England's Ian Poulter took another step towards securing a place in Europe's
Ryder Cup team with an impressive victory in the Moroccan Open.
Poulter carded a final round of 70 at Dar Es Salam for a 15-under-par total of
277 and a two-stroke winning margin over fellow countryman David Lynn, who
posted a closing 67.
Australian Peter Lonard was a shot further back in third after a 68 with
Scotland's Stephen Gallacher and France's Thomas Levet tied fourth on 10 under
par and English duo Gary Evans and Greg Owen another stroke behind.
The £66,660 first prize lifted Poulter above Colin Montgomerie, Bernhard
Langer and Sergio Garcia to sixth in the Ryder Cup standings while Lynn almost
certainly secured his tour card for next season by taking the runners-up prize
of £44,440.
Last season's European rookie of the year was never headed after the second
round but the most impressive feature of his win was the way he saved par
superbly three times on the back nine today as the chasing pack closed in.
"It's another dream day," admitted the 25-year-old from Hertfordshire, who
only claimed his first win in the Italian Open in Sardinia last October.
"It was really difficult going out in the lead like last time with everyone
snapping at your heels. I gave myself a few chances early on but didn't really
take them until I made a great eagle on the 10th."
A crunching drive with a new Taylor Made driver picked up only last week left
him with just 164 yards to the pin and his eight iron never left the flag before
settling just three feet from the pin.
Poulter said: "There were still a few awkward shots on the back nine. I had
to take my medicine on the 11th but made some good putts for par after that
which really kept me going."
The Ryder Cup in September is still a long way away and Poulter knows he will
have to continue such form to earn enough points to qualify for Sam Torrance's
team.
"It's obviously something I look at but I'm going to have to play awfully
well to get in the side," he said.
"You have to accumulate a lot of points and play well in the big tournaments
in the summer."
Lynn was left to rue a missed eagle putt on the last but had the consolation
of almost certainly securing his card for next season after just eight events.
"I though if I could get that putt it would put pressure on Ian over the last
two holes where you can get into trouble but it was not to be," said the
27-year-old from Stoke.
"But I'm delighted after a poor start when I dropped shots at the first and
fourth. I said to my brother and caddie Simon I didn't feel so good, let's just
grind it out but I got on a run from the fifth hole and made five birdies in six
holes which got me back attacking and feeling good.
"Now I hope to try and kick on from here. I made a change to my grip over the
winter and it seems to be working and hopefully it will continue to do so."
Poulter had begun the day four shots clear of the chasing pack and after early
birdies from Swede's Robert Karlsson and Peter Hanson reduced the gap he
maintained a four-stroke cushion with a birdie from 30 feet on the second.
Evans was the first to mount a serious charge with a birdie on the fourth and
eagle three on the fifth that cut the gap to two before promptly falling away
with a double bogey on the sixth after a wayward drive and three putts.
Hanson took up the challenge with his fourth birdie of the day on the eighth
to get within three shots but as the birdies dried up it was Lonard and Lynn who
threatened Poulter's advantage.
That magnificent eagle on the 10th put Poulter four ahead at 15 under and that
appeared decisive, but first Lonard and then Lynn got to 12 under as Poulter was
forced to scramble to save par on 13, 14 and 16.
Lynn could have piled on even more pressure but narrowly missed his 12-foot
eagle putt on the 18th to get to within one shot of the lead and Poulter made a
routine par to seal victory.
Gallacher had earlier set the clubhouse target after a closing 68 despite not
being accompanied by celebrity fan Ewen McGregor, who had taken a break from
filming in Rabat to watch the golf.
"I played great all week and the difference today was that I holed some
putts," said Gallacher, who has just returned to the tour after a two-month
break for the birth of his first child Jack, now six weeks old.
"It was great having Ewen following me around for a couple of days. I've
never met him before but we met through a mutual friend and I'm a big fan of
his."
