Costa del Sol Golf

The Spanish Open will go ahead in Seville this week without two of Spain’s biggest stars.

Jose Maria Olazabal designed the Real Club course on which Frenchman Thomas Levet will defend the title, but the 44-year-old, plagued by rheumatism, still does not feel well enough to play what would have been his first event for over six months.

Sergio Garcia, on the other hand, simply has other priorities.

Garcia’s rare appearances in Britain have been attributed to the tax system, but he has not played his national championship since 2003.

Without a top-three finish since he went to world number two by capturing the HSBC Champions event in Shanghai in November 2008, the 30-year-old is now down to 24th on the rankings, but hopes to bounce back to form at next week’s Players Championship in Florida.

That was the scene for the biggest win of his career two years ago.

Sad though Garcia’s recent decline has been, it has nothing on what Olazabal has been going through - and when he will next play is anybody’s guess.

“I have no idea,” his manager Sergio Gomez told Press Association Sport.

“He’s practising and when he played a round 10 days ago he played superbly.

“But he does not feel good enough to play several days in succession. He does not have the strength or the will for that.”

His hardest tournament of all to miss was, of course, The Masters earlier this month.

Olazabal’s two major triumphs have come at Augusta, the second of them in 1999 a highly emotional affair after he battled back from a crippling state that had kept him out of action for 18 months.

His last event was the Castello Masters in October and he was in joint fourth place at halfway before slipping down to 14th.

As that was his 16th start of the European Tour season - more than double what he managed in 2007 and 2008 - there were high hopes that he was on the road to recovery.

But then Olazabal’s condition worsened again and he is now trying alternative medicines to get him to a point where he can begin competing again.

It was in Seville last year that he said he was not sure he wanted to act as a Ryder Cup vice-captain for the second match in a row.

He had been seen as the front-runner for the top job at Celtic Manor this October, but by the time he finally made himself available the tournament committee had persuaded Colin Montgomerie to stand.

Now Olazabal, whether he agrees to assist his former team-mate or not, is viewed as favourite for Chicago in 2012, but if his absence from the game goes on much longer he could find the odds on him being appointed get longer as well.

One of the reasons given for making Montgomerie the successor to Nick Faldo was that he was still playing on Tour.

The Scot is part of the field again this week and in dire need of stepping up his game.

Montgomerie is now down at 322nd in the world (Olazabal is 467th), has not had a top-40 finish this year and his last top 10 came when he was runner-up at the French Open in June 2008.

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Organisers of July’s Open championship at St Andrews are in no doubt Tiger Woods will be present to try to become the first player ever to win three titles there.

The world number one, triumphant at the Home of Golf by eight shots in 2000 and by five in 2005, returned at The Masters three weeks ago after five months out because of a sex scandal.

Delighted by the reaction of the vast majority of fans at Augusta, Woods plays again in North Carolina this week and has already committed himself to next week’s Players Championship in Florida and June’s US Open at Pebble Beach.

He has not entered for The Open, but Royal and Ancient chief executive Peter Dawson said today: “Entries close on May 27 and in a normal year he would not have entered yet.

“I am absolutely certain he will be with us.”

This year is the 150th anniversary of the first Open and celebrations include a four-hole past champions challenge on the eve of the tournament.

Seve Ballesteros was the first to put himself down for that, but whether his health enables him to return to the scene of his 1984 victory remains to be seen. The Spanish star is still recovering from four brain operations after the discovery of a tumour.

Nick Price (family reasons), Johnny Miller (other commitments) and 89-year-old Australian Kel Nagle, winner on the Old Course in 1960 and the oldest living champion, have all declined their invitations.

Dawson is still waiting to hear, however, from Greg Norman and Jack Nicklaus. Norman has recently had shoulder surgery, but Nicklaus controversially said at Augusta he would only attend if the Royal Bank of Scotland, one of his sponsors, wanted him to.

There is still hope he will attend and Dawson pointed out that for those champions not competing in The Open itself travel and hotel costs are being picked up by the club.

