LOS ANGELES, 23 February 2004 — Defending champion Mike Weir took advantage of wet and soft conditions to forge five shots clear of the field at the Nissan Open on Saturday, firing a five-under-par 66 in the third round.
Canada’s US Masters champion mixed six birdies with a solitary bogey before finishing on a tournament record total of 17-under 196 after 54 holes at Riviera Country Club. Japan’s Shigeki Maruyama, co-leader with left-hander Weir overnight, birdied the last to card an even-par 71 to lie second at 12 under.
Jeff Maggert, who finished runner-up two weeks ago behind Vijay Singh at Pebble Beach, was a further stroke back in third after returning a 69 while fellow American Scott McCarron shot a one-over-par 72 to lie fourth at 10 under.
Last week’s winner John Daly also carded a 72 to finish in a tie for fifth at nine-under 204, along with Loren Roberts (69), Briny Baird (73) and Australian Stuart Appleby (70).
World No. 1 Tiger Woods, who had rallied on Friday with a second-round 66, could only manage a 72 and slipped back into a share of 44th, 14 adrift of Weir. Fijian Singh produced his best round of the week, shooting a three-under-par 68 to climb into a tie for 34th at four under.
Weir has not won on the Tour since his last year’s playoff victory at the Masters and after starting the round tied for the lead with Maruyama, he adopted a safety-first approach to open with a birdie and a bogey. Another birdie on the par-three sixth hole while his playing partners Maruyama and McCarron both had bogeys gave the Canadian a two-shot advantage which he never looked like relinquishing.
Thai Thongchai Wins Malaysian Open
Thongchai Jaidee became the first Thai to win on the European Tour yesterday, hitting a hole-in-one to help him clinch a two-shot victory in the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur.
The 34-year-old aced the 16th hole and then birdied the last in a final round 68 for a winning total of 14-under-par 274 for the tournament, two strokes better than Australian Brad Kennedy.
The victory at the co-sanctioned event was the second in a row on the Asian Tour for Thongchai, who won the Myanmar Open last week. Kennedy, who also finished second at this event last year, had the chance to force a playoff but sent his second shot at the last into trees from where he eventually recorded a bogey for a closing round 67 and a 12-under total of 276.
It was a good day for Thailand with Thongchai’s compatriots Prayad Markseang and Chawalit Plaphol sharing third place with the best finishing European, Frenchman Thomas Levet, on 10-under.
Miguel Angel Jimenez shot a fourth-round 71 to share sixth place with Briton Andrew Marshall on eight-under, enough to send the Spaniard to the top of the European Tour’s Order of Merit ahead of South African Ernie Els.
Thongchai, who earned a two-year European Tour exemption after taking out affiliate membership earlier this season, became the seventh Asian to win on the European Tour.
The former paratrooper collected a first prize check of $201,700 to move to fourth place on the European Order of Merit. The Thai began the final round of the event on 10-under, three behind third-round leader Lee Sung-man of South Korea, after completing his third round in 64 earlier yesterday because of Saturday’s torrential rain.
The Australian looked set to force a playoff but a wayward fairway shot into trees at the last virtually ended the contest. He recovered well, superbly finding the back of the green with his third, but his birdie attempt from 30 feet missed the hole right and Kennedy then failed to hole his par putt and was forced to settle for bogey and a round of 67.
Walters Rock Solid for Breakthrough Tournament Win
In Adelaide, Australian Euan Walters earned the biggest pay check of his golfing career when he led throughout the final round for a five-stroke win in the South Australian Open Championship here yesterday.
Walters showed plenty of composure in his three-under par final round 68 to finish at nine-under 275 and pocket $150,000 for his breakthrough win.
Former US PGA champion Wayne Grady tied for second with fellow Australians Brendan Jones and Anthony Painter in the Australasian PGA Tour event, which was co-sanctioned by the US second-tier Nationwide Tour. Walters had only previously won tournaments on the secondary Von Nida Tour, where he won the NSW PGA and Western Australian PGA in 1999.
He began the final round with a one-stroke lead over Painter and compatriots Matthew Ecob and Mathew Goggin. By the time he teed off on the first hole, Jones, Grady and Swede Jens Nilsson had joined the group poised to strike on five-under, one shot off the lead.
