And golf once again defied logic. Neither Ewen Ferguson nor John Parry. The winner of the Soudal Open was Kristoffer Reitan. It is his first victory on the DP World Tour and he becomes the second Norwegian to win on the European circuit after Viktor Hovland. He is 27 years old. For this to happen, many things had to occur at the Rinkven International Golf Club in Antwerp.
The first of all is that Reitan signed the round of his life. He shot 62, nine under par, a course record. The comeback of the year. He started nine shots behind Ferguson and managed to force the playoff after finishing at -13. He went out to play three hours before the leading group. Impressive. He achieved ten birdies and one bogey. His six-under stretch from holes 7 to 13 was monstrous.
The Norwegian golfer, based on the Costa del Sol, posted a score of -13 that put a lot of pressure on those ahead. John Parry (-10) had a bad day and played over par. And Ewen Ferguson, in a way, ‘gave away’ the victory. The Scot had it in his hands after a prodigious bunker shot on the 16th hole. He made the birdie and took a one-shot lead with the par 5 of the 17th ahead. He was unable to make the birdie there and finished with a painful bogey on 18, hitting the second shot with a wedge. It’s golf, and it’s very difficult to win. Even for a player who already has three victories on the DP World Tour.
Ferguson’s bogey on the 18th opened the doors to the playoff against Reitan and Darius Van Driel, who achieved a small feat by finishing with three consecutive birdies to also get into the fight for victory. The three tied the first playoff hole with par, and on the second, Reitan prevailed with a magnificent birdie, hitting the best shot from the tee, the best second shot, and sinking the birdie putt from about three metres. The putt of his life. The round of his life. We will now see if this victory marks a turning point in the career of a player who was highly promising in his amateur days.
As for the Spaniards, they never really got into the fight for victory, despite Reitan coming from even further back than Nacho Elvira, Manu Elvira, and Ángel Ayora. Finally, the best classified were Manu Elvira and Ángel Ayora, both with -8 after submitting cards of 69 strokes. Eleventh place. Manu had a very orderly round, with three birdies and a solitary bogey. He didn’t play as well from tee to green as on Saturday and lacked a bit of inspiration with the putter. Something similar happened with Ayora. If we remove the short putts that slipped away from him this week from the equation, he would have been fighting for victory with the three who went to the playoff. Nacho Elvira signed a round of 70 strokes for a total of -7. Top 20.
