Around The World
Thirty-one-year-old Ryan Moore had to work overtime to claim his third career PGA Tour victory, but in the end he emerged victorious in Malaysia’s CIMB Classic on the first hole of a Monday morning playoff with fellow American Gary Woodland. An official part of the Tour schedule for the first time, the event drew a limited field of 77 players from the PGA and Asian circuits, and initially saw Keegan Bradley jump out to a commanding four-shot lead at the halfway point behind rounds of 65-65. But after turning in 35 on Saturday, Bradley stumbled badly on the back nine, carding three bogeys and a double bogey en route to a 41 and, eventually, 10th place. That left the door open for Moore and Chris Stroud to share the 54-hole lead on 12-under-par 204 as the field embarked on a long Sunday of golf that was twice interrupted by rain delays totaling over three and a half hours in length. Early on, the spotlight belonged to 24-year-old Kiradech Aphibarnrat, the Asian Tour’s runaway Order of Merit leader, who made four quick birdies in a bid to become the first native of Thailand to win an official PGA Tour event. A bogey at the par-5 10th derailed Aphibarnrat’s run, however, and he would ultimately share third place with Stroud, who narrowly missed holing as birdie chip at the 634-yard 18th to get to the magic number of 14 under par. Moore managed a clutch up-and-down at the same green to remain at 14 under, leaving Woodland to narrowly miss a 10-foot birdie putt that would have won the title in regulation. But with floodlights already in use as the players finished, officials ruled that the playoff would wait until Monday morning, when Moore promptly birdied the 18th to claim victory......................Despite one of the more up-and-down finishes of the 2013 season, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano claimed his seventh career European Tour title at the BMW Masters, barely holding off Italy's Francesco Molinari and Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee by one. Played over the heavily bunkered Jack Nicklaus-designed Lake Malaren Golf Club, the event was the first in the E Tour's inaugural four-tournament Final Series - though it included a number of players (mostly Chinese) who had nothing whatsoever to do with the Series' "Road To Dubai" bonus pool. One such entry was American Luke Guthrie, who opened with a fine 67 (good enough for a three stroke lead in windy conditions), then maintained at least a piece of both the 36- and 54-hole leads with subsequent rounds of 71-72. But on a calm and sunny Sunday, Guthrie bogeyed the first hole and could never really mount a charge thereafter, ultimately posting a 71 and tying for fourth. This left the door ajar for a variety of more experienced E Tour stars and for a while it looked as though Molinari might steal the day, his superb final-round 64 highlighted by an incoming 30 that included an eagle at the 544-yard 13th, then five consecutive birdies immediately thereafter. Jaidee would soon match his 278 aggregate, however, posting four back nine birdies of his own en route to a closing 66. But in the final hour it would be Fernandez-Castano who took the limelight, particularly after a birdie at the 15th moved him two strokes in front, and a seemingly superfluous chip-in birdie at the par-3 17th extended the margin to three. But the 33-year-old Spaniard injected a bit of life into the proceedings by finding two bunkers at the 471-yard 18th, ultimately two-putting from six feet to hang on and claim the title by a single stroke..................Forty-two-year-old Daisuke Maruyama ended a four-year Japan Tour victory drought in his native prefecture of Chiba by defeating South Korea's I.J. Jang by three strokes to claim the rain-shortened 42nd edition of the Bridgestone Open. Following opening rounds of 68-67 at the Sodegaura Country Club, Maruyama stood tied for the lead with defending champion Toru Taniguchi and Eun-Shin Park before heavy rains washed away Saturday's golf, shortening the event to 54 holes (and reducing the purse by 25%). On Sunday, the 23-year-old Park fell quickly from the chase by bogeying five of his first nine holes (he would ultimately tie for 16th) while 19-time Japan Tour winner Taniguchi held his ground for 14 holes before a bogey at the 15th and a double-bogey at the 16th threw him back to a tie for seventh. Maruyama, meanwhile, began his round with a bogey to fall one behind and actually played up-and-down golf all day, carding seven birdies and four bogeys en route to his closing 68.