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On a final day which saw five separate players hold a piece of the lead at one time or another, Adam Scott avoided the pressure that comes with playing late on Sunday, carded a bogey-free 66 some 90 minutes ahead of the leaders, then looked on with surprise as his 273 aggregate somehow proved enough to edge a quartet of strong contenders by one, earning him The Barclay’s title.  Largely an afterthought after a Saturday 72 left him well back in the pack, Scott returned to the radar screen after running off birdies at holes 5, 6 and 7, then moved himself into the lead with additional birdies at the 14th and 16th.  Thereafter it was a matter of watching several world-class players challenge and fall, including reigning U.S. Open champion Justin Rose (who, with a chance to win outright at the 18th, three-putted from 25 feet to lose outright instead) and third-round co-leader Gary Woodland, who missed multiple late birdie putts to tie, including a 10-footer at the last.  Canada’s Graham DeLaet joined the second-place posse with a closing 65 (tied for the day’s low round) as did Tiger Woods, who battled a stiff back all weekend (he hooked a painful second shot so far left at the par-5 13th that it found water on the far side of the 15th fairway), yet hung in gamely enough to miss a 25-footer at the last to tie.  Phil Mickelson also made a notable move on Sunday, carding a 65 to tie for sixth, while thre opposite approach was taken by 54-hole co-leader Matt Kuchar (who triple-bogeyed the 9th en route to a closing 78) and Kevin Chappell, who followed up Saturday’s course record 62 with a Sunday 76………………Twenty-two-year-old Tommy Fleetwood of England birdied the first of hole of sudden death to defeat Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher and Argentina’s Ricardo Gonzalez and claim his maiden professional victory at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles.  Making his 50th career E Tour start, Fleetwood began Sunday’s final round tied for the lead with Gonzalez (who held or shared the lead after each of the first three rounds) before slipping off the pace with an outgoing 35, followed by bogeys at the par-3 10th and the par-4 15th.  But with his hopes quickly fading, Fleetwood righted the ship dramatically with an eagle at the 543-yard 16th (his fourth eagle of the week), then birdied the short par-5 18th to reach the playoff.  Gonzalez, meanwhile, stumbled out of the gate with a double-bogey at the 426-yard 1st (and would later add two more bogeys) but recovered with a slew of birdies including two when he badly needed them, at the 16th and 18th holes.  Not to be outdone, Gallacher stormed into contention via an outgoing Sunday 32, then triple-bogeyed the par-4 11th to seemingly dash his hopes.  But birdies at the 14th and 16th, then a dramatic closing eagle at the 18th, earned him the final playoff spot.  Fleetwood’s clinching birdie came as the trio played the 18th again, and came via a three-foot-putt after an attempt for eagle from the fringe had missed………………Australian Brad Kennedy won for the second time on the Japan Golf Tour at the light-field Kansai Open, an event shortened to 54 holes when torrential rains deluged the Olympic Golf Club on Sunday.  Kennedy began what would prove to be the final round two shots behind a surprise 36-hole leader, 21-year-old amateur Yujiro Ohori, who’d carded rounds of 69-68.  Kennedy then stormed out of the gate on Saturday, moving into the lead by birdieing five of his first 10 holes, then hanging on over a homestretch that included two more birdies as well as bogeys at the 14th and 16th.  Thus going to sleep anticipating trying to hold the narrowest of leads over a hard-fought final round, Kennedy instead was awarded the title without a Sunday fight………………Veteran Jean Hugo put on an impressive performance at the Vodacom Origins of Golf tournament at Langebaan Country Estate, capturing his 15th career Sunshine Tour victory with a fine 202 aggregate that routed the field by seven shots.  Hugo carded a steady 72 in windy, rainy conditions during Tuesday’s opening round before heating up with a bogey-free nine-under-par 63 on Wednesday to vault into the lead.  Though unable to completely maintain this blazing form on Thursday, Hugo went out in 33, bogeyed the par-3 11th (with three putts), then carded birdies at both the 12th and 13th to essentially put matters to rest.  Second place was shared by Merrick Bremner (who closed with 66-67 after an opening 76), Jbe’ Kruger and Andrew Curlewis, while Titch Moore and Steven Ferreira tied for fifth, a stroke further back.  Hugo made only three bogeys over 54 holes – all, rather remarkably, via three putting………………South Australia’s 29-year-old Nick Cullen claimed his first Australasian Tour victory at the Queensland Open, carding a closing 69 over a challenging Brookwater Golf & Country Club layout to pull away from veteran Peter O’Malley by five shots.  Also a winner of the OneAsia Tour’s 2012 Indonesian Open, Cullen did most of his damage via a third-round course record 65 that included seven birdies and no bogeys; indeed, for the remaining three rounds, he was only two under par, with 12 birdies and 10 bogeys in total.  O’Malley, a three-time winner on the European Tour, hung close to the lead through 63 holes but played the final nine in two-over-par 38, allowing Cullen some breathing room down the stretch.       

Posted on Sunday, August 25, 2013 at 08:36PM by Registered CommenterDaniel | Comments Off