EUROPEAN TOUR chief George O’Grady wasn’t exaggerating when he claimed on Sunday that 2011 has been the greatest year in his organisation’s history.

Hughie Morrison’s Blue Java has a good opportunity to record his first win of 2008 in the Axminster Carpets Apprentice Handicap at Salisbury.

Two-time winner Greg Norman has withdrawn from the Open championship and been replaced by last season’s European Tour rookie of the year Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano.

EUROPE retained the Palmer Cup trophy by defeating the United States 14½-9½ at Ballybunion.

The disappearance of Carlos Castano, Colombia’s most influential paramilitary leader, is believed to have put the outlawed militias even more firmly in the hands of drug traffickers.