Haig, 20, wins Johnnie Walker Classic in three-way playoff  PHUKET, Thailand (AP) -- South Africa's Anton Haig won a nail-biting three-way playoff against compatriot Richard Sterne and England's Oliver Wilson to win his first European Tour title at the Johnnie Walker Classic at the Blue Canyon Country Club on Sunday.  Anton Haig enjoyed a colorful victory celebration at Blue Canyon. (David Cannon/Getty Images)
The three contenders all finished regular play with a four-round total of 13-under 275. The 20-year-old from Johannesburg sent his three-foot putt home for a birdie on the 18th hole shoot-out to win for the first time in 17 appearances on the European Tour. The $2.45 million tournament is co-sanctioned by the European Tour, Asian Tour and Australasian Tour. The winner gets prize money of $405,000 and an exemption qualification for the European Tour. Among the most favored pre-tournament contenders, South African Retief Goosen turned in the most creditable performance, holding fourth place to himself with 10-under 278. Canadian Mike Weir, the 2003 U.S. Masters champion, was just a stroke behind, holding solo fifth with 279. South Africa's Ernie Els, the world No. 6, was one more stroke back, sharing sixth at 8-under 280 with Scotland's Colin Montgomerie, countryman David Frost, and India's Gaurav Ghei. World No. 4 Adam Scott of Australia shared the 25th spot with six other players at 4-under 284. Haig said afterward that he hadn't originally expected to win, but after a second-round 8-under 64, "I knew I was hitting the ball good enough to win, and thank God that driver went straight for me today and the putts fell." On the decisive 403-yard, par-4 playoff hole, he said he hit a good drive down the middle and a smooth wedge to about 10 feet to set up the winning putt. "I mean, what a feeling, birdieing one of the toughest holes out here," he said. Third-round leader Sterne had been holding on to his one-stroke lead with 14-under until a bogey at the 17th hole pushed him back to share the lead with Wilson at 13-under. The pair were joined in the leader's spot by Haig when he scored a late birdie at the 18th hole. Sterne's luck failed him on the playoff hole, when his eight-foot putt touched the rim, but failed to go into the hole. "It was close; what can I do? I played my best but it didn't go the way I wanted to go. It's great for Anton. I'm disappointed, but I did my best," said Sterne, who won his first European title in Madrid in 2004. "I had my chances and didn't take them," said Wilson, like Sterne taking home $211,000 for his second-place finish. "It was easy from the middle of the fairway both in regulation play and in the playoff, and I didn't get the ball within 20 feet. That was disappointing." The top player in the Asian contingent, India's Gaurav Ghei, shot a last-round 64 to stride from 50th to joint sixth with a total 8-under 280. The 38-year-old from New Delhi started superbly with an eagle in his opening hole before collecting eight more birdies to land a bogey-free round. He became the third player, along with Haig and Sterne, to achieve the same mark this week. "It was unreal. It was great to play a round like that on a course like this. This is one of the biggest events of the year for us and it's special playing a good round and finishing off a big tournament well," said Guarav. The venue for the tournament changes every year, and has been held in the past in Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, the Philippines, Taiwan and China. Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. |
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