Collated scores and totals after final round of Moroccan Open, Dar Es Salam,
Rabat (Gbr & Irl unless stated, Par 73):
(x) denotes amateurs
277 I Poulter 71 67 69 70
279 D Lynn 72 72 68 67
280 P Lonard (Aus) 71 75 66 68
282 S Gallacher 72 72 70 68, T Levet (Fra) 73 68 70 71
283 G Owen 73 70 70 70, G Evans 70 75 66 72
284 H Kuehne (USA) 71 71 71 71, P McGinley 67 75 70 72, F Bisazza (Ita) 72 71
69 72, P Hanson (Swe) 73 71 68 72
285 R Karlsson (Swe) 70 71 70 74
286 P Quirici (Swi) 73 69 71 73, G Emerson 73 72 68 73
287 K Ferrie 72 73 75 67, C Hainline (USA) 68 72 73 74, O Edmond (Fra) 71 72
70 74, S Walker 69 76 67 75
288 A Marshall 72 74 71 71, J Hugo (Rsa) 71 74 70 73, A Sherborne 72 72 70 74,
P Fowler (Aus) 74 72 68 74, C Pottier (Fra) 73 69 71 75
289 W Riley (Aus) 71 74 73 71, A Coltart 75 72 71 71, S Dyson 72 73 72 72, C
Suneson (Spa) 74 71 72 72, JF Lucquin (Fra) 73 73 70 73, B Dredge 70 76 70 73, S
Kjeldsen (Den) 71 72 71 75
290 B Vaughan (Rsa) 76 71 73 70, T Dier (Ger) 71 75 73 71, T Immelman (Rsa) 74
74 71 71, E Simsek (Ger) 71 75 72 72, S Hurley 77 69 71 73, H Otto (Rsa) 74 70
72 74, R Sjoberg (Swe) 74 70 72 74, R Jacquelin (Fra) 71 75 70 74, G Havret
(Fra) 73 70 72 75, M Jonzon (Swe) 68 75 72 75, R Chapman 72 74 68 76, H
Bjornstad (Nor) 71 74 69 76
291 G Rankin 73 75 70 73, A Forsbrand (Swe) 73 71 73 74, G Rojas (Arg) 75 70
72 74, F Valera (Spa) 73 74 70 74, M Florioli (Ita) 74 69 72 76
292 E Boult (Nzl) 75 72 73 72, N Henning (Rsa) 76 70 72 74, M Scarpa (Ita) 72
73 72 75, J McLean (Aus) 74 68 74 76, M Farry (Fra) 71 74 70 77, J Rose 75 71 69
77
293 M Roe 76 72 74 71, J Romero (Spa) 73 72 75 73, JF Remesy (Fra) 72 74 73
74, G Clark 76 72 71 74, P Streeter 72 76 71 74, (x) A El Hali (Mor) 74 74 70
75, D De Vooght (Bel) 72 71 74 76, D Park 69 73 74 77
294 R Russell 71 75 76 72, (x) N Dougherty 76 69 73 76, M Mackenzie 72 70 73 79
295 A Mednick (Swe) 73 75 73 74, J Rystrom (Swe) 73 73 74 75, A Beal 76 71 73
75, J Bickerton 74 70 75 76, S Dodd 75 73 70 77
296 M Brier (Aut) 74 74 75 73, M Blackey 73 72 76 75, P Mitchell 75 72 74 75,
P Walton 71 71 75 79
297 N Roerbaek (Den) 73 75 75 74, D Edlund (Swe) 76 71 71 79
298 A Forsyth 73 72 79 74, R Claydon 78 70 74 76, J Wade (Aus) 75 71 74 78
299 A Raitt 72 74 77 76, B Teilleria (Fra) 74 73 70 82
300 J Vizcaya (Spa) 76 72 79 73, N Cheetham 68 76 74 82
301 R Winchester 75 73 75 78
302 P Edmond (Fra) 72 76 73 81
304 R Drummond 72 76 75 81
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook