Five days after his wife delivered their first child stillborn, India's Jeev Milkha Singh won the Japanese tour's season-ending Nippon Series Cup in Tokyo yesterday.
"I will dedicate this win to my wife," Singh said. "She is healthy now. Better things are on the way."
Kudrat Singh, recovering in a Toyko hospital, urged her husband to play the event.
Singh won by two strokes, closing with a four-under 66 at Tokyo Yomiuri for a 12-under 268 total. He also won the 2006 tournament.
Singh, who started the final round one stroke behind Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng, had five birdies against a lone bogey in the final round.
Last month, Singh beat Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington by a stroke at the Singapore Open to win his second Asian Tour money title. Singh also won the European Tour's Bank Austria Open in June and the Japanese tour's Sega Sammy Cup in July.
Australia's Brendan Jones, the 2007 winner, shot a 64 to tie for second with New Zealand's David Smail (66) and Japan's Taichi Teshima (68).
Ryo Ishikawa, the 17-year-old Japanese star who last weekend became the youngest player in Japanese tour history to reach US$1 million in a season, closed with a 70 to tie for fifth with Toshinori Muto at eight-under .
"I couldn't really enjoy today's round," Ishikawa said. "I gave it my best to the final hole but came up short. Still, it's been an unbelievable year for me."
Prayad struggled with his game and finished seven strokes back after a 74.
At Coolum, Queensland, former US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy claimed his first title in Australia with a two-stroke victory over Mathew Goggin at the Australian PGA on Sunday.
Australian Ogilvy, the 2006 US Open champion, shot a flawless three-under par 69 to overhaul overnight leader Goggin and post a winning 14-under total of 274.
"It feels pretty good. It's obviously been a really good week for me," Ogilvy told reporters at the Hyatt Regency resort course. "It has been a long time coming in Australia.
"I feel like I've been playing well over the last two or three months...and felt really good all week."
Goggin finished with a 72 for 12-under 276, one stroke ahead of fellow Australians Peter Senior (69), Scott Strange (69) and last week's Australian Masters champion Rod Pampling (72).
The 31-year-old Ogilvy, who was annoyed on Saturday at being asked about breaking his title drought at home, said he was pleased he would not have to answer questions about it again. "I don't have to answer any more questions next week (at the Australian Open in Sydney)," he said.
In Sun City, South Africa, Henrik Stenson shot a seven-under 65 on Saturday to stretch his lead to eight shots after the third round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
Stenson held a four-stroke lead after finishing the rain-interrupted second round earlier on Saturday, and sits at 17-under 199 going into the final round.
Only fellow Swede Robert Karlsson seems likely to offer any sort of challenge on the last day, after a five-under 67 put him in second place.
Rory Sabbatini of South Africa stayed third, but his 72 put him 11 shots off the lead.
(Agencies via Shanghai Daily December 8, 2008)
