Couples outlasts Woods, racks up the skins

Mr. Skins Fred Couples prevailed in four playoff holes over Tiger Woods in La Quinta, Calif., to claim the final three skins worth $340,000 and win his record fifth Skins Game with a total of $640,000.

Couples won all his money on Sunday, starting with a birdie putt worth $300,000 and eight skins on the first hole. He finally won after Woods’ tee shot went into the water on the last playoff hole, the par-3, 204-yard 17th at Trilogy Golf Club on a cold, windy day in the desert.

Although the Silly Season tournament turned serious — Woods hit the ground with an iron and both players looked tight after missing putts that would have won it — Couples and Woods jokingly walked arm-in-arm down the final fairway.

All Couples had to do to win was two-putt.

Couples has won a record $3,515,000 and 77 skins in 11 appearances in the made-for-TV tournament.

Woods finished second with five skins and $310,000, more money than he won in his previous four Skins Games combined.

After making a sensational debut last year, Annika Sorenstam was shut out this time. She and Aussie Adam Scott were eliminated on the first playoff hole.

Shinhan Korea Golf Championship

American Arron Oberholser earned $1 million in the Shinhan Korea Golf Championship in Jeju, South Korea, closing with a 3-under 69 for a two-stroke victory in the first PGA Tour-sanctioned Challenge Season event in Asia.

Oberholser, winless in two full seasons on the PGA Tour after winning twice on the Nationwide Tour in 2002, had a 4-under 284 total on the Jungmun course. He had five birdies and two bogeys in the final round.

Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez, the third-round leader at 2 under, shot a 72 to tie for second with South Korea’s Kevin Na (70).

Australian Open

Australia’s Peter Lonard successfully defended his title in the centennial Australian Open in Sydney, Australia, shooting a 3-under 68 for one-stroke victory over countryman Stuart Appleby.

Lonard, who began play five strokes behind third-round leader Rod Pampling, had a 3-under 281 total on The Australian Golf Club course.

Lonard bogeyed the 18th, but escaped with the victory when Appleby missed an 8-foot birdie putt on par-5 closing hole and finished with a 71. Pampling (75) and Steven Bowditch (69) tied for third at 1 under.

China Open

Wales’ Stephen Dodd won the China Open in Shanghai, China, for his first PGA European Tour title, shooting a 4-under 68 for a three-stroke victory over Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn.

Dodd, 58th on the European money list last season, had a 12-under 276 total on the Silport course.

Bjorn, the top-ranked player in the field at No. 31, also shot a 68.

The tournament, co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, was the first event of the 2005 European tour schedule.