Greg Chalmers will go after Australian golf's 'triple crown' after being confirmed as a starter in next month's Australian Masters, tournament organisers said on Wednesday. Chalmers, the winner of the Australian Open and Australian PGA Championship this month, is vying to become only the second player in history to win all three events in the one season. Robert Allenby did so in 2005.

Chalmers, the West Australian left-hander, will have to overcome the challenge of world number one Luke Donald and Ian Poulter, both of England, Italy's Matteo Manassero and locals Geoff Ogilvy, John Senden, Allenby and defending champion Stuart Appleby. The Masters takes place at the Victoria Golf Club in Melbourne from December 15-18.

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Greg Chalmers claimed his second big tournament Downunder in two weeks by winning the Australian PGA Championship yesterday, making par in a three-man playoff while his rivals found trouble off the tee.

Marcus Fraser, the second-round leader, got into the playoff with a 15m birdie putt on the 18th in regulation but strayed into a pond then a bunker in the playoff while Robert Allenby drove into the rough and after recovering, missed a par putt of 3m.

The left-handed Chalmers, who won the Australian Open at The Lakes in Sydney two weeks ago, added the PGA to the so-called Australian Triple Crown and will have a chance to complete it at the Australian Masters in Melbourne beginning on December 15.

The playoff trio finished with 12-under totals of 276 on the Hyatt Regency resort course. "I was surprised to see that a par was good enough, but that's how it goes sometime in a playoff," Chalmers said. Adam Scott shot 68 and Aaron Baddeley, who led before two late bogeys, had a 72 to finish at 10-under, two shots out of the playoff and tied for fourth.

Third-round leader KT Kim and American Bubba Watson, who trailed by a stroke after 54 holes, were a combined 9-over in the final group. Kim finished with a 76 and was tied for sixth, three strokes behind. Watson's 77, including a double-bogey on the first, was tied for 12th, six strokes behind the winner.


Fraser got into the playoff with the huge putt on 18. "It had beautiful speed, I saw a pretty good line," Fraser said. "I thought it sat there for about three hours. In this game, you never know, you never give up."

Scott said he "wasted a few this week". "But I feel like the second half of this year I have been right in the mix, it's something to work on for next year. I feel like I'm knocking on the door."American Rickie Fowler, making his professional debut in Australia after winning the world amateur title in 2008 in Adelaide, closed with a 70 and was at 6-under 282, six behind.

Greg Norman had a final-round 74 after a double-bogey 6 on the 18th, finishing eight behind. Geoff Ogilvy shot 80, including a 9 on the par-3 11th when he put three balls into the water.

British Open champion Darren Clarke shot 70 yesterday after teeing off at 6.35am in the second group of the day. He shot a "brutal" 79 on Saturday, leaving him near the bottom of the 66-man field which made the cut.

Coolum was the first of four consecutive weeks for Clarke, who is travelling with the claret jug that he won at this Open championship at Royal St George's in July. Clarke plays next week at the Nedback Challenge at Sun City, South Africa, followed by the European Tour's season-ending Race to Dubai, and then an Asian Tour stop in Bangkok.

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For his hosts here at the Mission Hills complex in Haikou, it represented the outcome they craved as they disclosed that the long-term future of this embattled tournament was safe. Contrary to claims that the latest edition of the World Cup could be the last due to financing and scheduling problems, the event is to continue with or without a major sponsor. Dr Ken Chu, chairman and chief executive of the Mission Hills Group, told Telegraph Sport: “I promise you, the World Cup will carry on whether sponsors leave us or not.”

Although it is believed title sponsors Omega may withdraw their backing after this week, Dr Chu claimed he wanted to sustain the competition to honour the legacy of his father, David Chu, who died in August after inspiring the Mission Hills development and ushering in a golfing revolution in China. “Even his friends thought he was crazy,” he said. “But he had this idea like a fever. I want his work to live on.”

McIlroy acts as the ideal ambassador for the Chu family’s vision, drawing record crowds to Hainan Island. Not since Tiger Woods first arrived in this country in 2002 has one player elicited such a fanatical reaction from the Chinese audience. At least yesterday, the golf matched the hype around the star attraction.

