Porsche European Open: Jordan Smith takes the title
Jordan Smith claimed his first European Tour title after a play-off at the Porsche European Open near Hamburg.
Final leaders
-13 Jordan Smith (Won at second play-off hole), Alexander Levy
-11 Siddikur Rahman, Johan Edfors
-10 Jens Fahrbring, Zander Lombard, Adrian Otaegui
Scroll down for full collated scores
Day four report
Jordan Smith claimed his first European Tour title after a play-off at the Porsche European Open near Hamburg.
Smith, from Bath, won at the second extra hole after finishing tied with defending champion Alex Levy on 13 under - but only after the Frenchman had missed a putt to win from inside three feet on the pair's first trip back down the 18th.
The 24-year-old Smith, who held a two shot lead overnight, began his final round with a birdie but dropped shots on the sixth and eighth to leave the door ajar for Levy, who shot a closing 69, to challenge for the lead on the back nine.
Smith regained the lead with a birdie from three feet at the 11th but left his bunker shot at the 13th short and missed a 20 footer for par.
Levy and Smith both birdied the 15th and it was the former who went ahead with another gain at the next, only for Smith to get up-and-down at the last to force a play-off with a round of 71.
Levy then missed a three-foot birdie effort as they replayed the 18th hole, but when Smith was presented with a similar opportunity on the next trip down the last he made no mistake.
Sweden's Johan Edfors (70) and Bangladesh's Siddikur Rahman (68) finished tied for third on 11 under, while Scotland's Richie Ramsay and England's Ashley Chesters both recorded top-ten finishes.
After the experience of clinching his maiden victory, Smith said: "I've loved it. It's been nerve-wracking at times but I've really enjoyed it.
"It's all a bit surreal. Obviously the Challenge Tour last year and the EuroPro the year before that. It's been fun.
"I had a really good start to the year and the first aim was just to secure my Tour card, which I managed to do. And then the second goal was to win an event, which I've managed to do.
"Once he missed it (on the 18th hole) then I knew we had to start again, regroup, and just go with it. The whole week tee to green is probably the best I have played all year, probably struggled a little bit on the greens, but it came together at the right time."
Levy was left to rue the putt he had to retain the title but the Frenchman felt he was still able to take plenty of positives from his performance in Germany.
"I struggled a bit today on the putting but I think I played really good golf and I improved my game week after week and that's really nice," he said.
"I'm really proud of what I did today. I shoot three under in the conditions that were really tough and I played really well. I think there are a lot of good things coming for me in the next few months.
"My dream was to win this tournament for my birthday present in two days but I didn't do that. I'm really pleased with what I did and I'm really happy."
Final collated scores
275 Jordan Smith 70 67 67 71 (Won at second play-off hole), Alexander Levy (Fra) 67 70 69 69
277 Siddikur Rahman (Ban) 70 66 73 68, Johan Edfors (Swe) 71 67 69 70
278 Jens Fahrbring (Swe) 68 68 70 72, Zander Lombard (Rsa) 70 72 69 67, Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 71 66 70 71
279 Richie Ramsay 70 68 71 70, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 72 70 72 65, Ashley Chesters 68 67 72 72, Luca Cianchetti (a) (Ita) 71 67 71 70
280 Stephen Gallacher 68 70 72 70, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 67 71 73 69, Alexander Knappe (Ger) 74 69 70 67, Nacho Elvira (Spa) 69 70 73 68
281 Julian Suri (Usa) 66 72 69 74, Sebastian Heisele (Ger) 72 70 69 70, Jamie Donaldson 69 71 71 70
282 Rikard Karlberg (Swe) 69 74 70 69, Lee Slattery 69 73 71 69, Sebastien Gros (Fra) 70 71 70 71, Chris Hanson 70 72 70 70, Ryan McCarthy (Aus) 70 69 68 75, Trevor Fisher Jnr (Rsa) 70 68 71 73, Patrick Reed (Usa) 68 71 70 73, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 70 71 66 75, Danthai Boonma (Tha) 71 71 71 69
