Hong Kong: World number seven Justin Rose needed all his experience Sunday to win a tight battle against Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard and triumph in the Hong Kong Open by just one shot.
Rose started the final day tied for the lead with 285th-ranked Bjerregaard, but a double bogey by the young Dane late in the round derailed his challenge.
Englishman Rose, 35, is the first from his country to win the tournament since Ian Poulter in 2010. He finished with a 17 under par 263, which could see him bumped to fifth in the world rankings.
The unheralded Bjerregaard, aged 24, finished just one shot behind him at 16 under par. “I’m absolutely delighted to come out on top today,” Rose told reporters after the tournament, which was also his first European Tour victory on Asian soil.
“Starting the day, there was obviously Lucas and I ahead of the pack and that’s very much how it finished, so it really turned out to be a head-to-head battle between myself and Lucas.”
Ties for third place were Soomin Lee, Patrick Reed, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Jason Scrivener - all finishing with an 11 under par 269.
Korea’s Yang Yong-eun, the only Asian-born man to win a major, came joint seventh alongside Lin Wen-tang, Asian Tour Order of Merit leader Anirban Lahiri and Matt Ford.
Rose’s European Ryder Cup teammates Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter, both of whom had been hoping for strong performances, ended with five and six under par respectively, putting McDowell in tied 24th place and Poulter in joint 29th overall.
It was particularly disappointing for Poulter, who had to win in Hong Kong if he wanted to qualify for the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai. He had made a mad dash to Hong Kong to retain his European Tour membership.
