Jonzon grabs Castellon Masters with year-making birdie on final hole

CASTELLON, Spain (PA) -- Sweden's Michael Jonzon is living proof that in golf it takes just one week to make it a great year.

Without a single top-10 finish since December and needing to come in first or second to keep his European Tour card, Jonzon won the Castello Masters on Sunday with an 18-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole.

The nerves were there for all to see as the burly 37-year-old, 158th on the money list and needing to climb into the top 115, lost his grip on the tournament by double bogeying the 15th and dropping another shot at the 17th.

Martin Kaymer, six behind with five to play, was suddenly level when he birdied the 14th, 16th and 17th -- and Jonzon's fellow countryman Christian Nilsson was 19 under par as well in the clubhouse.

When Kaymer then hit his approach to the 428-yard last to nine feet, the 24-year-old German looked like he would claim the victory that would take him back to the top of the Order of Merit -- and this despite him limping all week in his first event since breaking several toes in a go-kart crash in August.

But Jonzon, ranked 482nd in the world and playing with 10th-ranked Sergio Garcia and 12th-ranked Kaymer, holed from twice as far, Kaymer missed and it was all over.

"I'm on the moon," said Jonzon, whose only previous success in 290 European Tour starts was the 1997 Portuguese Open. "It's been desperate for me and I am kind of speechless at the moment. It's unbelievable."

The $500,000 first prize was more than four times his previous biggest check in a career that goes back 16 years and includes eight trips to the qualifying school.

"It's going to take time to let this sink in, I guess," he added. "I'm just so thrilled to have a playing status for next year and I'm so proud of myself the way I handled these days."

One ahead overnight, he lost the lead when defending champion Garcia opened with back-to-back birdies. But the Spanish star is still looking for his first top-3 finish of the year after falling back to fourth on his home course.

Jonzon grabbed an eagle and three birdies to turn in 31 and seemed to be coasting when he birdied the long 13th while Nilsson followed six successive birdies with a bogey six 6 there and Kaymer ran up a 7 on the same hole.

But getting the job done proved anything but easy.

Jonzon, round in 67 for a 20-under aggregate of 264, is now up to 65th on the money list -- and not only has a two-year tour exemption but will also qualify for the season-ending Dubai World Championship next month if he climbs five more spots.

England's Sam Hutsby, playing just his third European Tour event since turning professional after the Walker Cup last month, shared the lead when he holed his approach to the first. But the 20-year-old from Hampshire double-bogeyed the second and seventh before rallying for a tie for eighth.

Darren Clarke and former Ryder Cup player Andrew Coltart -- still fighting for his Tour card -- were among those alongside him, while Colin Montgomerie was tied for 12th and missed out on his first top 10 since June last year by a single stroke.

Copyright 2009 PA Sport. All rights reserved.