Pepperell rides his luck to book Masters debut
EDDIE PEPPERELL secured his Masters debut when he held off Alexander Bjork to seal his second win of the season in the British Masters at Walton Heath.
As Padraig Harrington fired a 70 to finish as the best of the Irish, tied for 22nd on level par, Englishman Pepperell (27) crucially holed out from the rough from 120 yards for an eagle two at the 10th.
Including an ace the ninth in the first round, his fourth eagle of the week restored his three-shot overnight lead, and he survived back-to-back bogeys at the 15th and 16th to close with a 72 and win by two from Bjork, who bogeyed the last for a 71, on nine under par.
“I’m very pleased,” said Pepperell, who claimed his maiden win in Qatar in February and can now make plans for his trip to Augusta National after moving from 133rd to 33rd in the world this year.
“It was a grind, tough day with the conditions. I played really well, and I’m thankful I got myself a nice lead.”
On his eagle two, he added: “I hit nine-iron and it just came out perfect. Shows that you need those breaks to go your way sometimes to win, and it went my way this week.”
Shane Lowry shot 72 alongside Harrington to finish 34th on two-over to move to 63rd in the Race to Dubai, with the top 60 qualifying for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship. Paul Dunne signed for a 74 to tie for 42nd on three over and lies 53rd in the money list.
While Lowry is teeing it up in this week’s Andalucia Valderrama Masters, Dunne will have two weeks off before the Turkish Airlines Open having failed to make the top 30 in the Race to Dubai who qualify for next week’s WGC HSBC Champions in Shanghai.
Cruised
In Malaysia, Australian Marc Leishman (34) cruised to his fourth PGA Tour win at the CIMB Classic. He closed with a seven-under 65 at TPC Kuala Lumpur to win by five shots on 26-under par.
Meanwhile, Finland’s Kalle Samooja secured his 2019 European Tour card when he fired a second successive 71 to win the Hainan Open on Saturday.
He won by two shots from Scotland’s Grant Forrest on 15-under and rocketed to second on the Road to Ras Al Khaimah. Michael Hoey (39) tied for 26th at Sanya Luhuitou GC, closing with a one-under 71 to finish on three-under-par. The Ballymoney man moved up one spot in the rankings to 20th but while he has cut the gap on the 15th-ranked player to just €12,803, he’s got just this week’s Foshan Open and Ras Al Khaimah Challenge Tour Grand Final to make the promotion spots.
On the Staysure Tour, Gary Orr clinched the Paris Legends Championship to record back-to-back victories on the Seniors circuit. Brendan McGovern shot a joint best of the day 67 to tie for 18th on four-under.
At the Youth Olympics, Ireland’s Lauren Crowley Walsh and David Kitt are seven shots off the lead heading into the final round of the Mixed Team event. After firing a seven-under 63 in the fourballs, they shot a two-over 72 in the foursomes at the Hurlingham Club in Buenos Aires yesterday to share fifth place on five-under-par ahead of the individual strokeplay where the combined scores count.
On the PGA Tour Champions, Darren Clarke birdied his last two holes to close with a one-under 71 and finish tied for 52nd on three-over in the SAS Championship at Prestonwood Country Club in North Carolina.
Germany’s Bernhard Langer (61) shot 65 to win by six strokes from Scott Parel on 22-under and claim his 38th win on the US seniors circuit since 2007.