Colin Montgomerie gets first win in 19 months

Straffan, Ireland (Sports Network) - After 19 months of waiting, Colin Montgomerie was a champion again.
The eight-time Order of Merit winner shot a five-under 65 Sunday to hold off Niclas Fasth and win the Smurfit Kappa European Open, picking up his 31st European Tour victory and first since December 2005.
After finishing his round, Montgomerie waited out an 80-minute weather delay to see if Fasth could catch him. When Fasth failed to make birdie at the 18th after play resumed, Montgomerie had his win.
He finished at 11-under-par 269.
"After nearly two years of a dry spell it's great to be back," Montgomerie said. "You wonder if it's ever going to happen again."
Fasth shot a three-under 67 and collected his fourth consecutive top-10 finish, a stretch that includes a fourth at the U.S. Open and a win two weeks ago at the BMW International Open.
He ended at 10-under 270.
"It was rather disappointing," Fasth said of his second-place finish. "Considering how I was feeling it was not a bad effort. I just tried to pull through."
Pelle Edberg (66), Peter Hanson (68), Gregory Havret (68) and Anthony Wall (65) shared third place at nine-under 271.
Nearby lightning forced a brief weather delay around 4 p.m. local time, but not before Montgomerie made a 15-foot putt at the 15th hole for the second of back-to-back birdies to tie Fasth for the lead at 11-under.
Fasth then made consecutive bogeys at 12 and 13 to fall back to nine-under, joining four other players who then stood two shots back of Montgomerie.
The Scotsman nearly gave his lead away at the 18th, a converted par three.
Montgomerie hit an errant tee shot at the finishing hole, but got lucky when his ball remained dry inside the hazard line. He chipped within four feet to save par, and headed to the clubhouse leading by two shots.
No one would catch him, although it took a long time to be sure of that.
Fasth birdied the 15th to pull within one, then knocked his tee shot at the par-three 17th to within six feet of the hole. But he pushed that putt right and settled for par, leaving himself with one more hole to tie Montgomerie.
The horns sounded for another weather delay at 5 p.m. local time, leaving Fasth with a almost an hour and a half to think about the 18th hole. When he returned, he knocked his tee ball within 15 feet, but was unable to convert the birdie.
The win was Montgomerie's first since the Hong Kong Open in December 2005 (during the 2006 season) and just his fourth overall in the last five seasons. It broke a tie with Nick Faldo for third place on the European Tour's all-time wins list.
"I had to work for it," Montgomerie said. "I'm now one win above Nick Faldo, someone I have admired for many, many years."
Peter Hedblom shot his fourth consecutive 69 and tied third-round leader Soren Hansen (72), Thomas Levet (67) and Peter O'Malley (69) for seventh place at eight-under 272.

