GOLF DIGEST: AMATEUR: A hole-in-one at Esjberg in Denmark yesterday took in-form Irish International Paul Cutler to within sight of the European Amateur Individual title and a second Gold Medal this summer.
The brilliant Portstewart star aced the 145-yard 13th on his way to a three-under-par 68 which lifted him to the top of the leaderboard with one round remaining.
That excellent score gave Cutler a 54-hole total of 209, four under par, and a one-stroke advantage over German Stephen Gross and English international Luke Goddard.
Niall Kearney from Royal Dublin, who had fired 66 on Thursday, returned a 71 yesterday for a three-round aggregate of 211 and fourth spot.
Shane Lowry came home in 33 for a 70 which included birdies on the 13th and 14th, and he is now on the 214 mark in a share of 10th place.
SENIORS:Despite dropping four shots on his last two holes, Scotland's Ross Drummond is still the joint leader of the PGA Seniors Championship over the Hunting Course at Slaley Hall alongside Spain's Juan Quiros, who shot a 71, the lowest round of the day.
After some sumptuous strokeplay, Drummond, who started on the 10th, had looked to be establishing a healthy advantage, only to come unstuck with a triple bogey at the eighth hole and a bogey at the ninth.
But despite the blip, Drummond's round of 73 means he still leads the way with Quiros on level par 144.
Denis O'Sullivan is just three off the pace in share of third place on 147 with Italy's Giuseppe Cali and England's Nick Job.
CHALLENGE TOUR:Gareth Maybin added a second 66 for 132 to trail Spain's Rafael Cabrera Bello and Portugal's Ricardo Santos at the top of the leaderboard at the halfway mark of the Ypsilon Golf Challenge in the Czech Republic.
Cabrera Bello and Santos both shot 64 to share the lead at 11-under-par 131. Maybin shares third place with Lorenzo Gali from Italy and England's Richard Bland.
WOMEN:Scottish International Roseanne Niven took the major honours away from the Ladies' British Amateur Open Championship at Malone yesterday after a play-off with her compatriot Kyle Walker, but three Irish girls didn't go home empty handed either.
Ballyconnell 13-year-old twins Lisa and Leona Maguire, plus Carlow's Tara Delaney, won the team event for Ireland after pipping the Netherlands on a countback.
Delaney finished top of the Irish contenders in joint third place at two-over-par 290. The former Curtis Cup player produced back-to-back rounds of level-par 72 yesterday.
BOYS:Paul Dunne from Greystones shot a solid final round of 75 to capture the Irish Boys' Amateur Close Championship at Portumna Golf Club.
Dunne, with a final total of 290, won by four shots from Cork's Ian O'Rourke, who also took the under-17 trophy.
