TOUR CARDS ON OFFER AT PENINSULA

The Final Stage of Qualifying School for the PGA Tour of Australasia will be contested this week at the Peninsula Country Golf Club.

53 players who survived first stage qualifying will be joined by those already exempt into the final stage on the North Course at the Peninsula Country Golf Club when play gets underway at 7am tomorrow.

In total 82 players will tee it up this week, some looking to turn Professional, some to regain their Tour card and some to improve their status.

The winner of Qualifying School receives exemption category 8 (a). This is the equivalent of winning a State Based Championship however only entitles the Professional to this category for the 2014 season rather than the following two seasons.

Those players who finish from positions 2 – 25 on the Q-School leaderboard will receive category 11 while those who finish from 26 – 50 will receive category 14.

Players who finish outside the top-50, who do not already have a category, will not have status on the PGA Tour of Australasia in 2014.

Some notables in the field include:

Kim Felton: It was a mixed year for Felton on Tour in 2013. He played 12 events, making five cuts with a T4 at the John Hughes Nexus Risk Service WA Open the highlight of his season. This wasn’t enough to see him retain his card so he is at Qualifying School to ensure his status for 2014.

Brady Watt: After a successful amateur career which included a stint as the number 1 amateur in the world Watt has turned Professional. Having already competed on Tour as an amateur, highlighted by his runner-up finish at the WA Open in 2012, Watt still needs to attend Qualifying School to ensure he has status on Tour in 2014.

Matthew Guyatt: In 2013 Guyatt played 10 tournaments on Tour highlighted by a T11 finish at the John Hughes Nexus Risk Services WA Open. He finished 68th on the Order of Merit which gives him status on Tour for 2014. Currently in category 12, Guyatt is aiming to improve this with a top-20 finish at Qualifying School. Last week Guyatt secured a card for the Japan Golf Tour which will alleviate some of the pressure this week.

Cameron Smith: Smith turned Professional mid way through the year and competed in four tournaments on Tour courtesy of sponsor invites. Making two cuts and finishing T13 at the Isuzu Queensland Open, his first tournament as a Professional was a solid effort, however failed to earn him enough money on the Order of Merit for status on Tour in 2014.

Tim Hart: Fresh from winning the First Stage of Qualifying School at the Peninsula Country Golf Club last week Hart will be looking to continue his form to earn status on Tour next year. In 2013 Hart completed the first year of his PGA Traineeship at Gainsborough Greens Golf Course and won the PGA National Futures Championship, one of the Traineeship’s most prestigious titles. This week he is looking to gain status on the Tour for the first time.

The Final Stage of Qualifying School will tee off at 7am tomorrow at the Peninsula Country Golf Club with four rounds to be played.

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Hanzel wins senior title at Dixie Amateur

Doug Hanzel won the senior-division title of the 83rd Dixie Amateur at Heron Bay Golf Club in Coral Springs, Fla., posting a 5-under 211 total. Finishing in second was his longtime friend, Jack Hall, who posted a three-day total of 213.

Hanzel, who is a critical care Pulmonology specialist from Savannah, Ga., is the 2013 U.S. Senior Amateur champion.

“Practice golf or practice medicine,” said Hanzel with a laugh after becoming the low amateur at the 2013 U.S. Senior Open. “I’d like to play more golf but I have a full time job.”

Hanzel, who held the lead after each round of the 54-hole tournament, closed with a 1-under 71 in windy conditions at Heron Bay. Hall, his closed pursuer, finished with a final-round 73.

Brady Exber of Las Vegas, the defending champion, finished in solo third after posting a final-round 71 for a 216 total.

“It was a little windy today,” said Hanzel. “We had a lot of cross winds which made it difficult to judge the distance. The breeze was strong enough to keep the hole location flags fully extended during most of the day."

Hanzel and Hall, who have competed against each other numerous times, usually have a lot of good-natured conversation on the course. But, on the 17th hole, things turned a little more serious.

Hall struck his approach shot to within 3 feet keeping pressure on Hanzel who had maintained a 2-shot lead most of the day. Hanzel answered with an approach shot to within 18 inches giving his friend a “take that” as both went on to make birdie. After hitting the green in regulation on No. 18, the two putt par gave Hanzel his two-stroke victory.

