Eagle on 18 steals victory for Wood

— Chris Wood eagled the 18th hole to win the Qatar Masters for his first European Tour victory Saturday, overtaking Sergio Garcia and George Coetzee, who finished a shot back.

The 142nd-ranked Englishman shot 200 yards to the green with a 6-iron and watched the ball roll to within 12 feet. Wood calmly sank the putt to finish the final round at 3-under-par 69 for an overall 18-under 270. Garcia and Coetzee had looked set for at least a two-man playoff after both birdied the last hole.

“Winning on the European Tour is not easy,” said Wood, who earned a victory in his 115th tour event. “It was a niceway to finish. It feels good to pick up the trophy. I’ve been waiting patiently for my turn and fortunately it came today,”

Wood came into the final day with a three-shot lead over former U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell, Simon Khan and Alexander Noren after the third round.

But Wood almost threw the victory away early, after he missed a birdie putt on No. 2 and then double-bogeyed the par-3 third.

The 48th-ranked Coetzee had three birdies on the final four holes on the front nine and then eagled the 10th to take a two-shot lead. Garcia had six birdies on his final 11 holes.

Sports, Pages 19 on 01/27/2013

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