Julien Guerrier, triumph on the ninth playoff hole.
Guerrier, playoff record
Frenchman Julien Guerrier won with 267 (62 72 63 70, -21) strokes the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, on the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande (par 72) course in San Roque, Spain. He finished tied with Spaniard Jorge Campillo (267 – 64 65 68 70) and then captured his first title on the DP World Tour with a par on the ninth playoff hole, a circuit record equaled for additional holes played in an event.
With a tonic final round comeback, Matteo Manassero, from 40° to 17° with 277 (72 69 70 66, -11), and Francesco Laporta, from 36° to 20° with 278 (69 69 72 68, -10) finished in good standing.
Behind the two frontrunners are Englishman Daniel Brown, third with 269 (-19), in fourth place with 270 (-18) the other Englishman Jordan Smith and Dane Rasmus Hojgaard, and only in sixth with 271 (-17) Spaniard Jon Rahm, ‘star’ of LIV Golf, who was the most touted in the eve forecast.
Campillo, 38, of Caceres, three career wins, was ahead after hole 13 where Guerrier found a double bogey (70, -2, adding five birdies and one bogey earlier), but the Iberian couldn’t keep it. With a birdie and two bogeys, the last on 18, he favored the playoff. Julien Guerrier, 39, from Evreux, so far with two wins on the Challenge Tour and as many on the Alps Tour and the French Tour, then had game winning with his ninth consecutive par on the extra holes, against his opponent’s final bogey. To the transalpine è went a check for $552,500 out of a prize pool of $3,250,000.
Manassero shot a 66 (-6), with an eagle, five birdies and a bogey, and è climbed from eighth to sixth in the Race to Dubai (order of merit). Now è he is getting closer and closer to the “card” for the PGA Tour that will accrue to the top ten finishers not otherwise exempt.
Laporta, who carded a 68 (-4) with five birdies and a bogey, è 84° in the rankings and still has one more opportunity (the upcoming Genesis Championship, Oct. 24-27, South Korea) as well as Andrea Pavan (72°), who came out at the cut, to enter among the 70 eligible for the first of the two rich PlayOffs competitions (Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Nov. 7-10) that will conclude the season. Exiting after 36 holes were Lorenzo Scalise, 71° with 143 (-1), Renato Paratore, 88° with 144 (par), the aforementioned Pavan, 96° with 145 (+1), Edoardo Molinari, 116° with 149 (+5), and Filippo Celli, 121° with 152 (+8).
