DOHA, Qatar – George Coetzee of South Africa needed just 21 putts to shoot an 8-under-par 64 for a one-shot lead on the opening day of the Qatar Masters on Wednesday.

Coetzee eagled the par-5 10th hole and birdied his closing three holes in a round that was just two shots more than his best on the European Tour, a 62 which equaled the Old Course record at St Andrews in Scotland 15 months ago.

“I was quite lucky to get away with a few shots, but it was another good putting display to put a nice number,” he said.

“There’s a lot of luck involved in this game, especially the way I play, and I had 21 putts with a three-putt, so that goes to show.”

Sitting 7-under are countryman Dawie Van Der Walt and Steve Webster of England, who began in spectacular manner by holing a 254-yard, 5-wood second shot for an albatross at his opening hole, the 548-yard, par-5 10th.

BARRANQUILLA, ATLANTICO, Colombia – Team Canada will be represented by nine athletes at the upcoming South American Amateur Championship, a 72-hole stroke play event from January 22-25, which features 117 players from across the globe.

The Canadian contingent features National Amateur Team players Garrett Rank (Elmira, Ont.) and Chris Hemmerich (Kitchener, Ont.) along with seven athletes from the Development Squad (four boys and three girls).

Matt Williams (Calgary), Carter Simon (Sutton, Ont.), Étienne Papineau (St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Qué.) and Tony Gil (Vaughan, Ont.) will be accompanied by Head Coach Robert Ratcliffe to make up the boys side of the Development Squad.

The girls side consists of Development Squad members Valérie Tanguay (St-Hyacinthe, Qué.), Naomi Ko (Victoria, B.C.) and Jaclyn Lee (Calgary). They will be led by newly assigned Head Coach Ann Carroll.

The countries competing against Canada are: Argentina, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Uruguay, Scotland, Wales, Finland, India, U.S.A., Ireland, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, England and Mexico.

Canadian National Team member Brooke Henderson won the 2013 women’s event at El Rincon in Bogota. The men’s event was won by Callum Shinkwin of England.

For a list of all 2014 participants, click here.

Australian golf legend Greg Norman will once again be a global brand ambassador for Cobra Golf, collaborating on product development and sporting Cobra clubs at a variety of appearances, tournaments and events.

Norman kicks off his 2014 season with Cobra at the PGA Show in Orlando this week, where he will participate in the brand’s Forum Stage presentation as well as other Cobra corporate functions.

“It’s a privilege to once again welcome Greg Norman to our Tour team and the Cobra Golf family,” said Bob Philion, president of Cobra Puma Golf. “Greg is an industry icon and a true promoter of game enjoyment, which is what Cobra has been about from the beginning. It
feels right to have him not only back on the course playing our clubs, but also behind the scenes, playing an intricate role in the development of our products and overall business.”

As part of the long term agreement, Norman will represent Cobra at several PGA Tour events that he is closely involved with including: the Valero Texas Open in March, the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in November, and the Franklin Templeton Shootout in December. He will also help to bring worldwide visibility to the Cobra Golf brand through his elite industry status and strong business connections and partnerships, including his partnership with the China Golf Association.

“My golf career has been an incredible journey, and a huge part of that voyage was my relationship with Cobra Golf in the prime of my career,” said Norman. “Cobra continues to enhance the game with cutting-edge technology and products that help golfers of all skill levels play better and enjoy the game. I’m proud of the growth the company has experienced thus far and am excited about the future potential of the brand; it’s a huge honour to become re-involved with Cobra as it is today – a major player in the industry.”

A force to be reckoned with, Norman has earned 91 career victories, including 20 PGA Tour wins, 71 International wins and 29 Top 10 finishes in the Majors. He is a two-time British Open Champion and has spent 331 weeks of his career as the No. 1 golfer in the world, earning a spot in the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2001. He was a Presidents Cup Captain in both 2009 and 2011, and remains an eight-time Vardon Trophy/Byron Nelson award winner.

