PHILIPPINE OPEN RELATED STORIES Philippine Open home page Philippine Open Preview Round 1: Six share first day lead in Manila Round 2: Liang holds on to lead at halfway Round 3: Frankie Minoza makes his move Round 4: Masterful Minoza lifts title for 2nd time Final Scores & Prize Money AT Order of Merit after the Philippine Open Minoza on a mission in Manila New sponsors illustrate growth in Philippines Pagunsan gunning for home victory Thaworn chasing win no. 8 in Manila Minoza to star in Philippine Open line up Philippine Open to return in February Philippine Open delayed - new date not set Que seeks return to winning ways in Manila Strange looking for Philippine double 2006: Strange joins illustrious winners ASIAN GOLF TODAY TOP STORIES Ben Leong claims maiden victory PGA: Jeev and Wi tie for ninth Prom targets Thai win in Brunei Shin Ji-yai takes Women's British Open Asian Tour starts 2nd half on a high Norman to play 2009 Johnnie Walker Mission Hills to host AP Summit GOLF TODAY TOP STORIES Paul Azinger names US wildcards Faldo chooses Casey and Poulter Havret gains wire to wire Gleneagles win Sluman clinches First Tee Open with closing 67 Fallout continues over LPGA "English" rule Poulter chooses high risk Ryder Cup strategy

Strange joins illustrious list of winners

The names of several Australian legends including Peter Thomson and Norman Von Nida are imprinted on the Philippine Open trophy.

So, it was only natural that Scott Strange felt like he over the moon as he joined the illustrious company as a worthy champion of Asia's oldest national Open.

The 29-year-old withstood testing conditions at Wack Wack Golf and Country Club and romped to an emphatic five-stroke victory, leading from start to finish. He carded rounds of 68, 70, 72 and 70 for an eight-under-par 280 winning total.

"The weather was pretty exhausting, four days of it and to come through with this trophy and a win, I'm pretty excited about it," said Strange. "There are some good names on the trophy. It always feels nice to be in good company."

While others faltered under the heat and humidity, Strange powered his way through the challenging Wack Wack layout and left Korean rookie Park Jun-won trailing in second place.

Leading by one shot going into the last day, Strange laid down the gauntlet with an opening hole birdie and kept his foot on the pedal with further birdies on the sixth, 11th and 12th, opening up a commanding seven-shot lead. He dropped shots at the weeks two toughest holes at the 15th and 17th but he was too far for the rest to catch.

"The first victory is always special but this one is just as special. To go wire to wire is even better. It feels pretty good," said Strange, the 2005 Myanmar Open champion.

Park, 19, enjoyed a magical week by finishing runner-up, thanks to a superb 67 on the last day. Chinese Taipei's Lu Wei-lan and Yeh Chang-ting, the 1993 champion, and Chris Rodgers of England shared third place.

"I'm really happy to finish so well," said Park, a Qualifying School graduate. "It was very hot but I hit a lot of good irons close to the pins. At the start of the day, I didn't think I would finish so low, so I'm really excited."

Yeh, who entered the last round one back of Scott, tipped his hat to the winner. “Scott was just too good," said Yeh. "He was striking it long and straight all day and he deserves the win. It's still okay for me to finish top-three as it's been a long time since I've done that."

Rodgers, the Qualifying School and Pakistan Open winner, rued a costly mistake on the treacherous 17th, a par three. He inflicted a one-shot penalty when he threw his marker in frustration on the ground and inadvertently moved his ball. "It was rather unfortunate and an expensive one shot penalty."

Rising Filipino star Juvic Pagunsan finished tied sixth with Australian Unho Park and ended as the best local finisher on 288.

Leading final scores
280 - Scott Strange (AUS) 68-70-72-70
285 - Park Jun-won (KOR) 75-74-69-67
286 - Chris Rodgers (ENG) 70-69-75-72, Lu Wei-lan (TPE) 69-74-72-71, Yeh Chang-ting (TPE) 69-69-73-75
288 - Juvic Pagunsan (PHI) 72-70-74-72, Unho Park (AUS) 72-71-73-72
289 - Jason Dawes (AUS) 70-75-74-70, Gary Simpson (AUS) 71-72-74-72, Hsieh Chin-sheng (TPE) 71-73-71-74, Cookie Lao (PHI) 70-74-70-75
290 - Gerald Rosales (PHI) 73-72-74-71, S.S.P. Chowrasia (IND) 74-72-71-73, Adam Porker (AUS) 73-72-71-74
291 - Adam Le Vesconte (AUS) 74-76-70-71, Jason Knutzon (USA) 73-71-76-71, Barry Hume (SCO) 69-76-74-72
292 - Alistair Presnell (AUS) 73-75-72-72, Jochen Lupprian (GER) 72-76-72-72, Gary Rusnak (USA) 73-74-73-72, Anthony Kang (USA) 72-72-74-74, Marcus Both (AUS) 73-70-74-75, Rick Gibson (CAN) 70-72-75-75, Richard Moir (AUS) 77-69-71-75, Angelo Que (PHI) 71-75-70-76
294 - Marciano Pucay (PHI) 72-75-74-73, Airil Rizman Zahari (MAS) 73-70-78-73, Wang Ter-chang (TPE) 74-72-76-72, Elmer Salvador (PHI) 78-70-71-75, Uttam Singh Mundy (IND) 75-74-69-76

January 28, 2007