DONALD PIPPED IN PLAY-OFF: WESTWOOD REGAINS NO 1 RANKING

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, South Carolina (AP) — Brandt Snedeker rallied from six shots behind and beat Luke Donald at the third hole of a play-off in The Heritage to deny the Englishman the No. 1 world ranking
Donald would've risen to the top spot in the world from No. 3 had he won. His countryman, Lee Westwood, moved from No. 2 to No. 1, replacing Martin Kaymer, after winning the Indonesian Masters earlier Sunday.
Donald had saved par from difficult spots on the 71st and 72nd holes to force the play-off, then did it again on the second extra hole. But his luck ran out on Harbour Town Golf Links' closing lighthouse hole, No. 18, when he got a partially buried lie in a front bunker.
Donald blasted out about 15 feet from the flag and his chip for par from just off the green hit the back edge of the cup and bounced away, giving Snedeker his second career US PGA Tour title - worth $1,026,000 in cash - and his first since the 2007 Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Snedeker finished with a 7-under 64 to match Donald at 12 under 272. Donald shot his second straight 70.
Tommy Gainey finished a stroke back after a 68.
Brian Davis was the next best Brit after Donald with a 69 for joint 21st place on 279.
Ian Poulter signed off with a 71 after a bad third-round 75 on Saturday. Poulter tied for 36th place on 281.
Graeme McDowell is putting some pretty ordinary performances of late. His last two rounds in the Heritage were both mediocre 74s for a player of his class. The Ulsterman finished joint 61st on 285. His first two rounds had been 68 and 69.

+Luke Donald is No 1 in one respect - the leading money-winner on the US PGA Tour this year. His runner-up place cheque at the Heritage amounted to $615,600 and boosted his winnings in 2011 in America to $2,754,067 for six events. Martin Laird is fifth in the US money table with earnings of £2,158,563

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 284
272 Brandt Snedeker (US) 69 67 72 64, Luke Donald (England) 67 65 70 70 (Snedeker won at the third hole of a sudden-death play-off.
273 Tommy Gainey (US) 71 67 67 68.
274 Tim Herron (US) 65 71 71 67, Ricky Barnes (US) 71 67 67 69.
Selected scores:
279 Brian Davis (England) 68 74 68 69 (T21.
281 Ian Poulter (England) 69 66 75 71 (T36).
285 Graeme McDowell (N Ireland) 68 69 74 74 (T61).

COLSAERTS CRUISES TO FOUR-SHOT WIN IN VOLVO CHINA OPEN

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Nicolas Colsaerts coasted to his first European Tour victory as he ran out a four-shot winner at the Volvo China Open.
More than ten years after turning professional on his 18th birthday, having become the second youngest European Tour Qualifying School graduate, the big-hitting Belgian finally realised his potential with a closing six under par round of 66.
That left him 24 under for the week, four clear of Spain’s Pablo Martin, New Zealander Danny Lee, Ireland’s Peter Lawrie and Dane Søren Kjeldsen.
Much of the last decade has been a struggle at the top level for Colsaerts, but he established himself last season by finishing 67th on The Race to Dubai and topping the driving distances.
And his comprehensive victory at Luxehills International Country Club makes him only the second Belgian to win on The European Tour – the other was Phillipe Touissant in 1974.
“I’m enjoying every second of it,” he said. “I’m dizzy - my head is going all over the place. I’ve been waiting for this for a very long time and I think I did it in the best of manners so I’m really delighted.
“I guess a lot of kids are going to look up to this victory. I actually know the last guy Phillipe Touissant pretty well and I’m sure that he is very happy for me too.
“A lot of people were expecting big things of me and for me to win tournaments a long time before.
“I lost my card, I got on Tour pretty young and I didn’t know how to handle myself. The lowest point was 2008 and I had to get my life back together.
“I was doing basically ever wrong thing you could possibly thing of. One day I woke up though - I went to Australia for four months and it changed me forever.
“It’s been a hell of a journey looking back, from when I was 18 and got on Tour. I didn’t really have any idea of the level and how high you had to raise your game to play on Tour. I never lost faith of getting to where I am and I’m glad I did it this way.”
One clear of Han Chang-won overnight, Colsaerts showed few signs of nerves as he birdied the first, third and seventh in an outward 33.
By that point Martin had emerged as the main challenger, the Alfred Dunhill Championship winner firing ten birdies in his nine under 63 to set the clubhouse target.
But Colsaerts pulled further clear with three birdies in four holes from the 12th.
Where most players would play safe on the par five last and lay-up with a first win within touching distance, Colsaerts bombed a drive over 350 yards and cleared the water in two, only to three-putt for his par.
“This course was set up in a way that people would shoot good scores and the last holes there are two par fives out of three,” he added. “I wanted to get myself to a certain point coming to 16 and those two birdies on 14 and 15 got me there and to a certain comfort zone.
“Maybe too much of one. That was the reason I made five on the 16th rather than birdie. That was a bit of a wake up call and I told myself it still wasn’t done. I had the cushion I was hoping for but it still had to be done until the last.
“When you hit it 330 yards all the time it is difficult to keep it straight but this course was set up for my game. Sometimes I hit three woods to make sure I was in position but this course didn’t set up for playing a certain way it was more about going for the par fives and distance. That’s where you capitalise on your week and it suited me pretty well.”
Martin played with Christian Nilsson (64) and Danny Willett (65) in a group that shot a remarkable 24 under par total between them.
"Fantastic, great day, I’ve never seen so many birdies in one group ever," he said.
"I think it must be some sort of record! It was good fun. I put a good score in there."
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
264 Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium) 65 67 66 66 (350,946 Euros).
268 Soren Kjelden (Denmark) 65 71 66 66, Peter Lawrie (Ireland) 68 64 68 68 Danny Lee (New Zealand) 66 68 69 65, Pablo Martin (Spain) 70 68 67 63 (140,086 each).


