Garcia stars but Lowry provides plenty Irish cheer

THE excited Valderrama crowd cheered Sergio Garcia home to a hugely significant victory for himself and Spain yesterday but the sparse but vocal Irish in the gallery also had plenty to shout about after a superb final day performance by Shane Lowry at the Andalucia Masters.

Garcia captured his second title on home soil in the space of eight days with rounds of 70, 70, 67 and 71 for a six under par total of 278, one better than his compatriot Miguel-Angel Jimenez. Garcia won the first prize of €500,000 that moves him up to 7th in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai order of merit and already powerfully placed to regain his Ryder Cup place at Medinah next September.

“Winning in Castellon last week and then again at Valderrama to become the first Spaniard to win on a course with so much history is very special”, said Garcia. “I was three ahead of Miguel after 15 but only one in front playing the last and that’s a lot of pressure. I had been in this situation three or four times in the past on this course and finished runner-up. It’s been a tough few years for me but I never doubted that I’d be back. And the Ryder Cup points are especially sweet as well.”

It was Shane Lowry’s best tournament performance as a professional since he captured the Irish Open at Baltray as an amateur in 2009. Rounds of 72, 71, 71 and 67 for three under were beautifully compiled put him in fourth place on his own and the cheque for €150,000 means that he need no longer worry about finishing in the top 60 who qualify for the lucrative, season-ending Dubai World Championship. Indeed, he is now up to 43rd, 17 inside the qualifying cut-off mark.

Yesterday’s round was also his first under 70 at Valderrama, an achievement that helped to assuage his disappointment at failing to pick up the birdies very much on offer at each of the last two holes that would have put him in with a great chance of the title. He did most of the hard work at the treacherous 17th by reaching the green with a superb four iron second from 212 yards that pulled up forty feet right of the hole. But it also left him with an extremely difficult putt. He stroked it expertly to a couple of feet short but rushed the second six feet past and was relieved to sink the next for par.

At the 18th, a seven iron approach from 166 yards never left the flag and pulled up twelve feet behind hole. It was dangerously fast and he left the putt on the lip and settled for par.

“I had a chance to win so I’m quite disappointed”, he reacted. “I went out to win knowing I would probably need five or six under to do so and it was definitely on the way I played. I did look at the scoreboards all day and knew what I needed to do while realising you never know what’s going to happen to the others on a course like this.

“I had a good start with three early birdies before a bad shot cost me a bogey at seven. But it was my only bogey of the day and that’s not bad around Valderrama. I suppose the nerves got me at the 17th, there was a lot of tension but I will learn from this.

” I have won a huge cheque and I’m into the Race to Dubai.”

Peter Lawrie still has a little bit of work to do before clinching his place in the top 60 of the order of merit although a share of 15th was worth €41, 400 and moves him up two spots to 52nd on the order of merit. A four over total at Valderrama is thoroughly respectable but would have been a whole lot better had it not been for Saturday’s 76.

He dipped under par six times yesterday in a very commendable 69 given that he opened with bogeys at each of the first two holes. To his credit, he hit back immediately with birdies at the third and fourth to get his round back on track.

Graeme McDowell, the defending champion, departed a shattered man having shot 81 and 82 to finish last on 25 over par.