FIFE SUFFER FIRST DEFEAT IN FIFE-LOTHIANS LEAGUE

Fife suffered their first defeat of the Fife-Lothians Winter Golf League at Winterfield Golf Club, Edinburgh today. East, with a team of only eight men, managed to beat Fife 5 1/2-4 1/2 despite conceding the last two games as walk-overs.
Fife can still clinch the title by beating East in a rearranged match at a Fife venue. Sunday, January 15 is the provisional date.
Today's results
(East names first)
Ross Noon bt Ian Bell 2 and 1.
Zander Culverwell bt Kevin Blyth 1 hole.
Graham Davidson bt Sandy Squires 1 hole.
Ben McLeod lost to Alex Moir 2 holes.
Marc Simants bt Keith Anderson 3 and 2.
Scott Cunningham bt Greg Forrester 2 holes.
Ross Millar lost to Ryan Walsh 4 and 3.
Stephen Neilson halved with Scott Stewart-Cation.
Last two games conceded by East to Fife's Greig Wishart and Jamies Stephen on walk-overs.

LEE WESTWOOD WINS BY SEVEN SHOTS IN THAILAND CH/SHIP

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ASIAN TOUR
Chonburi, Thailand: England’s Lee Westwood cruised to a comfortable seven-shot victory at the inaugural US$1 million Thailand Golf Championship for his fourth victory of the season today.
The 38-year-old from Worksop, who held an overnight four-shot lead, fired a closing three-under-par 69 to defeat South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel, who signed off with a 72, at the Amata Spring Country Club.
Westwood’s 37th career victory in 18 years as a professional, thanks to a 22-under-par 266 aggregate, will see him move up one rung to second place on the Official World Golf Ranking when it is released on Monday.
Masters champion Schwartzel mounted a brief challenge, narrowing the lead down to three on the back nine with an eagle on the 11th hole but a bogey on 14 snuffed out his challenge as Westwood cruised home in the Asian Tour’s final tournament of the 2011 season.
While Westwood’s triumph was expected, it was a day of drama for the Tour hopefuls with South African Keith Horne securing 61st place on the Order of Merit to claim the final Asian Tour card for 2012 ahead of Filipino teenager Miguel Tabuena by a mere US$250.

Westwood did not produce the fireworks that helped him to a career low 60 in the opening round and a 64 on the second day which matched the Asian Tour’s 36-hole record of 20-under-par but he played solidly enough to complete a commanding wire-to-wire victory and end his year on a winning note.
“It means a lot. Any win does. It’s special this week because of the difficulty of the golf course, and whom I was up against in the weekend. Charl is the Masters champion and he’s had a great year. 20 under after two rounds, it’s yours to lose really with an 11 shot lead. There was pressure involved. I was pleased with the way I played today,” said Westwood, who earned US$158,500.
Schwartzel got to within three of Westwood after a superb eagle on 11 which the Englishman three putted for par. The challenger rolled in another long birdie putt at the next hole to put the pressure on but Westwood responded superbly with a birdie of his own and restored his four-shot lead with his fourth birdie of the day on 13, which gave him great satisfaction.
The contest ended when Schwartzel, playing his ninth straight event, dropped a bogey on 14 after missing the green and Westwood stamped his class with another birdie on 15 in front of massive galleries at Amata Spring.
“The way I putted on the back nine was great. It means a lot, gives me a lot of confidence. I’ve been working on these for the past four or five weeks and it was time to hole some of these under pressure,” he said.
Schwartzel lamented his bogey on 14. “I pulled him back to within three shots after 11 holes. It felt pretty good especially against a player like Lee. All credit to Lee. He made two great birdies on 12 and 13. I had a very bad lie on 14 and made bogey. That was a big swing there. It was getting close but I gave it a go. I’m happy with my performance,” said the 27-year-old.
“If it wasn’t for Lee, I would have probably won the tournament.”
Michael Thompson of the United States claimed third place while local star Chawalit Plaphol finished tied fourth to emerge as the top Asian finisher alongside England’s Simon Dyson on 276.
Rookie Tabuena shot a closing 76 for tied 39th position to miss out on a full card for next season by a hair’s breadth as Horne, who finished in 61st place, earned the last card. Dutchman Guido Van Der Valk jumped from 83rd to 59th after finishing a creditable sixth with a 73.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72) Yardage: 7,453
266 Lee WESTWOOD (ENG) 60-64-73-69.
273 Charl SCHWARTZEL (RSA) 69-66-66-72.
274 Michael THOMPSON (USA) 69-66-69-70.
276 Chawalit PLAPHOL (THA) 73-71-65-67, Simon DYSON (ENG) 69-70-68-69.
279 Daisuke MARUYAMA (JPN) 73-68-68-70, Guido VAN DER VALK (NED) 71-69-66-73.
280 Alex CEJKA (GER) 71-71-71-67.
281 Jeev Milkha SINGH (IND) 71-68-72-70, Tetsuji HIRATSUKA (JPN) 71-72-68-70.
282 Gregory BOURDY (FRA) 68-71-72-71, Prom MEESAWAT (THA) 72-68-69-73.

