Southend golfer Matthew Southgate wins first HotelPlanner Tour title (original) (raw)

Victory - for Matthew Southgate (Image: PA)

GOLF: Matthew Southgate has claimed his first HotelPlanner Tour title.

The Southend golfer secured victory at the Swiss Challenge with a stunning final round of 62, finishing the tournament eight shots clear of his nearest rivals at Golf Sempach.

READ MORE: Defender to leave the Shrimpers

Southgate told the European Tour website: "I played exactly how you would dream of playing.

"I wanted to get off to a hot start, I felt very comfortable this morning.

"I knew that all I could do was stick to the plan.

"I expected something to go wrong at some point, and it didn’t, I putted fantastically well.

"It has been a great week."

Beginning the final day one shot behind overnight leader George Bloor, Southgate immediately drew level with a birdie on the opening hole.

He quickly built momentum with two more birdies in his next three holes, before picking up three consecutive shots on the sixth, seventh, and eighth to reach 20-under-par for the tournament.

He said: "When I arrived on Monday, I really liked the look of the course with the longer rough, I knew it would catch a few players out.

"I made a plan and stuck to it."

By the turn, Southgate was five shots clear of the chasing pack.

He added three more birdies on the back nine and capped off a near-flawless round with back-to-back birdies to finish 23-under-par for the week.

Among the group eight shots behind Southgate were fellow Englishmen Bloor and Tom Sloman, along with Hamish Brown, Julian Perico, Tadeas Tetak, Martin Vorster and Marc Warren.

Southgate said: "I was so focused on my own game, I didn’t really look at the leaderboard until the big one at the back of the 11th green.

"I expected to be in front and when I saw I was five in front, I didn’t know how to respond to it, I’ve never been in that position many times in my career."

The 37-year-old has more than 300 DP World Tour starts and nine top-10 finishes on the HotelPlanner Tour, but this is his first victory.

He began the week ranked 94th on the Road to Mallorca Rankings, and the win has lifted him into ninth, significantly improving his chances of earning a DP World Tour card for next season.

Southgate said: "I’m immensely proud.

"There are so many people I should be thanking.

"A lot of people around the world know how much I love this game."