Before last week Verwey had reached eight play-offs, losing out on each occasion, but he was not to be denied this time around. Having tied on a three-under-par total of 210 Verwey and Garrido, the defending champion, returned to the 161-yards par three eighth for a sudden-death play-off.

Both players missed the green with their tee shots but while Garrido chipped to about eight feet from the back fringe and missed the putt, Verwey splashed out of the right hand bunker magnificently, his ball finishing just two-and-a-half feet from the pin to secure the title

It was Verwey’s fourth European Seniors Tour title and he becomes the first player to win the Lawrence Batley Seniors on two occasions, having won the inaugural event in 1992.

“I’m absolutely delighted to win,” he said. “Having been so close on so many occasions it is great to win a play-off at last.”

Verwey credited his victory to 87-year-old Lawrence Batley OBE. As he walked towards the bunker on the play-off hole Verwey looked towards Batley who returned a smile and encouragement. “That spurred me on to win,” said Verwey.

It was the second time Verwey and Garrido have met in a sudden-death play-off this season, the first being the Beko Classic in Turkey, but on that occasion both players lost out to American Bob Lendzion. Indeed it is the fifth sudden-death play-off in nine events on the European Seniors Tour this season.

Verwey opened with a five-under-par 66 to take the lead but, as the wind picked up in the second round lost ground on the leaders with a 75. Starting the final round three shots adrift of overnight leaders American J.R. Delich and fellow South African Hugh Inggs, Verwey soon began to make ground with two birdies in the first six holes.

After dropping a shot at the seventh Verwey reached the turn in 35. He picked up another birdie on the par-three 11th but bogeys at the next two holes looked as if they may be costly. An eagle on the par-five 14th put him back in the frame as he closed with a two-under-par 69.

Garrido moved into contention with a superb second round of 66 to be just two shots off the pace starting the final round. Although he dropped a shot on the second Garrido bounced straight back with an eagle on the par five third. He added another birdie on the seventh but bogeyed nine to reach the turn in 35. As with Verwey, Garrido dropped shots on the 12th and 13th. A birdie on the 14th left him a shot behind Verwey playing the last and Garrido made the all important birdie to finish with a round of 70 and equal Verwey’s total.

Until the final few holes Brian Waites seemed to be in command of the tournament, starting the day on 140, two shots behind Inggs and Delich, Waites moved into the lead with an outward half of 34, two under par, and then another birdie on the tenth. He dropped shots on the 12th and 13th but then birdied the next two to move three shots clear of the field with three to play. But a double bogey, bogey, par finish saw him slip back and finish a shot behind Verwey and Garrido in joint third with Inggs.

Inggs shot a final round of 73 for a two-under-par total of 211 to win the Lynx Super Seniors Prize.