Watson grabs Senior Open lead with 66

Kohler, WI (Sports Network) - Tom Watson, who has won four majors titles on the Champions Tour, fired a six-under 66 Friday to grab a three-stroke lead after two rounds of the U.S. Senior Open.
Watson completed 36 holes at eight-under-par 136.
Ben Crenshaw, who is still searching for his first win since the 1995 Masters, fired a five-under 67 Friday. He moved into a share of second place at five- under-par 139, where he was joined by Des Smyth (69), Lonnie Nielsen (71), Vicente Fernandez (70) and two-time major winner on the Champions Tour Loren Roberts (69).
First-round leader Eduardo Romero faltered to a five-over 77 in round two. He carded two birdies, four bogeys and a triple-bogey in his round that dropped him into a share of 21st at one-under-par 143.
The first and second rounds were both completed on Friday. Round one was halted Thursday by inclement weather.
Watson opened with four straight pars from No. 10 at Whistling Straits. At the short par-four 14th, he dropped his second shot within 12 feet and converted the birdie putt. Watson came right back with a birdie on 15 to move to minus- four.
The nine-time winner on the Champions Tour two-putted for birdie from the fringe of the green at the par-five 16th. Watson made a short birdie putt to get to six-under at 17, but dropped a shot at the 18th when he missed a six- foot par putt.
Around the turn, Watson drained a 20-footer for birdie at the par-five second to grab the lead at six-under. He hit an eight-iron to eight feet at the third to set up another birdie.
Watson ran in a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-five fifth and made it two in a row as he made birdie from just inside seven feet at the sixth to climb to minus-nine.
The 57-year-old Watson found a bunker off the tee at eight and had to pitch out sideways. That led to a two-putt bogey and he went on to par the ninth, his last.
"Obviously, the wind was different today, but it really was not a big factor," said Watson. "I felt for the most part my swing was pretty darn good, but I made some awkward swings out there today to hit some awkward shots and got away with them for the most part."
The changing wind conditions have never bothered Watson before. He has won five British Opens and two Senior British Opens, as well as the 1982 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
"The wind was predicted to come from the northwest, but it actually came from the east and switched around to the southeast as we finished," stated Watson. "So the wind is doing its magic work here at Whistling Straits, you never know where it's coming from. It's playing different than it did in the last two practice rounds and the first round."
Crenshaw opened with a double-bogey on the par-four 10th, but rebounded with four birdies over the next six holes to get to minus-two overall.
Around the turn, Crenshaw dropped in back-to-back birdies putts from the first. He moved into a share of second with a birdie on No. 6.
"I putted very well today," said Crenshaw. "If you hit some good shots and kept the ball in play, you felt like you could do some things."
Smyth carded three bogeys, a birdie and an eagle over his opening nine holes. Around the turn on the front nine, Smyth drained three birdies to get to minus-five.
Nielsen managed two bogeys and three birdies in his round of 71, while Fernandez posted four birdies and a double-bogey.
Roberts, who finished second to Jay Haas in the money race and the Charles Schwab Cup last year, carded a bogey-free 69 with three birdies and 15 pars.
"If you're driving the ball in the fairway, the greens obviously are holding," Roberts said. "You can hit some good shots. I had a lot of birdie chances today and was able to convert three of them, and had no bogeys."
Tom Purtzer posted a five-under 67 to move into a share of seventh place at four-under-par 140. He stands alongside Jim Woodward, Ron Vlosich, Jeff Coston and D.A. Weibring. Bruce Vaughan, Keith Fergus and Joe Ozaki are one stroke further back at minus-three.
The cut line fell at four-over-par 148 with 62 players moving on to the weekend. Among those who missed the cut were Champions Tour all-time wins leader Hale Irwin (149), Morris Hatalsky (151), Bruce Summerhays (153) and Allen Doyle (155). Doyle had won this title the last two years.
"I had a bad round (Thursday). You hope it doesn't happen, but it did," Doyle admitted. "I had high hopes, so I'll go home a little disappointed, but that is the way it is. I went home the last two years very happy."

Gardiner moves in front at Legend Financial

Highland Heights, OH (Sports Network) - Australia's Scott Gardiner posted his second consecutive round of five-under 66 on Friday to move to the top of the leaderboard at the Legend Financial Group Classic.
Gardiner stands at 10-under-par 132 at StoneWater and is one clear of both Keith Nolan (65) and James Driscoll (68).
Kris Cox (65), Jason Day (66), Joe Daley (67), Jeff Klauk (66) and Hunter Haas (67) are knotted in third place at eight-under-par 134.
Gardiner began on the back nine Friday and collected his first birdie at the par-five 13th when his 20-footer found the bottom of the cup. He hit a six- iron to 15 feet to set up birdie at the 15th.
The Australian missed a 14-footer to save par at the par-three 17th, but atoned for the error one hole later when he tapped in for birdie at the par- five closing hole.
Gardiner collected his first birdie of the second nine at the par-five fourth. At the par-three sixth, Gardiner hit an eight-iron to three feet and holed that birdie effort.
His final birdie came at the 390-yard, par-four eighth. Gardiner hit a lob- wedge to two feet and kicked in the birdie putt for the halfway lead.
"Just had a great day," said Gardiner, who has a pair of top-five finishes in his last two starts. "I couldn't have a better day. Not much wind out there. Any mistakes were all your own fault."
Josh Williams and Ryan Hietala each fired rounds of seven-under 64 on Friday. They are tied for ninth place with Brock Mackenzie (67) and David McKenzie (69) at seven-under-par 135.
Roland Thatcher, the first-round leader and winner last week in New York, only managed an even-par 71 and is now part of a group tied for 14th place at minus-six.
The 36-hole cut fell at two-under-par 140 and the Nationwide Tour's leading money winner Paul Claxton missed the weekend with a two-round score of even- par 142.

