SEVE OUT OF INTENSIVE CARE

Seve Ballesteros has been moved out of the intensive care unit at the Madrid hospital where he is being treated.

Ballesteros was diagnosed with a brain tumour at La Paz hospital, after losing consciousness at Madrid Airport early last month.

He underwent a lengthy operation on October 24 to reduce pressure on his brain, caused by an oedema, and to remove remaining tumour tissues following two previous operations.

Ballesteros was moved to the hospital's intensive care unit following the treatment, but the five-time major winner has now recovered enough to leave the unit.

A hospital statement read: "Severiano Ballesteros has left the intensive care unit and has now changed ward.

"Although this is good news, I would like to ask for everyone's patience - because the process is a lengthy one, and there is still a long way to go.

"He is continuing his recovery and is receiving visits."


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WOODS BACKS OLYMPICS BID

Tiger Woods, initially thought to be lukewarm on the idea of golf in the Olympics, was one of a number of top players who featured in a video aired when representatives of the International Golf Federation formally presented their case to the International Olympic Committee Programme Commission.

Making the presentation in Lausanne on Friday were Royal and Ancient chief executive Peter Dawson and US Tour executive Ty Votaw, executive director of the IGF Olympic Golf Committee.

Dawson stated: "Golf truly is an international sport, with 60million people playing the game in nearly 120 countries, and it continues to grow with new initiatives being implemented all over the world to teach the game to both young and old.

"We believe the time is right for golf to be brought back to the Olympic Games."

The video also featured women's world number one Lorena Ochoa, Phil Mickelson, Annika Sorenstam, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia.

"We felt it was critically important to show that many of the game's biggest stars are saying supportive and positive things about golf's bid," commented Votaw.

"We obviously believe there is a very compelling case as to why golf should become an Olympic sport and today was the first step in what essentially is a year-long process."

Golf, last included in 1904, will next submit responses in March to a detailed questionnaire that will constitute the formal and technical bid for the 2016 Games. The IGF's initial view is for 60-player fields for both men and women.

Both the host city - Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Chicago are competing - and selection of any new sports will be determined at the IOC session scheduled for next October in Copenhagen.

Also under consideration are baseball, karate, roller sports, rugby sevens, softball and squash. They also made half-hour presentations on Friday.


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SINGH ON THE RISE

Indian Jeev Milkha Singh is up from 60th to 46th in the world after pushing Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els into joint second place at the Barclays Singapore Open.

Harrington moves above Vijay Singh into fourth behind Tiger Woods, who has now held the top spot for 522 weeks in his career, Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson.

Latest leading positions:

1 Tiger Woods 13.79pts, 2 Sergio Garcia 8.59, 3 Phil Mickelson 7.95, 4 Padraig Harrington 7.51, 5 Vijay Singh 7.44, 6 Robert Karlsson 5.27, 7 Camilo Villegas 5.25, 8 Ernie Els 5.01, 9 Anthony Kim 4.84, 10 Lee Westwood 4.83

11 Henrik Stenson 4.78, 12 Jim Furyk 4.77, 13 Steve Stricker 4.45, 14 Geoff Ogilvy 4.36, 15 Stewart Cink 4.32, 16 KJ Choi 4.25, 17 Adam Scott 4.24, 18 Justin Rose 4,10, 19 Kenny Perry 3.90, 20 Miguel Angel Jimenez 3.76

Other leading Europeans:

25 Ian Poulter, 26 Martin Kaymer, 27 Luke Donald, 33 Graeme McDowell, 34 Ross Fisher, 38 Paul Casey, 42 Oliver Wilson, 44 Soren Hansen, 48 Soren Kjeldsen, 50 Peter Hanson, 54 Carl Pettersson, 57 Fredrik Jacobson, 61 Darren Clarke, 63 Rory McIlroy, 71 Nick Dougherty, 74 Anders Hansen, 79 Alvaro Quiros, 80 Peter Hedblom, 82 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, 86 Niclas Fasth, 94 Paul McGinley, 98 Gregory Havret, 99 Francesco Molinari


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LANGER REFUSES TO RULE OUT RYDER RETURN

Bernhard Langer has refused to distance himself from a possible return as European Ryder Cup captain but insisted he would only take the position if he were asked.