In capricious, squally conditions, McIlroy and McDowell formed a study in control in compiling the four-under-par 68 that enabled them to join Australia at 13 under par. McIlroy, in particular, displayed the type of gossamer touch on the greens that befit the world No 2. Given the relative inexperience of Brendan Jones and Richard Green, the Australian duo, in leading a field of this calibre, the Ulstermen are clear favourites to add a first World Cup title to their respective US Open titles after missing out by one shot at Shenzhen in 2009. “We struggled to find our rhythm a little bit, but Rory putted really well to keep things together,” McDowell said.

McIlroy explained that he was also preoccupied, quite apart from his World Cup ambitions, with efforts to close the gap on Luke Donald at No 1 in the rankings by the end of the season. “I’m always just trying to get a little bit closer,” the 22 year-old said. “I’ve been very happy with my progress this year, winning my first major championship, and consolidating my place in the world’s top five.

"Now I’m No 2, it would be huge to be able to become the No 1 golfer in the world. But that’s occupied by Luke, who has played incredible golf this year and is deservedly No 1. I’ve got a few events left this year and I’ll aim to give myself a foundation for 2012. Maybe that will be enough to overtake Luke at some point.”With Scotland’s Martin Laird and Stephen Gallacher a shot further back, the English pairing of Ian Poulter and Justin Rose required a rapid improvement to avoid being cut adrift at nine under.

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RICKIE FOWLER, the 22-year-old American Gen Y golfer who wears all the colours of the rainbow, from his hat down to his golf shoes, and then some more, came to his Australian PGA Championship media interview yesterday wearing a green and gold shirt with his golf cap back to front.

Peter Senior, who at the age of 52 is a Methuselah in comparison, came in black shirt and black shorts. He is the defending champion and winner of 27 tournaments as a professional. Fowler, a former US Amateur champion, has won once - in South Korea last month.

Fowler is into social media big time. He and fellow US PGA Tour players Hunter Mahan, Bubba Watson and Ben Crane have formed a group called the Golf Boys and put together a music video singing a song, Oh, Oh, Oh, doing crazy stuff and dancing. It's had almost 3 million hits on YouTube.

Senior? Well, the Herald sent him an email a few weeks back and he took two days to reply. That was prompt, he says it normally takes a week. He recently discovered the phenomenon that is Google and has conquered the art of internet banking, but not that much of the $US1.4 million he has earned on the Seniors Tour has found its way back to Australia. "It's the first time I've won good US dollars and they're worth nothing," he said of the exchange rate between the two countries.

Perhaps the only thing Senior and Fowler have in common is that their images are not on the tournament poster. Greg Norman, Jason Day, Darren Clarke and Watson are the featured players. Still, the pair are in good company, Geoff Ogilvy, Adam Scott, Aaron Baddeley, Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, our new Open champion Greg Chalmers and John Senden aren't there either. Fowler says the use of social media - and it is considerable among golfers apart from Senior - is a way to show people who they are outside the confines of a tournament and its TV coverage.

"I guess [by] putting music videos together and putting them on YouTube, people get to see that we do have fun personalities, that we are not just get the ball in the hole quickly and win golf tournaments [sort of people]," Fowler said. "We like to have a good time, I guess we are different. I guess you could say we're like anyone else, we are goofy for sure."

At the tournament dinner on Tuesday night, Day was put on the spot by the MC, Channel Ten's Luke Elvey, to do a dance routine he learnt as a kid from Pacific Islanders on the Gold Coast - a dance he thought only a few friends knew of. In short, he was darn good. The producers of Dancing with the Stars should come knocking on the door. But Fowler won't be inviting him to join the Golf Boys.

"I don't think he's the best trick for us, he moves great and that's a problem, he moves too good for the Golf Boys,'' Fowler said. ''It just doesn't fit so, who knows, there may be a little cameo in there.''
Of social media, Senior said: "It's a young-guy thing, all the young pros are trying to outdo each other to make their fan base a little bigger."His 17-year-old son, Mitchell, who caddied for him in the US this year and is on the bag again this week, knows a thing or two about it and has told his old man.

