Romain Bechu triumphs on the first extra-hole
Augsburg Classic 2015
On the first extra-hole of the 2015 Augsburg Classic Frenchman Romain Bechu secured himself the first victory of his professional carreer. With a birdie on green 18 of the Golfclub Augsburg, a 476 meter par 5, the 29 year old defeated Sven Cremer from Offenbach, Germany. After 54 holes both players had shared the first rank with 10 under par. Third place went to German Marcel Ohorn who finished the 20th tournament of the Pro Golf Tour 2015 with a total 9 under par.
Augsburg − It was only his fourth appearance on the Pro Golf Tour, but this one was very special for Romain Bechu from Versailles as it is his first victory since he turned pro in 2009. After he had shot 69 and 73 strokes on the first two days of the tournament he managed to play a perfect round with eight birdies in round 3. He also tied the course record 64 even though it had rained all day. Bechu took the lead early and left his opponnents behind, but Sven Cremer finally was able to match with 10 under par when he played an amazing eagle on the 18th hole.
But it was exactly this hole where Bechu could defeat the German in the play-off after making a birdie. "I am overwhelmed by this victory, because it is my first one as a professional. It was a great tournament on a magnificent course with extraordinary greens“, Bechu said.
At 8 a.m. Romain Bechu hat teed off in the first group of the day, so after his round of 64 he had to wait a long time untill he got to know had made it into the play-off. Nobody had really expected a play-off as Cremer and Reinier Saxton of the Netherlands, who were part of the last group, both teed off with -8 on their last hole - two strokes behind Bechu. The final fairway in Bobingen-Burgwalden is a dogleg right, up-hill, par 5. None of the players was able to play an Eagle there on day 1, there were only four eagle on the second day of the tournament. While Saxton was out of luck and even received a bogey which let him end up on 7th place, Cremer‘s courage was rewarded: His third hit was the putt, that set the foundation of his second place at the end of the day. It is also his best result in this season.
After 20 out of 22 tournaments of the Pro Golf Tour 2015 Philipp Mejow from Berlin, Dutchman Reinier Saxton, Martin Keskari from Frankfurt and Benjamin Rusch from Switzerland assert the ranks 1 to 4. It will be an exiting fight for the fifth rank of the Pro Golf Tour of Merit 2015, which also brings promotion to the European Challenge Tour at the end of the season. The next tournament will be the Preis des Hardenberg GolfResort which will take place from 30th August to September 1st.