The German led Europe to a nine-point rout of the United States four years ago and received wide acclaim for the achievement.

Conversely, Nick Faldo came in for heavy criticism after Europe slumped their worst defeat in 27 years in Valhalla in September and is unlikely to remain in the position.

Jose Maria Olazabal is regarded as the favourite to take over the captaincy but even though he has spoken to Thomas Bjorn, chairman of the Tournament Players Committee, the Spaniard has yet to give a definite answer.

When asked whether he would like to return as captain, Langer said: "It depends. I haven't been asked and I think there are a lot of other guys who would like to be captain and have the chance.

"It is not what I want, it is who the committee decides and that is the right way.

"We learnt a lesson a few years ago when three or four were asking [to be captain] and you had a winner and loser.

"So we decided at that time it is not who is asking that gets the job but who the committee determines will make the best job.

"That is the best way to go about it."

Langer is making a rare appearance on the European Tour this week as he joins fellow major winners Faldo, John Daly and Olazabal at the UBS Hong Kong Open.

The 51-year-old, who won the tournament in 1991, has been playing well this year having finished top of the US Champions Tour Money List and winning the Casa Serena Open in his debut season on the Senior Tour.

"I have been healthy these last couple of years and playing good golf," added Langer. "I am very happy with my season,

"I had a very good year the year before and this year as well. It is brilliant to be with the old boys as we call them.

"The Champions Tour suits me very well. There are lots of guys my age and we can relate to each other, we are at the same stage in life.

"We play courses which are very good, a little shorter than the regular tour but in very good condition.

"We realise we are only going to be playing this game for a few more years and therefore enjoying it more."


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CASH BOOST FOR LAWRIE FOUNDATION

Paul Lawrie's golf foundation, which supports junior golf in the north-east of Scotland, has been given a Ј25,000 grant by the Royal and Ancient Club.

"I would never have won The Open at Carnoustie without putting in countless hours of practice," Lawrie said.

"I hope the Foundation will instil in these juniors a similar level of commitment in all aspects of their lives."

The R&A also supports junior programmes in Carnoustie and St Andrews and their director of golf development Duncan Weir stated: "Supporting junior golf here in Scotland, where we are based, is a key aspect of The R&A's work."


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SINGH LANDS SINGAPORE SPOILS

Jeev Milkha Singh was counting his blessings after claiming a thrilling one-stroke victory over Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els at the Barclays Singapore Open.

The Indian ace carried a narrow one-shot edge into the final hole in the Asian Tour event after a tense final round at Sentosa Golf Club's Serapong course but squandered his opportunity to secure the win when his 12-foot birdie attempt curled just past the hole.

But Harrington pushed his five-foot birdie attempt wide before Els saw his 15-footer stop on the edge of the cup, giving Singh the title.

"The way I'm going to record it is that I played very good but I think I was very fortunate the golfing gods were on my side," said Singh, who closed with a two-under-par 69 for a seven-under 277 total.

"I think those two guys (Harrington and Els) hit some good putts on the last hole and I was fortunate enough to win and I'll take it.

"I'm excited about it. I'm happy I could win against the top players of the world and this will give me a lot of confidence and hopefully go on to bigger things in life."

Singh and Harrington began the final round in a tie for seventh on five under but both managed three birdies on the front nine to surge to the top of the leaderboard.

With third round leader Chapchai Nirat of Thailand struggling, the tournament developed into a duel between the pair with the Indian edging ahead on the 16th after a moment of bad fortune for the Irishman.

Hitting from the rough, Harrington saw his approach shot pitch eight feet from the pin before rolling off the putting surface and into the water for a double bogey that put him one stroke behind Singh.

