Golf Digest: LET TOUR:Ireland's Claire Coughlan and Martina Gillen survived eight gruelling rounds of Tour School Qualification to secure full playing rights for the 2007 Women's European Tour at La Cala Resort, Spain.
Coughlan tied first with England's Samantha Head at the Final Tour School following an excellent 69 that included an eagle on the eighth and birdies on the fourth, 16th and 18th.
International team-mate Martina Gillen left her best until last when she fired a two-under-par 70 to share 27th place with England's Sophie Hunter, claiming the final two cards on offer.
Gillen's challenging round saw her three-under-par through nine holes, but bogeys on the 11th, 14th and 17th were balanced by a birdie on the 12th and a very welcome birdie on the 18th that effectively secured her card.
"It just feels tremendous," said Coughlan, from Little Island in Cork. "I've had my fiance David on the bag and we've enjoyed ourselves this week. We didn't have too many expectations. It's a new experience so we just thought we'll see what happens."
English teenager Kiran Matharu qualified as the Tour's second youngest member after Korea's Amy Yang, at the age of 17 years and nine months. She carded a final round 71 for a total of 283. Stefanie Michl of Austria took the fifth card after finishing on three-under-par after a final round 73.
JAPAN TOUR: Jeev Milkha Singh continued the excellent weekend for European Tour members when he claimed a two-shot victory in the Casio World Open in Japan.
The 34-year-old went into the final round tied for the lead with home favourite Tetsuya Haraguchi, but a final round 68, as the Japanese player fell away, gave him a 16-under-par total of 272 and a comfortable victory over New Zealander David Smail.
Out in two-under-par 34, Singh pressed on with a birdie four at the 10th and made sure of his victory - and the honour of being the only player to card all four rounds in the 60s - with a birdie four at the 18th.
SOUTH AFRICA TOUR: Retief Goosen and Bobby Lincoln captured the Nelson Mandela Invitational title with a superb eagle on the second hole of a sudden-death play-off at Arabella, outside Cape Town yesterday.
Lincoln sunk a two-foot putt after hitting a seven-iron approach to the par-five 18th in the tournament's first play-off. Goosen, who birdied the 18th, and Lincoln ended on 16-under-par after 36 holes to set up the play-off against Alan Michell and John Bland.
Mark McNulty and Charl Schwartzel tied for third place.
