Sunday, February 06, 2011

THOMAS BJORN IS GREAT DANE AT QATAR MASTERS

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Thomas Bjorn held his nerve to land an 11th European Tour title at the Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy today.
The Dane, who will be 40 on February 18, saw his overnight one-shot lead wiped out by Markus Brier at the first hole, and then when the Austrian fell away 2009 winner Alvaro Quiros charged to within one on the back nine.
But the former Ryder Cup star, an assistant to team captain Colin Montgomerie at The Celtic Manor Resort last year, stayed calm to record a closing round of 69 to win by four shots on 14 under.
Bjorn parred his first 14 holes, before a wonderful six iron approach to the 15th led to his first birdie of the day, and he made further gains at the 16th and 18th.

"I said yesterday it was going to be one of those days where it's a question of hanging in, and that's all I did earlier on," said Bjorn.
"I didn't play particularly well for at least the first six holes. I was really struggling and didn't hit any fairways, and just kept holing a few putts for pars.
"I knew it was going to be a tough day, but from there on I started playing a lot better and got more control over the ball and just kept making pars. I stood on the tenth tee with a four shot lead and I knew it was going to be difficult, if I parred every hole on the back nine, it's going to be difficult for them to catch me."

Quiros came closest to catching the Estoril Open de Portugal winner - the big-hitting Spaniard turning one under before defying windy conditions to reach the par five tenth in two for birdie.

He picked up further shots at the 11th and 14th, but a missed five foot par putt on the 15th shortly before Björn's birdie on the same hole provided a crucial two-shot swing.

And when Quiros misjudged his tee shot at the penultimate hole and bogeyed, the contest was effectively over.

The 28 year old gained a shot at the last to finish second on ten under, with Brier joined by Spain's Rafael Cabrera-Bello in third.

"Alvaro put in a stint there where he threw a few birdies in and it became a little bit tense," admitted Bjorn.

"But after I hit that shot on 15 and saw him miss that putt for par, well, it's going to be difficult for him to catch me out if I don't make any mistakes.

"In the end it became a bit of a cruise, but I'm delighted with the week. I played solid golf - I think I made one bogey in the last 54 holes. On this golf course and in these conditions, that's good going."

Quiros was left to rue his late blips, but was generally happy to have finished runner-up for the second year running.

"Yesterday I was thinking I was going to finish top five. Now I have finished second by myself," he said.

"Unfortunately I made three putts on 15, and I made a stupid bogey on 17. So after that, it's going to be tough to reach him. But anyway, I'm very pleased to be where I am."

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
274 Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 74 65 66 69 (Euros 303,114).
278 Alvaro Quiros (Spain) 75 69 66 68 (Euros 202,073).
279 Markus Brier (Austria) 71 66 69 73, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spain) 77 68 66 68 (Euros 102, 393 each).
280 David Howell (England) 75 69 68 68 (Euros 77,113).
SCOTS' TOTALS
284 Steven Gallacher 72 73 69 70, David Drysdale 71 71 72 70 (T12) (Euros 26, 969 each).
285 Paul Lawrie 74 66 71 74, Steven O'Hara 73 69 69 74 (T19) Euros 20,086 each).
287 Peter Whiteford 75 70 72 70 (T37) (Euros 12,549).
289 Richie Ramsay 75 70 74 70 (T45).  (Euros 8,366).
291 Andrew Coltart 74 72 73 72 (T59) (Euros 5,001).

Paul Lawrie's Tour Blog following his disappointing final round:
"I had a disappointing 74 blows today. I played nicely but had 37 putts which was a pity as today was my best ball-striking round of the week but when you putt like that it's impossible to compete. I finished 19th which is no disaster but I should have been a lot better. I missed from inside three feet four times which is soooooooo frustrating! It was windy again which made it tough to get close to the hole. I fly to Dubai at 6pm tonight.


TO READ ALL THE FINAL TOTALS AND CHECK THE SCORECARDS

CLICK HERE

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