Time is running out for spectators to take buy discounted season tickets for the 2008 British Open, which is set for July 17-20 at Royal Birkdale in England.

Until the end of April, $400 buys a season ticket, which gives entry for the eight days of practice and Championship play, a saving of $230 on the full price daily tickets.

During the four days of competition, a daily ticket will cost $110, with concession tickets available. Children under the age of 16 will again be admitted free-of-charge, either by applying to the R&A in advance or if accompanied by a responsible adult on the day.

Birkdale's 18th is one of the most dramatic holes on the Open rota, and there are a limited number of tickets left for the reserved grandstand by the green. Those tickets are priced at $460 each for the week and must be used in conjunction with a ticket permitting course access.

NEW SPONSOR IN ITALY: Italian corporate finance company Methorios Capital has reached an agreement to become the title sponsor of the Italian Open, European Tour officials have announced.

The Methorios Capital Italian Open again will be staged at the Castello di Tolcinasco Golf and Country Club in Milan, from May 8-11, when Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano of Spain will defend the title he won in a sudden-death playoff with Austria's Markus Brier last year.

His victory sparked memorable celebrations, with the Spaniard being triumphantly thrown into the swimming pool at Castello di Tolcinasco after receiving the 83-year-old Italian Open trophy.

DESTINATION EARTH: The Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai has been named as the host venue for the inaugural Dubai World Championship, European Tour officials have announced. The world's richest golf tournament, with a $10 million prize fund, will debut in November 2009 as the season-ending event on the European Tour.

Earth is one of four elementally-themed golf courses being developed at Jumeirah Golf Estates and one of the two courses being designed by Greg Norman in the first phase of the project. The decision to host the first Dubai World Championship on the Earth Course was taken after Norman visited the site this month to monitor progress and make final design enhancements.

The final four holes of the course will measure exactly one mile, and Norman expects them to be considered one of the most challenging and exciting miles of golf, in terms of risk and reward.

The Championship will welcome the players ranked 1 to 60 on the Race to Dubai, which replaces the existing European Tour Order of Merit.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH: Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland has been named as The European Tour Golfer of the Month for March after his victory in the inaugural Ballantine's Championship in Korea. McDowell captured his third European Tour title in a sudden-death playoff with Jeev Milkha Singh, producing a magnificent 7-iron approach from 179 yards to 12 inches for a tap-in birdie on the third extra hole.

The Ulsterman won the March Award over several notable contenders, including Frenchman Thomas Levet, who showed he has recovered from vertigo by winning the Andalucia Open, also in a playoff.

Also in the running were India's Arjun Atwal, winner of the Maybank Malaysian Open; Scotland's Alastair Forsyth, who claimed the Madeira Islands Open; and Bernhard Langer of Germany, who led the Champions Tour money list after his victories in the Toshiba Classic and the Ginn Championship.

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