Matthew Zions captured last year’s Saint Omer Open by a comprehensive seven shots. Here, in an excerpt from The European Tour Yearbook 2012, we recap how the Australian claimed his maiden European Tour title in France.
Matt Zions carved his own niche in European Tour history with a record breaking seven shot maiden victory in the Saint-OmerOpenpresented by Neuflize OBC.
The previous biggest winning margin in the dual ranking tournament between The European Tour and the Challenge Tour had been Christian Nilsson’s six shot triumph in 2009 but the Australian’s weekend rounds of 67-69 helped him romp out of sight of the rest of the field on eight under par 276.
The 32 year old started the final day three shots clear of a trio of players and was never seriously troubled as he became the 37th different Australian golfer to win on The European Tour as well as also, significantly, extending Australia’s run of consecutive winning years on The European Tour to 28, dating back to the 1984 season.
England’s Danny Denison, one of the trio who started the day closest to Zions, carded a final round 73 which was good enough for a share of second place on one under par 283 with Sweden’s Peter Gustafsson and Craig Lee of Scotland who signed off with rounds of 69 and 72 respectively.
It continued the encouraging rehabilitation of Denison, the 26 year old from Leeds, who suffered a badly broken leg in a car accident during the MAN NÖ Open on the European Challenge Tour in July 2007.
To order your copy of The European Tour Yearbook 2012, a 240-page, full colour hardback Official Publication with iconic pictures by Getty Images and essays from some of the game's top writers that takes you every step of the way through 52 tournaments and 29 destinations on The 2011 Race to Dubai, click here.
