Miles Tunnicliff completed an emotionally charged victory in The Great North Open at De Vere Slaley Hall, his maiden European Tour success, 13 years after he turned professional.
The diminutive Englishman, who will be 34 on Sunday, carded a final round 69, the only man to break 70 on a demanding, windswept day on the Hunting Course, for a nine under par total of 279 and victory by four shots from Germany’s Sven Strüver, who closed with a 73 for 283.
Welshman Bradley Dredge and England’s Malcolm Mackenzie, who himself tasted the delight of victory for the first time only last month in the Novotel Perrier Open de France, shared third on four under par 284 after respective closing rounds of 70 and 71. But the day was all about Tunnicliff.
The Challenge Tour player, who started the day in 280th place on the Volvo Order of Merit, moved to 65th after securing the first prize of 155,960 euro (£100,000) and, more importantly, gave himself a two year exemption on The European Tour International Schedule.
That would have been enough to prompt the tears of joy he shed moments after stepping off the 18th green, but the fact he lost his inspirational mother Pam to cancer only a fortnight ago and had promised to go and win a tournament in her memory, made the raw emotion all the more understandable.
“What happened to my mother made me dig in a little bit more and try that little bit harder,” he said. “She gave me quite a bit of positive strength. She was positive right to the end, so I just took as much from that out on the golf course this week.
“I actually got into the Compass Group English Open a couple of weeks ago but had to turn that down. But I had been at home for four weeks trying to support her and do as much as I could but she told me get out there and play and do as well as I could and I thought that was the best thing I could do. Two days before she died she told me to go out and win a tournament so I had to get out here and try to do just that.”
Tunnicliff’s fairytale looked like coming apart when he bogeyed the opening hole after finding sand but he soon got back on track with a 30 foot birdie putt on the third. Then, when the Englishman chipped in for birdie on both the fifth and eighth, it gave him the feeling it just might be his day.
When Tunnicliff bogeyed the ninth and Strüver, in the match ahead, birdied the tenth and 11th, the Englishman’s lead was down to two, but when the German bogeyed the 12th and Tunnicliff birdied the 11th, his lead was back to four shots and a controlled performance to the end saw him complete a memorable victory.
Strüver said, “I was going for the flags on the back nine, I had to because I knew he was doing well up front, but I couldn’t achieve it, couldn’t get close enough to put any real pressure on him.”
However third placed Dredge summed up the general feeling in Northumberland about one of the most popular winners of the season on The European Tour. “Miles is a lovely guy and it great to see him get his first win after what he has gone through,” said the Welshman.
As regards the future of the tournament, Brendan Foster, Managing Director, Nova International, said: “The 2002 event has been a year of consolidation for The Great North Open at De Vere Slaley Hall and, particularly with our new partnership with The European Tour, we are looking to move the tournament forward in future years.
“We have been encouraged by the level of spectators over the four days of the tournament, and, once again, the reaction of the players to the standard of the golf course and the De Vere Slaley Hall Hotel facilities has been extremely positive.”
George O’Grady, Deputy Executive Director of The European Tour, said, “It is of fundamental importance that The European Tour has an event in the North of England and we were delighted to become partners with Nova International at The Great North Open.
“We have worked with Brendan Foster and Nova International for a number of years now, and we applaud their ambition to make The Great North Open one of the flagship events on the Tour.
“Our first year working in a business partnership with Nova International has been successful and both parties now look forward to taking The Great North Open to a higher level.”
