A breakthrough for Ryuji Imada, a splashdown for Richard Finch, a major J Tour win for Shingo Katayama...and, oh yes, yet another win for Lorena Ochoa.  Just another enjoyable week worldwide...

PGA Tour:  AT&T Classic – Duluth, GA

In  a result that bordered on the surreal, Ryuji Imada claimed his first PGA Tour victory at the AT&T Classic in Duluth, Georgia, defeating Kenny Perry in sudden death a year after losing this very same event in a playoff himself.  On that occasion, the 31-year-old Imada suffered defeat after hitting his second shot into the water which fronts the green at the par-5 18th.  This time he chose to lay up safely and made a five – but only after Perry’s aggressive 5 wood second carried the green, ricocheted off a pine tree, then bounced back across the putting surface and into the water.  For Perry, who shot himself out of contention with a closing 81 at last week’s Players Championship, the loss was especially frustrating, particularly as he fights for a position on the upcoming Ryder Cup team.  Ditto for Camilo Villegas, for whom the Ryder Cup is irrelevant, but for whom a missed eagle putt at the 72nd wasn’t; it left him alone in 3rd place, one struck out of the playoff.  For Imada, a former University of Georgia star who has been trending towards this victory for some time now, the breakthrough jumps him from 69th to 49th in the World Ranking, secures his first invitation to the Masters and moves him into 4th place in official earnings.

     FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          PGA TOUR STATS          INTERVIEWS
 
 
European PGA Tour:  Irish Open – Adare, Ireland

Concluding with one of the more memorable finishes in E Tour history, England’s Richard Finch claimed his second victory of 2008 at the Irish Open – but only after falling into a river while playing the 72nd hole.  Finch arrived at the par-5 closer with a three-stroke lead over fellow ’08 winner Felipe Aguilar of Chile, and thus laid up his second shot just shy of the River Maigue.  The ball finished a bit closer to the bank than planned, however, and while Finch’s third managed to find the putting surface, his momentum sent him tumbling forward, into the water.  His closing par gave him a 278 total and a two-shot margin of victory.  Even more importantly, the win moved Finch up to 5th in the Order of Merit and 10th on the all-important Ryder Cup points list.  Though operating a bit off the radar (at least in America), Finch also climbs to 134th in the Official World Ranking.

    FINAL RESULTS          ORDER OF MERIT          E TOUR STATS          INTERVIEWS
 
 
Japan Tour:  Japan PGA Championship – Gunma, Japan

Shingo Katayama, Japan’s number two-ranked domestic player, captured his second Japan PGA Championship in runaway fashion, posting rounds of 67-66-65-67 over the Raysum Golf Spa & Resort course to route China’s Wen-Chong Liang by six.  Katayama’s 265 total easily broke the tournament record of 269 (jointly held by Jumbo Ozaki and Australia’s Wayne Perske) and was sparked by a run of five birdies in six holes during his opening nine on Thursday.  The popular 35-year-old, who is known worldwide for his upturned cowboy-style hats, held a seven-shot lead over Kazuhiko Hosokawa after 54 holes, then birdied both the first an second on Sunday to open up a lead which ultimately proved insurmountable.  The victory lifts Katayama to 1st place in the J Tour Order of Merit, and from 57th to 44th in the Official World Ranking.

                    FINAL RESULTS          ORDER OF MERIT          J TOUR STATS
 
 
Sunshine Tour:  Nashua Golf Challenge – Sun City, South Africa

Thirty-six-year-old Keith Horne claimed his third official Sunshine Tour title at the Nashua Golf Challenge, defeating Nic Henning on the second hole of sudden death after the pair deadlocked on 210.  With no leader boards on the golf course, Horne had little idea where he stood prior to the 53rd fairway, but managed to par the closers for a final-round 70, which matched Henning who finished with a 72.  In truth, neither man likely fancied their chances going into the final day, as 15-time Sunshine winner Desvonde Botes held a commanding five-stroke 36-hole lead off rounds of 68-65.  But Botes double-bogeyed the third hole en route to an outgoing 41, ultimately limping home in 78 and tying for 3rd, one stroke out of the playoff.  The win lifts Horne – who has only played in for 2008 events – to 44th in the Order of Merit, and to 479th in the World Ranking.

