EDOARDO MOLINARI WINS SCOTTISH OPEN.

Italian Edoardo Molinari joined his brother Francesco as a European Tour winner at The Scottish Open at wet and windy Loch Lomond.Francesco playing in the same group finished joint 4th,while Darren Clarke,the 3rd member of the same group,who took three shots to get out of water at the 3rd,held on to finish second,three shots behind Edoardo on nine under par.

Edoardo,took the €601,599 first prize,while the compensation for runner-up Clarke was that, with Molinari already exempt for the Open Championship, he took the one St Andrews spot up for grabs.

Edoardo, who first hit the headlines by winning the US Amateur Championship title five years ago, is up from 11th to 6th on the world list for Ryder Cup selection,while Francesco, who lost a play-off for the Alstom Open de France to Miguel Angel Jiménez, moves up from 8th to 5th in the European points race.They would make a good pair on Colin Montgomery's team,as they won the World Championship together at the end of last year.No brothers have played together in The Ryder Cup since Bernard and Geoffrey Hunt in 1963.

For Darren it was a good week.He had already won the JP McManus Pro Am at Adare Manor on Monday and Tuesday from a world class field that included Tiger Woods,then at Loch Lomond he opened with rounds of 65,67,67 to sit only one shot behind Edoardo heading into the last round.He was under intense pressure,not only to win the tournament,but also to qualify for the Open.

A poor start of par,bogey and double bogey left Clarke five shots behind Molinari,but he held on bravely for a 76 to claim the runner-up prize of €401,063 and a place at St Andrews by one shot from Raphael Jacquelin who finished with a best of the day 68.The prize lifts Clarke into 17th on the Race to Dubai table and he is back in contention for a Ryder Cup spot in 22nd place.

It was a also a good week for Irish Open champion Shane Lowry.Lowry finished off with a birdie to claim 7th place with rounds of 68,73,66,71 for a 6 under par total.The prize was worth a massive €108,288,the biggest cheque that Shane has earned as a Professional.

Damien Mc Grane picked up €48,730 for a share of 16th on -1,while US Open Champion Graeme Mc Dowell and Peter Lawrie were 21st on +1.They went home with €39,706 each. Gareth Maybin, playing in the worst of the weather, was down in 45th place on +6.He was still rewarded with a cheque for €18,770.

The 36 hole cut came at +2 and thus,Michael Hoey 74/73 and Paul Mc Ginley 74/74 both had the weekend off.