O'Malley wins Clearwater Classic by five strokes

<br>CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) _ Australia's Peter O'Malley won the U.S. dlrs 500,000 Clearwater Classic, firing a 4-under par 68 Sunday to finish at 17-under after his fourth consecutive sub-70

Sunday, March 17th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) _ Australia's Peter O'Malley won the U.S. dlrs 500,000 Clearwater Classic, firing a 4-under par 68 Sunday to finish at 17-under after his fourth consecutive sub-70 round at New Zealand's richest golf tournament.

O'Malley, who led last week's Jacob's Creek Open in Adelaide, Australia until a blow out in the third round, held his nerve here after starting the final round with a one-stroke buffer over American Joel Kribel.

He birdied the 5th on a conservative front nine and then stormed home with birdies at the 10th, 17th and 18th holes to finish with a four-round total of 271, five shots clear of second place Brad Ott of the United States.

Ott had two birdies and two bogeys on the front nine but sailed back to the clubhouse on four birdies to card a 3-under 69 and close at 12-under 276.

His compatriot Rich Barcelo was outright third, closing with back-to-back 3-under rounds for an 11-under total of 277. He was two strokes ahead of fourth place Alex Cejka of Germany.

Kribel had a shocking final round, carding a 4-over 76 and slipping to a share of fifth place at 8-under with Australian Nick O'Hern and Andrew McLardy of South Africa.

Kribel, who led at the halfway mark and was one stroke off the pace overnight, opened with a bogey on the par-4 1st and also bogeyed the 6th and 10th before a double bogey at the par-4 13th. He redeemed himself with three birdies but finished with bogeys at the 17th and 18th in a round he'd rather forget.

Other Americans Jason Caron and Darron Stiles were among a group of five one shot further back at 7-under.

Australian Brett Ogle, a winner on the Australasian, European and U.S. PGA tours, announced his retirement after his final round, an 11-over par 83.

The 37-year-old Ogle said persistent injuries contributed to his decision to quit the tour. He finished at 15-over par for the tournament, seven shots behind his nearest rival in the last two rounds.

The Clearwater Classic is the second of two stops on the Australasian leg of the U.S. PGA's second tier Buy.com tour.