Barry Lane overcame his self-proclaimed “terrible play-off record” by birdieing the second extra hole to win the Senior Italian Open at Villaverde Resort.
The Englishman, who lost three play-offs on the European Tour, and also previously came up short in a marathon six-hole play-off at the 2014 MCB Tour Championship on the Staysure Tour, produced some of his best golf when it mattered the most—birdieing the final hole of regulation, and then repeating the feat on the second extra hole to defeat an inspired opponent in Frenchman Marc Farry.
“I’ve been just terrible in play-offs, but you can’t worry about that,” he said. “You’ve just got to play your game and keep your foot to the pedal.”
Lane stiffed his approach in the second hole of extra time, and then walked in his eight-foot birdie putt when it was halfway to the cup.
“I watched a couple of the guys putt that one, and as soon as it was a few feet from the hole, I knew it was in,” he noted.
The win marks Lane’s seventh victory on the Staysure Tour and also adds to the five European Tour trophies he has lifted in his career.
The 58-year-old last won on the over-50s circuit in 2017, at the Willow Senior Golf Classic, but his triumph in Italy might not have happened had it not been for a long car ride in America, following a disappointing performance at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship last week.
“I actually played so poorly the last few weeks,” he said. “I had a very long, six-hour drive from Rochester to the airport in New York and I said to my wife Camilla, ‘You know, I’ve always been the same. When I practice really hard and work on something I can’t get it out of my mind and I go out onto the golf course trying to do that, instead of just playing golf.’
“So I said, ‘Next week that’s all I’m going to do is just play golf and try to score, and that’s exactly what I did.’”
Despite never leading the Senior Italian Open until it was over, Lane hung around the top of the leaderboard, carding only four bogeys for the week, and was ultimately thrilled with his effort.
“That’s why we’re out here—to win golf tournaments, that’s all we want to do,” he said. “It’s an amazing feeling, you never lose the love of this feeling, because you never know, the standard out here in incredible.”
The victory moves Lane to third on the Staysure Tour Order of Merit, while last year’s winner—and Number One coming into this week—Paul Broadhurst, was overtaken by José Coceres, who began the day tied for the lead with Farry, but fell off before birdieing three of his last four holes to finish in a tie for third.
Despite the play-off defeat, Farry has moved into the top five on the Order of Merit and will look to carry his fine form and newfound confidence onto home-soil next week when the Staysure Tour heads to northern France for the inaugural Arras Open Senior Hauts de France by Jean van de Velde at Arras Golf Resort in Anzin-Saint-Aubin.
