EUROPEAN TOUR: Italy's Emanuele Canonica ended a 14-year wait for a European Tour title when he won the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, Scotland, yesterday.
Canonica, ranked 353rd in the world, closed with a one-under-par 71 to finish on seven-under-par 281, two shots ahead of overnight leader Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium and Britons Barry Lane, Bradley Dredge and David Lynn.
The nearest the 34-year-old big-hitter from Turin had come to winning since first going to Tour school in 1991 was with second places in the 2000 Tournament Players' Championship of Europe and 2002 Spanish Open.
He became the third Italian winner in recent times, after Ryder Cup player Costantino Rocca and Massimo Scarpa, with a composed final round, taking advantage of playing-partner Colsaerts falling away in the middle of the back nine.
Best of the Irish was Damien McGrane, who had an expensive finish, slipping from tied fourth at the start on five under to lie on just one under, tied for 17th, after a 76.
US TOUR: Brandt Jobe scored 12 third-round points to take a commanding, nine-point lead into the final round of the The International in Colorado.
Jobe double bogeyed the first hole, but then fired six birdies and an eagle two at the last to open-up a nine-point lead over Retief Goosen , with Hunter Haas two back as the players set out on the final round.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: Des Smyth shot an up-and-down final round of 72 to finish on one-under-par 215 as Tom Purtzer continued to set the pace in the 3M Championship at the TPC of Twin Cities, Minnesota, yesterday.
Smyth, with birdies at the third, fifth and 12th holes got to three-under-par for the tournament, only to drop shots at the 14th and 18th on the homeward journey.
Purtzer, at 14-under-par, was two clear of Craig Stadler after seven holes of the final round.
EUROPEAN SENIORS: Scotland's Sam Torrance recovered from a disastrous start to card a three-under-par 69 to claim his second Seniors Tour title of the season at the De Vere PGA Seniors Championship at Carden Park in Cheshire.
The former Ryder Cup captain dropped three shots to par when he drove into the rhododendron bushes to the left of the 445-yard second hole, but he bounced back with five birdies and an eagle on the 398-yard eighth, where he holed a nine-iron from 160 yards, to finish four shots ahead of DJ Russell on 17 under par 271.
"I don't know what happened," said the Scot moments after collecting a winner's cheque worth £33,330. "I haven't hit a quick hook in about 25 years, but in a funny sort of way it might have helped.
"When you've got a four-shot lead you don't know whether to attack or defend, but that doubt disappeared as soon as I dropped those shots.
"I played beautifully after that," he added. "It's great to win this title because it's one of the most prestigious tournaments in Seniors golf."
The leading Irishman was Cork's Denis O'Sullivan, who closed with a level par 72 to finish four shots ahead of Eamonn Dacry on four-under-par 284. Darcy ended his tournament with a disappointing 75.
WOMEN'S TOUR: Annika Sorenstam had to produce a couple of master strokes to win her seventh title of the year at the Scandinavian TPC at Barseback Golf Club in Sweden.
One ahead overnight, the world number one was tied with American Natalie Gulbis playing the 18th at the course near Malmo and looked an unlikely winner when she hit her tee-shot at the 393-yard 18th into trees.
But she laced an eight-iron second shot on to the green and then holed a magnificent 40-foot birdie putt for a 72 and a four-under-par 284 total that secured a one-shot victory over 22-year-old Gulbis, who was seeking a first professional win.
AMATUER BOYS: Irish boys who flopped disappointingly in the Home International series last week will attempt to make amends in the British Boys Open Championship, which begins this morning at Hunstanton on the Norfolk coast.
Seamus Power, one of the most impressive of the internationals, has an intriguing looking tie against Peter Williams, son of Welsh rugby legend JPR.
BRITISH BOYS CHAMPIONSHIP - First round ties involving Irish players: J Amos (Birstall) v S Ward (County Louth); P Williams (Royal Porthcawl) v S Power (West Waterford); N Kearney (Royal Dublin) v E Polson (Royal Dornoch), R McKnight (Kilmarnock Barassie) v N Heather (Portmarnock); B Walton (The Island) v M Greil (Italy), Ross Langdon (Gloucetser) v Andrew Hogan (Newlands), Chris Vidal (Combe Wood) v Brian Keenan (The Heath), J Spragniolo (Hertfordshire) v Alan Glynn (Porters Park)..
All Details in SPORTS ROUND-UP
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)