GONZALO Fernandez-Castano and Juvic Pagunsan will battle it out for the Singapore Open title this morning after bad weather forced the suspension of their sudden-death play-off at Sentosa Golf Club.
Both players had finished tied on 14 under par, forcing a play-off, and teed off at the par-five 18th for a second time with Pagunsan splitting the fairway and Fernandez-Castano finding the sand.
However, lightning forced the duo off and, although they returned over an hour later to both hit lay-ups, thunderstorms returned to call a halt to proceedings for the day.
Fernandez-Castano had earlier let slip a four-stroke lead over the final nine holes as he ended with a round of 72.
Shane Lowry’s final round 68 and Graeme McDowell’s 66 saw the Irish pair finish in a share of 13th place, on eight under par. Michael Hoey’s 74 saw him come in at six under.
Peter Lawrie ended on one over par after a 76, while Paul Cutler was three shots behind him, after signing for a 78.
With the tournament reduced to 54 holes after yesterday’s play was ravaged by the weather, the overnight leader entered the final round with a three-shot advantage over Edoardo Molinari.
And an eagle, a birdie and a bogey over the front nine on the Serapong Course saw him consolidate his lead, reaching 17 under at the turn to move four clear of the chasing pack.
However, three bogeys coming home as Fernandez-Castano missed a succession of makeable par putts saw the Spaniard’s cushion trimmed to one.
Pagunsan then held his nerve to birdie the last with a fine 10-foot putt before Fernandez-Castano found the water off the 18th tee.
However, he brilliantly drained a 20-footer to escape with a five and set up a play-off after Pagunsan had signed off with a 67 that featured five birdies – including a chip-in at the first – and one bogey.
Anthony Kim produced the round of the day as a 64 that contained eight birdies and a bogey saw the American climb into a share of third on 13 under par.
He was joined by Louis Oosthuizen, the South African compiling a fine 65 that included seven birdies and just one dropped shot.
Dutchman Joost Luiten, Danny Lee and Edoardo Molinari all ended 12 under following rounds of 67, 68 and 71 respectively, while James Morrison finished a shot further back in eighth thanks to a one-over 72.
Justin Rose was tied for ninth on 10 under par after shooting a final round of 69, the Englishman collecting three birdies and a bogey.
“It was a tough day out there – one of the toughest I have ever had,” said Fernandez-Castano. “The heat was brutal and my game was not good.
“I was feeling the pressure because it has been a long time without a victory and I want this one desperately. I felt the pressure at the end.”
Woods contends but Chalmers prevails
BUT FOR a couple of poor tee shots, Tiger Woods believes he could have been celebrating the end of a two-year title drought at the Australian Open yesterday.
A week in Sydney that started with the controversy over a racist comment made about him by his former caddie Steve Williams ended with the 14-time major champion back in the hunt at the business end of a tournament.
Two years of injury and personal turmoil almost brought a halt to one of the greatest careers in golf, but there were signs at the Lakes Golf Club that Woods is finally taking the steps forward that will bring him his 96th career title.
Greg Chalmers, an Australian ranked 215 in the world, fired a final-round three-under-par 69 yesterday to win by a stroke from countryman John Senden with a 13-under-par total of 275. He also won the tournament in 1998.
“I felt great, it’s nice to be finally healthy again, it’s been such a long time,” Woods, now 58th in the world, said after finishing in third place, two shots behind Chalmers.
That was the 35-year-olds mantra all week. His recovery from Achilles and knee injuries, he said, was finally allowing him to put in the work necessary to get to grips with his new swing, and it was starting to show in tournament play.
On Thursday, he posted his first blemish free-round for nine months with a four-under-par 68. On Friday, his five-under 67 put him in the lead overnight for the first time this year.
Saturdays three-over 75 was a step backwards, but at least, he said, he was fit enough to get out and tweak a few things in practice.
“I was close to finding it yesterday, but it wasn’t quite there,” he said. “Did some work on the range, did a lot of work on the putting range and found my stroke, found some of the old keys and rolled it good today.
“It was simple little fixes . . . I just had to reset my game and I was fine.”
Six shots off the pace going into Sunday’s final round, Woods drew within a shot of the leader after a superb chipped eagle at the 14th before having to settle for another 67 and an 11-under finish.
Woods now moves on to Melbourne for the Presidents Cup next week and his showing in Sydney should defuse the controversy around United States skipper Fred Couples selecting him as a captain’s pick.
“It will be good to get with the team and figure out our strategy, figure out who’s going to tee off from what tees and what balls we’re going to use and all of that sort of thing that goes into team events,” Woods said. “It’ll be great.”
