Haydn Porteous overcame Lee Slattery in a thrilling final-day battle to win his second European Tour title at the D+D REAL Czech Masters.
The South African recorded his first top ten of the season last week at the Made In Denmark and brought that form to Albatross Golf Resort, signing for a closing 69 to get to 13 under and beat Slattery by two shots.
Slattery can now turn his attention to domestic matters with his wife more than a week overdue with the couple’s second child. Meanwhile, England’s Tom Lewis recorded the lowest round of the day with a 67 to sit at ten under alongside Swede Pontus Widegren.
Porteous almost opened with an eagle on the first as he spun his third inches past the hole and when he spun the ball back towards the target for the second hole running, he was in a share of the lead with Slattery.
Slattery started with six straight pars as those around him jostled for position but a lovely tee-shot on the par three seventh moved him ahead on his own again. The 39 year old then dropped his first shot in 27 holes as he three-putted the eighth to bring him level with Porteous once more.
As the lead changed during the back nine, Porteous put his tee-shot on the par three 16th to tap-in range but Slattery rolled home from 12 feet and it was now a two-horse race. With Porteous one shot clear, all that was needed was a par on the final hole to seal victory.
Englishman James Morrison started with five birdies in seven holes to get right into contention but lost momentum and signed for a 70 to finish at eight under alongside countryman Eddie Pepperell, Swede Oscar Lengden and Australian Jason Scrivener.
Lee Westwood was then at seven under alongside Scott Henry, Mike Lorenzo-Vera, Matteo Manassero and Callum Shinkwin.
Player Quotes
Haydn Porteous: “It was nerve-wracking at times and fun at times. I lost my swing towards the back nine but luckily I could find myself and managed to keep the birdies going and keep solid pars going.
“Slats (Lee Slattery) is a great guy, he is a real professional in the way he does everything and he is a tough opponent to play against because he is that solid, and hats off to him. He put a pretty decent round together and I can’t thanks him enough for a great day out there and a great memory to have.
“I said the first five holes I needed to come quite quick out of the blocks and try and shake Slats up a little bit, and I managed to do that, but unfortunately gave a shot up on the fourth but from there it was pretty solid and I didn’t really give him much room.
“It’s been a really torrid time through the last eight, nine months and I’ve really started doing the right things and slowly but surely the golf has got a little bit better.
“To get my second European Tour win under the belt just feels amazing. To start to feel as if I belong it’s a big step in the right direction and I need to just carry on doing what I’m doing.
“It’s just one tournament at a time, one shot at a time and just make sure I do the right things and be professional in the way I do everything. I’m sure this evening’s probably not going to be the most professional moment of my life but there’s nothing wrong with having a bit of celebration.”
Lee Slattery: “Obviously bitterly disappointed to have lost but Haydn (Porteous) is a good friend so it always makes it a little easier.
“I putted well the first few days and today it just let me down a bit. I missed a few short ones which I hadn’t done all week and that was the only difference really, I felt like I could have shot three under today – I had a couple of three putts at the wrong time – but overall on the back nine I played really solid.
“I hit a good tee shot down 15 and found that bunker which was a little bit frustrating to make bogey there, and I think that was the turning point.
“To have four weeks off, there has been a lot going on at home with the baby and moving house, so to come into this week and finish runner-up is a great achievement. I will always look back at that seven under par second round as one of the best rounds I’ve ever played in those conditions, but to shoot 73 in the last round and to lose by two is going to be tough to take.”
Pontus Widegren: “I played with Haydn (Porteous) yesterday, he played really solid so I knew I was going to have to play my very best to have a chance, but it was a good start and I felt like I was playing well, but I was very in the moment and tried to hang on as much as I could.
“I liked it a lot, it’s what you practice for. It’s what I have wanted to do all year really with all of the starts that I have had and I’m just very pleased to have put myself in this position.
“I’ve made some good progress with my long game especially and that’s what I need to compete out here. I am pleased with the process I am in right now and hopefully I can get some more chances.”
