Frenchman Victor Perez won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews after fending off the challenge of Londoner Matthew Southgate on a breezy and cold afternoon on the Old Course.
Paired together in the final group, and enjoying a two-stroke lead heading into the final day, the Perez and Southgate were locked together for much of the afternoon, with the Englishman taking a narrow one-stroke lead going into the back nine. Southgate doubled his lead when Perez bogeyed the 11th, but the 27-year-old Frenchman, who lives in Dundee, battled back into a share of the lead at the par-five 14th, which he birdied while his rival could only manage a bogey.
Southgate saw his chance of claiming his first European Tour title at the 140th attempt when he three-putted the par-four 17th to give Perez a one-shot cushion heading down the last. Both players founds the green in relegation, but Southgate’s 25-ftoo paired attempt missed its mark, leaving Perez with a two shots from 10 feet to capture his first European Tour title, which he duly did to finish on 21 under par for the week.
Southgate was left to rue his missed opportunity, but could console himself with securing his European Tour card for next season after what has been difficult year to this point.
“It’s been a horrible season for me, but this has sorted that right out and got me right back up the Race to Dubai rankings, which was the goal this week,” he said. “I think I’ve proven to the world this week that when I do switch it on, I can mix it with the best, and I’ve beaten a hell of a lot of good players this week. I felt amazingly calm all week, which is quite a surprise. I thought I might be a little more excited, but I kept a great rhythm with my swing and didn’t really miss a shot all day apart from a couple that I hit too well and went past the flag.”
Tommy Fleetwood put together one of the best rounds of the final day with a 64 to finish in a share of fifth on 19-under-par, but he had left it too late to catch Perez. However he and amateur partner Ogden Phipps edged out Rory and Gerry McIlroy to claim the Team Championship. With rounds of 62 and 61 respectively, both teams ended on 39-under-par for the tournament – meaning that Fleetwood’s brilliant individual score of 64 decided it ahead of McIlroy’s final round 67.
Final scores:
266 V Perez (Fra) 64 68 64 70,
267 M Southgate (Eng) 65 66 65 71,
268 P Waring (Eng) 65 68 65 70, J Lagergren (Swe) 69 62 68 69,
269 T Fleetwood (Eng) 66 69 70 64, J Smith (Eng) 64 68 68 69, J Wang (Kor) 70 65 66 68, M Jordan (Eng) 66 64 71 68, T Lewis (Eng) 70 70 65 64,
270 A Pavan (Ita) 68 65 67 70, T Finau (USA) 67 66 66 71, L Donald (Eng) 68 68 64 70, C Shinkwin (Eng) 72 68 63 67, R Ramsay (Sco) 65 67 70 68,
271 A Noren (Swe) 69 66 68 68, H Hall (Eng) 70 68 68 65, R Knox (Sco) 66 66 70 69, E Pepperell (Eng) 70 66 68 67, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 68 65 72 66, S Lowry (Irl) 73 66 64 68, M Wallace (Eng) 70 68 68 65, T Hatton (Eng) 66 68 67 70,
272 T Detry (Bel) 72 69 63 68, L Bjerregaard (Den) 67 68 66 71, H Li (Chn) 71 68 64 69,
273 R Macintyre (Sco) 71 66 66 70, Z Lombard (RSA) 67 68 71 67, M Fitzpatrick (Eng) 69 67 67 70, C Hill (Sco) 66 65 70 72, D Willett (Eng) 72 66 66 69, R McIlroy (Nir) 70 66 70 67, P Harrington (Irl) 69 68 66 70, V Dubuisson (Fra) 68 67 70 68,
274 S Soderberg (Swe) 71 64 69 70, S Horsfield (Eng) 72 67 68 67, J Rose (Eng) 68 64 70 72, R Karlsson (Swe) 67 70 67 70, D Burmester (RSA) 73 68 66 67, O Wilson (Eng) 72 67 68 67,
275 J Luiten (Ned) 69 67 71 68, T Pulkkanen (Fin) 65 68 74 68, O Fisher (Eng) 68 69 70 68, M Kinhult (Swe) 66 70 70 69, R Gouveia (Por) 70 67 67 71, J Catlin (USA) 72 65 69 69,
276 M Pavon (Fra) 68 71 68 69, B Hebert (Fra) 73 64 67 72, F Zanotti (Par) 66 71 70 69, S Jamieson (Sco) 69 66 72 69, W Besseling (Ned) 68 67 71 70, D Horsey (Eng) 68 67 72 69,
277 J Veerman (USA) 72 63 70 72, L Slattery (Eng) 68 66 72 71,
278 R Fox (Nzl) 64 68 73 73, A Rai (Eng) 68 66 69 75,
281 J Guerrier (Fra) 69 69 69 74, G Forrest (Sco) 72 70 65 74,
282 R Karlberg (Swe) 69 68 68 77, A Quiros (Esp) 70 70 66 76,
284 R Jacquelin (Fra) 69 69 67 79,