Wattel wins KLM Open title

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bruced
September 17, 2017

Frenchman Romain Wattel won his first European Tour title and €300,000 after firing a closing 69 for a 15-under-par 269 total at the KLM Open in Spijk on Sunday.

Wattel, who was in control for much of the final round, survived a scare at the end when he missed the green with his approach to the last but got down with a par for his 69.

He finished one shot ahead of Canadian Austin Connelly when Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat found the water with his second to the 18th to finish at 12 under.

In third, with a 13 under total, were; George Coetzee (67), Sebastian Heisele (69), Eddie Pepperell (65), Joël Stalter (70), Justin Walters (67) and Lee Westwood (69).

Wattel’s round, which included four birdies, was thrilled after his victory.

“I came to this tournament, I was playing poorly, to be honest,” Wattel said afterwards. “Last week I struggled with my game.

“I am happy with the way I played all week. It’s been a very nice weekend.

“I’ve been putting really bad the last two years – I think I’m a really good putter but the last two years were tough for me.

“I never thought about the score, I just tried to play my best. I was just trying to be as high as I could on the leaderboard but it was very tight. I just tried to play my own game.”

Thailand’s Aphibarnrat held a one-shot lead overnight but was passed by Wattel with three birdies in his first six holes.

At one stage French rookie Stalter overtook Wattel when he birdied the eighth and his compatriot’s dropped a shot.

But Stalter’s challenge died when he had three bogeys on the back nine and Wattel birdied the tenth while a run of pars kept him in contention as others stumbled.

The Connelly had six birdies in a closing 66 to finish second on 14 under.

Scores after the final round:

-15 Romain Wattel (France) 69 67 64 69
-14 Austin Connelly (Canada) 71 67 66 66
-13 Eddie Pepperell (Britain) 69 68 69 65
George Coetzee (South Africa) 69 67 68 67
Lee Westwood (Britain) 70 65 67 69
Sebastian Heisele (Germany) 66 68 68 69
Justin Walters (South Africa) 72 67 65 67
Joel Stalter (France) 65 67 69 70
-12 Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand) 68 65 66 73
Chris Wood (Britain) 70 69 68 65
Bernd Wiesberger (Austria) 66 69 71 66
Joakim Lagergren (Sweden) 67 65 70 70
Matt Wallace (Britain) 68 68 69 67
-11 Paul Dunne (Ireland) 74 68 65 66
Carlos Pigem (Spain) 72 67 68 66
-10 Filipe Lima (Portugal) 70 68 69 67
-9 Clement Berardo (France) 69 72 67 67
Matteo Manassero (Italy) 68 68 68 71
Richard Finch (Britain) 66 67 72 70
-8 Duncan Stewart (Britain) 71 68 70 67
Jason Scrivener (Australia) 70 68 70 68
Alexander Bjoerk (Sweden) 73 65 73 65
Todd Sinnott (Australia) 68 73 68 67
Wil Besseling (Netherlands) 70 69 70 67
-7 Richie Ramsay (Britain) 70 72 68 67
Maximilian Kieffer (Germany) 69 69 72 67
Wade Ormsby (Australia) 74 68 66 69
Mikko Ilonen (Finland) 69 70 68 70
Chris Hanson (Britain) 68 71 68 70
Oliver Fisher (Britain) 72 68 70 67
-6 Ben Evans (Britain) 72 69 67 70
Wu Ashun (China) 67 68 71 72
Robert Dinwiddie (Britain) 69 69 73 67
Dylan Frittelli (South Africa) 70 69 69 70
Ross Fisher (Britain) 73 68 68 69
Stuart Manley (Britain) 71 68 68 71
Magnus Carlsson (Sweden) 72 68 67 71
-5 Thomas Detry (Belgium) 75 66 68 70
Pep Angles (Spain) 68 70 73 68
Fabrizio Zanotti (Paraguay) 70 70 67 72
Johan Carlsson (Sweden) 75 67 67 70
Daan Huizing (Netherlands) 69 71 72 67
Mikko Korhonen (Finland) 67 71 70 71
Damien Perrier (France) 69 70 69 71
Peter Hanson (Sweden) 70 69 68 72
David Horsey (Britain) 76 66 68 69
Matthieu Pavon (France) 68 69 70 72
-4 Daniel Brooks (Britain) 69 71 69 71
Adrian Otaegui (Spain) 71 71 70 68
Florian Fritsch (Germany) 71 70 68 71
Max Albertus (Netherlands) 69 70 73 68
Jaco Ahlers (South Africa) 72 69 73 66
Jorge Campillo (Spain) 76 66 73 65
Dean Burmester (South Africa) 77 65 68 70