Costa del Sol Golf

Seven days after his agony at Wentworth it was ecstasy for Luke Donald as he ended four years without a win at the Madrid Masters.

And that makes it an incredible four English players in the world’s top nine just nine years after Lee Westwood was the only one in the top 100.

Donald, who blew the BMW PGA Championship by taking a double bogey seven on the penultimate hole, this time grabbed a brilliant eagle to settle his duel with Welshman .

Level with three to play the 32-year-old hit a 252-yard fairway wood to 12 feet on the long 16th and with his third eagle of the week - “it’s because I’m a big-hitter” he joked - struck the decisive blow.

Davies, already a winner in this his first full season on the European Tour, birdied the hole and still had a chance to force sudden death, but his 20-foot effort on the last was never on the right line.

The victory lifts Donald from 13th to ninth in the world - and to fourth place in the Ryder Cup points race, knocking Padraig Harrington out of the top nine who will earn automatic spots at the end of August.

His last victory was the Honda Classic in America in March 2006 and his last in Europe came in Switzerland in September 2004.

Donald won with a closing 67 to Davies’s 68 and with a 21 under par total of 267. It earned him £214,242, but he said: “The money is secondary.

“It’s been a while since I won and to put last week behind me makes me very proud.

“The way I played today means a lot to me. The eagle was huge because Rhys put a lot of pressure on me.

“It’s happiness and relief - definitely some relief.”

After last year’s Open, where he came fifth, an American writer coined the term “Luke Donald Disease”, pointing to him as the perfect example of a bunch of British players who earn a lot but do not win very often.

“It was a bad article - it’s wrong,” commented Donald. “I don’t listen to my critics too much, but it was frustrating for myself not having won for four years.”

He can now point to the fact that England has as many players in the top 10 - himself, Westwood, Ian Poulter and Paul Casey - as America does.

And there is also Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy there too.

Davies, 25 last Friday, would have leapt into the top 50 with victory, but he is climbing fast and he will hope to go one better at this coming week’s Wales Open at Celtic Manor.

“I didn’t make a bogey in the final group in a big tournament,” Davies said. “It didn’t quite come off, but I’ve got lots to be pleased about.

“I was chasing the win and I just came up short unfortunately. On the 16th I thought I might keep the momentum (he had just birdied the 15th to level), but he threw in an eagle to be fair to him.”

Italian Francesco Molinari had also eagled the 16th to be in the joint lead, but that was before Donald and Davies played the hole and he finished third on 18 under.

A further shot back in fourth was Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, whose 65 was one outside the course record equalled earlier in the day by Spaniard Jose Manuel Lara.

Collated final round scores & totals in the European Tour Madrid Masters, Real Sociedad Hipica Espanola Club de Campo, Madrid, Spain

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

267 Luke Donald 65 67 68 67

268 Rhys Davies 65 68 67 68

270 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 67 70 65 68

271 Graeme McDowell 68 68 70 65

273 Robert Rock 70 68 67 68

275 Stephen Gallacher 69 73 66 67, Jamie Donaldson 65 70 70 70, Peter Lawrie 71 69 68 67

276 Oliver Wilson 70 71 70 65

277 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 71 71 67 68, Brett Rumford (Aus) 67 71 71 68, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 71 72 65 69, Simon Dyson 70 69 70 68, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 69 70 64 74, Gregory Havret (Fra) 68 74 69 66

278 Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 67 70 70 71, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 67 71 70 70, Richard Finch 68 71 69 70, Julien Quesne (Fra) 72 69 71 66, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 69 70 68 71

279 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 73 68 68 70, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 68 73 68 70, Nick Dougherty 69 70 70 70, Markus Brier (Aut) 68 75 68 68, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 68 73 70 68, Graeme Storm 73 64 67 75, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 70 72 73 64

280 Gary Orr 73 67 71 69, Joost Luiten (Ned) 70 69 74 67, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 71 70 71 68, David Lynn 72 70 68 70, Clodomiro Carranza (Arg) 73 67 70 70, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 71 67 72 70, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 68 70 72 70, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 71 70 70 69

281 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 75 67 71 68, Damien McGrane 69 73 67 72, Christian Nilsson (Swe) 69 70 70 72, Alastair Forsyth 74 69 71 67, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 72 71 69 69

282 Peter Whiteford 73 70 66 73, Shane Lowry 69 74 70 69, Santiago Luna (Spa) 69 71 74 68, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 69 72 69 72, Paul McGinley 66 74 70 72, Johan Edfors (Swe) 67 73 71 71

283 Richard Green (Aus) 71 67 74 71, Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 70 71 69 73, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 72 71 71 69

