Golf: Olazabal enjoys big step

Jose Maria Olazabal was celebrating today after easing Sam Torrance’s Ryder Cup selection headache by claiming his 19th European Tour title in the rain-affected Novotel Perrier French Open.

Olazabal carded closing rounds of 66 and 67 as the final 36 holes were played on Sunday to make up for time lost to rain on the previous three days.

The Spaniard birdied the last for a 12-under-par total of 268 at Lyon Golf Club, two shots ahead of Preston’s Paul Eales, Italy’s Costantino Rocca and New Zealand’s Greg Turner.

France’s Gregory Havret took fifth place on nine-under with another Frenchman Marc Farry a shot further behind in sixth.

The first prize of £134,000 lifted Olazabal to sixth place in the Ryder Cup standings and a successful defence of his Benson & Hedges title at the Belfry this week would go a long way to securing his place in the European team.

‘‘I was disappointed with what happened at the Spanish Open when I missed the cut,’’ said the double Masters champion who is concentrating on the US Tour this season.

‘‘If I want to make the Ryder Cup team, which I do even though it is not the number one priority, it is very important for me to play well in the few tournaments I am going to play in Europe.

‘‘This is a very important step towards that.’’

Olazabal is one of several big names playing more on the other side of the Atlantic this season and with only two wild cards at Torrance’s disposal, the European skipper needs the likes of Olazabal to qualify automatically to increase his options.

‘‘It feels great,’’ the 35-year-old added. ‘‘I didn’t feel all that comfortable on the golf course. It was a good fight within myself just to stay calm so I am very very pleased.

‘‘I’m very happy with what I’ve done even though I know I should have struck the ball better. I played very well but the quality of the shots needs improvement.

‘‘I was a little tired playing 36 holes especially with the course being so wet and making it very difficult to walk on the fairways. But I never felt any lack of energy playing the last few holes and that was important.’’

Olazabal and Rocca began the final round tied on nine under par after completing the third round on Sunday morning, Rocca carding a superb 64 and Olazabal a 66.

With no redraw being made for the final round to get the players round quicker, Rocca was several holes ahead of Olazabal on the course and after bogeys at his first two holes got back on level terms with the Spaniard with birdies at the fifth and sixth.

Olazabal got his nose in front with a birdie on the third to lead Rocca, Eales and France’s Gregory Havret by one before a bogey on the seventh dropped him back into a tie for the lead.

A birdie on the next had Olazabal quickly back in front, back came Rocca with a birdie on the 13th.

The Italian then failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker on the 15th, left a long birdie attempt agonisingly an inch short on the 17th before a birdie on the par five 18th got him back to 10-under.

That was briefly in a three-way tie for the lead as Greg Turner had also moved to 10-under but the Kiwi ran up a double-bogey six on the 16th to effectively end his chances, and seconds later Olazabal holed from four-feet after a superb approach to the par three 14th to claim the lead again.

Turner meanwhile made amends with an eagle on the 18th and Eales birdied the 15th to join him and Rocca on 10-under and keep the pressure on Olazabal, but the 35-year-old held his nerve superbly, pitching to six-feet for a birdie on the 18th to seal the win.

Rocca may also be harbouring thoughts of a fourth Ryder Cup appearance after showing signs of getting back to his best this week.

The popular Italian managed just one top 30 finish on the Tour last season and slumped to 152nd on the Order of Merit but finished fourth in Argentina recently and played superbly on the final day at the club where he won his maiden title in 1993.

‘‘This has been a good week for me,’’ said Rocca, who famously defeated Tiger Woods in the singles at Valderrama in 1997. ‘‘I’d like to play like this every week.

‘‘In the morning I played really well, this afternoon I made two or three mistakes but I’ve enjoyed my game again.’’

For Eales a more prosaic goal had been all but achieved, the £60,234 prize virtually securing his card for the 10th straight year on Tour after a scare last season when he came too close for comfort to losing his playing privileges.

‘‘I thoroughly enjoyed it,’’ said the 37-year-old from Preston who finished 12th in the final counting event of last season to secure his card by a narrow margin.

‘‘I knew I was coming into some form and it was great fun again.’’

Eales, one of the shortest hitters on the tour, added: ‘‘With a course like this you would think a guy like me would stand no chance but I played really smart golf and I suppose that is years and years of experience.

‘‘I’m delighted for all my supporters and sponsors back home who have been through the rough times.

‘‘Hopefully this will be the start of things and with a putt here or there it will be jackpot time.’’