2006 flashback: Fernandez-Castano wins BMW Asian in playoff

Even his idol, the legendary Seve Ballesteros, would have stood up and saluted Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano.

The talented Castano, part an exciting breed of Spanish golfers emerging onto the scene, pulled off some magnificent shots to drive away with the BMW Asian Open title at Tomsom Shanghai Pudong Golf Club in 2006.

The 25-year-old conjured visions of Ballesteros, renowned as a short game wizard, during a final round shootout with Sweden's Henrik Stenson. While Castano prevailed in the first hole of the play-off, it was a magical chip-in birdie on 16 during regulation which made the difference.

Faced with a prospect of bogey, Castano had 40 yards to the pin but with such sublime skills, he popped home the chip for an unlikely birdie and it proved to be the turning point as Stenson dropped a shot on the same hole.

“Winning the title is a great thing but when you see the leaderboard and look at all the players that I beat, it is unbelievable, a dream come true,” said Castano, who was the 2005 European Tour Rookie of the Year.

“The 16th was tricky. It was about 40 yards and it was a tricky one with the bunker in front and it was a downslope and the water at the back. It was one of those shots that when you hit it, you know it is going to be good – not that good maybe, but I knew it was going to be close. It was probably one of the best shots of my life," added Castano, who won US$300,000.

After Stenson and Castano finished tied at seven-under-par 281, the Spaniard sealed a second career victory with another delightful chip that set up the winning birdie at the par five 18th.

It was a bitter defeat for Stenson who had led since the first round. The powerful Swede was in cruise mode with a three stroke lead but the wheels fell off when he found water on the ninth for a triple bogey and opened the door for the Spaniard.

Stenson birdied the 18th to force extra time which proved futile in the end. "A lot of bad things happened at the same time really,' said Stenson. “If you get three straight birdies and you take a triple bogey, it’s not going to put you in a better position."

Colin Montgomerie of Scotland finished tied third with Jose-Filipe Lima of Portugal while the Asian Tour's best performer was New Zealander Mahal Pearce, who shared fifth place with English duo of Simon Dyson and Paul Casey.

Leading final round scores:
281 - Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP) 71-71-69-70, Henrik Stenson (SWE) 67-72-71-71
(Castono won the title with a birdie on the first hole of a sudden-death play-off)
282 - Jose-Filipe Lima (POR) 71-70-73-68, Colin Montgomerie (SCO) 69-74-71-68
283 - Simon Dyson (ENG) 72-71-72-68, Paul Casey (ENG) 72-71-69-71, Mahal Pearce (NZL) 72-72-68-71
285 - Terry Pilkadaris (AUS) 73-73-74-65, David Bransdon (AUS) 72-74-73-66, Paul Lawrie (SCO) 70-70-73-72, Peter O'Malley (AUS) 73-70-69-73
286 - Barry Lane (ENG) 74-71-72-69
287 - Brett Rumford (AUS) 75-70-75-67, Steven Jeppesen (SWE) 73-73-72-69, Christian Cevaer (FRA) 73-72-73-69, Ignacio Garrido (ESP) 75-71-71-70, Charlie Wi (KOR) 69-73-74-71, Peter Lawrie (IRL) 69-72-75-71, Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 73-70-73-71, Graeme Storm (ENG) 74-69-72-72

April 15, 2007

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