Wilson breaks European Tour duck
Oliver Wilson finally broke his European Tour duck by winning the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on Sunday.
The 34-year-old Englishman has finished runner-up on no less than nine occasions between 2006 and 2009 when he cracked the world top 50, and was finally able to celebrate thanks to a splendid finish in a tightly contested final round.
“I could be drunk for a while – I’ve had a lot of champagne on hold from over the years!”
Wilson started the day three shots clear of the field after taking command of the tournament with a 64 at Carnoustie on Thursday.
On Saturday he carded a 65 at St Andrews to confirm his readiness to step into the winning circle.
Returning to The Old Course for the final round, the tournament invite was swiftly caught by Louis Oosthuizen when he three-putted the fourth for bogey.
He had to wait until the tenth for his first birdie of the day, by which time Scotland’s Richie Ramsay, England’s Tommy Fleetwood and World Number One Rory McIlroy were all battling for the title.
A second birdie from ten feet at the 11th kept Wilson in the thick of the action, and when long-time leader Ramsay bogeyed the 16th and 17th, he was able to take advantage.
“I don’t have words for it. It’s been ten years, 11 years coming,” an emotional Wilson told the European Tour’s official website.
“There were nine runners-up and I hadn’t done a whole lot to lose those, but nothing had really gone my way and this week, to be given a big opportunity by Dunhill to play – I can’t thank them enough to give me an opportunity to do this – I guess it’s what golf’s all about.”
“Before I went out today I thought about how I’ve never gone out and won a tournament. I’ve played alright coming down the stretch and not lost it and other guys have just got over the line ahead of me and today I was just trying to be patient.”
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