Wagner, 31 did not make any bogeys on the last twelve holes, whoch was enough to demolish the other contenders, finish with a 3-under 67 and win the title.

Johnson and five other players had the lead at some point in the final round. However, he was the only player to retain the lead as he beat America’s Sean O’Hair, Charles Howell III and Harrison Frazar and Sweden’s Carl Pettersson by two shots.

O’Hair shot a 67 after missing an eagle putt on the final hole from 30 feet. Howell shared the lead with Wagner until they came to the par-5 ninth and he made a three-putt par.  Frazar’s birdie on the tenth hole brought him the lead but he had no such luck for the rest of the round and had to settle for a 67. Pettersson’s four birdies did not help him to overcome a double bogey on the second hole as he closed with a 67.

All of them moved into joint-second place behind Wagner, who never made a mistake.

Before the tournament, Wagner finished in the top 20 just seven times in 139 events, including two wins. He played only in two major tournaments and never qualified for the Tour Championship.

But with the Sony Open victory, his Tour privileges automatically extended through 2014. And with such a good start to the year, who knows what will follow next.

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Off-season is the time for changes. After enjoying a nice sunny vacation in Hawaii for two weeks, Gary Woodland flew to Vegas to train under the wing of his new swing coach Butch Harmon.

The 27-year-old golfer took this decision shortly after swapping his agent Blake Smith from Hambric Sports Management for Mark Steinberg of Excel Sports Management. At first glance, it seems that the two things are unrelated, but it turns out that Blake is the son of Randy Smith, Woodland’s long-time coach. Though Woodland had hoped to continue working with Randy, Smith thought that the situation was too sensitive to keep working with the golfer who fired his son.

This is why Woodland had to look for another coach, and it helped that Butch is one of the most successful golf coaches in the world. He called Harmon and expressed his interest in working with him.

Obviously, Harmon couldn’t pass up the chance to work with the 2011 Omega Mission Hills World Cup winner. But before giving a definite answer, he called his other clients including Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Nick Watney to check if they had anything against it.

The golfers had no objections, so Butch called Woodland back with the happy news. So far, it seems like a mutually beneficial union – Gary is talented, has a big swing and fits Butch’s profile, while Woodland hopes that Harmon will bring him to the top.

Harmon is known for taking two world-class golfers, Tiger Woods and Greg Norman, to the No. 1 position in the world rankings. It will be interesting to see where Butch will take Woodland who finished 17th on the PGA Tour money list this season.

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One surprising thing happened in women’s golf as Japan’s Ai Miyazato won the Ladies European Tour money list after winning just one tournament.

The Japanese golfer competed in just two tournaments on the Ladies European Tour, claiming the Evian Masters trophy and failing to make the cut at the Women’s British Open. But since the Evian Masters winner’s paycheck is bigger than any other LET tournament purse, the $487,500 prize was enough for the 26-year-old to beat anybody else on the LET Tour money title, including Carolina Hedwall and Melissa Reid.

Hedwall won four events out of twenty while Reid claimed victory in 19 tournaments. The money list winner had mixed feelings about receiving the award herself, though she confessed to being happy.

However, her victory would not be possible if Yani Tseng decided to become a LET member this season. Women’s world number one Yani Tseng won four out of five events co-sanctioned by the Ladies’ European Tour. She automatically qualified for becoming a LET member after winning Women’s British Open last year, but preferred to turn down her membership, opting for playing on the LPGA Tour instead.

At the end of the season, Tseng topped the LPGA Tour money list by having earned $2.9 million, more than the combined earnings of the two golfers behind her.

The Ladies’ European Tour does not have a minimum requirement of tournaments. If the PGA European Tour for men did not have this requirement, Tiger Woods would have topped its money list five times. But so far, the only player who has managed to complete a money list double is Luke Donald.

