Jordi Garcia-Pinto finished the weather-affected Rolex Trophy with a flourish, closing with a round of 66 to ensure a top five finish and a sizeable share of the spoils.
The Spaniard, who won the Barclays Kenya Open at the start of the season, came into the week in 17th place in the Challenge Tour Rankings, but climbed into the all-important top ten after finishing on 16 under par at Golf Club de Genève, in the Swiss city of Geneva.
Garcia-Pinto’s birdies came in bursts, with three in succession from the fourth hole and again from the 11th, before darkness descended and brought a premature halt to proceedings on Saturday night.
Garcia-Pinto returned to the course on Sunday morning, and after a bogey at the 14th hole he rallied bravely with gains at the 15th and 18th holes to sign off in style.
He said: “I’m very happy, but there’s always the feeling when you come close to winning that you could’ve done more. After three-putting the 14th this morning, I played really well so it was a good way to finish the week.
“Unfortunately it’s not quite enough to win the tournament, but the way I played gives me a lot of confidence to take into the rest of the season. I’ve been playing well lately, made a lot of cuts but didn’t hole many putts. I changed putters this week and it worked well for me, so I’ll be staying in the bag now!”
