Horsey surges to maiden win in Munich

(GETTY IMAGES)

At least one Englishman was celebrating in Germany yesterday. David Horsey won his maiden European Tour title at the BMW International Open in Munich after fighting back from an early deficit.

Horsey came charging through from five behind to crush German hopes. Just when it looked as though local favourite Alex Cejka might squeeze into a play-off, Horsey birdied two of the last three holes for a 67 and 18-under total to grab the £280,000 first prize. And it ended up an English one-two when Ross Fisher eagled the par-five 18th to take the runners-up spot.

The finish of the tournament was brought forward to avoid a clash with the World Cup showdown in South Africa and Horsey – a Manchester United fan who is sponsored by a friend of Sir Alex Ferguson – stayed on to watch the game. It was to be the only negative point on the most positive day of his career.

"I can't believe it – it hasn't sunk in yet," Horsey said. "Coming down the last I didn't know what was going on. I just wanted to concentrate on what I was doing. Having missed the last three cuts, the last few weeks have been a bit of a struggle. I just wanted to relax this week."

Horsey certainly managed to do that – in contrast to Bradley Dredge. The Welshman led after the first three rounds, but his Ryder Cup dreams took a dramatic nosedive with a 74 yesterday. That allowed the field to close in, with Horsey the fastest finisher of all. It was just the sort of showing expected by the Wilmslow product after he topped the Challenge Tour money list in his first professional season two years ago.

"This win is what I've been trying to get for over a year," he said. "I felt I was good enough coming out on Tour, but maybe I put a little bit too much pressure on myself."

* Justin Rose took a three-shot lead into the final round of the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut last night as the Englishman tried to win his second win in as many starts on the PGA Tour – and the UK's fourth in a row. Rose's nearest pursuer was the former Open champion Ben Curtis on 13-under.