Costa del Sol Golf

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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The Molinari brothers are heading to The Masters, bringing some sibling rivalry and Italian style to genteel Augusta and they are hitting their form with perfect timing.

In their latest tournaments, Edoardo Molinari is tied for fourth, just four strokes behind leader Ernie Els at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, while younger brother Francesco is five shots off the lead at the Parador Golf on the Costa del Sol Golf in Spain,

With less than two weeks to the start of the Masters, Edoardo’s display on a challenging course, playing with world number three Phil Mickelson and in front of big crowds, indicated he should be able to handle the challenges of Augusta National.

“Playing with Phil today, I knew it was going to be a big day for me and I think I stood up to the test quite well,” he said.

“I really enjoyed playing with him. Any time you have a chance to play with great players you have to enjoy it, it’s the best you can have and it was great fun.”

Molinari, who hails from Turin, played with Tiger Woods at the Masters in 2006, shortly after winning the US Amateur title and had his brother carrying his bag.

“It was a dream. Maybe I wasn’t ready for that course then, because as an amateur you don’t play anything like Augusta but having him on the bag helped a bit and we had the time of our life,” he said.

Four years ago he missed the cut but he said playing Bay Hill has been the ideal build-up for a better showing at Augusta.

“I’ve worked very hard in the last four years and I think I am a better player. I just can’t wait to go there and see how good I really am.

“Playing here helps a lot with the preparation for the Masters, especially with the way the course was set up here.

“The greens are not as quick as at Augusta but they are very good and you have a lot of chip shots around the greens which are similar to what you are going to get at Augusta National.

“Plus you have the crowds that I had playing with Phil.”

The Molinaris are the first brothers to compete together at Augusta since Jumbo and Joe Ozaki in 2000, but there have been 26 other siblings who have appeared in the tournament.

It is unlikely that any of them will have appeared first as a caddy though and the curious nature of the pair’s appearance is added to with a third Italian - 16-year-old Matteo Manassero is also playing at Augusta having qualified as the British Amateur champion.

“I think last year, no-one even dreamt of having three Italian players at the Masters,” Edoardo Molinari said.

“Hopefully everyone (back home) is excited and there is the Italian Open a month after the Masters and hopefully we will see big crowds for that - that means something is changing.

“The Federation has been helping us a lot, especially the young pros and we have not yet seen the full results. Francesco and I turned pro just before this programme started.

“You have Manassero just starting and I am sure in the next few years, maybe not at the Masters, but you will see more Italians on the European Tour.”

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No amount of noisy parakeets, even louder jets or sunbathing nudists nearby could distract Louis Oosthuizen from finally claiming his first European Tour title on the Costa del Sol Golf, Spain.

A week after losing a three-shot lead and having his fourth runners-up finish, the 27-year-old South African lifted the Andalucian Open at Parador Golf in Malaga, Spain by three shots from Scot Peter Whiteford and England’s Richard Finch.

The victory lifts Oosthuizen back into the world’s top 50 just in time to earn him a second successive trip to The Masters and he said: “Unbelievable - that was my goal two months ago.”

After dropping to 75th in the rankings he then came second and third in successive weeks in his home country, but even last weekend’s near-miss left him almost certainly having to win at the Parador course to make it to Augusta.

Oosthuizen did it in impressive fashion, taking over at the top with a second day 63 and closing with rounds of 66 and 67 for a 17 under aggregate of 263.

After being drenched in champagne by fellow countryman Thomas Aiken and then kissing his wife and three-month-old daughter Jana he added: “I was quite nervous down the stretch and very nervous on the 18th tee.

“I just decided to hit it as hard as I could.”

As for not letting another victory chance go begging the former amateur team-mate of current European Tour number one Charl Schwartzel stated: “I knew I was good enough to win one.

“Now I want to stay in the top 50 and be competitive every time I play.”

After three birdies in his first five Oosthuizen had opened the gap, but a three-putt bogey at the 409-yard seventh gave the chasing pack hope.

Whiteford, never higher than sixth in 52 previous Tour events, suddenly emerged as the biggest threat thanks to five birdies in eight holes around the turn.

The 29-year-old from Kirkcaldy, forced to switch to his reserve driver when his favourite was stolen from his bag before the third round, had a chance to move only one behind when he hit a superb approach to 12 feet on the long 14th.

But he missed that and when he three-putted the next for bogey it made life a lot easier for Oosthuizen.

Whiteford, who came into the tournament 291st in the world, had found a driver he really liked at the start of the week and said after his 66: “I thought I had it sussed.

