BANGKOK — Lee Westwood completed a wire-to-wire victory in the Thailand Golf Championship, shooting a 3-under-par 69 in windy conditions Sunday to beat Masters champion Charl Schwartzel by seven strokes.
The third-ranked English star finished at 22-under 266. He opened with rounds of 60 and 64 and shot a 73 on Saturday in the Asian Tour event.
“It means a lot. Any win does,” Westwood said. “It’s special this week because of the difficulty of the golf course, which I was up against in the weekend.”
Schwartzel closed with a 72.
“It was a tough day. The wind probably blew the hardest today compared to the last three rounds,” the South African star said. “I played great. If it wasn’t for Lee, I would have probably won the tournament.”
American Michael Thompson was another stroke back after a 70.
• England’s Ian Poulter won the Australian Masters in Melbourne, spoiling Geoff Ogilvy‘s bid for a victory on his boyhood course.
Poulter, two strokes behind Ogilvy entering the round, closed with a 4-under 67 in windy conditions to finish at 15-under 269 at Victoria Golf Club.
Marcus Fraser had a 64 to finish second, three strokes back. Ogilvy, the 2006 U.S. Open champion who matched the course record with a 63 on Saturday, shot a 73 to end up third at 11-under. Top-ranked Luke Donald had a 72 to tie for 12th at 4-under.
Rookard, Kuck are both winners
WEST ALLIS, Wis. — Jilleanne Rookard and Jonathan Kuck won long-distance races to wrap up their first U.S. speedskating all-round long track championships.
Rookard, a 2010 Olympian from West Allis, posted a time of 7 minutes, 8.58 seconds to win the 5,000-meter race. She also won the 3,000 on Tuesday on the first of five days of racing in the U. S. championships.
Kuck, who is from Champaign, Ill., captured the 10,000 with a Pettit National Ice Center track record time of 13:17.28. He shaved almost five seconds off the record of 13:22.93 set by Olympic medalist Chad Hedrick on October 24, 2005. Kuck also won the 5,000 on Tuesday.
• Andreas Kofler of Austria won a ski jumping World Cup event in Engelberg, Switzerland, to extend his lead in the overall standings.
Kofler’s second-round leap of 151 yards was the day’s best on the large hill, adding to his opening jump for a total of 264.7 points.
• Nordic combined World Cup champion Jason Lamy Chappuis stretched his unbeaten streak to four events by winning a Gundersen 10-kilometer competition in Seefeld, Austria .
The Frenchman won similar events in Seefeld on Saturday and in Ramsau, Austria, last week — and also claimed the team sprint title with Sebastien Lacroix on Friday. He was seventh after the jumps going into the cross country Sunday and finished in 27 minutes, 41.9 seconds to beat Italy’s Alessandro Pittin by 3.9 seconds.
Pacers acquire Amundson
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers will trade guard Brandon Rush to the Golden State Warriors for forward Louis Amundson, who is a graduate of Monarch High School in Louisville.
Amundson has averaged 4.1 points and 3.7 rebounds in five seasons, primarily with Philadelphia, Phoenix and Golden State. He has shot 52 percent from the field for his career. Rush averaged 8.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in three seasons for the Pacers.
• LeBron James scored 19 points as the Miami Heat got its preseason off to an easy start, running away to beat the visiting Orlando Magic 118-85.
Footnotes
Olympian Haley Ishimatsu won the gold medal in the women’s 10-meter platform at the USA Diving Winter National Championships in Knoxville, Tenn.
• Teenager Madison Keys and Jesse Levine have earned wild-card berths at the Australian Open by winning U.S. Tennis Association playoffs in Norcross, Ga.
