Simon Lanfermann, known in-game is birchi, claimed his first eTour tournament victory last night after defeating reigning eTour champion, golfx3 in what was an enthralling final.
🎉 Congratulations to birchi, the winner of yesterday's European eTour: BMW PGA Championship and the $5,000 grand prize!
— WGT Golf (@wgtgolf) September 10, 2021
Join the European eTour by playing in the Nedbank Golf Challenge, going on now: https://t.co/Q7psudiFGN pic.twitter.com/lP12E54UO2
Those watching were gripped by a match of the highest quality. golfx3 found himself 2 holes to the good with seven to play and must have been feeling confident of claiming his seventh eTour career victory.
However, an inspired birchi produced a stunning comeback to square the game through 16. A brilliant second shot to within inches of the hole saw the man from Germany move 1 up with 1 hole to play.
birchi’s birdie putt on 18 just slipped by on the low side leaving golfx3 with a chance to take the match into extra holes. The six time winner was never going to miss, and duly took the chance to extend the match into extra holes.
Birdies were exchanged on the first and second with both players maintaining a high standard of play.
The third extra hole is where birchi delivered a hammer blow. An uncharacteristic mistake by golfx3 opened the door for birchi who proceeded to hit his approach shot to within inches of the hole, meaning golfx3 had to hole a 50-foot birdie putt to stay in the match. The put slipped by, meaning birchi was the champion and with it a $5,000 cheque and all-important Global Finals rankings points.
Shortly after the final, a visibly emotional birchi said:
“I’m just exhausted, I am so glad I won the tie breaker after the putt on 18”
Lanfermann also heaped praise on his mental coach, who he has been working with since the start of the year.
“It is mostly down to him” he said. He continued, “we have been working together for a while now and its great to see the work paying off”.
Birchi’s semi-final win came over debutante BlaisAlex. A tighter affair than the other semi, birchi prevailed by two holes. This was an early sign of his new found ability to perform under pressure in the big moments.
Golfx3 had also shown great form heading into the final with an outstanding performance over Young46 in the semi-final match. Gordley took the game convincingly 4&3 in what was billed as the match between the two best players in the field prior to the event.
Following the final golfx3 was happy with his performance.
“I am playing better; I just have to keep practicing and getting better.”
The next eTour event comes from the Nedbank Golf Challenge, with qualification now underway on wgt.com/etour.
You can rewatch the drama on the European Tour’s YouTube channel here.