“Then I discovered it missing before I went to practise and the one I had to use for the last two days was rubbish. I’ll get a replacement now.”

Finch always looked two far behind after double-bogeying the short ninth, but two closing birdies gave him a 67 and brought him alongside Whiteford.

“All in all I’m delighted,” he said.

Fellow Englishman Robert Coles, never higher than third in 266 events going back 15 years, was second at the start of the day, but a one over 71 saw him slip to joint fourth with Italian Francesco Molinari.

For more information about Parador Golf and golf holidays on the Costa del Sol Golf visit -

www.costadelsolgolf-web.com

Collated final round scores from the European Tour’s Andalucian Open at Parador Golf on the Costa del Sol Golf, Spain (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 70):

263 Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 67 63 66 67

266 Peter Whiteford 69 64 67 66, Richard Finch 68 65 66 67

268 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 68 68 65 67, Robert Coles 69 65 63 71

269 Gabriel Canizares (Spa) 69 64 65 71, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 65 67 69 68, Joost Luiten (Ned) 66 69 68 66, Jamie Donaldson 67 69 67 66, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 68 66 67 68, James Morrison 71 63 70 65

270 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 68 65 67 70, Sam Hutsby 67 63 70 70, Stephen Gallacher 67 70 65 68, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 68 67 70 65, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 72 64 68 66

271 Paul Lawrie 65 68 68 70, David Howell 69 69 67 66, Thomas Levet (Fra) 69 70 63 69

273 Steve Webster 71 66 68 68, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 66 73 68 66, Mark Brown (Nzl) 66 68 70 69

274 Gary Orr 68 68 66 72, Stephen Dodd 73 66 67 68, Ariel Canete (Arg) 68 68 69 69

275 Paul Waring 74 62 69 70, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 72 65 68 70, Bradley Dredge 66 70 71 68

276 Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 71 66 65 74, Richard Bland 68 68 69 71, Gary Lockerbie 69 67 72 68, Mark F Haastrup (Den) 69 68 68 71, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 69 68 71 68, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 66 69 71 70, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 70 69 68 69

277 Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 68 68 70 71, John Parry 68 69 68 72, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 70 69 73 65, Gareth Maybin 70 67 68 72, David Lynn 67 70 69 71, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 68 70 65 74, Simon Thornton 69 70 70 68, Michael Hoey 69 69 70 69, Gregory Havret (Fra) 73 67 68 69

278 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 69 69 71 69, David Drysdale 71 68 68 71, Phillip Archer 66 74 70 68, Danny Willett 74 66 71 67, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 71 67 68 72, Paul McGinley 68 66 74 70, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 69 71 68 70

279 Richie Ramsay 73 67 69 70, Santiago Luna (Spa) 73 64 70 72, Darren Clarke 70 68 72 69

280 Marco Ruiz (Par) 70 67 72 71, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 71 68 72 69, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 71 67 75 67

281 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 66 71 70 74, Jamie Elson 70 68 74 69, Robert Rock 69 71 76 65, Alexander Noren (Swe) 69 71 73 68, Phillip Price 72 68 71 70, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 67 71 72 71

282 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 70 69 72 71, Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 68 72 71 71, Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 67 71 75 69, Stephan Gross Jnr (Ger) 70 68 71 73, Dale Whitnell 68 70 70 74, Shane Lowry 72 67 74 69

283 Miguel Angel Martin (Spa) 72 67 70 74, Marc Warren 71 68 71 73

284 Niclas Fasth (Swe) 71 69 72 72, Nick Dougherty 72 68 74 70, Barry Lane 70 70 73 71, Manuel Quiros (Spa) 71 68 76 69

285 Alastair Forsyth 71 69 70 75

286 Anthony Wall 68 69 76 73, Andrew Tampion (Aus) 70 70 75 71, Andrew Oldcorn 71 69 73 73, Peter Lawrie 68 72 71 75

288 Gary Murphy 69 71 75 73, Julien Quesne (Fra) 71 69 77 71

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Nick Dougherty, desperate to ride of wave of English success in golf lately, did his battered confidence the world of good with an opening seven under par 66 at the Hassan Trophy in Morocco today.

Home in 30 with an eagle and five birdies, the 27-year-old from Liverpool took a one-stroke lead over Ireland’s Peter Lawrie, Scot Stephen Gallacher, Italian Francesco Molinari, India’s SSP Chowrasia and South Americans Ricardo Gonzalez and Fabrizio Zanotti.

What Dougherty took most satisfaction from was the fact that his round came on the tougher Red course at Royal Dar Es Salam. Of the six players just behind him all but Chowrasia were on the much shorter Blue.

