Larrazabal reigns supreme
Pablo Larrazabal won the BMW International Open by one stroke on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Germany.
The Spaniard posted a sizzling six under 66 to finish on 17 under for the tournament and edge Henrik Stenson by one shot at Golfclub Munchen Eichenried in Munich.
After starting the day five strokes off the pace, Larrazabal surged up the congested leaderboard with no less than five birdies on the front nine.
However, he faced stiff completion from Stenson, as the world number seven holed an impressive 30 foot eagle putt on the par five eleventh.
Larrazabal held his nerve on the back nine while his challengers faded away, rolling in a birdie on the 16th from 15 foot to go one ahead of clubhouse leader Stenson.
Chris Paisely was the only one out on the course that could catch Larrazabal, but the Englishman failed to eagle the final hole, handing Larrazabal his fourth European Tour title.
“I’m very tired,” quipped the 32-year-old on europeantour.com.
“I knew that I was in a good position, and I knew that I had to start very fast. I had to start with a few birdies in the first few holes, and I started very well.
“I think I was five under for the front nine, hitting the ball great – as good as I’ve hit it all year, and my putting was awesome. I made a lot of great putts. Coming in, it was tough. You have a lot of holes with a lot of trouble.”
Meanwhile, Stenson, who closed a scintillating 65, was proud of his final round which saw him finish alone on second.
“I hit some great shots and took full advantage of those two holes and thought if I could post a low number in the clubhouse, see what happened,” said the Swede.
“I came out there, hit some nice shots and took advantage with a good putter. There is not much to be disappointed in today. I had a long range chance on 17 that looked good and an eagle chance on the last, but it was a tricky line and didn’t get the read right.”
Paisley settled for third, while South Africa’s Retief Goosen was in fourth place tied with Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Carlos del Moral.
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