Eighth place for Woods at Australian Masters
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - No, Tiger Woods doesn't win every
week.
Woods had to settle for eighth Sunday at the Australian Masters,
confounded again by his putting game on difficult greens.
The winner was Peter Lonard, a cash-strapped Australian who
has spent four years recovering from a rare tropical disease that
had left him so weary he could not walk two holes on a golf course.
The fight to regain his health also left him with just $100 in
the bank.
Now he has his first victory as a professional, defeating countryman
Peter O'Malley on the second extra hole.
Woods, who has no cash problems whatsoever, closed with a 1-under-par
73, seven strokes off the pace. His total was 9-under 283, tied
with Larry Mize and Australian veteran Rodger Davis.
Woods, who won by 10 strokes last week in Thailand, was seeking
his fifth victory in 14 professional starts and trying to win
on a third continent this year.
However, he appeared unable to read the greens at the Huntingdale
course, a problem that persisted all week.
"My stroke felt pretty good," he said. "But
when you're unsure of the line, your speed's going to be off."
Woods said he was unsure if he'd return to Australia again
before next year's Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne.
"It all depends on how my body's feeling," he said.
"It's a long trek from home. But I've had a great time this
week."
Lonard and O'Malley finished 16-under, a shot ahead of Australians
Shane Tait and Wayne Grady.
The two leaders parred the first playoff hole, the 18th. At
the second, the par-4 17th, both missed the green, with O'Malley
far to the right. His chip landed 8 feet from the cup while Lonard's
was only 4 feet away.
O'Malley's putt slid past the hole; Lonard put his in the center
of the cup.
"This is probably the greatest day of my life," Lonard
said.
Lonard's health problems began at the Palm Meadows Cup in Australia
in 1992 when he was bitten by a mosquito carrying the debilitating
Ross River Fever virus.
For five years he suffered, and his eyesight started to fail.
"I had the binocular vision of a 50-year-old," Lonard
said.
New contact lenses solved the problem and he was again able
to read greens properly. Then his swing had to be rebuilt.
But the illness left him listless. He wanted to sleep all the
time. Lonard tried everything, including Chinese medicine, and
was spending up to $150 a week on vitamin injections.
"It was half an hour away and I would drive there and
fall asleep with the needle in my arm," Lonard said. "If
I drove for half an hour I was struggling to push the clutch in.
"Career-wise I thought golf was over. In 1993 I basically
did nothing."
Then he moved in with his parents. And on Sunday his mother
was in the gallery.
"I browsed through the crowd and saw my mom Yvonne and
she was shaking like a leaf," he said. "So I thought,
'God, don't look at her.' "
Lonard was runner-up in the Australian Players Championship
and the Australian PGA and had seven other top-10 finishes this
season.
O'Malley was in excellent position to win but had three bogeys
from the ninth to the 12th holes.
"I came back fighting, which is pretty gratifying around
here," O'Malley said.
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