KLM Open golf: Romain Wattel secures first European Tour victory
France's Romain Wattel secured his first victory on the European Tour with a one-shot success at the KLM Open.
Day four leaders
-15 Romain Wattel
-14 Austin Connelly
-13 Eddie Pepperell, George Coetzee, Justin Walters, Lee Westwood, Sebastian Heisele. Joel Stalter
Day four report
Romain Wattel finally tasted victory on the European Tour at the 187th time of asking as the Frenchman held off the challenge of Kiradech Aphibarnrat at the KLM Open.
Wattel, who had not recorded a top-20 finish all season prior to ending his title drought at The Dutch, was level with Thailand's Aphibarnrat for much of the back nine but saw his challenger find water twice in the last four holes, with both leading to double-bogeys.
That meant a par at the last was enough for the 26-year-old to secure victory with a 15-under total following a closing round of 69.
Wattel won by one from fast-finishing Canadian Austin Connelly, who shot six birdies en route to signing for a 66, with former world number one Lee Westwood part of a six-way tie for third at 13 under.
"I came to this tournament, I was playing poorly to be honest," Wattel told Sky Sports Golf. "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."
Wattel had recorded 25 top-10 finishes in his previous 186 events without tasting victory, and surpassed overnight leader Aphibarnrat with three birdies in his first six holes.
A dropped shot on the eighth was recovered on the 10th and, although Wattel bogeyed the next, he remained in the hunt by parring his way in as others fell away.
Aphibarnrat briefly led when he birdied the 14th but he found water at the next and double-bogeyed before suffering the same fate at the last as he attempted to put pressure on Wattel by reaching the green at the par five in two.
Westwood never threatened to end his three-year European Tour title drought during the final round, although he did birdie the last to sign for a 69 and finish alongside compatriot Eddie Pepperell, France's Joel Stalter, German Sebastian Heisele and South Africans George Coetzee and Justin Walters.
Collated final-round scores
(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 71):
269 Romain Wattel (Fra) 69 67 64 69
270 Austin Connelly (Can) 71 67 66 66
271 Joel Stalter (Fra) 65 67 69 70, Sebastian Heisele (Ger) 66 68 68 69, Justin Walters (Rsa) 72 67 65 67, Eddie Pepperell 69 68 69 65, George Coetzee (Rsa) 69 67 68 67, Lee Westwood 70 65 67 69
272 Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha) 68 65 66 73, Matt Wallace 68 68 69 67, Chris Wood 70 69 68 65, Joakim Lagergren (Swe) 67 65 70 70, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 66 69 71 66
273 Paul Dunne 74 68 65 66, Carlos Pigem (Spa) 72 67 68 66
274 Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 70 68 69 67
275 Richard Finch 66 67 72 70, Matteo Manassero (Ita) 68 68 68 71, Clement Berardo (Fra) 69 72 67 67
276 Jason Scrivener (Aus) 70 68 70 68, Wil Besseling (Ned) 70 69 70 67, Duncan Stewart 71 68 70 67, Alexander Bjork (Swe) 73 65 73 65, Todd Sinnott (Aus) 68 73 68 67
277 Richie Ramsay 70 72 68 67, Mikko Ilonen (Fij) 69 70 68 70, Maximilian Kieffer (Ger) 69 69 72 67, Chris Hanson 68 71 68 70, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 74 68 66 69, Oliver Fisher 72 68 70 67
278 Ben Evans 72 69 67 70, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 72 68 67 71, Ross Fisher 73 68 68 69, Robert Dinwiddie 69 69 73 67, Ashun Wu (Cn) 67 68 71 72, Stuart Manley 71 68 68 71, Dylan Frittelli (Rsa) 70 69 69 70
279 Matthieu Pavon (Fra) 68 69 70 72, Damien Perrier (Fra) 69 70 69 71, David Horsey 76 66 68 69, Mikko Korhonen (Fij) 67 71 70 71, Pep Angles (Spa) 68 70 73 68, Daan Huizing (Ned) 69 71 72 67, Johan Carlsson (Swe) 75 67 67 70, Peter Hanson (Swe) 70 69 68 72, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 70 70 67 72, Thomas Detry (Bel) 75 66 68 70
280 Dean Burmester (Rsa) 77 65 68 70, Max Albertus (Ned) 69 70 73 68, Daniel Brooks 69 71 69 71, Jaco Ahlers (Rsa) 72 69 73 66, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 76 66 73 65, Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 71 71 70 68, Florian Fritsch (Ger) 71 70 68 71
281 Pontus Widegren (Swe) 68 72 69 72, Anthony Wall 70 69 74 68, Julian Suri (USA) 70 68 71 72, Padraig Harrington 72 70 70 69
282 Marc Warren 69 67 73 73
283 Ryan Fox (Nzl) 71 71 71 70, Ashley Chesters 70 70 73 70
284 Richard Bland 71 67 70 76, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 72 70 71 71, Graeme Storm 70 72 72 70
285 Jens Fahrbring (Swe) 69 73 70 73, Sam Brazel (Aus) 73 67 74 71
286 Paul Maddy 69 69 75 73, Johan Edfors (Swe) 68 74 72 72
288 Niclas Fasth (Swe) 69 72 73 74
289 Sebastien Gros (Fra) 75 66 74 74, Ralph Miller (Ned) 73 69 72 75
Day three report
Lee Westwood remains in contention for a first European Tour title since 2014 at the KLM Open after a third-round 67 left him three behind leader Kiradech Aphibarnrat.
