WILSON FORCED OUT IN PORTUGAL

Three weeks after he pulled out of the British Masters with mental exhaustion Ryder Cup debutant Oliver Wilson lasted only eight holes in sunny Portugal.

While Swede Robert Karlsson took another step towards the Order of Merit title with an opening three under par 69 - four behind Welshman Stuart Manley - Wilson's hopes of taking a huge leap towards a US Masters debut next April were dashed by a neck injury.

"I woke up with it," said the Mansfield golfer, who had won the eve-of-tournament pro-am. "I went to get out of bed and felt it go.

"I had some physio, took some pills, but when I went to the range to warm up I could only swing it about threequarters at best.

"Normally it loosens up reasonably quickly, but I couldn't reach a couple of holes and it was pointless really." He had already fallen to four over when he decided to call it a day.

Wilson wants to be in the world's top 50 at the end of the year to secure a first appearance at Augusta, but on Monday he slipped to 51st in the new rankings - 0.001 points behind American Brandt Snedeker.

Manley was a Walker Cup hero in 2003, but has had to make four trips to the Tour school since then and is labouring down in 174th on the money list with two events to go.

"I need some money," said the 29-year-old, who has missed the halfway cut in 20 of his 30 events and has to climb into the top 115 to avoid a return to qualifying.

"It's a good time to find form. I've been fantastic in practice, so it must be a mental issue somewhere.

"The greens were a bit bumpy (he was in the penultimate group of the day), but for some reason the putts went in."

With efforts from 30, 10 and 20 feet be birdied three of his last four to relegate England's Mark Foster, Indian Jyoti Randhawa and big-hitting Spaniard Alvaro Quiros into second place.

Karlsson, Ј112,000 ahead of Padraig Harrington at the top of the Order of Merit, has a chance to more than quadruple that lead with the Open and US PGA champion having chosen to go to Bermuda instead this week for the Grand Slam of Golf.

With no Harrington - he lost a play-off to Jim Furyk - the 39-year-old Swede was paired instead with Lee Westwood and Miguel Angel Jimenez, third and fourth in the table, and they managed only 72 and 73 respectively.

"I played like a tired man that wants the year to end," stated Westwood, who described his decision to go for the green in two on the long 17th as "amateurish."

He found the lake, then three-putted for a double bogey seven. "It was not a good lie and I should have laid up," he said of the 246-yard shot.

The trio were followed by an official in a buggy for a while because they fell behind the group in front and Westwood added: "He could have given me a ride, my legs were that bad."

Karlsson, winner of his last two events and runner-up to Steve Webster in last year's Portugal Masters on the same Oceanico Victoria course, is not immune from fatigue himself.

"You definitely know you have flown all over the world for 10 months, but that was not too bad," said the 39-year-old, who made up for four bogeys with seven birdies.

Playing partners Darren Clarke and Colin Montgomerie had 10 birdies between them, but there were nine bogeys and in Clarke's case a double bogey as well. They finished on 72 and 73 respectively.

Collated first-round scores (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

65 Stuart Manley

66 Mark Foster, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind), Alvaro Quiros (Spa)

67 Sam Walker, Ross Fisher, Graeme McDowell, Martin Erlandsson (Swe), Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Andrew McLardy (Rsa)

68 Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Sion Bebb, Marc Warren, Marcel Siem (Ger), Barry Lane

69 Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa), James Kingston (Rsa), Phillip Price, Joao Carlota (Por), David Frost (Rsa), Graeme Storm, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe), Robert Karlsson (Swe), Rory McIlroy, Stephen Gallacher, Jamie Donaldson, Gary Murphy, Gregory Bourdy (Fra)

70 Henrik Nystrom (Swe), Nick Dougherty, David Lynn, Peter Hedblom (Swe), Johan Edfors (Swe), Paul Lawrie, Antonio Sobrinho (Por), Bradley Dredge

71 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Paul Waring, John Bickerton, Simon Dyson, Paul Broadhurst, Alexander Noren (Swe), Richard Green (Aus), Thomas Levet (Fra), Gregory Havret (Fra)

72 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Patrik Sjoland (Swe), Leif Westerberg (Swe), Robert Dinwiddie, Rafael Echenique (Arg), Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), Martin Kaymer (Ger), Peter Lawrie, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Anthony Wall, Iain Pyman, Robert Rock, Sam Little, Steve Webster, Shiv Kapur (Ind), Darren Clarke, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Simon Khan, David Dixon, Phillip Archer, Lee Westwood

