 Johnson gets dramatic home win in Sweden
2010-07-25 13:53:00
Stockholm, Sweden (Sports Network) - Sweden's Richard S. Johnson made a long birdie putt at the 18th hole Sunday to win the Scandinavian Masters by one shot. Johnson finished off his one-under 71 in the final round with a 25-footer for birdie that rolled into the center of the cup. He ended at 11-under 277, beating the clubhouse number Argentina's Rafa Echenique had set minutes earlier.
The win was cheered loudly by the Swedish crowd, which threw its support behind Johnson all week. The celebration on the 18th green included Johnson's caddie leaping onto 33-year-old Swede's back.
"It was just unbelievable, especially to do it in the way it played out," said Johnson, who picked up his second European Tour win and first since 2002.
Echenique watched it all in a nearby television camera, having finished two groups earlier at 10-under 278. Still seeking his first win, he closed with a 69 in the final round.
It was his third solo runner-up finish in the last four seasons.
"Another second place," said the 29-year-old Echenique. "That's golf."
Scottish Open winner Edoardo Molinari (69) finished third at nine-under 69, while British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen (73) shared fourth with Brett Rumford (69) and Mark Brown (71) at eight-under 280.
Johnson shared a one-shot lead with K.J. Choi after the third, but it took a while to see what he'd do with it. The round was delayed at the start because of heavy overnight rains.
The leaderboard was in flux all day long.
Among Johnson's key strokes early on was a tee shot in close for a birdie at No. 4, a par three, which ended a streak of back-to-back bogeys and restored his one-shot lead.
He made another bogey later on at No. 8, but came back with a 10-foot birdie putt at the next hole to make the turn tied for the lead with Nicolas Colsaerts.
Playing a couple of groups ahead, Echenique made back-to-back birdies at the 12th and 13th holes, sinking a 10-foot putt for the second one to take a one- shot lead
They were his last birdies.
Johnson, meanwhile, picked up short birdies at the 13th and 15th holes to move one shot ahead of Echenique. He then bogeyed the 16th to drop back into a tie.
But that mistake was remedied two holes later with an approach into the middle of the green that set up his winning birdie.
"This is something that you dream of your whole life," said Johnson, "to make a long putt on the last to win something very big. It's very, very, very special."
NOTES: Johnson, a PGA Tour regular, won on that circuit in 2008...Choi shot a 78 and dropped into 13th place, seven strokes back...Colsaerts tied for 11th place...Next week is the Irish Open, where Shane Lowry won as an amateur last year.
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