Darren Fichardt beat fellow South African James Kingston at the first hole of a sudden death play-off to win the Qatar Masters in Doha today, as Paul McGinley’s strong final round challenge for just fell short. The South Africans had tied on the 13 under par mark of 275 after Kingston failed with a 10-foot birdie putt on the long 18th and when they returned to the same hole he could only par again, whereas Fichardt was on in two and two-putted for birdie.
McGinley, diagnosed with pneumonia on Monday, finished third on 11 under after an excellent final round of 67. The Dubliner said: “I felt it was destiny for me to win this week, but it wasn't to be. The last four holes of the third round this morning were where I lost it. I played them in one over and it left me too much to do. Four behind is too much - you've either got to be lucky or magnificent to win from there in the last round. That's the quality of the guys now. They don't come back to you, you've got to out-run them.”
Padraig Harrington was in sparkling form today, however, his final round 65 proved too little too late as he finished nine shots behind the leaders with a four under total of 284. Damien McGrane ended his solid showing with a slightly disappointing 73 to finish one over par, while Peter Lawrie recovered somewhat from his nightmare day on Saturday to score 73. He was still well done the field though – seven over par for the tournament.
Filed by James Boylan.
