Playing a near-flawless golf, the team of Fahad Al-Mansour, J.  Smith, Paul Van Sickle and Elizabeth Kennedy on Thursday won the ABGR-American Express 17th Annual Golf Tournament with a net score of 53.

Al-Mansour was the low handicap player and captain who  provided leadership and stability to the team but he was quick to say that it was "total teamwork" that carried them to victory.

"There was not one player who played so special. I would say  it was teamwork. The players complemented each other well. I thought all of us participated and did some contribution which is very nice," said Al-Mansour.

Al-Mansour's team, with 11 handicap and teed off Thursday, the final day of the two-day four ball  Texas Scramble format competition, posted a gross score of 64 (30-34) in a sparkling bogeyless round that  contained eight birdies, three of them on the trot from the fourth hole.

The event was not without drama. The score to beat was eight under from the team of taekwondo master and team captain M. S. Kim, Sid McManus, Drew Allen and Marilyn Don Carolis who had played on the first day Wednesday.

Starting on No. 1, Fahad and Co. hit the turn at 6-under and tied the first day leaders with birdies on 12 and 15. All they had to do was par the last three holes to ensure victory because of a one-stroke advantage in handicap over Kim's team, which played off 10.

As Fahad stepped on the 18th tee he was admonished by Smith  to better not screw this one up. But Fahad,  hitting his fourth drive of the day after the rest of the team members had each used up their four drives, pushed his drive to the right under a tree. A punch out and a weak chip left the team with 16-foot must-make putt from the left side of the green, which Fahad courageously holed in.

After  Smith, Van Sickle and Kennedy all missed, Fahad drained the putt, the ball kept tracking though for a while it looked unlikely to reach  the hole until it made a turn into the hole. The team then broke into a frenzied celebration jumping up and down the course, as Fahad redeemed himself from a final hole mistake.

Kim's team was equally amazing hitting four birdies on each nine for another 64 (32-32). But it had to settle for second best on net score of 54.

Third place went to the team of Thomas Merkel, Teymour Alireza, Mace Crowe and Jean Louis Mauvais on countback over the squad of Majed Sorour, David Cannon, Paul Dugan and David Smith after both sides finished on 55. The next two places at 57 were also decided via the countback with Brad Shanon, Todd Bedenis, Paul Papanicolaou and Craig Johnson at fifth position and Saad Al-Otaibi, Mark Fisher, Rocky Williams and Randy Fay at sixth.

The individual award winners are the following: Closest to pin No. 11, No. 16 and No. 4 Kevin Hanlon, Dan McLaughlin and Paul Hesla; longest drive men's at No. 1 and ladies at No. 10 McLaughlin and Dirab Ladies Group captain Flore Bouzanne; longest putt men's at No. 13 and ladies at No. 1 Mark Davies and Lois Barker.

The team winners and individual awardees were presented with their prizes during the gala awards and dinner Thursday night.

To the credit of ABGR (American Business Group Riyadh) Golf Committee the event went beyond expectation from the course setup to tournament presentation to sponsors/players support. American Express is the title sponsor with Gama Dental clinic as platinum sponsor. Saudi Oger Ltd.  and Mawarid Food Company-Pizza Hut are the gold sponsors, Air France and KLM silver sponsors; Dirab Golf & Country Club, UPS, Vinnell Arabia, Olayan and Exxon Mobil bronze sponsors; and Arabian Shield, Pepsi, Almarai Company, PriceWaterHouseCoopers, Movenpick, Satco, Al Faisaliah Hotel and Four Seasons Riyadh hole sponsors.

ABGR Chair Bob Coffey and event manager Tom Merkel thanked the club and course owner Khaled Abunayyan for making their facilities available to the group for this tournament.