Justin Rose wins Hong Kong Open in duel with Bjerregaard
Justin Rose and Dane Lucas Bjerregaard separated themselves from the rest of the Hong Kong Open field on Saturday, establishing a shared four-shot lead heading into the final round.
In what amounted to a match-play situation on Sunday, Rose was a shot better than the upstart Bjerregaard, locking up his eighth European Tour win with a 17-under 263 total.
The turning point in the proceedings turned out to be a Bjerregaard double bogey on the 14th, opening the door for Rose to win. For Rose, the win was a bit of a make up for a lost opportunity last week at the Frys.com Open, where he finished T-6.
“I’m very happy to get the job done,” Rose said. “I had a chance to win in Napa last week, I was tied for the lead going down the tenth hole and let that one flitter away a little bit. I wanted to hang onto this one.”
For the Dane, he’s disappointed not to win, but he posted a 20-shot improvement over the last time he played in the final group on Sunday on the European Tour. In December’s Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa, Bjerregaard shot 89.
“The last time I was out in the final group on a Sunday, I shot 89,” he said. “So 20 shots better today, I’ll take that.”
Matthew Fitzpatrick, who broke through for his first European Tour title two weeks ago at the British Masters, finished in a tie for third to notch his sixth top-three finish of the year, the most on Tour. American Patrick Reed was also part of the tie for third at 11-under 269, as was Soomin Lee and Jason Scrivener.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
