Justin Rose won his first European Tour title in 15 months yesterday, warding off a stubborn challenge from Lucas Bjerregaard of Denmark to win the Hong Kong Open by one shot.
The Englishman, who started the final round even with Bjerregaard on 15-under and a four-shot lead over the field, carded an impressive two-under 68 for a 17-under 263.
It was his eighth European Tour title.
“I’m very happy to get the job done. Last week, I had a chance to win in Napa when I was tied for the lead, but I let that one flitter away. I wanted to hang on to this one,” said Rose, the 2013 US Open champion whose last victory on the European Tour came at the Scottish Open last year.
“Lucas played incredible golf and I was thoroughly impressed. When you separate yourself from the field like we did, it’s probably a tough one for him to lose, but he didn’t lose it, it’s just that both of us played incredibly well,” added Rose, who has now won in every European Tour season dating back to 2012.
Bjerregaard’s attempt to win his first title was blown away at the 14th when he made a double-bogey to let slip a one-stroke lead over Rose.
Rose, 31, went two shots ahead at the 16th and despite a bogey at the final hole, only his third dropped shot all week, it was enough to ensure victory as the 24-year-old Bjerregaard failed to force a playoff and finished with 69 for a 16-under 264.
Bjerregaard, who had thrived on the back nine in the first three rounds collecting 15 birdies, failed to conjure up that same magic as he cracked under the pressure to make a bogey and double-bogey.
Rose showed his class and continued his remarkable knack for staying out of trouble, with only two bogeys.
The last time Rose appeared at the Hong Kong Open, in 2011, he missed the cut, but it was a different scenario this year with the Englishman leading from the second round.
Matt Fitzpatrick of England shot a 69 to finish in a four-way tie for third place with Lee Soo-min of South Korea (64), Patrick Reed of the US (67) and Australian Jason Scrivener (68) — all on 11-under.
Indian youngster Anirban Lahiri, who had started the day in second place, four shots behind, struggled to a 71 to finish tied for seventh along with Taiwan’s Lin Wen-tang, who carded a 67.
Pan Cheng-tsung also shot a 67 to finish tied for 13th two shots further back, Chan Shih-chang shot a 71 to finish tied for 35th place on three-under and fellow Taiwanese Lu Wei-chih was a shot further back after a 74.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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