                  FINAL RESULTS          ORDER OF MERIT          SUNSHINE STATS
 
 
LPGA Tour:  Sybase Classic – Clifton, NJ

The week began with a lightning bolt – red-hot Annika Sorenstam will be retiring at the close of the season – but it ended with what is fast becoming old news: world number one Lorena Ochoa winning yet again.  But Ochoa’s sixth victory in nine 2008 LPGA starts (and her third straight in the Sybase) was hardly as one-sided as several that preceded it; in an event shortened to 54 holes by rain, she put herself in good position with opening rounds of 68-67, then closed with a steady three-birdie, two-bogey 71 that saw her home but a single shot ahead of a five-player posse comprised of Morgan Pressel, Catriona Matthew, Na Yeon Choi, Brittany Lang and Sophie Gustafson.  Ochoa actually experienced some nervous moments at the finish, her slim lead appearing at least slightly in jeopardy after she missed the last fairway wide right.  But a slick recovery led to a routine par five and, yet again, the hoisting of the winner’s trophy.  Sorenstam, who came into the week with victories in her last two starts, seemed well-positioned to contend through 26 holes, but a double-bogey seven at her 27th proved detrimental, before an outgoing 37 on Sunday left her too far in arrears going into the final nine, and she ultimately tied for 11th.  There aren’t enough superlatives to describe Ochoa’s season to date, but suffice to say that with her Sybase victory, rumors of Sorenstam’s riding into retirement by reclaiming her status as the game’s best have proven greatly exaggerated.  In fact, the way Ochoa is playing, perhaps Annika has chosen the right time to go.

       FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          LPGA STATS          INTERVIEWS
 
 
Champions Tour:  Regions Charity Classic – Hoover, AL

Claiming his second career Champions Tour victory, Andy Bean hung on to win Alabama’s Regions Charity Classic despite bogeying the 53rd holes and hooking his tee shot well left at the 54th.  Playing his approach from some 230 yards out, Bean lofted a clutch iron shot to within 20 feet of the hole and safely two-putted, winning by one shot over Loren Roberts and two over Jeff Sluman, the later charging home with the tournament’s low round of 64.

                    FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          CHAMPIONS STATS
 
 
Elsewhere…

Korea’s Eun-A Lim won the JLPGA Vernal Ladies title in Fukuoka with a 209 total, one stroke better than Akiko Fukushima………In Korea, 20-year-old Ji-Yai Shin claimed her 18th  international victory at the Korean Women’s Open, defeating So Yeon Ryu in a playoff after the pair tied through 54 holes on 213………On the Futures Tour, Californian Mindy Kim won her first professional title at the Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City Championship, carding a 210 total to beat Jessica Shepley by four………David Mathis won the Nationwide Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am in South Carolina with a 20-under-par 266 total, beating Roger Tambellini by three………England’s Steve Benson carded a four-round total of 269 to win the European Challenge Tour’s Piemonte Open in Torino, Italy, defeating Switzerland’s Raphael De Sousa by three………Mong-nan Hsu became Taiwan’s second straight winner on the Omega China Tour, his 285 total claiming the Shanghai Championship by two over Xiaoma Chen and Guiming Liao………Argentina’s Sebastian Saavedra defended his 2007 title at the rain-shortened Copa Tres Diamantes on the Tour de las Americas, his seven-under-par 206 total beating countryman Daniel Barbetti by three………Spencer Levin captured the Canadian Tour’s Iberostar Riviera Maya Open in Mexico, his seven-under-par 267 total edging Derek Gillespie by three.