Security arrangements for Woods are to be discussed with the police, as is always the case, and Dawson admitted he was glad Augusta National and not the R&A were “guinea pigs” in staging the player’s comeback.

“We will be watching what happens with Tiger and discussing the situation with the police,” he added. “We always act on their advice.

“The Masters had a major problem in having no idea what to expect. If we had been first we would have been scratching our heads.”

Prize money has yet to be announced and could be affected by what happens to the economy after next week’s election.

The winner’s cheque remained £750,000 last year and so there is little chance of the first £1million champion being crowned, as will be the case at Wimbledon this summer.

The biggest change to the Old Course comes at the famous 17th, where what is already by common consent the toughest hole in golf is being lengthened by 40 yards to 495 yards.

And this despite the fact it played to an average of 4.63 five years ago, 4.71 in 2000 and 4.79 when Ballesteros won 26 years ago.

That event was effectively decided by Tom Watson, chasing a record-equalling sixth Claret Jug at the time, firing a two-iron second shot over the green, over the road and up against the wall.

The championship committee has subsequently watched players using seven-irons or even less for their approaches in the annual Dunhill Links and wanted to make it more demanding.

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Jason Bohn held off all challenges to complete a wire-to-wire win in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana on Sunday.

Bohn clinched the second PGA Tour title of his career a day after celebrating his 37th birthday with a final-round, five-under-par 67, to get to 18 under.

He won by two shots from fellow American Jeff Overton with rookie Troy Merritt third on 14 under par and two-time US Open champion Lee Janzen fourth a further shot back.

Bohn had led since an opening 65 and stretched his advantage after the rain and lightning-delayed second round from two to four before it was chipped away heading into the final round.

Bohn, who had completed his third round on Sunday morning at 13 under, led by two shots over Germany’s Alex Cejka after 54 holes with Overton and Janzen at 10 under.

He started slowly in search of his first win since the 2005 BC Open, not getting his first birdie until the eighth hole as Merritt made his move, going out in a three-under-par 33 and then sinking birdies at the 10th, 11th and 13th.

With five holes to play, Merritt was a one-shot leader over Bohn at 15 under but they swapped places at their next holes as the 24-year-old rookie bogeyed the 14th and Bohn birdied the 11th to retake the lead at 15 under.

Janzen made a push for a first title since the 1998 US Open when he eagled the par-four 13th but a bogey at the par-four 16th ended his bid.

Then Bohn moved up a gear, dialling in his approach shot at the par-four 15th from 217 yards to set up a short putt for birdie and adding another at 16 to move two strokes ahead of Overton, who had birdied the 13th to get to 15 under.

As they played the last, Overton kept it interesting by giving himself a long eagle putt with his approach to the par-five 18th but he was trumped by Bohn who with his shorter approach pitched to inches from the hole for a guaranteed birdie and victory.

Overton closed with a birdie to get to 16 under with a six-under 66 and second place with Merritt taking a 67 for third place and Janzen a 69 for fourth.

Australian Greg Chalmers was fifth at 12 under following a 69 while compatriot Stuart Appleby sealed his second consecutive top-10 in sole possession of sixth place on 11 under.

England’s Greg Owen and Sweden’s Daniel Chopra were the leading Europeans as part of a tie for 16th place, after a closing 72 and 70 respectively with another Swede, Mathias Gronberg, finishing birdie, birdie but still shooting a 74 to close at seven under.

Cejka fell further than Gronberg to get to the same place, a tie for 21st, with a two-birdie, six-bogey 76 that saw him slip from contention.

England’s Justin Rose had a three birdie, one bogey 70 to finish on four under and Brian Davis closed with a 76 on two under for the week, seven days on from his runner-up finish at the Verizon Heritage, when he called a penalty on himself during a sudden-death play-off with Jim Furyk.

Sergio Garcia’s problems returned with a closing 76 that left him at two over in spite of closing birdie, birdie.

