Finland’s Sami Valimaki topped former champion Jorge Campillo in a play-off to win the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters at Doha Golf Club (DGC) yesterday.Trailing third-round leader Campillo all afternoon, Valimaki finally hit the front at the 17th courtesy of a seven-foot birdie putt. But the pendulum swung back to 2020 winner Campillo’s way as the Spaniard birdied the last to join his playing partner on 18 under par and take the contest to extra holes. Valimaki only needed one play-off hole to seal victory, as a nerveless birdie putt gave him a second DP World Tour title."Unbelievable. It’s hard to talk. It has been a long journey, it feels great,” emotional Valimaki said."The course played quite tight today. I feel like I played nicely, but still a couple of mistakes and you always get punished. The course setup and everything was really nice. The birdie on 17, I thought I had it at 15 and 16, I didn’t make those putts, but luckily I had that one. I work so hard. I feel like I’ve earned it a couple of times, but it hasn’t come my way. That’s why it feels so amazing.”Valimaki went into the final round one shot behind leader Campillo but found himself two back straight away after his playing partner birdied the first for the fourth round in succession to get to 17 under.And the 25-year-old appeared in danger of being cut adrift after dropping a shot at the sixth.But he responded with back-to-back birdies on the seventh and eighth, holing from around 15 feet on both occasions. He cut the gap at the top to one shot with an 11-foot birdie at the 12th, before pulling alongside 2020 champion Campillo with a 20-foot putt on the 13th, with the Spaniard narrowly missing his birdie attempt from 13 feet moments later.Campillo came agonisingly close to getting a birdie on the next hole but his 16-foot effort clung to the left edge of the cup without dropping. But no damage was done as Valimaki failed to take advantage from a little closer in. Errant tee-shots from both of the leaders at the 15th threw the battle wide open, with Valimaki among the pebbles and Campillo in the thick rough.While Valimaki opted to knock his ball back onto the fairway, Campillo went for the green and managed to two-putt from 40 feet for par, while the Finn surrendered a bogey after missing his 20-foot par try.But it was Campillo’s turn to find the rocks with his tee-shot at the 16th, and he made his first bogey of the day to sit alongside Valimaki on 17 under.Both players found the green at the short 17th, but after Campillo’s 13-foot putt pulled up just shy, Valimaki holed from seven feet to take the lead for the first time all afternoon.The momentum swung back Campillo’s way on the 18th as he found the green in two, while Valimaki had to lay up.With Valimaki only managing a par to sign for a closing 69, Campillo tapped in his birdie putt from close range to post a 70 and take the contest to a play-off.But Valimaki came out on top at the first extra hole, knocking in his birdie putt from around six feet after Campillo had missed his attempt.Jamieson wrapped up his card for next season with another stunning back-nine display at Doha Golf Club, signing for a closing 69 to finish in a tie for third alongside Nacho Elvira on 16 under.Jamieson carding five birdies after the turn to finish in a tie for third and move from 119th to 82nd on the season-long rankings to finish comfortably inside the top 116 and retain his playing privileges.That came just a day after he made eight birdies in his final 10 holes in round three to storm into contention.Qatar Golf Association (QGA) President Hassan al-Naimi was happy with the success of the tournament. "We are very happy with the continued success of the Qatar Masters with our partners in Commercial Bank and the European Tour. It was another exciting edition of the tournament which culminated in a thrilling fashion,” al-Naimi said after the presentation."We are thankful to president of the Qatar Olympic Committee HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani, our official sponsor Commercial Bank, and all the sponsors for their continued support. We are also thankful to the Doha Golf Club for hosting this tournament in a great fashion,” he said.Leading final-round scores(GBR & IRL unless stated/par 72)270: Sami Valimaki (FIN) 67-67-67-69, Jorge Campillo (ESP) 69-65-66-70 - Valimaki won on first play-off hole272: Scott Jamieson 65-72-66-69, Nacho Elvira (ESP) 68-69-66-69273: Jordan Smith 68-68-69-68274: Robert MacIntyre 66-66-70-72, Santiago Tarrio (ESP) 66-67-71-70, Joshua Grenville-Wood (UAE) 67-68-72-67275: Sean Crocker (USA) 67-69-67-72, Tom McKibbin 71-69-65-70, Matt Wallace 71-65-69-70, Jason Scrivener (AUS) 70-69-69-67, Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN) 70-68-71-66, Aaron Rai 68-68-73-66.
October 29, 2023 | 11:26 PM