SCOTS' SCORES
273 Peter Whiteford 67 68 70 68 (T16) (26,847).
278 Richie Ramsay 66 69 69 74 (T43) (10,739).
279 Stephen Gallacher 70 65 72 72 (T52) (7,400).
286 David Drysdale 68 69 74 75 (T71) (3,158).

ANGUS BEAT PERTH AND KINROSS TO WIN PROVAN SALVER

Angus men's team won the Provan Salver today by beating Perth and Kinross in the deciding match at Monifieth Links.
Angus won 5-3 despite having to bring in two youngsters to the line-up at the last minute.
Last year's Provan Salver winners, Clackmanna, were beaten 7-1 by Fife at Thornton.
Final results:
ANGUS 5, PERTH and KINROSS 3
At Monifieth Links
G Duncan lost to G Campbell 1 hole
C Donaldson halved S Graham
K Harper lost to L Barn 2 and 1.
S Smith bt T McLevy 4 and 3.
G Finlay bt S Michie 2 and 1.
D Elder bt A Easton 3 and 1.
M Lindsay bt S McKendrick 2 and 1.
S. Cargill halved T White


FIFE 7, CLACKMANNAN 1
At Thornton
James White (Lundin) bt Jamie Aitken 3 and 2.
Colin Martin (Balbirnie) bt Scott Moffat 3 and 2
Greg Paterson (St Andrews New) bt Ian Ross 3 and 2
Peter Latimer (St Andrews New) lost to Scott Borrowman 3 and 2
Ally Hain (Ladybank) bt Darren Houlston 2 Holes
Scott Crichton (Aberdour) bt Steven McIvor 4 and 3
Kevin Blyth (Lundin) bt John Maxwell 3 and 2
Scott Stewart-Cation bt Ian Guthrie 2 and 1

BIRTHDAY BOY WESTWOOD WINS INDONESIAN MASTERS BY THREE

 NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ASIAN TOUR 

Jakarta: World No 2Lee Westwood gave himself the perfect birthday gift by winning the US$750,000 Indonesian Masters on Sunday for his first victory this year.

With his victory, Westwood who celebrates his 38^th birthday today put himself in strong position of regaining the world number one spot from Martin Kaymer if Luke Donald does not win in the United States .

“This will definitely be the most memorable birthday for me,” said the Englishman, who won US$118,875 for his victory.

Westwood was forced to return to the clubhouse with one more hole to play as the fourth round at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club was suspended at 1.40pm due to lightning for approximately one hour and five minutes. 

He returned to par the last hole to close with a solid three-under-par 69 for a 19-under-par 269 total to win the inaugural Asian Tour event by three strokes.

A fast charging Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand fired a flawless 65 to settle for second while Asian Tour newcomers Park Hyun-bin of Korea and Thitiphun Chuayprakong of Thailand shared third place with Bangladeshi Siddikur and Australian Marcus Both on 275.

 Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Youth and Sport Minister Andi Alifian Mallarangeng were also in attendance at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club. 

Westwood, who held a five-stroke lead going into the final day, was even-par for the day after nine holes but sparked into life when he holed a difficult birdie putt on the 11^th hole.

“Yeah, that was probably the hardest putt I had all day. It was 15 feet and had a three feet break on it. I birdied the next with two good shots and played solidly. I managed to pick up a few shots and birdied the 16 from four feet. I was quite comfortable after that,” said Westwood, who has won over 30 international tournaments in his stellar career.

