MICHAEL JONZON'S news found determination to make himself a champion golfer carried him to his maiden European Tour victory in the Portuguese Open at Aroeira yesterday. The 24-year-old Swede followed Australian Richard Green (Dubai) and South African Clinton Whitelaw (Morocco) as the third successive first-time winner, and crushed the hopes that Jose Maria Olazabal entertained of winning this title in his second comeback tournament.
Jonzon had a closing 69 for a 19 under par total of 269, three better than Ignacio Garrido, also 24, whose 65 took him three clear of Paul Broadhurst. Olazabal, whose driving and putting were well below the standard he set in his third-round 65, shot 74 for a 12 under par 276. He shared fourth place with Darren Clarke, and Australians Stephen Allan and Wayne Riley, the 1996 winner of this title on the same Lisbon course.
Jonzon showed not only that he was a golfer of high calibre, but also that he had a serene temperament as he coped comfortably with the presence of Olazabal and Broadhurst in the final three-ball to reach the turn in 32 strokes. He was then 20 under par and five shots ahead of the field, but offered fresh hopes to his pursuers when he slammed his drive deep into the woods at the 10th, and lost his ball.
He should have been severely punished, but Olazabal missed a five-foot putt for a birdie four after Jonzon had got down from 20 feet to escape with a bogey six. When the Spaniard got a flier into a bush to bogey the 11th, the contest was effectively over.
Garrido set a useful target after four birdies in the first six inward holes took him to a 16-under 272. But Jonzon's fifth birdie, at the short 16th, eased him three ahead, and there he stayed. "I have proved to myself I can win," said the former Dutch Open runner-up, "and now I want to win again. I was aware that everyone wanted Jose Maria to win, but it didn't bother me. I just concentrated on my own game.
Clarke, who had begun the week shakily, had an exceptional weekend, closing with rounds of 68 and 67 yesterday for the 276 total that earned him a further valuable crop of Ryder Cup points.
The Ulsterman collected a cheque of £13,770 sterling and now has a total of 201,379 towards qualification for the European Ryder Cup team. Clarke is scheduled to play in the Turespana Masters in Gran Canaria this week, but will then follow up his recent trip to the Malaysian Open by taking another overseas "holiday", missing the Madeira Open.
Clarke's four homeward birdies yesterday, three of them in the last five holes, lifted him out of the pack to catch Olazabal, Riley and Allan, and three clear of former Portuguese champion Ronan Rafferty, who had 67 for 279, getting home in 31 to be joint 15th and win £4297.73 sterling.
Paul McGinley had 69 for 282 to be joint 37th, winning £2,310 sterling. He confirmed that he has withdrawn from the next two events to take a month's rest. "I need to re-group" he said,
