Renato Paratore won his first European Tour title as he held off the challenge of Chris Wood and defending champion Matt Fitzpatrick to claim the Nordea Masters at Barsebäck Golf and Country Club.
The Italian entered the final day a shot behind Wood, and showed real guts to save par on the last three holes and sign for a 70 and an 11-under-par total, leaving the Englishman needing a par up the last to set up a play-off.
With the 20 year old looking on from the clubhouse, Wood hooked his tee shot into the trees and recorded a bogey, leaving Paratore to become the youngest winner on Tour since fellow countryman Matteo Manassero won the BMW PGA Championship in 2013.
Fitzpatrick had birdied the last to sign for a 68, and set the target at ten under on a rainy day in Malmö, but ultimately fell a shot short of a play-off.
South Africa’s George Coetzee had started the final day seven shots off the lead, but set the course record with a brilliant 66 containing nine birdies, the last of which was a stunning chip-in on the 15th. He still held the lead as the final group started the back nine, and at one point there was a five-way tie for the lead between Donaldson, Olesen, Wood and Paratore.
It was the latter two who broke out of the pack, as they recovered from shaky starts, with Paratore having bogeyed the third but he got back under par for the day thanks to an excellent tee shot on the par-three eighth and a right-to-lefter on the ninth. Wood had made bogeys on the first, third and seventh, but birdied the sixth and ninth to turn in 37, before a six-footer on the tenth had him back in that share of the lead.
Paratore took advantage of the par-five 12th, before Wood repeated the trick, but it was Paratore who edged ahead again with a 25-foot putt on the 14th.
An excellent approach to the 16th moved Wood back into a share of the lead, while Paratore made clutch putts for par on the 16th and 17th in what was proving to be a nervy finish. Another good par save followed on the last, and when Wood had to take a drop after sending his final tee-shot into the trees, the trophy belonged to Paratore.
“It feels amazing to be in the winner’s circle with Italians like the Molinaris, Manassero and Rocca,” said Paratore, whose victory in his 83rd European Tour appearance took him to 131st in the world rankings. “It was a little bit stressful at the end. Chris is a really solid player, so I was expecting a play-off.”
Wood was understandably deflated after his final hole collapse, but took heart from the fact that his second-place finish moved him to 60th in the world rankings, and qualified him for this month’s US Open. “That final round summed up how I felt my game was this week,” he said. “I’ve been fighting my swing all week, and probably surprised myself with a lot of the good shots I hit. Your flaws come out when you’re under pressure. It’s obviously disappointing, but it should nudge me up the world rankings and back into the US Open, and that’s what I came here to do.”