Brian Davis clinches ANZ
with 10 birdies
|
Brian Davis holding the ANZ Championship trophy.
Photo - Getty Images
|
England’s Brian Davis clinched the ANZ
Championship in Australia with a final round 65, worth 17 points under the modified
Stableford scoring system. The points system adopted for the ANZ encourages attacking play
by awarding 8 points for an albatross, 5 for an eagle, 2 for a birdie and only penalizes
bogeys with minus 1 point and multiple bogeys with minus 3 points. Davis’ round
included 3 bogeys but they only made a small dent in the 20 points he gained for his 10
birdies. |
| His final total of 44 points saw him in the
clubhouse with a 3-point lead with fellow English-men Paul Casey (right) and Steve
Webster, his closest challengers still out on the Horizons Golf Resort course. |
Paul Casey. Photo - Getty Images
|
Steve Webster. Photo- Getty Images
|
While defending champion, Casey could only
manage one more birdie to finish second, Webster (left) dropped back to finish tied for
sixth place after a disastrous double bogey on the last. Overnight leader, Webster,
bogeyed the 17th and needed an eagle on the 18th to notch up his
first European Tour win after being runner-up on 4 occasions in recent years. |
| But it was not to be. He put his tee-shot out
of bounds, then sent his provisional into the water and ended up with a double bogey on
the last hole. He shared sixth place with Nick O’Hern (Australia) who was also
looking for his maiden European Tour victory after 2 previous runner-up spots. The pair
had led the field for much of the final day. |
| Another Australian, Nick Flanaghan (right), a
19 year old amateur, put in an excellent performance over the four days to finish tied for
third place on 39 points with Scott Gardiner (Australia) and Thomas Levet (France). |
Nick Flanaghan. Photo - Getty Images
|
| Former Ladies World #1, Laura Davies failed to
make the cut, finishing with a points total of minus 13, ahead of only one of her male
opponents. She was the first female golfer to compete on the Men’s European Tour. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