From a high of 46th in the world just over two years ago, the three-time European Tour winner has dropped to 120th on the rankings and missed out on the first two world championships this season.

“I’ve been struggling so much I’m just trying to build some confidence and hit as many good shots as I can,” he said.

“Thomas Bjorn gave me quite a bit of help yesterday on the range, which meant the world to me obviously, but it’s a work in progress.

“Anything under par I would have been happy with, so I was delighted with that. I think seven under is a really, really good score round there.

“I putted fabulous and I’m delighted with my short game in general, but it’s the long game that’s concerning me. I’ve been battling with that for a long time now.”

Breaking his driver on the eve of the event did not hold Lawrie back.

“The head of the driver came loose during practice. I have a spare, but I’m just not not 100% confident with it,” said the former Rookie of the Year, whose only European Tour win came in the 2008 Spanish Open.

“The three-wood’s going well, but the Red is long and the driver will have to come out somewhere.”

The 104-strong field switch courses tomorrow as the pro-am format continues before the top 65 professionals go through to the closing 36 holes on the Red.

Lawrie is partnering his father-in-law and added: “That’s the most nervous I’ve been. I had to up my game to make sure I did okay and we did okay.”

The 35-year-old was only two under with eight to play, but eagled the long second and birdied three of his last four holes.

Fellow Dubliner Paul McGinley, playing his first tournament since a sixth knee operation in November, managed only a three over 76 on the Red.

Collated first round scores from the European Tour’s Trophee Hassan II at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat, Morocco (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

At Blue Course (Par: 72)

66 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), Stephen Gallacher, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par), Peter Lawrie

67 Thomas Aiken (Rsa), Shiv Kapur (Ind), Alejandro Canizares (Spa), David Horsey, Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Sam Little

68 Niclas Fasth (Swe), Rafael Echenique (Arg), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra)

69 Richard Bland, Anthony Wall, David Lynn, Pablo Martin (Spa), Darren Clarke, Mark Brown (Nzl), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra)

70 Anthony Kang (USA), Azuma Yano (Jpn), David Howell, Gregory Havret (Fra)

71 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Andrew Butterfield, Gary Boyd, Richard Finch, Richard McEvoy, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel), Younes El Hassani (Mor)

72 Ariel Canete (Arg), Gregory Bourdy (Fra)

73 Mikael Lundberg (Swe), Andrew Tampion (Aus), Jeppe Huldahl (Den), Faycal Serghini (Mor), Pablo Larrazabal (Spa), Graeme Storm, Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Daniel Vancsik (Arg), David Dixon, Markus Brier (Aut), Jamie Donaldson

74 Sam Hutsby, Gary Lockerbie, Christian Cevaer (Fra), Daniel Brooks

75 Chris Gane

76 Paul Waring

79 Macon Moye (USA)

At Red Course (Par: 73)

66 Nick Dougherty

67 Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind)

68 Rhys Davies

69 Phillip Price, Julien Clement (Swi), Thomas Levet (Fra)

70 Stephen Dodd, Joost Luiten (Ned), Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa)

71 Jhared Hack (USA), David Drysdale, Christian Nilsson (Swe), Robert Rock, Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Carlos Rodiles (Spa)

72 Steve Webster, Peter Whiteford, Gareth Maybin, Robert Coles, Thomas Bjorn (Den), Julien Quesne (Fra), Simon Khan

73 Peter Baker, Danny Willett, Seve Benson

74 John Parry, Gary Orr, Marcel Siem (Ger), Paul Broadhurst, Marco Ruiz (Par), Shane Lowry, Alastair Forsyth, Tano Goya (Arg), Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa), Barry Lane

75 Jose-Filipe Lima (Por), Damien McGrane, Richie Ramsay, Marc Warren, Francois Delamontagne (Fra), Wen-chong Liang (Chn), Kenneth Ferrie, Peter Hedblom (Swe)

76 Reda Rhazali (Mal), Oskar Henningsson (Swe), Paul McGinley, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa)

77 Martin Erlandsson (Swe), Alexander Noren (Swe), Santiago Luna (Spa), Mark Foster

80 Michael Hoey

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Francesco Molinari recorded the second hole-in-one of his career during the second round of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship on Friday.

The Italian World Cup winner aced his seven iron on the fourth hole of The National Course from 162 yards at Abu Dhabi Golf Club en route to a second consecutive four-under-par 68.

Molinari trails halfway leader Rick Kulacz, who stormed to the top of the leaderboard with 11 birdies in a nine-under-par 63, by four shots.

