THOMAS BJORN'S DOUBLE EAGLE FINISH WINS NEDBANK CHALLENGE
REPORT BY MICHAEL GIBBONS
European Tour staff writer
European Tour staff writer
Two
back-nine eagles laid the foundations for the stunning final round 65
which saw Thomas Björn storm to victory at the Nedbank Golf Challenge
after a thrilling final round at the Gary Player Country Club in Sun
City, South Africa today.
The
Dane, who began the final round three shots behind Jamie Donaldson, had
to be at his imperious best to hold off the challenge of a charging
Sergio Garcia, who matched the 42 year old’s seven under par effort on a
brilliant final
day.
Donaldson
carded a two under 70 to finish in a tie for second place alongside
Garcia, but the day belonged to Björn and Garcia whose titanic battle
took the US$6.5 million tournament to the wire.
In the end, it was Björn’s two back-nine eagles – on the tenth and 14th
holes – which made the difference as he collected his 15th European
Tour victory and charged to the top of the 2014 Race to Dubai with a 20
under par
268 winning total for a two-shot victory margin.
“This
is right up there with the best days of my career,” said Björn, who
took home the biggest cheque of his career worth US$1.25 million.
“You
never forget your first victory, and then my win against Tiger in Dubai
when I went toe-to-toe with him for four days and came out top was
special, but winning here in the way that I did against a field of this
quality is up there.
“It’s
not often you make two eagles on the back nine on a Sunday when you are
in contention and it was just one of those days when it was my day. The
five iron I hit into the tenth was the shot of the week, and then I got
a bit of luck
on 14 because the ball pitched in the bunker and made it to the green
but I still had to hole the putt and those are the little breaks you
need to win golf tournaments.
“I knew I had to shoot something
low and then see what Jamie was doing and I knew that Sergio and Henrik
(Stenson) would probably make a move. It turned out that it was Sergio
and every time I saw a leaderboard he was making birdies.
I am very proud of the way I played today – it’s a very special day in
my career.”
Garcia was delighted with his own performance and admitted he could do little more than doff his cap to Björn.
“It
was a great week and a great final round but in the end I just couldn’t
catch Thomas. It was one of those days when I was making loads of
birdies but he just kept matching me. I couldn’t have done much more and
you have to congratulate
Thomas on a great victory.”
Björn’s
address to the South African crowd during the prize giving ceremony
ended with a fitting tribute to the nation’s former President Nelson
Mandela.
"If everyone could live their lives just a little bit like Nelson Mandela, the world would be a better place,” he said.
ALL THE FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
270 J Donaldson (Wal) 67 66 67 70, S Garcia (Esp) 66 73 66 65
272 H Stenson (Swe) 69 67 69 67
273 B De Jonge (Zim) 70 68 69 66
275 C Schwartzel (RSA) 68 70 71 66
276 R Moore (USA) 71 65 67 73, J Rose (Eng) 73 67 69 67
277 T Jaidee (Tha) 69 70 66 72
279 P Uihlein (USA) 70 69 70 70
280 G Fernandez-Castaño (Esp) 67 72 72 69
282 F Molinari (Ita) 76 70 69 67, D Fichardt (RSA) 71 68 69 74
283 L Oosthuizen (RSA) 74 69 67 73, R Sterne (RSA) 73 73 71 66
286 D Points (USA) 71 67 70 78, J Luiten (Ned) 74 68 75 69, M Kaymer (Ger) 71 66 74 75
287 L Donald (Eng) 68 71 74 74
288 B Grace (RSA) 75 71 69 73, V Dubuisson (Fra) 73 72 71 72
290 G Woodland (USA) 74 73 75 68, M Manassero (Ita) 72 74 72 72
291 D Van Der Walt (RSA) 77 72 73 69
293 D Lynn (Eng) 73 71 75 74, T Wiratchant (Tha) 71 76 70 76, M Madsen (Den) 76 71 68 78
295 K Streelman (USA) 75 71 77 72
300 E Els (RSA) 75 71 77 77
304 P Senior (Aus) 80 68 75 81
+Picture of Thomas Bjorn with the trophy by courtesy of Getty Images(c).
Labels: EUROPEAN TOUR
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