|
|
|
| October 30, 2001 | Tuesday | Shaba'an 12, 1422 |
Goosen crowned top European golfer after three playoffs holes
MADRID, Oct 29: Retief Goosen was crowned European number one Sunday but needed three sudden-death holes to beat England’s Steve Webster for the Madrid Open title.
South African Goosen repeated his nervous finish on the way to winning the US Open in June, bogeying the final hole to allow Webster to force a playoff with the pair locked on 20-under-par totals of 264.
On his way to a closing three-under-par 68 Goosen missed three short putts to give his playing partner heart, and the 25-year-old Englishman took full advantage by carding a 66.
Webster himself missed a five-footer at the first playoff hole and when Goosen at last refound his putting touch by holing from 10 feet for birdie on the third extra hole, the young Englishman was forced to settle for second place.
Goosen the field by two strokes going into the final round and even though his playing partner twice caught him, the US Open champion held a one-stroke lead going to the last, helped by pitching straight into the hole for birdie at the ninth.
Then Goosen drove waywardly, found a greenside bunker with his third and thinned his recovery 30 feet past the hole with a stone lodged between the sand and his club.
His resultant bogey and Webster’s par took the pair to the shootout before Goosen added the $200,000 first prize to his year’s winnings to put Darren Clarke, his only rankings rival, out of sight.
Goosen became the first non-European to win the Vardon Trophy since Greg Norman in 1982, and the third South African to put his name on the trophy as he climbed to 10th in the world rankings.
Irishman Clarke now has to put all his resources into making sure he finishes second on the money list for the third time in four years after his closing 67 left him four strokes short of the playoff.
England’s Brian Davis surged to a final round 62 to claim a share of third place with Spain’s Diego Borrego.
Borrego hit the flag on the last green and if his ball had gone in the hole he would have won the tournament by a stroke.
Leading final round scores (Britain unless stated):
264 — Retief Goosen (South Africa) 66, 64, 66, 68; Steve Webster 68, 62, 68, 66 (Goosen won playoff at the third extra hole).
265 — Brian Davis 66, 64, 73, 62; Diego Borrego (Spain) 69, 65, 64, 67.
267 — Markus Brier (Austria) 67, 68, 66, 66.
268 — Robert Coles 66, 69, 69, 64; Jeev Milkha Singh (India) 72, 67, 65, 64; Anders Hansen (Denmark) 68, 69, 65, 66; Darren Clarke 67, 69, 65, 67.
269 — Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 68, 71, 66, 64; Angel Cabrera (Argentina) 68, 69, 65, 67.
270 — Van Phillips 68, 67, 69, 66; John Bickerton 69, 67, 68, 66; David Lynn 68, 66, 68, 68; Richard Green (Australia) 69, 67, 65, 69.
271 — Gary Emerson 70, 68, 68, 65; Greg Owen 67, 70, 66, 68; Phillip Price 66, 69, 67, 69; Carlos Rodiles (Spain) 65, 70, 67, 69.
272 — Ignacio Garrido (Spain) 70, 67, 71, 64; Stephen Gallacher 64, 70, 70, 68; Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) 69, 67, 68, 68; Barry Lane 66, 72, 66, 68; Bradley Dredge 70, 68, 65, 69.
273 — Jose Manuel Carriles (Spain) 72, 68, 69, 64; Henrik Nystrom (Sweden) 67, 67, 72, 67; Fredrik Andersson (Sweden) 69, 65, 71, 68; Richard Johnson (Sweden) 73, 65, 67, 68; Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 63, 72, 69, 69; David Higgins (Ireland) 67, 62, 69, 75.
274 — Ian Garbutt 69, 71, 70, 64; Alastair Forsyth 69, 67, 71, 67; Des Smyth (Ireland) 65, 73, 67, 69; Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 65, 67, 70, 72.
PINE MOUNTAIN (Georgia): Chris DiMarco experienced one of the happiest moments of his career Sunday, but he still had to fight back tears.
DiMarco took advantage of an error by defending champion David Duval on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff and claimed his second career title at the Buick Challenge.
After matching the lowest final round of the season on the PGA Tour with a nine-under-par 63, Duval was long with his approach at the par-four 18th hole and pushed an awkward chip six feet past the pin.
DiMarco missed a 13-foot birdie putt but watched as Duval’s par attempt burned the left side of the cup, then hugged his caddy and broke down in tears.
Master of the claw putting grip, DiMarco earned the 612,000-dollar top prize to move into 11th on the money list with nearly 2.5 million dollars.
DiMarco and Duval ended the 72-hole event at 21-under 267. Bob Estes and Neal Lancaster were at 269, with Davis Love III at 270, Jeff Maggert at 271 and Joel Edwards and Sweden’s Per-Ulrik Johansson at 272.
Leading final round scores (US unless stated):
267 — Chris DiMarco 67, 64, 71, 65; David Duval 67, 69, 68, 63 (DiMarco won with a par at the first hole of a sudden-death playoff).
269 — Bob Estes 71, 63, 69, 66; Neal Lancaster 65, 67, 68, 69.
270 — Davis Love III 68, 62, 69, 71.
271 — Jeff Maggert 67, 66, 72, 66.
272 — Joel Edwards 65, 68, 65, 74; Per-Ulrik Johansson (Sweden) 65, 70, 68, 69.
274 — Nick Price (Zimbabwe) 70, 68, 69, 67.
275 — Vijay Singh (Fiji) 64, 67, 75, 69; Chris Riley 68, 69, 69, 69.
276 — Mark O’Meara 66, 70, 68, 72; Charles Howell 68, 70, 68, 70.
277 — Shaun Micheel 67, 70, 70, 70; Jeff Sluman 70, 71, 68, 68; Carlos Franco (Paraguay) 67, 70, 72, 68.
278 — Paul Azinger 68, 72, 70, 68; Glen Day 69, 71, 69, 69; Brent Geiberger 69, 70, 70, 69; Brian Henninger 70, 69, 69, 70; Lee Janzen 72, 68, 70, 68; Loren Roberts 68, 72, 69, 69.
279 — Fred Funk 70, 71, 71, 67; Skip Kendall 71, 70, 72, 66; Greg Kraft 70, 70, 69, 70; Steve Lowery 72, 70, 66, 71; Shigeki Maruyama (Japan) 71, 71, 70, 67; Kenny Perry 71, 70, 72, 66; David Gossett 71, 70, 68, 70; Danny Ellis 65, 72, 69, 73.—Reuters/AFP
|
|
|
|
