Romero ends long wait for another title

ANDRES Romero held off the challenge of Masters champion Sergio Garcia and England’s Richard Bland to win his first title in nine years at the BMW International Open.

The Argentinian was playing on a sponsor’s invite in Munich and had slipped to 837th in the world since his last victory at the 2008 Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

He showed no signs of that alarming drop in form on Sunday, however, carding a closing bogeyfree 65 to get to 17 under and beat Bland, Garcia and Belgium’s Thomas Detry by a single shot.

Romero began his round with seven pars but birdied the eighth, ninth and 11th before a hat-trick of gains from the 13th moved him into a share of the lead.

Detry posted a closing 66 to set the target at 16 under but when Garcia three-putted the 16th and Bland missed the green on the next, the door was open for Romero.

He left his eagle putt on the last a long way short but held his nerve to make a birdie, leaving the final pairing of Bland and Garcia both needing finishing eagles to force a play-off.

The duo could only make birdies, however, and Romero was handed his second European Tour win.

Garcia was looking for his third win of the season in his first event in Europe since his triumph at Augusta, while Bland fell agonisingly short of his first victory in his 411th European Tour appearance.

Swede Rikard Karlberg finished at 14 under, a shot clear of England’s Tommy Fleetwood and Italian Renato Paratore, with Open champion Henrik Stenson six shots behind the winner. ■■Harry Ellis secured a place at next month’s Open after winning the 122nd Amateur Championship in dramatic fashion at Royal St George’s, beating Australian Dylan Perry in a sudden death play-off.

The 21-year-old from Hampshire was seemingly headed for defeat after trailing Perry by four with only five of the 36 holes remaining.

However, a bogey six on the 32nd hole by Perry was followed by further dropped shots by the Australian on the 34th, 35th and 36th as Ellis recovered to all-square to send the match to sudden death.

The pair halved the first extra hole but a double-bogey six from Perry on the second proved decisive, with Ellis claiming victory thanks to another par - his seventh in succession.

Ellis, who at 16 became the youngest winner of the English Amateur Championship in 2012, has now earned a spot at the 146th Open at Royal Birkdale as well as next year’s Masters and US Open.