SYDNEY - Australian Aaron Baddeley added to his growing golfing reputation with a dramatic playoff victory over fellow young lion Sergio Garcia in the Greg Norman Holden International in Sydney yesterday.
The 19-year-old Victorian birdied the first playoff hole, the 178m par-three 18th, to edge out Garcia in the $A2 million
($2.49 million) Australasian PGA Tour tournament at The Lakes.
"It was nerve-racking stuff coming down the home stretch and to hole that putt at the end was just awesome," Baddeley said.
"Sergio played great ... He's a true sportsman."
The victory adds to Baddeley's two Australian Open titles, the first won as an amateur last summer.
Baddeley and Garcia, 21, started the day as co-leaders at 16-under-par, after Garcia was last night handed a two-shot penalty for a rule infringement over a drop in the third round.
During the afternoon the lead switched between them, but when they stood at the 72nd tee, they were locked together again, at 21-under.
Both parred the final regulation hole to card five-under 68s and send the tournament into overtime.
At the first playoff hole, both players landed their tee shots on the green. Garcia just missed his long-range putt for birdie before Baddeley holed out from about 12 feet.
Third was Englishman Ian Poulter, who caught up with Garcia and Baddeley when he chipped in from a greenside bunker to eagle the par-five 17th.
But Garcia and Baddeley pulled away again to a one-stroke advantage when both birdied the same hole.
The best of the New Zealanders were Hamiltonians David Smail and Steve Alker, who both finished at 13-under and in a four-way tie for 13th.
Smail, the in-form New Zealander on the tour, closed with a 69, after a run of birdies on the back nine.
His latest result follows his wins in the New Zealand Open and the Canon Challenge, and his second placing in the Heineken Classic over the previous three weeks.
Smail, who dropped a shot on the second hole before grabbing the first of his five birdies on the eighth, said he struggled a little with his swing yesterday.
"I hit a few hooks, but I was getting away with it," he said.
"I started off struggling a bit and not feeling that comfortable with everything, but then I hit a few good shots and eased back into it."
Alker compiled a second steady, blemish-free round in a row with a 70 that contained an eagle and a birdie.
- NZPA
