European Tour.

“Apparently the rough’s not as long as it was last year, but the weather man says it’s going to be fairly windy,” Westwood said. “And when it’s like that around here, it’s a really tough test.

“Sometimes you come to a golf course and you remember people shooting low scores – Adam Scott a few years ago shot 62 in the last round to win. And you get it in your head that it’s a 20 under par winning golf course.

“But if the wind really pumps this week, it could quite easily be an eight under or nine under par winning golf course. You just have to play every hole and every shot on its merits and not get too preoccupied with the previous years.”

There will be no Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy this week but the field includes Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Sergio Garcia, KJ Choi, Alvaro Quiros, Matteo Mannasero, Todd Hamilton, Shaun Micheel, Ben Curtis, Retief Goosen, Michael Campbell and Paul Lawrie.

The other Australian starters are Marcus Fraser, Richard Green, Andrew Dodt, Matthew Zions and Brett Rumford.

The 2012 Qatar Masters is being telecast in Australia on Fox Sports with the first round coverage scheduled for Thursday 9pm to 1am.

2012 Qatar Masters Live Leaderboard

MICHAEL HARWOOD

The lanky Victorian took the title, his second Australian PGA Legends Tour win in the past fortnight, after the final round at the Kingston Beach Golf Club was washed out by heavy rain.

Harwood shot a blemish free six under 65 in the first round and that was more than enough to claim the title when the second round was abandoned after six holes.

He had started the final round two ahead of fellow Victorian David Good who finished outright second after his 4-under 67.

South Australian Garry Merrick (69) and Mike Zilko (NSW) (70) were the only other players to break par in what were tough conditions in the opening round with 30 plus degree temperatures and a stiffening sea breeze.

The win means Harwood is the only player to ever win the Tasmanian Senior Open three times and comes on top of his win at the NSW Legends Championship at the Oatlands Golf Club early last week.

“It is a great honour to win the event for a third time,” Harwood said after accepting the title. “The course was presented beautifully and whilst it is disappointing to not be able to finish the round today, I am more than happy to take the win,”

“I will be heading to the European Seniors Tour again this year and it gives me great confidence to have now had a couple of wins before the season starts in Europe.”

Other notables in the field were Rodger Davis who finished in a five way tie for fifth on even par while 1990 US PGA Champion Wayne Grady was a further three shots back in a tie for 14th.

Graham Roberts from Royal Hobart Golf Club won the best gross score for the amateurs with Queenslander Eric Oxenford taking out the best nett score.

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Big things are expected of Jason Day this year and he will kick off his 2012 campaign along with season debuts by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on Thursday.

The European Tour event boasts the current world top four, McIlroy at 3, Luke Donald (1), Lee Westwood (2) and Martin Kaymer (4).

Woods is rearing to go for the year and says he’s in his best physical shape at the start of a season in more than a decade.

Woods says he is fully recovered from his knee problems and his confidence has been boosted by a win at the limited-field Chevron World Challenge last month. This week in Abu Dhabi he also credited his form in Australia late last year as a turning point.

“I think Australia was pretty big for me to go down there for two weeks and play in that type of wind, and to hit the ball as well as I did,” he said.

Woods is teamed with Donald and McIlroy for the first two days of the event while Day will join British Open winner Darren Clarke and big hitting Spaniard Alvaro Quiros in the following group.

Live television coverage of the event begins on Thursday night on Fox Sports from 9pm to 1pm and continues at similar times over the four rounds.

Ogilvy leads Australian contingent at Torrey Pines

Meanwhile, Geoff Ogilvy will lead a 13 strong Australian contingent

Into the 2012 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, California.

The Australian line-up includes Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, Aaron Baddeley, Greg Chalmers, Gavin Coles, Matthew Goggin, Nathan Green, Mark Leishman, Jarrod Lyle, Nick O’Hern, Rod Pampling and Matt Giles.

The tournament sees most of the usual US PGA Tour suspects getting back into action on the mainland for the first time in 2012, including the likes of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Nick Watney, Bill Haas, Camilo Villegas, Rickie Fowler and Bubba Watson, who may or may not turn up in his new Dukes of Hazzard muscle car. (Funny that, I picked him as a Toyota Prius or Mini Minor driver).

Ogilvy is another golfer confident of a good year.

“I think I could be coming into my prime,” the 34 year old said this week.

“Traditionally golfers become their best in their mid 30s. Hopefully I can have a healthy year as last year was a bit of an off year injury wise but there was a lot of good stuff amongst the bad. I think you learn more from your rough patches than your good ones so I should be a better player because of 2011.

“I think I have a better handle on golf then I ever have before and I have more tools now so hopefully that translates to better play.”

Live coverage of the 2012 Farmers Insurance Open begins Friday on Fox Sports 7am to 10am.

Rick Butler, SVGA Captain John Newberry and Ian Baker at The Coast

The association boasts more than 1,000 members and each year organises over 40 events in the greater Sydney area.

