FRED COUPLES has confirmed as a starter for the 2010 Australian Open to be played at The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney.

The popular American will add a huge amount of interest to the tournament and will join John Daly, Greg Norman, Geoff Ogilvy and defending champion Adam Scott in what is shaping as a stellar field.

Let’s hope the 50 year old actually makes it this year after pulling out last year because of a back problem.

Couples is currently enjoying an outstanding maiden season on the US Champions Tour and will help draw the crowds when the championship tees-off at The Lakes from December 2 to 5.

The former US Masters champion will be vying for prize money totalling $1.5 million and for the second successive season the open will be the penultimate leg on the new OneAsia Tour.

Announcing the signing today, NSW Minister for Major Events Kevin Greene said Sydney is synonymous with the Australian Open, a flagship event of our great sporting nation, first played in Sydney in 1904.

“To have one of golf’s most respected players Fred Couples playing this year is an honour for Sydney and this historic tournament.

“Together with Golf Australia we have a vision to transform the Australian Open into the pre-eminent golf tournament on OneAsia ,” Minister Greene said.

Said Couples: “I am very much looking forward to playing in the Australian Open in particular The Lakes Golf Club. I have not been to Sydney for some time and look forward to visiting this magnificent city once again.”

Known the world over as “Boom boom” because of the huge drives he hits with his effortless and much admired swing, Couples will be competing against his 2009 Presidents Cup captain rival – Greg Norman.

Tickets for the Australian Open go on sale from today and can be purchased through Ticketek by phoning 13 28 49.

GREG NORMAN will be back in action this week after more than 12 months away from tournament golf because of a shoulder injury.

The 55 year old Australian golfing legend will play in the 2010 European Masters in Switzerland at the stunning Crans-Sur-Sierre course in the Swiss Alps.

Norman hasn’t played tournament golf since undergoing shoulder surgery last year and his slower than expected recovery forced him to ditch plans to make his comeback at the 2010 British Open.

The Shark last played in the European Masters five years ago.

He finished third at the Swiss Open, the predecessor to the Omega European Masters, in 1980.

Norman has been readying himself for the comeback with some lengthy practice sessions around his home on Jupiter Island, Florida, and last week played a practice round with the latest teenage US golfing sensation, 15 year old Alexis Thompson.

Other Australasians in the field include Brett Rumford, Michael Campbell, Peter O’Malley, Marcus Fraser, Andrew Dodt, Scott Strange, Danny Lee, Marcus Both, Rick Kulacz, Darren Beck, David Gleeson, Scott Hend and Adam Blyth.

British Open winner Louis Oosthuizen, recent tour winner Edoardo Molinari and Miguel Angel Jimenez are among those jockeying for the title.

Australian golf television coverage of the event begins on Fox Sports Thursday 11.30pm.

GERMANY‘S Martin Kaymer has snatched the 2010 US PGA Championship in a dramatic final round play-off after a heart breaking final hole penalty ruled Dustin Johnson out of contention.

Kaymer defeated American Bubba Watson in the playoff after a dumbfounded Johnson was penalised for what no one at the time –apart from some eagle eyed video rules officials - realised was an operational bunker.

Johnson thought he was putting for his first outright Major win on the 18th but when he missed still thought he was in a three way playoff.

It was perhaps a blessing his putt missed as moments later rules officials approached him and queried whether he had grounded his club.

It would have torn the heart out of young player still getting over his final round meltdown at the US Open.

Johnson had hit his tee shot into the crowd, coming to rest in a trampled area that was barely recognisable as a bunker. Tournament officials had given notice to players that such areas were still operation bunkers.

“I don’t know if I can describe it,” Johnson said shortly afterwards. “You know, walking up there, seeing the shot, it never once crossed my mind that I was in a sand trap. I guess it’s very unfortunate. I guess the only worse thing that could have happened is if I made that putt on the last hole. I never once thought that I was in a sand trap.”

It had already been a topsy turvy final day with as many as 10 players still in contention with just nine holes to play.

One of them was 47 year old Aussie Steve Elkington who gave the tournament a big shake and was joint leader on 11 under after the 16th.

His three iron on the par three 17th glided past the flag and just plopped over the edge of a steep embankment at the back of the green. He made bogey and 18 was no place to hope for a birdie recovery.

The 1995 champion was left rueing the lost opportunity, starting with a missed four metre eagle putt on the 16th that would have given him the outright lead.

“I hit a real good putt that looked like it went through the hole. That was agony, to be honest with you painful, ” Elkington said.  

Jason Day also threatened and was just one shot off the lead on the front nine before fading to a two-over round of 74 to finish at seven-under, four behind the leaders and two behind Elkington.

