Story highlights
Greg Chalmers held off a late charge from Tiger Woods to win the Australian Open
Chalmers' tally of 13-under seals victory from one shot ahead of fellow Australian John Senden
Woods fired a five-under round of 67 and pulled within one shot of the lead late on final day
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Juvic Pagunsan will playoff for Singapore Open title
Greg Chalmers held off a late surge from former world number one Tiger Woods to claim his second Australian Open crown in Sydney.
The 38-year-old finished on 13-under-par after a final round 69 to win by a shot from fellow Australian John Senden, who missed a 15-foot putt for birdie on the final hole to force a playoff.
Woods continued his resurgence with a five-under 67 but his charge fizzled out on the 17th hole as he could only register a birdie, ultimately finishing on 11-under.
There was a five-way tie for fourth that included American Nick Watney and Australians Nick O’Hern, Jason Day, Geoff Ogilvy and Adam Scott, whose caddy Steve Williams caused controversy prior to the tournament when he made racially tinged comments about former employer Woods.
Chalmers’ previous victory at the Australian Open came in 1998 and he told the tournament’s official website that his second triumph was more special than the first.
“I am extremely excited and extremely pleased to have won this tournament twice,” he said.
“To win it once, you can stumble into it … but to win it twice, with this field, you can talk about Tiger and it being the strongest field we’ve had for a long time.
“To go out there and get it done over the last two days and shoot eight under for the weekend, that does something for me. I think I stumbled into it when I was 26. I had no idea how big a deal it was then but I know more now.”
Three birdies in his opening seven holes saw Chalmers usurp Senden at the top of the leaderboard on the final day and only Woods threatened to dislodge him as he eagled 14 to close within a shot.
But despite falling short in his bid for a first tournament win in two years, and relinquishing his lead at the halfway stage after a three-over round on Saturday, Woods said he was pleased to be back in contention.
“I had the lead at Augusta on Sunday (in the 2011 US Masters), that was the last time I’ve been in that spot,” Woods said.
“It’s been a long time and unfortunately I haven’t played a lot of tournaments in between. I had a chance and I kept telling myself I need to post 13, 14 (under) to get it up there and see what happens.
“(If not for) two holes on the back nine today – and I putted awful yesterday – I would have been right there. I was disappointed yesterday and found some of the old keys (on Sunday). They were simple fixes, easy fixes. I had to reset my game.”
At the Singapore Open, a title playoff between Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Juvic Pagunsan, of the Philippines, will be held on Monday after bad weather interrupted their duel.
The tournament had already been reduced to three rounds due to stormy weather and Sunday was no different as Fernandez-Castaño saw his four shot lead evaporate on the back nine.
Pagunsan birdied the final hole meaning his Spanish counterpart had to match the feat to secure the trophy, but after sending his drive into the water Fernandez-Castano held his nerve to sink a 20-foot putt and prompt an extra hole as both men ended on 14-under.
The pair were forced off the course after their tee shots, and were again disrupted after returning to play their second on the par-five 18th when thunder overhead forced play to be abandoned.
American Anthony Kim and 2010 British Open champion Luois Oosthuizen, from South Africa, finished tied for second on 13-under.
