Fasth: NZ win puts career back on track

Niclas Fasth is convinced his career is back on track after winning his first European Tour title in five years in the Holden New Zealand Open.

Fasth birdied the second hole of a play-off with England’s Miles Tunnicliff after the pair had finished tied on 22 under par at Gulf Harbour.

Fasth, who finished second to David Duval in the 2001 British Open at Lytham to earn his place in the Ryder Cup, endured a miserable season last year on the US Tour, missing the cut in 12 of his 21 events and recording just one top-20 finish.

He lost his card after finishing 172nd on the money list and was ranked 155th in the world at the start of the week, but demonstrated his potential with two top 10s on his visits to Europe.

“It feels really, really good,” said the 32-year-old. “To win here is fantastic and it really gives me assurance that I am going the right way with everything.

“I have felt good about things on and off and especially lately I feel the last six months of work have paid off. But it is one thing to feel it, to actually win is big. You have to do something special to win a tournament.

“I feel really good about my game. It is very strong in almost every respect and I am expecting it to fall into place more and more.

“I will keep playing the way I was planning to do but obviously this gives me a bit of confidence. I know where I want to go and this is one step.”