Spain's Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño won the Barclays Singapore Open at the Sentosa Golf Club after a rain-delayed playoff against Juvic Pagunsan of the Philippines.
The tournament was affected by storm and rain delays from the outset and it was eventually reduced to 54 holes. At the end of three rounds Fernandez-Castaño was tied on 14-under par with Juvic Pagunsan of the Philippines.
The pair attempted to settle the matter on Sunday afternoon through extra holes, but they had only hit their drives down the 18th before lightning forced them off the course. An attempt was made to restart the playoff but the lightning returned and it was decided to finish the contest on Monday morning.
When the players returned to Sentosa, Pagunsan struck first by firing his third shot to the par-5 18th to within feet of the cup. Fernandez-Castaño struck back with an excellent pitch of his own but was just outside the player from the Philippines.
The Spaniard tried for birdie first and narrowly missed. That gave Pagunsan a putt for the title. He too missed however, so they returned to the tee to try again.
On the second time of asking, Fernandez-Castaño was able to make a birdie and Pagnunsan couldn't match it so the victory went to the Spaniard.
It capped a fantastic comeback story for the Spaniard who has been plagued by back injury for much of the season. In fact, at the end of September Fernandez-Castaño had earned just €50,000 on the 2011 European Tour. But he performed well in the Spanish events through October and came into this tournament with a good deal of confidence.
"I could see how my game was improving and last month was amazing - sixth in Madrid, second in Castellon, 12th in Valderrama and winning here." Said Castaño. "It's down to my family and friends and my wife. In the six months I am sure I was a bit of a pain. For her it was hard, not being on the golf course and complaining for sixth months, so all credit goes to her. One other person I want to thank is my caddie. He has been amazing and stuck with me. He was calling me on a weekly basis during my injury and he said not to worry and he would be there waiting for me. The job he did yesterday supporting me was amazing."
With the win Castaño has moved to 15th on the Race to Dubai. In his last three events he's won nearly €1 million.
Barclays Singapore Open Sentosa Golf Club, Singapore Nov 10-13, purse €4,390,000, par 71
1 Gonzalo Fdz-Castaño (Esp) 66 61 72 199 €720,877 2 Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 66 66 67 199 €480,580 T3 Anthony Kim (USA) 70 66 64 200 €243,512 T3 Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 72 63 65 200 €243,512 T5 Danny Lee (NZL) 68 65 68 201 €154,844 T5 Joost Luiten (Ned) 69 65 67 201 €154,844 T5 Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 62 68 71 201 €154,844 8 James Morrison (Eng) 62 68 72 202 €108,131 T9 Justin Rose (Eng) 69 65 69 203 €91,696 T9 Tjaart Van der Valt (RSA) 71 65 67 203 €91,696
Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage
Where next? Australian Open - Chalmers wins, Woods third