“It was a good shot, but I was fortunate Oliver Wilson hit before me with the same length and he hit a seven iron just past the flag so I knew I had to hit it a bit softer than normal and I had the luck for it to go in,” he said. “I knew the club was right, but you still have to be lucky.”

Unfortunately for Molinari, 27, there was no prize on offer for the feat with hole-in-one prizes only offered at the 12th and 15th.

His first career hole-in-one arrived at the 2008 Malaysian Open, while it was the third in the tournament’s history after Darren Fichardt in 2006 and Alvaro Quiros last year.

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Brothers Francesco and Edoardo Molinari savoured a sweet victory after guiding Italy to an historic first World Cup title following a tense three-way final round battle with Ireland and Sweden.

A four-under-par 68 in the alternate shot foursomes secured the success which the duo rank just behind Costantino Rocca’s runner-up finish at The Open in 1995 and back-to-back Ryder Cup wins in the history of the sport in the football mad nation.

In 2005 Edoardo became the European to win the US Amateur Championship since 1911 before Francesco became the first Italian to win the national Open in 26 years a year later.

And their latest success follows Italian teenager Matteo Manassero becoming the youngest winner of the British amateur title in June.

“It feels really good. We probably haven’t realised what we have achieved. We just had to hang in there and try to finish it up in the last few holes,” said 27-year-old Inter Milan fan Francesco.

“We were also fortunate to hole a couple of good putts which kept us in front of everybody. We played great golf all week and it feels amazing.”

For elder brother Edoardo, the triumph caps a spectacular year in which he ensured an instant return to the European Tour after setting a Challenge Tour earnings record before winning the high-profile Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Japan the week before heading to China.

“To win this week was always a dream of ours and to win by one shot is even sweeter,” said the 28-year-old Juventus fan.

“To win by one shot against some really good teams like Ireland and Sweden is a great feeling. All of the players involved in the other teams were Ryder Cup players, so I think we probably had not realised what we have done.”

Three consecutive birdie putts from Francesco at the start of the back nine were the key as Irish duo Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell let slip a three-shot lead.

Ireland had led for just over three rounds over the Olazabal course at Mission Hills Golf Club but failed to fire on the final day.

After Francesco had scrambled from the greenside bunker at the last to secure a par for Italy, McDowell agonisingly missed a birdie chance by inches which would have earned a play-off but capped an error-strewn two under 70.

“It’s been a great week. Myself and Graeme really enjoyed it especially being in the hunt today was a good feeling. But we weren’t able to pull it off, we both played pretty averagely,” said world number 10 McIlroy.

“We shot two under but it could have been a lot better. It was pleasure to play with Graeme and try and win a title with him, it just wasn’t meant to be.”

Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson produced a gallant defence of their title as the Swede’s dropped just one shot all week.

Like Ireland, Sweden had a chance at the last but Stenson’s birdie putt rolled around the cup as a final round three-under 69 proved only good enough for a runner-up finish.

“We had a great week. We played well all week,” said Stenson. “Unfortunately my putter was too cold in the final round, that’s what it comes down to in my book. I had a great putt on the last from 45 feet and it looked in most of the time and went down and came back up again, and that was for the play-off the way it turns out.

“Obviously there is a little bit of disappointment, but I can’t really hold a 45-foot lip-out on the last responsible. I had plenty of chances and I didn’t take them, so it’s basically down to my putting.”

An impressive bogey-free eight under 64 came too late from Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher as England finished fourth, with Japan fifth ahead of Australia.

South Africa, Wales, YE Yang’s Korea, Martin Kaymer’s Germany and USA, who left the best till last with a brilliant bogey-free final round 10-under-par 62 in the traditionally testing alternate shot format, rounded out the top 10.

Collated final-round scores (Par 72):

259 Edoardo Molinari & Francesco Molinari (Ita) 64 66 61 68

260 Henrik Stenson & Robert Karlsson (Swe) 64 65 62 69, Rory McIlroy & Graeme McDowell (Irl) 58 68 64 70

262 Ian Poulter & Ross Fisher (Eng) 66 69 63 64

266 Ryuji Imada & Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn) 62 71 64 69

267 Robert Allenby & Stuart Appleby (Aus) 68 70 62 67

268 Nick Watney & John Merrick (USA) 67 72 67 62, Rory Sabbatini & Richard Sterne (Rsa) 65 70 62 71, Alex Cejka & Martin Kaymer (Ger) 66 71 66 65, Stephen Dodd & Jamie Donaldson (Wal) 66 68 64 70, Charlie Wi & Yong-eun Yang (Kor) 64 75 61 68