73 Alvaro Velasco (Spa), Soren Hansen (Den), Oliver Fisher, Peter Hanson (Swe), Lee Slattery, Thomas Bjorn (Den), Miles Tunnicliff, Edoardo Molinari (Ita), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Christian Cevaer (Fra), Garry Houston, Chris Wood, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), Colin Montgomerie, Angel Cabrera (Arg), Scott Drummond, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe)

74 Mikael Lundberg (Swe), Gary Orr, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Richard Finch, David Howell, Ricardo Santos (Por), Pelle Edberg (Swe), Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Peter O'Malley (Aus)

75 Martin Wiegele (Aut), Damien McGrane, David Griffiths, Benn Barham, Jean Van de Velde (Fra), Gary Wolstenholme, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por), Niclas Fasth (Swe), Michael Jonzon (Swe), Tom Whitehouse, Emanuele Canonica (Ita), Pablo Martin (Spa), Richard Sterne (Rsa)

76 Stephen Dodd, Peter Fowler (Aus), Mark Brown (USA), Manuel Violas (Por)

77 Tiago Cruz (Por), Francois Delamontagne (Fra), Markus Brier (Aut), Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Carlos Rodiles (Spa), Simon Wakefield

78 Daniel Vancsik (Arg), Federico Cabrera (Arg), Carl Suneson (Spa), Ariel Canete (Arg), Hugo Santos (Por), Jose Manuel Lara (Spa)

80 Ross McGowan

Withdrawn: Marcus Fraser

Retired: Michael Lorenzo-Vera, Oliver Wilson


OLAZABAL BACK IN THE SWING
NFL suspends Ravens’ Martin for season opener
3 Vikings fined as result of actions in Saints win

KIM CLAIMS MAIDEN LPGA TOUR WIN

In-Kyung Kim held on for her first LPGA Tour victory with a three-stroke triumph at the Longs Drugs Challenge on Sunday.

Playing in gusty conditions, Kim carded a one-over-par 73 to finish on 10-under 278, three strokes clear of Angela Stanford at Blackhawk Country Club.

Stanford closed with a 75 to finish on seven-under 281, while Yani Tseng (72) finished third on six under with Lorena Ochoa (72) another shot back.

Kim had three bogeys and 13 pars on her first 16 holes before she clinched the victory with two straight birdies to finish the round.

"Before I started, I just wanted to play, and I didn't want to change any plans, just hit the fairways and greens and give myself chances," Kim said.

"I had to get up-and-down from many holes, which I did. I think I did a good job with that."

On the 333-yard par-four 17th, Kim drove into a bunker 70 yards from the green and hit her second to eight feet for birdie.

On the 18th she fired a nine-iron from 144 yards to 25 feet and she drained that for a birdie to cap the triumph.

She added: "With three holes left I had a two shot lead. I only needed one birdie from two holes, so I just wanted to have one birdie and I made two."

Collated final round scores & totals

(USA unless stated, par 72):

278 In Kyung Kim (Kor) 67 69 69 73

281 Angela Stanford 70 69 67 75

282 Ya-Ni Tseng (Kor) 68 72 70 72

284 Lorena Ochoa (Mex) 70 68 74 72

285 Karen Stupples (Eng) 71 73 71 70, Silvia Cavalleri (Ita) 71 73 70 71, Kristy McPherson 70 70 71 74, Brittany Lang 72 72 69 72

286 Mikaela Parmlid (Swe) 67 74 75 70, Wendy Ward 68 76 71 71

287 Mollie Fankhauser 69 68 73 77

288 Julieta Granada (Par) 69 73 75 71

289 Irene Cho 71 72 72 74, Michele Redman 66 75 74 74, Meaghan Francella 68 74 74 73, Sarah Kemp (Aus) 68 73 71 77, Pat Hurst 70 72 74 73

290 Becky Lucidi 75 70 73 72

291 Paula Creamer 74 70 76 71, Charlotte Mayorkas 69 71 74 77, Suzann Pettersen (Nor) 68 72 79 72, Jeong Jang (Kor) 72 74 73 72

292 Wendy Doolan (Aus) 75 73 71 73, Teresa Lu (Tai) 75 70 69 78, Juli Inkster 70 77 71 74, Amy Hung (Tha) 74 74 73 71, Maria Hjorth (Swe) 66 80 72 74, Candie Kung (Tai) 73 74 74 71

