Ryan Palmer was significantly aided by a chip shot that struck the pin on the final hole as he ended Robert Allenby's winning streak to pick up a one-stroke victory in the Sony Open.

The Titleist Pro V1 golf ball user looked to have caught his 50-yard chip on the final hole in Hawaii a bit heavy, but was saved from a lengthy birdie putt by the pin.

This gave him a relatively simple shot with his golf putter to gain a third career victory on the PGA Tour, with his four-under-par final round of 66 also good enough to seal a spot in the Masters later this year.

Palmer said: "It was a good chip, the green was running against me on the chip shot. It was either to do it fat or do what I did, fortunately I got a good break and hit the best shot in the middle of the pin.

"I knew it was going to land too far and I thought oh gosh. It was so in line. I didn't think about the distance it was going to go. When I first hit it, I could tell I just caught it thin enough where it was going to release a lot more."

Allenby, who has a golf bag which includes Srixon golf equipment, was looking to make it three straight victories after triumphs in the Nedbank Golf Challenge and the Australian PGA Championship at the end of 2009.

However, after matching Palmer for three rounds and the majority of the closing 18 holes, he failed to pick up a shot on the last and finished second on 14-under-par for the tournament.

Steve Stricker suffered a rare poor round with his golf putter and had to settle for third, while TaylorMade golf club user Retief Goosen took great strides up the leaderboard with a 62 to finish fourth.

On the European Tour, Charl Schwartzel made it back-to-back victories with a romping success in the Joburg Open after a five-under-par final round of 66 at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club in South Africa.

Schwartzel was in devastating form with his Nike golf clubs throughout the four rounds and finished six strokes ahead of fellow South African Keith Horne and Darren Clarke, who chipped in for eagle on the 18th hole.

The victory follows on from the success he collected at the Africa Open earlier this month and the performances should help him rise sufficiently in the world rankings to be playing in the Masters at Augusta in April.

He told the European Tour website: "It's been a fantastic two weeks for me. I played good last week and it definitely carried over. I played pretty much flawless golf and I don't know what it comes down to - maybe a good positive frame of mind when you hit a bad shot.

"I'm leading the Order of Merit, but it's still early days and I think this will get me into the Masters. I'm very excited about that."

The victory lifts Schwartzel to a career-best of 35th in the world rankings, with the top 50 all gaining a place in the field for the first major of the season at Augusta.

News brought to you by Golf Online, your online shop for golf equipment including golf clubs, golf clothing and golf balls

Golf balls for less