Hong Kong Open 2015: Final Leaderboard Scores, Prize Money Payouts

Justin Rose topped off a pristine Hong Kong Open 2015 on Sunday and finished the tournament one shot ahead of Lucas Bjerregaard to claim the eighth European Tour title of his career.

The Englishman carded a Sunday score of 68 to finish 17-under-par overall and managed to surrender just three bogeys throughout the course of the week in what was a near-spotless display of his quality.

Bjerregaard was firmly in contention heading into Sunday's climactic finish, but a double bogey on the 14th saw him concede any chance of overhauling the unshakable Rose. 

Here's how the final standings looked after Day 4, as well as prize money payouts, courtesy of Examiner.com:

Position	Player	To Par	Prize Money
1	Justin Rose	-17	$433,329
2	Lucas Bjerregaard	-16	$288,886
T3	Soomin Lee	-11	$162,760*
T3	Patrick Reed	-11	$162,760*
T3	Matthew Fitzpatrick	-11	$162,760*
T3	Jason Scrivener	-11	$162,760*
T7	Wen-tang Lin	-10	$78,000*
T7	Matt Ford	-10	$78,000*
T7	Y.E. Yang	-10	$78,000*
T7	Anirban Lahiri	-10	$78,000*

Prize money payouts are provisional. The official payout will be announced by the European Tour on a later date. For a look at the full standings, you can visit the official European Tour website.

Recap

Sunday was always shaping up to be a two-horse race based on the form Rose and Bjerregaard had shown in the days leading in, and the pair resumed their private duel while the rest of the field attempted to play catch-up.

And the pair didn't fail to impress in getting their tug-of war back up and running. Rose edged away from his Danish foe with a 15-foot put on the second, but Bjerregaard swiftly pulled back level with a birdie on the third, the fourth day in succession he'd managed that feat.

Ian Walton/Getty Images

The Scandinavian then went one better and took a one-shot lead after showcasing some superior putting on the fourth to go to 17-under. 

The running theme this week was that while Bjerregaard pulled more birdies out of the bag, Rose was almost error-free. The Dane maintained that stance after bogeying the eighth, only to rescue himself with a terrific fairway drive on the ninth, where Rose conceded a shot to fall two behind again:

Perhaps stamina played its part in Bjerregaard's eventual demise, and despite recovering from a bogey on the 11th to seal back-to-back birdies on the 12th and 13th, the worst was to come.

The 14th saw the 24-year-old give up two shots on the four-par hole, his only double-bogey of the week, at which point Golf Predictor judged this the turning point as Bjerregaard began to "choke":

That slip-up allowed Rose to take a two-shot lead with his 16th birdie of the week (coincidentally enough on his fourth and final play of the 16th) in what turned out to be an unassailable lead.

Even an underplayed five-foot putt on the 18th wasn't enough to deny Rose his eighth European Tour crown, reaping the reward of a sensationally calm week of well-structured, pragmatic golf:

Earlier in the day, Ian Poulter capped off his tournament with a score of 69 on the final day to finish tied for 29th after a poor Day 3, just one shot below Graeme McDowell, who also disappointed in Hong Kong.

However, England did have other representatives impressing among the top finishers as Matthew Fitzpatrick and Matt Ford placed joint-third and joint-seventh, respectively, the latter in particular pleased with his finish:

A top-10 position at the Hong Kong Open means Ford has earned his 2016 European Tour card and can look forward to hopefully challenging at this venue next year.

Although the one-shot victory suggested a tight contest for Rose, he ultimately made the win look simple despite a threatening challenge from rising star Bjerregaard.