He said he had done everything he could do to regain the world number one ranking, which he held for 17 weeks before being replaced by Kaymer. “It was about coming here this week and trying to win the Indonesian Masters and I’ve done that. I’ve ticked every box this week so we will have to wait and see what happens.”

 He predicted a bright future for the Indonesian Masters and said the tournament will attract more world class players to play alongside the Asian Tour’s best in the coming years.

“I think it has been very successful. It has a fantastic golf course in brilliant condition and you got a good field this week. No complaints at all. I’m sure there will be many more Indonesian Masters and the field will only get stronger,” added the Englishman.

Thongchai credited a red hot putter for his flawless round where he turned in 31 before adding two more birdies on his back nine.

“It was a good round from me and I’m happy with how I played. I played my own game and focussed hole by hole and shot by shot. I played very solidly,” said the three-time Asian Tour Order of Merit winner.

He believes he is back to his best after suffering from a back injury in February.

“I started very well with five birdies in the first nine and knew it would be a good day with my putter. I missed a couple of shots in the back nine which was disappointing. I feel that I’m getting back into form after my back injury,” said Thongchai.

Park, who was tied for the lead after nine holes, held his head high as he pushed Westwood to the brink before wobbling with three straight bogeys from the 15^th hole to finish with 70.

“It was very disappointing. My putting was a real let down. It was the strong point in my game and I couldn’t keep it up when it mattered,” said the South Korean, who is searching for his first career victory.

 “It is still a good result for me and I hope to continue playing my best on the Asian Tour. Westwood is a very long hitter and after playing with him, I feel more confident. Maybe I’ll even win on the Asian Tour soon,” said the 24-year-old.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS

Par 288 (4x72)

269 - Lee WESTWOOD (ENG) 68-66-66-69.

272 - Thongchai JAIDEE (THA) 67-70-70-65.

275 - Marcus BOTH (AUS) 70-70-69-66,  SIDDIKUR (BAN) 66-72-69-68, Hyun-bin PARK (KOR) 67-68-70-70, Thitiphun CHUAYPRAKONG (THA) 68-68-69-70.

277 - Kiradech APHIBARNRAT (THA) 69-68-71-69, Prayad MARKSAENG (THA) 67-70-69-71.

280 - Darren BECK (AUS) 68-74-71-67, Inn-choon HWANG (KOR) 67-74-70-69, Rory HIE (INA) 68-74-69-69, Pariya JUNHASAVASDIKUL (THA) 72-65-73-70, Wen-tang LIN (TPE) 71-67-70-72, Antonio LASCUNA (PHI) 67-70-70-73, Prom MEESAWAT (THA) 70-68-69-73.

281 - Sung LEE (KOR) 70-72-70-69, Miles TUNNICLIFF (ENG) 72-68-71-70.

282 - Angelo QUE (PHI) 71-72-68-71, Mardan MAMAT (SIN) 72-70-67-73.

.

SANDY LYLE-PETER SENIOR HAVE SHARE OF LEGENDS LEAD

SAVANNAH, Georgia (AP) — Warm, dry weather made for prime scoring conditions at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf on Saturday and teams did their best to take advantage in the better-ball event.

Wayne Levy and Keith Fergus shot 12-under 60 at The Club at Savannah Harbor. They shared the lead at 20-under 124 with Peter Senior and Sandy Lyle, who combined for a 61 heading into Sunday's final round on the island course in the Savannah River.
"You almost feel like you have to make at least a par on every hole," Senior said. "When you do make a bogey, you feel like you've dropped back two. It's like a double-bogey in other tournaments."
Playing downwind, several of the Champions Tour players almost were able to drive the 338-yard first hole.
"The fact that the balls are running, especially on the par-5s, is certainly a factor in so many birdies," Fergus said.
Still, it was the short-hitting Levi who sparked the team's surge. He holed out from a greenside bunker for birdie at the ninth and then on No. 11 hit a 3-wood to within 30 feet and sank the putt for an eagle on the 530-yard, par-5.
"If we can put two balls on the greens (in regulation) and have a chance at birdie, we'll be in pretty good shape," said Levi, whose last win on the senior circuit came in 2004.
There were plenty of big-name players within striking range of the leaders.
Kenny Perry and Scott Hoch shot a 62 and were a stroke behind in a tie with first-round co-leaders Tom Kite and Gil Morgan, who had a 63.
Bob Tway and Tom Pernice Jr. (62) birdied the last three holes to get to 126. They were tied with Ian Baker-Finch and Joe Ozaki (62), Corey Pavin and Tom Lehman (62), and first-round co-leaders Ted Schulz and Gary Hallberg (64).
Tom Watson and Andy North (62) were tied at 127 with Hal Sutton and Larry Mize (64).
"It's going to take 29 or 30 under to win this," Lyle said. "You can't stop, or people will be going right past you."
Ireland's Des Smyth and England's Mark James shot 63 for 9-under 126 to win the 36-hole Raphael Division. The teams of Ben Crenshaw-Curtis Strange (64) and Gary Koch-Roger Maltbie (63) tied for second at 127.Watson and North have 10 majors between them, eight by Watson.

