| -16 C Hill (Sco); -15 A Levy (Fra); -14 R Bland (Eng), C Shinkwin (Eng), R Hoejgaard (Den), J Donaldson (Wal); -13 L van Meijel (Ned); -12 K Samooja (Fin) |
| Selected others: -11 J Smith (Eng), B Evans (Eng), R Ramsay (Sco); -9 B Wiesberger (Aut), M Siem (Ger) |
Scotland’s Calum Hill secured his first European Tour title with a one-shot win at the Cazoo Classic in Kent.
The 26-year-old began the final round three strokes adrift but edged victory with a 67 to finish on 16 under par.
After Grant Forrest’s success in the Hero Open at St Andrews, Scots have now won back-to-back European Tour titles for the first time in nine years.
Frenchman Alexander Levy was runner-up after surging through the field with an eight-under 64.
English duo Richard Bland and Callum Shinkwin, Welshman Jamie Donaldson and overnight leader Rasmus Hoejgaard of Denmark finished two shots adrift.
Hill’s breakthrough victory at the London Club, after three wins on the Challenge tour, secures his place on the main circuit and could move him into the top 100 in the world for the first time.
“This is the start and hopefully I can keep pushing on from here and see where I can take it,” he said.
“I managed my emotions pretty well to stay in each shot and not get ahead of myself. I definitely felt the pressure but managed to keep control of it.
“At the start of the day, my putts just weren’t dropping and then that changed on the back nine.”
Hill’s sole bogey of the day came when he three-putted the fourth, but he made amends on the next following an impressive bunker shot.
Successive birdies left him trailing Hojgaard by two at the turn. And as the 20-year-old stumbled, Hill powered on, making it a hat-trick of gains on the 10th, then getting up and down on the par-five 15th for the crucial winning birdie.
Donaldson had been in a share of the lead when he made his sixth birdie of the day on the 12th, but he bogeyed the 14th in a 67, with Shinkwin carding 66 and Bland signing for 68.
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
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