PAPHOS, Cyprus (AP) — Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre produced a brilliant finish to claim his first European Tour title in the Cyprus Showdown on Sunday.
MacIntyre birdied four of his last six holes at Aphrodite Hills Resort to card a 7-under 64 and finish a shot ahead of Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura.
“I’ve done a lot of work, I’d say in the last I’d say six months of not thinking about winning a golf tournament. Just going through, play my golf,” MacIntyre said.
“Last year I was talking and thinking about winning golf tournaments, when I was going down the back nine on a Sunday. But this year I’ve just tried to take my time, and let it happen. What will happen will happen and today it’s happened."
The 24-year-old MacIntyre was inches away from a hole-in-one on the 17th and tapped in for birdie to briefly take the outright lead before Kawamura birdied the 18th to complete a 65.
That left MacIntyre needing to birdie at the last to win and the left-hander followed a perfect drive with a solid approach before safely two-putting from 20 feet to secure victory.
In a first-of-its-kind format on the European Tour, the field was cut to 32 and then 19 players after rounds two and three, with the scores reset to par for the final two days.
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