Irishman Shane Lowry yesterday became only the second player to win on the European Tour as both an amateur and a professional, writes Chris Scott.
The 25-year-old, who won the Irish Open in an amazing Tour debut three years ago, lifted the Portugal Masters by a stroke in Vilamoura when England's Ross Fisher three-putted the final hole.
Lowry joins Spaniard Pablo Martin, who won the 2007 Portuguese Open in his amateur days and then the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa two years later.
Shot of the day from Rory McIlroy's stablemate was a seven-iron into the hole for an eagle 2 at the 11th.
Lowry was one ahead after adding birdies at the 15th and 17th, but prepared himself for a play-off after driving into sand and bogeying the last for a 66 and 14 under par total.
Former Ryder Cup player Fisher was in the group behind and from the fringe of the green left his long birdie attempt – a putt to win the title – five feet short and then lipped out.
Unlike his maiden victory, which earned him nothing because of his amateur status, Lowry this time picked up a cheque for more than £300,000 in addition to the trophy.
Scotland's Stephen Gallacher had a final round of 69 for an aggregate of 276 to finish in a share of sixth place, one shot ahead of compatriot Scott Jamieson, who ended with a 68.
athletics
Susan Partridge marked a return to her best form with victory in the Cardiff half marathon yesterday, writes Mark Woods.
The Scot, who came 22nd in the world championships at the distance earlier this month, set a new personal best of 71:10 in the Welsh capital. The Great Britain internationalist was well clear of Eunice Kales, with fellow Kenyan Edinah Kwambai in third.
basketball
Glasgow Rocks were forced to dig deep last night to edge out Manchester Giants 88-85 and secure a trip to Sheffield Sharks in the quarter-finals of the BBL Cup, writes Mark Woods.
However, Sterling Davis' men had to battle from 11 points down in the third quarter, pulling off a late decisive run to pick up with their first victory at the Emirates Arena.
It wasn't pretty. Manchester, making their first appearance in the competition for mire than a decade, threatened an upset. However, Rocks captain EJ Harrison, who had a game-high 27 points, sparked a fourth-quarter fightback which took the hosts through.
"We're still struggling, and we're up and down but that's because we're still a work in progress," said Glasgow forward Kieron Achara, who had 18 points and nine rebounds. "We're still learning how to play together. The plus is we're one step closer to a trophy and we're still in there fighting. But it's good that we've now got a win in our new building. That will settle us down, hopefully."
boxing
David Price laughed off a bizarre television outburst from domestic rival Tyson Fury in the aftermath of his one-round demolition of Audley Harrison, writes Rob Moir.
The British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion made sure the first professional meeting between two British Olympians was short and brutal.
Harrison, surely now at the end of an underwhelming 12-year stint in the paid ranks following his march to gold in Sydney, was knocked out after 82 seconds as fans in Price's home town of Liverpool were treated to a clinical display of fearsome power punching.
The Beijing bronze medallist drew rich praise from all quarters, with one notable exception. Attending James DeGale's successful European super-middleweight title defence against France's Hadillah Mohoumadi in Kent, Fury lambasted Harrison, Price's promoter Frank Maloney and Price himself – who he then bizarrely suggested had a "gay lover" in Liverpool's British light-heavyweight champion Tony Bellew.
Yesterday, Fury posted a video on his Twitter page where he repeated the bizarre claim and the improbable prospect of taking on Price and Bellew at the same time, telling the former: "I'm going to put you in intensive care."
This echoed the 24-year-old Mancunian's much-criticised threat of "killing you in the ring" before he fought Dereck Chisora in July last year – a jibe for which he apologised.
Reacting to Fury's television diatribe, Price was perplexed. "He's round the bend," he said. "I don't know what to make of that. He cannot handle other people getting praise and credit and that's why he spat his dummy out on television and made an absolute fool of himself by the sound of it."
Cricket
Scotland were denied the first win of their South African tour last night when North West Dragons edged to a tense two-wicket win, writes William Dick.
