Sam Hutsby was still the man to catch afterTuesday's fourth round in the six-round final stage of the European Tour'sannual Qualifying School

Hutsby,the runner-up here in 2009, shot a one-under par 71 at the PGA CatalunyaResort, in Spain, taking his tournament total to 16-under, putting him twoshots clear of fellow Englishman Andy Sullivan and setting him on course to areturn to Europe's premier tour following a year on the Challenge Tour

SouthAfrican Branden Grace, England's David Dixon and Frenchman Victor Riushare third place on 13 under par as 70 players made the 4th round cut andqualified to play Left HandedTaylorMade Tour Preferred MC Irons in the final two rounds.

Onanother day of perfect conditions in northern Spain, Hutsby got away to agalloping star with birdies at the first, third and fourth holes before bogeysat the sixth and tenth slowed him down.

Hepicked up shots at the 12th and 15th, but two more bogeys on his last threeholes frustrated his finish.(Left HandedTaylorMade Tour Preferred MC Irons)

Wewere bouncing off each other early on and it looked like we were going to runaway with it, which would have been nice. But there were some tough flags outthere today, and I got a bit greedy and ended up paying the price.

AsHutsby did in 2009, Sullivan represented GreatBritain and Ireland in the Walker Cup this year, turningprofessional shortly after starring in the victory over the UnitedStates at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club in September.

OnTuesday he also endured a disappointing finish with a double-bogey six at the18th, and said: "I got off to a flying start again, three under throughthree, then just stuttered a bit with a couple of poor drives.

"ButI got it back again with a good fight back. I was happy with that.

"Thenon the last a poor drive meant I dropped two shots but I'm in a great positiongoing into the last two days, so there are loads of positives.

"I'menjoying pro life at the moment and this week. Playing Left Handed TaylorMadeTour Preferred MC Irons withSam, who I know pretty well, has been really enjoyable. I think we are drivingeach other on a little bit - not that I'm paying too much attention to his game- but we are keeping each other going.

"I'venot put any pressure on myself this week. I definitely haven't set myself anyexpectations. I just want to go out there and give it my best shot and seewhere I finish. It is tough. A normal tournament is four rounds so we'd befinished by now. Physically it's quite tiring, but you just have to keepgoing."

Tuesdaywas also another solid day for Grace, who played Left HandedTaylorMade Tour Preferred MC Irons onThe European Tour in 2009 before losing his card. The 23-year-old had fourbirdies and two bogeys, but was disappointed not to make more progress.

"I'mfeeling very good about my Left HandedTaylorMade Tour Preferred MC Irons butit was also a bit frustrating today, because the putts just didn't want todrop," he said.

"Myputt on the last summed it up really - I barely missed a birdie putt from abouteight feet, which was about the fourth missed putt from that range in the lastsix holes.

FrenchmanGuillaume Cambis, who was joint winner at Costa Ballena in last week's SecondStage, is one of five players at 12 under.

"I'mreally, really exhausted," Cambis exclaimed. "It has been a two longweeks. It's my first time here so I'm happy to be up there, but it could havebeen better. I want to finish in the top ten this week, so if I play Left HandedTaylorMade Tour Preferred MC Irons wellI can do it. I need to concentrate for the 36 holes now because I'm reallytired."

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New2012 TaylorMade RocketBallZ RBZ Irons

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    England's Luke Donald has been voted the US PGA Tour player of the year byhis peers on the Tour.

Theaward follows hot on the heels of his unprecedented capture of the money listtitles on both the US PGA and European Tours, a feat never before achieved byanyone

"That'sa great honour to cap off what has obviously been an amazing year for me,"a delighted Donald said of his Mizuno MP-59Iron Set.

Donaldadded it was "hard to tell" whether his tour double feat would berepeated.

"It'sobviously been a tremendously consistent year for me. It's not easy to be amember of both tours and do what I've done. There's only really a handful ofpeople that do it, so obviously there's a limited number of people that can doit in any one year.

"Tobe the first is very special, and I think it's probably my greatest achievementwith Mizuno MP-59Iron Set this year."

