SHANGHAI // Kristoffer Broberg sank a knee-knocking downhill 12-foot birdie putt at the first playoff hole to win the BMW Masters and his first European Tour title in Shanghai Sunday.
The Swede carded a four-under final round of 68 to finish level on 17-under par 271 with American Patrick Reed who shot a 67, forcing the pair to go head-to-head back down the 18th at Lake Malaren.
Reed found the greenside bunker with his second to the long par four while Broberg carved a nine-iron perfectly to the right of the flag and saw it run down a slope to four paces from the hole.
Although Reed splashed out close, the stage was set for the 29-year-old from Stockholm who had won previously three times on the second-tier Challenge Tour but never among the top pros.
He had been faced with an almost identical putt minutes earlier on 18 to win outright but left it short.
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This time he made no mistake, firmly rolling the ball down the slope and into the heart of the cup to roars from the packed galleries as he held both arms aloft in triumph.
Broberg was embraced by his caddie and soon after by fellow Swedish tour players Rikard Karlberg and Henrik Stenson who showered him in celebratory champagne.
Fighting back tears, Broberg was almost lost for words after picking up the biggest payday of his career -- $1,166,000 -- and shooting up the Race to Dubai rankings from 61st to 12th.
“That’s a dream come true. I’ve worked so hard all my life for this. I have no words,” said the tearful Swede, who started the week ranked 149th in the world but looks certain break the top 100 when the new rankings are released Monday.
“I hit a good swing with my driver, just hit a long one left side,” he said off the playoff hole. “Hit a pure nine-iron into the green and made the putt.”
He said he would be celebrating later over dinner with his Swedish colleagues on tour including world number seven Stenson, who finished just one shot behind Broberg in a tie for third with An Byeong-Hun of South Korea, Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard and overnight leader Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand.
“Henrik paid the bill yesterday, so it’s my turn today,” Broberg laughed.
Reed, who only got into the playoff courtesy of an outrageous eagle two direct from a fairway bunker on the par-four 15th, was able to take the positives away from two weeks in Shanghai where he recorded strong finishes after a tied seventh place in the WGC-HSBC Champions a week ago.
“That’s I think five of my last seven events I’ve finished inside the top 10,” said Reed, one of the few Americans to play on both the US PGA and European Tours.
“Just need to keep on plugging along and hopefully close one out shortly.”
Rory McIlroy sat out this week but will tee up on Thursday in the DP World Tour Championship, still leading the Race to Dubai by a thread after Danny Willett’s tied 28th finish on seven-under was not enough to overtake the Northern Irish world number three.
McIlroy’s lead in the standings has been cut to just 1,613 points by the Englishman with 1,333,330 points available to the winner of the season-ending championship next week.
Justin Rose could also have overtaken McIlroy with second place in Shanghai but finished tied seventh.
The English world number six did move to third in the standings, but he is still 650,999 points adrift of McIlroy.
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If you go
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Funchal via Lisbon, with a connecting flight with Air Portugal. Economy class returns cost from Dh3,845 return including taxes.
The trip
The WalkMe app can be downloaded from the usual sources. If you don’t fancy doing the trip yourself, then Explore offers an eight-day levada trails tour from Dh3,050, not including flights.
The hotel
There isn’t another hotel anywhere in Madeira that matches the history and luxury of the Belmond Reid's Palace in Funchal. Doubles from Dh1,400 per night including taxes.
MATCH INFO
CAF Champions League semi-finals first-leg fixtures
Tuesday:
Primeiro Agosto (ANG) v Esperance (TUN) (8pm UAE)
Al Ahly (EGY) v Entente Setif (ALG) (11PM)
Second legs:
October 23
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
MATCH INFO
New Zealand 176-8 (20 ovs)
England 155 (19.5 ovs)
New Zealand win by 21 runs
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 390bhp
Torque: 400Nm
Price: Dh340,000 ($92,579
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 380hp at 5,800rpm
Torque: 530Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Price: From Dh299,000 ($81,415)
On sale: Now
Six tips to secure your smart home
Most smart home devices are controlled via the owner's smartphone. Therefore, if you are using public wi-fi on your phone, always use a VPN (virtual private network) that offers strong security features and anonymises your internet connection.
Keep your smart home devices’ software up-to-date. Device makers often send regular updates - follow them without fail as they could provide protection from a new security risk.
Use two-factor authentication so that in addition to a password, your identity is authenticated by a second sign-in step like a code sent to your mobile number.
Set up a separate guest network for acquaintances and visitors to ensure the privacy of your IoT devices’ network.
Change the default privacy and security settings of your IoT devices to take extra steps to secure yourself and your home.
Always give your router a unique name, replacing the one generated by the manufacturer, to ensure a hacker cannot ascertain its make or model number.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Saturday (UAE kick-off times)
Cologne v Union Berlin (5.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Borussia Dortmund (5.30pm)
Hertha Berlin v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)
Paderborn v Werder Bremen (5.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Freiburg (5.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Borussia Monchengladbach (8.30pm)
Sunday
Mainz v Augsburg (5.30pm)
Schalke v Bayer Leverkusen (8pm)
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
How to help
Call the hotline on 0502955999 or send "thenational" to the following numbers:
2289 - Dh10
2252 - Dh50
6025 - Dh20
6027 - Dh100
6026 - Dh200
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
- 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
- 2nd Test Thursday-Monday at Colombo
- 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
