Andres Romero turns back clock for BMW International Open win

Andrés Romero turned back the clock to win his second European Tour title at the BMW International Open.

A lot can happen in a decade.

Ten years ago, Andrés Romero was one of the hot new names in golf, thanks largely to his showings at The Open Championship. He tied for eighth place in his first major championship start in 2006 and nearly won in 2007, tying for third. He used that as a springboard that season to earn his maiden win on the European Tour.

The then-26-year-old, pooka shell necklace-wearing Argentine ascended into the world top-25 and was well on his way to future success with a win in New Orleans on the PGA TOUR in 2008. Fast forwarding to the present, Romero lacks much of any playing status on a major tour and entered the week as the 837th-ranked player in the world, his lowest point since his rookie season.

He needed an invitation just to get into this week’s BMW International Open field and he showed thanks to tournament organizers in spades with a one-stroke, come-from-behind win.

The action

It’s not that the galleries in Munich at Golfclub München Eichenried were against Andrés Romero, or the rest of the field for that matter, but that the majority of the fanfare on the weekend clearly went to Masters champ Sergio García.

The Spaniard had been in or around the lead since Thursday and was the 54-hole overnight co-leader with Richard Bland at 13-under. The duo led by three over Romero, who was in solo third entering Sunday’s final round. The co-leaders limited mistakes and played fine rounds of three-under-par 69 and on many days, that would have led to a playoff as Bland sought his first win in 17 years on the European Tour.

A really low round was needed from someone to close the gap on the birdie-friendly track. Belgium’s Thomas Detry surged ahead early and reached 16-under with two holes, including the par-5 18th, to go. With Romero already in the house at 17-under, Detry couldn’t grab his eighth birdie of the day and settled for an eventual second-place finish with García and Bland.

Romero makes a move

Romero, nicknamed “Pigu,” bested Detry’s 66 by one stroke thanks to a scorching back nine. Romero began with seven straight pars before going to the whip hand with García and Bland still in sight after slow starts of their own. He capped his bogey-free day with seven birdies in 11 holes, including the eventual tournament winner, on No. 18.

Romero said he was nervous playing the last hole knowing he had a chance to win. He looked anything but flustered during a flawless round.

"The whole round was very good. I was focused all day. I didn’t make any bogeys, that is a rare thing for my type of game. The last few holes I noticed I made seven birdies but the whole round was excellent."

Romero was watching from the clubhouse as Detry’s bid came up short and García’s chances grew slim when he made a bogey on the par-4 16th, the third-toughest hole of the tournament. Back to 15-under, Garcia made par on No. 17 and missed the green in two on No. 18 in need of an eagle. He nearly chipped in for a nice up-and-down birdie.

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Bland’s misstep came one hole after García’s with a bogey on No. 17 to drop to 15-under. He hit a beautiful approach shot to set up about a 20-foot putt for eagle on No. 18 but the putt dribbled by and Bland settled for birdie and another start in his 17-year career without a win.

Romero’s ball striking was superb on the back nine, hitting three straight approach shots within 15 feet to set up birdies on Nos. 13-15. He also made a crucial up-and-down for par on No. 17.

Romero was coming off four straight missed cuts. His last top 10 was at the PGA TOUR’s alternate-field Puerto Rico Open in March 2016. With the victory, Andrés Romero became the lowest-ranked player to win on the European Tour in quite some time and he’s now expected to climb to approximately No. 180 in the next Official World Golf Ranking.

The win also earned him a spot in the 156-player field at The Open Championship, the very tournament in which he made a name for himself. Andrés Romero finally has another win and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

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