Bloomfield defends Open title

JOHNNY BLOOMFIELD comfortably defended his Jamaica Open golf title at the Half Moon course in Montego Bay yesterday and walked away with US$15,000.

Bloomfield shot a three-round score of six-under 210 (71-68-71) to win the event by a hefty nine strokes over fellow Jamaican pro Paul Warren (75-75-69-219).

Warren's three-under 69 yesterday pushed him past Puerto Rico's Miguel Suarez by a strokle for second and the US$10,000 runners-up prize. Suarez collected US$6,000 for his efforts in the 54-hole event.

Francis Ulrich of Antigua, veteran Jamaican Delroy Cambridge and the US's Michael Bennett tied for fourth with gross scores of 221 and shared US$9,600 between them.

Hoerman Cupper Xavier Rose finished the leading amateur at the event with a gross score of 227 (77-80-70). The youngest player in the field, Johnathan Newnham, was second in the amateur section with a score of 230.

The best placed non-Jamaican amateur was Marcus Clark of Barbados. He ended on 232 or 22 shots behind the champion and five shots behind the amateur winner Xavier Rose.