In the super senior division, Bill Dorece, of Pompano Beach, Fla., shot a low round of the day, 69, for a three-day total of 216 to defeat New York resident Steve Rose, who posted a three round total of 217.

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Rose, Scott, Woods and Mickelson may miss World Match Play

Justin Rose has revealed that he may skip the World Match Play Champion-ship in February, adding to the threatened exile of the top players from the World Golf Championship event.

Tim Finchem, the commissioner of the PGA Tour, will be alarmed to hear that Rose is considering opting out of the knockout tournament in February, which is supposed to feature the top 64 players in the world.

Phil Mickelson is another doubt, as is the world No.2 Adam Scott. And seeing as Tiger Woods's girlfriend, Lyndsey Vonn, is that week scheduled to compete for skiing gold in the -Winter Olympics, the world's premier matchplay event could be missing four of the game's top five players. That would be a devastating blow for the World Match Play, which is probably taking place for the last time in Tucson in February.

"I'm thinking about having a month off around the February time," Rose told the Telegraph. "It's been such a busy year and I think I probably need to recharge the batteries around then."

Rose, who is due to play his first event of the year in Abu Dhabi in the third week of January, will consult about his schedule with his manager, Mark Steinberg, having finished his 2013 campaign at the Thailand Golf Championship on Sunday. The Englishman, who won the US Open in June, came fourth behind Sergio Garcia at Amata Springs Country Club, just outside Bangkok.

After a year to forget, it was a day to remember for Garcia. The Spaniard had been winless all season, but his trophy-less form on the fairways was the last of his problems. In May, Garcia made a racist slur against Woods at the European Tour's annual awards dinner and, after a fine run before, made just one top 10 in his next six appearances.

Garcia has been showing good form of late, however, following up his runner-up placing at the Nedbank Championship in Sun City last week with his first victory since the Johor Open last December. With not only Rose in behind him, but also Henrik Stenson - who won the European Tour's Race To Dubai as well as the FedEx Cup, the US Tour equivalent - this was a notable success.

The 33 year-old, who had his girlfriend Katharina Boehm on the bag, conjured six birdies and two bogeys in a final-day 68 for a 22-under total, which was four too good for Stenson.

"It's feels amazing," Garcia said. "Henrik was pushing hard on that front nine - I'm just really happy to come through. I want to dedicate this win to my mum who had minor -surgery early last week and is now recovering nicely and to my girlfriend who was with me throughout."

The Frenchman Alexander Levy shot a 69 to finish a further four shots back in third place, while the defending champion, Charl Schwartzel, was tied for fourth with Japan's Yuki Kono, Rose and the Indian Anirban Lahiri.

Meanwhile, rumours began to build that Rory McIlroy is being lined up to sign with Team8, the agency set up by Roger Federer's agent Tony Godsick. McIlroy officially quit Horizon Sports Management in October and although he has stated his desire to go alone, McIlroy is close to Federer because of the former's relationship with Caroline Wozniacki.

Federer and Godsick were with IMG until 2012 but are now seeking to expand the operation. They have signed Juan Martin del Potro, tennis's world No.5, and it is understood that talks have been held with McIlroy.

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Pinckney leads through four rounds at Web.com Tour Q-School

LA QUINTA, Calif. – Scott Pinckney shot a 7-under 65 on Sunday on PGA West's Nicklaus Tournament Course to take a one-stroke lead after the fourth round of the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament.

The 24-year-old Pinckney, a former Arizona State player, had a 21-under 267 total after 72 holes in the six-day, 108-hole event that will determine player priority rankings for the Web.com Tour season.

''It felt like I was going to make the putt even before I hit it,'' Pinckney said. ''I really saw the line well and just trusted it. You're going to hit good putts and they're not going to go in, but it was my turn on the back nine.''

Pinckney missed an 18-footer for eagle at No. 11, then one-putted the final seven holes - five for birdies, including a 15-footer at the closing hole.

''It's all about seeing the line,'' he said. ''Every golfer has had that. You have to keep trusting what you're doing.''

Scotland's Jimmy Gunn was second after a 66, also on the Nicklaus course.

