Dutchman Saxton wins 113th Amateur

Championship at Turnberry

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Reinier Saxton has claimed the 113th Amateur Championship after a hard-fought final at Turnberry. Saxton is only the second player from the Netherlands to claim the Amateur crown. Rolf Muntz claimed the title in 1990 at Muirfield.
The 20-year-old Dutchman played superb golf throughout the final, despite steadily worsening conditions that saw a dry and windless day transfomed into one of rain and strong winds. He fired eight birdies in 34 holes of golf to beat 17-year-old Englishman Tommy Fleetwood by 3 and 2.
Though Saxton's excitement at having won was clearly evident, he said he felt calm throughout the final.
"I felt quite relaxed," he said afterwards. "Of course you're going to feel a little pressure over the last few holes, but I just had to stay focused whatever happened. Even when you're three holes ahead you can still lose."
The final was a closely-contested affair, and after Saxton got off to a flying start with birdies at two of the first three holes his opponent quickly got back into the match to draw level by the end of the first nine.
The back-and-forth continued throughout the morning, with Saxton losing the 17th and 18th holes to go into lunch all square.
The afternoon continued in the same vein, and for a long time it seemed as if the match might continue indefinitely. Both Saxton and Fleetwood notched up several birdies on the front nine, but it was at the 11th hole where the game swung.
Plugged in a bunker at the front of the 11th green, Saxton blasted out to 20ft and holed the putt for a par that took him to two-up. A birdie at the next made it three, and on the 13th he got away with a flyer that went 40 yards past the pin when Fleetwood also bogeyed the hole.
"11, 12 and 13 was definitely the turning point," he said. "On the 11th, I holed a good putt, 12th I made a good birdie, and actually I made a good bogey on 13. That was probably the hardest hole on the course today."
Tommy Fleetwood was bidding to be the youngest player ever to win The Amateur. A series of wayward shots over the final nine holes cost him his chance at the title.
"He just played much better than me - tee to green he was much better than I was," said Fleetwood. "He deserved to win more than me. I can't be disappointed - I did better than 286 other golfers but I would really like to have won."