CROMWELL, Aug 30: Woody Austin birdied the first hole of a sudden-death playoff against Tim Herron to win the Buick Championship on Sunday. Both Austin and Herron completed 72 holes with 10-under-par scores of 270 with both shooting 66 in the finalss round.
Zach Johnson, Tom Pernice Jr. and Fred Funk tied for third, just one stroke behind. Former U.S. Open champion Corey Pavin, Jason Bohn and Matt Gogel were another shot back in joint sixth place.
The playoff began on the par-four 18th hole, and Austin found the fairway while Herron was in deep rough to the left. Herron hit his approach to the front of the green and needed two putts to get down. Austin struck his second to about eight feet, then rolled in the putt for his first victory since the 1995 Buick Open.
Leading final round scores:
270 - Woody Austin (US) 68, 70, 66, 66; Tim Herron (US) 70, 69, 65, 66. (Austin won on first one sudden-death hole).
271 - Zach Johnson (US) 67, 65, 73, 66; Tom Pernice Jr (US) 70, 66, 68, 67; Fred Funk (US) 66, 66, 69, 70.
272 - Jason Bohn (US) 71, 67, 69, 65; Matt Gogel (US) 67, 69, 69, 67; Corey Pavin (US) 62, 72, 68, 70.
273 - Jeff Sluman (US) 72, 69, 70, 62; Kevin Sutherland (US) 70, 70, 67, 66; Todd Fischer (US) 71, 69, 67, 66; Tom Byrum (US) 69, 66, 67, 71.
274 - Arjun Atwal (India) 68, 72, 70, 64; Brad Faxon (US) 69, 68, 70, 67; Jerry Kelly (US) 66, 71, 70, 67; Robert Damron (US) 71, 68, 68, 67; Omar Uresti (US) 68, 70, 67, 69; Hank Kuehne (US) 68, 65, 71, 70; Kirk Triplett (US) 68, 67, 69, 70; Hidemichi Tanaka (Japan) 68, 69, 67, 70.
JIMENEZ TRIUMPHS
MUNICH: Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez won his fourth European Tour title of the year with a two-shot victory at the BMW International Open on Sunday. The 40-year-old fired a closing six-under-par 66 to finish at 21-under 267.
Frenchman Thomas Levet, tied for the lead with Jimenez overnight, had to settle for second place after carding a 68. Briton Colin Montgomerie shared third place, also after a 68. Level with Montgomerie were compatriot Paul Casey and Germany's Alex Cejka, who closed with a 65.
Leading final round scores:
267 - Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 68, 66, 67, 66.
269 - Thomas Levet (France) 73, 65, 63, 68.
272 - Paul Casey (Britain) 69, 69, 69, 65; Alex Cejka (Germany) 68, 70, 69, 65; Colin Montgomerie 67, 70, 67, 68.
273 - Darren Clarke (Britain) 72, 68, 68, 65; Fredrik Jacobson (Sweden) 71, 65, 68, 69; David Lynn (Britain) 67, 68, 69, 69; Paul McGinley (Ireland) 70, 68, 67, 68; Retief Goosen (South Africa) 66, 69, 68, 70.
274 - John Daly (US) 67, 70, 72, 65; Joakim Haeggman (Sweden) 69, 70, 70, 65; Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark) 70, 67, 69, 68; Andrew Raitt (Britain) 73, 69, 65, 67; Tino Schuster (Germany) 70, 68, 68, 68.
275 - Graeme McDowell (Britain) 72, 72, 69, 62; Sebastian Fernandez (Argentina) 71, 68, 67, 69; Lee Westwood (Britain) 72, 68, 66, 69; Markus Brier (Austria) 71, 65, 67, 72.
276 - Luke Donald (Britain) 68, 71, 68, 69; Peter Fowler (Australia) 73, 67, 64, 72.
277 - Raphael Jacquelin (France) 68, 72, 71, 66; Nick O'Hern (Australia) 71, 73, 67, 66; David Howell (Britain) 73, 68, 67, 69.
278 - Sergio Garcia (Spain) 71, 69, 70, 68; Damien McGrane (Ireland) 73, 70, 67, 68; Ian Poulter (Britain) 73, 66, 69, 70. -Reuters