Choi and Appleby lead AT andT; Woods lurking

Bethesda, MD (Sports Network) - K.J. Choi and Stuart Appleby both posted rounds of three-under 67 on Friday to share the second-round lead of the AT&T National.
The pair, both of whom were among a large group of first-round leaders, finished 36 holes at seven-under-par 133 and are three ahead at Congressional Country Club.
Craig Kanada hit every fairway and green on Friday and shot a three-under 67, He is tied for third place with Robert Garrigus (67) and Billy Andrade (68) at minus-four.
Tournament host and new father Tiger Woods got himself back into contention on Friday. He carded a four-under 66 and is part of a group tied for 12th place at one-under-par 139.
Woods began on the back nine at Congressional on Friday and birdied the par- four 12th from 22 feet. He bogeyed the 15th hole, but responded with an eight- foot birdie putt at No. 16.

On his second nine, Woods flew out with a 10-footer for birdie at No. 1. He made a mess of the sixth, but closed with three consecutive birdies, all from longer than six feet.

Woods' putter worked much better on Friday after he applied lead tape to combat the slowness of Congressional's greens.

"I hit it about as good as I did yesterday. Only difference is I made a few more putts," said Woods, who took nine fewer putts on Friday. "I feel like I at least gave myself a chance where if I play two good rounds, I have a chance of winning the tournament, instead of having to play one great round or even two great rounds to get myself into that same position."

One player who will not have a chance to get into contention on the weekend is Phil Mickelson, who also played for the first time since the U.S. Open.

His round came apart thanks to a double-bogey at the 16th hole that featured two drops and an errant shot that came very close to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Mickelson also double-bogeyed the last when he found water. He finished with a second-round, three-over 73 that gave him a plus-seven total, three shots from the 36-hole cut mark.

"Coming down the stretch, I made a few mistakes that were unfortunate," said Mickelson.

Choi kick-started his round with a short birdie putt at the first, then rattled off back-to-back birdies at four and five, with the birdie at five coming from close to 40 feet.

Choi rolled in a three-footer for birdie at the par-five ninth, but at the par-three 10th, he hit a rescue club over the green and could not get up and down for par.

At the par-five 16th, Choi two-putted from a long distance for a birdie, but once again had trouble following a birdie. The wind pushed his drive at 17 and resulted in another bogey, but Choi is in position for a first-ever sweep of tournaments related to great players.

He captured Jack Nicklaus' Memorial tournament earlier this season and since this is the first edition of Woods' elite-fielded event, Choi could be the first to win both in the same year.

Choi's not ready to think about that.

"I don't want to talk about that, it's too early to say whether I'm going to win or not," said Choi. "Jack's tournament was very meaningful, but this one is going to be very meaningful, too. I just think it's very important for me to stay focused, try my best, hole-by-hole, day-by-day and not to get too ahead of myself."

Appleby first broke into red figures on Friday at the fourth hole when he sank a 20-footer for birdie. He collected two birdies in a row at seven and eight, but bogeyed No. 9.

His final birdie of the round came at the par-five 16th. The Australian ran home a six-footer to join Choi in the lead.

"It's a long way to go, a long way to go," said Appleby, echoing the sentiments of his fellow co-leader. "There's really some good finishing holes so you don't even contemplate anything until you putt out and see where the cards lay."

