Poulter wins as McDowell slips away

EUROPEAN TOUR: Ian Poulter overcame a mid-round crisis to fire a one-over 72 to win the Singapore Open by one shot, finishing…

EUROPEAN TOUR:Ian Poulter overcame a mid-round crisis to fire a one-over 72 to win the Singapore Open by one shot, finishing the €3.5 million event on 10-under 274 for a wire-to-wire victory.

China’s Liang Wenchong finished second, with Australian pair Scott Hend and Adam Scott tied for third, a further shot adrift.

It was the Englishman’s first win on the European Tour since the 2006 Madrid Open.

“I was playing fairly solid but mishit some shots,” Poulter said.

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“I made it a little bit interesting on a string of holes yesterday, and coming out today I made some mistakes on the front nine and back nine to make it too close for comfort.

“To stand on the last knowing you have to make par for the victory, I was fairly happy.”

He had taken a one-stroke lead over Graeme McDowell into the final round after the Northern Irishman fired a four-under 67 and the pair were involved in a see-saw battle all afternoon.

Poulter had stretched his lead over McDowell to three strokes by the time he reached the seventh fairway, but there his game suddenly fell apart when his approach to the relatively easy par-five hit a tree.

He ended up taking a bogey six and was unable to drive the ball straight for the next five holes, racking up three more bogeys to slip one behind McDowell.

Poulter looked hot and bothered, but a straight drive on the 13th was followed by a decent approach and he drained a long birdie putt just as McDowell was starting a run of three bogeys.

McDowell eventually finished tied for fifth, three shots behind the winner, after a three-over 74. He collected €119,000.

Peter Lawrie also closed with a 74 to earn €32,600, while Pádraig Harrington and Darren Clarke finished down the field.

US TOUR:The Viking Classic was cancelled on Saturday without a ball being hit after persistent rain left the Annandale Golf Club unplayable.

LET:Little-known Bo Mi-suh held her nerve to card a level-par 72 and capture her first career win at the Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open in China.

Bo plays on the Asian Tour but as a non-member of the Ladies European Tour the victory gives Bo the chance to join.