Mitch Senior hasn't done too badly himself for a youngster who had never caddied before. His father paid him normal rates and he has developed quite nicely. "He's better than I ever thought he'd be," Senior, the Australian PGA champion for four more days, said. Maybe, he might be champion longer than that?
"I'm never one to come out and say 'I'm playing great, I'm going to win' as it can come back to bite you on the backside," he said. But, when pressed just a little yesterday, he said: "The way I'm playing at the moment, I've told my friends to have a little wager."

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Tiger Woods, who enjoyed his first taste of a golf triumph in more than two years by helping the United States keep the Presidents Cup, hopes to maintain that momentum and end a two-year win drought.

Woods tweeted his pleasure on Tuesday after flying home from Australia, where he produced the decisive point in a 19-15 victory for US captain Fred Couples' squad over the Internationals at Melbourne.

"Fun two weeks in OZ, really pleased with how my game held up in the wind and under pressure. Freddy did an awesome job once again," Woods wrote on his Twitter microblogging website. "Looking forward to continuing that mo at the Chevron World Challenge next week."

Woods will play next week in his foundation's annual charity event in suburban Los Angeles with hopes of winning his first tournament in two years, since the eruption of his infamous sex scandal two years ago this week. Woods, a 14-time major champion chasing the record 18 majors won by Jack Nicklaus, struggled most of this year with a knee injury suffered at the Masters.

"Golf-wise it has gotten better," Woods told CNBC in an interview aired on Monday. "I went through a period there where I was struggling for a little bit. Things are now starting to progress."Former world number one Woods was listed 51st in this week's world rankings.

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It was not simply the worst matchplay defeat of his life, compounding the controversy of his inclusion in Fred Couples’ American team. It was not just the joint largest margin of thrashing in the event’s history, either; an aberration in an opening session where Greg Norman’s International side were beaten 4-2. It was the fact that on the bag of Adam Scott, who with KJ Choi routed the US pair so emphatically, was a certain Steve Williams.

Less than a fortnight after Williams’s rage at his sacking by Woods had boiled over into a racist remark at a caddies’ dinner, the pair were brought together in the Melbourne media glare. They exchanged a cursory handshake on the first tee and another only 11 holes later as Woods felt the ignominy of being eclipsed by his disaffected former employee.

Woods said: “I put my hand out there to shake it, and life goes forward. There’s some great things that Steve and I did, and that’s how I look at it. I know he probably looks at it differently than I do, but hey – life goes forward, and I’m very happy with what we’ve done in our career together.”For Woods, restored to the top 50 this week after his third place at the Australian Open, the loss represented a shocking backwards step. He and Stricker failed to record a solitary birdie and did not win a single hole.

The performance could hardly have been more ragged: Woods hit into a bunker at the treacherous par-three fifth, whereupon Stricker promptly skied the ball into another trap. Scott struck his approach at the sixth to 10 feet for birdie, and Woods’s idea of an answer at the next hole was to deposit his drive into a bush. The Internationals were four up at the turn and the outcome afterwards never looked in doubt. “Unfortunately, they got off to a quick start and we couldn’t keep up,” Woods said.

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Woods thrashed Aaron Baddeley to secure the winning point as the Americans beat the Internationals 19-15. And Norman, who skippered the International team, is among those who would like the win to act as a catalyst Woods needs to kick-start his career. "Tiger's Tiger - he stepped up the plate," Norman said.

"I said to him 'You need golf as much as golf needs you'. We all want to see him up there. "Any player hates to see a great player struggle. We all know what it's like to go through the ins and outs of the game. "You want to see the player who dominated the game come back so that when you beat him you feel like you beat him at the top of his game."

Vindicated

Woods was one of Fred Couples' two wildcards for the American team - sparking a fierce debate in the sport. Norman had thought USPGA champion Keegan Bradley would have been a better pick, however Couples has no doubts he did the right thing.

"I don't know if I've ever felt vindicated in golf in 30 years, but I feel like I know what I'm doing," he said. "There's a reason I picked Tiger early. He worked hard and when a guy says 'Don't worry about me' you are going to smile.

