Lundberg wins back to back in Russia
BY Bruce Young | European PGA Tour | 2008 Russian Open | Round Four | 28 Jul 2008
The Russian Open has been won for the second time by Swede Mikael Lundberg, the 34-year-old firing a last round of 68 to take the title by two over the fast finishing Jose Manuel Lara.
Lundberg won the event in 2005 after a four hole playoff, but today he was able to complete the task in regulation play. Thankfully for Lundberg, the prizemoney in 2008 was three times that of his earlier win.
Lara played 45 minutes ahead of the last pairing and birdied six of his first ten holes to apply pressure to Lundberg and actually took the lead when he birdied the 14th. He bogeyed the 15th after his drive hit a spectator and when Lundberg was able to birdie the 16th and 17th the title was heading to Sweden for the second year in succession and for the third time in the last four years.
Lara’s final round of 64 earned him outright second.
In between his last win and this Lundberg’s fortunes have suffered, having lost his card in 2006 and being forced to regain it via the Challenge Tour in 2007. 2008 had again not been particularly good to him either but he can now relax in the knowledge that he has his European Tour status for another two years or so.
England’s Ben Barham finished third while Norwegian Jan-Are was 4th.
No Australians made the cut but New Zealander Gareth Addison did well to finish in a share of 12th, his best finish of his rookie European Tour season. Fellow New Zealander Steve Alker enjoyed a slightly better week also when making the cut and finishing 43rd.
The European Tour will not play on home soil until the SAS Masters in Sweden on August 14th but will be in the US for the next two weeks at the WGC Bridgestone in Akron and the US PGA Championship at Oakland Hills.
