Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño of Spain survived a late stumble to win the BMW Masters presented by SRE Group by a single shot at Lake Malaren Golf Club in Shanghai, China.
Fernandez-Castaño looked to have the title sewn up after 17 holes. He held a three shot lead with one hole to play, but he found two bunkers on the home hole en-route to a hard-fought, double-bogey six. It was just enough for the Spaniard to claim his seventh European Tour title, the first event of the European Tour's "Final Series," and the winner's cheque for over €850,000.
"I knew it wasn't going to be an easy round, especially the way I started. I started hitting the ball pretty bad," he said. "But my caddie kept me cool and told me how good I had been hitting the ball through the week and I played fantastic after that. On the last I played too conservative and it was a fighting six at the end for sure."
Italy's Francesco Molinari set the early pace with a superb final round of 64. He reached the turn in 34 but looked to have lost his chance with a bogey at the 12th. But he rallied from there and made an eagle and four birdies in his last six holes to fire a 64 and post a four round total of 10-under-par.
That number was matched by Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee who closed with a fine 66. He and Molinari finished tied second, one back of Fernandez-Castaño.
Luke Guthrie of the USA was tied for the lead with Rafa Cabrera-Bello of Spain after 54 holes, but the pair struggled on Sunday. Guthrie carded a 71 to end the week in fourth place and Cabrera-Bello stumbled to a 73 and finished tied eighth.
Defending champion Peter Hanson closed with a fantastic round of 63 to complete an impressive comeback after a disappointing opening round of 79.
"I was playing with Paul McGinley, the Ryder Cup Captain, and I guess I wanted to impress him," he chuckled after the round.
BMW Masters presented by SRE Group Lake Malaren Golf Club, Shanghai, China Oct 24-27, purse €5,120,000, par 72
1 Gonzalo Fdz-Castaño (Esp) 71 71 67 68 277 €851,346 T2 Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 70 70 72 66 278 €445,158 T2 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 72 71 71 64 278 €445,158 4 Luke Guthrie (USA) 65 71 72 71 279 €255,491 T5 Thomas Bjorn (Den) 73 72 69 66 280 €183,269 T5 Pablo Larrazabal (Esp) 70 73 69 68 280 €183,269 T5 Peter Uihlein (USA) 69 75 69 67 280 €183,269 T8 Rafa Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 73 68 67 73 281 €110,560 T8 Peter Hanson (Swe) 79 68 71 63 281 €110,560 T8 Paul Casey (Eng) 70 70 71 70 281 €110,560 T8 Scott Jamieson (Sco) 72 68 71 70 281 €110,560
Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage
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