I don't suppose Sir Thomas Legg has a lot of time to watch television at the moment, but since he's worked out the cost of Gordon Brown's repayment to the last 10p he might also be interested in the Case of the Admiralty House Teacup, a shocking abstraction of government property, which was revealed halfway through Prescott: the North/South Divide. To the protests of Pauline ("Oooh, John! For goodness' sake... they'll think I'm a kleptomaniac!"), the former Deputy Prime Minister trotted into the kitchen of his impressive Thameside penthouse to reveal the gilded souvenir Pauline had carried away with her when they left their grace-and-favour residence. Personally, I'm inclined to let bygones be bygones here, because there's something rather touching about the way that Pauline fills out the stereotype of one kind of aspirational Northern woman: modelling her style on Joan Collins, using her telephone voice when out in public, and showing such candid pleasure in the trappings of class. "Things can only get better," she said gleefully, lifting a glass of champagne to the camera as a Learjet flew the Prescotts down to London on the night of the 1997 election, "...but not much." She spoke too soon, really. Still to come were the mock Tudor boards fitted to their Hull constituency house, for which Mr Prescott claimed £312.

Rory McIlroy could move to the top of the European Tour money list on Sunday.

Tom Watson continued his serene progress through the perils of Turnberry yesterday and managed to finish with a spectacular flourish that restored him to the top of a leader-board ahead of a jostle of whipper-snappers who had threatened to usurp his place.

Although our detractors don't believe it, most hackers go through a torment of attempts to improve their game. It's a long, hard struggle that yields encouragement to very few.

Seve Ballesteros has made his first official public appearance since undergoing lifesaving surgery to remove a brain tumour last December.

It was like meeting an old friend who had fallen on hard times but is now spruced up and smarter than ever. The only trouble is that he's just as nasty as he used to be.

Seve Ballesteros says he feels fine now but "suffered like a dog" while recovering from four surgeries to remove a cancerous brain tumor.

Colin Montgomerie was just where he wanted to be here yesterday on his 500th European Tour appearance as a professional – right at the top of the leader board. Europe's new Ryder Cup captain, with only three top 10 finishes to his name since the start of last season, returned a five-under-par 67 to lead the Andalucian Open with fellow Scot Steven O'Hara and France's Jean-François Lucquin.

Five-times champion Tiger Woods, helped by a sizzling run of four consecutive birdies after the turn, charged into contention at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando yesterday.