Rocco Forte Open: Alvaro Quiros wins play-off

Final leaderboard

-14 *Alvaro Quiros, Zander Lombard (*won play-off)
-13 Li Haotong
-12 Pep Angles
-11 Marcus Fraser, Jason Scrivener
-10 David Horsey

Scroll down for full collated scores 

Day four report

Spain's Alvaro Quiros had mixed emotions after recovering from squandering a seven-shot lead with 12 holes left to beat Zander Lombard in a play-off at the Rocco Forte Open.

Quiros secured his seventh European Tour title, but a first since 2011, with a par on the second extra hole at Verdura Golf Club after South Africa's Lombard three-putted from 40 feet.

The pair had finished tied on 14 under par, one shot ahead of China's Li Haotong, who had an albatross on the 12th in a closing 66 but had to be persuaded to get off a bus heading to the airport as the final group stumbled over the closing stretch.

Spain's Pep Angles was a shot further back after a bogey on the last, with Australians Marcus Fraser and Jason Scrivener sharing fifth.

"It's a strange feeling because obviously I'm very happy," Quiros, who reached as high as 21st in the world in 2011 but started the week 703rd, told Sky Sports.

"It's a victory and means a lot of things, but unfortunately I didn't really like how I finished the round. But I could be speaking about second position so I'm happy.

"At the end the result is the victory and that's the most important thing. It's been a little bit of a mess. The game wasn't that bad, just the last few holes I started to struggle into the wind."

Quiros began the day with a five-shot lead and responded to Lombard's birdies at the first two holes with four of his own at the second, fourth, fifth and sixth to extend his advantage to seven.

However, having dropped just four shots in the first 61 holes, Quiros clearly began to feel the pressure as he bogeyed the eighth, 10th and 15th, before a double bogey on the 16th allowed Lombard to draw level.

Both men then bogeyed the 17th as Angles chipped in for a birdie to close within a shot, which finally persuaded Li to take his clubs off the 3pm bus which was about to leave for the airport.

That proved to be unnecessary as Lombard chipped to within inches of the hole to save par on the last, before Quiros holed from 10 feet after splashing out of a greenside bunker.

Both men parred the first extra hole, but Lombard then three-putted the second to allow a grateful Quiros to tap-in for victory and a European Tour exemption until the end of 2018.

Lombard said: "I'm very happy with how I kept myself in contention and all the best for Alvaro. He's a great champion, he's won in the past and it's nice to see him win again.

"I'm very pleased with this performance going into next week and hopefully I can keep this form up. It's a good consolation prize to get into Wentworth for the BMW PGA Championship.

"I suppose winning isn't everything but I can't complain, losing in a play-off - it's anybody's game with this wind. The main thing I take from this is that I can be in contention and I can win. I just need to trust myself and believe that."

Final collated scores and totals

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 71):
(a) denotes amateurs)

270 Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 63 64 70 73 (Quiros won at the second extra play-off hole), Zander Lombard (Rsa) 62 68 72 68

271 Haotong Li (Chn) 64 68 73 66

272 Pep Angles (Spa) 69 66 68 69

273 Jason Scrivener (Aus) 68 67 71 67, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 66 66 74 67

274 David Horsey 64 66 74 70

275 Marcel Siem (Ger) 68 68 71 68, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 65 68 72 70, Mark Foster 67 64 75 69

276 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 70 67 73 66, Jbe Kruger (Rsa) 63 69 73 71, Tom Lewis 67 67 72 70, Stuart Manley 66 68 73 69, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 67 67 73 69, Lee Slattery 64 70 70 72, Michael Hoey 61 68 75 72

277 Sebastian Soderberg (Swe) 61 68 77 71, Daniel Im (USA) 66 70 72 69, Eduardo De La Riva (Spa) 64 71 70 72, Johan Carlsson (Swe) 67 65 72 73, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 69 62 73 73

278 Thomas Bjorn (Den) 65 69 74 70, Gary Hurley 67 66 72 73, Renato Paratore (Ita) 71 62 70 75, James Morrison 71 65 71 71

279 Ben Evans 68 67 74 70, Alexander Bjork (Swe) 69 66 74 70, Garrick Porteous 68 67 70 74, Oliver Fisher 66 69 74 70

280 Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 64 67 73 76, Julian Suri (USA) 75 62 72 71, Romain Wattel (Fra) 66 67 80 67, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 65 67 76 72, Sebastian Heisele (Ger) 63 69 76 72, Austin Connelly (Can) 68 69 74 69, Chris Paisley 66 71 72 71

