Campillo scores first European Tour win

Jorge Campillo ended an eight-year wait for his first 

European Tour title as he triumphed at the Trophée Hassan 

II by two strokes today.

The Spaniard, playing his 229^th event, had previously been a runner-up on six occasions, including two second-place finishes in consecutive weeks last month, but held his nerve on the formidable Red Course at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam to claim the coveted bejewelled dagger.

The 32-year-old, who earned his European Tour card in 2011 after graduating from the European Challenge Tour, started the final round one stroke behind South African Erik van Rooyen, who was also chasing a first win on the European Tour.

Campillo fell off the pace with two bogeys on his first three holes, but pulled one back with a birdie on the eighth hole. He then moved back up the leaderboard with a birdie the 11^th and claimed the outright lead with another gain on the 16^th hole.

His fourth birdie of the day followed on the 17^th and he took a two-stroke lead down the 72^nd hole. He pulled his drive off the par-five 18^th tee, finding a bunker, but he recovered and parred the final hole to finish on nine under par two strokes ahead of van Rooyen and American pair Sean Crocker and Julian Suri.

American David Lipsky finished solo fifth on five under par, while Scotland’s Grant Forrest and Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura shared sixth place.

Player Quotes

Jorge Campillo: "It's hard to describe. It's been a long road. Grateful, but it's been way too long. Way too many hours of work since I was a boy to today. I'm just proud that I can say I'm a winner on The European Tour.

"I didn't start as good as I would like, missing shots. I wasn't hitting it good and I didn't have my A-Game with me. But after making that four-metre putt on 7, it was a 10-footer on 7, and after that, I played solid I think. I putted great, and I did what I have to do to win the golf tournament. So after that, it was great. Tough start, but hung in there and had a good finish.

"I have had way too many near misses. This was my best chance to win. You know, I wasn't this close ever, just have the lead on 18, so I have to grab it, and I was able to do it, so I'm proud of that.

"When I got to the golf course, I was a little nervous, but I was calm. I felt strong for some reason, and I don't know, I think I don't know why, but I feel -- I was feeling strong coming the last few holes. So I wasn't nervous at all.
"I just love the game. I love competing. Most people say, maybe I'm not a winner, but I was when I was an amateur. It was a matter of time. I think I proved it today. I love winning, I guess, and I finally did it, so I'm quite happy now. Hopefully I can win more from now."
Julian Suri: "To have four under par rounds is something I didn't have in India, and you know, on a course like this where it demands so much from me tee-to-green and on the greens, definitely huge steps forward, and for me to be bogey-free in the final round to maintain that sort of composure is definitely something first for this year, so it's definitely a trend I'd like to keep going forward."

Final Scores:

par 292 (4 x 73)

283 J Campillo (Spn) 72 71 69 71,

285 E Van Rooyen (RSA) 74 69 68 74, S Crocker (USA) 67 

74 72 72, J Suri (USA) 71 71 72 71

287 D Lipsky (USA) 71 70 74 72

,
288 G Forrest (Sco) 75 70 69 74, M Kawamura (Jpn) 75 69 

71 73, 

289 T Pulkkanen (Fin) 75 74 67 73,

290 T Jaidee (Tha) 73 72 73 72, A Björk (Swe) 74 71 73 72, R Sterne (RSA) 71 76 69 74, T Detry (Bel) 73 76 69 72, M Schwab (Aut) 70 73 74 73, 

291 J Smith (Eng) 66 76 73 76, K Kitayama (USA) 73 74 72 72, C Bezuidenhout (RSA) 75 71 73 72, W Ormsby (Aus) 74 70 70 77, D Law (Sco) 75 71 73 72, K Reitan (Nor) 70 73 78

 70, C Sordet (Fra) 76 70 74 71, 

292 D Papadatos (Aus) 70 72 78 72, T Lewis (Eng) 72 75 71 74, A Sullivan (Eng) 74 73 73 72, A Pavan (Ita) 72 74 73 73,

293 P Waring (Eng) 73 77 72 71, G Migliozzi (Ita) 72 71 77 73, J Luiten (Ned) 73 75 71 74, A Otaegui (Esp) 73 77 72 71, J Winther (Den) 74 72 72 75,

294 R Gouveia (Por) 75 74 73 72, M Korhonen (Fin) 72 76 

71 75, J McLeod (Aus) 72 78 67 77, V Dubuisson (Fra) 75 70 76 73,
295 M Hoey (Nir) 74 73 74 74, A Cañizares (Esp) 67 76 78 74, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 73 76 70 76, L Slattery (Eng) 70 72 72 81,
296 C Paisley (Eng) 75 72 73 76, R Langasque (Fra) 74 75 73 74, S Brown (Eng) 76 74 75 71, P Larrazábal (Esp) 70 79 76 71, B Hebert (Fra) 73 74 74 75, J Hansen (Den) 75 74 73 74, P Dunne (Irl) 73 75 77 71, P Hanson (Swe) 72 78 72 74, J Senior (Eng) 70 77 75 74, K Samooja (Fin) 72 76 68 80, A Chesters (Eng) 72 73 74 77,

297 M Pavon (Fra) 68 78 78 73, M Kieffer (Ger) 72 78 74 73, M Siem (Ger) 74 73 76 74, K Koivu (Fin) 74 76 73 74, L Jensen (Den) 73 76 74 74,

298 J Walters (RSA) 74 72 76 76, O Wilson (Eng) 74 75 74 75, J Morrison (Eng) 72 75 72 79,

299 R Ramsay (Sco) 77 72 78 72, S Soderberg (Swe) 72 78 75 74, S Gallacher (Sco) 68 82 77 72,

300 R Jacquelin (Fra) 72 74 80 74, C Shinkwin (Eng) 74 76 72 78, D Horsey (Eng) 73 75 76 76,
301 E Molinari (Ita) 69 78 75 79, F Zanotti (Par) 74 70 75 82, G Moynihan (Irl) 74 74 71 82, H Park (Kor) 75 74 75 77,
302 J Girrbach (Sui) 74 75 76 77,
304 T Murray (Eng) 77 69 80 78, M Warren (Sco) 72 73 79 80,
305 A Quiros (Esp) 73 77 73 82,

308 H Tanihara (Jpn) 76 74 80 78,