Paul Lawrie wins Qatar Masters

Scotland's Paul Lawrie won the Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy at the Doha Golf Club by four strokes from Jason Day of Australia and Sweden's Peter Hanson.

In a tournament shortened to 54 holes because of high winds on the Friday, the 1999 Open Champion began the final round with a one shot lead over the field. He produced a flawless closing round of 65 to stay ahead of the pack with something to spare.

After a relatively quiet start to the round, Lawrie was briefly joined at the top of the leaderboard on nine-under-par by Sergio Garcia. The Spaniard had stormed to the turn in 32.

But almost immediately after the Garcia had caught him, Lawrie struck back with a chip-in eagle at the par-5 9th. From that point on he was never really threatened and he cruised home in 32 to claim his seventh European Tour title.

"I don't think I can play much better than that," he said. "I've been playing well for a long time and it's nice to come out when one ahead and shoot seven under."

The victory moves the Scot to 47th on the Official World Golf Ranking, securing him a start in the Accenture Matchplay and offering him a great chance of making it to the US Masters in April. It's the first time since 2003 that Lawrie has been in the top-50 in the world. He has also moved into an automatic qualifying spot for the Ryder Cup.

"If I keep playing as I am I will get in (the team,)" he said. "But there's a long way to go and I know as well as anyone there are a lot of good players."

Peter Hanson finished strongly with an eagle two at the 16th and a birdie on the closing hole to catch Jason Day, tieing the Australian for second spot. John Daly produced one of his best weeks in recent times to finish alone in fourth.

Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy Doha Golf Club, Qatar Feb 2-5, purse €1,913,171, par 72

1   Paul Lawrie (Sco)         69   67   65   201   €316,020 T2   Jason Day (Aus)         68   72   65   205   €164,688 T2   Peter Hanson (Swe)      69   69   67   205   €164,688 4   John Daly (USA)         67   73   67   207   €94,808 T5   Sergio Garcia (Esp)      72   68   68   208   €62,763 T5   Jean-Babtiste Gonnet (Fra)   71   72   65   208   €62,763 T5   Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg)      71   67   70   208   €62,763 T5   Soren Hansen (Den)      71   71   66   208   €62,763 T9   Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel)      69   68   72   209   €38,429 T9   Victor Dubuisson (Fra)      72   68   69   209   €38,429 T9   Martin Kaymer (Ger)      71   70   68   209   €38,429

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage

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