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Retief Goosen's spectacular birdie-eagle finish for a one-stroke victory in the Commercialbank Qatar Masters has earned him the European Tour Golfer of the Month Award for January, tour officials have announced.

Standing on the 17th tee in the final round at Doha Golf Club, the South African was two strokes off the lead. But he conjured the kind of finish that made him a double major champion with a fine birdie on the penultimate hole before a 30-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th saw him leapfrog Nick O'Hern of Australia at the summit of the leader board to secure the 14th European Tour title of his career.

By winning in Qatar, Goosen extended his streak of consecutive winning seasons on the European Tour to nine. The victory was the two-time U.S. Open champion's fourth top-5 finish in the five events he has played on the 2007 European Tour so far.

Goosen outpointed 2005 Challenge Tour graduate Ariel Canete, who became the first player from Argentina to win a European Tour event at the recent Joburg Open. England's Paul Casey was also in the running after winning the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship.

• Henrik Stenson paid tribute to his coach Peter Cowen after winning the Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday, when he edged three-time Dubai winner Ernie Els by one shot at the Emirates Golf Club.

"Peter is a great coach and he has helped me enormously," he said. "He turned my career around when I was struggling.

"We worked hard for a couple of years without really getting anything. We were going in the right direction, but I wasn't getting the results," he explained. "I always listen to his advice. I owe him a lot."

After winning the Qatar Masters and BMW International Open last year, the Swede is now a regular fixture in the upper reaches of the world ranking -- he moved up four spots to No. 10 after his Dubai win -- and says he will continue to do his best to stay there.

"I feel I have established myself as a world top-20 player and everything is moving in the right direction," he explained. "I just have to try and keep up all the hard work and do a fraction better all the time."

• Five years after announcing a 10-year deal to sponsor the World Match Play Championship at Wentworth, banking giants HSBC have announced that this October's event will be its last.

The company created the biggest first prize in the sport -- $1.85 million -- when it took over in 2003, but has decided to switch its main focus after this year to the $5 million HSBC Champions Tournament in China.

"It's been a very difficult decision. We've had five great years, but have decided as a business it's time to move on," said Giles Morgan, head of global sports marketing and sponsorship for HSBC. "We are going to leave on a high this year. We want to make it the best ever and go out with a bang. It's a brilliant event and I think we have helped to rebuild it."

The event has been run since its inception by the International Management Group, and is now looking for a new sponsor.

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