After becoming the youngest winner on any of the three PGA-sanctioned Tours last week, Fil-Australian Jason Day shared fifth place in the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational at the OSU Golf Club in Scarlet, Ohio.

Day, 19, scored rounds of 74, 70, 71 and 67 for a 282 total, four shots behind eventual winner amateur Daniel Summerhays, who became the first amateur winner on the Nationwide Tour.

Phil Mickelson was the last to win a professional event in the United States with his victory at the 1991 Northern Telecom Open of the PGA Tour.

Day posted his fifth top 10 finish of the season and moved up to sixth from eighth in the money rankings with total winnings of $200,755.

Cambodia’s first professional golf tournament has received a huge boost following a title sponsorship agreement with Johnnie Walker, officials announced today.

The inaugural US$300,000 Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open will be played at the spectacular Phokeethra Country Club, which is also a main tournament sponsor. The event, slated from November 29 to December 2, is destined to feature prominently on the Asian Tour Schedule.

The Cambodian government is throwing its weight behind the country’s first venture in golf, heralding the Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open as the dawn of a new era, and it aims to firmly place Cambodia on the international golfing map and ultimately create a breed of champions.

As it is the penultimate event on the 2007 Asian Tour Schedule, all eyes will be on the region’s best players battling for the coveted UBS Order of Merit trophy.

The Asian Tour, which is the official regional sanctioning body for professional golf in Asia, has also pledged to support the development of golf in Cambodia by being actively involved with plans to launch a golf development programme.

Johnnie Walker’s Sam Fischer, general manager for Indochina, said: “We are very honored to have this opportunity to work with the Phokeethra Country Club and Asian Tour on the Cambodian Open, and we look forward to watching some truly inspirational golf in Cambodia in November.

“Most of all, the tournament is a platform to promote the philosophy that lies at the heart of the Johnnie Walker brand: Keep Walking. This philosophy is about inspiring people to take the next step on their journey towards their goals. Professional Golfers are inspiring examples of this message as they have overcome challenges to excel at the highest level of the sport. We hope that the tournament inspires others to follow their own dreams.â€

Dottie Ardina primed up for this week’s Junior World in San Diego as she captured the Women’s Western Golf Association’s (WWGA) 81st National Junior Championship crown with a 3 and 2 victory over Kelly Shon of New York at TPC’s Riverbend in Maineville, Ohio Friday.

Ardina, who bundled out top seed Christine Meier, 6 and 5, to gain a crack at the crown, broke away from a par match with a birdie on the fourth, went 2-up with another birdie on the seventh before winning three holes in a row from No. 9 to go unassailably ahead,
5-up.

Not even Shon’s two birdies on Nos. 12 and 14 could shake off the confidence of Ardina, who rolled in a delicate 8-foot putt for par on the 16th for a three-under card to clinch the match and the title, her fourth abroad following her victories in the Thai Juniors, the Sabah Amateur and the Malaysian Ladies Open.

More importantly, the victory is expected to fire up the 13-year-old Ardina in the Junior World in San Diego as she sets out for another crown in a higher age division after ruling the 11-12 category last year.

“Her putting was simply awesome. All the people who watched her were very impressed of her game,” said coach Chris Guerrero.

Ardina boasts of a very impressive resume for a 13-year-old. She has won the US Kids Championship for the 8-12 age group five years in a row (2002-2006). In 2002, she also won the Callaway Junior World Championship for 8 years old. Last year, she won the Hong Kong Women’s Championship and the Indonesian Ladies Amateur Championship.

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