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| December 8, 2003 | Monday | Shawwal 13, 1424 |
Allenby wins in a four-way playoff
MELBOURNE, Dec 7: Overnight leader Robert Allenby defied illness to win his first Australian Masters in a four-way playoff on Sunday before setting his sights on clinching a major championship.
Australian Allenby, who had oozed confidence in the final stages of the tournament, was taken to the second playoff hole by compatriot Adam Scott before he sealed victory by holing a birdie putt from three feet.
Allenby, 32, who was playing in his home city and had battled influenza and stomach cramps all week, maintained his perfect record of eight wins in eight playoffs.
Scott, 23, made a brave bid for the title but his 50-foot birdie putt stopped on the edge of the cup at the second extra hole, the par-four 18th.
Allenby had sunk a 10-foot par putt at the 72nd hole to join a four-way playoff with Scott, triple Australian Masters winner Craig Parry and joint Australian PGA champion Jarrod Moseley.
Scott, a winner on the European and U.S. PGA Tours this year, had put together the round of the tournament with an eight-under-par 64 on Sunday. Moseley finished with a 69 and Parry 67.
Allenby and Scott then both birdied the first playoff hole where Parry and Moseley dropped out of contention.
SCOTT’S CHALLENGE: Scott, who also lost last year’s Australian Masters to Peter Lonard in a playoff, challenged Allenby by reaching the green from a fairway bunker with his approach shot. His tee shot had hit a spectator on the knee and rebounded into the bunker.
However Allenby, winless for two years, took charge by hitting what he described as a “punched three-quarter nine iron” second shot three feet from the hole.
The Victorian, who has won four times on the U.S. PGA Tour, said: “I know I’m good enough and I know how much potential I have to win a major.
Allenby added that he drew great confidence from halving his crucial singles match with American Davis Love III at last month’s Presidents Cup team competition in South Africa, where the Internationals shared the trophy with the U.S.
Allenby predicted that Scott, who shares coach Butch Harmon with Tiger Woods, would become a genuine rival for the world’s number one player.
Scott, who had spoken earlier in the week of his desire to win a tournament in his home country, said: “It is a little disappointing. I think I did all I could.
Scores
277 Robert Allenby 67 67 72 71, Adam Scott 71 69 73 64, Craig Parry 70 72 68 67, Jarrod Moseley 67 72 69 69, (Allenby won playoff at second hole)
279 Peter Lonard 66 73 72 68, Rod Pampling 69 72 68 70
280 Stephen Allan 72 71 70 67
281 Peter O’Malley 69 74 69 69, Andrew Buckle 70 72 68 71, a-James Nitties 70 72 66 73
282 Geoff Ogilvy 67 76 74 65, Euan Walters 71 70 73 68, Peter Senior 67 69 75 71
283 Richard Green 71 73 70 69, Jason Dawes 72 70 71 70
Harrington triumphs
HONG KONG: Ireland’s Padraig Harrington clinched a nail-biting one-shot victory at the Hong Kong Open with two birdies in the last two holes on Sunday.
The world number 10 drew level with leader Hennie
Otto of South Africa at the penultimate hole before snatching victory with a 20-foot putt at the last in the opening leg
of the 2004 European Tour season.
Leading scores after the final round of the $700,000 Hong Kong Open at the par-70 Hong Kong Golf Club on Sunday:
269 Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 67 69 67 66
270 Hennie Otto (South Africa) 68 68 69 65
273 Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 69 71 65 68, Darren Clarke (Britain) 68 69 69 67, Chris Gane (Britain) 70 67 67 69, Fredrik Jacobson (Sweden) 68 65 71 69
274 Christopher Hanell (Sweden) 68 69 65 72, James Kingston (South Africa) 69 70 68 67, Prayad Marksaeng (Thailand) 67 69 67 71
275 Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 67 71 71 66, David Carter (Britain) 70 71 65 69, Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) 68 71 70 66, Rob Rashell (U.S.) 70 67 67 71, Gary Rusnak (U.S.) 68 70 68 69
276 Stephen Dodd (Britain) 69 72 68 67, Nick Faldo (Britain) 69 72 67 68, Steven Jeppesen (Sweden) 68 73 69 66, Richard McEvoy (Britain) 62 68 74 72, Henrik Nystrom (Sweden) 69 66 73 68, Marc Pendaries (France) 70 71 68 67, Nobuhito Sato (Japan) 68 72 68 68—Reuters
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