Jason
Palmer rounded off a wire-to-wire victory at the Foshan Open with an
impressive round of 69 to win by a stroke from compatriot Ben Evans and
claim a career-changing first European Challenge Tour title.
On
a muggy afternoon at Foshan Golf Club, the Englishman handled the
pressure with aplomb, carding four birdies to extend his advantage,
before a nervy three-putt bogey at the penultimate hole made things
interesting heading down the last.
His
tee shot at the par five found the centre of the fairway though, and
when a pin-point lay-up was followed by a typically precise wedge, all
that was required were two putts for a 15 under par total and the title.
Palmer
duly obliged, tapping in from a foot to rubber stamp a win that sees
him rocket up the Rankings, thanks to a cheque for €43,594 and a certain
dietary tradition he established earlier in the week.
“Absolutely
- I did go again to McDonalds last night, and I think I was about the 20th
player in the queue,” said the 30 year old from England’s East Midlands,
who climbs 31 places to 12th on the Rankings.
“I
just feel so over the moon. It is a total dream come true. I set out at
the start of this season and my goal was to try and win, as I have won
at a lower level but never here.
"It might have taken me 22 events this
season, but I have finally done it, and I’m ecstatic.
“I
really surprised myself with how calm I was today, and what helped was
hitting good shots, so there was no reason to get stressed. I was in
control of my golf ball today, and when I am playing well I don’t get as
stressed.
"It is only when you hit the odd shot offline that you can
have problems in a round.
“The
strategy all week was to try and leave it below the hole on the greens
to give myself an uphill putt, and at times it can feel like you are
playing defensive, but actually you’re playing it smart. You’re going to
hole a few putts if you leave it below the hole, and make a few birdies
along the way, but the course was a good test and the scoring showed
that.
“I
don’t come from a privileged background and golf is an expensive sport
to play, and certainly professionally, your expenses throughout a
season can total around £15,000 to 20,000. So without the help of other people I
wouldn’t have even been able to play, and I just want to thank everyone
who has helped me throughout my career.
"They know who they are, and I’m
so grateful to them for giving me the opportunity to play.
“To
think that I am now so close to graduating to The European Tour is
crazy, and once this has settled in I will have to refocus for the final
two events, and hopefully I can keep this form going and earn enough to
secure my card. That really would be a dream come true.”
Despite
coming up just short of a first title of his own, it was a still a
stand- out week for runner-up Evans, who posted the best finish of his
Challenge Tour career.
It
has been an up and down few years for the man from Kent, but five
birdies, an eagle and a single dropped shot on Sunday were enough to see
him run Palmer as close as anyone on the last day.
Starting
out the Final Swing – encompassing the closing four events of the
season – the Englishman’s goal was to secure his place in the Dubai
Festival City Challenge Tour Grand Final hosted by Al Badia Golf Club,
but with a place in the top 45 secured, he can now turn his attentions
to graduation.
“I
gave it my best shot on the back nine, but I’m pleased with how I
played today,” said Evans, who heads to Oman next week one place shy of
the top 15.
“I’ve had some good rounds here and there this season, but
not really put four together. I’ve had some very good, and some not so
good in the middle of the year, but I changed what I was doing hallway
through and it has paid off.
“This
year has been a move back in the right direction, but you’ve just got
to play consistently out here. You still need to take advantage of your
good weeks, but if you can finish top 20 every week you will move up
eventually.
“I’m
going to be pretty tired when we get to Oman tomorrow morning, but I
have enjoyed China. This week we have been treated unbelievably, as good
as any European Tour event I have played at. It has been great, a
credit to everyone who has been involved.”
As
for the rest of the chasing pack – Jason Barnes, Jens Fahrbring and
Mark Tullo rounded out the podium places at 13 under par after rounds of
70, 68 and 68, respectively.
Matthew
Fitzpatrick shot the round of the day – a 65 – which was also the
lowest of his fledgling professional career. That vaulted him 22 places on the
final day and into a tie for sixth alongside compatriots Daniel Gaunt
(70), Chris Hanson (71) and Chris Paisley (70), as well as Sweden’s
Pelle Edberg (70) and Scotland’s Andrew McArthur (68). McArthur earned 7,538 euros
Aberdeen's David Law finished the tournament on a high with a 66 to share 14th place. The Northern Open champion from the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre stable earned 4,087 Euros for his latest performance and is now 69th on the Challenge Tour rankings.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
272 J Palmer (Eng) 65 69 69 69 273 B Evans (Eng) 67 72 68 66 275 J Barnes (Eng) 66 70 69 70, J Fahrbring (Swe) 70 68 69 68, M Tullo (Chi) 69 70 68 68
276 C Hanson (Eng) 68 68 69 71, C Paisley (Eng) 68 70 68 70, D Gaunt
(Eng) 67 69 70 70, P Edberg (Swe) 70 66 70 70, M Fitzpatrick (Eng) 69
70 72 65, A McArthur (Sco) 68 70 70 68, 277 T Pilkadaris (Aus) 71 70 67 69, R Gouveia (Por) 65 72 70 70,
278 D Law (Sco) 70 73 69 66, P Maddy (Eng) 71 68 69 70, A Hortal
(Esp) 71 72 66 69, H Joannes (Bel) 70 68 68 72, C Shinkwin (Eng) 71 70
67 70, 279 S Tiley (Eng) 72 69 68 70, T Sluiter (Ned) 70 71 72
66, M Orrin (Eng) 68 72 72 67, B Ritthammer (Ger) 66 69 69 75, P Oriol
(Esp) 68 69 74 68, 280 A Marshall (Eng) 73 67 69 71, B An (Kor) 73 68 71 68,
281 B Åkesson (Swe) 74 67 69 71, P Dwyer (Eng) 70 71 70 70, R Davies
(Wal) 71 73 66 71, N Ravano (Ita) 72 70 69 70, R Coles (Eng) 71 69 69
72, J Guerrier (Fra) 69 71 70 71, 282 N Lemke (Swe) 71 73 67 71, F
Bergamaschi (Ita) 70 74 68 70, M Lafeber (Ned) 71 72 72 67, J Huldahl
(Den) 67 73 71 71, C Yi (Chn) 72 71 71 68, E Espana (Fra) 72 67 70 73, M
Delpodio (Ita) 74 66 71 71 283 T Linard (Fra) 72 71 70 70, M Wiegele (Aut) 70 69 73 71, P Widegren (Swe) 68 69 71 75, 284 G Murray (Sco) 69 71 77 67, J Roos (RSA) 73 70 72 69, 285 A Tadini (Ita) 74 70 70 71, J Senior (Eng) 68 72 72 73, Y Tian (Chn) 71 74 71 69, W Harrold (Eng) 67 67 75 76,
286 L Ding-Feng (Chn) 66 72 73 75, O Zheng (Chn) 72 71 71 72, S Dong (Chn) 71 69 68 78, 287 H Wen-Yi (Chn) 72 73 72 70, H Ze-Yu (Chn) 67 74 72 74, J Lando Casanova (Fra) 70 71 75 71 289 R McGowan (Eng) 69 72 75 73, 290 H Shao-Cai (Chn) 74 70 74 72, 291 C Ford (Eng) 73 70 71 77, 292 P Relecom (Bel) 74 68 77 73, 293 A Velasco (Esp) 70 71 72 80, Z Hui-Lin (Chn) 72 72 74 75 294 W Weijun (Chn) 74 71 74 75, 295 Z Guo-Wu (Chn) 71 68 78 78,
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