Golf: Rollercoaster round earns the winner's cheque

New Zealander Simon Owen had his first win on the European Seniors Tour yesterday when he defeated American Bob Lendzion in a sudden-death playoff at the Tunisian Seniors Open at El Kantaoui.

Owen, second behind Jack Nicklaus at the 1978 British Open at St Andrews, started the final round six shots behind his American rival.

He made up that ground with a total of nine birdies to finish with a six-under-par 66, finishing the regulation 54 holes tied with Lendzion on eight-under-par 208.

He hit a drive and a marvellous sand wedge to less than three feet for a winning birdie three on the second extra hole.

"That's a very important win for me," said Owen, after collecting the £16,660 ($59,000) cheque for first place.

"I came into this season wanting to win at least one title and now that I've done it I can relax a bit, knowing that I've now got a two-year exemption.

He described the final round as "freaky".



"It isn't every day that you score nine birdies and a double bogey, but that's just the sort of rollercoaster round it was.

"To be honest, I thought I had left myself a little too much to do, but I'm delighted to prove myself wrong."

* Jose Coceres of Argentina shot an eight-under-par 64 yesterday to stake out a three-shot lead over Davis Love after three rounds at the National Car Rental Golf Classic at Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

Playing his first tournament in five weeks, world No 1 Tiger Woods stayed in contention with a five-under 67 that tied him for 10th, six shots off the lead.

Just 18 holes from his second title of the year and career, Coceres is at 19-under 197 in a tournament that is played in the shadows of Disney World.

Love, the world's fifth-ranked player, shot a 67 and is alone in second at 16-under 200.

The top 10 has four of the top eight players in the world, including Woods, who is tied with eighth-ranked David Toms (US) and Jesper Parnevik of Sweden at 13-under 203.

Sixth-ranked Vijay Singh of Fiji is tied for third with Stuart Appleby of Australia and Scott McCarron (US) at 15-under 201.

New Zealand's Craig Perks is doing well. He is in a tie for 29th after shooting 67 yesterday and is 10-under for the tournament. But the other New Zealanders in the field, Grant Waite and Frank Nobilo, missed the cut.

Coceres, who has a world ranking of just 40, is on top thanks to his second straight bogey-free round at the Magnolia Golf Course.

"In this moment, my feeling is very good," said Coceres, who won the Worldcom Classic at Hilton Head in April.

He seemed confident early in his third round as he birdied Nos 2-4, 8, 10, 12, 16, and 18, sinking seven putts of at least 3m.

"This week, I have played very good with the putter," said the 38-year-old Coceres, who is one of 11 children.

Coceres has played well in patches this year.

He earned his victory at Hilton Head with rounds of 68-70-64-71 and outlasted Billy Mayfair in a playoff.

* In San Antonio, Bob Murphy shot a six-under par 66 yesterday to grab a share of the lead with fellow American Gary McCord in the Senior PGA's SBC Championship.

Murphy and opening-round leader Gary McCord were at 10-under 134 going into the final day of the 54-hole event at the Dominion Country Club.

Australians Graham Marsh, who shot 70 yesterday, and Rodger Davis (69) are both seven strokes from the lead.

- AGENCIES