Golf:Aaron Baddeley shot a final-round 69 to win the Northern Trust Open by two shots at the at the Riviera Country Club in California. It moved the Australian up 151 places in the world rankings to 73rd.
Baddeley finished on 12 under par, two clear of his closest challenger Vijay Singh, after four birdies and a double bogey in the final round at Pacific Palisades.
Singh also carded a 69, but his effort was undermined by successive bogeys at the 12th and 13th holes.
Baddeley looked like he might blow his chance when he carded a six at the par-four 12th, but he birdied the next hole to get back on track for his first victory in four years.
"It's definitely been a couple of long years, but it was worth every bit," the Australian told reporters after earning the winner's cheque for €854,000 and invitations to this year's US Masters and US PGA Championship.
"The last couple years...made it easier today just because of having to battle and having to grow into so much...the character that was just built in me, I guess."
American Kevin Na, seeking his first PGA Tour win, was third on nine under after he could only manage an even-par final round of 71. Na carded four birdies and four bogeys in an up-and-down round.
Jimmy Walker, Robert Allenby and Ryan Moore finished a shot further back. Walker and Allenby both went round in 68 - Allenby's might have been even better as he was three under after two holes - with Moore carding a 69.
Fred Couples' challenge faded on the final day, the 51-year-old finishing with a 73 to end on seven under.
"I'm disappointed but Aaron played very, very well," said Couples, a double champion at Riviera who was seeking his first PGA Tour win since the 2003 Houston Open.
"If I could have just hit a couple more shots and finished even in third place, that would have been phenomenal. I'm pretty happy with the way I played, but I was trying to win."
South Korea's KJ Choi joined him in a tie for seventh place thanks to his best round of the tournament, a 68.
England's Justin Rose was the highest European finisher on six under, alongside JJ Henry and David Duval. Rose finished a consistent four days with a second successive 70, having opened with two rounds of 69.
Phil Mickelson finished a disappointing tournament on one under in a tie for 35th.
Pádraig Harrington had another disappointing tournament where he fell away over the weekend. This time the Dubliner carded rounds of 75, 72 over the weekend to drop down the field.
Although Baddeley made a considerable move up the rankings it was less of a jump than India’s SSP Chowrasia, who climbed 229 places to 268th in the world after his Avantha Masters win in Delhi.
Collated final round scores and totals (USA unless stated, par 71):
272Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 67 69 67 69
274Vijay Singh (Fij) 68 70 67 69
275Kevin Na 71 66 67 71
276Robert Allenby (Aus) 67 70 71 68, Jimmy Walker 68 71 69 68, Ryan Moore 69 68 70 69
277K J Choi (Kor) 70 69 70 68, Fred Couples 68 66 70 73
278J J Henry 69 74 69 66, Justin Rose (Eng) 69 69 70 70, David Duval 71 71 69 67
279Spencer Levin 67 69 72 71, J.B. Holmes 67 69 72 71, Kevin Stadler 70 71 69 69, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 69 71 70 69, Bill Haas 67 74 71 67, Paul Casey (Eng) 71 67 73 68, Ben Curtis 71 70 71 67, Jhonattan Vegas 71 70 72 66, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 69 72 68 70
280Paul Goydos 72 73 68 67, John Senden (Aus) 67 69 71 73, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 69 71 71 69, Cameron Tringale 71 68 71 70
281Erik Compton 72 70 75 64, Vaughn Taylor 71 71 68 71, Zack Miller 76 66 71 68, Martin Laird (Sco) 67 73 69 72
282Brendon De Jonge 72 72 69 69, Steve Stricker 73 72 65 72, Jason Dufner 70 75 68 69, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 70 67 72 73. Zach Johnson 73 70 68 71, Stewart Cink 70 67 71 74
283Phil Mickelson 71 70 74 68, Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 70 72 71 70, Steve Marino 71 71 70 71, Jim Furyk 75 70 71 67, Ryan Palmer 70 71 70 72, Brandt Jobe 71 73 69 70, Hunter Haas 71 69 70 73, Matt Kuchar 69 73 69 72, Rickie Fowler 74 71 68 70, Tommy Gainey 71 71 69 72
284Peter Tomasulo 68 74 71 71, Scott McCarron 72 72 70 70, Jeff Overton 73 71 72 68, Steve Flesch 73 71 72 68, Michael Putnam 72 69 72 71, Scott Piercy 73 66 73 72
285Robert Garrigus 73 69 72 71, Chad Collins 70 73 69 73, Lucas Glover 73 72 70 70, Harrison Frazar 69 74 65 77
286Hunter Mahan 72 71 72 71, Charley Hoffman 71 74 68 73, Andres Romero (Arg) 72 73 72 69, Corey Pavin 69 71 76 70, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 67 78 70 71, D.J. Trahan 71 73 71 71, Pádraig Harrington (Irl) 68 71 75 72
287Robert Karlsson (Swe) 71 70 72 74, Tim Petrovic 74 70 75 68, Yuta Ikeda (Jpn) 71 73 74 69, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 71 70 72 74
288Shaun Micheel 72 69 72 75, Charles Howell III 72 72 73 71
289Justin Leonard 73 72 72 72, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 71 74 72 72
290Matthew Jones (Aus) 71 74 72 73, Jason Bohn 72 73 72 73
291Ricky Barnes 72 73 71 75, Sean O'Hair 72 71 75 73
292Michael Sim (Aus) 70 71 77 74, Mark Wilson 71 73 76 72
293Troy Merritt 71 74 75 73
294Brian Davis (Eng) 68 76 78 72
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