Horsfield wins it by a nose as darkness descends
CELTIC CLASSIC
ENGLAND’S Sam Horsfield shrugged off a two-hour weather delay to claim his second European Tour title in the space of three weeks in the Celtic Classic.
Horsfield carded a closing 67 at Celtic Manor to finish 18 under par and two shots ahead of Belgium’s Thomas Detry, a repeat of their finishing positions in the Hero Open at Hanbury Manor.
Overnight leader Connor Syme finished in a tie for third on 15 under alongside Thomas Pieters and Andrew Johnston as play finished in near darkness.
An emotional Horsfield had struggled to speak after his maiden win but told Sky Sports: “This time I can speak.
“It was pretty crazy. My goal this weekend was to have no bogeys and I was able to do that, made a huge putt on 17 to keep that alive. I just played solid all week and to have a nice cushion coming to the last was nice.
“I never really felt nervous or uncomfortable, maybe because I was in the situation a few weeks ago. The birdie on 14 was huge because it gave me the option to lay-up on 15, where there is so much trouble.”
Horsfield began the day a shot behind Scotland’s Syme, but birdied the third, fourth and seventh to open up a three-shot lead before play was halted due to the threat of lightning.
When play eventually resumed two hours later, Syme closed the gap to a single shot thanks to birdies on the ninth and 11th, but Horsfield doubled his lead after a birdie putt on the 14th which only dropped into the hole on its last roll.
Needing to make up ground, Syme went for the green on the short par-four 15th but two clumsy chips resulted in a costly bogey.
Syme looked like getting back into contention following