Slattery strong at the finish

ENGLAND’S Lee Slattery fought back from losing the overnight lead on the final day of the Moscow Open to claim his first European Tour title in four years.

The Cheshire-based golfer began, after a two-hour fog delay, with a two-shot advantage over playing-partner Estanislao Goya and Scotland’s Craig Lee.

But, despite an opening birdie by the sixth hole, he trailed his Argentinian rival by one and that deficit had doubled by the 12th.

However, bogeys for Goya at 13 and 15 — either side of a birdie for Slattery — edged the Southport-born player ahead again.

A chip-in at the 17th gave him an important t wo- s ho t cushion heading down the last as Goya birdied, but Slattery’s 69 for a 1 4- under total was enough to secure his second European Tour win, the first coming at the 2011 Madrid Masters where he also led by two strokes heading into the final round.

‘It has been a difficult year, so it’s just nice to be able to finish off the year like this with a win, knowing that I can plan next year now and, hopefully, get myself going again to where I belong,’ said Slattery, who is now likely to break into the world’s top 200.

‘The thing that has been letting me down mostly has probably been my short game in the past few months.

‘I’ve worked so hard at that and to chip one in at such an important time meant so much.

‘It shows that practice pays off eventually.’

Goya’s 68 kept him just ahead of defending champion David Horsey, who also shot 68 to finish one ahead of a group on 12 under, which included 2013 champion Michael Hoey after his 64.

It was a disappointing final round for Lee, who started the day in second place just two shots behind Slattery.

He could only manage a level-par 71 to finish in a share of eighth place on 11 under.

David Drysdale moved up to joint-14th after a final-day 69 — a score that was matched by Scott Jamieson, who also finished in the top 20.

Alongside him in a share of 17th place was Chris Doak, who signed for a fine 68 yesterday to finish in some style.

COLIN MONTGOMERIE created a bit of history yesterday after an epic battle with fellow Scot Ross Drummond in the final round of the Travis Perkins Senior Masters.

The pair finished tied for first on five under, but Montgomerie won the play- off on the second extra hole with an 18-foot birdie putt.

He became the first player in history to win the same tournament three years running on both the European and Senior European tours.

Montgomerie won the PGA Championship on the main tour three times between 1998 and 2000.