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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Sweden’s Michael Jonzon, with one European Tour win in 290 starts and fighting for his future, leads the Castello Masters in Spain with a round to play.

The former Portuguese Open champion is 158th on the money list and needs to finish first or second to be sure of keeping his Tour card.

But even after a six-under-par 65 swept him to 16 under, Jonzon is under enormous pressure because joint second are defending champion Sergio Garcia on his home course and also Martin Kaymer, who can return to the top of the Order of Merit by winning his first event since breaking toes in a go-kart crash in August.

For a while it looked as though England’s Sam Hutsby, playing only his third Tour event as a professional, was going to provide the story of the day.

The 20-year-old from Hampshire, runner-up in the British Amateur in June and a Walker Cup debutant last month, kept pace with Jonzon for much of the round, but he bogeyed the last for a 66 that sent him down to fourth place on 14 under.

Jonzon, fourth at halfway two behind Kaymer and Australian Robert Allenby, turned in 33 and then added further birdies at the 10th, 13th and 14th before parring in.

He is 482nd in the world, whereas Garcia is ranked 10th and Kaymer 12th.

Hutsby, though, is down at 1,374th - the position given to all those who have zero ranking points.

On his two previous starts since switching codes he missed the cut at the Dunhill Links and Madrid Masters, but this time he has been making the most of an invitation from tournament host Garcia.

“I’m enjoying every minute,” he said.

“It’s not really sunk in yet that I’m playing on Tour. Hopefully I can sleep well tonight and then keep to my course management plan under pressure.”

If he was to win he would instantly earn a two-year exemption without the need to go to the qualifying school.

Garcia shot a bogey-free 67, saving par from 18 feet on the last after driving into sand, while Kaymer came back from a double bogey at the short second to record a 68.

Allenby dropped two shots on the second after going over the green and then chipping into water and fell back to seventh with a level par 71.

Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie, meanwhile, is in a share of 12th place after a day that began in nightmare fashion, but ended on a real high.

Completing his third round first, Montgomerie had double bogeys at the 16th and 17th to fall 10 behind, but then birdied the last and followed with a 64 that was his lowest round since his last victory at the 2007 European Open.

“I’ve gone back to a short putter and am putting much better,” he said.

“But this year has a complete and utter … one to write off.

“I need to go and get my game sorted out - my irons are not accurate enough.”

He is 98th on the money list and has not finished that low since he turned professional in 1987.

Collated third round scores & totals

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 71):

197 Michael Jonzon (Swe) 64 68 65

198 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 63 68 67, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 63 67 68

199 Sam Hutsby 65 68 66

200 Peter Hanson (Swe) 66 68 66, Christian Nilsson (Swe) 69 66 65

201 Robert Allenby (Aus) 64 66 71

202 Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 65 67 70, David Drysdale 68 68 66, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 67 65 70, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 71 67 64

203 Colin Montgomerie 70 69 64, Soren Hansen (Den) 70 68 65, Andrew Coltart 70 64 69, Jamie Donaldson 71 67 65

204 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 70 62 72, Anthony Wall 68 67 69, Benn Barham 68 66 70, Simon Wakefield 70 69 65

205 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 71 66 68, Justin Rose 68 71 66, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 65 72 68, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 67 68 70, Danny Willett 71 66 68, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 68 69 68, Darren Clarke 68 70 67

206 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 68 70 68, Robert Dinwiddie 69 70 67, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 70 66 70, Branden Grace (Rsa) 74 64 68, Scott Drummond 70 66 70, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 72 68 66, John E Morgan 66 68 72, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 70 67 69, Miles Tunnicliff 67 67 72

207 Richard Bland 70 69 68, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 72 67 68, Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 69 70 68, Marc Warren 72 65 70, Joost Luiten (Ned) 70 69 68, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 65 69 73, Bradley Dredge 70 69 68

208 Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 68 71 69, Richie Ramsay 71 69 68, Marcel Siem (Ger) 71 70 67, David Horsey 67 71 70, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 67 73 68, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 69 70 69, Oliver Fisher 68 69 71, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 69 69 70, Alfredo Garcia-heredia (Spa) 73 68 67, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 74 67 67, Pablo Martin (Spa) 67 71 70

209 Tano Goya (Arg) 71 70 68, Santiago Luna (Spa) 68 69 72, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 71 70 68, Johan Edfors (Swe) 70 70 69, Paul Broadhurst 70 64 75

210 Wil Besseling (Ned) 72 68 70, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 72 69 69, Paul Waring 70 71 69, Taco Remkes (Ned) 69 71 70, Paul Lawrie 70 69 71, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 70 70 70

211 Anton Haig (Rsa) 71 67 73, Matthew Millar (Aus) 70 71 70, Eduardo De La Riva (Spa) 71 68 72, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 72 66 73, Marc Cayeux (Zim) 71 70 70, Manuel Quiros (Spa) 69 71 71

212 Gary Lockerbie 70 71 71, Gary Murphy 70 70 72, Pedro Oriol (Spa) 71 70 71, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 73 67 72, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 71 65 76

213 Federico Cabrera (Arg) 71 70 72, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 73 68 72

214 John Mellor 73 68 73, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 70 71 73

215 Francis Valera (Spa) 73 68 74

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England’s Ross McGowan lies second in the Ryder Cup race after capturing his first European Tour title by three shots at the Madrid Masters on Sunday.

Seven clear after his magical third-round 60 at Centro Nacional, the 27-year-old from Surrey saw that advantage cut to only two by Finn Mikko Ilonen with four to play.

But a 10-foot birdie putt at the 15th eased his worries about blowing the biggest lead of the season.

Even then McGowan was lucky on the par-five last when his second shot was pulled and finished on wooden sleepers just above the lake.

