Zimbabwe's Tony Johnstone, who almost quit the game in January, produced a
brilliant final round to claim his sixth European Tour title in the Qatar
Masters.
The 44-year-old carded a superb closing 70 at a windswept Doha Golf Club to
beat overnight leader Robert Karlsson of Sweden into second place.
Johnstone, who is based in Sunningdale, birdied two of the last three holes
for a 14-under-par total of 274 to claim the winner's cheque for £85,000.
New Zealand's Elliot Boult was two shots behind Karlsson in third with
France's Olivier Edmond and Scotland's Dean Robertson joint fourth on nine under
par.
It was a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for Johnstone who despaired so much
over the state of his putting just two months ago that he considered becoming
"a window cleaner on very tall buildings!"
After the third round of the Dimension Data event in South Africa in January
he told his wife that he had reached the end of his tether and would not play
another tournament unless he cured his putting woes.
Step forward eye specialist Dr Ken West and coach Simon Holmes, the pair
deciding that Johnstone was standing too close to the ball for a man with
disproportionately long arms in a 5ft 8in frame, and the results speak for
themselves.
"I said to my wife at the Dimension Data that's it - I was not going back to
another tournament until I had sorted out how to putt," admitted the former
Volvo PGA Champion.
"I'd been through the mill for six years and it finally got to the stage
where my enjoyment of the game had been outweighed by the frustration.
"After the third round in Sun City I said that's enough and maybe it was a
good thing. It gave me a jolt and got me going. I made some radical changes and
it galvanised me and I'm absolutely loving it again.
"I had worked with Dr West the week before my last win in 1998 and then again
last week before Dubai and putted really well there with a 63 in the third
round. He is not just an eye specialist, he also has some great ideas about
sports psychology and bio-mechanics.
"He's worked with Arsenal FC, Olympic gymnasts, England cricketers. He's a
jack of all trades but really a master of all trades.
"I putted as well this week as I have through my whole career and had only
101 putts for four rounds.
"I knew it was coming good and said to my caddy Neil Smithers before the
start of the week that I felt we had a good chance to win, especially if the
wind blew."
Johnstone, trailing by one after the third round, got off to the perfect
start, chipping in for an eagle on the first and then holing from 60 feet for
par on the second to move into a one-shot lead over Karlsson, who was playing in
the group behind.
The pair both bogeyed the fifth before Karlsson picked up a birdie at the
ninth to get back on level terms and after another pair of dropped shots at the
14th, the decisive moment came when Johnstone birdied the 16th.
That restored his one-shot cushion and another birdie from 15 feet on the 18th
effectively sealed victory, Karlsson narrowly missing his eagle chip to force a
play-off and the following birdie attempt to finish two adrift.
Karlsson was not too despondent however, admitting Johnstone deserved the win
after a superb round in the worst conditions of the week.
"I was pretty happy with the way I played to be honest," Karlsson said. "I
don't think I could have done much better.
"Tony's 70 was a fantastic score in these conditions. I had chances on the
16th and 18th but Tony won the tournament, I don't feel like I lost it."
Scotland's Paul Lawrie was far less happy after slumping to a final round 79,
angrily damaging his putter on an ice box on the fifth tee after taking a double
bogey six on the previous hole.
It meant the former Open champion - and 1999 Qatar Masters winner - had to use
a variety of different clubs, from 3-wood to pitching wedge on the green, as he
dropped from joint sixth overnight to a tie for 27th.
Collated scores and totals after final round of Qatar Masters, Doha Golf Club:
274 T Johnstone (Zim) 68 70 66 70 (£84,889)
276 R Karlsson (Swe) 63 70 70 73 (£56,590)
278 E Boult (Nzl) 68 67 72 71 (£31,884)
279 O Edmond (Fra) 65 70 71 73, D Robertson 67 69 68 75 (£23,531 each)
281 J Senden (Aus) 69 73 68 71, A Cabrera (Arg) 66 70 67 78 (£11,553 each)
282 S Webster 71 70 73 68, D Higgins 70 72 72 68, A Hansen (Den) 71 69 71 71,
G Owen 69 71 69 73, R Gonzalez (Arg) 67 71 70 74
283 D Carter 69 71 74 69, R Muntz (Ned) 70 69 74 70, I Woosnam 71 70 7171, F
Jacobson (Swe) 70 71 69 73, M Lafeber (Ned) 69 73 68 73, P McGinley 71 67 71 74,
M Maritz (Rsa) 70 69 70 74
284 J Moseley (Aus) 67 74 75 68, R Chapman 72 71 72 69, D Lynn 67 71 70 76
285 D Lee 67 72 75 71, L Parsons (Aus) 73 70 68 74, M Bernardini (Ita) 66 73
71 75, T Bjorn (Den) 69 71 70 75
286 P Lonard (Aus) 69 74 72 71, C Pettersson (Swe) 70 69 75 72, V Phillips 67
72 75 72, C Suneson (Spa) 69 71 73 73, S Kjeldsen (Den) 70 71 71 74, M Gronberg
(Swe) 68 72 70 76, D Smyth 71 71 68 76, E Darcy 69 68 72 77, P Lawrie 68 70 69
79
287 R Wessels (Rsa) 66 73 74 74, D Howell 68 71 73 75, T Gogele (Ger) 7171 70
75, B Davis 71 67 72 77, L-W Zhang (Chn) 70 70 70 77
288 S Dodd 68 73 75 72, N Cheetham 69 71 73 75, C Hainline (USA) 70 73 69 76,
T Immelman (Rsa) 70 68 73 77, I Garrido (Spa) 72 68 70 78
289 M Blackey 70 72 75 72, A Coltart 71 69 75 74, J Berendt (Arg) 71 71 72 75,
M Pilkington 63 79 72 75, F Henge (Swe) 72 71 71 75, J Rystrom (Swe) 68 71 73
77, R Johnson (Swe) 69 70 73 77, M Scarpa (Ita) 66 73 73 77, M Roe 72 70 70 77, B
Dredge 72 71 69 77, JF Remesy (Fra) 71 70 67 81
290 R Claydon 69 74 72 75, H Nystrom (Swe) 67 71 75 77
291 T Gillis (USA) 67 76 75 73, J Lomas 71 72 74 74, M Reale (Ita) 70 7373 75,
S Hansen (Den) 67 73 75 76, P Sjoland (Swe) 69 74 71 77, J Robinson 71 69 73 78,
G Havret (Fra) 71 69 73 78, M Brier (Aut) 66 70 73 82
292 S Struver (Ger) 70 73 76 73, K Ferrie 68 74 75 75, T Dier (Ger) 71 70 72 79, H Stenson (Swe) 70 70 70 82
293 M Farry (Fra) 71 70 72 80
294 M Florioli (Ita) 71 70 74 79
295 S Luna (Spa) 73 70 77 75, B Lane 68 75 77 75
296 R Jacquelin (Fra) 69 71 75 81
Disqualified: H Otto (Rsa)
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