GOTEMBA, Japan, 15 November 2004 — Britain’s Darren Clarke fired a closing 68 to win Japan’s Taiheiyo Masters with a record 22-under-par total of 266 yesterday.
The cigar-puffing Northern Irishman finished six shots clear of European Ryder Cup teammate Lee Westwood and Japan’s Nozomi Kawahara in chilly Shizuoka. It was Clarke’s second victory in Japan after winning the 2001 Chunichi Crowns title and was worth $280,000.
Clarke’s 266-stroke total broke the previous tournament record by four shots. Westwood, who won the title in 1996, 1997 and 1998, also closed with a 68 in the shadow of Mount Fuji.
Clarke teed off in the final round with a four-stroke advantage and never looked like relinquishing his stranglehold at the $1.4 million event despite a bogey on the par-four second.
Monty Skins Tiger in South Korea
In Jeju, South Korea, Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie held off world number two Tiger Woods to win the lion’s share of the $200,000 pot at a skins competition yesterday on a course he designed himself.
Montgomerie, a leading member of Europe’s Ryder Cup-winning team, swept nine skins worth $75,000 in the 18-hole game at the Raon Golf Club course on the southern South Korean island of Jeju. The Scot led from the start when he held a four-meter birdie putt on the par-four first hole. Woods, the 28-year-old US golfing legend, earned five skins worth $51,000, including one with a 2.5-meter birdie putt on the par-four 12th hole. Local favorite Kyung-Ju Choi, a PGA player, also collected $51,000 for his efforts that included a bunkershot on the 18th hole.
However organizers said all the prize money will go to charity. South Korean LPGA star Se Ri Pak missed several chances and did not win any holes. Woods, who was making his first visit to South Korea, now travels to Japan for next week’s Phoenix tournament.
Daly-Donofrio Seizes 3-Stroke LPGA Lead
In Semmes, Alabama, American Heather Daly-Donofrio had the low round for the second day in a row, firing an eight-under par 64 Saturday to grab a three-stroke lead at the $800,000 LPGA Tournament of Champions.
Donofrio finished 54 holes on 17-under par 199, three strokes ahead of Sweden’s Sophie Gustafson and four better than Taiwan’s Candie Kung and Britain’s Karen Stupples.
Laura Diaz, who led Daly-Donofrio by two strokes when the round began, fired a 71 to stand fifth on 204. No other players are within eight strokes of Donofrio, who fired a second-round 66, entering final round at the Robert Trent Jones Trail course. Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam, who is not entered here, has already clinched her seventh LPGA Player of the Year Award. Sorenstam posted her seventh win of the season last week in Japan.
