Kristoffer Broberg announced his arrival on the Challenge Tour stage with an emphatic victory in the Finnish Challenge.
In just his second Challenge Tour appearance, the 26 year old blew away the rest of the field at Kytäjä Golf, a three under par final round 68 giving him a 15 under par total and a six shot victory from Dutchman Wil Besseling.
Broberg posted three birdies on the front nine to open up a six shot advantage, and despite three bogeys on the back nine he enjoyed the luxury of a five shot lead playing the last and birdied it for good measure.
“It’s an amazing feeling and I’m very happy,” said the Stockholm man, who earned €27,200 in prize money to move from 148thto 29thin the Rankings. “I was confident in myself and I’ve been playing well this season, but I never expected a win on the Challenge Tour to come so soon.
“I wasn’t nervous at all today. I felt very calm and knew that I just needed to play the same way as I’ve played the last three rounds. With such a big lead, I knew it would be difficult for the other guys to catch me.
“This is close to my best form, but I think I can get better. Now the goal is to finish in the top 20 in the Rankings and get a European Tour card.”
Broberg has played eight times this season on the Nordic League, the Scandinavia-based satellite tour, and has an impressive record; of the seven cuts he has made, he has won twice and not finished outside the top eight.
His only other Challenge Tour appearance came at the AllianzOpen Côtes d’Armor Bretagnein May, where he was ninth, and he has played twice in the Nordea Masters, a European Tour event, at his home course, Bro Hof Slott, finishing 29thin 2011 and 30ththis year.
“I’ve had some great results on the Nordic League this year so I’m just happy I was able to play the same way on the Challenge Tour,” added Broberg. “This win means I can play the rest of the season on the Challenge Tour, as before my category only got me into one event so far.”
Besseling was happy to secure his best finish of the season, but was disappointed not to have put more pressure on his rival in the last round.
“Kristoffer played very solidly today and I didn’t play well enough to win,” he said. “It was always going to be tough being five shots behind at the start of the round, but I started off well and was three under after five holes. But Kristoffer was also three under, so I hadn’t made up any ground on him.
“My driver broke on the seventh, so when we had the short break for lightning, I was able to borrow one. It worked okay, but it wasn’t my own.
“I chipped in for birdie on the 16thto go three shots behind, but overall I wasn’t able to put enough pressure on Kristoffer and that’s a bit disappointing.”
Swede Bjorn Åkesson closed with a 68 to take third place on eight under, one shot ahead of American Peter Uihlein.
