PGA EuroPro Tour report and final totals

John Henry's top Scot finish at East Sussex

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Kris Nicol (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) earned £370 for a joint 35th place finish alongside Conor O'Neil (Mearns Castle) on 215 in this week's PGA EuroPro Golf Tour event at East Sussex National Golf Club's East Course.

Nicol had rounds of 75, 68 and 72, O'Neil 73, 70 and 72.

Top Scot was John Henry (Clydebank and Dist) with rounds of 71, 72 and 69 for 212 and tied 11th place for which he earned £621.

Curtis Griffiths (Wentworth) won the £10,000 first prize with a par at the first hole of a sudden-death play-off against Ashley Chesters (Hawkstone Park) after they had tied on 205. Chesters earned £6,000.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS

205 C Griffiths (Wentworth) 70 65 70, A Chesters (Hawkstone Park) 67 69 69. Griffiths (£10,000) bt Chesters (£6,000) at first hole of sudden-death play-off).

208 M Cort (Beedles Lake) 73 70 65 (£3,000).

SCOTS' TOTALS

212 J Henry (Clydebank and Dist) 71 72 69 (T11) (£621)

215 K Nicol (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) 75 68 72, C O'Neil (Mearns Castle) 73 70 72 (T35) (£370 each).

Griffiths wins £10,000 play-off against Chesters

NEWS RELEASE FROM NICK TEALE

Curtis Griffiths won the PGA EuroPro Tour's Matchroom Sport Championship after a sudden-death play-off with Ashley Chesters at East Sussex National.

Griffiths (Wentworth; 70, 65, 70) had held the lead for most of the round after a birdie at the 2^nd. A bogey at 5^th was a brief setback but he restored his -10 lead at the 7^th. On the back nine he broke par at 12 and 14, while Chesters kept in touch with birdies of his own at the 5^th, 12^th and 15^th on the East Course.

Chesters (Hawkstone Park; 67, 69, 69) benefitted from some good fortune to remain one back at the 13^th. His five-wood tee shot looked destined for the thick rough off the back of the green, but ricocheted off the front of a buggy and onto the relative safety of the green apron, from where he made par.

The lead, now -12, changed hands at the 17^th when Chesters made birdie and Griffiths dropped a shot but there was still time for the Wentworth man to pull level when he parred the last, with Chesters making his first bogey of the tournament.

The outcome on 18 was the same on the first and only hole of the sudden-death play-off.  Both took three to reach the green in the heavy rain that had arrived at East Sussex National as the leaders had played the 15^th. But Griffiths managed to sink a 12-foot putt for the win, while Chesters’ similar-length effort failed to find the hole.

“When it first started to rain heavily it was bearable, but towards the end everything was soaked,” said Griffiths, who wins £10,000, a brand new Motocaddy S1 Lithium trolley, Bushnell Tour X Range Finder and Bolle Sunglasses.

“I made a silly mistake down 17 and then Ashley bogeyed the last. We both made a bit of a mess up on our tee shots in the play-off and I was able to hole a good putt to clinch it.

“Both putts on 18 [in regulation and in the play-off] were very straight so I was lucky I hit them both firmly and they went in.

“Winning gives me a great boost in confidence and on the Race To Desert Springs, I am chuffed, it is great to win.”

Griffiths’ win moves him up to fourth on the Race To Desert Springs Order of Merit, with four previous top ten finishes already this season.

Matthew Cort (Beedles Lake Golf Club; 73, 70, 65) strengthened his position at the top of the rankings with a third-place finished thanks largely to a seven-under-par final-round 65. The top five on the Race To Desert Springs at the end of season earn a category on the 2017 Challenge Tour. 

Highlights of the Matchroom Sport Championship will be broadcast on Sky Sports on Tuesday, August 30. The HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour continues with the FORE Business Championship at The Oxfordshire, next Wednesday-Friday August 24-26.

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