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A Japanese court has handed down a suspended sentence to Australian golferWayne Perske for possessing and using cocaine.

Masaaki Ono, an official at the Chiba District Court, said the 36-year-old golfer received a year and six months in prison, suspended for three years.

Perske was arrested in October after inhaling cocaine at a bar in Chiba, east of Tokyo, and carrying some 1.25 grams of cocaine in his pocket. A customer at the bar alerted police, leading officers to search and arrest him.

Japan has strict anti-drug laws. Possession of banned drugs can carry a penalty of up to seven years imprisonment.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. – Rickie Fowler and Sean O’Hair are the only Americans among 13 players who have qualified for the Masters through the world ranking.

There are no tournaments the rest of the year, so the final 2010 ranking became available Monday.

The Masters invites players who are in the top 50 at the end of the year. The criteria is mainly for international players who are not PGA Tour members and have fewer avenues to qualify, such as winning a tour event or getting into the FedEx Cup finale.

O’Hair started the year No. 15 and did not win a tournament or reach the Tour Championship. He ended the year at No. 43. Fowler finished his first full year as a pro at No. 28 on the strength of two runner-up finishes.

The 13 additional qualifiers include Francesco and Edoardo Molinari, Robert Karlsson, Charl Schwartzel and Ryo Ishikawa.

That brings to 92 the number of players who have qualified for the Masters, which has the smallest field of the four majors. Augusta National prefers to keep its field at about 100.

Players still can qualify for the Masters by getting into the top 50 a week before the tournament, or winning a PGA Tour event that offers full FedEx Cup points.

The Masters will be played April 7-10, with Phil Mickelson the defending champion and Tiger Woods trying to end his longest drought without a major or a green jacket. Woods last won the Masters in 2005, and he has gone 10 majors without winning one.

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Stuart Appleby has been voted the PGA Tour comeback player of the year after going from his worst season to a magical win.

Appleby won The Greenbrier Classic by closing with a 59, making him one of only two players to hit golf’s magic number in the last round. His historic win followed a year in which he finished outside the top 125 on the money list for the first time since his rookie season.

The Australian used a one-time exemption for career money to keep his card. His win helped him to finish 38th on the money list, and he topped off his year by winning the Australian Masters.

Players voted for Appleby over Rocco Mediate and Arjun Atwal.

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COOLUM, Australia — Australia’s Peter Senior won the rain-delayed Australian PGA on Monday, beating Geoff Ogilvy with a par on the second hole of a playoff to become the oldest player to win a major professional tournament in Australia.

The 51-year-old Senior, a regular on the Champions Tour, made a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole in regulation for a 1-under 71 to match Ogilvy, the Australian Open winner last week in Sydney, at 12-under 276. Ogilvy finished with a 66.

Both players parred the 18th hole on the first hole of the playoff, and Ogilvy three-putted for a bogey on the second extra hole to give Senior his third Australian PGA title. He won the 1989 event at Riverside Oaks near Sydney and the 2003 tournament at Coolum.

“What a great way to finish the year,” Senior said. “Geoff hit a pretty indifferent iron shot into 18, and we all know how difficult it is to get down from that area. But I would have rather made my [birdie] putt instead of Geoff three-putting, but that’s what happens.”

Ogilvy said he was disappointed with the finish but not with his play overall in the past two weeks.

“That’s the best way I’ve finished a year in a long time,” Ogilvy said. “But to be honest, I never really felt that I was in this tournament until Sunday. And I never thought my 12 under would hold up for a playoff.”

Ogilvy had to wait at least an hour — “I hit a lot of balls on the range” — between his finish and Senior completing his round in the final pairing.

Twenty-four players finished the round Monday after heavy rain delayed play Sunday.

Australians Nick O’Hern (69), Peter Fowler (71) and Andre Stolz (71) tied for third at 11 under. Stolz bogeyed the 18th after hitting his tee shot into the water.

