Andres Romero wins BMW International Open in Germany

Final leaderboard

-17 Andres Romero

-16 Thomas Detry, Sergio Garcia, Richard Bland

-14 Rikard Karlberg

Scroll down for full collated scores

Day four report

Andres Romero, ranked 837th in the world and in the field on a sponsors' invite, came from three shots back to win the BMW International Open at Golfclub Munchen Eichenried.

Ten years on from his last success on European soil, which also came in Germany, the Argentine fired seven birdies in a closing 65 to win by one shot on a thrilling Sunday.

Sergio Garcia and Richard Bland both birdied the last to share second place with Thomas Detry, the young Belgian who couldn't get up and down from the side of the green.

Garcia and Bland had started the day in a share of the lead but five birdies on his outward nine saw Detry take over.

Birdies at the 11th saw the final group move back in front after Detry had given one back at the par-four 10th, but any notion that this was between the three ended when Romero made his move.

The 36-year-old - who had played just four times previously in 2017, missing the cut in every start - made six birdies in eight holes from the eighth, got up and down from the side of the 17th green and then fired two wonderful shots into the par-five 18th.

Without full playing status on any major golf tour, Romero's apprehension revealed itself for the first time as he left his eagle try seven feet short, but he poured in the birdie putt to post 17-under.

Shortly before, Garcia had missed a par putt of three feet at the 16th, while Bland bogeyed the 17th having pushed his approach shot a long way right of the green.

Bland, seeking his first European Tour win in more than 400 attempts, gave himself an eagle opportunity at the final hole, needing to hole it to force a play-off, but his putt missed and Romero was confirmed a one-shot winner.

Romero said after lifting the trophy: "I'm really happy, after 10 years without winning on the European Tour, and especially here in Germany. It's so nice that my caddie is here as he is also my friend, and I want to thank my family, my manager, my brothers and sisters.

“I haven't been in that position for a long time, so it felt a little funny, but only on that 18th hole, because I was playing great golf.

“And then I was looking at the leaderboard and I saw that the other guys missed the green on 17, but I didn't want to look at that. I was a little nervous. 

“I'm very happy that I'm going to be here on the European Tour again. I enjoy it here and I want to say thanks to the people at BMW because if it wasn't for them - they gave me an invite for this event - I wouldn’t have any category now, and this is going to be life-changing."

Garcia felt he had played well enough for victory but came up just shy. He said: "It was a good week and I obviously fell just short. I felt like I played well enough to win for sure. Obviously there were a couple of missed putts here and there today, and some really good putts that didn't want to go in.

"So it was difficult to get anything going. And then, unfortunately that chip on 18 looked pretty good but it just missed on the right side.

“You have to give credit to Andres. With no status, he's neither here on the European Tour or the PGA Tour - to go out and shoot 65 today, I'm happy for him and we'll just keep trying.

"Any time you have a chance of winning, there's a lot of good things. I think that there were a lot of good ones there. I’ve just got to keep working hard and keep putting myself in these kind of situations."

Bland remains a maiden on the European Tour as he came so close on the 72nd hole to forcing the event into extra holes. 

"I'm pretty gutted, but I gave it a good run," he revealed. 

"I just got caught in between clubs on 17, and it was the only shot I didn't commit to all day. And even the poor shots that I hit today, I was committed to them, and that was the only one I just didn't commit to.

"So I’m proud of the two shots I hit on the last and I just didn't quite hole the putts, but I'll come back next week and try it again.

"The form that I've been showing the last three or four months, if someone offered me second place or a putt to make a play-off on 18, I'd probably snap their hand off.

"It's a big step forward for me this week, and I've just got to make sure that I keep making steps forward and finish the year strong."

Youngster Thomas Detry produced an impressive final round as he got into serious contention for the first time at this level.

"You always have that little bit of a sour feeling in yourself when you finish just short. But overall, I’m super happy with the way I played," the Belgian said.

"It's my first top two ever on the European Tour, and it's fantastic. I couldn't be happier and I'm very excited for the weeks ahead. My game is feeling great, and who knows, maybe in the next few weeks I can win.