293 Il Mi Chung (Kor) 72 69 77 75, Reilley Rankin 68 73 76 76, Sarah Lee 68 76 74 75

294 Stacy Prammanasudh 72 74 73 75, Eun Hee Ji (Kor) 72 76 74 72, Sandra Gal (Ger) 70 72 74 78, Shanshan Feng (Chn) 72 74 77 71, Meredith Duncan 73 70 76 75

295 Brittany Lincicome 79 70 73 73, Hee-Won Han (Kor) 72 75 69 79, Sophie Gustafson (Swe) 74 72 76 73

296 Sophie Giquel (Fra) 69 77 73 77, Laura Diaz 72 77 73 74, Stacy Lewis 71 74 73 78

297 Ai Miyazato (Jpn) 72 71 75 79, Na Yeon Choi (Kor) 71 74 74 78, Moira Dunn 73 73 74 77, Hee Young Park (Kor) 72 76 74 75

298 Jackie Gallagher-Smith 73 74 74 77, Gloria Park (Kor) 78 70 74 76, Morgan Pressel 74 74 75 75, Beth Bader 73 72 76 77, Su A Kim 74 73 71 80, Janice Moodie (Sco) 73 71 75 79

299 Laura Davies (Eng) 70 77 76 76, Jane Park 75 74 74 76, Kate Golden 69 75 73 82, Leta Lindley 74 73 77 75

300 Heather Young 73 74 76 77, Carolina Llano 70 76 80 74, Jennifer Rosales (Phi) 73 76 76 75, Nicole Castrale 70 76 77 77, Helen Alfredsson (Swe) 74 75 76 75

301 Candy Hannemann 73 76 75 77

302 Michelle McGann 71 78 75 78, Rachel Hetherington (Aus) 69 74 74 85

303 Giulia Sergas (Ita) 71 77 75 80, Seo-Jae Lee 75 70 80 78

304 Joo Mi Kim (Kor) 70 71 87 76, Linda Wessberg (Swe) 73 75 75 81, Nancy Scranton 71 76 76 81, Christina Kim 77 72 80 75, Aree Song (Kor) 76 72 78 78, Carri Wood 72 77 73 82, Carin Koch (Swe) 73 74 78 79, Allison Fouch 73 74 77 80

305 Becky Morgan (Wal) 70 73 83 79, Young Kim (Kor) 76 73 77 79, Mhairi McKay (Sco) 75 72 76 82

312 Violeta Retamoza (Mex) 72 76 79 85


Vikings name Frerotte starter for rest of season
SHIN AHEAD AT HALF MOON BAY

CLARKE TO TAKE ON AUSSIES

Darren Clarke will share top billing with a host of local stars at the 93rd Australian Open at Royal Sydney starting on December 11.

The Ulsterman will add an international flavour to the event while the Australian authorities have increased its Asian exemptions this year, allowing for the appearance Japanese teen sensation Ryo Ishikawa.

The 17-year-old made history on the Japan Tour when, aged just 15, he lifted the Munsingwear Open KSB Cup, eclipsing the previous record held by Seve Ballesteros, who was 20 when he won the Japan Open.

All the popular Australian golfers will be present at their home tournament, headed by world number 17 Adam Scott, 18th-ranked Geoff Ogilvy plus former champions Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, Peter Lonard and defending champion Craig Parry.

Former US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy finished second to John Senden two years ago and admitted he is hungry for success in his homeland.

"It's the one I want to win," he said. "This year I want to go one better and walk away with the title. The competition will be especially fierce between the Australians.

"It definitely becomes a thing if you don't get it (an Australian Open win) early because every year you come back you get asked this question and it makes you think about it even more.

"You play well all year and the golf junkies see it but not many of the public see it so you want to show them you can actually play.

"It's a bit like when you're a kid and you play golf with your old man; you try too hard when you play with your dad.

"When we come back here - we're here so little - we want to play well.

"That's an added element that makes it difficult."

Another past US Open champion, New Zealand's Michael Campbell, will also be in the line-up.


POULTER INCLUSION CAUSES CONTROVERSY
Texans’ owner expects Reliant to host Oct. 5 game

JOHNSON WINS TEXAS OPEN

Zach Johnson fired a six-under-par 64 in the final round to claim a two-stroke victory at the Texas Open.

Entering the day a shot off the pace, Johnson had seven birdies and a bogey to finish at 19-under 261, two strokes ahead of three players who tied for second.