Golf Scoreboard
Singapore Open Final Round
The Tanjong The Serapong, Sentosa GC
(Irish in bold, British unless stated, par 71)
(Play-off suspended – resumes this morning)
199 – J Pagunsan (Phi) 66 66 67, G Fdez-Castano (Spa) 66 61 72; 200 – A Kim (US) 70 66 64, L Oosthuizen (SA) 72 63 65; 201 – D Lee (NZ) 68 65 68, J Luiten (Ned) 69 65 67, E Molinari (Ita) 62 68 71; 202 – J Morrison 62 68 72; 203 – T Van Der Walt (SA) 71 65 67, J Rose 69 65 69; 204 – S Webster 69 69 66, A Hansen (Den) 69 64 71; 205 – R Ramsay 69 65 71, Graeme McDowell 68 71 66, Shane Lowry 67 70 68, J Kruger (SA) 65 72 68, H Singh Rai (Ind) 70 69 66, R Karlberg (Swe) 67 69 69; 206 – MA Jimenez (Spa) 73 65 68, D Horsey 69 69 68, A Que (Phi) 71 68 67, T Wiratchant (Tha) 75 63 68; 207 – N Tantipokakul (Tha) 69 70 68, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 72 64 71, S Barr (Aus) 68 71 68, E Els (SA) 72 66 69, R Kulacz (Aus) 70 69 68, C Nirat (Tha) 70 68 69, J Kyung Mo (Kor) 70 67 70, YE Yang (Kor) 63 71 73, F Andersson Hed (Swe) 68 66 73, Michael Hoey 67 66 74; 208 – Y-S Chan (Tpe) 68 71 69, F Molinari (Ita) 69 69 70, D Maruyama (Jpn) 64 71 73, S Dyson 68 70 70, C Plaphol (Tha) 71 66 71, C-b Lam (Sin) 66 72 70, P Mickelson (US) 71 67 70, S Hend (Aus) 67 72 69, P Marksaeng (Tha) 69 70 69, P Karmis (Rsa) 66 73 69, W-c Liang (Chn) 68 71 69, A Canizares (Spa) 69 67 72, M Foster 70 67 71; 209 – R Goosen (SA) 67 72 70, C Kumar (Ind) 70 68 71, L Slattery 69 70 70, T Jaidee (Tha) 66 73 70, O Fisher 66 71 72, G Boyd 72 67 70, A Noren (Swe) 69 67 73, J Donaldson 67 71 71, D-k Park (Kor) 70 69 70, A Prathumanee (Tha) 65 74 70, M Fraser (Aus) 70 69 70; 210 – R Gangjee (Ind) 65 74 71, T Aiken (SA) 67 70 73, C Montgomerie 67 71 72, M Zions (Aus) 70 69 71, W-S Kang (Kor) 70 68 72; 211 – Z Moe (Kor) 66 72 73, W-T Lin (Tpe) 66 72 73, S Lee (Kor) 65 71 75, I Garrido (Spa) 73 66 72; 212 – J Huldahl (Den) 70 69 73, J Overton (US) 68 68 76, S Strange (Aus) 73 66 73, M Perera (Aus) 68 70 74, J Knutzon (US) 70 67 75, T Khrongpha (Tha) 70 68 74, T Bjorn (Den) 69 70 73, K Ichihara (Jpn) 69 70 73; 213 – R Jacquelin (Fra) 68 71 74; 214 – D Su (Chn) 72 67 75, Peter Lawrie 68 70 76; 215 – M Tunnicliff 66 73 76; 216 – J Bayron (Phi) 69 70 77; 217 – Paul Cutler 75 64 78, E Salvador (Phi) 71 67 79.
Australian Open Final Round
The Lakes GC, New South Wales
(Aus unless stated, par 72)
275 – G Chalmers 67 72 67 69; 276 – J Senden 70 71 63 72; 277 – T Woods (US) 68 67 75 67; 279 – N Watney (US) 66 73 68 72, A Scott 69 71 71 68, G Ogilvy 70 74 70 65, N O’Hern 69 72 66 72, J Day 69 68 68 74; 280 – A Baddeley 73 71 67 69, R Haller 70 73 65 72; 281 – K Stanley (US) 72 72 67 70; 282 – S Arnold 71 71 72 68, B Watson (US) 68 70 72 72, M Jones 69 70 74 69; 283 – J Lyle 65 74 69 75, M Millar 68 73 73 69, T Pilkadaris 71 74 69 69, F Couples (US) 67 74 71 71; 285 – D McKenzie 73 69 76 67, C Hasthorpe 69 75 70 71, K Kraft (US) 71 74 68 72, M Cain 73 71 69 72; 286 – R Mccarthy 74 71 70 71, J Cook (US) 69 74 71 72, A Summers 70 72 73 71, C Hancock 70 73 74 69, P O’Malley 70 66 75 75, S Allan 69 74 70 73; 287 – B Haas (US) 72 71 72 72, A Brown 70 76 73 68, A Tschudin 68 78 70 71, J Nitties 67 76 75 69, R Blizard 69 70 74 74, J Choi (Kor) 73 67 74 73, M Griffin 71 75 69 72; 288 – N Cullen 72 70 69 77, J Arnold 70 76 72 70; 289 – D Johnson (US) 66 75 75 73, S Laycock 72 74 72 71, A Bland 74 72 72 71, D Welsford 69 76 72 72, D Toms (US) 72 73 70 74, A Crawford 73 72 72 72.
