Bjorn triumphs in Johnnie Walker Championship following monster play-off

Thomas Bjorn was the last man standing following a nerve-shredding five man playoff for the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles.

The Dane’s final round 69 saw him set the clubhouse lead at 11-under par, and he was matched by South African George Coetzee, Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal – chasing his second European Tour of the season  - and Austrian Bernd Wiesberger. The fifth spot in the play-off was claimed by Englishman Mark Foster, who spurned a chance to wrap up first win with a bogey when a par would have been good enough to win.

Heading down the 18^th for the first extra hole, Weisberger was the first player to be eliminated after taking six to get down. Bjorn almost made birdie with his chip from off the green, but Coetzee, Foster and Larrazabal each missed putts from similar distances to one another for the win.

On the second extra hole, Coetzee found trouble off the tee, while Larrazabal found his ball in prime position. Coetzee, Bjorn and Foster each found the green in three, while Larrazabal ended up in the thick stuff on the bank; the Spaniard’s chip shot clipping the hole but speeding some five feet past the hole. With Coetzee’s putt coming up short, Foster’s putt was never threatening the hole, while Bjorn’s attempt also failed to frighten the hole. Larrazabal missed his par putt to drop out of the playoff.

Playing the 18^th again – it was the only hole used in the play-off – all three remaining players found the fairway from the tee, and each laid up short of the green. With their third shots into the pin, all three peppered the target area with Coetzee being the furthest out at just four feet from the cup. Unsurprisingly, each player holed out for birdies and it was back to the tee once more and the fourth extra hole.

Foster and Coetzee both found the rough from the tee, while Bjorn kept his ball on the fairway. Foster’s lie was borderline unplayable and the Englishman could only hack out back onto the fairway. Coetzee was able to advance up the fairway, while Bjorn laid up some 80 yards short of the green in two. Sensing he needed something special, Foster went for the green with his third, but his shot drifted to the right of the green and into more thick rough short of the putting surface, while Coetzee’s third stopped 12 feet from the hole. Bjorn again peppered the flag, putting his third shot to within 3 feet and he holed out for birdie. Not to go down without a fight, Coetzee also holed his 12-footer for birdie, but Foster became the latest casualty as his fourth shot sped 10 feet past the hole. Missing the return, Foster could do no better than a six.

The fifth – and final playoff hole – saw both Coetzee and Bjorn find the rough from the tee. Bjorn had the better lie and moved his ball up the fairway, but Coetzee couldn’t match the Dane and his third landed some 40 feet from the flag. Bjorn once again was magnetic when it came to his approach, again putting his ball inside 3 feet. Coetzee’s putt raced past the hole, leaving Bjorn to putt out for the win.

Scot Stephen Gallacher just missed out on the play-off, finishing with a 69 to close on 10-under par, a shot back off the lead while Swede Joel Sjoholm joined Gallacher in a share of 6^th place.

Frenchman Victor Dubuissonm England’s Kenneth Ferrie and Spaniard Ignacio Garrido all finished 9-under par in a share of eighth place, while defending champion Edoardo Molinari – in the tournament that sealed his Ryder Cup place in 2010 – finished a well beaten tied-22^nd on 4-under par.

Double Scotch for Edoardo with Johnnie Walker victory

Italian Edoardo Molinari staked his claim for a place in Colin Montgomerie’s Ryder Cup team in the most emphatic fashion, with a last-gasp victory over Australian Brett Rumford in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles. It is the second time Edoardo has won in Scotland this season, adding the Johnnie Walker Championship to his earlier Scottish Open success.

Edoardo, starting the day as leader and playing alongside his brother Francesco in the final pairing made an early statement of intent with a birdie on the second hole but immediately gave the stroke back on the next. Another birdie followed at the sixth, but back-to-back bogeys on the 8th and 9th holes threatened to derail the Italian as the challengers queued up.

The two Molinari brothers each held the lead during the round, but neither could muster the birdies needed to pull away, and they were joined briefly in the lead by tipster pick, Frenchman Gregory Bourdy. The Frenchman had started the day in a tie for third alongside another tipster pick, Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher. Sadly for the Scottish player, however, he never got going in the final round and opened with four bogeys in his first six holes to end his chances, while Bourdy started solidly and was level par for the day at the turn, before the wheels came off on the back nine with four bogeys in five holes.

Another tipster pick, Wales’ Jamie Donaldson finished from out of the pack to some aplomb to post the day’s best round – 69 – but will be left to rue a lapse in concentration at the 17th hole, which saw him three-putt from 12 feet for bogey when sitting at 8-under par. Then after finding the green at the par-5 18th, Donaldson again three-putted for par and wondering what might have been. The Welshman might never have a better opportunity to gain his first European Tour victory but can take some solace in a tied-3rd finish, to give our tipster another placed return.

Australian Brett Rumford had meanwhile been going about his business quietly and perhaps looked to have one hand on the title when he finished with back-to-back birdies to post a 9-under par target and take a two-shot lead into the clubhouse after Edoardo bogeyed the 14th hole. However, he reckoned without the Italian digging deep to conjure up a magical fightback, and after a par at the difficult 15th hole, Molinari went on the attack over the final three holes to card three successive birdies and wrestle the title out of Rumford’s grasp.

The other Ryder Cup hopeful, England’s Simon Dyson failed to play his way into Colin Montgomerie’s team. Dyson needed to win and hope Spaniard Miguel Angel Jiminez finished outside the top nine players. Neither scenario happened as Dyson struggled to a 74, despite three birdies in his final four holes when the pressure was lifted. Jiminez meanwhile played his way into what could be a final Ryder Cup appearance at The Celtic Manor Resort with a level-par 72 to take a share of third place.

Johnnie Walker Championship Betting Preview

The Ryder Cup will be at the forefront of many people’s thoughts this weekend, with the final qualifying event to make the team being played at Gleneagles.

The Johnnie Walker has attracted a fairly strong field, with some Ryder Cup hopefuls in attendance; but there are also some notable absentees who have elected to compete in The Barclays event instead and leave their Ryder Cup fate in the hands of skipper, Colin Montgomerie.

Read more

Lane wins Scottish Senior Open

Former Ryder Cup player Barry Lane turned the clock back at Fairmont St Andrews last weekend when he pipped fellow Englishman Gordon J Brand to claim the Cleveland Golf/Srixon Scottish Senior Open.

His victory, achieved in difficult, windy conditions, came 22 years after his debut victory on the main European Tour in the Scottish Open at Gleneagles. Read more

Exclusive Tournament Packages Available At Gleneagles

When the top European Tour professionals converge on Gleneagles for the Johnnie Walker Championship, Your Golf Travel.com clients will have an exclusive opportunity to take in the final day’s action and play the course the following day.

The August event is already entrenched among the most prestigious on the tour’s calendar, but as it represents the final chance to earn invaluable Ryder Cup points, the tournament takes on a unique Read more