Australia's Matthew Griffin scored the biggest win of his professional golf career with a single stroke victory at the Charity High1 Resort Open in South Korea yesterday. The 29-year-old led by two overnight but held his nerve in a topsy-turvy final round for an even-par 72 to give him a nine-under total of 278 and the winner's cheque of around US$178,000. Kang Kyung-nam, who shot 68, and Park Sang-hyun, on 71, both from South Korea, pushed Griffin all the way, to finish joint second on 279. Kim Bi-o, winner of two events on the OneAsia circuit already this year, was a shot further back. His hopes of an unprecedented third OneAsia title on home soil came unstuck with two wayward shots on the par five 13th, although he salvaged a bogey with a 60-foot putt. "I am really, really thrilled," Griffin said after his victory. "This is what I have worked for all my life, so it is absolutely amazing to finally get there." AFP

Spain's Alberto Contador sealed a remarkable victory in the Tour of Spain just over a month after returning from a two-year doping ban and declared it perhaps the "most beautiful" of his career. The 29-year-old Spaniard - adding a second Vuelta to the one he won in 2008 - has always protested his innocence over the minute trace of clenbuterol that was detected in a dope test during the 2010 Tour de France, saying it came from a contaminated steak he ate. "This victory is maybe the most beautiful of all my wins," he said. "I am really happy, almost liberated with regard to the pressure that I put on myself," said the two-time Tour de France champion, who was stripped of one other Tour de France win (2010) and the 2011 Tour of Italy triumph because of his doping infraction. The Saxo-Bank rider safely negotiated the 21st and final 115km largely flat stage from Cercedilla to Madrid to claim victory. Germany's John Degenkolb of the Argos-Shimano team won the final stage in 2 hours, 44 minutes, 57 seconds. Contador clocked 84 hours, 59 minutes, 49 seconds for the 3,330 kilometre race. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) completing an all-Spanish podium. AFP