Overnight leader Nick Watney tightened up in the final round as he made double bogey on the par-four first hole and had a bogey on the fourth.  Things only got worse.

Phil Mickelson had the best early round of the day, carding a five-under 67 but in the end it was not enough to unseat Tiger Woods from the World No 1 spot. Woods finished at T28 on 2 under.

2010 US PGA Championship Final Round Leaderboard.

JASON DAY is just one off the pace after a fog interrupted first round of the 92nd US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits on Lake Michigan.

The young Aussie star shot a three under par 69 to trail joint leaders Bubba Watson and Francesco Molinari in the final major for 2010.

Day, who continues to battle a chronic sinus infection, had to sit around for three hours after his scheduled 7am tee time was delayed and many of the afternoon starters will have to complete their rounds tomorrow morning.
“I felt like my game’s been pretty strong,” the 22 year old said.
“It’s been moving in the right direction, but the biggest problem with me has always been my health.
“I felt awful the last two days last week in Akron and was a little light-headed today. I ate six or seven (energy) bars and drank about 10 bottles of water.
Australia’s three young guns all played well, with Michael Sim finishing with a 70 and Marc Leishman 71.

Veteran Steve Elkington also managed a 71, while Stuart Appleby looked set for another special round when he birdied his first three holes. He didn’t maintain the momentum and slipped to 72.

Geoff Ogilvy struggled to a 74 while Adam Scott was on even after 13 holes when play was suspended due to failing light.

Tiger Woods had something of resurgence after his shocker last week and ended a career-worst streak of seven consecutive rounds without breaking par by posting 71.

Woods rolled in three birdie putts in his first four holes but had to wait till the 18th for a fourth.

“To shoot something under par, that was the goal today,” Woods said.
“I got off to a quick start and all of a sudden I felt like I could shoot something in the 60s.”

2010 US PGA Championship Live Leaderboard

HUNTER Mahan has taken out the $A9.28 World Golf Championships  – Bridgestone Invitational with Adam Scott equal ninth and World No 1 Tiger Woods next to last.

Mahan was sinking 20 footers with ease whilst Woods couldn’t take a trick, finishing 30 strokes behind the leader and producing the worst performance of his professional career.

Mahan carded a bogey-free final round 64 to finish at 12-under 268, two strokes ahead of fellow American Ryan Palmer.

Woods had a final round 77 but amazingly retained his number one spot with the crown contender Phil Mickelson finishing with a 78.

All Mickelson had to do was finish fourth or better and he seemed well on track in the first three rounds but his tactic of spraying his tee shots all over Ohio just seemed to run out of puff on a course when trees come into play often even when you are on the fairway.

Woods said he would play this week in the US PGA Championship - the year’s final major –  but the continuing saga of his private life is obviously sucking his energy and once again proving just how much mental aspects affect on course golfing performance.

“It’s been a long year,” Woods kept repeating.

An eagle on the par four sixth helped Adam Scott to a final round 67 to put him on five under at 275.

His new cross handed putting method continues to bear dividends but if you don’t have to putt at all, alls the better.

It was a really nice shot, straight at it, pitched short right on line and went in,” he said of holing a 165 metre six iron on the sixth.

“It’s amazing I’ve holed so many (iron) shots this year, probably over 10.  I don’t know what it is but it would be nice to hole a couple next week.”

Jason Day (71), who is in doubt for the PGA Championship with a sinus infection, and Geoff Ogilvy (73) tied for 22nd on one-under, whilst Marcus Fraser was six-over and Stuart Appleby seven-over.

Sim third in Turning Stone, Bowdidith fourth in Wichita

Tour rookie Michael Sim fired a bogey free final-round 66 to claim a share of third place at the US PGA Turning Stone Championship today.

After missing the cut in four of his last five events, Sim finished two shots behind American winner Bill Lunde to rediscover the form that saw him finish tied second at the Farmers Insurance Open in January.

Popular Aussie Steven Bowditch has been regaining form of late on the Nationwide Tour and was in contention before finishing T4 at the Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open.

Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas recorded his first win on the tour one shot ahead of American Roberto Castro, and three ahead of Bowditch.

Gavin Coles and Adam Bland were the only other Australians to make the cut, the pair finishing in 37th position.

AUSSIE golfer Adam Scott is sitting nicely sharing second place just two strokes behind leader Bubba Watson after the first round of the $A9.3 million World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational.

With his notoriously scratchy putting for once holding firm, Scott hit a four under par 66 in ideal conditions at Firestone to be tied for second with Phil Mickelson, Kenny Perry and Northern Ireland’s US Open winner Graeme McDowell.

