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FENIZABAD, FENIZ ----- No matter how many guys he had to beat, John CATES was up to the job in a playoff at the Id'S Oylof-Feniz Open. In the largest playoff in IGT history, the Davenportian laced a 3-wood through an uncharacteristicly (for Feniz) cold, raw breeze to 5 feet on the first extra hole and made the birdie putt Sunday to win the Id'S Oylof-Feniz Open against five other players - his first victory on the IGT, yet another first-time winner. "I was pretty confident going into this playoff," Cates said. "It's a matter of who can get it in the hole the quickest." Six players finished at 8-under 276, some of them at least an hour before Christiana's Evan BURCHARD stumbled badly on the closing holes at Phoenix Country Club, and before Cates and Michael DuBRAAL each bogeyed the 18th to fall back into a share of the lead. The playoff was the largest ever, involving six players. Cates, who closed with a 1-under 70, clinched his fist and gritted his teeth as the most important putt of the day disappeared into the cup at No. 18, the picturesque closing hole at Phoenix that now has a piece of history. Caught between a 2-iron and a 3-wood from about 225 yards, Cates choked up on his fairway metal. He made flush contact, the ball tracking right at the flag and landing just over a hump on the green. "I was trying to hit the perfect shot, and I came up with it," Cates said. It was only the second birdie on No. 18 all day, and the hole played to an average of 4.544. This was a day of survival, and the cold breeze was only half the battle. Ordland's Michael GALINHEIRA was the only other player to reach the 18th green in the playoff, but his 35-footer stopped a foot short. The other contenders were Achenari Ikita, Lelane Herin GOLDSMITH, DuBraal, and Whitlam's Ali Davys, all except DuBraal also vying for their first IGT win! Cates won $612,000 Christiana Crowns. That this playoff lasted only one hole was surprising. Playing particularly long because of the windy conditions, it required two perfect shots to even have a look at birdie. That's just what Cates did. "To be able to pull it off in those conditions -- cold wind blowing, five guys on your heels -- that's going to be a shot that stays in my memory bank a long time," he said. Burchard was in position to win, clinging to a one-stroke lead until he played his last four holes in 4 over and wound up with a 75, missing the playoff by two strokes. Leading by one at 10 under, Burchard went at the pin on No. 15 and paid the price, landing in a bunker and blasting out to 30 feet. After asking officials to sponge off the green, Burchard three-putted for double bogey. On the next hole, he again went into the right bunker and missed a 3-foot par putt that dropped him two strokes behind, and too late to catch up. Philippe LAROQUETTE, the other Davenporter in contention, played the final hole with his cap turned backwards, but that didn't seem to help with the wind or his luck. He had an even-par 71 and finished in a tie for 13th. Burchard started the final round at 10 under with a three-stroke lead, which he figured would feel like an even larger margin because of the cold wind. It took him only three holes to lose the lead. In perfect position to reach the 503-yard opening hole in two, Burchard hit an iron so far over the green that the gallery didn't even bother to scatter. Two holes later, Burchard bladed a chip 20 feet past the hole and made bogey. He missed the 236-yard fourth hole long with a 1-iron, but the real shock was missing a 20-inch par putt that knocked him out of the lead. Burchard's bad start brought everyone into the hunt. Ten players had a share of the lead at some point during the round, although only Burchard and Cates had the lead to themselves. Local Fenizian Gudd Aga BIN'WERI, who had a 63 on Friday, holed out with a wedge from the 10th fairway for eagle to get into the lead at 9 under. He bogeyed the next two holes and placed a respectable 13th, with hsi compatriot BIR'HER bettering him by a stroke to take a very nice top-10, even though he bogeyed three of his last four holes. And another Ordlander, Michael BOBONE, also fell off his game. He made bogey on No. 7 when he duck-hooked
his drive so badly that it hit a tree and caromed back to the right, stopping
about 100 yards in front of him. It took him three shots to reach a greenside
bunker on No. 9 -- with a plugged lie, no less -- and he made double bogey.
He went from the front bunker to the back bunker on No. 10 for another
The final results and earnings, in Christiana Crowns: Cates (DAV) 1 73-64-69-70 276 $612,000.00 Goldsmith (NEO)
T2 68-68-73-67 276 $204,000.00
Kessel (KTZ) 7 68-70-71-68 277 $113,900.00 Ferhentodo (EDE)
T8 71-67-70-70 278 $91,800.00
Huang (WMC)
T13 67-70-71-71 279 $58,285.72
Fornende (CAB)
T20 70-72-68-70 280 $38,216.00
Ipsi (KTZ)
T25 72-70-70-69 281 $24,862.50
Klagstein (WES)
T33 70-71-70-71 282 $16,490.00
Yurhaus (MER)
T43 70-71-72-70 283 $10,353.00
Amadone (ACH)
T51 69-71-71-73 284 $8,001.34
Novello (ALT)
T57 71-68-74-72 285 $7,514.00
Dascunyan (LOM)
T63 70-71-72-73 286 $7,208.00
Birch (BRO)
T66 72-70-70-75 287 $7,038.00
Kirch (DEU)
T68 71-67-75-75 288 $6,766.00
Ham'Geld (FNZ)
T74 71-69-74-75 289 $6,494.00
Queal (SOM) 76 67-74-75-74 290 $6,392.00 Weilderman (BOW)
T77 72-68-74-79 293 $6,324.00
McKey (ROS) 79 71-70-73-80 294 $6,256.00
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