What happened at the Oman Open?
Joost Luiten is now off to the WGC in Mexico in two weeks after holding off Chris Wood by two shots for his sixth win on tour. The Dutchman added a 68 to his previous back-to-back 66s as the Al Mouj Golf course made its debut on the European Tour to huge acclaim from the players.
For Wood (69), back with his long-time coach Paul Mitchell, it was a welcome return to form after missing his first three cuts of the year. After a fourth birdie of the day a bogey at the 17th meant Luiten had some daylight at the 72nd hole.
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Luiten was three ahead after birdies at 2, 3 and 4 before a pair of three putts at 7 and 8 dropped him back into a share of the lead with Wood.
A key moment came at the 16th where Luiten holed from 25 feet and a pair of pars gave him his first win since his home Open in 2016.
Robert Rock threatened to spring a surprise with six birdies in his first 15 holes but then bogeyed the last three. Frenchman Julien Guerrier finished third at 13 under thanks to a strong finish.
Talking point
Twin caddies Gary and Guy Tilston have been working on the European Tour for 33 years but this will never happen again.
Both brothers had a hole-in-one with their players on Thursday, Guy with Marcel Siem at the 13th from 162 yards. Then shortly after Gary, who only started with Matthew Southgate this week, also pulled a 7-iron at the 5th from 165 yards.
“It’s amazing,” said Gary. “To have us both make holes-in-one, on the same day, using the same club is truly remarkable – I doubt it will ever be repeated.”
Southgate also had a hole-in-one at the Dubai Desert Classic and he and Gary managed to get into the final group only to fall away in the last round.
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Guy added: “We really love spending time together and the fact that we are travelling to different parts of the world together is amazing.”
Moments of the week
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Best stats
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Best tweets
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‘When they start playing badly you know your job is on the line’
Is St Andrews the best Open Championship venue?
