• BMW International Open, Round Four

Larrazabal and Dredge crumble as Horsey triumphs

David Horsey emerged from nowhere to lift his maiden Tour title © Getty Images

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Pablo Larrazabal threw away the chance to record the greatest final-day comeback in the history of the BMW International Open as David Horsey claimed a shock maiden European Tour victory in Munich.

Horsey held his nerve when all others seemed to crumble around him, not least Welshman Bradley Dredge. Having led the competition for all three rounds, Dredge carded a disastrous two-over-par 74 to throw away a first Tour win for four years.

Stockport-born Horsey, 25, began the day in fifth place, but he produced a flawless round of golf to emerge as the unlikely victor. A professional for only three years, Horsey carded five birdies to win the Munich competition by two strokes.

Larrazabal began the final day six shots behind Dredge after scores of 66, 66 and 72, but with three holes left of his last round, the Spaniard led on 19-under-par. However, a double-bogey at the 16th followed by a further bogey at the 17th saw victory slip through his fingertips.

Had Larrazabal completed the comeback, he would have bettered the efforts of Mark McNulty and Frank Nobilo in producing the biggest come-from-behind victory at the tournament. McNulty and Nobilo both recovered from five-shot deficits on the final day in 1994 and 1995 respectively.

In the end, Larrazabal settled for tied-third position, two shots behind eventual winner Horsey. Alex Cejka, Kenneth Ferrie, Rafael Cabrera-Bello and Charl Schwartzel also claimed a share of third on 16-under.

Dredge also ended up settling for tied-third, shooting a 74 after going sub-68 for the first three rounds. There was no sign of the capitulation to follow as Dredge maintained his lead at the turn by going two-under, and he even topped the leaderboard with three holes to play. However, a triple-bogey at the 16th ripped the heart out of his challenge.

Ross Fisher, who finished second, will feel slightly disappointed not to have won the event after firing himself to within three strokes of the top of the leaderboard going into Sunday's play. However, after double-bogeying the fourth hole, Fisher never recovered to finish with a two-under 70 for outright possession of second place.

Simon Thornton, who began the day level with Fisher, endured a dispiriting afternoon, returning to the clubhouse in one-over-par for an overall score of 14-under. Thornton's round began superbly with a birdie at the fifth and eagle at the sixth, but three bogeys and a triple-bogey at the 10th ended his interest.

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