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South Africans dominate on opening day of new European Tour season

Home favourites Thomas Aiken and Retief Goosen set the early pace as the new European Tour season got underway at the Africa Open in East London on Thursday.

Aiken shot a superb nine-under-par 64 to end the first round with a one-shot lead over the field, with two-time major winner champion Goosen leading the chasing pack alongside compatriot Jaco Ahlers.

Two more South Africans, Michael Du Toit and Dean O'Riley, share fourth with Phillip Price of Wales on seven-under, while Englishmen Danny Willett and Richard Bland are part of a six-man group one stroke further back at six-under.

First round leaderboard

Defending champion Louis Oosthuizen came with a back-nine surge to boost his hopes of a successful defence and finished the day on four-under after a double-bogey had undermined a promising start.

Aiken and Goosen - who played together in the first grouping of the day - took advantage of ideal morning conditions to make the early running.

Things did not start well for Goosen who, after striking the first shot of the new season, went on to make a bogey down the opening hole, the ninth.

But the 42-year-old hit back in stunning style with a run of five straight birdies from the 11th to the 15th and then added three more in the space of four holes between the 18th and the third.

Goosen - who finished last season at the top of the European Tour's putting statistics - again demonstrated his confidence with the belly-putter as he rolled in the ninth and final birdie of his round at the sixth. -http://www1.skysports.com/

Tiger Woods is hoping to hit the ground running when he tees off in Abu Dhabi and is targeting a big year now he is injury free.

The 36-year-old has suffered a miserable couple of years, with the breakdown of his marriage and lurid tabloid headlines about his private life coinciding with a slump in form and several niggling injuries.

He slipped from the top spot in the rankings to outside the world's top 50, but a late-season rally, which saw him win his first event in two years at the Chevron World Challenge, has seen him rise to 23rd in the standings.

The Florida resident had shown glimpses of his best form in the Australian Open and performed with credit at the Presidents Cup before claiming the tournament that he hosts in Thousand Oaks, California in early December.

Woods has won 14 majors to date, and is second only to the great Jack Nicklaus in that category, but he has not claimed one of the big-four events since the summer of 2008.

But he is now clearly hungry for more and admitted that he is now enjoying the game once again after recovering from the injuries that prevented him from playing for large parts of 2011 and relishing the chance to get back on the course in the UAE.

"The last couple of months have been really fun and that is mostly because I am feeling healthy again and building week on week," he said. "I am looking to get off to a fast start in Abu Dhabi and keep building from there."

The Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship gets under way on January 26 and will feature a host of top European stars, such as Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, and Woods is clearly champing at the bit to pit his wits against the best from around the globe.

"There are so many great and talented players in the game right now - it is exciting for golf fans and I relish the challenge of going head-to-head with any number of the leading players on a Sunday afternoon," he added. - http://www.setanta.com/

Japan's Naomichi Ozaki is to continue as Asia captain for next year's Royal Trophy against Europe.

The 55-year-old has led the team for the last four editions of the match play tournament after his compatriot Masahiro Kuramoto took charge for the inaugural event in 2006.

The 2012 event will take place in Brunei from 14-16 December and will be played in honour of Seve Ballesteros, Europe's captain for the first two years, who died in May after a lengthy battle against cancer.

"I am certain that the eight members of the Asian Team will play their hearts out in honour of Seve's career and life," said Ozaki, whose only success as captain came in 2009.

"I have great memories of Seve during my years playing full-time internationally, of the times he played in our tour in Japan and of captaining against him at the Royal Trophy in 2007."

Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal will lead the European team, taking over the captaincy from Colin Montgomerie, who skippered the side to a 9-7 victory earlier this year. htp://www.sportinglife.com

Paul Broadhurst has conceded that his days on the European Tour are all but over.

The 46-year-old has seen his hopes of securing a 2012 tour card dashed after he failed to make the cut at a tour school event at Spain’s Catalunya Resort.

Having first earned a place on the European Tour 22 years ago, the veteran admits he now expects his playing days to be more focused on the Challenge Tour.

"It does look like the end for me in terms of playing on the tour," the Englishman was quoted as saying by the Tamworth Herald.

"Golf is changing around me, the standard is getting higher and higher.

"I shot 16 birdies yet came out only one under – there were far too many errors and I was always up against it.

