Michael Jonzon wins Castelló Masters

Sweden's Michael Jonzon held off the challenge of Martin Kaymer and Sergio Garcia to win the Castelló Masters Costa Azahar by a single shot. It was his first European Tour victory for 12 years.

Prior to this week, Jonzon had not recorded a top-10 on Tour since December and, at 158th on the Race to Dubai, a trip to Tour School looked imminent. But the 37-year-old pulled a rabbit out of the hat producing a superb week's golf to claim the title at the Club de Campo del Mediterráneo.

Martin Kaymer, returning to action after a long lay-off with a foot injury, put in an impressive performance. Although visibly limping, the German pushed Jonzon all the way to the 18th green. The 24-year-old had seemingly played himself out of contention when a double-bogey seven at the 13th left him six shots behind the Swede. But Kaymer rallied with birdies at the 14th, 16th and 17th.

A nervous Jonzon made double bogey at the 15th then a bogey at the 17th to drop back to -19 and a tie with Kaymer and Christian Nilsson who was already safely in the clubhouse.

Jonzon's second to the 18th finished 20 feet from the cup then Kaymer followed up by putting his to just eight feet. But, Jonzon rolled his home to reach -20, the German's effort slipped by and the Swede had his first title since the 1997 Portuguese Open.

"It's been desperate for me and I am kind of speechless at the moment. It's unbelievable," he said. "It's going to take time to let this sink in, I guess. I'm just so thrilled to have a playing status for next year and I'm so proud of myself the way I handled these days."

England and Golf Monthly's Sam Hutsby finished in a creditable tie for eighth. He briefly led the tournament after holing his approach shot to the first but the 20-year-old fell away after that. It was just his third European Tour start as a professional.

Castelló Masters Costa Azahar Club de Campo del Mediterráneo, Castellon, Spain Oct 22-25, purse €2,000,000, par 71

1    Michael Jonzon (Swe)    64    68    65    67    264    €333,330 T2    Martin Kaymer (Ger)    63    67    68    67    265    €173,710 T2    Christian Nilsson (Swe)    69    66    65    65    265    €173,710 4    Sergio Garcia (Esp)    63    68    67    69    267    €100,000 5    Maarten Lafeber (Ned)    71    67    64    66    268    €84,800 T6    Robert Allenby (Aus)    64    66    71    68    269    €65,000 T6    Soren Hansen (Den)    70    68    65    66    269    €65,000 T8    Darren Clarke (NIR)    68    70    67    65    270    €42,900 T8    Andrew Coltart (Sco)    70    64    69    67    270    €42,900 T8    Peter Hanson (Swe)    66    68    66    70    270    €42,900 T8    Sam Hutsby (Eng)    65    68    66    71    270    €42,900

Player scores listed in bold signifies Titleist ball usage only

Where next?

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