Luke Donald breaks his duck with back-to-back Dunlop wins

Luke Donald, the 2011 European and US tour money leader, clinched his first win of the year by defending his title at the Japan tour's $2 million Dunlop Phoenix tournament on Sunday. Going out with an overnight two-stroke lead over South Korea's Kim Hyung-Sung, the 35-year-old Englishman rolled in seven birdies against a pair of bogeys in the final round to win the $400,000 purse with a total of 14-under-par 270. Kim finished six strokes off the pace at 276, with Japan's Shingo Katayama third at 277 after four rounds on the 7,027-yard, par-71 Phoenix Country Club course. "I'm very excited. My last win as a professional was last year at the Dunlop," Donald said. "It's great to come here and win again. This is a great tournament with some great winners and I'm very proud to have won it back-to-back now." He was the first player to win the Dunlop, one of Japan's richest tournaments, for two straight years since American superstar Tiger Woods triumphed in 2004 and 2005. Spain's Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Shunsuke Sonoda of Japan tied for fourth at 280. Japan tour money leader Hideki Matsuyama was bunched one stroke further back with Australian Brad Kennedy and South Korea's Lee Kyoung-Hoon. With two tournaments remaining in this year's Japan tour calendar, 21-year-old rookie pro Matsuyama leads the money list with 161 million yen ($1.6 million), followed by Kim at 118 million yen and Katayama at 108 million yen. Source: AFP