Daniel Guant wins Europro event at Wensum Valley.

Daniel Gaunt survived a tricky start and a raft of final round challengers to win The Motocaddy Masters at Wensum Valley Hotel Golf and Country Club by five shots at ten under par.

Gaunt began the day three shots clear at seven under par but he bogeyed three of his first six holes to add pressure to his run down the back nine, with Michael Collins shooting 68 earlier in the day to lead in the clubhouse at four under.

After his second round the Australian said there were plenty of chances on the back nine and that proved vital as he picked up four birdies from the 12th and finished in the grand manner with an eagle at the last to card a final round 69, finishing ten under for the tournament – six under for his last seven holes – and five shots clear of Dale Marmion and Andrew Johnston who tied for second place.

“Winning the first event is very big,” said Gaunt, who pockets a cheque for £10,000 for the win. “Topping the Order of Merit at any stage is good and it gives me momentum for the rest of the Tour

It was a mixed week for the 14 Irish competing.Michael Collins and Paul oHanlon played good golf and were rewarded with finishing in joint 4th place on 4 under par.
Tim Rice and Neil oBriain were 25th on +1.Brian McElhinney was 27th on +2.Noel Fox took 74 to finish on +5 and a share of 42nd and Brendan McCarroll had a terrible finish.He took an 80 and finished in 55th place on +11.

The 36 hole cut came at +3.Mark Staunton missed out by 1 shot on +4.Damien Mooney was +5,Michael McGeady +6,Barrie Trainor & Darren McWilliams +7,David Rawlick +12 and Michael Kelly +23.

Irish Results.
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Jt 4th: Michael Collins & Paul oHanlon -4 £1,433 each.
Jt 25th:Tim Rice & Neil oBriain +1 £345 each.
Jt 27th Brian McElhinney +2 £307.
Jt 42nd:Noel Fox +5 £232.
55th :Brendan McCarroll +11 £175.

Missed cut +3.
Mark Staunton +4.
Damien Mooney +5.
Michael McGeady +6.
Barrie Trainor & Darren McWilliams +7.
David Rawluk +12.
Michael Kelly +23.

7 Year wait over for Marcus Frazer in Korea.

Australia's Marcus Fraser won the Ballantine's Championship by four shots as a battling three under par final round 69 secured a wire-to-wire victory - his first in seven years.

The 31 year old topped the leaderboard at 12 under par after dropping just two shots in three rounds of the weather-affected 54-hole tournament at Pinx Golf Club.He also collects a nice cheque for €367,500.00

After erasing Fraser's one shot overnight lead at the turn Northern Ireland's Gareth Maybin faded down the stretch and lost out on sole possession of second place after a par putt at the last lipped out and a level par 72 dropped the 29 year old back alongside Australia's Brett Rumford (71).It was still a great week for Maybin in only his second year on tour he moves close to the top 20 in the race to Dubai table with earnings over €300,000.He won €191,516 this week alone.

Fraser's only previous win on The European Tour had come at the 2003 Russian Open, and his comprehensive victory in Korea clearly meant alot.

"It's unbelievable, I don't know how I did that today. It has blown me away," said an emotional Fraser, who lost in a play-off to Rod Pampling at the Australian Masters at the end of 2008.

"I have had so many chances to win in seven years and you just don't know if it is going to be your day, and it was. I just can't believe it.

Greame McDowell recovered well from an opening 74 to finish the week in a share of 28th on 1 under par and win €19,624.

Shane Lowry continues to make steady progress,also in his second year on tour.He took a 75 in the last round to share 40th place on +1 and win €12,789.

Peter Lawrie fell away over the last round with a 77 that dropped him down into 57th place on +4 and won €6,615.

Paul McGinley got a setback to his come back when he missed the +1 cut by 2 shots after rounds of 72/75 and Damien McGrane fell foul to the bad weather in the second round and took 77 after opening with a 71 to miss out by only 3 shots.

Y E Yang comes good in China.

Y E Yang admitted his two shot victory at the Volvo China Open would go a long way to relieving some of the pressure following last year's US PGA Championship victory, but the Korean thinks he still has some way to go so silence all of his critics.

