PGA of Italy Professional, Federico Elli, carded a final round five-under par 67 to post a 14-under par total of 274, to become the 2013 UniCredit PGA Professional Champion of Europe and take home the €10,000 winner’s cheque.
As his rivals attempted to get close, the Italian continued his dominance of Pravets Golf & Spa Resort by making no less than seven birdies in his round. The final blow came on the last hole where after a cool and calm drive and second shot to the centre of the green was followed with a thundering 25-foot putt that rattled into the hole for his 14-under finish.
“It’s a great feeling to be Champion, I’m really touched by it and I don’t really know what to say,” explained the Italian Professional. “I had a really good round of golf today and it’s just amazing.”
It was a Swiss PGA contingent made up of Alec Roberts and Corsin Caviezel that were putting the pressure on the eventual winner with both finishing tied for second place on eight-under par (280), taking home €5,350 each.
“It was great playing in the last group with Federico,” said Roberts. “We were really having a lot of fun. There was a great moment on the putting green where everyone else had teed off and we said ‘hey, let’s enjoy this today, we don’t get to be in positions like this very often’, and we did – it was perfect.”
Elli led overnight by three shots and made a subdued start to his fourth round with two pars and a bogey at the third. But he changed gear to card three birdies in the next four holes, making the turn at 11-under overall. Then another run of three birdies in four holes propelled him away from the chasing pack, and not even a bogey at the 14th hole could slow him down as he made three straight pars, followed up with the grandstand finish birdie on the 18th.
“On 18 I preferred to take a risk with a driver as with a 2-iron I would have had a very long second-shot,” added Elli. “When I saw the putt go in I couldn’t believe it – it was a relief!”
The Confederation of Professional Golf wish to thank all those involved in making the event a huge success, including UniCredit, Pravets Golf & Spa Resort, and the PGA Professionals each representing their home PGAs.
Full final results can be found here: http://eur.pe/17vapHk.
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For more information about the Confederation of Professional Golf, visit the Tournament Hub Page (http://eur.pe/17vapHk), follow @PGAsofEurope and search #PassportToPravets (http://eur.pe/1e6YQex) on Twitter, or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.
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Image Caption: 2013 UniCredit PGA Professional Championship of Europe Winner, Federico Elli (PGA of Italy)
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Notes to Editors:
Confederation of Professional Golf
The Confederation of Professional Golf is an Association of 38 National PGAs (31 European and 7 international) with a collective membership in excess of 21,000 golf professionals.
Our core mission is to represent, promote and provide advice to develop professional golf and ensure that the administration of the professional game throughout the continent delivers excellence in the services provided to ensure highly qualified, highly skilled PGA Professionals who lead the advancement of the game. [cpg.golf]
Pravets Golf Club
Pravets Golf Club, in the magnificent Golf & Spa Resort, easily accessible from Bulgaria’s capital, Sofia, hosts the third PGA Professional Championship of Europe in 2013 after a hugely-successful re-launch of the Confederation of Professional Golf’s 72-hole individual strokeplay championship in 2011. The resort features a four-star Riu hotel with restaurants, superb spa and fully equipped fitness centre and all-round sporting facilities including the superbly designed Peter Harradine-designed course, partly lakeside and with the spectacular backdrop of the Stara Planina mountains. [www.pravets-golfclub.com]
UniCredit
UniCredit is a leading European commercial bank with an international network spanning 50 markets, with more than 9,200 branches and over 150,000 employees. The Group operates in 20 European countries.
UniCredit benefits from a strong European identity, extensive international presence and broad customer base.
Its strategic position in Western and Eastern Europe gives the group one of the region’s highest market shares. [www.UniCredit.com]