"I got frustrated a bit (by the attacks on his selection) because I felt I was picking the greatest player I've ever seen play. "I heard he was the Tiger of old today and Aaron Baddeley said it was phenomenal."

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The Internationals face a Herculean task to prevent the United States from sealing their fourth successive Presidents Cup but captain Greg Norman backed his team to tear up the script in Sunday's singles.

The hosts must win nine of their 12 matches on Sunday after they finished Saturday's play trailing 13-9 after a wet and windy day at Royal Melbourne Golf Club.

The Internationals edged the tourists in Saturday's final four-ball matches 3-2 but the damage was done earlier as their traditional Achilles heel in the foursomes came back to haunt them on a wet and windy day at Royal Melbourne.

"It could have been really close today, but you know, right now, we have got our backs against the wall, no question about it," Norman told reporters. "You've got to believe that you can come back, win nine matches out of 12 to win this. "I believe the guys can. I have not heard any grumblings or rumblings in the camp. All of the guys want to do is get warm, eat and go back to bed."

Norman's team trailed 12.5 to 9.5 going into the final day of the 2009 tournament in San Francisco but went down 19.5-14.5 as the U.S. took their sixth Cup from eight tournaments. The Internationals would have to beat the United States's 1994 Cup effort when the Americans won the last day's singles 8-4 to clinch the inaugural trophy 20-12.

Norman has turned to Saturday's hero Kim Kyung-tae to get the Internationals off to a winning start against Webb Simpson after the South Korean calmly rolled in a six-foot putt on the 18th to upset Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson 1-up in their four-ball match.

South Africa's Charl Schwartzel takes on Bubba Watson in the following match-up, while Australia's Aaron Baddeley will have the task of beating Tiger Woods in the second-last clash if the tournament comes down to the wire.

Fred Couples stands on the brink of a second straight Cup win and paid tribute to Nick Watney and Jim Furyk who withstood a late challenge from Adam Scott and Ernie Els to seal the final point in the four-ball matches, a dagger blow in the context of the tournament.

"We just finished an hour ago with Nick Watney and Furyk winning a huge point and we have not even had time to really sit down with them and tell them, you know, like Greg used the word 'proud'," Couples said.

"If I was a basketball coach and they played like this, I would probably get used to it. But when you only do this every two years and you watch them play in a downpour in 50-degree weather, and we needed those two points really bad and they got them for us.

"When we get back there, we will get the old guys, as we did get a couple of guys on the team bus to tell them, this isn't far from over, and you need to go out and everyone needs to win a point. That's kind of the game plan."

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Three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson has experienced most things in golf but he was left bewildered by the torrid playing conditions the Presidents Cup offered at Royal Melbourne on Friday.
Captain Fred Couples described conditions as brutal as the US and International teams split the six fourball matches and the Americans' lead was held to 7-5 with two days left in the teams event.

Royal Melbourne, rated one of world golf's classic sandbelt courses, bared its teeth as hot blustery winds buffeted the players, making for arduous shot-making, and made birdies redundant on the glassy greens. Renown putter Mickelson, who tamed Augusta for three Masters jackets in 2004, 2006 and last year, was amazed as Royal Melbourne turned nasty.

"It was awesome. We'll never see something like this in an everyday golf course. We rarely see it in a major," he said, after remaining unbeaten with Jim Furyk in their second win this week. "To have green speeds over 14 with wind blowing 15, 25 miles an hour, that was incredible and to have to read the wind of a putt more so than the break. That's pretty cool."

Mickelson was relieved that it was match play on Friday rather than regular tournament stroke play.
"Providing that your score really doesn't count, which it doesn't here, because it's match play, it was why it was so much fun," he said. "If you have that situation in a US Open or a British Open, we would probably curse, but it was so much fun today because you've got a partner that you can rely on in best ball (fourball) format and I thought we had a good time."

Couples described the conditions as brutal for both teams as matches spilled over to almost seven hours in duration. "It was a very exciting day. I'm proud of all 24 players as a witness to this," he said. "It was not much fun out there, I'm sure, for any of them. Obviously both teams had wins on each side, so they had fun, but it was brutal."Couples, who won the 1992 Masters in his only major, said a lack of birdies contributed to the long day on the course.
"
"The feedback was it was a long day," he said. "The rounds took a long time because there were very few holes won with birdies. "And when you have four guys playing and you've got three, 4 and 5 footers for par every hole, it takes a long time to get through the round. "There would not be many scores under par today. There just were not many birdies made and that's the kind of course it is. "It's in perfect shape. But it was just a long, hard day."