Final Scores
275 H Porteous (RSA) 70 69 67 69,
277 L Slattery (Eng) 72 65 67 73,
278 P Widegren (Swe) 67 72 69 70, T Lewis (Eng) 75 66 70 67,
280 O Lengden (Swe) 68 74 70 68, E Pepperell (Eng) 69 73 70 68, J Scrivener (Aus) 73 70 68 69, J Morrison (Eng) 68 70 72 70,
281 M Manassero (Ita) 69 73 69 70, C Shinkwin (Eng) 66 75 69 71, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 70 73 69 69, L Westwood (Eng) 70 72 71 68, S Henry (Sco) 71 73 67 70,
282 D Burmester (RSA) 70 74 67 71, N Bertasio (Ita) 70 73 70 69, C Hanson (Eng) 68 66 75 73, G Porteous (Eng) 70 75 69 68,
283 M Foster (Eng) 70 74 69 70, P Peterson (USA) 69 73 72 69, J Fahrbring (Swe) 71 71 72 69, B Ritthammer (Ger) 69 73 69 72,
284 M Wiegele (Aut) 69 73 68 74, J Dantorp (Swe) 70 70 73 71, F Aguilar (Chi) 68 71 72 73,
285 G Bourdy (Fra) 69 71 77 68, D Frittelli (RSA) 67 74 70 74, R Gonzalez (Arg) 70 72 72 71, J Donaldson (Wal) 69 73 72 71, J Winther (Den) 74 68 68 75, J Rutherford (Eng) 70 74 70 71, C Berardo (Fra) 72 69 74 70, J Edfors (Swe) 74 70 70 71, A Björk (Swe) 71 73 70 71,
286 E Van Rooyen (RSA) 69 74 70 73, C Braeunig (Ger) 74 70 71 71, N Johansson (Swe) 74 71 71 70, J Suri (USA) 68 74 68 76,
287 K Horne (RSA) 70 75 69 73, B Dredge (Wal) 71 74 72 70, J Ahlers (RSA) 68 73 76 70, J Allan (Eng) 73 69 71 74, D Im (USA) 71 72 71 73,
288 N Cullen (Aus) 72 71 73 72, C Ford (Eng) 69 74 71 74, J Heath (Eng) 67 78 70 73, L Bjerregaard (Den) 69 74 72 73, M Wallace (Eng) 72 73 72 71, S Manley (Wal) 72 73 68 75, S Gallacher (Sco) 75 70 74 69,
289 R Green (Aus) 72 73 70 74, S Soderberg (Swe) 72 71 70 76, R Echenique (Arg) 70 75 70 74, R McEvoy (Eng) 74 70 70 75,
290 J Thomson (Eng) 71 70 68 81, M Fitzpatrick (Eng) 70 72 73 75, B Hebert (Fra) 72 72 73 73, T Detry (Bel) 72 71 72 75, D Perrier (Fra) 73 71 74 72,
291 J Sjöholm (Swe) 73 70 74 74,
292 S Lee (Kor) 69 76 73 74, S Dyson (Eng) 70 73 72 77, S Tiley (Eng) 74 71 72 75, J Smith (Eng) 72 72 73 75, S Khan (Eng) 69 74 75 74,
294 P Angles (Esp) 71 74 69 80,
297 T Pieters (Bel) 71 71 72 83,
301 J Van Der Vaart (Ned) 73 72 78 78,
302 P Khongwatmai (Tha) 73 72 73 84,
303 Z Lombard (RSA) 70 71 80 82,
