Lawrie pulls away for Qatar Masters title

Golf Betting Lines

02/05/2012 - Doha, Qatar (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Lawrie staved off challenges from Jason Day and Sergio Garcia on Sunday to win the Qatar Masters in comfortable fashion.

Lawrie, the second-round leader, fired a seven-under 65 on Sunday. The Scotsman was tied for the lead after eight holes, but played the last 10 in six-under par to earn a four-shot win.

"I don't think I can play much better than that," said Lawrie. "I've been playing well for a long, long time, but it's just nice to come out one ahead and shoot seven-under."

Day (65) and Peter Hanson (67) shared second at 11-under 205.

John Daly carded a five-under 67 and took fourth alone at minus-nine.

Garcia, who was tied for the lead with Lawrie after a birdie at the 10th, notched one birdie and two bogeys the rest of the way. He fell into a tie for fifth with Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (65), Soren Hansen (66) and Ricardo Gonzalez (70) at eight-under par.

The victory was Lawrie's seventh on the European Tour. He captured the 1999 British Open, but earlier in that season, he won this championship.

"Now wouldn't that be nice to get that again?" he asked.

Lawrie returned to the winner's circle for the first time in nine years when he won last year's Open de Andalucia.

But Sunday's victory was a big one based on the strength of the field, which included world No. 2 Lee Westwood, who tied for 12th, and No. 4 Martin Kaymer, who shared ninth.

Lawrie is expected to move into the top 45 in the world rankings based on this win. He hasn't been in that position since 2003.

The tournament was shortened to 54 holes when most of Friday's action was called off due to high winds.

Lawrie grabbed the second-round lead with a 67 in round two, then birdied his first hole Sunday morning. He parred his next seven and Garcia took that opportunity to vault up the leaderboard.

Garcia birdied one, five, seven and eight to get within one. His birdie at the par-five 10th tied him for the lead with Lawrie at nine-under par, but Lawrie chipped in for eagle at the par-five ninth to move two clear.

Garcia got one back with birdie at the 11th, but that was the last threat the Spaniard mounted. He three-putted the 13th for a bogey, dropped a shot at 15 and fell several behind Lawrie.

The leader played the best golf of the round after the eagle at nine. Lawrie ran home a six-footer for birdie at the 11th and was three in front of Garcia and Day, who birdied four in a row from the 10th.

Day, the No. 10 player in the world, trimmed the gap to two, and Lawrie began to spray the ball off the tee. He had a decent look at birdie at the 13th, but extended his cushion back to three with a birdie at 14.

Lawrie missed a good opportunity for birdie at 15, but cashed in at 16. He drove into the left rough at the drivable par four, then chipped to three feet to set up the easy birdie.

Four ahead with two to play, Lawrie birdied the par-three 17th and the final margin of victory became four only when Day birdied the par-five last.

With a four-shot edge to play with, Lawrie laid up at the closing hole and made a par to secure the trophy.

"When you've got a chance to win a tournament you don't sleep as well the night before and things go racing through your mind," said Lawrie. "You've got to get back to basics and I did that. I hit some nice shots coming in."

Kaymer was joined in ninth place by Victor Dubuisson (69) and Nicolas Colsaerts (72). The trio finished at seven-under 209.

NOTES: Lawrie has three top 10s in his first three starts of the season...European Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal celebrated his 46th birthday Sunday with a three-under 69. He tied for 12th, his second top-15 finish of the season...Last year's winner Thomas Bjorn posted a four-under 68 on Sunday and tied for 25th at four-under...Next week, the tour hosts the Dubai Desert Classic, where Alvaro Quiros won the 2011 event.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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