BERNHARD LANGER completed a notable title double yesterday when be added the Benson and Hedges International Open at the Oxfordshire to the Italian Open he had collected seven days earlier on the shores of Lake Garda. This time the German was supreme among the man-made water hazards of the English course where he was the only man to break 70 on the wild and wet final day to return a 12 under par total of 276.
He took the £116,660 top prize (that took him to the head of the European Order of Merit) by two shots from Ian Woosnam, with Lee Westwood third, two strokes ahead of Padraig Harrington.
Darren Clarke who had begun the last round - interrupted for 90 minutes by a mid-afternoon thunderstorm - at a challenging seven under, only two shots adrift of the German, returned 75 to be joint seventh on 284.
Langer had only one alarm, when Woosnam responded from the shock of pitching a nine-iron into the lake at the 10th with a barrage of five birdies in the last eight holes, to get home in 33 for a 70. Langer had still to play the dangerous 17th, and although he had a one stroke lead he could not afford a mistake. He never looked like making one, holing out from 20 feet for a birdie four, and a solid four at the uphill 18th saw him back in the clubhouse with a 69.
"It has been a wonderful two weeks," said Langer, who wondered at this time last year whether he had a future in the game. He was troubled by a shoulder injury and muscle spasms in his forearms, and he was again suffering from the yips. But he cured his physical problems, and switched to the long putter with immediately impressive results.
"I know now I have more Majors left in me," he said. "I am sure that I have my best years ahead of me." He also has a certain ninth appearance in the Ryder Cup to look forward to for he now has over 329,000 qualifying points and is certain to be one of the ten automatic selections.
Although Clarke won £16,198 he actually lost ground, slipping to seventh spot with £246,836, while Harrington collected 35,000 points to be in 15th place with 63,470. It was no more than he deserved after closing with a 71 for 282 which contained four birdies and a minimum of mistakes thanks to clairvoyant thinking on the 12th tee.
The klaxon sounded for playersto leave the course just after Harrington had struck his drive there. Fearing that his ball might be purloined by a spectator if it was left unmarked, he asked the match scorer to mark it with a stake. When they returned 90 minutes later the ball had indeed disappeared, but the stake was deemed evidence that his Maxfli 4 ball with a black dot had been there, and he escaped without penalty.
"When I hit a five-iron tee shot to 10 feet and made two at the next hole it made it a very happy day," he said.
Christy O'Connor Jnr ended an excellent week with a 74 for 286 to be joint 13th and won £10,535, almost enough to meet the medical bills for the laser treatment to his left arm that has got him back on Tour. But even all their experience of wild wet weather could not save Philip Walton and Paul McGinley from embarrassing figures.
Walton, who was on level par after 54 holes, began with a birdie when he pitched to eight feet, but the bogeys were soon piling up on his card, as a result of the problems he encountered with the long-handled putter. "The ball was oscillating continuously in the wind, and I found it very difficult to control the long putter," he said. "I was diabolical with it, especially over the first nine holes."
Walton had four three-putts in the stretch which he covered in 39, then took three from the edge to slip four over for the day. When his tee shot at the short 13th was blown some 50 yards into the lake to cost him a double bogey, he was in danger of following Colin Montgomerie into the 80s. But despite another lost shot at the 18th, Walton got round in 79 for a seven over total of 295 that earned him 46th place and a cheque for £3,570.
"I have played in some bad days at Ballybunion, but that was the worst wind I have ever known in a European Tour event," the Ryder Cup player remarked.
McGinley also found putting a nightmare, particularly around the turn where he had three bogeys in a row to be out in 40. Like Walton he had only one birdie, and his came at the 11th, the prelude to a solid finish which got him home in a regulation 36. His 76 for 291 gave him a share of 23rd position worth £7,245.
Club professional John Murray was jostling for a top 10 place when he birdied the fifth and sixth to go four under par overall. The 32-year-old Dubliner almost sank his five-iron tee shot at the fifth, and holed from 20 feet on the next green. But over-ambition cost him a six at the ninth, where he tried to make the green with a three-wood from heavy rough, and the inward half was a nightmare in the howling gale.
"I hit a lot of bad shots into the wrong places that made it hard to get up and down on the back nine," he said. "But it really was tough in that wind. His 80 saw him finish on a six over 294 to take 40th place and win £4,410.
