Jamie Donaldson of Wales finished two strokes ahead of his countryman Bradley Dredge to win the D+D Real Czech Masters and to secure his place in Paul McGinley’s European Ryder Cup team.
Jamie Donaldson of Wales finished two strokes ahead of his countryman Bradley Dredge to win the D+D Real Czech Masters and to secure his place in Paul McGinley’s European Ryder Cup team.
Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen knocked Donaldson off the perch with a birdie at the fifth hole, but the Welshman struck back with another birdie of his own at the sixth. When Kjeldsen suffered two straight bogeys at the eighth and ninth holes, Donaldson was in control once more.
“Winning is everything: wins shoot you up world rankings, Race To Dubai, all sorts. Its massive,” he said. “I needed to play well either this week or next week, or both, to guarantee my place in The Ryder Cup Team so there was a lot on the line and this week I played really well, so that’s great.”
“Mixed feelings because again there was the chance to win there,” he said. “I had a two shot lead going into the last round. It’s been a great two weeks in terms of two seconds. Two firsts would’ve been better. Slightly disappointed I didn’t win one, but I’ll have a few more chances before the end of the year, and see how that goes.”
Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher was looking for a good finish to propel himself into the European Ryder Cup Team. He finished in a tie for seventh after a poor final round of 73.
“My goal this week was to win or try to finish as high up as I could,” he said. “I didn’t really play that well, but top-10 when you’re not firing is quite good.”
D+D Real Czech Masters Albatross Golf Resort, Prague, Czech Republic Aug 21-24, purse €1,000,000, par 72
