THE DEUTSCHE BANK PLAYERS' CHAMPIONSHIP OF EUROPE // 29th July 2007

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Argentina's Andres Romero rounded off a heady seven days when the 26 year old claimed his maiden European Tour title at the Deutsche Bank Players' Championship of Europe. A week after he led The Open by two shots with two holes to go but finished third, Romero made no mistake this time. He closed with a two under par 70 at Gut Kaden to total 19 under 269, three strokes better than Denmark's Soren Hansen and England's Oliver Wilson. Romero's swashbuckling style, which in the end cost him dearly at Carnoustie, was again in evidence as he collected three birdies in the first four holes to extend his two-shot overnight margin over the field. Five shots ahead coming to the turn, Romero sent his approach from the rough into the pond at the ninth to double-bogey and finally erred on the side of caution to coast home. He enhanced his win by holing a 25ft birdie putt on the last. Romero's victory follows hot on the heels of feloow Argentine Angel Cabrera's victory in the US Open last month. "I love the way Angel Cabrera plays, and after his win in the US Open that he opened all the doors for the Argentinians, and I was thinking I have to do my share now," said Romero. "That helped me a lot, and I'm very grateful to Angel. Because he won the US Open, I have even more confidence for me to play good golf." "It feels great to win my first tournament," he added. "I didn’t expect the win to come this quick but the last tournament I had a great result and was playing great at The Open. I was thinking this was the time for me." Hansen, whose 64 was only bettered by Romero's 63 the previous day, set the target and was matched by Wilson's 66. "I have worked really hard for this round," said Wilson. "Before the week I said I was going to take some time off and I would put everything I had into this round. I wasn't overly confident going out but tried to focus on one shot at a time, all the clichés. Today I was good, trusted my swing a bit more and it paid off. The break will feel a lot better after this week." Romero was expected to be given a test by England's Zane Scotland, the only man who had really stayed with him in the third round, but the Englishman faded down the finishing field after finding heavy rough on the seventh and triple-bogeying. The €600,000 first prize saw Romero climb 13 places and replace compatriot Angel Cabrera, the US Open champion, in fifth place on The European Order of Merit. The 15th first-time winner on The European Tour this season is also almost certain to move into the World Ranking top 30. The victory rubber-stamped Romero's place in the final Major in two weeks time, the US PGA Championship, and also earned him a World Golf Championship debut in next week's WGC - Bridgestone Invitational. "The Open changed a lot in my life, and I'm going to play eight weeks in a row now," he said. "That is too much for me because after six weeks, I start to miss my family in Argentina. Usually I cannot play great after six weeks. But there are two big tournaments and I'm going to try my best, and hopefully I'm not going to miss my family." To return to the main News page click here