Colin Montgomerie birdies last three holes to win Mauritius crown

Colin Montgomerie capped another outstanding year with a thrilling finish to secure a three-shot victory at the MCB Tour Championship in Mauritius.

Montgomerie began the final round with a four-shot lead, but he found himself one behind after David Frost rolled in his fifth birdie putt of the day at the 11th.

But after Frost bogeyed the 12th and 14th to hand the advantage back to the Scot, Montgomerie showed his class down the stretch as he birdied the final three holes to pull clear of the chasing pack on 15 under par.

The eight-time European No 1 had picked up an early birdie at the fourth, but he dropped consecutive shots at six and seven before getting back to 12 under with a birdie at the ninth.

He then responded to pressure from Frost and Paul Eales, who closed with a 66 to set the clubhouse target at 11 under, and Montgomerie's flying finish completed a hard-fought 69 and landed his third European Senior Tour title of the season.

"This win is right up there," said Montgomerie, who aced the 17th in Saturday's second round and was a remarkable nine under par for the final three holes over the tournament.

"The 64 yesterday really set me up, but David Frost really pushed me all the way today. I had to be at my best because it was very tough, but to birdie the last three holes to win gives me an awful lot of satisfaction.

European Seniors Tour Golf

"When I saw I was one shot behind, I knew I had to knuckle down because David wasn't going to give it to me. But I managed to hit pretty much every fairway coming in, which is what I knew I had to do.

"The 17th has been extremely good to me this week, and in the end the way I played that hole has won me the tournament. I birdied it the first day, had the hole in one yesterday and then birdied it again today, so I've had two putts in three holes and played it in four under. So in the end, that has made all the difference."

First-round pacesetter Frost recovered from his mistakes to birdie the last for a 68 which snatched outright second from Eales, who his back from his only blemish of the day at the 12th with four birdies over the last six holes.

Eales shared third with Chris Williams, who came home in 33 to match Montgomerie's 69, while Englishmen Barry Lane and Andrew Sherborne were five strokes further behind on six under.