281 Marcus Armitage 65 71 72 73, Matt Wallace 68 69 76 68, Jeff Winther (Den) 68 66 79 68, Haydn Porteous (Rsa) 68 64 73 76, Paul Maddy 66 67 73 75, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 67 68 76 70, Eddie Pepperell 67 67 75 72, Jens Dantorp (Swe) 68 69 71 73, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 66 66 76 73, Scott Jamieson 69 67 75 70

282 Adrien Saddier (Fra) 69 68 70 75, Steve Webster 70 67 75 70, Nathan Kimsey 67 69 75 71, Richard McEvoy 67 67 77 71, Matteo Manassero (Ita) 67 67 73 75, Jordan Smith 68 68 77 69, Francesco Laporta (Ita) 66 69 78 69

283 Phachara Khongwatmai (Tha) 66 70 74 73, Roope Kakko (Fin) 68 69 75 71, John Parry 69 67 74 73

284 Niclas Johansson (Swe) 66 71 74 73, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 70 65 79 70, Jamie Donaldson 69 67 75 73, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 68 67 75 74, Clement Berardo (Fra) 66 71 73 74

285 Oscar Lengden (Swe) 68 69 74 74, Nick Cullen (Aus) 66 70 74 75

286 Thomas Detry (Bel) 71 66 75 74

287 Jamie Rutherford 69 68 74 76

288 Oscar Stark (Swe) 68 67 80 73, Luca Cianchetti (a) (Ita) 67 70 80 71, Paul Peterson (USA) 66 69 78 75

289 Pavit Tangkamolprasert (Tha) 67 68 79 75

291 Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 68 67 78 78

292 Mike Weir (Can) 67 70 76 79 

Day three report

Spain's Alvaro Quiros will take a commanding lead into the final round of the Rocco Forte Open in pursuit of the victory to get his career firmly back on track.

On a day when strong winds gusting up to 30mph made scoring hugely difficult, overnight leader Quiros was one of just seven players to break par with a third round of 70 at Verdura Golf Club.

And even that was only possible thanks to a brilliant par save on the 18th, the six-time European Tour winner producing a superb pitch off a cart path and over a television tower to within three feet of the hole.

At 16 under par, Quiros was five shots clear of South Africa's Zander Lombard, who held the lead after an eagle on the ninth only to bogey the next three holes and double-bogey the 18th.

Spain's Pep Angles and Italy's Renato Paratore are a shot further back on 10 under, the 24-year-old Angles climbing from 31st to third thanks to a 68 which was the only sub-70 score of the day.

Northern Ireland's Michael Hoey struggled to a 75 to fall back into a six-way tie for fifth on nine under alongside David Horsey, Lee Slattery, Raphael Jacquelin, Jose-Filipe Lima and Johan Carlsson.

After winning twice on the European Tour in 2011 Quiros was ranked 21st in the world, but after trying to make swing changes he has gradually slipped to his current position of 703rd and missed 15 cuts in 23 events in 2016.

That meant the 34-year-old lost his card and he had planned to regain it via the Challenge Tour, but a victory on Sunday would give him a European Tour exemption until the end of 2018.

"Today was the worst golfing day for me," said Quiros, who had followed an opening 63 with a 64 on Friday to lead by two at halfway. "From the tee I was more irregular than normal but I played with the same intentions, trying to fight until the final hole and I've been putting well too.

"Today it was really difficult to putt, the wind was blowing crazy strong and on the greens the perception was always changing with the intensity of this wind. I'm happy with where I am right now.

"Golf is a very difficult game, you never know what's around the corner. I've been very lucky this week. If I'm not mistaken, I haven't had a single unplayable ball and that's a very lucky thing in these windy conditions.

"If my game stays more or less where it is and I keep putting like I am, I'm going to have chances up until the end."

Day two report

Former Masters champion Mike Weir made his first halfway cut since November 2014 after a battling display in the Rocco Forte Open in Sicily.

The Canadian recovered from a triple-bogey on the 18th - his eighth hole of the day - to card a second round of 70 at Verdura Golf Club and finish right on the cut mark of five under par.

That was 10 shots off the halfway lead held by Spain's Alvaro Quiros, but simply making the weekend for the first time in 34 events represents a step in the right direction for the former world number three.

Weir, who has slumped to 1,907th in the rankings, has struggled for form ever since undergoing elbow surgery in 2011 and announced in July 2015 that he was taking an indefinite leave of absence from golf for family reasons.

