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    The 2012 European Tour Q-School

    This week's pictures are from Q-School, hosted at the PGA Catalunya Resort.

    3 Win Weekend for FJ!!!

    Luke Donald (FJ ICON) retained his lead in the final round of the Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Japan, to record a five-stroke victory. The Tournament was being played at the Phoenix Country Club, featuring some of the prominent names on the Japan Golf Tour.
    Donald carded a six-under par 65 in the first round and shared the. He then showed another sparkling display of the game on Friday, to take the sole lead, following a seven-under par 64.
    On Saturday, he failed to maintain his form and recorded three birdies against the same number of bogeys to finish with an even-par score for the round.
    However, it was good enough to retain his position on top of the leaderboard. The final round witnessed him regain his form, as he carded a three-under par 68 for a 16-under par tournament score.
    It was Donald’s third professional victory of the season, as he won the PGA Tour’s Transitions Championship and European Tour’s BMW PGA Championship earlier this season.
    The victory also allowed the Englishman to leapfrog to the second position in the Official World Golf Rankings.
    "BOOM!! 3rd win of the year - honoured to add my name to the great Champions that have won the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament," tweeted Donald. “Loved my week here in Japan - the Dunlop Phoenix is a great event, on a great course, great food, great beer....it's just great!”
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    Henrik Stenson (FJ ICON & Pure Touch) held on to his three-shot overnight lead to win the European Tour's South African Open on Sunday and end a three-year wait for a tournament title.
    The Swede finished with a 1-under 71 for a 17-under total of 271 and his first victory since the 2009 Players Championship. It was also Stenson's first win on the European Tour in five years.
    "2011 was a tough year with not much good going on on the course for me," Stenson said. "I felt I was getting closer and closer and obviously I'm delighted to get a win before the end of the year."
    Fellow FJ ambassador George Coetzee was second at 14 under after the South African's challenge never really got going in the final round.
    Coetzee put himself in contention for his first European title with a course-record 63 on Saturday, and he eagled the par-5 third hole Sunday. But he could manage only two more birdies and had three bogeys for a 71.
    Stenson had four birdies, enough for a long-awaited victory despite a wobble midway through his round, when he made bogey on No. 6 and a double bogey on the short ninth hole after dumping his tee shot into the water.
    He is only the second foreign player to win the South African Open title in the last decade and sealed his place at the season-ending World Tour Championship in Dubai after entering this tournament at No. 59 on the money list. The top 60 go to Dubai next weekend.
    "It was great that I came down here from the U.S.," he said. "One of the big reasons was that I was 59th, so I needed a good week."
    To cap his good week, the 36-year-old Stenson collected a little over $200,000 for the win.
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    Hometown favorite and fifth ranked player in the world, Adam Scott shot a 5-under 67 to win the Australian Masters at Kingston Heath in Melbourne.  
    Starting the day one stroke back, Scott wasted little time birdieing the first to draw even with the 54 hole leader.  Scott, in FJ Sport and StaSof, then added four more birdies on the front making the turn with a one stroke lead.  On the back nine, Scott added eight straight pars before making birdie at the last to finish at 17 under par, four clear of his closest competitor.  This is Scott's first win of the 2012 season.
    Scott later stated of his win, "This has been a long time coming, This is pretty sweet to be in the gold jacket and hold this trophy that I've been admiring since I was a little kid."


     

    The 2012 UBS Hong Kong Open

    This week's European Tour event is being hosted at Hong Kong GC.

    Check our snaps showing a behind the scenes view of the European Tour.

    McIlroy takes season ending Money List

    A 30-FOOT eagle putt on the final green at the Barclays Singapore Open yesterday made Rory McIlroy (FJ Sport & Pure Touch) the European Tour’s youngest money list winner since Sandy Lyle in 1980.

    But it was only when 19-year-old Italian Matteo Manassero also eagled the same hole more than two hours later that McIlroy could crack open the champagne again.

    Already with the PGA Tour title in the bag, the 23-year-old world number one emulated the double achieved by fellow FJ ambassador Luke Donald last season when Manassero beat South African Louis Oosthuizen (DryJoys Tour & SciFlex) with a 12-foot putt at the third play-off hole.

    If Oosthuizen had won he could still have caught McIlroy, but instead Manassero became the first player to win three times on the circuit before the age of 20.

    On clinching the money list double McIlroy said: “It really is hugely satisfying to finally become the European number one, especially after finishing second two of the last three years. It has always been one of my goals ever since securing my Tour card five years ago, but then to also end the year as both European and PGA Tour number one is just amazing. I feel so proud and humbled.”

    Manassero takes title in Singapore

    Matteo Manassero holed a 12 foot putt for eagle on the third playoff hole to defeat fellow FJ staffer Louis Oosthuizen in the Barclay's Singapore Open.

    Tropical storms on Friday forced the field to play most of their third round and all of the final round on Sunday.  Matteo finished up his first 18 on Sunday with a bogey free 64 to race to the top of the leaderboard at 11-under par.  Not to be outdone was former British Open Champion, Oosthuizen, who shot a third round 65 to keep pace with the Italian teenager.

    Starting the final round with a two stroke lead, Manassero (FJ Sport and StaSof) rattled off two birdies in his first four holes to remain in control of the tournament.  He then made 10 straight pars letting the S outh African back into the tournament, with Oostuizen (DryJoys Tour and SciFlex) drawing even on the 15th hole.  Both players matched birdies on the final hole of regulation to finish at 13 under par.

    Birdies were exchanged on the first playoff hole and pars on the next.  Then Matteo closed out the tourney with a brilliant eagle for the victory.

    Manassero stated post round, “The playoff was just a great honor to play with Louis - it’s been amazing, really. This year has been a tough year for me going through a few swing changes, but it has been amazing this week. I’m glad this came in such a great tournament."

    This is Matteo's third win on the European Tour making him the first teenager ever to accomplish this feat.