(Reuters) - Andres Romero followed up his spectacular bid to win The Open with another exciting display as the 26 year old Argentine took over the Deutsche Bank Players' Championship of Europe lead at Gut Kaden.
Romero's latest feats - a run of five birdies in six holes after an early double-bogey on the second - led to a four under par 68 that hauled him to eight under par, 136, a stroke better than Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez.
Reminiscent of Carnoustie on Sunday, though, Romero paid for aggression on his final hole, sending a birdie
attempt eight feet past the cup and missing the putt back to close with a bogey and halve his lead.
The leader, in only his second year on The European Tour, agrees that inexperience cost him dearly last
week. A double-bogey on the 17th at Carnoustie after he had gone into a two shot lead in the final round and a closing bogey left him third in The Open.
However, he has no intentions of changing his style of play.
"Experience is obviously something I'm looking for," Romero said through an interpreter. "But I won't change my way of playing. We are not machines. When I play a bad shot I'm not very happy but I keep going and hope to put it right."
While Romero finished only a stroke light of the Carnoustie play-off between winner Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia, Jimenez had to settle for a share of 12th place, five adrift of the play-off.
That was because of inferior putting, Jimenez said. So this week he tried out a belly putter for the first time.
"I saw that people had improved with the belly putter, Gregory Havret (winner of The Barclays Scottish Open) and Sergio included, so I started using it yesterday," Jimenez said.
"I don't know what's going to happen with it. But at The Open I hit the ball fantastic. It proved a pity for Sergio, leading for three days, and a pity for me, because I couldn't hole any putts."
South African youngster Anton Haig (69), winner of the Johnnie Walker Classic title early in the season, India's Shiv Kapur (67) and Swede Alex Noren (71) lie third, two shots off the lead.
