Around The World
One week after a squandering a chance for a playoff following a poor second shot on the final hole of the Deutsche Bank Championship, Billy Horschel rallied to score a major bounce-back win at the BMW Championship, played at Denver’s famed Cherry Hills Country Club. The 27-year-old Horschel who, prior to the Deutsche Bank, had logged but a single PGA Tour top-10 finish since January, was around the lead all week, initially trailing first-round pace setters Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Garry Woodland by one after opening with a 68 that concluded with 11 consecutive pars. Despite a fine second round 66, his 36-hole deficit grew to two due to Sergio Garcia posting a Friday 64 that included five birdies and an eagle, the latter the result of holed pitch at the 395-yard 7th. But Horschel would take command on Saturday when, after turning relatively quietly in two-under-par 32, he caught fire on the back, eventually birdieing four of the final five holes to post a 63 that staked him to a three-shot 54-hole lead over Ryan Palmer. Sunday would prove something less than a cakewalk, however, as Palmer mounted a charge and twice drew even over the first 11 holes, only to fade after shanking his second out of heavy rough at the 13th on his way to a double bogey. This left Horschel’s primary competition to come from Garcia, who’d slipped to a 72 on Saturday before heating up again on Sunday, this time logging four birdies and an eagle (once again at the 7th) over his first 16 holes to pull within two. But at the 545-yard island-green 17th Garcia imploded, actually chipping his fourth shot into the water en route to a triple-bogey eight, and a tie for fourth. That left Bubba Watson (who closed with three straight 66s but never truly threatened the lead) to claim solo second, with third place going to Morgan Hoffman, who was grateful there was no cut after opening 72-72, then tore Cherry Hills up with rounds of 62-63 on the weekend...................Twenty-six-year-old American David Lipsky, a full-time player on the Asian Tour, scored a breakthrough victory at the Omega European Masters, a longtime E Tour event currentlyt co-sanctioned with the Asian circuit. A graduate of Northwestern University, Lipsky arrived with four straight top-25 E Tour finishes dating back to May but remained largely under the radar upon opening with a three-under-par 67 over the alpine Crans-sur-Sierre layout, a bogey-free round which placed him tied for 27th, five shots behind Scotland's Richie Ramsey. Lipsky hit stride on Friday, however, recording seven birdies en route to a 64 which jumped him up to fifth, then backed that up with a Saturday 66 to trail 54-hole leader Graeme Storm by three. On a Sunday which saw multiple contenders jockeying atop the leaderboard, Lipsky caught fire on the front nine, posting three birdies and an eagle from holes 3-7 to get into the mix, then played par golf through the 17th before birdieing the 402-yard 18th to post 262. Among the other contenders, only Storm (who closed with 68) could match him, setting up a playoff which Lipsky won with a scarmbling par at the first etra hole, claiming both the title and a two-exemption on the European circuit..................Thirty-three-year-old Hiroshi Iwata entered 2014 winless on his native Japan Tour, nor had he cracked the top 25 in official earnings since finishing 21st in 2008. But his form made a precipitous climb from the start of the year as he logged seven top 10s in his first 11 domestic starts, setting the stage for him to break through and land his maiden victory in the 42nd playing of the Fujisankei Classic. Iwata's golf leaned far more towards the steady than the spectacular this week as each of his first two rounds of 69 included four birdies and two bogeys, and he followed these with a Saturday 70 to stand two shots behind 54-hole leader Yuta Ikeda. Iwata found a higher gear on Sunday, however, turning in three-under-par 32 before eventually reaching the 18th tee four under on the day and tied for the lead with Korean In-Hoi Hur. But while Hur could do no better than a closing par, Iwata birdied the 465-yard finisher to steal the trophy..................Former South African Amateur champion Louis de Jager won for the second time on the Sunshine Tour at the Vodacom Origins of Golf event in Port Edward, barely hanging on to raise the trophy in memorably nerve-wracking style. It seemed to be the 27-year-old de Jager's week from the start after he recorded five birdies and an eagle during a bogey-free 63 on Wednesday, good enough to propel him to an uncommonly large four-shot first round lead. He slowed a bit on Thursday with a steady 68, a round that proved good enough to expand his 36-hole lead to five. But standing on the verge of a runaway, de Jager collapsed during Friday's finale, unraveling with a triple-bogey on the 1st hole, then, following a gutsy bounce-back birdie at the 2nd, adding a double at the 421-yard 5th. Still, birdies at the 9th and 13th seemed to lift him clear - until the bottom fell out, as he staggered home with five straight bogeys to post an ugly 77. But as luck would have it, his two primary competitors, Jaco Ahlers and Haydn Porteous, also failed to close, Ahlers finishing bogey-par while Porteous, staring his first Sunshine Tour victory in the eye, bogeyed the 18th to leave the trio deadlocked on 208. De Jager's good fortune then continued on the first playoff hole (the 381-yard 18th), where he recorded a routine par and won when neither man could match it.