EUROPE -- Colin Montgomerie has climbed from 23rd to 16th in the world rankings with his triumph in the Dunhill Links Championship Sunday at St. Andrews.
The 42-year-old Scot's first victory since March of 2004 puts him back in the game's top 20 only nine months after he slid all the way to 83rd and feared he might never win again.
Montgomerie, who came from five shots back to beat England's Kenneth Ferrie with a last-green birdie, also has improved from fourth to second on the European Order of Merit, the title he won for seven successive years in the 1990s.
Moreover, he leads the race for places on the 2006 European Ryder Cup team to defend the trophy at the K Club near Dublin next September.
The only Europeans now ahead of him in the world rankings are Sergio Garcia at sixth, Padraig Harrington at 13th and Luke Donald at 15th.
BANK ON IT: The Commercial Bank of Qatar has signed on as the title sponsor of the Qatar Masters, tournament officials have announced. The bank agreed to a three-year deal beginning with the 2006 edition of the event, which is set for Jan. 26-29.
The Qatar Masters, won in 2005 by Ernie Els, is again expected to attract a strong field including Northern Ireland's Ryder Cup player Darren Clarke when it moves to a new date just one week before the Dubai Desert Classic. Officials also hope to announce an increase to the purse shortly.
UNISYS EXTENDS ITS DEAL: Unisys has extended its agreement as provider of sports scoring technology to the European Tour in a new four-year that stretches until the end of the 2009 season, tour officials have announced. Unisys also will become an Official Sponsor of the 2006 Ryder Cup.
Currently in the fifth and final year of the existing agreement, Unisys is responsible for the collection, collation and distribution of scoring information at the majority of events on the European Tour. The Ryder Cup deal will see Unisys provide all the IT infrastructure and support services for delivering scores and statistical data from the event.
PLAYER OF THE MONTH: England's David Howell has been named the European Tour Golfer of the Month for August following his victory in the BMW International Open.
Howell, who also finished sixth in the WGC-NEC Invitational, claimed his first tour victory in six years in Munich in only his third event after a two-month injury layoff.
"I'm delighted to win the award and delighted with the way things have gone since coming back," he said. "You are never sure after a couple of months off, with what was quite a bad injury, how you are going to come back. And the last time I had that long off after a broken arm I had the worst year of my career.
