GOLF: Kaname Yokoo held off a late charge from Sergio Garcia to win the Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Miyazaki, Japan, yesterday. Garcia birdied four of the final six holes, but Yokoo had built such a big lead by then that it was too little, too late.

The Japanese star could even afford the luxury of a bogey at the final hole, tapping in from six inches for the biggest victory of his career thanks to a closing two-under-par 69 at the Phoenix Country Club.

Yokoo finished at 15-under 269, Garcia shot 66 for 270, while South Korean KJ Choi (64) carded the day's best round to climb into third place on 271.

Darren Clarke's expected final round challenge never got off the launch pad. After starting the day just a stroke from the lead, the Ulsterman faded with a 71 to tie for fourth with Justin Rose (67) on 272.

Ulsterman Graeme McDowell, meanwhile, endured a nightmare start to his day when he was penalised two strokes for being late for his tee-time. McDowell thought he had a 9.20 a.m. tee-time, but it was actually 9.10.

"They had a timesheet at the hotel which said 9.20," he said. "There was obviously a revised time sheet I never saw."

McDowell was on the putting green when informed he was due to tee off. He rushed to the tee, but was 90 seconds late.

Tiger Woods (67) made a nice start to his round with three front-nine birdies, but he was never seriously in contention and had to settle for eighth place. He finished six strokes behind Yokoo, who collects €327,000 for his fourth victory on the Japan Tour.

SUNSHINE TOUR: Waterford's Gavin McNeill and Ciaran McMonagle from Dunfanaghy made the perfect start to the Sunshine Tour in South Africa when they finished joint second behind Hennie Otto in the Nashua Masters at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club yesterday.

Otto carded a final round 69 to win by two strokes on one-under par 279 from the Irish pair, Roger Wessels and Mark McNulty.

In testing conditions McNeill carded a final round of level par 70, while McMonagle shot one over 71.

Tim Rice from Limerick and Cork's Padraig Dooley found the going tough in the last round and slipped to 75 and 76 respectively for 293 totals, while James Loughnane shot 75 for a total of 303.

This is Otto's first victory on the main summer leg of the Sunshine Tour following three victories on the winter portion of the Tour, while McNeill and McMonagle had their biggest pay-day so far, each earning just over €7,000.