Sunday 23 August 2015 18:12, UK
David Horsey overcame a nervy final round to clinch the fourth European Tour title of his career with a wire-to-wire win at the Made In Denmark.
Horsey failed to build on an early birdie and kept the chasing pack interested with dropped shots at the seventh, 14th and 16th holes, but a two-over 73 was enough to claim a two-shot victory as his closest overnight challengers faded down the stretch.
The early stages of the final day at Himmerland were dominated by Kristoffer Broberg, who was languishing in 52nd place after 54 holes before making giant strides up the leaderboard with a run of five birdies in six holes in an outward 31.
The Swede picked up further shots at 10 and 11, and further birdies at the 14th and 16th saw him post a sparkling 62 - the low round of the tournament - and gave him the clubhouse lead on 11 under par.
Daniel Gaunt closed with a 66 to join Broberg on the same score, while Soren Kjeldsen maintained his chances of celebrating his 500th European Tour start with a win as he made four birdies in five holes either side of a bogey at the fifth.
The home favourite was just one off the lead when he birdied 13 and Horsey bogeyed 14, but the Dane missed a huge chance to pile the pressure on the long-time leader when his three-foot par putt on the last green lipped out on the left.
Kjeldsen's 68 earned him a share of the clubhouse lead, but his final-hole lapse gave Horsey the luxury of a two-stroke advantage coming down the last, which looked likely to be a crucial buffer when he tugged his drive into thick rough on the left.
Feels fantastic
But the Englishman made great connection despite a hanging lie and managed to forced his ball onto the front-left portion of the green, from where he safely two-putted for par to land the winner's prize of 250,000euros.
"It feels fantastic," said Horsey afterwards. "It's starting to sink in now. Coming down those last few holes I was very much in my own zone just trying to focus on myself. It probably helped that there weren't many leaderboards out there.
"The crowds were unbelievable. We have good fans in the UK, but the fans here are just fantastic. They are so loud. To get clapped in on all the greens like we did was amazing.
"As I was standing over that shot into 18, I knew I was two ahead, but I knew Terry could make birdie and get to 12 under, and when he hit it into 20 feet that sort of made my mind up. I only had 160 to the flag and I knew anywhere left was fine. I hit seven, making sure I kept it left, and it came out perfectly."
Australian veteran Terry Pilkadaris had started the day just a shot behind Horsey, and he vaulted into the outright lead when he birdied the second and sixth to get to 16 under.
But he slipped up with back-to-back bogeys at eight and nine, and he dropped another shot at 14 before taking himself out of contention when he was forced to take a drop from the deep rough beyond the 15th green and ran up a double-bogey six.
Pilkadaris had to settle for a 74 and a share of second, while Bradley Dredge was a shot further back after he offset five birdies with four bogeys - including one at the last - in a closing 70.
The Welshman did at least provide one of the highlights of the day when he came agonisingly close to a hole-in-one in front of the vast crowds surrounding the short 16th green, his ball pitching 15 feet beyond the pin and spinning back before coming to rest just an inch from the cup.
Dredge shared sixth with Paul Lawrie, who recovered from a double-bogey at the first to post a 69, while Mads Sogaard and Richard Green also finished on 10 under, with John Parry completing the top 10 after a double-bogey at the last in a 73.
