Poulter rallies for win in HSBC Champions

SHENZHEN, China – Ian Poulter showed he can be a star even when playing only for himself.

Five weeks after leading an improbable European rally in the Ryder Cup, Poulter won for the first time this year. He closed with a 7-under 65 Sunday to come from four shots behind and win the HSBC Champions for his second World Golf Championships title.

It won't overshadow what he did at Medinah in the Ryder Cup – five straight birdies to pick up a crucial point in four-balls and winning his singles match to complete a 4-0 week. But this title was important to the Englishman.

"As well as I've played this year, it would have been a disappointment personally to have gone that year without winning," Poulter said after his two-shot victory.

Phil Mickelson (68), Jason Dufner (64), Scott Piercy (65) and Ernie Els (67) tied for second. Lee Westwood and Louis Oosthuizen shared the 54-hole lead, but each shot a 72 to tie for sixth.

On a day when five players had at least a share of the lead at some point, Poulter was the steadiest. Starting the day four shots behind, he surged into the lead with four birdies on the front nine and two more after making the turn.

Mickelson and Els wasted opportunities to pull even. Mickelson missed a 5-foot par putt on No. 12, and Els dropped a shot on the 14th when his 3-foot par putt caught the lip. He narrowly missed a birdie putt on No. 18.

Champions Tour in Scottsdale, Ariz. – Tom Lehman won the Charles Schwab Cup Championship to become the first player to win the season points title two straight years.

Ahead by one entering the final round, Lehman birdied four of the last five holes for a 5-under 65 and a six-stroke victory over Jay Haas. His 22-under 258 broke the tournament mark for lowest score and tied the record for relation to par set by John Cook in 2009.

"It was a great week from start to finish," Lehman said. "Absolutely, I played some of my best golf of the year."

Masters – Guan Tianlang, 14, is an eighth-grader from China who weighs 125 pounds and doesn't hit it far enough to reach some par 4s. But he's headed for the Masters.

Guan completed a wire-to-wire victory in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Chonburi, Thailand, making a 5-foot par putt on the final hole for a one-shot win and a Masters invitation.

"I will be training maybe a little bit harder and got some more power for that because I'm still growing right now," Guan said after his 1-under 71.

Guan, who uses a belly putter, is believed to be the youngest male to play in a major championship.

LPGA Tour in Shima, Japan – Stacy Lewis rallied to win the Mizuno Classic for her tour-leading fourth title of the year, birdieing the final three holes for an 8-under 64 and a one-stroke victory.

Lewis, seven strokes behind South Korea's Bo-Mee Lee entering the round, had 10 birdies and two bogeys. Lewis took the lead with a 25-foot birdie putt on No. 18, then watched Lee's lengthy birdie putt on 18 go long.

"I don't think I've ever come back from this far," Lewis said. "Putts just started falling today, and it was meant to be."

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