DIGEST/ BRITISH OPEN: Around 15 places in the British Open will be up for grabs at Sunningdale today when 2006 Ryder Cup heroes Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley and Jose Maria Olazabal are among 120 players doing battle over 36 holes.
McGinley showed the form he will need today when shooting a best-of-the-day 65 in the closing round of the French Open in Paris yesterday.
Starting the day in 43rd place McGinley made four birdies in an outward nine of 32 and three more followed, with just one dropped shot, in a back nine of 33 to move up to a share of seventh place on five-under-par 279.
Anyone wanting to see Olazabal's bid in its entirety will need to rise at the crack of dawn, however. He is the first player to tee-off on the Old Course - at 6.30am.
The two-time US Masters champion is playing his first competitive golf since missing the halfway cut at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth five weeks ago.
He missed last year's Open with knee trouble, was out for seven months over the winter because of rheumatism and since his return in March has been battling fatigue.
Clarke and McGinley would have avoided the qualifier with a top-three finish in the French Open but now face this route of trying to keep their Open runs going.
Also in the field are Thomas Bjorn, so close to winning at Sandwich in 2003, last July's leading amateur Rory McIlroy and France's Thomas Levet, beaten only at the fifth hole of a play-off at Ernie Els at Muirfield in 2002.
LPGA TOUR: Inbee Park tamed strong winds to win the the United States Women's Open at at Interlachen yesterday.
Park shot a final round of 71 to win by four shots from Helen Alfredsson with Angela Park, In-Kyung Kim and Stacy Lewis tied for fourth place on 288.
While Lewis and Paula Creamer, who started the day first and second respectively, struggled in the tough conditions, Korean Park remained as she started the day at seven-under through nine holes and birdied the 11th and 13th and 18th in a two-under-par back nine at Interlachen.
Creamer, meanwhile, plunged all the way to five-over-par 78 after dropping five strokes in an error-strewn front nine.
USPGA TOUR: Kenny Perry fired six birdies and a eagle in a final round of 66 to snatch a one-shot win in the Buick Open at Warwick Hills GCC, Grand Blanc, Minnesota.
Perry's total of 19-under-par 269 gave him a one shot win over Woody Austin and Bubba Watson. Bob Tway after a 65, Ken Duke who shot 67 and Matt Jones with 67 shared fourth place on 271.
CHALLENGE TOUR: A quite stunning final round saw Taco Remkes of the Netherlands blow the field away at the Scottish Challenge to claim his maiden Challenge Tour title.
The man from Amsterdam showed astonishing maturity to card six birdies on the front nine en route to a round of 65 to finish on 13 under par. A winner's cheque for € 35,200 also catapulted Remkes into the top-five of the Challenge Tour rankings in his maiden season.
Remkes said: "I told myself to stay calm and relax, because it's just another 18 holes of golf. Starting with three birdies was fantastic - every putt seemed to drop in the hole!
England's Seve Benson and overnight leader Jeppe Huldahl finished in a tie for second on eight under par. Benson's cheque for € 19,800 saw the man from Surrey climb to the top of the Challenge Tour rankings.
David Higgins finished on four-under-par 209 after a final round of 70, Michael Hoey on 212 after a 72 and Michael McGeady shot 71 for 214.
ILGU STROKEPLAY: Curtis Cup star Breanne Loucks from Wales fired a final round 73 for a two-under-par total of 214 to win the Irish Women's Open Strokeplay by three shots from Scotland's Roseanne Niven at Elm Park Golf Club yesterday.
In blustery but dry conditions, Loucks encountered tree trouble on the inward nine but steadied the ship to finish just one over par for the day and claim her first Irish Open title.
Niven birdied 16 and 18 to post a two under par 70 to finish one ahead of Lisa Maguire and Charlotte Wild.
