SHENZHEN, China — Ian Poulter carded a final round of 65 to seal a two-shot victory in the HSBC-WGC Champions Tournament at Missions Hills Sunday, becoming the first Englishman to win two World Golf Championships events. Poulter started his final round four shots behind joint leaders Louis Oosthuizen and Lee Westwood, but clawed his way to the top after matching the seven-under-par 65 he shot a day earlier to finish on a combined 21 under. Poulter, who also won the 2010 WGC Accenture Match Play Championship, finished two strokes ahead of South African Ernie Els (67) and US trio Jason Dufner (64), Scott Piercy (65) and Phil Mickelson (68), who had a chance to finish second on his own but missed a five-foot putt on the last. Westwood and Oosthuizen finished tied for sixth, three shots adrift, after carding matching level par 72s. Poulter conceded he thought the tournament was Oosthuizen's to lose after the South African burst to the top of the leaderboard at 16 under after the second round. He could only look on with envy as Lee Westwood fired a 61 and Brandt Snedeker flirted with a 59 in the third round before finally carding a course record 60. Poulter, however, refused to go away, and made the most of his short game to card back-to-back seven under 65s on Saturday and Sunday to take the title. The win at Mission Hill's was his first strokeplay victory since the 2010 Hong Kong Open. Earlier it in the day it was announced that HSBC had renewed its contract to sponsor the Champions event for the next three years and it will return to Sheshan in 2013. Organizers have also said the HSBC Champions will become an official PGA Tour event next year. They added that the total purse at the World Golf Championship event will increase to $8.5 million from the current $7 million. Lewis wins Mizuno In Japan, Stacy Lewis of the US shot an 8-under 64 Sunday to win the Mizuno Classic for her fourth LPGA title of the season. Lewis, who carded 10 birdies against two bogeys at Kintetsu Kashikojima Country Club, started the final round seven strokes back of overnight leader Lee Bo-mee of South Korea but birdied the last three holes to finish at 11-under 205 to win by one stroke. Lee had three bogeys and three birdies for a 72 to finish in second place. Lewis moved into a tie with a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th and then took sole possession of the lead with a 25-foot birdie putt on the last hole. — Agencies
