DIARY // HARD COURSE, HORRIBLE WEATHER // 21st April 2008

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Well it's not very often you have the luxury of shooting 79 in a final round and end up finishing second! I have to say I was very pleased in the end with the result as I would never have imagined finishing there with that score, especially as I had little chance of winning after the first few holes on Sunday. It was a shame that the tournament was hit so hard with the edge of the typhoon making its way through China. The course certainly needed no weather as its defence. A combination of poor tee and pin positions and the weather made it one of the hardest days I have had as a professional but it was all made worthwhile in the end with my fifth runner up finish. It would have been nice to put some pressure on Damien on Sunday but a poor start scuppered those plans and it was an all out battle for second. My score doesn't reflect accurately how well I played on Sunday but I hung in there well and was rewarded at the end. After a good few weeks practicing in the States I had been looking forward to this tournament and produced some career best shots throughout the week. It was only the putter that let me down on the weekend and that wasn't too bad as I hit a lot of good putts which failed to drop and that became a little frustrating. All in all it was a good first week back after a month away and I am looking forward to this coming week in Shanghai where we will see if I can go one better! To return to the main News page click here (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images)