EUROPEAN TOUR REPORT, SCORES

Graeme McDowell wins, with Rhys Davies runner-up again

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Graeme McDowell produced a simply brilliant victory in The Celtic Manor Wales Open after an exhilarating final round.
Playing on The Twenty Ten Course where he hopes to earn his second Ryder Cup cap against the Americans in October, the 30 year old Northern Irishman was forced to pull out all the stops to grab his fifth European Tour title.
In-form Welshman Rhys Davies was the man to put the heat on with a stunning course record 62 that saw him cover the middle 12 holes in ten under par.

But McDowell, pictured, matched the 25 year old's front nine 30, started for home with two more birdies and, with a three stroke lead once Davies had bogeyed the difficult 16th, did not let the opportunity slip.

A closing 63 for a 15 under par total of 269 gave McDowell, winless since the 2008 Barclays Scottish Open, the €350,940 first prize by three and left Davies a runner-up for the second week running.

"I think it's the best final round I've ever played to win a tournament," he said. "The first 11 holes was dream golf and I am ecstatic. I feel like I'm in the form of my life right now and I really feel I have a big event in me.

"To win around here is certainly going to stand me in good stead," he added.

Four behind at the start of the day McDowell could not have expected to become the man to catch so quickly, but overnight leader Marcel Siem put two balls in the water and ran up a quadruple bogey seven at the short third.

Davies, eight adrift when he teed off, knew he was in with a chance from the moment he sank his 170 yard eight iron for an eagle two on the eighth.

His fourth birdie came on the next, then he produced two more at the start of the inward half and when he drove the green at the 377 yard dog-leg 15th - what a hole that is going to be come October - and made his 30 foot putt for another eagle two The European Tour's first ever 59 was still a possibility.

The European Tour rookie required two more birdies for that, but instead he failed to get up and down from sand on the next and had to settle for two closing pars.

His round nevertheless shaved a stroke off the course record set by Stephen Gallacher in the third round and matched by his fellow Scot Marc Warren early on the final day.

McDowell's 64-63 finish - he feared he was going to miss the cut on Friday - was only three outside the best ever on The European Tour.

Davies stated: "I enjoyed every second. I went out very relaxed - I tried to push too hard yesterday and was mindful of that."

He admitted he thought of 59 at one point, but "put it aside very quickly”.

He added: "I tracked what Graeme was doing. He continued to make birdies, so I kept my head down and tried to make some more. I tried my best, but it didn't quite happen."

Third place went to Luke Donald, the man who pipped Davies in last week's Madrid Masters. His three-week trip back to Europe has brought him a win, a second and a third and he is even closer now to regaining his Ryder Cup spot.

Gallacher shared fourth with England's Robert Rock and Italian Edoardo Molinari, but Siem fell back to seventh with a 74.

FINAL TOTALS

Par 284 (4x71)

269 Graeme McDowell 72 70 64 63 (350,940 Euros).

272 Rhys Davies 67 73 70 62 (233,960 Euros)

274 Luke Donald 75 65 69 65 (131,813 Euros)

275 Robert Rock 68 71 70 66, Stephen Gallacher 70 73 63 69, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 67 71 70 67 (89,420 Euros)

276 Marcel Siem (Ger) 69 67 66 74

277 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 70 68 70 69

279 Thomas Bjorn (Den) 69 68 68 74, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 69 72 67 71, Richard McEvoy 67 71 69 72

280 Marc Warren 71 71 75 63, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 74 71 68 67, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 70 68 69 73, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 70 74 69 67, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 68 71 66 75, David Lynn 72 72 66 70 (31,900 Euros each).
281 Simon Dyson 71 70 65 75, Bradley Dredge 66 73 72 70
282 Damien McGrane 69 76 66 71, Peter Whiteford 72 72 69 69, Soren Hansen (Den) 68 70 69 75, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 72 72 70 68, Peter Lawrie 72 67 72 71, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 67 73 71 71, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 71 72 69 70 (23,192 Euros each).
283 Richard Bland 74 71 71 67, Richie Ramsay 68 72 69 74, Anton Haig (Rsa) 72 71 72 68, Gareth Maybin 69 73 73 68 (19,688 Euros each).
284 Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 73 72 71 68, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 71 69 70 74, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 69 70 71 74
285 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 72 70 71, Gary Boyd 71 70 70 74, Scott Hend (Aus) 71 72 72 70, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 68 74 73 70, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 73 71 72 69
286 Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 72 71 70 73, James Kingston (Rsa) 70 71 66 79, Alexander Noren (Swe) 70 74 73 69, Shane Lowry 70 73 69 74, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 66 70 75 75, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 72 72 72 70, Darren Clarke 69 71 73 73
287 Chris Wood 65 76 70 76, Colin Montgomerie 70 70 76 71, Phillip Price 70 74 73 70, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 71 72 76 68, Danny Lee (Nzl) 68 75 70 74, Jamie Donaldson 71 72 76 68, Alastair Forsyth 71 73 69 74, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 72 71 73 71, Pablo Martin (Spa) 71 73 73 70, Barry Lane 71 72 76 68 (9,265 Euros each).
288 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 70 73 68 77, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 72 72 68 76, James Ruth 70 74 70 74, Clodomiro Carranza (Arg) 70 75 75 68, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 69 76 72 71
289 Garry Houston 73 71 72 73, Simon Thornton 68 75 73 73
290 Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 72 71 81 66, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 73 72 71 74, Ross McGowan 70 73 70 77
291 Chris Gane 70 75 74 72, Oliver Wilson 70 71 75 75, Benn Barham 70 72 78 71
292 Mark Foster 72 73 75 72, Graeme Storm 74 71 75 72
295 Marco Ruiz (Par) 71 71 78 75
298 Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 68 74 81 75, Oliver Fisher 74 68 78 78
304 Julien Quesne (Fra) 71 73 78 82