The big Queenslander was 4 under after 10 holes and parred the remaining holes.

“I’m really pleased with today, no bogeys, because it’s certainly been a while for me since I had a round like that,” Scott said.

The reigning Australian Open champion switched to the cross-handed putting method the week after the US Open in June and managed to avoid any nasty three putts in Ohio.

“I’ve really struggled confidence-wise with the putting but the little bit of work I’ve done since the (British) Open has paid off I think,” he said.

Whilst Mickelson was one off the top of the leaderboard current World No I Tiger Woods was at the other end after a shocker – a 74, his highest score at Firestone in 45 rounds.

With Woods at T70 it could be Mickelson’s best chance yet to take the World Number 1 ranking.

“The only thing I did good is I kept my patience, grinded all day and that was the best I could have done,” Woods, who has won seven times at Firestone, said

“It’s frustrating, because I warmed up well, my practice sessions at home were good and today was not indicative of how I’ve been playing.”

Jason Day was next best placed Australian with a one under 69, whilst Geoff Ogilvy, who can’t seem to take a trick, hit a 71, Marcus Fraser had a 72 and Stuart Appleby languished on 74 – bitten by the Golfing gods after his historic final round 59 at last week’s Greenbrier Classic.

Ogilvy was looking at his score card and wondering why the numbers weren’t better.

“Most parts of my game seem pretty good but I don’t seem to have very good scores,” he said. “It seems (my game) is better than my scores but you don’t want to hear that.”

Robert Allenby missed the tournament due to a fishing accident in the Bahamas. I wish I could say that.

The event is being telecast free to air on Ten’s ONE HD

Live Leaderboard

BERNHARD LANGER has taken his second straight Champions Tour Major with a resounding victory in the 2010 U.S. Senior Open at the Sahalee Country Club in Washington.

The German shot a bogey-free 3-under 67 on Sunday to back up his win at the British Senior Open last week.

Australia’s Peter Senior also put in an heroic back to back effort, coming home tied for 6th place after his 3rd placing at Carnoustie.

Emulating a double senior Major victory by Tom Watson in 2003, Langer not only had to battle the tough, tree lined Sahalee course, but also a partisan crowd that was rooting hard for hometown hero Fred Couples as they faced off over the final round.

Finishing at 8 under for the tournament, Langer fought off jet lag and had to tune out crowded galleries hoping Couples could pull out victory just 20 miles east of where he grew up.

“It’s never much fun, but I’ve had it before. When you play in the same group with Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer or any of the big names in America, certainly the Ryder Cups, I’ve played 10 Ryder Cups, five on American soil, you get a lot more of this,” Langer said. “So I knew what was coming, which doesn’t make it any easier.”

While Langer could take extra satisfaction in overcoming the towering trees of Sahalee and the partisan crowd, Couples – who sat out the British Major tour leg – was again left disappointed after vying for a major championship at home.

At the 1998 PGA Championship at Sahalee, Couples stumbled through the first round and finished tied for 13th.

This time, he put himself in prime position for his first major title on the Champions Tour taking the lead with a birdie on the first hole of the final round.

But then he had a disaster triple bogey on the par 5 second, one of the easiest holes all week.

“When I birdied the first hole, that was what I thought I needed to get going,” Couples said. “And then about 12 minutes later I was looking for a hole to crawl in.”

Playing immaculate golf, Langer went without a bogey in 44 of his final 45 holes.

“I never had the tee,” Couples said. “He was up first all day. He hit it down the middle of every fairway. As I told him, he played eight great rounds to play the British Seniors and this without really a poor round of golf, which is tough to do.”

Senior shot a two under par 68 on Saturday and his final round 71 saw him finish one stroke behind Watson, alone at 5th place on I over for the tournament.

AUSTRALIAN golfer Stuart Appleby has become only the fifth person in US PGA Tour history to shoot a 59.

Appleby came out firing on the final day of the Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia shooting 11 under to take his ninth US PGA Tour career title by one stroke.

The Victorian shot nine birdies and one eagle to become the first non American to achieve the feat on the tour.

The others to join the 59 club were Al Geiberger in 1977, Chip Beck in 1991, David Duval in 1999 and Paul Goydos just three weeks ago at the John Deere Classic.

Appleby has been struggling somewhat in the past couple of years and had not broken 65 since 2006 in a tour event, a span of some 358 rounds.

His 59 saw him jump seven spots on the leaderboard, taking the title with a 72 hole 22-under 258 total for a one-stroke victory over American Jeff Overton.

