Flawless Garrido woos Wentworth for win

GOLF/ Volvo PGA Championship: The old course had us fooled. For many years, it bestowed its favours only on those who knew it intimately; but not yesterday.

As some of the old-stagers lurked with menace, and some degree of expectation, in the final round of the Volvo PGA Championship at Wentworth, their advances were rejected as two new suitors found preference.

And, ultimately, Ignacio Garrido of Spain, who had played a hero's role in Europe's Ryder Cup win of 1997 before becoming little more than a fringe player on the tour, outgunned South Africa's Trevor Immelman at the first hole of sudden-death. The matador had come in from the cold, claiming his first title in six years . . . and, on a week that started with his boyhood hero Seve Ballesteros being issued with a fine and a reprimand before pulling out of the tournament, Garrido's win hinted that there was perhaps a touch of fate involved in it all.

The title was hard-won, though. In reaching the play-off, Garrido - shooting a final round 65 - and Immelman (68) produced bogey-free golf as they finished on 18-under-par 270, three strokes clear of their nearest pursuer, Mathias Gronberg.

For Darren Clarke, it proved to be a horrible old weekend, and not quite what he had in mind at all when, as midway leader, he teed up full of expectations on Saturday morning. From fulfilling a major role in the drama, he was relegated to that of a minor player as his putting woes not only continued but, if anything, deteriorated.

"I can't seem to produce the results to match how I feel I am playing," he lamented. "I'm just not getting the run of the ball and it is so frustrating, probably the most frustrating time I have experienced in my career."

Clarke finished in tied-14th - all of eight strokes adrift - and he is almost thankful that he now has a week off to reassess things before next week's British Masters and the following week's US Open.

Paul McGinley and Ronan Rafferty, meanwhile, finished in a share of 32nd place.

On a day when intermittent rain added to the challenge of the West Course, nobody played as solidly as Garrido, a 31-year-old whose only previous tour win came in the 1997 German Open. The performance came out of the blue: prior to the championship, he was a lowly 123rd in the Order of Merit, but his win - and a top prize of €583,330 - propelled him to fifth place in the money list.

For a player who had missed the cut in four of his previous six tournaments, Garrido showed magnificent composure when put into a pressure situation. On the first play-off hole, the 18th, both players hit excellent tee-shots, but Garrido got the break all champions need when his one-iron approach was prevented from plunging into the bushes by rebounding off a spectator. Although his ball still finished up in the trampled rough, he played an exquisite chip to four feet.

Immelman, who had started the day with a two-shot lead over Niclas Fasth, had put his approach to the front of the green. But a player who had putted better than anyone for four days suffered with the blade when he most needed it. Immelman left his first putt four feet short, and then missed the birdie putt as it spun out. Garrido then rolled in his putt with all the coolness of a player who believed it was his destiny to win.

The triumph marked a remarkable comeback for the Spaniard, who has been in the wilderness for much of the past six years.

"When I lost my game, I really lost it," recalled Garrido, who endeavoured to reconstruct his swing under the tuition of former tour player Domingo Hospital. "It was a long-term plan. I knew it would take a long time to get used to them, if I ever did. This has probably been the first week I've been able to just play without thinking about my technique."

On a course where the perception has traditionally been that those who know its nuances best perform best, Garrido proved otherwise. In his eight previous Volvo PGA appearances, he had missed the cut three times and only once finished in the top 20. Yesterday, however, he produced seven birdies in regulation play - and another in the play-off - which included a run of four in five holes from the eighth hole.

Coming in, the birdies dried up and Garrido failed to birdie either the 17th or the 18th holes - both par fives - while Immelman, in contrast, birdied both to force a play-off. In fact, his 80-foot eagle putt on the 72nd hole hit the cup, but didn't fall.

It was to be Garrido's day, and his win - coming 145 events after his first - gives him a five-year exemption on tour and puts him into the fields for the British Open and the NEC Invitational.

A good day's work, indeed.