SHANGHAI, May 2: World number three Ernie Els fired a flawless seven-under-par 65 to cruise to a 13-stroke victory at the storm-affected Asian Open on Monday. The South African led from the opening day of the $1.5 million event and completed 72 holes in a tournament-record 26-under-par 262 at Shanghai’s Tomson Golf Club.
His margin of victory was a new Asian Tour record and the second largest in an event sanctioned by the European Tour behind the 15-shot win posted by Tiger Woods at the 2000 US Open. Britain’s Simon Wakefield finished runner-up on 13-under after a closing 73, with Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn a further shot back in third following a 72.
Thunderstorms on Sunday morning forced the leading 24 players to complete their final rounds on Monday.
Els’s victory was his 21st on the European Tour and 56th international title. The tournament was jointly sanctioned by the European and Asian tours.
It was also his 10th wire-to-wire victory on the European Tour and gave him his third title of the year following wins in Dubai and Qatar.
Els, who earned $250,000 for the victory, remains second in this year’s European Order of Merit with $1.05 million.
Wakefield’s second place was worth $166,000 and virtually secured his European Tour card for next year.
Leading final round scores:
262 — Ernie Els (South Africa) 67, 62, 68, 65.
275 — Simon Wakefield (Britain) 67, 69, 66, 73.
276 — Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 71, 65, 68, 72.
278 — Eddie Lee (New Zealand) 67, 66, 73, 72; Jean-Francois Lucquin (France) 70, 66, 69, 73.
279 — Luke Donald (Britain) 70, 69, 68, 72; Stuart Little (Britain) 71, 70, 72, 66.
280 — Soren Hansen (Denmark) 69, 70, 68, 73; James Kingston (South Africa) 70, 71, 69, 70.
281 — Peter Hedblom (Sweden) 72, 69, 70, 70; Edward Michaels (United States) 74, 69, 67, 71; David Park (Britain) 70, 69, 71, 71; Jeev Milkha Singh (India) 69, 68, 70, 74.
282 — Simon Dyson (Britain) 70, 74, 66, 72; Lian-Wei Zhang (China) 70, 71, 69, 72.
283 — Raphael Jacquelin (France) 67, 67, 75, 74; Joong Kyung Mo (South Korea) 73, 68, 70, 72; Jyoti Randhawa (India) 70, 74, 67, 72; Patrik Sjoeland (Sweden) 70, 68, 72, 73.
284 — Christian Cevaer (France) 70, 69, 73, 72; Kenneth Ferrie (Britain) 72, 68, 74, 70; Mark Foster (Britain) 70, 72, 70, 72; Adam Groom (Australia) 72, 71, 69, 72; Jason Knutzon (United States) 71, 72, 71, 70; Wade Ormsby (Australia) 72, 67, 71, 74; Anthony Wall (Britain) 71, 69, 72, 72; Niki Zitny (Austria) 75, 69, 71, 69.
285 — Francois Delamontagne (France) 72, 70, 71, 72; Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 70, 73, 69, 73; Jean Van de Velde (France) 67, 69, 72, 77.
NEW ORLEANS: Tim Petrovic beat James Driscoll on the first hole of a sudden death playoff to claim his maiden PGA Tour victory at the $5.5 million Zurich Classic on Sunday.
American Petrovic was left a routine putt for par to collect the winner’s $990,000 after Driscoll bogeyed the par-five 18th, ending a long day at the TPC at Louisiana that began with the completion of the rain-hit third round.
Chris DiMarco, who lost in a playoff to Tiger Woods at the US Masters last month, finished tied third with Lucas Glover on 12 under after holding a two-shot lead earlier in the final round.
It was the second time Petrovic, 38, had stepped on to the 18th green needing a clutch putt, having drained a nervy 20-footer for birdie 20 minutes earlier to go to four under for the round and force a playoff.
Driscoll, a PGA Tour rookie, held his nerve through a tense final round closing with seven consecutive pars to finish with a two-under 70 level with Petrovic at 13-under 275 for the tournament.
Leading final round scores:
275 — Tim Petrovic (United States) 72, 69, 66, 68; James Driscoll (United States) 68, 71, 66, 70 (Perovich wins on first playoff hole).
276 — Lucas Glover (United States) 69, 68, 70, 69; Chris DiMarco (United States) 65, 71, 68, 72.
279 — Woody Austin (United States) 71, 70, 71, 67; J.J. Henry (United States) 67, 67, 74, 71; Bo Van Pelt (United States) 73, 70, 66, 70; Arjun Atwal (India) 65, 68, 73, 73.
280 — D.J. Trahan (United States) 72, 72, 67, 69; Richard S. Johnson (Sweden) 70, 68, 72, 70; Chris Anderson (United States) 70, 70, 69, 71; Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 68, 71, 70, 71; Daniel Chopra (Sweden) 71, 70, 68, 71.
281 — Sean O’Hair (United States) 68, 71, 73, 69; Brendan Jones (Australia) 73, 69, 71, 68; Jay Williamson (United States) 71, 71, 68, 71.
282 — Tom Gillis (United States) 71, 74, 68, 69; Justin Rose (Britain) 71, 71, 71, 69; Brian Davis (Britain) 71, 69, 70, 72; John Rollins (United States) 71, 69, 69, 73.
283 — Glen Hnatiuk (Canada) 70, 72, 73, 68; Olin Browne (United States) 73, 71, 69, 70; Paul Azinger (United States) 70, 73, 72, 68; Dennis Paulson (United States) 70, 74, 69, 70; Hank Kuehne (United States) 69, 69, 73, 72; Vijay Singh (Fiji) 67, 71, 73, 72; Tim Clark (South Africa) 67, 69, 70, 77.—Reuters
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