Liam Johnston from Dumfries wins

Kazakhstan Open

Liam Johnston from Dumfries fought off a packed leaderboard and emerged victorious at one of the European Challenge Tour’s most lucrative events, the Kazakhstan Open

The Scot began the final round one shot back of leader Sean Crocker and bogeyed his opening hole to fall further behind. But in keeping with the pattern that had emerged throughout the tournament, he maintained his composure and was able to respond immediately.

“All week there were several times where I made bogey and then I bounced back with a birdie or two birdies, and this was just one of those weeks,” he said.  
“When it’s your week these things happen, but that birdie on the second hole got me settled into the round, especially with the par five coming up, it just confirmed to me that ‘yeah, I am playing well, and I just need to keep on doing what I’m doing.’”
At one point in the final round, six different players co-led the Kazakhstan Open  but Johnston pulled ahead with some impressive shot-making.
“The turning point was probably eight and nine. I birdied eight by driving it on the front of the green and then I hit a nine-iron to 15 feet on nine and holed the putt for eagle, which was a big moment because Crocker hit it in the water and made bogey so there was a three-shot swing there.”
Despite a late-charge from England’s Tom Murray, who ultimately finished in second place, Johnston, with rounds of 66, 67, 64 and 67 secured a two-stroke victory with a 72-hole total of 24-under-par 264 and the €72,000 winner’s cheque.
“I played great today, this is the best I’ve ever played I think, this whole week,” he said. “Coming into today I was awfully nervous, I’m not going to lie — with how much was at stake — but it’s been a fantastic day and it couldn’t have gone more accordingly to what I dreamed last night before going to bed.”
Starting the week in the 40^th position on the Road to Ras Al Khaimah, the 25 year old has now catapulted himself into the fourth position, and virtually locked up a European Tour card for next year.
The win — Johnston’s second of the season after claiming the Andalucia-Costa del Sol Match Play 9 — has exceeded even his own expectations.
“I started the season with no category at all, and was just playing off invites,” he said. “That first win was huge for me in taking the step onto the Challenge Tour and it seems like this one’s going to be a huge win in taking a step onto the European Tour.
“I couldn’t even imagine this was going to happen starting this year in January with the goals that I’d set for myself.”
There was a second Scot in the top 10 finishers - Calum Hill who earned 9,563 euro for a joint ninth place with scores of 68, 65, 71 and 67 for a 17-under 271.
The Challenge Tour now travels to Mallemort, France for the Hopps Open de Provence, which will be the 24^th event on the Road to Ras Al Khaimah.
With only four tournaments remaining before the Ras Al Khaimah Challenge Tour Grand Final, and significant moves made in the Rankings by the likes of Johnston and Murray, who himself rose to the 11^th position, the competition is set to turn red-hot down the home-stretch.
Final scores:
par 288 (4x72)

264 L Johnston (Sco) 66 67 64 67
266 T Murray (Eng) 70 65 66 65
267 S Crocker (USA) 66 68 62 71, T Lewis (Eng) 67 66 65 69 
270 R Langasque (Fra) 69 68 69 64, M Orrin (Eng) 66 65 70 69, N Kimsey (Eng) 70 63 68 69, M Hoey (NIre) 67 67 68 68
271 B Stow (Eng) 67 64 68 72, A Arnaus (Spn) 68 72 65 66, C Hill (Sco) 68 65 71 67, B Evans (Eng) 69 68 68 66
272 J Lima (Portugal) 68 65 70 69 
273 M Lampert (Ger) 65 68 70 70, D Perrier (Fra) 67 69 68 69, D Law (Sco) 69 65 71 68, J Hansen (Denmark) 71 64 69 69, V Perez (Fra) 69 69 68 67, G Porteous (Eng) 70 68 67 68,
274 J Carlsson (Swe) 69 69 69 67, G Moynihan (Ire) 68 71 65 70, M Kim (S Korea) 71 69 69 65, T Linard (Fra) 68 69 68 69, 75 V Riu (Fra) 70 69 69 67, S Soderberg (Swe) 70 68 73 64 
276 H Leon (Chile) 68 72 65 71, J Senior (Eng) 69 70 72 65, E Ferguson (Sco) 68 68 68 72, M Haastrup (Den) 66 72 70 68, E Johansen (Norway) 72 67 70 67, F Laporta (Ita) 69 69 69 69, M Schmitt (Ger) 69 68 69 70
277 P Maddy (Eng) 69 66 72 70, J Caldwell (NIre) 70 68 69 70, P Figueiredo (Portugal) 67 67 74 69, N Lemke (Swe) 70 66 71 70
278 R Kellett (Sco) 72 65 71 70, A Meronk (Poland) 67 68 75 68, A Rozner (Fra) 72 69 69 68, D Papadatos (Australia) 71 69 72 66 
279 C Feldborg Nielsen (Swe) 69 71 73 66, M Ovesen (Denmark) 70 69 69 71, A Knappe (Ger) 70 71 69 69, J Singh Brar (Eng) 66 75 73 65, D Huizing (Netherlands) 73 68 72 66
280 M Carlsson (Swe) 69 70 71 70, J Lando Casanova (Fra) 70 66 74 70, N Geyger (Chile) 70 69 66 75, W Besseling (Netherlands) 72 68 68 72 
281 L Scalise (Ita) 69 68 70 74, O Stark (Swe) 69 71 71 70, M Fenasse (Fra) 69 72 70 70,
282 M Schneider (Ger) 70 70 72 70, R McGowan (Eng) 68 73 72 69, C Sharvin (NIre) 68 71 73 70, V Osipov (Russia) 69 71 71 71 
283 K Samooja (Finland) 67 70 75 71, O Lindell (Fin) 73 67 70 73, R Roussel (Fra) 71 68 72 72, J Kunzenbacher (Ger) 72 69 70 72
284 L Nemecz (Austria) 69 69 70 76, J Sjöholm (Swe) 74 67 73 70
287 A Velasco (Spn) 70 70 78 69
288 R Davies (Wales) 70 71 78 69
289 S Forsström (Swe) 72 69 76 72
292 M Wiegele (Austria) 70 71 78 73
294 A Michael (SAf) 70 71 76 77
298 C Doak (Sco) 69 70 81 78