283 Chase Koepka (Usa) 69 68 73 73, Shih-Chang Chan (Tpe) 75 68 70 70, Richard McEvoy 66 72 72 73, Eduardo De La Riva (Spa) 68 73 70 72, Poom Saksansin (Tha) 69 72 72 70
284 Thomas Bjorn (Den) 74 68 72 70, Jimmy Walker (USA) 72 68 75 69, Sean Crocker (a) (USA) 69 70 71 74, Mark Foster 72 69 72 71
285 Pontus Widegren (Swe) 70 71 70 74, Paul Maddy 71 70 74 70, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 73 70 68 74, Simon Khan 71 71 72 71, Jose-Filipe Lima (Prt) 68 71 73 73, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha) 68 69 75 73, Laurie Canter 68 71 75 71, Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 69 70 72 74, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 72 67 73 73, Thomas Detry (Bel) 71 69 70 75
286 Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 70 73 71 72, Maximilian Kieffer (Ger) 69 72 71 74, Paul McBride 70 72 72 72, Stuart Manley 67 71 71 77, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 69 72 71 74, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 69 72 74 71
287 Craig Lee 68 70 74 75, Alexander Bjork (Swe) 71 69 73 74
288 Jaco Ahlers (Rsa) 71 69 75 73, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 69 74 73 72, Jens Dantorp (Swe) 71 69 73 75, Chris Paisley 67 72 74 75, Oliver Fisher 71 70 72 75
289 Marcel Siem (Ger) 69 71 73 76, Bradley Dredge 70 73 75 71,Dimitrios Papadatos (Aus) 71 72 73 73, Nino Bertasio (Ita) 72 68 73 76
290 Gregory Havret (Fra) 76 65 75 74, James Morrison 72 71 73 74
291 Tom Lewis 69 73 78 71, Yan-wei Liu (Chn) 72 70 75 74, Ashun Wu (Chn) 71 72 72 76, Steven Tiley 69 71 74 77, Heinrich Arkenau (Ger) 70 73 72 76
292 Robert Rock 70 69 76 77
293 Simon Dyson 71 72 78 72
295 Steve Webster 72 70 76 77, Austin Connelly (Can) 72 71 73 79
Day three report
England's Jordan Smith could not hide his excitement ahead of taking a two-shot lead into the final round of the Porsche European Open.
The 2014 Walker Cup player from Bath shot a third round 67 in Hamburg to boost his chances of a first European Tour victory - he ended the day as Sky Bet's 15/8 favourite to break his duck.
"I'm over the moon, I played lovely from tee to green and putted really nicely," Smith said.
"Obviously it's long and thankfully they've put the tees forward because it's playing soft, so it's just planning your route around the course and taking advantage of the par fives where you can.
"I'm very excited. It's been a while since I've been in the final group so I'm looking forward to it."
Smith's five birdies took him to 12 under par and two clear of defending champion Alex Levy, a 4/1 shot, and Swede Jens Fahrbring (12/1).
Overnight leader Ashley Chesters led for much of the day, but missed several key putts on the back nine to finish with a one-over 72.
Chesters held a one-shot lead when the weather-affected second round was completed on Saturday morning and converted from inside five feet on the first hole of his third round to get to double figures.
The 27-year-old two-time European Amateur champion dropped his first shot of the week at the next when he left a chip from off the green eight feet short.
But he got the shot back at the third and back-to-back gains at the seventh and eighth - the latter after hitting his tee shot to within a foot - briefly sent him three clear.
However, bogeys at the ninth, 16th and 18th checked his progress, and Smith took full advantage.
Smith took the lead for the first time on the 15th and a superb iron to the final green set up a simple two-putt birdie.
Home favourite Marcel Siem marked his his 400th European Tour appearance with an ace on the 17th to win one of the tournament sponsor's models.
The German holed his seven-iron to the 170-yard penultimate hole, the ball flying straight into the cup off the flagstick.
As well as the boost to his scorecard - Siem shot a 73 to lie three-under par - the 37 year-old also won a Porsche Panamera Turbo Sport Turismo worth 158,604 euros (£141,927).
Day two report
England's Ashley Chesters held the lead after day two of the weather-affected Porsche European Open in Hamburg.
Chesters and fellow Englishman Jordan Smith were tied at the top of the leaderboard on eight under par when a second heavy downpour of the day forced play to be halted due to a waterlogged course.
