Scotsman David Patrick made it a tartan double on the European Challenge Tour as he secured the Skandia PGA Open title in a sudden-death play-off with England’s Stuart Davis – only two hours after his compatriot Marc Warren had won the Rolex Trophy in extra holes.
Patrick carded a final round of one over par 71 to join Davis on eight under par 272 after the regulation 72 holes at the Arlandstad Golf Club, forcing the two players to settle the tournament in sudden-death.
The halved the first extra hole in par and then second with a pair of bogeys before Davis forced his approach over the back of the third green, while Patrick played a great approach to set up an eight foot birdie chance.
With Davis unable to get up and down for par, Patrick was left two putts for the title, which he duly accepted, lagging his birdie opportunity down towards the hole before tapping in for a maiden professional victory.
Patrick secured the first prize of €17,193 to move to 35th place on the Rankings – a position from where the Scot hopes to improve upon in the coming weeks as he bids to break into the top 20 in search of a place on The 2006 European Tour.
“Hopefully we can push on from here,” said Patrick. “This win has been a long, long time in coming and I am just glad to finally get over that hurdle. There is still work to be done to try and get the card for next year but I have given myself a chance.
“I felt alright out on the course today – perhaps I didn’t drive the ball as well as I had done for the first three rounds, which meant I couldn’t attack as many pins as I had done previously, but I still played some good stuff at points.
“I made a few crucial par putts from around three and four feet today which was very pleasing – and the par three on 17 was vital because I had made a mess of the tee shot and things were getting a little bit nervy coming down the stretch. I was very happy with my mental approach this week – I was a lot more relaxed than I have been on the course before and I think that made a difference for me.”
Malaysia’s Ian Steel shared third place with Swedish Amateur David Palm on six under par, with Irishman Colm Moriarty, Finland’s Jaako Makitolo and Englishman Edward Rush in a tie for fifth place a shot further back.
