Chris DiMarco and Miguel Angel Jimenez produced two outstanding rounds of golf, but neither had an answer to the brilliance of Henrik Stenson at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship.

The Swede shot a courserecord 62 to leave himself the 16-under-par overnight leader, with a round which included a devastating run of "ve straight birdies at the start, and was gilded by a pair of sublime eagles. America's DiMarco and Spaniard Jimenez lie one and two shots back respectively, after birdie-laden rounds.

Ireland's Damien McGrane failed to make a real impact on the leader board but his round of 71, together with earlier "gures of 70 and 69 has him on six under par, 10 off the pace.

Meanwhile, Justin Rose's Ryder Cup bid has lifted off after a sparkling eight-underpar 64 in the third round at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in California. Starting the day in joint 47th place, the 25year-old "nished it in a tie for seventh . . . and with two rounds still to play rather than the normal one, Rose still entertains hopes of catching leader Chad Campbell.

KURTEN DRAWS ON ANOTHER VICTORY Jessica Kurten added to her remarkable tally of "rst places with another win in Leipzig, Germany yesterday.

With her eight-year-old bay stallion, Commandor, the Irish rider went over the line almost a second ahead of German Toni Hassmann in the Young Horse qualifying competition.

On Friday, 36-year-old Kurten won the World Cup pre-quali"er at Leipzig, and last week won both the Grand Prix and Masters competitions at the Al Maktoum Memorial Challenge in Dubai.

GOMEZ UNDAUNTED BY McDONAGH ANTICS Uri Geller is helping Peter McDonagh in his quest for an Irish Lightweight boxing title.

McDonagh goes head to head with Michael Gomez as part of a six "ght undercard to the Bernard Dunne versus Noel Wilders clash at the National Stadium next Saturday night.

A chance meeting between both men on a "ight to London led to the unusual pairing and Geller will accompany the Galway man to Dublin for the "ght. Gomez, meanwhile, remains distinctly underwhelmed by his opponents use of a paranormalist. "All I have to say is good luck to him because he's going to need all the help he can get."

CLOONAN RETURNS TO GALWAY SCENE Eugene Cloonan, out of favour for Galway's entire championship run to the All Ireland "nal last year, is back in the county squad and will feature in the upcoming national league. Cloonan played in the national league last year but went outside the squad when he suffered a recurrence of a back injury and with communications between the player and management breaking down, he did not feature in the championship.

PAKISTAN TAKE SHINE OFF SINGH'S HEROICS Three wickets from India's debutant bowler Rudra Pratap Singh did little to disrupt Pakistan as the hosts reached 379 for four on the opening day of the second test.

Singh took the wickets of Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf to "nish the day with "gures of three for 77, but he got little support. Shahid Afridi "nished the day unbeaten on 85, while Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq had 79.

KEANE KNOCK SPELLS TROUBLE FOR CELTIC Celtic have suffered a major injury scare with the news that Roy Keane limped out of training on Friday. Manager Gordon Strachan is already facing a defensive crisis, with Stephen McManus suspended, Bobo Balde on international duty and Du Wei departed. The seriousness of Keane's injury is not yet known.