Casey clinches Volvo title

Paul Casey won the European Tour's inaugural Volvo Golf Champions tournament in Bahrain on Sunday to claim his first title since 2009.

The Englishman won by one stroke from Peter Hanson and Miguel Angel Jimenez after a closing 68 for a 20-under total of 268. Casey was involved in a man-to-man fight for the title with Sweden's Hanson on the Royal Golf Club course at Riffa Views designed by Europe's winning Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie.

Casey was not considered by Montgomerie for a spot in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor last year - a decision which came in for severe criticism at the time.Although he did not comment when asked whether winning on a Montgomerie-designed course gave him some extra satisfaction, his smile said it all.

However, he did mention that he might ask for the same hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel & Spa - 666 - when he comes back to defend his title next year.

"I would like that room next year if it's available and if we stay at the same hotel. Although, I'm not superstitious. I always mark my ball with a Queen's head facing up, but I'm not superstitious!" he said.

"As for the win, I'm ecstatic with that. I found a very difficult golf course in the end after the wind picked up. It was just Peter and I coming down the last. He opened the door slightly and I still had a very difficult up and down. I'm just happy I had that opportunity and I took it.

"It really doesn't feel like 20 months (since his last win) because I had the six months of injury, and even after coming back, I was sort of rebuilding.

"I've played some very, very good golf the latter half of last year, and I was disappointed not to win. I just wanted to put that right as soon as possible."

Both Casey and Hanson traded birdies and the lead before it all boiled down to the final hole. The duo reached the 18th tee tied for the lead at 20-under par. Hanson drove the ball into the rough where the fairway runs out and muscled out a second shot only to find the greenside bunker.

Casey, who moments earlier had saved a stunning par after hitting his tee shot way left into the oil pipes, leaked his second shot right and into the thick rough. From a tricky lie, Hanson hit it almost 10 feet past the pin and then failed to get his up-and-down for par. Casey, on the other hand, chipped past the pin, and made the all-important putt from five feet.That gave him his first win since the 2009 PGA Championship, and a possible elevation to No5 in the world rankings, depending on how Phil Mickelson finishes in the PGA Tour event in Torrey Pines.

If the American wins, he moves up to No4. Casey finally ended with a four-under par 68 - his worst round of the tournament - to aggregate 20-under-par 268. The win was worth 283,330 euros, and he moves up to the third place in the Race to Dubai list. It also secures him a place in the limited-field Volvo World Matchplay in Finca Cortesin in May.

Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez (67) made a birdie on the final hole to set the clubhouse target of 19-under par, which secured him a share of second place with Hanson (69). Hanson was unhappy with the fact that his ball came to lie in a footprint in the greenside bunker on the 18th hole, but said he was delighted with the way he played so early in the season.

"You're always happy to know the game is there and I'm delighted with the way I played around the course because it has not been easy today, especially with the wind. I probably played some nice golf in the back nine, but Paul this time he was just a little bit better."

Jimenez, who broke his putter on the second day in disgust and had to putt with a wedge on his last five holes, was again frustrated by the club.

"I finished well with a birdie on the last hole. However, I've been missing so many putts lately. I made three putts on 13 and the 16th. I had short chances on 15 and 17. It really could have been a different story."

Briton Stephen Gallacher (67) was fourth on 270, with Dubai World Championship winner Robert Karlsson (66) of Sweden in fifth spot on 271.

Casey says he now wants to win again before competing in the season's first major, the US Masters in April.

"My goal now is major championships, starting with Augusta, and it would be nice to crack on and get another win before the Masters," he said.

"That would really set me up and then maybe I can accomplish those goals I've set for myself. Augusta is a great opportunity for me with the way the golf course sets up."

Earlier, Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen and Briton Richard Finch broke the course record at the Royal Golf Club. The duo shot matching nine-under 63s to better by one stroke the 64 achieved by three players earlier this week.

Kjeldsen birdied his opening three holes and also the first three of his inward half to finish on 11-under 277. "It was great even though during the last three days my golf had got worse and worse," he told reporters. "I had a big session on the range yesterday and sort of figured it out after about an hour and a half."

Summing up the mood of his people who thronged the 18th green to watch the first ever European Tour golf tournament in their country, His Highness Shaikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who presented Casey with the gleaming new trophy, said: "This has been a great tournament for everyone here. I don't think there is anywhere you can play golf amongst oil pipelines. There is always something unique in Bahrain."