Vijay Singh, one of the first-round co-leaders, only managed a one-over 71 and is tied for sixth place with Fredrik Jacobson (69) and Steve Stricker (70). The trio is knotted at three-under-par 137.

Jesper Parnevik (68), Justin Rose (69) and Mike Weir (66) share ninth place at minus-two.

Jim Furyk, the fourth overnight leader, struggled to a four-over 74 and is tied for 18th place at even-par 140. Joe Ogilvie, the final first-round leader, shot a 77 and is tied for 48th at plus-three.

Mickelson was not the only high-profile player to miss the weekend. Davis Love III (148), Adam Scott (148) and Charles Howell III (150) all failed to make the cut.

Edberg shoots 65 to lead European Open

Straffan, Ireland (Sports Network) - Bolstered by a pair of 60-foot birdie putts and recognizable only by the red bandana he wore on his head, unheralded Swede Pelle Edberg fired a five-under 65 on Friday to take the lead midway through the Smurfit Kappa European Open.
The 28-year-old Q-school graduate posted six birdies and just one bogey on the shortened K Club course to finish two rounds at eight-under 132, one shot better than Colin Montgomerie and Niclas Fasth.
It was the first time he held a 36-hole lead on the European Tour.
"I thought I was going to be more nervous when I played today, seeing my name popping up the leaderboard, but I stayed pretty calm," said Edberg. "Obviously, if there's going to be a crowd out there tomorrow, I may get nervous. I'm not used to that kind of situation."
The two players behind him are.
Montgomerie, the eight-time Order of Merit winner, posted seven birdies and a bogey Friday to shoot a six-under 64. Fasth, a winner two weeks ago at the BMW International Open, had four birdies and two bogeys for a 68.
They shared second place at seven-under 133.
David Frost (66) and Simon Khan (67) were another shot further back at six- under 134, while four more players shared sixth place at five-under 135.
Irishman Padraig Harrington (minus-one) and U.S. Open winner Angel Cabrera (even-par) safely made the cut, but remained non-factors. The cut fell at one- over par, with players like Paul McGinley and Ian Woosnam missing the weekend.
Meanwhile, the man at the top found himself in a new position.
"If the guys told me beforehand that I could have a top-10 (finish), I would have taken it," said Edberg, who owns just one career top-10 finish on the European Tour. "Now, I am not so sure. Top 10 is always a good result and a good position, but I'm going to do everything I can to be up on the board on the weekend."
Edberg made two 60-foot birdie putts in his second round: at No. 2 and No. 8, both par threes. His only bogey Friday -- and just his second birdie in two days -- came at the par-four fourth.
He admitted to enjoying the challenge of a shortened course this week, a reality forced upon the players and tournament organizers by heavy downpours that occurred ahead of the tournament and into the first two rounds.
The 18th hole was converted from a par five to a par three, lowering the course's overall par from 72 to 70.
"Obviously the course has been shortened because of the rain, but I like having to shape the ball," said Edberg, "and I've needed to do that."
Now, he needs to shape two more good rounds.

