February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By John Manley
Somewhere out there is a tournament trophy with Eddie Polland’s name on it. But it wasn’t the trophy awarded to the winner of the Swedish Seniors. That had Maurice Bembridge’s name inscribed thereon. Polland recorded his third top-10 finish of the season, a 7th-place tie, in the 54-hole event that was held at the Fagelbro Golf Club (par-71) in Stockholm. The Ulsterman began with a 74 in a round that saw nobody score below 70. Polland subsequently clipped three strokes off each preceding round. He carded scores of 71 and 68 for a three-round sum of 213, which was four shots off the 209 recorded by Bembridge and Jim Rhodes. Bembridge won the playoff. In eight European Seniors Tour events this year, Polland has placed worse than 20th only once.
European Tour
Last week’s event, the Peugeot Open de France in Paris, bore something of a resemblance to a seniors conclave. Sam Torrance, 44, was the winner of a tournament conspicuously thin of Irish participation, no doubt due to players resting up for this week’s Murphy’s Irish Open at Druids Glen in Dublin. Philip Walton showed best among his countrymen at Le Golf National’s Albatros course with a 7-under 281 (72-73-72-67), which left him five shots behind Torrance. Another shot back at 282 (71-72-72-67) was Paul McGinley, who tied for 16th. Francis Howley’s play remains on the upswing, having made the cut for the second consecutive week. Howley’s 286 (70-72-73-71) tied him for 42nd place. Des Smyth helped bring up the ear with a score of 6-over 294 (69-72-77-76).
Colin Montgomerie, who tied for 23rd in France, will attempt to make it three Irish Opens in a row this weekend. He fired a course-record 62 in the final round to take last year’s edition by seven strokes. He also won in 1996.
PGA Tour
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Darren Clarke incurred the wrath of officials of the Motorola Western Open, who had extended him an exemption to this year’s event. Clarke and his good friend Lee Westwood both pulled out of the Western on the final day of the U.S. Open, offering fatigue as the reason. According to a report in Golfweek, neither can look forward to any cordialities at this venue in the future.
Richard Coughlan, however, was on hand to tee off and managed to get past the first round without having to withdraw for the first time in three events. It was Coughlan’s poor fortune to have to quit play after 36 holes, though, having failed to make the cut. An opening-round 77 sealed the deal. His next spin around the Cog Hill Golf and Country Club in Lemont, Ill. produced an even-par 72, but his aggregate of 149 was three shots over the 146 that would have qualified him for weekend play.
After the U.S. Open, the PGA Tour’s money board showed Clarke in 114th place, with earnings of $121,628. Coughlan is 178th with $33,492, while Keith Nolan is 200th with $17,203.