"POPEYE" PARRY EDGES
AUSSIE OPEN AND
STONEHAVEN CUP
WITH CLOSING 69

Craig Parry could not have been blamed for singing in the rain as he won the Australian Open by a single shot after a last day of drama at the Sydney venue.
A closing-round 69 was enough to hand Parry his first Australian Open crown, 17 years after losing a play-off to John Morse at this very lay-out - the Australian Golf Club.
An up-and-down for par from 100yd at the 17th hole all but secured the Stonehaven Cup for the 41-year-old, who held off the fast-finishing Won-Joon Lee (66), American Brandt Snedeker (69) and Nick O'Hern (70) by the narrowest of margins.
"Popeye" Parry, now 41, finally claimed the one Australian event which always eluded him since he turned professional in 1985. It was his 23rd career victory and means Parry has now won all three major Australian titles, having previously claimed the Australian Masters (1992-94-96) and Australian PGA (1992).
He also pocketed $315,000 to finish the domestic season on top of the Australian Order of Merit.
"It's the one I have always wanted and I've got it," Parry said as he clutched the Stonehaven Cup.
"I have been close quite a few times, lost a play-off, third about eight times and I never thought I'd get here. The only thing that could make my career would be to win a major, winning the Australian Open has been a long time dream of mine over many, many years.
"I was the leading amateur in 1984 and stood on the green when Tom Watson won. I was only 17 years of age and thought that's what I want to do, I want to be the best.
"I love playing this golf course," Parry said.
It was a nervous 20ft putt to save par at the 17th which all but secured Parry the title played in driving rain.
"I really did think that was for the tournament," he said."That was probably the best putt I've had under pressure. It was an amazing putt ... the crowd was going crazy and I was trying not to get too excited."
It was Parry's first tournament win since the 2005 Heineken Classic.
"This is the best one ever," he said."It's very special, to win it in front of family and friends."
Joint overnight leader James Nitties (73) had the chance to force a play-off on the final hole with a greenside eagle chip but could only manage a par to finish two strokes back alongside Stuart Appleby, who finished one-under-par on the day.
Four players finished three-shots in arrears at eight-under-par - Greg Chalmers (67), Rod Pampling (68), Ewan Porter (69) and Aaron Baddeley (70).
Marc Leishman (69) and Paul Sheehan (70) both had solid weeks to end tied for 11th at -7 alongside Robert Allenby who faded with a closing-round 75.
The low-round of the day belonged to Paul Marantz who held the early clubhouse-lead courtesy of a spectacular 65 to rocket to six-under-par, alongside Peter O'Malley, Stephen Leaney and American Jason Gore.
Geoff Ogilvy must wait at least another year to break his drought on home-soil after posting closing-round 70 to finish a further shot back alongside compatriot Kane Webber.
A 67 today saw former Jacobs Creek Open winner Kevin Stadler end the week on 284, sharing joint 20th position with Aberdeen-born Michael Sim.
Last start winner Peter Lonard failed to muster a charge in his final event of the year, finishing at two-under-par overall following an uneventful 72 to finish.
The shot of the day came from Mathew Zions, who carded a spectacular albatross 2 on the 560yd 14th to finish level-par for the tournament. Meanwhile, Rohan Blizard added to an already spectacular year capturing the Leading Amateur Medal with a respectable four-round tally of 293.The 23-year-old also claimed the National Amateur Championship in March and plans to hold on to his amateur status for another 12 months.
+Stonehaven Cup? Lord Stonehaven was a Governor-General of Australia.

FINAL TOTALS
The Australian Golf Club, Rosebery, New South Wales.
Par 288 (4 x 72)
277 Craig Parry 74 64 70 69
278 Won Joon Lee 70 70 72 66, Nick O'Hern 70 66 72 70, Brandt Snedeker (US) 69 70 70 69
279 James Nitties 71 66 69 73, Stuart Appleby 71 68 68 72
280 Aaron Baddeley 70 71 69 70, Rodney Pampling 73 70 69 68, Ewan Porter 70 71 70 69, Greg Chalmers 69 72 72 67
281 Robert Allenby 67 70 69 75, Marc Leishman 72 69 71 69, Paul Sheehan 72 70 69 70
282 Paul Marantz 68 72 77 65, Stephen Leaney 69 75 67 71, Jason Gore (US) 73 70 68 71, Peter O'Malley 72 71 69 70
283 Geoff Ogilvy 68 72 73 70, Kane Webber (US) 70 72 69 72
284 Jarrod Lyle 70 70 73 71, Michael Sim 72 70 72 70, Andrew Tampion 77 67 72 68, Kevin Stadler (US) 73 71 73 67, Matthew Jones 74 68 71 71, Hiroshi Iwata (Jpn) 71 69 73 71
285 Steve Alker (Nzl) 70 71 73 71, Andrew Bonhomme 67 70 81 67, Richard Green 73 71 71 70, Michael Curtain 73 71 68 73, Cameron Percy 74 70 67 74, Peter Senior 71 72 73 69
286 Nathan Green 72 70 72 72, Scott Sterling (US) 71 72 73 70, Wayne Perske 69 69 77 71, Peter Lonard 71 70 73 72, Stephen Allan 71 69 74 72, Takuya Taniguchi (Jpn) 72 71 75 68
287 Scott Hend 68 74 74 71, Michael Long (Nzl) 70 71 77 69, Wade Ormsby 70 72 73 72, Adam Crawford 71 69 74 73
288 Matthew Zions 73 68 77 70, Gavin Coles 71 69 71 77, Ryan Moore (US) 73 68 71 76
289 Aaron Townsend 73 71 73 72, David Smail (Nzl) 70 71 77 71, Matthew Millar 71 73 71 74, Hyung-sung Kim (Kor) 71 73 68 77, Steve Jones (US) 69 69 76 75, Lee Sung (Kor) 69 72 75 73, Marcus Fraser 77 67 77 68
290 Terry Price 73 71 67 79, Bradley Iles (Nzl) 69 72 76 73, Kim Felton 67 69 79 75, David Diaz 73 71 74 72
291 Tatsuhiko Takahashi (Jpn) 73 71 69 78, Terry Pilkadaris 72 72 76 71, Brad Lamb 73 71 75 72
292 Lucas Parsons 72 72 73 75, Scott Barr 74 70 72 76, Ed Stedman 74 69 73 76
293 Scott Draper (Rsa) 72 72 75 74, Nick Flanagan 73 71 75 74, Rohan Blizard 72 72 74 75
295 Lee M Williamson (US) 65 72 76 82
296 John Wade 75 69 79 73