Round 4 - Bernd Wiesberger wins in a playoff

April 24, 2017

Austrian Bernd Wiesberger survived Tommy Fleetwood's spectacular late assault and pipped the Englishman in a dramatic playoff to win the Shenzhen International on Sunday.

Wiesberger, who started with a three-stroke lead over the field, shot a one-under par 71 to aggregate 16-under and join Fleetwood who came up with the lowest round of the week, carding seven birdies and an eagle for a spotless 63.

"Tommy has had a great day today and I'm just grateful to make that one shot when I needed to," Wiesberger said after lifting his fourth European title.

"I just wanted to get off to a good start and show them that I'm up for it and I did, scrapped around a little bit, had a couple of near misses with good looks at it early on.

"It could have gotten to me but I stayed calm, played on decently," said Wiesberger who displayed nerves of steel to save par on the 17th hole after landing in the water.

He took a gamble with his line on the 18th and narrowly avoided ending up in the water a second time, before making a good approach shot to allow him to two-putt his way to par and force the playoff.

The 31-year-old teed off on the same line over the water in the playoff on the 18th hole and played a stunning second shot to end up five feet from the hole, while Fleetwood took the safer option of playing onto the fairway and finished with a par.

Wiesberger kept his cool to roll in the clutch putt for a birdie to seal victory as rain poured down at the Genzon Golf Club.

Ross Fisher looked on course for a spot in the playoff going into the final hole, but a bogey on the 18th saw the Englishman finish tied in third place with France's Gregory Bourdy.

South Africa's George Coetzee also shared the lead after birdies on the 16th and 17th but twice he found water to finish in 11th place.

Round 3 - Bernd Wiesberger moves three clear

April 23, 2017

Bernd Wiesberger of Austria shot a 3-under 69 Saturday to take a three-stroke lead into the final round of the Shenzhen International.

Wiesberger, who started the third round at Genzon Golf Club with a four-shot advantage, offset two bogeys with five birdies for 15-under 201 overall.

''I didn't start off really well,'' Wiesberger said. ''I hit a couple of crooked shots and left a couple of putts out there but then, from when I holed the putt on seven, I felt more comfortable out there and was rolling the ball a bit better.''

South African Dylan Frittelli was second after a 68 with a birdie-birdie finish.

Frittelli's countrymen Dean Burmester and George Coetzee were tied for third at 11 under, alongside England's Ross Fisher and American David Lipsky.

Wiesberger has been in impressive form the last eight months, having not missed a cut since the PGA Championship with seven top-five finishes.

Alexander Levy recorded the round of the week with a 64 and is tied at 10-under with Bubba Watson, Gregory Bourdy and Liu Yan-Wei.

Bourdy and Finland's Mikko Korhonen both had a hole-in-one.

Bourdy's tee-shot on the third took two bounces and rolled into the middle of the cup, cutting Wiesberger's lead to one.

Earlier, Korhonen aced the 16th in the rain-delayed second round with a four-iron from 220 yards.

Round 2 - Bernd Wiesberger leads as storms hit

April 22, 2017

Bernd Wiesberger of Austria fired a bogey-free 7-under 65 to lead by four shots when the second round of the Shenzhen International was suspended due to storms on Friday.

Wiesberger completed his first round in the morning after lightning also halted play on Thursday, and birdied the par-5 17th to get within one of the lead. He added another seven birdies in round two to get to 12 under overall.

''I was feeling comfortable when I was getting the ball on the green and rolling in well on the green,'' Wiesberger said.

Dylan Frittelli of South Africa and Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark carded matching rounds of 68-68 and were tied for second at 8 under.

Richie Ramsay of Scotland also had a 68 and was a further shot back alongside Gregory Bourdy of France (2 under through four holes) and overnight leader Bubba Watson (1 under through five).

Wiesberger has not missed a cut over the last eight months while claiming seven top-five finishes as he seeks a fourth European Tour title.

Watson had a birdie on the second in his first five holes, while Bourdy birdied the second and fourth and will have 14 holes to complete on Saturday.

George Coetzee, Scott Jamieson, and Jordan Smith were in the clubhouse at 6 under. Haydn Porteous was with them through eight holes.

In all, 75 players were yet to finish round two.

Round 1 - Bubba Watson leads weather hit day

April 21, 2017

Two-time Masters champion American Bubba Watson led the first round of the storm-interrupted Shenzhen International on Thursday after scoring six under par.

The clubhouse leader, ranked 22 in the world, clinched an early lead by shooting an eagle and five birdies before storms in the area suspended play for two hours in the afternoon.

"I hit a lot of good shots and a lot of greens, so I'm pretty happy with six-under. All in all, a great day and a good start, especially as we thought it was going to rain early on," Watson told reporters.

The 38-year-old is competing against other star players including South African duo Haydn Porteous and Dean Burmester, Germany’s Max Kieffer, Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee and France's Grégory Bourdy.

Play was halted for the night shortly before 7PM (1100 GMT), meaning 56 players will complete their first round early Friday morning before the second round begins for everybody.

Porteous, Burmester, Kieffer, Jaidee and Bourdy were hot on Watson's heels after they all completed the first round at five under par.

"Well that was interesting...It's not often you birdie more than half the course!" 22-year-old Porteous commented on Twitter earlier Thursday.

If the veteran Watson wins, it would be his second European Tour title and first tournament victory in over a year.

The father-of-two had lost over 15 pounds after making adjustments to his diet this year.

"I've been working so hard with my putting on getting more speed and getting the ball to the hole, to at least give it a chance to go in. That's what I did better this first round compared to the last couple of years here," Watson said.

Local favourite Li Haotong, ranked 151 in the world and winner of the Volvo China Open last year, completed the Shenzhen first round at three over par.

After Friday, there will be an elimination and only the top half best-performing players will compete during the weekend for the title.

This is the third edition of the Shenzhen International at the Genzon Golf Club -- the first Chinese course to host multiple European Tour events.

Scores

 

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