POULTER PROUD OF HIS LAST DAY EFFORT TO FINISH TIED THIRD

FROM THE BBC SPORT.COM WEBSITE

Ian Poulter said his superb final-round performance at the Open was reminiscent of his displays at Medinah during last year's Ryder Cup.

Poulter won all four of his matches for Europe at the 2012 team event playing some superb golf, and today at Muirfield the Englishman shot 67 to come within four shots of new Open champion Phil Mickelson.

Poulter enjoyed his best Open at Royal Birkdale in 2008, when he was overtaken by a stunning finish from defending champion Padraig Harrington, who beat him into second by four shots

"They (the putts) were going in the middle like they were in Medinah," he said.

"The fans were giving me a lot of electricity and pumping me up."
Poulter began the day eight shots off the pace. The 37-year-old dropped further back after a bogey on the third, but a birdie on the fifth put him back on track.
His run from the ninth started with a 25-foot eagle before he rolled in from 40 feet and added two more from 25 feet for a hat-trick of birdies. A bogey on the 16th blemished what was an outstanding final nine holes.
The Hertfordshire player finished tied third for the championship - his fifth top-ten major finish in three years.
"It's nice to be in that position when you're playing in front of a home crowd, holing 15-foot putts for eagles, birdies, and running up that leaderboard.
"Today was the day where I felt the putter started to work."
Poulter said previous feats by his peers made him realise that he could achieve a sporting miracle at Muirfield.
"I was eight back, realistically, do you really think you've got a chance to run straight through and nick it?" he continued.
"Going to bed last night, probably not, but you just realise that Paul Lawrie came from 10 back [in 1999] at Carnoustie.
"There was a six-shot swing in four holes last year. This tournament does it year in, year out, and it creates a lot of drama.
"You've just got to find yourself in position around the back nine and see if it's good enough."

WESTWOOD SAYS HE DID NOT DO ENOUGH RIGHT ON FINAL DAY

  FROM THE BBC SPORT.COM WEBSITE

Lee Westwood said not doing "enough right" on the last day of the Open cost him the chance to win a first major.

The 40-year-old led by two shots after 54 holes but his worst round of the championship, a 75, saw him finish in a tie for third at Muirfield, four shots behind winner Phil Mickelson.
"I didn't play badly, but I didn't play great," said the Englishman.

"It was a tough course - you had to have your 'A' game. I missed a few shots out there."

Westwood made five bogeys as he slid down the leaderboard to finish on one over, while American Mickelson shot the round of the day - a 66 - for a three-under total.
"Sometimes you play well and somebody plays a bit better and sometimes you play poorly," he added.
"I didn't really do either and Phil obviously played well. He shot the round of the day, five under par and birdied four out of [the last] six - that's a pretty special finish in a major championship.
"But you've got to play well to give yourself your own momentum, and I just couldn't get there today.
"I didn't do a lot wrong, I just didn't do enough right. I know what I've got to work on."

Westwood, who has finished either second or third at a major eight times in his 62 attempts, "really enjoyed" the experience of beginning the final round as leader.
He said: "It's where any professional golfer wants to be. It means a lot and you go out there and try your best, but there was no pressure.
"I was amazed to be in the lead going into the fourth round, because every time I turned into the wind I was really struggling.
"I didn't feel like I was striking the ball well but I putted lovely this weekend. I made my fair share so there was a lot of positives to take out of the week.
"I'm not too disappointed. I don't really get disappointed with golf any more."

PETER ALLIS analyses LEE WESTWOOD

Peter Alliss BBC Sport

"There have been lots of very good players who have never won a Major championship and perhaps Lee Westwood is going to be one of those.
"He'll be badgered by people and he will get the feeling, if he lets it get to him, that people are wondering why he doesn't win.
"Phil Mickelson is confident he can play on links courses so he has that freedom."

LANARKSHIRE BEAT STIRLINGSHIRE IN WEST BOYS LEAGUE

        LANARKSHIRE BOYS' LINE-UP AT CALLANDER. PICTURE AND INFORMATION BELOW FROM WILLIE SHARPE

Lanarkshire beat Stirlingshire 5 1/2-2 1/2 at Callander Golf

Club today in a West of Scotland Boys League match.

RESULTS:
Lanarkshire boys first
UNDER-16s
Graeme Greer (Carluke) bt Shaun Lynch (Falkirk) 4 and 3.
David Fair (Hamilton) bt Jamie Hunter (Falkirk Tryst) 7 and 6.
Kieran McVicar (East Kilbride) bt Callum Backhop (Glenbervie) 5 and 4.
Innes Ferguson (Drumpellier) bt Stuart Murray (Falkirk) 3 and 2.

