Jarmo Sandelin recorded a final round of 65 to win his first Staysure Tour title at the MCB Tour Championship – Mauritius at Constance Belle Mare Plage, the final event of the 2019 season.
The Swede came from four strokes behind at the beginning of play to clinch his maiden over 50s title, and his first victory since the 2001 BMW Asian Open, with a seven under par final round to beat overnight leader James Kingston by three shots.
Sandelin started his final 18 holes of the season with four birdies in his opening six holes, including back-to-back gains at the third and fourth. He reached the turn at two under par after a double bogey at the par four ninth but responded in stunning style on the back nine.
The 1999 Ryder Cup player made five consecutive birdies from the 11th to the 15th, racing up the leaderboard and 36-hole leader Kingston. Even when he dropped a shot at the par three 17th, he responded with a birdie at the 54th hole to set the clubhouse target at 12 under par.
With the South African unable to reach the score, Sandelin was crowned the winner of the MCB Tour Championship – Mauritius, becoming the 12th player to win on the European Tour, the European Challenge Tour and the Staysure Tour.
“It’s been a long time since I last won,” said Sandelin. “There has been a lot of practise balls, a lot of tears, and a lot of hard work in the gym. It’s nice to final come through and win, especially in Mauritius as it’s the final tournament of the year.
“It was the start I wanted to have. I dropped two shots on the ninth after hitting it into the water, but I bounced back with five straight birdies from 11 to 15, so that was the key today.
“I felt after my fifth birdie in a row that I might have a good chance to win. I then knew that if I made a final birdie at the last then I had a good chance of winning the title.
“All the players on the Staysure Tour are so good and I had a fantastic feeling this week and now I know that my game is good enough to win tournaments. I also had my son, Lukas, on the bag, which makes it an even better feeling.”
Kingston carded a level par round to finish second, but the result was enough to see him crowned King of the Swing as the top-performer in the Indian Ocean following a share of seventh place in Madagascar and a runner-up finish in Seychelles.
A stroke behind Kingston in a tie for third was a group of three players, including Jean-François Remesy, defending champion Clark Dennis and Phillip Price, who was crowned Staysure Tour Number One and awarded the 2019 John Jacobs Trophy at the conclusion of play.
Spaniard Carl Suneson finished in sixth place while Miguel Angel Martin, David Shacklady, Steen Tinning and Paul Lawrie, who made four birdies in his closing five holes to finish 11th on the Order of Merit, and in doing so, won the 2019 Rookie of the Year award.
