MacIntyre beaten in play-off at Finnish Challenge

Venue: Vierumäki Resort Cooke Course, Vierumäki, Finland 
Hashtag: #VierumakiCT

                                          This image of Kim Koivu  is published by courtesy of Tomi Natri 

Kim Koivu became the first Finn to win his country’s biggest golf tournament after birdieing the first first play-off hole to claim the Vierumäki Finnish Challenge title over Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre.
Koivu and MacIntyre had tied after 72 holes on 21-under-par 267, both shooting 66s in the final round

Koivu and MacIntyre began the final round as co-leaders on 15 under par amidst a bunched leaderboard, but the duo almost immediately turned Day Four into a two-horse race.

The Finn began his round with three-consecutive birdies and appeared to be marching towards victory as he carded a front-nine of six under par 30. 

MacIntyre, from Oban, gave chase, however, and he turned in five under par 31 after a flurry of his own, highlighted by an eagle on the par five 9^th.

“Rob hit a great wedge there to almost an impossible pin,” Koivu said. “He hit it to two feet, and after that I was definitely feeling like ‘whoa this is getting serious now.’”

Both players were spurred on by the battle that was emerging, and after gains on the 12^th and 13^th holes, MacIntyre was rapidly transforming from the hunter to the hunted.

“The front nine got me going but I made a couple mistakes there on the back nine and then I three-putted on 14 and Rob got the lead,” said Koivu.

The Scot carried a one-shot advantage all the way to the 17^th hole before a Koivu birdie knotted things up with one to play. When both players parred the 72^nd hole, they headed back to the 18^th tee for a sudden-death play-off, where Koivu emerged victorious after burying a 15ft birdie putt.

“I only saw the hole, really. There was no option other than the ball going into the hole, that’s all I saw,” said Koivu. “I just feel like when you’ve got to make a putt you make it.”

“It was just a great battle with Rob, he played awesome. He put the pressure on me all the way around and I just kept fighting, and I was the lucky one to come out on top.

“Holing those putts coming down the stretch there on 17, and then in the play-off, it just feels great. I couldn’t think of a better place to win than on home soil, that’s for sure.”

With the win — his second of the season after taking the Belt and Road Colorful Yunnan Open — the 27 year old moves to the fourth position on the Road to Ras Al Khaimah and makes serious headway towards earning his European Tour card.

It was an incredible week for Finnish golf at the Vierumäki Resort Cooke Course, as native sons Antti Ahokas and Kalle Samooja joined Koivu inside the tournament's top- five. Samooja also retained his fifth position on the Road to Ras Al Khaimah as the Nordic country can now boast two of its own among the season-long point race front-runners.

For his efforts, MacIntyre moves 45 places up the Rankings and now sits in the 27^th position — within shouting distance of finishing the season inside the coveted top 15.

The European Challenge Tour now heads to Northern Ireland for the Galgorm Resort and Spa Northern Ireland Open, presented by Modest! Golf at Galgorm Castle in Ballymena for the 19^th event on the season-long Road to Ras Al Khaimah.

Final totals
par 288 (4x72)

