HASSAN II TROPHY:Padraig Harrington held off a late challenge from Darren Clarke to capture the Hassan II Trophy at Royal Golf Dar Es-Salam in Morocco yesterday.
The Dubliner finished on 12-under-par 280 after a final-round one-over-par 74 to stay three shots clear of Clarke, who closed with a 71.
Harrington collected $150,000 (€110,000) for his victory in the invitational pro-am event, while Clarke pocketed $80,000.
His good form over the week will be a boost to Harrington as he heads to Valderrama this week for the European Tour's final event of the season, the Volvo Masters, as he bids to retain the Order of Merit title.
CHALLENGE TOUR: Stephen Browne and Colm Moriarty will head to the final stage of European Tour Qualifying School in a final attempt to win their places on the full European Tour after they missed out on the required top-two finish at the Challenge Tour's Apulia San Domenico Grand Final.
Both need to take one of the top two spots to secure a Tour card through the top 20 on the Challenge Tour rankings. Only Browne had a slight hope of doing so by the time the final round teed off, but the Dubliner could not make the charge he needed to threaten the leaders.
A level-par 71 left the 33-year-old on six under par for the tournament and in a final position of tied 17th, while Moriarty's fourth round of three-under 68 saw him finish the week in 31st.
Having qualified for the Apulia San Domenico Grand Final, both players go straight to the Qualifying School's final stage, where the top 30 (plus ties) win a place on the European Tour.
Frenchman Michael Lorenzo-Vera was crowned king of the Challenge Tour after an unbelievable last day at the Grand Final. Lorenzo-Vera won the tournament by a single stroke, securing the top prize of €42,800 that saw him finish the season as the number-one player on the rankings.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: South Africa's Denis Watson held a one-stroke lead going into yesterday's final round of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Sonoma Golf Club in California.
Watson, on 15 under par, was just clear of the American pair of Bart Bryant and Jim Thorpe.
Mark McNulty was four shots back on 11 under par, while Des Smyth, who had already secured his playing privileges for next year, was well down the field.
US PGA TOUR: Swede Daniel Chopra was on 19 under par and two shots clear of the field early in the final round of the Ginn sur Mer Classic at Port St Lucie, Florida, last night, the penultimate event of the season.
His nearest challenger in the rain-affected event was Japan's Shigeki Maruyama, with Australia's Michael Sim, Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson and American Sean O'Hair sharing third place three shots back on 14 under par.
The 33-year-old Chopra was in pursuit of his maiden US Tour victory.
Because of all the rain, tournament organisers were gearing up for a Monday finish.
