VILAMOURA, Portugal (AP) — Richard Green shot a 65 to win the Portugal Masters Sunday, beating a group of four players by two strokes after overnight leader Pablo Martin collapsed down the stretch.
Green started the round seven shots behind Martin, but birdied four of the first five holes at the Oceanico Victoria Club. The left-hander from Australia was at 9 under after No. 15, but two late bogeys meant he had to spend an anxious hour in the clubhouse to see whether his 18-under 270 would hold up.
"Coming from seven behind I knew I had to play the best round of golf I probably could and I had a 64 in mind," Green said. "And when I got to 9 under for the day and 20 under and I thought I was in with a chance. But then I had a couple of bogeys, which I thought left me short. But in the end a 65 was good enough, and a win is a win."
It was Green's third victory on the European Tour, but his first since the 2007 BA-CA Open in Austria.
Martin, who held a three-shot lead going into the final round, stayed one stroke ahead by making a 15-foot birdie putt on the 12th. But the Spaniard bogeyed three of the next four holes, before managing a birdie on the 17th. He then drove into the water on the final hole to finish with a double bogey for a 75 - putting him in a tie for sixth place at 15 under.
Ryder Cup player Francesco Molinari of Italy came from even further back, shooting a 62 to finish in a four-way tie for second. Molinari, Robert Karlsson of Sweden (67), Joost Luiten of the Netherlands (69) and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano of Spain (68) were all two shots behind Green.
Molinari also shot a 62 in the second round, but had 74s Thursday and Saturday.
It was the second straight year that Martin wasted a chance for victory in the final round of the tournament. Last year, he partnered with eventual winner Lee Westwood in the final round but shot a 77.
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