Sweden’s Niclas Fasth won his second play-off of the season when he birdied the third extra hole at Gut Kaden to defeat Argentina’s Angel Cabrera and capture the Deutsche Bank Players’ Championship of Europe.
Cabrera had one hand on the trophy when he pulled three strokes clear playing the last of the 36 holes required on the final day but he bogeyed for a five under par 67 to post the target of 14 under par 274.
Fasth was the only player on the course with a chance of catching the big hitting Argentine but he had his work cut out. Having already birdied the par three 13th to stay in touch, he then birdied both the 15th and 17th to draw level.
Although he pulled his second shot into the left bunker, he played a sublime bunker shot to within inches of the cup to force a play-off.
The two players returned to the 18th tee and, after both making regulation pars on the first two extra holes, Fasth finally sealed the title in style. Both players hit their approaches to about 12 feet but when Cabrera’s putt stayed above ground, Fasth held his nerve and found the centre of the cup.
“It is by far the biggest win of my career,” said Fasth, who wins €550,000 and moves to sixth in The European Tour Order of Merit. “I thrive on the pressure like I did in The Ryder Cup - it seems to bring out the best in me. I knew I had to pick up some shots in the closing holes but there are chances there and I managed to hole a few putts.
“We both played very well in the play-off and I just managed to win it third time around. The putt was a downhill left to right, and I said to my caddie it was exactly the same putt as I holed to win in New Zealand. It was perfect.
“It feels fantastic, of course. This is one of the big ones, and to get this is worth a lot to me. It's the first really big tournament I won, and you do feel like you have to prove yourself. I won a couple of smaller events. A win is a win, it's great, but this is really, really big. It feels great.”
Fasth’s birdie was in fact only the second of the final round with the 18th playing the hardest hole on the course. It was his second victory of the season following his other play-off win in the Holden New Zealand Open and third title in total.
For Cabrera, it looked as if he had done enough to add the Deutsche Bank Players’ Championship of Europe title to the BMW Championship he won in May as he pulled clear of the log-jam at the top of the leaderboard with a scintillating back nine that included five birdies in the eight holes from the tenth. But the bogey on the last, when he pushed his second shot into the rough, just left enough of a gap for Fasth to capitalise.
“I had a great week and played very well today,” said Cabrera. “In the play-off I missed the putt. That was all. It was tough – 39 holes. I got clear but when I made bogey on 18 I knew a good opportunity had escaped. It was never enough.”
John Daly delighted the German crowds with another burst of low scoring, following his 64 the previous day with a 65 in the final round but the damage was done with an opening 74 and third round 73. Daly shared third place on 12 under par 276 with Scot Stephen Gallacher, who closed with a 69.
With nine holes to play it there were as many as 14 players within two shots off the lead including Germany’s Bernhard Langer who moved into a share of the lead with five birdies in his first nine. But birdie putts on the tenth, 11th and 12th all refused to drop and he eventually finished in a share of fifth place on 11 under par 277 with Graeme Storm, Bradley Dredge and Peter Lawrie.
