Tom McKibbin was left ruing a costly double bogey on the 15th which effectively ended his hopes of a second DP World Tour victory as Finland’s Sami Välimäki triumphed in a playoff over Jorge Campillo at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
A blistering 65 on moving day saw the 20-year-old climb into a tie for eighth going into the final round, but five strokes off the lead, knew he’d need to repeat the feat on Sunday if he was to have any hopes of taking win number two, but five straight pars to start were followed by a bogey at six as he struggled to recapture Saturday’s form. A birdie at seven and another at nine sparked a revival, and two more at 10 and 12 saw him draw within four strokes of the lead.
With birdie opportunities on each of the closing three holes, the tough par-4 15th was always going to be critical, and a loose tee shot found the native area and an aggressive second shot found the water, leading to a six that dropped him back to -12.
Any hopes of winning gone, he’d get up-and-down for birdie at the drivable 16th, and two closing pars saw him end the week at -13, two-under for the round, and tied for ninth overall, five back of Valimaki and Campillo.
Välimäki went into the final round one shot behind leader Campillo but found himself two back straight away after his playing partner birdied the first for the fourth round in succession to get to 17-under.
And the 25-year-old appeared in danger of being cut adrift after dropping a shot at the sixth.
But he responded with back-to-back birdies on the seventh and eighth, and cut the gap at the top to one shot with an 11-foot birdie at the 12th, before pulling alongside 2020 champion Campillo with a 20-foot putt on the 13th, with the Spaniard narrowly missing his birdie attempt from 13 feet moments later.
Välimäki finally hit the front at the 17th courtesy of a seven-foot birdie putt, but the pendulum swung back Campillo’s way as the Spaniard birdied the last to join Välimäki on 18-under par and take the contest to extra holes.
And Välimäki only needed one play-off hole to seal victory, as a nerveless birdie putt earned him a second DP World Tour title after his opponent had missed from slightly further away on a similar line.
An emotional Välimäki was thrilled with his victory, saying: “Unbelievable. It’s hard to talk. It has been a long journey, it feels great.
“The course played quite tight today. I feel like I played nicely, but still a couple of mistakes and you always get punished. The course setup and everything was really nice. The birdie on 17, I thought I had it at 15 and 16, I didn’t make those putts, but luckily I had that one.
“I work so hard. I feel like I’ve earned it a couple of times, but it hasn’t come my way. That’s why it feels so amazing.”
With the end of this tournament, the DP World Tour regular season comes to a close and the battle to retain playing rights provided the subplot. As a tournament winner, McKibbin had no such worries, but it would be former Ryder Cup star Ross Fisher who would secure 116th place in the Race to Dubai, ensuring that he will be back on the circuit in 2024.
After 13 years on the DP World circuit, Scott Jamison was in severe danger of losing out as he entered the week 119th in the rankings, but the Scot’s third-place finish took care of that, and it would be South African Daniel Van Tonder who would finish outside the bubble in 117th.
“I’m delighted, obviously,” Jamison said. “Not the best situation starting the week. Had spent the whole year the right side of the line and as each week went on and on, I kept missing the cuts by a shot. A lot of Friday afternoons watching the scoreboards to see if I was going to sneak in; I touched on it earlier in the week I think that was half the problem. I was just trying to make cuts and keep my head above the water. Then this week, it’s a different game. I’ve got to have a result. I knew even not just making the cut, in my mind it was Top 20 minimum or it won’t be good enough. It’s amazing what that mindset can do.”
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