Scotland’s Marc Warren secured his second European Challenge Tour sudden-death play-off victory in three weeks after defeating Englishman Denny Lucas at the first extra hole at the Golf Club de Genève to collect the €17,000 top prize at the Rolex Trophy and continue his remarkable march up the Rankings.
Before his maiden professional win at the Ireland Ryder Cup Challenge at the end of July, Warren was lying in 84th place on the Challenge Tour Rankings, but after his stunning run of form in the past three weeks he now finds himself in seventh position with earnings of €59,816 – and, as a result, within touching distance of a place on The 2006 European Tour.
Warren and Lucas both carded final round scores of under par 71 to post four round aggregates of 16 under par 272, leaving them tied at the top of the leaderboard – three strokes clear of Englishman Benn Barham and Toni Karjalainen of Finland, with Argentine Daniel Vanscik a further shot back in fifth place.
With their scorecards signed and verified, Warren and Lucas headed the short par four 16th to determine a winner. Lucas took driver off the tee and was dreadfully unlucky as he watched his tee shot plug 25 feet to the left of the green when it looked likely to pitch and run up to the putting surface.
Warren struck a poor tee shot, slicing a two iron that was fortunate to stay in bound and out of the nearby water hazard. The Scot made amends for his wayward drive immediately though, producing a brilliant approach that came to rest just 15 feet from the cup, from where he rolled in his birdie putt to pile the pressure on Lucas, who could not get up and down for a half.
Victory was particularly pleasing for Warren given the strength of the field at the Rolex Trophy, a unique event featuring the top 33 players on the Challenge Tour Rankings and played in a Pro-Am format.
The former Walker Cup winner spoke after his victory in Ireland about the dramatic swing improvements he has made since his recent link up with coaching guru Bob Torrance, and he also gave credit to another of his fellow countryman, European Tour player Alistair Forsyth, after lifting the Rolex Trophy.
Warren has been practising alongside Forsyth at the Mearns Castle Golf Academy in Scotland, and reckons that the more experienced Scots tips and advice have helped him improve his overall performance on the course even further.
“It’s great to win again so soon after Ireland,” smiled Warren, who, on top of a cheque for €17,000 wins a gold Rolex watch for finishing on top of the pile in Switzerland.
“As I said after Ireland, I owe a lot to Bob Torrance for helping with my swing, and I have been speaking a lot to Alistair Forsyth recently who has a lot of good advice.
“Alistair has been there and won on The European Tour, and it always helps to have someone of his experience to listen to. We have been using the same practice facilities at Mearns Castle and I have been able to take on board a lot of what he has been saying to me.
“I’m in a great position on the Rankings now, but you don’t just stop there. The new goal is to try and guarantee a place in the top ten come the end of the year, or, if I can manage to win again, then I would be on Tour immediately with three Challenge Tour wins in the same season.”
