(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Joost Luiten of the Netherlands made history in Oman as he became the winner of the inaugural US$1,750,000 NBO Oman Open, the first European Tour held in the sultanate, at the Al Mouj Golf on Sunday.
In a thrilling finale, which underlined the intense competition over the past four days among some of the world's best golfers, Luiten captured his sixth European Tour crown but not before staving off a stiff challenge from Britain's Chris Wood to win by two shots.
Luiten carded a four under par 68 to go 16 under 272 while Wood had 69 for a 14 under 274.
Luiten celebrates his win on the 18th hole (Rodolfo Alfonso/Muscat Daily)
Frenchman Julien Guerrier, who shared overnight lead with Luiten and Matthew Southgate, came third at 13 under after a 71 for 275, two shots clear of Spaniard Jorge Campiilo, Frenchman Alexander Levy and American Han Seung-su. Luiten's win earned him a cheque of US$289,521 while Wood received US$193,014. Perfect conditions greeted the players for the fourth day in a row, with Luiten going out in the final group and holding a share of the overnight lead.
There were ten players within four shots of the lead as the final group reached the turn but it evolved into a shootout between Luiten and Wood on the back nine, with the experienced duo going toe-to-toe in the desert.
The victory is Luiten's first since he won his home event for the second time at the KLM Open in 2016 and moves him into the top ten of the Race to Dubai Rankings, earning him a spot in the WGC-Mexico Championship.
"This is why you play golf, to hold trophies," said Luiten. "It's been a great week. It's always tough to win out here, all these guys are so good and they keep putting pressure on you.
"Down the stretch I hit some nice shots, I made some nice putts and it was a nice battle with my friend Woody.'
The Dutchman said, "I need to win another couple to get into the Ryder Cup Team but it's a great start to the year for me."
Campillo and Han both signed for rounds of 68, with Levy carding a 70 to sit a shot ahead of England's Robert Rock and Paraguayan Fabrizio Zanotti.
Scot Stephen Gallacher, Frenchman Benjamin Hebert and England's Matthew Southgate were then at nine under.
Later, H H Sayyid Shihab bin Tariq al Said, Advisor to His Majesty the Sultan Qaboos bin Said, presented the awards in the presence of H E Sheikh Saad al Saadi, Minister of Sports Affairs, H E Dr Mohammed al Rumhy, Minister of Oil and Gas, Keith Pelley, European Tour CEO, Sayyidah Rawan al Said, chairperson of NBO, Ahmed al Musalmi, CEO of NBO, and other dignitaries.
The NBO Oman Open also provided an opportunity to Oman's top amateur player, Azaan al Rumhy, to play in his maiden European Tour event as an invitee. He along with Bahrain's Nasser al Yaqoob were the only amateurs handed a chance to play in the event. While Azaan returned with a total of 163 (80, 83), Yaqoob had a disappointing 172 (85, 87).
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