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LONDON: Ross Fisher completed a brilliant week with a wire-to-wire
victory in the European Open at the London Club on Sunday.
The 27-year-old Englishman, all but assured of
victory as he walked down the final fairway, finished in fairytale
fashion as he chipped in from a greenside bunker on the 18th for a
20-under par total of 268, seven shots ahead of second-placed
Spaniard Sergio Garcia.
It set the seal on a memorable few days for
Fisher who, not content with qualifying for the British Open at
Royal Birkdale later this month, followed up with a course record 63
in the first round of this event having never played the London Club
before.
Fisher’s victory moves him from 21st to 11th
place in the Ryder Cup standings and on the verge of becoming an
automatic pick for Nick Faldo’s European team to play the US.
“Just a great week,” said Fisher. “I felt
really calm all day, very composed, comfy with my game.”
For Fisher, victory banished a couple of golfing
demons. In November he led the HSBC Champions event in Shanghai by
one shot with one to play with his closest challenger, Phil
Mickelson, in the water on the last.
But Fisher chipped beyond the green and into the
lake. He took a double-bogey seven and then lost a play-off.
He had previously been in contention to win the
PGA Championship on his Wentworth home course in southern England as
joint leader with a round to play only to then card a closing 84.
Nothern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell took third
place despite a closing 73. But that still left him in the 10th and
final automatic Ryder Cup place.
Veteran South African David Frost was a fourth a
- finish that saw the 48-year-old take the British Open exemption
spot on offer at this tournament.
-- AFP
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