Joy for Lipsky and Maybin as Lowry and Lawrie fade
David Lipsky and his caddie celebrate in Crans. Picture: Eoin Clarke, www.golffile.ie
Shane Lowry and Peter Lawrie were left to wonder what might have been as David Lipsky earned his maiden European Tour win by beating Graeme Storm in the first hole of a play-off at the Omega European Masters.
Playing the last again, the 26 year old from Los Angeles stayed safe for a par four while overnight leader Storm was unable to recover from a wayward tee shot that missed the fairway and came to rest against a wall.
Storm, 36, whose sole European Tour triumph was in 2007 at Open de France ALSTOM, had no option but to chip out on to the fairway. However, Lipsky, who had just 86 yards to the hole with his second shot, took no risks by laying up short of the green.
His decision proved justified when he chipped close to the pin and, after Storm had made a five, was left with a simple putt for victory on another stunning day at the scenic Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club.
Lowry could only manage a level par 70 and ended up tied for 13th, seven shots outside the playoff as Gareth Maybin hit a 67 to clinch his fourth Top-10 of the season.
A tie for ninth earned Maybin €46,613 and a move to the hotseat of 110th in the Race to Dubai with the top 110 set to keep their cards at the end of the season.
Lowry picked up €31,912 and is 16th in the money list but Lawrie could not build on his career best 62 and a 73 relegated him to tied 40th on six under.
Shane Lowry. Picture: Eoin Clarke, www.golffile.ie
A cheque for €13,570 was only enough to move him up to 174th in the money list and more than €135,000 short of safety.
Michael Hoey (70) tied for 54th on four under for 45th spot in the Race to Dubai while Pádraig Harrington had another bad day with a two ovcer 72 leaving him tied 73rd on one over.
Englishman Storm, on 16 under overnight, had already overcome pressure by parring the last to stay level on 18 under with Lipsky, who went round in a five under 65.
Lipsky, playing in the penultimate group, birdied the 18th with an approach to within inches of the hole. That left Storm, who aced the par three 11th on Saturday, needing a three for victory but he played safe to set up the play-off.
Storm and Lipsky completed their 72 regular holes one shot ahead Brooks Koepka, who was tied for the lead with Storm until a bogey on the 17th,where his wayward approach plugged in a greenside bunker, and Tyrrell Hatton, the latter ending with a 65.
The round of the day was Danny Willett’s 63, which left him on 16 under alongside Tommy Fleetwood.
“I don’t want to let this trophy go, that’s for sure," Lipsky said. "It’s been an incredible day and an incredible week, I don’t want to wake up and realise I’ve dreamed it."
“I was very nervous in the play-off. It’s a tough tee shot anyway, but when there’s the title on the line it’s very tough. You have to draw your tee shot from right to left to hold it against the hill, and I thought I’d hit a great shot but it ended up going in the bunker.
"It was a tough shot out of the bunker and with Graeme only going to make par at best, I decided not to risk going in the water. In the end it was the right play, and I’m so pleased to get the job done.”
Storm was disappointed not to win having won a car for a hole in one on Saturday — a feat matched by Romain Wattel in the final round which BMW recognised by giving him the use of a car for a year.
“It’s tough to take right now. I didn’t have much time between finishing my final round and starting the play-off, so I probably wasn’t as composed as I should’ve been," Storm said. "So it was obviously disappointing, but overall it’s been an unbelievable week.
"There a lot of emotions flying round right now so I’ll have to reflect with a clear head in the morning, but there are definitely lots of positives to take from the week.
“Obviously I would’ve loved to have won here this week, and it may take a little while to get over the disappointment, but on the plus side I’ve secured my card for next season, and I would definitely have taken that at the start of the week.”
