Published July 17, 2008 on May 14, 2018

Lagergren Seals Maiden Win in Playoff in Sicily

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Joakim Lagergren claimed his maiden European Tour title in dramatic fashion at the Rocco Forte Sicilian Open defeating Mike Lorenzo-Vera in a playoff at Verdura Golf Club.

Lagergren’s closing 68 got him to 16 under alongside Lorenzo-Vera – who signed for a 70 – and one shot clear of England’s Andy Sullivan and Australian Lucas Herbert, who matched the lowest round of the week with a 63.

The Swede entered Sunday two shots behind Frenchman Lorenzo-Vera but that was his advantage at the turn as he made four birdies in his first nine holes on the Sicilian coast.

He came home in 36 to allow Lorenzo-Vera back into the contest but a wonderful approach to eight feet set up a birdie on the first extra hole and handed him victory.

Lagergren’s triumph makes him the second first-time Swedish winner in three weeks after Alexander Björk’s victory at the Volvo China Open, and comes in his 131st European Tour appearance.

Lagergren said, “I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole career. I’m so relieved and I’m so happy at the moment, I can’t describe it in words. I’ve just been fighting so hard to get to here, it’s just awesome.

“When you’re just missing out a few times you really want to get that first win and it feels like you really need to get over that first step to then really continue and get more and more. This is a big step for me, I’ve taken the first one now, I’ll rock on from here.”

For Lorenzo-Vera, it is a second consecutive second-placed finish after he lost in the final at last week’s GolfSixes alongside Romain Wattel.

Dane Lucas Bjerregaard was then at 14 under, one shot ahead of Frenchman Julien Guerrier.

England’s Steven Brown and home favourite Francesco Laporta were at 11 under, a shot clear of two more Italians in Edoardo Molinari and Andrea Pavan.

Simon Khan made the 16th hole-in-one of the season and the second in as many days on the 15th when he holed a seven iron from 182 yards.

