Mallorca Classic:France's Gregory Bourdy fired a flawless final round yesterday to claim his first European Tour title in the Mallorca Classic.
Bourdy carded three birdies and no bogeys in a closing 67 for a 12-under-par total of 268 at Pula Golf Club.
The 25-year-old from Bordeaux - who was drenched in champagne by compatriots Thomas Levet and Christian Cevaer on the 18th green - claimed the first prize of €333,330 and qualified for next week's season-ending Volvo Masters at Valderrama after finishing two shots clear of England's Sam Little.
Dublin's Peter Lawrie was in a strong position to win a place at Valderrama with a top-two finish in Spain, but his challenge finally came to grief when he dropped three shots over the last three holes.
In the end he signed for a two-over-par 72 to finish in a tie for fifth on six under par. That was still worth €77,400, and moved him up to 66th in the Order of Merit.
Little also had plenty of reasons to celebrate, the Londoner's best ever finish on tour securing his card for next season after he began the week in 136th on the Order of Merit, with just the top 117 keeping their cards for 2008.
Holland's Robert-Jan Derksen took third place on nine under with Scot Alastair Forsyth fourth after a closing 66.
Pre-tournament favourite Sergio Garcia, never out of the top two in his three previous appearances in the event, struggled to a closing 73 to finish in a tie for 16th.
Little revealed the birth of twin daughters Natalie and Amelia had been the turning point.
"Three weeks ago, just before the babies were born, my head was all over the place," said Little, who kept his card by just under €500 in 2005 and lost it again in 2006. "It's no coincidence that once they were born I've started playing well and it's great for them.
"I feel great, I played great today. The putt on 16 for birdie was massive for me. When I holed that putt I knew I had a really good chance, but I saw a leaderboard and knew that seven under par was enough for me to keep my card.
"Once I made a good start to the week my caddie said to me, 'Try to win the tournament', because I can't control what other people do, I can only control what I do and that's what I did today. I'm really proud of myself for that.
"I've got my card for next year, that's the main thing. This weekend I played fantastic and the last three weeks have been unbelievable. I did everything I could today and 10 under would have won by five last year, so it's a great achievement.
"This week showed me that I'm good enough now, simple as that, so hopefully I won't be standing here again next year."
There was not such good news for those who failed to keep their card of course, with Southport's Lee Slattery agonisingly missing out by less than €100.
Slattery began the week safely in 115th place but missed the cut and had to watch as Little, Finch and former Ryder Cup player Jarmo Sandelin overtook him, Sandelin claiming the last card in 117th place by that slender margin.
Doncaster's Ian Garbutt also dropped from 117th to 119th to miss out while tour winners David Carter, David Park and Sven Struver were already assured of a trip to the qualifying school next month after missing the cut on Saturday morning, and Scot Andrew Coltart will join them after failing to claim the 13th place he needed.
Meanwhile, Bourdy could celebrate his first European Tour title and qualification for Valderrama.
"This is fantastic to get my first win," Bourdy said. "I started off nervously and got lucky on the first three holes to make par, but after that my game was much better.
"I thought my second shot on the 16th was in the water, I was a bit lucky there, but I'm delighted to win and qualify for the Volvo Masters. I knew I needed to finish in the top three and I made it.
"I might celebrate with my friends tonight if they are not flying home but definitely with my family after next week."
MALLORCA CLASSIC
(Pula GC, Mallorca, Spain)
Final totals (Irish in bold, British unless stated, par 70)
268 - G Bourdy (Fra) 69 68 64 67 (€333,330)
270 - S Little 66 69 68 67 (€222,220)
271 - R Derksen (Ned) 66 65 70 70 (€125,200)
273 - A Forsyth 68 69 70 66 (€100,000)
274 - J Edfors (Swe) 68 71 68 67, Peter Lawrie (Ire) 66 68 68 72 (€77,400)
