Patrick Reed ends Jamie Donaldson's challenge in Kent

Patrick Reed

Patrick Reed gained a small measure of revenge for last month's Ryder Cup defeat by knocking European hero Jamie Donaldson out of the Volvo World Match Play Championship on Friday.

Reed, who was the top scorer for the United States at Gleneagles, beat Donaldson 3&2 in the final round of group matches at The London Club to advance to the quarter-finals. Donaldson, who secured the winning point against Keegan Bradley to make it three wins from four matches on his debut, was never ahead against Reed, who carded five birdies but was also crucially gifted the 11th when Donaldson three-putted from close range. Birdies on the 12th and 14th took Reed four ahead with four to play, and although Donaldson kept the match alive by almost holing his second shot to the par-five 15th and hitting his tee shot to two feet on the next, Reed also made birdie on the 16th to seal the win. Next up for the American is South Africa’s George Coetzee who progressed despite a 2&1 loss to Italy’s Francesco Molinari. In the other clash in the Palmer group, Henrik Stenson produced a sensational finish to confirm a 2&1 victory of his own, holing from the 17th fairway for an eagle to end Thongchai Jaidee’s hopes in both the match and tournament.
The Swede will now take on compatriot Jonas Blixt after he came through a sudden-death play-off to edge out Paul Casey, with their high-quality contest having ended all square in regulation.

Sudden death play-off

Both players birdied the 18th to finish 10 under par and claim one point each from the match, leaving them tied on three points overall and therefore unable to be separated by their head-to-head record.

Friday's results

Donaldson lost to Reed 3&2
Blixt * halved with Casey
Dubuisson lost to Gallacher 2&1
Lowry lost to Larrazabal 2&1
McDowell lost to Luiten 2down
Ilonen beat Levy 1up
Stenson beat Jaidee 2&1
Molinari beat Coetzee 2&1
* Blixt won sudden death play-off

The play-off proved something of an anti-climax though, Casey hitting his approach to the first extra hole into the water guarding the green and Blixt winning it with a par five.
Defending champion Graeme McDowell also failed to progress from the group stages after he went down to his second defeat in two matches in the Larson Group – a 2 down loss to Joost Luiten who was the only man to emerge with three wins from three.
McDowell looked to be in control as he moved into a three-hole lead after eight holes, but he collapsed over the back nine and, sitting all square through 16, lost the last two holes to crash out.
Luiten is joined in the last eight by Mikko Ilonen who held firm over the closing stretch to record a battling 1up success over Alexander Levy. His reward is a quarter-final showdown with Victor Dubuisson, while Luiten now faces Pablo Larrazabal.
In the Gabrielsson Group, already-eliminated Stephen Gallacher had completed a meaningless 2&1 win over Dubuisson and Larrazabal defeated Shane Lowry by the same score to join the Frenchman in the last eight.
Saturday’s quarter-final matches:
11.40: Patrick Reed vs George Coetzee
11.55: Victor Dubuisson vs Mikko Ilonen
12.10: Joost Luiten vs Pablo Larrazabal
12.25: Henrik Stenson vs Jonas Blixt
By SkySports

Russell Knox and Andrew Putnam share lead in Las Vegas

Russell Knox

Scotland’s Russell Knox and America’s Andrew Putnam share the halfway lead at the Shriners Hospitals Open in Las Vegas. PGA Tour rookie Putnam, making just the fourth Tour start of his career, fired a six-under-par 65 which featured seven birdies to join Knox at the top of the leaderboard on 10 under.

Knox, who like Putnam is chasing his maiden Tour victory, followed his opening 65 with a 67 to sit one clear of two more Americans, Andrew Svoboda (67) and Tony Finau (65).
Knox, 29, started his round with a birdie at the first, but then had to regroup after back-to-back bogeys and admitted patience had been key for him.
"I was all over the map," stated the Scot. "I didn't feel real good with my swing, and I knew if I just made some pars, eventually something would click.

Slow progress for Laird

"And I made a couple of putts, which really settled me down.”

Second round leaderboard

(US unless stated)
-10 R Knox (Sco)
-10 M Putnam
-9 T Finau
-9 A Svoboda
* Eight players at eight-under

A group of eight players are bunched two back of the leaders on eight-under including major champion Webb Simpson and overnight leader Martin Laird.
Simpson, the 2012 US Open champion, pushed himself into contention with a flawless 65, but Laird rather failed to build on his superb start as he posted a one-under 70 that featured a bogey and a double at the par-four seventh.
Americans Bo Van Pelt, Wes Roach, Spencer Levin, Scott Piercy, Ben Martin and George McNeill are the other members of the group.
Former Open champion Stewart Cink, who had shared the overnight lead with Laird, could only manage a disappointing four-over 75 on Friday to drop back down into a tie for 45th on three under.
By SkySports

Martin Kaymer beats Bubba Watson

Martin Kaymer

Germany's Martin Kaymer defeated Bubba Watson in a sudden-death play-off to win the PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Bermuda on Wednesday.

