BJORN BIRDIE BEATS LEE AT FIRST HOLE OF EURO MASTERS PLAY-OFF

                 THOMAS BJORN .. King of the Mountains

                 Picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c)

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE 

Great Dane Thomas Bjorn holed a 12ft birdie putt to beat Stirling's Craig Lee at the first hole of a sudden-death play-off conclusion to the European Tour's Omega European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre today.
Extra holes were required to separate Björn and overnight leader Lee, who struck 65 and 67 respectively on the final day.
The former made quick work of sealing victory thereafter, birdieing the 18^th with a fine putt that sealed his 14^th success on The European Tour and second in this tournament, following his triumph two years ago.
“It was nice,” he said. “I had a really good run through the summer and did not really get close enough.
“I had to grit my teeth for a while and I really wanted to get out and try to win a golf tournament again.
“I came in this week not playing particularly great but promised myself I’d stick to how I play this golf course.
“I did that and had two bogeys in 72 holes, which is good going around here. I felt good and I got over the line.
“It was nice to do that in a playoff. I’ve had a hard time dealing with pressure situations and there is no more pressure than that.”
That Björn required a playoff was thanks to a valiant effort from Lee, who is still seeking his first triumph on tour.
It appeared the more experienced Björn, who has been a model of consistency in the tournament thus far, had taken control after making five birdies in an outward 31 that featured some stupendous play around the greens.
With the Dane dropping only two shots over the first three rounds, it certainly seemed like he had the necessary consistency – particularly given he required just nine putts on the front nine.
However, Lee – who yesterday carded a stunning 61 having threatened to produce the first sub-60 round in the history of The European Tour – caught fire on the back.
Amid Björn picking up just one more shot on the way in, Lee enjoyed gains at 12, 15 and 16.
He headed into the final hole knowing a birdie would be enough to secure victory but – after seeing his first putt lip out – ultimately settled for a par to join Björn in the clubhouse on 20 under par and force extra holes.
In the end, just one was required in heavy mist as Björn once again found the Midas touch on the greens.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71)
264 Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 66 66 67 65, Craig Lee (Scotland) 71 65 61 67 (Bjorn  bt Lee at first hole of play-off). Bjorn 366,660 Euros; Lee 244,440 Euros

