Rory McIlroy was emphatically living up to his billing as pre-tournament favourite as Tiger Woods battled to match his playing partner’s exploits in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic on Thursday.

David Higgins cruelly came up short in an heroic effort to win the Italian Open in Turin yesterday.

Ireland's Damien McGrane defied the miserable conditions to card a superb 67 and set the clubhouse target in the third round of the KLM Open in Zandvoort.

Little-known Frenchman Julien Quesne equalled the Aloha course record to become the shock winner of the Andalucian Open today.