PRIZEMONEY BREAKDOWN

1	JOHNSTON Liam	SCO	-24	66	67	64	67	0	0	264	72,000	€ 72,000
	2	MURRAY Tom	ENG	-22	70	65	66	65	0	0	266	49,500	€ 49,500
	3	CROCKER Sean	USA	-21	66	68	62	71	0	0	267	29,250	€ 29,250
	3	LEWIS Tom	ENG	-21	67	66	65	69	0	0	267	29,250	€ 29,250
	5	HOEY Michael	NIR	-18	67	67	68	68	0	0	270	16,875	€ 16,875
	5	KIMSEY Nathan	ENG	-18	70	63	68	69	0	0	270	16,875	€ 16,875
	5	LANGASQUE Romain	FRA	-18	69	68	69	64	0	0	270	16,875	€ 16,875
	5	ORRIN Max	ENG	-18	66	65	70	69	0	0	270	16,875	€ 16,875
	9	ARNAUS Adri	ESP	-17	68	72	65	66	0	0	271	9,563	€ 9,563
	9	EVANS Ben	ENG	-17	69	68	68	66	0	0	271	9,563	€ 9,563
	9	HILL Calum	SCO	-17	68	65	71	67	0	0	271	9,563	€ 9,563
	9	STOW Ben	ENG	-17	67	64	68	72	0	0	271	9,563	€ 9,563
	13	LIMA José-Filipe	POR	-16	68	65	70	69	0	0	272	8,100	€ 8,100
	14	HANSEN Joachim B.	DEN	-15	71	64	69	69	0	0	273	6,525	€ 6,525
	14	LAMPERT Moritz	GER	-15	65	68	70	70	0	0	273	6,525	€ 6,525
	14	LAW David	SCO	-15	69	65	71	68	0	0	273	6,525	€ 6,525
	14	PEREZ Victor	FRA	-15	69	69	68	67	0	0	273	6,525	€ 6,525
	14	PERRIER Damien	FRA	-15	67	69	68	69	0	0	273	6,525	€ 6,525
	14	PORTEOUS Garrick	ENG	-15	70	68	67	68	0	0	273	6,525	€ 6,525
	20	CARLSSON Johan	SWE	-14	69	69	69	67	0	0	274	4,601	€ 4,601
	20	KIM Minkyu	KOR	-14	71	69	69	65	0	0	274	4,601	€ 4,601
	20	LINARD Thomas	FRA	-14	68	69	68	69	0	0	274	4,601	€ 4,601
	20	MOYNIHAN Gavin	IRL	-14	68	71	65	70	0	0	274	4,601	€ 4,601
	24	RIU Victor	FRA	-13	70	69	69	67	0	0	275	4,185	€ 4,185
	24	SODERBERG Sebastian	SWE	-13	70	68	73	64	0	0	275	4,185	€ 4,185
	26	FERGUSON Ewen	SCO	-12	68	68	68	72	0	0	276	3,780	€ 3,780
	26	HAASTRUP Mark Flindt	DEN	-12	66	72	70	68	0	0	276	3,780	€ 3,780
	26	JOHANSEN Eirik Tage	NOR	-12	72	67	70	67	0	0	276	3,780	€ 3,780
	26	LAPORTA Francesco	ITA	-12	69	69	69	69	0	0	276	3,780	€ 3,780
	26	LEON Hugo	CHI	-12	68	72	65	71	0	0	276	3,780	€ 3,780
	26	SCHMITT Max	GER	-12	69	68	69	70	0	0	276	3,780	€ 3,780
	26	SENIOR Jack	ENG	-12	69	70	72	65	0	0	276	3,780	€ 3,780
	33	CALDWELL Jonathan	NIR	-11	70	68	69	70	0	0	277	3,285	€ 3,285
	33	FIGUEIREDO Pedro	POR	-11	67	67	74	69	0	0	277	3,285	€ 3,285
