Golf: Lane conquers Frost for jackpot

Golf

England's Barry Lane landed the richest prize in golf when he beat the South African, David Frost, by two holes to take the pounds 660,000 first prize in the Andersen Consulting World Championship at Scottsdale, Arizona, yesterday.

Lane, representing Europe, went into a three-hole lead after 25 holes of the 36-hole final of the pounds 2.4m matchplay event. However Frost, representing the Rest of the World, clawed his way back to level the match six holes later.

Lane, whose victory moved him into the top 50 of the world rankings at No 38, regained the lead with a birdie at the par-four 33rd and sealed victory with a birdie on the last.

Lane shot a five under par 67 on the first 18 holes of the final to Frost's 71, but was only one-up. Lane was credited with an eagle three on the 562-yard ninth after Frost bogeyed and conceded a 15-foot putt.

There were some uneasy moments for Lane in the afternoon, however, as he hit three bunkers in three holes and found himself putting for par while Frost putted for birdie. Frost eventually drew level on the 32nd.

In the 18-hole match for third place, the American Mark McCumber won three consecutive holes early on the back nine and easily beat Japan's Massy Kuramoto 4 and 3.

McCumber earned pounds 230,000 and Kuramoto earned his biggest payday, pounds 200,000, for finishing fourth. In Saturday's semi-finals, Lane beat Kuramoto two- up while Frost defeated McCumber 2 and 1.