Johan Edfors underlined that he possesses both the talent and the mental strength to compete with the top players in European golf by producing a final round of two under par 70 to capture The Quinn Direct British Masters at The De Vere Belfry. In doing so he became the first Swedish winner in the tournament’s 60-year history and engraved his name on an honours board that includes Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie, Greg Norman and Ian Woosnam among others.
Speaking after collecting the winner’s cheque for €437,949, Edfors said: “I always thought I had the game to be a top player and I am starting to prove that now.
“I am still making a lot of changes in my game and it feels really good that those changes are starting to work on the course. And I am going to be working even harder as I want to play with the best guys every week.
“This is a fantastic week for me. There are a lot of spectators out here and some of the best players in Europe, so it is fantastic to know I can compete with them.”
The 30 year old struck the defining blow on a rollercoaster day at the Brabazon Course with a birdie at the par five 17th. That moved him two clear of the chasing pack and ultimately he could afford to bogey the last and still wrap up his second victory in two months, following his success at the TCL Classic in March.
Edfors’ winning total of 11 under par 277 was one better than England’s Gary Emerson (67), Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher (71) and Swede Jarmo Sandelin (70).
Sharing fifth place on nine under par were reigning US Open champion Michael Campbell and the overnight leader, Paul Casey, both of whom finished with bogeys after trying to conjure unlikely birdies that would have forced a play-off. Campbell eventually signed for a two over par 74 while Casey fared worse with a 76.
To the delight of the Midlanders in the large galleries, Paul Broadhurst came through with a 68 for seventh place to consolidate his strong position on The Ryder Cup European Points List.
The expected final round shoot-out between Casey and Campbell failed to ignite, with both players struggling to find their form. Darren Clarke, who had started the day in third place, was another off to a difficult start as the Ulsterman bogeyed three of his opening four holes on his way to a 76 and a share of 11th place.
By the time the leading group had played the tenth hole there were five players tied for the lead at ten under - Campbell, Casey, Edfors, Gallacher and Sandelin.
The log jam at the top owed most to Casey’s terrible run around the turn, where the Englishman dropped four shots in three holes including a six at the shortened tenth when his tee shot landed in the water.
He said: “Things just didn’t go the right way. The five wood into ten wasn’t far off from being absolutely perfect. I think it was the right decision to try. I was very comfortable with the distance, it was a perfect five wood and it was ten yards too far left, as simple as that. But that is the game I play. I had some bad breaks, like hitting the pot bunker on 11 and finishing up in a divot after that, but that is how it goes - that’s golf.
“Mistakes are going to happen as The Belfry is one of those golf courses where danger is lurking, but the ball was just not coming off the putter very well today and that was probably the most frustrating thing out there.
“It was a battling day. I hung in there as good as I could and it wasn’t good enough unfortunately.”
In the end it was Edfors who was good enough to leave The Belfry clutching the new Quinn Direct trophy, while young Englishman Ross Fisher, from Wentworth Club, headed for the M6 in a gleaming new Jaguar XJ 2.7 litre diesel car – a prize for winning the nearest the pin contest at the par three 12th.
For Edfors, though, the added bonus came in the knowledge that he had moved up to 12th place on The Ryder Cup European Points List and from a statistic that makes him only the third European Tour Qualifying School winner to go on to win multiple tournaments the following season – and the first since José Maria Olazábal won twice in 1986.
Yet further proof that Edfors is now mixing it with the big names of European golf.
