Argentina’s Rafael Gomez secured his second European Challenge Tour title of the season, and moved to the top of the Rankings with a stunning final round of eight under par 63 that left him one shot clear of Sweden’s Johan Edfors at the XX Tessali-Metaponto Open di Puglia e Basilicata.
Gomez put together one of the best final round performances of the season so far, coming home in just 30 strokes with a blistering back nine that began with an eagle two at the 341 yard tenth hole and then continued with a further four birdies in the next five holes.
The 37 year old from Buenos Aires kept his cool with three pars over the closing three holes to complete the back nine in 30 and add that score to his front nine 33 for an 18 under par 267 winning total, worth €19,200.
Edfors had a similarly strong finish to that of his third round, picking up two birdies in his last three holes, but his final round 68 was eclipsed by Gomez’s wonderful finish.
The Swede took second place, and winnings of €13,200, comfortably, finishing three clear of Frenchman Raphael Pellicioli and England’s Sam Walker who shared third place. England’s Andrew Butterfield and Steven Jeppesen of Sweden tied for fifth on 13 under.
The day certainly belonged to Gomez, who made the tournament his own with that memorable finish at this, the 20th anniversary of the Tessali-Metaponto Open di Puglia e Basilicata.
The Argentine adds the Tessali crown to the 47th Abierto Mexicano de Golf title he claimed at the start of the season, and now moves to the summit of the Challenge Tour Rankings with earnings of €71,714 in eight appearances.
Gomez is close to securing a place on The 2006 European Tour as one of the Challenge Tour’s top 20 for the year. He leads Ireland’s David Higgins (€66,380) at the head of the Rankings, with England’s Richard McEvoy rising to third place with €54,991 after his tie for eighth place at Riva dei Tessali.
