Golf Update: UBS Hong Kong Open- Last minute results
Ian Poulter stood at the winner’s podium with his second trophy of the season. The Englishman smashed a 67 in the final round to grab the title of UBS Hong Kong Open Champion on Sunday.
The 34-year-old gave a healthy competition to his opponents. He teed off with a 19-under-par in the previous round, which was good enough to hold back his compatriot Simon Dyson and Matteo Manassero. After blotting his scorecard with a bogey on the third
hole, Poulter picked up a point on the preceding hole. With a gap of one green, the player fired back-to-back birdies on the sixth and seventh hole to wrap the front with 32.
The media reports blurted the performance as ‘terrible’.
Around the corner, Poulter picked up an eagle and wrapped the final round of the UBS Hong Kong Open with a bogey. Overall, it was not the last round that earned the player from Hitchin an edge. In fact, it was his superb performance in the second round that
surged him into lead: The winner picked up ten birdies without dropping a single shot.
The hole-to-hole combat started from the fourth hole, when the Dyson and Poulter picked up a birdie each to post a threat over one another. After carding a par on the next hole, Poulter fired two successive birdies at the next and Dyson copied the impact.
However, he could not continue the fireworks and dropped a shot at the 8th.This forced the player out of competition. Although he managed to pick up a birdie in the back nine, but could not meet the desired mark of victory.
After Dyson, 17-year-old Matteo Manassero took the place as the greatest opponent. He carved three birdies in the front and three in the back to seize the third place. The Italian wanted to grab luck at the top most spot of the leader board; therefore, he
fired an eagle at the 13th and fell into tie with Simon Dyson. Matteo Manassero became the second player to card a 62 on the final day. First one was Bradley Dredge, who picked up eight birdies without dropping a single shot. The teenager took home
€ 157,094 worth of prize money.
On the other hand, the winner jumped up into ranking after winning 301,447 Euros. Poulter has claimed the 11th spot and has qualified to make cut in ‘Race to Dubai’. The player was happy with his achievement and he dubbed his game as faultless. He said,
“Today was pretty faultless golf. After hitting a poor four-iron on the third (and) making bogey, I think I pretty much had a birdie putt on every other hole.”
The 34-year-old opened the round with a bogey and wrapped with one. Despite the loss, he felt his putting earned him the victory. He commented,
"Putts from eight feet which kept looking like they were going to go in but didn't. But - you know what - make five up the last, get the job done and it's a good victory."
Poulter has improved his form ever since the Ryder Cup; he finished 13th in Shanghai, 6th in Singapore and won in Hong Kong. His game seems to cohere with the greens in Asia. This is why he has managed to post the second victory of
the season, although he has been practically winless in Europe.
The tournament ended on Sunday with Poulter in the lead, Simon Dyson and Matteo Manassero as the runners-up. European tour has left Asia with the finale of UBS Hong Kong Open. However, the Dubai Championship will kick off on 28th of November
at the Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, where Ian Poulter will mark the end of his European tour.
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