271 Martin Ureta & Hugo Leon (Chi) 69 67 65 70, Jhonattan Vegas & Alfredo Adrian (Ven) 67 67 65 72

272 Soren Hansen & Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 66 70 66 70, Jeev Milkha Singh & Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 67 68 65 72

273 Lam Chih-bing & Mardan Mamat (Sin) 66 70 66 71, Thongchai Jaidee & Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 67 70 67 69, Angelo Que & Mars Pucay (Phi) 68 72 64 69

274 Tano Goya & Rafa Echenique (Arg) 61 75 64 74

276 Thomas Levet & Christian Cevaer (Fra) 67 73 67 69, David Smail & Danny Lee (Nzl) 67 68 70 71

277 Liang Wen-Chong & Zhang Lian-Wei (Chn) 65 71 68 73, Muhammad Munir & Muhammad Shabbir (Pak) 69 75 64 69, Lin Wen-Tang & Lu Wei-Chih (Tpe) 67 74 67 69

279 Graham Delaet & Stuart Anderson (Can) 64 74 65 76

280 Rafael Barcellos & Ronaldo Francisco (Bra) 68 75 68 69

281 Sergio Garcia & Gonzalo Fdz-Castano (Spa) 69 71 67 74

284 David Drysdale & Alastair Forsyth (Sco) 69 73 64 78

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The Omega Mission Hills World Cup is set for a three-way final-round tussle after defending champions Sweden and Italy trimmed Ireland’s lead to just one stroke after Saturday’s third-round fourballs.

Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell remain on course for the wire-to-wire victory after a bogey-free, eight-under-par 64 to sit at the top of the leaderboard at 26 under overall.

The round did not reach the same heights as Thursday’s brilliant 14 under par in the opening-round fourballs and leaves McIlroy and McDowell under the most pressure they have found themselves in all week.

Swedish duo Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson, who have yet to drop a shot this week, sit ominously at 25 under par following a 62, with Italian brothers Edoardo and Francesco Molinari also just a shot off the pace after a flawless 61.

World number 10 McIlroy said: “It was still a productive day. We had a three-shot lead going out and it is now down to a one-shot lead, but we still very positive going into tomorrow.

“The holes that we played well, we both seemed to play well and that doesn’t work very well in fourball, but we both played well.

“We probably left a few shots out there, but we are still in a great position going into tomorrow and we are still very positive.”

With the three leading groups in sparkling form and a six-shot gap to Japan (64) and South Africa (62) at 19 under par heading into tomorrow’s testing alternate shot foursomes, the title appears to be remaining in Europe.

“It seems to be a three-horse race, so barring any disasters in the foursomes, I can’t see anyone but the top three teams winning,” said McDowell, who finished 16th last year with Paul McGinley.

“We are both playing well and both playing with a lot of confidence, but we just didn’t get the ball on the green today.

“We both played well on the same holes and didn’t help each other out as we did on Thursday, but generally we both put the ball in play and both played well and we are both looking forward to tomorrow.”

With Edoardo and then Francesco Molinari making 20-foot birdie putts over the final two holes to earn a place in Saturday’s final group after trimming Ireland’s lead to one, McIlroy and McDowell both escaped trouble at the par-three 17th.

But after Stenson holed from eight feet at the last to join Italy at 25 under, McDowell and McIlroy both missed makeable birdie putts at the last to set up a thrilling finale.

“Ireland played great today,” said Players Championship winner Stenson. “We were just throwing punches back and forth. I’m very pleased that we managed to creep a little bit closer and close the gap a little bit.

“We are right in the mix tomorrow and it’s going to be Ireland and Italy in the last group. We are second from the back, so it’s going to be a good day again tomorrow, I hope.

“We have the recipe from last year with a 63 in the foursome. If we can get anything close to that tomorrow, I think we have a good chance.”

World number eight Stenson and Karlsson roared through the field last year with a brilliant nine-under 63 in the final round foursomes to win on 27 under.

Francesco and younger brother Edoardo, the current European Challenge Tour number one, have played in the last two World Cups with 17th place in 2007 their best finish.

“I think it’s been a great day for us. It’s been a really good week, but today was probably the best day,” said Francesco, who also finished eighth in 2006.

“We both played really consistent, good golf. We maybe left some chances out there, but you don’t expect to hole every single putt.

“It’s been really good and we are in good position for tomorrow. We will just try to keep playing like this and see what happens tomorrow.”

