DOHA, Qatar — Former British Open champion Paul Lawrie chipped in for an eagle and a birdie on his way to winning the wind-shortened Qatar Open on Sunday, shooting a 7-under 65 to hold off the challenge of Jason Day and Peter Hanson who finished four shots back.
Lawrie finished with a 15-under total of 201 to win his seventh European Tour event and his second in Qatar.
The victory is Lawrie’s second in a year — he also won the Andalucian Open — after a nine-year drought. Now in the top 45, he could contend for a spot at the 2012 Ryder Cup.
“I played lovely all week. But today I think tee to green, apart from my tee shot on 10th, I can’t play much better than that,” said Lawrie, who also won the tournament in 1999.
“I actually felt I left three or four putts out there and got it around to 7 under on a golf course where the greens were pretty firm.”
John Daly (67) came in fourth at 9-under 207, with Sergio Garcia (68), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (65), Ricardo Gonzalez (70) and Soren Hansen (66) a further shot back in joint fifth. Fourth-ranked Martin Kaymer (69), Nicolas Colsaerts (72) and Victor Dubuisson (69) were a shot behind in a tie for ninth.
Third-ranked Lee Westwood (69) finished nine shots back in joint 12th after a rollercoaster round that included seven birdies but was also marred by four bogeys. He also apologized on Twitter for using profanity, tweeting, “Sorry about swearing on the 16th tee. Came off like a rocket and thought it was going further! Wash my mouth out! Perils of live tv.”
Lawrie downplayed his age, saying he is playing better now than he was in 1999 when he won the British Open.
He added that his putting has improved significantly in the past few months which has allowed him to contend at the season-ending DP World Championship and again last week in Abu Dhabi.
“You get a little bit older and you kind of lose focus but I actually feel the opposite,” Lawrie said.
“I feel I’m getting better. I feel my ball striking has improved immensely since I turned 40. So it’s great to win.”
Lawrie came into the final round with a one-shot lead over Colsaerts. He started slowly with only a birdie on his first eight holes but, just as several players including Sergio Garcia (68), were moving into contention, Lawrie sank a 20-yard chip for eagle on the 9th hole to go up by two.
He never looked back, even as Day (65) and Garcia continued sinking birdies. Lawrie ran off four birdies himself on a flawless back nine that included clutch birdie putts on 11 and 14.
When Hanson chipped in for eagle on 16 to draw within three, Lawrie responded with a chip-in for birdie on 17 to go up by four. He played it safe on No. 18 and closed out with a short par putt for the win.
Early on, it looked like Garcia might overtake Lawrie. The Spaniard opened with six birdies on his first 11 holes, including one on 10 that tied him for the lead with Lawrie. But then Garcia’s putter went cold on the back nine, starting with a missed two-footer for par on 13.
Clearly flustered, Garcia then missed a 10-footer for birdie at the next hole. He took himself out of contention when he bogeyed the next hole and finished tied for fifth.
“Obviously, when we got going nicely after 11 today, we had a chance of winning,” Garcia said.
“I needed probably to make three more birdies which was doable. Unfortunately, things kind of started going the wrong way and putts started not dropping and that ’s the way it goes.”
Day also started strong, with four birdies on his first four holes to move up the leaderboard. The 23-year-old Australian bogeyed the 9th when his drive landed under a rock. But bounced back with four straight birdies to close within two shots of the lead. But then he missed birdie putts on 15 and 17 to fall out of contention.
Day, who caught the golfing world’s attention last year with his second-place finish at the U.S. Open and Masters, blamed his putting woes for failing to maintain his birdie run.
“I played great golf coming in. I just didn’t putt that great,” he said. “I saw the leaderboard on 16 and I knew I had to birdie the last few holes. I just kind of ran out of steam there for a little.”