The 38 year old produced a chipping and putting master-class on a damp final day as a one under par 71 final round edged out Welsh duo Rhys Davies and Stephen Dodd and secured a deserved first win since becoming Asia's first Major winner after overcoming Tiger Woods at Hazeltine last August.

But even though the 2009 Honda Classic winner, who also finished eighth at the Masters Tournament, also beat Woods when the former weightlifter first rose to international prominence with victory at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai at the start of the 2007 season, Yang knows he still has something to prove.

It was a good week for the Irish with all 6 players making the half way cut.

Graeme McDowell put in a great finish with a 4 under par 68 left him in a share of 8th place on 10 under par.His reward is €34,857.

Damien McGrane a past winner of the China Open finished in 17th on 7 under and picked up a cheque for €23,341.

Shane Lowry dropped down over the last round with a 73.He still won €19,451 on -5 and a share of 23rd.

Peter Lawrie was 28th on -4 and won €15,827.Gareth Maybin was steady over the 4 rounds and finished 45th on 1 under par and won €9,351.

Paul McGinley continues his come back,finishing in 53rd place on +1 and won €6,390.

James Morrison wins in Portugal.

James Morrison secured his maiden European Tour title at the Madeira Islands Open BPI - Portugal after holding off a determined charge from Oliver Fisher.

Overnight leader Morrison carded a final round 70 to finish on 20 under par, one clear of Fisher, who roared into contention with a host of birdies on the final day.

Fisher finished with an impressive 65 - the joint-lowest round of the day - while George Murray claimed third on 14 under following a 73.

Morrison endured a shaky start to his final round, bogeying the first hole and dropping a further shot on the par five third after finding the water with his second shot.

However, he recovered well by picking up a shot at the sixth before registering an eagle at the 569 yard eighth and another birdie at the tenth to regain control.

Fisher flew out of the blocks with four successive birdies from the third hole and the Englishman also birdied the eighth on his way to a front nine of 31.

Another birdie at 14 took him to within two of Morrison, who then bogeyed the penultimate hole to set up a grandstand finish.

But although Fisher managed to make four on the par five 18th, after narrowly missing a 25 foot eagle attempt, it proved to no avail as Morrison also ended his round with a birdie, getting up and down from a greenside bunker after going for the green in two.

"I'm overwhelmed," said a delighted Morrison. "It hasn't really sunk in yet. I don't think it'll sink in until Monday. I'm over the moon."

Belfast's Michael Hoey continued his love affair with Portugal when he finished in a tie for 6th place on 11 under par.He opened with a level par 72 and followed up with a 68,69,68 to win €21,000.
Simon Thornton was chasing the leaders on 11 under par after 3 rounds,but fell back into a tie for 13th with a closing 75.He earned €10,103.

Gary Murphy shot a second round of 69 but found himself with the weekend off as he missed the level par cut mark by one shot.Gareth Shaw was 3 over par,while Colm Moriarty +7 and Niall Kearney +10 were well off the mark.

Oosthuizen another first time winner in Europe.

South African Louis Oosthuizen put four runners-up finishes behind him to land his first European Tour title.

And with victory in the Open de Andalucia de Golf in Malaga comes a return trip to Augusta for the Masters Tournament in two weeks. The 27 year old had to win to climb into The World's Top 50.

With a closing three under par 67 Oosthuizen won by three from England's Richard Finch and Scot Peter Whiteford.

He did it in impressive fashion, taking over at the top with a second day 63 and closing with rounds of 66 and 67 for a 17 under aggregate of 263.

After being drenched in champagne by fellow countryman Thomas Aiken and then kissing his wife and three month old daughter Jana he said: "I was quite nervous down the stretch and very nervous on the 18th tee.

"I just decided to hit it as hard as I could."

He added: “Now I want to stay in the top 50 and be competitive every time I play.”

There was 9 Irish in the field and 8 made the cut.The best of them was Michael Hoey,Simon Thornton and Gareth Maybin.They all finished in a tie for 36th on 3 under par and winning €6,500 each.