The Shark’s bag and headwear will showcase the brand’s logo, and will exclusively feature Cobra Golf clubs, including the recently-debuted BiO CELL Driver 8.5, BiO CELL Fairway and BiO CELL Hybrid, all in black; AMP CELL Pro Irons 3-PW; and Tour Trusty Wedges 52 and 57.

For the fourth straight year, a rules violation managed to take centre stage at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

In 2011, Padraig Harrington was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard.  Two years ago, Rory removed loose soil that was on the fringe (through the green) and was penalized two-strokes.  Last year, Tiger was penalized two-strokes for taking relief for what he believed was an embedded ball.

On Saturday, during this year’s third round, Rory decided to take relief from a gallery crosswalk on the second hole, which proved to be costly for the former world No. 1.

On most professional tours, the Standard Local Rules defines “areas completely encircled with white lines, including areas marked as gallery crosswalks” as ground under repair.  Rory could have played the ball as it lie, or taken free relief under Rule 25-1.

It wasn’t until the 18th hole on Saturday, when his fellow-competitor’s caddie mentioned to Rory that he might want to discuss his relief procedure on the 2nd hole with a rules official.  Rory mentioned the details to officials in the scoring tent to ensure he proceeded correctly to avoid signing for an incorrect scorecard, which would have resulted in disqualification. Unfortunately, they did not have video evidence of the situation so Rory and head official, John Paramor, had to go back to the second hole to determine if Rory proceeded correctly.

“(McIlroy) found what he thought to be his nearest point of relief where the ball was outside and when he dropped the ball within a club’s length, when he actually stood to the ball, his left foot was standing on or just over the line demarking the area of ground under repair,” explained Paramor in a statement. “Therefore he has not taken full relief and he is in breach of Rule 25-1, the penalty for which is two strokes.”

Decision 20-2c/0.5 contemplates the exact scenario that Rory was faced with after dropping a ball from the ground under repair:

Q. A player’s ball lies in ground under repair through the green. The player elects to take relief    and drops the ball in accordance with Rule 25-1b(i). The ball remains outside the ground under repair area but it rolls to a position where the player would have to stand in the area to play his stroke. Must the player re-drop the ball?

A. Yes. The ball has rolled and come to rest “in a position where there is interference by the condition from which relief was taken” – see Rule 20-2c(v). The same applies if a player is taking relief from an immovable obstruction.

On twitter, Rory was making light of a bad situation.  During his post round interview, he wasn’t as impressed with the rules violation.

To see Rory’s post round interview click here.

Foot fault…..

— Rory Mcilroy (@McIlroyRory) January 18, 2014

Since 2006, Golf Canada has brought on a team of trained professionals to head up the sport science department for the high performance teams.

The support staff is comprised of four professionals: Jason Glass (Strength & Conditioning), Greg Redman (Physiotherapist), Adrienne Leslie-Toogood (Psychologist) and Nicole Springle (Nutritionist). Together, they address the sports science needs of all 20 athletes on the men’s and women’s National Team and Development Squad.

The golf swing is a fluent, elegant motion that requires the body to work in full unison to hit the right shot. What does that mean exactly? Head down, shoulder’s square, knees slightly bent, leading arm straight, hands turn on impact – you get the picture.

All of these movements take a toll on the golfer, especially professionals and the athletes of Canada’s Amateur Team, who take up to 10,000 swings a WEEK.

The job of the Sports Science staff is to address the areas of the golfer that are affected by the growing frequency of swings required to remain competitive and continue improving.

Strength training & physiotherapy

Physical fitness has become a necessity to compete at the highest level. Building strength and balance helps the golfer hit the ball further, shape shots easier and stay healthier.

“Essentially, Greg (Redman) and I are looking for a dysfunction with the athletes – if we find one, we begin to break it down at a very basic level and then start to piece it back together” said Jason Glass, Strength & Conditioning Coach. “The two of us must work hand-in-hand because if he (Greg) resets a movement, it is pretty much useless unless we reinforce it”.