Members can play most of the best courses Sydney has to offer and usually at very attractive discounted rates.

The other big positive is that you are playing with fellow club golfers aged 55 years and over in a very social environment devoid of any elitism.

ASG visited with the Sydney Vets at their recent event at the spectacularly located The Coast Golf Club at Little Bay in the city’s eastern suburbs.

It was a very blustery morning but the Vets turned out to be a very friendly bunch who didn’t let the difficult golfing conditions get in the way of having a great time.

The Coast course sits right atop the cliffs on Sydney’s rugged southern coastline and a strong gusting wind blowing straight off the ocean certainly made things interesting.

But so too was the company. We played in a foursome with the SVGA Captain John Newberry, from Cumberland Golf Club, Ian Baker of Palm Beach GC, and Rick Butler, a member of the adjoining St. Michaels Golf Club.

On the other side of St Michaels is one of Australia’s acknowledged best courses, the NSW Golf Club. All three of these coast hugging courses feature in the Sydney Vets annual schedule, along with the likes of Mona Vale, Riverside Oaks, Concord, Cumberland, Avondale, Long Reef, Oatlands, Ashlar, Lynwood, Kooinda Waters, Twin Creeks, Killara, Bonnie Doon, Rosnay and a heap of other great venues, over 40 in all.

Perhaps the only top courses missing from the schedule are The Lakes, which is no longer a very veteran friendly layout, The Australian Golf Club and Royal Sydney, which haven’t really come to the friendly green fees party.

The others are very happy to have the usually full 144 starter fields of well behaved, course conscious older golfers.

The Sydney Veteran Golfers Association was established in 1986, one of the first official veteran golfing organisation in the country.

It is affiliated with the NSW Veteran Golfers Association, meaning members also have access to the 50 odd Weeks of Golf conducted across the state and to other national and interstate veteran golf events.

Membership is open to affiliated club members who hold a Golf Australia handicap and are aged over 55. It costs just $30 a year with a one off $30 joining fee.

John Newberry has been the Captain for 16 years and is proud of what the association has achieved and of the continuing service it offers members.

Members range across the handicap spectrum and come from all walks of life, from doctors and lawyers to labourers and factory workers.

“It is a terrific group of blokes and we do go away for two country trips each year as well,” John said.

Members mostly come from across the Sydney region but there are a few who commute from areas like Wollongong, Moss Vale and the central coast.

There are also some continuing members who have moved further afield, one to Singapore and one to India, but as John says: “We don’t tend to see them very often.”

No doubt those international members don’t want to cut their ties to an organisation that over the years has developed some true and lasting bonds and friendships.

New members are always welcome and for details of how to join and other information go to the Sydney Veteran Golfers Association website here.

DAN FORSMAN

The American closed with a 3-under 69 in windy conditions Sunday (local time) for his third Champions Tour title.

Jay Don Blake (67) was runner-up with defending champion John Cook and Michael Allen sharing third a further shot back.

Forsman, a five-time winner on the PGA TOUR, finished with a 15-under tournament total to take the US$307,000 winners cheque in the 41-man event.

He opened with rounds of 67 and 65 to take a two-stroke lead into the final round. He never lost it, earning his first win in 20 months.

“On the 18th green I couldn’t even speak,” the 53 year old said. “I am really humbled to top this field of guys I’ve admired and competed with all my professional life. The chance to be on top of a distinguished group of players like this is something I’ll always cherish. You’ve got to be blessed to have opportunities like this and I feel like I am.”

Forsman struggled with a painful left hip last year, and had just one top-10 finish. He dropped to 45th on the money list after finishing in the top 10 in his first two seasons on the tour.

“I sat home over the holidays and kept thinking, `What will it take to get through the door,’” he said. “I kept thinking, `I’ve got to do the little things that all add up.’”

Gary Hallberg (68) and Jeff Sluman (71) tied for fifth, four shots behind Forsman.

Mark Calcavecchia, Jay Haas, Brad Bryant and 62-year-old Tom Watson tied for seventh at 10 under. It was Watson’s ninth top-10 finish in 12 starts in the event.

The next Champions Tour event is the Allianz Championship in Boca Raton, Florida, on February 10 to 12 where Tom Lehman is the defending champion.

THE

In blustery conditions Victorian Kym Olsen was the standout with three consecutive sub-par rounds of 71 for a 3-under par total to finish fourteen shots clear of the field.

The others to gain cards were Queensland’s Gary Schofield (227) and John Kirchner (228), and New Zealand’s Davitt Lavery (231).

Lavery had to survive a sudden death play-off against Victoria’s Mick Asami for his place on the tour.

The newcomers are already making their mark on the tour with the three Australians competing in the just completed NSW Legends Championship at the Oatlands Golf Club.

Schofield finished in 13th spot while Olsen was T27 and Kirchner T48.

