WELLINGTON, Feb 27: Peter O'Malley beat fellow Australian Steven Bowditch in a playoff to win the New Zealand PGA in Christchurch on Sunday.
O'Malley, 39, birdied the fourth extra hole to capture the seventh professional title of his career after the pair had finished tied on 14-under-par 274.
Bowditch, who won last week's South Australian Open, started the day six shots behind joint overnight leader O'Malley but charged through the field with a course record-equalling nine-under 63 at the Clearwater Resort.
O'Malley carded a 69 but should have sealed victory on the last regulation hole when he missed a par putt from four feet. Americans Jerry Smith and Johnson Wagner finished joint third on 11-under, one stroke clear of compatriots Troy Matteson and Brandt Snedeker and Australian Steven Jeffress.
LEADING FINAL ROUND SCORES:
274 Peter O'Malley (Australia) 66 68 71 69, Steven Bowditch (Australia) 64 71 76 63 (O'Malley won on fourth playoff hole)
277 Jerry Smith (U.S.) 70 70 67 70, Johnson Wagner (U.S.) 68 69 68 72
278 Steven Jeffress (Australia) 67 72 69 70, Troy Matteson (U.S.) 70 70 68 70, Brandt Snedeker (U.S.) 69 68 70 71
279 Kris Cox (U.S.) 68 72 72 67, Craig Carmichael (Australia) 70 69 72 68, Jaxon Brigman (U.S.) 69 69 70 71, Camilo Villegas (Colombia) 69 67 71 72, Kim Felton (Australia) 70 71 66 72
280 Scott Weatherly (U.S.) 70 69 76 65, Joel Kribel (U.S.) 74 68 71 67, Greg Kraft (U.S.) 69 71 72 68, Jon Mills (Canada) 66 70 75 69, Scott Sterling (U.S.) 69 72 70 69, Jeff Gove (U.S.) 67 68 70 75.
DIMARCO, TOMS IN FINAL
CARLSBAD: Chris DiMarco completed a week of upsets at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship on Saturday, beating fourth seed Retief Goosen to set up an all-American final with Ryder Cup team mate David Toms.
With world number one Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods, the 2003 and 2004 champion, leading the elite 64-player field, few would have tipped a DiMarco-Toms showdown when the rain-delayed $7.5 million event began a day late on Thursday. The match play format, though, continued to live up to its unpredictable reputation.
RESULTS:
QUARTERFINALS: 16-Chris DiMarco beat 8-Stewart Cink 2 & 1 4-Retief Goosen (South Africa) beat 44-Robert Allenby (Australia) 4 & 3 42-Ian Poulter (Britain) beat 31-Nick O'Hern (Australia) 3 & 1 14-David Toms beat 11-Adam Scott (Austalia) 2 & 1
SEMIFINALS:
Toms beat Poulter 3 and 2
DiMarco beat Goosen 2 and 1. -Reuters
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