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Having finished fifth in his homeland a week earlier, 28-year-old Dutchman Joost Luiten came loaded for bear at the ISPS Handa Wales Open, and by week's end he would be raising the trophy for the fourth time in his relatively young European Tour career.  Luiten nearly was a wire-to-wire winner, though his opening round 65 was a backloaded affair as he stood even par through eight holes before reeling off seven birdies (against one bogey) over his final 10 holes.  He followed this up with a Friday 69 (which left him one stroke off of Shane Lowry's halfway lead) before unleashing a second 65 on Saturday - this time bogey-free - to return to the top of the leaderboard by two shots.  But on a Sunday in which none of the contenders would go terribly low, Luiten bogeyed his first two holes, allowing Lowry to briefly draw even with a birdie at the par-3 3rd.  But Luiten would retake control with birdies at the 11th and 12th, and while he could do no better than even par golf down the stretch, this would ultimately prove enough to see him home one ahead of both Lowry (who birdied the 613-yard closer when an eagle was needed) and 23-year-old Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, who played his final five holes in six under par en route to a closing 67..................Forty-one-year-old Katsumasa Miyamoto ended a four-year victory drought by claiming his ninth career Japan Golf Tour victory at the ANA Open, beating fellow Japan Tour veteran Hideto Tanihara on the first hole of a sudden death playoff.  Miyamoto began his week with a solid 67 that was marred only by a double-bogey at the 4th hole (his 13th), and he followed that with rounds of 67-68, each of which included an eagle.  His 54-hole total of 203 proved enough to share a one-shot lead with Tanihara, who opened with 66-68 and might well have held the lead by himself had he not bogeyed two of his final three holes during a Saturday 69.  Both players then put together solid five-under-par 67s on Sunday, with Tanihara leading down the stretch before Miyamoto carded a clutch birdie at the 579-yard 17th to match his aggregate of 270..................Thailand's Chapchai Nirat ended a five-year winless drought by capturing his third career Asian Tour victory at the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters, edging Antonio Lascuna of the Philippines on the first hole of sudden death.  Nirat played extermely steady golf all week, his opening with rounds of 68-69-69, placing him one behind 54-hole leader Cameron Smith of Australia.  Smith would stumble to a 73 on Sunday, however, leaving Nirat on the verge of running away after logging six birdies between holes 5-16.  But ill-timed Nirat bogeys at both the 17th and 18th left just enough room for the 43-year-old Lascuna, who charged home with a stunning 63, to force the playoff.

Posted on Monday, September 22, 2014 at 02:08AM by Registered CommenterDaniel | Comments Off