OH HENRY! GREAT SCOTT WINS KAZAKHSTAN OPEN
AND THE WINNER IS ..... SCOTT HENRY!
Scott Henry claimed the biggest win of his career as the Scot beat Austrian HP Bacher on the second play-off hole in a thrilling finale at the Kazakhstan Open, having sunk an incredible 25 foot birdie putt at the 18th to force the extra holes.
Henry’s
win came on his father’s birthday and the 25 year old paid an emotional
tribute to him after the victory, which elevated the Glaswegian from
48th place to fifth in the European Challenge
Tour Rankings and virtually guarantees him a European Tour card for the
2013 season.
Henry
was two shots off the lead held by Frenchman Alexander Levy going into
the final day at Zhailjau Golf Resort, in Almaty, but came out with all
guns blazing as his playing partners in the
final group struggled early on.
He
carded five birdies in the front nine to reach the turn in four under
par but lost his momentum somewhat on the back nine and a double bogey
at the par five 15th hole meant he was overtaken
at the top by Bacher, who had already finished with an eight under par
64 to move to 19 under par.
Henry
couldn’t get going after that error and two pars meant he needed a
birdie on the final hole to force a play-off. With the crowds
surrounding the green, the former Jacques Léglise Trophy
Captain made light of the immense pressure by rolling in the 25 foot
putt for a birdie and a three under par 69, pumping his fist to the
delight of the fans.
“That
is a moment I will remember for the rest of my life,” said Henry, a
former winner of the Scottish Amateur Open Stroke Play Championship. “It
was by far the biggest moment of my career
and it felt incredible.”
Henry
had another fight on his hands when he found the bunker with his
approach on the first play-off hole, while Bacher had a six foot putt
for birdie after an incredible second shot from the
heavy rough.
Henry
got up and down, however, and Bacher could only equal that with par and
when the Austrian found the bunker the second time around, Henry played
it safe and knocked it into the centre of
the green.
Bacher missed his four foot par putt and Henry two-putted to claim the €64,000 winning cheque.
“It’s
the biggest win of my life, no doubt about that,” said Henry. “It was
my father’s birthday today and I was thinking about him all day to be
honest.
“When
I left my house a fortnight ago, he told me that two good weeks in
Russia and Kazakhstan would be the perfect present so to win here for
him is a great feeling. He has played such a big
part in my career and is always trying to get the best out of me, I
think this win was for him.”
Henry
is hoping the win at the Challenge Tour’s ‘Major’ will be the catalyst
for a long and fruitful career, and he is certainly not lacking in
confidence over his prospects if he ends up in
the mix going down the final stretch in a major European Tour event.
“It
has hardly kicked in yet but I think I will appreciate it more and more
as time goes on. I've always dreamed of playing on The European Tour
and I'm confident about my game.
“The
performance over the last few holes today under pressure has given me
so much confidence. I’m already a pretty confident guy but this gives me
a lot of belief and I can’t wait to play on
the big stage.”
Bacher,
meanwhile, was humble and congratulatory towards the victor in defeat
and he was eager to take the positives from a week which yielded the
best finish of his Challenge Tour career.
“I didn’t get the tee shot right either time at the 18th in the play-off,” said the 25 year old, whose €44,000 runner-up prize moved him from 80th to 13th in the Rankings. “I had
a tough downhill lie on the edge of the bunker for my second shot the second time around.
“The putt to lose it was exactly the same putt I holed to get a birdie and get into the play-off but I just hit it too firm.
“It’s
still the best result I've ever had so that’s nice. It’s a very
positive week. Going into today it looked like I had no chance of
getting in any play-off and I had a great final round
so I'm not too disappointed.”
Just
after Henry’s putt to force the play-off, overnight leader Levy missed a
short one to make it a three-way tie for the lead and he signed for a
level par round of 72 to finish in outright
third place on 18 under par.
Lasse
Jensen of Denmark, England’s Jack Senior and Henry’s compatriot Andrew
McArthur all finished in tied fourth place on 17 under par.
Results:
Play off: Henry 4, 4; Bacher 4,5
269 S Henry (Sco) 66 67 67 69, H Bacher (Aut) 67 67 71 64 (Henry won play-off at second extra hole),
270 A Levy (Fra) 66 67 65 72,
271 L Jensen (Den) 65 72 67 67, J Senior (Eng) 70 69 65 67, A McArthur (Sco) 70 66 69 66,
272 G Lockerbie (Eng) 67 68 68 69, R Kakko (Fin) 69 69 67 67, S Pinckney (USA) 66 73 65 68,
273 C Paisley (Eng) 68 69 68 68, A
Hartø (Den) 68 70 64 71, M Madsen (Den) 70 69 66 68, A Kaleka (Fra)
68 68 69 68, M Carlsson (Swe) 70 69 69 65,
274 J McLeary (Sco) 71 66 66 71, M Haastrup (Den) 67 69 67 71, C Doak (Sco) 69 69 67 69,
275 J Hansen (Den) 70 67 70 68, P Uihlein (USA) 63 70 69 73, P Oriol (Esp) 68 69 68 70, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 69 71 67 68,
276 J Parry (Eng) 68 70 70 68, P
Edberg (Swe) 68 68 71 69, A Snobeck (Fra) 68 71 66 71, R Dinwiddie
(Eng) 71 65 70 70, A Tadini (Ita) 69 68 68 71, J Lima (Por) 67 71 70
68,
277 N Dougherty (Eng) 70 66 72 69, A
Bernadet (Fra) 67 72 69 69, B Parker (Eng) 71 66 70 70, W Besseling
(Ned) 67 74 63 73, E De La Riva (Esp) 68 68 68 73,
278 F De Vries (Ned) 70 68 72 68, E
Pepperell (Eng) 70 69 71 68, M Tullo (Chi) 73 68 68 69, M Delpodio
(Ita) 71 66 73 68, J Dantorp (Swe) 69 68 70 71, B An (Kor) 68 69 71 70, J
Huldahl (Den) 70 71 70 67, S O'Hara (Sco) 71 69 69 69,
D Vancsik (Arg) 68 72 71 67,
279 J Walters (RSA) 68 71 66 74, S
Benson (Eng) 65 69 70 75, C Ford (Eng) 70 70 70 69, J Busby (Eng) 67 70
69 73, N Lemke (Swe) 69 71 68 71, T Whitehouse (Eng) 69 72 69 69, C
Macaulay (Sco) 70 69 72 68, M Glauert (Ger) 69 72 68 70,
280 N Meitinger (Ger) 72 67 71 70, Å Nilsson (Swe) 71 69 71 69, C Russo (Fra) 69 72 73 66,
281 P Dwyer (Eng) 68 67 73 73, L
Claverie (Esp) 68 70 69 74, P Baker (Eng) 69 69 74 69, J Doherty (Sco)
69 68 71 73, R Steiner (Aut) 70 71 68 72,
282 R Wingardh (Swe) 69 71 70 72, L Saltman (Sco) 71 68 71 72,
283 K Eriksson (Swe) 70 71 73 69,
284 P Relecom (Bel) 72 69 72 71, M
Nixon (Eng) 70 70 73 71, J Van Der Vaart (Ned) 71 70 72 71, R Saxton
(Ned) 72 69 68 75, E Kofstad (Nor) 72 69 69 74, J Abbott (Eng) 68 69 76
71,
287 R McGowan (Eng) 69 72 73 73, J Mommo (Fin) 75 66 73 73,
288 C Hanson (Eng) 69 72 71 76,
289 A Hansen (Den) 71 70 75 73,
290 G Houston (Wal) 70 71 72 77,
292 C Gane (Eng) 69 69 76 78,
293 A Ahokas (Fin) 70 69 80 74,
Labels: CHALLENGE TOUR
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home