It is true to say that Thomas Björn’s thrilling victory, secured high in the Swiss Alps, has seen the Great Dane move up in the world – and in more ways than one.
Björn’s 20 under par winning total not only landed him just over €330,000 and bumped him up to seventh in this year’s Race to Dubai, but also propelled the 13-times European Tour winner into the top 30 in the Official World Rankings.
A scintillating nine under par 62 in the final round helped Björn to the Omega European Masters title just a week after taking the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, and the Dane’s fine form was wholly reflected in the cumulative Genworth Statistics.
At the halfway stage of last week’s event, Björn found himself two off the lead and lying tied for tenth place.
However, examination of his statistics following the second round, where Björn was eighth in the overall Driving Accuracy and ninth in Greens in Regulation, shows the former Open Championship and US PGA runner-up was well positioned to make a charge.
Björn had gone in to the week feeling “mentally tired” after his victory in Scotland, but his game appeared only to ripen as the week progressed.
Following the end of the third round, Björn had moved up to tied fourth overall after a five under 66 was reflected in his ascent to first place in the Driving Accuracy rankings and third in Greens in Regulation.
By the climax of Sunday’s final round, Björn’s supreme play from tee to green drove him to a four-shot winning margin over Germany’s Martin Kaymer.
Björn finished atop both the Driving Accuracy, with a superb 82.7% of fairways hit, and Greens in Regulation, with 80.6%, proving accuracy off the tee and in approach goes well rewarded at Crans-sur-Sierre.
If tournaments were won on putting alone, there would have been a different crop of players contending for the trophy.
Swede Alex Noren, the 2009 champion, came in first in Putts per Green with 1.615, while Spaniard Alejandro Cañizares topped the Putts per Round with an average of 26.3. However, after both finishing tied for ninth place they may be left lamenting their failure to hit the greens in regulation more often, sitting 43rd and 59th respectively in the GIR ranks.
It was a similar story for first round leader, Nick Dougherty. After posting a stunning first-day 63 that consisted of a miniscule 22 putts, the former World Number 46 continued to putt well throughout the week – finishing second in the putts per round rankings.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy topped the list of big hitters over the course of the four days at Crans Montana. The 2011 US Open Champion averaged an astonishing 331 yards from the tee on his way to a third place finish.
For a full run-down of the Genworth Statistics from Switzerland,Click Here
