Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championships

This week the European Tour heads to the Middle East and the Abu Dhabi Golf Club. Fresh from a winter break, golf’s biggest stars are going to go toe to toe in the season opener. Luke Donald will be looking to carry on where he left off in 2011 and tighten his stranglehold on the world number one spot; Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood will be looking to knock Luke of his perch and a certain Tiger Woods will hope to prove to his many doubters that he is back in shape and on course to resume his assault on Jack Nicklaus’ Major Championship record at this year’s Masters. Read more

Sergio makes it two-in-a-row with Valderrama victory

Sergio Garcia continued his rebirth back into the game’s elite with a gritty display to win the Andalucia Masters at Valderrama, beating compatriot Miguel Angel Jiminez by a solitary stroke.

After his demolition job last week at the Castello Masters, Garcia arrived at the venue where he has three-times finished as a runner-up, but made no mistake at the fourth time of asking; posting a level-par round of 71 to become the first Spaniard to win a strokeplay event over the course.

Jiminez had tied overnight leader Garcia early in the second round with birdies at the 2^nd and 3^rd holes, but found himself one behind his compatriot by the turn, after back-to-back losses at the sixth and seventh.

But on the homeward nine, Garcia first regained a share of the lead at the 11^th hole, before taking the lead outright at the 13^th when Jiminez made bogey. A birdie at the next gave Garcia a two-shot lead, and it became three when Jiminez dropped another shot behind at the 15^th before staging a late rally with a pair of birdies at the 16^th and 17^th holes to cut the gap back to one shot.

Another birdie at the 18^th hole looked likely when Jiménez found the fairway and then the green in two, but he left his 15-foot putt agonisingly short and Garcia, who had missed the putting surface at the last, held his nerve to get up-and down to claim a second successive triumph.

“It’s very, very special,” said Garcia afterwards. “Valderrama – I have so much history here and unfortunately it wasn’t as good as this until now!”

“I’m out of words. It’s been two amazing weeks. Miguel fought so hard and had some good chances coming in, 17 for eagle and 18 for birdie.”

“I wasn’t as good as probably the last 13 days, but we hung on and managed to pull through.”

Garcia now leads the points race for next year’s European Ryder Cup team and added:

“Ryder Cup years are always special for me, so hopefully we can make that team.”

Scot Richie Ramsay battled hard to match the two Spaniards, but will be left to rue a double-bogey five at the par-3 15^th hole which halted his momentum just as he was looking to get involved in the finish. The Scot eventually finished 4-under par to claim third spot – one behind Jiminez.

Irishman Shane Lowry and England’s Steve Webster took fourth and fifth spots on the leaderboard, finishing 3-under par and 2-under par respectively.

Garcia romps to easy Castello Masters victory

Spaniard Sergio Garcia turned the race for the Castello Masters into a procession, bringing an end to a three-year trophy drought over the course where he first won the club championship at the tender age of 12 years old.

Garcia, who last season was on the brink of chucking the game altogether as he battled with a loss of form, dedicated the win to the late Seve Ballesteros after posting a closing round 63 for a 27-under par winning score of 257 – a monster 11 shots clear of second placed Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano.

“That was for Seve.” he said after coasting to victory – a remarkable turnaround given he was 1-over par through 10 holes on the first day, before exploding into life.

Despite taking an 8-shot lead into the final round, Garcia made sure of victory with a closing round that included nine birdies and one bogey, to post his second 63 of the week – his other rounds were 67 and 64 – for the joint-third largest victory margin in European Tour history.

A day of low scoring saw second placed Fernandez-Castano sign for a 64 – which included back-to-back bogeys on the final two holes – that put him one shot clear in second placed ahead of Swede Alex Noren and Scot Richie Ramsay.

For Noren, any hopes of matching Garcia were smashed with a poor third round 73, but like Fernandez-Castano he also put together a closing 64, and did so with no dropped shots to close on 15-under par. Ramsay could have taken third on his own, but for a bogey on the 17^th hole.

