Darius van Driel returns to the site of his best European Challenge Tour result hoping he can rediscover the form that saw him finish as a runner-up at last year’s Vierumäki Finnish Challenge.
The Dutchman carded a five under par final round of 67 to rise up the leaderboard at Vierumäki Resort, putting himself into contention for a maiden title on Europe’s developmental tour.
The 28 year old, who won the Nordic Golf League’s Order of Merit in 2015, came close to featuring in a play-off, with eventual champion Sam Walker needing to bogey the last to take the tournament to extra holes.
As Walker drilled home a birdie putt to claim a two-shot win, van Driel dashed off to the airport in a bid to catch his flight – which me made with five minutes to spare.
With those memories still fresh in the mind, van Driel is excited to return to a course he thrived at just 12 months ago.
“I had a good time last year,” said van Driel, who finished tied second in Finland last season. “I had a really good final round to put myself right up there and I just caught my flight by five minutes as I was waiting to see if I was in a play-off.
“If Sam bogeyed the last I would have been in a play-off, but he made birdie, so I had to rush straight to the airport to catch my flight.
“It was a really good experience to come so close to winning, and that result meant I qualified for the Rolex Trophy – it was great to do that in my rookie year.
“I have great memories from Finland and hopefully I can produce a similar performance this year.”
After an excellent debut Challenge Tour season that saw van Driel finish in 34th place on the 2016 Road to Oman, the man from the Netherlands represented his country alongside Joost Luiten in the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf before finishing tied sixth at the Australian PGA Championship.
Following an exceptional ending to 2016, van Driel admits he has struggled for form this season – but believes returning to Vierumäki will give him a much-needed boost.
“It has been a rough season so far,” he said. “I changed equipment at the start of the season, and I am still fiddling with things a little bit.
“I tried to improve from last year which was really busy after I played in the World Cup and the Australian PGA, but so far this season hasn’t been what I expected.
“I have made a few cuts, missed a couple of cuts, but hopefully going back somewhere I have done well before will give me a boost.
“I know the course well – so that gives me something to hold on to. Hopefully the weather is the same as last year as I like playing in the wind.
“Joint second was my best finish on the Challenge Tour, so I definitely have good hopes for this week – let’s see if I can turn it around.”