146 R Paratore (Ita) 71 75 0 0, P Karmis (RSA) 68 78 0 0, M Nixon (Eng) 73 73 0 0, J Stalter (Fra) 70 76 0 0, G Bhullar (Ind) 70 76 0 0, C Pigem (Esp) 73 73 0 0, R Evans (Eng) 70 76 0 0, R Langasque (Fra) 77 69 0 0, M Fraser (Aus) 72 74 0 0, N Kimsey (Eng) 69 77 0 0, D Fox (Aus) 75 71 0 0, F Mruzek (Cze) 69 77 0 0, A Korinek (Cze) 75 71 0 0,
147 B Rumford (Aus) 72 75 0 0, P Meesawat (Tha) 74 73 0 0, M Orrin (Eng) 75 72 0 0, J Guerrier (Fra) 73 74 0 0, S Webster (Eng) 72 75 0 0, W Ormsby (Aus) 72 75 0 0, L Canter (Eng) 75 72 0 0, M Kaymer (Ger) 71 76 0 0, J Daly (USA) 74 73 0 0, M Lafeber (Ned) 74 73 0 0, M Jonzon (Swe) 73 74 0 0, A Karlsson (Swe) 72 75 0 0,
148 R Santos (Por) 73 75 0 0, R Kakko (Fin) 73 75 0 0, J Lima (Por) 73 75 0 0, M Korhonen (Fin) 74 74 0 0, C Lee (Sco) 68 80 0 0, N Fasth (Swe) 72 76 0 0, M Armitage (Eng) 73 75 0 0, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 72 76 0 0, G Boyd (Eng) 77 71 0 0, A Rai (Eng) 72 76 0 0,
149 N Holman (Aus) 76 73 0 0, R Dinwiddie (Eng) 74 75 0 0, O Farr (Wal) 75 74 0 0, G King (Eng) 73 76 0 0, E Dubois (Fra) 74 75 0 0, G Hurley (Irl) 73 76 0 0, C Shih-Chang (Tpe) 75 74 0 0, J Kruger (RSA) 72 77 0 0,
150 D Clarke (Nir) 74 76 0 0, R Johnson (Swe) 77 73 0 0, R McCarthy (Aus) 73 77 0 0, B Virto (Esp) 73 77 0 0, L Robinson (Eng) 74 76 0 0, A Connelly (Can) 74 76 0 0, P Gal (Cze) 73 77 0 0,
151 O Wilson (Eng) 77 74 0 0, D Brooks (Eng) 74 77 0 0, L Tintera (Cze) 72 79 0 0, J Walters (RSA) 72 79 0 0, D Boonma (Tha) 77 74 0 0, P Waring (Eng) 77 74 0 0, J Cafourek (Cze) 75 76 0 0, R Gruber (Aut) 76 75 0 0,
152 P Dedek (Cze) 72 80 0 0, R Karlsson (Swe) 76 76 0 0, S Heisele (Ger) 72 80 0 0, C Suk (Cze) 75 77 0 0,
153 O Lieser (Cze) 75 78 0 0, P Nic (Cze) 75 78 0 0, M Pospisil (Cze) 77 76 0 0, P Maddy (Eng) 75 78 0 0,
154 S Walker (Eng) 76 78 0 0, P Tangkamolprasert (Tha) 71 83 0 0, D Stewart (Sco) 76 78 0 0, B Evans (Eng) 75 79 0 0,
155 J Parry (Eng) 73 82 0 0,
156 D Suchan (Cze) 79 77 0 0, P Valasek (Svk) 81 75 0 0, M Warren (Sco) 78 78 0 0,
157 R Finch (Eng) 80 77 0 0, J Friesz (Svk) 82 75 0 0, A Chesters (Eng) 78 79 0 0, A Maestroni (Ita) 76 81 0 0,
160 A Knappe (Ger) 77 83 0 0,
161 R Kumpost (am) (Cze) 81 80 0 0,
163 J Pokorny (Cze) 80 83 0 0,
165 V Kostelka (am) (Cze) 85 80 0 0,
166 M Zapletal (am) (Cze) 83 83 0 0,
** B Etchart (Esp) 82 RT 0 0, F Fritsch (Ger) 73 DQ 0 0, D Lipsky (USA) 73 DQ 0 0, D Siwy (am) (Cze) 77 WD 0 0,
