EMOTIONAL THORNTON WINS PLAY-OFF AT SAINT OMER GC, FRANCE

    Simon Thornton dedicated victory to his late father on 

      Father's Day. Picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c)

REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS 

An emotional Simon Thornton dedicated his maiden European 

Tour victory to his late father after the Irishman showed nerves of 

steel to beat Tjaart Van der Walt of South Africa in a play-off and 

claim the Najeti Hotels et Golfs Open presented by Neuflize OBC 

title on Father’s Day.

The Irishman holed several tricky putts on the back nine in an 

enthralling battle of wits with his South African playing partner in 

the final group at Aa Saint Omer Golf Club.

The most important putt of all, however, came at the 18^th during regular play when, after Van der Walt sealed a par, Thornton was left with a ten-foot putt to take it to extra holes.

Under the most intense of pressure, the 36 year old rolled it into 

the cup and clenched his fist in celebration as he signed for a one 

under par 70 to finish alongside Van der Walt on four under.

He kept his cool once again in the play-off, finding the fringe of the 

green while Van der Walt’s approach landed in a greenside bunker 

and after the South African’s sand shot fell 12 feet short, Thornton 

rolled a perfectly-weighted putt from 30 feet which slid just left of 

the hole but ensured a par.

When Van der Walt’s par putt came up short, Thornton tapped in to 

the rapturous applause of the watching crowds, before dedicating 

the victory to his father, who passed away three years ago.

“It’s so big for me,” said a tearful Thornton. “On father’s day too, 

he passed away three years ago and it still hurts, but they are 

happy tears today. This is dedicated to him.

“I didn’t play particularly well today in perfect conditions but I got 

up and down when I had to and holed good putts.

“On the last putt – I had been saying to myself all day, if I'm going 

to make it easy for myself I need to try on every putt and make

sure it goes where you want to hit it – so I just picked a line and 

willed it in and it dropped.”

Thornton’s rise is an incredible story of progression to the top of 

European golf against all odds, as he was a seven handicap golfer 

just over a decade ago.

Born in Bradford, England, he moved to Ireland to become an 

Assistant Professional at Royal County Down Golf Club before 

rising from the Irish professional ranks to the Challenge Tour and then to The European Tour.

“Hopefully this is a stepping stone for me,” said Thornton, who 

carded the first hole in one of his professional career on the third 

day in France. “I’ll go home this week now and celebrate, take a 

week off, and then play in the Irish Open.

“To come here and play like I did is incredible. What happens now 

with this category is fantastic, it’s mad how things have changed. 

It’s surreal.”

For Van der Walt, who also carded a one under par final round 70, 

it was a second runner-up finish on The European Tour after 

finishing second in the Africa Open last year.

Englishman Seve Benson sealed the highest finish of his European 

Tour career as a one under par 70 left him in outright third place, 

two shots ahead of his compatriot Robert Dinwiddie whose final 

round of 70 earned him a fourth-placed finish.

FINAL TOTALS

  (Par 284 (4x71)

279 S Thornton (Irl) 74 70 65 70, T Van Der Walt (RSA) 67 71 71 70 (Thornton beat Van der Walt with a 4 to a 5 at the first play-off hole).

280 S Benson (Eng) 75 65 70 70

282 R Dinwiddie  (Eng) 72 66 74 70

283 P Edberg (Swe) 74 69 69 71, C Lloyd (Eng) 73 68 70 72

284 V Riu  (Fra) 68 71 72 73, J Huldahl (Den) 73 67 73 71, A Domingo (Esp) 74 71 68 71

285 G Orr (Sco) 73 71 74 67, B Koepka  (USA) 75 70 68 72, D Gaunt (Aus) 70 70 75 70, J Elson  (Eng) 75 69 68 73, M Glauert (Ger) 77 65 69 74

286 S Henry  (Sco) 72 69 74 71, D Vancsik (Arg) 73 67 75 71, G Shaw (Nir) 76 69 70 71, S Kim (Kor) 73 71 73 69, M Lundberg (Swe) 73 71 71 71, F Calmels  (Fra) 73 71 71 71, B Chapellan (Fra) 72 68 69 77

287 J Walters (RSA) 71 69 75 72, T Nørret (Den) 75 69 74 69, R Davies (Wal) 77 67 71 72, A Kaleka  (Fra) 73 71 71 72, D Brooks (Eng) 69 71 76 71, A Pavan (Ita) 74 70 70 73

288 A Snobeck  (Fra) 76 69 72 71, C Brazillier  (Fra) 75 70 73 70,

289 S Wakefield (Eng) 71 68 77 73, L Goddard  (Eng) 75 67 76 71, R Kakko  (Fin) 72 71 77 69

290 M Jonzon (Swe) 74 70 70 76, A Tadini (Ita) 73 71 75 71, G Boyd  (Eng) 76 68 75 71, C Russo (Fra) 73 72 73 72, T Hatton (Eng) 75 67 74 74, J Lima  (Por) 74 71 72 73, P Dwyer (Eng) 73 70 78 69, R McEvoy  (Eng) 71 71 74 74, G Stal  (Fra) 75 68 76 71

291 J McLeary  (Sco) 75 70 76 70, S Little (Eng) 74 70 78 69, T Remkes (Ned) 75 70 76 70, A Marshall (Eng) 74 68 76 73, D Im (USA) 73 72 69 77, C Hanson (Eng) 71 68 77 75, M Decottignies-Lafon (am) (Fra) 75 69 75 72

292 J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 73 68 78 73, M Korhonen (Fin) 74 70 74 74, J Lando Casanova  (Fra) 73 72 72 75, A Forsyth (Sco) 73 70 76 73, F Praegant (Aut) 73 70 75 74

293 G Houston (Wal) 74 70 76 73, J Dantorp (Swe) 73 70 76 74, D Perrier (Fra) 77 66 76 74

294 E Dubois (Fra) 71 74 71 78, B Hebert  (Fra) 74 68 77 75, Å Nilsson (Swe) 71 74 73 76

295 C Suneson (Esp) 72 71 75 77, M Crespi  (Ita) 75 68 82 70

296 T Murray (Eng) 75 70 78 73, T Fournier  (Fra) 71 71 79 75, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 71 72 76 77

297 R Quiros  (Esp) 75 70 76 76, P Maddy (Eng) 72 72 78 75,

298 O Floren  (Swe) 72 71 77 78

303 L Weber (Fra) 75 70 80 78

 

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS