Sunday, March 11, 2018

Wallace beats Johnston in Indian Open play-off

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Matt Wallace won his second European Tour title with a dramatic play-off victory over Andrew Johnston at the Hero Indian Open today.

The Englishman from Hillingdon, 28 years old next month, entered the day at Delhi’s DLF Golf and Country Club in a share of the lead alongside local hero Shubhankar Sharma, and a closing 68 got him to 11 under par 277 - a total matched by compatriot Johnston, 29, from London, who recorded an impressive bogey-free round of 66.
Wallace hit a huge drive down the 18th on the first extra hole, and when Johnston laid up and saw his birdie putt agonisingly lip out, the 27 year old had two putts for the title after hitting a brilliant second shot onto the green.
He rolled his first up to the side of the hole and tapped home to seal a second victory in as many seasons after going wire to wire to seal his maiden European Tour title last May in the Open de Portugal at Morgado Golf Resort.
American Sihwan Kim finished the day at eight under par, a shot clear of Spain’s Pablo Larrazábal and Matthias Schwab of Austria, with Argentinian Emiliano Grillo at five under par.
Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex leader Sharma slipped out of contention early in the day with double-bogeys on holes five and seven, eventually signing for a 75 to finish at four under par alongside Scot Stephen Gallacher.
Player quotes
Matt Wallace: “I'm ecstatic. I just played some amazing golf. Beef really had a great round today because I was playing fantastic and thought I might have been a few more clear.
“I hit some really good shots in that play-off. I pumped it down there on the last and it went a long way and then the four iron went even further than I thought it would so I was jacked up a bit. To hit two shots like that is exactly why I play the game.
“With the people that were coming up behind me, there were some real class players. Beef's putt on the last should have gone in and it's just been my day today.
“There are some great champions. SSP (Chawrasia) held it for a couple of years there and I am so happy to get my name on the trophy.”
Andrew Johnston: “I feel good as I played very well today, like I did on Friday. I was happy to be able to put up a good score today and force a playoff.
“I’m slightly frustrated, as I attempted a similar putt on the 18th during regulation play. I didn’t think it broke that much and I hit a good putt, but it didn’t go in. It’s alright. I had a very good week.
“I was trying to stay patient and I wanted to start well. Yesterday, I made a mistake on eighth, and made a birdie on ninth. Today, I made birdies on both holes, which was good. I played solid on the back nine, so I played lovely all day.
“I’m very happy with the way I played this year. Last year was tough. This year’s start has been good so I just got to keep pushing on and keep working hard.”

FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
277 M Wallace (Eng) 69 70 70 68, A Johnston (Eng) 72 66 73 66
280 S Kim (USA) 70 70 72 68
281 P Larrazábal (Spn) 67 71 74 69, M Schwab  (Austria) 71 72 68 70
283 E Grillo (Arg) 65 68 78 72
284 S Gallacher (Sco) 72 71 67 74, S Sharma (India) 73 64 72 75,286 J Luiten (Netherlands) 71 69 74 72, A Rai (Eng) 71 73 69 73, J Choi (SKor) 72 71 72 71,287 H Tanihara (Jpn) 74 68 72 73, K Horne (SAf) 66 73 80 68, C Sordet  (Fra) 72 72 71 72, R Rock (Eng) 73 73 74 67288 J Morrison  (Eng) 70 72 77 69, S Brown (Eng) 74 71 70 73, P Pittayarat (Tha) 69 70 76 73, R Gouveia (Por) 69 73 71 75, G Green  (Mas) 69 73 75 71, J Dantorp (Swe) 69 70 79 70,
289 C O'Toole (USA) 74 66 77 72
290 P Peterson (USA) 67 73 73 77, G Havret  (Fra) 73 72 73 72
291 S Gros (Fra) 69 71 76 75, A Wall (Eng) 71 73 72 75, C Shih-Chang (Taipei) 71 71 75 74, W Ormsby (Australia) 71 72 78 70, J Todd (USA) 72 74 70 75
292 A Chesters  (Eng) 74 71 76 71, D Boonma (Thailand) 71 76 70 75
293 J Randhawa (India) 72 72 76 73, K Kaul (am) (India) 70 76 77 70
294 T Bjørn (Denmarl) 70 72 79 73, R Evans  (Eng) 76 71 77 70, S Fernandez  (Spn) 73 73 77 71, J Donaldson (Wales) 71 70 74 79, N Srithong (Thailand) 76 70 74 74, A Lahiri (India) 72 73 75 74295 K Joshi (India) 72 68 81 74, N Elvira  (Spn) 75 72 75 73, A Sandhu (India) 68 76 74 77, J Scrivener (Australia) 73 74 75 73, W Liang (China) 75 72 75 73, J Wang (SKor) 69 71 78 77296 K Kitayama (USA) 72 71 83 70, Y Chang (SKor) 73 72 78 73297 C Wood  (Eng) 77 69 75 76, N Fung (Mas) 69 73 80 75, K Kochhar (India) 75 72 76 74298 M Shin (USA) 73 73 77 75299 U Mane (India) 72 75 79 73300 S Lee (SKor) 71 75 83 71, D Gleeson (Australia) 75 70 77 78, A Wu (China) 72 74 83 71, M Warren (Sco) 68 72 86 74
302 E Molinari  (Ita) 71 72 77 82, P Meesawat  (Tha) 72 73 79 78, M Manassero (Ita) 67 79 78 78303 G Storm  (Eng) 79 68 80 76, M Fraser (Aus) 73 73 76 81305 A Saddier (Fra) 67 78 81 79
307 D Clarke (Nir) 72 73 83 79
311 A Que (Philippines) 76 71 84 80, S Yongcharoenchai (Tha) 75 71 84 81312 L Weber (Fra) 73 74 84 81

                                                                        
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

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