Smoking hot Calmels wins action-packed Czech Challenge
François Calmels. Picture by Ota MrakotaGareth Shaw and Chris Devlin slipped back with level par 72s and François Calmels fired a sizzling 11 birdies in a final-round 65 to come from behind and win his second Challenge Tour title of the season at the D+D Real Czech Challenge Open.
The Frenchman, who began the day three shots off the lead at Golf & Spa Kunetická Hora, finished with an aggregate score of 22 under par, three clear of the English trio of Robert Dinwiddie, overnight leader Adam Gee and Sam Walker to pick up a cheque for €25,600 and with it move to second in the 2013 Challenge Tour Rankings.
Shaw’s 72 left him tied for 26th on nine under with Devlin tied 60th on two under.
Calmel’s stunning seven under par 65 – that included seven birdies in eight holes from the ninth – was not only the lowest final round by a winner this season but also the largest comeback on a Sunday seen this campaign.
It was an action-packed final day all round, meanwhile, as American Brooks Koepka climbed 36 places up the leaderboard into a tie for seventh thanks to a magnificent course record 62 that featured two eagles and six birdies, while Italy’s Nicolo Ravano holed out at the par three 17th to win a Peugeot 3008.
“This is totally different to my first win because there I was leading and just built from there, whereas today I started quite far back,” said Calmels, who also won in April at the Challenge de Madrid.
“I was struggling a lot at the start but then during that birdie stretch I played incredible and made every putt. I saw that guys were four shots better than me during the front nine but I kept telling myself, ‘You’re playing good!’ and I knew that if I could start holing some putts I could put up a fight.
Much like Koepka, who currently heads the Challenge Tour Rankings after two wins of his own this season, Calmels is now within one victory of automatic promotion to The European Tour, this after struggling to 122nd and 116th place finishes in the money list in the previous two years.
He credits much of his return to form to girlfriend Jade Schaeffer, a professional golfer on the Ladies European tour for whom he caddied at the Ladies German Open last week, and identified a more philosophical approach to the game being at the heart of his success this year.
“It’s been a very good start to the season,” he continued, “but I’m still mainly just looking to finish top ten at the finish. If I manage to win a third one then great but I’m not going to get too caught up in it.
“It is surprising, though. I have had terrible seasons the last couple of years and so I have been very sad. This year I have tried to make golf a happy thing again; if you make bogey, you make bogey.
“Golf is purely a mental game; if you have a good feeling then you play well. My girlfriend Jade has helped a lot since the Qualifying School with this and when I was with her last week I would say the same things to her that I have said to myself all week.
“What that is is a secret, maybe I will tell you if I win a third one!”
Final scores:
266 F Calmels (Fra) 67 69 65 65,
269 A Gee (Eng) 66 66 66 71, S Walker (Eng) 71 65 67 66, R Dinwiddie (Eng) 68 64 72 65,
270 A Otaegui (Esp) 64 68 68 70,
271 A Pavan (Ita) 68 64 68 71,
272 C Aguilar (Esp) 65 67 70 70, B Koepka (USA) 70 71 69 62, A Domingo (Esp) 66 67 70 69,
274 R Russell (Sco) 67 67 71 69, C Hanson (Eng) 71 68 64 71, J Lima (Por) 69 72 67 66,
275 L Kennedy (Eng) 69 65 68 73, B An (Kor) 68 72 68 67,
276 J Lando Casanova (Fra) 68 67 69 72, O Farr (Wal) 67 70 70 69, M Ford (Eng) 66 73 63 74, M Crespi (Ita) 70 68 68 70, D Frittelli (RSA) 67 69 72 68,
277 W Besseling (Ned) 71 70 68 68, S Davis (Eng) 71 69 70 67, F Bergamaschi (Ita) 72 68 69 68,
278 B Hebert (Fra) 68 67 72 71, N Ravano (Ita) 66 70 71 71, J Guerrier (Fra) 67 69 71 71,
279 S Tiley (Eng) 70 71 71 67, B Parker (Eng) 67 72 67 73, C Suneson (Esp) 72 68 70 69, G Shaw (Nir) 69 69 69 72,
280 T Fournier (Fra) 70 69 70 71, B Ritthammer (Ger) 69 70 70 71, J Fahrbring (Swe) 68 68 73 71, S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) 73 66 68 73, O Lieser (Cze) 69 70 71 70, L Claverie (Esp) 71 70 66 73, B Hafthorsson (Isl) 69 65 71 75, P Oriol (Esp) 67 69 73 71, N Meitinger (Ger) 71 69 71 69,
281 J Heath (Eng) 70 69 67 75, A Bossert (Sui) 70 71 69 71, O Rozner (Fra) 69 70 68 74, G Houston (Wal) 67 71 71 72,
282 A McArthur (Sco) 67 71 71 73, S Matus (Cze) 70 68 72 72, S Manley (Wal) 72 67 73 70,
283 S Fallon (Eng) 70 70 74 69, L Bjerregaard (Den) 66 75 69 73, C Brazillier (Fra) 71 69 68 75, M Sell (Eng) 71 68 70 74, K Borsheim (Nor) 72 68 69 74, B Hemstock (Eng) 73 67 72 71, D Ulrich (Sui) 68 68 72 75,
284 L Richard (Bel) 70 70 72 72, F McGuirk (Eng) 64 69 73 78, J Mommo (Fin) 72 69 73 70, M Trappel (Aut) 72 67 73 72,
285 D Geminiani (Ita) 73 68 72 72, N Quintarelli (Ita) 70 71 75 69, C Russo (Fra) 67 71 72 75,
286 C Gane (Eng) 66 74 75 71, J Doherty (Sco) 67 73 73 73, L Corfield (Eng) 69 68 71 78, J Huldahl (Den) 77 64 71 74, N Elvira (Esp) 68 70 76 72, C Devlin (Nir) 69 72 73 72,
289 M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 69 72 71 77, G Cambis (Fra) 71 69 73 76,
290 J Watts (Eng) 68 73 73 76,
300 M Haines (Eng) 67 73 79 81.