Frenchman Anthony Snobeck kept his cool to secure the first victory of his European Challenge Tour career in a sudden-death play-off with Welshman Kyron Sullivan at the Tessali-Metaponto Open di Puglia e Basilicata.
After both players had finished the regulation 72 holes in 14 under par, they went back to the 18th tee at Riva dei Tessali to determine the winner.
Snobeck, who had come through the field like an express train over the weekend with final scores of 65-66 to force Sullivan into extra holes, maintained a competitive calm as he made par to take the title and the €19,200 first prize.
Both players hit solid tee shots in the shoot-out for the title, rightly erring on the side of caution with irons off the tee. Sullivan was first to hit his approach, but the Welshman, who had bogeyed the same hole 20 minutes previously to allow Snobeck into the play-off, struggled again and left himself a difficult 30 foot downhill putt.
The Frenchman, sensing Sullivan’s discomfort, planted his approach to eight feet and piled the pressure on his opponent. Sullivan’s birdie putt charged ten feet past the hole and, when he missed his par putt, he allowed Snobeck two putts for the trophy. Snobeck took his two strokes, lagging his first attempt up tot eh cup before tapping for victory.
‘I am so happy’, said the 23 year old. ‘I wasn’t expecting to get into a play-off when I finished the round, so I was just sitting very relaxed when I was told that I may be in a play-off, so then I had to get back into a competitive way of thinking.
‘I think that may have helped me in the play-off because I was not expecting it and then I just had to get on with it. Still, I always think that play-offs are more about luck than anything.
‘Any tournament that goes to play-off means that the players who finished in tie were very equal and that it has to be then decided on who is the luckiest that day, and thankfully that was me today.
‘We both hit good first shots and then after Kyron had hit his approach shot I had the chance to put some pressure on him by getting close to the pin, which I did.’
Sullivan can take some consolation in the fact that his second place finish, and the resultant cheque for €13,200 has lifted him to third place on the Challenge Tour Rankings.
The Welshman has twice gone close to securing a place on The European Tour through the Rankings in the last two seasons, and, having won in Portugal already this season and now taking second place in Italy, he will be confident that he can make it third time lucky.
For Snobeck, it was his first win and a day to cherish. He is now sixth on the Rankings with season’s earnings of €27,074 and is eyeing one of those 20 Tour cards on offer at the end of the season.
‘What I have to do now is to keep practicing and to0 keep improving,’ said Snobeck. ‘I have done well to win here, but if I want to make it the The European Tour then I still have to improve and work on my game.’
England’s Lee S James and the Scotsman Andrew McArthur shared third place, with England’s Stuart Davis and the French pair of Julien Foret and Cedric Menut in a tie for fifth.
