Lane turns on the magic in Madagascar

Evergreen Barry Lane bagged his second Staysure Tour title of the season when winning the inaugural MCB Tour Championship – Madagascar held at International Golf Club Du Rova.

The Kent-based former Ryder Cup player began the final day four shots behind overnight leader Clark Dennis, but the American could not follow up on his impressive second round 65, as Lane seized the opportunity to win the first stage of the three-event  MCB Tour Championship by one stroke.

Lane made a steady start to his final round with six successive pars, before his first birdie of the day came at the par-three 7th. After dropping a shot on the ninth he made the turn in level par, but regained his focus on the back nine with birdies at 13 and 15, while a par at the last saw him clinch a memorable one-shot victory over Spain’s Juan Quiros and Frenchman Jean-François Remesy.

Dennis, playing in the same group as Lane, had trouble on the home stretch, dropping six shots in seven holes to eventually finish in a share of fourth place with Stephen Dodd and Gary Evans.

“It feels amazing,” Lane said. “I knew I was one ahead coming down 18, and I still tried to hole the birdie putt, but I knew I could two-putt to win, which is always nice. I got off to a slow start today, but putted beautifully on the first four holes and then started to play quite nicely. Clark had a nightmare on the 15th and that changed things.”

He added: “Having won the Senior Italian Open earlier in the year when I was 58, I’m very happy to win at 59, and may it continue for another few years!”