Date: September 10, 2007
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Rumford takes title

Australian Brett Rumford birdied the first play-off hole to claim his third European Tour title in dramatic fashion in the Omega European Masters. Rumford chipped in from off the 18th green to beat England&aposs Phillip Archer after the pair had finished tied on 16-under-par at Crans-sur-Sierre. Archer&aposs approach had also run through the green but the 35-year-old from Warrington – who carded a closing 65 – was unable to match Rumford&aposs feat and had to settle for his second runners-up finish of the season. Rumford had led by one with two holes to play but bogeyed the 17th, just as Archer had done 20 minutes earlier. The 30-year-old from Perth, winner of the St Omer Open in 2003 and Irish Open in 2004, had a birdie putt from 15ft to win in regulation but failed to convert, giving defending champion Bradley Dredge a chance to make it a three-way play-off. However, Dredge missed from a similar distance to finish third on 15-under-par, one ahead of fellow Welshman Sion Bebb who enjoyed his best ever finish on the European Tour with a closing 68. Rumford, second in the New Zealand Open at the start of the year, said: “It was tracking all the way and I thought it was coming up short but the breeze took it in. “You are just suspended there for that brief second in anticipation but there is nothing going through your mind but &aposGet in&apos. “My short game has pulled me through this week. After Seve Ballesteros&apos redesign the course is very tricky, especially when the greens are firm in the afternoon. “It&aposs been a pretty tough year. It&aposs been emotional and I had to have five minutes to myself in the back room when it all hit me. “I have been trying hard, grinding week in, week out for not much and for it all to come together this week…I just want to get home and see my fiancee and family now.” Archer, who also closed with a 65 to finish second behind Lee Westwood in the Andalucia Open in May, was philosophical in defeat. “I hit three good shots in the play-off and lost, you can&apost do anything about that,” he said. “I know Brett has one of the best short games out there and knew it would be close and it went straight in the middle. “Every credit to him. He played well all week and is a worthy winner. Hopefully it will be my turn soon. I am playing well but somebody has to win and he hit a great chip, dead weight and straight in the middle.” Dredge was also not too downbeat despite starting the day tied for the lead with Rumford in defence of the title he won by eight shots last year. “I can&apost complain as it has been a good week but it would have been nice to have holed one or two more putts and get into the play-off,” he said. “Hopefully I have sealed my place in the Seve Trophy (qualification ends next Sunday), I was very aware of that before the weekend and I was pleased to have put in a decent performance even though I didn&apost win.” Biggest surprise of the week was the performance of Bebb, who collected fourth place. The 38-year-old only gained full playing rights on the European Tour from his 11th visit to the qualifying school last November and still faces a 12th visit despite moving from 209th on the Order of Merit inside the top 150. Only the top 115 at the end of the season retain their cards. “I&aposm delighted, finishing in the top 10 gets me into the British Masters at the Belfry. I said yesterday I didn&apost think I&aposd get into any more tournaments but I have one more now. “There was lots of pressure on the last round but I thought I handled it pretty well. Anything under par for me today would have been a good score.” England&aposs Oliver Wilson, one off the lead overnight, had to settle for fifth place after a closing 71, and revealed afterwards numerous items had been stolen from his golf bag. “I was in the physio van and my caddie asked me if I&aposd been in the bag, obviously I hadn&apost,” explained Wilson. “He&aposd gone to get the bag from the store and a lot of stuff had been stolen. “Both our yardage charts with all the information and clubs from the last few days, all my balls and gloves and a little jar of Vaseline…I don&apost know what they wanted with that! “It was a bit of a downer, not that it made that much difference, but it&aposs not a nice thing to come to of a morning. “I didn&apost have the best of luck at the weekend (injuring his neck on Saturday morning) but I won&apost blame it too much on that, more myself and my putting.” Australian Peter O&aposMalley finished in a tie for 37th place at one-under, two clear of compatriot Marcus Fraser, while veteran Terry Price finished in equal 62nd position at five-over. Final Round of the Omega European Masters, (Par 71): -16: Brett Rumford (Australia) 68 66 66 68, Phillip Archer 69 66 68 65 -15: Bradley Dredge 66 66 68 69 -14: Sion E. Bebb 71 68 63 68 -12: Oliver Wilson 65 66 70 71 -11: Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano 70 67 65 71, Lee Westwood 71 67 65 70 -10: Eduardo Romero 68 69 72 65, Miles Tunnicliff 71 65 70 68, Anthony Wall 69 68 68 69 also: -1: Peter O&aposMalley (Australia) 73 70 68 72 +1: Marcus Fraser (Australia) 68 71 74 72 +5: Terry Price (Australia) 75 68 74 72