Date: November 18, 2007
Author:

Aussies back as Poulter wins

Veteran Australian Craig Parry and compatriot Brendon Jones failed to make any significant inroads in the final round of the Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Japan as Englishman Ian Poulter captured his first victory of the year. Parry, 41, fired a two-over-par 72 on the final day to finish the tournament tied for 15th place at one-under. He was the leading Australian in the field, with Jones succumbing to a three-over-par 73 to be level with the card. Paul Sheehan had a better day, moving up the leaderboard after a two-under final-round 68 to one-over, while the only other Australian left in the 60-man field, Chris Campbell, had a tournament he&aposd rather forget, finishing last at 17-over after a disastrous 81 on the last day. New Zealand&aposs David Smail, after a strong opening half of the tournament, faded to finish with a two-over-par total. Poulter, meanwhile, never surrendered the lead on the back nine, pulling away to a three-stroke victory in gusty winds at Phoenix Country Club. The 31-year-old shot 69 to finish at 11-under, with Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (68) claiming second on eight-under. England&aposs Luke Donald (71) and Japan&aposs Shingo Katayama (68) tied for third, another stroke back. Poulter began the day with a two-shot lead over Donald, who tied it up with a birdie at the par-three sixth. However, Poulter regained the lead when Donald double-bogeyed the par-four eighth. It wasn&apost all smooth sailing for Poulter, who bogeyed the 11th and had to hole a 30-footer at the next to retain the solo lead. He rattled the ball home and was never headed after that, posting his ninth worldwide victory, his first in Asia. Final round of the Dunlop Phoenix tournament, Japan -11 Ian Poulter (England) 65 68 67 69 -8 Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spain) 66 69 69 68 -7 Shingo Katayama (Japan) 67 67 71 68, Luke Donald (England) 69 66 67 71 -5 Brandt Snedeker (USA) 70 70 68 67, Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 68 65 73 69 -4 Nobuhito Sato (Japan) 68 73 67 68, Jeev Milkha Singh (India) 68 68 70 70, Daisuke Maruyama (Japan) 67 67 70 72 Also: -1: Craig Parry (Australia) 71 66 70 72 E: Brendon Jones (Australia) 69 67 71 73 +1: Paul Sheehan (Australia) 70 69 74 68 +2: David Smail (New Zealand) 69 68 73 72 +17: Chris Campbell (Australia) 66 74 76 81