Published July 17, 2008 on May 13, 2019

Rampant Rozner Earns Back-to-Back wins with Prague Triumph

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Antoine Rozner became the first back-to-back winner on the European Challenge Tour for seven years as he raced to a seven-stroke victory at the Prague Golf Challenge.

The Frenchman posted a closing four under par 68 at Prague City Golf as he reached 17 under par and duly added the Prague Golf Challenge title to his Challenge de España crown which he claimed at Izki Golf, Urturi, last week.

Rozner is the first back-to-back winner on the Challenge Tour since Kristoffer Broberg won two in a row at the Finnish Challenge and Norwegian Challenge in August 2012.

He began the final round one shot clear of playing partner Mathieu Fenasse but ended the day seven shots ahead of his compatriot, who finished on ten under par alongside Richard Bland and Danish duo Mark Flindt Haastrup and Martin Simonsen.

Rozner now needs just one more win to earn immediate graduation to the European Tour under the three-win rule and follow in the footsteps of Kim Koivu, who achieved the feat last year.

“I have no words, it’s unbelievable,” he said. “It’s been a crazy two weeks for me and it’s just been some of the best golf I’ve ever played. It’s amazing and crazy to get two wins in a row like that. It’s an amazing feeling.

“The goal is definitely to get the third win now, for sure. I’ll see what I’ll be doing in the next few weeks and hopefully, I’ll get a third win as soon as possible.”

The 26-year-old believes today’s four under par 68 was his best round of the week due to the tough conditions which the players were required to battle through.

“My performance today was ten out of ten,” he said. “I really didn’t make any mistakes; I think I made one three-putt and one bad shot but that’s it. Other than that, I played really, really well and in those conditions, it was the best round of the week.

“The beginning of the round was really, really tough. I struggled a bit on the first few holes but I saved a good par on number three and the birdie on number four helped me a lot.

“It was just tough and you had to keep the ball in position. It was really complicated to get the speed right on the greens. I managed everything really well and it turned out to be a solid performance again.”

Rookie Fredrik Nilehn and Frenchman Robin Roussel shared sixth place on nine under par, while Felipe Aguilar, Sébastien Gros, Jonas Kölbing and Cormac Sharvin finished a shot further back on eight under par in tied eighth.

There is now a week’s break in the Challenge Tour International Schedule before it returns to the Czech Republic for the D+D REAL Czech Challenge in Brno from May 23-26.

 

Final scores:

271 A Rozner (Fra) 70 65 68 68,
278 R Bland (Eng) 65 72 70 71, M Simonsen (Den) 68 72 69 69, M Haastrup (Den) 68 72 67 71, M Fenasse (Fra) 67 66 71 74,
279 F Nilehn (Swe) 69 71 68 71, R Roussel (Fra) 68 69 70 72,
280 J Kolbing (Ger) 65 69 70 76, S Gros (Fra) 71 69 67 73, F Aguilar (Chi) 71 71 70 68, C Sharvin (Nir) 69 69 67 75,
281 R Dawson (Irl) 69 73 70 69, R Enoch (Wal) 70 69 67 75, D Coupland (Eng) 70 74 67 70, G Havret (Fra) 69 71 65 76, B Poke (Den) 66 72 72 71, T Tree (Eng) 68 72 71 70, W Besseling (Ned) 65 70 71 75, E Ferguson (Sco) 65 77 68 71, J Erkenbeck (USA) 71 69 71 70,
282 R Højgaard (Den) 69 72 67 74, R Santos (Por) 68 72 71 71, C Lloyd (Eng) 69 71 68 74, J Wrisdale (Eng) 73 68 69 72,
283 L Canter (Eng) 67 70 71 75, P Oriol (Esp) 72 71 67 73, P Angles (Esp) 71 73 71 68, B Virto (Esp) 70 71 68 74,
284 S Matus (Cze) 70 74 71 69, B Neil (Sco) 73 68 73 70, N Johansson (Swe) 70 71 75 68, O Lengden (Swe) 72 72 68 72, L Robinson (Eng) 74 69 70 71, M Schneider (Ger) 73 68 74 69, M Armitage (Eng) 73 70 68 73,
285 J Lando Casanova (Fra) 68 73 69 75, M Eriksson (Swe) 67 77 69 72, J Heath (Eng) 73 70 67 75, N McCarthy (Eng) 71 72 70 72, A Garcia-Heredia (Esp) 73 69 68 75, R Saxton (Ned) 74 70 67 74, B Stow (Eng) 69 75 70 71,
286 J Glennemo (Swe) 71 71 72 72, B Spooner (Eng) 65 72 75 74,
287 J Huldahl (Den) 72 72 73 70, R Evans (Eng) 69 73 73 72, D Huizing (Ned) 72 70 74 71, D Van Driel (Ned) 68 70 73 76, D Boote (Wal) 69 73 70 75, P Maddy (Eng) 71 73 69 74, F Laporta (Ita) 69 75 69 74,
288 A Olsen (Nor) 71 72 72 73, C Robb (Sco) 70 73 68 77, A Cockerill (Can) 74 68 74 72, R Cho (Kor) 69 74 69 76, B Easton (RSA) 73 71 70 74,
290 R McGee (Irl) 70 72 71 77, F Fritsch (Ger) 69 75 70 76, M Carlsson (Swe) 72 71 73 74, M Helligkilde (Den) 72 72 69 77, C Pigem (Esp) 68 73 73 76,
291 N Tinning (Den) 71 71 70 79,
293 S Tiley (Eng) 71 73 76 73, M Keyser (RSA) 73 70 73 77,