Sergio Garcia of Spain made a tap-in birdie on the third playoff hole to turn back Mikko Ilonen of Finland and win the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters at Doha Golf Club.
The 33-year-old Garcia climbed 10 spots on the leaderboard by closing with a bogey-free, 7-under-par 65 and claimed his 26th professional victory. He won for the second time in his last three outings, having captured the Thailand Golf Championship in his last outing of 2013.
“It feels good,” said Garcia, who missed an eight-foot birdie putt to win the tournament on the final hole of regulation. “It’s funny because I started the day thinking if I can shoot 6- or 7-under maybe I can have a chance. It turns out I had a very similar putt one I had last year to get it to 17-under on 18. I hit a good putt and unfortunately it didn’t break.
“The up-and-down from the bunker in the playoff (on the second extra hole) was key and I’m very happy to be able to win it. I almost feel less pressure because you feel like you’ve had a great week already and if you win it’s kind of like a little bit of a bonus.”
Ilonen, who has won three times on the European Tour, closed with a 66 that included birdies on three of his last five holes, but was unable to get up-and-down from a greenside bunker on the final playoff hole and settled for par.
Garcia coaxed his long eagle putt close and tapped in for the winning birdie.
Henrik Stenson of Sweden, who won the FedEx Cup and the Race to Dubai last year, closed with a 67 to tie for 28th after missing the cut last week in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
Luke Donald shot 70 in the final round to tie for 57th and PGA champion Jason Dufner, playing for the first time since a bout with pneumonia and bronchitis during the Sony Open in Hawaii, tied for 72nd after a 71.