284 Carl Suneson (Spa) 69 73 71 71, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 68 74 72 70

285 Danny Lee (Nzl) 69 74 68 74, Gary Boyd 73 68 74 70, Phillip Price 67 74 71 73, Tano Goya (Arg) 69 72 67 77, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 75 67 67 76, Oliver Fisher 70 72 73 70, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 70 72 74 69, Ross McGowan 68 74 74 69

286 Gary Clark 71 71 73 71, Sion E Bebb 70 71 72 73, Bradley Dredge 67 73 72 74

287 John Parry 72 70 73 72, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 66 76 73 72

288 Sam Hutsby 73 69 70 76, Paul Lawrie 73 70 69 76

289 James Kingston (Rsa) 68 71 76 74

290 Julien Guerrier (Fra) 68 74 71 77, James Morrison 70 70 76 74

291 Jorge Campillo (Spa) 72 70 75 74

292 Alvaro Salto (Spa) 74 68 72 78, David Drysdale 69 74 74 75, Stephen Dodd 69 74 75 74

294 Kenneth Ferrie 73 70 70 81

295 Marc Warren 70 71 81 73, Rick Kulacz (Aus) 72 71 78 74

296 Marcel Siem (Ger) 72 71 76 77

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Luke Donald remains on course to make it an amazing four English golfers in the world’s top 10, nine years after they had only Lee Westwood in the top 100.

But whether Donald can do it in the way he wants, by winning the Madrid Masters, remains to be seen after European Tour rookie Rhys Davies birdied two of the last three holes to join him on 16 under par with a round to go.

Even with a second-place finish at the Real Sociedad course Donald, currently ranked 13th, will join Westwood, Ian Poulter and Paul Casey in the world’s top 10.

But after what happened at Wentworth last Sunday, victory is all that is on his mind.

The 32-year-old, who lost the BMW PGA Championship by one after taking seven at the penultimate hole, fired a bogey-free 68.

However, Welshman Davies, already a winner in Morocco in his first full season on the circuit, holed from eight feet at the long 16th and then from 12 on the 198-yard 17th for a 67.

His round included eight birdies, but also a bogey at the third and double bogey on the short seventh.

Donald, who led by one at halfway, said: “To rebound from the disappointment of last week and be in contention shows a lot about my character.

“I was struggling a bit off the tee on the back side. Not to have a bogey was good, but it would have been nice to make a couple more birdies.”

Davies said: “I made two little errors, very minor, and got severely punished for both.

“It was annoying at the time, but I focused on keeping my head in the right position and took on the shots I felt like I needed to.

“Saturday is a little bit different because there is still a long way to go.”

Donald’s last title was the US Tour’s Honda Classic four years ago and for his last win in Europe you have to go back to the 2004 European Masters in Switzerland.

The world ranking points on offer mean that Donald will go fourth in the Ryder Cup table by ending his barren spell, a move that would knock Padraig Harrington out of an automatic spot.

Italian Francesco Molinari is two strokes back in third place after a 65 highlighted by five birdies in the opening seven holes and then a fairway wood to six feet for eagle at the 562-yard 16th.

Big-hitting Alvaro Quiros moved into fourth place with a course record-equalling 64 that almost came out of nowhere.

He was “only” four under for the day with three to play, but two-putted the 16th, made a 15-footer on the next and then pitched in from 58 yards for a closing eagle two.

It gives the 27-year-old the chance of a second victory on home soil this month. He started May by capturing the Spanish Open in a play-off with England’s James Morrison.

England’s Graeme Storm, the man who set the course record the day before, followed up with a 67 and is fifth.

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A week that began with Phil Mickelson eyeing the top spot in the world rankings ended prematurely on Friday when he missed the cut by a significant margin at the Colonial Invitational.  

On an ideal day for scoring at Colonial Country Club, the American left-hander battled to a three-over-par 73 in the second round to languish near the bottom of the leaderboard.

Mickelson, who would have replaced Tiger Woods as world number one for the first time with victory this week, bogeyed three of his last seven holes to lie a distant six strokes off the projected cutline.

“I played terrible,” the four-times Major champion said after recording five bogeys and two birdies in calm, hot conditions. “The course is in great shape.

“There was no wind and there were a ton of birdies out there. And I didn’t make have many of them. I thought my game was sharper.

“This was a good barometer, though,” Mickelson said after posting a four-over total of 144. “This starts my run into the (June 17-20) U.S. Open. It tells me that I have a lot of work to do.”

