Golf story by Dominic Taylor, Tue, 21 Feb 2006 04:56:00 GMT


LOS ANGELES - Rory Sabbatini stuttered and stumbled, but finally managed to hang on to win his third PGA tour title at the Riviera Country Club in the Nissan Open yesterday. The South African squandered a four-shot lead and seemingly lost the pristine touch that he displayed all week.

However, an amazing 7-iron shot to 6 feet on the par-3 16th hole to birdie changed all that and Sabbatini never looked back after that to clinch the Open with an overall score of 13-under 271 just one shot ahead of runner up Adam Scott of Australia.

“It was a rough day out there, no denying it. Everything seemed to be going the wrong way. I drove it in the middle of the fairway and ended up in a divot," Sabbatini said after the game. "I hit a great second shot, it bounces clean through and hits a sprinkler. I was constantly making the round difficult on myself. Finally, on those last three holes I got myself out of that rut.”

What he did not say was the fact that he was booed all round by spectators who obviously were rooting for American Fred Couples. Sabbatini did say that the heckling got under his skin for the better part of the match, “There were a lot of very snide remarks. It's sad when you have that situation. I'm an avid believer that you don't wish for somebody else to do bad, but all I can say is that it's common," he said, adding that one remark almost propelled him into the crowd.

He refused to reveal what that remark was. "It's nothing to do with Freddie. He was one of my idols growing up and is one of the nicest guys. But give other guys a chance – don't be rude," he said.

Australian Scott said that he did not have any pressure while playing and that helped him mount a stiff challenge, "I didn't think I had a chance. [But] when I got to about the 12th hole, the leaders were still at 13 and 14 [under]. The wind picked up in our face, and I knew if I could get a few more birdies they would have some tough holes coming in,” he said. Sabbatini collected $1.24 million for his win, while Scott took home $746,000.

More Sporting Stuff