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Matt Kuchar and Harris English combine for victory in golf's Franklin Templeton Shootout

MATT Kuchar and Harris English combined to shoot 14-under-par 58 on Sunday for a record-setting victory in the Franklin Templeton Shootout.

Kuchar and English went into Sunday's final round of the unofficial event for two-man teams with a four-stroke lead and finished on 34-under-par 182.

Their 54-hole scored matched the 34-under-par 182 tournament record set in 1990 by Fred Couples and Raymond Floyd when the event was staged at Sherwood Country Club in California.

It improved the low 54-hole score since the event moved to Tiburon Golf Club, which was a 33-under-par 183 by Brad Faxon and Scott McCarron in 2001.

The seven-stroke margin of victory also broke the tournament record of six strokes set in 1989 by David Duval and Fred Couples.

"It was nice to come here and perform well," said Kuchar. "We made a boatload of birdies. It was a fun three days for sure."

South Africa's Retief Goosen and teammate Freddie Jacobson of Sweden shot 61 on Tiburon Golf Club's Gold Course to take second place on 27-under 189.

The English duo of Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood fired a 59 and grabbed third at 26-under.

Chris DiMarco and Billy Horschel placed fourth at 24-under, one stroke ahead of last year's champions Kenny Perry and Sean O'Hair, who had led after Friday's opening round.

Kuchar and English took charge in Saturday's better-ball format and never wavered in Sunday's scramble.

English said he was looking forward to a short Christmas vacation with his family, before the US PGA Tour's 2013-14 season resumes in Hawaii in January.

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English, Kuchar triumph in Naples

The team of Harris English and Matt Kuchar claimed a convincing seven-shot win at the Franklin Templeton Shootout.

The American duo shot a closing 12-under-par 58 on the final day of the three-day event in Naples, Florida, for a 34 under total, leaving second-placed Retief Goosen and Freddie Jacobson trailing in their wake seven shots back.

Goosen and Jacobson also shot 11 under for the second consecutive day, but failed to make up any ground.

The English pair of Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter claimed third place a shot further adrift on 26 under after closing with an 11-under-par 59.

Chris DiMarco and Billy Horschel followed in fourth place on 24 under, while defending champions Sean O'Hair and Kenny Perry, who led after the first day's play but lost ground on Saturday, were fifth on 23 under.

Rory Sabbatini and Scott Verplank finished on 22 under with Charles Howell and Justin Leonard a further stroke behind.

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Franklin Templeton shootout: Harris English and Matt Kuchar ease to title

Harris English and Matt Kuchar claimed a convincing victory at the Franklin Templeton shootout after firing a closing 58 on the final day in Naples, Florida.

The American duo went round in 12 under on Saturday in the fourballs and went two better in the final-round scramble to finish seven shots clear of Retief Goosen and Freddie Jacobson.

Goosen and Jacobson fired 11 under for the second day running but that was only good enough to put them 27 under for the tournament and left them trailing in the wake of Harris and Kuchar.

European Ryder Cup duo Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter were a further shot back after firing 59 on Sunday with Chris DiMarco and Billy Horschel a shot behind them.

Defending champions Sean O'Hair and Kenny Perry held the lead after day one but lost ground in Saturday's fourballs and finished the tournament on 23 under.

Rory Sabbatini and Scott Verplank finished on 22 under with Charles Howell and Justin Leonard a further stroke behind.

There then came a group of three teams tied for eighth with tournament host Greg Norman and Jonas Blixt, Jerry Kelly and Steve Stricker, and Graham DeLaet and Mike Weir all on 19 under.

Jason Dufner and Chad Campbell finished a further shot back with the pairing of Chad Campbell and Mike Calcavecchia completing the field on 15 under.

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Martens and Teachman share lead after Round 2 at Lalla Aicha Tour School Final Qualifying

Norwegian Caroline Martens and Tessa Teachman of the United States fired matching rounds of 71 on the Samanah and Al Maaden golf courses in Marrakech respectively to share the lead after the second round at the Ladies European Tour’s Lalla Aicha Tour School Final Qualifying for 2014.

The pair ended a stroke ahead of England’s Anna Scott and Italian Sophie Sandolo in the five-round examination, with first round leader Rebecca Sorensen of Sweden and Austrian amateur Nina Muehl a stroke behind on four-under-par.

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