Within hours of winning nearly €616,800 at the American Express world championship last October, John Daly lost double that gambling in Las Vegas.

WITH Seve Ballesteros playing his first stroke play tournament in two years and Colin Montgomerie bidding to improve his number one position in the European Tour, this week’s Madrid Open assumes more interest.

ALREADY bitterly disappointed at the withdrawal of world number one Vijay Singh on Monday night, the organisers of the Amex World Championship at Mount Juliet received another scare yesterday.

IRELAND’S stature as the leading golf destination in Europe was further strengthened by yesterday’s confirmation that the WGC American Express Championship is returning to Mount Juliet in 2004.

THE man who once hated the Old Course at St Andrews yesterday marched proudly up the 18th fairway to a tumultuous welcome from 14,000 spectators and the first prize of €705,093 in the Dunhill Links Championship.