Canter falls just short in search for first Tour victory

ROSS McGowan held his nerve on the final green to win the Italian Open by one stroke.

McGowan sunk a 20-foot putt on the 18th and then watched as playing partner and fellow Englishman Laurie Canter, from Bath, failed to hole from 12 feet.

McGowan finished on 20-under-par after a final-round one-under 71, with Canter tied for second with Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts.

It was the 38-year-old’s first win on the European Tour for 11 years.

McGowan and Canter shared a three-shot lead heading into the last round but it was Colsaerts who made the major move on the final day.

After bogeying the first, he then added four birdies before sinking his fifth on the 18th to draw level at the top of the leaderboard with McGowan and Canter.

McGowan had an inconsistent final round, with three bogeys and a double mixed in with an eagle and four birdies, but it was that successful 20-foot putt on the final hole that proved decisive.

Canter had birdied the 17th to draw level at the top but he was made to rue a mixed round of his own, with five bogeys and five birdies as his search for a first victory goes on.

World number three Justin Thomas made two late birdies to maintain his one-shot lead going in to the final round at the Zozo Championship in California.

The American birdied his opening two holes but low scores from the chasing pack saw Thomas overtaken at the top.

Birdies at 16 and 17 gave him a five-under 67 and a slim lead over world number two Jon Rahm, who shot 63.

England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick also fired a 67 to sit four shots back but Tyrrell Hatton slumped to a 76.