Joakim Lagergren (-12) found himself with a victory this Sunday that was not in any calculation three holes from the end of the Indoor Golf Group Challenge, a Challenge Tour tournament that has been held at the Landeryds Golfklubb – Vesterby Links, in Sweden.
It seemed that all was said and done in favour of his compatriot Mikael Lindberg (-10). After making a birdie on hole 15, Lagergren also did so, playing together in the last match of the day, Lindberg had a three-stroke lead with three holes to go. A comfortable cushion. Something unusual had to happen for the film to have a different ending than it pointed to. And it happened…
Lagergren contributed his bit with a birdie on the 16th, but above all it was Lindberg himself who threw shovelfuls of gravel over himself. He finished on the 17th with a bogey after sending the ball into the water and, even with a one-stroke lead on the 18th, he self-destructed with a triple bogey on the 18th. Par 5. A hole that from the tee has a tense out of bounds on the right and where you can get tangled up approaching from the escape area also on the right. Devastating.
It’s a bittersweet victory for Lagergren. Very happy because it is his second win in less than a month (he won the Irish Challenge in early August) and he is one win away from automatically moving up to the DP World Tour, the same situation in which Rasmus Neergaard -Petersen, John Parry and Joel Moscatel find themselves. And where Lindberg himself would have been had he won the tournament. However, the bad taste is inevitable when you win against a collapse of such magnitude from a compatriot and playing at home…
Lindberg has not even been able to finish in second position. He has gone from being -14 with two holes to go to finishing with -10, two strokes behind Lagergren and one behind Jesper Sandborg (-11), another Swede, who finished in second place alone. At least, Lindberg has the consolation of having practically secured the DP World Tour card through the top 20 of the Road to Mallorca.
Unaware of the drama that has been lived at the head, Javier Barcos (-5) has completed a brilliant performance in the second tournament of his career on the Challenge Tour, just finished his university stage in Utah, United States, and still being an amateur. The young golfer from Navarre, from Estella, 22 years old, has finished in twelfth position after handing in a card of 69 strokes in the last round. He finished with a great partial of three under in the last nine holes, with two final birdies on holes 17 and 18. It’s a shame that he has just missed out on the top 10, a result that would have allowed him to play next week without needing an invitation. In fact, he does not currently have an invitation to play in Poland next week.
Be that as it may, this good result from Barcos only confirms his decision to turn professional in the coming weeks. In addition, it boosts his confidence before the start of the DP World Tour School, where he will try to get a category on the Challenge or in the first division. He leaves Sweden with three rounds under par and one just above the par of 72 strokes. A great week where he has shown himself to be the solid, consistent and reliable player that he already showed in Salt Lake City.
As for the rest of the Spaniards, only Ángel Ayora (-2) has been able to play under par this Sunday, with a card of 70 strokes. He has got into the top 30 and will add an interesting handful of points for the Road to Mallorca, where he is lurking in the top 20. On the opposite side is Álvaro Hernández Cabezuela (+1). He started from the fourth position, with options even to fight for the victory, but a disastrous Sunday, adding 80 strokes, has made him lose many positions to finish in 50th place.
Further back have finished Alejandro Cañizares (+6), Emilio Cuartero (+9) and Javier Sainz (+10).
