BROBERG MAKES IT FOUR WINS OUT OF SIX ON CHALLENGE TOUR

Final report from the Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Challenge hosted by Royal Golf Club

By Sarah Gwynn, sgwynn@europeantour.com 

 Kristoffer Broberg’s sensational Challenge Tour season continued with victory in the Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Challenge hosted by Royal Golf Club, where he claimed his fourth title in six appearances.

The Swede seemingly appeared from nowhere midway through the season, winning three times in four weeks in August to earn instant promotion to The European Tour, and upon rerning to Challenge Tour duty this week, rose to the top of the Rankings with another hugely impressive win.

 

A four under par 67 in the final round in Denmark was enough to seal a three stroke victory from Englishman Simon Wakefield, who finished with a 68. It was a two-horse race for most of the final day, leaving Daniel Brooks of England to share third place with Finland’s Mikko Korhonen.

 

Brooks may have slipped to a 74, but finishing tied third propelled him from 24th to 16th in the Rankings to give him an excellent chance of earning promotion to The European Tour for 2013.

 

Having led by two going into the last round, Broberg’s advantage was barely threatened as he posted birdies at the third, fifth, 12th and 14th to stay clear of Wakefield, whose only dropped shot came at the 16th.

 

“It feels absolutely amazing,” said Broberg, who came through satellite tour the Nordic League. “This is a dream and I never imagined I would be this successful so quickly.

 

“I wasn’t nervous at any point today. I knew I was playing very well and I was just having fun out there. We had a big crowd watching and it is a fantastic course, so it has been another very enjoyable week.

 

“Now I have to think about my goals. I want to finish top of the Rankings next week, but after that who knows. I would love to play in The Ryder Cup one day.”

 

Broberg is the third player to win four times in one season, following Thomas Bjørn in 1995 and Warren Bennett, who won five titles in 1998. His incredible record reads: tied ninth, first, first, tied third, first, first.

 

“It is great to be one of only three players to have done that,” the 26 year old added. “Maybe I can make it five by winning next week (in the Apulia San Domenico Grand Final). I honestly don’t know how I’ve done it. I practise for ten to 12 hours a day, so that’s probably the key.”

 

Wakefield was gracious in defeat, safe in the knowledge that he consolidated his position in the Rankings’ top ten and is guaranteed to return to The European Tour next season.

 

“I’m delighted,” he said. “I knew it was going to be difficult to catch Kristoffer given his record this season. It was always going to be a tough day and I’m glad I was able to keep my position.

 

“I made one mistake by hitting it in the water on the 16th, but apart from that I played very nicely.”

 

Royal Golf Club had less than three weeks to prepare for the event after stepping in at short notice following the cancellation of the Mugello Tuscany Open, whose course was damaged by the drought in Italy.

 

Wakefield added: “Overall the tournament has been an absolute credit to Royal Golf Club. The course has been a dream to play, and everyone has gone above and beyond to get everything sorted in a very short time, from the marshals and spectators to the transport – everything has been excellent.”

 

The top 45 players in the Rankings now qualify for next week’s season-ending Apulia San Domenico Grand Final, after which the top 20 players earn a European Tour card for the 2013 campaign.

 

 

FINAL TOTALS 
Par 284 (4x71)

270 K Broberg (Swe) 67 70 66 67,

 273 S Wakefield (Eng) 69 66 70 68,

 279 M Korhonen (Fin) 75 70 67 67, D Brooks (Eng) 68 69 68 74,

 280 R Kakko  (Fin) 68 70 72 70, E Kofstad (Nor) 71 69 67 73, S Jeppesen  (Swe) 73 71 69 67,

 281 J Lima  (Por) 70 72 72 67,

 282 S Buhl (Ger) 70 70 72 70, J Garcia  (Esp) 69 71 71 71, M Ford (Eng) 69 70 74 69, B Ritthammer (Ger) 72 70 67 73, M Nixon (Eng) 70 74 67 71,

 283 J Dantorp (Swe) 71 68 72 72, P Archer (Eng) 73 70 70 70,

 284 A Domingo (Esp) 71 74 73 66, J Huldahl (Den) 70 69 73 72, J Hansen  (Den) 67 74 69 74, A Bernadet  (Fra) 71 69 76 68,

 285 R Russell (Sco) 76 69 69 71, C Paisley  (Eng) 73 69 69 74, C Doak (Sco) 72 68 71 74, M Madsen  (Den) 70 74 67 74, D Vancsik (Arg) 68 69 78 70, A Levy (Fra) 75 64 71 75, M Kieffer (Ger) 73 73 69 70, A Otaegui  (Esp) 72 70 69 74, J Wahlqvist (Swe) 76 68 71 70,

 286 P Oriol (Esp) 70 73 75 68, A McArthur  (Sco) 70 73 69 74, G Houston (Wal) 76 70 69 71, B Åkesson (Swe) 72 70 70 74, Å Nilsson (Swe) 74 71 71 70,

 287 D Gaunt (Aus) 70 70 72 75, M Southgate  (Eng) 71 70 70 76, L Saltman (Sco) 72 74 68 73, R Hjelm (Den) 68 73 70 76, L Kennedy  (Eng) 75 69 73 70,

 288 J Doherty  (Sco) 74 71 68 75, S Tiley (Eng) 71 74 70 73, F McGuirk  (Eng) 73 70 73 72, C Macaulay  (Sco) 71 74 76 67, A Hartø  (Den) 69 74 72 73,

 289 S Benson (Eng) 74 66 78 71, W Besseling  (Ned) 73 72 76 68,

 290 G Lockerbie  (Eng) 73 69 76 72, J Parry (Eng) 74 71 72 73,

 291 G Stal  (Fra) 73 72 73 73, M Delpodio  (Ita) 74 69 72 76, P Dwyer (Eng) 69 74 73 75, J Senior (Eng) 74 68 75 74, S Henry  (Sco) 69 73 74 75, A Kaleka  (Fra) 71 74 72 74,

 292 P Uihlein  (USA) 74 71 73 74, A Velasco (Esp) 71 75 72 74,

 294 J Heath  (Eng) 76 69 74 75, J Walters (RSA) 77 68 73 76,

 295 M Haines  (Eng) 75 71 78 71, L Jensen (Den) 74 71 78 72,

 296 S Hutsby  (Eng) 76 69 76 75,

 298 B Evans  (Eng) 77 69 77 75,

 299 B Barham (Eng) 73 73 77 76, C Gane (Eng) 73 72 75 79,

MISSED THE CUT

147 N Johansson (Swe) 76 71 0 0, A Jacobsson (Swe) 75 72 0 0, C Brazillier  (Fra) 76 71 0 0, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 75 72 0 0, V Riu  (Fra) 73 74 0 0, E De La Riva  (Esp) 72 75 0 0, S Tinning (Den) 73 74 0 0,

 148 B Chapellan (Fra) 71 77 0 0, A Snobeck  (Fra) 74 74 0 0, A Perrino  (Ita) 76 72 0 0, F Praegant (Aut) 78 70 0 0, J Busby (Eng) 76 72 0 0,

 149 T Remkes (Ned) 77 72 0 0, L Goddard  (Eng) 78 71 0 0, J Abbott (Eng) 77 72 0 0, B Parker  (Eng) 74 75 0 0, C Russo (Fra) 75 74 0 0, A Hansen  (Den) 73 76 0 0,

 150 H Bacher (Aut) 77 73 0 0, F Delamontagne  (Fra) 72 78 0 0, T Hatton (Eng) 74 76 0 0,

 151 C Ford (Eng) 74 77 0 0,

 152 K Eriksson (Swe) 74 78 0 0,

 155 N Meitinger  (Ger) 73 82 0 0, M Cryer (Eng) 76 79 0 0, S O'Hara  (Sco) 80 75 0 0,

 156 A Gee  (Eng) 73 83 0 0,

 157 J Guerrier  (Fra) 77 80 0 0,

 158 J Gibb (Eng) 79 79 0 0,

 160 M Vibe-Hastrup  (Den) 77 83 0 0,

 163 A Engell  (Nor) 84 79 0 0,

 169 J Sundberg (am) (Den) 88 81 0 0,

 ** R Echenique (Arg) RT  0 0 0,

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