It's all systems go for Ballantine event

TOUR NEWS:WHO'S LAUGHING now? The foresight of the PGA European Tour in extending its tentacles into Asia had much to do with money and a quest to ensure that its members had somewhere to play virtually every week of the year. But, given the travails associated with the volcanic ash on the tour's original home territory, the grand plan seems wiser by the day.

Although this week’s Moroccan Classic on the Challenge Tour has fallen victim to the natural phenomenon which erupted in Iceland, with the hope that it can be rescheduled for later in the season, there are no such worries associated with the Ballantine’s Championship on the main tour which takes place in Jeju Island in South Korea.

The presence of two of the world’s top 10, Ernie Els and Anthony Kim, and Korea’s own major champion YE Yang, seeking back-to-to-back wins on tour after claiming the Volvo China Open on Sunday, certainly adds to the field’s strength while the same sextet of Irish players who competed in Jiangsu were glad to be flying further east for consecutive tournaments rather than contemplating negotiating a route towards home.

Graeme McDowell, winner of the inaugural Ballantine’s in 2008, has returned to the world’s top 50 – in 49th place, which would get him into The Players Championship at Sawgrass next month should he manage to stay there – heads the Irish challenge which also features Shane Lowry, who added to his sponsorship portfolio yesterday with a new deal with Atlas Tyres, Peter Lawrie, Gareth Maybin, Damien McGrane and Paul McGinley.

Thongchai Jaidee defends the title he won last year, a win he ranked as the highlight of his career and which moved into the world’s top-50 for the first time. Jaidee was forced to withdraw in the second round of the US Masters after suffering an elbow injury, but all seemed fine after he finished joint-eighth behind Yang in China last weekend

The former paratrooper underwent treatment on the muscle strain from a specialist associated with the NBA basketball team, the Atlanta Hawks, and was deemed fit to play and will now defend his title.

While McDowell responded to his missed cut at the Masters by hitting the Far East trail, Pádraig Harrington and Rory McIlroy returned home to work on their games – and the pair are set to resume tournament play at next week’s Quail Hollow Championship in the United States, assuming the flight restrictions are lifted or, if not, they can find alternative routes to the tournament.

McIlroy, who had indicated he was considering taking a six-week break up to the BMW PGA at Wentworth, has reconsidered that position after doing some work with his coach Michael Bannon on returning home and the 20-year-old – who is down to 13th in the latest world rankings – has decided that some rounds of golf at Royal Portrush and Royal County Down this week will likely provide the remedies required to clear his head of any post-Masters blues.

Instead of taking a prolonged break, the Northern Irishman has reverted to his original tour schedule, which will see him follow up playing at Quail Hollow – where Tiger Woods and Masters champion Phil Mickelson have also confirmed their entries – with a return visit to The Players. His first tournament of the season on European soil will come at the European Tour’s flagship event in Wentworth, two weeks after Sawgrass.

Of his actions since returning from a first missed cut in a major at Augusta, McIlroy remarked: “I’ve been practising really hard since I got home and do feel it’s all coming together.

“I’m putting a lot of time into my shots from 100 yards in . . . if I can get that sorted out, and get scoring again, then I’ll be able to start contending again.”

Now, all he has to do is find a way of getting to the United States for next week’s tournament! Harrington, who stayed on in Augusta to use the new practice facilities there after missing the cut, has pronounced himself feeling “much better” since working on some swing issues and he has also spent time with coach Bob Torrance since returning home. “The main thing for me is to be ready to play and feeling good about my game before I head to Quail Hollow,” he said.

Meanwhile, home-based club professionals have been given an added incentive to sharpen their games with the announcement of a season’s finale to the Irish PGA circuit. The “Lexus Race to Mount Juliet in association with Ping” will feature the top 30 players on the local Order of Merit competing over the Jack Nicklaus-designed course on October 15th-16th.

In the tough economic climate, the Irish PGA has bucked the trend by increasing its sponsorship level this season from €650,000 up to €800,000 and his season-finale has an additional €10,000 bonus – a la the European Tour’s Race to Dubai pool – for the leading golfer along with guaranteed places in the 2011 BMW PGA at Wentworth and also in next year’s 3 Irish Open.

