EUROPEAN TOUR REPORT AND TOTALS

  Alejandro Canizares with the trophy in Morocco.  Picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c)

CLASSY CANIZARES LEADS ALL THE 

WAY TO WIN BY FIVE IN MOROCCO
FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Alejandro Cañizares completed a comprehensive wire-to-wire victory at the Trophée Hassan II to end an eight-year wait for a second European Tour title.
Just as Marcel Siem did 12 months ago at Golf du Palais Royal, Cañizares led from the off with an opening 62 and completed a five-stroke win with a closing round of 70.
That gave the Spaniard a 19 under par total in Agadir, on Morocco's windy Atlantic coastline, with England’s Andy Sullivan storming home in 29 shots for a best-of-the-day 63 to claim second place.
Cañizares won on only his third European Tour start at the 2006 Russian Open, but has had to wait 199 events for win number two – during which time he has been a runner-up four times.
Victory completes an excellent six months for the 31 year old, who has not missed a cut since September. That run that now stretches to 16 tournaments and includes three other top-ten finishes.
 Cañizares would have won by a greater margin if not for a piece of bad luck on the 18th, where his approach rolled back off the green and came to rest up against a clump of turf from a divot that had not been properly replaced.
The World No.141 was told by a referee he was not allowed to move the turf and could only advance the ball a few yards with his third shot before it again rolled back down the slope almost to his feet.
From there he duffed his next pitch but at least allowed himself a wry smile before eventually getting up and down for a double-bogey 6.

Cañizares won on only his third European Tour start at the 2006 Russian Open, but has had to wait 199 events for win number two – during which time he has been a runner-up four times. 

Victory completes an impressive run of results for the 31 year old, who has not missed a cut since September. That run that now stretches to 16 tournaments, and includes three other top-ten finishes.

Cañizares, whose father José Maria won five times on The European Tour, said: “It has been a great week, this is a very special moment for me. I have to thank everybody, especially my coaches who gave me a great lesson at the start of the week, and my caddie who really handled me well today. 

“To get the win feels unbelievable. My first win was eight years ago so I’ve had to wait a long time for this, I had a few chances along the way but to finally get another one is magnificent.

“I wasn’t worried that the second win wouldn’t come, I thought if I kept working on it and kept my game on, it would come in the end. This is a great step for the rest of my career.” 

Sullivan finished with four consecutive birdies to record the highest finish of his fledgling European Tour career. 

He said: “It’s just unbelievable, I got off to such a good start on the back nine, and I managed to keep it going. The wind was getting up and there were a few holes into the wind, but that finish was just surreal. 

“Most of the putts were from within ten feet, so it’s not like I holed any bombs. It’s an unbelievable feeling to hit 63 on the last day, so I’m very, very happy.”

Sullivan’s compatriot Seve Benson birdied the 18th to claim a share of third place on 12 under with Sweden's Magnus A Carlsson, who had completed a 68 by holing from off the green on the last for par after a left-handed escape shot from the trees.

 

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72) Prizemoney in Euros
269 Alejandro Canizares (Spain) 62 68 69 70 (250,000)
274 Andy Sullivan (England) 66 73 72 63 (166,000)
276 Magnus Carlsson (Sweden) 65 71 72 68, Seve Benson (England) 63 68 74 71 (84,450 each)
277 Rafa Cabrera-Bello (Spain) 68 67 75 67, Richard Bland (England) 69 70 70 68, Wade Ormsby (Australia) 68 71 70 68 (53,700 each)

SCOTS' SCORES
280 Richie Ramsay 72 71 68 69 (T11) (23,950)
281 Marc Warren 66 73 70 72 (T17) (18,425)
287 David Drysdale 73 67 72 75 (T43) (8,250)
298 Duncan Stewart 71 74 74 79, Peter Whiteford 67 78 79 74 (T68) (2,925 each)

  ALL THE TOTALS

 

269 A Cañizares  (Esp) 62 68 69 70

274 A Sullivan (Eng) 66 73 72 63

276 M Carlsson  (Swe) 65 71 72 68, S Benson (Eng) 63 68 74 71,

277 R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 68 67 75 67, R Bland (Eng) 69 70 70 68, W Ormsby (Aus) 68 71 70 68

278 T Lewis (Eng) 69 74 70 65, P Waring  (Eng) 72 69 67 70, D Horsey (Eng) 72 64 72 70

280 B Rumford (Aus) 73 71 70 66, L Bjerregaard  (Den) 69 73 71 67, G Coetzee (RSA) 69 69 74 68, R Ramsay  (Sco) 72 71 68 69, J Campillo (Esp) 71 69 70 70, R Karlsson (Swe) 71 67 70 72

281 J Dantorp (Swe) 73 71 69 68, S Dodd (Wal) 68 73 71 69, G Bourdy (Fra) 68 69 74 70, M Warren (Sco) 66 73 70 72, S Kapur (Ind) 70 71 67 73, R Derksen (Ned) 69 70 67 75

282 J Morrison  (Eng) 69 69 75 69, T Fleetwood  (Eng) 66 72 73 71

283 K Broberg (Swe) 75 70 72 66, E Molinari  (Ita) 73 70 74 66, A Saddier (Fra) 72 72 69 70, D Im (USA) 71 73 69 70, R Davies (Wal) 68 73 71 71

284 M Hoey  (Nir) 68 70 76 70, R Green (Aus) 70 73 69 72, F Fritsch  (Ger) 72 70 70 72

285 R Dinwiddie  (Eng) 71 71 73 70, G Stal  (Fra) 73 71 70 71, B Wiesberger  (Aut) 71 73 70 71, R Rock (Eng) 71 68 71 75

286 M Ilonen  (Fin) 69 73 73 71, S Dyson  (Eng) 73 70 71 72, R Fisher (Eng) 70 73 71 72, D Willett  (Eng) 72 70 70 74, C Arendell (USA) 65 71 76 74, A Levy (Fra) 70 72 69 75

287 S Wakefield (Eng) 72 73 70 72, T Hatton (Eng) 73 72 69 73, N Elvira  (Esp) 70 75 68 74, S Kjeldsen (Den) 74 70 68 75, D Drysdale (Sco) 73 67 72 75

288 S Hansen (Den) 74 69 75 70, A Kaleka  (Fra) 72 73 72 71, M Crespi  (Ita) 71 74 69 74, M Siem  (Ger) 69 69 75 75

289 M Baldwin (Eng) 71 74 77 67, E De La Riva  (Esp) 70 74 76 69, G Havret  (Fra) 72 71 73 73, M Tullo (Chi) 74 69 70 76

290 D Huizing (Ned) 74 70 76 70, S Lowry  (Irl) 72 72 73 73, M Kieffer (Ger) 71 72 74 73, D Brooks (Eng) 72 70 72 76

291 P Sjöland (Swe) 70 74 76 71, R Kakko  (Fin) 70 73 75 73, D Howell (Eng) 72 69 75 75, G Bhullar (Ind) 67 73 74 77

292 D McGrane (Irl) 70 73 76 73, F Calmels  (Fra) 70 74 73 75, E Goya (Arg) 73 69 74 76

295 J Lara (Esp) 72 73 71 79

298 P Whiteford (Sco) 67 78 79 74, D Stewart (Sco) 71 74 74 79

299 R Jacquelin (Fra) 71 71 79 78

301 E Dubois (Fra) 68 75 81 77