Amazing Grace as Lawrie comes to grief on
final round in Qatar Masters with a 78
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
South
African Branden Grace became the first player to win back-to-back
Commercial Bank Qatar Masters titles after plotting his way to a classy
victory at Doha Golf Club.
Grace,
who was the highest ranked player in the field and came into the event
off the back of five consecutive top tens, posted a three under par 69
to finish on 14 under 274, two shots clear of Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello
and Dane Thorbjørn Olesen, who closed with rounds of 70 and 71
respectively.
Having
started the day two shots behind Paul Lawrie, Grace patiently made
progress in windy conditions, holding off his rivals with a flawless
back nine and birdieing the last for good measure as he captured his
seventh European Tour title.
Grace is currently No 11 in the World Rankings. This win might push him into the top 10 for the first time.
Despite an early deficit, Grace held
serve for much of the final round at Doha Golf Club. Birdies on Nos. 1
and 6, which offset a bogey on the fifth, pushed the South African to 12
under and into a share of the lead with overnight leader Paul Lawrie
(who followed an opening birdie with bogeys in two of his next four
holes).
The Scot's double bogey on the par-5 ninth really opened the
door, as Grace proceeded to birdie the following hole for 13 under and a
two-shot lead.
He was never truly threatened from there, and for good measure added a
birdie on the par-5 18th to close at 14 under and post 69, one of only
four sub-70 rounds on Saturday.
Welshman
Bradley Dredge and Englishmen Andrew Johnston and Lee Slattery shared
fourth spot, but it was a day to forget for Lawrie, winner of this title in 1999 and 2012, but who signed for a 78
and slipped down to tied 13th.
Paul earned 32,370 euros compared with the 381,459 euros that went to the winner.
Lawrie wrote on his website blog:
"I hit it poorly and my putting was horrific which is not a good combination. Really unlucky on a few holes but overall I struggled
a bit today which is disappointing but it is what it is. Still it's been a good week with loads of positives; just a bit hacked off to shoot that today when it was the last thing I was expecting .
"Flying to Dubai now for next week's Desert Classic."
Latest Posts
Qatar masters R4 - 30 Jan
Shot
78+6 today , hit it poor and putted horrific which is not a good
combination , got really unlucky on a few holes but overall struggled a
bit today which is disappointing but it is what it is , still it's been
a good week with loads of positives just a bit hacked off to shoot that
today when it was the last thing I was expecting , big thanks to
everyone at Doha golf club and congrats to Brandon grace who was the
first player to successfully defend the Qatar masters this week , flying
to dubai now for next week's desert classic
- See more at: http://www.paullawriegolf.com/blog#sthash.CAdWWMSy.dpuf
Latest Posts
Qatar masters R4 - 30 Jan
Shot
78+6 today , hit it poor and putted horrific which is not a good
combination , got really unlucky on a few holes but overall struggled a
bit today which is disappointing but it is what it is , still it's been
a good week with loads of positives just a bit hacked off to shoot that
today when it was the last thing I was expecting , big thanks to
everyone at Doha golf club and congrats to Brandon grace who was the
first player to successfully defend the Qatar masters this week , flying
to dubai now for next week's desert classic
- See more at: http://www.paullawriegolf.com/blog#sthash.CAdWWMSy.dpuf
It wasn't a good day either for Aberdeen-born Clarke Lutton, making his European Tour debut. After deteriorating rounds of 68, 72 and 76, the MENA Tour winner took 82 blows today and finished last of the qualifiers with an aggregate of 10-over-par 298. Lutton earned 3,430 euros.
Quotes:
Branden Grace
“I’m pretty much at a loss for words. It’s a big thing to come to a
week defending – you’ve got a lot more pressure and a lot more things
going on. But to get the first proper defence under the belt is
something great, and something I've been dreaming of. It was brutal out
there. You can’t really force things to happen.
"You just need to stay
patient and let it happen. I did that really well yesterday and it
worked to my advantage and did the same today. I think maybe it went my
way a little bit, as well. I enjoy tough conditions. I’m a grinder, and
the patience was a big key. I really had to grind it out and let it
happen.
“Anything
can happen on 18, especially with that pin position; you get the guy
going for it, and making eagle. It’s happened before. It’s one of those
holes where you can’t really get too comfortable that you’ve done it,
but I thought when I hit the green in two, this is done for.
"I had to
take it on, and I would put that down as the best swing of the week. A
three-iron is not the easiest club in the bag to hit, and I just flushed
it straight at the middle of the green and that took care of the rest.
“I feel privileged to be able to get my name on the trophy twice in a row. It’s great to be in the winner’s circle again.”
