Green dominates the greens to win in Portugal
Richard Green carded a seven-under-par 65 on the final day of the Portugal Masters to claim an emphatic victory over some of Europe’s top talent.
The Australian rallied from seven shots down as overnight leader Pablo Martin crumbled in the final round. The lefty’s 65 propelled him to the top of the leaderboard two shots clear of Ryder Cup winner Francesco Molinari.
Green hit 11 birdies in just 15 holes but couldn’t sustain that in the closing holes hitting two bogeys in the last three holes.
"Coming from seven behind I knew I had to play the best round of golf I probably could and I had a 64 in mind. And when I got to nine-under for the day and 20-under and I thought I was in with a chance,” Green said.
“I had a couple of bogeys which I thought left me short. But in the end a 65 was good enough and a win is a win."
Martin had led by three shots going into the final round but struggled on the final day’s play, finishing three-over for his final round. The Spaniard finished tied for sixth place three shots off the pace but it could have been a very different result, when he birdied the fifth to move four clear of the field.
A double-bogey at the seventh set the tone from Martin’s last round, despite hitting a birdie at the 12th hole. Bogey’s at 13th, 15th and 16th put him too far off the lead despite a birdie at the 17th.
Molinari secured second place after carding a 10-under 62. The Italian made nine birdies and an eagle for his second 62 of the tournament.
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