Tiger Woods gave record crowds at Kingston Heath what they wanted to see -- exquisite shots and a closing round of 4-under 68 to win the Australian Masters for his seventh victory of the year yesterday in Melbourne. In his first trip Down Under in 11 years, Woods put on quite a show for his $3 million appearance fee.
Woods pulled away from a three-way tie for the lead with three birdies on his opening six holes, then seized control with a tee shot to a back pin on the par-3 15th that covered the flag and stopped 6 feet away for his final victory.
He wound up with a two-shot victory over Greg Chalmers.
Woods has won 82 times around the world and in 13 countries at official tournaments. It was his first victory in Australia, where the government estimates that its return on paying half of the appearance fee was some $20 million.
The crowd approached 25,000 all four days, giving Kingston Heath the look and the energy of a major championship.
More golf
■ Michelle Wie won the first LPGA event of her career, fulfilling the promise of a decade with a 3-under par 69 to win the Lorena Ochoa Invitational by two strokes over Paula Creamer yesterday in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Morgan Pressel (67), Jiyai Shin (71) and Cristie Kerr (72) were three back. Wie finished a 13-under 275 after starting the day at the Guadalajara Country Club tied for the lead with Kerr at 10 under.
Wie first qualified for a USGA event at age 10 and played an LPGA event when she was 12. She joined the LPGA this season and has begun to show the sizzling game that has made her the biggest attraction in women's golf.
■ Stephen Ames won his second title in three years at the Children's Miracle Network Classic, edging George McNeill and Justin Leonard in a playoff in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Ames was calm and cool on greens that were too slick for most of the field at Disney World. He finished with an 8-under 64 to tie for the clubhouse lead, watching as McNeill (67) and Leonard (67) failed to pass him.
Leonard rimmed out a 16-foot putt for the win in regulation, even beginning to pump his fist in celebration, only to watch the ball bounce off.
Tennis
■ Third-seeded Novak Djokovic scrambled to a 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (3) victory over local favorite Gael Monfils to win the Paris Masters for the first time yesterday.
The victory gave Djokovic back-to-back ATP Tour titles after his win over top-ranked Roger Federer in the Swiss Indoors final last Sunday.
The third-ranked Djokovic also beat World No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals in Paris and will be a strong favorite when he'll try to defend his title at the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals Nov. 22-29 in London.
"Winning back to back titles at this level is a huge achievement for me, and adding to that, beating the World No.1 and No. 2," Djokovic said. "I really feel that I'm in great form right now."
Djokovic won the first set in 30 minutes, but then struggled in the second.
to stay at the same level.
"It was unbelievably difficult," said Djokovic, who has won a record 76 matches on the tour this season and claimed his first Masters 1000 tournament of the year following defeats in four finals.
"Gael was very unpredictable and he was hitting the ball very good," said Djokovic, who is 4-0 against Monfils.
Djokovic will defend his title at the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals from Nov. 22-29 in London.
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