Kaymer, who held a two-shot lead over Masters champion Watson following an opening 65, birdied the first extra hole at Port Royal Golf Course after the pair had finished tied on six under par.
The US Open champion holed from six feet on the par-four 18th hole and then saw Watson miss from half the distance to extend the play-off.
World number one Rory McIlroy, who won the Open Championship and US PGA this year, struggled to a 75 to finish two over par, one ahead of Jim Furyk.
"Yes, of course I was surprised that he missed it,'' said Kaymer, who also beat Watson in the singles in Europe's Ryder Cup victory at Gleneagles last month.
"I had a similar putt earlier in the regular round, just half an hour before we were standing there in the play-off. But his was a little bit longer and I knew that it's not an easy putt.

Good stroke

"On my putt it was quite an advantage that I had the similar putt earlier, just a little bit longer, but pretty much the same line and I knew it didn't break as much as I thought. So that helped me a lot. It was a good stroke and so it went in.
"But I was surprised about him, obviously, you don't want to win a golf tournament that way. Of course I will take it, but you don't really want the other guy missing a short putt.''
Watson added: "I thought I hit a great putt. There's no way that ball should go that way, unless it's wind forced. It's just one of those things. It was Martin's time and not my time.''
Watson also held a two-shot lead with two holes to play following birdies on the 14th, 15th and 16th, only to drive into water on the 17th and run up a bogey six, while Kaymer birdied the same hole.
By SkySports

Randhawa leads after opening round, Els & Colsaerts in contention

Jyoti Randhawa

Jyoti Randhawa of India claimed a one-shot lead after the first round of the Hong Kong Open following an opening six-under-par 64 at Fanling.

Randhawa finished the day one clear of Angelo Que of the Philippines, while the likes of Ernie Els and Nicolas Colsaerts were part of a large group two back of the early pacesetter
Making his debut appearance at the event, four-time major winner Els mixed six birdies with two bogeys on the tight Hong Kong GC track, although he admitted he was far from satisfied with his overall display.
“I missed three very makeable putts. If people had the cameras with us on the front, you'd have thought I was a seven-handicap.  But I pulled it together and played much better on the back nine,” he commented.
“You want to have a good round the first day, it's easy to shoot yourself out of it. At first there's quite a lot of pressure and then you take it from there. Each day, it's like a session in cricket - you take the session and do as best as you can, and then it all happens on Sunday afternoon."
Meanwhile, in-form Colsaerts -  who came close to posting the European Tour’s first-ever 59 in Portual last week – posted five birdies and a bogey in his 66.

Hot putter

England’s James Heath, Raphael Jacquelin of France and Spain’s Nacho Elvira were amongst the other members of the nine-man group at four-under.

First round leaderboard

(GB & Ire unless stated)
-6 J Randhawa (Ind)
-5 A Que (Phi)
-4 N Colsaerts (Bel)
-4 J Heath
-4 WC Lu (Tai)
-4 J Kruger (SA)
-4 N Elvira
-4 R Jacquelin (Fra)
-4 E Els (SA)
-4 SH Baek (Kor)
-4 D Huizing (Ned)
Click here for collated scores

But they are all looking up at Jandhawa who produced a magical display with the putter to end the day in splendid isolation at the top of the leaderboard.
The 42-year-old needed just 23 putts during his first round and said afterwards: “I’ve been playing decent in the last few weeks but haven’t been able to put up a good number.
“Today I really putted my heart out, so I’m really happy with the way it went, and I’m glad I got the pace on the greens right.”
Miguel Angel Jimenez’s hopes of winning the event for an unprecedented fifth time were hampered by a stomach bug with the Spaniard returning a disappointing two-over 72 to lie well down the field.
“I've been hitting good,” he said afterwards. “ I make only one birdie but I saved a couple of good pars, and then I missed a couple of birdies, also. It has been done before so I will try to move up the leaderboard.”
By SkySports

Champion Graeme McDowell wins opening match

Graeme McDowell

Defending champion Graeme McDowell started his bid for back-to-back titles at the Volvo World Matchplay Championship with a 3&2 win over Alexander Levy at the London Club.

In-form Frenchman Levy won the Portugal Masters after it was cut short on Sunday, but he was never in the match with Ryder Cup star McDowell – who birdied four of his first six holes.
McDowell led from the front at Gleneagles as he came from three down to beat Jordan Spieth in the first Sunday singles match, and he was again out first at the London Club.
Levy found himself four down after ten holes, and although a birdie at the 13th kept his slim hopes alive, McDowell made no mistake in closing out the match by halving the 16th.
It gives McDowell the perfect start to the defence of his crown by taking two points for an opening victor. He now plays Mikko Ilonen on day two with the Finn losing his opening match 1up to Joost Luiten.
"There are no easy matches and you can't take anyone lightly, especially a guy who won last week, so I'm very happy to get the victory," McDowell said. "I was hot on the greens and he was cold and that was the difference.

Wednesday results

McDowell 3&2 Levy
Luiten 1up Ilonen
Stenson A/S Coetzee
Jaidee 2up Molinari
Reed 2&1 Blixt
Donaldson 2&1 Casey
Dubuisson 3&2 Larrazabal
Gallacher 3&2 Lowry

"It's important to control your own destiny in the group stages, you don't want to be relying on other people and if I can win tomorrow I will be in a great position."

Coetzee half

George Coetzee scrambled for an up-and-down off the 18th green to grab a half against world No 5 and top seed in the competition Henrik Stenson in a high-quality contest.
Neither play made a bogey in the round but Stenson held the advantage as he made the par-five 18th green in two while Coetzee missed the green to the right.
However, Stenson missed a five-foot putt for birdie and his three-putt gave Coetzee the chance to half the match, which he took by sinking from a similar length to grab a point.
Shane Lowry went round in seven-under-par to give Ryder Cup man Stephen Gallacher no chance as he fell to a 3&2 defeat in the opening match of the Gabrielsson group.
Fellow Team Europe man Victor Dubuisson enjoyed a better start as the Frenchman maintained his Gleneagles form with a 3&3 victory over Pablo Larrazabal.
The in-form duo of Lowry and Dubuisson meet in Thursday’s second slate of matches, with Gallacher and Larrazabal squaring off in search of a first victory.

Reed return

American Ryder Cup star Patrick Reed lost on his return to the UK as he had no answer for Jonas Blixt, with the Swede coming away with a 2&1 victory in their McCormack group meeting.
"It was one of those days where both of us played pretty solid but at the end of the day I didn't really make anything," Reed said. "I missed a short one on six and it seemed like that was the story of the day, just missing putts left and right."
Reed next plays Paul Casey, who survived a remarkable Jamie Donaldson comeback to beat the Welshman 2up. Donaldson came from three down to square the match in the space of four holes, but Casey just edged back in front to take the two points.
"I feel great with that," said Casey. "Jamie's probably fatigued coming off the back of all the golf he's played recently but his performance at the Ryder Cup illustrates how good a golfer he is.
"I knew it was going to be tricky out there and I played some wonderful stuff."
By SkySports

Martin Kaymer leads Bubba Watson, Rory McIlroy in Bermuda

Bubba Watson, Martin Kaymer, Rory McIlroy, Jim Furyk at the Grand Slam of Golf in Bermuda.

US Open champion Martin Kaymer enjoyed a sparkling 65 to take a two-shot lead over Bubba Watson at the exclusive four-man PGA Grand Slam of Golf shootout in Bermuda.

The event at Port Royal in Bermuda sees the four major champions of the year clash in a two-round contest with Kaymer joined by Masters champion Watson and double major winner Rory McIlroy in the field.

Grand Slam of Golf

-6 Martin Kaymer
-4 Bubba Watson
-2 Rory McIlroy
+1 Jim Furyk

With world No 1 McIlroy winning back-to-back majors at the Open and then the USPGA Championship, Jim Furyk has been included as an alternate to make up the exclusive fourball.
Germany’s Kaymer started off the quickest in the 36-hole exhibition contest, as he made the only eagle of the day along with five birdies in his six-under round of 65.
Just the one bogey on the par-three 13th spoiled a flawless card for Kaymer, who had come flying out of the traps with birdies on the first two holes and reached the turn in a five-under 31.

Bubba second

Watson, who won his second green jacket at Augusta this year, grabbed five birdies and one bogey in his four-under round of 67, two shots behind Kaymer and two ahead of McIlroy.
The Northern Irishman got himself to three-under by the seventh, but three-putted the eighth and ninth for bogeys to slip back to one-under, and he improved by just one more shot to close on two-under and four behind the leader.
Furyk struggled the most out of the four players, with bogeys on 16 and 17 dropping him to a one-over round of 72 and seven shots off the pace.
“I started off very well,” said Kaymer. “The first six, seven holes, they were a little bit - they're not so windy, so I thought you can start off with a couple birdies the first six holes would be really nice.
“Then I played really consistent. I think it's important on this kind of grass that you need to hit a lot of fairways. I think that I hit a few today. My putting felt good. I just made one three-putt today. That's why I made the bogey.
“But only one bogey is fine. If you make only one bogey on that golf course, you should do fairly okay.”

Relaxed

The atmosphere is obviously more relaxed with just four players in the field, and Watson said there was merely just small talk between friends going on during the round.
“We don't really banter, like picking on each other or anything or making fun,” said Watson.
“It's the end of the year - well, start of the year, whichever way you want to look at it for the PGA Tour. So, for us, we're just out here just talking about, when are you playing next, what are you doing, how is the family doing, what are you doing for Christmas, things like that.
By SkySports