Redman elaborated on the comments of Jason Glass, explaining their working relationship in more detail.

“The golf swing is said to have the same principles to some degree – but these guys are all very different machines” he explained. “Whether male or female – some are bigger, some are taller, some are smaller. Jason and I need to create a different plan for each athlete accordingly”.

What is the most common strength issue they encounter? Stability. They explained that most golfers don’t have the inherent stability that they need to generate the energy for a powerful golf swing.

Nutrition

Team Canada’s athletes are also advised to follow proper nutrition plans in order to keep their bodies healthy and strong. However, each individual requires their own unique plan based on their needs, preferences, food availability and habits.

“I always remind my athletes that my ultimate goal in working with them is that nutrition will not even be a factor when they get into competition” said Nicole Springle, Team Nutritionist. “Poor nutrition should be the LAST reason that something goes wrong out on the green because out of all the factors that can play a role in your performance, nutrition is one that is completely in your control.”

Springle continued with further insight into the strategy behind her athlete plans.

“I think people often miss the fact that athletes are real people. Some people I talk to seem to think that athletes just go around eating tuna and protein powder. Athletes live regular lives too, they go to birthday parties, they like chocolate, they go out for dinner…if you don’t build flexibility into an athlete’s diet and teach them how to make appropriate choices in any given situation, not just the ideal one, the changes they make are often short lived.”

Psychology

A large part of golf is mental – time in between shots, course management, assessing your lie, awareness of the scorecard/leaderboard and so on. The mental side of the game requires attention, especially as it becomes more complicated for amateur athletes as they enter more and more competitions. Enter Adrienne Leslie-Toogood, Team Psychologist.

“We all have vulnerabilities and the better we know ourselves and our natural tendencies, the better able we are to manage those when they get in the way of performance” she said. “Golf is unique because they cannot get their energy out by slamming someone into the boards.  They have to learn to manage their emotions prior to the next shot, and they have to be aware of how their decisions might impact choices they make on the course”.

Leslie-Toogood meets individually with the athletes of Team Canada at each training camp, helping them calm their body and mind through biofeedback training.

“I have them complete some assessments that allow them to learn more about themselves and what this might mean for how they respond in pressure situations” she said.

To conclude, Leslie-Toogood shared a philosophy that she likes to follow.

“Most people confuse my work as helping the athletes become ‘mentally tough’. I prefer to think of it as resilient.”

Nike Golf’s new Nike VRS Covert 2.0 fairway woods are targeting golfers looking to add distance to their game.

Coupled with Nike’s high-speed cavity back technology, engineers have lowered the centre of gravity on the new clubs to promote a higher launch angle with reduced spin, which produces an improvement in distance gained.

“We worked closely with our athletes to develop tour-authentic fairway woods that were tested and proven in prototype form by our top athletes on tour in 2013,” says Nate Radcliffe, Nike Golf Director of Engineering. “We’ve adjusted the profile and lowered the center of gravity significantly in both the Tour and Performance models. This update resulted in a spin rate reduction of approximately 600 rpm’s, which equals an average of about eight yards of distance gained for the average player.”

Nike Golf re-engineered the Fly-Brace design within the cavity back of the VRS Covert 2.0 fairway woods similar to that of the VRS Covert 2.0 driver, re-distributing material from the centre of the club toward the heel and toe for increased stability. The Fly-Brace technology stiffens the chassis to focus flexing toward the variable thickness NexCOR face. The result is a faster, hotter face with higher ball speed.

The VRS Covert 2.0 Tour fairway woods feature Nike’s patented FlexLoft technology, a simple pull, turn, push-and-tighten adjustment system that allows golfers to choose their loft and face angle independently of each other, providing more range and versatility in the bag.

