Paul Casey wins Volvo Golf Champions

England's Paul Casey came out on top after a thrilling final day's play in the Volvo Golf Champions tournament at The Royal Golf Club in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It was Casey's first victory in 20 months.

There were an incredible 23 changes in the lead during the final day's play over the Colin Montgomerie-designed Royal Golf Club course, but it was overnight leaders Paul Casey and Peter Hanson who ended up tied on 20-under-par with just one hole remaining.

Hanson, who had played superbly all through the tournament, found thick rough from the 18th tee then fired his second into the greenside bunker. He was unable to get up-and-down and that left Casey with a par putt to take the title. He duly rolled it home to secure the victory and to move back into the top-six on the Official World Golf Ranking.

"It feels fantastic - the most important thing to me is winning and that was huge," he said. "The goal is obviously the Majors, but how are you going to win Major Championships if you can't win regular events?"

Miguel Angel Jimenez was one of the players to hold a share of the lead during the final round, as were Johan Edfors, Darren Clarke and James Kingston. The Spaniard ended the tournament in a tie for second while the others fell away to finish tied sixth, tied eighth and tied 13th respectively.

Scotland's Stephen Gallacher closed with a 67 to climb into fourth place while Robert Karlsson of Sweden posted an excellent 66 to end the week in fifth.

Volvo Golf Champions The Royal Golf Club, Kingdom of Bahrain Jan 27-30, purse €1,700,000, par 72

1   Paul Casey (Eng)      67   67   66   68   268   €283,330 T2   Peter Hanson (Swe)   66   67   67   69   269   €147,590 T2   Miguel Angel Jimenez (Esp) 68 65   69   67   269   €147,5904   Stephen Gallacher (Sco) 70   64   69   67   270   €85,000 5   Robert Karlsson (Swe)   69   67   69   66   271   €72,080 T6   Johan Edfors (Swe)   64   71   68   69   272   €55,250 T6   Seung-yul Noh (Kor)   69   68   70   65   272   €55,250 T8   Daren Clarke (NIR)   69   65   67   73   274   €34,986 T8   Edoardo Molinari (Ita)   68   65   71   70   274   €34,986 T8   Alexander Noren (Swe)   67   70   67   70   274   €34,986 T8   Alvaro Quiros (Esp)   67   69   71   67   274   €34,986 T8   Richie Ramsay (Sco)   72   68   67   67   274   €34,986

Note: Player in bold signifies Titleist ball usage only

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