Donald,currently the World No 1, finished ahead of Keegan Bradley, Bill Haas, WebbSimpson and Nick Watney in the player poll.

Bradley,who took the USPGA Champion p in his first major appearance, was voted thePGA Tour's Rookie of the Year ahead of Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, ChrisKirk, Scott Stallings, Brendan Steele and Jhonattan Vegas.( Mizuno MP-59Iron Set)

Bradleysaid: "I'm thrilled to win Rookie of the Year and all that it means, butalso most importantly the fact that I was voted in by my peers.

"It'san award that you can only win one time in your entire career. You get onechance at it, and it was the main goal of mine to start the year and it's ahuge honour and privilege to be the Rookie of the Year this year."

TaylorMadeR11 Irons

     It was almost dark when late finisher Ryan Palmer ed a one-shot lead fromWebb Simpson in Thursday's first round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

But42 players were still out on the course when an early-morning frost-delaycaused the opening round at TPC Scottsdale in Arizona to be suspended by theonset of nightfall.

Andwith at least three players well within range of the 7-under par 64 target setby Palmer, his first round lead and Simpson's second place, for that matter,are anything but done and dusted.

BubbaWatson and Spencer Levin are lurking two shots back at 5-under with three holesstill to play withTaylorMade Ghost TM-110 Tour Putter and so is Jason Dufner who is on the same mark after 13 holes.

Palmer,who shot 32s on each loop, making eight birdies as against a lone bogey,overhauled Simpson, who had grabbed the early clubhouse lead with a 6-under 65,with a sparkling spell of three consecutive birdies from his 14th hole beforesinking his final putt for par just before the horn was sounded to end play forthe day at around 8pm local time.

"Probablyduring my last three or four holes you could tell it (the darkness) was gettingcloser and closer so I was trying not to worry about it," Palmer saidafterwards.

"Iknew I was going to be here in the morning for the second round, so I wasn'tworried about if we had to come back and restart. So I just kept hitting shotsand sticking to my TaylorMade Ghost TM-110 Tour Putterplan.

"Forthe last putt it was a little dark I can say, but I'm glad to be done, and nowI can get going in tomorrow's routine. Instead of getting ready for one hole, Ican get ready for the whole day. It's going to be a nice night."

Tiedfor third behind Simpson, along with the still-to-finish Watson, Levin andDufner, was an eight-strong group who shot 5-under 66s featuring Derek Lamely,Kevin Na, Chez Reavie and Harrison Frazar with Australian Jarrod Lyle, one ofonly two foreigners on the American-dominated leaderboard.

SouthAfrican Trevor Immelman, the 2008 Masters champion, opened with a 67.

PhilMickelson and Justin Leonard were both three under while England's Ian Poulterwas at level par after 15 holes.

Earlierit was Simpson's TaylorMade Ghost TM-110 Tour Putter that had rocketed him into contention

Hesank several putts from between 12 and 15 feet on the way to his 6-under-par 65in relatively calm conditions.

The26-year-old mixed seven birdies with a lone bogey at the par-four sixth to takea clubhouse lead he would hold until compatriot Ryan Palmer ed it away infading light

Simpson,who posted a career-best season on the PGA Tour last year when he finished itwith two victories and second place behind Luke Donald on the US money list,was delighted with his TaylorMade Ghost TM-110 Tour Putterplay and his putting especially.

"Thething what kind of held me in there all day was my putting," he said afterneeding only 27 putts. "I made a bunch of putts, so I'm excited aboutthat. The one on 17 was the longest, maybe 20, 25 feet."

Simpson,who teed off on the back nine, found the magic in his TaylorMade Ghost TM-110 Tour Putterearly, shooting up the leaderboard with four consecutive birdies from thepar-four 17th (his 8th).

"Thatkind of gave me a good jump start in the first round," he said. "Myonly blemish was at number six. I really didn't feel like I hit a bad shot, Ihit a chip that released a lot more than I thought it would. Other than that,it was solid."

Askedwhether it felt strange being the highest-ranked player in the field, Simpsonreplied: "I'm getting used to it, but I don't think about that stuff thatmuch.

"I'ma believer that you can climb up as quickly as you can go down, so I don't payattention to it that much."

