Ryder Cup hero Ian Poulter snatched a typically steely victory in the $7 million WGC-HSBC Champions Sunday when he shot seven-under-par 65 to settle a thrilling day's action at China's Mission Hills.
The Englishman started the last round four off the pace but he crafted eight birdies against a lone bogey - on the penultimate hole - before sealing a nerve-jangling, two-stroke win with a ice-cool par putt on the 18th.
Poulter fired rounds of 69, 68, 65 and 65 for a total score of 21-under-par 267, with Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Jason Dufner and Scott Piercy sharing second place on a congested leaderboard.
Overnight leaders Louis Oosthuizen and Lee Westwood faltered to finish a shot further back with Adam Scott eighth, defending champion Martin Kaymer ninth and Bill Haas 10th on the par-72 Olazabal Course.
Poulter claimed the $1.2 million winner's cheque with his first individual win of the season, and the 15th of his career - just a month after playing a key role in Europe's come-from-behind Ryder Cup triumph at Medinah.
"After the Ryder Cup I came here in good spirits. I played well last week and took a lot that I knew that if I did the right things this week and stayed patient I'd be right there at the end. It's just so nice to get another win," he said.
"It was a special day... I knew there was a good round of golf in me on this course."
Comments
Comments are closed.