The Portuguese Tomás Bessa achieved, this Sunday, his best result on the Challenge Tour, finishing in sixth place at the Open de Portugal, conquered by the Frenchman Pierre Pineau on the first hole of the play-off at the Royal Óbidos Golf Resort.
In an exciting and very competitive final stretch, the 23-year-old professional finished the four regular rounds of the tournament with 273 strokes, 15 under par, tied with his compatriots Félix Mory and David Ravetto.
He referred the title decision to the ‘play-off’, Pineau hit a ‘putt’ of about 15 meters to ‘eagle”, while Mory and Ravetto registered ‘birdie’, and won their first tournament as a professional, on the course designed by Seve Ballesteros.
It means a lot [vitória]. It is my first victory as a professional. I started the week very badly, two over par on the first lap and at that point I just wanted to make the ‘cut’. I had a good round, another one on Saturday, and now I started very well, getting into the fight for the victory”, said the Frenchman.
Despite the pressure of being, of the three, the player with the furthest ball from the green at the 18th hole (of the play-off), after a bogey-free final round with five birdies, Pierre Pineau showed nerves of steel and a straight line, which allowed him to succeed the German Marcel Schneider as champion of the Portuguese Open.
“I think I didn’t have a good idea of the moment, I didn’t expect it at all. I missed the last three cuts, I just wanted to get better. I am speechless”, confessed Pineau, who arrived in Óbidos in 55th place in the ‘Race for Mallorca’ and, thanks to his victory, will climb to 20th place.
Tomás Bessa finished in a big way what was his third participation in the Portuguese Challenge Tour tournament. He delivered a last card with 68 ‘shots’, four under par, for a total of 276 shots (-12) and reached sixth place, tied with the Scotsman Euan Walker.
“I am very happy with this result. Doing less than four on the last day, with more pressure, is an excellent result and, if it’s in the top 5, it’s the icing on the cake. It is not the victory, but it is a very good result, it is my best result in a Challenge Tour tournament and I am very happy”, he commented.
In addition to acknowledging “a certain lack of experience in the last rounds of the Challenge Tour tournaments”, in which “the pressure is different, there are more players with better results”, the Alps Tour professional positively values the exhibition at the Royal Óbidos .
I did four laps under par, as I initially wanted to do. The weekend was much better than the week, so I am very confident for the next tournaments”, said Bessa, referring to the Swiss Challenge, thanks to the ‘top 10’ at the Open de Portugal, and two more tournaments on the Alps Tour. . .
Pedro Figueiredo, for his part, was not as happy at the farewell as in the previous rounds and, with a total of 280 strokes (70+70+68+72), he finished in 22nd place, thus remaining in 85th place in the ‘Races to Mallorca’.
“I started very badly, I knew I needed a big round and the first two holes immediately ruined everything. Three to the end of the first two. Then I made a good comeback, I was down one, on the 11th I got to second on the green, I made three putts and then I didn’t finish in the best way. But still, I recovered well after a bad start. Finishing Par on the course is a lesser evil”, explained the Challenge Tour pro,
While Figueiredo says that more than the result, it took away his confidence because of how he played this week”, the amateur Hugo Camelo Ferreira acknowledged having learned from his debut at the Portuguese Open, after the 68th final position, with a total of 293 strokes ( 69+73+72+79).
“In general, the tournament was good. I managed to pass the ‘cut’, which was one of my goals, today was a heavier result, but I’m happy with my performance. I learned a lot and I will grow a lot as a player”, highlighted the CG Miramar fan.
Source: Observadora
