GOLF DIGEST: ANTHONY KANG of the United States revelled in the biggest win of his career yesterday after rolling home a short birdie on the final hole to claim a one-stroke victory at the Maybank Malaysian Open.
The 36-year-old began the final round two shots behind overnight leader Adam Blyth of Australia but his closing five-under-par 67 at Saujana Golf and Country Club’s Palm Course saw him emerge from a tightly-bunched field to win the top prize of €259,164.
With his late birdie, Kang avoided a possible five-way play-off with the English duo of David Horsey (64) and Miles Tunnicliff (68), Jyoti Randhawa of India (66) and Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng (68), who finished tied for second on 16 under par.
Northern Ireland’s Gareth Maybin had nine birdies but bogeyed his final hole for a six-under 66 as he finished alone in sixth place on 15 under par.
Peter Lawrie, birdied the final two holes for a level-par 72 and a nine-under-par total of 279 to tie for 21st place.
US PGA TOUR:he final round of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am was postponed until today after no play was possible yesterday because of strong winds and heavy rain.
Weather permitting, the 68-man field will tee off from 7.30 local (3.30 Irish) on the Pebble Beach Golf Links this morning.
However, strong winds are also expected today and at least 50 percent of the players would have to complete the final round for it count, organisers said.
LET TOUR:England's Laura Davies won her second Australian Open after a dramatic final day at Metropolitan GC in Melbourne.
Davies, who last won the title in 2004 at Concorde Golf Club, finished with a five-under-par 68, which was the best round of the day. She closed on a four-round total of seven-under-par 285, one stroke ahead of Spain’s Tania Elosegui.
Davies, who started the final round three shots behind the leader, Lee Chang-Hee, had posted her score as Elosegui stood on the 18th tee with a one stroke lead on eight-under-par.
Elosegui thought that she needed a birdie to win. With that in mind, she played her third shot from the bunker short of the green 20 feet shy of the flag and rammed her first putt four feet past the hole. The return putt slipped by and she effectively handed Davies her 72nd career title. Rebecca Coakley shot a final round 74 for a seven-over-par total of 299.
SUNSHINE TOUR:Anders Hansen cruises to four-shot win in Vodacom Championship at the Pretoria CC, Pretoria, South Africa.
The Dane shot a crushing seven-under-par 65 to finish on 18-under 270 to cruise home ahead of Charl Schwartzel and Canada’s Graham DeLaet, who ground their way to a 70 and a 71 respectively on a day when they both would have preferred to shoot in the 60s.
Finishing a shot behind Schwartzel and DeLaet were Charl Coetzee and Titch Moore, while Brandon Pieters, Alan McLean and Jaco Ahlers shared sixth on 12-under. Michael Hoey finished on 285 after a 71.
LPGA TOUR:Angela Stanford held off rookie Michelle Wie to win her fourth LPGA Tour title by three shots at the season-opening SBS Open in Hawaii.
Tied for the overnight lead with fellow American Wie, Stanford trailed by three strokes with eight holes remaining before taking control with a burst of three consecutive birdies from the 13th.
Ice-cool over the closing stretch at Turtle Bay Resort Golf Club in Kahuku, Stanford parred the last three holes for 70 and a 10-under total of 206. Wie had to settle for second place after carding a 73.
