Ryder Cup: Jamie Donaldson secured his place in Europe’s team for next month’s Ryder Cup at Gleneagles with a fine final round to win the Czech Masters at the Albatross Golf Resort by two shots. Welshman Donaldson needed a top-seven finish to secure his Ryder Cup debut and did so in style, shooting a final round four-under-par 68 to finish at 14-under 274, winning his third European Tour golf title in the process. The 38-year-old overcame a two-shot deficit to compatriot Bradley Dredge on the final day, who finished second on 12-under.
Rugby Sevens: England’s women rugby stars will be handed the chance to turn professional for the first time next month, the Rugby Football Union has announced. The RFU will issue 20 central contracts to form a fully professional England Women’s Sevens squad for the forthcoming season, building up to the short-format discipline’s debut Olympic inclusion at Rio 2016. England’s amateurs won the Women’s Rugby World Cup for the second time earlier this month, beating Canada 21-9 in Paris, leading to calls for the RFU to set up a pro arm. Now 12 of that squad will be among the 20 receiving full-time funding for the first time.
Golf: Hunter Mahan stormed clear of a congested leaderboard with five birdies in the last eight holes to claim his sixth PGA Tour victory by two shots at The Barclays in New Jersey on Sunday. A stroke off the pace heading into the final round, American Mahan sparked his sizzling run by knocking in a five-footer at the par-four 11th and effectively sealed the win at the par-five 17th, where he sank a slick 22-foot putt from above the hole. Stuart Appleby signed off with a 65 in the opener of the PGA Tour’s four-event FedExCup play-offs, finishing joint second at 12 under with fellow Australian Jason Day (68) and American Cameron Tringale (66).
Rugby: The New Zealand Rugby Union has cleared the way for coach Steve Hansen to select Sonny Bill Williams on the All Blacks’ season-ending northern hemisphere tour without him first playing in the domestic provincial champion-ship. Dual international Williams, a 2011 World Cup winner with the All Blacks before he returned to rugby league with Australia’s Sydney Roosters in 2013, has signed a two-year contract with the NZRU and Waikato Chiefs from 2015. Under NZRU rules, a player must first compete in domestic rugby to be eligible for the All Blacks. However, NZRU chief executive Steve Tew said the union’s board had approved an exemption for Williams.