Allenby has space this time

Having won all seven play-offs in which he has been involved, Robert Allenby had no fear of a tight finish to the Marconi Pennsylvania Classic at Laurel Valley on Sunday. As it happened, the Australian took the top prize of $594,000 by a three-stroke margin over second-placed Larry Mize.

Interestingly, it was Allenby's fourth tournament victory in the US and the other three were all won in sudden-death. In fact, he had to contend with no fewer than five play-off rivals - Brandel Chamblee, Toshi Izawa, Dennis Paulson, Jeff Sluman and Bob Tway - before capturing the Nissan Open last February with a birdie on the first extra-hole.

Allenby will be familiar to enthusiasts in this country from his share of second place with John Daly behind Bernhard Langer in the Murphy's Irish Open at Mount Juliet in 1994. And he was tied fourth behind Sam Torrance the following year.

Since then, he has become a truly international player, vindicating the tremendous faith which his mentor, Peter Thomson, always had in his talent.

Yet, in a way, it seemed odd somehow that an Australian should have dominated what was a very American occasion.

Throughout the tournament, the flags sticks at Laurel Valley Golf Club were adorned with the stars and stripes, as were the tee markers. Sharon Funk, wife of tour player Fred Funk, painted American flags on players' bags.

And players were given American flag pins and on Sunday when the USPGA Tour produced "United We Stand" hats for the players and caddies.

For his part, Allenby stuck a lapel pin in his visor that combined flags from the US and his native country. In the event, he shot a final round of 68 for a 19-under-par aggregate of 269. Local boy Rocco Mediate, who grew up 20 miles from Laurel Valley and has been a club member for six years, was third.

Runner-up prize money of $290,000 was especially welcome to 1987 US Masters champion Mize, who entered the tournament at 199th on the money list and was in real danger of having to go back to qualifying school for the first time in 20 years.

Meanwhile, organisers of next month's World Matchplay Championship at Wentworth plan to finalise the 12-man field by the end of this week, and hope to confirm that one or two Americans will be playing.

The organisers delayed the announcement of the full draw due to the recent plane attacks on the US. "We would love to have one or two Americans in the field this year for Wentworth, and we think that would be quite an achievement, given the current circumstances in the United States," an IMG spokesperson said.

American John Daly, the 1995 British Open champion, is a virtual certainty for the event and England's Lee Westwood will defend his title at Wentworth. He will be joined in the field by last year's runner-up, Colin Montgomerie, US Open Champion Retief Goosen, Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke, Thomas Bjorn of Denmark and Ireland's Padraig Harrington.

Former champion Vijay Singh of Fiji has also confirmed his entry, along with Canadian left-hander Mike Weir.