Of those on the leaderboard, including Greg Norman and Peter Baker, nobody could break 70.Allenby, on the other hand, was heading for a 65 and then the nightmare began. This time the climax within sight of the Opera House proved that it ain’t over ’til the thin man sings.Actually, it came down to two matchstick men, Allenby and Brett Ogle. Ogle, another Australian beanpole who has had some success on the US Tour, led the field by two strokes going into the final round but Allenby took over, going to the turn in a five-under-par 31. This, of course, was the championship that three years earlier Allenby appeared to have in his pocket until Riley’s deadly finish. He had a bogey at the 16th after duffing a chip so badly it seemed to be a betrayal of nerve but at the par five 17th he responded with a pitch to12 inches for a birdie.His ability to withstand pressure faced a sterner examination in the Australian Open at the Royal Sydney club last November. Allenby had set the target with a 69 for a total of 276, 12 under par and although Jimenez matched the aggregate, the Australian defeated him in a play-off at the third extra hole to take the £83,330 first prize.Given that he had almost no room for error, it was Allenby’s finish in regulation play that was impressive. He had a level par 72 in the first round followed by a 67 and a 68 which left him a shot off the lead on the final day.Rodger Davis, Bernhard Langer and Barry Lane made headway in the last round but they could not catch Allenby or the Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Instead he missed the half-way cut in his first seven tournaments in Europe.It was an expensive learning process but, as Allenby said, he has time on his side. Before his 23rd birthday last summer Allenby, 6ft 2in and almost as slender as a flagstick, gained his maiden victory on the Volvo European Tour, winning the Honda Open at Gut Kaden in Germany. I’ve got plenty of time.” He turned professional within days and went on to win the Australasian Order of Merit in his rookie year, a unique achievement. He secured his Tour card in Europe by finishing joint runner-up to Nick Faldo in the Scandinavian Masters in 1992 and when he won the Australian TPC in January 1993 the year seemed set fair.

That was until Wayne Riley birdied the last three holes, holing out from 40 feet at the 72nd to win by a stroke.Allenby, who had to forgo the second-place prize money, said: “No matter. Allenby, whose father Don was an assistant professional in Leeds before emigrating, was offered up as the great prodigy from Melbourne.
He had a spectacular amateur career and after winning the Victorian Open in 1991 by six strokes he seemed certain to win the Australian Open a few weeks later in front of his home crowd at Royal Melbourne. Three years ago South Africa was talking about ErnieEls, and the Americans about Phil Mickelson. It has taken Allenby a little longer than he thought to make an impression in the professional game but a couple of significant victories last year affirmed his status as a player with major potential. Robert Allenby does not look anything like Greg Norman. He is more a stickleback than a great white shark, but that has not stopped comparisons being made between the two Australians. Johnson eventually fell to a bat-pad catch at short leg, but Patel and the last man, Mark Ilott, safely negotiated the remaining 22 balls.Neither Patel or Johnson, ironically, are expected to play in the five-day Bangalore “Test” – but their stout defence in Madras has ensured morale remains high going into the international stage of the tour.(Fourth and final day; Board President’s XI won toss)BOARD PRESIDENT’S XI – First Innings 333 for 6 dec (R Dravid 84, S Rizwan 78, S Ganguly 69, V Rathore 59).ENGLAND A – First Innings 247 (J E R Gallian 79; K Singh 4-56).BOARD PRESIDENT’S XI – Second Innings (Overnight: 151 for 2)S C Ganguly c Hemp b Cork 65R Dravid c Wells b Patel 49S Rizwan not out 9S Bahutule not out 16Extras (b1 lb3 nb1) 5Total (for 4 dec, 58 overs) 204Fall: 1-42 2-93 3-169 4-193.Did not bat: A Vaidya, V Chatterjee, A Kuruvilla, S Ankola, K Singh.Bowling: Cork 20-3-59-1; Johnson 8-2-17-0; Patel 23-6-67-2; Salisbury 7-0-57-1.ENGLAND A – Second Innings N V Knight lbw b Kuruvilla 4M P Vaughan lbw b Singh 17J E R Gallian c Vaidya b Kuruvilla 2*A P Wells c Mehra b Chatterjee 43D L Hemp lbw b Singh 31D G Cork c Rizwan b Bahutule 24K J Piper c Rizwan b Bahutule 4I D K Salisbury c Rathore b Singh 10R L Johnson c Mehra b Singh 1M M Patel not out 25M C Illott not out 0Extras (b4 lb2 nb1) 7Total (for 9, 78 overs) 168Fall: 1-5 2-11 3-48 4-88 5-124 6-124 7-138 8-138 9-168.Bowling: Ankola 4-1-12-0; Kuruvilla 7-2-15-2; Chatterjee 22-11-38-1; Bahutule 23-13-30-2; Singh 22-7-67-4.Umpires: S Choudhry and N Menon..