Second Malaysian title earns Norquist European Tour card
Second Malaysian title earns Norquist European Tour card
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): American Gerry Norquist won the Malaysian Open for the second time in six years on Sunday, a closing round of 71 giving him a three-shot victory over compatriot Bob May and Germany's Alex Cejka.
The success earned Norquist a European Tour playing card and the winner's check of US$121,000.
The Asian circuit regular had to decide whether to take up his European playing rights after leading the tournament from the second round. He joined immediately after signing his card.
Norquist began the final day only a stroke in front of defending champion Ed Fryatt and fellow American Shaun Micheel but as they fell away two European Tour players ran him closest.
Cejka shot 71 and May a 72 to finish joint runners-up on 283, five under par.
Norquist was caught briefly by fellow American Christian Chernock when he birdied the first two holes and it looked as though Chernock had edged in front when he chipped in for a birdie on the third.
However, Chernock broke a rule by picking up his ball jammed against the flagstick, without letting it drop down into the cup. He received a one-shot penalty for only par five instead of the birdie.
A referee initially gave him a wrong interpretation of the procedure for replacing his ball and he believed he had bogeyed the hole.
The ruling was clarified at the 10th by a more senior official. But the incident unsettled Chernock and he dropped fives shots after it to slide off the leaderboard.
As his main rivals slipped back Norquist showed all the cool which had earned him seven previous victories in the Far East, though he admitted he had to work hard "to keep a level head.
In Sydney, Bernhard Langer took a triple bogey at the last in the Greg Norman International on Sunday to squander the chance of winning his first tournament since November 1997.
The German's remarkable lapse, which included a penalty for a marker infraction on the final hole, allowed New Zealander Michael Long to snatch the title.
Langer, twice a winner of the U.S. Masters, led by five strokes after nine holes of his final round and by one shot going to the par-three last.
But his disastrous six handed the title to Long.
Long shot a closing one-under-par 72 in the strong southerly wind which troubled all players to win on 283, nine under.
He finished one shot clear of fellow countryman Michael Campbell who shot a 74. Langer was a shot further back after shooting 80.
Langer, 41, attempting to break one of the longest droughts in his professional career, faltered dramatically in the gusty winds at The Lakes course.
He needed only to par the 225-yard par-three last hole to beat Long by a shot.
Langer thought he had hit his three-iron tee shot perfectly but the ball drifted right and plugged in a bunker, 30 yards from the pin.
He then blasted the ball through the green and, when his chip finished well short, needed to sink a putt from nine feet to force a play-off with Long.
Final scores
Malaysian Open: 280 - Gerry Norquist (USA) 67-67-75-71 283 - Alex Cejka (Ger) 70-73-69-71, Bob May (USA) 72-69-70-72 284 - Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 76-71-69-68, Andrew Coltart (Gbr) 70-71-73-70, Tse-peng Chang (Tpe) 77-64-73-70, Padraig Harrington (Ire) 70-73-70-71, Shaun Micheel (USA) 69-71-70-74 285 - Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 72-72-72-69, Ed Fryatt (Gbr) 70-69- 71-75 286 - Scott Rowe (Hkg) 74-70-72-70, Kim Jong-duk (Kor) 73-71-71- 71, Nick O' Hern (Aus) 74-71-70-71, Frankie Minoza (Phi) 67-74-73-72, Andrew Bonhomme (Aus) 70-74-70-72, Christopher Hanell (Swe) 75-67-72-72, Craig Hainline (USA) 70-71-72-73, Choi Kyoung-ju (Kor) 68-71-73-74, Wang Ter-chang (Tpe) 69- 72-71-74, Christian Chernock (USA) 70-71-70-75
Greg Norman International (Australian unless stated): 283 - Michael Long (Nzl) 73-72-66-72 284 - Michael Campbell (Nzl) 67-72-71-74 285 - Bernhard Langer (Ger) 71-65-69-80 286 - Rodney Pampling 70-74-70-72, Peter O'Malley 70-70-72-74, Anthony Painter 66-68-72-80 287 - Peter Senior 67-74-71-75 288 - Peter Lonard 79-69-68-72 289 - Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 69-78-75-67, Aaron Baddeley 72-71-71-75, Jean-Louis Guepy (Fra) 71-74-70-74 290 - Peter McWhinney 74-73-73-70, Craig Parry 75-71-71-73, Raymond Russell (Sco) 70-73-71-76