Collated final round scores & totals

(USA unless stated, par 72):

270 Jason Bohn 65 67 71 67

272 Jeff Overton 67 69 70 66

274 Troy Merritt 68 70 69 67

275 Lee Janzen 71 66 69 69

276 Greg Chalmers (Aus) 70 68 69 69

277 Stuart Appleby (Aus) 72 67 70 68

278 Chris Riley 73 66 70 69, Jason Dufner 67 74 69 68, Nicholas Thompson 72 69 69 68

279 Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 70 68 73 68, Aron Price (Aus) 69 70 70 70, Roland Thatcher 73 69 68 69, Boo Weekley 70 70 70 69, Kevin Sutherland 68 72 69 70, Matthew Jones (Aus) 69 73 67 70

280 Daniel Chopra (Swe) 72 70 68 70, Chad Collins 72 69 73 66, Michael Connell 76 67 69 68, Greg Owen (Eng) 67 70 71 72, Josh Teater 70 71 70 69

281 Charlie Wi (Kor) 74 67 71 69, John Rollins 74 68 68 71, Chris Stroud 69 72 72 68, Ken Duke 72 70 69 70, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 69 71 67 74, Garrett Willis 71 69 72 69, Alex Cejka (Ger) 70 67 68 76

282 Spencer Levin 73 69 70 70, Michael Letzig 72 68 71 71, Charley Hoffman 73 68 70 71, Michael Bradley 73 70 71 68, Steve Flesch 70 71 71 70, David Toms 69 69 69 75, Alex Prugh 72 70 68 72, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 70 72 73 67, Cameron Tringale 69 70 70 73

283 Andres Romero (Arg) 72 68 76 67, K J Choi (Kor) 68 72 70 73, Chris Couch 67 71 68 77, Rich Barcelo 69 74 71 69, Kevin Streelman 71 71 73 68, Shaun Micheel 70 67 72 74

284 Billy Mayfair 74 69 68 73, John Senden (Aus) 67 69 75 73, Bubba Watson 71 71 75 67, Cameron Percy (Aus) 73 70 69 72, Nick O’Hern (Aus) 70 70 73 71, Charles Howell III 68 73 69 74, Justin Rose (Eng) 70 72 72 70, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 71 71 68 74, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 71 70 71 72, Carlos Franco (Par) 70 72 71 71

285 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 69 72 70 74, David Duval 68 72 72 73, Tom Pernice Jnr. 69 74 68 74, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 72 71 71 71

286 Jeff Klauk 70 72 68 76, Brian Davis (Eng) 71 66 73 76, Chris Tidland 72 70 71 73, Kevin Stadler 70 70 72 74, Brenden Pappas (Rsa) 71 68 72 75

287 John Merrick 72 70 74 71, Joe Ogilvie 71 71 72 73, Ted Purdy 72 70 73 72, Skip Kendall 71 72 70 74, Troy Matteson 71 71 73 72

289 Jerry Kelly 71 72 70 76, Francis Quinn 71 72 69 77, Tom Gillis 72 70 72 75

290 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 73 69 72 76, Craig Bowden 69 74 71 76

291 Phil Schmitt 74 67 77 73

293 Mark Hensby (Aus) 71 72 72 78

296 Brad Faxon 69 74 75 78

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Tiger confirmed to play in US Open in June.

Tiger Woods looks set to take part in June’s US Open after submitting an entry form to the United States Golf Association.

The 34-year-old returned to competition at last week’s Masters at Augusta, after a five-month break from the game following revelations about his private life, and finished joint fourth as Phil Mickelson took victory.

The US Open will be held at Pebble Beach from June 17 and Woods will have fond memories of the course as he won the season’s second major at the same venue 10 years ago, winning by 15 shots.

Mike Davis, USGA senior director of rules and competitions, was quoted as saying in the Monterrey Herald: “Tiger has certainly filed an entry, and we’re certainly anticipating that he’s going to play. If someone fully exempt files an entry, generally speaking, they always do play.”

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Tom Watson will play the US Open for the first time in seven years after accepting a special exemption to take part in the 2010 championship at Pebble Beach.

The 60-year-old American has competed at the four previous US Opens held at Pebble Beach, California, winning the title in 1982, and agreed to return after the United States Golf Association granted him an exemption from qualifying.

