Commercialbank Qatar Masters concludes with Paul Lawrie at the top: Recap Part-2
Lawrie has also become one of the oldest winners on the mainstream European Tour event at the age of 43 after Jimenez who won the Omega European Masters in 2010 at the age of 46.
The grizzled Scott has strong liking for the Middle Eastern turf.
Apart from his two victories in Qatar, he posted a runner up finish at 2011 Dubai World Championship presented by DP World, tenth in the 2012 Volvo Golf Champions, tied eighth in the 2012 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
The 43-year-old Aberdeen native is now contemplating a Ryder Cup berth for this year’s event at Medinah County and hopes to maintain his top form till the 12-member squad is selected on the points table.
He said, "I've been trying to keep that to the back of my mind. If I keep playing as I am I will get in, there's no question, but there's a long way to go and I know as well as anyone that there are a lot of good players”.
Runners up in the event, Jason Day, had another close shave with victory when he was overtaken by the raging Lawrie who barely gave him enough space to snatch the lead.
Opening with four birdies on the front nine, Day seemed to take it all the way when he stumbled on two bogeys on the front to lose precious points.
He made the turn to card another four straight birdies on the back nine and brought an end to his blistering knock with a seven-under, 65.
His sloppy round on the previous day, where he managed a humble even-par, took its toll, forcing him to settle for yet another runner up place.
Day is coming out of a stellar year in 2011 where he carded a runner up finish both at the Masters and at the US Open, alongside many of the strong performances on both sides of the Atlantic.
He was not able to card a victory and is desperately looking for a breakthrough in the year. He shared the runner up spot with Swede Peter Hanson.
John Daly has also managed to surprise the critics with his stunning performance in the season opening events so far. He broke the headlines when he clinched the first round lead with a five-under, 67 but lost his grasp with a sloppy one-over the other day.
He again pulled in a glamorous five-under on the final day to settle for an aggregate score of nine-under, 207, trailing the leader by six shots. This is Daly’s top performance after his impressive knock in Canadian Open last year.
The burly American is now poised at 309th on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), up from a previous low of 543rd. Daly has three European Tour wins in his career and has been without a victory since the 2004 Buick Invitational
on PGA Tour.
to be continued..
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