September 15, 2003	Monday	Rajab 17, 1424

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INZAI (Japan), Sept 14: Phil Mickelson finally broke par with a two-under-par 69, but finished 10 strokes behind winner Jyoti Randhawa after the Suntory Open final round on Sunday.

Overnight leader Randhawa became the first Indian to win on the Japanese tour, earning $170,000 after holding his nerve for a closing 69 to finish at eight-under 276 at Sobu Country Club near Tokyo.

Mickelson, still winless this season, birdied three holes on the front nine and picked up another stroke at the 12th, but then blotted his scorecard with two dropped shots coming home to return a two-over 286 total.

The American, who has slipped to 10th in the world rankings from second at the end of 2002, struggled with the stamina-sapping humidity over the four days and failed to break par until the final round.

Mickelson, who failed a try-out for Triple-A baseball team the Toledo Mud Hens last month, has won 21 PGA Tour titles and is widely viewed as the best player never to have won a major.

Randhawa, playing his first season in Japan, underlined his title credentials with a gutsy 71 in blustery conditions on Saturday.

Leading scores after the final round (Japanese unless stated):

276 Jyoti Randhawa (India) 68 68 71 69

278 Paul Sheehan (Australia) 69 67 73 69

280 Hiroyuki Fujita 67 66 78 69

281 Tsuyoshi Yoneyama 72 67 74 68

282 Hideki Kase 71 68 74 69