England’s Chris Wood produced a superb final round of 67 to win the Lyoness Open at Diamond Country Club in Austria by two shots from Rafael Cabrera-Bello of Spain.
England’s Chris Wood produced a superb final round of 67 to win the Lyoness Open at Diamond Country Club in Austria by two shots from Rafael Cabrera-Bello of Spain.
Wood began the final day five shots behind Gregory Bourdy of France and two back of Cabrera-Bello. But as the leader faltered, Wood pushed forwards. The Englishman posted five birdies and managed to keep a dropped shot off his card en-route to a flawless 67.
“I played great all week and today especially,” he said. “I felt that if I could beat 68 today I would have an outside chance and obviously things went my way and 67 was good enough.”
Rafa Cabrera-Bello started well with a birdie at his third hole. After Bourdy had double bogeyed the 2nd hole and dropped another at the 7th, the Spaniard took the lead outright. But three straight bogeys from the 9th dented Cabrera-Bello’s chances. Wood had raced to the turn in 33 and moved to the front.
Despite back-to-back birdies on the 15th and 16th holes, Cabrera-Bello was unable to catch Wood who also made gains at those two par-5s.
Wood made pars at the final two holes to post a four-round total of 15-under-par. Cabrera-Bello was unable to find the two birdies required to match that number so Wood took the title. It was his second win on the European Tour; he previously claimed the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in 2013.
“It has been a while since the win in Qatar but let me tell you it feels a lot better to say I am a two-time winner on Tour – it is a very special feeling to win out here so I am looking forward to celebrating this one.”
Gregory Bourdy led the tournament through 54 holes, having produced three excellent rounds. But the Frenchman was unable to maintain that standard on Sunday. He limped home with a 78 to end the week in a tie for sixth place.
Robert Rock of England climbed the board with a closing 66. He finished in a tie for third with his countrymen Robert Dinwiddie and Matthew Fitzpatrick.
Lyoness Open Powered by Greenfinity Diamond CC, Atzenbrugg, Austria Jun 11-14 Purse: €1,500,000, par 72
1 Chris Wood (Eng) 67 69 70 67 273 €250,000 2 Rafa Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 69 68 66 72 275 €166,660 T3 Robert Dinwiddie (Eng) 67 73 70 68 278 €77,500 T3 Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng) 69 69 69 71 278 €77,500 T3 Robert Rock (Eng) 71 70 71 66 278 €77,500 T6 Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 65 67 69 78 279 €45,000 T6 Kristoffer Broberg (Swe) 70 72 69 68 279 €45,000 T6 John Hahn (USA) 71 69 68 71 279 €45.000 T9 Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 69 69 70 72 280 €31,800 T9 Gary Stal (Fra) 68 68 73 71 280 €31,800
Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage
