Luiten beats Wood to win Oman Open as Southgate fades

Joost Luiten of the Netherlands won the inaugural NBO Oman Open by two shots from England’s Chris Wood. It was Luiten’s sixth European Tour title.

Joost Luiten began the final day of the NBO Oman Open tied for the lead with Julien Guerrier of France and England’s Matthew Southgate. Chris Wood was a shot back.

Luiten started well on Sunday and found himself three ahead after four holes. But Chris Wood applied some pressure with a birdie on the 6th and, after Luiten suffered consecutive three-putts on the 7th and 8th holes, those two men were tied at the top of the board.

Wood continued to press on in the early part of the back nine. After getting up-and-down from sand on the 12th, the Englishman took the lead.

Luiten struck back though and he moved back in front with a birdie at the 16th. Wood dropped a shot at the 17th and Luiten parred the last two holes, finishing two clear and claiming the victory.

"This is why you play golf, to hold trophies," he said. "It's been a great week. It's always tough to win out here, all these guys are so good and they keep putting pressure on you. Down the stretch I hit some nice shots, I made some nice putts and it was a nice battle with my friend Woody. I need to win another couple to get into the Ryder Cup Team but it's a great start to the year for me."

With the win, Joost Luiten has moved to the top of the Race to Dubai standings and he has earned a start in the WGC-Mexico Championship.

Julien Guerrier of France finished in third place with Jorge Campillo of Spain, Seungsu Han of the USA and Alexander Levy of France tied fourth.

Englishman Robert Rock and Paraguayan Fabrizio Zanotti were tied for seventh with Scot Stephen Gallacher, Frenchman Benjamin Hebert and England's Matthew Southgate tied ninth.

Southgate started the final round tied for the lead but he fell away with four bogeys in the space of five holes on the front nine. In the end, he carded a 75.

NBO Oman Open Al Mouj Golf, Muscat, Oman Feb 15-18 Purse: €1,410,000 Par: 72

1 Joost Luiten (Ned) 72 66 66 68 272 €233,235 2 Chris Wood (Eng) 70 66 69 69 274 €155,490 3 Julien Guerrier (Fra) 69 69 66 71 275 €87,605 T4 Jorge Campillo (Esp) 73 70 66 68 277 €59,430 T4 Seungsu Han (USA) 70 69 70 68 277 €59,430 T4 Alexander Levy (Fra) 71 69 67 70 277 €59,430 T7 Robert Rock (Eng) 69 71 69 69 278 €38,485 T7 Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 68 71 70 69 278 €38,485 T9 Stephen Gallacher (Sco) 74 67 68 70 279 €28,362 T9 Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 72 70 69 68 279 €28,362 T9 Matthew Southgate (Eng) 65 70 69 75 279 €28,362

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage