OH, HENRY! LAST-ROUND DISAPPOINTMENT IN FINNISH CHALLENGE

CHALLENGE TOUR REPORT

From Sarah Gwynn

sgwynn@europeantour.com 

Scott Henry is targeting more consistency after a disappointing final round of 74 in the Finnish Challenge left him tied 13th.

The 25-year-old former Scottish boys champion and Scottish men's stroke-play title-winner, was in contention heading into the last day after superb scores of 66 and 67 in rounds two and three, but four bogeys against one birdie proved costly.

“I never played well today,” he said. “I struggled from the start and wasn’t nearly as good as the last couple of days.”

On Saturday Henry credited Gavin Dear with turning his tournament around thanks to a putting lesson after the first round. “I went from my worst putting performance as a professional on day one to the best on day two,” he said.

However, he could not maintain that form on the greens, adding: “I never holed a putt today. I probably holed more than my fair share of putts this week so I think my luck ran out.

“I just don’t seem to be able to put four solid rounds together yet. I keep having two good scores and two bad scores, which is what I’ve done again this week. If I can even it out a bit and have four solid rounds, I’ll be a lot better.

“It was good experience to be in the hunt and be in the penultimate group on the last day. It was a good feeling to be involved, and that’s where I want to be.”

Fellow Scots Chris Doak and Andrew McArthur also shared 13^th place after final rounds of 71, while Raymond Russell finished tied 24^th after a 75 and Jack Doherty closed with a 68 to take a share of 45^th place.

Kristoffer Broberg announced his arrival on the Challenge Tour stage with an emphatic victory in the Finnish Challenge.

In just his second Challenge Tour appearance, the 26 year old blew away the rest of the field at Kytäjä Golf, a three under par final round 68 giving him a 15 under par total and a six shot win from Dutchman Wil Besseling.

 Broberg posted three birdies on the front nine to open up a six-shot advantage, and despite three bogeys on the back nine he enjoyed the luxury of a five-shot lead playing the last and birdied it for good measure.

“It’s an amazing feeling and I’m very happy,” said the Stockholm man, who earned €27,200 in prize money to move from 148th to 29th in the Rankings. 

“I was confident in myself and I’ve been playing well this season, but I never expected a win on the Challenge Tour to come so soon.

 “I wasn’t nervous at all today. I felt very calm and knew that I just needed to play the same way as I’ve played the last three rounds. With such a big lead, I knew it would be difficult for the other guys to catch me.

“This is close to my best form, but I think I can get better. Now the goal is to finish in the top 20 in the Rankings and get a European Tour card.”

 Broberg has played eight times this season on the Nordic League, the Scandinavia-based satellite tour, and has an impressive record; of the seven cuts he has made, he has won twice and not finished outside the top eight.

His only other Challenge Tour appearance came at the Allianz Open Côtes d’Armor Bretagne in May, where he was ninth, and he has played twice in the Nordea Masters, a European Tour event, at his home course, Bro Hof Slott, finishing 29th in 2011 and 30th this year.

“I’ve had some great results on the Nordic League this year so I’m just happy I was able to play the same way on the Challenge Tour,” added Broberg. “This win means I can play the rest of the season on the Challenge Tour, as before my category only got me into one event so far.”

Besseling was happy to secure his best finish of the season, but was disappointed not to have put more pressure on his rival in the last round.

“Kristoffer played very solidly today and I didn’t play well enough to win,” he said. “It was always going to be tough being five shots behind at the start of the round, but I started off well and was three under after five holes. But Kristoffer was also three under, so I hadn’t made up any ground on him.

“My driver broke on the seventh, so when we had the short break for lightning, I was able to borrow one. It worked okay, but it wasn’t my own.

“I chipped in for birdie on the 16th to go three shots behind, but overall I wasn’t able to put enough pressure on Kristoffer and that’s a bit disappointing.”

Swede Bjorn Åkesson closed with a 68 to take third place on eight under, one shot ahead of American Peter Uihlein.

FINAL TOTALS

Par 284 (4x71)

269 K Broberg (Swe) 69 66 66 68

275 W Besseling  (Ned) 69 67 69 70

276 B Åkesson (Swe) 67 75 66 68

277 P Uihlein  (USA) 72 65 68 72

278 E Kofstad (Nor) 69 67 73 69, A Tampion  (Aus) 71 67 68 72, B Koepka  (USA) 67 73 72 66, N Dougherty  (Eng) 69 72 66 71

279 R Echenique (Arg) 71 69 69 70, A Otaegui  (Esp) 73 70 67 69, C Gane (Eng) 68 69 70 72, D Vancsik (Arg) 74 67 68 70

280 S Henry  (Sco) 73 66 67 74, D Gaunt (Aus) 70 73 68 69, M Tullo (Chi) 71 65 70 74, M Korhonen (Fin) 71 70 73 66, V Riu  (Fra) 72 67 72 69, R Saxton (Ned) 69 67 74 70, C Doak (Sco) 72 70 67 71, A McArthur  (Sco) 72 71 66 71

281 P Edberg (Swe) 71 70 70 70, M Haines  (Eng) 67 71 74 69, J Dantorp (Swe) 74 68 68 71

282 R Steiner (Aut) 67 69 73 73, R Russell (Sco) 71 67 69 75, J Barnes (Eng) 71 68 73 70, C Moriarty (Irl) 71 71 71 69, S Benson (Eng) 75 66 72 69, J Walters (RSA) 71 71 67 73, M Kieffer (Ger) 70 70 70 72, L Goddard  (Eng) 71 69 71 71, K Samooja (Fin) 70 70 74 68

283 S Walker (Eng) 75 67 72 69, J Grillon  (Fra) 71 72 69 71, P Relecom  (Bel) 72 68 71 72, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 70 72 69 72, A Bernadet  (Fra) 69 73 71 70, Å Nilsson (Swe) 74 69 72 68,

284 T Nørret (Den) 70 71 70 73, T Ferreira  (RSA) 69 70 73 72, R Dinwiddie  (Eng) 71 70 73 70

285 J Martikainen (Fin) 71 71 76 67, J Abbott (Eng) 72 68 68 77, J Guerrier  (Fra) 70 72 69 74

286 R De Sousa (Sui) 72 70 70 74, J Busby (Eng) 74 68 72 72, M Carlsson  (Swe) 73 70 73 70, J Doherty  (Sco) 73 68 77 68, S Tiley (Eng) 75 68 73 70, M Delpodio  (Ita) 76 67 69 74

287 F McGuirk  (Eng) 73 69 70 75, D Whitnell  (Eng) 72 70 74 71, P Oriol (Esp) 69 74 74 70, A Sullivan (Eng) 70 72 67 78, C Monasterio (Arg) 69 73 72 73

289 E Bertheussen (Nor) 70 71 72 76, A Ahokas (Fin) 73 67 75 74

290 A Snobeck  (Fra) 71 72 73 74

291 R Kakko  (Fin) 75 65 76 75

292 A Levy (Fra) 71 71 77 73

299 J Gibb (Eng) 70 73 79 77