McEvoy sinks 20-foot birdie putt to grab maiden title in Hamburg



Richard McEvoy claimed his maiden European Tour title after a dramatic finish to the Porsche European Open in Hamburg.

The 39-year-old Englishman sunk a 20-foot putt for birdie on the final hole to secure a one-shot victory ahead of Renato Paratore, Christofer Blomstrand and German amateur Allen John. McEvoy had started the final day in a share of the lead with Bryson DeChambeau but successive bogeys late in his round saw the American fall out of contention. His victory makes McEvoy the first player this season to win on the Challenge Tour and European Tour in successive weeks after his triumph at the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge last week. McEvoy said: "It was a roller coaster ride big time today. But I fought hard, I believed and even at the last I overpowered my caddie to lay it up and give myself the best opportunity to make birdie and managed to do it. "I've tried to enjoy my golf as much as possible. "Not that I haven't been but I just needed to that little bit more and it's just come up proper trumps." McEvoy's final round of 73, which saw him finish on 11 under par, was far from perfect but proved enough to see off his closest rivals. McEvoy and DeChambeau were level through 11 holes and even back-to-back bogeys at the 12th and 13th could not knock his momentum, as DeChambeau's late collapse kept the Englishman in control. A bogey on the 17th drew McEvoy back into a four-way tie for the lead but his nerveless final putt secured an impressive victory. In contrast DeChambeau twice landed in the water on the final hole, with his triple bogey eight dropping him to a share of 13th place after a six-over 78. Paratore was closest to forcing a play-off after a superb lay-up on the 18th led to him narrowly missing an eagle chance. Local amateur John produced a storming final round of 67 to creep up the leaderboard, while Blomstrand's birdie on the 18th was enough to seal his share of second place. Meanwhile, Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn won the ASI Ladies Scottish Open by one shot to become the new world number one. The 22-year-old held off the challenge of Australian Minjee Lee at Gullane to claim her 10th LPGA title and third in 2018. She hit six birdies en route to a five-under 66 in the final round.