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Rediff.com  » Sports » Randhawa falters, finishes joint-9th

Randhawa falters, finishes joint-9th

Last updated on: November 12, 2006 16:15 IST
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Jyoti Randhawa failed to find the touch that made him one of the leading contenders over the first three days at the HSBC Champions golf tournament and finished a disappointing tied ninth in the star-studded event.

With a one-over par 73 in the fourth and final round, the Indian ace slipped from overnight third while Korea's Yang Young-Eun (69) cruised to a brilliant two-shot win despite two bogeys in the last three holes.

Yang (69) totalled 14-under 274, while holding off the challenge of three of the world's finest players -- World No.1 Tiger Woods, South Africa's Retief Goosen, New Zealand's Michael Campbell and the rest of the high-class field.

Randhawa's ninth place was the only top-10 for India, who at one stage had three in the zone.

Jeev Milkha Singh also had an error-riddled 73 that saw him finish 17th after being eighth overnight. Shiv Kapur had three each of birdies and bogeys and ended tied 18th, while

Gaurav Ghei, began and ended with a double bogey in a roller-coaster round of 74 to finish tied 26th.

Yong-Eun beat the best in the world to claim Asia's richest prize with a two-stroke victory over Tiger Woods.

South African Retief Goosen settled the world number 77's late jitters by finding the water at the 18th and, with Woods safely in the clubhouse on 12-under-par, the 34-year-old slotted home a par putt for a round of 69 and a 14-under total of 274.

"I don't know why I'm sitting here right now," Yang, who receives a cheque for $833,300, told reporters.

"This is such a big moment for me, it's hard to put my feelings into words."

World number one Woods, who started the day five shots behind leader Goosen, was never in contention until Yang's nerves got the better of him and he dropped shots at the 16th and 17th. Woods hit six birdies and a bogey in his 67.

Goosen will rue twin bogeys at the 10th and 11th which gave Yang a three-shot lead. Another at the last dropped him to a share of third on 11-under with New Zealand's Michael Campbell, who equalled the course record with a 64.

Briton Marc Warren ended an impressive weekend at 10-under for fifth place, a stroke ahead of compatriot Paul Casey, Ireland's Padraig Harrington and Swede Robert Karlsson

Yang, who swept into contention with a 67 in Saturday's wind, showed he could play in better conditions by grabbing a birdie at the second and three more from the sixth to take the lead from Goosen at 15-under.

One more at the 12th stretched his lead to four shots and the laid back Korean looked to be cruising to his first European Tour victory until the 16th.

"I played pretty steadily for the first 15 holes," he said. "Then I started to get a bit nervous."

MURKY WATERS

Goosen, however, could only manage pars as Yang dropped two shots and his hopes of catching the Korean disappeared with his ball in the murky waters of the course-side lake on the 18th. "I knew I had a chance coming down the stretch," said the 37-year-old. "Could have made the putt on 16 and he bogeyed 17 ... I just couldn't make a putt to save my life."

A third-round 73 had given Woods a mountain to climb but he put together three birdies in a row from the seventh. A bogey at the 10th, however, effectively ended his slim hopes of a seventh straight victory in strokeplay events.

"Yesterday killed me," said Woods, who was runner-up to Briton David Howell here last year. "If I had hung in there, I could have been a challenge for the tournament today but I was too far back and Yang just went on a played some great holes."

Campbell completed a remarkable turnaround to claim a share of third with an eight-birdie 64 contrasting with a third-round 77 in which he hit 10 bogeys.

"Yesterday I was unlucky on a lot of occasions with wind swirling around and gusting," said last year's U.S. Open champion. "I hope I had all my bad luck for the year in one day."

World number two Jim Furyk went seven under for the tournament to finish with a share of ninth, while defending champion Howell was joint 47th on nine-over.

Mainland Chinese made up seven of the last 13 in the field and Zhang Liangwei and Liang Wenchong were the best performers, finishing joint 51st and 54th respectively.

Leading final round scores

274 - Yang Yong-eun (KOR) 66-72-67-69
276 - Tiger Woods (USA) 72-64-73-67
277 - Retief Goosen (RSA) 68-67-69-73, Michael Campbell (NZL) 66-70-77-64
278 - Marc Warren (SCO) 66-71-70-71
280 - Paul Casey (ENG) 73-68-68-71, Padraig Harrington (IRL) 67-70-73-70, Robert Karlsson (SWE) 73-68-69-70
281 - Jyoti Randhawa (IND) 65-69-72-75, Francesco Molinari (ITA) 72-68-69-72, K J Choi (KOR) 68-72-71-70, Johan Edfors (SWE) 68-74-69-70, Jim Furyk (USA) 73-66-74-68
282 - John Bickerton (ENG) 68-71-71-72, Luke Donald (ENG) 70-69-71-72, Colin Montgomerie (SCO) 69-70-76-67
283 - Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 70-69-71-73
284 - Henrik Stenson (SWE) 76-64-70-74, Shiv Kapur (IND) 71-67-74-72
285 - Bradley Dredge (WAL) 71-70-70-74, Nick O'Hern (AUS) 72-69-71-73, Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 72-72-71-70
286 - Anton Haig (RSA) 71-71-72-72, Kevin Stadler (USA) 74-70-71-71, Camilo Villegas (COL) 71-71-75-69
287 - Gaurav Ghei (IND) 72-70-71-74, Chris Dimarco (USA) 70-74-73-70

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