Adam Scott continues to lead the 2008 EDS Byron Nelson Championship after Saturday’s third round, finishing 8 under par. Bart Bryant, Kevin Sutherland, Charley Hoffman, & Ryan Moore are tied for second with 5 under par. The Byron Nelson Championship started in 1944 as The Texas Victory Open, it was not until 1968 that it took on the name of its first winner and became the Byron Nelson Golf Classic. Tom Watson has won the tournament the most with 4 victories that include a three year streak between 1978 to 1980.

Adam Scott turned pro in 2000 at age 20 and has since then had a distinguished career, including winning The Singapore Open from 2005-2006 and a playoff defeat of Chad Campbell in the 2005 Nissan Open at The Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, CA.  Scott is currently a professional at The Palms Golf Course Sanctuary Cove in Queensland, Australia.

Swedish golfer, Daniel Chopra apprehended his nerve when he defeated Steve Stricker of America in a play-off match for the PGA Tour opening session of Mercedes-Benz Championships. Chopra’s wild playoff triumph on Sunday in the Mercedes-Benz Championship was more about insistence and urgency. Both the players missed the opportunities of birdies from six feet at the initial hole, just before Chopra sealing the victory. He initiated with two putt birdie at the par 5 ninth, where his eagle effort came to rest on the border of the hole.

Chopra said that it was one of his best final rounds ever played to steal a victory at the tournament. The moment Chopra reached Hawaii he loved the place very much despite watching most of the tournaments on the television and also playing a video game. Chopra has missed two birdies on the 18th hole from inside twelve feet which would have won him the tournament. He initially got a jam when his shot settled into a sprinkler and he would have evaded one, when Stricker’s long eagle putt on the first hole was slowed down by Chopra’s ball marks.

Chopra fell to his knees twice when he felt that his putts would go in, however this did not happen. Both the players accomplished the seventy two regulation holes on 18 under par 274, Stricker finished birdie/birdie/par/birdie for 64 while Chopra carded 66 points. Chopra had qualified for this tournament with his first PGA Tour triumph in the second to the last event of 2007. He earned 1.0 million dollars and a Mercedes-Benz Sports Car and this triumph earned Chopra his first trip to the Masters.

Mark Calcavecchia and Woody Austin successfully beat out tournament host Greg Norman and teammate Bubba Watson by one stroke in the Merrill Lynch Shootout today to win the $3.2 million dollar prize. Calcavecchia and Austin had shot a stunning 12 under par 60 on Saturday leaving them with a two stroke lead over Norman and Watson.

The tournament, which took place at the Tiburon Golf Course designed by Norman, was played as a modified alternate shot format for the first round, a better ball format for the second round, and a scramble format in the final round, Calcavecchia and Austin shot a 9 under par 63 to give them a total 29 under par at 187 for the tournament. They have each won once on the U.S. tour during 2007.

Five teams shared in a third place victory including defending Australian champions Jerry Kelly and Rod Pampling. This is Mark Calcavecchia’s second win at the Merrill Lynch Shootout, his first being with Steve Elkington in 1995. Norman has played in the tournament every year since it began as the Shark Shootout in 1989, but has only won it once in 1998.

Marc Warren and Colin Montgomerie gave Scotland its first major victory in the Golf World Cup by defeating USA. American duo Health Slocum and Boo Weekley were defeated by the Scottish duo on Sunday with a par on the third hole in southern China. With this victory at the Mission Hills Golf Club, Scotland repaid their defeat last year in Barbados on the first hole against Marcel Siem and Bernhard Langer of Germany.
As Weekley missed the 15 foot putt par it was Monty’s tap in for the par on the third extra hole which pulled Scots ahead of USA and gained them the title. Monty in his interview after the game said that there was tremendous pressure after the playoff loss last year, but fought back hard to win this title. Scotland had not won a major title since 1953.
On the preceding hole of regulation the Americans forced a playoff in alternate shot play when Slocum made a 5 foot birdie putt. On the initial playoff hole Slocum had missed an attempt at the 7 foot Birdie. Just few seconds before it was Warren who holed 12 footer to save the par, if by chance he would have missed he would have handed the title to the Americans.
Americans finished at 67 with the regulation at 25 under 263 where as the winners Scotland shot a 6 under 66. Raphael Jacqueline and Gregory Havert of France finished at 67 just a stroke behind where as Justin rose and Ian Poulter of England finished fourth with 67 at regulation 23 under.

Australian Aaron Baddeley defeated Sweden’s Daniel Chopra and thrilled the home crowd at the MasterCard Masters Cup in Melbourne. On Sunday Baddeley, after hitting his tee shot into the trees, saved par on the fourth hole of the playoff. He had chipped to 8 feet on the fourth extra hole and then made the putt. Moreover, Chopra who made several clutch putts in regulation and even in the playoff dragged his putt wide enough to give the Australian his tile.

This was the fifth year out of six that the Masters Cup was decided in the playoff. One of the most difficult holes in the game was the 18th hole because the wind made it very difficult. While hitting the 8 foot birdie Putt on the first extra hole, Baddeley had badly missed the shot just after Chopra making the same mistake of missing the shot twice. On the second extra hole both had missed their shots and on the third extra hole Baddeley was left with a tap in where as Chopra made a difficult 10 foot Putt for par. In the end Baddeley made 2 under 70 to win the title and Chopra had to settle down on 71 at 13 under 275. Australian Stuart Appleby was third with 69 leaving him just two strokes behind and his fellow golfer Robert Allenby and Rory Mcllroy of Northern Ireland were fourth and fifth respectively. By wining this title Baddeley who was at number 87 in the world rankings positioned himself at number 18 at the end of this tournament.

The Dubai World Championship will be held at the Jumeriah Golf Estates starting in 2009 for five years with the option to prolong hosting the tournament for another five years.

This tournament will be the world’s richest with $10 million in prize money, surpassing the U.S. Tour’s Player Championship currently offering $9 million. The tournament will be held from November 19th to the 22nd on either the Earth or Fire course, both designed by Greg Norman.

The winner of the tournament will receive $1.66 million in prize money. PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem welcomes the tournament as The European Tour has had difficulties competing with the “deep pockets” of the PGA Tour. He feels it is “terrific for the professional golf globally”.