Niclas Fasth completed his own Spanish double success in 2006 as well as claiming his fifth European Tour International Schedule title overall when a composed and controlled final round performance saw the Swede win the Mallorca Classic at Pula Golf Club.
The 34 year old, winner of the Andalucia Open de España Valle Romano at the San Roque Club in April, started the final day in a share of the lead with Gary Murphy but steadily pulled away from the Irishman and the rest of the field, a final round 68 giving him a five under par total of 275 and a three shot victory over the 2004 champion, Sergio Garcia, who also closed with 68.
Murphy, who started the week in the 118th position on the Order of Merit – the last position of those who will keep their European Tour card for 2007 by right –fell away in the closing stages and a final round 76 gave him a three over par total of 283 and a share of 13th place. But the genial Irishman at least had the consolation of knowing that his playing privileges for next season were safe.
For Fasth, as well as moving up to 21st place on the Order of Merit, he also had the knowledge that he had become the fifth wire-to-wire winner of the 2006 season and, alongside Per-Ulrik Johansson and Jesper Parnevik, the third most successful Swedish golfer in European Tour history, the trio one success behind six time winner Anders Forsbrand and two adrift of seven time champion Robert Karlsson.
“To be a champion again has a lovely sound to it, I feel great,” said Fasth, who pocketed the first prize of €291,660 (£196,557) “I had an average sort of summer but over the past four weeks or so I have felt that my game has been coming together and it is fantastic to win again.
“Any win is great but, coming up the last with a three shot lead, I was able to enjoy the last hole which you don’t get to do all the time. It is never easy to lead but I felt good knowing over the closing holes knowing that I had a few shots in hand.
“I think the next level for me is now to contend a bit more in tournaments. Over the past couple of seasons I haven’t been involved enough in tournaments at the weekend and I think I have shown that if I can get myself into those type of positions, then I can win.”
Reaching the turn in level par 35 was good enough for Fasth to move into the lead on his own as Murphy began to fade before he grabbed the tournament by the scruff of the neck at the long tenth.
A poor drive negated any chance of going for the green in two but, after playing out from the scrub, Fasth produced a sublime third shot, a six iron uphill into the wind which landed a mere ten feet from the pin and from where he rolled in the birdie putt to move to four under par.
It moved Fasth three shots clear of the field before his main challenger emerged as Garcia who claimed second place outright at two under par at the 13th where he holed from five feet for a birdie two after a sensational tee shot almost found the bottom of the cup for an ace.
If there was a chance of Fasth opening the door for Garcia, the opportunity arose at the 14th where the Swede pushed his drive into the right rough. Faced with a treacherous approach shot, Fasth produced a stunning strike, a magnificent draw around the water hazard to within eight feet of the pin from where he holed for another birdie to move to five under par and three shots clear of the Spaniard again.
Garcia battled hard and had birdie chances of his own from within 15 feet on each of the 14th, 15th and 16th holes. But, showing the uncertainty with the pace of the greens which had plagued his challenge all week, each one stayed above ground and Fasth was left with the straightforward task of parring the final four holes for a comfortable victory.
Another Spaniard, José Manuel Lara, produced one of the best rounds of the final day – a three under par 67 to claim a share of third place on one under par 279 with Scotland’s Marc Warren, who closed with a 70, while Australia’s Peter O’Malley finished with a 72 to take fifth place on level par 280.
O’Malley could have shared fourth with Lara and Warren but he bogeyed the last. However, there was no damage done as the Australian had done enough to elevate himself from 61st place at the start of the week on the Order of Merit into the top 60 (in 49th place), thus securing his place in the season-ending Volvo Masters at Golf Club Valderrama.
The other player to move into the top 60 from outside was, ironically, Paul McGinley, who elevated himself from 65th to 53rd place after his share of sixth place at Pula Golf Club.
The irony is, of course, that McGinley, as defending champion, was exempt for Volvo Masters anyway, the Irishman’s elevation leaving Scotland’s Paul Lawrie as the unlucky loser, the 1999 Open Champion dropping down to 61st place on the Order of Merit and, therefore, out of the Valderrama action.
One shot behind McGinley in a tie for eighth place on two over par 282 was his Ryder Cup colleague Robert Karlsson who still has a chance to win The European Tour Order of Merit at the Volvo Masters.
Had the towering Swede won the Mallorca Classic it would have moved him to second but, as it is, he stayed fourth but closed the gap on the leading three – Paul Casey, Padraig Harrington and David Howell – and means that all four of the potential successors to Colin Montgomerie go to Valderrama with at least €2 million each to their name, Casey leading the way with €2,409,241, followed by Harrington (€2,191,056), Howell (€2,166,366) and Karlsson (€2,000,092).
It promises to be an intriguing final week.
