Date: September 01, 2008
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Havret clinches JWC

Frenchman Gregory Havret has taken out the Johnnie Walker Championship at rain-soaked Gleneagles. Havret secured the 233,330-pound ($AU 493,852) first prize thanks to an eagle on the long ninth and birdies at the 14th and 16th which enabled him to beat England&aposs Graeme Storm by one stroke. Havret, who led at the end of each round, finished with a 14-under-par total of 278 to add the title to his Scottish Open victory last year. Swede Peter Hanson and former Ryder Cup player David Howell, in a welcome return to form, were joint third. Peter O&aposMalley was the best-performed Australian, in what was a forgettable tournament for the lads from Down Under, on even par – 14 strokes off Havret. Meanwhile, a jubilant Oliver Wilson joined Justin Rose and Soren Hansen in clinching a Ryder Cup debut on Sunday (UK time) – but only after being given the fright of his life. The 27-year-old from Mansfield knew as he came to the closing stretch of the final qualifying event that the only way he would miss out was if Nick Dougherty won the tournament. Aware that Dougherty, joint 16th overnight, had bogeyed three of the first six holes, Wilson felt he was cruising in. Until, that is, he looked at the leaderboard on the final hole. It showed the Liverpudlian with five successive birdies around the turn and another at the 14th. “I lost my concentration for a second,” said Wilson. But Dougherty was still three shots off the lead and by failing to birdie any of the final four he finished joint seventh. So Wilson, 10th on the points table as well as in the tournament, becomes the first player to represent Europe against the Americans without first winning a professional tournament. Four second places this year have got him in. Rose and Hansen, who have not won this season either, partnered each other for the final lap of the 12-month race and, pretty much certain of their spots when they teed off, gave what Rose called &aposhigh fives and a manly hug&apos on the last. They finished fifth and 10th in the event respectively. Round Four of the Johnny Walker Championship, Gleneagles, Scotland -14: Gregory Havret 68 71 69 70 -13: Graeme Storm 74 69 68 68 -11: Peter Hanson 74 72 66 69, David Howell 75 67 68 71 -10: Justin Rose 73 71 67 71, Marcel Siem 74 70 66 72 -8: Nick Dougherty 73 72 69 70, Bradley Dredge 71 70 70 73, Anthony Wall 71 73 65 75 -7: Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 73 69 71 72, Rafa Echenique 76 68 70 71, Ross Fisher 72 74 73 66, Mark Foster 73 75 70 67, Stephen Gallacher 75 72 65 73, Soren Hansen 71 71 68 75, Lee Westwood 72 72 66 75, Oliver Wilson 76 72 68 69 Also: E: Peter O Malley (Australia) 78 69 72 73 +3: Peter Fowler (Australia) 75 73 73 74, Marcus Fraser (Australia) 75 70 71 79, Matthew Millar (Australia) 74 74 73 74