The second generation of Mitsubishi Rayon’s Kuro Kage shafts are the standard graphite option for both models.  In the VRS Covert 2.0 Tour, the Kuro Kage Silver 70 graphite, featuring Titanium Nickel fiber in the tip section, creates more stability and lower spin.  The Kuro Kage Black HBP Graphite 60 shaft in the VRS Covert 2.0 fairway woods features a higher balance point allowing for higher swing speeds without adding shaft length.

Nike Golf’s new Nike VRS Covert 2.0 fairway woods will be available at retail January 31, 2014. Manufacturer’s suggested retail price is $269.

Callaway Golf has introduced a series of Tour-level golf balls specifically designed for more distance and peak performance based on a golfer’s swing speed. The series is called Speed Regime and there will be three offerings:

• SR 1: optimized for swing speeds 90mph and below
• SR 2: optimized for swing speeds between 90 and 105mph
• SR 3: optimized for swing speeds of 105mph and above

Golfers who swing a club 89mph benefit from different ball performance characteristics than golfers that swing a club at 106mph, for example. With Speed Regime, a unique HEX Aerodynamics profile and overall construction of each golf ball maximizes its performance based on what each swing speed range needs to achieve the most distance and the best performance.

All three tour-level golf balls will be available at golf retailers nationwide and on www.callawaygolf.com beginning January 24, 2014.

KAUPULEHU-KONA, Hawaii – Bernhard Langer birdied five of the last six holes Sunday to pull away from Fred Couples and Jeff Sluman and win the Mitsubishi Electric Championship by three strokes.

The 56-year-old German shot his second straight 64 in the final round of the winners-only event that opened the 35th season of the Champions Tour. He finished with a 54-hole total of 22-under 194 at Hualalai.

“It’s a new year and my goal was to get over the hurdle and win as soon as possible,” said Langer, who won here five years ago. “I’m very pleased and extremely blessed to play golf like this. To be 22 under doesn’t happen very often.”

Langer, who is 41 under in his last seven rounds at Hualalai, earned his 19th senior victory, but first since April despite a string of top-10 finishes the last half of 2013.

He and Couples shared the lead at 14 under going into the final day under ideal conditions. Sluman was two back, but surged ahead at the turn, his fifth birdie putt taking him to 17 under. All but one came from inside 6 feet.

“My iron shots were pretty bueno on those,” said Sluman, who was making in his 80th consecutive senior start. He has been among the tour’s top-20 money winners the last five years.

Langer and Couples caught him at 18 under with birdies on No. 13.

Langer just kept rolling, two-putting for birdie on the next hole to grab the lead alone, then draining three more birdie putts from inside 12 feet.

Sluman closed with a 65. Couples, looking for his 10th Champions win and second in a row, had a 67. After playing Hualalai’s par-5’s in 6 under on the opening day, he was just 4 under combined the final two days.

Two-time senior Player of the Year Jay Haas made a late charge after parring all but two of the first 12 holes. He birdied the 13th, then chipped in for eagle and birdie to get within two on the 16th hole.

He could make up no more ground on the streaking Langer. Haas, one of eight 60-year-olds in the field of 41, birdied the final hole to shot a 65 and finish fourth at 199.

First-round leader Rocco Mediate also got within two with his seventh birdie of the day, at the 15th, but parred the final four. He shared fifth with David Frost _ who lost a playoff with John Cook here last year – at 16 under.

Langer, who earned $307,000 for the win, came up a shot short of making playoffs at both Hawaii senior events last year. The seniors play here again Sept. 18-21 in the Pacific Links Hawaii Championship at Kapolei.

The next tour event in Hawaii is the LPGA Lotte Championship, April 16-19 at Ko Olina.

LA QUINTA, Calif.  – Patrick Reed found his putting touch right when things started to getting interesting in the final round of the Humana Challenge.

After shooting three straight 9-under 63s to open a seven-stroke lead, Reed had a 1-under 71 on Sunday at PGA West’s to beat Ryan Palmer by two strokes.

