golf Sandelin snatches victory

Jarmo Sandelin, taking the lead for the first time at the 15th hole with a magnificent 30-yard chip for a birdie three, won the Canary Islands Open in Gran Canaria by one shot from Seve Ballesteros and Paul Eales yesterday.

Sandelin, a 27-year-old from Stockholm, shot a final-round 70 for a six- under-par aggregate of 282, and could hardly believe that he had won. Ballesteros, the overnight leader, started the day two ahead of the Swede, who dropped three early shots and then fell six strokes behind.

But Sandelin played a superb last l4 holes with five birdies and nine pars to snatch the first European Tour victory of his career.

Sandelin admitted he had been very fortunate in chipping in at the 15th: "I had played a bad second shot and you have to be lucky. But this was my week and that is why the ball went into the hole. I was also lucky when Seve missed that last putt. He would have been very hard to beat in a play-off."