Jacquelin claims Asian Open title

Raphael Jacquelin celebrates his Asian Open success

FINAL LEADERBOARD

-10 R Jacquelin (Fra)
-8 S Kjeldsen (Den) S Hend (Aus)
-7 S Yates (Scot), S Hend (Aus), J Backstrom (Swe)
-6 M Brier (Aut), E Els (SA), R Sterne (SA), S M Lee (Kor),
Selected others:
-5 G McDowell (NIre)
-4 S Dyson (Eng)
-3 C Montgomerie (Sco), R Goosen (SA)

Raphael Jacquelin of France led from start to finish to a win the Asian Open in Shanghai by two strokes.

Jacquelin shot a one-over-par 73 in the storm-affected final round to finish at 10 under for the tournament.

Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen was second at eight under, while Scotland's Simon Yates and Australian Scott Hend were a shot further back.

Colin Montgomerie had been in contention but carded a disappointing 77 to finish in a tie for 15th place.

Jacquelin's second European Tour win makes up for last week's China Open, also in Shanghai, where he seized the lead after the second round only to see it slip away.

"It is a fantastic moment," said Jacquelin, whose maiden tour victory came at the 2005 Open de Madrid after 238 tour starts.

"When you are in a position to win it is always difficult to finish but to be a winner you have to finish."

Jacquelin was fortunate to start smartly before the wind and rain blew in, picking up three birdies on the front nine.

With the changing weather playing havoc with his approaches, he conceded bogies on four of the last six holes.

"We had a lot of chances on the front nine and that is what I did," said Jacquelin.

"Then the wind picked up and the rain, and it was tough. My shots were not so good so I played for the good side of the green and try and save par."

Still chasing his first win of the season, South African Ernie Els shot an even-par 72 to finish joint fifth at six under.

Els, who won the tournament by 13 strokes in 2005, suffered from the patchy putting that had dogged his earlier rounds.

"I hit the ball from tee to green pretty well, but my putter let me down most of the week," said Els.