VICTORIAN

Harwood followed up his first round 3-under 67 with a final round 66 to show a clean pair of heals to second placegetter Gary Merrick.

Heading into the final round Harwood trailed the former Oatlands Head Professional Mike Zilko by one stroke but sealed his second win of the year with a birdie on the 17th hole to move to 7-under.

Merrick was alone in second on 5-under with David Hill third on 4-under, David Saunders fourth on 3-under and defending champion David Merriman sharing fifth on 2-under with Zilko, Peter Fowler, Brett Johnson and Allan Cooper.

The PGA Legends Tour now moves to Tasmania for the 2012 Tasmanian Senior Open Golf Championship to be held at the Kingston Beach Golf Club on January 29 and 30. Peter Fowler is the defending champion.

The Oatlands Golf Club meanwhile will now host the 2012 Bing Lee/Samsung NSW Women’s Open with leading female golfers from Australia and abroad teeing it up in the ALPG Tour sanctioned event.

The Women’s Open is on from January 27 – 29 and will include the likes of Laura Davies, Melissa Reid, teenage golfing sensation Lydia Ko, two time champion Sarah Oh, Katherine Hull, Lindsey Wright, Sarah Kemp, Joanne Mills and Kristie Smith.

World No.1 Yani Tseng headlines the Australian Open field

TOP International golf returns to Royal Melbourne in February with a number of the world’s top women golfers to compete in the LPGA sanctioned 2012 ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open.

Six of the world’s 10 leading players will be competing at the scene of the 2011 Presidents Cup for a record prize pool of US$1.1 million.

World No.1 Yani Tseng leads the pack that includes Norway’s Suzann Pettersen (#2), Korean Jiyai Shin (#7) and Americans Cristie Kerr (#4), Stacy Lewis (#9) and Brittany Lincicome (#10).

Joining them is Australian World Golf Hall of Fame member Karrie Webb and Americans Morgan Pressel, Angela Stanford and new LPGA Tour member Lexi Thompson.

Thompson became the youngest player in history to win an LPGA event at 16 years of age at the Navistar Classic last September. She followed up by becoming the youngest professional to win on the Ladies European Tour at the season ending Dubai Ladies Masters.

Thompson, who has played in Melbourne for the last two years, said she was looking forward to the composite course challenge.

“I am so excited to make my debut as a member of the LPGA at the 2012 ISPS Handa Australian Open.  I watched the Presidents Cup with great interest and can’t wait to play Royal Melbourne.  I truly enjoyed my previous trips to Australia and I am really looking forward to the wonderful fans and amazing hospitality down under,” Thompson said.

2011 US Women’s Open champion So-Yeon Ryu heads an impressive list of Korean players including 2008 and 2009 US Women’s Open champions Inbee Park and Eun-Hee Ji and Hee Young Park who won the LPGA’s season ending CME Group Titleholders in November.

The European charge will be lead by former Open champions Laura Davies and Sophie Gustafson as well as Sandra Gal, Melissa Reid, Anna Nordqvist and Ladies European Tour Player of the Year Caroline Hedwall.

In total, 18 of the 2011 Solheim Cup representatives will be in action in Melbourne.

Australians Katherine Hull, Nikki Campbell, Sarah Kemp, Kristie Smith, Lindsey Wright and Frances Bondad join Webb as the home challengers.

Golf Australia CEO Stephen Pitt said “The world’s eyes will be on Melbourne for this sensational field and with so many outstanding players, it’s hard to know which way to look. We’re excited to welcome the LPGA Tour to Melbourne for the first time and to kick off their global season.”

The event is on from February 9 – 12 with host broadcaster ABC TV covering all four days of the championship.

The 21012 SPS Handa Women’s Australian Open is a fully sanctioned LPGA Tour event and is sanctioned by the ALPG Tour and Ladies European Tour.

Tickets are available from Ticketek

A high quality field of 41 golfers will contest the event on what is the world’s most lucrative over 50’s golf circuit.

The field includes defending champion John Cook, 2011 Charles Schwab Cup winner Tom Lehman, Fred Couples, Corey Pavin , Mark Calcavecchia and nine World Golf Hall of Fame members including Tom Watson, Bernhard Langer, Ben Crenshaw, Hale Irwin, Tom Kite, Larry Nelson, Nick Price, Curtis Strange and Lanny Wadkins.

They will be battling for a US$1.8 million prize purse, with the winner receiving US$307,000 and 307 Charles Schwab Cup points.

2012 Mitsubishi Electric Championship TV Times

The good news is that the event will be broadcast live in Australia on Fox Sports at some very accommodating viewing times.

Round 1, Saturday 10.30am – 1.00pm; Round 2, Sunday 11.30am – 2pm; Final Round, Monday 11.30am to 2pm.

2012 Mitsubishi Electric Championship Live Leaderboard

Mitsubishi Electric Championship Live Leaderboard