16 February 2004	Monday	24 Zilhaj 1424

MELBOURNE, Feb 15: Briton Brian Davis won his second European Tour title after a closing seven-under-par 65 clinched the ANZ Championship on Sunday. Davis, who won the 2000 Peugeot Open of Spain, finished with three consecutive birdies to gain +17 points for his round and an overall total of +44 in the modified stableford event co-sanctioned by the Australasian and European tours.

Defending champion Paul Casey of Britain was second on +43 points after he also fired a 65 at the Horizons Golf Resort near Newcastle, about 200 km north of Sydney.

France's Thomas Levet and Australian pair Nick Flanagan, a 19-year-old amateur, and Scott Gardiner were equal third on +39 points. Britain's Steve Webster blew his five-point overnight lead as a five-over-par 77 dropped him down to joint sixth on +37 points alongside Australian Nick O'Hern.

Davis, 29, notched 10 birdies and three bogeys in his final round. Under the modified stableford system used this week, players received eight points for an albatross, five for an eagle, two for a birdie, none for a par, minus one for a bogey and minus three for a multiple bogey.

Davis, who started the day 12 points behind Webster, went into the clubhouse with a three-point advantage.

Leading scores after final round:

(Australian unless stated, a-denotes amateur) +44 Brian Davis (Britain) +43 Paul Casey (Britain) +39 a-Nick Flanagan, Thomas Levet (France) +37 Scott Gardiner, Nick O'Hern, Steve Webster (Britain) +35 Brett Rumford, Bradley Hughes, Peter Fowler, Ricky Barnes (U.S.) +34 Jose Lara (Spain), Martin Le Mesurier (Britain), Michael Campbell (New Zealand), Joakim Haeggman (Sweden), David McKenzie +33 Brendan Jones, Barry Lane (Britain), Chris Downes, Lian-Wei Zhang (China)

Note: Players received eight points for an albatross, five for an eagle, two for a birdie, none for a par, minus one for a bogey and minus three for a multiple bogey.

Daly returns to form

SAN DIEGO: John Daly appears unfazed by his sudden rise to the top of a leaderboard, even though it has been nearly nine years since he last won on the PGA Tour.

Leading scores after the third round:

(U.S. unless stated)

203 John Daly 69 66 68

204 Stewart Cink 70 63 71

205 Dennis Paulson 69 69 67

207 Steve Flesch 67 68 72

208 Tom Pernice Jr 71 68 69, Jesper Parnevik (Sweden) 65 73 70, Brandt Jobe 69 69 70, Stephen Leaney (Australia) 72 65 71

209 Roger Tambellini 68 71 70, Jay Haas 70 69 70, Tom Lehman 66 73 70. -Reuters