Davis amazed by turnaround in fortunes

Brian Davis declared it an “amazing day” after ending a near four-year wait for his second European Tour title with a dramatic one-point victory over defending champion Paul Casey at the ANZ Championship.

The 29-year-old, whose only previous victory on the European Tour came at the Peugeot Open de Espana in 2000, sank 10 birdies in a scintillating round of 65 at Horizons Resort in Port Stephens, New South Wales.

Davis was playing deliberately aggressive golf and limited his bogeys to just three for a modified stableford score of 17 points that lifted him into the lead with 44.

He then sat back and watched as Casey missed an eagle putt on the last to finish second with 43 and overnight leader Steve Webster imploded on the 18th in a desperate search of the eagle he also needed for the title.

Webster eventually finished tied for sixth on 37 points with Frenchman Thomas Levet, amateur star Nick Flanagan and his Australian compatriot Scott Gardiner tied for third on 39 points.

Davis moved up to fourth place in the Ryder Cup rankings and earned himself entry to the Accenture Matchplay, which had been his goal from this morning.

“It’s amazing. I didn’t think a win would happen at the start of the day,” said Davis after claiming the glass trophy and a £137,938 first prize.

“I had struggled over the last few weeks but it puts me straight back up there in the Ryder Cup rankings which is what I want and it puts me in the Accenture Matchplay.

“It has been an unbelievable week. I have not really been performing so to do what I did this weekend is unbelievable. I am over the moon, really pleased.

“I came close to a win last year – Freddie Jacobson chipped in three times at the Portuguese Open to push me into second.

“I came close a few times and felt like I could have won. But it wasn’t me making mistakes, more like people grabbing it.

“That is the difference today, I went and grabbed it.

Davis, who had predicted Webster would win the title at the beginning of the week, was given a putting lesson from his room-mate Gary Evans last night and it paid immediate dividends.

“My main goal was just to go out and make as many birdies as I could and see where I finished,” he said.

“I can’t putt any better than that. That was unbelievable. I felt I was very close but it just wasn’t right. He gave me a couple of little tips and today I rolled the ball beautiful.

“Today it caught fire and I gave myself a great chance.”

Davis worked himself clear of the field on the last hole, where a sublime chip to within a foot on the last earned him his 10th birdie and his 44th point.

Casey knew before he teed off this morning that he would need to reach 45 points if he was to stand a chance of defending his title.

“I am 75% happy with my defence. Two points better and I would be 100% happy. I thought I needed 16 points for 45 at the start of today,” he said afterwards.

“I am frustrated because I missed makeable putts at 14, 15, 16 and 17 and then missed the eagle at the last.”

Davis rose from 15th at the start of the day to overtake Webster who, after three solid days, struggled leading a tournament into the last round for the first time.

Indeed, he only remained part of the leading pack courtesy of an eagle on the ninth. Otherwise, the jovial 29-year-old managed only one birdie and six bogeys before reaching the 18th on 40 points, only one better than when he teed off.

A five-point eagle would still have won him his first European Tour title so he took on the challenge but drove his first out of bounds left and the provisional into the water.

He ended with a double-bogey, sacrificed third place to finish tied for sixth and with that, Davis was champion.

“It didn’t matter, I was always going to die on 18,” he said after his disappointing 77.

“I needed five points, but that is life. I never got started. The heat just got to me and I never settled.

“I am glad Brian won. He is one of my mates.”

Australian Nick O’Hern dropped out of the top two for the first time in the tournament to finish tied with Webster for sixth, while Ricky Barnes joined three Australians – Brett Rumford, Bradley Hughes and Peter Fowler – to complete the top 10.

England’s Martin Lemesurier tied for 12th on 34 points, Barry Lane was 17th and Mark Foster 21st.