"When you look at it there are only two players on the Tour who are older than me, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Colin Montgomerie – and even he only plays here and there now.

"I've noticed that I do not read the greens as well as I used to do, and I am shooting an average of 2.5 putts more than in previous years – that's massive, you can't overlook that.

"I've looked into if there's anything I can get done with my short vision, because my long distance is brilliant, but there's nothing that can be done.

"I've just got to get on with it."

Broadhurst is also set to turn to golf coaching, adding: "I feel like I have plenty to give but we will see " - http://www.setanta.com/

Luke Donald can add another accolade to his long list after winning the Golf Writers Trophy for 2011 ahead of joint runners-up Darren Clarke and Rory McIlroy.

"Any award you win gives you a great amount of pleasure and for the golf writers to consider me as their player of the year means a lot, it really does," Donald said.

"These are the people who really understand golf and appreciate all that I have achieved this year.

"All the people in the running - Rory, Darren, the Solheim Cup team and the Walker Cup team - would have been worthy winners and therefore it is very gratifying to get the vote ahead of all of them."

Donald reached world number one in May, won the final event of the PGA Tour season in America to be their leading money-winner and then completed an unprecedented double by taking the European Tour title as well despite competing in only 13 counting tournaments.

Clarke, who won The Open 20 years after his first appearance in it, said: "What Luke Donald has achieved this year is unbelievable, I'm full of admiration for him."

McIlroy shot a record score in becoming the youngest US Open champion since 1923 and did so only two months after blowing the US Masters with a closing round of 80.

The Solheim Cup team came fourth in the vote and captain Alison Nicholas said: "It proves the strength of men's and women's professional golf in Europe at present and highlights the young and fearless talent that is coming through."

That was underlined by the unexpected Walker Cup victory over the United States at Royal Aberdeen, with that side finishing fifth in the poll.

Donald will receive the trophy - first awarded in 1951 - at a dinner during The Open Championship at Royal Lytham in July. - http://www.sportinglife.com

Paul Casey is looking to put a disappointing year behind him as he prepares for what he hopes will be a successful 2012.

The Englishman has struggled to find his best form over the past 12 months, largely down to a foot injury that was not diagnosed until later into the year.

The season started well for the 34-year old as he picked up the European Tour's Volvo Golf Champions event in Bahrain in January, but afterwards he only won one other tournament - on the Korean Tour in October.

Casey admits it has been a difficult year to get through but has high hopes for 2012.

"It's been incredibly frustrating," he said. "The trouble with the toe injury was that I didn't really know what was going on until it was too late.

"I picked it up in late May, battled through it and I didn't really get a full diagnosis until August.

"By then, it was too late to take a medical (exemption) so I tried to play through it and got into a lot of bad habits.

"My very lofty goals I haven't yet achieved so they're going to be the same in 2012, and those will be the majors and World Golf (Championships) events." - http://www.setanta.com

Simon Dyson is targeting a place on the European Ryder Cup team after narrowly missing out on the 2010 event at Celtic Manor.

The 34-year-old has made great strides over the past few years and won twice on the European Tour this year, with victory in the Irish Open and Holland's KLM Open.

He is currently 16th in the Ryder Cup points list and 28th in the world rankings with every chance that both of those positions will improve if he continues to progress in 2012.

The York-born star just missed out on qualification for Colin Montgomerie's side last time out, who went on to regain the trophy in Wales by the narrowest of margins.

Dyson feels he is now a better player than 12 months ago and is hoping that his performances over the next seven or eight months can end in a place in Europe's elite 12 to face the USA on their own patch.

"I think I've improved from last year and if I can just keep doing what I'm doing, then I've got a very good chance," he told BBC Radio York. "I'm not going to beat myself up about it trying to get in it, I'm just going to let my golf do the talking."

Dyson finished in a tie for ninth at the Open Championship and won more than 1.6m euros in 2011 but the Manchester resident insists he is more concerned with winning titles and making the Ryder Cup team than amassing huge prize funds.

"If I keep playing how I have done for the last three months, if I don't get in it, they'll have a very strong side. If I do, fantastic," he added.

"It's not really about the money for me. It's about trying to achieve as much as I can. I've had six wins now which is pretty good." - http://www.setanta.com