Attention All Media, please feel free to use the following gratis report and the attached image of Marco Crespi (which must be used in conjunction with this release only and credited to Getty Images) in your respective publications.
 
   
For immediate release
Sunday April 6, 2014
   
NH Collection Open
April 3 – 6, 2014
La Reserva de Sotogrande Club de Golf
Prize fund: €600,000
  RICHIE RAMSAY FINISHES JT 2nd BEHIND FIRST TIME WINNER MARCO CRESPI

 
 
European Tour rookie Marco Crespi claimed a maiden title on The Race to Dubai with a two stroke victory at the inaugural NH Collection Open.
Aberdeen's Richie Ramsay was joint 
second and another Scot, Marc Warren, finished joint sixth
Starting the day a shot adrift at La Reserva de Sotogrande Club de Golf the Italian fired a final round 69 to finish ten under and win by two from Jordi Garcia-Pinto (66) and Richie Ramsay (68).
Overnight leader Matthew Nixon shot one over playing alongside Crespi in the final group and finished in a tie for fourth on seven under alongside Felipe Aguilar (71).
Four birdies in the first nine holes were the key for Crespi as he raced to the turn in 32 strokes, and while consecutive dropped shots from the 12th may have looked like a wobble, the Qualifying School graduate bounced straight back with a birdie at the 14th to ensure victory.
At 35 years old the Italian is the oldest rookie to win in European Tour history and moves to 49th in The Race to Dubai.
 
Key Quotes: Marco Crespi (-10)
“I started very well today. I birdied the first and that gave me the confidence to go low and that’s it. I just had to manage my pressure on the back nine. Felipe was very close but he made a couple of mistakes so he made it easier for me.
“I lost a couple of shots on 12 and 13. On 12 I hit a very bad 8 iron to the green, my only bad shot of the day. On 13 I had a very long iron, a 3 iron and it wasn’t a really bad shot.
“But then I birdied the next. I really like the 14th because I birdied it every day.
“Anyway, I played very good and I am very happy.”

With this Win
  • Is the first rookie to win on The European Tour since Peter Uihlein at the 2013 Madeira Islands Open – Portugal – BPI.
     
  • Graduated from the 2013 European Tour Qualifying School Final Stage. Is the first Qualifying School graduate to win the year after graduation since Branden Grace at the 2012 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
     
  • Aged 35 he is the oldest rookie on The European Tour this season. At 35 years and 152 days he is the oldest rookie to win in European Tour history.
     
  • Is only the second Italian rookie to win in European Tour history. The first was Matteo Manassero at the 2010 CASTELLO MASTERS.
     
  • Becomes the 16th different winner from 16 events so far this season.

Final round scores:
278 M Crespi  (Ita) 70 73 66 69,
280 R Ramsay  (Sco) 71 72 69 68, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 73 70 71 66,
281 M Nixon (Eng) 72 71 65 73, F Aguilar (Chi) 71 69 70 71,
282 M Warren (Sco) 72 67 75 68, O Fisher  (Eng) 71 72 71 68, A Otaegui  (Esp) 71 69 72 70, K Broberg (Swe) 76 70 67 69,
283 R Santos  (Por) 74 70 67 72, B Dredge (Wal) 70 69 78 66,
284 G Stal  (Fra) 72 74 73 65, R Davies (Wal) 72 71 72 69, P Archer (Eng) 74 70 73 67, D Horsey (Eng) 71 68 73 72, T Van Der Walt (RSA) 70 73 69 72,
285 D Im (USA) 72 72 71 70, D McGrane (Irl) 74 69 70 72,
286 M Delpodio  (Ita) 71 73 70 72,
287 J Hahn (USA) 74 68 75 70, J McLeary  (Sco) 73 70 74 70, C Arendell (USA) 72 75 70 70, L Jensen (Den) 73 70 74 70, E Dubois (Fra) 73 73 74 67, A Levy (Fra) 72 75 72 68, C Del Moral (Esp) 73 72 72 70, A Johnston (Eng) 73 72 70 72,
288 B An (Kor) 73 73 76 66, M Foster (Eng) 71 77 73 67, M Lafeber (Ned) 78 69 73 68,
289 K Phelan (Irl) 75 70 73 71, D Brooks (Eng) 73 75 70 71, A Marshall (Eng) 74 73 71 71, E Goya (Arg) 73 75 69 72,
290 J Edfors (Swe) 76 72 69 73, E De La Riva  (Esp) 72 76 73 69, S Kim (Kor) 70 76 70 74, L Bjerregaard  (Den) 72 73 70 75, M Lundberg (Swe) 71 72 78 69, M Korhonen (Fin) 71 75 71 73,
291 D Gaunt (Eng) 75 70 73 73, A Bernadet  (Fra) 76 71 78 66, S Jamieson  (Sco) 71 72 70 78, C Paisley  (Eng) 72 72 76 71, O Wilson (Eng) 75 72 75 69, M Jonzon (Swe) 74 70 76 71,
292 V Riu  (Fra) 73 74 71 74, D Howell (Eng) 71 75 70 76, J Huldahl (Den) 72 73 75 72, D Drysdale (Sco) 79 69 70 74, L Gagli  (Ita) 71 74 72 75, J Hansen  (Den) 77 69 74 72, J Campillo (Esp) 72 73 77 70,
293 N Elvira  (Esp) 72 76 73 72, G Havret  (Fra) 74 70 76 73, J Doherty  (Sco) 69 74 77 73,
294 S Wakefield (Eng) 74 74 71 75, C Hanson (Eng) 72 76 77 69,
295 S Khan (Eng) 75 73 73 74, T Nørret (Den) 73 71 80 71,
296 P Oriol (Esp) 75 73 75 73, L Kennedy  (Eng) 75 72 76 73, G Lockerbie  (Eng) 76 70 74 76,
298 J Dantorp (Swe) 71 73 73 81, O Stark (Swe) 74 71 75 78,
299 S Thornton (Irl) 74 73 75 77,
302 C Bouniol (Fra) 74 73 80 75, T Levet (Fra) 72 76 77 77
 
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