Colin Montgomerie shot a 5-under 65 Sunday to win the European Open after 19 months without a title.
The 44-year-old Scot, Europe's No. 1 eight times, had seven birdies to come from four shots behind to total 11-under 269 and win his first title since the Hong Kong Open in December 2005.
Niclas Fasth (67) of Sweden finished second, one shot back. Anthony Wall (65), Pelle Edberg (66), Peter Hanson (68) and Gregory Havret (68) were tied for third at 271.
Montgomerie sank 1.8m par putts at the 17th and 18th holes, and then had to wait nearly two hours to confirm his victory after an 80-minute thunderstorm delay. An earlier one had lasted 45 minutes.
"I'm thrilled with this success," Montgomerie said. "I must admit the last two holes I got fortunate. I made two good threes. This was a very, very important win. After such a dry spell you wonder if it's ever going to happen again. You do have self doubts. You wonder if it will happen and I'm so glad it has."
Montgomerie birdied three holes on the front nine and four on the back to win his 31st European Tour tournament -- one more than Nick Faldo.
"Someone who I have respected for many years and to have one more victory on the European Tour than him means an awful lot to me," Montgomerie said.
Fasth, who won in Germany two weeks ago after finishing fourth in the US Open, missed 2.4m and 4m putts for birdie at the last two holes. He had battled with the flu during the first three rounds.
"I played absolutely fantastic today and felt I gave it a good strong go," Fasth said. "I left some 8 or 10-footers on the edge and it didn't really happen today like it needs to for you to win a tournament. I just tried to pull through and I nearly got it done."
Also see story:
Second golf great presents trophy to South Korea's Choi
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Chris Wood has fired Nottingham Forest into surprise UEFA Champions League contention and now the striker wants to score the goals to help New Zealand make history at the FIFA World Cup. New Zealand are strong favorites to qualify out of the Oceania region over the next week and reach the World Cup for only the third time. At the country’s two previous appearances at the finals, in 1982 and 2010, they have failed to win a match in six attempts. With Wood captaining the side and leading from the front, he told local media yesterday that the current squad can finally deliver
Paolo Banchero on Sunday scored 24 points as the Orlando Magic overturned a 13-point deficit to end the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 16-game unbeaten streak with a gutsy 108-103 road victory. Cleveland, the runaway Eastern Conference leaders, had looked poised to extend their franchise-record winning run after surging clear of Orlando early in the third quarter, but after a season where they have staged hefty winning comebacks of their own, the tables turned on Cleveland in the face of a furious burst of Orlando scoring. The Magic outscored Cleveland 35-23 in the third quarter, with Franz Wagner leading the charge with nine points and
RSS