	33	LEMKE Niklas	SWE	-11	70	66	71	70	0	0	277	3,285	€ 3,285
	33	MADDY Paul	ENG	-11	69	66	72	70	0	0	277	3,285	€ 3,285
	37	KELLETT Ross	SCO	-10	72	65	71	70	0	0	278	2,925	€ 2,925
	37	MERONK Adrian	POL	-10	67	68	75	68	0	0	278	2,925	€ 2,925
	37	PAPADATOS Dimitrios	AUS	-10	71	69	72	66	0	0	278	2,925	€ 2,925
	37	ROZNER Antoine	FRA	-10	72	69	69	68	0	0	278	2,925	€ 2,925
	41	FELDBORG NIELSEN Christopher	SWE	-9	69	71	73	66	0	0	279	2,520	€ 2,520
	41	HUIZING Daan	NED	-9	73	68	72	66	0	0	279	2,520	€ 2,520
	41	KNAPPE Alexander	GER	-9	70	71	69	69	0	0	279	2,520	€ 2,520
	41	OVESEN Martin	DEN	-9	70	69	69	71	0	0	279	2,520	€ 2,520
	41	SINGH BRAR Jack	ENG	-9	66	75	73	65	0	0	279	2,520	€ 2,520
	46	BESSELING Wil	NED	-8	72	68	68	72	0	0	280	2,115	€ 2,115
	46	CARLSSON Magnus A	SWE	-8	69	70	71	70	0	0	280	2,115	€ 2,115
	46	GEYGER Nico	CHI	-8	70	69	66	75	0	0	280	2,115	€ 2,115
	46	LANDO CASANOVA Jérôme	FRA	-8	70	66	74	70	0	0	280	2,115	€ 2,115
	50	FENASSE Mathieu	FRA	-7	69	72	70	70	0	0	281	1,815	€ 1,815
	50	SCALISE Lorenzo	ITA	-7	69	68	70	74	0	0	281	1,815	€ 1,815
	50	STARK Oscar	SWE	-7	69	71	71	70	0	0	281	1,815	€ 1,815
	53	McGOWAN Ross	ENG	-6	68	73	72	69	0	0	282	1,643	€ 1,643
	53	OSIPOV Vladimir	RUS	-6	69	71	71	71	0	0	282	1,643	€ 1,643
	53	SCHNEIDER Marcel	GER	-6	70	70	72	70	0	0	282	1,643	€ 1,643
	53	SHARVIN Cormac	NIR	-6	68	71	73	70	0	0	282	1,643	€ 1,643
	57	KUNZENBACHER Julian	GER	-5	72	69	70	72	0	0	283	1,463	€ 1,463
	57	LINDELL Oliver	FIN	-5	73	67	70	73	0	0	283	1,463	€ 1,463
	57	ROUSSEL Robin	FRA	-5	71	68	72	72	0	0	283	1,463	€ 1,463
	57	SAMOOJA Kalle	FIN	-5	67	70	75	71	0	0	283	1,463	€ 1,463
	61	NEMECZ Lukas	AUT	-4	69	69	70	76	0	0	284	1,328	€ 1,328
	61	SJÖHOLM Joel	SWE	-4	74	67	73	70	0	0	284	1,328	€ 1,328
	63	VELASCO Alvaro	ESP	-1	70	70	78	69	0	0	287	1,260	€ 1,260
	64	DAVIES Rhys	WAL	0	70	71	78	69	0	0	288	1,215	€ 1,215
	65	FORSSTRÖM Simon	SWE	+1	72	69	76	72	0	0	289	1,170	€ 1,170
	66	WIEGELE Martin	AUT	+4	70	71	78	73	0	0	292	1,125	€ 1,125
	67	MICHAEL Anthony	RSA	+6	70	71	76	77	0	0	294	1,080	€ 1,080
	68	DOAK Chris	SCO	+10	69	70	81	78	0	0	298	1,035	€ 1,035