The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Law clinches maiden Tour victory with late heroics
Aberdonian’s late heroics set target long-time leader could not match
Scotland’s David Law produced a spectacular finish to overhaul long-time leader Wade Ormsby and win his first European Tour title at the ISPS Handa Vic Open in Australia.
Law was three shots behind as he stood on the 16th tee at 13th Beach Golf Club, but made a birdie there and then produced a stunning second to eight feet on the par-five 18th to set up an eagle.
That put him in a share of the lead with Ormsby at 18 under and when the home favourite made a double-bogey on the 17th, he needed an eagle of his own on the last to force a play-off.
The 38-year-old gave himself a putt from the fringe for a three but could only make a birdie and Challenge Tour graduate Law secured a oneshot victory over Ormsby and Brad Kennedy in just his 18th European Tour appearance.
The tournament is co-sanctioned by the European Tour and LPGA Tour and features men and women playing on the same courses at the same time, for equal prize money.
South Africa’s Justin Harding finished fourth on 16 under with Scotland’s David Drysdale and Australians Jason Scrivener and David Bransdon a shot further back.
The victory represents a remarkable turnaround on the course for Law, who was on the brink of taking on other work over the winter before winning last season’s SSE Scottish Hydro Challenge and finishing 14th on the Challenge Tour to earn a European Tour card.
Law had also called a penalty on himself on the ninth after accidentally causing his ball to move on the green, but regrouped immediately to birdie the next two holes in a back nine of 31.
“It’s massive,” the 27-year-old from Aberdeen said.
“It’s not something I expected. For me just being out here playing on the European Tour was enough.
“I’ve been loving the four events I’ve played so far and to just be a European Tour player was what I was happy with. To have won today, it sort of changes things a little bit.
“I’ll go home, reflect a little bit on things and reassess.
“I had to call a penalty on myself on the ninth hole – my ball moved when I went into the putt.
“Walking to the 10th tee me and my caddie Max just said ‘Reset, try and keep calm’, and luckily we did.
“We said we were going to try to finish three-two-four in the hope that we could get a top-three finish. Then birdie 16, par 17, and going down the last we said we need eagle.
“We make eagle, we post 18 under, you never know what can happen.
“You know, it’s something completely different this week. I’ve never played a tournament like this before.
“The fans walk inside the ropes and we play with the women, too. It’s something completely different, something I’ve really enjoyed this week.”
It was truly a life-changing week for the Scot on just his fifth start on the European Tour with his win gaining him a two-year exemption on the tour and a winner’s cheque of £136,765.
His victory comes after two missed cuts in a row in Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia and lifts the Aberdonian to 17th in this season’s Race to Dubai.
Law’s family could not be with him in Australia for his first European Tour win but he still had local support to count on during his final round.
Two of Law’s school friends from Aberdeen Grammar, Hamish Wilson and Iain Budge, are now based in Melbourne and they followed their old school pal around the course at the weekend and were on hand to help the 27-year-old celebrate.
His mentor Paul Lawrie, was quick to express his delight at Law’s win yesterday.
The former Open champion tweeted: “The work we do at the Paul Lawrie Foundation is not to raise golfers to win on tour but when one of our kids does win on tour, which happened today, it’s an amazing feeling.
“Everyone at the Paul Lawrie Foundation are incredibly proud of David Law and we hope all juniors get inspiration from him.”
In the women’s event, France’s Celine Boutier carded a closing 72 to claim a two-shot victory over England’s Charlotte Thomas and local favourites Sarah Kemp and Su Oh.
Kemp surged through the field with a final round of 65 and Thomas returned a 69, while Oh could only manage a 74 and overnight leader Kim Kaufman slumped to a 78 to finish four shots adrift.