Charlie Wi carded a bogey-free nine-under-61 to share second on 17-under 263 alongside Mark Wilson and Tim Wilkinson.

Johnson started with a birdie but it was cancelled out by a bogey at the second. He had three consecutive birdies starting at the sixth and he picked up another birdie at the 10th.

Johnson led by one after a birdie at the 14th and he came to the 18th tee needing just a par to clinch his first win since the 2007 AT&T Classic. He did one better, clinching the win with a birdie.

Defending champion Justin Leonard came up short in his bid for a fourth title here. He fired a 66 yesterday to finish at 11-under 269

Some time off and a return to basics were key to the success, according to Johnson.

"I made the commitment, I had six weeks off or seven, whatever it was, since New Jersey," said the 2007 Masters champion. "Much of that was forced off and some of it was choice.

"I made the commitment to go back to what I used to do, the way I'm supposed to do it and ball-striking and putting, and I didn't anticipate hitting me this quick but, you know, it certainly helped.

"Given that, I still see a lot of room for improvement which I guess is even more encouraging than anything else."

Entering the week, Johnson had just one top-10 finish this season. He had not played since missing the cut at The Barclays to start the FedEx Cup play-offs, making his performance this week a bit unexpected.

"I had two things in my mind this week as far as going into the week and one was no expectations," Johnson said. "So, no, I did not expect to be here but I guess that's a good thing.

"The second was just to - you know, I made some commitments to my fundamentals, to my golf swing and starting to pay-off. So it's very encouraging."

Collated final round scores & totals

(USA unless stated, par 70):

261 Zach Johnson 69 66 62 64

263 Charlie Wi (Kor) 67 68 67 61, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl) 67 69 63 64, Mark Wilson 68 66 66 63

265 Jeff Overton 69 64 67 65

267 Chris Stroud 66 64 69 68, Stephen Ames (Can) 68 71 66 62

268 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 67 66 63 72, Pat Perez 71 64 68 65, Tim Herron 65 67 67 69

269 Justin Leonard 70 69 64 66, Tim Petrovic 67 65 68 69, Greg Kraft 65 71 65 68, Harrison Frazar 69 69 65 66

270 Dustin Johnson 67 69 68 66, Jeff Maggert 73 65 64 68, Shane Bertsch 69 69 66 66, Bob Tway 66 72 64 68

271 Chris DiMarco 68 69 70 64, Steve Allan (Aus) 66 70 71 64, Kevin Streelman 70 63 69 69, Bob Sowards 68 70 70 63, Joe Durant 68 67 72 64, Paul Goydos 66 66 73 66, Chad Collins 65 73 65 68, Jimmy Walker 67 66 69 69, Jason Gore 65 74 66 66

272 Michael Thompson 68 65 67 72, Steve Elkington (Aus) 68 70 73 61

273 Nathan Green (Aus) 62 75 70 66, Joe Ogilvie 66 67 67 73, Brian Gay 68 67 69 69, Tag Ridings 66 70 69 68, Mark Hensby (Aus) 68 66 67 72, Troy Matteson 68 70 66 69

274 Jason Allred 68 66 74 66, David Toms 68 66 70 70, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 65 72 70 67, Charles Howell III 68 67 68 71, Chez Reavie 67 67 69 71, Chad Campbell 71 65 68 70, Jhonnathan Vegas 69 67 69 69, Scott Verplank 68 66 70 70

275 Patrick Sheehan 65 71 70 69, Michael Bradley 66 70 67 72, Todd Demsey 66 70 69 70, Dean Wilson 71 67 69 68, Bob Estes 68 68 69 70, Bo Van Pelt 68 70 67 70, Carlos Franco (Par) 69 70 67 69, Craig Kanada 69 65 70 71, John Riegger 68 69 67 71

276 Nick Watney 67 71 69 69, Steve Marino 68 69 69 70, Douglas Labelle 69 69 68 70

277 Kevin Stadler 67 66 69 75, Olin Browne 64 69 74 70

278 Paul Claxton 64 70 72 72, Robert Gamez 70 68 73 67, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 70 67 70 71, J J Henry 70 68 70 70, Vaughn Taylor 70 68 67 73, Sean O'Hair 72 66 70 70

279 Brad Elder 68 69 73 69, Jim McGovern 67 70 66 76, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 66 73 70 70, Tom Pernice Jnr. 70 69 68 72, Matthew Jones (Aus) 69 64 73 73

