Wiesberger’s ‘amazing’ win

AFP/Incheon

Wiesberger poses with the Ballantine’s Championship trophy yesterday

Bernd Wiesberger, ranked 170 in the world, showed a cool head to score his maiden victory on the European Tour as he ran away with the $2.9 million Ballantine’s Championship yesterday.The 26-year-old from Austria, competing in his 71st event on the Tour, never looked back after firing consecutive 65s on Friday and Saturday on the 7,302-yard, par 72 layout at Blackstone Golf Club, Incheon, South Korea. His four-under 68 yesterday was his third consecutive bogey-free round and he maintained his overnight five-stroke advantage with little fluster to hold off a charge from Scotland’s Richie Ramsay, who carded a superb closing round of seven-under 65 to get to 13-under-par. When Ramsay birdied the 16th he had pulled to within three of Wiesberger, but the Austrian, cheered on by his Belgian coach Philipp de Busschere, who flew in from Jakarta overnight, simply rolled in a birdie of his own at the 15th to re-establish a four-shot margin. “I can’t say I wasn’t nervous on the first tee box,” said the Austrian, who was a runner-up twice on the European Tour in 2011 but had never led going into the final round of an event. “But when I got the first shot out there on the fairway it was a bit of a relief.” Wiesberger didn’t really feel the tournament was in the bag until he stood on the 18th green with, as he put it, “a million putts to win”. “I know that things can happen and that things have happened. But I talked with my caddie and he said just try to play our game. Try to be aggressive and make birdies because these guys are going to come after us and they are not going to back down,” Wiesberger added. “So I was only sure when my ball was on the green at 18 and I had a million putts to win the tournament. That was when I kind of realised what had happened.” His superb performance meant that he had played 59 consecutive holes without a bogey since the 13th hole on Thursday.  Starting the week at number 170 in the world, he looks set now to move into the top 100 when the new rankings are announced today after picking up the largest cheque of his career, $470,000.  He becomes only the third Austrian to win on the European Tour after Markus Brier and Martin Wiegele. It was a remarkable feat for such an inexperienced player when Tour greats such as Adam Scott, Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and Y.E. Yang all failed to threaten the top of the leaderboard. British Open champion Darren Clarke didn’t even make it to the weekend after rounds of 77 and 72.    “To play the way I did this week is very special,” Wiesberger said. It was fun out there. Amazing. My first time in Korea and a great week.” Ramsay was the only player in the chasing pack to get anywhere near the Austrian.  “It was a fantastic day. I’m very happy with second place,” the Scot said.   Spanish veteran and Ryder Cup player Miguel Angel Jimenez, runner-up here last year to Lee Westwood, played immaculately from tee to green all week but could not find the killer touch on the greens which would have enabled him to shoot a low round and close on the leader. Jimenez carded a final round of three under par 69 to finish tied for fifth at 10-under-par for the week.  But he left a disappointed man after finishing with an expensive bogey six at the 18th which denied him a share of third place and cost him around $36,000 in prize money after being disturbed by someone in the crowd. He was tied by England’s Anthony Wall who, by contrast, holed a chip from off the green for an eagle at the last.  The extraordinary chip provoked an unusually wild celebration by one of the Tour’s quiet men, who with a single shot had increased his prize money for the week by more than $50,000.Avondale, Louisiana: American Jason Dufner birdied two of the last four holes to take a two-shot lead in Saturday’s third round of the New Orleans Classic in Avondale, Louisiana and close in on a maiden PGA Tour victory. A stroke in front of the chasing pack overnight, journeyman Dufner broke clear of a three-way logjam late in the day as he birdied the 15th and last holes to card a five-under-par 67. “A pretty nice round again,” the laid-back 35-year-old told reporters. “I got off to a really nice start there with three birdies in the first five holes, and that’s kind of nice on this course. “I was pretty solid, never was really in too much trouble. I hit a lot of fairways, a lot of balls in play and lot of greens or just off the greens.” Dufner came close to eagling the par-five 18th for the second day in a row after hitting an exquisite second shot to 12 feet but his first putt pulled up an inch short of the cup. The tap-in birdie gave him a 17-under total of 199 at the TPC Louisiana with Canadian Graham DeLaet alone in second after carding a seven-birdie 66. South African Ernie Els, a three-time major winner, birdied three of the last six holes for a 68 to lie three strokes off the pace with American John Rollins (69). Dufner, who twice lost out in playoffs on the PGA Tour last season, mixed four birdies with a lone bogey to reach the turn in three-under 33. Though he was briefly caught at the top by DeLaet and Rollins, he broke clear with his birdie at the par-four 15th where his approach ended up just two feet from the pin. Playing with his customary unflappable demeanour, Dufner safely parred the short 17th before tightening his grip on the tournament with another birdie at the last hole. “Right now a win would be great,” said the American, who has been a runner-up three times on the PGA Tour. “I’ve been knocking on the door with a lot of solid rounds, a lot of solid play last year at the end of the year.”