Lafeber's 64 leads wet European Open

Straffan, Ireland (Sports Network) - Maarten Lafeber fired a six-under 64 on Thursday to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the Smurfit Kappa European Open.
Niclas Fasth, Gregory Havret, Jyoti Randhawa and Robert Rock shared second place at five-under 65.
Defending champion Stephen Dodd was at 66 alongside Soren Kjeldsen and Patrik Sjoland. Eight players were tied one shot further back at 67, and there were 49 players who broke par overall.
The low scores at the K Club were a result of more than just good play.
The weather forecast called for 40 mph winds and a driving rain, but the conditions were more benign than that. When it did rain, umbrellas were a common sight.
Prior downpours left the course soaked, and tees on seven holes were moved forward to negate the flooding that had occurred in the landing areas.
The 18th hole was converted from a par-five to a par-three, lowering the course's overall par from 72 to 70.
Which is how Lafeber, a 10-year pro with one career win, ended up with a 64 -- even after taking a couple of days off following a 36-hole British Open qualifier on Monday.
That meant skipping a practice round.
"I thought: refresh the mind, go home for a day and a half and come back on Wednesday afternoon," said Lafeber, who failed to qualify at Sunningdale. "I know the golf course well and my caddie came out and did some good preparation."
That preparation paid dividends quickly when the Dutchman rolled in six-foot putt at his first hole, the par-five 10th. The last birdie in his bogey-free round came when he chipped in at the par-three eighth.
Players praised the condition of the course.
"The greens are fantastic," said Fasth, who also played without a bogey. "You almost can't tell it's been raining, which is a huge testament to the people here setting it all up for us. It's fantastic."
The recent weather also had little effect on the gallery size, which reached nearly 23,000 spectators. Many of them followed Irishman Padraig Harrington, who won the Irish Open earlier this season.
Harrington disappointed, but remained in the mix with a one-over 71. U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera also shot a 71 in his first start on the European Tour since holding off Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk at Oakmont last month.

Twenty-eight players qualify for British Open

Bloomfield Hills, MI (Sports Network) - Michael Putnam won a British Open qualifier at Oakland Hills on Monday, shooting rounds of 69 and 67 to lead a group of 12 players who earned exemptions to Carnoustie in two weeks.
Putnam won the qualifier with a four-under 136 total, beating John Senden and Ryan Moore by two shots.
In England, Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell posted rounds of 67 and 64 to lead a qualifier at Sunningdale, where 16 players earned berths in the Open.
"I certainly did not want to be sitting at home while The Open is going on," said McDowell, who finished at nine-under 131.
Charley Hoffman, Matt Kuchar, Anders Hultman and Brian Davis shared fourth place at Oakland Hills, coming in at one-under 139. Jerry Kelly and Sean O'Hair qualified another shot further back at 140.
Duffy Waldorf, Mark Hensby and Spencer Levin escaped a six-way playoff for the final three spots. Kevin Streelman, Robert Oppenheim and Steve Allan were the other three players at one-over 141.
The 15 players who qualified behind McDowell at Sunningdale were Peter Hanson, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Nick Dougherty, Ross Fisher, Alastair Forsyth, Gregory Bourdy, Oliver Wilson, Benn Barham, Fredrik Andersson, Mattias Eliasson, Francesco Molinari, David Frost, Mark Foster, Jose-Filipe Lima and Peter Baker.
Last year's European Ryder Cup captain, Ian Woosnam, was among the players who did not qualify at Sunningdale.
Camilo Villegas, Rocco Mediate, Jesper Parnevik and Steve Elkington highlighted the names of players who failed to qualify at Oakland Hills.
Thirteen more players earned spots in qualifiers held in South Africa, Singapore and Australia earlier this year.

Kerr to No. 4 in world rankings

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Cristie Kerr won her first major championship Sunday at the U.S. Women's Open and moved up one place to No. 4 in the latest Rolex Rankings for women's golf.Above her, Lorena Ochoa strengthened her hold on the No. 1 ranking with a runner-up finish to Kerr. She now leads No. 2 Karrie Webb by 4.61 average points, up from 3.58 points last week.Annika Sorenstam finished poorly in the U.S. Women's Open, but still gained ground on Webb for the No. 2 spot after Webb missed the cut.Kerr's moved to No. 4 dropped McDonald's LPGA champion Suzann Pettersen to No. 5, where she was followed by Morgan Pressel, Paula Creamer, Se-Ri Pak, Juli Inkster and Mi Hyun Kim to round out the top 10.Ji-Yai Shin, Ai Miyazato, Brittany Lincicome, Jeong Jang, Shiho Oyama, Jee Young Lee, Stacy Prammanasudh, Mi-Joong Jeon, Yuri Fudoh and Pat Hurst completed the top 20. Golf Women Ranking