WOMEN'S TOUR:England's Trish Johnson claimed her first title in three years on an exciting final day at the BMW Italian Open in Rome yesterday.
It was her 18th worldwide victory and her first since the 2004 Wales Ladies Open.
Johnson's final round six-under-par 66 took her to 15-under-par 273 in total, one stroke ahead of last week's Deutsche Bank Ladies' Swiss Open champion,
Bettina Hauert of Germany, who had a course record ten-under-par 62 to finish on 14-under-par.
Australia's Sarah Kemp carded a final round 68 and finished tied for third position with Frenchwoman Sophie Giquel (69) on 12-under. Meanwhile, the overnight leader Stefania Croce of Italy had a final round 73 to share seventh position with Sweden's Louise Friberg, Ireland's Rebecca Coakley and Spain's Carmen Alonso, on seven-under-par.
Hauert began the day tied for 24th place on four-under-par but came charging up the leaderboard and held a three stroke advantage at the end of her round. She carded two birdies on her front nine, for an outward total of 33 and then played the back nine in eight-under-par 29, with four birdies and two eagles, to tie the European Tour's record for the lowest nine holes in a tournament.
CHALLENGE TOUR:England's Ben Mason chipped in to steal the glory at the Open Mahou de Madrid and secure the first Challenge Tour victory of his career at the Casino Club de Golf Retamares.
The 30 year-old posted a two under par 69 to win by a single stroke from compatriot Tim Milford and Spain's Alvaro Velasco, winning a first prize of €20,800 that saw him break into the top-10 of the Challenge Tour Rankings and in prime position to win back his European Tour card via the top 20 of the Rankings.
After a week of horrendous conditions when thunder, flooding and fog all played their part in reducing the tournament to 54 holes, Mason stayed the strongest man in the field to triumph in what were, at times, quite treacherous circumstances.
"It was tough, very windy, and pretty much a battle all day really," said Mason.
PGA TOUR: Germany's Bernhard Langer fired a four-under-par 66 in a third round spread over two days to surge into a tie for the lead after 54 holes of the Colonial Invitational early yesterday.
Langer, who had to write for a sponsor's exemption for a berth in the 2007 PGA Tour event, tied with South African Rory Sabbatini and Americans Jim Furyk and Scott Verplank at 11-under-par 199.
All the golfers were quickly sent back out for the fourth round with hopes of completing the $6 million tournament, but more rain was forecast for the course which has already absorbed nearly five inches this week.
Langer continued his good form to take a two-shot lead through nine holes of the final round.
Birdies at the second, sixth and ninth saw Langer move into a a two-shot lead over Jim Furyk and Rory Sabbatini
Langer highlighted his third round round with an eagle two, holing out from the fairway on the par four 15th as part of a four-hole back nine streak which saw him go birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie on holes 14 to 17.
