Laurie Canter claimed a long-awaited maiden DP World Tour title with an emotional triumph at the European Open in Germany.
The 34-year-old from Bath entered the final round at Green Eagle GC in Hamburg in a two-way tie at the top of the leaderboard but made a slow start on the Porsche Nord Course, playing his first ten holes in one over par.
But he held his nerve on the back nine with three birdies to sign for a one-under 72 and finish on 13 under, two shots ahead of Bernd Wiesberger and Thriston Lawrence.
Canter has had four runner-up finishes on the DP World Tour, including at the Mauritius Open earlier this season, and he was delighted to finally get over the line on a tense final day in Hamburg after another top-10 at last week’s Soudal Open in Belgium.
Canter said: I’ve always wanted to win on the DP World Tour, and now that I’ve done it it’s going to open up some opportunities for me. If I’m going to try and climb the world rankings and get myself up and playing in the biggest tournaments in the world. You have to win and I think you only get that belief once you do it. Hopefully it means I can push on and go from strength to strength.”
It’s certainly been a strange time for Canter, who joined LIV Golf in 2022, and played as a reserve on the breakaway tour in 2023 as a reserve. He tried to qualify for a place back on the Saudi-backed league for the 2024 season but lost in a play-off at a qualifying event in Abu Dhabi and returned to the DP World Tour at the beginning of this season.
Speaking about his run of near misses over his career, he added: “It’s quite difficult if you feel like you’re not getting it over the line and to have that stigma around you. I’ve always known that I was good enough to win out here, but when you start listening to what others are saying about you it can mess with your head. My realisation was to focus on what my close friends and family are thinking of me and be more immersed in that versus trying to win for someone on Twitter. That’s probably helped me.
“Today I holed a great putt on 15 and 16, those sort of things were happening for me today and from my perspective I kept putting one foot in front of the other. I know how to play golf, I just kept telling myself that.”
For all the scores from the European Open, click here.