Sam Horsfield made European Tour history as he won his second title at the Celtic Classic, becoming the first golfer on Tour to win an event, which he achieved at the Hero Open a fortnight ago, miss a cut, and then win again in the space of three weeks.
The 24-year-old from Manchester started the final round at Celtic Manor one stroke behind Connor Syme, but shared the lead after the first hole as the young Scotsman dropped a shot. He then made consecutive birdies on the third and fourth holes and then birdied the seventh, before a two-hour delay caused by the threat of lightning at the Welsh venue.
After the restart, Horsfield parred the next six holes before his fourth birdie of the day on 14, and he parred his way home to sign for a bogey-free 67 and an 18-under-par total.
Similarly to the Hero Open at Forest of Arden, Belgium’s Thomas Detry finished runner-up to Horsfield after also posting a four-under 68. Sharing third place were 2016 Ryder Cup player Thomas Pieters, making his first start since the tour’s resumption, Andrew Johnston and Syme.
The win sees Horsfield move to the top of the UK Swing Order of Merit and secure a place at the US Open, which begins at Winged Foot on September 6. He will be joined by the other top ten players on the UK Swing rankings at the New York venue at the conclusion of next week’s ISPS Handa Wales Open, which is also being held at Celtic Manor.
Speaking about his hot run of form, Horsfield said: “It was pretty crazy. My goal this weekend was to have no bogeys and I was able to do that. I made a huge putt on 17 to keep that alive and I just played solid all week really. To have a cushion coming into the last hole was nice.”
He added: “I never really felt nervous or uncomfortable, maybe because I was in this situation a few weeks ago. On 15, we decided to lay-up and I could have gone for that green. It’s the perfect 3-wood number, but there is so much trouble around that green. The birdie on 14 was huge, because it gave me that option to lay-up on 15. If you’re one ahead, I think you go for that, but making that putt on 14, and then giving myself a pretty easy decision on the tee. Then I just sort of brought it home from there.”
Sam Horsfield’s winning gear
Driver: TaylorMade SIM (8°)
Fairway woods: TaylorMade M6 (15°, 18°)
Driving iron: TaylorMade P750 (4)
Irons: TaylorMade P7TW (5-PW)
Wedges: TaylorMade Milled Grind (52°, 56°, 60°)
Putter: Bettinardi Dass BB Zero Tour
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
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