Henrik Stenson won his tenth European Tour title as he held his nerve down the stretch to claim a three-shot victory at the BMW International Open at Golf Club Gut Lärchenhof. India’s SSP Chawrasia ended the week in T50 after finishing even par overall. He shot 73 in the final round.
The Swede had to tackle 36 holes on Sunday after rain delays prevented him from taking to the course on day three and he signed for a third-round 67 in the morning to open up a one-shot lead.
He made three bogeys in five holes from the sixth in round four; though; and when South Africa’s Darren Fichardt made a third birdie of the day on the 13th; the lead was shared.
But Stenson had birdied all four of the par fives in the morning and he took advantage of the 13th and 15th again before driving the 17th for another birdie and a 17 under total.
“I’m delighted; I came close here the last two years so it feels pretty special to get my hands on the trophy again. It was hairy all the way; it was a tough one. I had to dig deep to come back. I didn’t play well on the front nine; made a couple of mistakes; got caught out by the wind a few times and missed one or two putts I should have made as well.
“I felt like I was starting to make a bit of a mess of it and then I came back and made the birdies on the par fives. I made some good putts closing out. I really feel like I played well in 2015 and I just couldn’t get my hands on a trophy. It was a bit hard at times but you’ve just got to keep on trying and put yourself in position. I did that once again and this time I managed to go all the way.”, said the title winner Henrik Stenson.
The victory is a fifth top-six finish in eight European Tour events this season and could move him up to fifth in the Official World Golf Ranking just a week after he had to withdraw from the US Open through injury.
It is also a second win in this event following his triumph in 2006 and a case of third time lucky after finishing in second place the past two seasons.
Dane Thorbjørn Olesen finished tied second with Fichardt at 14 under; with Frenchman Raphaël Jacquelin three shots further back in fourth place.
Round four scores:
271 H Stenson (Swe) 68 65 67 71;
274 T Olesen (Den) 67 67 67 73; D Fichardt (RSA) 68 69 68 69;
277 R Jacquelin (Fra) 65 68 72 72;
278 K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 69 64 74 71; S Garcia (Esp) 71 68 70 69;
279 D Horsey (Eng) 73 70 66 70; B Wiesberger (Aut) 68 70 70 71;
280 R Dinwiddie (Eng) 69 73 69 69; G Storm (Eng) 69 70 71 70; M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 69 69 67 75; P Larrazábal (Esp) 68 69 72 71;
281 L Slattery (Eng) 74 68 71 68; P Dunne (Irl) 69 71 70 71; M Manassero (Ita) 72 67 73 69;
282 B Ritthammer (Ger) 71 69 70 72; F Zanotti (Par) 71 71 73 67; F Aguilar (Chi) 67 70 74 71; M Korhonen (Fin) 71 72 74 65; J Luiten (Ned) 70 67 73 72;
283 Z Lombard (RSA) 67 68 71 77; A Sullivan (Eng) 71 69 70 73; N Bertasio (Ita) 70 71 70 72; M Fraser (Aus) 69 72 70 72; Y Yang (Kor) 74 69 67 73; P Hanson (Swe) 71 70 73 69; J Carlsson (Swe) 70 68 75 70;
284 R Fisher (Eng) 73 68 70 73; M Carlsson (Swe) 68 72 71 73; D Lipsky (USA) 70 73 74 67; R Karlsson (Swe) 72 70 74 68; B Dredge (Wal) 69 73 71 71;
285 O Fisher (Eng) 66 75 71 73; D Brooks (Eng) 75 68 71 71; J Hansen (Den) 71 71 72 71; B Stone (RSA) 70 72 74 69; S Manley (Wal) 71 69 74 71;
286 J Van Zyl (RSA) 71 68 73 74; C Berardo (Fra) 71 69 69 77; R Kakko (Fin) 68 75 74 69; J Knutzon (USA) 72 71 72 71; F Laporta (Ita) 72 69 73 72; T Jaidee (Tha) 69 71 73 73; C Hanson (Eng) 72 70 75 69;
287 R Gouveia (Por) 74 68 71 74; C Lee (Sco) 70 69 75 73; L Nemecz (Aut) 74 69 72 72; R Bland (Eng) 71 68 73 75; A Cejka (Ger) 72 71 72 72;
288 C Shinkwin (Eng) 75 68 71 74; S Chawrasia (Ind) 70 72 73 73;
289 E Molinari (Ita) 73 70 72 74; P Meesawat (Tha) 69 74 73 73; A McArthur (Sco) 71 71 70 77; M Foster (Eng) 74 69 74 72;
290 A Hansen (Den) 70 68 73 79; R Ramsay (Sco) 71 71 73 75; J Paul (am) (Ger) 72 70 74 74;
291 N Cullen (Aus) 72 69 75 75; B Hebert (Fra) 77 64 73 77; J Winther (Den) 68 71 78 74; A Wall (Eng) 70 69 78 74;
292 R Echenique (Arg) 70 71 75 76; A Cañizares (Esp) 75 68 74 75;
293 N Elvira (Esp) 70 73 74 76; T Lewis (Eng) 71 69 75 78; R McGowan (Eng) 68 72 74 79; T Bjørn (Den) 70 73 76 74;
294 M Ilonen (Fin) 71 72 82 69;
298 S Jamieson (Sco) 69 74 74 81;
301 B Virto (Esp) 73 69 86 73;
– European Tour Release
