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 GOLF EUROPEAN TOUR 2008
Picture Jimenez celebrates his victory.

JIMENEZ TAKES HONG KONG GLORY

By Andrew Mullen, PA Sport, Hong Kong

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Miguel Angel Jimenez graciously accepted his second Hong Kong Open title in four years after claiming a thrilling final-hole victory over Robert Karlsson as a European Tour event produced a dramatic climax for the second successive week.

Following Phil Mickelson's play-off victory at the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai, Jimenez held his nerve after missing two putts on the 18th green to finish with a bogey which still gave him a one-stroke victory with a 15-under-par total.

Overnight leader Karlsson stumbled to a two-over-par 72 - undone by a double-bogey at the last - which allowed Jimenez to overtake him with a 67 and relegated the Swede to second place alongside Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee and Korea's KJ Choi.

The Spaniard's first victory at Fanling in 2004 also featured a last-hole drama when South Africa's James Kingston, tied for the lead, hooked his tee shot into the trees and out of bounds.

"It's very nice to win a tournament again, I played well throughout the week and I am very pleased," said Jimenez, who claimed his 14th European Tour title and first since the Celtic Manor Wales Open in June 2005.

"The only down part is I feel for Robert, with the way it finished after he played so good all the week. He had a double at the last and it's not the best way to finish.

"It's always a special feeling when you win a tournament and it has been a long time.

"It proves to me the ball is still going the right way and it's still there. I don't know what I did better this week, I just hit it close and holed some more putts, that's what you have to do to win tournaments.

"But when you are around the leaders you have a chance to win and this time it happened.

"I said sorry to Robert on the last green for the way he played the last hole. He played so well all through the week, he was on the leaderboard all through the week to the last hole. He's a good player, a top class player, but you have only one winner."

Karlsson held a four-stroke lead at the start of the final round after dominating the field with back-to-back bogey-free 64s and a third-round 66.

But the curse of the final hole at the Hong Kong Golf Club returned to rob the Swede of his eighth European Tour victory.

He had maintained his four-stroke lead at the turn as both he and Jimenez played the opening nine holes in level par before the Spaniard cut the deficit with a birdie at the 12th.

The lead was down to two a hole later as Jimenez bettered Karlsson's birdie with a crucial eagle three before the Swede's bogey at 15 and Jimenez's birdie a hole later left both at 16-under.

Karlsson's approach to the last came up short and his chip up the bank failed to make the putting surface, leaving him with a five-foot bogey putt.

However, Jimenez failed to get down in two from 20 feet to give Karlsson a chance of a play-off but the Ryder Cup winner missed his attempt and Jimenez tapped in for the title.

"On the 18th we were right in between clubs and I wanted to hit it really close," said Karlsson of his poor approach.

"But I would never expect Miguel to three-putt. Miguel hit a lot of good putts.

"A couple of decisions at the end of the day cost me, but I don't think I would have done anything differently. End of the day, he beat me fair and square."

Collated final round scores & totals in the European tour, UBS Hong Kong Open, Hong Kong GC, Hong Kong, Hong Kong:

(Gbr&Irl unless stated, Par 70) (x) denotes amateurs

265 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 65 67 66 67

266 Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 66 67 68 65, KJ Choi (Kor) 62 72 65 67, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 64 64 66 72

267 Peter Hanson (Swe) 68 66 65 68

269 Graeme McDowell 67 66 68 68

270 Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 71 62 70 67, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 69 64 68 69, Gary Simpson (Aus) 69 67 65 69, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 66 68 66 70, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 67 68 64 71

271 Mike Weir (Can) 69 64 67 71, Scott Strange (Aus) 66 68 66 71, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 67 67 65 72

272 Robert-Jan Derksen (Ned) 72 67 68 65, Garry Houston 63 71 71 67, Simon Dyson 68 65 70 69, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 69 68 66 69, Liang Wen-chong (Chn) 68 66 68 70

273 Anders Hansen (Den) 67 70 68 68, Prom Meesawat (Tha) 68 70 67 68, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 69 66 68 70, Christian Cevaer (Fra) 70 65 68 70, Damien McGrane 69 66 67 71, Charlie Wi (Kor) 67 68 67 71

274 Kang Wook-soon (Kor) 65 70 71 68, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 68 67 68 71, Gary Murphy 66 70 66 72

275 Francesco Molinaria (Ita) 68 69 69 69, Marcus Brier (Aut) 68 68 69 70, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 70 65 68 72

276 Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 67 68 71 70, SSP Chowrasia (Ind) 69 67 70 70, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 66 71 68 71, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 71 67 64 74

277 Wang Ter-chang (Tpe) 70 68 71 68, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 72 67 70 68, Jamie Donalson 69 68 68 72, Keith Horne (Rsa) 67 68 68 74

278 Frankie Minoza (Phi) 69 69 70 70, Fredrik Andersson-Hed (Swe) 64 71 71 72,Gary Orr 67 68 70 73, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 70 68 67 73, Mahal Pearce (Nzl) 68 70 66 74

279 Mardan Mamat (Sin) 69 68 71 71, Bryan Saltus (USA) 68 65 72 74

280 Lee Sung (Kor) 66 71 73 70, Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 66 71 73 70, Tony Lascuna (Phi) 68 69 68 75

281 Paul McGinley 68 70 72 71, Zhang Lian-wei (Chn) 70 68 7 72, Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 70 67 71 73, Lu Wei Chih (Tpe) 68 71 67 75, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 68 65 70 78

282 Clay Devers (USA) 70 68 73 71, Anthony Kang (USA) 66 70 74 72, Jason Knutzon (USA) 67 69 74 72, Thomas Bjorn (Swe) 68 71 71 72, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 68 66 73 75

283 Nick Faldo 68 71 72 72, Rahil Ganjee (Ind) 71 68 69 75, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 67 70 70 76, Adam Groom (Aus) 70 69 67 77

284 Gregory Havret (Fra) 66 73 72 73

285 Barry Hume 65 68 74 78

286 David Howell 72 66 74 74

287 Gerald Rosales (Phi) 73 66 71 77, Bae Sang-Moon (Kor) 71 68 70 78

288 Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 66 73 76 73, Marc Warren 67 71 76 74, Panuwat Muenlek (Tha) 68 67 72 81

289 Suk Jong Yul (Kor) 71 67 72 79

290 Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 68 69 78 75

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