Richard Mansell (-16) can finally shout from the rooftops that he is a winner on the DP World Tour. In fact, that’s exactly what he did after sinking his birdie putt on the 18th hole to seal his victory at the Porsche Singapore Classic. His first.
It was a shout of rage, of release. He won by one stroke over Keita Nakajima (-15). Meanwhile, Manu Elvira (-11) was the best Spaniard in ninth place, his first top 10 of the year and the second of his career on the DP World Tour.
Mansell has finally broken through. Interestingly, he almost won in his second tournament on the European circuit back in 2020, shortly after golf resumed during the pandemic. He finished second at the Euram Bank Open. Who knows if he thought then that his first win wouldn’t take long. However, nearly five years and 101 tournaments have passed. In fact, back in 2020, his victory seemed closer than now, as his start to 2025 hadn’t been stellar either: five cuts in eight tournaments and an eleventh place at the South African Open as his best result. His last top 10 was at the Czech Masters last August. Just tenth. At 29, he only had one victory on the third-tier EuroPro Tour.
Mansell built his victory on a manageable Laguna National Golf Resort in Singapore with a magical one-hour burst. He strung together five consecutive birdies between holes 4 and 8 and took control. He was the first to break the deadlock in a very tight leaderboard. From there, it was about holding on and finishing the job, something that hasn’t been easy for him in recent years.
The luck for Mansell is that none of those at the top had their most inspired day. Saddier took ages to get going, McKibbin stalled halfway, Erickson came to a halt after the 10th, Zanotti fell out of contention with two bogeys on the 7th and 9th, and Matthew Jordan paid dearly for his proverbial inconsistency. It was the Japanese Keita Nakajima (-15) who emerged as the Englishman’s main rival with a fabulous round of 65 coming from behind. Beyond the result, he played the best today in Singapore, in very manageable conditions after the rain the previous night and some rather strange decisions regarding course setup, especially moving the tee on the 16th forward by about 50 metres and the pin position on the 17th in the centre of the green.
Mansell had the chance to secure his first victory on the DP World Tour without much stress. He missed a clear birdie chance on the 15th, just over a metre, and also let a good opportunity slip on the 17th. It seemed like old ghosts were hovering around him again, but the reality is he played the 18th hole, a par 5, by the book. With Nakajima’s score already in the clubhouse, he hit the fairway off the tee, played a good second shot to the green, albeit far from the pin, and took two putts. He probably would have liked a closer par putt than those delicate nearly two metres… No matter. It all fades away when you can finally let out that liberating shout.
As for the Spaniards, it wasn’t a Sunday to remember. Manu Elvira (-11) was the best of ours with a valuable top 10, but neither he nor his brother Nacho (-9) managed to start the round as needed to really get into the fight. At least, Manu found his great moment midway through the round. He strung together an extraordinary sequence of birdie, birdie, eagle between holes 10 and 13 and, suddenly, almost out of nowhere, he gave himself a chance.
He actually got within two strokes with five holes to go, but couldn’t keep it going. That’s where the production stopped. In fact, he finished with a bogey on the 17th and a par on the 18th, preventing him from finishing higher. It’s a good result, but the final taste is bittersweet.
The best of ours in the final round was Alex del Rey (-10). Another good performance in Singapore. The Madrid native was just outside the top 10, but the finish was also a bit flat. He got to six under after ten holes. It seemed he might be the one to blow the tournament wide open coming from behind. However, from the 2nd hole onwards, he also stalled. A bogey and a birdie to finish, although his round is notable, the fourth best of the day.
