Bjorn wins as Garcia wilts under rising sun

Open runner-up Thomas Bjorn fired a level-par round in Miyazaki today to win the Dunlop Phoenix tournament.

Open runner-up Thomas Bjorn fired a level-par round in Miyazaki today to win the Dunlop Phoenix tournament.

On a high-scoring day, the Dane kept his challenge on the rails as his rivals wilted - hitting a 71 to finish the tournament with a 12-under-par total.

Bjorn made a poor start to his final round, bogeying the 386-yard first hole before claiming birdies at the fourth and seventh. A pair of bogeys followed immediately to undo that good work. But a final-hole birdie was enough to ensure he ended the day on level par to hold a two-shot winning lead over Daisuke Maruyama.

Overnight leader Sergio Garcia blew a three-shot lead with a disastrous final round, hitting six bogeys and one double-bogey in his seven-over-par 78. The Spaniard registered the worst round of any of the top 20 players and slipped out of contention, eventually finishing sixth with a six-under total.

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A tidy round from Maruyama saw him pick up shots on seven, eight and 17 - despite two bogeys from his first four holes - as he claimed second place, two shots behind Bjorn. Lee Westwood shot a seven-under round of 66 - the best of the day - to storm through the leaderboard from an overnight 11th to a tie for third on an overall nine under par alongside David Gossett and Tetsuji Hiratsuka.

Westwood enjoyed a sparkling opening nine - taking birdies on the second, fourth, seventh and eighth holes to move right back into contention. A bogey on the 475-yard 10th proved to be a minor setback as Westwood picked up more shots on the 12th and 13th holes.