Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño Chips In

Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño’s sublime chip-in on his way to winning The Quinn Insurance British Masters has earned the Spaniard The European Tour Shot of the Month Award for September. Fernandez-Castaño had started the final day at The Belfry three shots behind overnight leader Lee Westwood, but a wayward tee shot at the par three 12th threatened his prospects of capturing his fourth European Tour title. Unfazed by going into the water hazard, Fernandez-Castaño calmly ignored the difficulty of his third shot across water and managed to save par with a deft chip which proved the catalyst for a superb play-off victory over defending champion Westwood. In second and third places were shots played by Sweden’s Robert Karlsson and Ian Poulter of England in The Ryder Cup. Karlsson took the runner-up position with his second shot to the par four fourth hole at Valhalla Golf Club, his tap-in birdie setting up a convincing 5 and 3 singles win over Justin Leonard. Poulter took third spot for his eight iron approach from 130 yards to the par four ninth on the opening day of The Ryder Cup, securing a 4 and 2 win with partner Justin Rose over Steve Stricker and Ben Curtis. Previous European Tour Shot of the Month winners from 2008 are: South Africa’s Richard Sterne (January), New Zealand’s Mark Brown (February), the Northern Irish duo of Graeme McDowell (March) and Darren Clarke (April), England’s Richard Finch (May), Martin Kaymer of Germany (June) and Padraig Harrington of Ireland (July and August). The European Tour Shot of the Month Award is presented to the Tour Member for the shot judged to be the most outstanding played during each calendar month on The European Tour International Schedule. The winning shots from each month are entered into The European Tour Shot of the Year Award.