Fujita wins Okinawa Open golf by three shots

Fujita wins Okinawa Open golf by three shots

Agence France-Presse, Okinawa, Japan

Japan's Hiroyuki Fujita won the Okinawa Open Sunday by three
strokes from American Ted Purdy and young amateur star Yusaku
Miyazato at Southern Links Golf Club.

Fujita fired a third-round five-under-par 67 in the US$833,000
event, which was shortened to 54-holes because of bad weather.

He finished with a three-round aggregate of 14-under-par 202,
in what is the first joint-sanctioned event between the Asian PGA
Tour and Japan Golf Tour Organization.

Purdy, who along with Fujita and three others started the
third round sharing the lead, returned a 70 while Miyazato,
currently in his senior year at university, closed with a 67.

In-form Fujita never looked back after birdieing the first
three holes and when Purdy four-putted the 10th for a double-
bogey six the Japanese golfer cruised home for his third Tour
victory.

"I am very happy, it has been a while since I won and I wasn't
sure when it would happen again. The warm weather here in Okinawa
definitely helped me play better," said Fujita, who last tasted
victory in 2001.

"I did not look at a leaderboard until the 15th. I saw that I
was three ahead and then for the first time I started to think
about winning. This now gives me a three-year exemption in Japan
and will give me and our team some confidence heading into next
year's Dynasty Cup match against the rest of Asia," added Fujita.

After the disappointment on 10 Purdy responded with three
birdies on the way home but it was not enough to catch Fujita. On
the 10th he pushed his first putt, from 30 feet, three feet past
the cup and then knocked the next one five feet by.

"He (Fujita) played flawless golf and I missed a little three
footer on four which could have helped me get jump started and
then I had a four putt on 10. I was trying to make birdie and
ended up with six. Fujita had the same putt that I had on 10 for
par but when I missed mine he really buckled down and made his,"
said Purdy.

It was another blow for the American who failed to win his US
PGA Tour card two weeks ago by one shot after dropping two
strokes in the last four holes.

Miyazato, who is aged 22, put in a brilliant back nine to join
Purdy in second place. The rising star of Japanese golf, who
hails from Okinawa and is currently studying on the mainland,
birdied 13, chipped in for eagle on the par-five 14th and birdied
16.

"The second round cost me, I should have done better then and
that would have allowed me to put more pressure on the leaders
today. It's still a great result for me," said Miyazato, who
finished fourth individually in this year's Asian Games in Busan,
South Korea.

With the tournament being reduced to 54 holes the prize money
was lowered by 75 per cent. Fujita earned 15,000,000 yen, (about
$124,400), while Purdy won 7,500,000 yen ($62,200).

After three days of persistent rain, the final day witnessed
perfect weather, which allowed 42 players to complete their
second round early in the morning before the third round
commenced at 10:00 am.

Japan's Kondo and Tetsuji Hiratsuka finished off their second
rounds by joining Fujita, Purdy and Japan's Tateo Ozaki on top of
the leaderboard but they were unable to stay with the pace in the
afternoon. The halfway cut was made at two-under-par.

The Okinawa Open is the opening event of the 2002-2003 season
for both the Asian PGA and Japan circuits.