280 Scott Sterling 69 70 72 69

281 Charley Hoffman 68 69 71 73, Martin Laird (Sco) 67 71 71 72

282 Frank Lickliter II 69 66 70 77

283 J.L. Lewis 68 69 68 78, Nicholas Thompson 72 67 72 72

285 Kyle Thompson 66 69 71 79


CURTIS CLAIMS WESTWOOD SCALP
Lions come to terms with ex-Bengal RB Johnson
Johnson legally changes last name to Ocho Cinco

STROUD LEADS IN TEXAS

Chris Stroud moved to the top of the leaderboard at the Texas Open on day two, shooting a six-under-par 64 for a two-stroke lead at the halfway mark.

Stroud began the second round in a tie for 10th on four under after an opening 66 at the Resort Course at La Cantera Golf Club and continued his good form with seven birdies and a lone bogey to improve to 10 under.

Stroud birdied the first hole and bogeyed the second but was nearly flawless from then on, picking up three more birdies before the turn and making another three on the back nine to move two clear of Paul Goydos, Tim Petrovic and Tim Herron.

Goydos shot a four-under 66 for the second straight day, Petrovic turned in a five-under 65 and Herron delivered a 67 as the trio reached the midway point at eight under.

Kevin Streelman enjoyed the best round of the day, firing a seven-under 63 to move into a tie for fourth with a group of nine players including Australia's Matt Jones (64) and South Africa's Rory Sabbatini (66).

Nathan Green of Australia, who held the opening-round lead after an impressive eight-under 62 dropped into a tie for 41st after a disappointing 75 while defending champion Justin Leonard barely made the cut after carding a 69 to reach one under.

Collated second round scores & totals in the USPGA Tour Valero Texas Open, LaCantera GC, San Antonio, Texas, United States of America

(USA unless stated, par 70):

130 Chris Stroud 66 64

132 Tim Herron 65 67, Paul Goydos 66 66, Tim Petrovic 67 65

133 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 67 66, Michael Thompson 68 65, Jeff Overton 69 64, Joe Ogilvie 66 67, Jimmy Walker 67 66, Kevin Stadler 67 66, Olin Browne 64 69, Kevin Streelman 70 63, Matthew Jones (Aus) 69 64

134 Jason Allred 68 66, Mark Hensby (Aus) 68 66, David Toms 68 66, Mark Wilson 68 66, Chez Reavie 67 67, Paul Claxton 64 70, Craig Kanada 69 65, Scott Verplank 68 66

135 Charlie Wi (Kor) 67 68, Joe Durant 68 67, Pat Perez 71 64, Zach Johnson 69 66, Brian Gay 68 67, Kyle Thompson 66 69, Frank Lickliter II 69 66, Charles Howell III 68 67

136 Patrick Sheehan 65 71, Tag Ridings 66 70, Michael Bradley 66 70, Todd Demsey 66 70, Greg Kraft 65 71, Steve Allan (Aus) 66 70, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl) 67 69, Dustin Johnson 67 69, Bob Estes 68 68, Chad Campbell 71 65, Jhonnathan Vegas 69 67

137 Charley Hoffman 68 69, Brad Elder 68 69, Chris DiMarco 68 69, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 65 72, J.L. Lewis 68 69, Steve Marino 68 69, Nathan Green (Aus) 62 75, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 70 67, Jim McGovern 67 70, John Riegger 68 69

138 Nick Watney 67 71, Vaughn Taylor 70 68, Harrison Frazar 69 69, Dean Wilson 71 67, Sean O'Hair 72 66, Martin Laird (Sco) 67 71, Bo Van Pelt 68 70, Shane Bertsch 69 69, Douglas Labelle 69 69, Robert Gamez 70 68, Steve Elkington (Aus) 68 70, Bob Tway 66 72, Bob Sowards 68 70, Jeff Maggert 73 65, J J Henry 70 68, Chad Collins 65 73, Troy Matteson 68 70

139 Justin Leonard 70 69, Scott Sterling 69 70, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 66 73, Carlos Franco (Par) 69 70, Tom Pernice Jnr. 70 69, Jason Gore 65 74, Stephen Ames (Can) 68 71, Nicholas Thompson 72 67

Missed the cut:

