November 30, 2008

ROD Pampling has won the Australian Masters at Huntingdale for the first time, defeating Marcus Fraser in a play-off after the pair finished the fourth round locked on 12-under par.

Pampling, 39, claimed the Gold Jacket after making par, while Fraser made a bogey, on the third trip up the par-four 18th in the play-off after both players had parred the hole the first two times.

Fraser shot a seven-under-par final round of 65 to make the play-off, while Pampling carded a final-round 67.

Pre-tournament favourite Robert Allenby finished third on nine-under par after starting the round as joint leader, with Western Australia's Michael Sim, on 10 under.

"They're never fun to be in, you work so hard for 72 holes then you still have to go again," Pampling, a two-time winner on the US PGA Tour, said of the play-off that saw him win on home soil for the first time since the 1999 Canon Challenge at Terrey Hills in Sydney.

"But thankfully we came out on the right end.

"Marcus obviously played great today ... I'm very grateful that I ended up winning the trophy."

Fraser and Pampling both made a solid par on the first play-off hole before Fraser found a sand trap the second time then had to hole a four-metre putt to stay alive.

But Fraser, who played the final round with his wife heavily pregnant in hospital with their first child, could not repeat the dose on the third play-off hole, after again missing the green, and Pampling clinched the Gold Jacket and the $270,000 cheque for first place with another solid par.

Pampling said he had benefited from a longer-than-normal preparation time in Australia, after returning from the US about three weeks ago.

"(In the past) I haven't had a great preparation coming home, you've got a 24-hour flight, you get in Tuesday most times, you're just not used to the golf course as much," he said.

"I've had chances to win, but thankfully today I've got up there."

Pampling also credited focussing techniques instigated by his wife Angela, a clinical psychologist, for keeping him calm during the play-off.

Fraser and Pampling both made an early charge to overtake the overnight leaders.

Fraser, who started the day on five under, birdied six of the first eight holes to claim the outright lead at 11 under par and the outright lead.

Sim, meanwhile, dropped out of the picture with bogeys on the 2nd and 3rd holes, and Allenby dropped a shot when he three-putted the par-three 5th to fall two shots adrift of Fraser.

Pampling, who started the day at seven under, picked up two shots in his first six holes then joined Fraser in the lead when he sunk a long eagle putt on the par-five 7th.

Allenby, in the group behind Pampling, birdied the 7th to move within one shot of the lead, while Fraser bogeyed the 11th hole to join Allenby a shot behind Pampling.

But Fraser showed superb touch with his short game to birdie the 13th and 14th holes to move to 12-under par and regain the outright lead.

Fraser was still in front when he completed his round, but Pampling rejoined him soon after with a birdie on the par-three 15th.

Allenby then struck disaster with a double bogey on the same hole after he needed three bunker shots to find the green, leaving him three shots off the pace and out of contention.

Allenby, who revealed on Saturday that his mother Sylvia, who has cancer, did not have long to live, struggled to stay composed after blowing his chances at the 15th hole.

But, with his mother at the course to watch him play the final holes, he managed to par the remaining three to hold onto third position.

APGA: Australian Masters
Pos Name NAT Hole To Par 1 2 3 4 Total
1 Rod Pampling AUS F -12 71 68 70 67 276
2 Marcus Fraser AUS F -12 73 67 71 65 276
3 Robert Allenby AUS F -9 73 66 67 73 279
T4 Alexander Noren SWE F -8 73 71 68 68 280
T4 Tim Clark RSA F -8 67 70 76 67 280
T4 Nathan Green AUS F -8 72 68 70 70 280
7 David McKenzie AUS F -7 72 70 71 71 284
T8 Marc Leishman AUS F -6 71 70 74 67 282
T8 Martin Erlandsson SWE F -6 74 71 70 67 282