“I was not really nervous but I was kind of in between clubs and tried to fit in a shot, and the wind was coming off the right.

"You know there are the stands on the left and the water on the right, so you always prefer on the left and you know you have an easy chip for the flag. I dropped it from the hospitality. I didn't have the best lie, and did my best to try and make a four."

Collated final-round scores

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

271 Andres Romero (Arg) 67 71 68 65

272 Richard Bland 67 69 67 69, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 66 70 67 69, Thomas Detry (Bel) 65 71 70 66

274 Rikard Karlberg (Swe) 67 69 72 66

275 Tommy Fleetwood 67 71 70 67, Renato Paratore (Ita) 70 70 67 68

276 Hennie Otto (Rsa) 68 69 70 69, Nacho Elvira (Spa) 72 70 68 66

277 David Lipsky (USA) 71 69 67 70, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 67 69 72 69

278 Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha) 67 74 68 69, Scott Henry 69 72 66 71

279 Joost Luiten (Ned) 66 73 69 71, Joakim Lagergren (Swe) 69 66 69 75, Jamie Donaldson 70 71 68 70, Dylan Frittelli (Rsa) 72 71 66 70, George Coetzee (Rsa) 69 70 70 70, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 71 71 68 69

280 Niclas Fasth (Swe) 68 69 71 72, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 74 69 66 71, Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa) 70 72 67 71, Ashley Chesters 71 71 69 69, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 70 68 74 68, Trevor Fisher Jnr (Rsa) 69 69 71 71

281 Nicolai von Dellingshausen (Ger) 69 74 71 67, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 71 71 67 72, Eduardo De La Riva (Spa) 70 68 72 71, Ryan Fox (Nz) 68 75 68 70, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spa) 69 74 67 71

282 Anthony Wall 71 72 66 73, Brandon Stone (Rsa) 72 71 66 73, Romain Langasque (Fra) 71 71 68 72

283 Jens Fahrbring (Swe) 72 67 70 74, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 67 72 72 72, Alexander Bjork (Swe) 71 71 69 72, Jens Dantorp (Swe) 69 73 68 73, James Morrison 67 74 72 70, Brett Rumford (Au) 68 73 67 75, Victor Dubuisson (Fra) 72 69 72 70, Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 66 74 71 72, Nino Bertasio (Ita) 70 72 68 73, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 71 72 67 73

284 Peter Hanson (Swe) 69 73 73 69, Tom Lewis 71 71 68 74, Jeff Winther (Den) 69 72 69 74, Paul Lawrie 73 67 70 74, Jordan Smith 70 69 72 73, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 64 74 73 73, Gregory Havret (Fra) 70 72 71 71

285 Joel Stalter (Fra) 67 68 74 76, Matthew Southgate 67 70 78 70, Florian Fritsch (Ger) 69 73 72 71, Andy Sullivan 70 71 71 73, Romain Wattel (Fra) 73 70 70 72, Mark Foster 69 72 73 71, Jamie Rutherford 69 71 73 72, Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 70 73 69 73

286 Lucas Bjerregaard (Den) 70 72 68 76, Pontus Widegren (Swe) 69 69 74 74, Jaco Ahlers (Rsa) 67 73 73 73, Daniel Im (USA) 67 76 72 71, Richard McEvoy 69 72 71 74, Paul Maddy 69 73 71 73, Max Schmitt (a) (Ger) 74 67 70 75, Ernie Els (Rsa) 71 71 71 73 

287 Max Kramer (Aut) 70 70 73 74, Daniel Brooks 70 72 73 72, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 68 75 72 72, Zander Lombard (Rsa) 74 69 71 73, Graeme Storm 71 69 72 75, Johan Carlsson (Swe) 72 70 73 72

288 Sebastian Heisele (Ger) 70 73 68 77, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 72 70 71 75

289 David Horsey 71 72 69 77, Richard Green (Au) 69 71 75 74, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 70 73 72 74

295 Sean Crocker (a) (USA) 69 74 71 81

Day three report

Richard Bland and Sergio Garcia were tied at the top of the leaderboard ahead of the final round of the BMW International Open after posting rounds of 67 on Saturday.

