GREENSBORO (North Carolina), Oct 20: Japan’s Shigeki Maruyama shot a five-under-par 67 to win the Greensboro Classic by five strokes over Brad Faxon on Sunday.
Maruyama, who never lost the lead after the second round, finished at 22-under-par 266 for his third PGA Tour victory. Faxon shot a three-under 69 and finished at 17-under 271.
The 34-year-old Maruyama began his final round with a three-stroke lead and was never seriously threatened.
He birdied the par-four first and padded his lead with birdies at the fourth and fifth holes before a lone bogey at the par-five ninth. Maruyama added three birdies on the back nine.
His last victory was at the 2002 Byron Nelson Classic.
Faxon gave chase with an outward three-under 33 but could never substantially cut into Maruyama’s lead and finished second for the third time this season.
Matt Gogel (68) with a 15-under 273 and Australian Robert Allenby (68) at 14-under 274 were fourth and five respectively.
Seven players finished on a 13-under total of 275.
Even though his card was secure for 2004, Maruyama was aiming to finish inside the top 125 on the money list at the beginning of September.
But since last month’s Pennsylvania Classic, Maruyama has claimed three top-10 finishes and won over $1m in prizemoney.
Leading final round scores:
266 — Shigeki Maruyama (Japan) 65, 64, 70, 67.
271 — Brad Faxon 67, 67, 68, 69.
273 — Matt Gogel 70, 67, 68, 68.
274 — Robert Allenby (Australia) 70, 70, 66, 68.
275 — Brenden Pappas (South Africa) 71, 68, 70, 66; John E. Morgan (Britain) 66, 72, 70, 67; Jonathan Byrd 66, 70, 71, 68; Jay Haas 69, 68, 70, 68; Jeff Brehaut 69, 70, 68, 68; Stephen Ames (Trinidad & Tobago) 64, 71, 71, 69; K.J. Choi (South Korea) 68, 69, 68, 70.
276 — Mike Heinen 73, 66, 73, 64; Dave Stockton Jr 68, 69, 71, 68; Briny Baird 69, 72, 67, 68; Stuart Appleby (Australia) 68, 70, 68, 70.
277 — Kevin Sutherland 72, 70, 69, 66; Robert Gamez 71, 70, 67, 69.
278 — Chris Anderson 68, 75, 68, 67; Jeff Sluman 73, 66, 70, 69; John Huston 67, 71, 70, 70; Per-Ulrik Johansson (Sweden) 71, 66, 70, 71.
Leading world rankings :
1. (1) Tiger Woods 16.53 points average; 2. (2) Ernie Els (South Africa) 9.26; 3. (3) Vijay Singh (Fiji) 9.19; 4. (4) Davis Love III 7.96; 5. (5) Jim Furyk 7.57; 6. (6) Mike Weir (Canada) 7.46; 7. (7) David Toms 5.92; 8. (8) Kenny Perry 5.68; 9. (9) Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 5.37; 10. (10) Retief Goosen (South Africa) 5.18; 11. (11) Nick Price (Zimbabwe) 4.92; 12. (13) Darren Clarke (Britain) 4.76; 13. (12) Phil Mickelson 4.72; 14. (14) Stuart Appleby (Australia) 4.04; 15. (18) Robert Allenby (Australia) 3.82; 16. (17) K.J. Choi (South Korea) 3.79; 17. (15) Justin Leonard 3.73; 18. (16) Chris DiMarco 3.68; 19. (28) Brad Faxon 3.58; 20. (20) Jay Haas 3.44.—Reuters