A tiring Masters campaign caught up with K.J. Choi on Friday as the South Korean surrendered the lead at the Heritage.
England’s Greg Owen and Jim Furyk and Charles Howell of the US seized the joint halfway lead on seven-under 135 on Friday, as overnight leader Choi ballooned to a 74.
“Yeah, the fatigue is setting in right now,” said Choi, who tied for fourth with with Tiger Woods at the Masters last week.
PHOTO: AFP
Choi had played all four days at the Augusta National with Woods, whose every move was the subject of scrutiny after the American’s five-month layoff in the wake of a lurid sex scandal.
Furyk carded a 68, Howell shot a 67 and Owen fired a 69 to take a one-shot lead over a group that included Australian Stuart Appleby and two-time Heritage champion Boo Weekley.
Furyk birdied the 13th and 15th holes from inside 10 feet and caught Choi when he chipped in from just off the green at 16.
Choi teed off on 10 just as Furyk was finishing and was in trouble early. He drove out of bounds on the 11th, then put a tee shot in the water at 14 en route to a bogey. He made a double-bogey six when he failed to get out of a bunker on 18.
He played his last nine holes in even par.
Howell tied Furyk with a birdie on 18, where he sank a 22-foot putt from off the green.
Owen, who started at the 10th, got to seven-under with a two-foot birdie at the par-five fifth, the last of his four birdies on the day.
Weekley, who won in 2007 and 2008, carded a 68, marking the first time this season he has opened with two rounds under 70.
Appleby, playing here for the first time since 1998, notched a 67, his lowest round of the year.
■MERCEDES-BENZ MASTERS
AFP, MANILA
Filipino Artemio Murakami won a dramatic last-gasp victory at the Mercedes-Benz Masters Philippines yesterday, making birdies on his final two holes to beat the chasing pack by a single stroke.
Murakami closed with a final-round five-under 67 on his home course to edge out compatriots Jay Bayron and Angelo Que, and Manila-based Dutchman Guido Van Der Valk at Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club.
Bayron, the leader since the first round was in control all day until a bogey on 15 and a double-bogey on 16. He carded a 73. A three-putt on the 16th from three feet proved costly.
Both Que and Van Der Valk bogeyed the par-four 18th after missing the green with their second shots and both carded 69s.
Murakami, 26, nailed a six-iron from 160 yards into the wind to make an audacious three on the final hole.
“I don’t know what to say. When I birdied 17 I was told I was close to the lead, so I said to myself: ‘I must birdie 18.’ I was nervous on that final putt and told myself it was just like the putt that I made to win the Johor Open in 2007,” Murakami said.
Filipino Mars Pucay ended two strokes behind the winner after shooting a 72.
■MOJO 6 JAMAICA
AFP, MONTEGO BAY, JAMAICA
Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist won the inaugural Mojo 6 Jamaica LPGA Invitational on Friday, beating Amanda Blumenherst one-up in the six-hole championship match.
Nordqvist, who won the LPGA Championship and season-ending LPGA Tour Championship last year, earned US$350,000 in the unofficial event at Cinnamon Hill.
The tournament was played in the quirky “Raceway Golf” format.
Three rounds of six-hole matches on Thursday saw the field cut from 16 to eight.
The quarter-finals launched three single-elimination rounds on Friday.
Nordqvist opened with a two-up victory over Christina Kim and then beat Cristie Kerr on the first extra hole in the semi-finals.
Blumenherst beat Brittany Lang one-up in the quarter-finals, then triumphed over South Korea’s Choi Na-yeon on the first extra hole in the semi-finals.
Kerr beat Choi in the playoff for third place.
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