SERGIO GARCIA dedicated his first European Tour win since 2005 to Seve Ballesteros after victory in the Castellon Masters on the course he played as a boy.
The 28-year-old, playing host to the inaugural event at the Club de Campo del Mediterraneo, where his father is still the host professional, closed with a four-under-par 67 to finish three shots ahead of Sweden's Peter Hedblom, who signed for a 66, and five clear of Alexander Noren (65).
Ballesteros (51), is seriously ill in hospital following three operations on a brain tumour.
"I couldn't help but think about Seve," said Garcia. "I'm sending all my love to him and his family and hope he recovers soon. I hope this victory helps him to get a little better."
Having taken a four-shot lead into the final round, Garcia held off the strong challenge of Hedblom, the only player who threatened to spoil the fairytale story when he opened with four successive birdies.
But he never got ahead of Garcia, who used his knowledge of every nook and cranny of the course to complete a memorable victory and leapfrog Pádraig Harrinton and Vijay Singh to move up to third in the world rankings.
English duo David Lynn and Simon Dyson were tied for second overnight alongside Hedblom and Soren Kjeldsen, but failed to close the gap and ended up joint fourth after rounds of 69.
"It feels absolutely awesome," said Garcia. "I didn't play amazing and when Peter had such a great start I thought these guys were not making it easy for me.
"On the back nine I felt I had it under control and had a lot of chances and putts but didn't make that many.
"It just feels very special and means so much. Just getting the tournament here was special for me and my family, but to play the way I did and win it is awesome."
Rory McIlroy may a great charge for glory yesterday. He birdied the first two holes, was four under at the turn and birdied the 13th and 14th to reach 15 under par, just three behind Garcia and alone in third place.
But he then dumped his tee-shot into water beside the flag on the short 16th for bogey, then bogeyed the closing two holes to finish tied for ninth on 12 under par.
There was also drama as two players battled for 118th place on the Order of Merit to retain their card for next season.
With 118th-placed Patrick Sjoland failing to make the cut, Garry Houston needed just over €11,000 to keep his card, but finishing two under left him short. Francois Delamontagne was eventually the lucky man, scraping in by about €300.
EUROPEAN TOUR
Castello Masters
(at Club de Campo, Castellon, Spain
Final scores (British unless stated, Irish in bold, par 71)
264 - S Garcia (Spa) 66 65 66 67 (€333,330). 267 - P Hedblom (Swe) 68 65 68 66 (€222,220). 269 - A Noren (Swe) 68 68 68 65 (€125,200). 270 - S Kjeldsen (Den) 64 67 70 69, D Lynn 67 66 68 69, S Dyson 66 67 68 69. 271 - P Hanson (Swe) 65 73 67 66, R Finch 65 66 71 69. 272 - M Lundberg (Swe) 67 68 68 69, P Casey 69 67 69 67, Rory McIlroy (N Ire) 68 67 69 68 (€39,000), S Gallacher 67 70 65 70. 273 - JM Singh (Ind) 71 66 69 67, Al Quiros (Spa) 67 66 76 64. 274 - J-M Olazabal (Spa) 66 72 67 69, A Velasco (Spa) 66 71 69 68, I Garrido (Spa) 65 70 69 70, A Cabrera (Arg) 65 72 69 68, S Little 72 69 66 67. 275 - J Sandelin (Swe) 69 67 67 72, P Archer 67 68 70 70, M Lafeber (Ned) 70 66 69 70, T Levet (Fra) 66 68 73 68. 276 - F Aguilar (Chi) 71 67 68 70, JM Arruti (Spa) 70 68 67 71, G Orr 70 67 69 70, T Bjorn (Den) 69 68 68 71, C Villegas (Col) 70 66 71 69. 277 - J-F Lima (Por) 70 70 67 70, F Molinari (Ita) 72 65 70 70, C Wood 68 72 69 68, N Dougherty 68 69 72 68, G Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 69 68 68 72. 278 - M Erlandsson (Swe) 71 69 67 71, J Rose 67 70 70 71, J Van de Velde (Fra) 68 70 68 72, J Bickerton 66 70 73 69, M Foster 72 70 68 68, B Dredge 71 68 68 71. 279 - C Cevaer (Fra) 72 68 69 70, D Griffiths 67 71 70 71, P Lawrie 71 70 71 67, A Forsyth 68 70 73 68, M Brier (Aut) 74 67 76 62, S Manley 69 68 73 69, R McGowan 72 69 70 68. 280 - A Wall 71 69 67 73, F Delamontagne (Fra) 66 67 73 74, R Sterne (Rsa) 71 69 71 69, B Lane 71 69 72 68. 281 - P Linhart (Spa) 68 72 70 71, G Bourdy (Fra) 68 70 67 76, P Larrazabal (Spa) 71 68 71 71. 282 - MA Carlsson (Swe) 71 68 70 73, G Houston 67 71 71 73, J-F Remesy (Fra) 73 69 71 69, R Gonzalez (Arg) 67 71 73 71. 283 - D Howell 69 73 72 69, B Barham 68 72 75 68, F Andersson Hed (Swe) 69 73 71 70, S Wakefield 72 68 73 70, J Edfors (Swe) 70 71 72 70. 285 - L Slattery 71 71 69 74, S Kapur (Ind) 72 70 73 70. 287 - P O'Malley (Aus) 72 70 75 70. 293 - P Edberg (Swe) 70 72 74 77.
CHALLENGE TOUR
Grand Final
(at San Domenico Golf, Puglia, Italy)
Leading final scores: 267 - E Goya (Arg) 67 69 65 66. 268 - J Morgan (Eng) 66 73 61 68, R Bland (Eng) 67 66 67 68. 269 - R Cabrera Bello (Spa) 66 66 69 68. 270 - A Rocha (Bra) 68 65 68 69. 271 - J Huldahl (Den) 70 66 66 69. 272 - D Horsey (Eng) 69 67 68 68. 273 - M Ruiz (Par) 71 67 67 68, G Clark (Eng) 67 66 72 68. 274 - M Korhonen (Fin) 69 66 69 70, A McArthur (Sco) 67 65 69 73. 275 - G Lockerbie (Eng) 70 68 69 68, J Quesne (Fra) 68 67 68 72. 276 - C Gane (Eng) 68 71 66 71. 277 - A Ahokas (Fin) 70 70 67 70, T Remkes (Ned) 70 69 68 70, M Higley (Eng) 71 70 69 67, B Wiesberger (Aut) 66 68 70 73. 278 - R Coles (Eng) 72 70 68 68, B Grace (Rsa) 65 73 70 70, Gareth Maybin (N Ire) 67 70 68 73, S O'Hara (Sco) 70 68 69 71. Other Irish: 281 - Michael Hoey (N Ire) 73 68 67 73. 287 - Michael McGeady (Ire) 71 70 71 75.
