Golf: Car rage incident disturbs Spence

JARMO SANDELIN, of Sweden, leapt towards a Ryder Cup debut yesterday by winning an incident-packed Peugeot Spanish Open at the El Prat course here.

However, Kent's Jamie Spence was furious with a ruling that ended his hopes of becoming, like Seve Ballesteros in the 1979 Open at Royal Lytham, another "car park champion."

Sandelin followed three rounds of 66 with a score of 69 to complete an impressive 21-under-par total of 267 and a four-stroke victory margin over the Dubliner, Paul McGinley, and the Spaniards Ignacio Garrido and Miguel Angel Jimenez. He leaps from 13th in the Ryder Cup table to fifth at half-way in the race.

However, Sandelin's joy, tinged as it was with some tears following the recent death of his mother, was in marked contrast to the anger of Spence. The Englishman was lying second with seven holes to go when he pulled his drive left of the fairway at the long 12th. He saw it disappear under some cars but, despite a frantic search, the ball could not be found. "It's a bloody farce," the 35-year-old told a tournament official who had informed Spence that he would have to return to the tee. "We saw it go under a car and now it's not here."

Spence was convinced that a spectator had picked it up. If he could have proved that, he would have been entitled to a free drop but, after going back and playing another ball, the hole cost him a double-bogey seven and he eventually finished joint fifth.

n Sweden's Jesper Parnevik gave the Ryder Cup captain, Mark James, another boost by notching a Forest Oaks record 23-under par 265 to win the Greater Greensboro Classic.

Scores, Digest, page 11