DUTCH OPEN:Ross Fisher survived a worrying rules inquiry yesterday before knowing he had won the Dutch Open.
Fisher birdied the final hole for a closing three-under 67 and a 12-under-par 268 aggregate, to take the title by a stroke from young Dutchman Joost Luiten.
However, the 26-year-old Englishman had to return to the 12th hole to prove he had not broken a rule by lifting a bramble and then check the incident on video before he was cleared to collect the €266,666 first prize.
Fisher became the European Tour's 16th first-time winner of the season but even before the rules scare he had made hard work of it.
He led 21-year-old Luiten, who also birdied the last for a 66, by two strokes with three holes to play. Bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes, both by three-putting, left Fisher needing to hole an eight-footer for birdie on the 18th.
He said: "It was a thin strand and I went to move it because I thought it was a loose impediment but when I realised it was attached I literally left it alone. They deemed it didn't improve my stance or my swing. I feel very fortunate."
Victory was redemption for Fisher, who had shared the lead in Europe's flagship event in May, the PGA Championship, going into the final round but plummeted to 39th place after slumping to an 84.
Alker shared third place on eight-under, four shots behind Fisher, with Bernhard Langer, Frenchman Thomas Levet, Swede Alex Noren and Briton Alastair Forsyth. A 75 by Carter sent him down to tied 23rd.
Langer turns 50 today and plays in next week's Champions' Tour event at Pebble Beach.
After a promising start Ireland's David Higgins dropped three shots on the back nine for a 72 and a five-under-par total of 275.
PGA TOUR:Mark Calcavecchia set the clubhouse target after a final round of 65 gave him a 72 holes total of 12-under-par 272 in the Barclays Open at Westchester, New York.
Starting the day tied for 19th place Calcavecchi moved up the leaderboard with six birdies in eight holes from the fifth.
Padraig Harrington shot a final round of level-par 71 to finish on four-under-par 280. After covering the first nine in level-par 36, Harrington birdied the 10th hole, double-bogeyed the 11th and birdied the last in a homeward run of 35.
CHALLENGE TOUR:Antrim's Gareth Maybin may have finished the leading Irishman at the Postbank Challenge, but it was Derry's Michael McGeady who took the Irish bragging rights after a final round albatross at the Golfclub Mãlheim an der Ruhr.
A fine drive at the 516-yard par-five 12th hole left McGeady 222 yards from the hole before the 29-year-old plucked a four wood from his bag and struck a perfect, high cutting approach that pitched four feet from the cup before rolling in for a magic two.
That helped McGeady to a fourth round of level-par 71 and a share of 51st position.
Maybin carded a final round 69 to finish in 35th place on four under, with Justin Kehoe two shots further back in 46th.
Chile's Felipe Aguilar took the title at the second hole of a sudden-death play-off with Scotland's Andrew McArthur and Englishman Paul Waring.
LET TOUR:Norway's Suzann Pettersen recorded a resounding nine-stroke victory at the SAS Masters on home soil at Losby Golf Club.
The 26-year-old Solheim Cup star, who began as the favourite, proved the bookies right by posting a course record eight-under-par 64 in the first round to take a four stroke lead in the 54-hole LET event.
After playing to par in windy conditions in the second round, she entered the final round with a five-stroke lead and eventually won with a total of 12-under-par 204 after a final-round 68.
Australia's Nikki Garrett, who won the Tenerife and Spanish Ladies Opens in May, finished outright second on three-under-par 213 after a 71 while Rebecca Coakley was back on 221 after a 72.
