PGA Tour Golf:Going for the Red Plaid in South Carolina

It's hard to follow The Masters and its green jacket for the winner last week,who was England's Danny Willett,28- only the second Englishman to have won that major tournament,following Sir Nick Faldo.Yet the RBC Heritage is underway at its traditional venue,the Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island,South Carolina,with a jacket of its own.The winner gets a red plaid jacket and 1,062,000 dollars.*
Sharing the lead at six under par after two rounds are Americans Kevin Chappell and Charley Hoffman,along with Jason Day of Australia.Following them in fourth place at five under par are Russell Knox of Scotland;Luke Donald of England;and American Patton Kizzire.
The tournament is sponsored by Royal Bank of Canada.*
Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

Santa Anas Blast SoCal;McIlroy and Quiros Lead

The San Gabriel Valley was rocked by hurricane force Santa Ana winds this week in a rare event the likes of which are seen only once in 5-10 years.The tremendous gusts decimated the urban forests of Southern California as communities lost hundreds of treasured trees,losing power and even water in the process.Pasadena was particularly hard hit,with some 450 street trees being toppled by the winds.Homes were damaged in these lands along the San Gabriel Mountains,where gusts of up to 80 mph were recorded.
The fire risk was described as explosive by a weather service official.The Santa Anas are known for the catastrophic wildland fires they often contribute to in the region.
Rumors of European progress and positive manufacturing and employment trends protected the market this week.All major averages posted gains north of 7%.For the week,the S&P 500 rose 7.39.On the year,the S&P is still down 1.06,however.
The Race To Dubai,The European Tour,made its next to last stop at the Hong Kong Golf Club.After two rounds of the UBS Hong Kong Open,Alvaro Quiros of Spain and Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy topped the leader board.Luke Donald of England led the series going into this weekend,followed by German Martin Kaymer and McIlroy in second and third place,respectively.
Next week will be back-loaded by an important Friday summit in Brussels on changes to the EU treaty for fiscal discipline.Other influential events will include the Institute for Supply Management's service sector report on Monday and a consumer sentiment reading also on Friday.The S&P futures were basically flat at -0.10 Friday evening,while bond index futures rose.