Larrazabal victorious in June

Pablo Larrazabal has been named The European Tour Golfer of the Month for June following his sensational maiden victory in the Open de France ALSTOM. Not only did the 25 year old Spaniard lead from start to finish and hold off a chasing pack which included two former European Tour Number Ones, Colin Montgomerie and Lee Westwood, he also became the first player in history to come through the qualifying event to triumph in Continental Europe’s oldest national Open championship. The victory saw the man from Barcelona make giant strides in both The European Tour Order of Merit and the Official World Golf Ranking as well as gain entry for next week’s Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. He also followed in the footsteps of his fellow countryman Sergio Garcia who won the May award after his victory in The Players’ Championship. “I played great golf in France and to win the Golfer of the Month Award is a superb feeling for me because a lot of players in could have won that award for June,” he said. “In the third and fourth rounds in France I probably played the best golf of my life and to beat guys like Colin Montgomerie and Lee Westwood is amazing. “Montgomerie is one of the three best players in the history of The European Tour. He won eight Order of Merit titles and Lee Westwood finished third at the US Open that I was watching on TV two weeks before France, and to know that I can play like those guys is great for me.” Larrazabal secured the nomination from the judging panel – which comprised members of the Association of Golf Writers along with journalists from both radio and television – ahead of several other worthy contenders from another excellent month of golf both in Europe and worldwide. Leading the way were January’s award winner Martin Kaymer, who came through a play-off with Denmark’s Anders Hansen to become the first German golfer to win the BMW International Open in Munich; England’s David Dixon who sampled his first European Tour success when he won the dual ranking SAINT-OMER OPEN, presented by NEUFLIZE OBC; and India’s Jeev Milkha Singh who became the third Indian golfer to win on The 2008 European Tour International Schedule when he claimed the Bank Austria GolfOpen presented by Telekom Austria. Also noted by the panel for their achievements during June were Lee Westwood, Robert Karlsson, Miguel Angel Jiménez and Carl Pettersson who finished, respectively, third, fourth, sixth and sixth in the US Open Championship, while Prayad Marksaeng and Thaworn Wiratchant were recognised for their respective victories in the Yomiuri Classic on the Japan Golf Tour and the Bangkok Airways Open on the Asian Tour. The Golfer of the Month Award winners thus far in 2008 have been: Kaymer (January), Mark Brown of New Zealand (February), Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland (March), Trevor Immelman of South Africa (April) and Garcia (May). At the end of the year, all monthly winners will be amongst the players considered by the panel for The European Tour Golfer of the Year.