GREGORY BOURDY WITH THE WALES OPEN TROPHY. Picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c)
FROM THE BBC SPORT WEBSITE
Frenchman Gregory Bourdy, a former winner of the Scottish youths title as an amateur, produced a brilliant finish to win the Wales Open at Celtic Manor, the first qualifying event for next year's Ryder Cup.
The world number 173 birdied each of his final three holes to beat overnight leader Peter Uihlein by two shots and take his fourth European Tour title. Bourdy, 31, finished eight under par after a four-under final round of 67.
"It was an amazing round. I'm going to remember this finish for a long time," he said
American Uihlein finished two shots behind after losing his commanding overnight lead.
Dane Soren Kjeldsen was a shot further back in third, while England's John Parry tied for fourth on three under. Uihlein began the day three shots clear of Bourdy and another Frenchman, Thomas Levet, but had fallen two behind after playing his first 10 holes in two over par.
The 24-year-old regained the advantage when Bourdy, whose last European Tour win was at the 2009 Hong Kong Open, bogeyed the 13th and 14th, a birdie on the 15th taking him back into the lead.
However, Bourdy holed a curling 40ft birdie putt on the 16th and another from 12ft on the 17th to reclaim the lead, only for Uihlein to respond with a lengthy birdie putt of his own on the 17th.
Another birdie looked unlikely on the par-five 18th when Bourdy's approach came up 30ft short of the hole, but the 31-year-old promptly holed that putt as well to finish eight under par.
Watching from the fairway behind, Uihlein knew he now needed to match that birdie to force a play-off, but sent his putt six feet past the hole and missed the return to finish with a bogey.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71)
276 G Bourdy (Fra) 67 72 70 67
278 P Uihlein (USA) 69 70 67 72
279 S Kjeldsen (Den) 69 74 70 66
281 J Parry (Eng) 71 69 73 68, J Luiten (Ned) 73 68 69 71
282 G Storm (Eng) 72 67 72 71, D McGrane (Irl) 70 71 70 71
283 B Rumford (Aus) 72 69 72 70, P McGinley (Irl) 70 69 77 67, M Korhonen (Fin) 71 70 70 72, G Fdez-Castaño (Esp) 70 75 69 69, S Benson (Eng) 76 70 69 68, A Hansen (Den) 71 71 70 71, S Wakefield (Eng) 70 74 70 69
284 R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 71 68 71 74, E De La Riva (Esp) 71 70 71 72, R Rock (Eng) 68 73 73 70
285 T Van Der Walt (RSA) 67 71 74 73, S Dyson (Eng) 76 69 72 68, B Koepka (USA) 72 71 73 69, J Edfors (Swe) 72 69 74 70, E Grillo (Arg) 68 76 70 71, M Baldwin (Eng) 74 72 70 69, A Levy (Fra) 71 69 77 68, P Waring (Eng) 72 70 71 72
286 J Walters (RSA) 71 71 69 75, D Higgins (Irl) 74 70 71 71, P Hedblom (Swe) 72 72 66 76, T Jaidee (Tha) 71 74 72 69, T Levet (Fra) 75 67 67 77
287 M Foster (Eng) 67 75 71 74, C Paisley (Eng) 74 69 70 74, M Nixon (Eng) 72 71 68 76, C Doak (Sco) 72 70 76 69, O Fisher (Eng) 71 72 72 72, D Drysdale (Sco) 70 73 72 72, S Chowrasia (Ind) 72 70 75 70, C Lee (Sco) 77 67 70 73,
288 C Wood (Eng) 66 75 73 74, A Tadini (Ita) 70 72 75 71, R Green (Aus) 66 76 70 76, F Aguilar (Chi) 72 72 71 73,
289 M Tullo (Chi) 74 70 71 74, S Jamieson (Sco) 74 72 74 69, L Bond (Wal) 69 68 78 74, J Lara (Esp) 73 70 75 71, J Campillo (Esp) 71 73 72 73, A Hartø (Den) 72 72 72 73, A Kaleka (Fra) 71 72 70 76, R Bland (Eng) 75 71 71 72,
290 M Ilonen (Fin) 69 74 75 72,
291 A Snobeck (Fra) 73 71 71 76, M Kieffer (Ger) 69 75 74 73, R Wattel (Fra) 72 74 73 72, S Hansen (Den) 72 73 70 76, R Enoch (Wal) 73 70 73 75, G Maybin (Nir) 71 75 73 72,
292 J Quesne (Fra) 73 69 77 73, J Lagergren (Swe) 74 72 72 74, T Björn (Den) 72 73 74 73, A Marshall (Eng) 71 72 81 68,
293 R Fisher (Eng) 71 71 74 77, E Kofstad (Nor) 64 74 76 79,
294 R Coles (Eng) 69 73 79 73, S Arnold (Aus) 72 74 69 79, R Santos (Por) 70 76 73 75,
295 M Carlsson (Swe) 72 74 68 81,
296 R Jacquelin (Fra) 70 71 80 75, E Pepperell (Eng) 77 69 71 79, C Cévaër (Fra) 70 72 80 74,
297 P Erofejeff (Fin) 71 74 76 76,
298 M Jonzon (Swe) 71 74 74 79,
300 A Dodt (Aus) 71 75 74 80
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONSPublished by scottishgolfview.com