But when play resumed almost four hours later, Smith bogeyed his final hole of the day - the ninth - and Chesters picked up a shot at the eighth on his way to a second round of 67.
That gave the 27-year-old a nine-under-par halfway total and one-shot lead over Bangladesh's Siddikur Rahman, with Smith a shot further back after his own 67.
Alex Levy, Stuart Manley and Richard McEvoy were also on eight under but had yet to complete their rounds when fading light halted play. The action will resume at 0800 local time on Saturday.
"I definitely didn't hit it as well off the tee today but the putter made up for a lot, so that's always nice," said Chesters, who turned professional after helping Great Britain and Ireland to a record Walker Cup victory at Royal Lytham in 2015, where he won three-and-a-half points from his four matches.
The world number 446 gained his European Tour card via the qualifying school in 2016 and has missed seven cuts in 14 events this season, with a best finish of joint eighth in the Hassan Trophy.
"(Leading) is a completely new experience so tomorrow is going to be totally new to me," Chesters, who finished the day as the 10/1 third favourite, added. "The whole year has been a learning experience really so hopefully I'll learn something again tomorrow, whatever happens."
Smith finished top of the Challenge Tour rankings in 2016 and is currently 42nd on the Race to Dubai, having already earned enough money to guarantee another season on the European Tour.
"I'm loving the course and playing good so have just got to go into the weekend and give it my best," the 24-year-old said. "I was in a good flow and would have loved to have got my last two holes done and dusted (without the delay), but you can't really help the weather.
"I had a good year last year and the target for this year was just to keep my tour card. I managed to do that pretty quickly, which was nice, so the next aim is to win an event."
Smith was a 12/1 shot with the market headed by Levy at 4/1 following the conclusion of the second day's play.
Day one report
England's Richard McEvoy tamed a "monster" course to keep his game in top gear by claiming a share of the lead on day one of the Porsche European Open.
McEvoy, who won his first event since 2004 in the Challenge Tour's SSE Scottish Hydro Challenge at the start of the month, carded six birdies in an opening 66 on the 7,582 yard Green Eagle Golf Course in Hamburg.
That looked set to give the 38-year-old from Essex the outright lead until American Julian Suri birdied four of his last five holes to also finish six under, a shot ahead of defending champion Alex Levy, former Masters winner Charl Schwartzel, Stuart Manley and Chris Paisley.
"I'm very pleased," McEvoy said. "At the start of the week (I thought) it's not really my style of golf course to be honest.
"It's wet out there and I'm not the longest of hitters, I'm quite average on tour, but I did everything kind of right today. When I got myself in trouble I got out of it well and I took advantage of the holes where I was hitting wedges in, so a very pleasing start.
"Obviously winning in Scotland was great for me, confidence-wise in particular it was fantastic. I hadn't won for 13 years and nothing beats winning for confidence, so that was a nice thing to do."
Victory at Aviemore took McEvoy to seventh on the Road to Oman rankings, with the top 15 at the end of the season gaining full playing rights on the European Tour.
McEvoy has been forced to regain his card via the qualifying school in each of the last three seasons and added: "This week could be my last week (on the European Tour) depending on what happens here and I may concentrate the rest of the year on the Challenge Tour.
"If I have a great week here then things might change, but at the moment I'm going to concentrate on the Challenge Tour for the rest of the year being in such a strong position."
McEvoy is 22/1 after day one with Sky Bet and it's Schwartzel who is favourite, having carded an eagle and four birdies in his 67.
It could have been even better for the South African, who twice hit the pin with his second shot on par fives.
"On 18 I hit a fantastic shot and then finishing off today on nine, I hit the flag again with two fairway woods and that doesn't happen very often," the world number 21 said.
"I felt like early this morning was a bit difficult and when we made the turn the sun came out and balls starting going a little further, which you do need on this golf course. It's a monster."
American Ryder Cup star Patrick Reed was part of a nine-strong group on four under par which included Scotland's Stephen Gallacher and Craig Lee, as well as the English duo of Laurie Canter and Ashley Chesters.
Reigning US PGA champion Jimmy Walker could only manage a level-par 72.