| -8 M Armitage (Eng); -6 T Detry (Bel), E Molinari (Ita), D van Driel (Ned), M Southgate (Eng); -4 P Casey (Eng); -3 B Hebert (Fra), M Schneider (Ger), M Korhonen (Fin), D Law (Sco) |
| Selected others:-2 J Luiten (Ned), J Smith (Eng), D Whitnell (Eng); -1 J Senior (Eng), A Chesters (Eng), C Syme (Sco), S Jamieson (Sco) |
| Full leaderboard |
England’s Marcus Armitage shot a superb seven-under-par 65 to claim his first European Tour title at the European Open in Hamburg.
The 33-year-old carded six birdies and an eagle to finish one eight under, two shots ahead of four players, including compatriot Matthew Southgate.
Overnight co-leader Southgate recorded three birdies and two bogeys in his 71.
Defending champion Paul Casey finished sixth with Scotland’s David Law a shot further back on three under.
The tournament was reduced to 54 holes due to quarantine issues for players, caddies and staff from the UK.
Armitage began the day four off the lead but quickly moved in the right direction with two birdies in his first three holes before holing out from 80 yards for an eagle on the par-four seventh.
Four more birdies in the space of six holes between the ninth and 14th propelled him into a four-shot lead, although a dropped shot at the par-five 16th gave the chasing pack renewed hope.
Southgate birdied the 15th but his quest for a maiden tour title was ended when he found water with his tee shot on the last.
Dutchman Darius van Driel needed to eagle the par-five 18th to force a play-off but could only manage a par after deciding to lay up as Armitage celebrated an emotional win.
‘This one’s for me’ – emotional Armitage earns US Open spot
It’s a first win on the European Tour at the 71st attempt for Armitage, and the victory earns him a place in next week’s US Open at Torrey Pines in what will be just his second appearance at a major.
After wins on the EuroPro Tour and the Challenge Tour and struggles just to retain his European Tour card, Armitage was particularly emotional having finally claimed his first victory on the main circuit.
“I’m an emotional guy, I’m struggling to keep a lid on it here,” he said immediately after his victory was confirmed.
“Twenty years ago I lost my mum and I’ve dreamt about this since that day, being a winner, and you have days where you think it might not happen but I just stuck at it.
“Today is a great day and I’m sure she would be proud, and everybody in my team that’s helped me – this one’s for me.
“All those days on my own dealing with life and I’m sure a lot of people do, all those lonely days on my own working on my dream and I think I’ve got to take a lot of credit for it myself.”
