Matt Wallace wins BMW International Open

England’s Matt Wallace fired a closing round of 65 at Golf Club Gut Laerchenhof to win the BMW International Open by a shot from Martin Kaymer, Mikko Korhonen and Thorbjorn Olesen.

Matt Wallace wins BMW International Open

Matt Wallace closed with a seven-under-par 65 to win the BMW International Open by a shot and claim his third European Tour title. It was his second win of the season after he was victorious in the Hero Indian Open in March.

Wallace began the final day in Germany two shots off the lead, but the deficit had grown by the time he teed off. Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen, seemingly out of contention after a third round of 77, ripped around Golf Club Gut Laerchenhof in a record-breaking 61 to set an impressive clubhouse total of nine-under-par. At that stage, the Dane was three ahead of the field.

Wallace played a strong front nine of 34 before turning on the style on the back nine. The Englishman made five birdies in seven holes after the turn to reach 10-under-par. He signed for a bogey-free 65 and a one-shot victory over Olesen, Martin Kaymer and Mikko Korhonen.

“I work hard for this. I believe I can do it. I want to go further, I want to keep building on this,” said Wallace. “Obviously this gives me a lot of confidence to go on and play well and I want to kick on and hopefully do this in the bigger events from now on. This is great, this is a step in the right direction. We'll keep working hard to bigger and better things.”

Home favourite Martin Kaymer was still in contention until he thinned his second shot through the 17th green and made bogey. Despite a birdie on the closing hole he came up one shy of Wallace and a chance of repeating his 2008 victory in this event.

Mikko Korhonen of Finland was seeking a second win in three weeks, following his triumph in the Shot Clock Masters. He closed with an excellent 67 but it wasn’t quite good enough, just a shot off the winning total.

Thorbjorn Olesen was two-over-par before the start of play but an incredible closing round of 11-under 61 saw him race to the top of the leaderboard. He made a birdie on the 2nd, an eagle on the 3rd and another birdie on the 9th to reach the turn in 32. Then he really put his foot to the floor on the run for home, making seven birdies to come back in 29. His clubhouse total of nine-under looked good until it was surpassed by Wallace.

“I was just trying today to go out there and build on my game, see if I could shoot a low score and get ready for next week,” he said. “Obviously as the round progressed I kept on thinking birdies and trying to make the round better. Finishing with four birdies was pretty nice.”

BMW International Open Golf Club Gut Laerchenhof, Pulheim, Germany 21 – 24 Jun Purse: €2,000,000 Par: 72

1 Matt Wallace (Eng) 73 69 71 65 278 €333,330 T2 Martin Kaymer (Ger) 72 68 71 68 279 €149,140 T2 Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 71 72 69 67 279 €149,140 T2 Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 73 68 77 61 279 €149,140 T5 Lucas Bjerregaard (Den) 72 72 67 69 280 €77,400 T5 Aaaron Rai (Eng) 69 71 71 69 280 €77,400 T7 Scott Hend (Aus) 71 67 73 70 281 €55,000 T7 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 69 72 68 281 €55,000 T9 Nacho Elvira (Esp) 71 73 73 65 282 €40,533 T9 Andy Sullivan (Eng) 71 72 70 69 282 €40,533 T9 Justin Walters (RSA) 76 67 75 64 282 €40,533

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage