AUSSIE GAUNT WINS CHALLENGE TOUR PLAY-OFF IN HOLLAND

 

                            

 

Daniel Gaunt banished the demons of a difficult two years with one stupendous flick of a wedge as the Australian defeated Wil Besseling of The Netherlands in the first hole of a play-off to win the Telenet Trophy.

It was a real piece of genius on the first extra hole which sealed a 

second Challenge Tour title for the Melbourne-born man as he 

flicked a delightful chip from 47 yards stone dead to guarantee a 

birdie.

Besseling, from a more difficult lie in the rough, could only 

knock his chip 15 feet past and his missed putt meant Gaunt 

could tap in for a birdie and the win.

The 34 year old had held his nerve, but only just, during a dramatic 

final round at Royal Waterloo Golf Club, where many players were 

in with a shout until late in the day before falling at the final hurdle.

Instead, a stunning performance and a six under par 65 propelled 

Besseling through the field early on as he claimed the clubhouse 

lead on 11 under par, having teed off 11 groups before the final 

pairing.

Gaunt, who shared the lead going into the final round, needed a 

birdie at the final hole of regulation play to take his Dutch 

counter-part to extra holes and a superb second shot into the green 

against the wind meant he two putted for a two under par 69 to bring it back down the 18^th.

There, he wowed the crowds with a magnificent show of short 

game ingenuity before raising his hands high in the air in a show of 

joy and relief, in equal measures, when his putt dropped.

“I'm a bit emotional at the moment to be honest,” said Gaunt, who 

had only made one cut in nine appearances on both The European 

Tour and Challenge Tour this year. “After how the last two years 

have gone for me it’s massive to get a win under my belt.

“Getting to 12 under early on in the final round, I thought I had a 

great chance but anything can happen around there. I got a little 

edgy with my putting but I have been working hard on my short 

game and that shot in the play-off was the one I had been 

struggling with.

“I just trusted it though and I couldn’t have hit it any better to 

be honest"

Besseling, meanwhile, was disappointed to have missed out in the 

play-off having come so close but the 27 year old was encouraged 

just to have come so close, after climbing from four shots back 

going into the final day.

“At this moment it’s only the feeling of losing a play-off, losing a 

play-off is never fun, but coming back from so far behind to finish 

second outright is really great stuff,” he said.

José-Filipe Lima also had a chance to join the play-off but he missed a seven-footer for birdie at the 18^th and had to settle for a 

share of third place, alongside fellow former European Tour winner 

Daniel Vancsik and Welshman Stuart Manley.

FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71)

273 D Gaunt (Aus) 69 66 69 69, W Besseling  (Ned) 69 68 71 65

274 S Manley (Wal) 67 70 67 70, D Vancsik (Arg) 66 71 69 68, J Lima  (Por) 72 65 68 69

275 S Kim (Kor) 69 69 70 67, B Koepka  (USA) 68 70 68 69, C Aguilar  (Esp) 71 66 71 67

276 D Kemmer (USA) 67 68 72 69, R Kakko  (Fin) 65 68 73 70, S Tiley (Eng) 71 69 68 68

277 P Maddy (Eng) 72 66 70 69, A Otaegui  (Esp) 67 70 69 71, W Booth  (Sco) 70 68 71 68, R McGowan  (Eng) 72 68 67 70, R Dinwiddie  (Eng) 68 65 71 73

278 T Hatton (Eng) 71 68 66 73, D Ulrich (Sui) 74 65 69 70, G Shaw (Nir) 70 70 65 73, B Parker  (Eng) 70 70 75 63

279 L Goddard  (Eng) 64 71 72 72, R Russell (Sco) 70 70 70 69, J Guerrier  (Fra) 68 70 72 69, A Hortal  (Esp) 71 69 69 70, V Riu  (Fra) 68 69 72 70, J Glennemo (Swe) 69 72 72 66, T Sluiter  (Ned) 68 67 73 71, J Ruth  (Eng) 67 71 72 69

280 B Etchart  (Esp) 73 68 68 71, B Hebert  (Fra) 69 70 70 71, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 71 66 69 74, N Quintarelli (Ita) 72 67 70 71, D Im (USA) 71 66 71 72

281 S Thornton (Irl) 71 70 71 69, E Johansen  (Nor) 72 69 71 69, C Kim (USA) 72 67 69 73, A Pavan (Ita) 72 69 73 67, J Doherty  (Sco) 69 72 71 69, F Calmels  (Fra) 70 67 73 71, C Russo (Fra) 69 66 72 74

282 D Dixon (Eng) 71 70 68 73, P Dwyer (Eng) 68 69 72 73, S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) 70 71 69 72, R Davies (Wal) 67 68 73 74, S Hutsby  (Eng) 69 67 72 74, A Perrino  (Ita) 69 71 69 73, A Rota (Ita) 71 70 72 69

283 S Kapur (Ind) 70 67 74 72, A McArthur  (Sco) 71 70 71 71, D Brooks (Eng) 68 72 70 73, G Watremez (Bel) 71 70 69 73, F De Vries  (Ned) 70 71 72 70, L Weber (Fra) 70 70 70 73

284 A Bernadet  (Fra) 69 72 70 73, M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) 70 70 77 67

285 Å Nilsson (Swe) 64 75 73 73

286 M Sell  (Eng) 66 69 77 74

287 S Piaget  (Mon) 70 70 72 75, D Denison  (Eng) 66 73 71 77

288 O Floren  (Swe) 68 72 77 71

289 J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 69 71 79 70

290 T Fournier  (Fra) 70 71 74 75

293 K Borsheim  (Nor) 70 71 75 77

295 E Bertheussen (Nor) 72 69 75 79

 

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