Langer produces something special

IT TAKES something special to beat a special golfer like Jose Maria Olazabal, and Bernhard Langer produced it at Gardagolf yesterday.

The German won a gripping duel between the two by unleashing a record last round 64 to snatch the Italian Open title by one shot with a 15 under par total of 273, one shot ahead of the Spaniard, whose closing 68 would in normal circumstances have been proof against a charge from the chasing pack.

Olazabal, winner of the Turespana Masters in the Canary Islands on his third come back week, did everything required of a last round leader, gaining four birdies in an otherwise flawless performance.

But Langer, whose last win was his playoff success in the European Open at the K Club in 1995, was in inspired form with his longhandled putter, particularly in the closing holes. He single putted the last five, four of them for birdies, to first catch Olazabal, then present a target he could not match and collect a top prize of almost £78,000 (sterling) that will please Ryder Cup captain Seve Ballesteros, as much as the remarkable come back of his former Cup partner.

Langer is now sixth in the Ryder Cup qualifying table, and Olazabal is 10th, so that means Ballesteros can now pencil in the names of American based Nick Faldo and Jesper Parnevik as likely recipients of his wild cards for the match at Valderrama in September.

But it was by no means just a two man show on the sunlit shores of Lake Garda yesterday, for Darren Clarke and Philip Walton both produced their best performances of the season to be third and joint fourth, respectively.

Clarke had a closing 67 for 277, 11 under par, to collect £29,259 and move up one place to fifth in the Ryder Cup rankings where he now has 230,638 points. Walton also shot 67 to tie with the 1995 Qualifying School winner Steven Webster one shot behind Clarke and win £21,583.

Olazabal is now 73 under par for the 28 rounds he has played in Europe and the USA since he made his comeback in Dubai in February. He has not been out of the top 12, and apart from his entry into the automatic top 10 of the Ryder Cup league", he is now in second place in the Volvo Ranking, within striking distance of pacemaker Ernie Els.

This week Olazabal will be resting and journeying to Munich to visit the German surgeon who has saved his career, hoping to get the all clear to take on a fuller schedule, and play three or more tournaments in succession, rather than the two in succession to which he has limited himself so far.

Despite failing to get a birdie in the last three holes yesterday to match Langer's target he was far from disappointed. "All credit to Bernhard for his score. To be eight under par was unbelievable, and he clearly played superbly," Olazabal said.

Langer said: "I was very aggressive and I was pleased with my putting, particularly over the last nine holes. I ditched my metal driver for my old wooden headed club for the last two rounds, and that gave me the control I needed not to get into too many trees."

He had four birdies in his outward 32, and despite slipping at the 10th, responded with further strikes at the 11th, 14th, and 15th before running down a 10 footer to also birdie the 16th. He saved par from 12 feet after being bunkered at the short 17th, then capped one of the finest last day charges with a 15 footer from the fringe of the 18th.

Olazabal still had three holes to play, but he chose the wrong line off the 16th tee driving across the fairway into a bunker could not beat par at the 17th, and then hooked off the last tee into bushes. An excellent recovery got him into a greenside trap, but the task of holing out to tie was just beyond him.

Clarke might have figured in the title struggle had he played the par fives better. He was level par for the four of them, which by his standards means giving at least three shots to the field, a point he admitted.

"Apart from them it was the best I have played for a very long time," said the Ulsterman, who started with a birdie three, and had a hat trick of them from the sixth to be out in 33. But on the homeward half the putts obstinately refused to fall, and his only birdies were at the 12th and 16th. Then he left his 10 foot birdie putt at the last short of the cup.

Walton, who overshot the last green and did well to get down in two, said: "My concentration is a lot better now but a little bit of confidence is still missing. I have been struggling for a while, so it is good to see things turning around. Maybe next week I will be really there."

Raymond Burns closed with a 70 for 281 to be joint 17th and win £5,756, but Padraig Harrington's putting was poor, and he missed six times from under 10 feet in a 72 for 283 to be 32nd. He made £3,645 which leaves him 16th in the Ryder table going into this week's Benson and Hedges International. David Higgins closed with 74 for level par 288 to be 53rd, worth £1,776, while Christy O'Connor jnr had 74 for 291 and joint 63rd, to win £1,215.