BMW International Open golf results: Andrea Pavan wins title in play-off

Final leaderboard

-15 Pavan*, Fitzpatrick

-13 Quiros, Cabrera Bello, E Molinari, Bezuidenhout, Wallace, Smith, Schwab

*Pavan wins with birdie at second play-off hole

Day four report

A dramatic conclusion to the BMW International Open saw Italy's Andrea Pavan beat England's Matthew Fitzpatrick with a birdie at the second play-off hole.

Pavan looked to be in trouble after laying up to the left of the 18th fairway, before producing a perfect pitching wedge which rolled out to within three feet.

With Fitzpatrick unable to get up and down from the greenside bunker, Pavan tapped in for his second European Tour title, having won in Prague last summer.

The Italian carded a closing, bogey-free 66, his lowest round of the season, to post 15-under in the clubhouse, a birdie at the last giving him hope.

Still, with Matthias Schwab and Fitzpatrick both having reached 15-under and with several holes still to play, Pavan needed help - which is exactly what he received.

Schwab, put up at 80/1 on these pages, led by two with seven to play. Then came a bogey at the 14th followed by three putts for bogey at the 15th as he fell to 13-under.

Fitzpatrick had moved to 15-under with a fine birdie at the tough 14th and when he drove to the back of the par-four 16th the title was his for the taking.

However, the five-time winner three-putted from 30 feet and followed that clumsy par with a bogey at the par-three 17th, which meant he needed to birdie the last to match Pavan's total.

Matt Wallace birdied the 16th to get within one, but he made a mess of the closing hole whereas Fitzpatrick fired a three-wood to the heart of the green and two-putted for a play-off.

Schwab still had a chance to join Pavan and Fitzpatrick, but missed a six-foot birdie putt at the 16th, another from 12 feet at the 17th, and grazed the edge of the hole at the last as his first opportunity to secure European Tour silverware slipped away.

That meant a two-way play-off and while Fitzpatrick gained a huge stroke of fortune on the first hole, his three-wood plugging just short of water, he could not take advantage as Pavan secured an unlikely win.

"I was in a play-off in qualifying for the US Open with five guys for one spot and I three-putted the first and then you go home with nothing," Pavan said.

"Here at least the worst you finish is second but it's very satisfying to get the win, it's so hard, so difficult."

Day three report

Jordan Smith's solitary European Tour win came on German soil in 2017 but he will look to repeat the feat as he takes a one-shot lead into the final round of the BMW International Open in Munich.

However, the Englishman faces serious competition from compatriots Matthew Fitzpatrick and Matt Wallace, respectively one and two strokes behind his 13-under total at Golfclub Munchen Eichenried.

Smith, winner of the European Open in Hamburg two years ago, carded a bogey-free 66 to assume top spot from overnight leader Martin Kaymer after the home favourite could manage only a disappointing three-over 75 to drop to eight under.

"I like Germany. I missed my first cut (of the season) in Denmark a couple of weeks ago but the game was still looking good for that week," Smith told europeantour.com.

"It's been feeling good for a long while so I'm looking forward to tomorrow."

Fitzpatrick, whose record of winning in each of the last four seasons is only matched by Alex Noren, shot a third-round 65 to move into joint second with Austrian Matthias Schwab.

"I've played well so far this year. I want to win as many tournaments as I can this year," said the Yorkshireman.

"If I'm putting myself in position where I'm a few behind on Saturday, it gives me the green light to go at it.

"If I was leading I'd probably hold back a little bit. Today allowed me to be a little more aggressive."

Defending champion Wallace's four-under 68 lifted him to 11 under and well within striking distance despite some scrappy play.

"That wasn't pretty today," he said.

"I wasn't playing from the fairway a lot but I shot better than I did yesterday so it's a funny game. It's a good position, we're in contention.

"I played great yesterday so I need to do something similar to that and hole the putts."

Day two report

Martin Kaymer continued his recent encouraging form with a second-round 66 to open up a two-shot lead heading into the weekend on home soil at the BMW International Open.

The two-time major winner has not claimed a victory since his triumph at the 2014 US Open but has secured top 10s on both sides of the Atlantic in the last two months as he seeks a return to the form that made him world number one.

Backed by bumper crowds in Munich, our headline tip carded a 67 on day one and followed that with a 66 to move to 11 under and lead the way from South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout.

Finn Kim Koivu and Swede Sebastian Soderberg are at eight under, one shot clear of a group containing defending champion Matt Wallace and fellow Englishmen Jordan Smith and Lee Westwood.

Kaymer made two birdies and two bogeys in his first four holes but took advantage of the par-five sixth and 11th before holing a bunker shot at the 12th and hitting an approach at the next to four feet to share the lead.

Putts from around 15 feet on the 15th and last then moved him clear of Bezuidenhout, who had earlier carded the lowest round of the week with a 65.

"It's a lot to handle at certain times because I'm not the kind of guy that likes to be in the spotlight but it's a positive thing and I need to see it as something positive," Kaymer told europeantour.com.

"It's going to be exciting for sure. It's never easy leading a golf tournament but fortunately, I've done it a few times in my career."

Wallace carded a 68 with six birdies, while 2003 champion Westwood recorded a 69 and Smith a 67.

There was also a hole-in-one on a day of low scoring, as India's Gaganjeet Bhullar earned himself a treat from the sponsors with an ace at the 17th.

Day one report

Martin Kaymer delighted the home fans with an opening 67 in the BMW International Open in a bid for his first victory in five years.

Kaymer, whose last European Tour title came in the 2014 US Open at Pinehurst, carded five birdies in a flawless round at Golfclub Munchen Eichenried to lie one shot off the lead held by Italy's Andrea Pavan.

With an afternoon thunderstorm forcing play to be suspended for almost three hours, the first round will be completed on Friday.

"I didn't play great but I played solid, put the ball in good positions to give myself chances," Kaymer told Sky Sports. "I had three crucial putts today that kept the momentum on my side, so overall very solid."

Addressing the support, he added: "It's very nice, and as a German, it's very rare we have that.

"We play many, many tournaments in America and Britain, so those guys are a bit more used to it, but for me, it's only once a year so it's also a little bit tricky because it's so unexpected.

"It's a bit of an adjustment, the first three or four holes but it's very fun."

England's Oliver Wilson is alongside Kaymer on five under par, with defending champion and Race-to-Dubai leader Matt Wallace part of a large group two shots further back following a 69.

Wallace, who flew to Germany after finishing 12th in the US Open on Sunday, said: "I didn't take advantage of the par fives and I was in good shape on most of them so it's a little disappointing.

"I'm still maybe getting over a little bit of jet-lag so the intensity wasn't quite there but it's not bad."

Wallace played alongside four-time major winner Brooks Koepka in the third round at Pebble Beach and is trying to emulate the world number one's composure on the course.

"That was probably my proudest moment ever on a golf course playing with him," the 29-year-old Londoner added.

"I was three over after nine, not playing well but controlled my emotions well, birdied 14 and eagled the last to shoot level par and keep myself in the tournament.

"I learned a lot that day - leave the door open for something good to happen, and it did."

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