BLOWN AWAY!
Bjerregaard weathers storm to deny Hatton
THE heroes of Le Golf National simply ran out of oomph. Leaving one of the biggest prizes on the European Tour to a young man who had travelled to the Ryder Cup in Paris as a guest of the captain — and returned absolutely inspired.
As both Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton faded over the closing stages of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship yesterday, Lucas Bjerregaard kept his nerve to pip the Team Europe pair by just a single shot on the Old Course.
In a final round that required a shotgun start to avoid heavy winds for yesterday afternoon, the 27-year-old teed off on the 18th, bagged a birdie and never looked back as he claimed a winner’s cheque of over £600,000.
His closing round of five under par in brutal conditions, a masterclass in control, saw him capitalise as overnight leader Hatton collapsed on the back nine — blowing a five-shot lead with a string of bogeys over the closing stretch.
The Englishman, who was trying to become the first player to win this tournament for three years in succession, had his misery compounded when a birdie putt on the last — which would have put him in a play-off — slipped away.
With Fleetwood also falling just short, it was left to the Dane to enjoy one of the oddest victory finishes St Andrews has seen, wrapping up the title with a dropped shot on the notorious 17th hole, his last.
Bjerregaard said being invited to France last weekend by compatriot Thomas Bjorn, the victorious European captain, had definitely fired him up for the biggest win of his career.
‘I’ve never been to a Ryder Cup before but Thomas invited me down on Saturday, so I went,’ he said.
‘He showed me around in what was a busy week for him and I saw the team room and the locker room. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t inspired. I was delighted for Thomas and being around it was amazing to see. I definitely want to make that team one day.’
The Danes currently hold the World Cup and the Eisenhower Trophy, the unofficial amateur world championship, while rookie Thorbjorn Olesen — a winner here in 2015 — played his part in last week’s thrashing of the Yanks. If there is something pleasant in the state of Denmark, a nation of five million souls, Bjerregaard insists it’s all down to sweat and grind.
‘I’m not sure what the secret is but us Danes are good at working hard, putting the hours in,’ he said. ‘The guys who won the Eisenhower Trophy are all massive talents. I know all three of them.
‘I don’t know if it is a Danish thing as much as a European thing. You saw how they all came together last week. They are the best players in the world but it was as if they took their game to another level.’
Hatton, who had the tournament in his grasp with four holes to play, admitted that he had lost his way — and been the victim of a freak gust at a telling moment.
‘Momentum completely went after the tee shot on ten,’ he said. ‘After that, I couldn’t do anything right. You need some good breaks when things aren’t going your way and that didn’t happen for me on the back nine.
‘My putt on the last to get in the play-off sums it up, really. Just a massive gust of wind knocks me off. To lose balance on a putt is unfortunate.
‘I’m pretty disappointed because I had a five-shot lead at one point. It was in my hands. There are positives. Obviously, finishing second again is a good effort. It would have been special to have three-in-a-row but it wasn’t meant to be.’
Fleetwood, one half of the Ryder Cup power couple alongside Francesco Molinari last week, wants to restart after the ‘hysteria’ of Paris — and pretend a new season is just beginning.
The Englishman said: ‘Last week, by getting there, I completed a massive goal. The next goal was to be on a winning Ryder Cup team and I played great. I had a great time.
‘You’re in that bubble all week and the hysteria, it goes on for quite a while.
‘But, from Tuesday, we really looked at trying to reset now for the rest of the year.
‘The Ryder Cup, you’ve done that and what a week it was, memories for a lifetime.
‘But then you’ve still got six or seven events. This is only week one, really. We’ve still got a bit to go.’