Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño wins Italian Open

Spain's Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño fired a superb final round of 64 to win the BMW Italian Open at Royal Park I Roveri by two shots from Garth Mulroy of South Africa.

The tournament was on a knife-edge as the Spaniard and the South African battled it out toe to toe through much of the final round. The pair were tied on 23-under-par with just two holes remaining, but Mulroy stumbled to a bogey five on the par-4 17th to fall one behind Fernandez-Castaño.

Then, on the par-5 18th hole, Fernandez-Castaño found the green in two shots. That called Mulroy's hand, as he knew he'd likely need an eagle three to force a playoff. He attacked the flag but pulled his approach into the greenside bunker.

When the South African splashed out short of the pin, Fernandez-Castaño was left with two putts for the win. He rolled his approach effort to within two feet of the cup and, when Mulroy missed and he tapped in, the title went to the Spaniard. It was his sixth European Tour victory.

"It felt like match play out there and I'm delighted to have come out on top," said Fernandez-Castaño who won this event back in 2007. "It feels very special to win again. I knew it would have to be a low round to win today and so it proved. The putts were going in today."

Gregory Bourdy of France and home favourite Matteo Manassero both closed with excellent 65s to end the week in a tie for third.

England's Gary Boyd made an astonishing albatross two on the eighth hole, en-route to posting a nine-under-par 63. It was good enough to see him into a tie for fifth with Pablo Larrazabal of Spain and Ryder Cup team members Martin Kaymer of Germany and Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium.

BMW Italian Open presented by CartaSi Royal Park I Roveri, Turin, Italy Sep 13-16, purse €1,500,000, par 72

1   Gonzalo Fdez-Castaño (Esp) 68 65   67   64   264   €250,000    2   Garth Mulroy (RSA)   68   67   66   67   266   €166,660 T3   Gregory Bourdy (Fra)   69   64   70   65   268   €84,450 T3   Matteo Manassero (Ita)   69   69   65   65   268   €84,450 T5   Gary Boyd (Eng)      69   70   68   63   270   €49,650 T5   Martin Kaymer (Ger)   70   66   67   67   270   €49,650 T5   Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel)   71   67   65   67   270   €49,650 T5   Pablo Larrazabal (Esp)   69   66   66   69   270   €49,650 9   Rafa Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 67   69   65   70   271   €33,600 T10    Jaco Van Zyl (RSA)   71   69   68   64   272   €27,800 T10   Marc Warren (Sco)   68   65   72   67   272   €27,800 T10   Anders Hansen (Den)   70   68   67   67   272   €27,800

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage Where next? Women's British Open - Jiyai Shin takes the title