France’s Gregory Havret won the Johnnie Walker Classic on Sunday while Oliver Wilson, Justin Rose and Soren Hansen earned their places in Europe’s Ryder Cup team.
Havret made par at 18 for a final round 70 to win by one shot from England’s Graeme Storm.
But the Frenchman wasn’t the only one celebrating as English pair Wilson and Rose, plus Hansen of Denmark, earned automatic qualifying places in Nick Faldo’s team to face the Americans in Kentucky from Sept. 19 to Sept. 21.
PHOTO: AP
The race for Ryder Cup places was settled when England’s Nick Dougherty failed to win the tournament.
Dougherty made a great bid with five successive birdies around the turn and then another on the 14th, but he had bogeyed three of the first six and a three under 70 for eight under left him shy of his target.
Havret had a scare on 18 as he found a bunker to the right of the green but he managed to negotiate that hurdle for a 14-under, four-round total of 278.
Havret, who led at the end of each round, added this title to his Scottish Open victory last year. Swede Peter Hanson and former Ryder Cup player David Howell, in a welcome return to form, were joint third.
As for the Ryder Cup subplot Wilson, 10th on the points table as well as in the tournament, becomes the first player to represent Europe against the Americans without first winning a professional tournament.
■DEUTSCHE BANK
AFP, NORTON, Massachusetts
Canada’s Mike Weir birdied the 18th hole to grab a one-stroke lead over Colombia’s Camilo Villegas on Sunday after the third round of the US$7 million Deutsche Bank Championship.
A global showdown for the title in the second event of the US PGA Tour’s playoff series saw Weir stand on 17-under par 196 after 54 holes following a 4-under par 67 Sunday with Villegas another shot back after a bogey-free 63.
Spain’s Sergio Garcia and Fiji’s Vijay Singh shared third on 199 with South Africa’s Ernie Els and Americans Jim Furyk and Ben Crane another stroke back.
South African Tim Clark, who led when the round began, fired a 73 that included six bogeys in nine holes from the eighth to the 16th and he salvaged a share of eighth on 201 only thanks to birdies on the last two holes.
Villegas and Clark are trying for their first PGA titles while the others atop the leaderboard are veterans hungry for another title as they prepare for another playoff qualifier and the season-ending Tour Championship.
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