Chalmers wins Australian PGA title in playoff

Coolum (Australia): Greg Chalmers followed up his Australian Open title win earlier this month by winning the Australian PGA Championship at Coolum on Sunday after beating Marcus Fraser and Robert Allenby in a three-way playoff.

The 38-year-old Australian left-hander was the most consistent on the only playoff hole, the par-four 18th, when he made par, while compatriot Allenby missed his long par putt following a wayward drive off the tee at the Hyatt Regency course on the Sunshine Coast. Fraser, another local player, had fallen out of contention when he found the water off the tee and then the bunker on the back side of the green. "I was surprised to see that par was good enough because I thought we would have to birdie this hole, but that`s how it goes some times," Chalmers said in a greenside interview. "The putt was the hardest thing and to have won it now and coupled with the Australian Open, I`ve got two of those, I`m just thrilled." Chalmers will now seek to join Allenby as the only players to win all three Australian tournaments in the same year when he plays the Masters at the Victoria Golf Club in Melbourne from Dec. 15-18. Fraser, who underwent neck surgery earlier this year that saved his career, made it into the playoff when he birdied two of the last three holes, making a mammoth putt from almost 50 feet on the last to notch a three-under 69. Allenby (68) also qualified for the playoff when he made a birdie on 18, while Chalmers had earlier taken the outright lead when he birdied 17 and made par on 18 to record a 12-under 276. Overnight leader Kim Kyung-tae and second-placed Bubba Watson faltered early in their rounds, with Kim making a double bogey seven on the fifth, while Watson opened with a double-bogey and had bogeys on the second and fourth. Kim (76) finished in a three-way tie for sixth with Australians Marc Leishman (69) and Nick O`Hern (67) on nine-under-par 279, while the big-hitting Watson (77) was tied for 12th with Australian Brad Kennedy (69) on seven-under. Bureau Report