England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick claimed his second European Tour title of his career by winning the Nordea Masters on Sunday by three shots. A final round one-under-par 71 contributed to his tournament winning total of 16-under-par. The Englishman’s nearest challenger was Lasse Jensen of Denmark who finished on 13-under-par.
The 21-year-old started well on his front nine as he kept his scorecard clean of any dropped shots. Birdies at the second and ninth saw him go out in 34 strokes and stand at 17-under-par at one stage of the final round. His second nine was a different story as he started to show some possible nerves.
A bogey at the 10th was followed by a birdie at the 12th before the Sheffield-born golfer stuttered around the rest of the nine. Fortunately for the 2013 US Amateur champion his lead was big enough coming down the home stretch, that he could afford a tap-in bogey on the final hole.
Runner-up Lasse Jensen shot a final round 68 that included two eagles in it, to grab second place away from Nicolas Colsaerts. The 31-year-old, despite being second, was never close enough to lay a serious threat to Fitzpatrick’s lead in the final round.
The best placed South African for the week was Tjaart van der Walt who fired an encouraging final round 68 to finish in a tie for 10th place.
Defending champion Alexander Noren, playing with Fitzpatrick in the final round, fell away alarmingly on Sunday. Starting three shots behind at the beginning of the day, he struggled to a round of six-over-par 78 to finish in a tie for 12th.
