Date: July 30, 2007
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Late charge not enough for O’Malley

A blistering seven-under-par 65 was not enough for Australian Peter O&aposMalley to overhaul Argentine Andres Romero in the Deutsche Bank Players&apos Championship in Hamburg. A bogey on the 18th ruined an otherwise flawless round for O&aposMalley – who fired eight birdies to finish the tournament outright fourth on 14-under, four shots behind Romero – who atoned for his nightmare finish a week earlier in the British Open. Nick O&aposHern was the next best-placed Australian, finishing in a tie for 15th on nine-under after a one-under-par 71. Two clear with two to play at Carnoustie before missing the play-off by a single shot, Romero made no such mistake at a rain-soaked Gut Kaden to claim his first European Tour title. The 26-year-old carded a closing 70 for a 19-under-par total of 269 and three-shot victory over Englishman Oliver Wilson and Dane Soren Hansen. “I feel great, I didn&apost expect my first win to come this quick but I played great in the Open last week and coming here I was thinking maybe it could be my time,” Romero said through an interpreter. “I won a lot of tournaments in Argentina and one two years ago in Manchester on the Challenge Tour but this is a big tournament with great players.” “I felt so comfortable the first eight holes until the double bogey on the ninth. Then I started to play a little bit different on the back nine and it was a bit harder work.” Romero began the final round with a two-shot buffer and was five clear after four birdies and a bogey in the first seven holes. His attacking approach is always likely to lead him into trouble and it duly arrived on the ninth when he went for the island green from heavy rough but came up short in the water. Unlike his double bogey on the 17th at Carnoustie, however, he still had plenty of time to recover and looked back in complete control when he birdied the 11th to move four clear again. However, Wilson then birdied the 16th to cut the gap and it was down to two when Romero bogeyed the same hole 30 minutes later. Two shots clear with two to play once more, Romero this time made no mistake and sealed victory in style with a long-range birdie on the 18th before being drenched in champagne by fellow Argentinian players and caddies. Deutsche Bank Players&apos Championship of Europe (par 72) -19 Andres Romero 68 68 63 70 -16 Soren Hansen 72 70 66 64, Oliver Wilson 66 70 70 66 -14 Peter O&aposMalley (Australia) 69 72 68 65 -13 Peter Hanson 69 70 68 68, Alexander Noren 67 71 65 72 -12 Charley Hoffman 68 72 67 69, Lee Slattery 66 69 67 74, Steve Webster 73 67 70 66, Brett Wetterich 69 70 67 70 Also: -9 Nick O&aposHern (Australia) 69 71 68 71 -8 Matthew Millar (Australia) 70 71 68 71, Wade Ormsby (Australia) 72 69 70 69 -6 Rodney Pampling (Australia) 71 69 70 72, Andrew Tampion (Australia) 71 69 70 72 -3 Terry Price (Australia) 71 69 74 71 -1 Brett Rumford (Australia) 69 73 71 74