Jubilant Julien triumphs on home soil
Julien Guerrier made a late charge to win his first European Challenge Tour title in dramatic fashion at the Hauts de France Golf Open . The Frenchman started the final round with a share of the lead alongside Scotland ’ s Jack Doherty , and the pair exchanged blows throughout the closing 18 holes at Aa Saint Omer Golf Club . Guerrier made the perfect start with a birdie at the first , but after bogeys at the third and seventh , he relinquished the lead to Doherty who made gains at the sixth and ninth to move clear at the top of the leaderboard . Back to back birdies around the turn for Guerrier saw the momentum shift and after Doherty dropped shots at the 12th and 13th , the pair were back to being all square with five to play in northern France .
An errant drive at the par four 15th saw Guerrier in trouble once again , and after he made bogey it appeared to be advantage Doherty , who went one clear with two to play after the pair both made pars at the 16th . Buoyed by the home support , Guerrier rallied to make birdie at the par three 17th and it appeared that a play-off was looming in Lumbres as the pair both walked down the
18th fairway tied for the lead at seven under . Both players failed to find the green with their second shots on the par four final hole , but after Doherty struggled to play out of the rough , Guerrier chipped to four feet to leave himself with a simple putt for par . As an ecstatic home crowd watched on , Guerrier confidently tapped in for a one stroke win – and he was delighted to claim victory on home soil . “ It is an amazing feeling ,” said the 31 year old , who finished on seven under par overall . “ I have been trying to win on the Challenge Tour for a long time now , so to do it now , in France , is very special . “ It was a very tough day . You have to be very alert and focused around this course . Over the years I have learnt that even if you are in a position where you are leading by three shots with
On the European Tour
three to play anything can still happen . “ I know I am a fighter on the course so I just tried to hang in there and score well even if I wasn ’ t doing my best . “ The putt on the 17th was very tough and that changed a lot of things and it put a lot of pressure on Jack .
I am disappointed for him as Jack is a very nice guy but I have let other players win instead of me many times – so now it is my turn . “ Jack and Lorenzo played really well , it was a very good match , and I hope they both win soon . Lorenzo is a good friend of mine so we could feel the tension when we were playing together . “ It is a long season so I am going to just take things step by step
– but I definitely have my eye on the top 15 .” After winning in Saint Omer Guerrier moves up to fourth in the Road to Oman Rankings , while Doherty – who finished in a share of second place alongside Italy ’ s Lorenzo Gagli and Portugal ’ s Ricardo Santos – rises up 80 places to 23rd .
Wiegele the daddy as he wins KPMG Trophy
Martin Wiegele
artin Wiegele sealed an emotional first victory for seven years as he won the KPMG Trophy , dedicating his performance at Royal Waterloo Golf Club to his new-born daughter Lily on Father ’ s Day in his native Austria and in Belgium .
The 38 year old might have started the week wishing he were playing the Lyoness Open powered by Organic + as the European Tour visited his home country but that soon faded as he took the fourth European Challenge Tour title of his career . Trailing by two shots ahead of the final round , Wiegele was flawless throughout , not dropping a shot as he extended his lead to three shots walking down the last , eventually signing for a six under par round of 66 and a 19 under par total , one ahead of Pedro Oriol . After a long time out of the winner ’ s circle , in no small part due to injury , Wiegele was quick to mention his six week old daughter as his new-found source of inspiration . “ It ’ s amazing ,” he said . “ I had a really bad streak of years for the last four years after my hip surgery , the comeback didn ’ t go quite how I wanted it to go .
“ I ’ ve made a few changes , I have a new coach , but the biggest change is that I became a dad six weeks ago for the first time , and today is Father ’ s Day as well , so I ’ m really , really taken by it . “ It ’ s a very exciting time in my life and with this victory now , it could not be better at the moment so I ’ m really happy .
“ I came here with a lot of confidence and the most important thing was that I
just played my own game all four days – I was not even aware of the scores and circumstances until the last hole , and then I got quite nervous ! “ It ’ s great for my family . My wife has always stuck with me and always told me how much she believes in me , and I totally believed that she meant it for real – it ’ s good to have someone so trusting in you , it ’ s so important . The other big thing is Lily , and of course this win is for her .
“ I was sad for a moment not to be playing in my home event on the European Tour but it has been good to show the Austrians what they have missed out on – maybe that was an extra motivation for me today !” Oriol ’ s eagle on the last secured his runner-up spot , with Mark Flindt Haastrup one shot further back in third place on 17 under par . Six players shared fourth spot on 16 under par – Steven Brown , David Dixon , Grant Forrest , Birgir Hafthorsson , Kalle Samooja and Joel Sjöholm – with Matthew Cort completing the top ten .
A final round of 64 took Christopher Mivis into a share of 20th place in his home event , the joint-lowest Belgian alongside Kevin Hesbois who was also 11 under par overall .
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