may17 Mcdowell wins in Korea
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Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell defeated India’s Jeev Milkha Singh in a three-hole playoff on Sunday to win the inaugural Ballantine’s Championship.
The pair started the day level, and both shot a 6-under 66 to finish 72 holes at 24-under par before McDowell prevailed on the third playoff hole when Singh missed a birdie putt.
McDowell took out the $2.9 million or €1.87 million event at the Pinx Golf Club – jointly sanctioned by the European, Asian and Korean Tours – to post his first European Tour win since 2004 and only the third of his career.
Irishman Paul McGinley shot an eagle and five birdies in a 3-under 69 final round to finish third, two shots ahead of Japan’s Shingo Katayama.
Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn, Johan Edfors of Sweden and Korean-American Anthony Kim all finished 14-under and joint fifth.
Open champion Padraig Harrington struggled on the final day and scored a 2-over 74, finishing 14 shots off the lead.
Local favorite KJ Choi ended in a disappointing 24th place. The world number five totaled a 7-under 281.
Singh started his final round by nailing birdies on three of the first four holes to quickly take a three-stroke lead. McDowell came back into it with an eagle at the 10th, but saw Singh take a one-shot lead with a birdie at 16.
However the Indian bogeyed the par-three 17th, and both got par on the last to take the tournament into a playoff.
McDowell set up his birdie on the final playoff hole with a precise seven iron to the green.
“It was unbelievable,” said McDowell. “It’s a major relief to get it over with. Jeev’s a fantastic player, a great guy and I’m just glad I was able to hit one close to the flag at the last there, that was sweet.
“I made a bad start today. I was three back after four holes and really had a game on my hands then, but I played the last 13 holes six-under-par.
“I’ve worked unbelievably hard for this, I’ve been really patient, I’ve tried to keep disappointment and frustration out of play, so it’s a really special feeling right now.”