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Tournament History and Info:  Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne, Australia, hosts the 9th edition of the President’s Cup this week beginning on Thursday at 1 pm Melbourne time.  That translates to 9 pm Wednesday night Eastern U.S. time.  The President’s Cup series dates back to 1994 and has been dominated by the United States who has won 6 of the previous 8 outright with the International Team having tied the event once (2003) while claiming their only outright victory in the event in 1998. 

That one International victory, though, is significant because it is the only time the event took place in Australia and it was played on the very same course as this year’s event.  Each team consists of 12 players: 10 automatic qualifiers and 2 captain’s picks.  The automatic qualifiers for the American team are selected based on money earnings between the 2009 Wyndham Championship and the 2011 BMW Championship with double credit being given to this year’s winnings.  The International team consists of the top 10 players in the world rankings who are not eligible for the European Ryder Cup team plus the two captain’s picks.  The format is similar to the Ryder Cup in that each day is a combination of match play events including four ball matches, foursomes, and the culminating singles matches on Sunday.  Here is a look at each team’s members in order from most experienced to least:

United States:

Phil Mickelson (9th President’s Cup appearance) -- Phil is the only player in this year’s Cup that has participated in every single one since the event’s conception in 1994.  It has been feast or famine for him... he was undefeated in his matches in both 2005 and 2009 but went 0-5 in 2003 and was also winless in the U.S. team’s only loss in 1998.  Like his game in general, he is inconsistent at the PC but dominant when things are going well.

Tiger Woods (Captain’s Pick - 7th appearance) -- Tiger’s PC record has been outstanding over the years and he was a dominant 5-0-0 in his last appearance in 2009.  You have to assume Couples will match him up with Steve Stricker again because they destroyed all comers two years ago.  The one chink in the armor?  The only PC he posted a losing record was at Royal Melbourne in the U.S.’s loss in 1998.

Jim Furyk (7th appearance) -- Like Tiger, the experienced Furyk has a very good PC record and actually has a winning record in all match play formats over the 6 times he has participated.  Once again, though, the stat that stands out with him is the same as the other two above... the only time he completed a Cup with a losing record was at Royal Melbourne in 1998 when he went 1-3-0.

Steve Stricker (4th appearance) -- As I mentioned above, he and Tiger were dominant together in 2009 and it would be foolish for Fred Couples not to pair them again.  He’s coming off a very successful 2011 where he won twice and finished in the top 25 in 15 of the 20 tournaments he played in.

David Toms (4th appearance) -- Toms didn’t make the PC team in 2009 but his last Cup, in 2007, was a spectacular performance.  He went 4-0-1 and earned the most points of any player to help the Americans to a 5 point victory.

Hunter Mahan (3rd appearance) -- This is his 3rd consecutive PC and results have been mixed for him.  After a disappointing 2-3-0 record in his first cup in ‘07, he came up big in 2009 with two wins and a halve in his 4 matches.

Matt Kuchar (1st President’s Cup) -- Kuchar may be a PC rookie but he did tally a couple points for the American Ryder Cup team in his first appearance at that event last year.  His 2011 season was somewhat disappointing in that he didn’t grab a victory but did have 9 top ten finishes.

Dustin Johnson (1st PC) -- Johnson is coming off his second straight brilliant PGA Tour season and there are few players in the world with his combination of power and raw talent.  When he harnesses it, he is nearly impossible to beat.  Inconsistency is his biggest enemy.  He did play on the 2010 Ryder Cup team and went 1-3-0 but his only win was a dominant performance against Martin Kaymer in the Sunday singles.

Webb Simpson (1st PC) -- This will be Simpson’s first national team experience as a pro but he was a member of the 2007 Walker Cup team as an amateur.  2011 was a major breakthrough year for the rising star and tallying a few points at the PC would be another feather in his cap.

Nick Watney (1st PC) -- Watney has little experience in this kind of format, although he was part of the World Cup of Golf in China in 2009, but that was a far cry from a Ryder or President’s Cup event.  There’s no denying the talent is there and he’s coming off a season where he won two big tournaments.

Bubba Watson (1st PC) -- Another PC rookie but Watson was a Ryder Cup-er in 2010 where he posted a 1-3-0 record.  One of the world’s longest players, Bubba can overpower a course but his putting will need to be better than it was on the PGA Tour in 2011 if he is going to help the American team earn points.

Bill Haas (Captain’s Pick - 1st PC) -- 2011 was a career year for Haas and he was rewarded by Team USA captain Fred Couples as one of his two captain’s picks for the 12 man squad.  He has no experience as a pro in this kind of event but did play in the Walker Cup in 2003 as an amateur.  
 
International Team:

Ernie Els (7th appearance) -- The most experienced of the International players, he is 10-5-0 in the last three PCs since an 0-5-0 showing in 2000.  He earned 3 ½ points for the International team in 1998 at Royal Melbourne in their lone victory in the series.

Retief Goosen (6th appearance) -- Has a winning record overall in PC play but was dismal in 2009 going winless for the first time in his President’s Cup career.  His 2011 season was not an impressive one.

Robert Allenby (Captain’s Pick - 6th appearance) -- On the surface, this looks like a curious pick by Greg Norman because he didn’t have a great 2011 season and his PC record is mediocre at best.  However, he is from Melbourne and knows this course as well as anyone in the world.  

Adam Scott (5th appearance) -- Another Aussie but his record in the last two PCs is a measly 2-7-1.  His 2011 season was a very good one so he’s a completely different player than we saw in 2007 and 2009.  A little home cookin’ won’t hurt, either.

K.J. Choi (3rd appearance) -- In his previous 2 appearances in the PC, Choi has just a 3-6 record but has not lost on Sunday in the singles matches.  He had a great 2011 season and is playing well so he’ll be a tough match up, especially on Sunday if the point total is close.

Geoff Ogilvy (3rd appearance) -- The third Australian on the International team had an up and down 2011 season but many of his best performances were in the bigger tournaments... 4th at the Masters and 3rd at the BMW Championship, for instance.  Both of his PC losses in 2009 were to the dominant Woods/Stricker combo.

Y.E. Yang (2nd appearance) -- The Korean is another guy on this team who seems to show up at big events.  Scored 2 ½ points for the Internationals in the 2009 PC.

Ryo Ishikawa (2nd appearance) -- This Japanese kid can play.  He just turned 20 but he already sports a 3-2-0 record at the President’s Cup from 2009 and his two losses were to Woods/Stricker.  

Jason Day (1st PC appearance) -- Aussie #4 had an outstanding 2011 season on the American Tour with 10 top tens and 3 top threes.  This is his first experience with this kind of format.

Charl Schwartzel (1st PC appearance) -- The Masters champion was the biggest player on the big stage in 2011 placing in the top 16 in all four majors.  He has no experience in this kind of format, either, but he isn’t one to get rattled easily.

Kyung-tae Kim (1st PC appearance) -- The least-known player on either team, Kim played most of this 2011 events on the Japanese and Asian Tours but ranks 24th in the world rankings due to the success he’s had on those tours.  He played in 3 of the 4 majors this year and didn’t fare well.

Aaron Baddeley (Captain’s pick - 1st PC appearance) -- The fifth Australian on the International team was actually born in New Hampshire but moved down under when he was 2.  He had a very good year in 2011 including a win at the Northern Trust Open and a 3rd place finish in the Tour Championship.

Patrick’s Pick:  International Team

The United States team is a slight favorite at most books but looking at all of the pieces, I like the International Team to get it’s second-ever victory in the history of the event.  While the American team has the bigger names, they also have 6 first time President’s Cup participants and history shows most players have not fared as well in their first try as they have in subsequent appearances.  Half of the American team is doing this for the first time and couple that with the fact that nearly half of the International Team is playing in their homeland on a course that is the only place the Americans have ever lost this event and I have to give a slight edge to the Internationals.

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