The Scots went into the 50-over encounter in Potchfestroom looking to build on the drawn three-day match against the same opponents. However, they needed their lower order to fire them to a competitive total of 224-9 after the home bowlers dominated.
Clydesdale duo Safy Sharif and Majid Haq duly obliged with a combination of power and patience.Sharif led the way with a hard-hitting 49 at almost a run-a-ball while Haq battled his way to 41 from 79 deliveries.
Ali Evans was the pick of the Scottish bowlers with four wickets while Gordon Goudie picked up two but they were unable to deny the Dragons.
curling
Lockerbie's Lorna Vevers saw her dream run end in the semi-finals at the Swiss Masters in Basel yesterday, writes Lorin McDougall.
Vevers and team-mates Sarah Reid, Alice Spence and Kay Adams beat world champion Mirjam Ott in their opening match on Friday and won four other games to reach the semis where they lost 6-2 to Margaretha Sigfridsson. The Swede went on to defend her title by beating Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni in the final.
cycling
Britain's Steve Cummings (BMC) finished his season on a winning note when he took the honours on the concluding stage of the Tour of Beijing.
Cummings outsprinted Canadian Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin), with Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen third, writes Colin Renton.
Germany's Tony Martin retained the overall title after after finishing safely in the leading group, while his Scottish team-mate at Omega Pharma QuickStep, Andy Fenn, ended his first season at WorldTour level with a steady ride that left him down the field.
hockey
Grange bowed out of the EuroLeague after going down 8-0 to German champions Berliner in their final pool match in Barcelona, writes Craig Madden.
After losing heavily to Rotterdam on Friday, the Edinburgh side needed to win to progress to the next round, but fell well short of their target.
n Vishal Marwaha, Western Wildcats' coach, remarked that consistency was his target for this season, and his side responded with a comfortable 2-0 win away to Edinburgh University in the national league.
Glynhill Kelburne took 17 minutes to break down a stuffy Watsonians defence, but then the goals flowed from Mark Ralph (2) and Willie Marshall for a three-goal lead at half-time.
The champions goal machine moved into its stride after the break, Alan Forsyth scored twice and the other goals came from Michael Christie and Jack McAllister in a 7-0 win.
Grove Menzieshill provided the surprise of the day with a 7-3 victory over title challengers Inverleith, Mike Ross and Gavin Tomlinson, from set pieces, both scored twice.
motor sport
Ryan Dalziel was on top of the world after he and Florida-based Starworks Motorsport clinched the inaugural FIA World Endurance LMP2 class title at Fuji in Japan, writes Paul Stevens.
The Scot – who lives in Windermere, Florida – and team-mates Enzo Potolicchio, from Venezuela, and Frenchman Stephane Sarrazin knew they only had to better the result of their Pecom Racing rivals.
They managed to bring the Starworks HPD Honda home two laps clear of the No.49 car, in second place behind the ADR-Delta entry. That was enough for the celebrations to start in the Starworks garage as they added the world title to class wins at Sebring in Forida, the Le Mans 24 Hours in France, and Brazil. They were also on the podium at Silverstone although Ryan missed third place in Bahrain.
rugby league
Scotland fought back from 28-0 down but ran out of time to rescue their opening Alitalia European Cup tie, eventually losing 30-18 to Ireland yesterday at Meggetland, writes Gavin Willacy.
The Bravehearts were stunned in the first-half by conceding four successive tries on their left side – two apiece to Tim Bergin and Stuart Littler, with Liam Finn kicking three of the four conversions from the touchline.
Callum Casey and Finn's goal made it 28-0 three minutes into the second-half but Scotland fought back and dominated the second half although it took them until nearly the hour mark to get on the board, hooker Ben Fisher getting a touch to his own kick through, swiftly followed by prop Mitch Stringer bundling over. Finn soon kicked a penalty for the visitors and a late try by substitute centre Callum Cockburn was a mere consolation.