REST OF FINAL TOTALS

	1	54	127		↓-1	3	DUBUISSON, Victor	-19	18	-5	68	65	66	66	265
	1	65	210		↓-2	4	CAÑIZARES, Alejandro	-18	18	-4	69	65	65	67	266
	1	107	139		↑+2	T5	FISHER, Ross	-15	18	-5	71	69	63	66	269
	1	28	55		-	T5	JIMÉNEZ, Miguel Angel	-15	18	-4	65	68	69	67	269
	1	96	318		↑+10	T7	HAVRET, Grégory	-14	18	-8	68	69	70	63	270
	1	129	114		-	T7	KOEPKA, Brooks	-14	18	-4	68	66	69	67	270
	1	18	58		↑+8	T9	JAIDEE, Thongchai	-12	18	-6	68	69	70	65	272
	1	14	64		-	T9	GALLACHER, Stephen	-12	18	-3	67	65	72	68	272  44,587 Euros
	1	36	167		↓-4	T9	FLEETWOOD, Tommy	-12	18	-1	65	68	69	70	272
	1	55	65		↑+12	12	LAWRIE, Paul	-11	18	-6	68	70	70	65	273  37,840 Euros
	1	4	38		↓-1	T13	STERNE, Richard	-10	18	-3	69	66	71	68	274
	1	78	332		↓-1	T13	KIEFFER, Maximilian	-10	18	-3	68	69	69	68	274
	1	128	398		↑+17	T15	KARLBERG, Rikard*	-9	18	-5	69	69	71	66	275
	1	176	685		↑+9	T15	LEWIS, Tom	-9	18	-4	71	70	67	67	275
	1	159	667		↑+2	T15	DODT, Andrew	-9	18	-3	69	72	66	68	275
	1	7	78		↓-3	T15	RUMFORD, Brett	-9	18	-2	68	68	70	69	275
	1	30	98		↓-5	T15	CASEY, Paul	-9	18	-1	65	69	71	70	275
	1	50	97		↑+4	T20	FRASER, Marcus	-8	18	-3	69	71	68	68	276
	1	116	373		↓-3	T20	TULLO, Mark	-8	18	-2	68	66	73	69	276
	1	80	341		↑+10	T22	MAYBIN, Gareth*	-7	18	-3	70	69	70	68	277
	1	--	353		↑+2	T22	QUE, Angelo	-7	18	-2	70	70	68	69	277
	1	74	170		↑+2	T22	DYSON, Simon	-7	18	-2	71	69	68	69	277
	1	100	119		↑+10	T22	VAN ZYL, Jaco*	-7	18	-3	68	68	73	68	277
	1	156	226		↑+6	T26	KAPUR, Shiv*	-6	18	-2	70	69	70	69	278
	1	98	301		↓-2	T26	BENSON, Seve	-6	18	-1	70	68	70	70	278
	1	56	172		↑+6	T26	HOWELL, David*	-6	18	-2	70	67	72	69	278
	1	240	1370		↓-2	T26	DODD, Stephen	-6	18	-1	69	72	67	70	278
	1	149	754		↑+19	T26	HANSEN, Soren*	-6	18	-3	69	71	70	68	278
	1	157	231		↓-9	T26	HEND, Scott	-6	18	Par	69	70	68	71	278
	1	137	424		↓-14	T26	FINCH, Richard	-6	18	+1	67	66	73	72	278
	1	58	107		↓-16	T26	WILLETT, Danny	-6	18	+2	69	64	72	73	278
	1	126	321		↓-2	T34	KORHONEN, Mikko	-5	18	-1	72	69	68	70	279
	1	125	366		↓-10	T34	HORNE, Keith	-5	18	Par	69	69	70	71	279
	1	174	393		↓-2	T34	HENSON, Berry*	-5	18	-1	67	72	70	70	279
	1	--	429		↑+11	T34	JUNHASAVASDIKUL, Pariya*	-5	18	-2	67	72	71	69	279
	1	121	399		↑+11	T34	OLAZÁBAL, José María*	-5	18	-2	67	71	72	69	279
	1	5	31		↑+15	T34	MANASSERO, Matteo*	-5	18	-3	70	69	72	68	279
	1	114	364		↑+18	T34	HENRY, Scott*	-5	18	-4	70	70	72	67	279  15.620 Euros
	1	60	91		↓-24	T41	HARRINGTON, Padraig	-4	18	+2	70	65	72	73	280
	1	93	238		↓-24	T41	QUESNE, Julien	-4	18	+2	72	69	66	73	280
	1	97	349		↑+17	T41	CAMPILLO, Jorge*	-4	18	-5	71	70	73	66	280
	1	19	118		↓-12	T44	BOURDY, Grégory*	-3	18	+1	69	71	69	72	281
	1	22	80		↑+1	T44	LUITEN, Joost*	-3	18	Par	70	71	69	71	281
	1	162	288		↑+5	T44	WALL, Anthony*	-3	18	-1	70	71	70	70	281
	1	220	448		↑+5	T44	NIRAT, Chapchai*	-3	18	-1	71	70	70	70	281
	1	25	83		↑+10	T44	APHIBARNRAT, Kiradech*	-3	18	-3	71	68	74	68	281
	1	29	48		↓-17	T49	FDEZ-CASTAÑO, Gonzalo*	-2	18	+2	70	67	72	73	282
	1	--	969		↓-37	T49	ULRICH, Damian	-2	18	+5	71	69	66	76	282
	1	179	673		↑+5	T49	COLES, Robert*	-2	18	-2	69	71	73	69	282
	1	85	198		↑+11	T49	HOEY, Michael*	-2	18	-4	67	73	75	67	282
	1	122	465		↑+15	T49	FISHER, Oliver*	-2	18	-6	77	64	76	65	282
	1	--	959		↓-22	T54	LI, Hao-tong*	-1	18	+3	68	69	72	74	283
	1	90	145		-	T54	BROBERG, Kristoffer*	-1	18	-1	70	68	75	70	283
	1	61	175		↑+12	T54	KJELDSEN, Søren*	-1	18	-6	70	71	77	65	283
	1	131	384		↓-25	T57	WAKEFIELD, Simon	Par	18	+4	72	69	68	75	284
	1	231	178		↓-25	T57	LAHIRI, Anirban*	Par	18	+4	63	71	75	75	284
	1	52	131		↓-5	T57	DE LA RIVA, Eduardo*	Par	18	+1	68	71	73	72	284
	1	178	641		↓-6	T60	GONNET, Jean-Baptiste*	+1	18	+1	72	69	72	72	285
	1	245	1445		-	T60	CÉVAËR, Christian*	+1	18	-1	70	71	74	70	285
	1	99	146		↓-30	T62	BHULLAR, Gaganjeet*	+2	18	+6	68	71	70	77	286
	1	--	1562		↓-4	T62	AMACHER (AM), Edouard*	+2	18	+1	72	69	73	72	286
	1	221	519		↓-2	T62	BARR, Scott*	+2	18	Par	69	72	74	71	286
	1	160	422		↓-5	T65	TADINI, Alessandro*	+3	18	+1	68	73	74	72	287
	1	165	496		↑+1	T65	LEVET, Thomas*	+3	18	-2	68	72	78	69	287
	1	192	435		↓-3	67	PRATT, Kieran*	+6	18	+2	71	69	77	73	290
	1	258	352		↓-2	68	MOORE, Jonathan*	+9	18	+4	69	72	77	75	293