Date: May 25, 2009
Author: Sportal and PA Sport

Aussies finish well in Texas

It was a great finish for the Australian golfers in Texas with four finishing in the top 20 of the Byron Nelson Championship as Rory Sabbatini claimed a two-shot victory. John Senden shot a six-under-par final round to storm up to outright seventh place, while Marc Leishman finished one stroke behind him at 11-under. James Nitties narrowly missed out on his third top 10 finish of the year with a 12th place and Greg Chalmers was two shots behind him in 16th place. Rod Pampling also had a great final round to climb up to a share of 23rd place. Joint overnight leader with American John Mallinger, Sabbatini closed with a final round 64 for a 19-under par total of 261 to secure is fifth career victory on the circuit. Englishman Brian Davis also returned a 64 to finish in second place at 17-under, while D.A. Points was a further shot back in third place. Davis was joint leader after four birdies in five holes from the seventh, but Sabbatini moved clear again and kept his nerve when Davis put the pressure on again with a 26-foot eagle putt on the long 16th. Meanwhile on European Tour Paul Casey grabbed his third win of the year in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. The new world No.3 birdied three of his last four holes to finish at 17-under overall and a one-shot victory over Ross Fisher. The outcome was far from certain when Casey, 41st in the world at the start of 2009 and seventh entering the tournament, found a greenside bunker with his approach to the par five last. But he splashed out to five feet and made no mistake to claim the massive 667,093 pound (AU$1.35million) first prize at the European Tour&aposs flagship event. “It was not an easy putt, but any putt to win is something I would like to have,” said Casey. “There are great names on this trophy and it feels great. A lot of people have put in a lot of work, but I have to thank Peter Kostis, my coach in the States.” “He&aposs more than a coach and we set some lofty goals at the start of the year.” Richard Green was the best of the Australian contingent in a tie for 21st place, while Marcus Fraser and Brett Rumford finished at even-par in a share of 43rd place. Peter O&aposMalley was down the wrong end of the leaderboard in a tie for 72nd place. PGA Tour, Final Round of the Byron Nelson Championship, Irving, Texas -19: Rory Sabbatini 68 64 65 64 -17: Brian Davis 68 65 66 64 -16: D.A Points 68 66 65 65 -15: Dustin Johnson 68 65 66 66, Scott McCarron 66 69 68 62 -13: John Mallinger 67 65 65 70 -12: John Senden (Australia) 71 68 65 64 -11: Briny Baird 69 64 67 69, Fred Couples 69 66 67 67, Marc Leishman (Australia) 68 70 63 68, Jeff Maggert 71 66 65 67 -10: James Nitties (Australia) 65 68 68 69 -9: Glen Day 69 66 65 71, Danny Lee (New Zealand) 69 67 69 66, Kevin Streelman 67 69 64 71 -8: Greg Chalmers (Australia) 68 69 69 66, Robert Garrigus 70 66 69 67, Justin Leonard 75 63 66 68, Steve Marino 69 69 66 68, George McNeill 69 67 66 70, Vijay Singh 70 67 69 66, Mike Weir 66 71 66 69 Also: -7: Rod Pampling (Australia) 72 67 69 65 -4: Nathan Green (Australia) 70 69 66 71 -1: Robert Allenby (Australia) 67 67 70 75 European PGA Tour, Final Round of the BMW PGA Championship, Surrey, England -17: Paul Casey 69 67 67 68 -16: Ross Fisher 68 73 67 64 -13: Soren Kjeldsen 69 69 68 69 -12: Stephen Dodd 71 68 70 67 -10: Rory McIlroy 72 70 65 71 -9: Ben Curtis 69 70 73 67, Charl Schwartzel 68 72 68 71, Anthony Wall 67 71 72 69 -8: Thomas Levet 70 71 68 71 -7: Thomas Aiken 72 67 74 68 -6: Gonzalo Fdez-Castano 67 77 70 68, Martin Kaymer 72 70 70 70 -5: Nick Dougherty 73 71 67 72, Graeme McDowell 75 71 68 69, Alessandro Tadini 74 71 69 69 Also: -3: Richard Green (Australia) 72 74 68 71 E: Marcus Fraser (Australia) 71 73 70 74, Brett Rumford (Australia) 71 73 72 72 +8: Peter O&aposMalley (Australia) 74 72 73 77