Name	Country	To Par	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	Rankings Points	Official Prize Money
	1	KOIVU Kim	FIN	-21	70	65	66	66	267	28,800	€ 28,800
	2	MACINTYRE Robert	SCO	-21	68	66	67	66	267	19,800	€ 19,800
	3	FENASSE Mathieu	FRA	-17	64	70	68	69	271	12,600	€ 12,600
	4	AHOKAS Antti	FIN	-16	69	67	66	70	272	10,800	€ 10,800
	5	MURRAY Tom	ENG	-15	63	71	69	70	273	6,264	€ 6,264
	6	PARKER Ben	ENG	-15	69	68	69	67	273	6,264	€ 6,264
	7	SAMOOJA Kalle	FIN	-15	66	71	67	69	273	6,264	€ 6,264
	8	ADAMS James	ENG	-15	66	70	70	67	273	6,264	€ 6,264
	9	WILSON Oliver	ENG	-15	71	67	66	69	273	6,264	€ 6,264
	10	VENTURA Kristoffer	NOR	-14	67	67	69	71	274	3,780	€ 3,780
	11	CARLSSON Johan	SWE	-14	69	65	72	68	274	3,780	€ 3,780
	12	SAXTON Reinier	NED	-13	69	69	68	69	275	3,240	€ 3,330
	13	HANSEN Joachim B.	DEN	-13	72	69	67	67	275	3,240	€ 3,330
	14	SCALISE (AM) Lorenzo	ITA	-13	64	69	70	72	275	3,240	€ 0
	15	PERRIER Damien	FRA	-12	71	69	71	65	276	2,790	€ 2,970
	16	HENRY Scott	SCO	-12	73	67	68	68	276	2,790	€ 2,970
	17	SCHNEIDER Marcel	GER	-11	73	67	69	68	277	2,340	€ 2,520
	18	ESPAÑA Edouard	FRA	-11	71	68	70	68	277	2,340	€ 2,520
	19	DEL MORAL Carlos	ESP	-11	69	70	70	68	277	2,340	€ 2,520
	20	KAKKO Roope	FIN	-10	68	69	70	71	278	1,811	€ 1,904
	21	FELDBORG NIELSEN Christopher	SWE	-10	69	69	71	69	278	1,811	€ 1,904
	22	LANGASQUE Romain	FRA	-10	68	71	68	71	278	1,811	€ 1,904
	23	ROUSSEL Robin	FRA	-10	69	70	71	68	278	1,811	€ 1,904
	24	SODERBERG Sebastian	SWE	-10	68	73	68	69	278	1,811	€ 1,904
	25	MRUZEK Filip	CZE	-9	71	69	68	71	279	1,458	€ 1,494
	26	STOW Ben	ENG	-9	72	68	68	71	279	1,458	€ 1,494
	27	VON DELLINGSHAUSEN Nicolai	GER	-9	70	71	71	67	279	1,458	€ 1,494
	28	LINARD Thomas	FRA	-9	68	66	75	70	279	1,458	€ 1,494
	29	STARK Oscar	SWE	-9	66	71	71	71	279	1,458	€ 1,494
	30	LINDELL Oliver	FIN	-9	73	68	70	68	279	1,458	€ 1,494
	31	HELLGREN Björn	SWE	-9	73	67	71	68	279	1,458	€ 1,494
	32	BERGAMASCHI Filippo	ITA	-9	68	72	69	70	279	1,458	€ 1,494
	33	COUSSAUD Ugo	FRA	-9	70	67	75	67	279	1,458	€ 1,494
	34	DOAK Chris	SCO	-9	69	70	70	70	279	1,458	€ 1,494
	35	PAPADATOS Dimitrios	AUS	-9	66	67	74	72	279	1,458	€ 1,494
	36	FORREST Grant	SCO	-9	68	70	70	71	279	1,458	€ 1,494
	37	KUNZENBACHER Julian	GER	-8	71	70	71	68	280	1,188	€ 1,224
	38	FINCH Richard	ENG	-8	72	68	69	71	280	1,188	€ 1,224
	39	FERGUSON Ewen	SCO	-8	69	70	72	69	280	1,188	€ 1,224
	40	ALLAN James	ENG	-7	69	70	69	73	281	1,026	€ 1,062
	41	RIU Victor	FRA	-7	70	70	72	69	281	1,026	€ 1,062
	42	GIRRBACH Joel	SUI	-7	72	67	72	70	281	1,026	€ 1,062
	43	HULDAHL Jeppe Pape	DEN	-7	69	72	71	69	281	1,026	€ 1,062
	44	RITTHAMMER Bernd	GER	-7	71	70	69	71	281	1,026	€ 1,062
	45	WENNSTAM Alexander	SWE	-7	70	69	74	68	281	1,026	€ 1,062
	46	TREE Toby	ENG	-6	68	72	75	67	282	864	€ 900
	47	RUUSKA Lauri	FIN	-6	73	68	68	73	282	864	€ 900
	48	HELLBERG Niclas	FIN	-6	73	68	67	74	282	864	€ 900
	49	ORRIN Max	ENG	-5	70	71	73	69	283	774	€ 810
	50	MATUS Stanislav	CZE	-5	68	73	71	71	283	774	€ 810
	51	MADDY Paul	ENG	-4	67	74	70	73	284	693	€ 716
	52	EASTON Bryce	RSA	-4	68	71	76	69	284	693	€ 716
	53	VAN WEST Robbie	NED	-4	71	70	71	72	284	693	€ 716
	54	CUARTERO BLANCO Emilio	ESP	-4	68	72	73	71	284	693	€ 716
	55	TRAPPEL Manuel	AUT	-3	70	71	73	71	285	639	€ 657
	56	LAMPERT Moritz	GER	-3	70	69	73	73	285	639	€ 657
	57	CARLSSON Magnus A	SWE	-2	71	63	76	76	286	603	€ 621
	58	SENIOR Jack	ENG	-2	66	73	77	70	286	603	€ 621
	59	CALDWELL Jonathan	NIR	0	70	71	71	76	288	576	€ 594
	60	MOORE Fraser	SCO	+3	67	71	80	73	291	558	€ 576
	61	ROBERTSHAWE Samuel	ENG	+4	69	71	82	70	292	540	€ 558