Second last event of European Over-50s Pro Tour

MASON WINS ESTORIL SENIOR OPEN BUT
TORRANCE CLINCHES ORDER OF MERIT

From STEVEN FRANKLIN
European Seniors Tour Press Officer

England's Carl Mason, pictured right, produced a performance brimming with skill and character to hold off Sam Torrance and win the Estoril Senior Open of Portugal in torrential rain today but it was not enough to prevent his Scottish rival from capturing the European Seniors Tour Order of Merit for a second year running.
Mason was a stroke behind Torrance at the pair entered the back nine of the Oitavos course and, despite some truly horrendous weather, the Oxfordshire golfer somehow produced three birdies to win by four strokes from Torrance and Australian Stewart Ginn.
Mason's only mistake was a double-bogey s6 at the last to close in level par 71, for a 54-hole aggregate of nine-under-par 204.
It was Carl's third victory in the past four Over-50s' events and his 14th overall on the European Seniors Tour.
Torrance needed a top-10 finish to confirm his position as the 2006 No 1, ahead of Mason, and he secured that with room to spare, thanks to a final round 71, which included four birdies on the front nine and four dropped shots coming home.
Torrance, who has won four times this year, moved on to the £232,839 mark in season's earnings and cannot be overtaken at the final event of the season in Bahrain next month.
Sam said: "I would have loved to have won today but the back nine was almost unplayable. Mason played fantastic: he was three under on the back nine coming down the last, which was phenomenal golf.
"But I am delighted to have secured the Order of Merit. To win it back-to-back is a tremendous achievement and something I have strived for all year. I have played in nearly every event and showed how much I wanted this.
"The Seniors is the opposite of the regular tour. You start at your best and you gradually get worse. It will be a challenge to win it again, especially as we have a number of good players joining the tour soon when they reach 50, but I think I will be up for it.
"My swing will last forever and I still have a strong will to win, so it's a question of my body holding up."
Mason, who won the Seniors' Order of Merit in 2003 and 2004, said: "That was probably the worst conditions I have ever played in, so to play as well as I did was wonderful. I played some bloody brilliant shots in that weather."

FINAL TOTALS
Oitavos course 6,705yd, Par 71 (36-35).
Prizemoney(in brackets) given in Euros.
204 Carl Mason (Eng) 64 69 71 (45,00).
208 Sam Torrance (Sco) 67 70 71, Stewart Ginn (Aus) 69 67 72 (25,500 each).
210 Juan Quiros (Spa) 66 72 72, Tony Johnstone (Zim) 67 73 70 (15,030 each).
212 Horacio Carboneti (Arg) 72 69 71 (12,00).
213 Bill Longmuir (Sco) 69 73 71, Delroy Cambridge (Jam) 71 71 71 (10,100).
215 Adan Sowa (Arg) 73 68 74, Glenn Ralph (Eng) 71 70 74, José Rivero (Spa) 66 71 78, Eamonn Darcy (Ire) 71 70 74 (7,500 each).
216 Doug Johnson (US) 73 73 70, Terry Gale (Aus) 73 73 70, Giuseppe Cali (Ita) 72 70 74, Gavan Levenson (SAf) 71 72 73, Jim Rhodes (Eng) 71 74 71, John Mashego (SAf) 68 73 75 (5,250 each).
217 Nick Job (Eng) 68 72 77, Bertus Smit (SAf) 68 73 76, David Good (Aus) 73 72 72, Simon Owen (NZ) 75 71 71 (3,847 each).
218 Angel Fernandez (Chi) 76 67 75, Jimmy Heggarty (NI ) 72 77 69, Bobby Lincoln (SAf) 75 68 75, Pete Oakley (US) 76 70 72, John Chillas (Sco) 71 76 71 (3,006 each).
219 Bill McColl (Sco) 73 71 75, Gery Watine (Fra) 75 70 74, Luis Carbonetti (Arg) 73 72 74, Martin Poxon (Eng) 78 68 73 (2,430 each).
220 Hank Woodrome (US) 77 70 73, Alan Mew (Tri ) 70 71 79, Guillermo Encina (Chi ) 70 76 74, Mike Miller (Sco) 76 73 71, Bob Cameron (Eng) 77 71 72, Denis O'Sullivan (Ire) 74 75 71, Emilio Rodriguez (Spa) 70 72 78 (1,894 each).
221 Manuel Piñero (Spa) 77 71 73, Bob Lendzion (US) 75 75 71, Martin Foster (Eng ) 72 76 73 (1,530 each).
222 Martin Gray (Sco) 78 73 71, David J Russell (Eng ) 70 74 78 (1,380 each).
223 Ian Mosey (Eng) 76 73 74, Alan Tapie (US) 77 72 74, Tony Charnley (Eng) 71 75 77, Maurice Bembridge (Eng) 71 77 75 (1,200 each).
224 Rigoberto Velasquez (Col) 75 71 78, Bob Larratt (Eng) 78 75 71 (1,020 each).
225 Mike Ferguson (Aus) 80 72 73, Gordon J Brand (Eng) 72 73 80, Tony Allen (Eng) 75 75 75 (870 each).
226 Kevin Spurgeon (Eng) 75 80 71, Jerry Bruner (US) 80 72 74, Ray Carrasco (US) 74 75 77 (720 each).
227 Noel Ratcliffe (Aus) 76 75 76, Bill Hardwick (Can) 76 75 76, Robin Mann (Eng) 80 74 73 (630 each).
228 David Creamer (Eng ) 77 71 80 (570).
229 John Benda (US) 73 77 79, Bill Malley (US) 80 73 76 (525 each).
231 Gordon Townhill (Eng) 79 77 75, Craig Defoy (Wal) 74 79 78 (465 each).
233 Antonio Garrido (Spa) 81 77 75, Manuel Calero (Spa) 74 76 83 (412 each).
235 Liam Higgins (Ire) 78 81 76 (390).
236 Jean Pierre Sallat (Fra) 80 77 79 (375).
239 Victor Garcia (Spa) 80 75 84 (360).241 Greg Hopkins (US) 81 84 76 (345).
Retired - Bruce Heuchan (Can) 76 71 -, Eddie Polland (NI) 83 77 -, Paul Leonard (NI) 77 - (315 each)