Brooks Koepka of the USA fired an excellent final round of 65 to win the Turkish Airlines Open by the Ministry of Youth and Sports by a single shot from England’s Ian Poulter.
Brooks Koepka of the USA fired an excellent final round of 65 to win the Turkish Airlines Open by the Ministry of Youth and Sports by a single shot from England’s Ian Poulter.
Koepka made a fabulous eagle three on the 13th hole to take a two-shot lead and nobody was able to close the gap as the American parred his way in.
Ian Poulter reduced the deficit to one after a birdie on the 13th, but he was unable to get on level terms with Koepka. After a fine bunker shot on the closing hole, Poulter faced a short birdie putt to tie Koepka’s 72-hole total of 17-under-par, but he missed from six feet.
The victory was Koepka’s first on the European Tour and it has moved him to sixth on the Race to Dubai with just next week’s DP World Tour Championship left to play.
“It's a special week obviously, these four events and The Race to Dubai are ones you prepare for all year, and to win one of them is very special,” said Koepka.
Despite not playing this week, Rory McIlroy has won the 2014 Race to Dubai. Only Jamie Donaldson, Sergio Garcia and Marcel Siem could catch the Northern Irishman before this event, but all three needed a victory in Antalya to keep their hopes alive.
Siem came closest. He was only a shot off the lead going into the final round over The Montgomerie Maxx Royal course, but he closed with a 71 to finish the week in a tie for eighth.
Ian Poulter was disappointed to miss the crucial putt on the 18th, but he was more frustrated by his poor play on Saturday. The Englishman was six shots clear of the pack after 36 holes, but his third round of 75 cost him dearly.
"I’ll be angry for a few days, but the damage was done on Saturday,” he said. “That, for me, is really disappointing. To have played three great rounds of golf, and just one blip on Saturday, which is a real shame.”
Henrik Stenson carded a brilliant final round of 64 to climb the leaderboard and finish in third spot. The Swede will take a great deal of confidence into next week when he defends his DP World Tour Championship title in Dubai.
Turkish Airlines Open by the Ministry of Youth and Sports The Montgomerie Maxx Royal, Antalya, Turkey Nov 13-16, purse €5,590,000, par 72
1 Brooks Koepka (USA) 69 67 70 65 271 €848,930 2 Ian Poulter (Eng) 64 66 75 67 272 €567,602 3 Henrik Stenson (Swe) 70 70 70 64 274 €320,186 T4 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Esp) 63 73 71 68 275 €200,862 T4 Andy Sullivan (Eng) 67 75 66 67 275 €200,862 T4 Danny Willett (Eng) 67 70 69 69 275 €200,862 T4 Wade Ormsby (Aus) 65 71 68 71 275 €200,862 T8 Marcel Siem (Ger) 70 69 66 71 276 €122,216 T8 Lee Westwood (Eng) 70 68 67 71 276 €122,216 10 Eddie Pepperell (Eng) 70 71 67 69 277 €102,095
Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage
