Golf : New-look Gronberg finishes in style

Golf

A new driver, an old putter and a new caddie helped Mathias Gronberg of Sweden to his biggest-ever pay cheque when he won the European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre, Switzerland, yesterday.

Gronberg's first European Tour success brought him pounds 116,660 as he shot a fine 69 for an aggregate total of 270, 18 under par, to beat Barry Lane and Costantino Rocca by two shots.

Gronberg, who refused to look at the leaderboard for the entire round, started the day one shot ahead of the field. "I thought I would have a new everything this week. I played with a new driver which gave me another 10 yards in length, I changed back to an old putter I had not used for several months, and I had a new caddie called Ken. I don't know his other name."

Lane won more than pounds 60,000 for his joint second place, but it was a week too late. Had he won that kind of money at the German Open last week he would have qualified for the European Ryder Cup team. He was philosophical about his misfortune. "It's no good worrying about what might have been," he said.

Sam Torrance, who is lying second in the Order of Merit, made up a little ground on Colin Montgomerie, the leader. Torrance, after a 68, finished joint ninth to win pounds 14,805. But Montgomerie, who finished joint 11th, is still pounds 30,000 ahead and looks likely to finish European No 1 for the third successive year.