Australia's Brett Rumford eased to a second successive victory on the European Tour when he pulled away from the field to record a four-shot triumph at the China Open in Tianjin yesterday.
Australia's Brett Rumford eased to a second successive victory on the European Tour when he pulled away from the field to record a four-shot triumph at the China Open in Tianjin yesterday. |
The 35-year-old, who won last week's Ballantine's Championship in South Korea in a playoff, had a much smoother ride at the Tianjin Binhai Lake Golf Club as he surged ahead of the chasing pack with six birdies over his first 14 holes.
A pair of bogeys on the closing holes made little difference as Rumford carded a four-under-par 68 for a 16-under 272 total, four clear of Finland's Mikko Ilonen.
The Perth golfer's fifth European Tour title took him to the top of the money list, a huge leap from his 138th position a fortnight back.
"As with last week I'm kind of speechless at the moment," he said.
"It's quite surreal - it's the first time I've actually played the week after a win so I'm more than pleased. It's hard to get my head around it at the moment."
Ilonen, who won the last of his two European Tour titles in 2007, has to wait longer to end his drought after mixing four birdies with three bogeys for a final round one-under 71.
Ilonen, who finished ninth in Qatar and second in Morocco this season, cut Rumford's lead to one after birdies on the 10th and 11th, but two bogeys on 13th and 14th dropped him back as the Australian went on a birdie spree.
Chinese teenager Dou Zecheng put in another credible effort with a 73 that saw him finish the tournament in the middle of the field at one under par - the same as defending champion Branden Grace.
The 16-year-old amateur qualifier, the youngest player ever to make the cut in the tournament's 19-year-history, immediately set his sights on even greater glory.
"I want more. I want to play in Majors," he said, three weeks after 14-year-old compatriot Guan Tianlang stunned the golf world by making the cut at the US Masters.
On Thursday another qualifier, China's 12-year-old Ye Wocheng, became the youngest player ever to start a European Tour or OneAsia event.
Ye missed the cut by 14 after shooting a pair of 79s.
In Jakarta, Austria's Bernd Wiesberger snatched a dramatic win at the Indonesian Masters with a five-under-par 67, defeating Ernie Els of South Africa by one shot yesterday.
Wiesberger won his second title in Asia after totalling a 15-under-par 273 at the US$750,000 Asian Tour event.
Els, the reigning Open Championship winner, settled for second after scoring 68 while the overnight leader Daisuke Kataoka of Japan was third with a round of 70 to finish on 275.
Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee was fourth after registering 69.
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