Paul McGinley promised so much when he was 6 under after 36 holes.He faded over the weekend with a 74/70 to finish in 45th on -2.He won his first cheque since his knee operation of €4,900.

Darren Clarke closed with a 69 for a share of 52nd and win €3,900.Shane Lowry also closed with a 69.His +2 result gave him a share of 64th and a cheque for €2,150.

Peter Lawrie +6 won €1,477 in 77th place and Gary Murphy +8 was 81st and won €1,468.

Damien McGrane was unlucky to miss the 36 hole cut by a shot.He took a 73 in the first round with a triple bogey at the 18th.He rallied well in the second round with a 68 but still found himself with the weekend off.

Welshman Rhys Davies wins his first European event.

Rhys Davies secured his maiden European Tour title at the Trophée Hassan II in Morocco as he overhauled Louis Oosthuizen to win by two shots.

The 24 year old Welshman was two behind the South African going into the final round, but shot a seven under 66 to Oosthuizen’s 70 at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam to finish 25 under.

The Challenge Tour graduate, who chose to take up golf professionally instead of cricket, earns €229,160 for his victory.

It completes a remarkable year for the former British boys champion, who a year ago by his own admission had “no status in Europe”.

Victory at last year’s SWALEC Wales Open on the Challenge Tour changed all that, and he then captured the Fred Olsen Challenge de España en route to finishing fourth in the rankings and earning his European Tour card.

Having come third in the Maybank Malaysian Open and sixth in Abu Dhabi already this season, Davies now climbs into the top 15 on The Race to Dubai.

“I’m a little bit lost at the moment – this is all completely surreal to me,” said Davies.

For Oosthuizen it was a fourth runners-up finish on The European Tour, while Frenchman Thomas Levet, Spaniard Ignacio Garrido, Finn Mikko Ilonen and another South African Thomas Aiken shared third place five strokes further back.

There was good finishes for Peter Lawrie 67 and Gareth Maybin 69.They shared 10th spot and earned €25,483.

Darren Clarke who started with a fine opening 69 fell away over the weekend with two 72s and a 73.He finished in 43rd and picked up €7,425.

The 36 hole cut came at -2.Damien McGrane was one shot too many on -1 after rounds of 75/69.Shane Lowry shot 74/71 to miss by 2 on level par.
Paul McGinley had a dissapointing comeback from a knee injury.He shot 76/71 to miss the cut by 4 shots on +2,while Michael Hoey improved by 11 shots but still was 6 shots too many.He went from an opening 80 to a brilliant 69.

Els wins World event at Doral,Florida.

Ernie Els ended two years without a win in superb style at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship in Miami, and became The European Tour's all-time leading money winner in the process.

The 40 year old captured the second of this season's WGC events - and his 63rd professional title - by a commanding four shot margin after what developed into a straight head-to-head with his fellow South African Charl Schwartzel.

“I want to just enjoy this one, this took so much work to win,” Els revealed afterwards. “A lot of people have said that the older you get, the tougher it becomes to win, and that's very true.

“I'm 40 years old, and it feels like in my 20s I had so many chances and I didn't quite take them. Now that you're older, you don't get as many chances, so you've got to try to take them when they come.

“I'll have a bit more confidence now, I'm sure, but I just want to keep working hard. I know what works for me now, and that's hard work. Just to be back in that group of players who are really performing well - I feel honoured to be back in there.”

Three strokes further back in joint third were German Martin Kaymer, American Matt Kuchar and Ireland's Padraig Harrington, whose closing 72 was never going to give him a chance on a day of low scoring.

With the win Els returns to the Official World Golf Ranking Top Ten, a place where he has spent more weeks - 759 now - than any other player since the rankings started in 1986.

It was a level par closing 72 for Harrington to finish in a share of 3rd place.He had to work hard and rely on his brilliant short game to stay in contention.He picked up a nice cheque for $426,666.

Graeme McDowell came through the pack with a closing 66 for a -10 finish and a share of 6th place that earned him $214,300.

It was a bad tournament for Rory McIlroy.On a course that should have suited his game he never broke par.He finished in 65th place out of 67 starters after scores of 76,73,73,73.He won $40,625.