140 Brandt Jobe 70 70, David Ogrin 69 71, J.P. Hayes 72 68, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 70 70, Ronald Whittaker 71 69, Ben Crane 69 71, Ryan Palmer 72 68, Bob Heintz 70 70, Richard Johnson (Wal) 71 69, Tom Scherrer 72 68, Jason Dufner 71 69, Lee Janzen 72 68, Gavin Coles (Aus) 68 72, Nick Flanagan (Aus) 68 72, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 67 73, Cameron Beckman 74 66, Ryan Armour 70 70, Tommy Gainey 68 72

141 John Senden (Aus) 73 68, Jeff Gove 70 71, Rich Beem 72 69, Ted Purdy 72 69, Parker McLachlin 73 68, Brenden Pappas (Rsa) 70 71, Heath Slocum 72 69

142 Jerry Kelly 71 71, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 70 72, Bruce Smith 73 69, Omar Uresti 70 72, Davis Love III 69 73, Jay Williamson 72 70, Kenneth Ferrie (Eng) 73 69

143 Marc Turnesa 70 73, Jon Mills (Can) 71 72, Peter Lonard (Aus) 70 73, Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 73 70

144 Travis Perkins (Sco) 74 70, Cody Freeman 71 73, Kevin Chappell 73 71

145 Brett Rumford (Aus) 70 75, Kent Jones 71 74, Matt Kuchar 74 71, David Duval 71 74, Jason Day (Aus) 77 68, Jin Park (Kor) 73 72

146 Brad Adamonis 75 71, Phil Tataurangi (Nzl) 73 73, Eric Axley 75 71, Tommy Armour III 71 75

147 Y. E Yang (Kor) 73 74, Billy Andrade 78 69, David Lutterus (Rsa) 77 70

148 Andrew Buckle (Aus) 69 79

150 Lonny Alexander 73 77


Lions come to terms with ex-Bengal RB Johnson
SABBATANI CLEAR IN TEXAS

PAIR TIE FOR LEAD IN MADRID

Charl Schwartzel fired a flawless seven-under-par 64 to take a share of the lead at the Madrid Masters, but revealed afterwards he was struggling with injury and illness and had considered withdrawing.

The South African was tied on nine under with Australian Marcus Fraser, who carded a five-under-par 66, at the end of day two, giving the pair a two-shot lead over Swede Steven Jeppesen and Englishman Robert Rock, who posted 67 and 65 respectively.

Five players are three shots back on six under, including Spaniard Santiago Luna (68) and Italian Paolo Terreni (65), who has made only one cut in 19 previous attempts on the European Tour.

The major news from Madrid however, was on the other side of the city in La Paz hospital where it is reported doctors have discovered Spanish legend Seve Ballesteros is gravely ill.

The five-time major winner fainted on Monday and has remained in intensive care while tests have been carried out. On his website he claimed to be feeling fine and thanked well-wishers for their support, but a statement confirming a serious illness is expected at the weekend.

Back on the course though, Schwartzel, out early off the 10th tee, had a run of three birdies from the 13th and then increased the pressure on the way back in with an eagle and two more birdies.

He briefly led at one point, capitalising on a slip-up from Fraser, who had a three-hole run of bogeys following a strong start but recovered by picking up five shots on the back nine.

However, afterwards Schwartzel said he was glad to have completed his round, let alone be a co-leader.

"It's funny because I was going to withdraw this morning but I spoke to my dad and he told me to tee off and see how I feel,'' he said.

"'I've had a sore shoulder the last couple of days and I've been sick for a while. I'm taking antibiotics and I don't feel that strong.

"I really didn't feel good this morning but I got a couple of birdies early on and felt a bit better. Then the sun came out and my shoulder warmed up and improved a lot.''

He added: "It was a really solid round. I played well and felt very comfortable.

"My swing's been feeling good for a while now and this golf course suits my game. I hit a lot of good shots today.''

Fraser, the 2003 Russian Open champion, set the pace early on with a glut of birdies, one of which came from a chip-in at the third.

Afterwards he said his in-form short game was a valuable asset on the Club de Campo course.

"I like the course,'' he said. ''It's a bit shorter than other weeks, not so much of a slog-fest, which suits me well because it tests your short game.

"I feel like I'm playing quite well overall.''

Englishman Paul Broadhurst, who was a joint leader overnight, had a 72 to slip back to three under overall, but moving in the other direction was Andrew Tampion, whose 63 was the round of the day and propelled him to four under.

Miguel Angel Jimenez carded a level-par 71 to lie two under, a score shared by Spanish compatriot Angel Cabrera after his 69.

