Marc Warren birdied the second play-off hole to beat England’s Simon Wakefield and give the Scottish public the home victory they craved in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles.
Warren two-putted from 90 feet for a four after the pair had parred the 18th first time around. To scenes of wild enthusiasm, the Scot claimed his second European Tour success and his first on home soil after he and Wakefield had finished tied on 280, 12 under par.
His 69 to Wakefield’s 70 saw them finish one stroke ahead of Denmark’s Søren Hansen and Martin Erlandsson of Sweden at the end of a thrilling final day in front of record crowds amid the rolling Perthshire hills.
Warren was forced to hole a testing eight footer for a birdie in regulation play to get into the play-off, having dropped a shot at the 17th. Wakefield was unable to get down in two from the front of the green and the stage was set for a sudden-death play-off.
After two regulation fives, it was Warren who seized the initiative second time around, booming a huge three wood second onto the front edge of the green. His 30 yard putt finished up three feet away and with Wakefield safely down in five, the Scot rapped in his winning putt to set up a massive roar followed by the skirl of the bagpipes as he was piped onto the green to receive his trophy.
Victory - the first by a Scot in the event - carried Warren past the €1 million mark in prizemoney in just his 69th start on The European Tour and his win was his second after a play-off. Just over 12 months ago, he defeated Robert Karlsson in Sweden to win the Scandinavian Masters.
On that occasion, Karlsson carried the home support. This time there was no doubting who the galleries wanted to win. He admitted: “It doesn’t get any better. It’s a dream come true. To win in Scotland is overwhelming. Victories don’t sink in very quickly and I think this one will take a bit of time to register.”
Warren admitted that he may have repaid the sponsor, Diageo, who had helped him with invitations to the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles when he was a rookie professional on the European Challenge Tour.
“Hopefully I’ve been able to pay them back for that support” he said. “There’s not doubt it helped me massively. I was able to come back again this year and knew the course well and with more experience behind me.”
The win moved Warren to 34th on the Order of Merit and left Wakefield disappointed but not deflated. The long-time leader played solidly all day and barely put a foot wrong. In the final analysis, Warren’s two birdies at the 18th in regulation play and in the play-off proved the deciding factors.
“I felt comfortable all day” he said. “I don’t remember any really bad shots. I took the advice of my manager and played for the middle of the greens and let other make mistakes. I didn’t change that game plan all day and I feel quite proud of how I played all week.”
Hansen had a five footer to get to 12 under par but saw his effort slip past while Erlandsson’s closing 66 took him agonisingly close to the play-off as well.
