Scotland’s Andrew Oldcorn dedicated an emotionally-charged second European Senior Open title to a close friend after beating England’s Paul Broadhurst in a play-off to win the WINSTONgolf Senior Open.
Oldcorn, an eight-time runner up on the Senior Tour, went into the final day one shot behind leaders Magnus P Atlevi and Peter Fowler but carded five birdies en route to a final round 69 and an eight under par total.
Broadhurst raced up the leaderboard, setting a new course record with a 67 and forcing Oldcorn to make a birdie putt on the last hole for a play-off.
On the second extra hole, Broadhurst ran into difficulty as he found a fairway bunker with his drive and then failed to locate the green with his third shot, giving Oldcorn two putts to take the title.
“I’m absolutely ecstatic,” said Oldcorn. “The biggest thing for me today was keeping my focus. I had a wobble at the start of the back nine and was lucky to get away with just one bogey. I knew when I got to 18 I would have to make birdie, and that was pretty straightforward.
“The first putt I holed in the play-off was symptomatic of how I putted all week. I holed a succession of those 15-footers all week, and it’s what you need to do to win tournaments.
“I can’t say how much this means to me. Me, my family, and those who are big supporters of mine have had a really tough winter off the course.
“I want to dedicate this win to a really good friend of mine who is suffering with his health, Trevor Lawrence. He’s been one of my biggest supporters over the last 30 years, and I want to dedicate this to him.”
“I hadn’t started the season too well. But I had some massive encouragement this week from my wife, Kirstin, from a distance. She caddied for me in Switzerland, and knew I was playing well. I’d also like to mention Kathleen Kettles, who has been immense with me off the course over the last six months.”
In a three-way tie for third place were Atlevi, Fowler and home favourite Bernhard Langer, who closed with a superb eagle for a seven under par aggregate final score.
“I feel good, I’m just a little disappointed with my putting, but it was pretty good for the last two and a half rounds,” said Langer.
“I got off to a rough start, I was three over par after ten holes but played extremely good golf in the windy conditions.
“The eagle was nice. It was a beautiful arena on the 18th green with lots of people watching, and it was nice to finally make a putt.”
Welshman Mark Mouland and England’s Paul Wesselingh finished a shot further back on six under par.
