Foster wins six man playoff

Mark Foster of England held his nerve Sunday to win a six-man playoff to win the European Tour's Dunhill Championship, worth $80,700 and played over the par-72 Houghton Golf Course.

Foster, Paul Lawrie of Scotland, Bradford Vaughan and Trevor Immelman of South Africa, Doug McGuigan of Scotland and Anders Hansen of Denmark were slated to play the par-five 18th three times and, if there was still no winner, would have played holes 17 and 18 until a winner is determined.

This was the first six-man playoff on the European Tour since the 1990 Vinho Verde Atlantic Open.

The first time up the 18th, Hansen and McGuigan were eliminated as the other four all birdied the hole. McGuigan paid dearly for his double bogey six on the 17th of regulation play. It clearly shook him up as he squandered the opportunity to win outright.

Foster then stepped up as the remaining four played the 18th a second time, and holed a snaking 35-foot eagle putt to capture his first European Tour title.

He actually had an easier putt for an eagle the first time around when his second shot landed about 12 feet from the pin. However, what looked to be a pretty straight putt narrowly missed the left edge of the cup.

Immelman, who recorded his maiden European Tour win last week with victory in the South African Open, also had a chance to win at the first playoff hole, when he narrowly missed a chip-in from off the green to the left.

It was a frantic final round as former British Open champion Lawrie and England's young Justin Rose made determined bids for victory. They each shot 65s as they charged at third round leader Vaughan, and at Bradley Dredge of Wales, who only surrendered the lead he had held from the start right at the end of the lightning-delayed third round, which was completed early Sunday morning.

In the end, it was Foster's consistency throughout the tournament which put him in the position to make those bold eagle attempts in the play-off. Lawrie and Rose each had one-over-par 73s on their cards, and that hurt them as the other players fought for the title.

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