UNDER-18s 

Callum Connacher (Wishaw) halved with Jamie  Simpson (Falkirk).

Ciaran Farrell (Wishaw) lost to Peter Maxwell (Glenbervie) 1 hole.

James Walkinshaw (Wishaw) bt Stuart Irvine (Falkirk) 5 and 3.

Ricky Livingston (Colville Park) lost to Ben Craggs (Glenbervie) 2 and 1.

CRESPI IS A HOME WINNER ON CHALLENGE TOUR EVENT IN ITALY

CHALLENGE TOUR REPORT

FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Italy’s Marco Crespi snatched a home victory in the Mugello Tuscany Open with four birdies in his last six holes to claim his second Challenge Tour title by a single stroke. 

The 34 year old thrilled the Italian crowd at UNA Poggio dei Medici GC, near Florence, with his grandstand finish, coming from four strokes behind on the final day with a closing 65 for a 17 under par total of 267, one better than Norway’s Knut Borsheim, who had led from the start, and Portugal’s José-Felipe Lima.

It was Crespi’s second Challenge Tour success and comes hot on the heels of a runner-up finish two weeks ago, lifting him from 26^th to sixth on the Challenge Tour Rankings. 

“It was perfect to win on home soil,” he said. “I had so much support and everyone really enjoyed it.”

Crespi got off to the ideal start, holing from six feet on the first and then from 20 feet on the third to edge closer to the lead. And as Borsheim slipped up with mistakes on the back nine, Crespi seized the opportunity with birdies on the 13^th, 14^th, 17^th and 18^th. 

“I knew I had to make birdie on the last two holes to have any chance but thought maybe for second and then Knut made a few mistakes,” said Crespi, whose previous success came in last year’s Telenet Trophy.

Crespi put this run of form down to his long game. “My long game has always been good but the last three weeks has been amazing.  I missed a few putts around the turn but the putt on the 13^th really got me going. Now I am looking forward to celebrating.” 

Borsheim led from the moment he started the week with a 62 and looked to be in control until he double bogeyed the 14^th and dropped another shot on the 15^th. He was unable to pick up any shots coming in thereafter and finished with a 70 and 16 under par 268.

Lima shot the round of the day, eagling the last for a 64 to post the target that only Crespi could beat, for his fifth top ten of the season to move up to fifth on the Rankings. 

Spain’s Adrian Otaegui and England’s Lloyd Kennedy shared fourth place on 13 under par after closing rounds of 67 and 70 respectively.

FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71)

267 M Crespi  (Ita) 72 64 66 65

268 K Borsheim  (Nor) 62 65 71 70, J Lima  (Por) 70 68 66 64

271 A Otaegui  (Esp) 66 69 69 67, L Kennedy  (Eng) 69 67 65 70

272 P Archer (Eng) 66 68 69 69, J Lando Casanova  (Fra) 70 67 68 67

273 R Kakko  (Fin) 67 68 72 66

274 J Jeong (Kor) 65 70 63 76, G Stal  (Fra) 70 66 71 67, N Lemke (Swe) 73 66 68 67, R Steiner (Aut) 71 67 68 68

275 J McLeary  (Sco) 66 68 70 71, F De Vries  (Ned) 66 64 73 72, K Ferrie (Eng) 68 70 66 71, L Goddard  (Eng) 71 69 64 71

276 F Bergamaschi (Ita) 71 69 67 69, A McArthur  (Sco) 66 71 65 74

277 R Russell (Sco) 74 68 65 70, S Kim (Kor) 72 65 73 67, D Palm (Swe) 69 69 72 67, B Chapellan (Fra) 72 68 69 68, J Guerrier  (Fra) 67 71 69 70, S Walker (Eng) 69 68 71 69

278 B Paolini (USA) 68 71 69 70, M Rominger  (Sui) 70 67 73 68,

279 W Roebuck (Eng) 67 71 72 69, J Gibb (Eng) 70 66 71 72, J Pastor Lopez (Esp) 73 69 67 70, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 69 72 68 70, D Frittelli (RSA) 65 69 71 74

280 O Farr (Wal) 70 72 68 70, S Manley (Wal) 70 70 69 71, A Saddier (Fra) 65 72 70 73, J Barnes (Eng) 73 68 67 72, N Elvira  (Esp) 73 68 71 68, O Wilson (Eng) 70 70 73 67, A Domingo (Esp) 71 66 73 70

