Bjorn king of the mountains

Thomas Bjorn made it back-to-back victories on the European Tour with an emphatic win at the Omega European Masters in Crans-sur-Sierre.

Following on from his victory last week at Gleneagles, the
40-year-old Dane shot a stunning final round of 62 to win by four shots from Germany’s Martin Kaymer.

Bjorn began the day three shots behind Welshman Jamie Donaldson but carded nine birdies and an eagle on Sunday to finish on 20-under-par and secure his third win of the season, the 13th of his illustrious career.

Donaldson started slowly and was left with too much to do down the closing stretch, eventually settling for a tied-third finish on 15-under par with Rory McIlroy and Jaco Van Zyl.

Kaymer secured second place with a closing six-under 65, which included a front nine of 30 (-6) with two eagles. But his putter deserted him on the back nine, missing two putts inside three feet on holes fourteen and fifteen.

The win is extra special for Bjorn as the tournament marked the start of the Ryder Cup qualification process and he now leads the standings. He also moves inside the world’s top 30 and up to 7th in the Race to Dubai.

“The way I finished was special and it’s been an amazing two weeks,” said Bjorn, who also won the Qatar Masters back in February.

“I started hitting my wedges so well last week and kept it going. At the end you think nothing can go wrong. Golf seems easy sometimes and you have to remember that when you are not playing well.”

In amongst the chasing pack at the start of the final round were three of the world’s top ten players. World number two Lee Westwood began Sunday one shot off the pace but could only manage a one-under 70 to finish tied-6th. World number six McIlroy got off to a hot start with two straight birdies but his challenge fizzled out over the back nine.

McIlroy, Westwood and Kaymer will all be teeing it up next week at the KLM Open, where plenty of Today’s Golfer’s Fantasy League points will be up for grabs. Select your team or sign up here.

Omega European Masters, final leaderboard
-20: T Bjorn (Den) -16: M Kaymer (Ger) -15: J van Zyl (SA), R McIlroy (NI), J Donaldson (Wal) -14: L Westwood (Eng), D Lynn (Eng), F Andersson Hed (Swe)Selected others: -13: JM Jiminez (Spa), -12: E Molinari (Ita), -10: P Lawrie (Ire), -9: S Gallacher (Sco)