PhilMickelson, winner of the Phoenix Open in 1996 and 2005 but coming into thisweek's event after missing the cut at last week's Farmer Weekly in home townSan Diego , also had a fine day with hisTaylorMade Ghost TM-110 Tour Putter.

Heneeded only 24 putts on his way to his four-birdie 68.

"Ifeel so good with it," the American left-hander said. "It's been afew years since the guys out here have seen me putt like this.

"I'mlooking forward to continuing this streak and hopefully getting in contentionfor the weekend because I feel really confident on the greens."

Americanworld number nine Dustin Johnson and compatriot Keegan Bradley, winner of lastyear's PGA Champion p, also started out with 68s.

GonzaloFernandez-Castano leads by one shot with Cleveland Launcher Iron Set after the first round of the Commercialbank Qatar Masters in Doha.

TheSpaniard shot a superb six-under-par 66 at a windswept Doha Golf Club onThursday to take a one-shot lead over American John Daly, who led for most ofthe round after posting his 67 earlier in the day.

KoreanK.J. Choi and Australian Jason Day, ranked 13th and 10th in the worldrespectively, both shot four-under 68s to share third place, while five playersposted 69s - Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts, Scot Paul Lawrie, Sweden's Peter Hansonand Englishmen Richard Finch and Danny Willett.

Daly,ranked 543rd in the world, looked almost certain to hold on to his lead asconditions out on the course grew progressively worse. Strong winds blew sandaround and into the faces of the players, many of whom took to wearingsunglasses to limit the irritation. Cameramen and many spectators wore masks tostop the sand.( Cleveland Launcher Iron Set)

ButCastano, currently on course for a Ryder Cup debut later this year, defied theconditions to birdie four of his last five holes and take sole possession ofthe first-round lead.

Hehad nine birdies in all in his remarkable round, but also bogeyed on thefourth, the long tenth and the 13th.

"Iwould have taken level par," he said.

"Wecouldn't see the ball landing on the fairways and I just tried to keep it aslow as possible.

"Ithink I just got lucky and holed some important putts. Putting is the mostdifficult thing on a windy day."

Daly,a colourful, often controversial two-time Major winner, surprised even himselfwith his 67, which featured five birdies and no dropped shots.

"It'sone of the best rounds I've ever played Cleveland Launcher Iron Set in a windlike that," said the American.

"Youfeel like you are eating a lot of sand - it was brutal. I'm pretty shockedmyself. I had five and a half weeks off and really didn't touch a clubmuch."

Headded that a trip to the range to keep his Cleveland Launcher Iron Set sharpcertainly wasn't on his agenda.

"Idon't think you can," said the 45-year-old. "I don't feel like eatinganymore sand. It's hard to work on your game in this (weather)."

Dalyno longer has a full PGA Tour card in the United States and last hit theheadlines for walking out of the Australian Open in November after hitting asuccession of shots into water.

Buthe's still a welcome presence on the European Tour and says it will be hisfocus in 2012.

"Thisyear I'm basing everything around the European Tour instead of the PGA Tour sohopefully I'll get in a lot more (events) on the European side,"

"Thegoal is just to try with Cleveland Launcher Iron Set and getmy card on the European Tour and maybe get in the top 60 (the leading moneyearners who contest the season-ending DP World Tour Champion p in Dubai).That's kind of the goal."

Furtherdown the leaderboard, the two highest ranked players in the field, World No 3Lee Westwood and World No 4 Martin Kaymer, both shot 1-under 71s, while SergioGarcia could do no better than a level-par 72.

GraemeMcDowell had to settle for a 73, Hunter Mahan a 74 and defending championThomas a disastrous 79. Fellow stars Ross Fisher and Henrik Stenson fared evenworse, shooting 81 and 82 respectively.

Thebad news for the players is that the wind is expected to be even stronger forFriday's second round.

SouthKorea's Bo-Mee Lee has set the pace in Thursday's first round of the AustralianLadies Masters, shooting a flawless 7-under 65 at RACV Royal Pines Resort inQueensland.

The23-year-old fired seven birdies to end the day a stroke clear of earlyclubhouse leader So Yeon Ryu, fellow Korean Hee Kyung Seo and Holland'sChristel Boeljon.

