World Golf News - 09 November 2010

In Shanghai, China the Italian Edoardo Molinari celebrated yet another victory as he won the HSBC Champions tournament. In a dramatic final day’s play, the Italian beat world number one Lee Westwood in a superb round of golf that saw both players showing off their star qualities on the course. Westwood, who recently surpassed Tiger Woods to become the world’s highest ranked player, kept the younger Italian on his toes until the final hole, where even a birdie was not enough to force Molinari into a playoff. In the end it was the Italian who lifted the trophy, carding a final round of 67 and beating Westwood by a single stroke. Richie Ramsay of Scotland and Luke Donald of England tied for third place.

In women’s golf, the annual Mizuno Classic was won by Jiyai Shin of South Korea. In the cool weather of the Japanese autumn, Shin negotiated the course at Kintetsu Kashikojima with the skill and precision of a seasoned professional finishing 18 under par. Shin is a previous winner of the Mizuno Classic, having lifted the trophy once before in 2008. In second place was Taiwan’s Yani Tseng who kept the competition high for most of Sunday’s final round but was unable to unseat Shin, who carded birdies on every par five hole on the course. This victory places Shin in third place on the player of the year list, with Tseng in first place at present.

On the champion’s tour John Cook won the Charles Schwab Cup Championships, defending his title from last year’s event. In a tournament played in the lovely surrounds of Harding Park, San Francisco, Cook managed to hole out a fifteen foot putt for par on the final hole, beating his nearest competitor Michael Allen by two strokes. Allen had a difficult final round caused by bad weather conditions on Sunday that saw many players carding high scores in the final round.