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Jose Maria Olazabal coasts to five shot win
Jose Maria Olazabal claimed his first victory since the 2002 Buick Invitational when he romped to a five-shot win at the Majorca Classic on Sunday.
Starting the day one ahead at the Pula course he has been re-designing, the 39-year-old Spaniard ran away from the field with four birdies in six holes from the fourth and eventually finished with a four-under 66 for a 10-under total of 270.
Holder Sergio Garcia, fellow Spaniard Jose Manuel Lara and Britain's Paul Broadhurst shared second place on 275.
"It is a very special victory and the last three holes were very emotional," Olazabal said after winning his 23rd European Tour title.
"I am very happy because it happened on a course I've been involved with.
"I've been climbing the world rankings again by working hard and this is a result."
Olazabal's revamped greens came in for criticism the previous day but he proved the master of the putting surfaces when he sank a 35-foot effort on the fourth.
By the turn he had forged four strokes ahead and he went on to become the third Spanish winner of the event in the three years it has been played.
It was victory at Olazabal's third attempt in Majorca.
In 2003 he went out of bounds to double-bogey the 17th and then bogeyed the last to hand the title to compatriot Miguel Angel Jimenez. Last year he finished 10th behind Garcia.
Olazabal picked up $301,000 for his win and 250,000 Ryder Cup points. He is already one of the favourites to make Ian Woosnam's team for Ireland next September and return to the Ryder Cup fold after an absence of seven years.
"I'm moving in the right direction. It would be nice to get back into the team," added Olazabal.
Garcia's 66 propelled him through the field and his $201,000 prize edged the world number six closer to fifth placed Ernie Els.
Garcia can leapfrog the injured South African with a good result at next week's Volvo Masters.
The penultimate tournament of the European Tour season, with just the elite top 60 on the money-list playing next week's Volvo Masters, also settled the battle for tour cards.
Spain's Miguel Martin shot a 68 to move into the top 116, who are guaranteed cards next year.
Playing-partner Mark Roe moved up to 112th on the rankings and safety.
Briton Sam Little edged out his fellow-countryman David Drysdale for the final 116th place by just $650.
270 Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa) 69 65 70 66
275 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 69 69 71 66, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 68 69 70 68, Paul Broadhurst 67 66 72 70
276 Miles Tunnicliff 69 68 70 69, Simon Wakefield 69 71 67 69, Bradley Dredge 72 67 67 70
277 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 67 71 72 67, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 70 71 66 70, Matthias Eliason (Swe) 68 68 70 71
278 Andrew Coltart 71 73 71 63, David Park 68 70 72 68, Graeme Storm 70 71 69 68, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 70 71 69 68, Robert-Jan Derksen (Ned) 70 68 71 69, John Bickerton 67 71 70 70
279 Robert Coles 70 70 74 65, Christopher Hanell (Swe) 73 69 69 68, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 70 66 70 73, Soren Hansen (Den) 70 69 66 74
280 Paul Lawrie 70 71 71 68, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 71 70 71 68, Markus Brier (Aut) 71 73 68 68, Simon Khan 67 69 72 72, Stephen Scahill (Nzl) 70 69 69 72, Sam Little 67 73 68 72
281 Miguel Angel Martin (Spa) 69 71 73 68, Christian Cevaer (Fra) 72 68 71 70, David Lynn 70 68 72 71, Gregory Havret (Fra) 69 66 73 73
282 Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 71 71 74 66, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 73 71 72 66, Benoit Teilleria (Fra) 69 69 77 67, Alastair Forsyth 69 70 76 67, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 69 70 74 69, Jonathan Lomas 65 74 72 71, Andrew Oldcorn 71 71 69 71, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 68 72 70 72, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 72 69 69 72, Santiago Luna (Spa) 69 69 71 73, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 68 72 69 73
283 Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 69 70 76 68, Jamie Spence 72 70 72 69, Mark Roe 69 72 72 70, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 71 73 69 70, Peter Hanson (Swe) 69 73 70 71, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 71 69 71 72
284 Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 70 73 71 70, Mark Foster 66 72 75 71, Scott Drummond 69 69 75 71, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 69 70 72 73, Damien McGrane 72 71 68 73, Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa) 68 70 69 77
285 Ian Garbutt 73 71 73 68, Johan Skold (Swe) 71 73 69 72, Robert Rock 70 70 72 73, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 70 71 68 76
286 Marcel Siem (Ger) 71 72 77 66, Garry Houston 71 73 73 69, Raymond Russell 74 70 72 70, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 69 75 70 72, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 70 73 69 74
287 Niki Zitny (Aut) 70 72 75 70, Jose Manuel Carriles (Spa) 69 74 74 70, Alfredo Garcia (Spa) 75 69 73 70, Matthew Blackey 72 71 73 71, Stephen Gallacher 73 71 71 72, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 68 68 75 76
288 Nick Dougherty 71 73 76 68, Jamie Donaldson 73 70 71 74, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 70 71 72 75
289 Marten Olander (Swe) 68 71 80 70
290 Phillip Archer 71 73 75 71, Fredrik Henge (Swe) 68 74 72 76, Andrea Maestroni (Ita) 73 68 71 78
291 Ivo Giner (Spa) 70 73 78 70, Simon Dyson 77 65 78 71, Simon Hurd 69 74 75 73
292 Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 70 69 74 79
294 Gary Murphy 66 74 78 76
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