Garrigus wins his first Disney crown

MIAMI: Robert Garrigus won his first PGA Tour event on Sunday with a sizzling eight-under 64 to win the Disney Classic while overnight leader Roland That­cher imploded.
Garrigus, who started the day five shots back of Thatcher, carded eight birdies to secure the win with a 21-under 267 that was three ahead of Thatcher (72).
The win in the final PGA Tour event of the season should help ease the pain of his final-hole meltdown at the St. Jude Classic at Memphis earlier in the season where Garrigus blew the lead with a triple bogey on the 18th.
“It’s great to be able to close this one off and figuratively shut everybody up about Memphis,” Garrigus said. “Every time I got an interview it was about Memphis, but it really helped me just to realise that it’s not that big a deal.”
Thatcher, who started the day four shots clear of the pack, bogeyed 12, 16 and 17 but made par on the final hole to secure second place and his PGA Tour card for next season.
“I couldn’t imagine having a more stressful moment in my life, up to this point,” said Thatcher. “So to be able to come out on the other side of that, on the good side of it is just amazing.” — Reuters

Aussie crushes his inner demons to win Singapore Open

SINGAPORE: Adam Scott’s inner demons did their best to derail his bid for a third Singapore Open title yesterday but the Australian held his nerve to claim victory at the US$6mil weather-hit event.
Scott, a winner here in 2005 and 2006, sealed a three-shot victory over Denmark’s Anders Hansen with a sublime 20-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a closing three-under 68 at the Sentosa Golf Club.
However, not all of the Serapong course’s tricky greens had been as accommodating.

One more: Adam Scott posing with his trophy after winning the raindelayed final round of the Singapore Open at the Sentosa Golf Club Monday. — Reuters

“I haven’t been putting my best lately and the demons starting creeping in a little bit on the back nine,” said the 30-year-old.
“But fortunately I squashed them and made a good putt on 15. That gave me a little buffer and calmed me down for the last three.”
Scott held a three-shot lead when the fourth round was suspended due to darkness on Sunday. Play had been suspended for five-and-a-half hours due to thunderstorms and lightning.
Coming back to finish 10 holes on yesterday was not ideal, Scott said, and when his touch with the putter started to desert him he began to worry. A three-putt bogey on the 14th rattled him.
“It was my second three-putt on the back-nine and at that point, I had no idea of what the scores were on the leaderboard,” he said.
“The 15th was a huge hole. I hit the ball beautifully and I hit every shot where I needed it to be.
“I let myself down on the 10th and 14th with my putts, but I came back and made one on 15th, which was huge as it gave myself a little breathing space.”
Scott reached a career-high third in the world rankings in 2007 but his form dipped last year. He believes he is now returning to his best.
“It’s definitely on the right track but we are always working on something. That’s the funny thing about golfers, we are never completely satisfied,” he added.
“There are always things that I want to keep working on but I feel like my game is in a good place.” — Reuters