Craig Parry storms to victory at NEC Invitational tourney

Sammamish, Washington (Agencies): Australia's Craig Parry shot a six-under-par 65 to win the WGC-NEC Invitational by four strokes over Fred Funk and fellow Australian Robert Allenby at the Sahalee Country Club on Sunday.

Parry had a simple plan as he entered the final round of the tournament in a tie for the lead with Allenby: Make no bogeys.

It was a plan he executed perfectly as he started with a flourish, birdying three of the first four holes and was never really threatened thereafter.

Three-time defending champion Tiger Woods, the world's number one player, shot a final-round 68 to finish fourth, five strokes behind Parry's 16-under total.

Twenty-two-year old Justin Rose from England shot a 68 to finish alone in fifth place at 10-under-par.

"I'm very, very happy," Parry said.

"It's been a long time and I've been knocking on the door for 10 or 12 years, even longer playing events in America.

"Today I probably used a lot of experience, a lot of the setbacks over my career, especially in America.

"I stuck to my game plan as far as playing the golf course. And I hit the ball pretty good," he added.

Over his final 54 holes, he had 18 birdies and just one bogey.

After running off birdies on the second, third and fourth holes to take a three-stroke advantage over the field, he birdied the ninth to make the turn in four-under 31.

For the entire round, Parry focused on hitting fairways and the middle of the greens.

"Previously, I played too far ahead of where I was on the golf course, as far as worrying about holes in a couple of holes time, or a flag I knew I couldn't get to and things like that," Parry said.

"Whereas today, if I couldn't get to that flag, I just aimed in the middle of the green."

If any lingering doubts remained as to the eventual winner of the tournament, it was all but eliminated at the 12th hole.

Parry parred, while Allenby recorded a sloppy double bogey six and Funk took a five when he failed to get out of the greenside bunker at his first attempt.

Woods birdied the 13th while Parry was playing the 12th, but the anticipated charge from the player who won the first two majors of the season never materialized.

An 18-foot birdie at the 14th moved Parry to 15-under.

He closed in style, hitting a three-wood onto the green at the 18th, then two-putting for another birdie.

The victory over the top 50 players in the world and members of the latest Ryder Cup and President's Cup teams, was worth $1 million for the winner,

Oddly enough, Parry gained entry into the event by virtue of his victory in the New Zealand Open earlier this year.

Meanwhile in Reno, Nevada, Chris Riley got a lot. of help from Jonathan Kaye before claiming his first PGA Tour victory.

Riley, a college star at Nevada-Las Vegas, parred the first playoff hole Sunday to defeat Kaye and win the Reno-Tahoe Open.

Also seeking his first PGA win, Kaye had a one-stroke lead with two holes to play. But he bogeyed the 636-yard 17th hole and just missed a birdie putt at the par-four 18th to force sudden death.

Both players headed back to the 18th tee. Riley two-putted from 14 feet for par, but Kaye lipped out a five-footer that would have extended the playoff.

Tied for the lead with Kaye and Steve Flesch after Saturday's third round at the Montreaux Golf and Country Club, Riley shot his second straight five-under-par 67 to end regulation at 17-under 2 71. That equaled the year-old tournament record set by John Cook.