Antoine Rozner holed a 60-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters and secure a place in the record books as the fastest Frenchman to land two victories on the European Tour.
The 28-year-old’s latest success came in just his 29th start on the circuit, having made the breakthrough in the Golf in Dubai Championship presented by DP World at Jumeirah Golf Estates in December.
Italian Guido Migliozzi had set the clubhouse target after carding a brilliant bogey-free 65 at Education City Golf Club in Doha to finish on seven-under-par at the end of a tough week due to hot and windy conditions. That looked set to at least get him into a play-off, which was shaping up to involve as many as four players after South African Darren Fichardt and India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar both hit approaches close at the 17th in the final group. But, seconds after Rozner had rolled in his monster putt for a closing 3, they squandered those chances and, though both finished with birdies, it was Rozner’s title by then thanks to a closing 67 but, in particular, that incredible sign off.
“It was the best putt of my career,” admitted Rozner, who is the first Frenchman to land this title. “I was just trying to hit a good putt. When it was 15 feet away, I thought, ‘this is going to have a chance’, and it was the perfect speed.” Rozner is set to climb from 97th to around 62nd in the world rankings, which will secure him a spot alongside Dundee-based compatriot Victor Perez in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match-Play in Texas starting on Wednesday week. “I’m feeling amazing,” he added. “Winning a golf tournament is so rare – to win twice in just a few months is unreal. I’m just very happy with the way I got it done today in such a dramatic fashion, it’s amazing.”
Grant Forrest finished as the leading Scot, coming home in two-under for a closing 70 to earn a share of 19th spot on level-par. The Haddington-based player had been edging into the picture in Saturday’ third round before running up back-to-back 7s in the testing conditions. However, it was a confidence-boosting thereafter for Forrest, who is now working with Surrey-based Scot Hugh Marr. David Drysdale, who finished second at the same venue 12 months ago after losing to Spaniard Jorge Campillo in a five-hole play-off, also signed off with a 70 to tie for 28th on one-over. “It was very tough, the second round and third round, wind-wise,” said Drysdale.
“Stronger wind, but a really warm wind, like sitting in front of the oven. It was tough overall. I found it really difficult to see with the sand and dust in the air in those middle two rounds. “It was good to start and finish the week under par, but overall, I didn’t have my best game this week.” David Law, who led after an opening 64, closed with a 72 to end up in a share of 35th spot on two-over, one better than Scott Jamieson (73), with Richie Ramsay (70) and Connor Syme (75) finishing on six and seven- over respectively.
