The Final of Genworth’s Putts4Charity Challenge Series reached an epic conclusion at the Turkish Airlines Open as Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood, Miguel Angel Jiménez and Pablo Larrazábal helped raise €12,000 for global orphanage SOS Children’s Villages.
The new-look Putts4Charity format, introduced for the 2013, saw Tour players teaming up with representatives from Genworth and The Tour Players’ Foundation to form two-man teams who compete against each other on the specially constructed Putts4Charity putting greens.
This year’s Challenge Series was staged at the Ballantine’s Championship, BMW PGA Championship, BMW International Open and Italian Open, with Genworth taking a 3-2 lead over the Players’ Foundation into the Final at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal Golf Resort and Spa.
With four matches to play and four points available in the Final, the Series was set for a thrilling conclusion. Team Captains Larrazábal (Genworth) and Westwood (Tour Players’ Foundation) chose the pairings for the four matches with Genworth’s Global Managing Director Peter Barrett taking on European Tour Charity Executive David Park in match one.
Genworth guest David Fike then took on Turkish Airlines Open Tournament Director Miguel Vidaor in match two, before Larrazábal and Westwood were followed by Jiménez and Stenson, respectively representing Genworth and the Players’ Foundation, in matches three and four.
Matches one and four were tied after four holes, but Vidaor and Westwood won two vital points to give the Tour Players’ Foundation a 4-3 lead. With only one point required to give the Tour Players’ Foundation team an unassailable lead, Park duly delivered at the first extra hole to seal a Series victory for The European Tour.
Following celebratory handshakes, the eight players gathered for a photocall with the €12,000 donation cheque to SOS Children’s Villages. The players were also presented with a cheque for €1,126,327, highlighting the grand total raised by Putts4Charity since its inception in 2007.
That remarkable total was raised at Putts4Charity events by a number of different initiatives. Every member of the public who holed a ‘one put’ on the Putts4Charity greens saw a €1 donation made on their behalf, while every ‘one putt’ made by the professionals during tournament play at Putts4Charity events was worth €2.
Appearances by European Tour players for the Putts4Charity Challenge Series were worth €2000 per appearance, while Larrazábal, Westwood, Jiménez and Stenson’s support of the 2013 Final in Turkey was rewarded with a €3000 donation per player.
