Lee Slattery overcame a late wobble to win his first European Tour title with a one-stroke victory at the Madrid Masters.
Englishman seals one-shot victory despite nervy finish
England's Lee Slattery overcame a late wobble to win his first European Tour title with a one-stroke victory at the Madrid Masters on Sunday.
The Southport golfer produced a storming back-nine charge to ensure he had a three-shot lead by the time he stood on the 18th tee.
But the 33-year-old ended up limping over the line as he made a double-bogey seven at the par-five after finding both sand and water.
Ultimately he was grateful to see closest rival and playing partner Lorenzo Gagli miss a 30-foot birdie putt.
That would have got the Italian to 15-under, but as it was he had to settle for a par allowing Slattery the relative luxury of a two-putt from around 15 feet to close out his maiden victory on his 183rd European Tour start.
Slattery, who lost his Tour card in 2007, started the day two shots clear but surrendered that advantage as he made bogeys at both the third and fifth to fall out of the lead.
Gagli, Cesar Monasterio of Argentina and Italy's Francesco Molinari all started well to close up on Slattery, although the Englishman regained his composure with a birdie three at the seventh.
Indeed, that would spark a superb back-nine run from Slattery who birdied 11 and 13 to draw level with Gagli at 15-under-par.
Turning point
The turning point appeared to come at the 14th as Slattery produced a superb five-iron to set up another birdie and then watched on as Gagli could manage only a bogey to fall two behind.
On a roll, Slattery made it three birdies in a row at the 15th to pull three clear and looked to have sewn up the tournament with a clutch putt for par at the 17th which kept that comfortable cushion intact.
But, despite a perfect tee-shot with an iron at the par-five 18th, he would struggle to get over the line after finding a fairway bunker with his second and then splashing out into the lake that guards the right-hand side of the green.
In the end a chip and a two-putt proved sufficient, but Slattery admitted his heart was in his mouth right until the final shot.
"I've got a two-footer on the last to win and I've never shaken so much in my life," he told Sky Sports afterwards.
"I was so relaxed on the back nine making birdies, but as soon as you make a mistake like I did at the last there it became quite tough."
Of his troubles on 18, he added: "I hit an eight-iron which would have just got me over the bunker I ended up in, but it was on a slight downslope and a little bit awkward and I caught it heavy.
"Luckily I was able to get the job done but it wasn't how I intended!"
Gagli settled for second on 14-under, while 47-year-old Monasterio made it back-to-back top-10 finishes as he finished in a share of third with Spaniard Eduardo De La Riva (70) on 12-under.
South Africa's Thomas Aiken was fifth on his own, while Swedes Peter Hanson and Oscar Floren, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano of Spain, France's Benjamin Hibert and Molinari shared sixth.
World number one Luke Donald briefly threatened to make a final-round charge early in the day, but left himself too much to do and slipped back into a tie for 11th after dropping three shots late on.
