Still in the chasing pack on the last day of the Ballantine’s Championship on South Korea’s Jeju island, the ask proved too much for our Ernie Els as Aussie Marcus Fraser took the title in rather blustery conditions.
Marcus Fraser stayed calm amid the blustery conditions at the Ballantine’s Championship yesterday (25 April) to claim the biggest title of his career.
The 31-year-old Australian carded a three-under-par 69 at Pinx Golf Club on the Korean holiday island of Jeju to win the €2.2 million showpiece by four strokes.
Fraser remained clear of the chasing pack – which included world No.7 Ernie Els – and kept his composure on the back nine to become the first wire-to-wire winner on the European Tour this year.
He finished on 12-under 204 for the tournament, which was reduced to 54 holes after play was held up for six hours on the first day due to fog.
Australia’s Brett Rumford (71) and Northern Ireland’s Gareth Maybin (72) were second on eight-under.
Fraser’s only previous European Tour success came seven years ago at the BMW Russian Open, a dual ranking event with the Challenge Tour, and he admitted it had been a long and frustrating wait for his next win.
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“Unbelievable, I can’t describe it,” said an emotional Fraser. “I just don’t know how I did that today. I’ve had so many chances to win in the last seven years, so to go out there and play like I did today and this week, it’s a big relief.”
Fraser, who collected the winner’s cheque for €367,500, admitted leading from the first day of the Ballantine’s Championship had increased the pressure.
“I don’t know if I have anything left in me to go a fourth round, but I don’t care,” he said. “I’ve worked very hard the last few years to be in a position where I should be winning golf tournaments, so it’s a huge reward.”
Fraser had dropped only one shot in the tournament before playing safe and laying up at the par-four 18th, where he tapped in for a bogey.
“At no point did I think I had it. I knew roughly what was going on but never got ahead of myself,” he said. “And on the last I just concentrated on getting on the fairway, and there was no way I was going to risk going for the green from there.”
Since his 2003 victory, Fraser’s best performance had been finishing runner-up in the Australian Masters at the start of the 2009 season.
Until the Ballantine’s Championship, his best finish this season was joint 11th at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
Rumford, meanwhile, was happy with his week’s work. “I just missed a truckload of putts early today, and in rounds one and two, so I’ll be working on my putting for the upcoming tournaments,” he said.
“But it was really tough out there, any missed shots and the wind was really throwing the ball about. Even so, I’m really happy for Marcus, it’s his second win on tour and no one is more deserving. He’s a great guy.”
Maybin also struggled on the greens. “I missed a couple of short putts, so I’ll go back and work on that,” he said. “But it’s been a pretty good week. I didn’t come in here with a whole lot of form, so to finish second is a great result any time.”
Teenager Noh Seung Yul flew the flag for Korea with a sparkling 68 to finish equal fourth on seven-under with England’s Oliver Fisher, who carded a 71.
Defending champion Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand, who started the day just one shot behind Fraser, returned a disappointing 75 to finish equal 10th on five-under.
Three-time Major winner South AfricanErnie Els also finished on five-under after a difficult day. The Big Easy started the final round just two shots off the pace but, after closing the gap to one early in his round, fell away on the back nine and returned a 74.
Marcus Fraser with the Ballantine’s Championship spoils (Pic: Paul Lakatos/Parallel Media Group)