YOU CAN VIEW ALL THE FINAL TOTALS ON THE ASIAN TOUR WEBSITE

CLICK HERE

IAN POULTER WINS THE AUSTRALIAN MASTERS BY THREE SHOTS

FROM THE PGA OF AUSTRALIA WEBSITE
Report by Angus Morgan at Victoria Golf Club, SportalFlashy Englishman Ian Poulter has finished the year on a high by staring down playing partner Geoff Ogilvy to add the 2011 JBWere Australian Masters gold jacket to his highly distinctive and very extensive wardrobe.
Poulter fired a final-round 67 in blustery conditions at Victoria Golf Club to finish at 15-under-par 269, three shots clear of Marcus Fraser who jumped from the pack with a 64, the round of the day.
Ogilvy returned a two-over 73 to sit alone in third place at 273.
The only player apart from Poulter and Fraser to shoot four sub-par rounds, the ageless Peter Senior signed off with a 70 to share fourth place at 277 with Adam Crawford (66), while world No.1 Luke Donald eased to the line with a 72 to sit alongside 2011 Australian Open and PGA champion Greg Chalmers at 280.
While 'a little disappointed' with his finish, Donald said he was proud of his achievements in 'an amazing year'.
Immediately after putting out for par at the 18th, a delighted Poulter shared his delight with his 1.2 million followers on Twitter: "winner winner chicken dinner ... what a way to finish the year."
He told his media conference that he regards the win, which has the added benefit of elevating his ranking from No.28 into the world top-20, as 'very special'.
"For me it was a pure ball-striking round of golf," Poulter said.
"It (my concentration) was flawless the whole day. I was happy how I approached every shot.
"I hit my targets, it was fairly methodical, but for me it was a nice round of golf."
Sunday's final pairing was always going to provide the winner and Poulter signalled his intent with an eagle at the short 233-metre par-four opening hole that wiped out Ogilvy's two-shot overnight lead in one devastating hit.
Poulter was forced to scramble to save his par at the second and third and appeared unfazed by the prospect of sinking a five-metre par saver at the fifth to stay viable.
He seized the lead outright with a five-metre birdie putt at the seventh and extended it with another birdie at the 559-metre par-five ninth where he knocked his approach to within inches of the hole.
Thereafter it was just a matter of playing a solid 'commercial' back nine and the title was Poulter's.
Ogilvy had been the steadier of the two on the front nine, but failed to take his chances.
Putts that didn't touch the sides during Saturday's course record-equalling 63 simply refused to drop.
Ogilvy churned out 12 successive pars before dropping shots at 13 and 15 which finished him off once and for all.
"Ian played very well and I didn't," was Ogilvy's pithy summation of the final round.
"I couldn't make a birdie all day. I am disappointed, but what are you going to do?"
Pipped by Chalmers in a playoff for the Australia PGA championship at Coolum a fortnight back, Fraser was delighted with his second successive second placing.
"Anything is possible, but you have got Ian Poulter and Geoff Ogilvy up there in front of you and those guys are too good to mess it up," Fraser said.
"I hit a lot of good shots this week and I am very happy with how I played.
"It would have been nice to hole a few extra putts at the start of the week, but I got my fair share today."
Rain threatened for much of the day but the storm clouds that swept across the city tended to bypass the course, situated in Melbourne's sandbelt.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71) Players from Australia unless stated
269 Ian Poulter (England) 65 68 69 67
272 Marcus Fraser 70 69 69 64
273 Geoff Ogilvy 71 66 63 73
277 Adam Crawford 74 688 69 66, Peter Senior 69 70 68 70
278 Ashley Hall 66 70 68 74

Selected total
280 Luke Donald (England) 69 70 68 72 (T12)

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

CLICK HERE