Elkington manages to avoid play-off

Steve Elkington captured the £2 million Doral-Ryder Open in Miami amid amazing scenes yesterday as his two co-leaders bogeyed the last to hand him the title.

Elkington, who finished on 13 under par, was already on the practice ground preparing for a play-off when first Ernie Els and then Greg Kraft stunned the gallery by playing astonishingly poor shots. Els pulled his approach shot short of the green and then, hindered by a bad lie, failed to get his chip on to the green.

Kraft, playing in the group behind Els, mis-hit his short approach shot and watched it die into the pond fronting the green. Incredibly, Elkington too had bogeyed the last with a three-putt, but a closing round of 64 was enough to secure the win.

The 36-year-old Australian started the day six strokes behind Kraft, but fired an eight-under-par 64 - two shots off the course record at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa.

He claimed his 10th career US PGA Tour victory and pocketed $540,000. Kraft, who was seeking his first PGA Tour victory, carded a 71 and settled for his third career runner-up finish on 276.

Leading Final Scores

275 - S Elkington (Aus) 72-70-69-64. 276 - G Kraft 68-67-70-71. 277 - T Armour 67-71-7168, S Dunlap 67-72-69-69, E Els (Rsa) 71-66-7070, J Haas 70-69-70-68, D Toms 70-73-67-67. 278 - D Briggs 71-72-68-67, P.H. Horgan 6970-71-68. 279 - G Day 69-71-67-72, G Hjertstedt (Swe) 69-72-71-67, N Price (Zim) 7269-70-68, G Chalmers (Aus) 71-66-72-70, G Hill 71-69-70-69. 280 - N Lancaster 71-72-72-65, J Leonard 72-69-68-71, J Parnevik (Swe) 71-70-7069, B Tway 72-71-68-69. 281 - G Norman (Aus) 71-73-68-69, P Sjoland (Swe) 72-71-69-69. 282 - D Frost (Rsa) 72-71-71-68. 283 - E Toledo (Mex) 68-70-71-74. 287 - B Langer (Ger) 71-7371-72. 292 - T Bjorn (Den) 72-71-75-74.

Little known Marcus Cain charged through the field with a seven-under-par 65 to capture the Australian Tour Championship at Royal Canberra yesterday.

Australian Championship (at Royal Canberra, Aus unless stated) - Leading final scores: 276 - M Cain 68 70 73 65. 280 - P Gow 73 71 68 68. 281 - P Senior 70 69 73 69, R Pampling 71 69 72 69, R Byrd (USA) 70 75 68 68, S Laycock 68 69 73 71, S Leaney 69 71 69 72.