Fasth Commends Langer After Tight Finish

Playing steady but sure golf, Swede Niclas Fasth won the BMW International Open by two strokes. The Swede closed with a two-under 70 to hold off Bernhard Langer in Eichenried, Germany. Fasth commended veteran Langer for having 'the stuff of champions' - after stopping the German from attaining perhaps the most notable victory of his remarkable career.

Fasth finished at 13-under 275 to overtake Langer, who held the clubhouse lead at 11-under. The German shot a 67 to tie for second with Jose-Filipe Lima of Portugal, who closed with a 72.

Despite the antagonism of thousands German fans, Fasth hit three straight pars and then made a clinching seven-foot birdie putt on No. 17 to earn his sixth European Tour victory and $447,600. "I always felt the tournament was mine to lose," Fasth said. "I decided I wasn't going to look at the leaderboards and didn't know anything about Bernhard Langer's charge until I reached the 15th hole."

“Well, it feels fantastic of course. In retrospect, it really felt like it was my tournament to win or lose from the start. I've played some of the best golf of my life this week, and didn't really hole as many putts as I would have liked to out there,” Fasth noted.

The Swede added, “All in all, I played some amazing golf. I've improved some things for this year, and the biggest difference for me I think is I've got such huge confidence now in my Callaway driver where before, I really didn't hit enough fairways; for example, this week, where it's always been a premium on driving, this week I managed to get in position a lot and have a lot of birdie chances. I really wasn't in trouble much throughout the week. And today, except for one hole there, I didn't really make any mistakes and was quite happy about the way I played, and a strong finish added to that, it was great. It felt fantastic.”

Langer, who shot a 76 in the first round when he required treatment on the course for an injured neck muscle, proved that he can still compete. "That's why I still go out there," said Langer, who was 15-under over the last three rounds. "It is nice to still be in contention once in a while at my age."

Trying to become the oldest winner in European Tour history, Langer had been close to pulling out of the BMW International in Munich with a neck injury that pulled him down to 135th place. But after treatment he shot a 66, then a 68 and when he made a 25-foot putt for his fifth birdie of the final round he had come from eleven back Thursday to just one behind Fasth.

Apart from his age, the German player would have also gone into history books as the first player to win an event after surviving the halfway cut with nothing to spare - a record that could measure how enduring BMW tie rods are. But, as he feared after failing to birdie the par five last, it was not to be.

"I made a mistake by not looking at leaderboards until the 15^th,” said the 35-year-old Swede. “I was very tired all week and wanted to keep my energy, but I need to my fiery excitement and when I saw that Bernhard was only one behind it got me going. I holed three good putts on the next three greens and won, but I have to say how impressed I was by Bernhard, especially considering his first round. That's the stuff of champions.”