GOLF DIGEST: RYDER CUP: Justin Rose is to continue his quest for a Ryder Cup debut right down to the wire at Gleneagles this week, and that means kissing goodbye to a possible €4 million jackpot in America.
"It's only money - you can't take it with you," said Rose, who finished only joint 34th in Holland and so failed to make certain of a place in Europe's side.
The world number 12 stays eighth on the table with only the Johnnie Walker Championship to come.
Three players have to go past him to deny him, but six still have a chance to do that.
They are Soren Hansen, Oliver Wilson, Martin Kaymer, Ian Poulter, Ross Fisher and Nick Dougherty.
Rose had hoped to return to the FedEx Cup play-offs in the States, but by missing the first two he cannot qualify for the third.
"It's Plan B. It was not on my schedule to play these two weeks in Europe, but I came to do a job. I didn't do it this week, so I'll do it next week.
Hansen has now gone ahead of Wilson into ninth place with a joint sixth finish at Kennemer. Wilson was 20th, as was Fisher, while Kaymer was down in 55th and so has lost ground on all those he is chasing.
US TOUR: The Barclays Championship at Ridgewood Country Club in New Jersey was heading for a threeway play-off after American Kevin Sutherland and Spain's Sergio Garcia tied on eight-under-par 276 after 72 holes while Vijay Singh was also eight-under-par with one hole to play.
Sutherland set the clubhouse target with a final round of 68 and he was later joined by Garcia, who dropped a shot a the 16th but forced his way into the play-off with a birdie at the 17th.
SENIORS: Gordon J Brand held his nerve to win the battle of the Brands in a titanic six-hole play-off for the PGA Seniors Championship at De Vere Slaley Hall.
The 53-year-old picked up the fourth Seniors title of his career - but only after he was forced into a lengthy shoot-out with his namesake Gordon Brand Junior after he bogeyed the last hole to finish tied on four-over-par 292.
The contest was eventually settled by Brand Junior flying the 17th green into a virtually an unplayable lie. The former Ryder Cup player, eventually hacked his way on to the green in four but Brand safely parred for victory
CHALLENGE TOUR: England's Seve Benson moved one step closer to the main European Tour after securing his second Challenge Tour victory, courtesy of a nail-biting play-off victory at the Ypsilon Golf Challenge by Alex Cejka.
In torrential rain at Ypsilon Golf Resort in Liberec, the Czech Republic, Benson compiled a battling round of 70 to finish on 16 under par, level with overnight leader Rafael Cabrera Bello of Spain and South Africa's Branden Grace, whose 64 was quite astonishing in the circumstances.
After Grace had fallen at the second play-off hole, which Benson and Cabrera Bello birdied, the Englishman saw off the Spaniard with another birdie on the third extra hole to take the title and claim a winner's cheque for €28,800.
LET TOUR: Gwladys Nocera won her third title of the season at the SAS Ladies Masters in Oslo, Norway, yesterday.
The 33-year-old from France closed with a final round of four-under-par 68 to win by three shots on three-under-par 203, at Haga Golf Club.
England's Samantha Head and Spain's Tania Elosegui shared second on 10 under par, with eight players in a tie for third on eight under
The victory was Nocera's eighth in three seasons on the Ladies European Tour and she became the only player to have won three times this year.
Martina Gillen finished on seven-over-par 223 after a final round of 75.
AMATEUR: Irish internationals Paul Cutler and Niall Kearney slipped down the leaderboard in the final round of the European Amateur Individual Championship over the Esjberg course in Denmark.
Portstewart star Cutler posted a six-over-par 77 for a total of 286 and a share of 11th place. Kearney, from Royal Dublin, struggled to a 76 for an aggregate of 188 and a tie of 21st place, while Shane Lowry shot 75 for 289.
German Stephen Gross walked away with the gold medal after a final round 70 gave him a score of 280.
The silver went to Richard Kind of the Netherlands, a further stroke behind. Denmark's Morten Madsen collected the bronze.
