Played for the first time last year, The Princess produced drama aplenty as England’s Andrew Butterfield opened with an eight under par round of 62 to take the event by the scruff of the neck.
Having followed up with subsequent rounds of 69 and 67 Butterfield went into the final day with the cushion of a six-shot shot on the field, and with his maiden title seemingly a formality. But three bogeys on the front nine and a double bogey after the turn saw Butterfield fall back into the pack, only for a nerveless six foot birdie putt on the final hole to end 13 years of hurt as he secured his maiden victory by one stroke, having first joined the Challenge Tour in 1996.
The following day, Henrik Stenson and Adam Scott thrilled the crowds at Båstad GK with an exhibition match. Stenson topped the Challenge Tour Rankings in 2000, thanks largely to a hat-trick of victories, since when no fewer than 19 of his compatriots have followed his lead by earning promotion to The European Tour via the Challenge Tour Rankings – though only Johan Edfors in 2003 was able to match his achievement of graduating as the Number One.
The Princess was established by one of the Challenge Tour’s most successful graduates, Stenson. The Swede, who won the Rankings in 2000, was the first former Challenge Tour player to win a World Golf Championship event at the 2007 WGC – Accenture Match Play Championship.