"That was a bad break for him," Singh said. "That happens in golf and I guess it's sad what happened."

Harrington, a winner of two majors this season, did not want to make too much of the costly hole, which resulted in his only dropped shots of they day.

"I had a couple of chances at the end but I wouldn't say that cost me," said the world number five, who fired a closing 70 to finish in a tie for second with Els on six under.

"I had a couple of good breaks earlier on and I was able to hold it together. The shot to 16 for the double bogey was unlucky and I hit a lovely shot into the last and I was six inches away from having a chance for eagle.

"I've holed some great putts at the right time this year. I'm not going to feel good about this one for the next couple of hours but when I look back at my year I won't find it too bad.

"I'm delighted for Jeev but I'll look back at my year and I am happy with it."

Els, who began the day a shot ahead of Singh, had a frustrating day with only one birdie, an 18-footer on the 16th, in his closing 71.

"The gods were not with me. They all looked like they were going in. The one on 17 just missed at the bottom left, the one on 15 was just over the edge," said the South African.

"It shows that golf is just a game of inches.

"It could have been a win but Jeev is a great guy and I'm happy for him."

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy and David Gleeson of Australia carded 69s to finish tied for fourth on five under with Charlie Wi (72) a further shot back on four under.

Chapchai struggled to a closing 78 to finish in a tie for seventh with Thomas Bjorn (74) on three under, one shot ahead of world number three Phil Mickelson, who was alone in ninth on two under after a closing 75.

Victory in Asia's richest national open sent Singh to the top of the Asian Tour Order of Merit with over US 1.4 million in winnings, all but guaranteeing him his second Order of Merit title in three years.

"I won the Order of Merit in 2006 and if I can do it right now, it would be great.

"Winning any Order of Merit, anywhere in the world, especially in Asian Tour where I started from would be great.

"This Tour has given me a lot and if I can do it again, that would be fantastic."

Collated final-round scores (Par 71):

277 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 73 68 67 69

278 Padraig Harrington (Irl) 72 70 66 70, Ernie Els (Rsa) 66 70 71 71

279 David Gleeson (Aus) 72 67 71 69, Rory Mcilroy (NIrl) 70 68 72 69

280 Charlie Wi (Kor) 70 71 67 72

281 Thomas Bjorn (Den) 72 67 68 74, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 70 68 65 78

282 Phil Mickelson (USA) 73 68 66 75

283 Mitchell Brown (Aus) 70 70 71 72, Somkiat Srisanga (Tha) 71 71 70 71, Simon Dyson (Eng) 69 67 71 76

284 Ted Oh (Kor) 76 68 69 71, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 76 67 70 71, Kim Kyung-Tae (Kor) 69 75 67 73, Scott Strange (Aus) 71 71 69 73, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 71 69 69 75

285 Darren Clarke (NIrl) 73 71 71 70, James Kingston (Rsa) 72 71 71 71, Lam Chih Bing (Sin) 67 71 68 79

286 Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 72 68 71 75

287 Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 73 69 73 72, Gonzalo Fdz-Castano (Spa) 72 70 74 71, Ben Leong (Mal) 71 70 75 71, Dinesh Chand (Fij) 74 71 71 71, Adam Blyth (Aus) 72 70 71 74, Kodai Ichihara (Jpn) 73 73 71 70, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 71 68 73 75, Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 74 71 66 76

288 Jason Knutzon (USA) 74 70 74 70

289 Shiv Kapur (Ind) 74 72 73 70

290 Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 75 69 72 74, Chris Rodgers (Eng) 70 71 73 76, Lu Wei-Chih (Tpe) 71 72 72 75, Liang Wen-Chong (Chn) 74 72 66 78, Danny Lee (Nzl) 74 69 70 77, Chan Yih-Shin (Tpe) 74 72 71 73, Nick O'hern (Aus) 73 72 73 72, Darren Beck (Aus) 73 72 73 72, Kim Nam-Kang (Kor) 75 71 73 71

