Ricardo
Gouveia capped an incredible season with a stunning victory in the NBO
Golf Classic Grand Final, winning the Road to Oman Rankings with the
highest total earnings for a season in European Challenge Tour history.
The
Portuguese came into the season finale as the man to catch after a
remarkable year in which he had already claimed 11 top tens in 17
starts, and lived up to his headline billing with a remarkable seven
under par final round of 65 – the lowest round of the week – at Muscat’s
Almouj Golf, The Wave.
The
24 year old rolled in five straight birdies on the back nine as he set a
clubhouse target of 13 under par that could not be matched, Dane
Joachim B Hansen finishing one shot further back having led for the
first three rounds.
“I
have no words,” said Gouveia. “I got my rhythm back in the middle of
the round and my putter was really hot on the back nine, I holed a lot
of good putts and obviously the most important one on 18 to probably
secure the win.
“It was an amazing afternoon, a great week and I just have no words to describe this season.
“It
was almost like being on auto-pilot today. I was feeling a little
nervous but not too much because I was just in that zone and I just
started playing really well and making birdies. I’m just really happy.
“I
saw on the tenth tee that I was a bit far back and then after birdies
on 12, 13 and 14 I saw the leaderboard on 15 and I was one ahead, then
one more birdie on 16 put me two ahead at that point. Then on 18 I saw
the big leaderboard to see what I needed on the last and just holed a
beautiful putt.
“I
don’t know how I will celebrate but I definitely will have a good time
with a few family that I have in London and my girlfriend.
“It
was great to close out both trophies, the Rankings and this event. That
was my goal for the week, to win the event, and I was a bit far back in
the middle of the round but then got it going on the back nine.
“It’s
the best venue that we come to all year, the best course and the best
set-up. The weather is always perfect and it makes total sense for the
Grand Final to be held here and hopefully they will keep coming for many
years.”
Gouveia
was already certain of his spot on The European Tour before the week
began but there was much uncertainty about who else would be joining him
by finishing in the top 15 in the Rankings.
Hansen’s runner-up finish, birdieing the final three holes, earned him a return to the top table, climbing from 17th
to fifth place, while his compatriot Jeff Winther had a flawless final
round, a six under par 66 helping him to a share of third place on 11
under par and moving up from 18th to 11th spot, and a place on The European Tour.
Callum Shinkwin’s tied-third finish was also enough for the Englishman to climb ten places and finish 13th
in the Rankings, while Nacho Elvira, already a European Tour player
after three wins on the Challenge Tour this season, finished alongside
him on 11 under par.
Brandon
Stone was another not to drop a shot in calmer conditions than
forecast, and the South African’s sixth place finish was enough for him
to take the 14th spot in the Rankings on an emotional day for many players.
“Heading
into this year my goal was to finish top 15,” said Stone, who had a
nervous wait before learning of his fate. “To achieve that goal is
incredible – it’s just something special. To fulfil a life goal is
unimaginably special to me.”
On
the wrong side of the line were Scott Henry of Scotland and Englishman
Max Orrin, both of whom were inside the predicted 15 for much of the day
but whose final round 67s, earning a tie for seventh place, saw them
fall agonisingly short of European Tour spots.
Ryan Fox was another who was desperately unlucky, the New Zealander shooting a flawless round of 66 but dropping to 16th place in the Rankings when it mattered the most, just €2,350 behind Jamie McLeary in the 15th and final spot.
But
the day, and the 2015 season, was all about Gouveia, whose second win
this year following his victory at the AEGEAN Airlines Challenge Tour by
Hartl Resort took him to more than €250,000 earned this year and saw
him eclipse Edoardo Molinari’s season’s earnings record by €8,612.
Final scores:
275 R Gouveia (Por) 67 67 76 65,
276 J Hansen (Den) 66 67 76 67,
277 C Shinkwin (Eng) 69 72 68 68, J Winther (Den) 70 68 73 66, N Elvira (Esp) 70 69 70 68,
278 B Stone (RSA) 71 71 68 68,
279 J Robinson (Eng) 68 70 71 70, J Dantorp (Swe) 69 70 70 70, R
Davies (Wal) 73 68 70 68, M Orrin (Eng) 70 66 76 67, S Henry (Sco) 69
71 72 67,
280 R Evans (Eng) 68 71 71 70, T Linard (Fra) 70 70 72 68, R McGee (Irl) 73 69 70 68,
282 J Fahrbring (Swe) 73 72 69 68, R McGowan (Eng) 72 68 72 70,
283 J Hahn (USA) 70 71 70 72, B Virto Astudillo (Esp) 71 71 69 72, S Gros (Fra) 69 74 69 71,
284 D Foos (Ger) 72 67 72 73, D Huizing (Ned) 70 69 76 69, S Soderberg (Swe) 74 70 72 68,
285 D Im (USA) 71 67 77 70,
287 G Murray (Sco) 70 71 77 69, A Björk (Swe) 73 73 71 70,
288 R Fox (Nzl) 74 67 81 66, J Senior (Eng) 74 70 74 70, B Åkesson (Swe) 68 69 82 69, T Murray (Eng) 69 75 74 70,
289 P Whiteford (Sco) 73 67 77 72, C Hanson (Eng) 70 73 76 70, R Coles (Eng) 74 69 74 72, A McArthur (Sco) 75 71 71 72,
290 H Joannes (Bel) 71 72 75 72, C Sordet (Fra) 76 72 73 69,
291 M Delpodio (Ita) 70 72 78 71, H Porteous (RSA) 76 78 66 71, G
Boyd (Eng) 74 72 76 69, P Widegren (Swe) 70 73 74 74, S Jeppesen
(Swe) 70 74 73 74,
292 L Gagli (Ita) 71 74 75 72,
293 S Arnold (Aus) 72 71 76 74,
297 J McLeary (Sco) 78 71 77 71,
301 S Walker (Eng) 76 73 81 71,
303 M Søgaard (Den) 72 75 82 74
Road to Oman Rankings – Final Top 15
Pos |
Previous |
Name |
Country |
Played
|
Euro
|
1 |
(1) |
Ricardo GOUVEIA |
(POR) |
(18)
|
251,591
|
2 |
(2) |
Sebastien GROS |
(FRA) |
(18)
|
178,645
|
3 |
(3) |
Borja VIRTO ASTUDILLO |
(ESP) |
(17)
|
150,465
|
4 |
(5) |
Nacho ELVIRA |
(ESP)
|
(14)
|
114,877
|
5 |
(17) |
Joachim B. HANSEN |
(DEN) |
(20)
|
113,135
|
6 |
(4) |
Björn ÅKESSON
|
(SWE) |
(18)
|
104,538
|
7 |
(6) |
Gary BOYD
|
(ENG) |
(15)
|
96,290
|
8 |
(8) |
Rhys DAVIES
|
(WAL) |
(20)
|
94,832
|
9 |
(9) |
Thomas LINARD
|
(FRA) |
(19)
|
91,258
|
10 |
(7) |
Jens FAHRBRING
|
(SWE) |
(20)
|
89,730
|
11 |
(18) |
Jeff WINTHER
|
(DEN)
|
(18)
|
87,033
|
12 |
(10) |
Andrew McARTHUR |
(SCO)
|
(15)
|
82,544
|
13 |
(23) |
Callum SHINKWIN |
(ENG)
|
(15)
|
81,081
|
14 |
(19) |
Brandon STONE |
(RSA)
|
(18)
|
80,979
|
15 |
(11) |
Jamie MCLEARY |
(SCO)
|
(19)
|
80,353
|
- Ends -
|