Lonard wins alone this week at Mastercard Masters
BY Bruce Young | Australasian PGA Tour | 2002 MasterCard Masters | Wrap | 08 Dec 2002
Click here to listen Bruce’s interview with Peter after his brilliant win today
Following on from his shared result at last week’s Australian PGA Championship, Peter Lonard has survived yet another playoff but this time came out the lone victor with a third hole win over his stablemate, Gavin Coles. I say stablemate as both men are coached by the Gold Coast based Gary Edwin. The Mastercard Masters has once again provided a grandstand finish.
Lonard started the last round five behind overnight leader Adam Scott and although he took some time to get into the swing of things today once he started he really made some serious progress. Five straight pars to start were followed by six birdies in the next ten holes to have him at nine under and sharing the lead at that point with Coles and Scott who were playing four groups or forty minutes behind. Three solid pars to finish saw him complete his tournament at nine under and he was then forced to wait as both Coles and Scott negotiated the demanding finish at Huntingdale.
“This was as good as I have hit it in a long long time” said Lonard, which is saying something for a man who is well known for his ball striking skills.
Neither could secure the birdie they needed and so to a three man playoff where Peter drove it in the left hand fairway bunker at the first extra hole. A tough call to select enough club to get it to the green without taking too much of a risk with the lip of the trap but the beautifully struck seven iron found it ‘s mark some eight metres left of the hole. “I wanted to hit an eight iron but my caddy told me the eight would not get there so it was all or nothing and it (the seven iron) came out beautifully” said Lonard. Coles managed to get up and down from short and right of the green but Scott was unable to pull off a difficult up and down and departed the scene. To the next where Peter’s up and down from a difficult angle saw him match Coles’ regulation par and so to what was to be the last playoff hole.
Coles, playing first, found the short right hand fairway trap and Lonard, ensuring he would not fall for that trap again himself, aimed for the right half of the fairway only to overdo it and come to rest amongst the gallery lining the right rough. A free line of sight drop proved of some assistance as it opened up the angle and from there he found the green with a delightful shot some seven meters behind the flag. Coles was forced to lay up with his second and pitched to four metres. Lonard ‘s first putt was almost dead and when Coles’ par saving putt missed it was Lonard’s title for the taking.
This was Lonard ‘s fifth win (counting last week), and his second Masters title (1997), in professional golf and given the way he puts himself in position most weeks lately, surely more are to come. The victory was worth $A225,000 and has catapulted him to number two on the 2002 Order of Merit with $A497,000. Parry was the top money earner with $A641,000 and O’Malley third with $423,000.
Lonard heads for the US where he is to undergo a few weeks of serious fitness work with his coach Dave Herman. He is keen to improve that aspect of his golf to coincide with the great strides that the rest of his game has made this past season.
His next tournament outing will be in January at the Sony Open in Hawaii where he commences what is shaping as a most promising year on the USPGA Tour.
Gavin Coles continues to impress. He is such an improved player since this time twelve months ago that it is hard to recognise that it is the same player. His fifth place at the Australian Open was followed by a missed cut last week at Coolum but he has bounced back in fine style here.
Adam Scott’s turn in Australia will come sooner rather than later. He hung in there when he appeared ready to fall away, reflecting a great strength of character in addition to his very fine game.
The tournament’s best world ranked player came up just one short, which after his slow start was a fine effort. Richard Green continues to show his liking for golf in the sandbelt with yet another good finish here in fifth place. He is an elegant player whose results, despite being good, do not do justice to his game.
Adam Crawford produced yet another good finish and Steve Collins who had led for much of the event fought on strongly to share fifth with Crawford, Parry and Green.
Greg Turner was the leading New Zealander in 11th place with Mahal Pearce the next best in 31st. Stephen Scahill was 36th, Gareth Padisson 39th, Paul Devenport 54th and Alastair Sidford 68th.
The first event of the 2003 Australasian Tour starts on January 16th, the Holden New Zealand Open in Auckland.