Mickelson, who clinched his fourth Major at last month’s U.S. Masters, had not missed a cut on the US PGA Tour since last year’s Houston Open, a run of 21 events.

“I thought I was playing really well,” the world number two said. “I had some good practice sessions at home. As it turned out, I’m a little bit rustier than I thought.

“I didn’t drive it very well. I didn’t hit many good iron shots. I’ll get home, get some practice in and see if I can get this thing turned around.”

Mickelson, a short game magician, has produced a glittering career resume including 38 US Tour titles but he has never topped the world rankings.

Asked this week whether he was surprised the number one spot had eluded him since he turned professional in 1992, he replied: “I don’t know how to answer that.

“I would say 13 of those years were in Tiger years. It hasn’t been the easiest.”

Woods has been world number one for the last 259 weeks, and an overall total of 601

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Tiger Woods will return to the PGA Tour to defend his title at next week’s Memorial tournament in Dublin, Ohio.

 The 14-times Major champion has not competed since he was forced to withdraw from the final round of this month’s Players Championship in Florida because of neck pain.

“The doctors advised me to take a week off and rest, which I did,” Woods said in a statement.

“They prescribed physical therapy, anti-inflammatory medication and soft-tissue messages, which I’m continuing with.

“Although I’m not 100 percent, I feel much better and look forward to competing next week.”

Woods, committed to the June 17-20 US Open at Pebble Beach, said he resumed normal practice sessions last week after healing an inflamed facet joint.

The 14-times major champion is a four-times winner of the Memorial tournament which is hosted by Jack Nicklaus at Muirfield Village Golf Club.

Woods has, however, played only three events since returning from a self-imposed exile of five months following revelations about his marital infidelities at the end of last year.

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Nine holes of practice had seen five balls disappear into water, but when Tiger Woods spoke to reporters in Florida it was clear that the state of his game is not his major worry right now.

Four days after crashing to a 79 and missing the cut at Quail Hollow by an incredible eight shots, Woods looked and sounded thoroughly down as he tries to prepare for the £6.2million Players Championship, golf’s richest event.

Amid continuing reports that his Swedish wife is seeking a divorce over the sex scandal that rocked sport five months ago, the world number one admitted that his emotional turmoil is impacting on his golf.

“Absolutely,” said Woods, who has Ian Poulter as one of his two partners in the opening two rounds at Sawgrass and who could lose top spot in the rankings to Phil Mickelson if he is outside the first five on Sunday.

“I’ve had two different low moments. Obviously what I’m going through now and then my father’s death.”

This is the third event of his comeback. In the first he managed what many considered, given the circumstances, a brilliant fourth place in The Masters, but last week was arguably the worst of his career.

Invited to compare this return to golf to last year after an eight-month injury lay-off he replied: “This is more taxing certainly away from the golf course with paparazzi following me and all those kind of things.

“I didn’t have the distractions getting ready for events. You know, helicopters don’t normally fly over you on the range and kind of hover and film you.

“That wasn’t the case then, but that’s the case now.”

And when asked whether he was angry or surprised about the Sports Illustrated article in which nearly a quarter of players polled said they thought he had taken performance-enhancing drugs he answered: “After what’s happened in my life?

“Well, I haven’t taken it. I’ve never taken performance-enhancing drugs, never taken HGH (human growth hormone), never taken any of that stuff.

“But everyone is entitled to their opinion.”

As for how he is playing Woods added in spite of some of the evidence of his morning’s work: “It’s getting better, no doubt. It couldn’t get any worse.

“I don’t like missing cuts (he has only ever missed six as a professional and never two in a row) and it’s just one of those things where just a little bit of work, tighten things up a little bit and get refocused for this event.”

There are rumours that he and coach Hank Haney could be parting company, but on that he stated: “I’m still working with him.”

He was also categorical that the man advertising his “Grand Slam” irons on ebay for 250,000 does not have the real thing.

“They’re in my garage,” he said.

Because of how he played last week Woods is only joint favourite with Mickelson this time - and bookmakers William Hill’s think that has not happened since the 1996 Masters.

Because of how Rory McIlroy played last week - closing rounds of 66 and 62 to win his first US Tour title by four - he is listed as third favourite.

Woods is as impressed as anyone by the Northern Irishman, who turned 21 today.

“Rory hits it past me. I shrimp it out there now,” he said after praising not only McIlroy, but also 18-year-old Ryo Ishikawa for his 58 in Japan on Sunday.

“I think it’s how the game has evolved. With the advent of technology these kids are able to view their swings via a camera and make improvements so much faster and earlier.

“Their golf swings are so much better at an earlier age, even from when I grew up.”

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