“I am deeply grateful to the USGA for extending me the invitation to play in the US Open at one of my favourite golf courses in the world,” Watson said in a statement.

Watson has won eight Major championships and came agonisingly close to adding a ninth when he finished runner-up at last year’s Open at Turnberry.

The US Open starts on June 17.

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Phil Mickelson (lefty) wins the US Masters as once again Englands Lee Westwood stall’s at the main event.

Phil Mickelson became the thrill-maker once again, pouncing for a third Masters victory in seven years to leave Lee Westwood a nearly man once again.

Champion at Augusta in 2004 and 2006 and with a US PGA title in between, Mickelson put a dreadful start to the season behind him to win by three shots from the Englishman - with a 16 under par total of 272.

Westwood, unable to hold onto the last day lead, already had third place finishes in the US Open, Open and US PGA, but now he has come third, third and second in the last three majors.

A one under 71 was never likely to complete the job and, sure enough, Mickelson shot a bogey-free 67 - and then went into one of the longest televised hugs with wife Amy.

And no wonder. Last May she was diagnosed with breast cancer and her battle goes on. This was her first visit to a tournament since the diagnosis last May.

Although Tiger Woods equalled a Masters record with four eagles in his first tournament back for almost five months - two of them came in his rollercoaster closing 69 for joint fourth place - the headlines will go quite rightly to the left-hander.

It started as the week Woods came back to golf, but it ended as the week when Mickelson proved again he is the world number one’s biggest rival.

With a pink breast cancer badge in his cap to remind people of the battles both his wife and mother have been fighting, Mickelson captured his fourth major in scintillating fashion.

And two shots above all others will be replayed over and over when the story of this incredible week is retold.

First there was his eagle two on the 14th in the third round as he moved one behind Westwood entering the closing 18 holes.

But that was trumped by his second shot to the long 13th on Sunday.

One ahead of KJ Choi after the Korean had just taken a bogey six there, Mickelson hit his drive through the fairway into the trees and onto the pine straw.

In front of him was a gap of no more than four feet between two trunks, but in the manner for which he has become known Mickelson decided to go for the 200-yard shot over Rae’s Creek.

Spectacularly - even he showed that by raising his club in triumph and then punching the air - he hit it to four feet.

It warranted his third eagle of the week there, but although he missed the putt Choi bogeyed the 14th as well.

Westwood, though, matched Mickelson’s birdie to stay two back and still had hopes of making his 50th attempt to win a major the one when he finally broke through.

But the Worksop golfer, with third place finishes to his name in the US Open, Open and US PGA, could not match Mickelson’s two-putt birdie at the long 15th.

Westwood needed something special after that. He could not become the third player to hole-in-one at the 16th on the day, but he did birdie the 17th and Mickelson’s five-footer there was badly needed.

It gave him a two-shot lead rather than just on the final tee and once Westwood had missed his 25-foot birdie putt Mickelson holed from eight for a birdie which put the icing on the cake.

Mickelson commented: “It feels incredible. I could go on and on, so many reasons why, and it’s the most amazing feeling.

“This has been a special day, something I will always cherish.

“It’s been a emotional year and I am very proud of my wife and the fight and struggle she has been through.

“This is one of the best things we have gone through in the last year. We’ve been through a lot and it’s been tough and to be on the other end and feel this kind of jubilation is incredible.”

Westwood said: “We both struggled off the tee early on, but being the great champion he is Phil hit some great shots. The second on 13 was incredible.

“He has been through a hard time and deserves a break or two.

“I just need to keep on doing what I am doing. One of these days the door is going to open for me, but there was time (he slumped from fourth in the world to outside the top 250 in 2002) when I didn’t want to go out and play or practise and couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“When I am playing like this I feel like a lucky man sometimes. I think when you have come as close as this there is a tinge of disappointment, but that does not last too long.”

Woods, who mixed his two eagles and four birdies with five bogeys, stated: “As the week went on I hit the ball worse.”

