Gallacher wins in Dubai, Sterne second
Stephen Gallacher of Scotland shot a one-under-par 71 to win the the $2.5-million Omega Dubai Desert Classic by three shots on Sunday.
At the Majlis course of Emirates Golf Club, Gallacher matched the lowest winning total of 22-under par 266 in the history of the tournament, set by Thomas Bjorn in 2001, for only his second win on the European Tour.
South African Richard Sterne (71) was second on 19-under par 269, while Chile's Felipe Aguilar (69) and Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen (71) were tied third at 17-under par 271.
Sterne had led the tournament after two rounds, but a third-round 62 by Gallacher saw the Scotsman move into a three-shot lead going into the final day, and although a fourth-round score of 71 was high in the context of the tournament, Sterne could also manage only a 71 on the last day to remain three shots adrift.
There was a good finish for Garth Mulroy as he ended in 15th spot to maintain his early position inside the top 20 in the Race to Dubai.
And Justin Walters settled nicely into his work in his maiden season on the European Tour as he finished 12 shots off Gallacher’s pace in 26th spot.
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FINAL SCORES
266 Stephen Gallacher (Britain) 63 70 62 71
269 Richard Sterne (South Africa) 62 70 66 71
271 Felipe Aguilar (Chile) 68 68 66 69, Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark) 67 66 67 71
272 Marcus Fraser (Australia) 67 69 69 67, Lee Westwood (Britain) 67 71 66 68
273 Ricardo Santos (Portugal) 66 71 69 67, Robert Rock (Britain) 70 68 67 68, Steve Webster (Britain) 69 69 65 70,
274 Jeev Milkha Singh (India) 68 67 67 72, Tommy Fleetwood (Britain) 65 68 69 72
275 Matteo Manassero (Italy) 66 71 70 68, Andy Sullivan (Britain) 69 67 69 70, Gareth Maybin (Britain) 69 67 69 70,
276 Lorenzo Gagli (Italy) 68 71 69 68, Garth Mulroy (South Africa) 71 70 66 69
277 Marc Warren (Britain) 67 72 71 67, Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) 70 67 71 69, Ignacio Garrido (Spain) 69 68 70 70, Peter Lawrie (Ireland) 66 70 71 70, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spain) 69 69 69 70, Sergio Garcia (Spain) 68 67 71 71, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Sweden) 67 71 68 71, Andreas Harto (Denmark) 67 67 71 72, Maximilian Kieffer (Germany) 66 68 69 74
278 Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 69 69 71 69, Scott Jamieson (Britain) 65 72 70 71, Noh Seung-Yul (South Korea) 66 72 67 73, Justin Walters (South Africa) 68 70 67 73
279 Chris Wood (Britain) 68 68 74 69, David Howell (Britain) 70 68 72 69, Ricardo Gonzalez (Argentina) 71 70 69 69, Robert-Jan Derksen (Netherlands) 68 72 69 70, Anthony Wall (Britain) 68 72 68 71, Raphael Jacquelin (France) 70 68 68 73, Alexander Noren (Sweden) 68 71 67 73
