Golf: Swede wins ANZ Championship

Sweden's Richard Johnson scored 11 points to win the ANZ Championship by two points under a modified Stableford scoring format at The Lakes Golf Club.

Johnson, 25, had a final-round 68 in conventional terms for a tournament total of 46 points. Australians Scott Laycock and Craig Parry were tied for second on 44 points after recording 10 and seven points respectively on Sunday.

Fourth place went to overnight leader Andre Stolz of Australia, who began the final round with 39 points and finished with 43.

Players received eight points for a double eagle or albatross, five for an eagle, two for a birdie, none for a par, minus one for a bogey and minus three for a double bogey or worse.

It was the final of three joint European and Australasian events that began with a win by South African Retief Goosen in the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth two weeks ago and another by South African Ernie Els in the Heineken Classic last week at Royal Melbourne.

The scoring system at the ANZ Championship will be used for at least another year, and tournament chairman Steve Frazier wants to add a twist for next year - a wildcard hole.

Frazier, wanting to make next year's event "very Sydney with a party atmosphere," is toying with the idea of having a wildcard whereby players would nominate one hole before the tournament began where they would earn or lose twice as many points as normal.

A less likely possibility is for players to be able to keep the wildcard up their sleeves until they found the right moment.

"The wildcard is a great idea, I'm very excited about it," Frazier said. "It's something I'm definitely considering. The PGA would probably have a fit but it's a very good idea."

Players would most likely nominate the easiest par 5 on the course for their wildcard. An eagle, for example, would be worth 10 points but a double bogey would result in six points being deducted from the golfer's total.