Collated third round scores & totals

(Par: 72)

190 Rory McIlroy & Graeme McDowell (Irl) 58 68 64

191 Henrik Stenson & Robert Karlsson (Swe) 64 65 62, Edoardo Molinari & Francesco Molinari (Ita) 64 66 61

197 Ryuji Imada & Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn) 62 71 64, Rory Sabbatini & Richard Sterne (Rsa) 65 70 62

198 Stephen Dodd & Jamie Donaldson (Wal) 66 68 64, Ian Poulter & Ross Fisher (Eng) 66 69 63

199 Jhonattan Vegas & Alfredo Adrian (Ven) 67 67 65

200 Jeev Milkha Singh & Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 67 68 65, Robert Allenby & Stuart Appleby (Aus) 68 70 62, Tano Goya & Rafa Echenique (Arg) 61 75 64, Charlie Wi & Yong-eun Yang (Kor) 64 75 61

201 Martin Ureta & Hugo Leon (Chi) 69 67 65

202 Lam Chih-bing & Mardan Mamat (Sin) 66 70 66, Soren Hansen & Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 66 70 66

203 Alex Cejka & Martin Kaymer (Ger) 66 71 66, Graham Delaet & Stuart Anderson (Can) 64 74 65

204 Liang Wen-Chong & Zhang Lian-Wei (Chn) 65 71 68, Thongchai Jaidee & Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 67 70 67, Angelo Que & Mars Pucay (Phi) 68 72 64

205 David Smail & Danny Lee (Nzl) 67 68 70

206 Nick Watney & John Merrick (USA) 67 72 67, David Drysdale & Alastair Forsyth (Sco) 69 73 64

207 Sergio Garcia & Gonzalo Fdz-Castano (Spa) 69 71 67, Thomas Levet & Christian Cevaer (Fra) 67 73 67

208 Muhammad Munir & Muhammad Shabbir (Pak) 69 75 64, Lin Wen-Tang & Lu Wei-Chih (Tpe) 67 74 67

211 Rafael Barcellos & Ronaldo Francisco (Bra) 68 75 68

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World number two Phil Mickelson survived a nervous final hole to edge out South Africa’s Ernie Els by one shot and win the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions following a thrilling final round in Shanghai.

With Els in the clubhouse following a nine-under-par 63, the third course record of the day, Mickelson survived finding rough twice on his final hole to claim a second HSBC Champions title in three years and second WGC title of his career following March’s CA Championship success.

Mickelson signed for a final round score of three under 69 to finish at 17-under-par overall.

Fellow three-time major winner Els will be left to rue his only bogey of the day at the 18th after hitting his approach into the water at the front of the green.

Ryan Moore carded a final round 68 to finish two shots off the pace in third, with Rory McIlroy boosting his Race to Dubai bid after a brilliant 63 earned fourth at 14-under-par.

Nick Watney’s final round 71 ensured fifth ahead of another Race to Dubai contender Martin Kaymer (67) and an out-of-sorts Tiger Woods.

The world number one began the final round two shots behind Mickelson in second, but a level par 72 left Woods five adrift and tied for sixth with Kaymer following runner-up finishes on his previous two trips to Shanghai.

On a day Woods uncharacteristically missed several short putts, his round was summed up at the last as he hit through the green and into water to ship a third bogey of the day.

Alvaro Quiros (66) and Race to Dubai leader Lee Westwood (71) shared eighth at 11-under-par to leave the Order of Merit set for a thrilling climax with just two events remaining.

Almost unnoticed with the battle at the top of the leaderboard, Japan’s Daisuke Maruyama, playing only his second event on The European Tour, earlier posted the first of the three new course records to claim a tie for 10th alongside Anthony Kim, Retief Goosen, Soren Kjeldsen, Francesco Molinari, Geoff Ogilvy and Pat Perez.

With third round leader Mickelson in the final group and two groups behind, Els tapped home a birdie at the par-three 17th to take the lead by one after beginning the day seven shots off the pace.

But then Els completely mis-hit his second shot into the five-par 18th and dumped his approach into the water at the front of the green.

Mickelson then saved a par at 16 with an 18 foot putt after appearing to be heading for a bogey after duffing his chipped second shot.

With Els eventually shipping a bogey at the last to post the clubhouse lead at 16 under, Mickelson rolled home a six foot birdie putt at the 17th to claim a one shot lead.

But the drama did not stop there as Mickelson hit his final tee shot into the crowd at the side of the fairway and was faced with a buried lie in the trampled rough.

With Els watching on TV, Mickelson could only advance into the rough with his second but held his nerve to find the green and with two putts for the title, rolled his first to within a foot before tapping home.