According to the golfer’s statement issued on Monday, Uihlein will leave Oklahoma State before his last semester to play with the European Tour.  The holder of the 4-0 match record in the 2009 Walker Cup will receive a few sponsor exemptions and play on the PGA European Challenge Tour, the second tier pro golf tour in Europe.

Uihlein held the top position on the amateur list for a year after winning the U.S. Amateur in 2010. He was a member of two Walker Cup squads and earned victory in nine college and amateur events in a year and a half.

One of America’s most promising young athletes signed with International Sports Management (ISM), an England-based sports management agency founded by Andrew “Chubby” Chandler.

There is nothing unusual that Uihlein decided to turn pro at the start of the year because he wants to have an entire season to gain full membership on a major tour. It is unusual, however, that he decided to embark on his professional career in Europe.

Uihlein wants to follow in the footsteps of other prominent golfers who gained their experience in Europe and then achieved great results on the PGA Tour – Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott and Charl Schwartzel.

The American will make his debut at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship in a strong field that will feature Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer, and Tiger Woods. He is also planning on playing in the Dubai Desert Classic and Qatar Masters.

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Former world No. 1 Lee Westwood claimed a spectacular victory by seven strokes at the Thailand Golf Championship by playing the best golf of his career on Sunday. The 38-year-old Englishman outclassed US Masters 2011winner Charl Schwartzel to take the winner’s trophy at Amata Spring Country Club.

It is the Briton’s third victory in Asia this season that moved him one place up behind fellow Englishman Luke Donald, ahead of Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy. Westwood had showed consistently good performance during the entire tournament, including a breathtaking 12-under-par 60 in the opening round.

Westwood finished the tournament on 266 after shooting 69 in the final round. South Africa’s Schwartzel did his best and stayed close to the leader most of the time but finished as a runner-up after posting an even-par 72.

America’s Michael Thompson, a lesser-known golfer, took third with a 70, one shot behind Schwartzel while England’s Simon Dyson and Thailand’s Chawalit Plaphol finished joint fourth.

Japanese star golfer Ryo Ishikawa had an unusually miserable performance and finished with a 73, nine over par. However, he had a good companion in misfortune – British Open champion Darren Clarke also recorded a disappointing total of 297.

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Englishman Ian Poulter eked out a two-shot victory at the Australian Masters on Sunday, making Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy lose his bid for a win on the course of his boyhood.

Ian Poulter was two strokes away from Australia’s Ogilvy before the final round, but managed to overcome windy weather conditions and finished with a 4-under 67 for a total of 15-under 269 at Victoria Golf Club.

Poulter beat Ogilvy by landing an eagle putt on the par-4 first hole from 15 feet and added two birdies on the seventh and ninth to take a two-shot lead.

Australia’s Marcus Fraser finished second with a 64 while 2006 U.S. Open champion Ogilvy who reached the course record with a 63 on Saturday lost the initial lead and settled for third place with a final 73 at 11 under.

Poulter’s fellow Englishman, Luke Donald, who recently a historic money list double finished in joint 12th place with a 1-over 72 after four bogeys that followed four birdies.

Greg Chalmers wasted his chance to become the second golfer to win the Australian Triple Crown after and sot a 74.

This means that Robert Allenby’s record of winning the Australian Open, PGA and Masters in one year remains unmatched.

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Englishman Luke Donald who won the money title both on the US and European tours in the same year was named PGA Player of the Year award by a vote of fellow US PGA golfers.

Donald is the first Briton to claim this award. The Englishman earned the US PGA title after winning the last PGA tournament of the season, the Children’s Miracle Network Classic.

And last week, Donald, 34 won the European Tour money list with €5.323 million after finishing third at the Dubai World Championship.

And, to top it off, the lucky Briton was voted PGA Player of the Year by his peers and also earned the Vardon Award for the lowest scoring average on the PGA tour.

