By JOHN RUSSELL news@algarveresident.com
To the obvious delight of the many local and visiting Irish fans, their countryman Shane Lowry won the 2012 Portugal Masters at the Oceânico Victoria course in dramatic fashion after thinking he had lost his chance by bogeying the last hole.
Playing in the second last pairing alongside Richard Finch from England, Lowry started the final round on 9 under par and four strokes behind the leader at that stage, Austrian Bernd Wiesberger, twice a winner on the main European Tour this year.
Also in contention – until his final putt to be exact – was Englishman, Ross Fisher, who made a welcome return to form, but that vital five-foot putt required for a 14 under par total and a play-off against Lowry failed to find the bottom of the cup.
Wiesberger also challenged for the title but in an attempt to score an eagle by reaching the par-5 penultimate hole in two shots, found the water just short of the target and ended with a bogey 6 to dash his hopes. On the same hole, Fisher found the left rough off the tee and was forced to play short of the lake in two, but could only muster a par.
Lowry’s dropped shot on the 18th meant that Fisher needed a birdie to win or a par to tie, but his three-putt finish handed the title to the 25-year-old Irishman, who incidentally is one of the few winners on the European Tour as an amateur, having triumphed at his home Open in 2008 after a play-off, with runner-up Robert Rock taking the top money prize.
This time, however, Shane Lowry took home the winning €375,000 cheque, and after the result became apparent, he said: “I can’t explain how I feel now, to be honest. It’s a dream really….. I’ve won a big tournament, a prestigious event, and I’m just over the moon.”
Shot of the day
One of the deciding strokes played by the Irishman in the final round – and there was no doubt it was going to be considered ‘shot of the day’ by the TV pundits – was his 7-iron approach to the par-four 11th from 124 metres with the ball pitching close to the flag and popping into the hole for an unlikely eagle, creating a tremendous roar from the nearby galleries. A few holes later, he almost chipped in for another eagle 2 at the short par-four 15th, leaving him the simplest of tap-ins for a birdie.
The tournament marked a welcome return to form by New Zealander Michael Campbell, who had spent a miserable few years of loss of form and disappointments following his US Open and HSBC World Match-play Championship wins in 2005, to clinch third place on 271, one stroke better than Wiesberger.
As regards the Portuguese contenders, the 2012 Madeira Islands Open champion Ricardo Santos carded an excellent final round 66 to add to his previous ones of 72, 69 and 72 to finish in a tie for 16th place, earning him €26,591.
Portuguese amateur from the Quinta do Perú club south of Lisbon, Pedro Figueiredo, who plays for his Californian university team, scored a respectable 5-under-par 279, one stroke more than Santos, and Vilamoura’s Ricardo Melo Gouveia, who studies at Central Florida University and reached the quarter-finals of the US Amateur this year, carded 284 strokes to tie 60th.
Shot Oceânico
Earlier in the week the European Tour and Turismo de Portugal staged a unique stunt golf shot event, the ‘Shot Oceânico’.
Ryder Cup captain Olazábal, players Tom Lewis, Ricardo Santos, David Howell and local pro António Sobrinho sailed with a large retinue of photographers and TV cameramen from the Vilamoura Marina and anchored off the shore from Vale do Lobo to play shots towards a football-sized target aboard a small launch.
The swell caused considerable difficulty in keeping balance while hitting golf balls, but the players’ good humour was entertaining.
With dusk rapidly approaching, Ricardo Santos eventually produced a miracle shot that hit the target, with the 268th ball hit by the group.
Record attendance
As in previous years, the Masters was a resounding success with record crowds totalling almost 40,200 for the week, and the sunny, although at times breezy weather and generally fast greens kept the players’ close attention. It was a pity that Kaymer and Olazábal missed the cut, perhaps a result of their Ryder Cup heroics, although the other team member who was at Vilamoura, Francesco Molinari, ended equal 16th alongside Padraig Harrington who was well placed after 36 holes but could only finish with two level par rounds.
|| Leading scores
Shane Lowry (Irl) 270 (67-70-67-66)
Ross Fisher (Eng) 271 (65-67-69-70)
Michael Cambell (NZ) 272 (68-69-67-68)
Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 273 (70-65-65-73)
Richard Finch (Eng) 274 (70-68-66-70)
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