The number one might be the loneliest number, but who knew that 13 would prove to be so popular in last week's Ballantine's Championship in South Korea? Eleven golfers, including three Irishmen, shared 13th place at the conclusion of this European Tour event, which was won by Lee Westwood, who shot 12-under-par 276 for the victory. The trio of Shane Lowry, Gareth Maybin and Damien McGrane all finished five strokes under par at 283. McGrane seems to have contracted the Rory McIlroy disease; that is, lead early and cough up the lead later on. McGrane took the first-round lead by carding 66 on Thursday, when he ran off eight birdies offset by two bogeys. Friday's round was proceeding relatively well - two under par through 12 holes - when McGrane lost his touch. He wouldn't clip another stroke off par until 18 on Saturday. Instead, he bogeyed two more holes to close out Friday at even-par 72, started with bogeys at the first two holes on Saturday en route to 74 for the day, and didn't get back in the groove until the back nine on Sunday, when he reeled off three back-nine birdies to finish with 71. Lowry got off to a hot start on Thursday, with birdies at the second and third holes, possibly leading to a bit of overconfidence. By the time he made the turn, he was four strokes over par. To his credit, he didn't panic and got all four of those strokes back coming in to finish even for the day at 72.
