Sport

Verplank breezes in with Lord Nelson's help

US TOUR : Scott Verplank won the Byron Nelson championship with, he says, an assist from above.

Tue May 01 2007 - 01:00

US TOUR: Scott Verplank won the Byron Nelson championship with, he says, an assist from above.

"There's no doubt in my mind that the stars lined up and I got a little help from upstairs," Verplank said after clinching a one-stroke victory over Luke Donald in Dallas.

"On the last hole, I walked off the tee and felt a cool breeze, and it wasn't cool out there."

Dallas-born Verplank was 17 when he first met Nelson, and his only regret is the golfing great, who died seven months ago aged 94, was not present to witness the victory.

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Verplank, making his 21st appearance in the event, dodged a bullet when Donald missed a 10-foot birdie putt at the last, before sink his winning putt from two feet.

Donald had led by three shots after six holes but Verplank charged to the front with five birdies in a sizzling eight-hole stretch while Donald double-bogeyed the par-four ninth to cough up the lead.

Donald did cut the margin to one-shot with a birdie at the par-five 16th. But Verplank preserved his lead with a stellar par at the par-three 17th, where he splashed a long bunker shot to inside two feet.

Verplank carded 66 to finish at 13-under-par 267, collecting $1,134,000 (€830,000). Donald carded 68 for 12-under 268, with Phil Mickelson, Jerry Kelly, Ian Poulter and Rory Sabbatini two shots further back in a tie for third.

LPGA TOUR:Silvia Cavalleri became the first Italian winner on the LPGA Tour after recording a two-shot victory in the Corona Championship at Morelia, Mexico.

The $195,000 (€143,000) first prize almost matched Cavalleri's total earnings for the 2006 season, $197,979 (€145,000).

ASIAN TOUR: India's Gaurav Ghei won the inaugural Pine Valley Beijing Open after a closing three-under-par 69 gave him a 14-under total of 274. The first prize $79,250 (€58,000) took him to seventh on the order of merit.

EUROPEAN TOUR: South African Anton Haig has won the European Tour's shot of the month award for March.

Needing a birdie at the last hole to force his way into a play-off at the Johnnie Walker Classic in Phuket, the South African hit his second shot out of thick rough and over several palm trees to within three feet of the pin.

Haig went on to beat fellow countryman Richard Sterne and Briton Oliver Wilson over extra holes for his first European win.