Hamish Brown carded a final round one under par 71 to claim the third HotelPlanner Tour victory of his career and rise to the top of the Road to Mallorca Rankings at the Hangzhou Open.
A closing double bogey was all Brown needed to get over the line, finishing on 21 under par, one-stroke ahead of compatriot Kristian Hjort Bressum, who finished in solo second.
The Dane was relieved to seal victory on a testing day at Hangzhou West Lake Golf Club.
“It’s hard to describe the emotions I’m feeling right now,” he said. “It was definitely the toughest one I’ve had of my three wins.
“Today was a proper grind from the very first shot basically. I’m over the moon but a really hard day today.”
The challenge Brown faced was heightened after the first hole, with a bogey meaning the two-stroke lead he started the day with was narrowed to one.
Birdies followed for the 54-hole leader at two and four, but another dropped shot on six meant he turned in level par with his advantage over Bressum only one shot.
But the now Road to Mallorca number one found his rhythm on the back nine, with birdies on ten, 15 and 17 seeing him playing the 72-hole with a three-stroke lead that was needed, after a three-putt led to a double bogey six and a winning margin of just one.
“I don’t know how many people have tried three-putting from six feet to win but I tried that today so that was kind of fun now but not fun when it happened,” he added.
“It was a different wind direction today, really tough pins and as I said in the other interviews this is not an easy golf course.
“If you’re not from the fairway, especially to the pins we had today, you’re struggling to make birdies and you can very easily make bogeys because the run-offs are right there.
“I think that’s what made it hard on the nerves as well.”
Brown’s other two wins on the HotelPlanner Tour both came in 2024, when the Dane tasted victory at the Kaskáda Golf Challenge before notching his second win at the Hainan Open on his way to graduating to the DP World Tour.
But the 27-year-old said that his win today, being the first one that he has won when holding the lead after round three, provided a different challenge.
“I tried to lean on the experience from my previous wins but not really because this was sort of different. I’ve never won from having a lead and that’s kind of annoyed me for a while now, but now I have.
“The other two were different because in Hainan I could just free-wheel it and see how far I got and a bit the same in Czech Republic.
“Here, I wasn’t trying to protect it, but I am trying to protect it anyway somehow. It was a really hard day.
“I really don’t know what it is about China that brings out the best in me. Good food, great golf courses, good people and good fun.”
The Dane said he enjoyed the battle against compatriot Bressum, with the runner up earning his way into the Grand Final this week, where Brown now heads top of the Rankings.
“It was nice to have him right there and kudos to him he played great golf, he’s a great guy and he’s come a long way this year having his first year out here so well done to him.
“We’re not done yet. It’s nice to be there, I’ll have the last tee time on Thursday in Mallorca but that’s really it. We’re not done, I’m trying to win that thing and see what happens.
Italian Lorenzo Scalise and Dutchman Lars van der Vight finished in a tie for third at 18 under par, with the top five rounded out by Peruvian Julian Perico, Frenchman Julien Brun, Belgian Matthis Besard and Sebastian Friedrichsen from Denmark, all finishing a shot further back.
The top five of the Road to Mallorca behind Brown now sees Christofer Blomstrand in second, with van der Vight third followed by Pablo Ereño and Tapio Pulkkanen. American Alex Goff finished in 45th, the last man going to Mallorca.
Brown now leads the top 45 finishers in the season-long Rankings to the Grand Final at Club de Golf Alcanada, to be played from October 29th to November 1st, where who earns the 15 available DP World Tour cards will be decided.
