| Tiger Masters Win |
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Victoria's hefty investment in Tiger Woods has returned a healthy dividend in the form of the 2009 JBWere Australian Masters title.
The Title, the AUSD270,000 first prize and the champion's yellow jacket were all safely secured by the world number one at Melbourne's Kingston Heath on Sunday. Woods, the joint leader after 54 holes with Australians Greg Chalmers and James Nitties, fired a final round 68 at the historic 6455-metre, par-72 layout in Melbourne's renowned sandbelt to prevail by two shots from Chalmers (70) in outright second. Francois Delamontagne of France elevated himself from amongst the also-rans with weekend rounds of 68 and 69 for a share of third place on 10-under with Jason Dufner (70) of the USA, while Nitties (73) rounded out the top five at minus-nine. Clad in his customary Sunday red, Woods constructed a copybook birdie at the first to signal that Saturday's misadventures, when he carded a frustrating and unsatisfactory 72, were well and truly behind him. In fine, warm conditions, the 14-time major winner made his move with successive birdies at five and six. First, he offered his huge gallery the thrills they were craving with a long iron to the pin for a gimme at the 351-metre par-four fifth for the outright lead, followed by a pitching wedge to inches at the next for a tap-in to extend it. Woods' most telling shot of the day was at the par-five 12th when he smashed a fairway wood from 268 metres to within four metres of the flag, setting up another birdie for a three-shot break on his rivals. A furious Woods blamed an over-enthusiastic photographer for his wayward approach which was to cost him a shot at 13 - his one blemish for the round - and a par at the par-five 14th was an opportunity lost. But when he holed a three-metre birdie putt at the 142-metre par-three 15th, the door was effectively slammed shut on his rivals. The champion was kept honest by Chalmers who managed a couple of early birdies and remained thereabouts despite a dropped shot at the 173-metre par-three eighth. What really hurt the 36-year-old, however, was his failure to convert two gilt-edged birdie opportunities when he most needed to on the back nine at 14 and 16. Woods' victory was warmly welcomed by Victorian premier John Brumby whose state government attracted criticism for agreeing to underwrite Woods' AUS 3 million appearance fee which was double the prize pool for the event. Adam Bland's 67 was the best of Sunday's rounds while two former Masters champions, Craig Spence, the 1999 winner and Aaron Baddeley (2007) both matched Woods' 68. Defending title-holder Rod Pampling fired a final-round 73 to finish equal-14th at minus-four overall. ALL THE FINAL ROUND SCORES(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72): 274 Tiger Woods (USA) 66 68 72 68 276 Greg Chalmers (Aus) 68 69 69 70 278 Jason Dufner (USA) 70 67 71 70, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 71 70 68 69 279 James Nitties (Aus) 66 71 69 73 280 Adam Scott (Aus) 71 71 69 69, Cameron Percy (Aus) 67 72 69 72 281 Stuart Appleby (Aus) 69 70 71 71 282 Craig Scott (Aus) 71 72 70 69, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 73 72 69 68, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 71 73 66 72 283 Alistair Presnell (Aus) 72 73 66 72, Ashley Hall (Aus) 69 69 72 73 284 Michael Sim (Aus) 70 71 69 74, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 71 70 70 73, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 72 67 72 73 285 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 73 68 76 68, Leigh Mckechnie (Aus) 73 71 69 72, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl) 71 71 67 76, Seve Benson 71 71 70 73 286 Scott Laycock (Aus) 72 68 70 76, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 68 70 74 74, Steven Bowditch (Aus) 71 68 75 72, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 71 73 71 71, Steven Jones (Aus) 72 75 70 69 287 Richard Bland 71 73 73 70, Adam Bland (Aus) 72 75 73 67, Richard Green (Aus) 72 71 72 72, Craig Spence (Aus) 72 75 72 68, Kurt Barnes (Aus) 70 73 75 69, Heath Reed (Aus) 77 68 74 68 288 Manny Villegas (Col) 70 68 76 74, David McKenzie (Aus) 70 72 73 73, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 72 73 71 72, Matthew Griffin (Aus) 71 75 69 73 289 Gary Murphy 71 73 71 74, Rick Kulacz (Aus) 69 76 69 75, Michael Long (Nzl) 71 75 70 73, Ewan Porter (Aus) 71 76 70 72, Branden Grace (Rsa) 66 75 73 75, Craig Parry (Aus) 70 76 73 70, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 71 69 73 76, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 71 74 71 73 290 Aaron Townsend (Aus) 75 72 74 69, Andrew Tampion (Aus) 71 75 71 73, Peter Nolan (Aus) 68 72 74 76, John Senden (Aus) 73 69 75 73, Matthew Millar (Aus) 71 76 72 71, Andre Stolz (Aus) 71 74 70 75, Lee Slattery 69 74 75 72 291 Ryan Haller (Aus) 70 74 76 71, Sam Little 71 71 73 76, Peter Wilson (Aus) 73 73 72 73, Doug Holloway (Nzl) 67 74 77 73, Michael Wright (Aus) 73 73 71 74, Paul Sheehan (Aus) 73 72 74 72 292 Callum Macaulay 75 71 71 75, Marc Leishman (Aus) 72 73 74 73, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 75 72 72 73, Matthew Giles (Aus) 74 69 77 72, Adam Groom (Aus) 73 70 75 74, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 74 73 76 69 293 Josh Younger (Aus) 72 73 71 77, Andrew Bonhomme (Aus) 73 74 73 73, Anthony Brown (Aus) 72 72 72 77 294 Jason Norris (Aus) 73 74 71 76, Terry Price (Aus) 73 72 80 69, Miles Tunnicliff 74 72 75 73 295 Mahal Pearce (Nzl) 71 68 77 79 296 Aaron Pike (Aus) 74 73 72 77 297 Rohan Blizard (Aus) 69 76 77 75 298 Frank Power (Aus) 74 70 76 78, Andrew Tschudin (Aus) 73 72 74 79 299 Damien Jordon (Aus) 69 78 79 73, Simon Furneaux (Aus) 73 74 77 75 300 Kim Felton (Aus) 76 71 77 76 302 Ryan Hammond (Aus) 75 72 77 78 |
Spain still most popular
Spain is still the most popular destination for overseas property seekers, new research has revealed.Property portal Prime Location has said that 30 per cent of all searches in November were for Spain, with France in second place on 29 per cent and the US in third with 21 per cent.The overall tally of
Markets
There are markets along the Costa del Sol every day except Sundays and these usually operate from about 9/10am until about 2pm. They tend to be manned by the same stall holders who set up their stalls somewhere different every day and then pack them away about 2pm only to start all over again the next morning.
You will find a wide range of goods on sale such as clothes, shoes, towels and blankets, ceramic pots and dishes to mention just a few. The prices tend to be fixed but if you think they are too high you may managed to barter with a few of the sellers - they may claim not to speak English but most of them have some knowledge of the language.Below we have created a complete list of markets on the Costa del Sol by day. There are also flea markets on some days which sell some old Spanish items which you may find interesting.
Costa Del Sol Markets
What do the markets offer?
Vegetable and fruit: If you are a lover of fresh fruits, nuts, olives, vegetables, herbs and flowers then the weekly town and village markets are the best places to buy it. You can’t find it cheaper anywhere or better quality else.
Ceramic and Pottery: Andalucía produces a lot of ceramic and pottery. Every region