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It has been more than five years since long-hitting J.B. Holmes last tasted victory – a period in which he endured brain surgery, as well procedures on both an elbow and a broken ankle.  But fully healthy for the first time in eons, Holmes first manage to salvage his playing privileges last week at the RBC Heritage (earning enough to cover an expiring medical extension), then claimed his third career PGA Tour victory at the Wells Fargo Championship, surviving two late bogeys to beat a hard-charging Jim Furyk by one.  After opening with rounds of 70-67, Holmes moved into the 54-hole lead via a Saturday 66, then used a run of four birdies between the 8th and the 15th holes to solidify that position on Sunday.  A bogey at the 16th trimmed the lead to two, however, and there were some anxious moments at the watery par-3 17th until an eight-footer holed for par gave Holmes the latitude to make bogey at the difficult 18th and still raise the trophy.  Furyk, for his part, had begun Sunday well back in the pack, making himself relevant with a closing 65 that included chipping in for eagle at the par-5 16th.  Thirty-six-hole co-leader Martin Flores bogeyed the 18th to fall back to solo third, while Jason Bohn, who stood one behind on the 17th tee before making double-bogey, took fourth………………In one of the more remarkable finishes in European PGA Tour history, Chile’s Felipe Aguilar carded a final round 62 – including an eagle at the 386-yard par-4 18th – to steal victory at the inaugural Championship at Laguna National, in Singapore.  Aguilar, whose only previous E Tour win came at the 2008 Indonesia Open, began Sunday’s final round four shots behind co-leaders Anders Hansen and Thailand’s 21-year-old Panuphol Pittayarat, and fell into a six-shot deficit through nine despite going out in two-under-par 34.  But with Hansen seemingly on the verge of running away after turning in 32, Aguilar reeled off four straight birdies at holes 10-13 to climb back into it, then added two more at the par-5 15th and the 202-yard 17th to really apply the pressure.  Playing three groups ahead of Hansen, Aguilar assumed he’d need a birdie at the last to have a chance at a playoff – and then proceeded to hole his 142-yard pitching wedge approach for a two, capping off his stunning incoming 28.  Hansen, who recently returned from a six-month absence due to wrist surgery, still had a chance to tie with a birdie at either of the closers, but when he could only card two pars, he ended up tied for second with American Asian Tour regular David Lipsky, one shot behind…………………Celebrating his 34th birthday one week early, Korea’s Hyung-Sung Kim won for the third time on the Japan Golf Tour at the long-running Crowns, posting a methodical final round 68 to claim a four-hot victory over countryman I.J. Jang at the Nagoya Golf Club.  Kim initially rode rounds of 64-67 into a share of the halfway lead, then posted an even par 70 on Saturday which, surprisingly, proved enough to give him a two-stroke 54-hole advantage.  On a Sunday which saw none of the leaders make a major move, Kim turned in 34, then added another birdie at the 12th to move four ahead – a margin he would maintain (with a bogey at the 14th and a birdie at the last) to the finish.  Jang, for his part, had climbed into the fray with three outgoing birdies, but bogeys at the 11th, 13th and 17th ultimately derailed his bid.  Also noteworthy was Michio Matsumura, who opened the event with a 10-under-par 60, a stunning round which beat the field by four.  Unfortunately, he then staggered home with rounds of 71-74-76 to plummet all the the way into a tie for 19th.

Posted on Sunday, May 4, 2014 at 07:27PM by Registered CommenterDaniel | Comments Off