Wood wins with a flourish

Chris Wood, pictured, finished a stroke clear of George Coetzee and Sergio Garcia
27 January 2013

England's Chris Wood sank a 12-foot eagle putt on the final hole to grab his first European Tour title in brilliant fashion at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

Three clear of the field overnight, the 25-year-old fell two behind after a shaky start and with one to play trailed South African George Coetzee and Spanish star Sergio Garcia by a single stroke.

Then came a booming drive on the closing par five, a superb five-iron over the water and the best putt of his life for a 69 and 18-under-par total.

It came after 19 top-10 finishes from a player who was fifth in the 2008 Open as an amateur and then third a year later at Turnberry.

Coetzee was left as the nearly man once more - this was his 21st top-10 finish on the circuit - despite a superb 65 containing an eagle and six birdies. The last of those came courtesy of a pitch to five feet on the 18th.

Garcia birdied the final two holes for a 66 and they then sat and waited to see what Wood could produce.

It was a remarkable effort given a start in which he missed a three-foot birdie chance on the second - he blamed a spike mark for that - and a double bogey on the 223-yard next after he fired his tee shot wide and then hit the rock face in front of him.

Putts of 35 and 18 feet at the eighth and ninth were just the boost he needed, however, and a 15-footer on the 14th kept him in touch as the pressure built.

Garcia would have gone back into the game's top 10 for the first time in over three years if he had won, but he will take a lot of positives from his first tournament of the year.

Swede Alex Noren and England's Steve Webster tied for fourth, while Justin Rose's 68 for joint 16th kept him at fourth in the world ahead of Louis Oosthuizen.

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