South Africa’s James Kingston ended a five-year wait for this first senior tour title when winning the Sergio Melpignano Senior Italian Open at San Domenico Golf in Pugila.
The 55-year-old battled down the stretch with Joakkim Haeggman at the Legends Tour event, with the pair tied on 11 under on the 17th tee. However, the Swede dropped a shot at that hole and Kingston parred his way to take the title by a single stroke with a closing 68 to Haeggman’s 71.
Peter Wilson, who fired a seven-under 65 on the final day, shared third on nine under with fellow Englishmen John Bickerton and David Shacklady, and Italy’s Emanuele Canonica.
Kingston, who won twice on the European Tour in the late 2000s, was delighted to have returned to the winner’s circle for the first time since 2009, having come close on a number of occasions on the Legends Tour, including four runner-up finishes in 2019.
“I feel like I’ve had a monkey on my back for a while, so I’m delighted to have finally got rid of it,” Kingston said, whose season was interrupted in May after contracting Covid. “It was a tough contest. I think the fact that the weather was so good today meant that everybody is going to play well and you had to go shoot a low score.”
He added: “I guess we’re still learning, even at this age. For me, it’s just trying to stay in the moment. Early on in the week I got frustrated because I wasn’t making any putts, especially the first round and halfway through the second round, and I was a little verbal about some of the putts, but Gary Marks gave me a little pep talk and that definitely helped.”