Garcia claims victory on KLM Open debut

Sergio Garcia secured his 16th European Tour title following a hard fought one shot victory on his debut at the KLM Open.

The International was hosting the 100th edition of the tournament, dating back to 1912, which coincided with event sponsor KLM - the Dutch airline - celebrating their centenary year in business during a special week in Amsterdam.

Garcia endured a mixed front nine where he was leading by two at the fifth, only to be trailing playing partner Callum Shinkwin by one shot at the seventh following back to back bogeys.

However, a double bogey at the tenth by the Englishman handed Garcia the initiative and the 39-year-old used his experience to hold off the chasing pack by a single stroke with an 18 under par total.

Danish rising star Nicolai Højgaard, making just his seventh European Tour start, surged into contention and was brief joint leader with four holes remaining, but came up just short in sole second.

Matt Wallace was third at 15 under, while fellow Englishman James Morrison was one shot further back as Garcia became the first Spanish winner of the KLM Open since Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño in 2005.

“It was honestly amazing to have my brother, Angie my wife and little Azalea [Garcia's daughter] here, it's very special,” Garcia said.

“Amazing. We had a great week and great to win again. I played well all week under pressure. It wasn't easy, there were a couple of tough moments today but I hung on tough, that's the most important thing.

“I want to thank all my sponsors for their support and everything they do for me and the year just got a little bit better.”

Højgaard showed no signs of nerves with a cool birdie at the first to reduce the deficit behind overnight leaders Garcia and Shinkwin to one shot.

The final pair hit back and produced great approaches into the first to double their advantage and move to 16 under for the tournament.

Højgaard shoehorned another birdie attempt at the second after a fine approach from the rough, but there was further movement above him on the leaderboard.

Shinkwin could not hole his birdie attempt at the second but took sole lead at 16 under when his Spanish playing partner carded his first bogey in 31 holes.

Garcia birdied the third hole to become joint leader after Shinkwin three putted from the greenside rough but when he picked up shots at the fourth and fifth, he was two clear at 18 under.

Højgaard was on the final pair’s tail, carding his second birdie at the sixth to sit three adrift of leader but just one behind Shinkwin.

However, there was a two shot swing at the sixth when Garcia made an uncharacteristic mistake with an iron into the green to make his second bogey, which Shinkwin capitalised on with a birdie to move alongside the Spaniard at 17 under.

Højgaard recorded his first bogey of his final round at the seventh to sit three shots behind the leaders alongside Wallace, who had birdied the first, third and fifth.

And it was the seventh hole which proved problematic for Garcia and after he three putted for back to back bogeys, Shinkwin led the tournament by one shot.

The Englishman made a fine par save after finding rough with his second at the eighth to maintain his one shot lead, but that soon disappeared at the tenth as Garcia seized control.

Shinkwin found difficulty in the rough and could only get on the par four green in four, but he slid his bogey putt by the hole and Garcia tapped in for a par to take the lead at 16 under.

Højgaard birdied the 11th following an exquisite bunker shot to join Shinkwin at 15 under and Wallace was alongside them soon after with a gain at the 12th.

Garcia and Shinkwin found the driveable par four 11th in one, but only the Spaniard made further progress as he tapped in for birdie to get up to 17 under.

Højgaard holed a lovely left-to-right putt for another gain at the 13th and when the 18-year-old drained a 15 foot birdie putt at the next, he was joint leader with Garcia.

Wallace led the chasing pack with a 15 foot birdie putt to get to 16 under to set up a dramatic finale down the last four holes.

Garcia stamped his authority with a sublime approach to two feet at the 15th despite finding the rough with his tee shot for his sixth gain of the day to nudge ahead at 18 under.

As the Spaniard was picking up shots, Højgaard and Wallace bogeyed the 16th and 17th respectively to give Garcia a two shot cushion at the top.

He effectively sealed victory with another stunning approach from the rough at the 16th despite having his feet in the bunker for the awkward second shot to dial in to five feet.

The birdie ensured a three shot gap to Højgaard, but a poor tee shot at the 17th dropped Garcia back to 18 under just as the Dane got on the par five last in two.

The 18-year-old slid his eagle putt by to finish at 17 under before Garcia carded the par he needed to join fellow Spaniards Seve Ballesteros and José María Olazábal as a KLM Open winner.

Shinkwin was fifth at 13 under, while Swede Rikard Karlberg was one shot further back. Fellow Swede Joakim Lagergren, Chilean Hugo Leon and Dutchman Wil Besseling finished at 11 under.

Home favourite and two time winner Joost Luiten carded a ten under par total in a tie for tenth, alongside Belgian Thomas Pieters, Wales' Bradley Dredge, Frenchman Mike Lorenzo-Vera and England's Matthew Southgate.