Thomas Pieters may have been faced with a late supper after the weather delayed final round of the 2020 Celtic Classic but a late birdie blitz at The Celtic Manor Resort ensured the big hitting Belgian was eating for free.
Making his first start since the coronavirus hiatus, the 2016 Ryder Cup star led after the first round in Wales and was making a big move on day three before a triple bogey on the 15th left him with a mountain to climb on Sunday.
He was level par for his final round after 14 holes but a stunning four birdie finish in the vanishing light after a two hour weather delay catapulted him up the leaderboard and into a share of third at 15 under.
That is a very respectable return for a first event since the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in March, and it was double delight for Pieters as his blistering finish meant dinner was on his caddie Adam Marrow.
"My caddie said if I go two under through the last four then he’ll buy me dinner tonight, so I get free dinner," he said.
"It’s always a bit testing with your caddie, getting the numbers right. We did an okay job this week.
"It’s nice to start after five months off with a top ten. We had a bit of a slip up yesterday but still, happy overall.
"At the beginning of the day when it was a bit warmer, my grips were still slippery. I had a lot of trouble this week, I don’t know why, I’ve never really had that much trouble with it. After the restart helped me because it was colder and I could grip it and I felt a lot more at ease. I hit a lot better golf shots."
