SYDNEY, 29 November 2004 — Defending champion Peter Lonard charged home with five late birdies to win the centenary Australian Open by a single shot yesterday.
While most of his rivals melted in the heat on a scorching day in Sydney, Australian Lonard kept his cool to shoot a final round three-under-par 68 for a total of three-under-par 281.
Stuart Appleby had a chance to force a play-off when he birdied the 16th but missed birdie putts on the last two holes to finish a shot behind in outright second.
Overnight leader Rod Pampling fell out of contention with a round of 75 but salvaged a birdie at the last to finish tied for third with Steven Bowditch who closed with a 69.
Only four players broke par for the tournament as the temperature rose to 39 degrees Celsius on the final day, making low-scoring almost impossible as the greens quickened up.
Lonard started the day five shots off the pace after three matching rounds of even par 71 and parred the first 10 holes before making his move.
The 37-year-old, whose career was almost ruined a decade ago when he contracted Ross River Fever, a chronic fatigue illness, had made just six birdies in his first 64 holes but reeled off five birdies in the next seven holes.
He went to the final tee leading comfortably by three but made a bogey at the last when he hooked his approach shot. Appleby birdied the 16th to close the gap to a shot.
Briton Dodd Wins Maiden Title in China
In Shanghai, Britain’s Stephen Dodd fired a four-under-par 68 to clinch his maiden European Tour title with a three-shot victory at the China Open yesterday.
The 38-year-old Welshman, who birdied the last, finished on 12-under-par 276 to hold off the challenge of Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn at the first event of the 2005 European Tour in Shanghai.
The closest Dodd had previously come to victory was second place at the 2001 North West of Ireland Open, but he made putts when it mattered all week at the $1 million China Open. The Briton led Bjorn and fellow Dane Soren Hansen by three shots overnight and his only wobble came with a bogey on the par-three 17th.
Bjorn, however, drove into the rough on the 554-yard 18th and was forced to lay up while Dodd holed a 12-foot birdie putt to secure victory at the 166th attempt.
Pre-tournament favorite Bjorn also carded a 68 to finish second, with Thai pair Chawalit Plaphol and Thaworn Wiratchant a further three strokes back in third alongside Australian Jason Dawes. Dawes closed with a 66 that included a hole-in-one on the 185-yard eighth. Hansen slipped back into a share of eighth after carding a 73.
Sorenstam Denies Scott Skins Windfall
In La Quinta, California, Swedish superstar Annika Sorenstam’s lone birdie denied Aussie Adam Scott a massive payoff Saturday on the first day of the Skins Game exhibition golf tournament. Sorenstam, playing with PGA Tour stars Tiger Woods, Fred Couples and Scott, couldn’t match the distance of her male counterparts and posted two bogeys at the Trilogy Golf Club — at the seventh and eighth.
But at the par-five ninth, the final hole of the day, Scott reached the green in two and two-putted from 30 feet.
Woods lipped out a five-footer and Couples found the fairway bushes to leave Scott poised to win the 250,000 dollars that had accumulated as the previous six holes were halved.
Sorenstam, who won $225,000 in this event last year, birdied the hole for a half.
Scott, making his Skins Game debut, was the only player to cash in on Saturday, nabbing two skins and $50,000 with a 40-foot birdie putt at the second hole.
Woods was inches away from collecting some cash, running past the edge of the cup with an eight-footer for birdie at the fourth.
He also had matched by Couples at the par-three sixth and Scott at the seventh.
Couples, the defending champion and a four-time winner of this event, squandered a chance at the fifth, where he missed a 10-foot birdie attempt.
“I had my chances to get a couple skins and I just couldn’t do it,” Woods said.
Added Couples: “I tied Tiger on a par-three and then and then Adam made a wonderful putt to tie for a huge hole,” Couples said.
Each of the first six holes were worth $25,000. Seven-12 are worth $50,000 apiece, 13-17 offer $70,000 each and the 18th rewards the winner with $200,000.
