Laurie Canter came out on top of a three man play off in the Bahrain sunshine at the Royal Golf Club to claim his second DP World Tour title. He held off fellow Englishman Dan Brown and Spaniard Pablo Larrazábal on the first play-off hole.
Canter had a steady Sunday making an eagle and a birdie to card a 69 and set a clubhouse lead of 14 under par. It looked as though he may have just come up short of the mark when Larrazábal stood on the 18th tee on 15 under. The Spaniard would bogey the 72nd hole to give the two Englishmen a glimmer of hope as they both kept warm on the driving range.
Larrazábal drove his hybrid down the right side of the 18th fairway to start the play-off. Initially looking happy with his effort, he took a second look at his ball only to catch it drifting on the breeze and finishing in the water hazard. Brown dispatched his drive into the left-hand bunker and a little too close to the face to be a comfortable fairway bunker shot. Credit where credit is due Canter stepped up and found the middle of the fairway with his tee shot. Calmness personified.
That was not the highlight of the play-off as Larrazábal took a penalty drop and put his third shot six feet from the pin. His efforts to recover from the disastrous tee shot enough to produce a Seve like fist pump full of Spanish passion.
Laurie Canter then produced shot of the day. The West Country golfer from Bath played a sublime iron past a tight pin position and the contours of the green did the rest. Gathering the ball towards the hole and finally finishing five foot from the cup.
Larrazábal would miss his par attempt from six feet to make Canter’s putt a little less pressurised. Canter dribbled his birdie putt, which just caught the left edge of the hole, and dropped to give him his second DP World Tour title in a year.
Dan Brown and Pablo Larrazábal would have to settle for a share of second place one shot ahead of Martin Couvra, Ivan Cantero, Richie Ramsey and David Puig who carded the best round of the day 64.
Canter started the day two shots off the lead which was held over night by Callum Tarren on 13 under par. A steady five par’s in a row was ended when he holed out his second shot on the par four sixth hole to start his chase for the title. He almost repeated the perfect iron shot at the 14th but made a tap in birdie.
Unable to make anymore birdies on his way in, it felt as if Canter had just come up short with Larrazábal in control out on the links. Brown carded a very controlled two-under back nine to put his name in the hat but again the feeling was both Englishmen had come up a shot shy.
Canter spoke to Sky Sports after his win and said “I’m so chuffed to have stuck in there. It’s unfortunate what happened to Pablo but I’m absolutely delighted to have stuck in and got another win”.
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