He was able to save par and with a one-under-par 71 collected the £227,014 first prize with a 25-under-par total of 263.

“I came here this week in form and it’s lovely to come away with the trophy,” he said.

“Once I saw where some of the pins were it was a lot trickier and my game-plan was to hit as many greens as I could.

“It means a lot to win - that’s another goal out of the way and hopefully from here I can progress and move on to bigger things.”

Ilonen, the former British amateur champion, finished runner-up and after starting the week down in 159th place that moved him well inside the top 115 who keep their cards for next season.

After finding himself 12 adrift following an opening 74, Ilonen had rounds of 63, 63 and 66.

Scotland’s David Drysdale, joint halfway leader with Sergio Garcia, closed with a 67 for third place, while pre-tournament favourite Garcia was only 17th.

McGowan, English amateur champion three years ago, began the cup campaign with a third-place finish in Switzerland last month and in his next start was sixth at the Alfred Dunhill Links last Monday.

He will remember his Saturday 60 for as long as he plays, although it does not count as a Tour record-equalling round because placing was allowed on the wet fairways all week.

At 24 under with a round to go he was one better than the all-time Tour record after 54 holes and Ernie Els’ record final total of 29 under looked on.

But the day was all about securing his maiden victory really and, in a shaky start, bogeys at the first and fourth gave the chasing pack hope.

A seven-foot putt on the long fifth appeared vital and by adding further birdies at the sixth and ninth the gap was back up to six.

Still it was not easy, though. He three-putted the 11th while Ilonen birdied the 10th, 12th and 15th.

In February, McGowan had lost the Johnnie Walker Classic in Australia from two ahead with six to play, but he kept his nerve this time.

Collated final round scores & totals in the European Tour Madrid Masters, Centro National de Golf, Madrid, Spain

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

263 Ross McGowan 66 66 60 71

266 Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 74 63 63 66

267 David Drysdale 66 65 69 67

270 Gary Murphy 67 65 70 68, Alexander Noren (Swe) 71 67 67 65, Gareth Maybin 70 68 68 64

271 Anthony Wall 66 67 70 68, Danny Willett 66 67 66 72, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 74 63 67 67

272 Gary Lockerbie 68 70 68 66, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 69 66 64 73, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 67 66 68 71, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 70 68 66 68, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 71 65 65 71, Luke Donald 71 69 65 67, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 67 65 69 71

273 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 69 68 69 67, Alvaro Salto (Spa) 69 67 68 69, Damien McGrane 67 71 68 67, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 64 67 71 71

274 Marcel Siem (Ger) 67 68 71 68, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 69 69 65 71

275 Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 72 67 67 69, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 71 69 68 67, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 69 67 71 68, David Lynn 67 70 70 68, Oliver Fisher 65 74 66 70, Paul Broadhurst 71 66 70 68, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 68 67 72 68, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 70 69 64 72, Bradley Dredge 69 69 69 68

276 Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 72 67 66 71, Phillip Price 70 69 67 70, Scott Drummond 68 70 67 71, Simon Khan 68 68 69 71, Seve Benson 70 69 68 69

277 Paul Waring 69 69 73 66, David Horsey 66 71 69 71, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 69 70 66 72, Pablo Martin (Spa) 70 67 71 69, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 71 67 66 73, Barry Lane 68 71 68 70

278 Richard Bland 72 67 70 69, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 72 67 72 67, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 69 70 67 72, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 69 68 71 70, Peter Lawrie 69 67 72 70, Stephen Dodd 70 69 69 70, Santiago Luna (Spa) 70 70 68 70, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 70 67 71 70, Sam Little 68 70 68 72, Manuel Quiros (Spa) 62 73 70 73

279 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 69 69 70 71, Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 69 71 71 68, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 71 68 70 70, Lee Slattery 68 68 76 67, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 75 65 69 70, Paul Lawrie 70 70 69 70, Shane Lowry 71 63 73 72, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 69 67 72 71

280 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 70 69 72 69, Marc Warren 70 68 71 71, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 70 69 73 68, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 70 66 71 73, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 71 69 71 69

281 Mark Brown (Nzl) 68 72 71 70

282 Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 71 67 74 70

283 Luis Claverie (Spa) 69 71 69 74, Steven O’Hara 71 68 72 72

284 Robert Dinwiddie 72 66 74 72, Michael Hoey 69 69 72 74

285 Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 69 69 72 75

289 Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 70 69 77 73

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Britain’s Ross McGowan established the biggest 54-hole lead on this year’s European Tour by cramming 10 birdies and two eagles in a remarkable 12-under-par 60 in the Madrid Masters third round.

The 27-year-old was on course for his maiden victory after a 24-under total of 192 earned a seven-stroke advantage over compatriot Danny Willett (66) and France’s Michael Lorenzo-Vera (64).

It was the second 60 on the circuit in less than a month but unlike Spaniard Rafael Cabrera-Bello’s effort at the Austrian Open, McGowan’s round will not feature in the record books as placing was allowed on the fairways at Centro Nacional de Golf.

“I cannot believe it (the 60),” the Englishman said. “I just played my own game and didn’t think about the score until I hit my second shot to the 18th.

“Then I thought, ‘hang on, that was for a 59,” added McGowan after his second stroke went 18 feet past the pin and he holed out for an eagle three.

The little-known McGowan is in the form of his life, having broken 70 in 10 of his last 11 rounds.

“I don’t feel like I’m going to miss a shot unless I’m in the rough or get a silly lie,” he said.

Briton David Drysdale (69), who led overnight alongside Sergio Garcia of Spain, was joint fourth on 200 with Finn Mikko Ilonen (63).

World number eight Garcia had to settle for a 71 for 202.

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