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Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano feels the relief after eventually clinching victory on the final hole. STR/AP/Press Association Images
NERVES

'I thought of Van de Velde' says Shanghai winner as he nearly blows lead

Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano just held on as Shane Lowry finished best of the Irish.

IT WAS CLOSER than he would have liked but Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano held on for a one-shot victory in the BMW Masters on Sunday after admitting that nerves nearly got the better of him as he almost blew a three-stroke lead on the final hole.

“You know what? The only thing I was thinking of was Jean Van de Velde,” admitted the Spaniard after the event in Shanghai.

Van de Velde, of course,  famously stood on the final tee of the British Open at Carnoustie in 1999 with a three-shot lead, only to card a triple-bogey seven and lose in a playoff to Scotland’s Paul Lawrie.

Fernandez-Castano found a greenside bunker off the tee at the 471-yard 18th which did not help his nerves.

“Once I hit the bunker I wasn’t going to try anything fancy. Just got my lob wedge, progressed it about 25, 30 yards,” he said.

With the pin to the far left of the 18th green and only 160 yards to go, his attempt at a “conservative” third shot landed in the worst possible place, hard into a bunker way over on the right.

“I realised I was in trouble. I was just hoping the ball wasn’t plugged,” he said.

“I was happy to find a pretty good lie and hit a really good shot out of that bunker.”

It still took him a further two nervy putts to get the job done, so when had he started thinking of Van de Velde?

“All over the place,” he said, laughing. “You don’t have a three-shot advantage that often. Jean is a good friend and I just didn’t want to mess up, but I almost did.”

Fernandez-Castano, who pocketed a winner’s cheque for $1,166,000 and rocketed to fourth place from 35th in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai standings, won by one shot from Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee and Italy’s Francesco Molinari, who tied for second.

It was the Spaniard’s eighth European Tour victory and the first by a player from his country in 2013.

Shane Lowry finished best of the Irish on -2 after a five-under par final round with Padraig Harrington and Rory McIlroy a shot further back on -1.

(C) AFP, 2013

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