Luke Donald wins the Japan Golf Tour’s Dunlop Phoenix tournament
Luke Donald retained his lead in the final round of the Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Japan, to record a five-stroke victory, on Sunday, November 18, 2012.
The Tournament was being played at the Phoenix Country Club, featuring some of the prominent names on the Japan Golf Tour.
Donald carded a six-under par 65 in the first round and shared the lead with Brendan Jones and Hideto Tanihara.
He then showed another sparkling display of the game on Friday, to take the sole lead, following a seven-under par 64.
On Saturday, he failed to maintain his form and recorded three birdies against the same number of bogeys to finish with an even-par score for the round.
However, it was good enough to retain his position on top of the leaderboard. The final round witnessed him regain his form, as he carded a three-under par 68 for a 16-under par tournament score.
It was Donald’s third professional victory of the season, as he won the PGA Tour’s Transitions Championship and European Tour’s BMW PGA Championship earlier this season.
The victory also allowed the Englishman to leapfrog Tiger Woods to the second position in the Official World Golf Rankings.
"BOOM!! 3rd win of the year - honoured to add my name to the great Champions that have won the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament," tweeted Donald. “Loved my week here in Japan - the Dunlop Phoenix is a great event, on a great course, great food, great beer....it's
just great!”
Donald became the first player in the history of the game to win money list titles on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour last year.
The same year witnessed him becoming the world number one player. He then tried to keep the momentum going into the 2012 golf season by winning two tournaments in the first half of the year.
However, he lost his winning form and, in turn, the world number one spot as well. Rory McIlroy, in the meantime, clinched the top position after winning the PGA Championship this year.
According to the golf commentators, Donald should capitalize on his victory in Japan, by taking the momentum into the 2013 golf season.
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