Just seven shots were hit in the Spanish Open in rain-soaked Madrid before play had to be suspended today - and it looked certain to be the first of many stoppages.

Stuart Little fired a hole in one in the third round of the Wales Open today - but still found himself eight shots off the lead.

Munster’s Heineken Cup victory over Biarritz cost Darren Clarke a share of the lead going into the final round of the Nissan Irish Open.

Jean Van de Velde raced into a three-shot lead in the Madeira Island Open after a confident start in the third round.

Garry Houston moved swiftly up the leaderboard in the third round of the Madeira Island Open.

Play re-started in the Madeira Island Open at noon after a four-hour delay because of bad weather at the hilltop Santo da Serra course.

Play was suspended in the third round of the Madeira Island Open this morning because of cloudy conditions at the hilltop Santo da Serra course.

Defending champion Nick Dougherty shot a five-under-par 67 to clamber back up the leaderboard at the OSIM Singapore Masters – but Singapore’s Mardan Mamat led the way for the third day in a row.

Nick Dougherty found himself four shots adrift of the clubhouse lead as the defence of his OSIM Singapore Masters title began with a three-under-par round of 69.

Darren Clarke was given a glimmer of hope today as he tried to prevent France’s Raphael Jacquelin running away with the Madrid Open.

ENGLAND'S John Bickerton saved his European Tour career in the best possible fashion yesterday, winning his first title at the 287th attempt.

John Bickerton and Stuart Little, who have played 430 European tour events between them without winning once, are first and second going into the final round of the Abama Canaries Open in Tenerife.

Left-hander Stuart Little moved closer to a first European tour title at the Abama Canaries Open in Tenerife today.

Six years after he thought his European Tour career was over, England’s Stuart Little has the chance this weekend to put the icing on easily the best season of his golfing life.

Mark Garrod

A shank on your second shot of the day is a pretty scary way to start a round of golf.

A shank on your second shot of the day is a pretty scary way to start a round of golf.

Colin Montgomerie lavished praise on Darren Clarke’s “phenomenal” putting today as the Ulsterman moved into the thick of things in the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond.

American Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman turned last weekend’s poor performance into a distant memory today as he moved into contention for the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond.

Most golfers ranked outside the world’s top 200 would get some funny looks if they started talking about winning next week’s British Open championship.

Stuart Little pushed some of the sport’s biggest names into the shade today.

Jonathan Lomas claimed anything would seem relatively easy after last week’s US Open and that is the way it looked at the start of the French Open at Le Golf National near Paris today.

Phil Casey

England’s James Heath made the most of Nick Faldo’s “pulling power” to claim a share of the clubhouse lead in the Wales Open.

David Lynn warmed up for the defence of his maiden European Tour title by taking the clubhouse lead in first round of the Wales Open at Celtic Manor today.

Steve Webster hopes to crack his European Tour duck at the 247th attempt tomorrow – and if he does a lot of the credit will go to a “mind magician”.

ENGLISH golfer Richard Finch had the best possible reason yesterday to cancel plans to attend a friend’s wedding in Portugal this weekend.

English golfer Richard Finch had the best possible reason today to cancel plans to go to a friend’s wedding in Portugal this weekend after firing a course record at the Italian Open.

Former English amateur champion Richard Finch, playing just the ninth European Tour event of his career and ranked 716th in the world, broke the course record with a dazzling second-round 63 at the Italian Open in Milan today.

WORLD number three Ernie Els fired a flawless seven-under-par 65 to cruise to a 13-stroke victory at the storm-affected BMW Asian Open yesterday.

World number three Ernie Els today wrapped up an emphatic victory at the BMW Asian Open in Shanghai.

Colin Montgomerie kept his hopes of qualifying for the US Masters alive with a superb second round at the TCL Classic in China this morning.

Overnight European Tour Qualifying School finals leader Wakefield maintained his place at the top with a second successive 69.

DARREN CLARKE claims it will take more than a change in captaincy to reverse a trend that has seen Europe win four of the last five Ryder Cups.

English duo Matthew Woods and Marcus Higley share the lead going into the final round of the European Tour qualifying school stage two at the El Bosque Country Club near Valencia.

The €63,000 car won by Spaniard Jose Manual Carriles did not stop it from being Australia Day in the Nissan Irish Open at County Louth today.

WESTOOD there, not knowing what to expect. Colin Montgomerie was in the scorer's hut, signing for a round of 82 that included an outward nine of 45.

Thomas Bjorn is trying to find a way out of what he calls “the worst stretch I have ever had in my life”.

Mark O’Meara, the 47-year-old former Masters and Open champion, today achieved his first big victory since 1998.

Paul McGinley, seeking his first win since he holed the winning putt in the Ryder Cup two years ago, chipped in at the last to regain a share of the lead with a round to go in the Dubai Desert Classic.

Ireland's Gary Murphy continues to be tied for seventh place at the Italian Open today.

WITH war seemingly just over the horizon, security has been increased for the European golf tour event being played in Qatar this week.

With war seemingly just over the horizon security has been increased for the European golf tour event being played in Qatar this week.