South African duo Thomas Aiken and George Coetzee continued their fine recent runs of form with rounds of 63 and 66 respectively to take fifth and sixth spot on 14-under and 12-under par; Germany’s Marcel Siem a further shot behind on 11-under after a round of 67.

For Garcia, it is a long-overdue win, and it was only a matter of time before the 31-year old found his way back into the winner’s circle. In 2011, Garcia has posted top-12 finishes in the US Open, Open Championship and US PGA Championship, as well as narrowly losing out to countryman Pablo Larrazabal in a 5-hole playoff for the BMW International Open in Munich back in June.

The win pushes Garcia – a former Ryder Cup player – up to just outside the top-30 in the Official Golf World Ranking, after starting the week at 49^th. It is also the second time he has won the event – he last won it in 2008, while he has finished in the top-4 in three of his four appearances. It was his ninth career European Tour victory.

“I would like to thank not only my family and friends, but also my sponsors, everyone that’s around me, for supporting me through two tough years,” he said afterwards. “They have stuck with me and believed in me and I’m happy to be able to pay them back with this victory.

“At the beginning of the week there’s always a little extra pressure because you want to do well in front of your home fans and on your home course. But I felt really good and it showed. Hopefully I can keep moving forward, but there are still some things I can improve on.”

And although early days in terms of qualifying, Garcia could now be in the reckoning to reclaim a Ryder Cup place; his last playing appearance coming in 2008, while he was one of Colin Montgomerie’s vice-captains at The Celtic Manor in 2010’s European victory.

Larrazabal wins Spanish battle to lift BMW International title

The race for the BMW International Open became a battle of the Spaniards from mid-way through the final 18 holes as Pablo Larrazabal and Sergio Garcia fought out a real scrap for the top honours.

With overnight leader Mark Foster faltering, Larrazabal posted the clubhouse target of 272 following a final round 68 to close 16-under par, despite being 18-under after 11 holes. However, Garcia stormed to 19-under through the same amount of holes – including eagles at the 9th and 11th holes, before a mini-collapse saw four bogeys in five holes.

With Larrazabal carding two bogeys of his own on the homeward nine, it meant Garcia would need a birdie on the par-5 18th hole to force a play-off – and he got it after finding the green in two and two-putting.

And so it was down the 18th again and the first of three occasions they would replay the hole. Both men birdied the hole after both once again found the putting surface in two and two-putted. Both men then birdied the hole again, despite Sergio coming up short of the green and having to pitch onto the putting surface to three feet.

The duo moved to the par-3 12th hole; Garcia flying left over the flag to the back of the green, while Larrazabal was pin-high. Garcia thought he had the win in his grasp when his birdie putt lipped out to open the door for his fellow Spaniard, but Larrazabal’s own putt slid past. Another pair of pars were carded and it was onto the 17th hole.

This time the pair landed within 15 feet of the hole, but both missed birdie putts and it was back to the 18th hole, which proved the decider.

Garcia’s drive on the 5th extra hole flirted with the left-hand bunker but somehow stayed clear of the sand, while Larrazabal’s drive spit the fairway for an ideal approach. Risking it all, Garcia played a magnificent 3-wood that found the green, and he was followed in by Larrazabl, whose approach drifted right but made the putting surface. From a good 20-yards out, Larrazabal’s putt ran close to the hole to leave Garcia with a putt to win.

Garcia pushed his putt past the hole by some 4-feet, and he missed the return for a fatal three-putt and hand the title to Larrazabl who tapped-in for birdie and the win – his first since the Open de France in 2008, five months before Garcia’s own last win. It was sweet revenge for Larrazabal who led this same tournament 12 months previously with three holes to play before losing to David Horsey.

There was some consolation for Sergio, however, with his runner-up finish good enough to secure a berth in the Open Championship next month at Royal St. Georges. He’ll be joined by Larrazabal who also makes the line-up after losing out in a play-off to George Coetzee for the final qualifying place earlier in the month.

