Andrew Marshall claimed a maiden win on the Legends Tour on the Sergio Melpignano Senior Italian Open after an excellent closing 66 at San Domenico Golf.
The Englishman reeled in in a single day chief Phillip Worth to complete at -14, two pictures away from France’s Lionel Alexandre and Swedish debutant Johan Edfors, who each matched Marshall’s 66 to complete T2 at -12.
Order of Advantage chief Scott Hend, and one of many males chasing him down, Peter Baker, have been an extra shot again at -11 after their rounds of 67. Welshman Phillip Worth, who led by 4 after the primary two rounds, having opened up with a scintillating 64, endured a day to neglect. The 2002 Ryder Cup star was the one participant within the top-20 to shoot over par and ended up in sixth place at -10 after a 74.
For Marshall – enjoying alongside Worth – it was a case of endurance being rewarded after a lot of near-misses lately, together with in Italy two years in the past when James Kingston roared via the sphere to shoot 61 and declare victory.
“It feels actually good,” mentioned Marshall, a two-time winner on the MENA Tour and the PGA EuroPro Tour. “I wasn’t actually interested by profitable this morning as a result of Worth was to this point forward. I’ve come shut a couple of instances and while you see different individuals win you do assume ‘when’s it my flip?’ So to lastly do it’s nice. I nonetheless can’t consider it actually.
“It’s superb what occurs. Phil truly hit it within the gap on three and it was going so quick, it simply hit the pin after which went via the inexperienced. So a stunning shot turns into a three-putt bogey and also you surprise if it’s an indication. I simply performed beautiful across the flip and obtained to 5 or six-under and it was all concerning the timing of it. I then ran out of holes to mess up and right here I’m soaked in champagne. Now I do know I can do it, hopefully it received’t be too lengthy earlier than it occurs once more or I give myself an opportunity at the very least.”
With Worth slipping again into the pack, a lot of gamers made expenses in the direction of the highest of the leaderboard together with Scott Hend, who eagled the second after which added additional birdies to maneuver to -10 on the flip.
Johan Edfors additionally in with a shout after a back-nine 31 obtained him to -12. Enjoying in his first Legends Tour occasion, the Swede notched 17 birdies for the week and clearly loved a return to a venue he final performed 20 years in the past.
“It’s been nice coming again to San Domenico,” mentioned the three-time DP World Tour winner. “I’ve had a unbelievable first week on the Legends Tour. I’ve been practising and enjoying a couple of occasions however there’s an enormous distinction enjoying in a correct match. I used to be proud of my recreation coming in and it was good to have the ability to convey that onto the course as effectively.
“It was harder than I believed, however I used to be truly fairly calm and performed my finest golf of the week at the moment. If I may have simply holed a couple of extra putts it may have been a very nice day. I hit a whole lot of good pictures and gave myself a whole lot of good possibilities and that’s all you need.”
