Munich victory worth wait for Romero

Nine years for win

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 Argentine 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, however, carding a closing bogey-free 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 threeputted 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 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.

Romero said of his success: “I’m really happy. I haven’t been in that position for a long time, so it felt a little funny – but only on the 18th hole, because I was playing great golf.

“And then I was looking at the leaderboard and I saw that the other players missed the green on 17 but I didn’t want to look at that. I was a little nervous. I’m very happy I’m going to be here on the European Tour again. I enjoy it here and I want to say thanks to the people at BMW because if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t have any category now, and this is going to be lifechanging.”

Garcia fell short but took positives from his performance, saying: “I felt like I played well enough to win. There were a couple of missed putts here and there, and some good putts that didn’t want to go in.

“It was difficult to get anything going. Credit to Andres. With no status, he’s neither on the European Tour nor the PGA Tour and to go out and shoot 65 I’m happy for him.”

Scott Henry was the leading Scot in a share of 12th place on 10 under while Aberdeen’s Paul Lawrie finished in a share of 44th place.

“Thanks to the people at BMW. This victory is going to be life-changing”