Andrew Dodt of Australia won the Avantha Masters on Sunday by a
stroke, shooting a a 4-under 68 in the final round that started
with seven players level at the top of the leaderboard.
Dodt sank birdies at the 16th and 18th holes to total
14-under 274 and claim his first European Tour victory after the
lead had changed several times with runnerup Richard Finch of
England (66) looking likely to win at one point.
English pair Richard Bland (71) and Barry Lane (71) plus
David Drysdale of Scotland (70) and Tetsuji Hiratsuka of Japan (71)
followed next on 276.
Dodt, whose previous best finish was a tie for ninth at last
year's Singapore Open, began the day a shot off the pace but had
picked up three strokes by the turn and was well placed with nine
holes to play.
A bogey at the 11th threatened to derail him, but Dodt
managed to recover over the final three holes.
Finch mounted his charge from down the leaderboard, reaching
reached the halfway point in 32 having collected five birdies and a
bogey. But he could only pick up two more shots down the stretch.
Bland's 66 had catapulted him on Saturday into contention and
two early birdies saw him keep pace. However, he bogeyed No. 6 and,
although he recovered the shot at the 16th, he could not find the
birdie he needed at the last to force a playoff.
Drysdale had bogeys at the 13th and 15th to effectively
scupper his hopes. While the 49-year-old Lane failed to become the
European Tour's oldest winner after failing to get going on the
front nine.
Hiratsukam, who shot a course record of 62 on Friday, had a
double bogey at No. 5 and dropped another shot two holes later.