Omega European Masters,
Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club, Crans Montana, Switzerland (Par 70)
262 D Lipsky (USA) 67 64 66 65, G Storm (Eng) 64 66 64 68,
263 B Koepka (USA) 65 65 66 67, T Hatton (Eng) 67 66 65 65,
264 D Willett (Eng) 67 70 64 63, T Fleetwood (Eng) 64 68 63 69,
265 J Donaldson (Wal) 65 64 69 67,
266 R Ramsay (Sco) 62 66 70 68,
267 R Wattel (Fra) 68 69 65 65, G Maybin (Nir) 64 67 69 67, L Slattery (Eng) 68 68 65 66,
268 R Green (Aus) 71 64 67 66,
269 E Molinari (Ita) 62 70 68 69, S Lowry (Irl) 66 65 68 70, A Lahiri (Ind) 70 67 68 64, B Wiesberger (Aut) 66 70 67 66, S Benson (Eng) 65 67 70 67, N Colsaerts (Bel) 68 67 69 65, B Rumford (Aus) 69 65 71 64, M Warren (Sco) 69 63 71 66,
270 G Havret (Fra) 68 69 68 65, D Lynn (Eng) 65 68 69 68, R Gonzalez (Arg) 70 68 68 64, J Randhawa (Ind) 72 65 65 68,
271 E Grillo (Arg) 66 68 69 68, J Morrison (Eng) 66 69 67 69, A Saddier (Fra) 69 67 68 67, P Whiteford (Sco) 68 65 70 68,
272 J Quesne (Fra) 69 66 68 69, V Dubuisson (Fra) 65 67 68 72, M Crespi (Ita) 69 69 62 72, M Nixon (Eng) 66 69 70 67, F Aguilar (Chi) 66 68 70 68, R Derksen (Ned) 66 67 71 68, S Hansen (Den) 69 67 68 68,
273 J Knutzon (USA) 70 69 68 66, P Uihlein (USA) 72 67 65 69, S Jamieson (Sco) 70 69 66 68, T Olesen (Den) 69 69 67 68,
274 M Madsen (Den) 70 69 67 68, P Lawrie (Irl) 69 70 62 73, R Bland (Eng) 70 69 68 67, R Jacquelin (Fra) 65 69 69 71, A Otaegui (Esp) 68 70 67 69, T Björn (Den) 66 72 68 68, M Ilonen (Fin) 73 66 65 70,
275 M Foster (Eng) 69 68 67 71, C Nirat (Tha) 66 70 73 66, W Ormsby (Aus) 67 67 70 71, D Howell (Eng) 69 70 68 68, M Manassero (Ita) 68 71 66 70, J Hansen (Den) 72 67 65 71, R Santos (Por) 67 70 72 66,
276 M Baldwin (Eng) 68 68 72 68, C Lee (Sco) 66 70 69 71, M Hoey (Nir) 65 68 73 70, R Karlberg (Swe) 68 68 70 70, J McLeary (Sco) 66 70 69 71,
277 A Hansen (Den) 67 71 69 70, N Elvira (Esp) 70 68 68 71,
278 M Lundberg (Swe) 67 71 66 74, B Dredge (Wal) 70 69 70 69, H Otto (RSA) 68 69 68 73, F Calmels (Fra) 70 68 67 73, D Drysdale (Sco) 66 73 68 71,
279 S Kim (Kor) 72 66 71 70, M Rominger (Sui) 68 70 69 72, P Lawrie (Sco) 70 68 69 72, P Hanson (Swe) 66 68 73 72, G Stal (Fra) 71 66 67 75,
280 J Parry (Eng) 71 68 69 72, A Quiros (Esp) 69 68 69 74,
281 R Rock (Eng) 69 69 71 72, B Seuk-Hyun (Kor) 69 70 68 74, P Harrington (Irl) 66 71 72 72,
283 J Carlsson (Swe) 70 69 74 70, J Lima (Por) 71 68 72 72, R Gangjee (Ind) 72 67 71 73, P Meesawat (Tha) 66 73 71 73,
284 J Walters (RSA) 70 68 73 73, A Da Silva (Bra) 73 65 70 76,
288 J Jeong (Kor) 71 68 77 72.
