Lucquin claims maiden European Tour title

By Norman Dabell

CRANS-SUR-SIERRE, Switzerland (Reuters) - Frenchman Jean-Francois Lucquin claimed his maiden European Tour title on Sunday after beating British teenager Rory McIlroy in a sudden-death playoff at the European Masters.

Lucquin came from four strokes behind McIlroy at the start of the round to card a four-under 67 for a 271 four-round total.

Northern Irishman McIlroy, 19, bidding to become the Tour's third-youngest winner, bogeyed the 18th for a 71 to put him also a stroke ahead of the field and send the event into extra holes.

A birdie at the second playoff hole earned Lucquin the $489,000 first prize as he became the Tour's 13th first-time winner of the season.

McIlroy's four-stroke overnight advantage over the field had slipped away when he dropped strokes at the second and third holes.

With 10 players jostling for the lead, Lucquin emerged as McIlroy's chief opponent but a 25-foot birdie putt on the 15th looked to have earned the young Ulsterman the title.

On the 18th, though, McIlroy shaved the hole with his approach but then missed a five-foot par putt after finding the rough.

Both players parred the first extra hole but then, with McIlroy three-putting from 20 foot, Lucquin's successful effort from 10 feet ended the deadlock.

GOOD SWING

Lucquin's victory, the second successive win by a Frenchman after Gregory Havret's Gleneagles success the previous week, came in his sixth full season.

"It's a surprise to win as the season was not looking that good," the 29-year-old Swiss resident told reporters.

"My coach told me your swing is very good and you have a chance this week, though, and I focused a lot on my routine and my swing."

McIlroy, who earned his tour card in only his second event last year after a successful amateur career in which he played the 2007 Walker Cup and won the silver medal at the 2007 British Open, said: "Obviously I'm disappointed but I can take a lot from this week. I came here after three missed cuts and found a bit of form."

Miguel Angel Jimenez, the only member of Europe's Ryder Cup team in the tournament, finished in a tie for third place a stroke short of the playoff on 12 under.

The Spaniard missed a succession of putts including two of around two feet as he posted a 67.