Ernie Els won his second straight tournament in the Middle East, rallying to take the Qatar Masters by one shot after carding a seven-under 65 in the final round on Sunday.
The third-ranked South African, who finished with a 12-under 276, fired seven birdies to come back from a five-stroke deficit overnight and edge Henrik Stenson of Sweden at the Doha Golf Course. Stenson shot a 71.
Richard Green of Australia shot 71 and Pierre Fulke of Sweden 70 to tie for third at nine under.
The previous week at the Dubai Desert Classic, Els eagled the 72nd hole for victory.
He became the first player on the PGA European Tour to win in consecutive weeks since Vijay Singh took the Malaysian Open and Singapore Masters in 2001.
”I suppose I got lucky and got the win but I feel really good,” Els said. ”I feel like my game is right there and I can’t wait to get to America. The way things are going, I look forward to playing golf.”
Els birdied the par-five first hole, then bogeyed the third.
However, he birdied the next three holes and numbers 10 and 12 to wipe out Stenson’s overnight lead.
When Stenson double bogeyed the 14th, Els birdied number 16 to lead by two shots. He birdied number 18 and then sat in the clubhouse, watching his opponents falter.
Stenson birdied the 16th and 18th, but would rue a missed birdie putt from 25 feet at the 17th. — Sapa-AP