Sunday, February 25, 2018

Maiden win for Pepperell in Qatar

England's Eddie Pepperell poses with the trophy following his victory in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters at Doha Golf Club. Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images

England's Eddie Pepperell poses with the trophy following his victory in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters at Doha Golf Club. Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images

Eddie Pepperell survived a late scare from pal Oliver Fisher to claim his maiden European Tour victory at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

Playing together in the final group, Fisher had a 10-footer for birdie at the 18th to force a play-off but he missed, shooting 71 as Pepperell knocked in a two-footer for a two-under 70 and a one-shot victory on 18-under-par.

The Englishman (27) appeared to be cruising to a victory despite the pressure exerted by Fisher and experienced winners Grégory Havret, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño and Pablo Larrázabal. 

Tied with Fisher on 16-under overnight, he opened with eight successive pars before back-to-back birdies at the ninth and tenth saw him edge three clear.

But Fisher, who looked out of the contest after a three-over par front nine, made five birdies and a bogey in eight holes from the 10th to be just a shot behind Pepperell playing the par-five 18th.

In the end, he had to settle for second as Pepperell made an easy par.

Sweden's Marcus Kinhult (21) was third, two behind the winner on 16-under after a 68 with Havret (69), Fernandez Castaño (68), Italy's Renato Paratore (66) and Larrazábal (68), three behind the winner in a tie for fourth at Doha Golf Club.

Eddie Pepperell

“It was a long day and a long week I guess – to be up there all week can be mentally pretty tiring but I felt like I dealt with it well this week. Even at the end of Thursday, I had a feeling and I was already expecting to lead every day.

“I knew I was playing well, especially tee to green, so I expected a lot of myself this week and I guess to pull it off is amazing. Oli made a great run at the end and certainly put me under a lot of pressure but I put myself under a little bit myself too so I’m just happy and relieved.

“I just didn’t feel that comfortable with my swing and it wasn’t in quite as nice a spot as it had been so I had to play smarter on the front nine with some tricky pins. To birdie nine and ten – I had said to my caddie Mick (Doran) that I would step up it on this back nine and I just felt confident that I was going to find something with my swing or just start hitting slightly better shots.

“Unfortunately that didn’t quite happen but mentally I was strong today and Mick was fantastic. I did the things I needed to do – I didn’t play fantastic but I won ugly and for the first win to be ugly is good. Hopefully, I’ll have some prettier ones in future.

“When Oli birdied the 17th that was when it really caught up with me that I was only one ahead. I was in my own zone, I knew I had a couple of shots of a lead but Oli did great. It was a tough front nine for him and I had to stay right in my own way and out of the two guys’ way because they were struggling a bit and it’s sometimes easy to get dragged into that.

“I felt like I had to mentally focus and be strong and I did that. All credit to Oli, he’s a lovely lad and I have a lot of time for him and that putt on the last – I’m sure he’s gutted but it certainly made my family at home go pretty wild I suspect.”

Oliver Fisher

“It went all the way to the last hole which, after my front nine, was what I was hoping for on the back nine. I hit a lot of good shots coming down the back nine and gave myself a lot of good chances, but there were just too many bogeys today – four in total – so you’re never going to win a tournament making that many mistakes on a Sunday. But at least I pressed him all the way.

“The course was different today, we had overnight rain last night and this morning we went out there with a different wind to the last few days and the rough was wet. So the course was asking a few more different questions and I probably just left myself with a little more to do.

“I was proud of myself the way I settled myself down and made some good swings coming around the turn. Then I played a lovely shot into 12, shame about the 13th but the 14th was really good and at 15 I made a great save. Then I made a decent swing on the 17th tee.

“It’s not the result I wanted but there was some good stuff there. I had a chance – I think it was 268 to the front of the green on the 18th and it was slightly into the wind off a downslope so it was a bit of a shame that I couldn’t give the three wood a crack but it was a chance and that’s all I could have done.

“It was a tricky pin and the greens are fast from above so it had about two and a half holes to borrow on it and it just stayed a little high but it was close.”

Markus Kinhult

“It feels good to finish like that. I was really nervous coming down the last hole but I managed to make a good birdie which was pretty huge looking at the leaderboard so it feels good.

“I felt like it was a good club to hit the driver off the deck at the last – I think I had 240 metres to the front and I felt a little pumped up so I thought why not and it worked out pretty well.

