Johnson claims victory by two points

Swede Richard Johnson has taken out the ANZ Championship at The Lakes by two-points over Australians Scott Laycock and Craig Parry after finishing the modified stableford event at +46.

It had been a sensational battle for the lead all day with four players, Johnson, Parry, Laycock and overnight leader Andre Stolz all topping the leaderboard at some stage.

Laycock looked the goods from much of the back nine but crucial missed putts late in his round cost him his chance at victory.

When Johnson sunk his putt from off the green on the 16th, he picked up the two points needed to assume the lead off Laycock who subsequently bogeyed the 17th to drop a point. The animated Swede’s two-shot buffer was reduced to one however, when Parry birdied the 17th to get to +45.

But with a wayward tee shot at the par-3 18th, Parry’s hopes disappeared. In contrast, Johnson, put his shot on the short-stuff and his two-putts for victory were a formality.

Johnson joins some of the greats of the game to have won tournaments at The Lakes, including Greg Norman. He has a great affinity for Australia having spent four summers out of the last seven here, and this is by far his greatest achievement.

Parry had been consistent all day, but under this format consistency is not necessarily rewarded. His four birdies allowed him to pick up eight points before he missed his par putt on the last to slip back to equal second with Laycock on +44.

He, like Laycock, could have won if not for poor putting.

Laycock grabbed a two-point lead at one stage after picking up six birdies and a bogey in his first 15 holes. But he came to rue missed birdie putts on 13, 14 and 16, all of which were gettable.

“I missed some real good opportunities on the back nine, “ Laycock said, “You just can’t afford to let those chances go that at this level, “

Stolz, who finished fourth on +43, never looked like the player that had dominated this event since the second day. He was unable to create enough birdie chances, only picking up four points today with three birdies and a bogey.

Finishing behind those four players was Scot Stephen Gallacher. He had an inconsistent round with six bogeys and five birdies to pick up four points and finish +39.

England’s Ian Garbutt shot a nine-under 64 off-the stick and the points from his seven birdies and an eagle moved him to +38, eight points off the lead in sixth.

One shot behind him was first-round leader Jonathan Lomas, who shot five birdies and three bogeys in his second successive round of 71.

Frenchman Thomas Levet also had a great finish to his tournament. His round of 67 today allowed him to pick up 14-points and finish his tournament on +36. He drilled nine birdies and if not for a bogey and a double bogey could have finished a lot closer.

Equal eighth with Levet was South African Trevor Immelman and New Zealender Greg Turner.

Geoff Ogilvy finished in equal 11th on +35 with Nick O’Hern and Swede Niclas Fasth. The Victorian finished on +35 after seven birdies and three bogeys in an aggressive round, while O’Hern also had an up and down round.

Young Englishman Nick Dougherty shot a 14-point round today to finish on +34 for the tournament, equal 14th with a host of players including Australian veteran Peter Senior

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