Sunday, August 17, 2008

Steven O'Hara finished fourth
in Geneva, two off play-off

From Paul Symes, European Challenge Tour Press Officer
A stunning final round of 63 – the lowest of his career – saw Sweden’s Klas Eriksson surge through the field to claim his second European Challenge Tour title at the Trophée du Golf Club de Genève.
Eleven birdies in a quite astonishing final round at Golf Club de Genève in Switzerland saw Eriksson finish on 14 under par, level with overnight leader Wil Besseling of the Netherlands and Brazilian Alexandre Rocha.
Having seen off Rocha at the third hole of a dramatic play-off, the experienced Eriksson then sank a 20ft putt for birdie at the fourth extra hole to end the challenge of Besseling, who held a five shot lead over the field going into the final day.
Eriksson was full of praise and sympathy for the young Dutchman, but was nonetheless delighted to have secured his first Challenge Tour victory for seven years.
He said: “I just felt that it was my day. I was very focused and positive, which I knew I had to be. All I was thinking about was making birdies. I really wanted to win, and I didn’t doubt that I could. I’ve felt good for a while without getting over the winning line, but today I wasn’t going to let that happen.
"Now I’m going to take a week off to rest up, because unless you’re Tiger Woods it’s difficult to play well the week after winning a tournament. I’m just going to enjoy it, then hopefully come back even stronger.”
Eriksson’s cheque for €24,400 propelled him to fifth place in the Challenge Tour Rankings, two places behind Besseling, who was left to rue what might have been after a final round of 75.
Motherwell's Steven O’Hara finished fourth on 12 under par 276, two shots behind the play-off trio and one shot clear of England’s Gary Lockerbie and Paraguay’s Marco Ruiz.

FINAL TOTALS

Par 288 (4 x 72)
274 K Eriksson (Swe) 68 70 73 63; A Rocha (Bra) 72 66 66 70; W Besseling (Ned) 68 64 67 75.
276 S O'Hara (Sco) 68 66 72 70.
277 M Ruiz (Par) 70 67 71 69; G Lockerbie (Eng) 68 70 69 70.
278 G Maybin (Nir) 72 68 71 67; R Bland (Eng) 65 70 69 74.
279 G Hutcheon (Sco) 72 67 71 69; A Tampion (Aus) 66 69 72 72.
280 R Cabrera Bello (Esp) 66 70 69 75; D Horsey (Eng) 72 70 69 69;
281 S Robinson (Eng) 71 70 69 71;
282 J Haeggman (Swe) 74 66 71 71; I Van Weerelt (Ned) 70 70 69 73; M Hoey (Nir) 69 73 69 71;
284 M Higley (Eng) 69 69 72 74;
285 S Benson (Eng) 67 73 70 75.
SCOT WHO MISSED THE CUT
212 A McArthur 68 70 74.

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