Golf: Kiwi quinella as Langer calls penalty

SYDNEY - New Zealand golfer Michael Long headed a New Zealand quinella in an extraordinary turn of events at the $A1 million ($NZ1.18 million) Greg Norman International yesterday.

Long took the $A180,000 winner's cheque after German Bernhard Langer called a penalty on himself on his way to a triple bogey on the last hole.

The 1996 New Zealand Open champion won by one shot from countryman Michael Campbell, with Langer a shot back in third after making six on the par 3 finishing hole.

Long stood beside the 18th green for about 20 minutes knowing he was assured of second place, half-hoping Langer might make bogey on the last to force a playoff.

Langer, who had led by as many as five shots during the round, hit his tee shot at the 18th into a bunker about 30m short of the green, then blasted the ball over the back before making a hash of a chip.

Suddenly, Langer called over leading rules official Trevor Herden and after a long discussion, he hit what many - including Long - thought was a putt for bogey.

The putt missed but it was later revealed the tournament had already been lost as Langer had called a penalty on himself for picking up the ball before he'd marked it.

For Long it was a belated payback for an incident two years ago when he also called a penalty on himself in the final round of the $A1.5 million Johnnie Walker Classic.

The penalty cost him dearly as it was the difference between forcing a playoff with eventual winner Ernie Els and finishing second.

Long won an international fairplay award for his honesty.

This time, he was still trying to come to terms with a victory that seemed to fall into his lap.

"I just can't believe it. I walked off the course thinking I'd done a good day's work for maybe second or third," Long said.

Long started the day six shots behind Langer and five behind Anthony Painter and admitted he gave himself "half a chance of winning."

Long, Cromwell-born and a long-time resident in Perth, shot a final round of one-under par 72 as Langer and Painter had horror days with 80s.

While Langer bemoaned the fact that "one bad thing led to the next" on a luckless day of lip-out putts and plugged bunker shots, Long had everything going his way.

For Campbell, finishing second was almost as good as winning, as it marked a long-awaited return to form after four years in the wilderness.

"This is my best performance in a long, long time," Campbell said after making a 74 in the final round to finish eight-under par.

"I played great golf under the circumstances. I was incredibly tough out there and I was happy with the way things went even though they weren't quite good enough to win." - NZPA