Pepperell holds on for first title
England’s Eddie Pepperell held off a determined challenge by compatriot Oliver Fisher to claim his first European Tour title in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
Pepperell carded a closing 70 at Doha Golf Club to finish 18 under par and a shot ahead of playing partner Fisher, who missed from ten feet for birdie on the last to force a play-off.
The pair began the day tied for the lead but Fisher’s chance looked to have quickly disappeared when he bogeyed three holes in a row from the fourth, with Pepperell following eight straight pars with a birdie on the ninth. However, Fisher rallied superbly with five birdies on the back nine, including a tap-in on the par-three 17th to close within a shot of the lead.
Pepperell was unable to birdie the par-five 18th after laying up into the rough but Fisher’s own birdie attempt swung agonisingly across the hole.
A relieved Pepperell said: “I need a glass of wine and more than that I think! What a day.
“Oli made it really tough and I made it tough for myself at the end there with the second shot on 18. I felt good all day, I was in a great place mentally and kept
0 Eddie Pepperell: Relieved. telling myself I’m going to win this and Oli certainly made life more interesting.
“Relief I guess is the number one emotion, as is always the case with a win – although I haven’t had many. I guess it will give me that confidence. I’ve always believed I would win out here but it hadn’t happened before today. You have to take that step and it’s not easy but hopefully this is not my last.”
Pepperell held a three-shot lead after his second birdie of the day on the tenth, but got lucky when his approach to the 12th bounced off the rocks short of the green and allowed him to save par. He had chipped in for a bogey on the same hole in round three after hitting the rocks three times and joked: “They can bomb [that hole] if they want.
“Me and Mick [Doran, his caddie] did joke walking off the green we’d be happy never to see that hole again.”
Stephen Gallacher finished as top Scot after carding a level par 72 to claim a share of 39th place at eight under.