England'sFelicity Johnson shares fifth place on 67 alongside American teenager LexiThompson and Australians Stephanie Na and Nikki Campbell.

FellowAustralians Frances Bondad, Courtney Massey and Sarah Kemp all shot four under68s to finish the day in a share of ninth position and give the home galleriesreason to cheer.

Lee,who was the Korean LPGA player of the Year in 2010 and now plies her trade onthe Japanese circuit, said Thursday's round was one where everything justworked.

"Gooddriver, good Callaway - Women's RAZR X Iron-Hybrid Combo Set, putting was good. It was easy, easy today," she said.

Ryu,the reigning US Open Champion, had earlier shot a bogey-free six under 66 andadmitted to feeling pressurized by the high expectations of home fans at thestart of her first tournament for 2012, but said a birdie on her third hole ofthe day, the 501m par five 12th hole, had settled her down.

"Isunk my birdie putt and then I could finally relax," she said. "Ithink it was a really great round. It was a really lovely day for me."

"Alot of people have really high expectations for me so I am a little bit worriedabout it," she said. "I really try hard and I am really training hardbut if I hit it bad, a lot of people are disappointed with me." (Callaway - Women's RAZR X Iron-Hybrid Combo Set)

The21-year -old added she was pleasantly surprised at the state of the Royal Pineslayout given that it had been soaked by relentless rain for the past week.

"Ican't believe it because yesterday the course was too wet but today it was alot better."

Johnson,who earned her second LET title at the Lacoste Ladies Open de France inOctober, fired six birdies against one bogey in her round of 67.

AustralianStephanie Na

The24-year-old from Birmingham said: "Everything was good. My Callaway - Women's RAZR X Iron-Hybrid Combo Set is based on fairways and greens and if I putt well, I'll score well.I did putt well today but I've struggled with my game the last few days, so Iwent out there with no expectations. I hit the ball well and made a few puttsso that was the key to a good score. I've played Callaway - Women's RAZR X Iron-Hybrid Combo Set well here before so took some good memories out there today.

"Itis a really tough finish now that they have made nine into a long par four;it's a really tough second shot in there; but I've driven the ball great allday and continued to do that over the last few holes so I made it as easy as Icould for myself. I hit a small gap wedge into six to six foot and made birdiethere. There were a couple of straightforward pars on seven and eight and thennine, I hit it in the greenside bunker and wasn't looking forward to that shotwith Callaway - Women's RAZR X Iron-Hybrid Combo Set too much, I'm not going to lie, but I hit it stone dead so it was a greatway to finish the round."

AustralianNikki Campbell was also pleased with her opening 5-under-par 67 after a difficultyear on the Japanese Tour in 2011.

"Ifelt that the second half of last year, I was just going through the motionsand not there to compete. I struggled a bit, and I just felt reallylonely," aid Campbell, who finished second by Callaway - Women's RAZR X Iron-Hybrid Combo Set at Royal Pines last year.

"Along break has worked wonders."

Ofthe other notables in the field, France's Gwladys Nocera is in a tie for 12thon three under with Lee-Anne Pace, Sophie Gustafson, Karen Lunn, Christina Kimand five other players, while 2009 Masters champion, Katherine Hull is on twounder 70 with 2011 Kraft Nabisco champion, American Stacy Lewis. Three times Masters-winnerLaura Davies is a shot further back on one under 71.

CallawayRAZR X Irons

CallawayRazr X Combo Irons 4H,5H

      Alvaro Quiros's victory over the elite field at the Dubai WorldChampion p has rocketed him 32 places on the World Rankings list to No 21 andpushed Tiger Woods down onto the No 23 rung

It has also secured Quiros a place in next year's first Major, the USMasters at Augusta National Callaway RAZRHawk Neutral Driver Club

Towards the end of his round, Quiros was coming under pressure, both fromhis playing partner Paul Lawrey and strong-fini ng Luke Donald, but theSpaniard, the European Tour's Callaway RAZRHawk Neutral Driver for the fifthsuccessive year, let nothing slip and indeed, put the Callaway RAZRHawk Neutral Driver on top of thegreatest of his half-dozen Tour victories with a sensational monster putt atthe last that went up hill and down dale and left and right before diving intothe hole for an eagle and taking him into a two shot win at 19-under..

