Henrik Stenson claimed his 10th European Tour title of his career as held off the challenge of Darren Fichardt and Thorbjorn Olesen to secure the BMW International Open by three shots.
The Swede was one of a number of golfers that was required to play 36 holes on Sunday at the Golf Club Gut Laerchenhof after much of Saturday was washed out due to inclement weather.
Stenson’s third round was flawless as he rolled in five birdies and avoided any drops to climb to 16-under-par with a round to go. Fichardt’s third round seemed to be going nowhere, he had two birdies and two bogeys on his card after 10 holes. The 41-year-old then reeled off four birdies in his next eight holes to give himself a chance with 18 holes to play, still five shots behind Stenson.
Fichardt opened his final round solidly, picking up one birdie and avoiding any dropped shots on his outward nine. Stenson, on the other hand, had a shaky start that included two birdies and three bogeys on his front nine.
Fichardt picked up further birdies at the 10th and 13th and found himself in a tie for the lead after Stenson dropped another shot playing the 10th.
The South African could not find another birdie until he played the 17th. By that time Stenson had recovered enough to have a two shot lead. Trying to post a challenging clubhouse target, Fichardt pushed a little to hard on the 18th as he ended up with a bogey to sign for a final round 69.
Playing behind, Stenson would also birdie the 17th and take a comfortable three-shot lead down the last. An excellent approach shot and two putt for a par saw the Swede win his second BMW International Open crown, ten years after he won his first (where coincidentally also beat a South African).
Other South Africans who performed well in Germany were Zander Lombard who was in with a chance until he shot a final-round 77. The 21-year-old ended up in a tie for 21st place, while Brandon Stone shared 33rd and Jaco van Zyl 38th places respectively.