American Bobby Gates, who led by a stroke after the third round, bogeyed two of his final nine holes Monday and finished with a 74, leaving him two strokes out of the playoff

Ogilvy resumed play Monday on the 14th hole, and birdied that hole and No. 16. Senior, ahead by one when play resumed, bogeyed his first hole of the day — the 10th — after his tee shot in pouring rain Sunday left him in the trees.

Defending champion Robert Allenby finished four strokes back after a 70.

Gates, playing the Coolum course for the first time, tried to be diplomatic Sunday when play was called despite a tough officiating decision that had forced him to hit an awkward shot out of a bunker that was nearly flooded by rain. He ended up bogeying the hole.

“I’ve never played where it’s gotten to this point before, but I understand they want to try to get it in,” Gates said.

Senior, who said he felt Gates got a bad decision on his bunker shot, said the last three holes that he and Gates played were extremely difficult, and “the 10th tee was actually underwater when we got there.”

“I was just a little disappointed that the round wasn’t called a little earlier,” Senior said. “A lot of guys were suffering out there, not so much with the rain, but when the fairways become so water-logged that you can’t actually hit golf shots that’s when it should be called. … Poor old Bobby Gates. The bunker was just riddled with water on the ninth hole there and had to play his shot and he could have made 4 if he just putted the hole. But when the course is unplayable, the day should be called and that’s it.”

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NEW YORK — Consumer products maker Fortune Brands Inc. plans to split into three companies, keeping its liquor business led by Jim Beam bourbon while shedding the units that make Titleist golf balls, Moen faucets and Master Locks.

Fortune Brands said Wednesday it will focus on its spirits business which generates annual revenue of $2.5 billion and also includes brands such as Canadian Club and Maker’s Mark.

The home and security business, which also includes MasterBrand cabinets, will be spun off on a tax-free basis to shareholders.

Fortune’s golf business, Acushnet, based in Fairhaven, Mass., which makes Titleist golf equipment and FootJoy golf shoes and gloves, will be either spun off or sold.

The announcement comes two months after activist investor William Ackman took an 11 percent stake in the company, becoming its largest shareholder.

Fortune Brands, based in Deerfield, Ill., said it expects to complete separation planning within several months. The separation is subject to conditions including regulatory approvals.

The company said the plan is the result of its ongoing strategic review over the past four years.

“While the breadth and balance of our portfolio have served shareholders very well, we see the potential for even greater value by separating our businesses into focused companies at a time when they have emerged from the economic downturn in such strong positions,” Chairman and CEO Bruce Carbonari said in a statement. “We believe now is the right time to move ahead with this tax-efficient approach, and we’re confident the course we’ve outlined today generates greater potential long-term value than all other alternatives.”

Analysts had long argued that the company could unlock the value of its businesses by turning them into separate entities. And Morgan Stanley analyst Dara Mohsenian said a split had been expected since Ackman took his stake.

But Morningstar analyst Philip Gorman said the timing of the news, so soon after Ackman’s disclosure, suggests the company may have already been considering the move.

Fortune had previously argued that the conglomerate format allowed it the financial flexibility to support the array of brands as business ebbed and flowed. However, all of the company’s brands struggled in the downturn, leaving little benefit to having three units together that might fetch attractive bids on their own.

The company reported in its last quarter that its net income fell 17 percent because of one-time charges and the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit. Revenue rose less than 1 percent.

“Overall, it just makes sense,” Gorman said. “I’m slightly surprised by the speed, but not surprised.”

Several analysts said Diageo or Pernod Ricard, which both do not have a strong bourbon brand, may consider a purchase of the spirits business.

No one was immediately available at Pershing Square Capital Management, Ackman’s firm, to comment on the news.

Ackman and Pershing have agitated for major changes at retailers he holds stakes in, such as McDonald’s Corp., Wendy’s International Inc. and Target Corp. Earlier this week Ackman, who has a 37 percent Stake in Borders Group Inc., made headlines by saying he would finance a Borders bid to acquire its larger rival Barnes & Noble Inc.

Fortune Brands’ shares finished Wednesday up 59 cents at $61.74.

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