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| December 3, 2001 | Monday | Ramazan 17, 1422 |
Garcia beats Els in sudden-death
SUN CITY (South Africa), Dec 2: Spaniard Sergio Garcia denied South Africa’s Ernie ‘The Big Easy’ Els a third successive win in the Sun City Golf Challenge when he beat him on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff on Sunday.
Earlier Sunday Garcia, who picked up 2 million dollars for his win, had closed with an aggressive 9-under-par final round 63 to equal Els’ 20-under-par 268 aggregate after 72 holes - not even a temporary break for lightning could stop the Spaniard’s progress.
Els was left clawing at the shreds of what was once a five-stroke lead in his favour.
The 21-year-old Spaniard picked up four shots - including an eagle - in his outward loop of 32 and powered home with another six birdies for a 31 over the back nine.
Els appeared headed for his third straight victory as he opened his day with birdies on the second and third greens, but a dry spell of level-par holes gave Garcia a realistic shot at beating him.
Garcia, the world number five, made an eagle at the par-4 third and enjoyed a four-hole birdie run from the 12th.
His 63 Sunday was helped considerably by Saturday’s 66, having opened on 68 before a disappointing 71 second round.
Leading final round scores:
268 Sergio Garcia (Spain) 68 71 66 63, Ernie Els (South Africa) 67 66 66 69 (Garcia won on the first hole of a sudden death play-off) 271 Bernhard Langer (Germany) 68 67 67 69
272 Mike Weir (Canada) 68 67 69 68 275 Lee Westwood (England) 69 65 70 71
276 Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 70 72 61 73 279 Nick Price (Zimbabwe) 68 71 70 70 281 Retief Goosen (South Africa) 68 68 74 71, Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 71 72 68 70
282 Colin Montgomerie (Scotland) 68 69 72 73
293 Darren Clarke (Northern Ireland) 75 68 74 76
Disqualified: Jim Furyk (United States) 71 67—Reuters
HONG KONG: Double U.S. Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal produced a magnificent late run of birdies to win the 700,000 dollars Hong Kong Open by one shot on Sunday.
The Spaniard produced three birdies on the last three holes to finish on 22-under-par 262, one shot ahead of overnight leader Henrik Bjornstad of Norway and two clear of Australia’s Adam Scott.
It was a three-way battle all the way between the experienced Olazabal and young guns Scott and Bjornstad.
All three were tied on 21-under-par leading up to the 18th hole at the par-71 Hong Kong Golf Club, but Olazabal won the day thanks to a superb approach shot which almost eagled the 410-yard par four.
The 35-year-old, who won his last U.S. Masters Championship in 1999, fired eight birdies and a bogey to finish the last round on seven-under-par 64 and win his second title this year. He won the French Open in April.
Scott, who had led for most of the round, saw his lead disappear under the intense pressure. The 21-year-old from Adelaide began well, surging into the lead with four birdies on the opening nine. But he could only manage one more birdie on the homeward stretch and a poor tee shot left him with a bogey at the last.
Leading final scores (British unless stated):
262 Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) 65 69 64 64
263 Henrik Bjornstad (Sweden) 66 69 61 67
264 Adam Scott (Australia) 64 67 66 67
265 Mark Foster 66 65 67 67
266 Carl Pettersson (Sweden) 67 64 68 67
267 Andrew Marshall 68 66 68 65, Anders Forsbrand (Sweden) 67 64 68 68, Mark Pilkington 69 68 62 68
268 Jarmo Sandelin (Sweden) 68 70 66 64, Brian Davis 70 67 64 67, Yeh Wei-Tse (Taiwan) 66 63 72 67, Simon Dyson 67 64 70 67.—Reuters
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