It appeared to be Westwood’s tournament to win, with the third-ranked Englishman taking a one-stroke lead over Cabrera-Bello into the final round. But after making a 35-foot eagle putt on the second hole to go up by two, Westwood struggled with his putting the rest of the way.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MELBOURNE, Australia — Jessica Korda broke out her father’s trademark scissor-kick celebration Sunday when she won the Women’s Australian Open at Royal Melbourne for her first LPGA Tour title.
She decided against the cart wheels that her father, Petr, did when he won the 1998 Australian Open tennis title. Maybe she was still dizzy following a topsy-turvy final day of the tournament.
After losing the lead with a late bogey run, the 18-year-old American fought back to take the last spot in an improbable six-player playoff, then won with a 25-foot birdie putt on the second extra hole.
She closed with a 1-over 74 to finish at 3-under 289 in the first women’s professional event at Royal Melbourne, the difficult sand-belt layout that was the site of the 2011 Presidents Cup.
Stacy Lewis, Brittany Lincicome, Julieta Granada, So Yeon Ryu and Hee Kyung Seo also were in the playoff that matched the largest in LPGA Tour history.
Ryu and Seo, playing ahead of Korda and Nikki Campbell in the second-to-last group, topped the leaderboard at 4 under going into the final hole of regulation, but made bogeys to set up the big playoff.
Lewis finished with a 70, Lincicome and Granada shot 71, and Ryu and Seo shot 73.
PAVIS CLIPS SENIOR TO WIN ALLIANZ
BOCA RATON, Fla. — Corey Pavin made a 12-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to defeat Peter Senior and win the Allianz Championship for his first Champions Tour title Sunday at Broken Sound.
Both players shot a final-round 71 to finish tied at 11-under 205. Senior forced the playoff with a birdie on the last hole of regulation, but his birdie try in the playoff stopped an inch short of the cup.
Mark Calcavecchia appeared to be cruising to the victory when he birdied the par-5 11th hole to take a three-shot lead over Pavin. But Calcavecchia, who was 5 under for the day at that point, bogeyed six of his last seven holes to finish tied for seventh after a 73.
Bernhard Langer (71) and Michael Allen (69) tied for third place, a shot ahead of Jay Haas (69) and John Cook (69).
CABRERA-BELLO WINS DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Rafael Cabrera-Bello won the Dubai Desert Classic, shooting a 4-under 68 to beat Lee Westwood and Stephen Gallacher by one shot for his second European Tour victory.
It appeared to be Westwood’s tournament to win, with the third-ranked Englishman taking a one-stroke lead over Cabrera-Bello into the final round. But after making a 35-foot eagle putt on the second hole to go up by two, Westwood struggled with his putting the rest of the way.