Golf Central

A final round 67 was enough to give young Pablo Larrazabal his maiden European Tour title, finishing on 15 under par, four strokes clear of Colin Montgomerie in second place.

It was only five years ago that the 25-year-old Spanish rookie was on his brother's bag at the Open de France, but a fine display of golf over four days gave him a thouroughly deserved victory. He may be an unkown, but you've got to give props to Pablo, who never looked back after an opening round of 65, and made a gutsy decision to play the whole week sans (that's French for 'without.' Clever, eh?) a driver.

Larrazabal will probably have to get a new pair of golf shoes, though, after he was thrown into the lake on the 18th hole. That won't be much of a problem, what with a winner's cheque worth €666,660.

Four strokes behind Larrazabal on 11 under was Colin Montgomerie, with Soren Hansen finishing outright third on ten under. It says a lot about Pablo's game, however, that Monty and Hansen both shot four rounds in the 60s and still finished quite a bit off the pace.

Oh, and just to remind you, we picked Hansen to win, so that's yet another cheeky little each way earner to put in the bank...

It was on this day in 1903, that the great Willie Anderson won his second US Open. Anderson, a Scottish immigrant to the USA, became the first golfer to win the US Open twice in playoffs, on this occasion beating fellow Scot, David Brown, at Balustrol GC in Springfield, New Jersey.

Anderson's first playoff victory came in 1901 against Alex Smith at Myopia GC, Massachusetts. Not only did Willie become the first player to win four US Open titles, he is still the only man to win three consecutive US Opens (1903-05). Berwick-born Anderson could have won another US Open in 1897, had Joe Lloyd not eagled the final hole.

Three years earlier in 1906, Alex Smith became the first golfer in US Open history to break 300 for 72 holes when he posted a 295 for a seven-stroke victory over his brother, Willie, at Onwetsia Club, Illinois.

On this day in 1613, in a London of vagabonds and bards, The Globe Theatre burnt to the ground. Famous for an association with Shakespeare, a building was erected in 1614 and closed in 1642. Then, in 1997, the New Globe opened on a site standing 230 metres away from that of the original.

So it's Akiko Fukushima! as they say in Japan to former PGA Tour member, Ed Humenik (49), Nick Nolte clone Gary Busey (62), Disney illustrator Don Rosa (57), and snooker underdog Joe Johnson (56). Had he not gone to play golf on the fairways of heaven in 1961, 1925 US Open winner, Willie McFarlane would have been 118.

Pablo Larrazabal will take a three stroke lead in to tomorrow's final round at the Open De France. The young Spaniard posted a third round 67 to give himself a nice cushion going into the final day's play, and you feel that it's his to lose at the moment... but we hope he does.

Not wanting to be mean or anything, but we're hoping Pablo's nerves and inexperience get the better of him, because our hot pick for the week, Soren Hansen, finds himself in tied second poisition with Colin Montgomerie, who'll be looking to get his first tour win since last year's European Open.

Behind Hansen and Monty, there's a big English contingent comprising David Lynn, Lee Westwood, Ollie Fisher and 2006 champion, John Bickerton.

Bo Van Pelt shot a second round six under 66 to move to the top of the pile at the Buick Open. Van Pelt remains bogey-free after 36 holes and finds himself two shots clear on 14 under par.

Chasing Van Pelt on twelve under is Sweden's Daniel Chopra and Dudley Hart, with Woody Austin, Fredrik Jacobson and Bubba Watson breathing down their necks.

All our picks will be playing on the weekend, with Kenny Perry well in the hunt at eight under, and Jim Furyk and Rocco Mediate both four under.