COPENHAGEN, 11 August 2003 — Ian Poulter claimed his second European Tour title of the year when he pipped fellow-Briton Colin Montgomerie by one stroke to win the inaugural Nordic Open yesterday.
Poulter shot a final round six-under-par 66 for a 22-under-par total of 266, while Montgomerie, who had started the day tied for the lead, carded a 68 for a final total of 267.
Montgomerie began the final round with a one-stroke lead over the 27-year-old but was unable to match Poulter’s tenacity and when the seven-times European number one missed a 15ft birdie putt on 18, his chance of a first win of the year ended.
Poulter overtook Montgomerie and home favorite Soren Hansen, the other overnight leader, with a three-birdie front nine and moved two strokes ahead of the field at the 15th after his sixth birdie of the round.
Poulter, who parred the last three holes, earned $300,000 for the win — his fifth on the European Tour and second this year after he won the Wales Open in June.
“It was nice I could pip him (Montgomerie) and this is a massive win for me the week before the major (US PGA) because I’m going into it very, very confident,” said Poulter.
Montgomerie, who was disappointed at not getting his first win of the season after coming through the field following a 70 in the first round, said two dropped shots on the front nine yesterday and a lackluster finish had cost him victory.
Hansen’s chances diminished when he three-putted the 12th for a bogey and the Dane had to settle for a share of third with Gregory Havret of France and Britain’s Stephen Gallacher, who had the day’s best round of 63, two strokes behind Poulter.
One of the pre-tournament favorites Thomas Bjorn birdied five of the last seven holes to shoot a 67 and finish nine strokes adrift of Poulter.
Love Retains 10-Point Advantage at The International
At Castle Rock, Colorado, Davis Love III remains on course for his fourth title of the season after maintaining a 10-point lead in the third round of The International on Saturday.
In an event that uses the modernized Stableford scoring system, Love tallied five points for a total of 41 and a clear advantage over John Rollins, who matched the leader’s total over 18 holes to finish the day on 31.
Fiji’s Vijay Singh (9) is third with 28 points, followed by Chris DiMarco (11) and South Africa’s Retief Goosen (9) on 26 points.
The field was cut again following Saturday’s round to the top-36 players and ties.
The scoring system awards eight points for a double eagle, five points for an eagle, two points for a birdie, zero points for a par, minus-one point for a bogey and minus-two points for double bogey or higher.
“It was obviously not as good as the last two days, but it was very steady,” Love said of his round in comparison to his tournament-record 36 points in the first two rounds.
“I hit a lot of good shots, was on a lot of greens and never found myself in trouble. I had a couple greens that I missed probably in the wrong place, but I wasn’t in danger of making a big score.”
Love, who had 10 birdies in the first round and three eagles in the second round, turned in a pedestrian three-birdie, one-bogey performance at the par-72 Castle Pines Golf Club.
All of Love’s scoring was done in the first 10 holes.
He birdied the par-four fifth, ninth and 10th holes, and bogeyed the par-four sixth.
He recorded pars on all four par-fives for no score on the holes that had given him 21 points on the first two days.