Rafa Cabrera-Bello
“I had a very strong finish and I'm very pleased with the result. I
made a bad mistake on the eighth. It was a tough day and many of the
guys were also making mistakes, so I just told myself that there was
still a lot to play for, still a lot of golf to play, and I just stayed
patient and waited for my chances and they came in the end. It’s just
nice to be feeling that I’m playing good at the moment and feeling in
control of my game.”
Thorbjørn Olesen
“At the start of the week, you’d take tied second - it’s pretty good.
I had a lot of chances today but nothing really went in. I missed that
short putt on the tenth which hurt a lot. I never really got the pace on
the greens. But I gave myself so many good chances, and that’s always
nice.
"I've tried to change my mental side a little bit, and I’ve really
enjoyed this week from the start. Even though I hit a few bad shots, I
was still very good mentally. That’s a good sign and that’s what I have
to keep working on. This is a very good start and I’m looking forward to
next week in Dubai.”
Final scores
par 288 (4x72) prizemoney in euros
274 B Grace (RSA) 70 67 68 69 (381,459)
276 T Olesen (Den) 67 69 69 71, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 67 68 71 70 (198,791 each)
277 L Slattery (Eng) 69 69 69 70, A Johnston (Eng) 66 69 72 70, B Dredge (Wal) 71 67 70 69 (97,197 each)
280 G Coetzee (RSA) 67 70 73 70, S Garcia (Esp) 70 66 74 70, L
Oosthuizen (RSA) 65 73 71 71, R Bland (Eng) 72 69 67 72, R Gouveia
(Por) 67 71 70 72, T Fleetwood (Eng) 67 69 70 74 (50,735 each).
281 B Wiesberger (Aut) 68 70 70 73, M Ilonen (Fin) 71 68 71 71, G
Bourdy (Fra) 67 68 72 74, J Luiten (Ned) 70 67 74 70, P Lawrie (Sco) 67
66 70 78, J Carlsson (Swe) 69 67 72 73, P Larrazábal (Esp) 65 72 72 72 (32,370 each)
282 K Broberg (Swe) 67 70 74 71, T Jaidee (Tha) 68 72 71 71, S
Kjeldsen (Den) 70 69 75 68, R Rock (Eng) 68 70 71 73, P Edberg (Swe) 70
66 71 75, B Hebert (Fra) 71 70 71 70, J Campillo (Esp) 69 68 73 72,
283 N Colsaerts (Bel) 66 68 77 72, A Cañizares (Esp) 73 67 73 70,
284 E Els (RSA) 68 70 72 74, B Evans (Eng) 69 71 74 70, G Havret
(Fra) 71 67 70 76, R Kakko (Fin) 69 71 72 72, M Siem (Ger) 69 71 75
69, R Paratore (Ita) 75 66 71 72,
285 N Holman (Aus) 70 71 72 72, M Warren (Sco) 73 68 73 71, M
Kieffer (Ger) 69 68 76 72, C Shinkwin (Eng) 68 74 70 73, P Meesawat
(Tha) 72 67 73 73, J Cheng (am) (Chn) 72 70 71 72 (16,250 each)
286 R Davies (Wal) 69 73 73 71, J Lagergren (Swe) 72 68 75 71, A
Noren (Swe) 69 69 75 73, B Åkesson (Swe) 66 73 74 73, R Ramsay (Sco)
71 69 71 75, T Hatton (Eng) 71 70 69 76, L Bjerregaard (Den) 68 70 77
71 (13,504 each)
287 B Stone (RSA) 72 68 75 72, T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 72 70 69 76, S Benson (Eng) 74 67 71 75, B Rumford (Aus) 68 69 78 72,
288 K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 69 73 72 74, T Immelman (RSA) 68 74 75 71, R
Karlsson (Swe) 73 67 73 75, W Ashun (Chn) 73 70 73 72, T Pieters (Bel)
75 68 71 74,
289 H Porteous (RSA) 71 71 73 74, J Morrison (Eng) 70 70 73 76,
290 P Hanson (Swe) 74 67 75 74, G Stal (Fra) 74 68 71 77, A Dodt
(Aus) 72 71 71 76, M Korhonen (Fin) 72 68 75 75, T Bjørn (Den) 69 72 76
73, M Fraser (Aus) 69 72 75 74, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 72 71 74 73, N
Fasth (Swe) 71 71 77 71,
291 B Dechambeau (am) (USA) 73 70 74 74,
292 S Jamieson (Sco) 73 70 73 76, A Quiros (Esp) 70 73 76 73, O Wilson (Eng) 72 69 74 77, J Hansen (Den) 71 72 73 76 (4,692 each)
293 J Fahrbring (Swe) 69 68 77 79,
297 D Lipsky (USA) 71 72 76 78,
298 C Lutton (Sco) 68 72 76 82 (3,430)
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