GolfPlus- Dec19 Digital Edition (Dec 19) | Page 26

ON THE EUROPEAN TO UR
FRANCESCO LAPORTA
TYRRELL HATTON
Tournament: Turkish Airlines Open
Venue: The Montgomerie Maxx Royal, Turkey
Prize fund: US$7,000,000
yrrell Hatton won his second
Rolex Series title in thrilling
fashion as he prevailed in
a six-man play-off under
floodlights at the Turkish Airlines
Open.
The Englishman entered round
four in glorious sunshine three shots
off the lead at The Montgomerie
Maxx Royal but ended it as the last
man standing under the lights after
one of the most dramatic days on the
2019 Race to Dubai.
A birdie on the 72nd hole
handed him a closing 67 and a
place in the record equalling play-off
alongside French duo Benjamin
Hebert and Victor Perez, American
Kurt Kitayama, Austrian Matthias
Schwab and South African Erik van
Rooyen.
He had to chip-in to keep his
hopes alive on the first trip back up
the last as Hebert, Perez and van
Rooyen were eliminated on the first
extra hole. Kitayama stayed in the
hunt before he was eliminated on
the third extra hole, leaving Hatton
and Schwab to fight it out under the
floodlights for the US$2million first
prize.
Hatton found trouble with his
drive and was forced to lay-up, but
par was enough for him to secure his
fourth European Tour title.
30 G o l f P l u s
DECEMBER
Tournament: Challenge Tour Grand Final
Venue: Club de Golf Alcanada, Mallorca
rancesco Laporta secured victory at the
Challenge Tour Grand Final in wire-to-
wire fashion and in doing so ¿ nished the
season as the 2019 Road to Mallorca Number
One. The Italian battled testing conditions,
which delayed the start of the ¿ nal round and
caused a suspension in the morning, to post a
closing level par round of 71 and win the Grand
Final on six under par, two strokes ahead of
Sebastian Heisele and Robin Sciot-Siegrist,
who shared second place on four under par. It is
Laporta’s second win in his last three starts after
triumphing at the Hainan Open last month and he
joins the Challenge Tour Roll of Honour as Road
to Mallorca Number One, ¿ nishing over 50,000 points ahead of Scotland’s Calum Hill in second
place. Richard Bland secured a return to the European Tour at the ¿ rst time of asking by ¿ nishing
third on the Road to Mallorca Rankings, with Heisele’s tie for second place moving him up to fourth.
Adrian Meronk will become the ¿ rst-ever Polish player to have full European Tour playing
privileges in 2020 after ¿ nishing ¿ fth on the Rankings, while Jack Senior and Robin Roussel ¿ nished
sixth and seventh. Early season wins at the Challenge de España and Prague Golf Challenge earned
Antoine Rozner eighth place and graduation was secured by Matthew Jordan in his rookie season
by ¿ nishing ninth, while Ricardo Santos, Cormac Sharvin and Oliver Farr ¿ nished in the next three
spots. Rolex Trophy winner Darius van Driel and Connor Syme, who won the season-opener at the
Turkish Airlines Challenge, cemented spots 13 and 14, and it was Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez who
earned the ¿ nal European Tour card by ¿ nishing in 15th position.
TOMMY
FLEETWOOD
Tournament: Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player
Venue: Gary Player Country Club, South Africa
Prize fund: US$7,500,000
ommy Fleetwood defeated Marcus
Kinhult in a thrilling play-off to win
his second Rolex Series title at the
Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary
Player, and put himself in contention to
top the Race to Dubai Rankings presented
by Rolex for the second time in three
years.
The Ryder Cup star, who joined the
illustrious list of Rolex Series winners
at the 2017 Open de France, started the
¿ nal round at Gary Player Country Club
six strokes off the lead, but À ew up the
leaderboard after three birdies and the ¿ rst of an incredible three eagles before the turn. He
then eagled the tenth and the 14th, recovering from dropped shots on the 12th and 13th holes.
A ¿ nal birdie of the day on the 15th saw him sign for a 12 under par score. Sweden’s Kinhult
started three strokes behind overnight leader Zander Lombard and made a crucial birdie on
the 15th to join Fleetwood on 12 under, setting up a play-off for the US$2.5million ¿ rst prize.
On the ¿ rst extra hole, Kinhult had to play out sideways after a poor tee shot, eventually
settling for bogey, while Fleetwood made an excellent up and down to save par and tapped
in from three feet for the biggest winner’s prize in European Tour history and his ¿ fth title.
The win moves the Englishman to second place on the Race to Dubai in his bid to be named
European Number One for the second time, following his 2017 triumph, at next week’s
season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
2019