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After three play-off defeats, two near misses in majors and an amazing 26 top-10 finishes since his last victory, Lee Westwood was finally back lifting a trophy as he won the Portugal Masters.

Westwood ended more than two years without a title by capturing the tournament in Vilamoura by two shots from Italian Francesco Molinari and four from Padraig Harrington.

The added bonus - he would have been happy to win the smallest event - was that the massive first prize of nearly £458,000 takes Westwood from fourth to first on the European money list.

And that is not all. When the Ryder Cup star last tasted success at the British Masters in September 2007 he said his goal was to make the world’s top five again.

Now he has done it and the way he is playing it is not difficult to see him climbing even higher.

Not bad for a former European number one and world number four who, in a nightmare slump seven years ago, fell outside the game’s top 250.

Westwood, who pulled off an unlikely birdie at the long 17th when one ahead, said: “It was nice to finish it off, you never know when the next win is going to come and you start to question yourself.

“You always slightly doubt yourself in the back of your mind and to be number one again feels great. It’s been nearly 10 years since I won it.

“I’m also delighted about the world rankings. I always have a good look at that and it’s a reflection of my consistency.

“But winning is definitely a habit and I got out of the habit. Hopefully now I have won again I can win more.”

The 30th victory of his professional career was achieved at the Oceanico Victoria Club with a 23-under-par total of 265 after a bogey-free closing 66.

After birdies at the first four holes - he resumed in third spot three behind South African Retief Goosen - the 36-year-old from Worksop had to wait until the long 12th for his next birdie.

Goosen had fallen away by then, but Molinari was level until he missed a three-foot par putt on the short 16th.

Then came the decisive hole. Westwood went long and left at the 589-yard 17th and although he was able to take a free drop he still faced a tricky shot.

“All I could see was trees (right in front of him) and water (over the green) - and I had a really tight lie,” he added.

However, from around 30 yards he almost holed it, tapped in for birdie and then Molinari missed a five-footer that would have returned the gap to one.

Harrington always looked to have too much ground to make up on the final day and afterwards blamed dehydration for his costly third-round 71.

The Dubliner had matched the low round of his career with a 62 to be in third place at halfway and knew a closing 67 was never going to be enough.

To his relief a closing three-putt bogey made no difference to his third place.

“In hindsight I think I got dehydrated,” said the Dubliner, whose last Tour win remains the USPGA in August last year.

“I struggled to concentrate. I drank a phenomenal amount, just not enough. My trainer was watching on TV and you can see it in your face - your eyes really.”

Even with a closing 66 Rory McIlroy was only 30th and so drops down to second place on the Race to Dubai standings.

Both he and Westwood are back in action at the Volvo World Match Play in Spain starting on Thursday week.

Collated final round scores & totals in the European Tour Portugal Masters, Oceanico Victoria Clube de Golfe, Vilamoura, Algarve, Portugal

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

265 Lee Westwood 66 67 66 66

267 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 63 66 68 70

269 Padraig Harrington 69 62 71 67

270 Peter Hanson (Swe) 71 65 66 68, Marcel Siem (Ger) 67 69 67 67

271 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 68 64 64 75, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 65 65 71 70, Justin Rose 65 70 70 66, Alexander Noren (Swe) 70 70 69 62, Danny Willett 69 68 66 68, Johan Edfors (Swe) 69 66 68 68

272 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 68 67 67 70, Anthony Wall 68 67 70 67, Scott Drummond 68 69 68 67, Oliver Fisher 67 67 68 70

273 Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 69 69 71 64, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 69 69 68 67, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 68 65 71 69

274 Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 69 67 70 68, Robert Rock 70 68 72 64, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 71 69 70 64, Oliver Wilson 67 70 64 73, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 69 70 66 69, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 73 67 67 67, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 70 67 71 66

275 Gareth Maybin 69 67 65 74, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 71 68 66 70, Paul McGinley 70 69 68 68, Bradley Dredge 66 70 69 70

276 Steve Webster 71 67 71 67, Rory McIlroy 69 70 71 66, James Kingston (Rsa) 71 64 67 74, Stephen Dodd 71 64 70 71, Shane Lowry 70 65 71 70, Colin Montgomerie 68 71 69 68, Simon Khan 66 68 71 71

