Golf news in brief

Asian Tour: Byrne makes cut by a whisker yet again

For the second event running of the Asian Tour, Banchory’s James Byrne made the cut with nothing to spare. But he is hopeful he can climb the leaderboard over the final two rounds in the Sail-SBI Open in India.

“I’ve played steady enough so far – I just need to give myself more birdie chances,” said the Scot on his Twitter feed after a second-round 73 for a one-over-par total of 145 at the event in New Delhi.

Byrne is sitting in a logjam in joint-51st, 11 shots behind leader Anirban Lahiri, the Indian player having followed up his opening 65 with a 69 to hold a two-stroke cushion at the halfway stage.

“I’m a long way back but anything can happen [on this course],” added Byrne.

Dubai-based Ross Bain, the only other Scot in the field, missed the cut by two shots.

Hi5 tour: Hutcheon ends his Hi5 stint on a high

Former Tartan Tour No 1 Greig Hutcheon signed off his early-season stint on the Hi5 Tour with a top-10 finish in the Hacienda Riquelme Open in Spain.

A one-under-par 71 gave the Scot a 54-hole total of 213, three-under, and a share of tenth, seven shots behind Swedish winner Jens Dantorp.

Hutcheon’s fellow north-east player, Scott Henderson, was the only other Scot to survive the cut and he suffered a disappointing last day.

The former European Tour rookie of the year was out in 39 after running up a triple-bogey 7 at the sixth and closed with a 77 to finish in a tie for 17th on 218. Dantorp, who had started the day in a share of the lead with Eddie Pepperell, signed off with a 70 to win by a shot from the Englishman with Danish duo Thomas Norret and Jeff Winther both a further shot back in joint third.

Schools Golf: Elmwood victors at Royal Musselburgh

Cupar’s Elmwood College came out on top in the latest event in the Scottish section of the British Schools & Colleges Golf Tour at Royal Musselburgh.

Helped by a trio of 72s from Stewart Watters, Chris Low and Callum Beveridge, the Fife team posted an aggregate of 290 in recording a comfortable victory.

They finished 13 shots clear of second-placed Merchiston Castle, for whom Calum Hill, who reached the semi-finals in last year’s Scottish Boys Championship at Dunbar, also carded a 72. Elmwood are due to host the final event on 5 March, with the top eight individual players qualifying for the national finals at S Andrews Bay in April. Elmwood’s Cameron Marr leads the way in that race, a point ahead of Hill with Beveridge lying third.