Fourth, of course, was no mean feat given his lay-off and all the attention on his sex scandal, but he added: “I only enter events to win.”

He also said he will now take “a little time off and re-evaluate.” His next appearance could well be the Players Championship in Florida at the start of next month.

Mickelson’s fellow American Anthony Kim, last week’s Houston Open winner, charged into third place with a joint best-of-the-day 65 that included a birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie run from the 13th.

Woods shared fourth with Choi, while Westwood’s compatriot Ian Poulter, the joint halfway leader with him, tied for 10th after weekend rounds of 74 and 73 which were a big disappointment.

Collated final round scores & totals in The Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC, Augusta, Georgia, United States of America

(USA unless stated, par 72):

272 Phil Mickelson 67 71 67 67

275 Lee Westwood (Eng) 67 69 68 71

276 Anthony Kim 68 70 73 65

277 Tiger Woods 68 70 70 69, K J Choi (Kor) 67 71 70 69

279 Fred Couples 66 75 68 70

280 Nick Watney 68 76 71 65

281 Hunter Mahan 71 71 68 71, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 67 72 72 70

283 Ricky Barnes 68 70 72 73, Ian Poulter (Eng) 68 68 74 73

285 Jerry Kelly 72 74 67 72, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 72 75 72 66

286 Steve Marino 71 73 69 73, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 69 73 72 72, David Toms 69 75 71 71, Ryan Moore 72 73 73 68

287 Adam Scott (Aus) 69 75 72 71, Tom Watson 67 74 73 73, Ernie Els (Rsa) 71 73 75 68, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 73 74 69 71, Heath Slocum 72 73 70 72, Scott Verplank 73 73 73 68

288 Ben Crane 71 75 74 68, Matt Kuchar 70 73 74 71

289 Kenny Perry 72 71 72 74, Bill Haas 72 70 71 76, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 74 72 69 74

290 Yuta Ikeda (Jpn) 70 77 72 71

291 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 70 71 75 75, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 70 74 75 72, Steve Stricker 73 73 74 71, Sean O’Hair 72 71 72 76, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa)69 76 72 74, Jason Dufner 75 72 75 69

292 Lucas Glover 76 71 71 74, Metteo Manassero (Ita) 71 76 73 72

294 Dustin Johnson 71 72 76 75, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 74 71 76 73, Steve Flesch 75 71 70 78, Camilo Villegas (Col) 74 72 71 77

295 Zach Johnson 70 74 76 75

296 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 71 72 77 76, Mike Weir (Can) 71 72 76 77

298 Chad Campbell 79 68 80 71, Robert Allenby (Aus) 72 75 78 73, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 74 70 76 78

302 Nathan Green (Aus) 72 75 80 75

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If he does then millions of people around the world, and not only golf fans that will tune into the BBC and TV channels around the world this weekend will believe that it is the second coming.

BUT LET’S BE SENCIBLE HERE - IT’S NOT POSSIBLE THE GUY HASN’T PLAYED COMPETITVE GOLF FOR MONTHS, SURELY ONLY MAD DOGS AND ENGLISMEN AND THOSE THAT GO OUT IN THE MIDAY SUN (NAMELY GOLFERS WHO PLAY ON THE COSTA DEL SOL) WOULD BET AGAINST HIM WINNING.

THEN WHY HAVE ALL THE MAJOR BOOKMAKERS IN THE UK AND ABROAD  MADE TIGER FAVOURATE TO WIN.

WELL I CAN REVEAL THE TRUTH HERE AND NOW –

BECAUSE BOOKMAKERS IN GENERAL ARE SENCIBLE CHARACTERS AND UNLIKE MANY GOLFERS AND MAD DOGS AND ENGLISMEN AND THOSE THAT PLAY GOLF IN THE MIDAY SUN (OR RAIN) THEY HAVE CALLCULATED THE ODDS ON TIGER NOT WINNING THE US MASTERS.

After all this is Tiger woods were talking about the greatest golfer off his generation and I am sure history will prove the greatest of all time.

When Tiger Woods returned last February from an eight-month injury lay-off he birdied his first hole and eagled his second.

