GOLF ROUNDUP : Gilder Declared Japan Winner After Final Round Rained Out

Bob Gilder, leading by one point after three rounds, was declared the winner of the $538,000 tournament at Ayamacho, Japan, Sunday after rains washed out the final round.

Gilder had 115 points (38-39-38) to 114 for Bob Tway after three rounds on the 6,796-yard, par-72 Japan Classic Country Club course. Gilder earned $73,000.

This was Japan’s first PGA tournament using a scoring system that awards two points for a par, three for a birdie and one for a bogey. The highest score wins.

France’s Jean Van de Velde, who led after the first round, tied for third place with Japan’s Hyoshinori Kaneko and Yoshiyuki Isomura at 113 points.

An Australian-New Zealand PGA team was declared the winner based on total strokes after its title match against the U.S. team was rained out in a $1-million tournament at Inagi, Japan.

Australia-New Zealand and the U.S. had 20 points apiece from match victories in round-robin play, but the Australia-New Zealand team had the best total stroke score, 1,261.

The U.S. stroke score was not counted because Wayne Levi withdrew because of a back injury after playing only nine holes Thursday in the Americans’ opening-day match against the Europeans. With each individual match victory counting two points, Europe beat the Americans, 8-4.