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LUKE DONALD LEADS BY ONE WITH A ROUND TO GO IN USA

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, South Carolina (AP) — Luke Donald was more concerned about who was behind him at The Heritage than what's ahead should he win Sunday.
Donald shot a 1-under 70 on Saturday to take a one-stroke leader over defending champion Jim Furyk after three rounds at Harbour Town Golf Links. A victory would vault the third-ranked Donald to No. 1. Donald knows if thinks too much about that, he'll lose sight of the stellar field trying to chase him down.
"I think there's a bunch of people behind us that have a good chance, too, so I don't count anyone else out," he said. "It should be a good battle out there."
It usually is with Donald and Furyk.
Furyk, the American ranked 13th in the world, used a par save from the bunker on the 72nd hole to win the Tour Championship by a stroke over Donald last year and claim the $10 million FedEx Cup bonus.
Donald came right back the next week, beating Furyk 1-up in Ryder Cup singles in Europe's victory.
"I got a little revenge," he said.
This time the prize for Donald would be two-fold: His first season with multiple wins on the PGA Tour and the elevation to No. 1 in the world.
There were seven of the world's top 20 players here this week, a field strong enough to push Donald past the idle No. 1 Martin Kaymer and No. 2 Lee Westwood.
Westwood would take the top spot with a win at the Indonesian Masters, where he holds a five-stroke lead, should Donald falter.
The two Englishmen exchanged messages about their play.
"Yeah, he sent me a message yesterday just saying, 'Good playing,' and I sent one back," Donald said. "We're obviously Ryder Cup partners and we're friends off the course. We never wish bad on each other."
Donald let a few early nerves show through by hitting his approach to par-5 second hole out of bounds left, leading to a double-bogey 7 that dropped him from the lead.
But Donald steeled himself with two solid par saves on the third and fourth holes when his iron play was shaky. He was in the rough in front of a trap on par-4 third, yet chipped it up to 6 feet for the par.
Then, Donald was well right of the green on the par-3 fourth. Again, he saved himself with the short game, chipping inside of 2 feet.
Donald regained his momentum on the par-5 fifth with a 12 footer for birdie.
"Those up-and-downs and keeping some momentum going where I wasn't going completely backwards was big for me," Donald said.
Brendon de Jonge (66) and Scott Verplank (67) were two shots behind at 9 under. Masters runner-up Jason Day (71), Ricky Barnes (67) and Tommy Gainey (67) were 8 under.
Furyk held the lead for much of the back nine at Harbour Town Golf Links, but bogeyed the closing lighthouse hole for a 69 to drop back.
Donald, who won the Match Play Championship and was fourth at the Masters, called on the steady, focused style that made him one of the world's best to move back to the top with birdies on the fifth and seventh holes. Donald's put his approach on the 16th hole to 3 feet for his final birdie to reach 11 under.
Furyk had his chance to hold on to a share of the lead, but sent his second shot on the 18th hole into a bunker behind the green, and could not make the 16-footer for par after blasting out.
Furyk and Donald will be paired in the final group Sunday for what sets up as a fabulous finish in what might be the final Heritage. A PGA Tour fixture since 1969, the tournament is without a title sponsor, which tour and event leaders say is essential for returning in 2012.
Both have become Harbour Town masters, combining for 14 rounds in the 60s over the past three tournaments.
"I think I'm there, I'm in position and when I play well I feel like this golf course really suits my game," Furyk said.

THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 216 (3x72)
202 Luke Donald (England) 67 65 70.
203 Jim Furyk (US) 68 66 69.
204 Brendon de Jonge (S Africa) 67 71 66, Scott Verplank (US) 67 70 67.
205 Ricky Barnes (US) 71 67 67, Tommy Gainey 71 67 67, Jason Day (Australia) 69 65 71.
Selected scores:
210 Ian Poulter (England) 69 6675, Brian Davis (England) 68 74 68 (T36).
211 Graeme McDowell (N Ireland) 68 67 74 (T45)


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