277 Ben Curtis (USA) 68 68 72 69, Pablo Martin (Spa) 66 66 68 77, Peter Lawrie 68 68 65 76, Paul Broadhurst 70 68 71 68

278 Paul Waring 69 71 66 72, Taco Remkes (Ned) 71 68 70 69, David Lynn 71 67 66 74, Darren Clarke 69 68 70 71

279 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 68 70 72 69, Damien McGrane 69 67 70 73, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 69 70 71 69, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 71 69 74 65, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 67 70 72 70, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 69 71 69 70, Miles Tunnicliff 68 68 70 73, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 71 67 68 73

280 Marc Warren 68 67 73 72, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 70 70 66 74, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 72 68 71 69, Phillip Price 68 72 71 69, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 70 68 67 75

281 Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 66 73 68 74

282 Alastair Forsyth 65 68 77 72, Ross McGowan 69 71 71 71

283 Gary Lockerbie 73 67 74 69, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 71 69 74 69, Simon Dyson 70 67 75 71

284 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 70 70 74 70, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 72 67 72 73, Tano Goya (Arg) 70 66 72 76

285 Anders Hansen (Den) 69 71 69 76

286 John Bickerton 69 69 76 72

289 Shaun Micheel (USA) 70 70 73 76

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Retief Goosen, unable to win a match at last week’s Presidents Cup, leads the Portugal Masters with a round to play in Vilamoura.

The 40-year-old South African, chasing his first European Tour victory for more than two and a half years, fired a second successive 64 to move from three behind Italian Francesco Molinari to one in front.

That included pitching in for eagle at the second and chipping in for birdie at the 15th, just the sort of stuff International captain Greg Norman would have been hoping for against the Americans in San Francisco.

Goosen had three defeats and a half there and was even left out of one session, but now he is on course for a first prize of nearly £458,000 at Oceanico Vilamoura.

He is also the first man in Europe this season to reach 20 under after 54 holes.

Lee Westwood lies third on 17 under after a two-birdie finish gave him a 66, and second place will almost certainly be good enough tomorrow to take him top of the European money list.

Rory McIlroy, who took over the number one spot at St Andrews less than two weeks ago, is down in 53rd place and admits he is powerless to prevent his stablemate going above him.

But Westwood mimicked Seve Ballesteros when he said: “Second eez is no good.

“That’s what Billy (his caddie Billy Foster) keeps telling me. It’s what Seve always said to him when they were together.

“I’m not even thinking about the money list. I’m just trying to win the Portugal Masters, and that’s hard enough.”

Westwood has gone over two years without a victory anywhere - Goosen has tasted success in Asia, Africa and America in the last 12 months -

and in that time, of course, has twice come desperately close to capturing his first major title.

“I’ve just got to get a few breaks,” the Englishman added. “To birdie the last two feels pretty good. A 68 would have felt a poor score.”

He two-putted the long 17th and then hit his approach over the water to seven feet on the last.

“Billy thought it was a little nine-iron, but I had the confidence to hit a hard wedge. That was the only way to get close - it was a sucker flag and I was a sucker and went for it.”

Goosen, out-scoring playing partner Padraig Harrington by seven, had already birdied the first when he sank his approach to the next.

He was already seven under for the day when he two-putted the 547-yard 12th - Harrington was in the lake there - but found water himself off the 14th tee and dropped his only shot.

Chipping in on the next was a real bonus and he added another birdie at the 17th.

“Last week was very disappointing for me, but the last two days have obviously been great,” said Goosen.

“On Sunday (in a singles clash with Phil Mickelson which he lost on the 17th) I hit the ball very nicely, but made only one putt.”

Harrington’s 71 dropped him from third to ninth and he now has six shots to make up, while Justin Rose - second after an opening 65 -

is down to 19th on 11 under after a 70.

Goosen’s 64 was matched by Oliver Wilson as he moved from 29th to tied fifth, but with a five-stroke deficit a 10th second place might be on the cards for the Ryder Cup star.

Wilson has still to taste victory and with his father awaiting tests for the bladder cancer diagnosed earlier this year, he said: “There is only one person in the world who wants me to win more than me and that’s him.”

Biggest crash of the day came from Alastair Forsyth, down from sixth to 53rd with a 77 that contained two double bogey sevens and a quadruple bogey eight.

Fellow Scot Colin Montgomerie felt pretty much the same when he came off, though. After playing the first 12 in six under he finished bogey, double bogey after going in the water both times. He is now eight under and 40th.

McIlroy has struggled on the greens all week and on five under commented: “Even if I shoot a really good score here I’m not going to get anywhere. In terms of the Race to Dubai it’s not going to make any difference what I do tomorrow.

“I’m now thinking towards the Match Play.” His next event is the Volvo World Match Play Championship in Spain starting on Thursday week.

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