Wu Ashun swoops in to take KLM Open as Chris Wood falters

Pádraig Harrington settles for fifth place in Netherlands after a closing round of 68

Ashun Wu celebrates victory in the KLM Open. Photograph: Jan Kruger/Getty
Ashun Wu celebrates victory in the KLM Open. Photograph: Jan Kruger/Getty

Chris Wood paid the price for a double bogey on the back nine as Wu Ashun held his nerve to win the KLM Open.

Wood, who took a one-shot lead into the final round, was on course for a fourth European Tour title after opening up a three-stroke advantage in Spijk.

But he dropped two shots on the 12th hole and Wu took advantage to claim victory by a single stroke on 16 under par.

Wu finished three strokes clear of Pádraig Harrington, who secured fifth spot with a closing round of 68.

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Harrington made six birdies but dropped three shots on Sunday as he couldn’t ignite a serious title challenge - the three-time Major winner finishing on 13 under par for the tournament.

“I am so happy,” winner Wu told Sky Sports Golf.

“It was beautiful weather this week too and a lot of good golf played here and I like this golf course very much.

“We fixed my swing at the beginning of the year and we still trust that we are going the right way.

“My coach and me are working very hard and he has flown to Czech Republic and Denmark to help me so I think we are getting better and better; so that’s why I think last week was top 10 (in Switzerland) and then this week just win.

“I was happy to have my name on it.”

Wood clawed a shot back with a birdie at the 13th, only for Wu to storm into a one-stroke clubhouse lead with gains at the 14th, 15th and the last for a final round of 67.

That meant the Englishman needed a birdie at the par-five 18th to force a play-off, and it looked like he could snatch victory as he reached the green in two.

However, Wood raced his eagle putt past the hole and onto the fringe and his second attempt missed the left edge of the cup to hand Wu his third European Tour victory.

Japan’s Hideto Tanihara and Belgium’s Thomas Detry finished tied for third on 14 under par, with three-time major champion Padraig Harrington one shot further adrift to round off the top five.

Collated final scores & totals in the European Tour KLM Open (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 71):

268 Ashun Wu (Chn) 64 66 71 67
269 Chris Wood 65 70 65 69
270 Thomas Detry (Bel) 74 67 63 66, Hideto Tanihara (Jpn) 68 70 63 69
271 Padraig Harrington 68 70 65 68
272 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 66 73 68 65, David Drysdale 69 65 69 69, Eddie Pepperell 66 72 69 65, Bradley Dredge 70 67 69 66
273 Jordan Smith 66 71 68 68
274 Austin Connelly (Can) 68 70 69 67, Erik Van Rooyen (Rsa) 73 66 67 68, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 66 69 71 68, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 68 69 70 67
275 Jason Scrivener (Aus) 66 73 71 65, Richard McEvoy 67 71 64 73, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 69 69 69 68, Jonathan Thomson 69 64 68 74, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 70 67 70 68
276 Andrea Pavan (Ita) 66 71 69 70, Matthew Baldwin 70 67 69 70, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 70 68 71 67, Alexander Levy (Fra) 69 68 73 66
277 Haotong Li (Chn) 68 66 71 72, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 68 71 69 69, Matthew Southgate 66 72 71 68, Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 69 72 70 66
278 Lucas Herbert (Aus) 70 70 69 69, Chase Koepka (USA) 69 71 73 65, Andrew Sullivan 71 68 65 74, Haydn Porteous (Rsa) 67 71 68 72, Ashley Chesters 66 71 73 68, Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa) 67 73 71 67, Sam Brazel (Aus) 69 71 68 70, Josh Geary (Nzl) 72 69 67 70
279 Maximilian Kieffer (Ger) 67 71 71 70, Jeunghun Wang (Kor) 67 70 76 66, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 69 71 66 73, Renato Paratore (Ita) 66 70 75 68, Lee Westwood 68 71 75 65
280 Daniel Im (USA) 72 66 69 73, Paul Peterson (USA) 68 69 72 71, Gregory Havret (Fra) 68 73 71 68
281 Richard Bland 70 70 69 72, George Coetzee (Rsa) 69 69 76 67
282 Steve Webster 69 70 67 76, Richie Ramsay 68 73 74 67, Adam Bland (Aus) 69 70 76 67, Matthew Nixon 67 72 71 72, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 71 66 74 71, Nino Bertasio (Ita) 66 72 74 70, Jacques Kruyswijk (Rsa) 70 71 74 67
283 Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 67 72 76 68, Mark Reynolds (Ned) 73 68 73 69, Justin Walters (Rsa) 69 72 68 74, Soomin Lee (Kor) 68 67 73 75
284 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 70 68 73 73, Max Albertus (Ned) 69 71 71 73, Matteo Manassero (Ita) 67 72 72 73, Connor Syme 69 70 72 73, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 70 71 68 75, Simon Khan 70 71 70 73, Jin-ho Choi (Kor) 69 70 74 71
285 Sam Horsfield 69 69 77 70, Sebastian Heisele (Ger) 73 68 72 72, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 74 67 70 74, Johan Edfors (Swe) 70 70 72 73
287 Kevin Stadler (USA) 66 74 73 74, Matthew Jordan 70 70 75 72, David Horsey 69 72 76 70, Bradley Neil 66 71 76 74, Scott Jamieson 73 68 70 76
288 Henric Sturehed (Swe) 67 72 75 74
289 Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 69 71 76 73