The left-hander does not have any status on the PGA Tour and after missing the cut at Augusta National for the sixth time in the last seven years, also made early exits from European Tour events in Morocco and Portugal.

After an opening 67, Weir started his second round with birdies on the 12th and 16th before running up a triple-bogey seven on the 18th.

However, the 47-year-old bounced back to record three birdies and a solitary bogey on his back nine to qualify for the final two rounds.

Quiros birdied his final four holes to add a 64 to his opening 63 and reach 15 under par, two shots ahead of overnight joint leaders Michael Hoey and Sebastian Soderberg, who both shot 61 on Thursday and 68 on Friday.

After winning twice on the European Tour in 2011 Quiros was ranked 21st in the world, but after trying to make swing changes he has gradually slipped to his current position of 703rd and missed 15 cuts in 23 events last season.

"It's a very nice situation for me, it's a long time since I've had the opportunity," Quiros told Sky Sports.

"My game today was a little bit worse than yesterday, but my putting on the back nine was unbelievable so I'm very happy with it.

"Sometimes I've been very greedy trying to force myself into a better score when the game wasn't good and today I have to be proud of myself.

"(Starting with) eight consecutive pars was a typical situation for me to blow my mind because I'm not shooting low, and today was a big step forward, mentally speaking, in trying to be patient."

Quiros has committed to playing mainly on the Challenge Tour this season in an effort to regain his European Tour card and added: "I'm not going to fix my situation in one day or in one tournament, so hopefully I can keep working, still adding good rounds and at the end of the year come back to the Tour."

England's David Horsey and South African Zander Lombard lie three shots off the pace after rounds of 66 and 68 respectively, with 2011 Sicilian Open winner Raphael Jacquelin another stroke back alongside Mark Foster and Jose-Filipe Lima.

Jacquelin's 62 was the joint-lowest round of the day and the same score from American Julian Suri remarkably saw him make the cut on five under after a 13-shot improvement on his opening 75.

Day one report

Northern Ireland's Michael Hoey threatened to record the first 59 in European Tour history before settling for a share of the lead on a low-scoring opening day of the Rocco Forte Open in Sicily.

Hoey fired eight birdies in his first 11 holes at Verdura Golf Club and after a run of four straight pars, another birdie on the eighth left him needing to play his final two holes - having started from the 11th - in three under.

A superb approach to the par-five ninth left Hoey with a 20-foot putt for eagle, but the 38-year-old left his attempt short and did the same with a birdie putt on the last.

The resulting 10-under-par 61 was still the lowest round of Hoey's career and took him alongside Sweden's Sebastian Soderberg at the top of the leaderboard, with South Africa's Zander Lombard a shot behind.

"I left it in the jaws, both putts, but I was nervous," admitted Hoey, who has won five times on the European Tour but lost his card last year.

"It was hard to hit them past the hole but it's nice to be nervous because I haven't been nervous on a golf course for quite a while and it's exciting to have such a good score. My best ever score by two shots, no bogeys, it doesn't get much better.

"We've had two kids (since 2013) and it's been tiring. I had to have sinus surgery done a couple of years ago. I haven't been as healthy as I wanted to be, so hopefully now I can get going."

Playing in just his 15th European Tour event after gaining his card via the qualifying school last year, Soderberg was also eight under par after 11 holes and admitted breaking the magical 60 barrier was very much on his mind.

"That's all I thought about walking down the par-five 12th, it kind of helped keep me going," Soderberg said. "I didn't feel like it stopped me, I definitely had a couple of putts the last seven holes that could have gone in, but overall it was a great round."

Soderberg birdied the 17th and 18th to complete the lowest round of his career as more than 100 players took advantage of the ideal conditions to break par.

Spain's Alvaro Quiros was in a tie for fourth after a 63 which included a hole-in-one from 191 yards on the 13th and seven birdies to carry on from where he left off after a closing 65 in Portugal last week. 

After winning twice on the European Tour in 2011 Quiros was ranked 21st in the world, but has gradually slipped to his current position of 703rd and missed 15 cuts in 23 events last season. 

"Back in 2012 I decided to improve my swing, thinking that I should be a little bit more consistent, that I should be a more steady player and it really ruined everything, technically speaking," Quiros said.

"I'm not one of the clever guys on Tour. I shouldn't be looking to be more like Edoardo Molinari, a precision guy, somebody who wants to control everything, I'm not like that. That was my mistake."

Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn was four shots off the lead despite a flawless 65, with former Masters champion Mike Weir - who has not made a halfway cut since November 2014 - carding a 67.