Both Sergio and Larrazabal qualify from a mini-money list run by the European Tour throughout the month, and for Sergio it keeps alive a run that has seen him play every Major title since the 1999 Open Championship at Carnoustie. Larrazabal pocketed €333,330 while Garcia earned €222,220.

England’s Simon Dyson and Swede Johan Edfors were in position to take The Open Championship places before the German event, but Dyson missed the cut and Edfors did not play.

Overnight leader Mark Foster finished in a share of third alongside George Coetzee, Retief Goosen, Scott Jamieson and tipster pick Joost Luiten, who carded a bogey-free 67.

Home favourite and world number three, Martin Kaymer finished in a tie for 18th playce on 9-under par, alongside defending champion David Horsey, Colin Montgomerie and United States’ Dustin Johnson as well as two others. Kaymer’s finish puts his number three spot in the world in jeopardy and he could be overtaken by new US Open champion Rory McIlroy when the latest rankings are announced on Monday.

Mark Foster claims third round BMW International lead

England’s Mark Foster takes a two-shot lead into Sunday’s final round of the BMW International Open after a third round 66 at Golfclub Munchen Eichenreid.

Foster – who hails from the same town as world number two Lee Westwood – is seeking just his second European Tour win in 278 starts and eight years. And he gave himself an ideal opportunity to win with a round that included just one bogey and seven birdies.

Indeed, Foster had played his second round bogey free and added the front nine of his third round to an error free stretch of golf before dropping a shot at the 10th. Four birdies followed as Foster posted a 14-under par total 202 for a two-shot lead.

Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal, who threw away a winning chance in this event last year after leading by two shots with just three to play in the final round, was among the group to share second place after carding 69. He was joined by joint-overnight leader George Coetzee, who bogeyed the last hole to slip into the tie. Larrazabal’s fellow Spaniard, Sergio Garcia also joined the hunt after a third round 64 – the best round of the day – pushed him to 12-under par.

Also on 12-under par were former Major champion Retief Goosen who shot a round of 67 and England’s Robert Coles who fired a bogey-free 65.

English duo Lee Slattery and Graeme Storm closed a further shot behind on 11-under, while young Italian Matteo Manassero was on 10-under par.

Swede Henrik Stenson had begun the day joint-leader with Coetzee but after ten straight pars the former world number 4 – now ranked 124 – dumped two balls into the water at the par-5 11th hole to record a quadruple-bogey 9. To his credit, however, he battled back to steady the ship and racked up a trio of birdies to close his round and keep his chances alive and join a group of players on 9-under par. Among that group is tipster pick Joost Luiten, who put together a 68 which included two bogeys.

Luiten’s fellow tipster pick, Ryder Cup player Ross Fisher gave himself a squeak at being in contention with a 68 to move to 7-under par.

Ryder Cup duo Martin Kaymer and Francesco Molinari are among a group of players on 6-under; they were joined by their 2010 skipper at The Celtic Manor, Colin Montgomerie. But there’ll be no successful title defence for David Horsey – the Englishman carding a 72 to close 5-under par, 9 behind the lead.

Foster has a tough task ahead if he is to win his second European Tour event and he has twice been in similar positions in recent times. Foster was three ahead at both last year’s Open de Espana and this season’s Open de Andalucia presented by Turkish Airlines, but folded to finish third and fourth respectively; those failures to close might play heavily on the Englishman’s mind.

Garcia, meanwhile, is also chasing a first victory in quite some time – almost three years – but also a place in next month’s Open Championship lineup. Garcia finished tied seventh last week in the US Open and a top-four finish here could see him claim one of two places available through a mini-money list that the European Tour has run over the past month.

Garcia, who made it into the US Open only through a qualifying play-off, has not missed a Major since the 1999 Open at Carnoustie but could still lose out on either place as Mark Foster could also claim one of those slots by finishing in the top-2, while a win would see Robert Coles take up one of the available berths.

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