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
