Ain Sokhna, Egypt - The second event of the 2024 Pro Golf Tour season provided an exciting and extremely demanding final. Cool temperatures and strong gusts of up to 40 kilometers per hour presented the 50 final participants with a real challenge. The players only managed five rounds under par on the final day of the Red Sea Egyptian Classic 2024 at the Ain Sokhna Golf Club. The best final round was achieved by Dutchman Mike Toorop, who defied the wind and signed for a 67 (-5). His overall score of -10 was the mark that his competitors had to reach.

Thanks to a birdie on the 17th, Frenchman Marius Cara, who had started the final round as the leader and signed for a 72 (par) at the end, succeeded in doing so. A play-off had to decide which of the two would celebrate his first title on the Pro Golf Tour. After Cara twice failed to capitalize on a putt to win, he had to watch on the third extra hole as Toorop made birdie and was thus crowned the winner. "It feels really good," said the 24-year-old from Noordwijkse GC. He accompanied his ball into the hole with a loud "come on" shout as he made the winning putt.

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Toorop's relief after his first triumph on the Pro Golf Tour was palpable. "I thought to myself: Finally! If you look at my history on the Pro Golf Tour: I've been second several times, I finished seventh in the Order of Merit and I was in the final stage of the DP World Tour Q-School." However, neither victory nor a full tour card for the Challenge Tour, which the top five on the Order of Merit secure, had been enough to date. "You have to win on the Pro Golf Tour to reach the top five. And to have won a title right at the start of the season makes it much easier. I am very happy."

Toorop has been playing on the Pro Golf Tour since 2021. He has come very close four times as runner-up, twice at the Red Sea Egyptian Classic at Ain Sokhna Golf Club. "The course is good. You need good tee shots and approach shots, because it's not easy on the greens." The long game was even more important on this final day. But Toorop naturally has few problems with wind. "I come from the north of the Netherlands and it's very windy there. When I woke up and saw that the wind was getting stronger, I knew that this was my only chance to win." Toorop felt almost at home and was able to turn this good feeling into the long-awaited first triumph.

The fact that Toorop is a professional golfer at all is only due to an injury he sustained at the age of 13. At the time, the talented ball player was still playing for the youth team of renowned Dutch soccer club AZ Alkmaar. "From that moment on, I concentrated fully on golf." He became Dutch champion at the age of 14. Ten years later, he celebrated his first title as a professional at the Red Sea Egyptian Classic - finally!

The Pro Golf Tour returns on February 20 with the Golf Mad Open in Turkey.