Final Round Scores

268 J Lagergren (Swe) 71 66 63 68, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 71 64 63 70,
269 L Herbert (Aus) 69 71 66 63, A Sullivan (Eng) 67 72 65 65,
270 L Bjerregaard (Den) 65 68 68 69,
271 J Guerrier (Fra) 68 65 67 71,
273 S Brown (Eng) 68 66 73 66, F Laporta (Ita) 69 69 67 68,
274 A Pavan (Ita) 72 66 66 70, E Molinari (Ita) 71 70 67 66,
275 A Connelly (Can) 70 74 65 66, R Evans (Eng) 65 69 71 70, P Waring (Eng) 70 68 70 67,
276 E Pepperell (Eng) 72 69 69 66, J Winther (Den) 71 74 65 66, T Aiken (RSA) 68 71 70 67, J Kruyswijk (RSA) 72 68 68 68, P Angles (Esp) 72 70 66 68, T Lewis (Eng) 71 71 67 67,
278 M Schwab (Aut) 69 73 66 70, M Tullo (Chi) 71 69 68 70, L Gagli (Ita) 72 72 67 67, P Mejow (Ger) 70 72 68 68, M Manassero (Ita) 72 73 68 65, J Fahrbring (Swe) 74 68 67 69,
279 S Khan (Eng) 74 71 67 67, N Cullen (Aus) 70 69 72 68, M Korhonen (Fin) 70 69 68 72, O Farr (Wal) 73 71 68 67, C Bezuidenhout (RSA) 71 72 66 70, G Migliozzi (Ita) 72 71 66 70, S Webster (Eng) 70 68 70 71, L Canter (Eng) 70 73 66 70,
280 K Johannessen (Nor) 68 75 67 70, J Walters (RSA) 73 72 68 67, Z Lombard (RSA) 71 71 68 70, E Park (Kor) 68 73 67 72, C Koepka (USA) 72 69 71 68, S Fernandez (Esp) 67 73 72 68, T Murray (Eng) 70 70 73 67,
281 S Chawrasia (Ind) 72 71 72 66, T Bjørn (Den) 71 70 69 71, V Perez (Fra) 73 70 70 68, H Porteous (RSA) 70 73 68 70, B Stow (Eng) 71 70 72 68, J Kruger (RSA) 72 70 69 70, M Armitage (Eng) 67 75 68 71,
282 S Gros (Fra) 68 72 69 73, D Brooks (Eng) 67 76 69 70, J Dantorp (Swe) 71 72 71 68, M Southgate (Eng) 72 71 71 68, D Im (USA) 74 71 69 68, M Nixon (Eng) 71 73 69 69, E Johansen (Nor) 73 70 70 69,
283 E Cuartero Blanco (Esp) 74 68 68 73, B Ritthammer (Ger) 75 68 70 70, M Baldwin (Eng) 70 74 69 70,
284 L Slattery (Eng) 71 72 70 71, M Millar (Aus) 72 73 69 70, O Lindell (Fin) 74 70 68 72, A Da Silva (Bra) 67 73 74 70, K Samooja (Fin) 71 74 71 68,
285 T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 69 74 71 71, F Fritsch (Ger) 74 71 70 70, R Finch (Eng) 69 76 69 71, E Lipparelli (Ita) 73 70 68 74, T Pulkkanen (Fin) 74 70 69 72, A Knappe (Ger) 71 74 70 70, C Braeunig (Ger) 76 69 67 73,
286 N Bertasio (Ita) 74 68 74 70, N Kimsey (Eng) 71 72 72 71, P Widegren (Swe) 73 71 71 71, G Manzoni (am) (Ita) 75 69 73 69,
287 F Maccario (Ita) 76 69 73 69,
289 G Bourdy (Fra) 70 73 71 75, H Leon (Chi) 70 74 72 73,
146 D Howell (Eng) 72 74 0 0, N Geyger (Chi) 73 73 0 0, N Von Dellingshausen (Ger) 75 71 0 0, F Aguilar (Chi) 74 72 0 0, B Evans (Eng) 75 71 0 0, A Saddier (Fra) 73 73 0 0, J Zunic (Aus) 73 73 0 0, P Oriol (Esp) 72 74 0 0, F Bergamaschi (Ita) 72 74 0 0, S Tiley (Eng) 77 69 0 0,
147 T Olesen (Den) 74 73 0 0, C Syme (Sco) 74 73 0 0, R Langasque (Fra) 72 75 0 0, M Fraser (Aus) 71 76 0 0, R McEvoy (Eng) 73 74 0 0, D Drysdale (Sco) 76 71 0 0, D Stewart (Sco) 74 73 0 0, T Linard (Fra) 77 70 0 0, S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) 78 69 0 0, C Ford (Eng) 71 76 0 0, J Scrivener (Aus) 76 71 0 0, C Mivis (Bel) 73 74 0 0, J Heath (Eng) 77 70 0 0,
148 M Schneider (Ger) 76 72 0 0, R McGowan (Eng) 75 73 0 0, J Thomson (Eng) 75 73 0 0, E De La Riva (Esp) 75 73 0 0, J Maw (Eng) 78 70 0 0, A Plant (Eng) 73 75 0 0, R McGee (Irl) 77 71 0 0, N Johansson (Swe) 73 75 0 0, J Geary (Nzl) 74 74 0 0, M Lafeber (Ned) 77 71 0 0, Ó Serna (Mex) 74 74 0 0, B Hafthorsson (Isl) 72 76 0 0, S Horsfield (Eng) 78 70 0 0, D Horsey (Eng) 72 76 0 0, P Geerts (Ita) 78 70 0 0, Y Touhami (Mar) 76 72 0 0,
149 F Zucchetti (Ita) 73 76 0 0, E Goya (Arg) 77 72 0 0, A Quiros (Esp) 79 70 0 0, C Blomstrand (Swe) 71 78 0 0, S Heisele (Ger) 75 74 0 0,
150 A Tadini (Ita) 74 76 0 0, A Turner (Eng) 72 78 0 0, M Lundberg (Swe) 70 80 0 0, B Dredge (Wal) 77 73 0 0, N Fung (Mas) 69 81 0 0, O Wilson (Eng) 74 76 0 0, J White (Eng) 71 79 0 0, J Janewattananond (Tha) 74 76 0 0, J Morrison (Eng) 75 75 0 0,
151 A Saracino (Ita) 74 77 0 0, A Sandhu (Ind) 75 76 0 0, J Stalter (Fra) 78 73 0 0, J Carlsson (Swe) 82 69 0 0, J Sjöholm (Swe) 84 67 0 0, S Vincent (Zim) 74 77 0 0,
152 E Di Nitto (Ita) 78 74 0 0, L Cianchetti (Ita) 75 77 0 0, M Ortolani (Ita) 72 80 0 0, R Cho (Kor) 78 74 0 0, P Bovari (am) (Ita) 77 75 0 0,
153 B Neil (Sco) 79 74 0 0, P Gal (Cze) 74 79 0 0, J Quesne (Fra) 77 76 0 0, C Del Moral (Esp) 79 74 0 0, J Vecchi Fossa (Ita) 75 78 0 0,
154 J Munro (Aus) 76 78 0 0,
155 M Foster (Eng) 84 71 0 0,
156 M Cea (Ita) 77 79 0 0, A Romano (am) (Ita) 71 85 0 0,
157 A Michael (RSA) 78 79 0 0, G Manfredi (am) (Ita) 81 76 0 0,
162 J Arnoy (Nor) 78 84 0 0,
165 T Foster (Eng) 85 80 0 0,
** C Doak (Sco) 79 DQ 0 0, S Kjeldsen (Den) 73 WD 0 0, H Sturehed (Swe) 75 RT 0 0,