Australian Triumphs

Stuart Appleby holed a wedge from the thick rough for eagle, part of a strong finishing kick that won him the Honda Classic in what turned out to be a 36-hole marathon in Coral Springs, Fla.

Appleby shot a 5-under-par 67 in the morning for the third-round lead, then overcame a bogey-bogey start to shoot 71 and win by one stroke over Payne Stewart and Michael Bradley.

Appleby, a 25-year-old Australian who had to go through qualifying school last year, finished at 14-under 274 over the TPC at Heron Bay and won $270,000.

At Newport Beach, Calif., Bob Murphy rolled in an 80-foot birdie putt on the ninth sudden-death playoff hole to defeat Jay Sigel and win $150,000 at the Toshiba Senior Classic. The nine-hole playoff is an all-time Senior Tour playoff record, surpassing the eight-hole playoff won by Orville Moody against Bob Betley in the 1992 Showdown Classic.

At Tucson, Ariz., Donna Andrews, aided by the rare collapse of Swedish star Annika Sorenstam, shot a 4-under-par 68 to win the LPGA Welch’s-Circle K Championship by one shot over late-charging Tina Barrett.

Sorenstam, off to the LPGA’s best start in 28 years with two wins and a second-place finish in three events, never recovered from a triple-bogey on the ninth hole.

Tracy Hanson of Twin Lakes, Idaho, finished six strokes behind.