Hanson overcomes penalty for third European Tour win

text size

SON SERVERA, Balearic Islands (AP) -- Sweden's Peter Hanson shrugged off a one-shot penalty to beat Spain's Alejandro Canizares in a playoff and win the Mallorca Open on Sunday.

A television replay showed that Hanson struck his chip on the 12th a second time.

He fell two behind with four to play after being told of the infringement, before hitting birdies at the 15th and 17th at the 6,915-yard Pula Golf Club.

His third European Tour title was sealed when Canizares bogeyed the first extra hole.

Hanson and Canizares both shot 66 to finish on 6 under, four shots clear of South Africa's James Kingston.

Christian Cevaer of France and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano of Spain finished fourth on 1 under.

"It feels absolutely fantastic after all that happened," said Hanson.

He was shown the double-hit on the completion of his round. "It looks strange but of course it was a double hit," he said. "The ball went down and then I hit it again."

The victory could see Hanson return to the world's top 50 and if he is there on Monday, it will save him from having to qualify for the U.S. Open.

Canizares, the son of former Ryder Cup player Jose Maria, was bidding to win his second European Tour title. He has now had three successive top-10 finishes.

"I played very well today. On Friday and Saturday I was not there, but today I didn't miss many shots," he said.