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Eugenio Chacarra wins KLM Open with closing birdie
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Eugenio Chacarra wins KLM Open with closing birdie

Eugenio Chacarra birdied the 18th hole on Sunday to win the 2026 KLM Open by one stroke.

Oliver Lindell had put the pressure on the long-time leader as a round of 69, capped by a birdie of his own, took him alongside Chacarra at 10 under par.

But the Spaniard responded in kind with an excellent approach setting up a two-putt from around 20 feet to seal the crown at The International in Amsterdam.

"Shot of my career, maybe!" he said of the approach.

"That was a little 'tweener' but with adrenaline I'm going to try to hit this one hard, it flew 10-15 longer than we thought. So, proud to see the ball land on the green and then took a nice first putt to give me a putt that you always dream of, a putt that you can't really miss to win a tournament."

Dropped shots for overnight leaders Sebastian Söderberg at the first hole and Chacarra at the third allowed Marcus Armitage and Maximilian Steinlechner to take a share of the lead with two birdies apiece.

Söderberg also birdied the fourth but as the turn approached, the momentum swung firmly back towards Chacarra. The Spaniard birdied the eighth and ninth to take a three-stroke lead at 11 under, with Söderberg dropping two shots in three holes while Armitage and Steinlechner suffered a run of bogeys.

Chacarra's bogey at the 12th, after finding thick rough off the tee, gave hope to the chasing pack - and Lindell moved closer with a birdie at the 14th to go alongside Julien Guerrier in second as Söderberg dropped a shot.

Just when a response was needed, though, Chacarra sent his approach close to the 14th to turn the screw with a birdie.

Eugenio Chacarra 2280346462

Lindell and Steinlechner - who both birdied the 15th, the Austrian after a stunning approach from 168 yards to within a foot - had moved into position as the main challengers at nine under and eight under respectively.

Chacarra bogeyed the 16th but Steinlechner fell foul of the difficult par-three 17th, where Lindell's par kept him one off the lead.

Chacarra went desperately close to a virtual clinching birdie at the 17th, which would have been only the fifth of the day on that hole, and Lindell asked the question with a closing birdie to move alongside him at the summit as the Spaniard prepared to hit his approach shot.

He duly found the back of the green and ran his first putt down close to the pin, taking deep breaths as his playing partners finished up before the tap-in to clinch his second DP World Tour win, after last year's Hero Indian Open.

It sparked wild celebrations and Chacarra said: "(I was thinking about) all the people that have been with me through my career.

"It's nice to win with my dad here. He's given everything for me since I was little so it was something very unique and I think of him, for sure."

Chacarra spoke after Saturday's round of how he relishes tough conditions and Sunday in Amsterdam certainly delivered, with high winds throughout.

The low round of the day was just a three-under-par 68 from Marcel Siem, while only eight players shot in the 60s.

"Obviously it's something we can't control but the wind was there, it was changing and it was tough," Chacarra said.

"The pins were really tough, I thought, today, tough to hit it close after a good shot and there was always something close to them so like I said, we had a good gameplan, tried to be in the safe spot.

"The only one I didn't do very good was the 16th, I thinned it a little, I wanted to be five long and I mis-hit it and went to probably one of the worst spots, but I'm very proud of how I played the 17th and 18th holes, the hard work I've been doing, and it came through."

Lindell, who birdied three of the last four holes and has made the cut in all 16 of his DP World Tour starts this season, was left to settle for second on his own while Angel Ayora eagled the last to join Steinlechner, Söderberg and Joe Dean in third on eight under.

Julien Guerrier and Danny Willett were a further shot back with the top ten completed by Yanhan Zhou at six under and Lindell's fellow Finn Sami Välimäki at five under.

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