Catlin’s triumph goes to the Max

JOHN CATLIN beat Max Kieffer on the fifth hole of a dramatic play-off at the Austrian Open for a third win in eight months.

The American carded a bogey-free 65 in the final round to set the target at 14 under – and it looked like that might be enough when Kieffer found sand on the par-three 18th.

But Kieffer showed great nerve to make his up and down. When the duo could not be separated after four more trips up the last, the German must have been recalling almost eight years to the day when he lost a nine-hole play-off at the Spanish Open.

And he put himself in trouble when he found water off the tee at the fifth attempt and did it twice more from the drop zone for a quintuple-bogey eight, allowing Catlin to take the trophy with a four.

Catlin, who won twice on the European Tour in September, is back in the top 100 and aiming for 50.

He said: “Max was putting it on me the whole day. I had to keep making birdies, pushing forward, I had to make some really good par saves as well. To be the one holding the hardware is special.”

Bob MacIntyre suffered a horror finish at the RBC Heritage on the PGA Tour as a seven-over 78 left him one over in his final event before heading home.