Golf Digest/ EUROPEAN SENIORS: Sam Torrance celebrated his 40th victory as a professional in front of his home fans in the Charles Church Scottish Seniors Open at Marriott Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club yesterday.
The former winning Ryder Cup captain closed with a round of 70 for a 54-hole aggregate of three-under-par 213, beating fellow Scot Bill Longmuir (71) by a shot. A third Scot, Mike Miller, shared third spot on one under par after closing with a 73. Also finishing on that mark were John Bland and Bertus Smit of South Africa, and the English duo of Glenn Ralph and David J Russell.
The €44,373 first prize represented Torrance's fourth title on the 2006 European Seniors Tour and his third victory on Dalmahoy's East Course, following triumphs in the Scottish PGA Championship in 1993 and 1985.
It also extended his lead over Eduardo Romero at the top of the European Seniors Tour Order of Merit to more than €66,000 with five events of the season remaining.
"It is great to win in my home country," Torrance said. "I have great support up here, so this is a wee bit more special than my other wins this year.
"I am obviously in a good position with the Order of Merit, but I don't know how many more events Eduardo is going to play. I would love to win it again, so I am going to keep pushing. We have Woburn next week and that is a course I love."
It was a massive turnaround from Friday when Torrance ended the first round in a share of 45th place after struggling with his broom-handled putter in strong winds to a four-over-par 76. He stormed back into contention with a 67, the lowest score carded by anyone on Saturday, and completed the job yesterday with a mixed round that contained an eagle, five birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey. The leading Irishman was Eamonn Darcy, who had rounds of 74-74-73 to finish on five over par.
EUROPEAN CHALLENGE: Rafael Echenique produced a wonderfully fitting finish to secure his first Challenge Tour victory in the Telia Challenge Waxholm. The Argentinian covered the last four holes in three under par to post a final round of two under par 71 for a 22 under 270 total and take the €19,547 first prize by two strokes from Germany's Martin Kaymer.
Echenique (25), who led the tournament from start to finish, may have posted the highest of his four rounds on the last day, but given the pressure he came under in the closing stages, yesterday's 71 was every bit as good as his previous scores of 65-68-66.
"I am so happy just now, I am not sure what the feeling is," said Echenique, who is now fourth on the Challenge Tour Rankings with season's earnings of €60,360.
US TOUR: Vijay Singh scorched through the field with a 10-under-par 61 to grab the on-course lead during yesterday's the third round of the Deutsche Bank Championship over the TPC Boston course in Norton, Massachusetts.
The Fijian finished on 11 under to lie four shots clear of Tiger Woods and Aaron Baddeley, who were both three under for the day with eight holes to play.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: On a day of generally low scoring, Des Smyth managed a respectable, two-under-par 70 to finish on eight under par in the final round of the Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach.
But that still left him three shots behind a trio of on-course leaders, Jay Haas, David Edwards - who was four under for the round - and Scott Simpson, with two holes to play.
EUROPEAN WOMEN: France's Virginie Lagoutte won her second European Tour title with a final-round four-under-par 67 in the Finnair Masters in Helsinki, yesterday.
Lagoutte, one shot clear at the start of the final round, fired two early birdies and added four more for a 10-under 203 total and a two-shot win over Sweden's Elin Ohlsson.