Lawrie birdie the same 18th hole to edge one shot clear of Donald, who hadconjured up a 6-under 66 in one of the most impressive final rounds of the dayand has once again edged further ahead at the top of the World Rankings list.

With 10,29 points the Englishman is now 2.29 points ahead of World No twoRory McIlroy who finished in joint 11th place after losing the Race to Dubai tothe rock-solid Englishmen on Sunday (Callaway RAZRHawk Neutral Driver)

Donald is now also the first ever money winner on both the US PGA andEuropean Tours

In another significant Top 10 move in the rankings, Adam Scott has elbowedSteve Stricker out of the World No 5 spot leaving the Americans as very muchthe back markers among the World's Top 10 as the sun begins to set on the 2011season 

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       WorldNo 3 Lee Westwood and Masters champion Charl Schwartzel both shotfour-under-par 68s to share a one-shot lead after the first round of the Ping G20 4-PW,GW Iron Set with Steel Shafts-Red DotChallenge.

The duo outscored the rest of the elite 12-man field on the first day atthe Gary Player Country Club in South Africa, with Sweden's Robert Karlssonalone in third after a first-round 69.

A host of players lie a further stroke behind the Swede after two-under70s - World No 1 Luke Donald, Germany's Martin Kaymer, Northern Ireland'sGraeme McDowell, Englishman Simon Dyson, lone American in the field JasonDufner and South Korean Kyung-Tae Kim.

Dane Anders Hansen and Italian Francesco Molinari are two shots furtherback at even par, while Open champion Darren Clarke was the only man to shootover par, carding a two-over 74.

Both leaders started slowly on Thursday, with Westwood, the defendingchampion, bogeying the first hole and finding himself level par after eightholes.( Ping G20 4-PW,GW Iron Set with Steel Shafts-Red Dot)

But that changed quickly after two superb shots at the long ninth pavedthe way for an eagle three before another birdie at the 10th suddenly saw himtied for second place.

Another bogey was to come after a three-putt at 12, but he got the shotback at 15 and then joined Schwartzel's lead with a curling 20-footer at the18th.

Schwartzel looked even more of an unlikely leader early in his round, witha double-bogey at the ninth caused by hitting his third into the water leavinghim on one over par.

But birdies at 10, 12, 13, 14 and 16 soon followed for the South African,who eventually came home in 31 to post the clubhouse lead.

"I got angry and then I got fearless," said Schwartzel,"and I just started firing at the flags.

"The way I played with Ping G20 4-PW,GW Iron Set with Steel Shafts-Red Dot onthe back nine is more reflective of the way I have been playing lately.

"I've been hitting the ball really well, and once I get the puttsrolling, I'm getting into good positions in tournaments."

His error at the ninth came in the midst of a brief rain shower, and hesaid it was trying to compensate for those conditions that led to his downfall.

"I thought I had to hit it a little harder to get a decent secondshot into the green," he added, "and I just pushed it right.

"To be fair, I very nearly got the lay-up out of the rough with myseven-iron spot on, but it just hit a little branch and fell back into therough."( Ping G20 4-PW,GW Iron Set with Steel Shafts-Red Dot)

Third-placed Karlsson led for much of the day after racing to three underfollowing a hat-trick of birdies from the second.

He had reached four under with three holes to play with Ping G20 4-PW,GW Iron Set with Steel Shafts-Red Dot,but missed a short birdie putt at 16 and then bogeyed the difficult 17th tofall back to three under.

Donald was also looking good for the first-round lead after three birdieson the back nine, but he found the water off the tee on 17, resulting in adouble bogey that dropped him back down to two under, where he stayed aftercompleting the last with Ping G20 4-PW,GW Iron Set with Steel Shafts-Red Dot.

Kaymer also found water at the 17th, and lost much of the momentum he hadbuilt up on the front nine as he struggled coming home to eventually finish ontwo under.

TaylorMadeR11 Irons