England’s Ian Poulter claimed his second European Tour title when he captured the Moroccan Open at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam with a 15-under-par total of 277.
Poulter, who won the Italian Open last October on his way to winning the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award, shot a closing three under par 70 to finish two shots ahead of compatriot David Lynn with Australian Peter Lonard a further shot adrift.
Starting the final round with a four-shot cushion Poulter, who finished joint second in this event last year, pulled five clear when he holed a 25 foot birdie putt on the second to move to 13 under. But over the next seven holes he was unable to pull further ahead as a number of birdie chances slipped by the hole.
But Poulter made a decisive move with an eagle on the tenth, hitting a huge drive and then an eight iron to three feet, to hold the chasing pack at bay and never looked back. Over the closing stretch Poulter demonstrated his steely determination with a number of outstanding par saving putts to secure victory.
“Its fantastic,” he said. “The hard work over the past few weeks has paid off. That was probably as good as I have putted. I had to to stay ahead. I set my goals as two wins this year and possibly a place in the Ryder Cup team. I’ve won one and if I keep playing the way I am, you never know.”
Poulter earned 106,506 euro (£66,660) to move to 12th in the Volvo Order of Merit and also moved up to sixth in the Ryder Cup points list.
Fellow Englishman Gary Evans was the first to mount a challenge when he followed a birdie on the fourth with a magnificent eagle on the fifth, cutting a five wood round the trees to 20 feet and then holing the putt. But his challenge faded on the very next hole when his tee shot finished right behind a tree. From there he could only play out to the fairway and despite finding the green, three putted for a double bogey. Evans closed with a one under par 72 to share sixth place with Greg Owen of England.
Lynn took up the challenge, despite two bogeys in his first four holes, with a run of five birdies on his next six holes. Another birdie on the 13th and then birdies on the 17th and 18th took the 27 year old to 13 under par after a round of 67 but it was not quite enough to catch Poulter.
[1025361“I started badly but then got on a roll from the sixth through to the tenth,” he said. “I got my confidence back and got back into attack. I thought if I could hole the eagle putt on the last I might put some pressure on Ian but just missed. But it’s been a good week.”
Lonard, winner of two titles on the Australasian Tour in the past five months, also threatened over the back nine with three birdies from the turn followed by another on the 16th, but like Lynn came up just short, closing with a round of 68 to finish on 12 under par.
“I had a few chances,” he said. “When I birdied the 10th, 11th and 12th I thought you never know. I had a big lip out on the 10th which was important at that stage. I was five behind and needed something special. I thought we might put some pressure on Ian but then he got to 15 under and it was effectively all over from there. But it has been a good week. I've had four weeks off and this was probably better than I expected.”
Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher, supported throughout the week by actor Ewen McGregor who is in the middle of filming in Morocco, fired a closing five under par 68 to move to ten under par and claim joint fourth spot alongside Frenchman Thomas Levet. The 26 year old, who has not played for the past two months following the birth of his son Jack, found his touch on the greens to roll in five birdies on the back nine.
