LA MANGA CLUB INTERNATIONAL PRO-AM
STORMS HOME TO VICTORY
NEWS RELEASE
Dutch professional Joost Steenkamer completed a stunning back
nine comeback during his final round at the PGAs of Europe-sanctioned La
Manga Club International Pro-Am, to finish at even-par for the
tournament (218) and take home the winner’s cheque for €4,000.
Steenkamer’s third round at the
La Manga Club did not get off to the best of starts with bogeys at the
second and fourth holes, followed by a trio of bogeys at holes seven,
eight and nine, making the turn in 42 shots and four-over par for the
tournament, leaving plenty of work to be done.
But his final nine holes at the
club’s South Course were in stark contrast to his previous nine, beginning
an incredible comeback that saw birdies at holes ten, eleven, thirteen
and finally from just two-feet on eighteen to ease the pain of his front
nine and finish on one-over for the day (74) and even
for the tournament.
“It’s the first time I’ve played a
tournament since October – I spent three weeks in Latin America trying
to play a few events there, so I worked hard on my game,” explained
Steenkamer.
“Today I got off to a pretty poor start – I actually played
pretty well but I was five-over after nine so my team got
really quiet and they thought I was going to give it away - but I came
back in four-under. I hit a great three-iron into the 18th and actually
had an eagle putt, knocked it two-feet by and made birdie, so really
happy.”
“My gameplan was basically to be
patient and persevere – it was an emotional week this week as two days
before I left a cousin of mine died. I played with my dad who is 75
years old so we basically said you know what, we’re going to have a good
time and we’re glad to be here and glad to be playing golf.”
Three shots behind in second
place was the PGA of Sweden Professional, Mikael Lundberg, who had led
through Round 1 after an excellent opening eight-under 65, but lost
traction after a second round ten-over 82.
Lundberg’s round was again awash
with birdies and bogeys but a one-over front nine and level-par back
nine ensured he remained near the top of the leaderboard with his
closing 74 and a three-over par (221) total for the tournament.
Ireland's Brendan McGovern, was one of the other most
consistent Professionals across the week. The Irishman added to his
first round 75 and second round 74 with a closing one-over par 74 that
included a characteristic finishing stretch of seven regulation pars to
end
in third place for the tournament on five-over par.
In the Team Pro-Am Competition it was the team of PGA of Spain
Professional, James Ferraby, that took the stableford honours. Ferraby,
together with his Russian amateurs Pavel Shestopalov, Vitaly Samsonov,
and Alfonso Grijalva, played consistent team golf all week, but it was
the final day that topped
it all.
A tournament-highest round of 89
points (-17) was enough for them to capitalise on their Round 2 lead,
finishing on 256 points (-40) for the tournament, four shots ahead of
their nearest rivals in the shape of Lundberg and his amateurs, Mike
Norris, Chris Webb, and Fraser Phillips on 252 points (-36).
Brendan McGovern’s team, including
amateurs Ronan Reilly, Marcus Burley, and Jonathan Toms, had a closing
eight-under par total of 80 points which wasn’t quite enough to advance
further than the third place Team Pro-Am honours, ending on a 243-point
(-27) total for the week.
Full final tournament scores can be found at http://eur.pe/1cdjmcX.
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For more information visit the Tournament Hub Page (http://eur.pe/1cdjmcX), follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter (http://bit.ly/17ATrHX) and search the Hashtag #LaMangaClubProAm
(http://bit.ly/156AUEH), or like the PGAs of Europe Facebook Page (http://on.fb.me/RnDfEc ).
Labels: Amateur Men, Pro Men
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