Dubuisson produces thrilling final flourish to win in Turkey

Post by Sports Writer, Derek Clements

European Tour

VICTOR DUBUISSON produced a stunning seven iron approach to the last hole to win a thrilling Turkish Airlines Open and put a wretched season behind him. Surprisingly, the Frenchman had only one European Tour victory to his name before this week - and it came at the same tournament two years ago.

He was involved in a ding-dong battle all day long with Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Jaco Van Zyl, of South Africa, who had led from day one, when he shot a fabulous 61. Dubuisson and Van Zyl came to the final hole, a par five, tied at 21 under par. They both found the fairway, with Dubuisson hitting a huge drive. Van Zyl missed the green and was unable to get up and down for his birdie.

Check ou the shots of the week from the Turkish Airlines Open 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_O9is3SAUk

It meant that Dubuisson, who had also birdied the 17th, could take two putts from 12 feet for another birdie. It gave him a winning total of 22 under after rounds of 69, 64, 67 and 66. There were some fabulous birdies, but a miraculous recovery shot from the trees at the 10th and a holed chip at the 11th made the difference. With this win, Dubuisson moved up to seventh in the Race to Dubai.

Aphibarnrat, a two-time winner this season, was also in the mix for most of the day and he nearly gave Dubuisson a heart attack at the 18th when his chip for an eagle hit the pin - had it dropped he would have moved to 22 under. Unbelievably, he then missed a 12-inch putt and finished third.

Chris Wood, finally free of injury and playing the most consistent golf of his career, continued his fine form with a 68 securing a fifth-place finish.

The expected challenge from Rory McIlroy failed to materialise. After opening with three rounds of 67, he was the player most of us expected to be making a challenge for the lead at Antalya. He continued to hit a series of majestic drives and iron shots but his putter was stone cold and he never looked like winning, eventually finishing sixth.

After holing the winning putt, Dubuisson fell into the arms of his coach, crying uncontrollably. The second win has been a long time coming and clearly meant a huge amount to him. "I love this place," he said. "I played really, really well today. There have been a lot of personal reasons why I haven't played well this season. Earlier in the season I felt like I had lost it on the greens. This week I realised that my long game was as good as it has ever been and suddenly I started holing a few putts again.

"I played on the PGA Tour and didn't enjoy it. I felt lonely out there and decided that I needed to come back to the European Tour to find my game again. I feel so good."

PGA Tour

Meanwhile on the PGA Tour, Justin Thomas finally got the monkey off his back with victory at the CIMB Classic in Kuala Lumpur. It was the 22-year-old maiden victory after coming so close so many times during his rookie season - and driving your correspondent to distraction in the process.

Thomas came through the amateur ranks with Jordan Spieth and many people believe that he is actually a better player. He played consistently well during the 2014-15 season and was unfortunate not to be named rookie of the year, but was pipped by another young gun, Daniel Berger.

Watch highlights of Justin Thomas' maiden victory on the PGA Tour

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbWLzOSrMfs

Thomas strikes the ball quite beautifully but has struggled when the pressure is on, especially on the greens. He beat a world-class field in Malaysia, including a resurgent Adam Scott, and it will be fascinating to watch him go now that he has recorded that elusive win - a victory that puts him at the top of the FedEx Cup standings after three events.

Typically, Thomas made hard work of it. He was cruising along until he came to the 14th, but a double-bogey meant that the doubts started to creep in again. However, he bounced back with birdies at the 15th, 16th and 17th holes. He was one in front when he came to the 18th, a par five he had birdied the day before. He hit his drive to the right and put his approach into a bunker short of the green. Needing to get down in three more, he left his bunker shot 20 feet from the hole but then raced his first putt five feet beyond the cup. But Thomas held his nerve and drained the par putt for a round of 66 and a winning total of 25 under par.

"I can't believe it," he said. "I made that par to clinch the title. I don't care how I got it done in the end. It feels just awesome to finally get over the line."

Scott finished a shot behind the American. He had a chance at an eagle at the 18th that would have taken him into a playoff, but was well off target.

"Look, 35-footers breaking four feet are not gimmes. I threw everything I could at it today. I'm playing well, and that's nice, because I haven't played that well for a while," Scott said. The Australian will take heart from the fact that, using a conventional putter, he had a good week on the greens