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Monday May 25, 2009

Casey up to world No. 3 after Wentworth win

VIRGINIA WATER (England): Paul Casey jumped to third in the world rankings after defying a sparkling final-round charge by fellow Briton Ross Fisher to win the PGA Championship yesterday.

Casey started the day three strokes clear of the field but local boy Fisher, from nearby Ascot, reeled off eight birdies in a best-of-the-week 64 to set the clubhouse target on 16-under 272 in glorious sunshine at Wentworth.

However, the overnight leader responded with birdie fours at the last two holes, sinking a four-foot putt at the 18th to secure his third victory of the season with a closing 68 and a 271 tally.

The 31-year-old Casey, who also won in Abu Dhabi in January and Houston last month, picked up a cheque for 750,000 euros.

“That was not an easy putt (at the last) but it went right in the middle of the hole,” he told BBC television.

“The BMW PGA Championship is our flagship event on the European Tour and I’ve always wanted to get my hands on this trophy. This feels fantastic.”

The Ryder Cup stalwart, who started the year in 41st place in the world, has amassed more 2009 ranking points than any other player.

Casey will become the first Englishman to move into the top three in the rankings since Nick Faldo in 1996.

Fisher, 28, showed the form that helped him romp to a seven-shot victory in the 2008 European Open at the London Club, cramming eight birdies in 15 holes from the fourth.

Casey started erratically with bogeys at the first and eighth mixed in with two birdies but he got his act together on the back nine to add the PGA crown to the World Match Play title he won on the same course three years ago.

In third place on 275 was Dane Soren Kjeldsen (69), one ahead of Briton Stephen Dodd (67).

Former British Open champion Ben Curtis of the United States produced a remarkable birdie-birdie-eagle-eagle finish to shoot 67 for a nine-under 279.

Holder Miguel Angel Jimenez recorded only the second albatross since the tournament’s inception in 1955, the Spaniard using a six-iron to hole out from 205 yards for a two at the par-five fourth on his way to a 76 and 288.

The Spaniard emulated Swede Pierre Fulke’s feat at the 12th in 1994 when he used a six-iron to hole out from 205 yards for a spectacular two at the par-five fourth.

American John Daly, sporting a bright pink outfit in a gesture of support for world number two Phil Mickelson’s wife Amy who was this week diagnosed with breast cancer, ended his campaign with a 75 for 296. — Reuters

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