Hat-trick of birdies takes Smyth to third place

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Three birdies in the last four holes lifted Des Smyth to a third-place finish in the Long Island Classic over The Red Course at Eisenhower Park, Long Island.

After an opening nine of level-par 34 in which birdies at the fifth and seventh were cancelled out by bogeys at the fourth and seventh, Smyth hit the birdie trail again at the 12th, dropped a shot a the 14th but hit a hat-trick from the 15th to come home in 33 for a three-under-par 67 and a three-round total of 199.

This left him alone in third place, four behind the winner, Jim Thorpe, with Bob Gilder taking second place on 196.

Thorpe, who started the day two shots ahead of Gilder, held off the challenge with a final round of 67 while Gilder finished with a 66.

RUSSIAN OPEN: Three birdies in the last four holes lifted Des Smyth to a third-place finish in the Long Island Classic over The Red Course at Eisenhower Park, Long Island.Marcus Fraser pipped Martin Wiegele to the dual-ranking BMW Russian Open yesterday in a sudden-death playoff after both registered final rounds of 68 to record 19-under-par totals of 269 at the Moscow Country Club.

The Australian secured the title - and a cheque for €66,660 - at the second extra hole, the 18th, with a par four after both players had birdied the same hole first time round.

At the second time of asking, Fraser fired his tee shot into the trees, played out and managed to get up and down from around 75 yards - holing a 12-foot putt.

However, Wiegele, from Austria, could not match that feat from the greenside rough to hand 25-year-old Fraser the title.

Sweden's Peter Hanson finished in third place on 16 under, with Scotsman Andrew Coltart and England's Tim Milford tied for fourth alongside Spaniard Jose Manuel Carriles on 14-under-par 274. Damien McGrane finished on 278 after rounds of 70, 68, 69 and 71.

EUROPEAN SENIORS: Scotland's John Chillas stole up on the blind side to win the Travis Perkins Senior Masters over the Edinburgh course at Wentworth and notch his maiden seniors tour victory.

The 52-year-old from Stirling carded a closing 69 for 209, seven under par, finishing a shot ahead of Ireland's Eamonn Darcy, who returned 70, and two clear of the evergreen Neil Coles, who rolled back the years with a championship record 64.

But while it was a golden day for one Scot, it was a disaster for another, overnight leader Bill Longmuir, seeking a record third title in eight events, slumped to a 78 and joint 15th on 215.

But with Darcy and Gale not finding their true form and Mason stuttering after back-to-back bogeys at the eighth and ninth, Chillas seized his chance. He birdied the long 10th but it was the run of three successive birdies from the 14th that set up the victory.

LPGA BT OPEN: Sweden's Sophie Gustafson rarely provides a dull moment in her golf and in winning the €31,900 first prize at the Women's Open at Warrenpoint , the Swede produced one of the most dramatic finishes of the year to snatch her second tournament in as many weeks, third of the season and fourth in the last 11 months in Europe.

Gustafson fired a final round level-par 72 which included just four pars during a windswept day underneath the Mountains of Mourne to steal victory from a rejuvenated Alison Nicholas, who had a 73 and led for most of the afternoon until the final two holes.

Gustafson and Nicholas were tied at the start of the final round on 13 under. The turning point came at the par-five 17th, which Gustafson reduced to a drive and a 52-degree wedge, holing the 40-foot putt for an eagle three to snatch a one-shot lead, with Nicholas only managing a par before they headed down the final hole.