PLACE NAME COUNTRY R1 R2 R3 R4 AGG STERLING

1 Bobby VERWEY (SA) 66 75 69 210 14550.00

2 Antonio GARRIDO (Sp) 74 66 70 210 9500.00

3 Brian WAITES (Eng) 67 73 71 211 4900.00

Hugh INGGS (SA) 70 68 73 211 4900.00

5 Brian HUGGETT (Wal) 72 72 69 213 3225.00

Paul LEONARD (N.Ire) 72 68 73 213 3225.00

Noel RATCLIFFE (Aus) 68 73 72 213 3225.00

J.R. DELICH (USA) 69 69 75 213 3225.00

9 David SNELL (Eng) 69 73 72 214 2550.00

10 Ian RICHARDSON (Eng) 70 73 72 215 2200.00

David CREAMER (Eng) 72 72 71 215 2200.00

Joe MCDERMOTT (Ire) 73 73 69 215 2200.00

13 Malcolm GREGSON (Eng) 70 73 73 216 1850.00

Maurice BEMBRIDGE (Eng) 69 71 76 216 1850.00

15 Jim RHODES (Eng) 68 73 76 217 1655.00

Guy HUNT (Eng) 72 73 72 217 1655.00

17 DeRay SIMON (USA) 77 71 70 218 1355.00

Liam HIGGINS (Ire) 73 73 72 218 1355.00

John FOURIE (SA) 75 73 70 218 1355.00

David TALBOT (Eng) 75 72 71 218 1355.00

TR JONES (USA) 67 75 76 218 1355.00

Bob SHEARER (Aus) 77 68 73 218 1355.00

23 Norman WOOD (Scot) 72 76 71 219 1005.00

Terry KENDALL (NZ) 73 72 74 219 1005.00

David JONES (N.Ire) 68 75 76 219 1005.00

Bill HARDWICK (Can) 69 74 76 219 1005.00

27 Steve WILD (Eng) 72 74 74 220 843.33

Alberto CROCE (It) 70 75 75 220 843.33

Terry GALE (Aus) 68 73 79 220 843.33

30 John HUDSON (Eng) 74 73 74 221 805.00

Eddie POLLAND (N.Ire) 74 74 73 221 805.00

32 Michael SLATER (Eng) 72 75 75 222 790.00

33 David HUISH (Scot) 73 74 76 223 780.00

34 Tienie BRITZ (SA) 77 71 76 224 770.00

35 Bryan CARTER (Eng) 71 76 78 225 755.00

Barry SANDRY (Eng) 78 71 76 225 755.00

37 Peter BUTLER (Eng) 74 77 75 226 735.00

Michael MURPHY (Ire) 78 76 72 226 735.00

39 Geoff PARSLOW (Aus) 74 74 79 227 720.00

40 Chick EVANS (USA) 77 77 74 228 710.00

41 Renato CAMPAGNOLI (It) 73 79 77 229 695.00

Jay DOLAN III (USA) 77 76 76 229 695.00

43 Jan DORRESTEIN (Hol) 76 82 74 232 680.00

44 Bobby GRAY (USA) 79 78 77 234 670.00

45 Hedley MUSCROFT (Eng) 76 80 81 237 660.00

46 John GARNER (Eng) 76 W/D 650.00

PGA EUROPEAN SENIORS ORDER OF MERIT

After the Lawrence Batley Seniors

1 Tommy HORTON (Eng) 49059.33 (8)

• 2 Bob LENDZION (USA) 33991.33 (6)

3 Antonio GARRIDO (Sp) 31601.33 (9)

4 Noel RATCLIFFE (Aus) 31352.33 (9)

5 Bobby VERWEY (SA) 30998.18 (8)

• 6 Joe MCDERMOTT (Ire) 30480.50 (9)

7 David JONES (N.Ire) 27795.15 (8)

8 Jim RHODES (Eng) 27374.82 (9)

9 Maurice BEMBRIDGE (Eng) 23747.74 (9)

10 Brian WAITES (Eng) 23541.66 (9)

11 David CREAMER (Eng) 22672.35 (9)

12 Bill HARDWICK (Can) 22165.81 (9)

13 Renato CAMPAGNOLI (It) 19209.01 (9)

14 Ian RICHARDSON (Eng) 18474.44 (9)

15 Neil COLES (Eng) 18407.50 (4)

• 16 Barry SANDRY (Eng) 16531.11 (8)

17 Bob SHEARER (Aus) 15765.34 (6)

18 Malcolm GREGSON (Eng) 15723.13 (9)

• 19 Michael SLATER (Eng) 15714.54 (9)

20 John GARNER (Eng) 15656.15 (8)

21 Eddie POLLAND (N.Ire) 15616.95 (9)

22 John FOURIE (SA) 14520.55 (9)

23 Terry GALE (Aus) 13875.39 (5)

24 Craig DEFOY (Wal) 12938.07 (8)

25 J.R. DELICH (USA) 12761.69 (9)

26 Tony JACKLIN (Eng) 12642.78 (4)

27 Brian HUGGETT (Wal) 12572.95 (6)

28 Alberto CROCE (It) 12163.39 (8)

29 Hugh INGGS (SA) 10736.37 (9)

30 Norman WOOD (Scot) 10407.20 (9)

31 David OAKLEY (USA) 10170.18 (7)

32 Paul LEONARD (N. Ire) 9652.50 (9)

• 33 Denis O'SULLIVAN (Ire) 9110.32 (6)

34 Bill BRASK (USA) 9004.77 (3)

• 35 Geoff PARSLOW (Aus) 8772.89 (9)

• 36 Jay DOLAN III (USA) 7949.26 (9)