Former world number one Westwood - down at 61st in the rankings after a barren couple of years - carded five birdies against a single bogey, with the highlight a 20-foot putt made from off the green at the 11th and he has been price-boosted to 13/2 from 11/2 by Sky Bet to lift the trophy on Sunday.
"I'm hitting it very consistently and feel like I've got pretty good control of my swing," Westwood told the European Tour website.
"I haven't been in contention that much recently, so it's nice to get in there and have a chance and I'm sure I'll remember what to do when the time comes."
At 11 under par, the Ryder Cup star is in a share of fourth, with Aphibarnrat (11/8) leading the way after a birdie from 25 feet on the 18th gave him a round of 66 and 14-under total.
France's Romain Wattel (4/1) shot a flawless 64 to lie second on 13 under, with his compatriot and overnight leader Joel Stalter (12/1) a shot further back after signing for a 69.
Thailand's Aphibarnrat led for much of the third round but missed a string of birdie chances on the way in at The Dutch and seemed to have paid the price for his profligacy when he was caught by Wattel.
A shot behind halfway leaders Joakim Lagergren (10/1) and Stalter once the second round was completed on Saturday morning, Aphibarnrat made four birdies in an outward 31 to take the outright lead.
Wattel had already made five birdies when he almost holed his tee shot to the 14th, and the subsequent birdie and a gain from eight feet at the 16th drew him level, only for Aphibarnrat to strike at the last to regain the initiative heading into the final round.
Day two report
Lee Westwood moved into contention at the KLM Open with a bogey-free second round of 65 which left him three strokes off the lead and 8/1 third-favourite at the halfway stage.
Westwood hit six birdies to finish on seven under par on a day when Joel Stalter (12/1) added a 67 to his opening round 65 to emerge as the clear leader.
"I am hitting the ball well," said Westwood.
"I have got my distance control back and the strike is getting better and better. I’m driving the ball in the fairway too which you obviously need to do and I feel like I am rolling the ball well on the greens so hopefully we can see a few more putts drop over the weekend.
"If I can play like I did in the second round today then I’ll have a chance over the weekend so the plan will be to try and replicate what I did out there today.
"Ross (Fisher) just said to me in the scorers hut that my round was one of the easiest 65s he has seen in a long time which is a nice compliment and one that I’ll try and take into the weekend."
With bad weather having caused an early suspension of play on Thursday, organisers struggled to catch up, with half the field unable to complete their second rounds due to darkness.
Stalter leads by one from Thailand's Kiradech Aphibarnrat (9/2), with German Sebastian Heisele (25/1) a further stroke back in third.
Stalter carded seven birdies as he completed his opening round early on Friday morning, with his solitary blemish coming with a bogey on the final hole.
The Frenchman recovered to produce an increasingly strong showing in the second round, overhauling Aphibarnrat's lead with a run of six birdies in 10 holes.
Stalter told the Tour's official website: "I played really solid - it was tough at the beginning. I gave up two shots but then I really got it back strong.
"It's too bad because I maybe could have had a couple more birdies at the end but it was a really good round and I'm really proud of myself because it was a really long day.
"I've been in this situation before so I know what to expect for the weekend, but the goal is to be on top of the leaderboard on Sunday."
Bernd Wiesberger, 9/2 joint-favourite with Aphibarnrat, is five back but among those with holes in hand when play resumes on Saturday morning.
Sweden's Joakim Lagergren, a 9/1 shot, moved level with Westwood before he too was forced to halt and return to the course on Saturday.
Day one report
Austria's Bernd Wiesberger is Sky Bet's hot favourite at 11/4 to win the KLM Open after sharing the joint clubhouse lead when weather forced an early finish on the first day.
Only 72 players managed to complete their round in gusting winds and heavy rain at Spijk before the course became flooded and play was suspended.
In that context the five-under-par 66s shot by Wiesberger and 80/1 shot Richard Finch, the latter signing for his lowest European Tour round in two years just before play was halted, were impressive.
Wiesberger carded seven birdies to Finch's six but had two bogeys as opposed to the Englishman's one.
"The conditions were really tough out there and although I gave away a couple of easy shots I am really happy with the score and the way I played today," said the Austrian.
"I putted nicely today and controlled the ball flight well. I think I only missed three or four greens which was pretty good in these conditions.
"I have been playing well recently but maybe not getting the results I feel I should have been getting so hopefully I can change that soon."
Finch lost his card in 2015 and made his first cut for 20 months in Denmark last month.
He was pleased to maintain some momentum, making birdies at his first two holes and then four in succession on the back nine.
"It was important to get off to a good start today because when you are playing on conditions like this you know it's going to be a battle so to start with two birdies was huge – it felt like I had a bit of credit in the bank," said the 40-year-old.
"It's been a while since I have been at the top of a leaderboard, to be honest.
"I missed last year through injury and haven't really got it going since I came back but today was very encouraging and I hope to be able to keep that going for the next few days."
The pair lead by one from Sweden's Joakim Lagergren and China's Ashun Wu with the first round set to resume at 8am local time on Friday.