GolfPlus Nov18 Digital Edition (Nov18) | Page 12

ON THE EUROPEAN TO UR LUCAS BATTLES BACK TO WIN Lucas Bjerregaard made it ucas Bjerregaard secured his second European Tour title as he overhauled a four-stroke deficit to win the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the Old Course at St Andrews. The Dane, whose last victory came at the 2017 Portugal Masters, started the day ten under par, four strokes behind 54-hole leader and twice-defending champion Tyrrell Hatton. Bjerregaard began his final round on the 18th hole under a shotgun start, which meant he would finish the Championship on the iconic Road Hole. The 27 year old birdied the 18th and then made three further gains before the turn as he whittled down Hatton’s lead. Birdies on the 13th and 16th holes saw him reach 16 under par, two ahead of Ryder Cup hero Tommy Fleetwood who set the clubhouse target after a three under par round. Hatton had a birdie chance on the last hole but had to settle for par, joining Fleetwood on 14 under. A bogey on the 17th was enough for Bjerregaard to win his second title, just a week after watching compatriot Thomas Bjørn captain Europe to Ryder Cup victory. Finn Tapio Pulkkanen finished fourth on 12 under par, while Haotong Li and Andrea Pavan shared fifth place on ten under par. Li won the team competition with his partner Allen Zhang with a score of 35 under par. Eddie soars to British Masters victory ddie Pepperell provided a moment of pure magic on the way to winning the Sky Sports British Masters wire-to-wire, holing out from the heavy rough for an eagle two before battling to a second European Tour title of the season. The victory, which came courtesy of a level par ¿ nal round 72, means the Englishman is close to rubber-stamping a debut at the Masters Tournament in 2019, and the 27 year old moved to seventh position in the Race to Dubai after an eventful week. Pepperell produced another remarkable shot on the opening day at Walton Heath Golf Club, holing an ace on the ninth hole which came after the ball bounced straight into the hole, popped back out and rolled back in again for the ¿ rst hole-in-one of his professional career. Having been top of the leaderboard after every round - sharing the lead after day one before breaking clear at the top - Pepperell battled bravely in the testing, wet conditions at the Surrey venue. A steady front nine was followed by a spectacular hole-out eagle on the tenth, and although he stumbled on the dif¿ cult closing stretch, he overcame playing partner Alexander Björk by two shots to add to the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters title he won in February. The tournament host, World Number Two Justin Rose, ¿ nished strongly as a two under par 70 earned him an eighth place ¿ nish on three under par. 24 G o l f P l u s NOVEMBER 2018 Eddie-the winner