| Straffan,
Ireland, 23rd August 1998 -
Unfancied Swede Mathias Gronberg, playing with clinical mastery, crushed his opponents
and defied the elements at the Smurfit European Open on Sunday to win by a massive
10 shots. Gronberg
had won only one tournament in his eight-year professional career and plunged
to 108th on the 1997 European rankings. Sunday's successs rocketed him from 54th
to eighth place on the 1998 money list. Over
four days at the testing K Club southwest of Dublin, he shot rounds of 68, 71,
67 and 69 to finish 13 under par while competitors crumbled around him, unable
to cope with narrow fairways and poor weather. Only
six players finished under par, testament to the tough Arnold Palmer-designed
course that has been made even more difficult in an attempt to attract the Ryder
Cup to the club. Gronberg
started the day three shots ahead but was cool enough to stop for a typically
Swedish meal of salmon, potatoes and vegetables during a 40-minute bad weather
break in play just after he had finished nine holes. "I
was hungry. I missed breakfast in the morning because I was a bit disorganised,"
the ice-cool 28-year-old said. Little-known
American Craig Hainline started the final day just three shots behind Gronberg,
but the Swede shot three birdies while Hainline collapsed around the turn, hitting
double bogeys at the ninth and 10th to finish joint fifth one under par. Spaniard
Miguel Jimenez and Welshman Phillip Price shared second place, winning £108,000
each. Northern
Ireland's Darren Clarke, second in European rankings, finished two under in fourth
position with a round of 73. Gronberg
won £208,300 for his efforts and said he planned to buy a jeep with some of his
earnings. His
10-shot victory was the biggest European Tour triumph this year and one shot from
the record 11-stroke margin, held by six players, including Colin Montgomerie,
Vijay Singh and Tony Jacklin. "I
felt good all day, even at the start of the day. It was after I sank a 45-foot
putt at the sixth for a birdie that I really started to feel confident,"
he said. Early
morning players teed off in heavy rain, but the leaders began in sunshine until
play was suspended for 40 minutes when a violent storm swept across the course
as the leaders reached the turn. The
Stockholm player, who learned his golf on Sweden's windy, rain-swept west coast,
said the wet conditions suited him fine. Recently
engaged to an American, he said he had been considering trying to qualify for
the U.S. tour but the prospect of further European success might keep him in Europe.
Many of Europe's
top players failed to make it to Sunday's final day. Some did not enter as they
played in last week's PGA tournament and leaders like Montgomerie, American Payne
Stewart and Swedish holder Per-Ulrik Johansson failed to make the cut. Johansson
won the 1996 and 1997 European Open at the K Club and had hoped for a hat-trick
of victories, but could only hand the trophy over to a compatriot. In
the final rounds, German Bernhard Langer crumbled over two days, hitting 75s on
Saturday and Sunday to finish level on 288. European
number one Lee Westwood withdrew on Sunday with an injured hip
and said he would miss this week's BMW International in Munich. Clarke
could go top of the European rankings in Munich and said he regretted missing
a chance on Sunday. "Second
place was my goal. I've closed the gap down a little bit more and I have another
chance next week," he said.
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