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Maruyama profits from putting move
NORTH CAROLINA (Reuters) -- Japan's Shigeki Maruyama shot a five-under-par 67 to win the Greensboro Classic by five strokes over Brad Faxon on Sunday. Maruyama, who never lost the lead after the second round, finished at 22-under-par 266 for his third PGA Tour victory while Faxon shot a three-under 69 and ended on 271. "I wasn't expecting this kind of golf this week," Maruyama said. "That's the best putting time in all my life." The 34-year-old Maruyama began his final round with a three-stroke lead and was never seriously threatened. He birdied the par-four first and padded his lead with birdies at the fourth and fifth holes before a lone bogey at the par-five ninth. Maruyama added three birdies on the back nine on his way to a first triumph since victory at the 2002 Byron Nelson Classic. Faxon gave chase with an outward three-under 33 but could never substantially cut into Maruyama's lead and finished second for the third time this season. Matt Gogel (68) with a 15-under 273 and Australian Robert Allenby (68) at 14-under 274 were fourth and five respectively. Maruyama benefited from a change in his putting stance four weeks ago saying: "It worked very well. I just make my swing compact and make it smooth. " Even though his card was secure for 2004, Maruyama was aiming to finish inside the top 125 on the money list at the beginning of September. But since last month's Pennsylvania Classic, Maruyama has claimed three top-10 finishes and won more than $1 million. "He's obviously a great player," Faxon said. "If putting is his weakness and he continues to putt well like this, I think he's going to do extremely well over here. "He drives the ball fearlessly and hits driver on a lot of holes and hits a nice little cut shot to keep it in play when he needs to. And he hits it far for a shorter guy. "He's got an all around game. He's the best bunker player I've seen."
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