Despite a short schedule, golf fans were treated to another first-class week, with men’s and women’s action spread out across three continents.  Tiger, as seems nearly a given these days, upheld his end of the bargain in Dubai, while sudden death reigned at both Phoenix and the Australian Women’s Open at venerable Kingston Heath.  Wouldn’t it be nice if they were all like this?
 
PGA Tour:  FBR Open – Scottsdale, AZ

Rallying bravely from a run of three mid-round bogeys, and from a disappointing six at the 558-yard 15th, and from failing to make three from just shy of the green at the driveable par-4 17th, J.B. Holmes instead made a clutch birdie at the 18th to force a tie at 270, then defeated world number two Phil Mickelson by birdieing the same hole at the start of sudden death.  It was an impressive performance for a man who has logged only three top-10 PGA Tour finishes since stunning the golf world with a runaway seven-shot victory at this same event in 2006, a win which came in only his sixth career start.  That Holmes can overpower a golf course is amply in evidence – his tee shot at the 72nd, for example traveled a cool 350 yards – but today was more a test of executing under pressure, and despite struggling a bit mid-stream, Holmes came through at the close with flying colors.  Mickelson, meanwhile, ambled through an uneventful opening 12 holes highlighted mostly by the giving of his Super Bowl tickets to a father and son tandem in the gallery.  But he turned up the heat when it counted, logging birdies at the 13th, 15th and 17th before leaving a longish birdie putt just short at the last which, had it fallen, would have proven itself the winner.  First-round leader Charles Warren shot a one-under-par 70 to claim solo 3rd, while a five-man tie for 4th included veteran Steve Elkington, 24-year-old Kevin Na, Kevin Sutherland and Ben Crane, the latter off to a strong 2008 start after missing all but nine events in 2007 with back problems.  Holmes climbs 135 spots (to 57th) in the World Ranking with his victory.

                   FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          PGA TOUR STATS

                                INTERVIEWS:     HOLMES     MICKELSON
 
 
European PGA Tour:  Dubai Desert Classic – Dubai, U.A.E.

Another chapter written in the Tiger Woods book of greatness, another case of Ernie Els coming up shy against the Great One, and a few more noteworthy performances played out in the background.  It seems almost silly at this point – and certainly numbingly repetitive – to wax lyrically about the greatness of Woods, so suffice to say the following: Playing some 7,755 miles from home, certainly fatigued and palpably frustrated after a disappointing third-round 73, he closed with a seven-under-par 65 (for a 274 total), then sat through a few anxious moments as Els – who could have, and likely should have caught him down the stretch – failed to birdie the par-5 72nd to force a playoff.  And that was that.  Woods’ 65 was not quite perfect but terribly impressive, for he gained the necessary fast start by recording birdies at three of the first four, then uncharacteristically gave two of them back with bogies at the 6th and 9th.  But saving his best for last, he came home in six-under-par 31, birdying the 72nd with a 25’ putt made necessary when his 5 wood second to the 564-yard par 5 finished awkwardly alongside a bunker.  The clutch finish moved him two ahead of the up-and-coming South African Louis Oosthuizen (whose own impressive 65 had included a disappointing bogey at the last) and one up on Els, who, needing but a single birdie over the final four holes to tie, recorded three pars before dunking his second into the pond that fronts the final green, closing with six.  Thus 2nd place was claimed by another fast-rising star, Germany’s Martin Kaymer, who finished birdie-birdie-eagle and thus never had a chance to actually catch Woods.  The victory is Tiger’s seventh on the European Tour, his 11th outside of the United States and his 73rd overall – pretty decent numbers for a 32-year-old.  Among the mortals, Kaymer, Oosthuizen and Els’ respective finishes move them into 3rd, 9th and 8th in the E Tour Order of Merit and 21st, 82nd and 4th in the World Ranking. 

                   FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          E TOUR STATS

                          INTERVIEWS:     WOODS 1     WOODS 2     ELS
 
 
Sunshine Tour:  Nashua South African Masters – Port Edward, South Africa

Playing under intrusively windy conditions on the Wild Sun Coast CC, Zimbabwe’s Marc Cayeux added a strong final-round of 68 to earlier efforts of 66-67-67, the 268 total proving good enough for a two-stroke victory over third-round leader Bradford Vaughan at the Nashua South African Masters.  The event’s 2006 winner, Warren Abery, went out in 30 en route to the day’s low round of 65, to finish alone in 3rd at 271, while 4th went to England’s Justin Waters at 272.  For the 29-year-old Cayeux, this was Sunshine Tour victory number nine (along with a pair of 2004 E Challenge Tour titles), though with virtually all of South Africa’s top-shelf stars playing either in Dubai or Phoenix, it moves him no higher than 303rd in the World Ranking.  He also climbs to 12th in the Sunshine Order of Merit.

                   FINAL RESULTS          ORDER OF MERIT          SUNSHINE STATS 
 
 
Ladies European Tour:  MFS Australian Women’s Open – Melbourne, Australia

It sported a somewhat shallower field than most U.S. LPGA events, but with enough fine international players present and one of the world’s truly great courses, the Australian Women’s Open still had the makings of something special – and in the event it did not disappoint.  Trailing 19-year-old Korean phenom Ji-Yai Shin by two with only three holes to play, defending champion Karrie Webb proceeded to birdie both the 16th (with a 35’ putt) and 17th to draw even with Shin, then claim the title with a 12’ birdie putt on the second hole of sudden death.  The victory – Webb’s fourth in her national championship – was an obvious favorite with the home crowd, and actually represents something of a triumph for both players.  For the 33-year-old Webb, the win is her seventh on the LET and her 46th overall, and gets her 2008 campaign off to a flying start.  For the teenage Shin, who held up well under pressure and simply lost to a superior performance, it represents a significant confidence builder as she grapples with the inevitable question of when to take her came Westward.  The pair’s closing rounds of six-under-par 67 were the low scores of the week, allowing them to separate themselves from England’s Melissa Reid by four and Korea’s Amy Yang by six.  Halfway leader Kristie Smith, a 19-year-old amateur from Western Australia showed nicely on Sunday, closing with an even-par 73 (and a tie for 5th) after slipping to a 77 on Saturday.  

                       FINAL RESULTS          ORDER OF MERIT          LET STATS
 
 
Elsewhere

Australian Jerrod Lyle, a veteran of  the PGA and E Tours (among others) closed with a flawless 63 to claim the Nationwide Tour’s Mexico Open in Michoacan, defeating American Matthew Every by five……………On Australia’s developmental Von Nida Tour, 24-year-old Marc Leishman shot a final-round 65 to win the Victorian PGA Championship, getting some major late help from long-hitting Kurt Barnes who bogeyed the last three holes to tie for 2nd, one back.