“A lot tougher than the first three rounds,” Reed said. “I felt like I hit a lot of quality shots and felt like I hit a lot of good putts as well. My speed was off today. I left a lot of putts short. It seemed like the first three days the ball was just trickling over the front edge, and today it seemed like it came to a screeching halt just short.”

Finally resembling the guy who talked Saturday about being in a “putting coma,” Reed ran in an 18-footer for birdie on the par-3 15th to push his advantage to three strokes and parred the final three holes.

“It felt comfortable. It felt great,” Reed said. “I was able it play the last three holes just for par rather than trying to make birdies or trying to make something happen.”

He finished at 28-under 260 in the three-course event that he opened and closed on PGA West’s Arnold Palmer Private Course.

The 23-year-old Reed has two victories in his first 46 PGA Tour starts, winning the Wyndham Championship in August. He was projected to jump from 73rd to 42nd in the world ranking, enough to lock up a spot in the 64-man Match Play Championship.

Reed took a call from former President Bill Clinton – the tournament is run in partnership with the Clinton Foundation – during his interview session.

“He told me to get myself back in that zone more often,” said Reed, who met Clinton earlier on the driving range. “Because he said it was a lot of fun to watch.”

Palmer made a 15-foot eagle putt on the final hole for a 63.

“What can you do with what Patrick did this week?” Palmer said. “It’s ridiculous what he did. Amazing how good he played. We’ll come up a couple short, but it was a win in my game because I was playing for second today.”

Zach Johnson and Justin Leonard tied for third at 25 under. Johnson birdied the final five holes for a 62, the best round of the week.

“I got red hot at the end,” Johnson said.

The Kapalua winner is taking a four-week break. He’ll return for the Match Play event.

“Hopefully, I can maintain where I’m at,” Johnson said.

Leonard parred his last two for a 65.

“Would love to have made a few more putts,” Leonard said.

Other than key 18-footer on No. 15, the longest putt Reed holed was a 5-footer for par on the par-4 13th. That was a crucial putt after he played the previous eight holes in 1 over with four bogeys and three birdies.

“I knew that if I didn’t make that putt, then it was going to get interesting,” Reed said. “To make that putt kind of gave me a little bit more fire saying, ‘All right, well, we’re running out of holes for people to make a lot of birdies.”’

In that eight-hole stretch, Reed missed two 6-foot par putts and an 8-footer and dropped another stroke with a poor bunker shot on the par-3 12th.

“It would either come and just stop just short, or it would break at the very end and break off the planet and lip out,” Reed said. “It seemed like nothing would go in.”

On Saturday, Reed broke the PGA Tour record for relation to par for the first 54 holes, finishing at 27 under. He also became the first player in tour history to open with three rounds of 63 or better. On Sunday, he became the second player in the event to lead wire-to-wire, joining 1977 winner Rik Massengale.

“To have a day where I felt like I had probably about my C or D game and still shoot under par, and to close off a victory, that means a lot to me,” Reed said.

Reed’s wife, Justine, is pregnant with their first child, forcing her to turn over caddieing duties to her brother, Kessler Karain. She has walked every hole this year and plans to caddie again after the baby arrives around Memorial Day.

“I can’t wait to be a dad and have a little girl running around at the golf course and whenever I come home have her run up, hanging out with dad,” Reed said.

After helping Augusta State win NCAA titles in 2010 and 2011, Reed drew attention in 2012 when he successfully Monday-qualified for six events. He earned his tour card in December 2012, surviving six rounds of Q-school at PGA West.

“We have worked so hard at it,” Reed said. “Especially, with my wife and I, how hard we have worked the past 2 1/2 years, through Q-School, through the Monday qualifiers, and through here to get two wins in less than half a year.”

Brad Fritsch finished 14-under after shooting a 2-under 70 on Sunday. The Ottawa native tied for 48th.