SAMMAMISH (Washington), Aug 26: Australia’s Craig Parry shot a six-under-par 65 to win the WGC-NEC Invitational by four strokes over Fred Funk and fellow Australian Robert Allenby at the Sahalee Country Club Sunday.

Parry had a simple plan as he entered the final round of the tournament in a tie for the lead with Allenby: Make no bogeys. It was a plan he executed perfectly as he started with a flourish, birdying three of the first four holes and was never really threatened thereafter.

Three-time defending champion Tiger Woods, the world’s number one player, shot a final-round 68 to finish fourth, five strokes behind Parry’s 16-under total.

Twenty-two-year old Justin Rose from England shot a 68 to finish alone in fifth place at 10-under-par.

He did not record a bogey after his sixth hole on Friday for a run of 48 consecutive bogey-free holes.

Over his final 54 holes, he had 18 birdies and just one bogey.

After running off birdies on the second, third and fourth holes to take a three-stroke advantage over the field, he birdied the ninth to make the turn in four-under 31.

For the entire round, Parry focused on hitting fairways and the middle of the greens.

If any lingering doubts remained as to the eventual winner of the tournament, it was all but eliminated at the 12th hole.

Parry parred, while Allenby recorded a sloppy double bogey six and Funk took a five when he failed to get out of the greenside bunker at his first attempt.

Woods birdied the 13th while Parry was playing the 12th, but the anticipated charge from the player who won the first two majors of the season never materialised.

An 18-foot birdie at the 14th moved Parry to 15-under.

He closed in style, hitting a three-wood onto the green at the 18th, then two-putting for another birdie.

The victory over the top 50 players in the world and members of the latest Ryder Cup and President’s Cup teams, was worth $1 million for the winner.

Oddly enough, Parry gained entry into the event by virtue of his victory in the New Zealand Open earlier this year.

That tournament only became a qualifying event because Woods played in it.

Leading final round scores (US unless stated):

268 — Craig Parry (Australia) 72, 65, 66, 65.

272 — Robert Allenby (Australia) 69, 63, 71, 69; Fred Funk 68, 68, 68, 68.

273 — Tiger Woods 68, 70, 67, 68.

274 — Justin Rose (Britain) 67, 67, 72, 68.

275 — Rich Beem 74, 67, 67, 67; Jim Furyk 70, 67, 68, 70.

276 — Steve Lowery 67, 65, 73, 71.

277 — Phil Mickelson 66, 69, 71, 71; Matt Gogel 68, 69, 68, 72.

278 — Davis Love III 66, 74, 69, 69; Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 70, 69, 70, 69; Retief Goosen (South Africa) 65, 68, 74, 71; Vijay Singh (Fiji) 68, 69, 69, 72.

279 — Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 68, 69, 72, 70; Lee Westwood (Britain) 68, 69, 72, 70; David Toms 69, 68, 71, 71; Ernie Els (South Africa) 71, 67, 67, 74.

280 — K.J. Choi (Korea) 73, 67, 73, 67; Peter Lonard (Australia) 70, 71, 72, 67; Angel Cabrera (Argentina) 72, 70, 70, 68; Bob Estes 71, 71, 69, 69; Darren Clarke (Britain) 66, 74, 68, 72.

Other international players:

282 — Toshi Izawa (Japan) 65, 73, 73, 71; Mike Weir (Canada) 69, 70, 71, 72.—Reuters