Victor Dubuisson holds nerve to win second Turkish Open

Sport360 staff 17:52 01/11/2015
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  • France's Victor Dubuisson shot a final round 66 for a 22-under par in Belek.

    France’s Victor Dubuisson closed with a birdie to win the Turkish Airlines Open by one shot from South Africa’s Jaco van Zyl on Sunday.

    Dubuisson, who won the inaugural edition in 2013, shot a final round 66 for a 22-under par total of 266.

    The Frenchman started off in bright fashion, making a birdie in three of his first four holes, but was always playing catch-up after that when he made a double bogey five on the par-3 fifth hole, followed by a bogey on the seventh.

    Despite making a birdie on the ninth, the 25-year-old trailed South African van Zyl and Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, the two other players playing alongside him in the leading group.

    But van Zyl (67) and Aphibarnrat (67) both slowed down on the back nine, while Dubuisson reignited his round with a chipped-in eagle on the par-5 11th hole, and then made three birdies in his last four to finish with a 22-under par total of 266.

    Van Zyl had a birdie chance from 15 feet on the last hole to get into a playoff, but he missed and settled for a par and second place at 21-under par 267.

    Aphibarnrat was heartbroken when a birdie putt on the 18th from less than two feet lipped out and denied him a tied second place finish. He was third on 268.

    Reigning BMW PGA champion Byeong-Hun An of South Korea added a 66 to his 65 on Saturday to finish fourth on 269, two ahead of England’s Chris Wood (68).

    World number three Rory McIlroy could not get going and a one-under par 71 round was good only for a tied sixth place at 16-under par 272 with American Peter Uihlein (68).

    Dubuisson, who is expected to move into the top-35 of the world ranking from his current 69, earned $1.166 million and 1,333,330 points on the Race to Dubai.

    McIlroy, who started well with two birdies in his first four holes, struggled with both the putter and his hitting as he made three bogeys after that.

    But the four-time major champion saw several positives as he gets ready to play the WGC-HSBC Champions next week.

    “The game’s definitely better, better than the last couple of starts I made at The Tour Championship and Fry’s, and my ball-striking has been a little more consistent,” said McIlroy.

    “I feel I’ve got a new driver in the bag and a new ball and I’m excited about that. It’s just more of trying to get myself into these positions and just try to handle them better.

    “Don’t know if I was just trying a bit too hard out there or what it was. Whenever I get myself in this position, I need to get out of my own way a little bit.”

    The Turkish Airlines Open was the first leg of the four-event Final Series of the European Tour. The second tournament is the $8.5 million WGC-HSBC Champions, which will be played in Shanghai from Thursday.

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