CASTELLON, October 23, 2011 (AFP) - Sergio Garcia won the Castello Masters by a huge 11 shots on Sunday, the joint-third largest victory in European Tour history, and dedicated his triumph to Seve Ballesteros
The 31-year-old Spaniard shot a closing 63 on the Club de Campo del Mediterraneo course, where he once was boys champion, to finish on 27 under par as he secured his first title for almost three years.
"That was for Seve," said Garcia, sending a skyward kiss, in honour of Spanish legend Ballesteros who died of brain cancer in May.
The two previous biggest wins were by Tiger Woods, who won the 2000 US Open by 15, and Ernie Els who won the 2005 Asian Open by 13 shots.
Els also holds the under par winning record on tour when he was 29 under at the 2003 Johnnie Walker Classic.
Garcia had started the day at eight under and eventually finished ahead of compatriot Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, who was second after a 64 while Swede Alex Noren and Scotland's Richie Ramsay were joint third on 15 under.
"I would like to thank not only my family and friends, but also my sponsors, everyone for supporting me through two tough years," said Garcia after his 19th title.
Sunday's victory will move him back into the top 35.
"They have stuck with me and believed in me and I'm happy to be able to pay them back. At the beginning of the week there's always a little extra pressure because you want to do well in front of your home fans and on your home course.
"But I felt really good and it showed. Hopefully I can keep moving forward, but there are still some things I can improve on."
Garcia had believed another victory was close to hand after successive top-12 finishes in the last three Majors while he was edged out in a play-off by Pablo Larrazabal at the BMW International Open in June.
Garcia picked up birdies on Sunday on the fourth, fifth, eighth and ninth holes. He added more gains at the 10th, 11th, 14th and 15th.
His only blemish was a bogey at the 17th.
Leading and selected final round scores in the European Tour Castello Masters at the Club de Campo del Mediterraneo, Castellon on Sunday (GBR and IRL unless stated, par 71):
257 - Sergio Garcia (ESP) 67-63-64-63
268 - Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (ESP) 69-66-69-64
269 - Richie Ramsay 72-64-68-65, Alexander Noren (SWE) 69-63-73-64
270 - Thomas Aiken (RSA) 68-69-70-63
272 - George Coetzee (RSA) 67-70-69-66
273 - Marcel Siem (GER) 68-68-70-67
274 - Romain Wattel (FRA) 70-69-66-69, Ross McGowan 64-70-69-71, Marcus Fraser (AUS) 70-64-71-69
275 - Joost Luiten (NED) 71-68-70-66, Richard McEvoy 66-69-71-69, David Horsey 72-65-70-68, Scott Strange (AUS) 69-68-71-67, Anthony Wall 67-68-69-71, Brett Rumford (AUS) 70-71-67-67, Ricardo Gonzalez (ARG) 69-66-70-70, Niclas Fasth (SWE) 68-69-72-66, Gregory Havret (FRA) 69-70-68-68
276 - Hennie Otto (RSA) 72-69-67-68, Christian Nilsson (SWE) 71-71-69-65, Matt Haines 70-66-70-70, Stephen Dodd 74-66-69-67, Danny Willett 67-74-67-68, Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 67-69-66-74, Michael Hoey 67-74-69-66
Selected:
277 - Matthew Zions (AUS) 70-71-67-69
279 - Matteo Manassero (ITA) 69-68-71-71
280 - Richard Green (AUS) 70-68-73-69
282 - James Kingston (RSA) 69-71-71-71
284 - Keith Horne (RSA) 71-70-71-72
287 - Anthony Kang (USA) 70-70-74-73
288 - Mark Brown (NZL) 69-72-74-73