281 A Maestroni  (Ita) 70 69 72 70, N Meitinger  (Ger) 69 70 71 71, D Brooks (Eng) 70 68 75 68, J Huldahl (Den) 70 72 71 68, C Kim (USA) 69 72 73 67, W Besseling  (Ned) 70 71 70 70, A Pavan (Ita) 68 69 70 74, G De Filippi (am) (Ita) 69 69 69 74

282 A Bernadet  (Fra) 70 69 68 75, S Arnold  (Aus) 74 67 70 71, F Praegant (Aut) 73 69 71 69, L Bjerregaard  (Den) 71 70 71 70,

283 D Perrier (Fra) 69 73 72 69, G Molteni (Ita) 75 67 73 68, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 71 70 72 70, H Santos  (Por) 71 71 71 70, E Dubois (Fra) 72 70 71 70, E Di Nitto (am) (Ita) 69 72 70 72

284 N Kearney (Irl) 72 70 67 75

285 T Pieters  (Bel) 70 65 73 77, J Doherty  (Sco) 70 72 73 70, D Griffiths  (Eng) 69 72 73 71, C Pigem (Esp) 72 70 72 71

286 A Rota (Ita) 64 76 73 73, J Abbott (Eng) 69 70 76 71, D Im (USA) 70 72 67 77, P Oriol (Esp) 68 74 72 72

287 O Rozner  (Fra) 67 75 70 75, C Ford (Eng) 75 66 71 75

291 O Lieser (Cze) 69 72 79 71, P Ricci (Ita) 72 68 74 77

299 N Quintarelli (Ita) 68 73 79 79

 ** T Remkes (Ned) 70 71 75 RT

 

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

MY GREATEST WIN SAYS NEW OPEN CHAMPION MICKELSON

Job done: Phil Mickelson celebrates his birdie on the 18th hole Photo: PA

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
A brilliant birdie-birdie finish from Phil Mickelson saw the American left-hander win his first Open Championship and a fifth career major.

Five weeks after finishing runner-up at the US Open for the sixth time when his hopes were dashed by Justin Rose, he gained revenge at the expense of another Englishman Lee Westwood, who had begun the day with a two-shot lead.

Mickelson's closing round of five-under-par 66 at Muirfield equalled the tournament's best of the week and could not have been more perfectly timed.

He won by three shots from Sweden's Henrik Stenson, who carded a round of 70.

England's Ian Poulter, Westwood and world number four Adam Scott finished joint-third on level par.

The 43-year-old Mickelson, who a week ago won his first title in Britain with victory in the Scottish Open, teed off two over par - five off the lead - but steadily came through the field and superb approaches to the last two holes clinched the title.

Mickelson took advantage of the fluctuating final-round fortunes of Westwood, Masters champion Scott and world number one Tiger Woods. 
Westwood allowed a three-stroke lead to slip through his fingers and Scott must have felt history was repeating itself as, just like 12 months ago at Royal Lytham when he squandered four shots in the last four holes, he led on the back nine at Muirfield but had a quartet of successive bogeys from the 13th. 
And just when Woods - still trying to add to his tally of 14 majors after a five-year drought - looked like making a late charge after a birdie at the 14th to get back to one over, he bogeyed the next hole to drop out of the running. 
Poulter had given himself a real chance with a four-under 67, including a run of eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie from the ninth, but his one-over clubhouse total was eclipsed in magnificent fashion by Mickelson. 
"What a fun day. This is some of the best golf I have ever played," said Mickelson. "It's the best I've ever putted, they kept flying into the hole and every iron shot was right on line. 
"You can't make it happen, you have to let it happen and I hit good shots which had good bounces giving me good putts that I made." The American added: "Playing this championship was the biggest challenge of my career and I didn't know if I had the skills to win on links golf but I played some of the best links golf I have ever played. 
"It is amazing to be part of any Open Championship and to win at Muirfield feels amazing. 
"I have such an incredible difference of emotions from where I was a month ago with such a heart-breaking loss at the US Open. 
"This is probably the greatest and most difficult win of my career." (Edited by Nick Pearce)

NEIL FENWICK WINS BOTHWELL CASTLE PRO-AM FIRST PRIZE

Dunbar's Neil Fenwick scored his third win of the season on the Tartan Tour with a five-under-par round of 65 in the Bothwell Castle pro-am, Glasgow today.
Fenwick claimed the £1,225 first prize, boosting his domestic tour earnings this year to £8,675 from 25 competitions with a round that had birdies at the long first, third, fourth, short 11th, 13th and 15th. His solitary bogey came at the short 17th. 
His previous wins were at Newmachar and West Lothian.
Joint runners-up, only a shot behind on 66, were Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs), Stephen Gray (Hayston) and Paul O'Hara (Clydeway Golf). They each earned £755.
Arnott and Gray had five birdies and a bogey each while O'Hara had a bag of six birdies but also a double bogey at the sixth.
Neil Fenwick scored a double whammy as he also led theMannering Industrial Supplies trio of Paul Coughlin (handicap 7), Rob ert Shaw (15) and James Raeburn (13) to victory in the pro-am with a net score of 14-under-par 56.
Grant Smith (Gleneagles Hotel) matched that with the Rowan Timber team but lost on with a poorer net inward half than the winners.

BOTHWELL CASTLE PRO-AM
Bothwell Castle Golf Club, Lanarkshire
PRO SCORES
Par 70
65 Neil Fenwick (Dunbar)
66 Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs), Stephen Gray (Hayston), Paul O'Hara (Clydeway Golf).
67 Chris Kelly (Cawder)
68 Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills)
69 Scott Gillespie (Burntisland), Christopher Currie (Caldwell), Mark Kerr (Marriott Dalmahoy).
70 Steven Taylor (Bothwell Castle), David Orr (Mearns Castle)
71 Iain Stoddart (Uphall), Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle), Greig Hutcheon (Banchory)
72 Ken Monghan (Dubai Creek)
73 Craig Gordon (Edinburgh GC), Craig Matheson (Falkirk Tryst), James McKinnon (Irvine), Chris Russell (RAW golf course design), Alan Tait (Marriott Dalmahoy), Alan McCloskey (Bothwell Castle).
74 Scott Henderson (Kings Links), Paul Robinson (Largs).
75 James McGhee (unatt), Scott Herald (Mearns Castle), Jonathan Lomas (Caprington)
77 Grant Smith (Gleneagles Hotel), Stuart Roberts (Glenbervie), Mark King (Kingsfield), Nigel Scott-Smith (Palacerigg)
78 Craig Ronald (Carluke), Iain Colquhoun (Dundonald Links)
79 Andrew Burns (Bothwell Castle), Patrick Walker (Ballumbie Castle)
80 Neil Colquhoun (Merchants of Edinburgh)
83 Jonathan Sharp (Carrick on Loch Lomond)
85 Alan Purdie (Kingsbarns)
 

LEFTY MICKELSON WINS THE OPEN BY THREE AFTER A CLOSING 66

Scottish Open champion Phil Mickelson shot a final-round, five-under-par 66 to win the Open championship by three shots with a three-under-par total of 281.
He is the first left hander since New Zealander Bob Charles to win the world's oldest Major and he was the only player under par for the 72 holes.
Sweden's Henrik Stenson (70 for 284) was second.
Ian Poulter (67), Adam Scott (72) and Lee Westwood (75) tied for third place on 285.
Tiger Woods (74) finished joint sixth on 286.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71) Prize money in Euros
281 Phil Mickelson (US) 69 74 72 66 (1,097,570)
284 Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 70 70 74 70 (632,990)
285 Ian Poulter (England) 72 71 75 67, Adam Scott (Australia) 71 72 70 72, Lee Westwood (England) 72 68 70 75 (326,174 each)
286 Hideki Matsiyama (Japan) 71 73 72 70, Zach Johnson (US) 66 75 73 72, Tiger Woods (US) 69 71 72 74 (189,704 each)
287 Francesco Molinari (Italy) 69 74 72 72, Hunter Mahan (US) 72 72 68 75 (133,567 each).
288 Brandt Snedeker (US) 68 79 69 72, Angel Cabrera (Argentina) 69 72 73 74 (108,596 each).
 SELECTED OTHER TOTALS
289 Miguel A Jimenez (Spain) 78 71 77 73 (T13) (92,335)
291 Stephen Gallacher (Scotland) 76 70 76 69 (T21) (54,937).
292 Paul Lawrie (Scotland) 81 69 70 72, Ernie Els (S Africa) 74 74 70 74 (43,264 each) (T26)
294 Martin Laird (Scotland) 70 71 81 72 (T44) (18,745)

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THOMPSON AND SUMMERHAYS SHARE LEAD IN US PGA TOUR EVENT

FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE 

In the third round of the Sanderson Farms Championship, Nicholas Thompson shot a 7-under 65 and shares the lead with Daniel Summerhays.

MADISON, Miss. -- Daniel Summerhays had to think about his upcoming birdie putt on the 18th hole for 1 hour, 17 minutes before finally stepping on the green.

