Cullen Takes Australian Masters


Nick Cullen fired a 3-under 69 to win the Australian Masters Sunday. The PGA Tour of Australasia event took place at Metropolitan Golf Club near Melbourne.

Cullen, a 30-year-old whose first victory came at the 2013 Isuzu Queensland Open, finished at 9-under 279, a stroke ahead of fellow Adelaide native and two-time Australian Masters champion Adam Scott who closed with a 68, Josh Younger (69) and James Nitties (70).

Cullen was able to secure the victory on the final hole by executing a brilliant bunker shot to within a foot of the cup for an easy tap-in par.

"It would have been nice to have a little buffer coming down here but a couple of three putts gave that away," Cullen told reporters about the last stretch of holes. "To get up and down like that and have a win it's an amazing feeling."

Scott gave a superior effort in trying to win the championship for the third straight year. The 34-year-old posted three birdies and a bogey on the par-37 front nine, making the turn in 35. He had the same configuration of scores on the par-35 home half for a 33.

"I was trying to concentrate," added Cullen. "I knew Adam was one shot back. I didn't really want to have to go into a playoff with him. I got lucky hitting a great bunker shot on the last and didn't have a very long putt. I was glad it wasn't any longer because I was nervous enough over that."

Despite not forcing extra holes and possibly pulling out a victory, Scott was happy with his performance. "Today was definitely the best I've swung my club, putted and chipped and did everything well today," said Scott, who opened with a 73 but rebounded with rounds of 68, 71 and 68 in very blustery conditions.

"It's just hard. Some of the pins were really tough today. I made a couple of errors like probably most everyone did, and probably from where I was I needed to make none."

Finishing two behind Cullen was an all-Aussie line-up of Matthew Griffin (69), Aron Price (69), Adam Bland (69) and Paul Spargo. The 34-year-old Spargo began Sunday with a one-stroke advantage over fellow Aussie Michael Wright but could only manage two birdies and three bogeys for a 73.

Wright had a difficult last round, posting an 80 to drop all the way down the leaderboard into a tie for 46th at 1-over 289.

The top-finishing American was Zac Blair, who shot a 72 to end up at 2-under, while another stroke back was Kyle Stanley, who also shot even-par.

For complete scoring details, visit http://www.pga.org.au/tourns/pga-tour/event/leaderboard?id=1075&season=2014&tour=pga#holes1-9-006919.