Søren Kjeldsen became the fifth Danish golfer to win on The European Tour International Schedule when he claimed his maiden victory in The Diageo Championship at Gleneagles.
A level par final round of 72 gave the 28 year old from Arhus a nine under par total of 279 and a two shot winning margin from leading Scottish challenger Alastair Forsyth, who closed with a 69 for 281. England’s Paul Broadhurst signalled a welcome return to form with a 70 for third place on 282 while Colin Montgomerie took fourth on 283.
One of the most consistent performers of the 2003 season, Kjeldsen started the week in 22nd place on the Volvo Order of Merit but his victory, and the cheque for €281,927 (£200,000), moved him to seventh place with €605,464 (£465,644).
“It was a hard day but it is a fantastic feeling to sit here with this trophy,” said Kjeldsen. “I felt before this that I had to get more into contention and I felt that the other Danes who had won were more in contention than I was in tournaments so I felt I had to be there or thereabouts on Sundays.
“But the people back home don’t look at that statistic so much, they just see that four guys have won and I hadn’t. So I could feel a bit of pressure from back home and I was trying to focus on getting closer to the top, so this feels just great.”
Starting out the final day with a five shot lead, there was also going to be pressure on Kjeldsen should he show any signs of wavering and the chasing pack were given a hint of a chance when he dropped shots at the first and third holes.
A birdie at the second was counteracted by another bogey at the eighth to see him to the turn in two over par 38 but when he turned for home, the Dane became a different person. An eight footer for birdie at the 11th steadied his nerves and when he rolled in a 25 footer for another birdie at the short 14th, the title loomed.
He knew he still had to be careful over the difficult closing holes but he played them with a calmness and maturity that belied the fact he had not won on Tour before.
“When I was on the tenth tee, I figured out that if I could come back in 34, they would have to shoot four under on the back nine to beat me which was pretty tough with the pressure and the finish of the tournament and that is the way it turned out,” he said.
Closest challenger Forsyth partnered Kjeldsen and admitted he felt he had a chance when he got the margin down to two shots but when the Dane steadied his ship on the back nine, Forsyth admitted his main goal was to secure second.
“When he missed a couple of putts I thought I might have him going a little bit, but to be fair he holed a great putt at the 14th and I bogeyed the 15th so that was it all over then,” said Forsyth.
“All in all I can’t complain. Tee to green I played really well and it was nice to hole the birdie putt on the last to get second place. I was watching the leader board coming down the last few holes and I knew Paul had finished on six under par so it was a great feeling to hole that in front of all those people round the 18th green.”
Midlander Broadhurst has not enjoyed the best of spells in recent seasons, losing his Tour card and suffering with injury but a fine performance over the four days in Scotland left him realising that the faith his friends and family held him in had been one hundred per cent correct.
“I feel I can relax now and who knows you might even see some good golf from me now that my card for next year is virtually secured,” said Broadhurst. “I didn’t enjoy going to the Tour School in the past couple of years so this is a lot of pressure off me and I can look forward to the rest of the season.”
Fourth placed Montgomerie, although disappointed not to have marked his debut in the event with a victory, preferred to concentrate on the overall success of the event which prospered despite not being blessed with the best of weather over the four days.
“I think this tournament is fantastic, it is a great venue,” said the Scot. “I was speaking to Lord Macfarlane (Honorary Life President of Diageo Scotland) the other day and he was saying that this tournament is here to stay which is great and I’ll be supporting it.
“This is the first time I’ve played this course and it is a fabulous course. It is always nice to come up here, it is a fabulous hotel and a nice place to be. It has been great crowds too.
“He (Lord Macfarlane) says he is trying to get it back to where the old Bell’s Scottish Open was, where we had record crowds, 100 odd thousand used to turn up for that, and he is trying to get it back to that which is great.”
