Van Pelt triumphs Down Under

PERTH: American Bo Van Pelt won his first tournament of the year and the third of his career in the Perth International at Lake Karrinyup yesterday.

Van Pelt won an all-American duel with Jason Dufner by two strokes in a tense final round to claim the European Tour event.

The world No. 24 had rounds of 70-67-67-68 to finish 16 under 272 and pocket a cheque for US$333,330. Van Pelt became the 11th first time winner on the European Tour this year. He will defend the CIMB Classic in Malaysia this week.

Van Pelt began the day a shot clear of world No. 10 Dufner, who closed with a three-under 69.

“It’s a great feeling to come out on top,” Van Pelt said. “I have a lot of respect for Jason and his game.

“He’s a world-class player and I knew it was going to be tough today. I knew he was going to keep the pressure on me, and I needed to play well if I was going to win.”

An emotional Van Pelt dedicated his victory to veteran caddie Scotty Steele, who died at the weekend after suffering a heart attack a week ago at a Champions Tour event in North Carolina.

“It was tough news this morning. I found out off Twitter, some of the other caddies and players that I follow, I knew he had a heart attack earlier in the week,” he said.

“To see that he had passed on was tough news. Scotty has always, always been great to me.”

Spaniard Alejandro Canizares shot 68 on the final day to grab outright third at 11-under, while Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo, who led for much of the tournament, faded with a three-over 74 for a tie for fifth.

It was a tight struggle between Dufner and Van Pelt on the back nine and although they are friends they hardly exchanged a word.

The tension was broken when a large kangaroo bounded towards them as they were both preparing to play their second shots at the 15th.

“He was coming at a pretty good clip and I was going to do everything I could to get out of his way. I was going to lose that battle,” Van Pelt later joked.

Perhaps it rattled Dufner more than Van Pelt, who had led his fellow American by three shots until the 14th, where there was a twoshot swing.

Dufner hit his second shot stone dead at the par four and tapped in for a birdie. Van Pelt tightened a little and pushed a one-metre putt past the hole and further from the cup. But at the 15th, Dufner gave the shot back.

Dufner was full of praise for Van Pelt. “Bo played really good today, put a lot of pressure on me to make something happen and I couldn’t quite do it,” he said.