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Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire, 17th May 1998 -Northern
Ireland's Ryder Cup player Darren Clarke scored his first victory in 20 months
when he won the Benson and Hedges International Open by three strokes on Sunday.
Clarke,
the joint overnight leader with reigning European number one Colin Montgomerie
and Italian Massimo Florioli, shot a five-under-par 67 over the 7,205-yard Oxfordshire
course for a winning 15-under-par total of 273. As
Montgomerie's bid for a first victory of the year faded on the greens, Spain's
Santiago Luna came through the field to claim second place with a 67 for 276.
Dane
Thomas Bjorn after a 67 and Florioli with a 71 shared third place on 277. Montgomerie
tied for fifth with South African Retief Goosen after a closing birdie gave him
a level-par 72. Clarke,
leader of last year's British Open after 45 holes rounds before finishing joint
second behind American Justin Leonard, fashioned his 125,000 pounds ($203,000)
success on three crucial birdies from the fourth hole. By
the time he played the 11th he had opened a four-shot lead, with five birdies
to go with a bogey on the third. "I
took my chances early on as I tried to establish a good lead," said Clarke,
who produced two weekend 67s to gain his third European Tour title. "Then
I played really solidly on the back nine. "It's
been a frustrating time waiting for another win because my game has improved more
than my results have shown. "That,
I think, was because there was one major piece missing in my game and that was
my attitude which had held me back. "A
lot of people told me that and at last it seems to have sunk in because this week
I've shown patience instead of trying to force things to happen." He
also credited his joint eighth-place finish - with Montgomerie - at the Masters
at Augusta in April. "That
stood me in good stead. I was patient at Augusta which is an unbelievably difficult
course and I brought that with me to this tournament," he said. Montgomerie,
playing with Clarke, putted badly throughout his round and any chance he had vanished
when he three-putted the 10th for a bogey. "I
just couldn't putt," said the Scot. "It's the worst I've ever putted
in a final round when I've been in contention and I've been in contention a lot
over the last 10 years. "As
my confidence on the greens went, Darren's grew." His
prize of 29,010 pounds ($47,000) hauled Montgomerie from 99th to 41st as he aims
for a sixth consecutive Order of Merit title. But
he is still 236,801 pounds ($385,000) behind the new money leader Jose Maria Olazabal,
who nosed ahead of South African Ernie Els. Olazabal
finished joint 11th after a 68 despite driving badly. "I
am just ashamed of myself the way I drove the ball. The last fairway I hit was
the third hole," the Spaniard said. With
Montgomerie never finding his putting touch and Florioli having a see-saw round
of bogeys as well as birdies, Luna crept in to second place. But
when Clarke ripped in a wedge to just 15 inches on the par-four 16th for his sixth
birdie, the title was his.
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