If he does the same when he returns to golf on Thursday after nearly five months out - for a very different reason - imagine the scenes.  People will start thinking again that he truly is the Chosen One.

Make up your own mind about how Woods deserves to be treated when he steps onto the first tee of The Masters at Augusta at 1.42pm local time, but everybody interested in golf is fascinated to see how he plays.

Is his brain still scrambled from the scandals in his private life which have turned him from role model to villain in many eyes?

Or can his famed tunnel vision turn him instantly back into the golfer who totally intimidates the rest?

It could go either way. And Woods himself probably does not know the answer yet.

He made all the right noises when he said during Monday’s press conference - his first confrontation with a room full of reporters since his extra-marital affairs were exposed - “Nothing’s changed. (I’m) going to go out there and try to win this thing.”

But he expressed similar sentiments entering the 2006 US Open a month after his father died.

It was his first event back and he said after practising at Winged Foot: “I didn’t come back until I felt that I was ready to win a championship. I’m very excited the way I’ve played the last couple of days.”

Woods then went out and shot two rounds of 76 for a 12-over-par total that saw him miss the cut by three.

The following month, however, he successfully defended The Open at Hoylake - and won his next four tournaments as well. It might pay not to draw too many conclusions from however he does this week.

There has been talk of the world number one losing some of his aura now that previously secret unsavoury aspects of his life - past life rather than current life, he insists - have come to light.

He stated on Monday: “It’s not about championships. It’s about how you live your life. I need to be a better man going forward than I was before.”

But does that mean his quest to catch and overtake Jack Nicklaus’ major record - with 14 he is four short - does not burn inside him the same?

Nicklaus doubts that. Asked if he thought Woods still wants the record the Golden Bear replied: “Of course he does. Why do you think he’s here? I mean, I don’t think he’s here for his health or anything.”

The first three of this season’s four majors are at Augusta, Pebble Beach and St Andrews. Half of Woods’ major victories have come on them and Nicklaus fully expected him to be back for them.

On the subject of whether the world number one’s aura is likely to be any different because of the revelations, Nicklaus, who tomorrow joins Arnold Palmer in hitting the ceremonial opening drives, is unequivocal.

“As a golfer no. I mean why? It’s had nothing to do with him as a golfer.”

So the Woods era, already 13 years old, is set to go on. And on. And on. He is, after all, only 34 and could be at the top for another decade or more.

But there have to be doubts about this Masters. He has to be rusty and he has to have a lot of things going on in his head.

He is the clear favourite and so it could never be called a huge shock if he wins. But nor should anybody be stunned if he fails to make it to the weekend.

For the first six hours on Thursday, though, the Augusta National course is a Tiger-free zone.

He is in the penultimate group and 90 of the other 95 players will be in action by the time he hits that opening drive - on a hole that has caused him more problems than any.

Woods has had just three birdies in 58 attempts and is a cumulative 15 over par. As for the long second he has never had an eagle, so if he does start with a pair of threes, feel free to go wild.

As for the other 95 there are no fewer than 25 Europeans - and many have to be considered in with a great shout.

Lee Westwood, Paul Casey, Ian Poulter, Martin Kaymer and Padraig Harrington are all in the world’s top 10, with 20-year-old Rory McIlroy only just outside.

They are not seen by the bookmakers as the two main dangers to Woods, however. Twice champion Phil Mickelson, despite a poor start to 2010, and Ernie Els, twice a winner in the past month, are the two.

But do not forget that the last three winners were actually Angel Cabrera, Trevor Immelman and Zach Johnson.

In other words, anything is possible, except one thing. Woods holds centre stage before a ball is struck.

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The sporting world will have to wait until 1.42pm on Thursday - 6.42pm British Summer Time - to see the first shot that Tiger Woods has hit in competition for 144 days.

Woods, out of golf since his life was turned upside down by a sex scandal at the end of November, has been put in the penultimate group for the opening round of The Masters at Augusta.