37 Bob MENNE (USA) 7884.50 (8)

38 Liam HIGGINS (Ire) 7793.81 (8)

39 David SNELL (Eng) 7102.50 (7)

• 40 Jos‚ CABO (Sp) 7017.18 (5)

41 Doug DALZIEL (USA) 6623.54 (7)

42 DeRay SIMON (USA) 6149.17 (9)

43 Steve WILD (Eng) 6110.33 (9)

44 Peter TOWNSEND (Eng) 6096.73 (8)

45 Bernard HUNT (Eng) 5787.50 (3)

• 46 Bill LOCKIE (Scot) 5628.10 (4)

47 Roger STERN (USA) 5239.85 (5)

48 TR JONES (USA) 5171.56 (9)

• 49 John HUDSON (Eng) 5168.33 (9)

50 Chick EVANS (USA) 4952.20 (9)

51 Guy HUNT (Eng) 4942.50 (7)

52 David HUISH (Scot) 4840.68 (5)

53 Gordon PARKHILL (N.Ire) 4670.50 (7)

54 Tienie BRITZ (SA) 4623.18 (8)

55 Roger FIDLER (Eng) 4440.00 (6)

56 Harry FLATMAN (Eng) 4331.62 (8)

57 Joe CARR (USA) 4275.00 (6)

58 Iain CLARK (Scot) 3980.00 (2)

59 Snell LANCASTER (USA) 3861.67 (7)

60 Arnold O'CONNOR (Ire) 3463.12 (7)

61 Stewart ADWICK (Eng) 3328.07 (5)

62 Lloyd MONROE (USA) 3120.00 (7)

63 Randall VINES (Aus) 3080.00 (7)

64 Bryan CARTER (Eng) 2955.00 (7)

65 Jan BJ™RNSSON (Swe) 2807.25 (8)

66 Peter BUTLER (Eng) 2750.14 (5)

• 67 Dr Arthur SPRING (Ire) 2695.00 (6)

68 Michael MURPHY (Ire) 2521.00 (9)

• 69 Jan DORRESTEIN (Hol) 2464.00 (7)

70 Brian BARNES (Scot) 2441.69 (1)

71 Kenny STEVENSON (N.Ire) 2170.00 (6)

72 Terry KENDALL (NZ) 2145.00 (3)

73 Don MCCART (Scot) 1974.07 (6)

74 Jose Maria ROCA (Sp) 1895.25 (2)

• Ossie GARTENMAIER (Aut) 1895.25 (3)

76 John MORGAN (Eng) 1850.00 (1)

77 Graham BURROUGHS (Eng) 1812.50 (5)

78 David TALBOT (Eng) 1800.00 (2)

• 79 Andrew BROOKS (Scot) 1703.33 (5)

• 80 Javier VILADOMIU (Sp) 1530.00 (5)

81 Matt MCCRORIE (Scot) 1512.62 (4)

• 82 Francisco ABREU (Sp) 1410.00 (4)

83 Tommy HALPIN (Ire) 1111.65 (6)

84 Skip PRATT (USA) 970.00 (4)

85 Hedley MUSCROFT (Eng) 943.33 (6)

• 86 Mike HOYLE (Eng) 935.00 (6)

87 Jose Luis MANGAS (Sp) 780.00 (1)

88 Hugh JACKSON (N.Ire) 765.00 (7)

• 89 Bobby GRAY (USA) 670.00 (2)

90 Michael HOOPER (Eng) 660.00 (2)

91 Peter CHAMBERLAIN (Eng) 628.00 (1)

92 Kenneth MAGNUSSON (Swe) 616.00 (4)

93 Hiro TAHARA (Jap) 610.00 (5)

94 Hugh BOYLE (Ire) 585.00 (2)

95 Jos‚ Maria CA¥IZARES (Sp) 560.00 (1)

96 Glenn MACDONALD (Can) 550.00 (5)

• 97 Alan HALL (Eng) 545.00 (4)

98 Christy O'CONNOR (Ire) 498.57 (1)

99 Sherwood STEWART (USA) 460.00 (1)

100 George WILL (Scot) 300.00 (3)

• 101 Gordon GRAY (Scot) 275.00 (4)

Ross WHITEHEAD (Eng) 275.00 (3)

103 Sid DENHAM (Eng) 262.50 (5)