ALTHOUGH Paul McGinley is the current leader of the points table — courtesy of his second place in the last ever Lancome Trophy at the weekend — it won’t be clear who is making the early running for next year’s European Ryder Cup team for another few weeks until the end of a three week spell.

Colin Montgomerie has decided on a change of caddie – for the second time in under four months.

Ireland's Paul McGinley lies in third position midway through his final round of the final Lancome Trophy in Paris.

Ryder Cup hero Paul McGinley got the helping hand he was looking for from Retief Goosen on Saturday to give himself a chance of victory in the Lancome Trophy.

Ireland's Paul McGinley lies in second position going into the final round of the Lancome Trophy in Paris.

Latest leading positions in the third round of Lancome Trophy, St Nom-la-Breteche, Paris: (Gbr&Irl unless stated, Par 71):

EUROPEAN number one Retief Goosen stamped his authority on the 34th and final Lancome Trophy to open up a commanding lead in Paris.

European number one Retief Goosen stamped his authority on the 34th and final Lancome Trophy to open up a commanding lead in Paris.

Ireland's Paul McGinley is in the clubhouse in fourth position at the Lancome Trophy in Paris.

Colin Montgomerie struggled to make any impact on the leaderboard in the second round of the 34th and final Lancome Trophy today.

Retief Goosen has all but given up his title of European number one, with fellow South African Ernie Els set to replace him.

FOR the second year running Seve Ballesteros has pulled out of the Open championship.

Padraig Harrington withstood a late bout of nerves to secure his sixth tour title as a final-round 69 gave him a one-shot win at the BMW Asian Open in Taiwan.

Maarten Lafeber gave no sign he was cracking under the pressure as the third round of the BMW Asian Open got underway in Taiwan.

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON lamented an ‘‘opportunity missed’’ after blowing a good start to squander the outright lead in the second round of the BMW Asian Open in Taiwan.

Lancome Trophy latest leaderboard

Lancome Trophy latest leaderboard:

Lancome Trophy latest leaderboard:

German, Alex Cejka, has joined Maarten Lafeber at the top of the Lancome Trophy leaderboard in Paris.

Maarten Lafeber is maintaining his lead in the Lancome Trophy.

Paul McGinley has falled to 39th place in the Lancome Trophy.

Robert Karlsson was today hoping his run of bad luck had come to an end, albeit a painful one, in the Lancome Trophy.

Nick Faldo suffered a dreaded shank as his hopes of a first win in Europe since 1994 were dealt a potentially fatal blow in the Lancome Trophy.

Lancome Trophy leaderboard

Nick Faldo remained hot on the heels of leader Alex Cejka in the second round of the Lancome Trophy at St Nom La Breteche.

NICK FALDO reaped the rewards of concentrating purely on his golf in the first round of the Lancome Trophy.

Four players now share the lead in the first round of the Lancome Trophy in France.

Robertson and Johnson share the lead in the first round of the Lancome Trophy.

Paul Casey has emerged as the new leader in the Lancome Trophy in Paris.

Ian Woosnam put the issue of Ryder Cup captaincy to one side to concentrate on his golf in the first round of the Lancome Trophy today.

SAM TORRANCE believes Ian Woosnam should succeed him as Ryder Cup captain for the 2004 contest at Oakland Hills in Michigan.

Sam Torrance is backing Ian Woosnam to succeed him as Europe's Ryder Cup captain.

SIXTH in the world and convinced he can improve still further. That was Padraig Harrington's assessment after his outstanding victory in the Dunhill Links Championship at the weekend.

There was no mention of not playing in the Ryder Cup by Colin Montgomerie today. But plenty of mentions of poor putting.

Canadian Mike Weir, without a single top 10 finish all season, began his defence of the American Express world championship with a five under par 67 at Mount Juliet today.

South Africa’s Retief Goosen smashed a 28-year-old European Tour record in Perth today, opening up an incredible 13-stroke lead with a round to play in the Johnnie Walker Classic.

Colin Montgomerie can understand any sportsman who wants to stay close to his family amid fears of more terrorist outrages.

Colin Montgomerie was today hoping for a flash of inspiration in the second round of the German Masters in Cologne.

Robert Allenby climbed eight places in golf's official world rankings to number 24 with his victory in the Marconi Pennsylvania Classic.

Sergio Garcia came almost from nowhere to win the Lancome Trophy in Paris today - and boosted Darren Clarke’s hopes of being European number one this season.

Sergio Garcia today won the Lancome Trophy by one shot.

The fog-delayed third round is nearing completion and US Open winner Retief Goosen has reclaimed the lead.