THAT’S MASTERFUL
‘Eddie the Eagle’ reborn as Pepperell’s victory sends him to Augusta
British sport has a new Eddie the Eagle to toast, or rather Eddie the two Eagles. After his hole in one at the British Masters on thursday, Eddie Pepperell followed it up by holing his 124-yard nine-iron approach to the par-four tenth on his way to a thrilling success at Walton heath yesterday.
those two remarkable eagles made all the difference in the final analysis as the 27-year-old from Oxford edged out the highly-rated swede Alexander Bjork by two strokes following a compelling duel.
it is the biggest victory of Pepperell’s career and will open all sorts of doors next year, including a debut appearance at the Masters — the one at Augusta — next April.
ranked 513th in the world in May 2017, Pepperell is now on the fringes of the top 30 after a marvellous run of form. in nine events since the scottish Open in July, he has this win to go alongside two runners-up and two other top-six finishes, including the Open at Carnoustie.
On a miserable day, Pepperell showed plenty of character as well as talent.
‘it was an absolute grind, to be honest, because i didn’t have my best stuff,’ he said. ‘Every four or five holes, i kept putting myself under unnecessary pressure. But it feels brilliant to get over the line. to win an event of this stature means an awful lot.’
Pepperell’s difficulties began with a smothered tee shot at the opening hole and continued as he found the ubiquitous heather at the second.
With Bjork reducing the three-shot deficit at the second, it became clear the Englishman would need to dig deep to preserve his advantage.
he was one ahead when he began the back nine with his perfect approach. Normally an undemonstrative sort, Pepperell responded with a hearty uppercut salute. Now he was three in front again and seemed certain to win with something to spare when he made an outrageous par at the 14th, holing from 35 feet.
however, Pepperell stumbled with successive bogeys at the 15th and 16th. Now the lead was just one again, with two tough holes to come.
it is at such moments where players learn a lot about themselves. A fine tee shot at the par-three 17th was followed by a stunning drive from Pepperell at the 18th, given the context of three missed fairways in a row from the 14th.
When Bjork, going for broke from the heather at the last, found a crossbunker 30 yards short of the green, a deserved triumph was all but secured.
As he came off the 18th green, Pepperell was congratulated by tournament host, Justin rose, who fought back from his first-round 74 to claim an almost obligatory top-ten finish at events these days.
‘i think after he got into contention at the Open, we all expected Eddie to kick on,’ said rose. ‘he’s doing all the right things and this has been his week with those two eagles. he’s only going to continue to get better. he’s got all the tools.’
he’s got personality, too. When he struck another wonderful iron shot right down the flag at the 12th, he turned to the camera and, cool as you like, said: ‘i’m just a bit surprised it didn’t go in, to be honest.’ When tim Barter of sky sports asked him what it felt like to no longer be a one-hit wonder — he claimed his first tour success in Qatar earlier this year — Pepperell responded: ‘so you’re saying i’ve moved on from being a rick Astley to whom, exactly?’
All told, there were five Englishmen in the top eight, with Jordan smith tied third, tom Lewis and sam horsfield tied fifth, and rose eighth.
tommy Fleetwood and Andy sullivan were in a tie for ninth place and three more from the host nation — Matt Wallace, steven Brown and Matt Fitzpatrick — finished in the top 20.
it was largely an event to forget for challengers from north of the border as Marc Warren finished best of the scots, tied 34th on two over par.
richie ramsay finished three strokes further back on five over, with David Drysdale and scott Jamieson on six over for the tournament.
stephen Gallacher completed a miserable week with a 75, finishing nine over par.