Southern California native and former UCLA standout John Merrick broke through for his first PGA Tour victory in his 169th start, capturing the 87th Northern Trust Open in a playoff with Charlie Beljan.  On a Sunday which saw bigger names like Donald, Haas, Jacobson and Schwartzel fall by the wayside, Beljan holed an 18' putt on the 72nd green to move to 11-under-par, then waited as Merrick marched home with a string of pars to force sudden death.  Both men parred the first extra hole before Beljan opted to hit driver at Riviera's famous 315-yard 10th, pulled it into the kikuyu rough, then missed a downhill five-footer to lose to Merrick's routine par.  Defending champion Bill Haas was the 54-hole leader after carding a tournament-best 64 on Saturday but faded to a closing 73, to share third with Jacobson (who pulled a four-footer at the last to miss the playoff) and Schwartzel, who missed makeable birdie putts at the 16th, 17th and 18th to also miss by one...............Amidst typically breezy conditions at the coastal East London Golf Club, South African Darren Fichardt carded a final-round one-under-par 71 to claim his fourth career European Tour victory at the Africa Open.  Fichardt began the day tied for the lead with countryman Jaco Van Zyl and after falling behind early, opened a four-shot lead after turning in three-under-par 37.  But bogeys at the 14th, 16th and 17th left the door open for Van Zyl - who promptly bogeyed the 18th to lose by two.  Tied for second was France's Gregory Bourdy (who pulled close with three late birdies before bogeying the 17th) while another South Africa, Garth Mulroy, closed with 67 to claim solo fourth.  Also notable was the performance of Sunshine Tour veteran Adilson Da Silva of Brazil, who opened with a stunning 62, backed it up with a second-round 68 and eventually reached 16-under-par after eagling the third hole on Saturday.  But a triple bogey at the eighth hole soon undid him and he would eventually finish 73-76, to tie for 12th.  With Fichardt's win, the event has only been claimed by South Africans over its first four playings...............Having first scored the morale-boosting, image-polishing coup of getting its 2013 schedule released before February, the LPGA opened their season Down Under at the ISPS Handa Australian Open, where Jiyai Shin claimed her 11th career LPGA title, edging a charging Yani Tseng by two and 15-year-old amateur sensation Lydia Ko by four.  A chip-in birdie at the 14th sparked Shin’s closing run while Tseng, who experienced a puzzling loss of form during the latter half of 2012, raced home with a closing 66 to make it close.