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Olazabal snatches title
with late birdies
Double US Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal produced a magnificent late
run of birdies to win the 700,000 dollars Hong Kong Open by one shot.
The Spaniard produced three birdies on the last three holes to finish on 22-under-par
262, one shot ahead of overnight leader Henrik Bjornstad of Norway and two clear
of Australia's Adam Scott.
"I have never won a tournament by birdieing the last three holes. You
don't finish with three birdies knowing you have to do it," Olazabal said.
It was a three-way battle all the way between the experienced Olazabal and
young guns Scott and Bjornstad.
All three were tied on 21-under-par leading up to the 18th hole at the par-71
Hong Kong Golf Club, but Olazabal won the day thanks to a superb approach shot
which almost eagled the 410-yard par four.
"It was a tough match as I was always behind. It was a tough day. But
I managed to pull it off with a little bit of luck and a well executed shot,"
added Olazabal, referring to his five-iron low approach shot which fell six inches
shot of the pin.
The 35-year-old, who won his last US Masters Championship in 1999, fired eight
birdies and a bogey to finish the last round on seven-under-par 64 and win his
second title this year. He won the French Open in April.
Scott, who had led for most of the round, saw his lead disappear under the
intense pressure. The 21-year-old from Adelaide began well, surging into the lead
with four birdies on the opening nine. But he could only manage one more birdie
on the homeward stretch and a poor tee shot left him with a bogey at the last.
"When Ollie finishes birdie, birdie, birdie, there is nothing much you
can do," said Scott, who shot a four-under-par 67.
Runner-up Bjornstad parred the final hole to complete a four-under-par 67.
He needed to sink an 18-foot putt on the 18th hole to force a play-off, but was
off the mark.
"He just came from behind and took it away from us," said Bjornstad.
Olazabal, who finished joint-second at the BMW Asian Open in Taiwan last week,
said he was playing the best golf of his life since 1994 when he won his first
Green jacket.
"I'm playing as well as I did in 1994, but it is not enough playing well
for two weeks. I need to keep playing well for 16, 18 or 20 weeks at a stretch.
But it feels great to win, especially in the way it happened," he said.
262 JM Olazabal (Spa) 65 69 64 64 (£80,170)
263 H Bjornstad (Nor) 66 69 61 67 (£55,246)
264 A Scott (Aus) 64 67 66 67 (£30,762)
265 M Foster 66 65 67 67 (£24,803)
266 C Pettersson (Swe) 67 64 68 67 (£19,836)
267 A Marshall 68 66 68 65, A Forsbrand (Swe) 67 64 68 68, M Pilkington 69
68 62 68
268 J Sandelin (Swe) 68 70 66 64, W-T Yeh (Taiwan) 66 63 72 67, S Dyson 67
64 70 67, B Davis 70 67 64 67
269 T Jaidee (Tha) 67 70 67 65, M Campbell (Nzl) 66 69 68 66, G Evans 70 66
65 68
270 A Pitts (USA) 68 67 70 65, T Levet (Fra) 70 67 66 67, S Yates 66 66 70
68, L-W Zhang (Chn) 67 67 68 68
271 C Cevaer (Fra) 68 69 67 67
272 M Olander (Swe) 68 65 71 68, S Lindskog (Swe) 66 70 68 68, T Wiratchant
(Tha) 70 66 68 68, S Scahill (Nzl) 68 67 68 69, D Terblanche (Rsa) 70 63 69 70
273 W-C Liang (Chn) 69 66 73 65, P McGinley 65 66 74 68, A Meeks (USA) 71 66
68 68, T Sriroj (Tha) 69 69 66 69, JF Remesy (Fra) 67 68 68 70, M Mouland 67 71
65 70, N O'Hern (Aus) 67 68 67 71, R Muntz (Ned) 69 65 67 72
274 R Coles 70 69 70 65, J Rystrom (Swe) 67 67 73 67, P Sjoland (Swe) 66 73
68 67, B Ruangkit (Tha) 69 68 68 69, M Cort 66 67 71 70, A Kang (Kor) 71 64 69
70, Z Moe (Myanmar) 66 64 71 73
275 B Lane 66 69 73 67, A Atwal (Ind) 70 69 68 68, J Van de Velde (Fra) 71
66 69 69, J Lomas 72 67 67 69, A Wall 66 67 72 70, A Singh (Ind) 70 67 67 71,
G Rosales (Phi) 70 66 67 72, G Havret (Fra) 71 67 66 71
276 S Ishigaki (Jpn) 70 67 71 68, P Fowler (Aus) 67 66 71 72
277 J Randhawa (Ind) 70 67 71 69, J Donaldson 72 66 70 69, T-C Wang (Taiwan)
67 69 71 70, C Williams (Rsa) 66 71 68 72
278 S Hansen (Den) 68 70 71 69, C Pottier (Fra) 68 70 71 69, S Dodd 71 65 72
70, C-B Lam (Sing) 71 67 65 75
279 P Del Olmo (Mex) 67 69 72 71, T Dier (Ger) 68 68 72 71, S Khan 68 69 71
71, E Canonica (Ita) 71 67 70 71, J Stewart (Hkg) 65 71 71 72, K Eriksson (Swe)
72 66 69 72, G Hanrahan (USA) 69 69 69 72, P Golding 69 70 68 72, G Rusnak (USA)
71 68 67 73, C-T Yeh (Taiwan) 70 68 67 74
280 V Bhandari (Ind) 70 69 73 68, A Johl (Ind) 73 66 72 69, W-T Lu (Taiwan)
71 68 71 70, D Zarate (Phi) 68 70 71 71, G-S Choi (Kor) 69 65 72 74, K Felton
(Aus) 69 68 68 75
281 F Quinn (USA) 70 69 71 71, J Hobday (Rsa) 71 67 69 74
282 J Spence 72 67 70 73
284 C Wi (Kor) 69 70 74 71
287 G Ghei (Ind) 74 63 79 71
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