From The Fairway
Dinwiddie endures mixed emotions in Asian Open
EUROPEAN TOUR rookie Rob
Dinwiddie jetted out of China
last night with the satisfaction of
his highest finish slightly tinged
with disappointment.
A tied third place finish in the
BMW Asian Open was enough to
claim a pay cheque of £60,000.
And, with his season's earnings
standing at around £112,000,
his performance over the four
days in Shanghai has put him to
within £60,000 of the initial target
he set himself at the start of
the year which he feels will b
enough to to retain his Tour card.
"I have to try to set my sights
on more," said the 25-year-old.
"Things have been going well at
different stages this season but I
still know I'm capable of playing
better. I could have won here."
Dinwiddie was in contention
with the leaders when he made
the cut on Friday. There were
genuine hopes of glory when he
carded a stunning 66, six under,
on Saturday - which also included
a double bogey at the seventh.
The promising situation, however,
bordered on disastrous on
Sunday morning. The Barnard
Castle golfer hit the turn with a
39 after four bogeys in his opening
nine holes. A birdie at the second
and a further one at the 15th,
though, kept him towards the top
of the leaderboard.
There was also frustration on
the final day for eventual winner
Darren Clarke (74), but Dinwiddie
ran out of time to catch the
Northern Irishman.
Clarke claimed the title by
ending three ahead of the
North-East golfer, while
Dutchman Robert Jan-
Derksen finished second,
two shots shy of the winner.
Nevertheless it was a
second top ten finish in
four outings for Dinwiddie,
after he ended up
sixth in the MAPFRE
Open de Andalucia last
month.
A n d
Dinwid -
die said: "I'm
really happy, although
I would have hoped to
have played a bit better into the
green. It was a scramble in the
end.
"But third is decent for me and
I have to be happy with that -
even if it is tinged with slight disappointment.
"I have always wanted to be in
contention to win events on the
European Tour and
that's exactly what I
was. It might be a little
annoying but it
has shown me again
that I'm doing things
right and that I can
win on the Tour."
Clarke hailed his
e m o t i o n a l l y -
charged victory as
the best of his illustrious
career.
It has been five
years since his last
victory on the European
Tour and
was also his first
since his wife
Heather passed
away in 2006.
It was always going to be a difficult
hurdle for me to get back to
winning ways after Heather had
passed away,'' said Clarke.
My mind started going from
about 14 onwards and I lost my
concentration and started thinking
about Heather and the boys
and if you can't keep your concentration
for the whole way
round you make mistakes.
But on the last hole I gathered
myself and hit a good putt and
luckily it went in. This is the very
top. I have been working harder
than I have ever worked before on
all aspects of my game.
I have been putting in ninehour
days and it is nice to see it
pay off. It is a big mental hurdle
that I have overcome.''
Clarke is looking to return to
the sort of form that saw him become
the only player apart from
Tiger Woods to capture more
than one World Golf Championship
title.
After the death of his wife,
Heather, Clarke understandably
had a difficult season in 2007. But
he turned a corner at the end of
the year when he finished third
at the South African Airways
Open in December. And the Ulsterman
admits it has been a
frustrating wait to return to winning
ways on the European Tour.
There have been frustrations,''
he added. It is like in anybody's
job where if you work and
work but don't see a tangible difference
it gets very difficult.
That is what has happened
with me as I have been working
away and not seeing results.
But you persevere and keep
on going and sometimes things
go your way and they did for me
on the last green.''
Despite being denied a third
European Tour victory, Robert
Jan Derksen refused to dwell on
his defeat and instead paid tribute
to Clarke.
It was a great match,'' said the
34-year-old. I thought it could be
between the two of us as the wind
was up and it would be difficult
for the others to catch.
My up and down on the 18 was
very good and I don't make that
quite often but then Darren holed
a good putt and that's his luck
and it is his day.''
World number 13 Henrik Stenson,
the highest-ranked player at
the tournament, produced a
great final round with a fourunder-
par 68 to finish sixth.
9:18am Monday 28th April 2008
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