Jose Maria Olazabal, who sparkled in his first competitive round for three months on Thursday, found it tougher going and a 72 left him level par.


Eagles’ Jackson will learn from ‘rookie’ mistakes
SCHWARTZEL HOLDS ONTO MADRID LEAD

SABBATANI CLEAR IN TEXAS

Rory Sabbatini fired a seven-under-par 63 to move to the top of the leaderboard after the third round of the Texas Open.

The South African had an eagle, six birdies and one bogey to reach the 54-hole mark at La Cantera Golf Club's Resort Course on 14-under 196, one shot ahead of Zach Johnson, who jumped into contention after signing for a flawless round of eight-under 62.

Tim Wilkinson, Tim Herron and Chris Stroud are three strokes back on 11-under 199. Wilkinson carded eight birdies for a 63, Herron fired a 67 and Stroud, who held a two-stroke overnight lead, shot 69.

Sabbatini began his day with a birdie and made the turn at one under before picking up six strokes coming in.

He eagled the par-four 11th and added three consecutive birdies starting from the 13th before making yet another birdie at the 18th to take the outright lead.

Johnson began the day in a tie for 22nd but the 2007 Masters champion birdied his first two holes, added three more on the front nine and another three on the back nine to take the clubhouse lead.

Defending champion Justin Leonard barely made the cut but made a move up the leaderboard in the third round with a 64 to improve to seven-under 203.

Collated third round scores

(USA unless stated, par 70):

196 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 67 66 63

197 Zach Johnson 69 66 62

199 Chris Stroud 66 64 69, Tim Herron 65 67 67, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl) 67 69 63

200 Michael Thompson 68 65 67, Jeff Overton 69 64 67, Tim Petrovic 67 65 68, Joe Ogilvie 66 67 67, Mark Wilson 68 66 66

201 Mark Hensby (Aus) 68 66 67, Greg Kraft 65 71 65

202 Charlie Wi (Kor) 67 68 67, Jeff Maggert 73 65 64, Jimmy Walker 67 66 69, Kevin Stadler 67 66 69, Kevin Streelman 70 63 69, Bob Tway 66 72 64

203 Pat Perez 71 64 68, Michael Bradley 66 70 67, Harrison Frazar 69 69 65, Chez Reavie 67 67 69, Charles Howell III 68 67 68, Justin Leonard 70 69 64, Chad Collins 65 73 65, Jim McGovern 67 70 66

204 Brian Gay 68 67 69, David Toms 68 66 70, Dustin Johnson 67 69 68, Chad Campbell 71 65 68, John Riegger 68 69 67, Craig Kanada 69 65 70, Troy Matteson 68 70 66, Shane Bertsch 69 69 66, Scott Verplank 68 66 70

205 Vaughn Taylor 70 68 67, Tag Ridings 66 70 69, Todd Demsey 66 70 69, J.L. Lewis 68 69 68, Bob Estes 68 68 69, Paul Goydos 66 66 73, Bo Van Pelt 68 70 67, Jhonnathan Vegas 69 67 69, Frank Lickliter II 69 66 70, Jason Gore 65 74 66, Stephen Ames (Can) 68 71 66

206 Paul Claxton 64 70 72, Patrick Sheehan 65 71 70, Steve Marino 68 69 69, Kyle Thompson 66 69 71, Carlos Franco (Par) 69 70 67, Douglas Labelle 69 69 68, Matthew Jones (Aus) 69 64 73

207 Nick Watney 67 71 69, Chris DiMarco 68 69 70, Steve Allan (Aus) 66 70 71, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 65 72 70, Tom Pernice Jnr. 70 69 68, Dean Wilson 71 67 69, Joe Durant 68 67 72, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 70 67 70, Nathan Green (Aus) 62 75 70, Olin Browne 64 69 74

208 Bob Sowards 68 70 70, Charley Hoffman 68 69 71, J J Henry 70 68 70, Jason Allred 68 66 74, Sean O'Hair 72 66 70

209 Martin Laird (Sco) 67 71 71, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 66 73 70

210 Brad Elder 68 69 73

211 Robert Gamez 70 68 73, Scott Sterling 69 70 72, Steve Elkington (Aus) 68 70 73, Nicholas Thompson 72 67 72


WOOD TAKES ROUTE 66 TO THE TOP
Bengals’ Johnson lands on shoulder, leaves game
STRICKER STREAKS AHEAD