Alexander Levy has won the Portugal Masters after the event was reduced to 36 holes as more rain battered the Oceanico Victoria Golf Club.

The Portugal Masters has been reduced to 54 holes after heavy rain caused lengthy delays in Vilamoura yesterday with only six players, including leader Alexander Levy, completing their second rounds.

Nicolas Colsaerts left his putt on the 18th "hanging" as he just missed out on firing the European Tour’s first round of 59 at the Portugal Masters.

Stephen Gallacher's Ryder Cup preparations looked set to come to an early end as he headed for a missed cut in the ISPS Handa Wales Open at Celtic Manor.

They said it would be a massacre of Merion but the grand old lady of American golf proved more than a match for the game’s elite as only Phil Mickelson managed to lay a glove on her in the early stages of the weather-delayed US Open.

Fresh from a cross-country plane journey, five-time runner-up Phil Mickelson today made the perfect start to his bid for a first US Open title on a weather-delayed opening day at Merion.

Graeme McDowell brushed aside his rival and a venomous viper to secure the biggest victory on the opening day of the Volvo World Match-Play Championship in Bulgaria.

Nicolas Colsaerts will defend his Volvo World Match Play Championship title as the European Tour breaks new ground in Bulgaria this week, but only after his father arrives on a hastily-chartered private jet with his clubs.

It is 50 years since Jack Nicklaus won the first of his six Masters titles, but the 18-time major winner will have a major influence on how rookie Nicolas Colsaerts performs this week.

Luke Donald suffered one of the biggest defeats of his career today as the giant-killing continued at the Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson.

Former paratrooper Thongchai Jaidee jumped into a three-stroke lead over Ernie Els and Louis Oosthuizen when the Volvo Champions began at a wet and windy Durban Country Club today.

Nicolas Colsaerts has revealed the whole of Europe’s successful Ryder Cup team knew exactly what retaining the trophy would mean to their captain Jose Maria Olazabal.

The sign in the sky said ’Do It for Seve’, but it was the Americans – most notably Keegan Bradley and Phil Mickelson – who were still in charge as the Ryder Cup neared the halfway point in Chicago.

European captain Jose Maria Olazabal failed to get the desired response from his players as the United States continued to hold the upper hand on day two of the Ryder Cup at Medinah.

After just one game Nicolas Colsaerts can already be called a Ryder Cup star - the man who saved holders Europe from being whitewashed in a session for the first time since 1981.

Europe’s bid to retain the Ryder Cup on American soil will need a resuscitating at Medinah Country Club today after last night’s second session saw the United States take a firm grip on the contest with a 5-3 lead.

I have looked as hard as I can around this monster of a golf course and searched the massive structure that is the clubhouse.

Two armchair viewing experiences crystallise the story of Nicolas Colsaerts’ journey to a Ryder Cup debut this weekend in Chicago.

If it were not for his grandmother, European Ryder Cup rookie Nicolas Colsaerts would not be teeing up this week at Medinah.

If anyone needed assurance, regarding the worth of Paul McGinley as a Ryder Cup vice-captain, and his potential as a European Team captain, then you only had to watch him interact with Medinah rookie, Nicolas Colsaerts.

Europe captain Jose Maria Olazabal was right to ignore triple major winner Pádraig Harrington’s claims for a wildcard pick and his 12-man team is just about perfect, said former skipper Bernard Gallacher yesterday.

Nicolas Colsaerts comes from a rich sporting family but the first Belgian to compete in the Ryder Cup revealed he spent Sunday night nervously indulging in a ‘local sport’ before confirmation of his inclusion in the European team.

Jose Maria Olazabal does not believe he has gambled by picking uncapped Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts rather than three-time major winner Padraig Harrington for next month’s Ryder Cup.

European captain Jose Maria Olazabal hailed Ian Poulter’s Ryder Cup “attitude and spirit” after naming him and Nicolas Colsaerts as his two wild card picks for the clash with the United States next month.

Jose Maria Olazabal has chosen Nicolas Colsaerts and Ian Poulter as his two wildcards for the European Ryder Cup team.

Padraig Harrington has won three majors and been part of every Ryder Cup since his 1999 debut, while Nicolas Colsaerts has made the cut in only two majors and never played in the Ryder Cup.

Pádraig Harrington will tune into the Golf Channel in the US today praying that Jose Maria Olazabal shocks everyone by naming him as one of his two Ryder Cup wildcards.

Jose Maria Olazabal sought to end a continuing Ryder Cup row by bluntly declaring suggestions of a rift between himself and triple Major winner Padraig Harrington as bullshit.

PAUL McGinley was sitting with his family at the London Olympic Stadium enjoying the closing ceremony when he received a phone call from Jose Maria Olazabal offering him a vice-captaincy role at next month’s Ryder Cup.

David Lynn now admits he made a mistake by not staying on in America after his spectacular runner-up finish at the USPGA Championship – a decision he knows could cost him a Ryder Cup debut.

It is a telephone call that has been described as “evil” and it could be Pádraig Harrington on the receiving end later this week.

Sergio Garcia produced a brilliant performance yesterday to clinch a sixth Ryder Cup cap — and leave Ian Poulter needing a ‘wild card’ for the second time in three matches.

Sergio Garcia produced a brilliant performance today to clinch a sixth Ryder Cup cap and leave Ian Poulter needing a wild card for the second time in three matches.

Sergio Garcia’s good form in the US this weekend means Pádraig Harrington will need a FedEx Cup play-off victory at The Barclays next Sunday if he is to realise his ambition of a Ryder Cup wild card next month at Medinah.

Spectators were asked to delay their arrival for the second day of the Open Championship today after heavy rain overnight left standing water on parts of the Royal Lytham course.

The big guns of Irish golf will contest this week’s BMW PGA Championship, the European Tour’s flagship tournament, at Wentworth.

Graeme McDowell denied he became “rattled by the pressure” in his Volvo World Match Play Championship final defeat by Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts at Finca Cortesin yesterday.

Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts became Volvo World Match Play champion today, beating Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell in the final at a windsept Finca Cortesin in Spain.

Graeme McDowell is playing Nicolas Colsaerts for the Volvo World Match Play title at Finca Cortesin in Spain this afternoon after Paul Lawrie lost a four-hole lead in his semi-final.

Scotland's Paul Lawrie was off to a dream start in his Volvo World Match Play semi-final at Finca Cortesin in Spain today.

Justin Rose piled on the agony for Darren Clarke with a 6&4 drubbing at the Volvo World Match Play Championship in Spain today.

Tom Lewis beat Australian John Senden on his Volvo World Match Play debut in Spain today - and as a result put himself and defending champion Ian Poulter into the last 16.

Branden Grace claimed the Volvo China Open title as a final-round 69 left him three shots clear of the rest of the field.

South African Branden Grace took a strong grip on the lead in the Volvo China Open after a sparkling eight-under-par third round of 64.