“I had been playing well for a while but nothing to indicate ‘Draino, Draino (draining so many putts),”‘ Appleby said.

“Nice to get on that horse. I’m going to ride it as long as I can.”

A regular on the US PGA Tour since 1996, the man from Cohuna in Victoria has now claimed a total of nine US PGA Tour wins, the latest coming 13 years after his maiden victory back in 1997.

His previous career low round was 62, which he shot at the 2003 Las Vegas Invitational.

The win today not only gave Appleby, currently languishing at 159th in the world, the winner’s cheque of US$1,080,000 (AUD$1,192,987.90.) but also booked him a spot in next week’s World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational at Akron, Ohio.

PETER SENIOR has arrived at the scene of the 2010 US Senior Open Championship brimming with confidence following his third placing at the Senior British Open.

The veteran Aussie golfer believes the tight, tree lined Sahalee Country Club course in Seattle, Washington, will suit his game.

The tournament gets underway Friday AEST with Fox Sports coverage beginning from 7am to 11am.

‘It’s not often you get to play in three consecutive Major Championships so putting the fatigue aside I’m excited to be here after flying in from the UK last night,” Senior said in his player blog this week.

“My game has been pretty consistent all year and I am finally starting to believe I can compete with these guys.”

“Tee to green has been solid but my putting has let me down at various times. Although on Sunday I putted super at Carnoustie and hope this might be the start to some good scoring.”

“The course this week is heavily tree lined and very narrow. The shorter hitters will have a big advantage. I think the course will suit me as I’m driving the ball well, but as we all know this game is full of surprises.”

Senior will be facing stiff competition in his bid for his first US senior tour win – beginning with British Senior Open Champion Bernhard Langer.

Langer, winner on ten occasions on the Champions Tour since turning 50, will be out to become the first player to win consecutive senior majors since Tom Watson in 2003.

“It won’t be easy to win back-to-back senior majors but I will give it my best shot,” the 52 year-old German, who has finished T6 and T22 in his last attempts at the title, said.

“Obviously I will take some good confidence and form over there but it’s going to be a tough golf course so we’ll have to see.”

Defending champion is American Fred Funk who was the runaway winner 12 months ago at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Indiana. Funk fired a closing round 65 to win the US Senior Open by six shots from Joey Sindelar.

Another clear threat is the US Champions Tour rookie standout Fred Couples.

Couples has had three victories on the tour this year and last week chose to rest up his golfing loafers – and his back – and sat out the Senior British Open.

“It’s a tough course,” Couples said this week. “For four days to play a course like this and do well is going to take a lot from the best players, and that will be the guy who wins, for sure.”

Other contenders include the likes of Tom Lehman, Corey Pavin, Mark Calcavecchia, Loren Roberts, Larry Mize, Tom Kite, Mark O’Meara, Tom Watson, Ben Crenshaw and David Frost.

The only one other Australian in the field is 1997 champion Graham Marsh.

Australian Fox Sports Coverage is from 7am to 11am (AEST) for the first two rounds Friday and Saturday, 6am to 9am for the final rounds Sunday Monday.

Live Leaderboard

ENTRIES for two of Australia’s top senior amateur golf tournaments are now open - the 2010 Australian Women’s Senior Championship and the 2010 Australian Men’s Senior Match Championships.

The two tournaments will take place at separate venues from 25-29 October.
The Australian Women’s Senior Amateur will be played at the Commonwealth Golf Club on Melbourne’s sand-belt, the venue of the 2010 and 2011 Handa Women’s Australian Open.

The Championship will be played over 36-holes qualifying, followed by elimination match play.

The leading 16 players qualify for the major championship, in addition to four age match play divisions – a new Division for those players aged 70 years and over has been included in 2010.

To keep things interesting, there will also be a Handicap Competition held in conjunction with the first two rounds of qualifying.

The Interstate Stroke Teams Event will again be played in conjunction, with three players representing their state or territory in the aggregate scratch competition.

Defending champion and six time winner Sylvia Donohoe will be a hot favourite again but can expect but can expect a tough battle from a number of others including 2009 runner up, Lynne Townsend.

The Australian Men’s Senior Match Play Championship is in its fourth year, and will again be held at Thirteenth Beach Golf Links on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula.

The leading 32 entries from the 2010 Australian Men’s Senior Ranking System, plus the top eight players in the 65 years and over section, will contest match play over five days.

Defending Champion and current Australian Senior Amateur Champion, Stefan Albinski will again be hard to beat but has shown there are some chinks in is armour in recent times.

See the Golf Australia website for more competitor information. Women’s. Men’s.