Sunday, January 24, 2010

Abu Dhabi Championship goes to German once again

Martin Kaymer birdies the last to win

by a shot from Ian Poulter

NEWS FROM EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
New World No 6 Martin Kaymer hopes his second Abu Dhabi Golf Championship title will be the catalyst to a highly anticipated Ryder Cup debut at Celtic Manor later this year.
After winning his maiden title in Abu Dhabi in 2008 with a nervous, four-stroke, wire-to-wire victory, the 25-year-old German, pictured right, needed every ounce of experience gained from adding three wins since then to edge out Ian Poulter by a single stroke at the end of 72 holes today.
Overnight leader Kaymer, who also finished second last year, birdied the final hole at Abu Dhabi Golf Club to card a bogey-free final round of six-under-par 66 and a four-round total of 21-under-par 276.
Poulter produced a valiant effort to play his part in a thrilling duel as The Ryder Cup ace matched Kaymer’s final round, but it was not enough to erase the one-shot overnight deficit as he untimely paid the price for a wayward final-hole tee shot.
“My goal for every year is to win two tournaments on The European Tour. I did it in 2008 and 2009 and I hope I can do it this year,” said Kaymer.
“But my main goal is to play The Ryder Cup this year because when I went there two years ago (as a spectator) I really felt I want to be there one day because it is so cool. Even though I wasn’t playing, it gave me so much experience and it helped me so much.
“My goals for the future are to have two wins on The European Tour each year, to play better in the big events and try to play The Ryder Cup.”
Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomerie will be wetting his lips at the chance to have Kaymer at his disposal in October along with Poulter and another expected debutant, Rory McIlroy, who finished third.
“I’ve been in contention a few times already in my career over the last three years,” added Kaymer. “My first win was difficult and my second win in Germany was very difficult. Now it has changed a little bit.
“My self confidence is bigger than two years ago and I think it has come from playing well all around the world. I played well in the last Major and I’m getting better in the World Golf Championships events."
Poulter, 34, returned from a similar break to end a two-year winless streak in Singapore at the end of last year and traded blows with Kaymer for the entire final round to continue his recent string of top ten finishes - with the latest pushing him into the world’s top 10 for the first time.
“It’s a nice start to the season. If you’re going to take the positives out of that, I’m pretty frustrated that I’ve walked away from shooting that score and I haven’t won,” said the new World No 10.
“But it’s good. I will move on next week in Qatar, have a bit of fun and see if I can go one step closer and then take two weeks off before the Match Play.”
After failing to keep up with the electrifying start to the final round from playing partners Kaymer and Poulter, McIlroy, 20, claimed an eighth top-10 finish in his last nine events with a five-under 67.
“It’s a great way to start the season in the last group and going down the last one behind and getting the juices flowing again,” said last year’s Race to Dubai runner-up, who has been bumped down one place to 11 in the world rankings. A win here would have seen him become the youngest ever player to reach the top five.
“It was a nice feeling and hopefully that will set the tone for the rest of the season.”
Rory McIlroy dropped just one shot on his way to a five under 67 to claim third place, a further shot adrift.
The Irish Open champion Shane Lowry posted his best finish on The European Tour since turning professional with his bogey-free 67 securing fourth at 17 under.
Ryder Cup hopefuls Kaymer, Poulter and McIlroy were playing together in the final group, and were in sensational form from the outset.
Both Kaymer and Poulter birdied the first two holes, before the Englishman caught the overnight leader from Germany when he completed his hat-trick at the third.
There was still nothing to choose between them when both men gained a shot at the sixth, but on the par five eighth Poulter left his 40ft birdie putt agonisingly short as Kaymer converted from close range to restore his one shot lead.
Consecutive birdies on the 11th and 12th saw Poulter go in front, before Kaymer levelled the scores at 20 under on the long par four 14th.
A play-off looked likely until Poulter miscued on the last, and was unable to hole his birdie effort from the fringe. Kaymer’s birdie putt was just a few feet and he duly holed it, claiming his fifth European Tour title in the process and the first since breaking his foot in a go-karting accident that de-stabled his Race to Dubai bid in 2009.
Paul Lawrie and Gary Orr finished joint top Scot in a share of 27th place on nine-under-par 279. They each gained Euros 13,350.
ALL THE FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
267 Martin Kaymer (Ger) 67 67 67 66 (Euros 250,000)
268 Ian Poulter 65 70 67 66 (Euros 166,660)
269 Rory McIlroy 66 69 67 67 (Euros 93,900)
271 Shane Lowry 68 65 71 67 (Euros 75,000)
272 Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 67 71 68 66
273 Rhys Davies 66 68 72 67, Ariel Canete (Arg) 70 65 74 64
274 Anders Hansen (Den) 69 70 68 67, Soren Hansen (Den) 72 67 68 67, David Horsey 73 66 70 65
275 Peter Hanson (Swe) 66 67 70 72, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 66 70 68 71
276 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 68 68 72 68, Anthony Kim (USA) 70 70 68 68, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 71 67 72 66, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 66 67 74 69, Richard Green (Aus) 70 65 72 69, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 69 70 67 70
277 Chris Wood 70 64 70 73, Camilo Villegas (Col) 71 68 69 69
278 Hennie Otto (Rsa) 70 67 70 71, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 67 70 71 70, Steve Webster 68 69 74 67, Rick Kulacz (Aus) 69 63 73 73, Jamie Donaldson 70 69 67 72, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 70 72 69 67
279 Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 70 67 72 70, Gary Orr 69 71 70 69, Paul Lawrie 66 70 72 71, Paul Casey 72 69 69 69, Peter Lawrie 71 71 70 67, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 69 66 71 73, Ross McGowan 69 71 67 72 (jt 27t) (Euros 13,350 each).
280 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 66 70 73 71, Richard Bland 65 74 71 70, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 72 69 68 71
281 Anthony Wall 71 68 74 68, Paul Waring 68 70 71 72, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 70 72 68 71, Simon Dyson 72 67 75 67, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 74 68 69 70
282 Johan Edfors (Swe) 70 69 73 70
283 Alexander Noren (Swe) 66 74 72 71, Marc Warren 69 69 72 73, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 71 69 70 73, Nick Dougherty 71 68 74 70, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 74 68 72 69, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 73 69 73 68 (jt 43rd) (Euros 8,100 each).
284 Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 71 71 73 69, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 73 69 72 70, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 70 72 72 70, Keith Horne (Rsa) 65 72 78 69, Tano Goya (Arg) 71 70 72 71, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 72 70 73 69, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 71 69 71 73
285 Shiv Kapur (Ind) 68 74 72 71, Phillip Price 72 70 71 72, Darren Clarke 70 72 71 72, Bradley Dredge 68 73 72 72
286 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 72 70 73 71, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 74 68 75 69, Colin Montgomerie 73 68 74 71 (jt 60th) (Euros 4,050 each).
287 Paul Broadhurst 71 70 74 72
288 Brett Rumford (Aus) 71 69 73 75, David Howell 69 72 75 72, Todd Hamilton (USA) 68 74 73 73, James Kamte (Rsa) 72 68 74 74, Mark Foster 68 70 74 76
289 Niclas Fasth (Swe) 73 69 73 74, Richard Finch 69 68 77 75
291 Rafael Echenique (Arg) 67 75 70 79
292 David Dixon 71 69 76 76
293 Matteo Manassero (Ita) (amateur) 70 72 77 74

Labels:

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home

Copyright © Colin Farquharson

If you can't find what you are looking for.... please check the Archive List or search this site with Google