US PGA TOUR:Jim Furyk followed up his third-place finish in last week's WGC-CA Championship with an opening six-under-par 65 in the Transitions Championship at the Innisbrook Resort in Florida yesterday.
Without a win for over 18 months, Furyk grabbed seven birdies on the demanding Copperhead course before dropping his only stroke two holes from home.
Another bogey was a distinct possibility at the last – actually the 430-yard ninth – when he was bunkered in two and splashed out to 10 feet, but the 38-year-old world number 11 saved his par.
Midway through the day’s play Canadian Stephen Ames was a stroke behind and both Australian Matthew Goggin and American Jonathan Byrd shot 67, while 17-year-old Japanese star Ryo Ishikawa, who missed the cut on his PGA Tour debut in Los Angeles last month, was three under with two to go, but bogeyed the short 17th and signed for a 68.
Furyk’s round was his sixth in a row in the 60s and he said: “I’m obviously very happy and I think the key really was I putted very well – I had 25 putts and 11 on the back nine, my first side.
“Obviously you don’t want to go out bogeying the last two. It would have been a disappointing feel after playing so well for the first 16 holes, so I felt good about knocking that putt in.
“I felt like I played a lot last year. I was tired, I needed some time off and I just wanted to have a good holiday with my family and I did. I was a little nervous about being rusty, but I seem to get back into it pretty quickly.”
SENIORS TOUR:Sam Torrance re-wrote the record books with a stunning second round 63 to place one hand on his 11th European Senior Tour title at the DGM Barbados Open.
Torrance shaved a stroke off the Royal Westmoreland course record previously shared by Priscillo Dinz (2001), Terry Gale (2003) and Gavan Levenson (2004) to set a new Senior Tour low for 36 holes of 16-under-par 128.
The Scot now takes a record equalling nine shot lead over Paraguay’s Angel Franco going into the final round, with the only other player to hold such a margin on the Senior Tour being Tommy Horton in the 1997 Scottish Seniors Open.
Ireland’s Des Smyth added a 69 for a one-under-par total of 143, with Denis O’Sullivan and Jimmy Heggarty on 145. O’Sullivan added a 74, while Heggarty carded a level-par 72.
CHALLENGE TOUR:Denmark's Mark Haastrup made the perfect start to the new European Challenge Tour season by firing a five-under-par 67 for a share of the clubhouse lead with home favourite Diego Vanegas in the Club Colombia Masters at the Country Club de Bogotá.
Haastrup returned to Challenge Tour action keen to make an immediate impression having just missed out on the 2008 top 20 and graduation to The European Tour when he finished 26th in the rankings.
The 24 year-old, who won The Dubliner Challenge in Sweden in 2008, finished tied runner up behind winner Wil Besseling at Country Club de Bogotá last year and showed the course was once again to his liking with seven birdies in a fine opening round.
Ricardo Ruiz from Colombia and Argentina’s Alan Wagner are tied on 68, with Ireland’s Gareth Shaw a shot back on 69, which included four birdies.
Madeira Islands Open
First Round Scores
(Brit unless stated, Irish in bold, par 71)
66– J Haeggman (Swe), D McGrane.
68– C Suneson (Spn), A Butterfield, E Goya (Arg).
69– J-B Gonnet (Fra), W Besseling (Ned), A Velasco (Spn), M McGeady, P Waring, S Luna (Spn), M Hoey.
70– S Davis, JM Arruti (Spn), R McEvoy, P Broadhurst. 71– G Houston, C Nilsson (Swe), JA Larsen (Nor), J Van de Velde (Fra), S Drummond, J Colomo (Spn), JM Lara (Spn), G Clark, N Fasth (Swe), E Canonica (Ita), M Reale (Ita). 72– T Aiken (Rsa), A Da Silva (Bra), D Griffiths, J Sandelin (Swe), B Grace (Rsa), P-U Johansson (Swe), A Wall, J-F Lima (Por), D Drysdale, G Boyd, C Rocca (Ita), B Dredge. 73– R Ramsay, A Nilsson (Rsa), D Horsey, B Hafthorsson (Ice), C Rodiles (Spn), H Santos (Por), M Cayeux (Zim), M Mills, A Willey, B Wiesberger (Aut). 74– C Del Moral (Spn), R Kakko (Fin), U Van Den Berg (Rsa), R Coles, A Coltart, K Eriksson (Swe), C Carranza (Arg), A Rocha (Bra), N Vanhootegem (Bel), G Lockerbie, J E Morgan, G Gordon, C Macaulay, M Jonzon (Swe), R Santos (Por). 75– D Carter, L Bond, R Chapman, S O'Hara, S Wakefield, A Snobeck (Fra), A Bossert (Swi), S Barr (Aus), M Morris, N T Smith (USA), M Siem (Ger), P Price, D Nouailhac (Fra), I Van Weerelt (Ned), T Feyrsinger (Aut), A Sobrinho (Por), I Garrido (Spn). 76– M Wiegele (Aut), S Robinson, J Caldwell, J Huldahl (Den), F Delamontagne (Fra), K Webber (US), T Cruz (Por), I Pyman, S Walker, L Slattery, N Henriques (Por), R Cabrera Bello (Spn), J Kamte (Rsa) 77– P Linhart (Spn), R Muntz (Ned), F Colombo (Ita), A Ahokas (Fin), S Bebb, J Clement (Swi), R Echenique (Arg), J Wahlqvist (Swe). 78– R Bland, C Wood, M Korhonen (Fin), D Lynn, A Rosado (Por), P Bocian (Swe), T Remkes (Ned), M Curtain (Aus). 79– A Haindl (Rsa), C Gane, P Sjoland (Swe), A Dantas (Por), M Ruiz (Par), N Campino (Por), A Tadini (Ita), M Millar (Aus), T Ferreira (Rsa), C Doak. 80– L Gough, R De Sousa (Swi), E Tage Johansen (Nor), F Zanotti (Par), S Manley, B Mason. 81– J Mellor, M Higley, P Figueiredo (Por), JP Sousa (Por), F Andersson Hed (Swe). 82– P Baker, S Griffiths. 83– G Murray, P Whiteford, A Garcia-Heredia (Spn), L Brovold (Nor), D Vancsik (Arg), S Thornton, P Golding, M Violas (Por). 85– N Meitinger (Ger). 88– G S Braga (Por), D Freitas (Por).
