Craig Parry beats Nick O'Hern in playoff

Australia's Craig Parry won a sudden-death playoff with Nick O'Hern on Sunday to take the Heineken Classic at Royal Melbourne.

Parry claimed an unlikely victory in the co-sanctioned European Tour event when he drained a four-metre birdie putt on the fourth extra hole then watched as O'Hern's attempt from the same distance curled past the lip.

Parry, who holed a six-iron from 160 metres to win his first title on the U.S. PGA Tour last season, needed a birdie on the 71st hole to reach the playoff then sank two long putts on the first two extra holes to stay in contention.

"That was bloody hard work. At every hole I thought I was going to lose," Parry said.

"This ranks right up there...it means a real lot to me."

O'Hern, who led by a stroke overnight, narrowly missed a three-metre putt on the first playoff hole then another from the same distance at the second extra hole.

"I played my heart out today and it just didn't happen," he said.

"It was very frustrating. I hit the shots I wanted to in the playoff and hit the putts I wanted to but the ball wouldn't seem to go in the hole for me."

The pair were forced into a playoff after finishing the fourth round tied at 14-under-par 270. The left-handed O'Hern closed with an even-par 71 despite an eagle-three at the second hole while Parry's birdie on 17 gave him a round of 70.

Briton Simon Dyson and Australia's Jarrod Lyle finished a shot back after both bogeyed the final hole to miss out on a chance of making the playoff.

Dyson found the bunker with his approach to the final green while Lyle pulled his drive into the trees.

Ernie Els of South Africa also got to 14-under-par on Sunday but two late bogeys cost him his chance of winning Australia's richest tournament for the fourth year in a row.

Lyle, playing in just his sixth tournament as a professional, was the sentimental favourite to win. The 23-year-old was diagnosed with leukaemia in 1999 but made a full recovery and his emotional charge up the leaderboard captured the imagination of the country.

Fighting back tears during a television interview, he said: "I feel like I am the real champion here.

"I have always been a fighter. Today I never gave up."

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