It was worth the wait.
The 29-year-old Summerhays nailed the 19-foot putt after thunderstorms rolled through Annandale Golf Club, tying Nicholas Thompson for the lead going into the final round of the Sanderson Farms Championship on Saturday.
Summerhays came into the third round with a four-stroke lead, but his 3-under 69 allowed the field to catch up on a course that is giving up plenty of birdies thanks to calm conditions, soft fairways and forgiving greens.
"It was just a scrappy round," Summerhays said. "The shots I did hit good, I was just missing on the putts. They were those putts where your eyes get big and then you're disappointed. But that's golf."
It was a long day for Summerhays, who said he had to get up before 5 a.m. and played 28 holes Saturday after also completing his second round because of weather delays Thursday and Friday.
It was a strange scene on his final putt. The heavy thunderstorms had chased all the fans home early and only a few tournament officials were hanging around the green when Summerhays made his putt. His caddie didn't even have his bag, simply clutching the putter head cover.
After Summerhays made it, he raised his club and acknowledged the imaginary crowd before laughing with his caddie.
Summerhays -- along with Vaughn Taylor and Fabian Gomez -- were the only three players who had to go through the delay.
Summerhays and Thompson will both be going for their first PGA TOUR win Sunday. Summerhays had the lead going into the final round last week in the John Deere Classic, but fell back to fourth -- a shot out of a playoff after a closing bogey. He hoped that experience would help Sunday.
"The more you're in that situation, you know how to deal with it when it comes," Summerhays said. "Because (the nerves) will come. No matter what tournament you're playing, if you're playing to win, you're going to be nervous."
Thompson bogeyed his first hole in the third round, but was nearly flawless after that with a 65 to reach 17 under. Thompson is trying for his first PGA TOUR win and would join sister Lexi as only the third brother-sister combo to win on the LPGA and PGA Tours.
Chad Campbell, Cameron Beckman, Woody Austin and Kyle Reifers were two strokes back.
Campbell shot a 65 to jump back into contention. He won at Annandale in 2007, which was his last victory on the PGA TOUR.
The 49-year-old Austin led for much of the third round, but had two bogeys in the final six holes -- including on 18 -- for a 67. The 18th hole -- a 532-yard, par 5 -- is routinely one of the easiest on the course, but Austin's third shot flew over the green and close to the grandstand.
He had to take a drop and play his third shot from deep rough, which fell short of the green. Then his next chip went well past the hole and he missed a lengthy par putt.
Beckman shot 65, and Reifers had a 67.
The stage is set for a Sunday shootout, with eight players within three shots of the lead on a forgiving course that's giving up plenty of birdies. Campbell said he expected the crowded leaderboard.
"It's always the way it seems around here," Campbell said. "It just seems like it always gets log jammed around 10 or 15 ... A lot of guys have a chance to win."
It remains to be seen how Annandale is affected by a thunderstorm that dropped heavy rain Saturday evening.
"I don't know what scores it's going to take," Thompson said. "But it's going to be a good one. Guys are going low."
Annandale has a history with rainy weather. The entire tournament was cancelled in 2009 after about a dozen inches of rain fell.
Thompson is playing his first full season on the PGA TOUR since 2010. He's 84th in the FedExCup standings and has one top-10 finish at the Humana Challenge in January.
He had a long day on Saturday, playing 27 holes because he also had to finish his second round. But he didn't seem to mind, shooting 13 under during that span.
Thompson finished 12th last week in the John Deere.

About the leaders: Daniel Summerhays, Nicholas Thompson

• Thompson has made 15 of 24 cuts on TOUR this season and is No. 84 in the FedExCup standings. His only top 10 this season is a T6 at the Humana Challenge. He is making his 154th career start on TOUR this week. • Thompson’s sister Lexi is T3 and three shots off the lead after three rounds at the Marathon Classic on the LPGA. • Summerhays, the third-round leader at last week’s John Deere Classic by two strokes at 19-under, slipped off track with a 1-over 72 Sunday and finished one stroke shy of joining the playoff between defending champion Zach Johnson, David Hearn and eventual winner Jordan Spieth. • Summerhays has played his last 11 rounds in 42 under. He played the 10 rounds before that in 19 over. • Due to dangerous weather the third-round was suspended on Saturday at 6:11 p.m. with three players on No. 18. The third-round resumed at 7:28 p.m. and finished at 7:32 p.m. In that 77-minute delay, 1.25 inches of rain fell. Due to the threat of inclement weather on Sunday, tee times will be moved up to 8 – 10 a.m. in threesomes off two tees.

SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 216 (3x72) Players from USA unless stated
199 Nicholas Thompson 69 65 65, Daniel Summerhays 63 67 69
201 Chad Campbell 67 69 65, Cameron Beckman 71 64 65, Woody Austin 69 65 67, Kyles Reifers 65 69 67

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