Germany's Alex Cejka ended seven years of bad luck with victory in the Lancome
Trophy at St Nom La Breteche.
Cejka carded a closing round 68 at St Nom La Breteche for a 12 under par total
of 272 and two-shot win over Spain's Carlos Rodiles, France's Jean-Francois
Lucquin and Argentinian Angel Cabrera sharing third a shot further back.
Ian Woosnam's brilliant third round 65 had put him just one off the lead at
the start of the day, but the Welshman could only card a one over 72 to finish
joint 13th after twice finding the water which separates the ninth and 18th
greens.
The victory was Cejka's first on the European Tour since 1995, when he won
three times, including the prestigious Volvo Masters, to finish sixth on the
Order of Merit.
"It's unbelievable," said Cejka, who fled the Czech Republic as a
nine-year-old refugee with his father, travelling to Yugoslavia, Italy and
Switzerland before settling in Munich.
"It doesn't feel like seven years. I had a lot of chances through the years,
sometimes finishing second or third, but there was always somebody ahead of me.
"It's cruel sometimes but I have been working hard and been patient. I knew
it would come eventually. I'm very happy. I don't think I'm going to sleep
tonight."
The win and first prize of £150,000 was a timely boost for Cejka, who flies to
California in a few days time for the first stage of qualifying for the US
Tour.
"I'm very happy in Europe and having a two-year exemption now is very handy,
but I want to give it a try," added Cejka, who has a special affinity for this
tournament having proposed to his wife Mirka here several years ago.
"I want to try it three times, I missed out by two or three shots last year,
and if I don't do it after three attempts then maybe I can never make it. But
this win is more important."
Saturday's high winds had brought 19 players within five shots of the lead and
no fewer than eight different players led or shared the lead over the front nine
in the final round.
Cejka led on his own when he birdied the second only to drop a shot at the
next, but after a birdie on the sixth the 31-year-old was never out of the lead
again.
A birdie at the 10th took him clear of the field at 11 under, and as his
rivals faltered over the closing stretch, another birdie on the 16th gave him
the luxury of a two-shot cushion for the first time.
Cejka, who recently switched clubs and coaches and is now coached by former
tour pro Heinz Peter Thul, safely found the 18th green and had the luxury of
three putts for the win, but needed only two to seal the win.
Woosnam had been looking to warm up for the defence of his World Matchplay
title at Wentworth this week with his 30th tour victory, but could not reproduce
the form which saw him fire a sparkling 65 on Saturday.
His approach to the ninth span into the water separating the green and that of
the 18th, and by the time he found the same pond from the 18th tee, his chance
had gone with dropped shots at the 14th and 17th.
In the end the Welshman had to settle for an eight-way share of 13th alongside
compatriot Mark Pilkington, who set a new course record of 62.
Pilkington carded 10 birdies and one bogey, his closing birdie on the ninth
coming after his drive had been hooked onto the 18th fairway, and earnt a Rolex
watch worth £4,000 for the lowest round of the week.
Sergio Garcia, who birdied three of the last four holes to win by a shot last
year, put up a brave defence of his title but a closing 69 was only good enough
for a share of fifth place.
New Zealand's Greg Turner, playing his last tournament before retiring as a
full-time player to concentrate on his course design business, finished in style
with a birdie two on the last to join Woosnam in joint 13th.
Collated scores and totals (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 71) (x) denotes amateurs:
272 Alex Cejka (Ger) 64 68 72 68 (£150,000)
274 Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 67 69 72 66 (£100,000)
275 Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 69 72 68 66, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 69 68 71 67
(£50,670 each)
276 Thomas Levet (Fra) 67 69 73 67, Ian Poulter 68 71 70 67, Sergio Garcia
(Spa) 67 70 70 69, Gordon Brand Jnr 68 69 70 69, Steen Tinning (Den) 70 70 67
69, Paul Eales 68 69 69 70, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 68 69 69 70, Bradley Dredge 68
67 70 71
277 Mark Pilkington 70 71 74 62, Jonathan Lomas 68 69 70 70, Paul Casey 68 71
67 71, Ian Garbutt 68 69 68 72, Greg Turner (Nzl) 70 68 67 72, Simon Dyson 68 70
67 72, Ian Woosnam 70 70 65 72, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 65 65 74 73
278 Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 69 67 73 69, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 70 69 69 70
279 Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 70 65 77 67, Anders Hansen (Den) 71 70 71 67,
Eduardo Romero (Arg) 70 70 70 69, Jean Hugo (Rsa) 70 70 70 69, Mathias Gronberg
(Swe) 66 73 68 72
280 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 70 67 72 71, Dean Robertson 65 72 72 71, Fredrik
Jacobson (Swe) 65 77 71 67, Chris Gane 70 68 71 71, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 74 66
69 71
281 Gary Orr 69 69 74 69, Colin Montgomerie 69 71 72 69, Marc Farry (Fra) 71
69 73 68, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 71 70 68 72, Nick Faldo 65 74 68 74
282 Paul McGinley 67 69 76 70, Lucas Parsons (Aus) 70 69 73 70, Andrew Coltart
74 66 72 70, Des Smyth 70 68 73 71, Gary Emerson 71 70 72 69, Miles Tunnicliff
79 67 71 74, Steve Webster 66 70 70 76
283 David Carter 71 66 75 71, Peter Hanson (Swe) 69 70 71 73, Mark Roe 68 72
73 70
284 Sam Torrance 72 68 71 73, David Lynn 68 71 74 71, Markus Brier (Aut) 68 73
73 70
285 Warren Bennett 69 70 73 73, Brian Davis 69 74 70 72, Richard S Johnson
(Swe) 65 73 71 76, Sandy Lyle 70 71 76 68
286 Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 70 69 72 75, Christopher Hanell (Swe) 73 70 71 72,
Daren Lee 67 73 75 71
287 Paul Broadhurst 71 72 69 75, Gary Clark 71 69 74 73, Tom Gillis (USA) 65
74 75 73, Gregory Havret (Fra) 68 75 73 71, John Bickerton 70 71 75 71, David
Gilford 74 69 74 70
288 (x) Francois Illouz (Fra) 71 68 72 77, Roger Wessels (Rsa) 70 72 73 73,
Andrew Marshall 68 74 75 71
289 Graeme McDowell 71 69 78 71
290 Greg Owen 67 74 72 77, Justin Rose 70 73 73 74
291 (x) Philippe Lima (Fra) 70 73 70 78, Raymond Russell 70 70 75 76, Richard
Bland 70 70 75 76, Stephen Scahill (Nzl) 66 77 76 72
293 Nick O'Hern (Aus) 76 67 75 75
294 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 74 69 76 75
295 Philip Golding 72 71 76 76
298 Henrik Bjornstad (Nor) 72 69 81 76
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