Last year’s Turkish Airlines Open got the European Tour Final Series underway in style, with the winning score surpassing 20 under par for the second time in three years. Victor Dubuisson’s total of 22 under reaffirmed the affinity the Frenchman appears to have with this tournament, having also claimed his other European Tour title at the event in 2013.
Jaco van Zyl had been one shot clear and looking to complete a wire-to-wire victory as he stood on the 17th tee. However, Dubuisson birdied the last two holes to finish one shot clear of the South African and move to seventh in the European Tour Race to Dubai standings.
The emotion of winning overcame Dubuisson and he was reduced to tears on the 18th green after tapping in his birdie putt.
“It's so hard because there were so many personal reasons why I didn't play that much this year,” he said after his round.
“I was really counting on this Final Series to give me some confidence back because I completely lost it a few months ago. I was just missing everything.”
Van Zyl, who shot an opening round of 61, spoke in glowing terms about Dubuisson after his victory.
“Victor played some amazing golf on the back nine and when you do that you deserve to win the tournament,” he said.
This year’s event will be played at Regnum Carya Golf & Spa Resort in Antalya. It’s the first of three events comprising the Final Series, followed by the Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player and the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
