Golf Roundup : Clements Wins Playoff; Stephenson Comes Close

Lennie Clements made a 35-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole to win a four-way playoff for the championship of the $250,000 Spalding Invitational Sunday at Carmel Valley, Calif.

Clements, Ken Green, Tim Norris and Dan Pohl finished the four days of regulation play tied at 12-under 271.

Third-round leader Jan Stephenson, one of six women in field made up mostly of men, missed a seven-foot putt on the last hole and wound up with a 272 total for fifth place and a prize of $11,000.

The women were given an advantage off the tee, but otherwise competed equally with the men. All six women made the cut.

Clements missed an eight-foot birdie putt on the final hole of regulation play. In the playoff, Clements went past the flagstick on his second shot at the par-4 hole and wound up on the back of the green. Norris and Pohl both had putts of about 25 feet, while Green was in the bunker after his second shot.

Green blasted out of the bunker a foot from the hole, but after Clements rolled in his long birdie, both Norris and Pohl missed on their birdie tries.

On the final hole of regulation, Green hit a 9-iron just eight inches from the cup to get a birdie and qualify for the playoff, while Norris made a 12-foot birdie putt on the same hole. Pohl, who finished earlier than the other three, missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the same hole.

Pohl, who had eagles on the second and 10th holes, was leading the tournament at 14-under-par after 15 holes, but took a double bogey on the par-3 16th.

Curtis Strange shot rounds of 67 and 68 en route to a one-stroke victory in Australia’s richest golf tournament, the $360,000 Sanctuary Cove Classic at Gold Coast, Australia.

The final two rounds were played Sunday after Thursday’s opening round was postponed because of water-logged fairways.

The tournament was part of a five-day series of sporting events and concerts to mark the opening of the new resort complex.

Strange, the leading money winner on last year’s PGA Tour, finished with a 16-under-par 272, one shot in front of Ian Woosnam, who had a final-round 68.