Australian Scott Laycock has finished in equal ninth position and six strokes behind winner Hirofumi Miyase at the Chunichi Crowns in Japan. Laycock started the day at three-over-par and made little impression on the leaders as Toru Taniguchi charged home with a final round of 67 to force a playoff against Miyase at two-under-par. Miyase held his nerve to prevail in the playoff and claim the title over Taniguchi, while Koumei Oda finished in outright third place, two shots behind at even-par. Equal overnight leader Keiichiro Fukabori crashed out of contention with a final round of 74, but recovered somewhat late in his round to finish in fourth place at one-over-par, one shot clear of three player including New Zealand&aposs David Smail. Tournament drawcard Paul Casey finished in a tie for 12th place at five-over-par, while Australian Brendan Jones who won the Tsuruya Open on the Japanese tour earlier this month was a stroke further adrift in equal 14th. Results from the Chunichi Crowns:(par 70) -2: Hirofumi MIYASE 67 70 70 71, Toru TANIGUCHI 68 68 75 67 E: Koumei ODA 69 70 74 67 +1: Keiichiro FUKABORI 67 71 69 74 +2: Yui UEDA 73 66 76 67, David SMAIL (NZ) 70 71 71 70, Satoru HIROTA 68 73 71 70 +3: Azuma YANO 73 72 70 68 +4: Tomohiro KONDO 75 69 73 67, Prayad MARKSAENG 72 71 72 69, Scott LAYCOCK (Australia) 74 70 69 71 +5: Shingo KATAYAMA 72 71 72 70, Paul CASEY 73 72 69 71 +6: S K HO 72 70 77 67, Eiji MIZOGUCHI 70 76 70 70, Mitsuhiro TATEYAMA 73 69 72 72, Brendan JONES (Australia) 72 72 70 72, Hiroyuki FUJITA 69 70 73 74, Tadahiro TAKAYAMA 71 70 70 75
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