The world number one will tee off with fellow American Matt Kuchar and Korean KJ Choi, both of whom should prepare themselves for one of the toughest day’s work they have ever had.

But it will not be easy for England’s Ian Poulter either. The World Match Play champion is in the group immediately ahead - and that inevitably means having to deal with a lot of crowd distractions too as everyone tries to get in position to see Woods on his return to action.

Poulter is paired with world number two Steve Stricker and also Japan’s Yuta Ikeda at the start of an event he hopes will see him complete an incredible journey from four-handicapper when he turned professional in 1994 to major champion.

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Anthony Kim claimed his third PGA Tour victory with a play-off victory over Vaughn Taylor at the Shell Houston Open in Texas on Sunday.

The 24-year-old US Ryder Cup star had a one-shot lead as he stepped up to the 18th tee, but he bogeyed the final hole to drop to 12-under for the tournament and into a play-off with Taylor.

While Kim’s final bogey saw him card a final round 70, two-under par, Taylor birdied the last to end his fourth round 68, four-under, to force the extra hole.

Kim only just made his bogey putt to force the play-off, and the two men then went back to the 18th tee for the first extra hole to decide the champion.

Kim went first and showed great mental strength to take a three wood again but this time nail his tee-shot to find the fairway, while Taylor, who had been off the course for those few extra minutes, found the bunker.

While Taylor found the greenside bunker next, Kim hit the heart of the green and made a steady two-putt for par, and when Taylor missed his putt Kim claimed the spoils at the first extra hole.

England’s Lee Westwood, three shots off the lead heading into the final round, finished in a tie for eighth after posting a final-round one-under-par 71, two strokes ahead of Justin Rose.

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US Ryder Cup star Anthony Kim was closing in on the third PGA Tour victory of his career in Texas tonight as he took a three-shot lead heading into the back nine of his final round at the Shell Houston Open.

The 24-year-old from Los Angeles had shared the 54-hole lead at Redstone Golf Club with fellow American Bryce Molder at 10 under par while England’s Lee Westwood was rallying over his closing holes to try and engineer a top-10 finish heading into next week’s Masters.

Molder made the turn at one over for the day following a bogey at the par-four third hole but Kim had hit the ground running with birdies at the par-four first, and par-five fourth and eighth to reach 13 under.

That left American Vaughn Taylor, two under for the day having played 10 holes, to lead the chase. Another birdie at the 11th moved him to 11 under par to close the gap to two shots.

Former US PGA champion Shaun Micheel, who has not won a tournament since that 2003 victory, was doing his best to make amends as he moved to 10 under, seven under for his final round but running out of holes as he played the last.

Sharing second place with Micheel was fellow American Kevin Stadler, five under for his round having played 15 holes.

Molder had dropped to nine under alongside US veteran Jeff Maggert and Canada’s Graham DeLaet with American James Driscoll and South African Charl Schwartzel at eight under playing the back nine .

Westwood’s hopes of breaking a 12-year run without a victory in the United States will likely have to wait until at least next week at Augusta National after the European number one fell further back during the front nine of his final round.

The world number four, who followed rounds of 69 and 68 with a level-par 72 on Saturday, undid a birdie at the first with back-to-back bogeys at the third and fourth holes before birdies at the 12th and 14th got him to eight under with four to play.

Justin Rose was the next best European following his third round of 70 this week, leaving the Englishman at six under for the tournament with Sweden’s Fredrik Jacobson closing at five under after a 71.

Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen was at three under after a final round of 69 but Ireland’s Padraig Harrington was not enjoying his Sunday at Redstone.

The three-time major winner was four over for his round after going out in 41 following two double bogeys, two bogeys and a birdie between holes three and eight.

Harrington clawed two strokes back with birdies at the 12th and 13th but then had a pair of bogeys over the next two holes to leave him at one under after 15, where Scotland’s Martin Laird finished his week thanks to a closing 71.

World number three Phil Mickelson had an even more erratic round than Harrington was enduring. His 71 saw three doubles bogeys and a birdie populate the first 10 holes on his card before a run of six straight birdies between 11 and 16 left him at two under for the week.

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