Englishman Bland, who is searching for his first European Tour title, made a brilliant birdie from the water at the 11th before holing his approach shot from the 13th fairway for an eagle to jump to the top of the pile.

And after carding five birdies and two bogeys in his first 14 holes, Masters champion Garcia picked up further shots at the 15th and 17th to join Bland at the summit on 13 under par.

Swede Joakim Lagergren was a single shot behind the co-leaders in third, with Thomas Detry and Andres Romero another two strokes back on 10 under.

Bland, who began the day a single shot behind halfway leaders Joel Stalter and Lagergren, bounced back from a bogey at the second with three straight gains from the fourth to reach the turn in 34.

And after hitting his third shot out of shallow water at the 11th, the 44-year-old rolled in his 20-foot birdie putt to get to 11 under.

Bland, playing in his 410th European Tour event, then made an eagle at the 13th before safely parring his final five holes to sign for a 67.

"I hit some really good shots out there and I hit a couple of scrappy ones coming in but my short game saved me," Bland told europeantour.com.

"Got my feet wet and holed a second shot into 13. So yeah, kind of ran pretty much into everything."

Garcia said: "It's nice but it doesn't mean that it's finished. Still we have a long day tomorrow. We've got to go out there, play well again and see if we can pull it off."

Day two report

Major champions Sergio Garcia and Henrik Stenson will head into the weekend just a shot off the lead at the BMW International Open in Munich.

Garcia is making his first appearance in Europe since his maiden Major triumph at the Masters in April while Stenson is seeking to defend the title he won by three shots in Cologne last season.

The Ryder Cup duo got to eight under in windy conditions on Friday but that was not good enough to keep pace with Frenchman Joel Stalter and Swede Joakim Lagergren, who led the way after two rounds.

Lagergren had set the target in the morning with an impressive 66 and rookie Stalter was the only one of the later starters who could catch him as he posted a 68.

Garcia had held a share of the lead at the turn after a hat-trick of birdies from the seventh but dropped shots on the 14th and 17th stalled his momentum before he carded a closing birdie in a round of 70.

Stenson went one better with a 69 that contained birdies on the 11th, 18th, first and eighth and a single blemish on the 13th.

"I'm not on top of my game by any means but I think it was a good kind of professional fighting display," Stenson told the European Tour's official website.

"We kept it pretty tidy, anyway, and made a couple of birdies when we had the chances and didn't drop too many. You don't have to be ashamed of three under I guess around here."

England's Richard Bland was also at eight under after a 69 alongside Belgian Thomas Detry and Swede Rikard Karlberg.

"I'm in a good position," said Bland. "We've got 36 holes left and hopefully if I can just try to keep improving, I should, hopefully, be in there come Sunday."

Matthew Southgate was then in the group at seven under, a shot clear of in-form fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood.

Day one report

Sergio Garcia marked his first appearance on European soil since winning the Masters by heading into the second day of the BMW International in third place.

The Spaniard launched his round with six birdies as he compiled a six-under-par 66 to leave him trailing clubhouse leader Wade Ormsby of Australia by two shots with Belgium's Thomas Detry sandwiching the pair.

Garcia won the first major of his career in April when he beat Justin Rose in a sudden death play-off to claim the Masters and is one of three players on six under at the Golfclub München in Munich.

Defending champion Henrik Stenson is a shot behind on five under, where he is joined by England's Richard Bland, James Morrison, Tommy Fleetwood and Matthew Southgate.

"It was great," said Garcia to the European Tour's official website.

"I felt like I played quite well, not spectacular, but very consistent throughout the whole day. I was very happy to see some of the shots I hit and some of the putts I made and very happy with my six under.

"There's still three more to go, so we're going to keep playing hard and hopefully we'll have some more like this and we'll be up there on Sunday."