Perry, O’Hair hang on for Shootout win

Published 4:00 am Monday, December 10, 2012

NAPLES, Fla. — Kenny Perry and Sean O’Hair birdied five of the last six holes to win the Franklin Templeton Shootout on Sunday.

The 52-year-old Perry became the oldest player to win the Shootout, and also won for the third time with a different partner. He won with John Huston in 2005 and Scott Hoch in 2008. Perry joins Steve Elkington, Fred Couples, Brad Faxon and Scott McCarron with three Shootout wins; Elkington and Couples also won with three different partners.

“All three have been different,” Perry said of his Shootout victories. “John and I were pretty even partners, and then the year Scott and I won, I played fantastic that week. … This year, my roles have been reversed, and I was complementing Sean.”

“I think that was kind of the best thing about this was just we had a ton of fun, just like being a kid enjoying what you’re doing,” O’Hair said.

Rory Sabbatini and Charles Howell III made a charge on the back nine that included an eagle on a par-4 but finished one stroke back at 30-under 186. They had a 15-under 57 in the scramble format in the final round on the Gold Course at Tiburon Golf Club.

“We played really well and gave ourselves a lot of opportunities,” Sabbatini said. “We put a good number up there and that’s all we can really do. We had a lot of fun and Charles hit the ball fantastically.”

Jason Dufner and Vijay Singh finished third at 28 under.

Perry and O’Hair became the seventh second-round leaders to go on to win the tournament in the past 12 years. While other teams were making charges at them, and sometimes briefly catching them, they had fewer holes left to play than Perry and O’Hair.

“I knew they were going to probably catch up to us at some point, but I knew we had holes to catch back up to them,” Perry said. “You can’t really get too far ahead of yourself out there in that field. You just kind of play each hole.”

Also on Sunday:

Schwartzel wins by 11 shots

CHON BURI, Thailand — Charl Schwartzel shot a 7-under 65 for the third time at the Thailand Golf Championship, wrapping up a dominating victory by 11 shots. Schwartzel led from the first round and never slowed down, finishing with a 25-under total of 263 at the Amata Spring Country Club for the South African’s first victory since last year’s Masters. This year’s Masters winner, Bubba Watson, also shot a 65 to finish in a tie for distant second with Thai golfer Thitiphun Chuayprakong, who finished with a 70.

Senior wins Australian Open

SYDNEY — Peter Senior won the Australian Open by one stroke, overcoming severe weather conditions that forced a three-hour suspension because of gale-force winds. The 53-year-old regular on the U.S. Champions Tour shot an even-par 72 in the final round at The Lakes. Fellow Australian Brendan Jones was second after a 71.

Jamieson triumphs in S. Africa

DURBAN, South Africa — Scotland’s Scott Jamieson won his first European Tour title, beating England’s Steve Webster and Spain’s Eduardo de la Riva in a playoff after the Nelson Mandela Championship was reduced to a 36-hole event because of rain.

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