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Garcia becomes No. 2 with HSBC Champions win

Red-hot Spaniard Sergio Garcia climbed to No. 2 in the world rankings with a dramatic play-off victory over Oliver Wilson in the US$5 million HSBC Champions tournament yesterday.

The 28-year-old sank a seven-foot birdie putt from the fringe of the 18th green on the second play-off hole to win his second European Tour title in three weeks and the 19th professional tournament of his career.

“I feel great ... I’m just so proud to win and reach No. 2 in the world,” Garcia said shortly after ending the challenge of Englishman Wilson, one of Europe’s rising stars.

American Phil Mickelson, the defending champion in Shanghai, fired a disappointing 73 in the fourth round to finish five shots back tied for eighth, a performance that condemned him to losing his No. 2 ranking to Garcia.

In the final round that began on Sunday afternoon and was completed yesterday due to heavy rain earlier in the tournament, Garcia carded a 68 while Wilson, leader after three rounds, fired a 70, putting both at 14 under.

Garcia finished in dramatic fashion on the par-five 18th thanks to a brilliant approach to about eight feet followed by a nerveless putt.

After Wilson, a surprise Ryder Cup success this year, also made par on the final hole with an equally steely long putt, the pair returned to the 18th tee for the play-off.

Both players missed long birdie putts on the first play-off, forcing them to replay the hole.

But his birdie effort just slipped past the hole and he slumped to his knees and rested his head on the end of his putter in frustration.

Garcia then stepped up to knock in his birdie putt and collect the winner’s prize check of US$833,000 which followed his victory in the Castello Masters on his home course in Spain last month.



■CHILDREN’S MIRACLE

AFP, LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA

Veteran Davis Love held off a late charge by rookie Tommy Gainey to seal his 20th PGA Tour victory on Sunday — and his first in more than two years. Love, who started the day two shots off the lead, fired an eight-under 64 for a four-round total of 25-under 263 in the US$4.6 million Children’s Miracle Network Classic. He finished one shot in front of Gainey, whose own 64 for 264 saw him play the back nine in six-under-par. Love nearly found the water off the tee at 17, instead ending up with a difficult lie in the rough.

He saved par, then had to do so again from a bunker at 18 to claim the win.

His 20th career victory earned him a lifetime exemption to play on the US Tour. For Love, whose last victory was at the 2006 Greensboro Classic, the victory in the last tournament of this year was a satisfying end to a sometimes difficult season. He missed some time in August and September to rest his surgically repaired left ankle, which he had originally injured last year. He hadn’t posted a top-18 finish this year until he tied for third place at the Turning Stone Resort Classic on Oct. 5.
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