18 January 2005	Tuesday	07 Zilhaj 1425

HONOLULU, Jan 17: Vijay Singh rallied from a four-shot deficit heading into the final round to beat South Africa's Ernie Els by one stroke and capture the US$4.8m Open on Sunday.

"This is a great start to the season," Singh said. "I am glad I prepared well." World No. 1 Singh shot a five-under-par 65 in another windswept day at Waialae course to register his 25th career victory on the PGA Tour, including his 10th in the past year. He completed 72 holes at 11-under 269.

"I like this course I just couldn't finish in four rounds of golf before," Singh said. Singh made three consecutive birdies halfway through the fourth round and clinched the win with another at the par-five final hole.

Els, who closed with a 62, finished one stroke ahead of Japan's Shigeki Maruyama (71) and Charles Howell (67). Maruyama was the overnight leader with a four shot cushion on Singh after the first three rounds.

Maruyama was urged on by a huge gallery of his Japanese fans, but could not close the deal, playing the last eight holes in two-over par. Singh, a Fijian-Indian who turns 42 next month, collected 864,000 dollars for the win.

"I let one go last week," Singh said. "I was pretty upset for two or three days but I think I've calmed down now. "This is very much what I needed, a great relief. If I had not won one, I would be tensing up as the weeks go by, but this is a big load off my mind and I can go and relax and play."

Els also left town feeling positive after playing the final three holes in four-under. He birdied the 16th and 17th holes before rolling in an 18-foot eagle putt at No. 18. But in the end, Els left himself with a little too much work, and although he waited in case he was needed for a playoff, he might have known Singh would make it unnecessary.

"You can't think about a guy like that faltering. You've got to go out and beat him," Els said. "He's on top of his game right now, swinging well and he's got a lot of confidence. I'm not too far behind him. It's a long year and we've got a lot of golf to be played."

Singh plans to play at next week's PGA event in San Diego in a field that also includes Tiger Woods. Woods, who did not play in Honolulu, said earlier he would play in San Diego then take a month off.

Singh plans to wipe away disappointing memories of his past few appearances at the Torrey Pines course. "Next week's field is strong so I am looking forward to the challenge," Singh said. "I was hurt one year and I missed the cut last year so I am going to be ready to play." -AFP

SONY OPEN FOURTH-ROUND SCORES:

269 - Vijay Singh (FIJ) 69-68-67-65

270 - Ernie Els (RSA) 71-67-70-62

271 - Charles Howell 70-70-64-67, Shigeki Maruyama (JPN) 67-65-68-71

272 - Stewart Cink 66-69-72-65, Brett Quigley 66-67-68-71

273 - Tommy Armour 69-71-67-66, Andrew Magee 67-68-71-67

274 - Bart Bryant 70-69-66-69, Robert Gamez 69-66-68-71, Tom Lehman 67-68-70-69, Craig Stadler 71-69-67-67

275 - Luke Donald (GBR) 74-67-65-69, Jeff Maggert 70-68-68-69, Shaun Micheel 70-68-68-69, David Toms 71-68-68-68

276 - Jason Allred 69-68-70-69, Paul Azinger 67-68-67-74, Tim Herron 68-72-71-65

...

277 - Justin Rose (GBR) 67-66-72-72, Adam Scott (AUS) 71-65-69-72

278 - Craig Parry (AUS) 69-70-70-69

281 - Rory Sabbatini (RSA) 72-70-66-73

282 - Steve Allan (AUS) 75-67-68-72

283 - Daniel Chopra (SWE) 73-69-69-72, Retief Goosen (RSA) 72-70-72-69

284 - Jesper Parnevik (SWE) 72-69-71-72

285 - Ryuji Imada (JPN) 73-69-68-75

293 - Paul Gow (AUS) 70-68-76-79. -AFP