“Me and my caddie, after the sixth when we were two over, we made a little bet with each other and that got me going. I can’t really tell you what we were playing for, but he’s going to have to do a lot of burpees and push-ups! It was good fun.

“I’m happy with the week, four good rounds and I think it’s the first time I feel like I’ve played well over 72 holes so I’m really happy.”

Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, Doha Golf Club (Par 72)

270 E Pepperell (Eng) 65 69 66 70, 

271 O Fisher (Eng) 66 69 65 71, 

272 M Kinhult (Swe) 68 69 67 68, 

273 G Havret (Fra) 65 69 70 69, G Fernandez - Castaño (Esp) 68 68 69 68, R Paratore (Ita) 71 66 70 66, P Larrazábal (Esp) 68 67 70 68, 

274 G Coetzee (RSA) 69 66 71 68, S Heisele (Ger) 67 68 71 68, 

275 M Baldwin (Eng) 68 70 68 69, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 68 68 69 70, A Otaegui (Esp) 67 66 73 69, 

276 M Foster (Eng) 71 68 68 69, C Wood (Eng) 68 69 68 71, S Han (USA) 69 71 69 67, D Horsey (Eng) 71 68 65 72, M Nixon (Eng) 69 68 69 70, A Pavan (Ita) 68 69 67 72, 

277 A Björk (Swe) 70 69 69 69, J Scrivener (Aus) 70 70 67 70, A Quiros (Esp) 66 70 70 71, R Wattel (Fra) 71 69 71 66, C Shinkwin (Eng) 68 69 70 70, A Rai (Eng) 65 73 69 70, P Waring (Eng) 68 70 70 69, M Wallace (Eng) 69 71 67 70, S Fernandez (Esp) 69 70 71 67, 

278 W Ashun (Chn) 69 70 70 69, C Bezuidenhout (RSA) 68 72 71 67, M Siem (Ger) 73 66 68 71, S Crocker (USA) 67 68 67 76, H Tanihara (Jpn) 70 69 66 73, M Pavon (Fra) 68 69 71 70, 

279 R Cho (Kor) 69 70 67 73, N Geyger (Chi) 71 69 69 70, L Gagli (Ita) 67 70 67 75, N Colsaerts (Bel) 71 69 69 70, A Sullivan (Eng) 69 70 73 67, 

280 O Farr (Wal) 70 70 69 71, N Elvira (Esp) 71 69 71 69, S Gallacher (Sco) 68 66 74 72, S Brown (Eng) 69 69 70 72, J Kruyswijk (RSA) 70 68 70 72, T Detry (Bel) 67 70 70 73, 

281 R Sterne (RSA) 72 68 70 71, J Lagergren (Swe) 68 71 66 76, F Zanotti (Par) 70 69 69 73, J Morrison (Eng) 72 66 67 76, B Dredge (Wal) 70 68 74 69, S Gros (Fra) 69 70 69 73, J Walters (RSA) 68 71 72 70, A Chesters (Eng) 72 68 71 70, 

282 G Forrest (Sco) 70 70 74 68, M Warren (Sco) 68 70 70 74, C Koepka (USA) 71 68 74 69, C Hanson (Eng) 73 67 71 71, R Jacquelin (Fra) 70 66 72 74, T Jaidee (Tha) 70 70 69 73, 

283 E Van Rooyen (RSA) 68 66 76 73, J Donaldson (Wal) 72 65 70 76, 

284 P Lawrie (Sco) 68 72 71 73, D Howell (Eng) 69 70 74 71, B Hebert (Fra) 70 70 70 74, R Evans (Eng) 69 67 71 77, S Jamieson (Sco) 69 71 75 69, J White (Eng) 67 73 69 75, M Ilonen (Fin) 67 72 73 72, M Schwab (Aut) 70 70 74 70, R Gouveia (Por) 71 68 72 73, 

285 M Schneider (Ger) 66 74 69 76, S Hend (Aus) 73 67 75 70, 

286 E Molinari (Ita) 66 74 70 76, J Choi (Kor) 68 72 75 71, 

287 R Bland (Eng) 69 69 71 78, S Lee (Kor) 72 68 73 74, 

288 R Karlsson (Swe) 68 71 71 78, 

289 D Im (USA) 73 67 74 75, 

292 P Widegren (Swe) 73 67 80 72



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