Peter Hanson defied cold, wet and windy conditions to give Sweden their first home winner of the SAS Masters for 10 years in Stockholm on Sunday. The 30-year-old, whose only previous European Tour victory in 174 starts came in Spain three years ago, hung on in a nervous finish to win by one from compatriot Pelle Edberg and England&aposs Nick Dougherty. The best-placed Australians were Peter O&aposMalley and Matthew Millar, who both finished equal 40th on five-over. For Dougherty it meant a runner-up finish in the event for the second year running, but there was real drama attached to his performance this time. The 26-year-old Ryder Cup hopeful tweaked his back somehow during the night and in trying to warm up in the gym it got only worse. “What a day. If my chiropractor had been here he might have told me to pull out, so I&aposm glad he wasn&apost,” said Dougherty. “After all I&aposve been through I was going to finish no matter what.” Dougherty remained 14th in the cup race but was in much closer touch with just two events to go. Hanson, meanwhile, moves up from 24th to 17th and will play in this week&aposs KLM Open in Holland rather than taking a break because he still has an outside chance to make the team. “It feels great, of course,” he said. “It&aposs been a long wait for me. “I started pretty well, but then struggled on the back nine the same as yesterday.” From four clear with eight to go he double-bogeyed the 11th and bogeyed the 16th and 17th. He remained one ahead moving to the tee at the last, however, and a superb iron to the heart of the green proved the decisive shot after Edberg had just failed to hole from long range. German Martin Kaymer finished in joint 14th place after a closing 69 and is now only pocket money behind 10th-placed Soren Hansen in the cup standings. Hansen took the week off, as did ninth-placed Oliver Wilson. “It sounds weird, but I don&apost feel the pressure,” said Kaymer. “I just see it as a challenge and it&aposs fun to be in this position trying to make others angry. “It&aposs getting really tight, but I&aposm enjoying it.” Results from the SAS Masters, Stockholm -9: Peter Hanson 66 66 68 71 -8: Nick Dougherty 66 66 70 70, Pelle Edberg 69 67 66 70 -7: Paul Broadhurst 67 68 70 68, Garry Orr 67 68 67 71, Sam Walker 72 68 64 69 -6: Soren Kjeldsen 69 65 68 72 -5: Daniel Chopra 71 64 67 73, Jamie Donaldson 68 68 71 68, Bradley Dredge 71 69 66 69, Oliver Fisher 69 69, 68, 69, Raphael Jacquelin 73 68 65 69, Paul McGinley 69 70 67 69 -4: Martin Kaymer 69 70 68 69, David Lynn 70 69 68 69, Ross McGowan 70 70 65 71, Jarmo Sandelin 72 68 68 68 Also: +5: Matthew Millar (Australia) 71 67 71 76, Peter O Malley (Australia) 74 67 67 77
Author: