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Better than ever Recovered Davis gets first win at Spanish Open
Posted: Monday May 01, 2000 02:01 PM
GIRONA, Spain (Reuters) -- Britain's Brian Davis became the European Tour's ninth first-time winner of the season when he won the Spanish Open on Monday. The 25-year-old Englishman carded a closing 3-under-par 69 for a 14-under-par 274 to finish three strokes clear of Austrian rookie Markus Brier and pick up the $156,000 winner's prize. Eduardo Romero closed to within two strokes of Davis, his playing partner, by the 12th but two bogeys in the last three holes by the 45-year-old Argentine ended his challenge. Romero had to settle for a share of third place on 278 with England's former Ryder Cup player Peter Baker, who broke the course record by a stroke with a 64 as he surged through the field. European number one Colin Montgomerie never threatened and another poor putting display left him five strokes behind the winner in fifth place. Davis ran up three birdies in four holes to extend a one-shot overnight lead before Romero began his fight back. It was Davis' first title in five years of trying and comes two years after he was put in intensive care in Dubai at the start of the season suffering from a virus. He admitted "losing his way" at that time but said he had rediscovered his inspiration from Tiger Woods. "I lost my way and my focus in 1998 after my illness and I didn't think I could carry on the way I was playing," he said. "But my coach told me to be patient and I improved my putting through my club pro. "Then I played with Tiger Woods in front of 30,000 people in last year's Deutsche Bank Open and I was more nervous on the range beforehand. "So I knew I could be focused well enough on the course today, even though I was shaking on the range before going out just like I was before playing with Tiger. "Playing with Tiger Woods made me realize how far behind I was, it made me realize how much more dedicated I had to be. "Now I've got to this stage I want to be looking for another step and I feel I've got a lot more to offer. "You've got to have a dream and mine is to get to the top. Tiger's set the pace." Runner-up Brier earned Austria's best finish on the European Tour in his first year after a decade as his country's top amateur. His two birdies in the last four holes enabled him to go past Romero and clubhouse leader Baker. Spain's Sergio Garcia threatened early on but lost his way with back-to-back double-bogeys on the fourth and fifth and finished nine strokes behind.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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