Horsey has the taste of Victory

England’s David Horsey captured his maiden European Challenge Tour title with a one-shot victory at the Telenet Trophy on a day of high drama. Needing to birdie the par five 18th at Limburg Golf and Country Club in Houthalen, Belgium, to avoid a play-off with Wil Besseling of the Netherlands and Denmark’s Soren Juul, who had both finished on 18 under par, Horsey found the heart of the green with his approach shot and duly two putted to become the 15th different winner on this season’s Challenge Tour Schedule. Horsey’s cheque for €22,400 also saw the man from Stockport climb into the top ten of the Challenge Tour Rankings, and put him in sight of a place on The European Tour next season. He said: “It’s a brilliant feeling. To be honest, I struggled with my game a bit to start with today. But I hung in there with a few good putts, and finished strongly with three birdies in the last four holes. Coming down the 15th, I told myself to create four chances, because I thought I’d need four birdies. But it turns out three was good enough. I was a bit surprised to see Wil [Besseling] drop a shot on the 17th hole and then only par the 18th hole. So I feel for him, but from my own point of view I’m delighted. “I was pretty nervous standing over my approach shot on the 18th, but I just tried to keep calm and trust my golf swing. I’d hit two good approach shots on the first two days, so it was just a case of “same again please”. Knowing I had two putts for the title was a great feeling – I’m chuffed to bits. I’ll have a few drinks to celebrate, before heading to next week’s Scottish Challenge in great shape. I can’t wait for the rest of the season now.” Besseling, already a winner on the Challenge Tour this season, signed for a round of 67, whilst Juul’s round of 63 – which equalled the course record – was the lowest of the day. Italy’s Michele Reale and Inder van Weerelt of the Netherlands finished in a tie for fourth on 16 under par.