Matthew Cort and Craig Shave took the honours at the 2015 Golfbreaks.com Fourball Championship at Lumine Mediterránea Beach & Golf Community in Costa Daurada, Spain, after a final round eight-under par 64 at the Hills Course secured victory with a -21 (194) total and a cheque for €6,400.
“It’s great – we came here on a kind of holiday because we’ve not played much golf back in England,” said Cort. “We played really well, gelled well as a team together and played well every day.”
“I’m really chuffed,” added Shave. “We’ve played a few of these events together now and we’ve had some good results but it’s nice to win a big one.”
With wind speeds of 65kph expected it was the more sheltered Hills Course that played host to the finale of the Championship – something that didn’t phase the eventual champions:
“It was tough being so windy, and the rain didn’t help,” explained Shave. “But it wasn’t as bad as was forecast thankfully.”
Cort added, “It was tough to predict what score [would win]…we thought we were cruising at 18-under and then thankfully we finished it off with three birdies in the last three holes which cemented it.”
The British duo began their final round looking to capitalise on their first and second round 64 and 66 respectively, the latter of which included an ace at the Lakes Course’s fourth hole.
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A solid two-under par opening nine holes was a good start, but the back nine was where they turned things up a gear. Birdies at holes 10, 11 and 12 got them to 18-under, and then birdies at 16 and 17 allowed daylight to appear between them and their rivals.
Stood on the 18th tee both Professionals were aware of their position at the top of the leaderboard – a fact that did not detract from their plan to keep two shots in play. After solid irons from the tee and regulation approach shots to within 15-feet, there were a pair of birdie putts to take the Championship by two shots.
Cort stepped up first with a quick downhill snake that glanced the right side of the hole that was converted for the par:
“The guys ahead made birdie to go to 19-under and as a twenty we needed to make par and I thought it was in but then Craig had a five-footer to make birdie anyway so that finished it off nicely,” said Cort.
“Well Matt has already made four anyway so it made mine a little bit easier to be fair to him…I was just glad it went in,” said Shave.
With both Professionals being accompanied by their partners, the week had a more family orientated focus than normal:
“It’s been a really nice week, we’ve just chilled out and it’s been like a holiday really,” said Shave.
“We’ve kept practice to a minimum – we’ve obviously warmed to hit shots but as soon as we’ve finished the round we’ve just gone straight back to the apartment and caught up with the girls…so it’s been good in that sense,” added Cort.
In second place were the PGA of Spain pair of Rafa Gallardo Moreno and Borja Garcia [pictured right and left], whose final round seven-under 65 pulled them up the leaderboard to finish on -19 (196), taking €4,150 in winnings.
“Great, it’s been a really good day and we have a great feeling,” said Garcia. “We matched perfectly…Rafa made five birdies, I made five birdies too today and we played solidly like this [throughout].”
At standalone third place were the PGA of Italy’s Alessandro Tadini and Gregory Molteni [pictured, left and right]. Their seven-under 65 was enough to take them two clear of their chasers finishing on -18 (197) receiving a cheque for €2,800.
The Confederation of Professional Golf would like to thank all the supporters of the event for their continued support, along with all the competitors from this year’s Championship.
For further information and final scores visit http://eur.pe/2015Fourball.
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For more information on the Confederation of Professional Golf Golfbreaks.com Fourball Championship visit the Tournament Hub Page, follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter search the Hashtag ‘#FourballChamps’, or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.
With thanks to Golfbreaks.com (www.Golfbreaks.com/pga-pro), LUMINE Mediterránea Beach & Golf Club visit (www.lumine.com), Costa Daurada (www.CostaDaurada.info), Cambrils (www.Cabrils-Tourism.com), La Pineda Platja (www.LaPinedaPlatja.info), and Salou (www.visitsalou.eu).
