Yet another week which, on paper at least, seemed to offer limited prospects.  Yet there was Sean O’Hair’s gritty win in Tampa, Arjun Atwal going low before claiming a playoff victory in Malaysia, and a massive sudden death battle between Bernhard Langer and Jay Haas in Southern California.  Not bad for a three-event week.

PGA Tour:  PODS Championship – Palm Harbor, FL

Given his dash to the finals of the WGC-Match play two weeks ago, then his run to the 54-hole lead at the PODS Championship, there was a bit of extra pressure for self-proclaimed “underachiever” Stewart Cink to close the deal in Tampa on Sunday afternoon.  Unfortunately, in the heat of battle, Cink’s early four-shot lead vanished amidst two back-nine bogeys, then a crucial double-bogey at the difficult par-4 16th, allowing 25-year-old Sean O’Hair to snatch victory with a fine closing 69, and a 280 total.  The win is O’Hair’s second on the PGA Tour but his first since 2005, when he claimed the John Deere Classic as a rookie.  With a key birdie at the 15th, O’Hair left himself some breathing room at the end, his finishing bogey giving him a two-stroke margin of victory over Cink, John Senden, Ryuji Imada, George McNeill, Troy Matteson and Billy Mayfair.  For Cink, plenty of frustration has accompanied this late winter hot streak, which has yielded three top-3 finishes and nearly $1.4 million in earnings – but no wins – since the last week of January.  For O’Hair, whose talent and much-publicized estrangement from his parents have always drawn attention, the victory jumpstarts a stagnant (but not struggling) career which saw him rank 62nd and 38th in earnings during winless 2006 and ’07 campaigns, then begin this season with nothing better than a T49 (at San Diego) in five previous starts.  He now moves from 80th to 35th in the World Ranking, and has also guaranteed himself a second trip to the Masters.

                    FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          PGA TOUR STATS

European PGA Tour:  Maybank Malaysian Open – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

There is nothing like returning to the scene of a past triumph (and, perhaps, having serious criminal charges dismissed) to relax a player and boost his confidence – and Arjun Atwal now has a victory to prove it.  Playing in an event that he won in 2003, and following the news that he would not be charged in the accidental death of another motorist in a March, 2007 accident in Orlando, the popular Atwal defeated defending champion Peter Hedblom on the second hole of sudden death to capture the Maybank Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur and claim his seventh worldwide victory.  In truth, simply reaching the playoff was an accomplishment as Atwal began Sunday tied for 11th before unleashing a near-flawless 64 that concluded with a tying birdie at the par-5 18th.  The victory jumps him from 343rd to 203rd in the World Ranking and, perhaps more importantly, gives him full playing status on the E Tour – nothing to trifle at for a man who’d previously been splitting time between the Nationwide and Asian Tours.  For Hedblom, the runner-up finish lifts him to 85th in the world and 12th in the E Tour Order of Merit.  First-day leader Nick Dougherty (who opened with a stunning 62) proved that a single great round isn’t nearly enough, finishing with 70-72-73 to finish T21, seven shots back.

                    FINAL RESULTS          ORDER OF MERIT          E TOUR STATS

Champions Tour:  Toshiba Classic – Newport Beach, CA

Few modern golfers have remained more major-tour competitive into their late 40s than Bernhard Langer, so it figured that Germany’s former Ryder Cup captain would find success on the Champions Tour.  On Sunday, Langer had to work a bit harder for that success, as it took a birdie on the seventh hole of sudden death for him to defeat defending champion Jay Haas at the Toshiba Senior Classic.  Langer’s Friday and Saturday 65s had staked him to a three shot lead over a group of four players, but a Sunday 69 (for a 199 total) left the door open for Haas to draw even; indeed, the 10-time Champions Tour winner actually pulled ahead, requiring Langer to roll in a 12’ birdie putt at the last to tie.  Both players birdied the first playoff hole (the 18th), then strung together five straight pars before the rotation returned them to the 510-yard finisher for a third time, and Langer’s winning birdie.  Amazingly, this is neither the first nor the second longest playoff in Toshiba history, as both the 1997 and 2001 editions (won by Bob Murphy and Jose Maria Canizares respectively) went a staggering nine holes.

                    FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          CHAMPIONS STATS

                                                INTERVIEW:     LANGER

Elsewhere...

On Okinawa, 22-year-old Korean Bo-Bae Song claimed her first victory on the Japan LPGA Tour, riding a final-round 65 to a four-shot victory over Sakura Yokomine at the Daikin Orchid Ladies.  It was Song’s fifth professional title worldwide but her first outside of her homeland……….Former British Amateur champion and E Tour regular Iain Pyman claimed his eighth Challenge Tour title with a three-stoke victory at the Tusker Kenya Open, played at the Karen CC in Nairobi.  A second-round 63 launched Pyman into contention, but a closing 68 was still needed to turn a one-shot third-round deficit into a three-stroke triumph over Thomas Feyrsinger of Austria.…………England’s Bill Longmuir birdied five of his final six holes en route to a closing 65 and a  three-shot victory at the European Senior Tour’s season-opening Barbados Classic.  Another Englishman, Bob Cameron, finished 2nd as Longmuir claimed his seventh E Seniors title.