Though Donald is nothing but grateful for the spectacular season that he had, he still has to win a major. The 34-year-old had the top finish in a major as he finished 4th at the Masters.  It is only the fifth time since the award’s inception in 1990 when a golfer without a major title wins a PGA Player of the Year award.

He reaped the awards rather thanks to his consistent performance. Donald earned the World Golf Championships Match-Play title, finished in the top 10 of 14 US PGA starts and finished as a runner-up at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational and Heritage tournaments.

Other golfers vying for the PGA Tour Player of The Year award included 2011 FedEx Cup winner Bill Haas, 2011 PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley, FedEx Cup runner-up Webb Simpson and AT&T National champion Nick Watney.

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Things were not looking good for Luke Donald as he finished 10 shots behind the leader at the Nedbank Golf Challenge after an almost two-month break while his European Tour money race rival Rory McIlroy was on a roll with a victory at the Hong Kong Open.

The situation seemed even gloomier for Donald when Rory got on the leaderboard after the opening round and Donald tied for 26^th.

However, the 34-year-old Englishman managed to get his old self back by Friday as he began hitting good shots, making good scores, and sinking putts while the 22-year-old McIlroy lost his golf swing on the 18^th in the second round.

At the end of the event, Luke Donald finished third to win both the American and European money titles while McIlroy settled for 11^th. The second-ranked McIlroy blamed his poor performance on the consequences of the dengue fever that he caught in China or South Korea.

Meanwhile, Spaniard Alvaro Quiros beat both the No. 1 and 2, finishing two shots ahead of Scot Paul Lawrie with a 19-under-269 total.

Winning both money races was not Donald’s goal initially but it crossed his mind once he won the BMW PGA Championship and climbed to No. 1.

After that, the Englishman won other three tournaments, including the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Classic where he beat Webb Simpson to the PGA Tour money title and got onto the course for the double.

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U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy ripped into the first round of the Dubai World Championship with five birdies in six holes to leave his money race rival Luke Donald behind.

The Northern Irishman’s six birdies included a 20-foot putt at the last hole which put McIlroy behind 2010 Czech Open champion Peter Hanson (64) and 2011 Dunhill Links Championship winner Paul Lawrie (65) with a 6-under 66.

Meanwhile, Donald who played opposite the Irishman shot an even-par 72. Donald posted four birdies on the front nine made three bogeys on the back to tie for 26th.

The 34-year-old number one golfer attended his first event in five weeks so that he could be beside his family during the birth of his second daughter and pay last respects to his father.

If Donald steps up his performance and wins the Dubai event, he will become the first gofer ever to win both the PGA and European money titles.

McIlroy also has a shot at the European money title, but only if he wins the $7.5 million tournament and Donald finishes worse than the top ten.

Two years ago, McIlroy had an unpleasant experience with the Dubai World Championship when he was about to win the European Tour money title and Lee Westwood moved past at the last minute by winning the tournament.

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World top-ranked golfer Luke Donald who is planning on winning money lists on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean this week lauded the only golfer that can prevent him from doing that, saying that Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy has more talent that Tiger Woods.

Donald whose consistent performance propelled him to No. 2 over six months ago is currently 789,788 euros ahead of McIlroy McIlroy in the European Tour’s money race before the season-ending Dubai World Championship.

The Englishman who has finished in the top-10 in 20 of his 26 worldwide tournaments in 2011 needs to achieve a top-ten finish to become No. 1 on the European Tour money list.

However, Donald does not expect his last tournament to be easy, especially given that he will compete against US Open champion McIlroy. The Englishman admitted that Rory is the most talented player that he has ever played with.

When asked whether Donald means Tiger Woods as well, Donald said that though Tiger’s ethic and mindset was outstanding, Rory has more talent than the fourteen-time major champion.

Donald will pair up with McIlroy in the first round of the tournament. World No.1 Donald will be encouraged to win both the PGA and European Tour titles in the same season by the memory of his father Colin who ‘taught him everything he knew’.