Rankings And Money Winners

Men’s World Top 20

(US unless stated, last week’s positions in brackets)

1 (1) Tiger Woods 11.55 ave pts

2 (2) Phil Mickelson 9.04

3 (3) Steve Stricker 7.78

4 (4) Lee Westwood (Eng) 7.74

5 (6) Jim Furyk 7.05

6 (5) Ian Poulter (Eng) 6.09

7 (8) Ernie Els (Rsa) 6.07

8 (7) Paul Casey (Eng) 5.93

9 (9) Martin Kaymer (Ger) 5.18

10 (10) Anthony Kim 5.01

11 (11)Pádraig Harrington (Ire) 4.68

12 (13) Camilo Villegas (Colombia) 4.63

13 (12) Rory McIlroy (N Ire) 4.46

14 (14) Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 4.37

15 (15) Retief Goosen (Rsa) 4.20

16 (17) Robert Allenby (Aus) 4.14

17 (16) Henrik Stenson (Swe) 4.13

18 (18) Hunter Mahan 3.94

19 (23) Luke Donald (Eng) 3.90

20 (26) Yang Yong-eun (S Kor) 3.90

Other Irish

49 Graeme McDowell 2.34

95 Shane Lowry 1.52

135 Darren Clarke 1.18

152 Peter Lawrie 1.09

160 Gareth Maybin 1.03

218 Damien McGrane 0.78

Women’s World Top 10

1 Lorena Ochoa (Mex) 9.25

2 Jiyai Shin (Kor) 8.76

3 Yani Tseng (Tai) 8.67

4 Suzann Pettersen (Nor) 8.38

5 Ai Miyazato (Jpn) 8.12

6 Cristie Kerr (US) 7.48

7 Anna Nordqvist (Swe) 6.96

8 Karrie Webb (Aus) 6.56

9 Michelle Wie (US) 6.08

10 Angela Stanford (US) 5.69

Ryder Cup Standings

Europe

World list

1 *Lee Westwood (Eng) 279.18 pts

2 *Ian Poulter (Eng) 204.20

3 *Rory McIlroy (N Ire) 148.60

4 *Pádraig Harrington (Ire) 143.17

5Martin Kaymer (Ger) 132.48

6 Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 127.77

7 Luke Donald (Eng) 108.74

8 Paul Casey (Eng) 106.15

9 Ross McGowan (Eng) 97.30

10 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 91.33

European list

1 Westwood 2,642,626 pts

2 Poulter 2,137,556

3McIlroy 1,442,189

4 *McGowan 1,259,932

5 *Kaymer 1,117,045

6 *Simon Dyson (Eng) 970,819

7 *Casey 938,325

8 *F Molinari 875,362

9 Oliver Wilson (Eng) 866,721

10 Harrington 855,152

(* denotes players in qualifying positions)

Captain Colin Montgomerie will also select three wild cards)

United States

1 Phil Mickelson 4,066pts

2 Anthony Kim 3,062

3 Jim Furyk 2,674

4 Steve Stricker 2,416

5 Hunter Mahan 2,269

6 Lucas Glover 2,132

7 Dustin Johnson 2,098

8 Stewart Cink 1,959

9 Tiger Woods 1,946

10Matt Kuchar 1,800

11 Ricky Barnes 1,493

(Top eight qualify automatically. Captain Corey Pavin will also select four wild cards)

Race to Dubai

1 Ian Poulter (Eng) €1,376,800

2 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) €1,281,539

3 Ernie Els (Rsa) €1,173,458

4 Lee Westwood (Eng) €1,019,227

5 Paul Casey (Eng) €889,413

6 Martin Kaymer (Ger) €733,163

7 Yang Yong-eun (S Kor) €599,166

8 Camilo Villegas (Col) €585,381

9 Rhys Davies (Wal) €541,592

10 Anthony Kim (US) €492,450

11 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) €489,075

12 Alvaro Quiros (Spa) €482,502

13 Sergio Garcia (Spa) €460,667

14 Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) €457,509

15 Thongchai Jaidee (Thai) €451,163

16 Robert Karlsson (Swe) €429,096

17 Pádraig Harrington (Ire) €351,777

18 Oliver Wilson (Eng) €328,651

19 Soren Hansen (Den) €311,311

20Anders Hansen (Den) €307,202

USPGA Tour

1 Ernie Els (Rsa) $3,143,141

2 Jim Furyk (US) $2,386,987

3 Anthony Kim (US) $2,342,557

4 Camilo Villegas (Col) $2,104,050

5 Steve Stricker (US) $2,033,714

6 Phil Mickelson (US) $1,842,719

7 Dustin Johnson (US) $1,827,934

8 Matt Kuchar (US) $1,731,563

9 Ian Poulter (Eng) $1,700,025

10 Luke Donald (Eng) $1,531,271

11 Paul Casey (Eng) $1,518,295

12 Hunter Mahan (US) $1,516,593

13 Bill Haas (US) $1,387,120

14 Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) $1,372,356

15 Ben Crane (US) $1,355,276

16 Retief Goosen (Rsa) $1,302,333

17 KJ Choi (Kor) $1,282,150

18 Robert Allenby (Aus) $1,277,057

19 JB Holmes (US) $1,264,422

20 Ryan Palmer (US) $1,162,202