275 - JM Lara (Spa) 71 70 68 66, A Noren (Swe) 71 69 64 71, R Finch 68 69 66 72, J Lucquin (Fra) 66 65 71 73
276 - T Jaidee (Tha) 71 64 75 66, Graeme McDowell (N Ire) 71 67 70 68, C Cevaer (Fra) 71 70 67 68, M Eliasson (Swe) 69 72 65 70, T Bjorn (Den) 71 67 68 70 (€32,680 each)
277 - G Storm 67 73 67 70, S Garcia (Spa) 68 67 69 73
278 - MA Jimenez (Spa) 73 69 68 68, M Foster 67 75 65 71, C Suneson (Spa) 72 64 70 72
279 - B Lane 68 68 73 70, P Lawrie 69 68 72 70, M Millar (Aus) 71 67 71 70, F Molinari (Ita) 68 68 72 71, Y Yang (Kor) 68 72 72 67, R Cabrera Bello (Spa) 68 74 72 65
280 - J Remesy (Fra) 69 68 73 70, A Wall 72 69 69 70, A McLardy (Rsa) 66 73 70 71, M Brier (Aut) 70 69 69 72, G Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 71 69 68 72, N Fasth (Swe) 65 70 79 66, M Siem (Ger) 68 68 70 74
281 - Paul McGinley (Ire) 71 72 66 72 (€14,600), S Kjeldsen (Den) 69 69 73 70, Damien McGrane (Ire) 71 70 70 70 (€14,600), W Ormsby (Aus) 70 70 69 72, M Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 68 66 74 73
282 - C Rodiles (Spa) 74 68 69 71, T Levet (Fra) 70 71 69 72, G Orr 70 69 72 71, R Rock 69 68 70 75, B Barham 70 72 71 69
283 - P O'Malley (Aus) 70 73 68 72, S Wakefield 69 71 70 73, P Linhart (Spa) 68 74 70 71, F Valera (Spa) 69 73 70 71, Richard Bland 72 69 71 71, P Archer 70 72 71 70
284 - M Tunnicliff 71 72 69 72, J Sandelin (Swe) 70 73 71 70, P Gustafsson (Swe) 71 71 72 70
285 - I Garbutt 69 69 73 74, J Randhawa (Ind) 68 69 75 73, Gary Murphy 66 74 68 77 (€6,833), J Maria Arruti (Spa) 70 69 74 72, Phillip Price 69 72 72 72, A Tadini (Ita) 68 73 73 71
286 - E Canonica (Ita) 69 69 73 75, B Rumford (Aus) 71 72 70 73, S O'Hara 73 68 75 70
287 - L Claverie (Spa) 67 70 74 76, A Salto (Spa) 71 71 72 73, A Marshall 69 74 72 72
288 - J Backstrom (Swe) 67 73 71 77, A Coltart 69 74 70 75, C Hanell (Swe) 72 71 71 74, S Dodd 74 68 74 72, M Higley 73 67 76 72
289 - A Canete (Arg) 69 71 75 74
294 - J Hepworth 67 74 75 78
TROPHÉE HASSAN II DE GOLF
(Royal Golf Dar Es-Salam)
Final totals:
280 - Padraig Harrington (Ire) 67 67 72 74 ($150,000),
283 - Darren Clarke (N Ire) 71 69 72 71 ($80,000),
285 - S Dyson (Eng) 70 70 73 72 ($55,000),
287 - D Howell 70 75 71 71 ($40,000),
289 - M O'Meara (US) 70 70 76 73, Lyle Sandy (Sco) 73 73 71 72, 290 - F Serghini (Mor) 74 68 72 76, R Jacquelin (Fra) 71 75 73 71, 291 - D Frost (Rsa) 74 70 74 73 291, 292 - C Schwartzl (Rsa) 73 68 79 72, 293 - R Sterne (Rsa) 76 74 74 69 293, F Roca (Spa) 72 74 75 72, 294 - J Spence (Eng) 73 72 73 76, 295 - M Malcolm (Eng) 75 75 71 74, R Chapman (Eng) 73 72 76 74, 296 - A Mörk (Fra) 73 75 75 73, S Drummond (Sco) 4 75 71 72 78, 297 - Y El Hassani (Mor) 75 73 76 73, 298 - M Davis (Eng) 75 73 73 77, 300 - A Sabi (Mor) 78 74 73 75, 303 - B Casper (US) 80 72 73 78, 304 - G Evans (Eng) 76 80 73 75, 311 - W Westner (Rsa) 81 74 76 80, Disq: JM Singh (Ind) 71 68 Dq Dq,
CHALLENGE TOUR - GRAND FINAL
(San Domenico Golf, Savelletri, Italy)
Leading final totals: 269 - M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 62 71 70 66 ( 270 - J Donaldson (Wal) 66 67 68 69, J Luiten (Ned) 69 66 68 67, S Manley (Wal) 69 64 69 68, E Ramsay (Sco) 68 68 67 67 (€17,095 each). 272 - MA Carlsson (Swe) 67 69 72 64, F Delamontagne (Fra) 69 67 71 65, H Rey (Arg) 69 67 69 67 273 - P Fowler (Aus) 67 70 69 67 274 - F Aguilar (Chi) 66 69 72 67, C Del Moral (Spa) 68 70 65 71 275 - G Clark (Eng) 68 66 71 70, M Lundberg (Swe) 65 68 71 71, R Ramsay (Sco) 69 70 74 62 277 - A McArthur (Sco) 68 69 72 68, F Zanotti (Par) 69 67 68 73 278 - Stephen Browne (Ire) 69 69 69 71 (€3,483), F Calmels (Fra) 70 70 74 64.279 - M Rodriguez (Arg) 67 71 71 70. Other Irish: 283 - Colm Moriarty 68 72 75 68 (€2,004).
LPGA TOUR, HONDA LPGA THAILAND
(Siam CC Pattaya Old Course, Thailand)
Leading final totals (Kor unless stated, par 72): 267 - S Pettersen (Nor) 65 68 63 71 268 - L Davies (Eng) 71 66 66 65 270 - P Creamer (US) 72 66 66 66 272 - R Hetherington (Aus) 69 70 68 65 274 - S Prammanasudh (US) 72 67 69 66 275 - A Sorenstam (Swe) 72 68 68 67 277 - A Sharp (US) 67 68 72 70 278 - R Rankin (US) 69 70 70 69, Laura Diaz (US) 71 68 71 68 280 - K Hull (Aus) 68 71 68 73 281- H Han 69 70 72 70, S Gustafson (Swe) 71 70 72 68, H Lee 71 69 69 72, B Lang (US) 71 72 67 71 282 - M Pressel (US) 75 68 69 70, M Hjorth (Swe) 69 74 68 71, M Miyasato (Thai) 71 73 69 69.