291 Mardan Mamat (Sin) 75 69 73 74, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 69 71 72 79, Guido Van Der Valk (Ned) 74 65 73 79, S.S.P. Chowrasia (Ind) 70 76 75 70, Richard Moir (Aus) 70 76 75 70

292 Peter Fowler (Aus) 72 71 73 76, Markus Brier (Aut) 70 72 73 77, Neven Basic (Aus) 74 69 71 78, Zhang Lian-Wei (Chn) 70 73 75 74, Kane Webber (Aus) 73 71 74 74, Lu Wen-Teh (Tpe) 74 72 72 74

293 Park Jun-Won (Kor) 71 74 70 78, Noh Seung-Yul (Kor) 72 72 73 76, Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa) 73 72 72 76, Steven Tiley (Eng) 73 69 76 75, Jason King (Aus) 71 74 73 75, Marcus Both (Aus) 68 71 79 75

294 Oliver Wilson (Eng) 71 73 71 79, Scott Barr (Aus) 72 70 75 77, Artemio Murakami (Phi) 74 71 73 76, Digvijay Singh (Ind) 70 72 76 76, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha) 75 69 75 75

295 Keith Horne (Rsa) 69 75 74 77, Thammanoon Srirot (Tha) 74 71 73 77, Gavin Flint (Aus) 76 70 72 77, Han Lee (USA) 75 71 73 76, Muhammad Munir (Pak) 74 71 76 74

297 David Bransdon (Aus) 73 69 77 78, Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) 73 71 76 77

298 Young Nam (Kor) 73 71 77 77

299 Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 72 74 77 76

304 Nick Redfern (Eng) 69 76 76 83


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NO RACE TO DUBAI FOR LEFTY

Phil Mickelson has confirmed he will not be participating in the Race to Dubai this season but insisted he would be 'honoured' to be involved in the European Tour in the future.

Speaking in Singapore on Tuesday, the American said that his schedule for 2009 did not allow him to commit to the European Tour, but the Race to Dubai fitted in well with his future plans.

"I have thought about it (European Tour membership) but I did not take it up for '09. If I did, it would have been before last week's event (the HSBC Champions)," said the 38-year-old.

"It wasn't quite right for me time-wise but I have still made a commitment to play more golf internationally and I do believe that it's very possible that, in the near future, it will be in my plans.

"As I play more throughout the world it would be a natural fit to be a part of the Race to Dubai."

The three-time major winner was fulsome in his praise for the European Tour and indicated he would be more than happy to be part of it.

"I think that the European Tour is making great strides in their individual events," he added.

"There is a high quality to the events as well as the Tour as a whole. They've been able to maintain a number of their top players and have a great product to present.

"It would be an honour for me to be a part of it. It just didn't work out for me this year but I wouldn't rule it out for the near future.

"I haven't set a time schedule. I thought that I might do it for '09 but it's just the way that some little things worked out, it wasn't quite right yet.

"But again, I'm not going to commit to doing it in 2010 because I don't know what's going to happen over the next 14 months.

"But if a couple of things happen here or there, it would help to make it all fit."

Mickelson lost his world number two ranking to Sergio Garcia after finishing tied for eighth in Shanghai, but is not too concerned at being seen as the world's best golfer after Tiger Woods.

"It's not really something that I really think about," Mickelson said.

"What I'm more concerned about is playing well here. Last year I came here to Singapore with high expectations because I was playing well and wanted to perform well at this event.

"The world rankings will fluctuate and that's not something I've spent much time thinking about. I think that if I play well, the world ranking, the money list and all those other things will take care of itself."

The gap between Woods and the rest has narrowed since the world number one underwent knee surgery in the summer but Mickelson is looking forward to his return from injury in the new year.

"The reason why we all want Tiger back is because he drives the game of golf," Mickelson said.

"He drives television ratings, the sponsors need him in their events and the fans turn out to see him, so we need him back as soon as possible.

"He does so much for us on a national level in the United States and on an international level throughout the world, and we all miss him and want him back soon."


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